The "witty and accessible" bestseller by the Atlantic Monthly editor who rules on linguistic disputes ( San Francisco Chronicle).Atlantic Monthly senior editor Barbara Wallraff first began answering grammar questions on AOL in the 1990s, and the site's success soon morphed into a regular magazine feature. In Word Court, Wallraff moves beyond her column to preside over common and uncommon cases, establishing rules for such issues a...

A clever compendium of newly minted words for everyday use, based on the popular column in The Atlantic.How many times have you searched for a word that means just what you want to express, yet failed to find anything suitable? Most of us, it turns out, lead lives rife with experiences, people, and things that have no names. Word Fugitives comes to the rescue, supplying hundreds of inspired words coined or redefined to meet these everyday needs.

The remarkable story of Gudrid, the female explorer who sailed from Iceland to the New World a millennium ago.Five hundred years before Columbus, a Viking woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the known world. She landed in the New World and lived there for three years, giving birth to a baby before sailing home. Or so the Icelandic sagas say. Even after archaeologists found a Viking longhouse in Newfoundland, no one believed that the details of Gudrid's story ...

"Honest, transparent, and realistic . . . His approach offers insights, advice, and sensible strategies to stop procrastinating and start writing." —Neil Foote, Principal Lecturer, Mayborn School of JournalismIn his debut title, Write Like You Mean It, award-winning journalist and content writer Steve Gamel dives into his best advice for writers that he has gathered over the years. With stories from his early years and frequent foibles as a journalist, Game...

"A searing memoir-meets-manifesto . . . [arguing] that society needs to radically reframe the crime of rape and how we think about survival." ―Gabrielle Korn, author of Yours for the TakingLonglisted for the 2020 National Book Award for NonfictionTime 's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020Publishers Weekly , Best Books of 2020

A Fields medalist recounts his lifelong effort to uncover the geometric shape—the Calabi-Yau manifold—that may store the hidden dimensions of our universe.Harvard geometer Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world's most distinguished mathematici...

A peek inside the writerly testing grounds of Sue Grafton, Kim Stafford, Maureen Stanton, and othersThis collection of essays by well-established professional writers explores how their notebooks serve as their studios and workshops—places to collect, to play, and to make new discoveries with language, passions, and curiosities. For these diverse writers, the journal also serves as an ideal forum to develop their writing voice, whether crafting fiction, nonfiction,...

Good writers follow the rules. Great writers know the rules—and follow their instincts!Finding the right words, in the right order, matters—whether you're a student embarking on an essay, a job applicant drafting your cover letter, an employee composing an email…even a (hopeful) lover writing a text. Do it wrong and you just might get an F, miss the interview, lose a client, or spoil your chance at a second date.Do it right, and the world is yours.

"Filled with heart, humor and hope" a inspiring memoir on living with depression from the acclaimed mental health podcast Depresh Mode with John Moe ( People ).For years John Moe, critically-acclaimed public radio personality struggled with depression; it plagued his family and claimed the life of his brother in 2007. As Moe came to terms with his own illness, he began to see similar patterns of behavior and coping mechani...

"A scholarly, detailed history of how the Mongols created the greatest landlocked empire in history" ( Midwest Book Review).The Mongols created the greatest landlocked empire known to history. It was an empire created and sustained by means of conquest. Initially an insignificant tribal leader, Genghis Khan gradually increased his power, overcoming one rival after another. After he had subjugated all tribes of Inner Asia, he struck southward into China and ...

"A wonderful blend of substance and snark—both a useful reference and a fun (yes, fun) read."—Mignon Fogarty, New York Times-bestselling author of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better WritingQ. Is it happy medium or happy median?A. The idiom is happy medium, but I like the image of commuters taking refuge from road rage on the happy median.Every month, tens of thousands of self-declared word nerds conver...

A descriptive compendium of just about everything we eat and how we cook it—selected as "one of the greatest cookbooks of all time" ( Waitrose Food Illustrated).Arranged alphabetically from Abalone to Zampone, Cook's Encyclopedia covers the majority of foods and processes used in cooking. Hundreds of ingredients are described, with English and foreign synonyms and scientific names; recipes are given in many cases to illustrate the use of the foods...