Awesome Books

Syracuse University Libraries’ Preservation Department shows us how to save a water-logged book and restore it back to its original condition. All you need is some paper towels, a fan, and some weights. You should also store it in the freezer if you can’t work on it right away.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia viewers know that Paddy’s Pub isn’t exactly known for its food quality. But here we are with an official Sunny cookbook, with recipes for dishes like Frank’s Rum Ham, Fat Mac’s Trash Bag Chimichangas, and Charlie’s Milk Steak, interspersed with photos and quotes from the long-running comedy. Pre-orders start shipping 9.26.23.

There’s much more that goes into brewing craft beer than grain, hops, yeast, and water. Some of the best and most creative beers incorporate other plants to create complex flavors and intoxicating aromas. Author Giuseppe Caruso’s 640-page book The Botany of Beer provides an illustrated guide to more than 500 plants used in brewing around the globe.

There’s something magical about nature guidebooks filled with illustrations and insights about the flora and fauna around us. From mountains to ocean shores, wetlands to deserts, How to Read the Wilderness: An Illustrated Guide to the Natural Wonders of North America blends art and science to reveal intimate details of wild places.

Author Jon Morris wrote this series of comic book history books, including silly superheroes like Doctor Hormone, freakish villains like Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, and stupid sidekicks like Frosting the Bear. The books are packed with vintage art, backstories on the characters, and amusing commentary.

This collection of four books from wilderness expert and author Dave Canterbury includes everything you ever wanted to know about thriving in the wild. The combined reference guides include over 1000 pages of techniques for building shelters, trapping, gathering, and cooking, along with first aid and survival.

There are plenty of good books out there for honing your survival skills, but how many of them cover what to do if you’re held captive by furry creatures on Endor, stuck on an exploding Death Star, or frozen in carbonite? Well, you’re in luck, thanks to BBC culture editor Christian Blauvelt and his handy Star Wars survival guide.

Showcasing Nathan Myhrvold’s obsession with food, photography, and science, Food & Drink is a slip-cased art book collecting 200+ delicious photographs from the award-winning Modernist Bread and Modernist Pizza plus Myhvold’s Modernist Cuisine Gallery, the first gallery showing food photography by a single artist.

We always wondered what kind of cocktails Bruce Wayne and his guests were sipping at all those fancy parties. Now we know, thanks to Gotham City Cocktails, a book filled with adult beverages and tasty bar bites inspired by Batman, Joker, Poison Ivy, and other characters from the popular DC Comics series.

This 208-page reference book is packed with tips and tricks you can use to build your DIY abilities. You’ll pick up skills like building your own metal forge, working with glass, wiring basic circuits, screenprinting, and more. It’s also got a section on organizing your workshop for efficiency.

Warm weather is here, and there’s no better time to explore the country. Family camping and RV experts Stephanie and Jeremy Puglisi explore more than 300 of America’s best camping and glamping spots in and around national parks, monuments, and seashores. A must-have on any traveler’s bookshelf.

Have you joined the adult coloring book cult yet? Steven Rhodes’ wickedly funny drawings will have you reaching for your crayons to color kid-unfriendly parodies such as Death Metal Sing-Along, Alien Abduction Club, and Here Comes the Apocalypse, plus warped activities like occult career selector paper dolls.

Inspired by the long-running (and recently canceled) series, Millie De Chirico and Quatoyiah Murry’s book celebrates the campiest, kitschiest, and weirdest cult films of all time. It includes reviews, behind-the-scenes stories, photos, and other details about classics like Ganja and Hess, Polyester, Xanadu, and Mac and Me.

This notebook is perfect for keeping track of the movies you’ve seen and taking notes. It’s got pre-lined prompts for details like the title, director, genre, and stars, along with your notes and ratings of each movie. The 6″ x 9″ journal has 100 pages and is available in paperback and hardcover versions.

Designer, writer, and engineer Marcin Wichary created this extensive visual history of keyboards and the people who use them. The two-volume set is packed with 1300 photos and numerous stories about the amazing mechanical device that changed the world in so many ways.

From the authors of Death & Co, the Cocktail Codex is no ordinary drink recipe book. It teaches home bartenders about the fundamental elements that go into a good cocktail and the relationships between drinks that share attributes. The approach encourages experimentation in creating your own concoctions.