Our Blog

Bookshelves abound with activity books for babies and toddlers, but The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is the first designed exclusively for first-time mothers. Here are 250 enjoyable activities to help rookie moms maintain their individuality and boost their confidence about leaving the house, socializing, and doing things they’ve always liked to do-either with or without baby.

Inspired by the popular Web site www.rookiemoms.com, the book offers bite-sized activities arranged according to the baby’s age. Some are crafty, some are adventurous, and some simply help get a meal on the table.

Written in a lively, supportive tone and decorated with cute illustrations, The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is the perfect gift or resource to remind new moms that there’s more to life than dirty diapers and 3 a.m. feedings.

HEATHER GIBBS FLETT is an Internet consultant and a contributor to Babycenter.com’s print magazines. WHITNEY MOSS worked in the marketing department of LeapFrog Toys for more than six years and has written about baby outings for the San Francisco Chronicle. Both Heather and Whitney have small children and live in Berkeley, California.

Babies are the courageous explorers of brave new worlds–so why not name them after the most memorable characters in science fiction? Sci-Fi Baby Names compiles more than 500 distinctive names from movies, books, and television shows into a handy illustrated reference. Choose “James” to honor the captain of the starship Enterprise. Choose “Leia” (or Leah) to honor the sister of Luke Skywalker. Choose “Neo” to salute the ultra-cool messiah from The Matrix. Hardcore fans can go even further with exotic names like “Barbarella,” “Beldar,” and “Tron” (just don’t send us the therapy bills).

Arranged by category for quick reference–with chapters such as Power Names, Feminine Names, and Intellectual Names–Sci-Fi Baby Names is a terrific gift for expecting parents and a wonderful roll call of our favorite science-fiction characters.

ROBERT SCHNAKENBERG loves science fiction so much, he wrote an entire book about William Shatner: The Encyclopedia Shatnerica. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Tired of working in a bland, boring, office cubicle? Interior designer Kelley Moore has the solution with Cube Chic, a hip, irreverent style book with inspirational cube designs for every taste, from Tiki to Zen. With dazzling full-color photography and helpful decorating tips, you’ll learn how to create:

• The Garden Cube: Rather be gardening? This cube features bright grassy greens, floral prints, and a desk covered in bright gerberas.
• The Cabin Cube: Like a ski lodge at your desk, this cube features dark wood tones and creature comforts aplenty.
• The CEO Cube: Get on the fast track to the executive lifestyle, and create a corner office in your own space.

And that’s just the beginning-there’s also a Hip-Hop Cube, a Pub Cube, a Safari Cube, and even a Cubism Cube. With so many eye-popping design options to choose from, Cube Chic will inspire office drones of all ages!

KELLEY L. MOORE is a lifestyle and entertaining expert with a simple mission: to empower people to connect and build relationships through the environment they create. She has a regular entertainment column in Northwest Home & Garden and writes feature design and entertainment articles for Seattle magazine. Kelley appears regularly on Seattle’s morning television show on KING 5 News, contributing to design, style, and entertainment segments.

Secret Lives of Great Artists recounts the seamy, steamy, and gritty history behind the great masters of international art. 

You’ll learn that Michelangelo’s body odor was so bad, his assistants couldn’t stand working for him; that Vincent van Gogh sometimes ate paint directly from the tube; and Georgia O’Keeffe loved to paint in the nude. This is one art history lesson you’ll never forget!

In the tradition of Quirk’s bestselling Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents, here are outrageous and uncensored profiles of the world’s greatest writers, complete with hundreds of little-known, politically incorrect, and downright bizarre facts. Consider:

–Edgar Allan Poe was kicked out of West Point Military Academy.
–Louisa May Alcott was addicted to opium.
–W. B. Yeats paid surgeons to transplant monkey glands into his scrotum.
–J. R. R. Tolkien slept in his bathroom.
–Kurt Vonnegut managed a Saab dealership before hitting the big time.

With chapters on everyone from William Shakespeare to Thomas Pynchon, Secret Lives of Great Authors tackles all the tough questions your teachers were afraid to answer: What’s the deal with Lewis Carroll and little girls? Is it true that J. D. Salinger drank his own urine? Why was Ayn Rand such a big fan of Charlie’s Angels? The classics were never this much fun in school!

ROBERT SCHNAKENBERG is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York.

Secret Lives of Great Authors revealed the dirty secrets of Hemingway, Kafka, and Tolstoy. Secret Lives of Great Artists explored the bizarre behavior of Picasso, Matisse, and Monet. Now you can discover the dirty laundry of Beethoven, Wagner, Puccini, and others in Secret Lives of Great Composers-an uncensored biography of the world’s greatest musical geniuses. You’ll learn that

    * Hector Berlioz hatched a plan to kill his ex-fiancee, her lover, and her mother
    * Joseph Haydn had his head stolen by amateur phrenologists days after being buried
    * Richard Wagner dressed in pink women’s lingerie
    * Arnold Schoenberg suffered from a debilitating case of triskaidekaphobia-a fear of the number 13
    * And much more!

With outrageous stories ranging from the ridiculous (Mozart loved fart jokes) to the even more ridiculous (the absentminded Mahler frequently stirred his tea with cigarettes), Secret Lives of Great Composers is a music lesson you’ll never forget.

ELIZABETH LUNDAY is a journalist specializing in music, architecture, and art. She writes the “Masterpieces” column for mental_floss magazine and lives in Forth Worth, Texas.