Awesome Books

Artist Basil Wolverton was known for his amazingly offbeat illustrations that blended science fiction, fantasy, and humor. The books Creeping Death from Neptune and Brain Bats of Venus chronicle his work from 1909 to 1952, during which time his images were published by everyone from Marvel to MAD Magazine.

This fascinating coffee table book brings together the talents of scientific illustrator / tattoo artist Katy Wiedemann and anatomy professor Dr Jennifer Z Paxton. Its pages are filled with detailed images of the inner workings of our bodies, accompanied by informative text that’s informative but still digestible without a medical degree.

Cocktail expert Robert Simonson’s book offers up 75 recipes for delicious beverages you can make with a simple trio of ingredients. From classics like the Bee’s Knees to modern drinks like Remember the Alimony, there’s something for every taste in this 2018 James Beard Foundation book award finalist.

Since 1980, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s friend and drummer Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz has been documenting Al’s misadventures, capturing images of the world’s greatest novelty singer in the studio, on tour, and on video sets. Schwartz’s 208-page hardcover book is filled with never-before-seen photos shot between 1983 and 1986.

Ever wonder how Starfleet crews keep in such good shape during when they’re not fighting Gorn? Robb Pearlman’s amusing workout book offers up exercises like Vulcan side planks, Tribble twists, and those dreaded Wesley crunchers. The perfect gift for Star Trek fans.

Written by retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson, this book is packed with illustrated tips and solutions for taking control in dangerous situations, including self defense, escape, and evasion techniques. The tips include low-tech/no-tech methods to help you improvise when things go South. Be sure to check out the Survival Edition as well.

Expand your programming knowledge with an outstanding bundle of eBooks from renowned tech publisher O’Reilly. Pay what you want, but 15 bucks or more gets you all 15 titles, covering SQL, PHP, R, C#, Java, TypeScript, Python, Scala, Rust, and more.

Stuck at home with the kids? Author Mike Rampton comes to the rescue with a compilation of more than 500 family friendly games and diversions to keep the boredom to a minimum. Each activity is ranked by energy level and can be played with stuff lying around the house.

When it’s hot and sunny out, you should be drinking some appropriately sunshiney drinks. Davis Adams’ cocktail book is packed with delicious combinations of rum, fruit juice, and other staples of the tiki scene. And if you’re looking for some glasses to serve your conconctions, we highly recommend Geeki Tikis.

Packed with over 400 pages of artwork and historical artifacts from the Transformers franchise, author Jim Sorenson’s coffee table compendium is sure to delight any Transformers fan. The deluxe edition includes a collector’s box and five ready-to-frame prints.

Learn everything there is to know about coffee in this 256 page reference guide by champion barista Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood. The book features illustrations and information about numerous types of coffee, terminology, along with details on growing, roasting, brewing, and the finer points of coffee tasting.

Were the raptors in Jurassic Park just misunderstood? Who’s the better tough guy movie dog owner? Shea Serrano’s book explores these and other random questions from the world of movies. Arturo Torres‘ witty and sharply-drawn images are the perfect accompaniment to Serrano’s in-depth analysis.

This Humble Bundle is packed with over $1000 worth of reading material from Morgan & Claypool to help you learn about electronic circuits, microcontrollers, and engineering principles. Pay what you want, and if you spend more than $15, you’ll get all 17 e-Books, while supporting the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Sunlife Drawing’s unique coloring books offer a different kind of relaxation for your mind. Rather than traditional illustrations to color in, each page is filled with black and white lineart which result in halftones line and dot patterns when filled in.

Jessica Ambats is passionate about both photography and aviation, and she’s quite the talent behind the lens. Her 160-page book features some of the spectacular images she’s captured over the past 15 years, with a unique focus on pilots who own and fly their own jets. Available as a digital download or hardcover.

Looking for another relaxing activity to pass some time at home? This book is filled with dot-to-dot illustrations of famous locations around the globe. Like the other books in in Thomas Pavitte’s dot-to-dot series, each image is made from exactly 1,000 dots, and comes printed on a tear-out page, suitable for framing.

In his latest book, author Cody Cassidy (And Then You’re Dead) offers up the origin stories of everyday stuff. From the first time anyone ever used soap, to the first time someone drank beer, it’s packed with fascinating stories about ubiquitous things, told in a fun and illuminating way.

Before Snoop Dogg cooked on Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, nobody would have guessed the perennially-baked Doggfather could, well, bake. According to this book, he’s a crook-turned-cook with his recipes for 50 munchie-satisfying foods like baked mac & cheese, fried bologna sandwiches, and chicken ‘n’ waffles.

Motion artist Henning M. Lederer is back with another cool animated clip. This time, he didn’t just use book covers, but he included some eye-catching designs from vintage record sleeves as well. The electronic music track by Tilman Grundig fits the structured, geometric imagery perfectly.

Artist Andrew DeGraff’s cinematic atlas is filled with intricate isometric maps which guide us through the locations in popular movies. The hardcover book features 11″ x 14″ reproductions of his hand-painted maps from 35 movies including King Kong, Fargo, The Princess Bride, The Shining, and many more.

Humble teamed up with publisher Morgan & Claypool for this bundle of e-books which dive deep into the science, math, and technology of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Pay what you want, and the more you spend, the more e-books you get. A portion of every purchase goes to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

Ten Speed Press presents a fantastic collection of artwork and history from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. The hardcover book includes over 700 pieces of art from the game’s core books, supplements, modules, concepts, and merch. A deluxe special edition includes posters and other bonuses.

A fun book for kids and adults who love bugs. Author Kate Messner and illustrator Jillian Nickell turn 18 real life insects into superheroes and supervillains, as they explore some amazing abilities of real life creatures in comic book style.