Maphead
Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
Ken Jennings
Publisher: Scribner/Simon & Schuster, September 20, 2011
Review: Ken Jennings developed an early fascination with geography. As a child, he slept with a bulky world atlas under his pillow every night. And every afternoon, he sat glued to the television set watching Jeopardy! In 2004, Jennings appeared on the game show as a contestant, winning a record-breaking 74 games and 2.52 million dollars. His success and awe-inspiring breadth of knowledge enchanted the public and transformed Jennings into a TV folk hero. He made appearances on David Letterman and Sesame Street. Barbara Walters included the trivia champ on her list of the ten most fascinating people of the year.
Maphead recounts Jennings’ lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps are so captivating to so many people. “I’ve never heard anyone profess any particular love for the Dewey Decimal System,” he writes. “There must be something about maps, about this one specific way of picturing our world and our relation to it, that charms us, calls to us, won’t let us look anywhere else in the room if there is a map on the wall. I want to get to the bottom of what that is.
The bestselling author of Brainiac takes an engaging, witty look at the world of obsessed map fans. He introduces readers to antique-collecting millionaires at the London Map Fair, young geniuses at the National Geographic Bee, computer programmers at Google Earth and other dedicated “geogeeks.” Each chapter delves into a different aspect of map culture, such as highpointing (finding the highest point in an area), geocaching (treasure hunting using GPS technology), and road atlas rallying. Jennings also examines the "unreal estate" charted on the maps of fiction and fantasy.
According to geographers and psychologists, “map love” is a symptom of a gift for spatial thinking. Jennings believes that a fascination with maps is something that may be passed genetically through generations of families. His parents and grandparents all enjoyed collecting and looking at maps, lending credence to his position. Recent news reports have revealed an alarming geographic illiteracy among young Americans. Despite such dour findings, Jennings argues that it is still possible to raise and encourage a new generation of “mapheads.
From ancient parchment maps to the spinning globes of grade school to the postmodern revolution of digital maps and GPS, the book celebrates the unique appeal of maps and explores the way cartography has shaped our history. Jennings makes a persuasive case that the impulse to create and read maps is as relevant today as it ever has been. Filled with engaging anecdotes, intriguing details and enlightening analysis, Maphead is a must-read for anyone with an interest in maps and geography.
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The High King's Tomb
Kristen Britain
Publisher: Daw Books, Inc., November 01, 2007
Review: It has been more than a thousand years since the corrupt spirit of the Arcosian conqueror Mornhavon the Black was imprisoned in Blackveil Forest. During those fearful centuries, knowledge of magic had disappeared from the kingdom of Sacoridia. So when a rogue magician cracked the mighty D’Yer Wall that encloses the Forest, leaking tainted magic into Sacoridia, no one knew how to repair it. And Mornhavon, sensing the weakness, began to wake, seeking vengeance and causing aberrations throughout the land.
A member of the king’s magical messenger corps, Green Rider Karigan G’ladheon had transported the spirit of Mornhavon into the future, buying time for her king and country. But how far into the future? A hundred years? Ten years? Only one? There was no way to tell. Now, though Karigan and her fellow Riders scour the land searching for magical documents, and members of Clan D’Yer camp at the Wall hoping to uncover its secrets, they are unaware of a threat to the kingdom that lies far closer.
Within Sacoridia’s seemingly peaceful borders hide vengeful enemies who have spent generations honing the powers of dark magic. A force against which the Sacoridians no longer have any defense....
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Creative Picture Framing
A Practical Guide to Making and Decorating Beautiful Frames Shown Step by Step in Over 300 Photographs
RIAN KANDUTH
Publisher: Anness Publishing, October 28, 2010
Review: Isn't it exciting all the ways crafters use pencils, paints, needles, hooks, cameras and myriad creative mediums to create so many wonderful objects? Shouldn’t the things you make—not to mention cherished photos, family heirlooms and favorite thrift store finds—be displayed in an equally impressive frame? With advice from expert frame-maker Rian Kanduth, plus 300 photos to guide you every step of the way, you'll be able to make 40 creative picture framing projects that cost a fraction of what you’d pay to have them made. Learn beginner basics (such as how to cut and joint a simple frame), then advance to more complex techniques, plus an array of fabulous finishes, including verdigris, marbling, craquelure and much more.
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The Warded Man
Peter Brett
Publisher: Ballantine/Del Rey Books, March 01, 2009
Review: With darkness come the corelings—demons of sand, wind, rock, wood and flame, who rise like mist from the ground and terrorize the humans sheltering behind fragile wards, magical symbols whose origins are lost in myth. Once, men and women battled the corelings, armed with powerful wards that could harm the demons and stop their advance. But those days are gone. The fighting wards are lost. And the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault.
Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors—brave Arlen, musical Rojer, healer Leesha—will risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. But they may find their personal strengths may prove the greatest wards of all….
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Sanctus
A Novel
Simon Toyne
Publisher: Morrow, September 06, 2011
Review: The certainties of the modern world are about to be blown apart by a 3,000-year-old conspiracy nurtured by blood and lies.
A man throws himself to his death from the oldest inhabited place on the face of the earth, a mountainous citadel in the historic Turkish city of Ruin. This is no ordinary suicide but a symbolic act. Thanks to the media, it is also witnessed by the entire world, though few understand it.
For charity worker Kathryn Mann and a handful of others, it is what they have been waiting for. The cowled and secretive fanatics that live in the Citadel suspect it could mean the end of everything they have built—and they will kill, torture and break every law to stop that.
For Liv Adamsen, a New York crime reporter, it begins the next stage of a journey into the heart of her own identity. At that journey's end lies a discovery that will change everything.
Not since The Da Vinci Code has a conspiracy thriller impressed us like this! With a fresh style, vivid characterizations, supernatural elements that ring true, and, above all, exhilarating action scenes, Sanctus raises the bar for excitement and fascination, and marks the debut of a major storytelling talent in Simon Toyne.
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Heart's Secret
Adrianne Byrd
Publisher: Harlequin Books S.A., June 01, 2011
Review: Melanie Harte’s exclusive The Platinum Society is renowned for making matches that last. But can a love built on an innocent lie survive? She’s about to find out with her latest assignment. Jaxon Landon’s grandmother wants her wealthy banker grandson to find the right woman, not the gold-diggers that keep breaking his heart. But here’s the catch: Jaxon can never know about her “helping” him out. Through Melanie’s expert matchmaking prowess, Jaxon “meets” former model Zora Campbell, whose thriving agency proves she’s just as brilliant as she is beautiful. For the first time, Jaxon is falling for a woman who is his equal—but what will happen when Jaxon discovers it wasn’t exactly destiny that brought them together....
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