Thursday, September 30, 2010

New Book Release: Jewish Living

Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice by Mark Washofsky

This definitive guide for Reform Jewish practice is a complete source for those who wish to incorporate Jewish practice into their everyday life. Mark Washofsky, a highly respected professor at Hebrew Union College, leads the reader to an understanding of the whole of Jewish life-from blessings to bar/bat mitzvah, Havdalah to haftarah, and tikkun olam to tikkun Leil Shavuot. This user-friendly compendium for living a Jewish life is a wonderful tool for those seeking an understanding of current Reform Jewish practice.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

New Book Release: Real Monsters

Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside by Brad Steiger

Spotlighting news articles, historical accounts, and first-person interviews, this chronicle of human interactions with monsters will convince even the most hardened skeptic of the existence of the bogeyman, bigfoot, werewolves, and swamp creatures. Offering an array of wild reports—from the police officer who begrudgingly responded to a call about a long-haired woman flying over a suburban neighborhood only to find himself calling for backup when she attacked his patrol car to the motorist whose headlights illuminated a seven-foot tall, wolf-like creature that stood on its hind legs—this historical record highlights scary and unbelievable narratives. From slightly demented humans to spine-tingling paranormal encounters, each outlandish occurrence is detailed with thorough research and recounted with a storyteller's crafted voice.

New Book Release: The Vampire Book

The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, 3rd Edition by J. Gordon Melton

Death and immortality, sexual prowess and surrender, intimacy and alienation, rebellion and temptation. The allure of the vampire is eternal. The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, 3rd edition, explores the historical, literary, mythological, biographical, and popular aspects of one of the world's most mesmerizing paranormal subject. This vast reference is an alphabetical tour of the psychosexual, macabre world of the soul-sucking undead.

In the first fully revised and updated edition in a decade, Dr. J. Gordon Melton (president of the American chapter of the Transylvania Society of Dracula) bites even deeper into vampire lore, myths, reported realities, and legends that come from all around the world. From Vlad the Impaler to Dracula and from modern literature to movies and TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Twilight, and The Vampire Lestat, this exhaustive guide furnishes more than 400 essays to quench your thirst for facts, biographies, definitions, and more.