I had this idea come up a couple of weeks ago, but I never really got around to fleshing it out until now. I'll probably add some more books to this, as I just picked four of literally dozens of worthy candidates.
So here are pictures of the books, as well as dust jacket descriptions and brief notes by yours truly.....
1. Body Language Secrets: A Guide During Courtship and Dating (by R. Don Steele)
From the jacket:
This book will help you find, meet, talk with and date the right kind of person. Don Steele tell you honestly and bluntly how you can make the right impression and have a big impact at every social gathering. 50 photos, plus his sound methods and practical advice let you know what to look for aw well as what to watch out for!
WOMEN, learn how you can easliy get noticed, then interest and attract the right type of man, someone you can trust. As you talk, you will know if he's telling the truth by the way he stands or sits and how he touches you or himself.
MEN, learn how you can tell from across the room if she's interested by her gestures and the way she changes her posture. During conversation, find out if she's leading you on or if she's sincerely interested in you.
* Who's Lying to You and Who's Lusting for You!
* Signal "I'm Interested" or "Don't Bother Me"
* Attract, Interest and Date the Right Type of Man
* When to Keep Talking and When to Move on
* How to Appear Confident and Relaxed
* Declare, "Please Keep Talking" or "Go Away"
* Is He Mr. RIght or a Lurking Mr. Hyde!
* Know When You're Coming on Too Strong
* Men, Learn the Seven Things Women Want
* Easy-to-Learn Gestures Let You Tell the Other Person You're Strongly Attracted
Bob's Notes: Well, clearly this has worked well.....and yes, that's sarcasm, as I've been posting in the 2007 Singles Thread. Still, I feel that I should probably post portions of this on the board, like the "Seven Things Women Want" just for amusement's sake and so the ladies can get a laugh or say, "Wow, that's dead on....I can't see how you failed following those steps. You must really be hideous or horrible!"
2. Fodor's How to Pack: Experts Share THEIR Secrets (by Laurel Cardone)
From the jacket:
Tired of Schlepping? Get Organized!
Aiming to trade your jumbo suitcase for one that's merely medium-sized? Trying to fit everything into a carry-on? Do you always pack too much, too little, or the wrong thing -- and obsess about it? This volume is a must-have.
STRATEGIES THAT AN ARMY GENERAL WOULD ENVY
* Foolproof pretrip to-do lists
* The packer's #1 time saver -- travel kits
* How to arrive wrinkle-free -- it's easier than you think!
* Tips for packing tricky items
* Help for moms and dads
* Carry-on packing -- all the secrets
* How to pack for the way back
WHAT TO TAKE NO MATTER WHERE YOU'RE GOING
* How to avoid the overpacking trap
* Clothing checklists for men, women and kids
* Packing checklists for every kind of trip
HOW TO BUY LUGGAGE
* Essential advice on major decisions
* Quality check -- how to thell the good from the bad and the merely ugly
Bob's Notes: I'm so bad at packing. But seriously, who is so bad at packing that they BUY A BOOK ABOUT IT?!?!?! And yes, I obsess about packing, overpacking, having enough of everything.....I will pack three shirts for a one day trip because I'm convinced that, for example, I'll get caught in a rainstorm and need a dry shirt and then get tomato sauce on that shirt and need another. I need serious professional help. And when I visit my parents over Christmas, I always totally overpack, but that's because Houston in December can be 40 or can be 80....and you never know which one. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
3. Deception Point (by Dan Brown)
From the jacket:
A shocking scientific discovery.
A conspiracy of staggering brilliance.
A thriller unlike any you've ever read....
DECEPTION POINT
When a NASA satellite discovers an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floudering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory -- a vicotry with profound implications for NASA policy and the impending presidential election. To verify the authenticity of the find, the White House calls upon the skills of intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic scholar Michael Tolland, Rachel travels to the Arctic and uncovers the unthinkable: evidence of scientific trickery -- a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy. But before she can warn the President, Rachel and Michale are ambushed by a deadly team of assassins. Fleeing for their lives across a desolate and lethal landscape, their only hope for survival is to discover who is behind this masterful plot. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all.
Bob's Notes: This book single-handedly destroyed any chance that I could enjoy Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code. It might be the WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. You know that project from several years ago when some writers from the Miami Herald, including I think Carl Hiassen and Dave Berry all took turns writing chapters of a book to make it purposefully hideous? This is worse. I got it for a quarter at a used book store and I actually felt ripped off at the end. It's as if someone wrote a book in the mock acting style of William Shatner -- only worse. It's as if.....oh, it's pointless. It's always going to be worse than anything I could possibly compare it to. It's the train wreck of books -- you want to put it down, but it's so horrifying that you have to see it through to the end. Or something like that.
4. (Last but not least) Esquire's What Every Young Man Should Know: And Unconvention Gide for the Perceptive Young Man by the Editors of Esquire Magazine with Scotty Welch and Introduction by Arnold Gingrich (whoever the F those guys are)
From the jacket: Young Men may ACT more sophisticated these days but they still have to learn the Facts of Life in the same way as every previous generation -- one by one. This book tells them, with candor and humor, what they should know about manners, women, liquor, the draft their health, clothes, dinging -- and literally scores of other subjects.
Luxurious in format, illustrated with more than a hundred cartoons, studded with names like Paul Gallico, Arthur Schlesigner, Jr., Dr. Theodor Reik, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and Jack Kerouac, this book is greater than the sum of all its parts. For here, presented in print, for the first time, is not only the heart of the matter of being young gracefully but the spirit of it as well.
NO volume could look -- or act -- less like a textbook than this one. And yet, entertaining and unorthodox as it is, that is precisely what you hold in your hands -- a textbook on the most difficult art in the world, the art of being a man.
WHAT EVERY YOUNG MAN SHOULD KNOW is divided into three books:
1. WHO YOU? What Every Young Man Should Know About Himself
2. WHO SHE? What Every Young Man Should Know About Women
3. WHO THEY? What Every Young Man Should Know About the Outside World
These three books, each complete in itself, are followed by a "DIVIDEND" of miscellaneous pertinent and impertinent information.
The following are just a few of the subjects that wil be encountered in this lively and lavish volume:
How to LIberate Your Masculinity
Why Resign from the Human Race?
What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You
Esquire's Guide to the Ivy Look
How to Protect Your Clothing Investment
The Smell of Love
Ah, But What IS a Gentleman?
Ah, But What IS a Woman?
It Won't Kill You to Write a Letter
Sex: The Quiet Revolution
The T-Formation: Tactics, Yours and Hers
Eggheads Make the Best Lovers
Watch Out! Neurotic Girl!
A Chalk Talk on the Draft
Polyandry for All
How to Choose a College
How Shoe Can You Get?
Bob's Notes: This book, originally written in the '30s, updated in the '60s, and possibly since then (it is a hand-me-down from my uncle who grew up in rural northern Alabama and turned out to be gay, ironically enough), is a side-splitting yet oddly occasionally relevant look at how a boy should become a man. I remember finding it in the treasure trove of old Hardy Boys books that I got from my uncle when he felt I was old enough for those, and reading this as well. This, plus four years at an all-boys Jesuit high school, plus my skewed personality and geekyness, probably account for why I have just about zero luck with women. Really, really funny and insightful at the same time. Plus it's a great look back at how "hip" society looked at how one should behave a mere 30-40 years ago. Fascinating!
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So here are pictures of the books, as well as dust jacket descriptions and brief notes by yours truly.....
1. Body Language Secrets: A Guide During Courtship and Dating (by R. Don Steele)
From the jacket:
This book will help you find, meet, talk with and date the right kind of person. Don Steele tell you honestly and bluntly how you can make the right impression and have a big impact at every social gathering. 50 photos, plus his sound methods and practical advice let you know what to look for aw well as what to watch out for!
WOMEN, learn how you can easliy get noticed, then interest and attract the right type of man, someone you can trust. As you talk, you will know if he's telling the truth by the way he stands or sits and how he touches you or himself.
MEN, learn how you can tell from across the room if she's interested by her gestures and the way she changes her posture. During conversation, find out if she's leading you on or if she's sincerely interested in you.
* Who's Lying to You and Who's Lusting for You!
* Signal "I'm Interested" or "Don't Bother Me"
* Attract, Interest and Date the Right Type of Man
* When to Keep Talking and When to Move on
* How to Appear Confident and Relaxed
* Declare, "Please Keep Talking" or "Go Away"
* Is He Mr. RIght or a Lurking Mr. Hyde!
* Know When You're Coming on Too Strong
* Men, Learn the Seven Things Women Want
* Easy-to-Learn Gestures Let You Tell the Other Person You're Strongly Attracted
Bob's Notes: Well, clearly this has worked well.....and yes, that's sarcasm, as I've been posting in the 2007 Singles Thread. Still, I feel that I should probably post portions of this on the board, like the "Seven Things Women Want" just for amusement's sake and so the ladies can get a laugh or say, "Wow, that's dead on....I can't see how you failed following those steps. You must really be hideous or horrible!"
2. Fodor's How to Pack: Experts Share THEIR Secrets (by Laurel Cardone)
From the jacket:
Tired of Schlepping? Get Organized!
Aiming to trade your jumbo suitcase for one that's merely medium-sized? Trying to fit everything into a carry-on? Do you always pack too much, too little, or the wrong thing -- and obsess about it? This volume is a must-have.
STRATEGIES THAT AN ARMY GENERAL WOULD ENVY
* Foolproof pretrip to-do lists
* The packer's #1 time saver -- travel kits
* How to arrive wrinkle-free -- it's easier than you think!
* Tips for packing tricky items
* Help for moms and dads
* Carry-on packing -- all the secrets
* How to pack for the way back
WHAT TO TAKE NO MATTER WHERE YOU'RE GOING
* How to avoid the overpacking trap
* Clothing checklists for men, women and kids
* Packing checklists for every kind of trip
HOW TO BUY LUGGAGE
* Essential advice on major decisions
* Quality check -- how to thell the good from the bad and the merely ugly
Bob's Notes: I'm so bad at packing. But seriously, who is so bad at packing that they BUY A BOOK ABOUT IT?!?!?! And yes, I obsess about packing, overpacking, having enough of everything.....I will pack three shirts for a one day trip because I'm convinced that, for example, I'll get caught in a rainstorm and need a dry shirt and then get tomato sauce on that shirt and need another. I need serious professional help. And when I visit my parents over Christmas, I always totally overpack, but that's because Houston in December can be 40 or can be 80....and you never know which one. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
3. Deception Point (by Dan Brown)
From the jacket:
A shocking scientific discovery.
A conspiracy of staggering brilliance.
A thriller unlike any you've ever read....
DECEPTION POINT
When a NASA satellite discovers an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floudering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory -- a vicotry with profound implications for NASA policy and the impending presidential election. To verify the authenticity of the find, the White House calls upon the skills of intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic scholar Michael Tolland, Rachel travels to the Arctic and uncovers the unthinkable: evidence of scientific trickery -- a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy. But before she can warn the President, Rachel and Michale are ambushed by a deadly team of assassins. Fleeing for their lives across a desolate and lethal landscape, their only hope for survival is to discover who is behind this masterful plot. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all.
Bob's Notes: This book single-handedly destroyed any chance that I could enjoy Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code. It might be the WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. You know that project from several years ago when some writers from the Miami Herald, including I think Carl Hiassen and Dave Berry all took turns writing chapters of a book to make it purposefully hideous? This is worse. I got it for a quarter at a used book store and I actually felt ripped off at the end. It's as if someone wrote a book in the mock acting style of William Shatner -- only worse. It's as if.....oh, it's pointless. It's always going to be worse than anything I could possibly compare it to. It's the train wreck of books -- you want to put it down, but it's so horrifying that you have to see it through to the end. Or something like that.
4. (Last but not least) Esquire's What Every Young Man Should Know: And Unconvention Gide for the Perceptive Young Man by the Editors of Esquire Magazine with Scotty Welch and Introduction by Arnold Gingrich (whoever the F those guys are)
From the jacket: Young Men may ACT more sophisticated these days but they still have to learn the Facts of Life in the same way as every previous generation -- one by one. This book tells them, with candor and humor, what they should know about manners, women, liquor, the draft their health, clothes, dinging -- and literally scores of other subjects.
Luxurious in format, illustrated with more than a hundred cartoons, studded with names like Paul Gallico, Arthur Schlesigner, Jr., Dr. Theodor Reik, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and Jack Kerouac, this book is greater than the sum of all its parts. For here, presented in print, for the first time, is not only the heart of the matter of being young gracefully but the spirit of it as well.
NO volume could look -- or act -- less like a textbook than this one. And yet, entertaining and unorthodox as it is, that is precisely what you hold in your hands -- a textbook on the most difficult art in the world, the art of being a man.
WHAT EVERY YOUNG MAN SHOULD KNOW is divided into three books:
1. WHO YOU? What Every Young Man Should Know About Himself
2. WHO SHE? What Every Young Man Should Know About Women
3. WHO THEY? What Every Young Man Should Know About the Outside World
These three books, each complete in itself, are followed by a "DIVIDEND" of miscellaneous pertinent and impertinent information.
The following are just a few of the subjects that wil be encountered in this lively and lavish volume:
How to LIberate Your Masculinity
Why Resign from the Human Race?
What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You
Esquire's Guide to the Ivy Look
How to Protect Your Clothing Investment
The Smell of Love
Ah, But What IS a Gentleman?
Ah, But What IS a Woman?
It Won't Kill You to Write a Letter
Sex: The Quiet Revolution
The T-Formation: Tactics, Yours and Hers
Eggheads Make the Best Lovers
Watch Out! Neurotic Girl!
A Chalk Talk on the Draft
Polyandry for All
How to Choose a College
How Shoe Can You Get?
Bob's Notes: This book, originally written in the '30s, updated in the '60s, and possibly since then (it is a hand-me-down from my uncle who grew up in rural northern Alabama and turned out to be gay, ironically enough), is a side-splitting yet oddly occasionally relevant look at how a boy should become a man. I remember finding it in the treasure trove of old Hardy Boys books that I got from my uncle when he felt I was old enough for those, and reading this as well. This, plus four years at an all-boys Jesuit high school, plus my skewed personality and geekyness, probably account for why I have just about zero luck with women. Really, really funny and insightful at the same time. Plus it's a great look back at how "hip" society looked at how one should behave a mere 30-40 years ago. Fascinating!
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