Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Shockaholic

Andrew Carroll

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

History

Discovering America's Great Forgotten History

Here Is Where chronicles Andrew Carroll’s eye-opening – and at times hilarious -- journey across America to find and explore unmarked historic sites where extraordinary moments occurred and remarkable individuals once lived. Sparking the idea for this book was Carroll’s visit to the spot where Abraham Lincoln’s son was saved by the brother of Lincoln’s assassin. Carroll wondered, How many other unmarked places are there where intriguing events have unfolded and that we walk past every day, not realizing their significance? To answer that question, Carroll ultimately trekked to every region of the country -- by car, train, plane, helicopter, bus, bike, and kayak and on foot. Among the things he learned: *Where in North America the oldest sample of human DNA was discovered * Where America’s deadliest maritime disaster took place, a calamity worse than the fate of the Titanic *Which virtually unknown American scientist saved hundreds of millions of lives *Which famous Prohibition agent was the brother of a notorious gangster *How a 14-year-old farm boy’s brainstorm led to the creation of television Featured prominently in Here Is Where are an abundance of firsts (from the first use of modern anesthesia to the first cremation to the first murder conviction based on forensic evidence); outrages (from riots to massacres to forced sterilizations); and breakthroughs (from the invention, inside a prison, of a revolutionary weapon; to the recovery, deep in the Alaskan tundra, of a super-virus; to the building of the rocket that made possible space travel). Here Is Where is thoroughly entertaining, but it’s also a profound reminder that the places we pass by often harbor amazing secrets and that there are countless other astonishing stories still out there, waiting to be found. Look for Andrew's new book, My Fellow Soldiers.

Here Is Where

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Roman Mars

Kurt Kohlstedt

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design

A beautifully designed guidebook to the unnoticed yet essential elements of our cities, from the creators of the wildly popular 99% Invisible podcast

The 99% Invisible City

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Bob Dylan

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

The Philosophy of Modern Song is Bob Dylan's first book of new writing since 2004's Chronicles: Volume One--and since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.

Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his extraordinary insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan's unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated photos as well as a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work's transcendence.

In 2020, with the release of his outstanding album Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan became the first artist to have an album hit the Billboard Top 40 in each decade since the 1960s. The Philosophy of Modern Song contains much of what he has learned about his craft in all those years, and like everything that Dylan does, it is a momentous artistic achievement.

The Philosophy of Modern Song

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Questlove

Ben Greenman

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

New York Times bestselling Music Is History combines Questlove's deep musical expertise with his curiosity about history, examining America over the past fifty years--now in paperback Focusing on the years 1971 to the present, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapes, whether investigating how the blaxploitation era reshaped Black identity or considering the way disco took an assembly-line approach to Black genius. And these critical inquiries are complemented by his own memories as a music fan and the way his appetite for pop culture taught him about America. A history of the last half-century and an intimate conversation with one of music's most influential and original voices, Music Is History is a singular look at contemporary America.

Music Is History

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Fred Astaire

An Autobiography

One of the foremost entertainers of the twentieth century—singer, actor, choreographer, and, of course, the most dazzling "hoofer" in the history of motion pictures—Fred Astaire was the epitome of charm, grace, and suave sophistication, with a style all his own and a complete disregard for the laws of gravity. Steps in Time is Astaire's story in his own words, a memoir as beguiling, exuberant, and enthralling as the great artist himself, the man ballet legends George Balanchine and Rudolf Nureyev cited as, hands down, the century's greatest dancer. From his debut in vaudeville at age six through his remarkable career as the star of many of the most popular Hollywood musicals ever captured on celluloid, Steps in Time celebrates the golden age of entertainment and its royalty, as seen through the eyes of the era's affable and adored prince. Illustrated with more than forty rare photographs from the author's personal collection, here is Astaire in all his debonair glory—his life, his times, his movies, and, above all, his magical screen appearances and enduring friendship with the most beloved of all his dancing partners, Ginger Rogers.

Steps in Time

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Jedidiah Jenkins

A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret

"On the eve of turning thirty, terrified of being sucked into a life he didn't choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent the next sixteen months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and reflections on life soon attracted hundreds of thousands of followers and got him featured by National Geographic and The Paris Review. Jed now narrates the adventure that started it all: the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world, and the internal journey that prompted it -- the question of what it means to be an adult; his struggle to reconcile his sexual identity with his conservative Christian upbringing; and his belief in travel as a way to "wake us up" to our lives back home. As he writes in this account of his search for wonder and a life he could believe in, 'It's not about the bike. It's about getting out of your routine -- and that could look like anything.'"--

To Shake the Sleeping Self

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Paul Myers

Seth Meyers

One Dumb Guy

The definitive, authorized story of legendary sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall --who will soon be returning for a new original series on Amazon Prime Video.

Meticulously researched and written with the full cooperation and participation of the troupe, The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guyfeatures exclusive interviews with Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson, as well as key players from their inner circle, including producer Lorne Michaels, the "man in the towel" Paul Bellini, and head writer Norm Hiscock. Marvel as the Kids share their intimate memories and behind-the-scenes stories of how they created their greatest sketches and most beloved characters, from the Chicken Lady and Buddy Cole to Cabbage Head and Sir Simon &Hecubus.

The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guyspans the entirety of the Kids' storied career, from their early club shows in Toronto and New York to their recent live reunion tours across North America. Along for the ride are a plethora of fans, peers, and luminaries to celebrate the career and legacy of Canada's most subversively hilarious comedy troupe. You'll read tributes from Seth Meyers, Judd Apatow, Garry Shandling, Paul Feig, Mike Myers, David Cross, Michael Ian Black, Brent Butt, Jonah Ray, Dana Gould, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Richter, and Canada's newest comedy sensation, Baroness Von Sketch. As an added bonus, the book includes never-before-seen photographs and poster art from the personal archives of the Kids themselves.

Perfect for diehard fans and new initiates alike, The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guywill make you laugh and make you cry ... and it may even crush your head.

The Kids in the Hall

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Raymond Chandler

A private detective is hired to break up an unsuitable romance, find a missing dog, solve a murder, search for an ex-con's lost girlfriend, ransom a necklace, and investigate a wife's mysterious disappearance

Trouble Is My Business

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Sam Wang

Sandra Aamodt

Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Behavior

Challenges popular myths while drawing on recent findings in neuroscience to offer insight into how the human brain works, sharing information on topics ranging from the brain's role in religious beliefs to the differences between male and female brains.

Welcome to Your Brain

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Oliver Sacks

Seven Paradoxical Tales

Profiles seven neurological patients, including a surgeon with Tourette's syndrome and an artist whose color sense is destroyed in an accident but finds new creative power in black and white

An Anthropologist on Mars

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Frances E. Jensen

Amy Ellis Nutt

A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults

A New York Times Bestseller

Renowned neurologist Dr. Frances E. Jensen offers a revolutionary look at the brains of teenagers, dispelling myths and offering practical advice for teens, parents and teachers.

Dr. Frances E. Jensen is chair of the department of neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. As a mother, teacher, researcher, clinician, and frequent lecturer to parents and teens, she is in a unique position to explain to readers the workings of the teen brain. In The Teenage Brain, Dr. Jensen brings to readers the astonishing findings that previously remained buried in academic journals.

The root myth scientists believed for years was that the adolescent brain was essentially an adult one, only with fewer miles on it. Over the last decade, however, the scientific community has learned that the teen years encompass vitally important stages of brain development.  Samples of some of the most recent findings include:

 * Teens are better learners than adults because their brain cells more readily "build" memories. But this heightened adaptability can be hijacked by addiction, and the adolescent brain can become addicted more strongly and for a longer duration than the adult brain.
 * Studies show that girls' brains are a full two years more mature than boys' brains in the mid-teens, possibly explaining differences seen in the classroom and in social behavior.
 * Adolescents may not be as resilient to the effects of drugs as we thought. Recent experimental and human studies show that the occasional use of marijuana, for instance, can cause lingering memory problems even days after smoking, and that long-term use of pot impacts later adulthood IQ.
 * Multi-tasking causes divided attention and has been shown to reduce learning ability in the teenage brain. Multi-tasking also has some addictive qualities, which may result in habitual short attention in teenagers.
 * Emotionally stressful situations may impact the adolescent more than it would affect the adult: stress can have permanent effects on mental health and can to lead to higher risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression.

Dr. Jensen gathers what we've discovered about adolescent brain function, wiring, and capacity and explains the science in the contexts of everyday learning and multitasking, stress and memory, sleep, addiction, and decision-making.  In this groundbreaking yet accessible book, these findings also yield practical suggestions that will help adults and teenagers negotiate the mysterious world of adolescent development.

The Teenage Brain

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Seneca

C. D. N. Costa

Life Is Long If You Know How to Use It

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves--and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives--and destroyed them.

 

Now, Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are. Penguin's Great Ideas series features twelve groundbreaking works by some of history's most prodigious thinkers, and each volume is beautifully packaged with a unique type-drive design that highlights the bookmaker's art. Offering great literature in great packages at great prices, this series is ideal for those readers who want to explore and savor the Great Ideas that have shaped the world.

The Stoic writings of the philosopher Seneca, who lived from c. 5 BC to AD 65, offer powerful insights into the art of living, the importance of reason and morality, and continue to provide profound guidance to many through their eloquence, lucidity and timeless wisdom. This selection of Seneca's orks was taken from the Penguin Classics edition of Dialogues and Letters, translated by C.D.N. Costa, and includes the essays On the Shortness of Life, Consolation to Helvia, and On Tranquility of Mind. 

On the Shortness of Life

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John Steinbeck

Jay Parini

An intimate journey across America, as told by one of its most beloved writers

A Penguin Classic

In September 1960, John Steinbeck embarked on a journey across America. He felt that he might have lost touch with the country, with its speech, the smell of its grass and trees, its color and quality of light, the pulse of its people. To reassure himself, he set out on a voyage of rediscovery of the American identity, accompanied by a distinguished French poodle named Charley; and riding in a three-quarter-ton pickup truck named Rocinante.

His course took him through almost forty states: northward from Long Island to Maine; through the Midwest to Chicago; onward by way of Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana (with which he fell in love), and Idaho to Seattle, south to San Francisco and his birthplace, Salinas; eastward through the Mojave, New Mexico, Arizona, to the vast hospitality of Texas, to New Orleans and a shocking drama of desegregation; finally, on the last leg, through Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to New York.

Travels with Charley in Search of America is an intimate look at one of America's most beloved writers in the later years of his life--a self-portrait of a man who never wrote an explicit autobiography. Written during a time of upheaval and racial tension in the South--which Steinbeck witnessed firsthand--Travels with Charley is a stunning evocation of America on the eve of a tumultuous decade. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction by Jay Parini.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Travels with Charley in Search of America

e10588ab-13ab-41ca-8602-c038b2478a73-1

Howard Zinn

Presents the history of the United States from the point of view of those who were exploited in the name of American progress.

A People's History of the United States

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Ted Chiang

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Stories

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a collection of short stories that will make you think, grapple with big questions, and feel more human. The best kind of science fiction." --Barack Obama From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Others--the basis for the Academy Award -nominated film Arrival: a groundbreaking new collection of short fiction. "THE UNIVERSE BEGAN AS AN ENORMOUS BREATH BEING HELD." In these nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories, Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity's oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine. In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom," the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will. Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic--revelatory.

Exhalation

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Eric Abrahamson

David H. Freedman

The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place

Combining business, science, history, and psychology, this groundbreaking book sheds new light on ideas of order and shows how chaos, disorder, and mess make the world a better place.

A Perfect Mess

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Brett Shady

Brett Shady

@brettshady

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Carrie Fisher

Shockaholic

Andrew Carroll

Here Is Where

Roman Mars; Kurt Kohlstedt

The 99% Invisible City

Bob Dylan

The Philosophy of Modern Song

Questlove; Ben Greenman

Music Is History

Fred Astaire

Steps in Time

Jedidiah Jenkins

To Shake the Sleeping Self

Paul Myers; Seth Meyers

The Kids in the Hall

Raymond Chandler

Trouble Is My Business

Sam Wang; Sandra Aamodt

Welcome to Your Brain

Oliver Sacks

An Anthropologist on Mars

Frances E. Jensen; Amy Ellis Nutt

The Teenage Brain

Seneca; C. D. N. Costa

On the Shortness of Life

John Steinbeck; Jay Parini

Travels with Charley in Search of America

Howard Zinn

A People's History of the United States

Ted Chiang

Exhalation

Eric Abrahamson; David H. Freedman

A Perfect Mess

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Carrie Fisher

Shockaholic

Andrew Carroll

Here Is Where

Roman Mars; Kurt Kohlstedt

The 99% Invisible City

Bob Dylan

The Philosophy of Modern Song

Questlove; Ben Greenman

Music Is History

Fred Astaire

Steps in Time

Jedidiah Jenkins

To Shake the Sleeping Self

Paul Myers; Seth Meyers

The Kids in the Hall

Raymond Chandler

Trouble Is My Business

Sam Wang; Sandra Aamodt

Welcome to Your Brain

Oliver Sacks

An Anthropologist on Mars

Frances E. Jensen; Amy Ellis Nutt

The Teenage Brain

Seneca; C. D. N. Costa

On the Shortness of Life

John Steinbeck; Jay Parini

Travels with Charley in Search of America

Howard Zinn

A People's History of the United States

Ted Chiang

Exhalation

Eric Abrahamson; David H. Freedman

A Perfect Mess

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