INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“A feverishly paced action adventure” (The New York Times) about a long-lost Shakespeare work and a killer who reenacts the Bard’s most bloody murders

On the eve of the Globe’s production of Hamlet, Shakespeare scholar and theater director Kate Stanley’s eccentric mentor Rosalind Howard gives her a mysterious box, claiming to have made a groundbreaking discovery. Before she can reveal it to Kate, the Globe is burned to the ground and Roz is found dead—murdered in the strange manner of Hamlet’s father.

Inside the box, Kate finds the first piece in a Shakespearean puzzle, setting her on a deadly, high-stakes treasure hunt. From London to Harvard to the American West, Kate races to evade a killer and solve a tantalizing string of clues hidden in the words of Shakespeare, which may unlock one of history’s greatest secrets. But Kate is not alone in this hunt, and the buried truth threatens to come at the ultimate cost.

Displaying the bold vision and growing skill of a young playwright, these are Shakespeare’s first three history plays, covering some sixty tumultuous years of English history. Their pageantry, violence, and stirring speeches excite audiences with action as well as character, and midway through the final play in this trilogy, a shocking, clever, inimitably evil new voice is heard—that of Richard of Gloucester, destined to become England’s most fearsome and hated ruler of all time, Richard III.

Go from wired and tired to lean and thriving with The Adrenal Reset Diet

“In The Adrenal Reset Diet, Dr. Alan Christianson clarifies the true cause of the obesity epidemic and provides a brilliant plan to shift from stressed and overweight to trim and thriving. If you are stressed and can’t lose weight, you must read this book.” –Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FACN, FAAFP, CNS, best-selling author of The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up

Why are people gaining weight faster than ever before? The idea that people simply eat too much is no longer supported by science. The emerging idea is that weight gain is a survival response: Our bodies are under attack from all directions—an overabundance of processed food, a polluted world, and the pressures of daily life all take their toll. These attacks hit a very important set of glands, the adrenals, particularly hard. 

The adrenal glands maintain a normal cortisol rhythm (cortisol is a hormone associated with both stress and fat storage). When this rhythm is off, we can become overwhelmed more quickly, fatigued, gain weight, and eventually, develop even more severe health issues such as heart disease or diabetes.

In The Adrenal Reset Diet, Dr. Alan Christianson provides a pioneering plan for optimal function of these small but powerful organs. His patient-tested weight-loss program is the culmination of decades of clinical experience and over 75,000 patient-care visits. In a study at his clinic, participants on the Adrenal Reset Diet reset their cortisol levels by over 50% while losing an average of over 2 inches off their waists and 9 pounds of weight in 30 days. What can you expect? 

   • Learn whether your adrenals are Stressed, Wired and Tired, or Crashed and which adrenal tonics, exercises, and foods are best for you 

   • The clinically proven shakes, juices, and other delicious recipes, to use for your Reset 

   • New ways to turn off the triggers of weight gain with carbohydrate cycling, circadian repair, and simple breathing exercises 

   • An easy 7-day ARD eating plan to move your and your adrenals from Surviving to Thriving

Hamlet: An UPDATED EDITION from the Folger Shakespeare Library

Hamlet is Shakespeare's most popular, and most puzzling, play. It follows the form of a "revenge tragedy," in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father's murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties.

Among them: What is the Ghost--Hamlet's father demanding justice, a tempting demon, an angelic messenger? Does Hamlet go mad, or merely pretend to? Once he is sure that Claudius is a murderer, why does he not act? Was his mother, Gertrude, unfaithful to her husband or complicit in his murder?

The authoritative edition of Hamlet from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play's famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books
-An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading

Pole dancing has become the biggest craze at health clubs, gyms, and dance studios—it’s the sexy style that every woman wants to learn. And why not?

It combines seductive poses with simple and enjoyable steps, spins, and lifts. Like any good dance form, it offers both fun and fitness, plus a wonderful opportunity to express your personality. Here’s a fabulous way to get into the pole-dancing groove and master those slinky, confidence-building moves—such as the “Teasy Does It,” the “Hand Spin,” and the always irresistible “Strut”—in private. This sizzling guide features 50 of the best basic moves, from hip swivels, knee drops, and thigh wraps to booty shakes and splits. Attractive photographs open every chapter, and each choreographic morsel is illustrated with line drawings (more than 200 in all) as well as easy-to-follow instructions that will soon entice anyone to move boldly to the music!

Is Jurassic Park a work of covert misogynist propaganda? Does romanticizing childhood lead to abusing children? What secret correspondence links Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to video games and Shakespeare's Caliban to Hannibal Lecter? in what ways do our culture's most hallowed legends inform the current debates over single mothers, the men's movement, and animal rights?

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers’ final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by Herman Melville, in which Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on the albino sperm whale Moby Dick, which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. 

Although the novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, its reputation grew immensely during the twentieth century. D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world," and "the greatest book of the sea ever written." 

Moby-Dick is considered a Great American Novel and an outstanding work of the Romantic period in America and the American Renaissance. "Call me Ishmael" is one of world literature's most famous opening sentences. The product of a year and a half of writing, the book is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius," and draws on Melville's experience at sea, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible.

Set in a courtly world of masked revels and dances, this play turns on the archetypal story of a lady falsely accused of unfaithfulness, spurned by her bridegroom, and finally vindicated and reunited with him. Villainy, schemes, and deceits threaten to darken the brilliant humor and sparkling wordplay–but the hilarious counterplot of a warring couple, Beatrice and Benedick, steals the scene as the two are finally tricked into admitting their love for each other in Shakespeare’s superb comedy of manners.

Each Edition Includes:

• Comprehensive explanatory notes 

• Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship 

• Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English

• Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories 

• An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

The go-to bestselling guide to help young people navigate from a middle school book report to English Comp 101

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids, New York Times bestselling author and professor Thomas C. Foster gives tweens the tools they need to become thoughtful readers.

With funny insights and a conversational style, he explains the way writers use symbol, metaphor, characterization, setting, plot, and other key techniques to make a story come to life.

From that very first middle school book report to that first college course, kids need to be able to understand the layers of meaning in literature. Foster makes learning this important skill fun and exciting by using examples from How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, from short stories and poems to movie scripts.

This go-to guide unlocks all the hidden secrets to reading, making it entertaining and satisfying.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-This companion to the author's adult titles is geared toward young people who want to get a bit more out of J.K Rowling or Dr. Seuss. Foster uses both of these authors, along with Shakespeare and Homer (not Simpson), to illustrate various approaches to literature. He argues that there is really only one story, that of a journey or quest, and that it takes shape in many forms, in novels, plays, and poems. The book also delves into symbolism, irony, and the political and geographical aspects of literature. Readers will enjoy seeing Green Eggs and Ham from Foster's perspective of how food is often more than just a meal. Of course, he also touches on how the Bible, folk and fairy tales, and ancient literature form the basis of many of our favorite stories. His passion for literature is evident, and the text is readable and encouraging. While it would be a rare reader who would be familiar with every title the author cites, the arguments that he poses are solid and the examples are always apt. Students won't find literary research here, but they will find some valuable guidance on how to read critically and hopefully be inspired to read more widely.-Carol Fazioli, Barth Elementary School, Pottstown, PAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.

Bobby Flay is one of the most beloved -- and famous -- chefs in America. He is the food correspondent for CBS's The Early Show, appearing biweekly to report on food and cooking across America. In addition to his highly rated prime-time Food Network show Boy Meets Grill, his newest show, BBQ America with Bobby Flay, debuted in the summer of 2004. He is the chef-co-owner of two celebrated New York City restaurants, Mesa Grill and Bolo, which recently received a three-star rating from The New York Times, and is opening Mesa Grill Las Vegas in the summer of 2004. 

A man's thirst for power ends in tragedy in this Signet Classics edition of one of William Shakespeare's most powerful works.

When a trio of witches fortell that Macbeth will become King of Scotland, the brave general is consumed by ambition. Encouraged by his wife to seize the throne, their quest for power leads down a blood strewn path that ends in madness and death in this play that explores the consequences of guilt and corruption. 

This revised Signet Classics edition includes unique features such as:

• An overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater

• A special introduction to the play by the editor, Sylvan Barnet

• Selections from Raphael Holinshed's The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the source from which Shakespeare derived Macbeth

• Dramatic criticism from A. C. Bradley, Elmer Edgar Stoll, Mary McCarthy, and others

• A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions

• Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text

• And more...

A fresh perspective on MACBETH from one of today's foremost YA writers. Three girls witness the action of Shakespeare's play firsthand -- and their lives are forever changed because of it.

Lady Mary is a ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth whose life is forever changed when her father, Lord Cawdor, betrays the Scottish king -- and is hanged as a traitor. In an instant, Mary has lost both her father and future. Now she's trapped in a castle with a power-hungry couple who will do anything to get what they want -- and are willing to crush anyone in their way. Including Mary. As the murderous events of Shakespeare's play unfold around her, Mary must struggle to survive -- and do what she can to prevent more deaths. But can a lone girl save lives when a legion of Scottish lords cannot?

Romeo and Juliet fall madly in love, despite being from two feuding families. They arrange to be secretly married, but a series of miscommunications results in the death of the two lovers, as well as some of their most beloved friends and relatives. Romeo and Juliet is the quintessential dramatic tragedy from a master of English literature.

Think outside the puzzle with this book! Combining the simplicity of word search with the creativity of magnetic poetry, this clever book dares you to black out words and phrases and transform classic pieces of literature into outrageous, poetic, or truly bizarre messages. How did you feel when you lost your favorite childhood pet? Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. From William Shakespeare's "Sonnet XVIII" Finally, here's your chance to pen your own world-renowned works. So go ahead, grab a quill (or just pretend) and start scribbling outside the lines!

The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life

by Timothy Ferriss

WHAT IF YOU COULD BECOME WORLD-CLASS IN ANYTHING IN 6 MONTHS OR LESS?

The 4-Hour Chef isn t just a cookbook. It's a choose-your-own-adventure guide to the world of rapid learning.

#1 New York Times bestselling author (and lifelong non-cook) Tim Ferriss takes you from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world's fastest learners and greatest chefs. Ferriss uses cooking to explain meta-learning, a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real recipe of The 4-Hour Chef.

You'll train inside the kitchen for everything outside the kitchen. Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, super models, and everyone in between, this cookbook for people who don t buy cookbooks is a guide to mastering cooking and life.

The 4-Hour Chef is a five-stop journey through the art and science of learning:

1. META-LEARNING. Before you learn to cook, you must learn to learn. META charts the path to doubling your learning potential.
2. THE DOMESTIC. DOM is where you learn the building blocks of cooking. These are the ABCs (techniques) that can take you from Dr, Seuss to Shakespeare.
3. THE WILD. Becoming a master student requires self-sufficiency in all things. WILD teaches you to hunt, forage, and survive.
4. THE SCIENTIST. SCI is the mad scientist and modernist painter wrapped into one. This is where you rediscover whimsy and wonder.
5. THE PROFESSIONAL. Swaraj, a term usually associated with Mahatma Gandhi, can be translated as self-rule. In PRO, we ll look at how the best in the world become the best in the world, and how you can chart your own path far beyond this book.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus’s Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples—but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another.

Also in the woods, the king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy; Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, whose head is temporarily transformed into that of a donkey by a hobgoblin or “puck,” Robin Goodfellow. Finally, Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of “Pyramus and Thisbe.”

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator of the same name, his assassination and its aftermath. First published in 1599, this copy dates from 1997.

Shake, Jiggle, & Shoot : More Than 150 Boozy Shakes, Jiggle Shots, and Frozen Treats by Paul Knorr

Velvet Hammer! Electric Lemonade Sorbet! Cherry Blow Pop! Sure, these yummy concoctions sound like dessert—but they're definitely not kid stuff. This hip, authoritative guide offers a bar-full of upscale, creative, and trendy alcohol-infused sweet treats sure to get the party started. From boozy shakes (like The Big Chill with ice cream and Kahlúa) to jiggly gelatin shots and shotsicles, these grown-up delicacies pack a punch in every glass!

About the Author

Paul Knorr is one of the bestselling drinks authors in North America. His books, which include Candy Shots, 10,000 Drinks, The Vodka Bible (all Sterling), X-Rated Shots(Running Press), and the Big Bad-Ass Book of Shots (Running Press), have sold more than 200,000 copies. He lives in Huntington, NY.

THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING JANE HAWK SERIES

Meet Jane Hawk—a remarkable new heroine certain to become an icon of suspense. “This gripping thriller grabs readers from the first few pages and sweeps them along to the rousing finale.”—Booklist

“I very much need to be dead.”

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for—but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important—so terrifying—that they will exterminate anyone in their way.

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless—and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

Don’t miss any of Dean Koontz’s gripping Jane Hawk thrillers:

THE SILENT CORNER • THE WHISPERING ROOM • THE CROOKED STAIRCASE

Praise for The Silent Corner

“Gripping . . . The paranoia and mystery increase as the story unfolds. . . . Koontz has created [a] wonderful character in Jane Hawk. . . . Koontz rocks it again.”—Associated Press

“In this era of stingy text-message prose, Mr. Koontz is practically Shakespeare. . . . The Silent Cornerbrims with both action and emotion.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“The Silent Corner is vintage Dean Koontz: paranoia-fueled suspense . . . sleek and highly realized action, developed characters, and more twists and turns than any two ordinary novels combined. . . . As relevant to current events as it is audacious . . . amongst Dean Koontz’s finest contemporary work.”—Mystery Scene

“A proven specialist in action scenes, Koontz pulls off some doozies here. . . . The book is full of neat touches. . . . And the prose, as always in a Koontz novel, is first-rate. Perhaps Koontz’s leanest, meanest thriller, this initial entry in a new series introduces a smart, appealing heroine who can outthink as well as outshoot the baddest of bad dudes.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING JANE HAWK SERIES

Meet Jane Hawk—a remarkable new heroine certain to become an icon of suspense. “This gripping thriller grabs readers from the first few pages and sweeps them along to the rousing finale.”—Booklist

“I very much need to be dead.”

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for—but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important—so terrifying—that they will exterminate anyone in their way.

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless—and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

Don’t miss any of Dean Koontz’s gripping Jane Hawk thrillers:

THE SILENT CORNER • THE WHISPERING ROOM • THE CROOKED STAIRCASE

Praise for The Silent Corner

“Gripping . . . The paranoia and mystery increase as the story unfolds. . . . Koontz has created [a] wonderful character in Jane Hawk. . . . Koontz rocks it again.”—Associated Press

“In this era of stingy text-message prose, Mr. Koontz is practically Shakespeare. . . . The Silent Cornerbrims with both action and emotion.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“The Silent Corner is vintage Dean Koontz: paranoia-fueled suspense . . . sleek and highly realized action, developed characters, and more twists and turns than any two ordinary novels combined. . . . As relevant to current events as it is audacious . . . amongst Dean Koontz’s finest contemporary work.”—Mystery Scene

“A proven specialist in action scenes, Koontz pulls off some doozies here. . . . The book is full of neat touches. . . . And the prose, as always in a Koontz novel, is first-rate. Perhaps Koontz’s leanest, meanest thriller, this initial entry in a new series introduces a smart, appealing heroine who can outthink as well as outshoot the baddest of bad dudes.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In this quintessential Shakespeare tragedy, a young prince's halting pursuit of revenge for the murder of his father unfolds in a series of highly charged confrontations that have held audiences spellbound for nearly four centuries. Those fateful exchanges, and the anguished soliloquies that precede and follow them, probe depths of human feeling rarely sounded in any art. 

The title role of Hamlet, perhaps the most demanding in all of Western drama, has provided generations of leading actors their greatest challenge. Yet all the roles in this towering drama are superbly delineated, and each of the key scenes offers actors a rare opportunity to create theatrical magic.

As if further evidence of Shakespeare's genius were needed, Hamlet is a unique pleasure to read as well as to see and hear performed.

Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together—a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences. 

Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.

In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.

From Stephen King, our “most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work” (The Guardian), Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Charlotte came to Amish country to find answers. What she never expected to find was peace.

Charlotte Dolinsky is not above playing dress-up and telling a few lies to find out what happened to her only brother. In fact, that is exactly what she’s come to Lancaster County to do. Now, calling herself Mary and slipping on a kapp, Charlotte will lie her way into the confidence of anyone who knows why Ethan had to die. Unless she gets found out first.

But when Charlotte befriends a quiet Amish man named Isaac Miller, she begins to rethink her motives. And with a little help from a friend back home, Charlotte might find out that love comes packaged in ways she couldn’t have foreseen.

Isaac’s been caring for his cancer-stricken father and sympathizing with his frustrated mother for three difficult years. And that means he hasn’t been dating. He believes Hannah King is the woman for him, but Hannah is still grieving the loss of her fiancé, and Isaac has all he can handle on the farm. When Hannah’s family plays host to a woman named Mary, their new cousin shakes things up for all of them.

As Charlotte digs deeper into the mystery of Ethan’s death, she finds more than she’d bargained for in the community he once called home. But will she ever learn the truth? And what will the community—and her new family—do if they learn the truth about her?

The life of Antonio, the merchant of Venice, is threatened by Shylock the moneylender, when Antonio cannot repay his debt. But Antonio is brilliantly defended in a court of law by Portia, the clever young wife of his dear friend Bassanio. 

Graphic Classics titles introduce many of the world's literary masterpieces to young readers. Elementary and secondary school teachers will value these books as a way to make great novels and plays accessible to their students--especially to those students who resist reading. Presented in graphic novel format, each title tells an absorbing, fast-paced story dramatized with high-quality color illustrations. After delving into any of these stimulating titles, many boys and girls will feel encouraged to discover the joy of reading the masterworks in their original form. 

Each Graphic Classics title includes a thumbnail biography of the author, a list of his or her important works, a timeline of historic events that helped inspire the story.