In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native...

Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does--humans are a musical species. Oliver Sacks's compassionate, compelling tales of people struggling to adapt to different neurological...

"This wonderfully quirky book will change the way you look at your desk forever with stories of accidental genius, bitter rivalries, and an appreciation for everyday objects, like the humble but perfectly designed paper clip and the utilitarian, irreplaceable pencil. How many of humanity's brightest ideas started out on a scrap of paper, a Post-It, or in the margins of a notebook? In a delightfully witty and fresh voice, James Ward--cofounder of the...

"A complete reference for goldsmiths, jewelers, and jewelry makers, this beautiful book is a comprehensive guide to identifying, buying, using, and caring for a dazzling array of jewels and gems"--

A quick-reference guide to attracting birds and butterflies for gardeners with little experience and time. In the eye of a bird or butterfly, the typical suburban landscape resembles an unfriendly desert. Closely mowed lawns, tightly clipped shrubs, raked-up borders, and deadheaded flowers mean no place to nest, no food to eat, and nowhere to hide. To the humans who live there, this means no bird songs, no colorful butterflies, no dazzling hummingbirds,...

"Today we think of Wikipedia as the source of all information, the ultimate reference. Yet it is just the latest in a long line of aggregated knowledge--reference works that have shaped the way we've seen the world for centuries. You Could Look It Up chronicles the captivating stories behind these great works and their contents, and the way they have influenced each other. From The Code of Hammurabi, the earliest known compendium of laws in ancient...

The Big Book of Buds Volume 2 continues in the tradition of its predecessor by combining stunning, full-color photography with fun and clear descriptions of the characteristics that any gardener or connoisseur wants to know. With no strains repeated from Volume 1, this second volume supplements the first Big Book of Buds with another 100 of the latest and greatest marijuana strains commercially available in the world today. No other book brings together...

"A mind-blowing collection of TK new cookie recipes and inspiration to create your own masterpieces, from the founder of Milk Bar, host of Bake Squad, and inventor of the original Compost Cookie. In All About Cookies, Christina Tosi brings us into a cookie wonderland, with recipes from and inspired by Milk Bar fan favorites. No cookie form is left unturned, from classic crispies to sandies, sammies, chewies, bars, and even no-bakes. She revamps an...

Reference librarian Megan Clark has a passion for fictional crime ̶ but when she and her fellow book group members go from reading mysteries to solving them, they discover that real-life crime is more complex than the most puzzling whodunit....The Murder by the Yard book group has been going strong for six months, and Megan Clark is eager to celebrate ̶ and increase membership. For fun and publicity, she volunteers her friend, Dr. Ryan Stevens,...

"Discover Borneo's Gomantong Cave, where literally millions of bats, cockroaches, spiders, and rats coexist--in pitch darkness. Learn about mythical creatures like the Mongolian Death Worm--and scarily real ones like killer bees, which were accidentally created by scientists in the 1950s. Visit New Orleans' Beauregard-Keyes house, where Civil War soldiers are said to still clash in the front hall. Plus ghost stories from around the world, a cross-cultural...