Quarterly Essay #50: On Women, Freedom and Misogyny

Anna Goldsworthy

$19.99 $18.00

Western women today have unprecedented freedom and power. In Australia we have a female prime minister and governor-general; women are at the forefront of almost every area of public life. Yet when Julia Gillard's misogyny speech ricocheted around the world, it clearly touched a nerve. Why? In the fiftieth Quarterly Essay, Anna Goldsworthy examines the world we've landed in after the gains of feminism. For young women in particular, it is both rewarding and confusing. What cultural messages do they receive about work and home, about sex and their bodies? Why do so many reject the feminist label? And why does pop culture wink at us with storylines featuring submissive women, from Mad Men to 50 Shades of Grey to the darker recesses of pornography? This is an original, often hilarious look at role models and available options in the age of social media and sexual frankness. With piercing insight, Goldsworthy lays bare the dilemmas of being a woman today and asks how women can truly become free agents.

Who Owns the Future?

Jaron Lanier

$45.00 $40.50

In the past, a revolution in production, such as the industrial revolution, generally increased the wealth and freedom of people. The digital revolution we are living through is different. Instead of leaving a greater number of us in excellent financial health, the effect of digital technologies - and the companies behind them - is to concentrate wealth, reduce growth, and challenge the livelihoods of an ever-increasing number of people. As the protections of the middle class disappear, washed away by crises in capitalism, what is being left in their place? And what else could replace them? Why is this happening, and what might we do about it?

Lanier shows how the new power paradigm operates, how it is conceived and controlled, and why it is leading to a collapse in living standards. Arguing that the 'information economy' ruins markets, he reminds us that markets should reward more people, not fewer. He shows us why the digital revolution means more corporations making money and avoiding risk by hiding value off their books, which means more financial risk for the rest of us.

From the inner workings of the 'sirenic servers' at the heart of the new power system, to an exploration of the meaning of mass unemployment events, the misuse of big data, and the deep and increasing erasure of human endeavour, Lanier explores the effects of this situation on democracy and individuals, and proposes a more human, humane reality, where risk and reward is shared equally, and the digital revolution creates opportunity for all.

The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting

The Honest Toddler

$19.99 $18.00

The toddler stage can be a rude awakening for parents, when a sweet infant morphs overnight into a mini-tyrant determined to make even a simple trip to the supermarket into a hellish and humiliating experience for all concerned. Just trying to convince your toddler to put on a shoe can feel like going to war. Now The Honest Toddler's wickedly funny guide to parenting will provide the answers every parent seeks, and the solutions every toddler craves. Who better to instruct parents on the needs of toddlers than a toddler himself? Covering the big questions - Who Does Mummy Belong To? How Can You Prevent Siblings? Sleep and Weaning Your Parents Off It - and with general advice on preferred toddler foods (ice cream and non-organic gummy bears), play-date etiquette (don't touch - just don't!), sleep training methods (hint: none) and the proper response to random aggression in the playground (embrace it: park justice is messy but swift), Honest Toddler has everything every parent needs to know to keep their little angel happy.

Pride and Prejudice and Kitties: A Cat-lover's Romp Through Jane Austen's Classic

Pamela Jane , Pamela Jane , Deborah Guyol

$22.95 $20.65

What if Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was told from a cat's point of view? On the heels of smash hits like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I Can Haz Cheeseburger, this hilarious mash-up by children's author Pamela Jane and photographer Deb-orah Guyol spins a fresh, quirky take on two of the things we just can't get enough of: classic cats and classic Jane. Pride and Prejudice and Kitties juxtaposes wacky photos of cats with the wicked humor of Jane Austen, and it's just in time for the 200-year anniversary of the publication of the original Pride and Prejudice. Soulful Mr. Darcy gazes at Elizabeth Bennet in fascination; hysterical Mrs. Bennet yowls that no one understands her; somnolent Mr. Hurst passes out on the sofa after dinner; arrogant Lady Catherine hisses at Elizabeth. Each photo includes a hilarious caption that goes along with the text of Pride and Prejudice, told from a feline perspective. Pride and Prejudice and Kitties is a book for cat-lovers, Austen-lovers, and people who love to laugh - in other words, just about everyone. The adorable meets the absurd!

Tour De France: The Good, the Bad and the Just Plain Weird

Paul Hansford

$24.95 $22.45

C'est bon! Bien sur! The Tour de France, the annual travelling circus that for more than a century has been the ultimate test of sporting endurance is an event full of highs and lows. Pain, deaths and horrific injuries. Joy, excitement and unbelievable achievements. Cheating, doping and scandals of every kind.

From the Alpe d'Huez to the streets of Paris, the peleton cycles its way around France and the athletes always face the greatest of challenges. But how does it all work, who are the good guys and the bad, and why do many fail?

For the millions of people who watch the Tour de France every year, the tactics can be something of a mystery: cyclists drop in and out of the lead, sprinters disappear only to reappear to win the stage, mountains destroy some riders and make others stars. It's the greatest show on two wheels.

Paul Hansford clarifies just what is going on and why. We learn the ins and outs of the language used, the people who have made it great, the current crop of potential winners ...and those that have brought it into disrepute. It is an insider's view, essential for any Tour de France follower.

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour De France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs

Tyler Hamilton , Daniel Coyle

$19.95 $17.95

Anyone who is a fan of the Tour de France marvels at the sheer level of endurance that is achieved by these cyclists over the two week spectacle. Each year the famous names are there once more, repeating the Herculean effort on the plains, through the village streets and over the mountains. And for a long time there was no name bigger than Lance Armstrong.

That all changed with the explosive news that the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) had stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles following Armstrong's announcement that he would no longer contest the doping charges levelled against him, due to the personal cost to his family of the ongoing fight to clear his name. Feeling hurt and unjustly vilified, Lance lashed out at any, like Tyler Hamilton, who dared doubt his authenticity.

Finally the facade that was 'Lance Armstrong - Cycling Superhero' fell away when he admitted in his interview with Oprah Winfrey that he was actually 'Lance Armstrong - Cycling Supercheat'.

In 2004, Daniel Coyle was writing his bestselling book, Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force (the description for which now makes interesting reading) and had met Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong's teammate on US Postal. Five years later, Hamilton and Coyle met again but for a vastly different purpose. Hamilton finally wanted to come clean, about everything: the doping, the lying, his decade spent running from the truth. Hamilton tells his story - and cycling's story - in bare knuckle detail, never sparing himself in the process. This book pulls back the curtain to reveal a secret world within professional cycling.

Where this leaves the sport is for your speculation. Many will rely on a fragile faith that their hero's achievements are authentic. Others will take the view that the pursuit of glory and financial success is such that drugs are simply the tools of the trade and their illegality is merely an inconvenience.

With the reinstatement of Matt White, also a former cycling drug cheat, back into the management of the Orica GreenEdge team, there may yet be a place for Lance Armstrong in the administration of the sport. Perhaps the doors of the International Cycling Union will swing open. And Bernie Madoff can manage everyone's super funds.

Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis

Leo Hollis

$29.99 $27.00

The 21st century will be the age of the city. Already over 50% of the world population live in urban centres and over the coming decades this percentage will increase - with consequences for us all. But this does not mean that things will only get worse. In fact our urban future might just be something to look forward to. Blending anecdote, fact and first hand encounters - from exploring the slums of Mumbai, to visiting roof-top farms in Brooklyn and attending secret dinner parties in Paris, to riding the bus in Latin America - Leo Hollis reveals that we have misunderstood how cities work for too long. Upending long-held assumptions and challenging accepted wisdom, he explores: why cities can never be rational, organised places; how we can walk in a crowd without bumping into people, and if we can design places that make people want to kiss; whether we have the right solution to the problem of the slums; how ants, slime mould and traffic jams can make us rethink congestion. And above all, the unexpected reasons why living in the city can make us fitter, richer, smarter, greener, more creative - and, perhaps, even happier. Cities Are Good for You introduces dreamers, planners, revolutionaries, writers, scientists, architects, slum-dwellers and emperors. It is shaped by the idea that cities are the greatest social experiment in human history, built for people, and by the people.

Wired for Culture: The Natural History of Human Cooperation

Mark Pagel

$22.99 $20.70

What explains the staggering diversity of cultures in the world? Why are there so many languages, even within small areas? Why do we rejoice in rituals and wrap ourselves in flags? In Wired for Culture Mark Pagel, the world's leading expert on human development, reveals how our facility for culture is the key to what makes us who we are. Shedding light on everything from art, morality and affection to jealousy, self-interest and prejudice, Pagel shows that we developed culture - cooperating together and passing on knowledge - in order to survive. Our minds are hardwired for culture, and it still determines how we speak, who we love, why we kill and what we think today.

Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now

Douglas Rushkoff

$29.99 $27.00

Rushkoff weaves together seemingly disparate events and trends into a rich, nuanced portrait of how life in the eternal present has affected our biology, behavior, politics, and culture. He explains how the rise of zombie apocalypse fiction signals our intense desire for an ending; how the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street form two sides of the same post-narrative coin; how corporate investing in the future has been replaced by futile efforts to game the stock market in real time; why social networks make people anxious and email can feel like an assault.

Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good

James Davies

$24.99 $22.50

Why is psychiatry such big business? Why are so many psychiatric drugs prescribed - 47 million antidepressant prescriptions in the UK alone last year - and why, without solid scientific justification, has the number of mental disorders risen from 106 in 1952 to 374 today? The everyday sufferings and setbacks of life are now 'medicalised' into illnesses that require treatment - usually with highly profitable drugs. Psychological therapist James Davies uses his insider knowledge to illustrate for a general readership how psychiatry has put riches and medical status above patients' well-being. The charge sheet is damning: negative drug trials routinely buried; antidepressants that work no better than placebos; research regularly manipulated to produce positive results; doctors, seduced by huge pharmaceutical rewards, creating more disorders and prescribing more pills; and ethical, scientific and treatment flaws unscrupulously concealed by mass-marketing. Cracked reveals for the first time the true human cost of an industry that, in the name of helping others, has actually been helping itself.

The Landgrabbers: The New Fight Over Who Owns the Earth

Fred Pearce

$19.95 $17.95

What do City speculators, Gulf oil sheikhs, Chinese entrepreneurs, big-name financiers like George Soros and industry titans like Richard Branson buy when they go shopping? Land.

Parcels the size of Wales are being snapped up across the plains of Africa, the paddy fields of Southeast Asia, the jungles of the Amazon and the prairies of Eastern Europe. Why? The money men will tell you that their investments will bring an end to world famine. But is this more about fat profits and food security for the few?

Fred Pearce became aware of this hidden revolution taking place around the world: the buying up of vast swaths of land by foreign entities from beneath its occupiers. In this brilliant piece of investigative journalism Pearce moves from boardroom and trading floor to goat-herder's hut and flooded forest. The result is an eye-opening, extraordinarily important examination of the most profound ethical and economic issue in the world today.

The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution

Faramerz Dabhoiwala

$22.99 $20.70

Nowadays we believe that consenting adults have the freedom to do what they like with their own bodies. We publicize and celebrate sex; we discuss it endlessly; and, we are obsessed with the sex lives of celebrities. We think it wrong that in other cultures people suffer for their sexual orientation, that women are treated as second-class citizens, or that adulterers are put to death. Yet until quite recently our own society was like this too.

For most of western history, all sex outside marriage was illegal, and the church, the state, and ordinary people all devoted huge efforts to suppressing and punishing it. This was a central feature of Christian civilization, one that had steadily grown in importance since the early middle ages. In this brilliant, ground-breaking book, Faramerz Dabhoiwala describes in dramatic detail how, between 1600 and 1800, this entire world view was shattered by revolutionary new ideas - that sex is a private matter; that morality cannot be imposed by force; and, that men are more lustful than women. Henceforth, the private lives of both sexes were to be endlessly broadcast and debated, in a rapidly expanding universe of public media: newspapers, pamphlets, journals, novels, poems, and prints.

The Origins of Sex shows that the creation of this modern culture of sex was a central part of the Enlightenment, intertwined with the era's major social, political and intellectual trends. It helped create a new model of Western civilization, whose principles of privacy, equality, and freedom of the individual remain distinctive to this day.

For God, Country & Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It

Mark Pendergrast

$28.99 $26.10

From its invention as a cocaine-laced patent medicine in the Gilded Age to its globe-drenching ubiquity as the ultimate symbol of consumer capitalism in the twenty-first century, Coca-Cola's dramatic history unfolds as the ultimate business saga. In this fully revised and expanded edition of For God, Country & Coca-Cola, Mark Pendergrast looks at America's cultural, social, and economic history through the bottom of a green glass Coke bottle and tells the captivating story of the world's most recognizable consumer product.

The Revolution Was Televised: From Buffy to Breaking Bad - the People and the Shows That Changed TV Drama Forever

Alan Sepinwall

$27.99 $25.20

Here celebrated TV critic Alan Sepinwall chronicles the remarkable transformation of the small screen over the past fifteen years. Focusing on twelve innovative television dramas that changed the medium and the culture at large forever, including The Sopranos, Oz, The Wire, Deadwood, The Shield, Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, Sepinwall weaves his trademark incisive criticism with highly entertaining reporting about the real-life characters and conflicts behind the scenes.

Drawing on interviews with writers David Chase, David Simon, David Milch, Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and Vince Gilligan, among others, along with the network executives responsible for green-lighting these groundbreaking shows, The Revolution Was Televised is the story of a new golden age in TV, one that's as rich with drama and thrills as the very shows themselves.

Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away

Eric G. Wilson

$19.99 $18.00

Whether we admit it or not, we're fascinated by evil. Dark fantasies, morbid curiosities, Schadenfreude: as conventional wisdom has it, these are the symptoms of our wicked side, and we succumb to them at our own peril. But we're still compelled to look whenever we pass a grisly accident on the highway, and there's no slaking our thirst for gory entertainments like horror movies and police procedurals. What makes these spectacles so irresistible? In Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck , the scholar Eric G. Wilson sets out to discover the source of our attraction to the gruesome, drawing on the findings of biologists, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers, theologians, and artists. A professor of English literature and a lifelong student of the macabre, Wilson believes there's something nourishing in darkness. To repress death is to lose the feeling of life, he writes. A closeness to death discloses our most fertile energies. His examples are legion and startling in their diversity. Citing everything from elephant graveyards and Susan Sontag's On Photography to the Tiger Woods sex scandal and Steel Magnolias, Wilson finds heartening truths wherever he confronts death. In Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck , the perverse is never far from the sublime. The result is a powerful and delightfully provocative defence of what it means to be human - for better and for worse.

The Stressed Sex: Uncovering the Truth About Men, Women, and Mental Health

Daniel Freeman , Jason Freeman

$32.95 $29.65

Every day millions of people struggle with psychological and emotional problems. The Stressed Sex sets out to answer a simple, but crucial, question: are rates of psychological disorder different for men and women? The implications - for individuals and society alike - are far-reaching, and to date, this important issue has been largely ignored in all the debates raging about gender differences. Now Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman present a ground-breaking combination of epidemiological analysis and evidence-based science to get to the bottom of what's really going on. They discover which mental health problems are more common in men, and which are seen most often in women. And, in a finding that is sure to provoke lively debate, they reveal that, in any given year, women experience higher rates of psychological disorder than men. Why might this be the case? The Stressed Sex explains current scientific thinking on the possible reasons - and considers what might be done to address the imbalance.

Reaching Out: Messages of Hope

UNICEF , Mariah Kennedy

$19.99 $18.00

As the UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador, Mariah created Reaching Out: Messages of Hope as a fundraising project and all royalties will be donated to UNICEF. Heartfelt and inspiring, this book contains stories, poems and illustrations that have been donated by some of the most world's renowned and respected authors and illustrators, including Graeme Base, Jackie French, Michael Leunig, Bruce Whatley, Michael Morpurgo, Andy Griffiths, Anna Perera, Libby Gleeson, Melina Marchetta, Alison Lester, Morris Gleitzman and many more.

The Society of Timid Souls: Or, How to be Brave

Polly Morland

$27.99 $25.20

It is an inspiring, revelatory and often tear-jerking investigation of courage in all its forms, from battlefields and bullrings to earthquakes and opera houses. In 1942, a pianist from Manhattan convened the inaugural meeting of an extraordinary new fraternity, which promised to inoculate stage fright sufferers against the terrors that afflicted them. The venture was an astonishing success. They called it The Society of Timid Souls. Seventy years later, as global anxiety levels are higher than ever before, courage has become a virtue in crisis. We are all Timid Souls now. So Polly Morland reconvenes the Society, and sets out on a fact-finding mission. From the woman who saved her baby by performing her own caesarean section, to the surfer who took on a murderous sea, by way of freedom fighters, public speakers and emergency services workers, she seeks the truth about what true courage looks - and feels - like. From frontline to skyscraper, from mountain peak to suburban street, hospital ward to blazing inferno, the journey takes in philosophy, literature, propaganda and popular culture, as Morland sets out to discover what courage really means, and how a Timid Soul may become a brave one.

Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps

Kelly Williams Brown

$19.99 $18.00

If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way. Just because you don't feel like an adult doesn't mean you can't act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown's popular blog, ADULTING makes the scary, confusing real world approachable, manageable-and even conquerable. This guide will help you to navigate the stormy Sea of Adulthood so that you may find safe harbor in Not Running Out of Toilet Paper Bay, and along the way you will learn: What to check for when renting a new apartment -not just the nearby bars, but the faucets and stove, among other things. When a busy person can find time to learn more about the world- It involves the intersection of NPR and hair-straightening. How to avoid hooking up with anyone in your office - Imagine your coworkers having plastic, featureless doll crotches. It helps. The secret to finding a mechanic you love - Or, more realistically, one that will not rob you blind. From breaking up with frenemies to fixing your toilet, this way fun comprehensive handbook is the answer for aspiring grown-ups of all ages.

Happiness

Daniel M. Haybron

$14.95 $13.45

Happiness is an everyday term in our lives, and most of us strive to be happy. But defining happiness can be difficult. In this Very Short Introduction, Dan Haybron considers the true nature of happiness. By examining what it is, assessing its subjective values, its importance in our lives, and how we can (and should) pursue it, he considers the current thinking on happiness, from psychology to philosophy. Illustrating the diverse routes to happiness, Haybron reflects on the growing influence of secular Western ideas in the contemporary pursuit of a good life, and considers the influence of social context on our satisfaction and well-being.

Living With It: A Survivor's Guide to Panic Attacks

Bev Aisbett

$14.99 $13.50

Panic attacks - approximately 5% of the population will experience them at some time or another. The dread of having an attack - they seemingly come out of nowhere - transforms the ordinary world of everyday life into a nightmare of anxiety and suffering. Author Bev Aisbett, a survivor of Panic Syndrome, has three basic messages: You can beat this, you are not alone and you will recover. Originally published in 1993, this calm, commonsense guide has helped many thousands of panic attack sufferers to overcome their fears. Bev Aisbett explains how panic disorders develop and how to recognise the symptoms, and covers topics such as changing negative thought patterns, seeking professional help and, ultimately, the skills for recovery. Now fully revised and updated, Living With It provides much-needed reassurance and support, showing the way out of the maze of panic with humour and the insight of first-hand experience.

The Making of Men: Raising Boys to be Happy, Healthy and Successful

Arne Rubinstein , Steve Biddulph

$24.99 $22.50

Do you ever worry about your teenage son and what will become of him? Do you want to see him happy, successful and excited about life? Are you alarmed about the influence of technology on his life? Do you wonder how the enthusiastic and energetic kid who made you laugh, drove you nuts with questions and was into everything, seemingly overnight turned into a grunting teenager, unwilling or unable to communicate? If these questions concern you, or if youve answered yes to any of them, this book is for you. Father of two boys Dr Arne Rubinstein draws on his thirty years experience working with teenagers. He reveals what happens to boys during adolescence, what you can do about it as a parent or carer, how you help them stay out of trouble, and what you need to do to ensure they grow up to be a happy, healthy and well-adjusted men. Packed with insights, practical tips and honest, no-nonsense wisdom.

The Newborn Baby Manual

Renee Kam

$29.95 $26.95

Having a baby changes your life and new parents need to be prepared! This new handbook covers everything you need to know about your baby - feeding, sleeping and understanding their behaviour. The author is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, a physiotherapist with an interest in women's health, a mother of two girls and a volunteer community breast-feeding counsellor. She has been conducting private antenatal baby education classes since 2008. This book provides accurate, up-to-date and in-depth antenatal education for expectant parents in the areas of breastfeeding, baby sleep and baby behaviour. Short, easy-to-read chapters make it simple for sleep-deprived new parents to get the information they need. Includes detailed chapters on breastfeeding, settling and sleeping.

The Dukan Diet Desserts and Patisseries

Pierre Dukan

$29.99 $27.00

Losing weight on The Dukan Diet doesn't have to mean giving up the foods that you love. With The Dukan Diet Desserts and Patisseries you can follow the bestselling 4-step programme and still eat delicious sweets and puddings. Containing100 indulgent recipes which can even be eaten during the all-important weight-loss phases, The Dukan Diet Desserts and Patisseries will help you incorporate The Dukan Diet into your life so you can lose the weight you want like millions of others have around the world. Devised by Dr Pierre Dukan, a French medical doctor who has spent his career helping people to lose weight permanently, The Dukan Diet is the culmination of thirty-five years' clinical experience. Beyond its immense success in France, The Dukan Diet has been adopted by more than 50 countries and translated into 25 languages. Many international observers agree that this is the method most likely to put a stop to the world's weight problems.

The Fast Diet Recipe Book: 150 Delicious, Calorie-controlled Meals to Make Your Fasting Days Easy

Mimi Spencer , Dr. Sarah Shenker , Mimi Spencer

$24.99 $22.50

FOLLOWING THE NO 1 BESTSELLING FAST DIET, this fabulous cook book offers 180 carefully crafted, nutritious, low-calorie recipes to enable you to incorporate the 5:2 weight-loss system into your daily life. Ranging from simple breakfasts to leisurely suppers, the recipes are all expertly balanced and calorie-counted by Spurs and Chelsea nutritionist Dr Sarah Schenker designed to fill you up and stave off hunger. There are also detailed menu plans and plenty of encouraging tips, including kitchen-cupboard essentials, the latest nutritional advice and a whole section of speedy meals for busy days. This book offers a groundbreaking companion guide to the Fast Diet. You will never have to worry about planning your Fast Days again.

Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis: Real Life Stories of Hope and Inspiration

George Jelinek , Karen Law

$29.99 $27.00

A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis conjures up images of wheelchairs and a shortened life, but in fact it's possible to regain mobility and make a recovery. These deeply moving life stories of twelve people from around the world offer real hope to people with MS everywhere. These determined women and men have been able to halt the progression of the disease and recover mobility by making significant lifestyle changes including diet, sunshine, meditation, exercise, and for some, using drug therapy. Based on extended interviews, these stories offer an insight into the different journeys to recovery. They also highlight the challenges faced by people with different types of MS and at different stages in the progression of the disease.

A Beastly Menagerie: Sir Pilkington-Smythe's Marvelous Collection of Strange and Unusual Creatures

Sir Pilkington-Smythe , Pilkington-Smythe, Sir

$17.95 $16.15

A modern-day bestiary of the most incredible animals the world has ever seen - with 200 full-color illustrations. Our planet is a writhing mass of wondrous life, positively popping at the seams with peculiar creatures. Life has wriggled its way into every conceivable nook and cranny, and nature has belched out organisms into even the most inhospitable environments. A Beastly Menagerie is a compendium of 100 of these most curious of creatures, from beasts that can fit on a pinhead and survive a saunter into space, to sea creatures just waiting for an excuse to smash a ship to smithereens. And let's not forget to mention the remarkable Jesus Christ lizard, the bone-eating snot flower, the pink fairy armadillo, and the zombie fly. This beautifully illustrated collection will delight and bedazzle fans of the amazing animal kingdom in equal measure. Narrated by the affable eccentric Sir Pilkington-Smythe and assisted by his cronies at The Proceedings of the Ever So Strange, each entry is an enlightening and marvelous foray into our world and all its wonders . . . topped off with a soupcon of silliness. An excerpt Sharks are pretty pleased with themselves, and so they should be. You see, they are basically rippling slabs of muscle in gunmetal grey, with row upon row of huge razor-sharp teeth--awesome eating machines that have remained unchanged for millennia. . . . Of course, some sharks don't look so tough. Think of the bizarre hammerhead, goblin, and frilled sharks. Not that they're to be trifled with. And then there's the cookie cutter shark, a sniveling little guttersnipe who looks more like a fat lady's arm holding a kitchen utensil than the pinnacle of predatory evolution.

Excuses, Excuses: I am Unable to Come in to the Office Today...

Lisa Swerling , Ralph Lazar

$14.99 $13.50

Most people will admit to telling the odd white lie in order to wangle a day off work, but only a master excuse-maker could conceive of alibis including milking a walrus, contracting 'osmosis' and FOHP (Fear of Having Peaked) - all of which, and more, are presented in this surreal and off -the-wall book! CAUTION: Not recommended for use in actual workplace scenarios.

Extinct for a Reason: A Field Guide to Failimals and Evolosers

Scott Cooney , Aaron Adler

$14.99 $13.50

Dawn in the Cenozoic Era. The earth is lush and green. The primordial ancestors of many of the animals we know today roam free. Look-there's Combover Eagle, surveying the earth from his aerial view! You can see his thin strands of hair blowing in the wind as he searches for food. Off in the distance, Pleather Cow creaks convincingly across the plains, his oh-so-realistic exterior blending almost effortlessly with the herd. Suddenly the canopy bursts to life! It's Feral Poodle-awakening the ancient forest with his terrifying yelps for sustenance. The fossil record is littered with examples of animal adaptations that eventually fell by the wayside-of failed organisms that briefly but valiantly spread their misguided wings, lamentable fins, or unfortunate flagellum. Yet all these animals, while ultimately weeded out of the evolutionary chain, helped pave the way for the creatures we know and love today. You could fill a book with animal species that came to an abrupt end, bowing to nature's fickle, ever-changing demands. And so we did. Before there was Darwin, before there was man's best friend, there were...Failimals.

The Old Castle's Secret (Walt Disney's Donald Duck)

Carl Barks

$43.95 $39.55

With this volume, The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library loops back to Barks's earlier days, collecting the entirety of Barks's (astounding) 1948 output. The title story, The Old Castle's Secret, is notable not just for being the first full-length 32-page adventure instigated by Scrooge McDuck (in his second-ever appearance), but for featuring some of Barks's spookiest, lushest settings in old Clan McDuck castle of Dismal Downs. The other long story, The Sheriff of Bullet Valley, plunks Donald and the nephews in the Wild West, with Donald as an overconfident deputy having to deal with some high-tech rustlers. The book also includes the less-known In Darkest Africa, originally published in a giveaway and unreleased for decades. This volume also features an even 10 of Barks's dynamic Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 10-pagers, including Wintertime Wager (the first appearance of a not-yet-lucky-but-still-obnoxious Gladstone Gander); Spoil the Rod (in which the exquisitely named educational professor Pulpheart Clabberhead is brought in to help tame the nephews); Rocket Race to the Moon (a rare full-on adventure--interplanetary, no less--in the short form); Gladstone Returns and Links Highjinks (two more Gladstone yarns); and five more stories... plus a half-dozen hilarious one-page gags. Of course, once again all the stories have been shot from crisp originals, then re-colored (and printed) to match, for the first time since their original release over 60 years ago, the colorful yet soft hues of the originals--and of course the book is rounded off with essays about Barks, the Ducks, and these specific stories by Barks experts from all over the world.

We Won't Back Down: On the Road with Orica-Greenedge

Rupert Guinness

$39.99 $36.00

The story of the first year of Australia's first professional cycling team told through the images of the photographers who have followed the team since its launch, with words from Australia's foremost cycling journalist.

With major wins in the bag from its first year of racing, Orica-GreenEDGE, Australia's first professional men and women's international road cycling team, has already made its mark at the highest levels of international competition. This is the story of that year as told through the images of the photographers who have followed the team since its launch, with words from Rupert Guinness, Australia's foremost cycling journalist. Taking readers into the heart of the team, this behind the scenes portrait records the highs and lows of the inaugural year, the very special team personality, and the races won and lost. Big, beautiful and revealing, We Won't Back Down is a book for every Australian cycling fan.

About the Author

Rupert Guinness is a senior sports writer for the Sydney Morning Herald and Australia's leading cycling writer.

We Won't Back Down: On the Road with Orica-Greenedge by Rupert Guinness

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