Original essays by Top Women Writers Julianna Baggott _ Curtis Sittenfeld _ Catherine Ingrassia _Elizabeth Crane Lara Vapnyar _ Lisa Carver _ Carina Chocano _ Rory Evans _ JenniferArmstrong _ Elise Mac Adam _ Janelle Brown _ Daisy de Villeneuve _Meghan Daum _ Amy Sohn _ Samina Ali _ Farah L. Miller _ Gina Zucker_ Kathleen Hughes _ Jacquelyn Mitchard _ Ruth Davis Konigsberg _Lori Leibovich _ Julie Powell _ Jill Eisenstadt _ Anne Carle _Amanda Eyre Ward _ Amy Bloom _ Dani Shapiro Anyone who is intimated by the prospect of planning a wedding willlaugh out loud and take solace in Altared. In this unexpected,heartwarming, thought-provoking collection, more than two dozen ofour most perceptive and entertaining writers offer a wide range oftakes on the modern wedding. It's all here. Fantasies.Realities. Fond memories. A few regrets. From planning it to doingit and everything in between.

A funny and moving story told through the letters of two womennurturing a friendship as they are separated by distance,experience, and time.

On the heels of her acclaimed book In an Instant, the #1 New York Times bestseller she wrote with her husband, ABCNews anchor Bob Woodruff, and with the same candor and charm, LeeWoodruff now chronicles her life as wife, mother, daughter, sister,and friend. Woodruff’s deeply personal and, at times, uproariouslyfunny stories highlight such universal topics as family, marriage,friends, and how life never seems to go as planned. From raisingteenagers (“Now with a boy and girl on the precipice of seriousadolescence, the bathroom door is sealed tighter than a governmentnuclear testing ground”) to how she copes with tragedy (“Swimmingsurrounds me in the velvet wet of a bluish green world where I candive deep down and sob with no trace”), Perfectly Imperfect: ALife in Progress is the testimonial of a woman who embraces thechaos of her surroundings, discovers the splendor of life’s flaws,and accepts that perfection is as impossible to achieve as aspotless kitchen floor.

Zarafa was a gentle 19th-century giraffe, a simple animalwhose life was dictated by the tumultuous times around her. Fromthe African savanna where she was caught and tamed as an infant,Zarafa was shipped down the Nile--along with the meat of her motherand several hundred human slaves--to the shores of theMediterranean Sea. From there she sailed on to France, a gift fromMuhammad Ali, the "Renaissance Barbarian" viceroy of Egypt,intended to distract King Charles X while Egyptian forces invadedGreece. As political ploy, it didn't work. But as ambassador froman exotic land, this odd animal captivated the French people foralmost two decades, as she lived out her life as part of the royalmenagerie. Michael Allin intertwines natural history with a brutal chapterin the history of civilization, augmenting the clarity of both.This story of one docile animal contrasts sharply with those of thehuman profiteers, warmongers, and interlopers who ultimately decideher fate. But Zarafa's otherworldly charm also he

A fascinating look at some fascinating people who show howdemocracy advances hand in hand with crime in Japan.--MarioPuzo In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., RobertWhiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspectiveon the economic miracle and near disaster that is modernJapan. Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former blackmarketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief whoturned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king ofRappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakesgame of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in whichhe thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers,who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist inTokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler whoalmost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose ownethnicity had to be kept secret. And here is the story of theintimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, itsf

The Ultimate Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Dorm Dorm life offers you a great chance to meet new people and trynew things. But leaving the comforts of home for the first time toenter the roommate-having, small-room-sharing,possibly-coed-bathroom-using world of the dorms can be overwhelmingand intimidating. The College Dorm Survival Guide offers expert advice and theinside scoop on: ? Choosing the right residence hall for you ? Getting along with your roommate (and handling conflict) ? Bathroom, laundry, and dining hall survival ? Dealing with stress, depression, and safety issues From avoiding the dreaded Freshman 15 to decorating your space,this informative and funny guide gives experts' advice oneverything you need to know to enjoy dorm living to thefullest.

Each woman has a special spiritual destiny, as unique andinalienable as the rhythms that govern her life. Maria Harristeaches women how to dance to the music of their own souls anddiscover the spiritual steps that can transform their lives.

Book De*ion The "unwritten" final chapter of Anne Frank: The Diary of a YoungGirl tells the story of the time between Anne Frank's arrest andher death through the testimony of six Jewish women who survivedthe hell from which Anne Frank never retumed. From Publishers Weekly With approximately 30% more material than the original 1947edition, revealing a more rebellious and complex narrator, the newedition of Frank's classic diary spent five weeks on PW'sbestseller list. From School Library Journal Lindwer presents the tran*s of six in-depth interviewsconducted in preparation for his film documentary, The Last SevenMonths of Anne Frank . Although "Lies Goosens," real name HannahElisabeth Pick-Goslar, will be the most familiar to readers of AnneFrank: The Diary of a Young Girl , each of these women'sfirst-person accounts is compelling. They relate their backgrounds,their capture, details of the concentration camp experience, andde*ions of the time immediately following liberation. Eachincludes her relationship

Finally, homeschoolers have a comprehensive guide to designinga homeschool curriculum, from one of the country's foremosthomeschooling experts. , Rebecca Rupp presents a structured plan toensure that your children will learn what they need to know whenthey need to know it, from preschool through high school. Based onthe traditional pre-K through 12th-grade structure, Home LearningYear by Year features: The integral subjects to be covered within each grade Standards for knowledge that should be acquired by your child ateach level Recommended books to use as texts for every subject Guidelines for the importance of each topic: which knowledge isessential and which is best for more expansive study based on yourchild's personal interests Suggestions for how to sensitively approach less academic subjects,such as sex education and physical fitness

"Buzz Aldrin relives the Magnificent Desolation of space, andthe soul-sucking depression that awaited back home." –Vanity Fair, “Hot Type” "An admirable account of an icon of the golden age of spaceflight." –Kirkus Reviews “Space fans, in particular, will cheer.” –Booklist “Aldrin presents a no-holds-barred account of how his celebrity,career and human weaknesses nearly destroyed his life….Thisinspiring story exhibits Aldrin as a different, perfectly humankind of hero, giving readers a sympathetic look at a man eclipsedby his own legend.” –Publishers Weekly “Buzz Aldrin relives the Magnificent Desolation of space, and thesoul-sucking depression that awaited back home." –Vanity Fair, “Hot Type” “Riveting reading.” –The Economist “Leads the field of new releases.The candid portrayal of hisearthly battles—often written with great humor—make this a cutabove the rest….Great holiday reading.”

For nearly a century, Kellogg, Idaho, was home to America’srichest silver mine, Sunshine Mine. Mining there, as everywhere,was not an easy life, but regardless of the risk, there wassomething about being underground, the lure of hitting a deep veinof silver. The promise of good money and the intense bonds offriendship brought men back year after year. Mining is about beinga man and a fighter in a job where tomorrow always brings the hopeof a big score. On May 2, 1972, 174 miners entered Sunshine Mine on their dailyquest for silver. Aboveground, safety engineer Bob Launhardt sat inhis office, filing his usual mountain of federal and statepaperwork. From his office window he could see the air shafts thatfed fresh air into the mine, more than a mile below the surface.The air shafts usually emitted only tiny coughs of exhaust; unlikedangerously combustible coal mines, Sunshine was a fireproofhardrock mine, nothing but cold, dripping wet stone. There weremany safety concerns at Sunshine, but fire wa

“Ben Macintyre’s rollicking, spellbinding Agent Zigzag blends the spy-versus- spy machinations of John le Carré with the high farce of EvelynWaugh.” —William Grimes, The New York Times A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Book of 2007 One of the Top 10 Best Books of 2007 ( EntertainmentWeekly ) New York Times Best of the Year Round-Up New York Times Editors’ Choice Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and aphilanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agentsBritain has ever produced. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty;inside the villain was a hero. The problem for Chapman, hisspymasters, and his lovers was to know where one persona ended andthe other began. Based on recently declassified files, AgentZigzag tells Chapman’s full story for the first time. It’s agripping tale of loyalty, love, treachery, espionage, and the thinand shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.

From the man who catapulted the Covenant with Black America to number one on the New York Times bestseller listcomes a searing memoir of poverty, ambition, pain andatonment. Tavis Smiley grew up in a family of thirteen in rural Indian,where money was scarce and the sight of other black faces evenscarcer. Always an outsider because of his race, economicbackground, and Pentecostal religious beliefs, he was sustained byhis family’s love. But one day his world was shattered when hisfather brutally beat him, sending him to the hospital and then intofoster care for a period of time. In What I Know for Sure ,Smiley recounts how he overcame his painful history and became oneof America’s most popular media figures.

The novelist Beverly Lowry was mourning her son’s death in ahit-and-run accident when she came across a newspaper story aboutKarla Faye Tucker, the infamous Houston murderer who was then ondeath row. The article captured Tucker’s innocent beauty, thestunning brutality of her crimes — committed with a pickaxe — andthe stories of her spiritual awakening on death row. Struck bythese apparent contradictions, Lowry found herself inexplicablydrawn to Tucker, who some ten years later would become the firstwoman to be executed in Texas since 1863. Lowry eventually began to visit Tucker in prison, and over thecourse of several years she listened to the tragic story of herlife before the murders and, in turn, told Karla Faye about her ownlife and the life and death of her son Peter. Crossed Over is amemoir of this time, a moving account of an unlikely but profoundand genuine friendship created in the confines of a visiting roomon death row. Now with a new foreword that recounts Tucker’s lastdays

Does assigning fifty math problems accomplish any more thanassigning five? Is memorizing word lists the best way to increasevocabulary—especially when it takes away from reading time? Andwhat is the real purpose behind those devilish dioramas? The time our children spend doing homework has skyrocketed inrecent years. Parents spend countless hours cajoling their kids tocomplete such assignments—often without considering whether or notthey serve any worthwhile purpose. Even many teachers are in thedark: Only one of the hundreds the authors interviewed and surveyedhad ever taken a course specifically on homework duringtraining. The truth, according to Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, is thatthere is almost no evidence that homework helps elementary schoolstudents achieve academic success and little evidence that it helpsolder students. Yet the nightly burden is taking a serious toll onAmerica’s families. It robs children of the sleep, play, andexercise time they need for prop

From the woman who became chairman of the flagship office ofthe largest advertising agency network in the world comes a wryreality check on how to get ahead and thrive in thetestosterone-driven business arena. Nina DiSesa is a master communicator, a ceiling crasher, and oneof the most successful women in the corporate world. She is also abig-time realist who has figured out that S M-seduction andmanipulation-is the secret to winning over (and surpassing) the bigguys. In Seducing the Boys Club, DiSesa shows that you can, infact, leave your male colleagues in the dust-but not by followingthe rules you learned in business school. By playing the roles of den mother, fraternity brother, littlesister, and hard-nosed boss, DiSesa navigated the choppy,macho-minded waters of the workplace. All the "bad boys" in herlife-and there are many-have provided a wealth of devilishlyamusing stories and cautionary tales that DiSesa is only too happyto pass on. Ah, revenge can be sweet, but the truth is that sh

A Step-by-Step Guide to Healing Your Heart and RebuildingYour Marriage Discovering that your husband has beenunfaithful can be emotionally devastating, leaving you reeling inpain and confusion. But take heart—this survival guide for womenoffers compassionate and practical solutions for coping with theaftermath of an affair. Drawing on their years of experience asprofessional therapists, authors Marcella Bakur Weiner and Armand DiMele explain how to heal the marriage bond andrestore trust between partners. Written with empathy andunderstanding, this book addresses such vital topics as: ·Coming to terms with the sense of loss and betrayal ·Coping with feelings of suspicion and the specter of "the otherwoman" ·Dealing with the children during and after the affair ·Understanding character traits of men who have affairs—and howdifferent women's personalities interact with them ·Finding the best sources of emotional support Also included are helpful exercises for self-healing andredeveloping mutual t

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLEBOOK In this exquisite book of personalreflections on a woman’s life as a child, wife, and mother, KathrynHarrison, “a writer of extraordinary gifts” (Tobias Wolff), recallsepisodes in her life, exploring how the experiences of childhoodrecur in memory, to be transformed and sometimes healed through thelives we lead as adults. At the heart of Seeking Rapture isthe notion that a woman’s journey is a continuous process oftransformation, an ongoing transcendence and re-creation ofself.

The island is nearly deserted, haunting, beautiful. Across aslip of ocean lies South Carolina. But for the handful of familieson Yamacraw island, America is a world away. For years the peoplehere lived proudly from the sea, but now its waters are not safe.Waste from industry threatens their very existence–unless, somehow,they can learn a new life. But they will learn nothing withoutsomeone to teach them, and their school has no teacher. Here is PAT CONROY’S extraordinary drama based on his ownexperience–the true story of a man who gave a year of his life toan island and the new life its people gave him.

"Fascinating, gossipy, entertaining. . . ." -- New York Times Book Review They are ten outstanding women of the century. Each had an aura,including Thelma Brenner, the first great dame her daughter everknew. Their lives were both gloriously individual and yet somehowuniversal. They were mighty warriors and social leaders, women ofaspiration who persevered. They lived through the Great Depressionand a world war. Circumstances did not defeat them. They played onBroadway and in Washington. They had glamour, style, andintelligence. They dressed up the world. "Vivid, intimate portraits . . . a splendid tribute to ten of thecentury's grandest, most powerful women." --Us "These women were our geishas, whispering in our ears to influenceall aspects of American life." --Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times "Delectable, classy . . . a runaway hit." --Liz Smith "An engrossing introduction to a way of life that's now extinct,for better or for worse." --Chicago Sun-Times

In twelve nonfiction tales, Hanna Krall reveals how the livesof World War II survivors are shaped in surprising ways by thetwists and turns of historical events. A paralytic Jewish womanstarts walking after her husband is suffocated by fellow Jewsafraid that his coughing would reveal their hiding place to theGermans. A young American man refuses to let go of the ghost of hishalf brother who died in the Warsaw ghetto. He never knew the boy,yet he learns Polish to communicate with his dybbuk. A high rankingGerman officer conceives of a plan to kill Hitler after witnessinga mass execution of Jews in Eastern Poland. Through Krall's adroit and journalistic style, her reader is throwninto a world where love, hatred, compassion, and indifferenceappear in places where we least expect them, illuminating theimplacable logic of the surreal. "It is precisely the difficult path [Krall] takes toward her topicthat has made some of these texts masterpieces." -- FrankfurterAllgemeine Zeitung (on Dancing at Other People's W