From the author of the highly praised The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things comes another captivating history of the seemingly mundane: the book and its storage. Most of us take for granted that our books are vertical on our shelves with the spines facing out, but Henry Petroski, inveterately curious engineer, didn't. As a result, readers are guided along the astonishing evolution from papyrus scrolls boxed at Alexandria to upright books shelved at the Library of Congress. Unimpeachably researched, enviably written, and charmed with anecdotes from Seneca to Samuel Pepys to a nineteenth-century bibliophile who had to climb over his books to get into bed, The Book on the Bookshelf is indispensable for anyone who loves books.

As Molly is left at home on the first day of Christmas, she makes her way back to the Dimension, which is packed with exciting journeys and thrilling adventures. She confronts a whole bag of new characters and visits amazing new places, which makes Mollys stay there the greatest time ever! But then she has other things to think about, like Glorias strange sickness, the secret of the mysterious ladies who serve Remus, and the so-called new king of Horror planet. To solve all her problems, she goes on a mission with her five Storian friends to find the long-lost Guardian Warrior.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Every shelf is different and every bookshelf tells a different story. One bookshelf can creak with character in a bohemian coffee shop and another can groan with gravitas in the Library of Congress. Writer and historian Lydia Pyne finds bookshelves to be holders not just of books but of so many other things: values, vibes, and verbs that can be contained and displayed in the buildings and rooms of contemporary human existence. With a shrewd eye toward this particular moment in the history of books, Pyne takes the reader on a tour of the bookshelf that leads critically to this juncture: amid rumors of the death of book culture, why is the life of the bookshelf in full bloom? Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

A handy, quick-access guide to getting the most out of the iPhone 4 If you love all the great stuff that makes up the Apple digital lifestyle, you no doubt consider your iPhone 4 to be indispensable. The newest edition of iPhone Portable Genius is packed with the information you need to make this wonderful device even better. You'll find great iPhone tips at your fingertips—things like the latest hot app from the App Store, novel ways to control calls, and more—and they're all designed to make your life easier, save you time, and help you avoid hassle. Best of all, this book features full-color screenshots, so it's easy to navigate, and it doesn’t skip any of the essentials. Includes savvy advice and plenty of no-nonsense content in a hip way that is easy to access Covers key tools, topics, and shortcuts Features Genius icons throughout the book—smart or innovative ways to handle tasks and save yourself time Get better acquainted with your iPhone 4 in a fun way—as if your friends were showing you what to do—with iPhone 4 Portable Genius.

Writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance comprehensively explores the contours and content of the Black Chicago Renaissance, a creative movement that emerged from the crucible of rigid segregation in Chicago's "Black Belt" from the 1930s through the 1960s. Heavily influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and the Chicago Renaissance of white writers, its participants were invested in political activism and social change as much as literature, art, and aesthetics. The revolutionary writing of this era produced some of the first great accolades for African American literature and set up much of the important writing that came to fruition in the Black Arts Movement. The volume covers a vast collection of subjects, including many important writers such as Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Lorraine Hansberry as well as cultural products such as black newspapers, music, and theater. The book includes individual entries by experts on each subject; a discography and filmography that highlight important writers, musicians, films, and cultural presentations; and an introduction that relates the Harlem Renaissance, the White Chicago Renaissance, the Black Chicago Renaissance, and the Black Arts Movement. Contributors are Robert Butler, Robert H. Cataliotti, Maryemma Graham, James C. Hall, James L. Hill, Michael Hill, Lovalerie King, Lawrence Jackson, Angelene Jamison-Hall, Keith Leonard, Lisbeth Lipari, Bill V. Mullen, Patrick Naick, William R. Nash, Charlene Regester, Kimberly Ruffin, Elizabeth Schultz, Joyce Hope Scott, James Smethurst, Kimberly M. Stanley, Kathryn Waddell Takara, Steven C. Tracy, Zoe Trodd, Alan Wald, Jamal Eric Watson, Donyel Hobbs Williams, Stephen Caldwell Wright, and Richard Yarborough.