Awesome Books

Available 2/24/10: if your braaaain found Pride and Prejudice and Zombies a bit too dense, this set of 30 postcards pictorially merges Victorian romance with ultraviolent zombie mayhem.

Collected from the papers of “monstrologists”, Compendium Monstrum is a pocket-sized volume with “19th century” sketches, maps, and notes on vampires, werewolves, and zombies.

Ask A Ninja’s Ninja Wisdom Deck is a collection of 50 deadly meditations including the ninja code and ninja philosophy; it’s perfect for non-ninjas, as long as the deck doesn’t kill you first.

Kazu Kibuishi’s much-loved Copper comic strip is now available as a book; it’s a more esoteric version of Calvin and Hobbes with beautiful illustrations and Kazu’s trademark subtle humor.

Make books like War and Peace even denser than they already are with these Vise Bookends; made out of solid iron, each set features turnable steel screws and wooden handles.

We can’t forgive him for Jar Jar, but George Lucas does know how to make a buck or two at the box office; Blockbusting is his take on the 300 most successful movies of all time.

V.R. pioneer Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not A Gadget is a manifesto on the dangers of Web 2.0 outpacing cultural needs; in it, he tackles issues such as mob behavior and collectivism.

Learn how to tackle a weighty problem, video game-style with Cutting Myself In Half; it’s the true story of how 14-year old Taylor LeBaron went from 300 lbs to 150 lbs in only 18 months.

Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) is indeed targeted at free range kids (with parental supervision); it includes supergluing fingers and looking at the sun.

Penney Design is the latest to get in on the retro book cover fad, but they do a triple mashup mixing modern movies, old books, and cartridge games; one copy of 2D Avatar, please.

The Rocketeer: The Deluxe Complete Edition is a tribute to Dave Stevens, who sadly passed in 2008; his comic inspired the 1991 film and is included along with never-before-seen drawings.

A must-have for mobile bros, Bro on the Go is the companion to The Bro Code; it packs 144 pages of new rules in a pocket-friendly size, including Bro at the Beach and Bro in Outer Space.

ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia is a true full-court press at 1,232 pages with overviews of all 335 D-I teams, season-by-season summaries, and brackets for every NCAA tournament.

Due out 1/6/10, Mega Man: Official Complete Works is 200 pages of Mega-awesome; it’s packed with 20 years of artwork including characters, box art, promo art, and rare art pieces.

Because a big planet needs a big book: the limited edition Earth Atlas stands two feet tall by 18 inches wide, with 480 pages and 800 images; it’s “only” $4,800 before 1/1/2010.

Although its ink is not as sanguine as the original comics, the KISS Kompendium is definitely epic: its 1,280 pages contain every KISS comic book with a foreword by Gene Simmons.

John Dies At The End may sound like an insta-spoiler, but rewards with a soy-sauce induced trip filled with beer, FPS games and fantasy flicks; it’s by Cracked.com’s David Wong Jason Pargin.

The Onion’s been hitting it out of the bulb park lately with videos, but Our Front Pages is good old pulp; the 304 page book covers 21 years of hilarious headlines, stories, and fine print.

John Austin’s Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction is a must for cubicle combat; build 35 devices including catapults, slingshots, and bombs, all MacGyver’d from office supplies.

One of Time’s top 10 fiction books of 2009, The Windup Girl is cyberpunk sans the computers with a hat tip to hard science; it envisions a post-petroleum biotech world. Thanks, Andrew!

Less a biography and more a visual diary, Comeback 2.0 follows Lance Armstrong’s return to competitive cycling in 2009; it’s a mix of action shots and behind-the-scenes photography.

Based on the successful blog of the same name, Strange Maps is a fascinating mix of social commentary and cartographical creativity; it includes 138 graphics and spans 256 pages.

The Naked Pint bares all for brew lovers and also serves as Beer 101 for novices; it covers everything from beer science and misconceptions to food pairings and home brewing.

Dubbed Rancho Obi-Wan, Stephen Sansweet’s collection gets a 568-page tour with Star Wars: 1,000 Collectibles; it’s actually a snapshot of his full stash, which numbers 75,000 items.

Written by magician John Mulholland for the CIA in 1953 but long thought to be lost, The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception is a fascinating mix of espionage and magic.

It’s not the first site to let you buy and sell used dvds, books, and games, but Glyde is a trade-up from eBay with a clean interface, pre-stamped packaging, and no-hassle returns.