Antelope and porcupines in Africa. Feral cats and wild goats in Australia. Deer, pheasants, and rabbits in the United States and Europe. These are just a few of the world’s game animals, or creatures hunted for food. Game has been central to the development of humanity and forms a core part of cultures—and meat industries—from the Amazon to the Arctic. But despite the ubiquity of its consumption, it has never been the subject of a culinary overview. Paula Young Lee rectifies this oversight in Game, describing the fascinating history of a food so diverse it ranges from luxury good to staple of the poor. Describing how animals from quail and oryx to dormice were once so avidly pursued that they became semi-domesticated, Lee traces the rise and fall in the prevalence of hunting some animals, as well as illustrating how dishes like bear paws, reindeer pâté, and lark pie have seen their popularity come and go. She provides insight into the politically charged arena of hunting laws and discusses the customs and difficulties in hunting game for food, while offering up fun facts—such as how venison was once so coveted that cookbooks gave instructions for disguising beef as a counterfeit. Featuring unusual recipes for many little-eaten animals and cuts of meat, Game will be gobbled up by readers alongside a steaming bowl of rabbit stew.

Innocent. Invader. Lover. Thief. Sparrows are everywhere and wear many guises. Able to live in the Arctic and the desert, from Beijing to San Francisco, the house sparrow is the most ubiquitous wild bird in the world. They are the subject of elegies by Catullus and John Skelton and listed as “pretty things” in Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book—but they’re also urban vermin with shocking manners that were so reviled that Mao placed them on the list of Four Pests and ordered the Chinese people to kill them on sight. In Sparrow, award-winning science and natural history writer Kim Todd explores the bird's complex history, biology, and literary tradition. Todd describes the difference between Old World sparrows, like the house sparrow, which can nest in a garage or in an airport, and New World sparrows, which often stake their claim to remote islands or meadows in the high Sierra. In addition, she looks at the nineteenth-century Sparrow War in the United States—a battle over the sparrow’s introduction—which set the stage for decades of discussions of invasive species. She examines the ways in which sparrows have taught us about evolution and the shocking recent decline of house sparrows in cities globally—this disappearance of a bird that seemed hardwired for success remains an ornithological mystery. With lush illustrations, ranging from early woodcuts and illuminated manuscripts to contemporary wildlife photography, this is the first book-length exploration of the natural and cultural history of this beloved, reviled, and ubiquitous bird.

Written with humor and wit, Take My Word For It is a collection of original poetry divided into five sections: Critters, Limericks, Feathered Friends, Haiku, and Commonalities. The verses, composed of true facts, enable readers to learn in a delightful way and tickle the funny bone of youngsters and teenagers as well as parents and teachers who read the poems aloud.

A self-made millionaire learns the true meaning of treachery as he is kidnapped by six persons whom he thought to be trustworthy. He later discovers, after he is nearly beaten to death, that treachery does have a face. Darryl Simms is now faced with the terrible dilemma of either taking revenge out upon these people or letting fate mete out its own form of justice. If you were Darryl, what would you do?

Ahh…what a relief it will be to hold this most entertaining, informative, and amusing tome in the palm of your hands. Hours of great bathroom reading await you! Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader, Uncle John’s all-new 15th edition, sheds a light on everything under the sun and over the moon. From obscure history to classic wordplay to dumb crooks to inspiring quotations, you never know what you’re going to read next! Where else could you learn how the banana peel changed history, how to predict the future by rolling the dice, how the Jivaro tribes shrunk heads, and the science behind love at first sight? Uncle John rules the world of information and humor, so get ready to be thoroughly entertained. Read all about… Homer the Greek versus Homer the Simpson The history of the bicycle When humans become hailstones Alternate definitions for common words Helen Keller’s wisdom The Silly Putty saga And much more!

"The Resistance fighter whose code name was Sparrow relentlessly pursues the collaborator of one of the worst Nazi atrocities in Italy during WWII. But in the treacherous and mysterious land of the Garfagnana, he discovers something he has long hidden within himself."--Page 4 of cover

An exhilarating novel of erotic and psychotic extremes from one of Canada’s best fiction writers. Everyone would agree that Darius Halloway was the most civilized of men, a professor of French literature, a connoisseur of ideas and women and wine, a perfect guest at life’s dinner party. Darius himself would have agreed, until Emma, waifish and insatiable,walks out the door, leaving her empty clothes hangers rattling in his closet. For a little while, it’s not so bad. He thinks she must come back, and other women find his melancholy quite compelling. But then the sparrows of insomnia start picking at the inside of his skull. Life’s little aggravating moments seem to require him to seek direct retaliation. Soon all his smoothness and cleverness is directed toward wreaking the most elaborate revenge… and getting away with it. Until the ultimate retaliation arises, and there he is, in the most damning of situations, with his nerves on fire and his heart in his throat…finally not thinking of Emma. From the Hardcover edition.

The wittiest, wackiest, and most popular selections from the last 12 years in the best-selling Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series. We stuffed the best stuff we’ve ever written into 576 glorious pages. Result: pure bathroom-reading bliss! You’re just a few clicks away from the most hilarious, head-scratching material that has made Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader an unparalleled publishing phenomenon. As always, the articles are divided into short, medium, and long for your sitting convenience. So treat yourself to the best of history, science, politics, and pop culture--plus the dumbest of the dumb crooks, the strangest of the strange lawsuits, and loads more, including . . . * The Barbados Tombs * The Lonely Phone Booth * The Origin of the Supermarket * The History of the IQ Test * Robots in the News * Tennessee’s Body Farm * Happy Donut Day! * The Origin of Nachos * The Birth of the Submarine * A Viewer's Guide to Rainbows * How the Mosquito Changed History And much, much more!