Photography by Marc Appleton
Lotusland is a magical and rare place located in Santa Barbara, CA. This sprawling botanical garden was founded by former opera singer, and many times divorced socialite, Madame Ganna Walksa. Deciding six husbands was enough, she turned her attention full time to creating her amazing gardens. …
Rupert Holmes
A cross between Hogwarts and Terry Pratchett’s Assassins Guild, McMasters is a exclusive, private school teaching the fine art of murder. When “deletion” becomes the only option to solve you problems, McMasters is there to expertly guide you to the best solution – along with plenty of training …
Edward Brooke-Hitching
Brooke-Hitching has created another marvelous collection of oddities. His book The Madman’s Library focused on the most bizarre and unique books in the world. The Madman’s Gallery expands the scope, looking at some of the strangest artwork and art movements in history. Learn about the “Ghost Heads” of …
Exploring the Fussy-Cut World of Precision Patchwork
For those of us who love quilting, but can’t cut or sew a straight line, English paper piecing is the answer! The description of “fussy-cut” is both accurate and misleading. While English paper piecing does require more steps, it offers the …
Adam Savage
Adam Savage, of Mythbusters fame, has written a combination memoir and maker advice book. With decades of experience making props and sets for major studios like Industrial Light and Magic, then 20 seasons of the incredibly popular Mythbusters show, Savage knows what he is talking about. Always a …
I don’t really review cozies, despite reading A LOT of them. For those unfamiliar, the cozy genre are generally “gentle” murders – no graphic violence, not a lot of sex, blood or swearing, and the person who gets whacked deserves it. A lot of the focus on cozies is atmosphere …
Regan Cerato
The title may lead you to assume this is a collection of outrageous wigs. It is , and also so much more. The co-founder of Cowbutt Crunchies Cosplay, Cerato is a master stylist, able to create the most fantastic costumes and wigs on demand. Chapter by chapter, …
The Black Dandy and Street Style
Shantrelle P Lewis
Dandy: A man who affects extreme elegance in clothes and manners; a fop.
Dandies, in this day and age, are a rare anachronism. People wear pajamas to the grocery store, and jeans to weddings. But the dandy holds the line to …
A
Guide to the World’s 500 Most Colorful Places
Taylor Fuller
If a colorful punch in the eye is a top priority when you travel, this collection of rainbow-hued locations is for you! They run the gamut of natural locations, including multi-colored lakes, rivers and mountains, to towns with colorful …
Christopher Fowler
By far the best in the series for awhile, The Lonely Hour has Bryant and May at their finest, weirdest, best. Spoiler alert: The memory issues from past books have totally solved/explained and these two octogenarian detectives have their snappy synapses firing at full. There’s plenty of the …
Obsession, Death, and Glory in American’s Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt
Daniel Barbarisi
Imagine a wealthy art dealer, suddenly facing death. He decides he will have a last hurrah by hiding a treasure chest stuffed with gold, jewels, money and more. Clues to the hoard will be hidden in a biography …
Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2
Jane Poynter
The controversial creation of Biosphere 2 still lives on today. This radical experiment to have eight people live in a sealed environment for two years was the brainchild of ecologist John Allen, and funded by billionaire Ed Bass. Based on …
OSS – The Director of Strategic Services
This fascinating little pamphlet was written in 1944 by the Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the FBI), and is filled with basic instructions on slowing and thwarting the enemy. There are no plans for rigging bombs, making poison or stealing state secrets. …
Cassandra Peterson
Everyone knows Elvira, even if they don’t know where they know her from. A long-running host for schlocky late night horror movies (the ones MST3K loves to mock), the “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark” brand grew to international fame. With a combo of blatant sexiness, chutzpah and cheesy …
Chuck Klosterman
For Gen-Xers like myself, the 90s were just a few years ago. We lived them, so how could we possibly not know all about them? And yet, Chuck Klosterman, the pop-culture philosopher for our generation, once again does a phenomenal job pointing out all the obvious things we …
A.J. Jacobs
The Puzzler is the best new book from Jacobs since The Year of Living Biblically. Less of a personal experiment than his past titles, Jacobs delves into the world of puzzles – be it crosswords, jigsaw, sudoku, puzzle boxes or scavenger hunts. Fortunately for the Jabobs family, …
