Intrigue your friends with birthday prophecies, spin a mystifying wheel of fortune, travel through the Valley of Fear, and take on Dad's Challenge! This collection presents scores of intriguing brainteasers from the fascinating world of codes and ciphers. Assembled by a master puzzle-maker, these activities are inspired by sources as diverse as the Sherlock...

The definitive biography of the beloved—often controversial—co-creator of many legendary superheroes, A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee presents the origin of “Stan the Man,” who spun a storytelling web of comic book heroic adventures into a pop culture phenomenon: the Marvel Universe.

Stan Lee was the most famous American comic book creator...

During Hollywood’s “classic era,” from the 1920s to 1950s, roughly twenty major fan magazines were offered each month at American newsstands and abroad. These publications famously fed fan obsessions with celebrities such as Mae West and Elvis Presley. Film studies scholars often regard these magazines with suspicion; perhaps due to their reputation for...

Being Sherlock shares the best collection of Sherlock Holmes stories fans have never had, until now. Shared by Sherlockian Ashley D. Polasek, she nimbly sets the stage for each story and shares interesting Sherlockian tidbits about the incredible evolution of this iconic character. Famous former and current Sherlocks include: William Gillette, Basil...

Conversations made up entirely of inside jokes. Netflix passwords, bizarre dreams, even French fries, all shared without a second thought. From husband-wife team Brooke Barker and Boaz Frankel, here’s that rare relationship book that captures the rituals and mini universe (Population: 2) that a couple can create together, in a sweet, small package with all...

Examining the deep philosophical topics addressed in superhero comics, authors Gavaler and Goldberg read plot lines for the complex thought experiments they contain and analyze their implications as if the comic authors were philosophers. Reading superhero comic books through a philosophical lens reveals how they experiment with complex issues of morality...

A cultural phenomenon for a decade, Friends ranked in the top ten for every year of its original run, an accomplishment unmatched by any other scripted series. And more than twenty-five years since its theme song promised “I’ll be there for you,” Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross are still entertaining audiences around the world. As the...

Airing from 2000–2007, Gilmore Girls focused on the relationship between thirty-something single mom Lorelai and her teenage daughter, Rory. While exploring themes of family, romantic love, friendship, and life’s choices, this quirky show featured fast-paced dialogue, funny quips, and a steady stream of pop-culture references. Created by Amy...

When James Clipper, a retired merchant navy captain is nicknamed Granddad Bracey, after teaching his grandson Peter how to swing from the ceiling on his braces, he little realises that it will involve them in an epic adventure on a far-away planet called Seven Seas, where his granddaughter Sally, has to battle against all the odds to save her mother’s life.

When a trusting young rabbit called Startup sets out to help his wildlife friends, he little expects to find himself being enticed by a slinky looking rabbit called Lola, and ends up in a life or death struggle to stop King Freddie and a horde of brown rats take over his beloved Hookwood.

Avidly Reads is a series of short books about how culture makes us feel. Founded in 2012 by Sarah Blackwood and Sarah Mesle, Avidly—an online magazine supported by the Los Angeles Review of Books—specializes in short-form critical essays devoted to thinking and feeling. Avidly Reads is an exciting new series featuring books that are part memoir, part...

Acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road.

In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound, and included "Come Together,"...

"A probing look at some of the shifting tides of global culture. Having borne witness to the throes of political upheaval in her birth country of Pakistan, journalist and novelist Bhutto here explores the local roots and global impact of three contemporary pop-culture game-changers: Bollywood (India), dizi (Turkey), and K-pop (South Korea). Many American...

Anonymous break up stories from men and women, old and young, serious and silly and the cartoons that inspired them. Author and artist Hilary Campbell turns the painful into the hilarious, validating emotions from forgotten middle school tragedies to relationships that ended only hours ago.

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell is an award-winning documentary filmmaker...

In Magnificent Obsession: The Outrageous History of Film Buffs, Collectors, Scholars, and Fanatics, author Anthony Slide looks at the way film has dominated the minds and lives of film buffs, film collectors, film academics, and just plain fans of past movies. Based on the author’s more than fifty years in the field and his personal, up-front knowledge of...

Tons of jokes, tons of laughs, tons more time kids spend reading.

“Why do fish live in saltwater? Because pepper makes them sneeze!” The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids is brimming with over 800 knock-knock jokes, riddles, tongue twisters, and silly stats for endless hours of hilarious entertainment anywhere.

This illustrated collection of jokes for kids is...

A collection of interviews with Woodstock performers, crew, and a host of entertainment icons from the sixties and beyond. What did it feel like to be there? At Hendrix’s feet during the Star Spangled Banner. Standing on stage between Pete Townshend and Abbie Hoffman. In Mick Jagger’s dressing room after Altamont. Alone in the Oval Office with JFK. Ours...

Seek and ye shall find! Celebrate your faith and enrich your free time with these 100 word search puzzles, which include terms and phrases about biblical people, places, and events as well as quotes from favorite stories, hymns, and proverbs. This inspiring collection offers the perfect way to review and enhance your knowledge of both the Old and New...

In Unofficial Minecraft Life Hacks Lab for Kids, Adam Clarke (aka Wizard Keen) and Victoria Bennett offer projects and gameplay that will guide you to make great choices as a player and a person.

Minecraft is an amazing game that stimulates your creativity as you build whatever you can imagine, but it’s also great for learning about how to be a good citizen...

A playful take on manners and being a good global citizen.

Parents and younger children work together to read about a wide range of topics: communication, table manners, tidiness, thinking of others, grooming, and health. Activities, learning games, fill-in-the-blanks, letter-writing exercises, recipes (for food and for slime!), and some fun songs and...

Rediscover the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths—stylishly retold by beloved author and actor Stephen Fry. In this first installment of a projected trilogy, he begins with the birth of the cosmos, and leads readers on a romp through the stories of the Olympians: wise Athena, imperious Hera, fleet-footed Hermes, and impulsive Zeus. Each...

In 2019 Barbie turns 60. Never only a toy, she defines the stellar. In Plastic's Republic, Giovanna Riccio delves into Barbie's impact on female beauty highlighting how plasticity in body and persona have allowed the doll to remain top-diva. Other poems bring to life, Mattel's movers-n-shakers who created Barbie to be their in-house money maker. Riccio's...

If Memphis is the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, it spent its adolescence along U.S. Highway 67. Know today as Rock ’n’ Roll Highway 67, it runs from Newport, Arkansas, to the Missouri border. It is here that the first rock ’n’ rollers honed their skills, playing the small towns along the two-lane road.

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl...

You may know him as Mango, Mr. Peepers, the gibberish-spouting Suel Forrester, or one half of the head-bopping brothers in A Night at the Roxbury. Maybe you remember him as the forlorn gothic kid Azrael Abyss, Gay Hitler, or the guitarist in the “More Cowbell” sketch. Whichever it is, Chris Kattan has earned a spot in the hearts of a generation of comedy...

Scott has played over 500 concerts at hundreds of venues spanning almost two decades. From performing to the bar staff at strip mall dive bars, to a sold-out show with members of The Misfits and the Ramones, 33 Percent Rockstar: Music, Heartbreak and the Pursuit of Rock Stardom is about the love of music and life as a struggling musician. It is the true...