Star Craving Mad

Maddy Braverman, thirty and single, has taught first grade at an uber-elite private school in Greenwich Village for the past six years, a hip downtown school lauded as much for its progressive pedagogy as its privileged progeny—and its multitude of sex-crazed staff—including the headmaster, aka the Head Molester. Angry at herself for not moving on, Maddy gets distracted from her pity party with a new student, Lola Magdalena—daughter of A-list celebrities Nic and Shelby Seabolt—a last-minute addition to her class roster. When tragedy strikes Lola, Maddy has the chance to meet with Nic in his TriBeCa apartment. Maddy’s sexy celebrity fantasies turn to reality, leaving her breathless and spellbound. But from her front-row vantage point, Maddy learns the hard way that celebrity is not all it seems, and gets dealt a devastating blow that could leave her jobless, loveless, and alone. If she could just see things clearly, she could save herself from going Star Craving Mad.

Single, adorable Maddy, a 30-year-old teacher at a Manhattan private school, must come back down to earth when she gets a little star struck by her students' celebrity parents.

This critical work concentrates on the science fiction writings of Paul Linebarger, who wrote under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith, as well as other pseudonyms he created to reflect his different writing styles. His writings give voice to concerns about humanity and personal struggle; his ideas about love, loss, alienation, and psychic pain continue to resonate today. This work begins with a brief biographical sketch of Cordwainer Smith, linking elements of his past to his writing and focusing on his contributions to science fiction as well as his concern with humanity. Also discussed are Smith's published and unpublished novel-length non-science fiction, his revision process, the true man-underpeople dichotomy in his published and unpublished short fiction, and his only published novel-length science fiction work Norstrilia.

Fred Watson knows all about the madness that drives people to understand the Universe and unlock its secrets. Now you can join Australia's best-known astronomer on a unique tour to unravel the mysteries of space and time. Take in primitive observatories in ancient Peru and the world's largest atom-smasher in modern-day Switzerland. See Pluto demoted from planetary status. Go behind headlines to find the truth about the Transit of Venus and the Higgs Boson. Meet some of science's most colourful characters. In this light-hearted, informative and engaging book, Fred travels to some of those far-flung destinations as he weaves the epic story of humankind's growing understanding of the Universe. It's a grand adventure and the Professor is a witty, funny and knowledgeable companion. Come along on a journey that is sure to take you out of this world...

Your family has a hankering--a yen for chicken tikka masala or queso fundido, for shrimp pad thai or a Philly cheesesteak--and they want it bad. So you decide to eat out at a local ethnic or roadside restaurant, or do take-out. It's expedient, but is the food really that good? Really really good? Because Lucinda Scala Quinn's versions of all those dishes families crave will knock your socks off and prove beyond a doubt that the foods you love can be made better, faster, tastier, cheaper, and more healthfully at home. Lucinda Scala Quinn is all about smart strategies that simplify and make for great taste, so why outsource feeding our families when it takes less time, money, and effort to cook these favorite comfort foods ourselves? And why miss out on the untold gifts of sitting at home with your family around the dining room table? So next time there's a request for pulled pork or deep-dish pizza or chicken fettuccine Alfredo, or cold soba noodles or fried rice, forget about soggy takeout and overpriced restaurants--just crack open this book and you'll find simple recipes for all those dishes your family wants to eat, right now.

Linguistic mistakes. We all make them. And if your name is George W Bush, you might make them more often than others. In 'The Ants are My Friends' (delightfully misheard from Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind") Martin Toseland has collected the very best (and very worst) linguistic gifts of the gaffe. The catergories features include: Malapropisms (named after Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's "The Rivals" where the wrong word pops out to bizarre results); Eggcorns (where a new word is created from misheard real one - the name comes from someone misunderstanding 'acorn' as 'eggcorn', as it has the same shape); Bushisms (the humour in which cannot be misunderestimated); and Mondegreens or misheard lyrics, which include such classic examples as: Who Ya Gonna Call, Gus Foster ("Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Junior); Last Night I Dreamed of Some Bagels ("La Isla Bonita" by Madonna); Sparing His Life For His Mum's Sausages ("Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen); It's a Fruit, Fruit Samba ("Cruel Summer" by Bananarama); and, Mr Tangerine Man ("Mr Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan).

An important, shrewd, and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel that answers the question: What happens when Bridget Jones or the Sex and the City girls get married and have babies? Maybe you know Amanda. Maybe you are Amanda. Whoever you are, you will love Amanda. Nothing ever prepared Amanda for this: not her elite college degree, not her brainy friends, not her mother the feminist heroine. At age 35, she finds herself at home with two children, mopping spills and singing The Itsy-Bitsy Spider. It doesn't help that her husband's face is all over national television or that her best friend is dating a billionaire or that every woman she knows seems to have a plastic surgeon and an interior decorator. While everyone else is racing up the fast track, it's getting hard for Amanda to remember why she left work in the first place. Set amidst the glamour and power of boom-time Washington, D.C., Amanda Bright is a novel about status and ambition marriage and jealousy and a woman's struggle to discover the things that matter most. Amanda Bright@Home will become an anthem for a generation of women that is learning that success is not always found at the office.