Teresa, Judy and Nancyare under the spell of smoking Crack Cocaine. If youve ever been addicted to the pleasurable, but devastating narcotic you personally know how hard it is to kick or escape the destructive habit of using the drug.Those who have loved ones that have succumbed to the drug will understand why they behaved the way they did when they were using one of the most popular and dangerous substances of our day.Trevor Karp is a major dealer in the s...

A vibrant exploration of the world’s newest language—where it came from, how it works, and where it’s going.We are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, our sex lives, and more. But emoji’s impact has never been explored in full. In this rollicking tech and pop culture history, Keith Houston follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in the 2000s, and considers emoji’s ever-expanding lexicon. Named for the ...

“An absolutely fascinating blend of history, design, sociology, and cultural poetics—highly recommended.”—Maria Popova, Brain PickingsA charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)—which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bibl...

"A masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume." —Clea Simon, Boston GlobeIn The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus s...

**A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice“[A] lively, entertaining history.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors' ChoiceThe hidden history of the pocket calculator—a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon—and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life.**Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify math. Pock...

A “must-read” (Vincent Rijmen) nuts-and-bolts explanation of cryptography from a leading expert in information security.Despite its reputation as a language only of spies and hackers, cryptography plays a critical role in our everyday lives. Though often invisible, it underpins the security of our mobile phone calls, credit card payments, web searches, internet messaging, and cryptocurrencies—in short, everything we do online. Increasingly, it also runs in the back...

50 Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories 5 from the 1800s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. More than 24 hours of vintage science fiction. These science fiction short stories were written by some of the most acclaimed, successful and influential authors of the time including, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg, Voltaire, Alfred Bester, Clifford D. Simak, Richard Matheson, Murray Leinster, H. G. Wells, Fredric Brown, Donald A. Woll...

The chronicle of Tennessee Williams and James Laughlin’s unlikely yet enduring literary and personal relationship.In December 1942, two guests at a Lincoln Kirstein mixer bonded over their shared love of Hart Crane’s poetry. One of them was James Laughlin, the founder of a small publishing company called New Directions, which he had begun only seven years earlier as a sophomore at Harvard. The other was a young playwright named Thomas Lanier Williams, or "Tennessee...

Vintage Sci-Fi 10 - 22 Classic Science Fiction Short Stories from Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Leigh Brackett and moreThe Moon That Vanished by Leigh BrackettThe Visitor by Ray BradburyFlowering Evil by Margaret St. ClairThe Magnificent Possession by Isaac AsimovThe Shipshape Miracle by Clifford D. SimakEverest by Isaac AsimovThe Last Drive by Carl JacobiThe Blonde From Barsoo...

"An engrossing tale of obsession, adventure and scientific reasoning." —Betty Ann Kevles, Los Angeles TimesIn the winter of 1938, a fishing boat by chance dragged from the Indian Ocean a fish thought extinct for 70 million years. It was a coelacanth, which thrived concurrently with dinosaurs and pterodactyls—an animal of major importance to those who study the history of vertebrate life.Living Fossil describes the life and habitat of the c...

A riveting biography of Keith Haring that centers his life, politics, and activism around twelve of his most significant paintings.As an artist and activist, one theme remained a constant throughout Keith Haring’s life: rebellion. In this young adult biography, acclaimed author Michael G. Long examines Haring’s upbringing and career through this lens: hosting queer people and people of color at high-art gallery openings; refusing to use mediums and art styles that ...

For a lucky few, light conversation at parties and social events is a breeze. For the rest of us, there is Carol Fleming (bestselling author of It's the Way You Say It), who breaks even the shortest bit of small talk into an understandable process that anyone can master.Much of your personal success hinges on the effectiveness of your personal communication skills. Whether or not new doors are opened to you may depend on how well you can meet one of life's most frustrating social c...