A comprehensive visual celebration of one of the sea’s most delicious and fascinating creatures, featuring lush original photography, practical guidelines, and historical anecdotes

For centuries, oysters have had the power to sustain and delight, inspiring writers and artists, lowly cooks and four-star chefs, laborers and gourmands, and everyone in between. A feast for the eyes and the palate, oysters also are rich in history and lore. In Oysters: A Celebration in the Raw, Marion Lear Swaybill presents a wide-ranging visual exploration of this iconic shellfish, including stunning portraits of more than fifty oyster varietals, the latest photographs from some of the country’s most renowned and beautiful oyster farms, and notable illustrations of oysters in art and culture, all alongside a lively and informative text. Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Jeremy Sewall provides personal insights, drawing on his New England lineage and his place in the forefront of the oyster revival.

Overflowing with gorgeous original photography and fascinating anecdotes, Oysters: A Celebration in the Raw is the perfect book for oyster aficionados and newbies, foodies and chefs of all stripes, lovers of photography and art, the environment, history, and the sea.

Based on a popular game, Master-Pieces encourages kids to look closely at art, for a fun spin on art appreciation

Mix and match pieces of the world’s greatest artworks—from Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington—to create new portraits. Flip Flora’s pretty hairstyle on the head of a Kabuki actor. Top Frida Kahlo with the straw hat of Vincent van Gogh.

Printed on heavy board and laminated, Master-Pieces will stand up to the most enthusiastic flipping, at home or in the classroom. Including full images with captions, short descriptions of the works, and artists’ biographies, it features artworks from the world’s most magnificent public collections, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Louvre. With one thousand possible portrait combinations, Master-Pieces will have children looking at art in a whole new way.

What is the national debt? Who loses from it? Who profits from it? Why is it a greater threat to America than international terrorism? In direct, non-partisan language, this book follows the money and finds the answers.

Conservative, Liberal, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist... Each has a laundry list for America on which the slow-motion cataclysm of unsustainable national debt is but a lonely bullet point among dozens of others. Full Faith and Credit zooms in on that point, liberates it from partisan programs and political orientations, expands it, explores it, and explains it.

The book examines key dimensions of our national life—from a military-industrial complex more menacing than even Eisenhower could have imagined to a Tower of Babel tax code that covertly translates taxes into secret spending. With the aim of converting bystanders into informed advocates of change, Full Faith and Credit is rich with eye-opening data, surprising case studies, and you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up examples:

• For every official the United States public has elected, its government supports 5,000 unelected employees.

• $1 billion is the cost to destroy $16 billion in ammunition unneeded by the U.S. military.

• $20,973,890,000 is the total taxpayer cost to the Treasury of gambling losses deducted by millionaires.

More timely than ever, Full Faith and Credit locates the tipping point of the $18.8 trillion national debt crisis and offers new ideas on how to fix it.

A charming, uproarious exploration of the scientific answers to our most timeless questions about drinks and drinking

The world is full of questions, myths, and half-truths about drinking. Beer before liquor, never sicker? Should you drink the hair of the dog that bit you?

These questions usually have hilarious answers, but more often than not, the old wives’ tales and wild guesses of bartenders (and –goers alike) drown them out. For the first time in one volume, Distilled Knowledge compiles all the major points of discussion and disputation—with the science to either back them up or knock them down.

Cocktail historian and instructor Brian D. Hoefling’s pithy, conversational text is divided into two parts. The first, “What Hits the Glass,” discusses the ins and outs of fermentation, distillation, aging, and mixing—even solving the age-old conundrum between “shaken” and “stirred.” The second section, “What Hits the Body,” deals with the after-effects of alcohol on the human body, answering a wide range of questions on intoxication, social lubrication, and hangovers.

Readers will receive a complete and comical education through this attractive volume, which features clear, cheeky illustrations throughout. Complete with cross-references, scientific appendices, and a full index, the easily digestible entries are robust enough to put an end to any barroom dispute. A compulsively readable book, Distilled Knowledge is as funny as it is factual and will delight cocktail enthusiasts, beer aficionados, and those who love a good bit of trivia.

The must-have guide for the collector of fine wristwatches with complete information—including prices—on over 1,400 models made by more than 130 international brands

The Wristwatch Annual has become a classic for aficionados of fine watchmaking. It’s a one-stop shop for watch buying, offering complete specs and prices on over 1,400 models by more than 130 international brands, while also tracking the latest developments in the watch industry. In addition to the extensive A–Z section, which includes many new entries, senior editor Marton Radkai presents editorial features that take a closer look at a number of exciting American brands on the market today.

Presenting a wide range of wristwatches, with exquisite color photographs and complete specifications for each watch, Wristwatch Annual provides collectors with a wealth of information close at hand. The book is arranged alphabetically by producer—within each producer’s section is a brief history of the brand (with contact information)—and specifications and materials for each watch, including price, movement, special features, complications, case, dial, band, and variations. Also included are a glossary and a guide to watch maintenance.

The clear photography, structured layout, and lively writing also makes this book a pleasure to read or just browse. This year’s edition features updated and expanded content, focusing on new American brands.

Photographer Beth Moon revisits the world’s oldest trees in the darkest places on earth, using color photography to capture vibrant nighttime skies

Throughout much of the world, night skies are growing increasingly brighter, but the force that protects the remaining naturally dark sky, unpolluted by artificial light, is the same that saves its ancient trees—isolation. Staking out some of the world’s last dark places, photographer Beth Moon uses a digital camera to reveal constellations, nebulae, and the Milky Way, in rich hues that are often too faint to be seen by the naked eye. As in her acclaimed first volume, Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time, these magnificent images encounter great arboreal specimens, including baobabs, olive trees, and redwoods, in such places as South Africa, England, and California.

In her artist’s statement, Beth Moon describes the experience of shooting at night in these remote places. An essay by Jana Grcevich, postdoctoral fellow of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History, provides the perspective of a scientist racing to study the stars in a world growing increasingly brighter. Clark Strand, the author of Waking Up to the Dark: Ancient Wisdom for a Sleepless Age, takes a different tack, illuminating the inherent spirituality of trees.