From the perennially popular "Little Giant Encyclopedia" series comes "Toasts & Quotes," now beautifully repackaged in a sophisticated new edition that will make a great gift. This delightful book is packed full of interesting, witty, and heartfelt sentiments for all occasions. Enhance your conversation--or any speech--with witty quotations, thoughts, and toasts on everything from marriage to alcohol, politics to civilization, cinema to computers. More than 2,000 quotes and 800 proverbs range from ancient thinkers such as Lao-Tzu and Plato to wit from modern entertainers like Letterman and Miss Piggy.

For your amusement, for your edification and inspiration, for livening up that speech you have to give: proverbs have an irresistible power. These little pockets of wisdom say volumes about a culture--so take a tour around the world in words. You'll encounter the lively and colorful sayings from all around the world: Africa and its diaspora (Haiti, Jamaica, and African-American); Central and South America; Mexico; Native American; China, Japan; Italy; Ireland; Scotland; Israel; and the Arab nations.

Universally popular, checkers is one of the world s oldest and most elegantly structured board games and on a high level, it can demand real strategic thought. Put your skill to the test with these puzzles all based on the Standard American game. (Federation rules appear in their entirety.) Each is solvable in no more than six-and-a-half moves, and sometimes, the winner even seems at a serious disadvantage at the start. Quite a few of the solutions list alternative patterns of play. "

Details, details, details. Planning a wedding can be a nightmare, and few of us are experienced.

Over 2,000 memorable quotes and 800 snappy proverbs help enhance conversations and speeches.

This extraordinary reference covers witches, shamen, voodoo priests and priestesses, and oracles; provides the low-down on pentagrams, exorcisms, coven rituals, and conjuring spirits; and tells how to cast spells for protection, invisibility, and illness prevention. Illustrations.

Tap into the age-old, secret power of runes to create a better and more enriching life. Generally associated with the ancient Northern Europeans, runes are magical symbols that convey the story of creation, life, destruction, and rebirth, and how these forces constantly affect our many levels of being. Runes connect with your body, mind, and spirit, as well as the environment, and are ideal for use in psychological integration, spiritual growth, healing, and magic. Learn the history of runes and the meanings and associations of each symbol. Then discover a wide variety of ways runes can help you find answers to personal questions, increase self-awareness, relieve stress, gain a sense of personal empowerment, and clear out blockages in your life. As you work with these mystical tools you’ll find within them the power to transform yourself.

Think you re smart? Prove it! Twenty-five brain-stumping IQ quizzes, featuring wordplay, diagrams, numerical challenges, and more, will really put solvers to the test. Over 1,000 questions really reveal whether or not you can think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, figure out the progression of a sequence, simplify fractions, create new words out of old, and decode anagrams. But above all, they re designed to entertain, so quiz-takers can decide if they want to check out their own abilities, play against friends, or follow their fancy by just dipping into the book at random. For those who really want to assess their performance, a time limit of 90 minutes is allowed for each test. "

This extraordinary reference covers witches, shamen, voodoo priests and priestesses, and oracles; provides the low-down on pentagrams, exorcisms, coven rituals, and conjuring spirits; and tells how to cast spells for protection, invisibility, and illness prevention. Illustrations.

This comprehensive and thoroughly engaging reference examines the origins and meanings of thousands of first and last names, presented alphabetically. It also lists the 40 most popular male and female given names in the United States since 1930; the 1,000 most commonly found family names in the U.S. organized according to popularity; and the top 100 family names in each of the 50 states. An indispensable encyclopedia for anyone interested in looking up his or her name or finding one for a baby.