How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques Steven Raichlen  
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Steven Raichlen is America's grilling authority. He is the author of The Barbecue! Bible, winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award, and Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades. Esquire calls him the master griller. The New Yorker writes, For aspiring gourmets of the grill . . . there is only one book: The Barbecue! Bible.

Now Steven Raichlen's written the bible behind The Barbecue! Bible. A full-color, photograph-by-photograph, step-by-step technique book, HOW TO GRILL gets to the core of the grilling experience by showing and telling exactly how it's done. With more than 1,000 photographs and lively writing, here are over 100 techniques, from how to set up a three-tiered fire to how to grill a prime rib, a porterhouse, a pork tenderloin, or a chicken breast. There are techniques for smoking ribs, cooking the perfect burger, rotisserieing a whole chicken, barbecuing a fish; for grilling pizza, shellfish, vegetables, tofu, fruit, and s'mores. Bringing the techniques to life are over 100 all-new recipes-Beef Ribs with Chinese Spices, Grilled Side of Salmon with Mustard Glaze, Prosciutto-Wrapped, Rosemary-Grilled Scallops-and hundreds of inside tips.

0761120149
Ender's Game (Ender Quartet) Orson Scott Card  
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Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as "buggers," Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender. Twists, surprises and interesting characters elevate this novel into status as a bona fide page turner. It captured the Nebula and Hugo Awards.

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Playing For Pizza: A Novel John Grisham  
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Playing for Pizza: A Q&A with John Grisham

Q: American football in Italy seems like an unlikely subject for a John Grisham novel. What was the inspiration for Playing for Pizza?

A: Three years ago when I was in Bologna researching "The Broker", I discovered American football. One of my guides in the area played football for the Bologna Warriors for 10 years. I couldn't believe that American football actually existed there, but the more I heard about it the more intrigued I became.

Q: There is some great football writing in this novel. What kind of research was involved in capturing how this American institution is played in small town Italy?

A: The only way to research the book was to go to Parma and watch a game. The coach is an American who played at Illinois State, and he proved to be extremely valuable. I met many of the Italian players and the story simply unfolded.

Q: Speaking of research, you write lovingly of Italian food and wine in this book. What's your idea of the perfect Italian meal?

A: First course: prosicutto and melon; second course: stuffed tortellini; third course: roasted stuffed capon, all served with a great Barolo wine.

Q: Without giving away too much of the plot, your protagonist falls in love by the novel's end. Did you know when you started writing that Rick would get the girl?

A: Of course.

Q: You have a new legal thriller coming in January 2008. Can you give us any hints about what to expect?

A: I really don't like to talk about a book until it's finished. Sorry. But it will not be another work of non-fiction, nor will it be about football. Lots of lawyers in the next one.

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The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide Douglas Adams  
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It's safe to say that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyis one of the funniest science fiction novels ever written. Adams spoofs many core science fiction tropes: space travel, aliens, interstellar war—stripping away all sense of wonder and repainting them as commonplace, even silly.

This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's destruction. Then in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur and his new friends travel to the end of time and discover the true reason for Earth's existence. In Life, the Universe, and Everything, the gang goes on a mission to save the entire universe. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fishrecounts how Arthur finds true love and "God's Final Message to His Creation." Finally, Mostly Harmlessis the story of Arthur's continuing search for home, in which he instead encounters his estranged daughter, who is on her own quest. There's also a bonus short story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe," more of a vignette than a full story, which wraps up this completist's package of the Don't Panic chronicles. As the series progresses, its wackier elements diminish, but the satire of human life and foibles is ever present. —Brooks Peck

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On the Banks of Plum Creek Laura Ingalls Wilder  
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The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as they leave their little house on the prairie and travel in their covered wagon to Minnesota. Here they settle in a little house made of sod beside the banks of beautiful Plum Creek. Soon Pa builds a wonderful new little house with real glass windows and a hinged door. Laura and her sister Mary go to school, help with the chores, and fish in the creek. At night everyone listens to the merry music of Pa's fiddle. Misfortunes come in the form of a grasshopper plague and a terrible blizzard, but the pioneer family works hard together to overcome these troubles.

And so continues Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story of a pioneer girl and her family. The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier past and a heartwarming, unforgettable story.

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Xenocide Orson Scott Card  
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Orson Scott Card's Xenocideis a space opera with verve. In this continuation of Ender Wiggin's story, the Starways Congress has sent a fleet to immolate the rebellious planet of Lusitania, home to the alien race of pequeninos, and home to Ender Wiggin and his family. Concealed on Lusitania is the only remaining Hive Queen, who holds a secret that may save or destroy humanity throughout the galaxy. Familiar characters from the previous novels continue to grapple with religious conflicts and family squabbles while inventing faster-than-light travel and miraculous virus treatments. Throw into the mix an entire planet of mad geniuses and a self-aware computer who wants to be a martyr, and it's hard to guess who will topple the first domino. Due to the densely woven and melodramatic nature of the story, newcomers to Ender's tale will want to start reading this series with the first books, Ender's Gameand Speaker for the Dead. —Brooks Peck

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Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder  
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The adventures continue for Laura Ingalls and her family as they leave their little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and set out for Kansas. They travel for many days in their covered wagon until they find the best spot to build their little house on the prairie. Soon they are planting and plowing, hunting wild ducks and turkeys, and gathering grass for their cows. Sometimes pioneer life is hard, but Laura and her folks are always busy and happy in their new little house.

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The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy  
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Somewhere under the Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision: the Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. And the most incredible chase in history is on....

The Hunt for Red Octoberis the runaway bestseller that launched Tom Clancy's phenomenal career. A military thriller so accurate and convincing that the author was rumored to have been debriefed by the White House. Its theme: the greatest espionage coup in history. Its story: the chase for a runaway top secret Russian missile sub.

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The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien  
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A Christian can almost be forgiven for not reading the Bible, but there's no salvation for a fantasy fan who hasn't read the gospel of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien's definitive three-book epic, the Lord of the Rings (encompassing The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), and its charming precursor, The Hobbit. That many (if not most) fantasy works are in some way derivative of Tolkien is understood, but the influence of the Lord of the Rings is so universal that everybody from George Lucas to Led Zeppelin has appropriated it for one purpose or another.

Not just revolutionary because it was groundbreaking, the Lord of the Rings is timeless because it's the product of a truly top-shelf mind. Tolkien was a distinguished linguist and Oxford scholar of dead languages, with strong ideas about the importance of myth and story and a deep appreciation of nature. His epic, 10 years in the making, recounts the Great War of the Ring and the closing of Middle-Earth's Third Age, a time when magic begins to fade from the world and men rise to dominance. Tolkien carefully details this transition with tremendous skill and love, creating in the Lord of the Rings a universal and all-embracing tale, a justly celebrated classic. —Paul Hughes

0618343997
Shadow of the Giant (Ender, Book 8) (Ender's Shadow) Orson Scott Card  
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Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. Then he was discovered by the recruiters for the Battle School.

For Earth was at war - a terrible war with an inscrutable alien enemy. A war that humanity was near to losing. But the long distances of interstellar space has given hope to the defenders of Earth - they had time to train military geniuses up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high-orbital facility called the Battle School. That story is told in two books, the beloved classic ENDER'S GAME, and its parallel, ENDER'S SHADOW.

Bean was the smallest student at the Battle School, but he became Ender Wiggins' right hand, Since then he has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender's defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now he and his wife Petra yearn for a safe place to build a family - something he has never known - but there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemies - old enemies from the days in Ender's Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth. To find security, Bean and Petra must once again follow in Ender's footsteps. They must leave Earth behind, in the control of the Hegemon, and look to the stars.

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Life is tough and then you graduate: The second Piled Higher and Deeper Comic Strip Collection Jorge Cham  
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This book is the second collection of the popular comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper, which chronicles life (or the lack thereof) in grad school. Includes the popular strip series "Procrastin-X", "Grad school makes you dumber", "The Thesis Zone" and Mike Slackenerny's improbable thesis defense. Bonus features include never-before published strips, author notes and a foreword by Karl Marx. Whether you managed to escape grad school, are struggling through it, or are thinking of applying to it, Piled Higher and Deeper will have you lauging and crying at the same time. Piled Higher and Deeper is published online at www.phdcomics.com, where it receives over 1.8 million page views a month from grad students all over the world.

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Prince Caspian Lewis  
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Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are mysteriously transported back to Narnia where they discover that it has been hundred's of years since their reign as Kings and Queens of the land ended. Cair Paravel, the castle where they lived, is in ruins and the evil King Miraz has taken charge. Along with their old friend Prince Caspian they race to overthrow the King, calling on the help of Aslan and his trusty follower, Reepicheep the mouse.

Once again we are taken back to the magical lands of Narnia in the clever, ironic and fantastical Prince Caspian, the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia. This edition, published in celebration of the centenary of CS Lewis, is a highly collectible addition to any treasured Narnia library. With hand-coloured illustrations by Pauline Baynes exquisitely capturing the pure essence of Narnia, this edition of Prince Caspian will live long in the memory and on the bookshelf. —Susan Harrison

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