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Books below and on the left are listed in order of
pending or actual publication date, starting with the most recent.
Click on any of the links directly on the left to view any Smart Pop
Books title.
Scroll down to
view all Smart Pop titles on, by or about women we think kick ass.
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Perfectly Plum
June 2007
Unauthorized Essays on the Life,
Loves, and Other Disasters of Stephanie Plum, Trenton Bounty Hunter
Edited by Leah Wilson
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.95 US |
$22.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$14.36 US | $18.36 CAN
Can’t Get Enough of Stephanie Plum?
Plum the depths, and heights, of
Janet Evanovich’s bestselling series with Perfectly Plum.
Life
Was Stephanie always destined for life as
a disaster-prone bounty hunter? According to Bev Rosenbaum, it’s
pretty probable. Carole Nelson Douglas compares Stephanie’s life
to that of another gutsy, klutzy female icon: Lucy Ricardo. And Tanya
Michaels considers the reason why Stephanie sometimes seems to keep
running in circles.
Loves
Should Stephanie just settle down already
with Morelli? (Shanna Swendson sure thinks so.) Though maybe,
points out Nancy Tesler, she doesn’t have to choose between Joe
and Ranger at all. Or is Rex the hamster, as Rhonda Eudaly
suggests, the only man Stephanie really needs?
Other Disasters
Plum series audio book abridger Brenda
Scott Royce shares what she’s learned about Stephanie Plum’s success
at bounty hunting—and it’s not just luck. JA Konrath checks up on
Stephanie’s car insurance options. Karen Kendall nominates Ranger
for the role of Stephanie’s Fairy, er, Hairy Godmother. And
Natasha Fondren tosses aside her self-help books in favor of a new
up-and-coming inspirational guru: Lula.
Celebrating Stephanie and a whole cast of
supporting characters as colorful as the series’s covers, Perfectly
Plum is the perfect way to go “Plum Crazy” . . . and learn a little
more about Stephanie’s world in the process! |
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Coffee at Luke's
May 2007
An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls
Gabfest
Edited by Jennifer
Crusie
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.95 US |
$22.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$14.36 US | $18.36 CAN
Mother-daughter best friends Lorelai and
Rory Gilmore, laughing and sharing coffee at Luke’s: it’s been the last
scene of Gilmore Girls’s opening credits from the beginning. Men
may come and go (and come, and go), but coffee at Luke’s remains.
For seven seasons
Gilmore Girls’s appeal has transcended genders and generations with
its signature banter and irresistibly quirky characters. Now, Coffee
at Luke’s raises a glass to the citizens of Stars Hollow, animatedly
debating and discussing the show in true Gilmore fashion.
Sit down and stay
awhile; join the conversation.
Have some Coffee
at Luke’s.
On the menu:
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Author
and mother Stephanie Lehmann analyzes Rory and Lorelai’s
relationship as “best friends first . . . mother and daughter
second,” and wonders whether Lorelai’s parenting philosophy is truly
a recipe for success
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City girl
and chick-lit author Heather Swain confesses which Stars
Hollow resident she’d leave the Big Apple for in a New York minute:
Kirk?
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Television Without Pity recapper and amateur economist Sara
Morrison pits the mom-and-pop shops of Stars Hollow against
real-world small town businesses—would Luke’s diner stand a chance
against an International House of Pancakes?
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Television writer Charlotte Fullerton takes first chair for
the defense in the most controversial case of the century: Emily
Gilmore’s
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Pop
culture theorist Gregory Stevenson shows how the Gilmore
Girls best communicate . . . not with words, but with walnuts,
Danishes, and the occasional Friday Night Dinner pudding
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Entertainment Weekly’s Jennifer Armstrong explains why
successful Lorelai Gilmore may be her own worst enemy when it comes
to marital bliss
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Plus . .
. “Coffee at Luke’s-isms,” a snarky guide to the pop
culture references used in the book
Jennifer Crusie
is a New York Times bestselling author whose novels include
Bet Me, Faking It, and Don’t Look Down (with Bob
Mayer). She is a frequent contributor to the Smart Pop series, and
editor of Flirting with Pride and Prejudice and Totally
Charmed. She holds an MA in women’s lit and an MFA in fiction. For
more information visit www.jennycrusie.com. |
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Neptune Noir
May 2007
Unauthorized Investigations into
Veronica Mars
Edited by Veronica Mars
Creator Rob Thomas
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.95 US |
$22.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$14.36 US | $18.36 CAN
“This is a must-read for Veronica Mars fans.”
—Rob Thomas
Neptune (n):
California home of teen sleuth Veronica Mars
Noir (n): Film
style characterized by moral ambiguity, corrupt authority . . . and a
tiny blonde armed with a quip and a taser?
Veronica Mars—both
the show and its titular lead—has won the hearts of a small but devoted
fanbase drawn to Veronica’s class-torn hometown, where the high-school
landscape echoes adult patterns of power and privilege and your best bet
for justice is a teenage girl and her private detective father. The show
is so snarky, so smart, and so savvy, that the detective show’s biggest
mystery is why more people aren’t watching.
This collection of
essays on the show’s first two seasons explores the noir roots of
Veronica’s blond locks, and the sharp writing and killer plot twists
that have catapulted Veronica Mars to the top of smart viewers’
must-watch list.
Inside:
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Neptune Noir editor and Veronica Mars creator Rob
Thomas recounts how Veronica Mars saved his soul, not to
mention his career
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Psychologist Misty Hook is in love with LoVe—and she tells us
why Veronica Mars wouldn’t be half the show it is without
Logan and Veronica’s epic romance
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Watcher Junior editor Lynne Edwards confesses to sneaking
around behind Buffy’s back with another California blonde, and
explains what Veronica does for her that the Slayer can’t
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Television Without Pity’s Couch Baron, John Ramos, outlines
all the reasons Veronica lies—and why we can’t help but forgive her,
every time
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Author
Evelyn Vaughn posits Veronica as the love child of Raymond
Chandler . . . and Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw
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Pop
culture theorist Geoff Klock analyzes the plot structure of
“Leave It to Beaver,” one of the best television season finales ever
written
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And
Salon.com’s TV writer Heather Havrilesky hits on the real
reason for Veronica’s cool: she’s the epitome of that cynicism to
which every high schooler aspires
Rob Thomas
is the creator and executive producer of the critically acclaimed film
noir, teen detective drama Veronica Mars. Thomas also produced
and created the short-lived television series Cupid, wrote
scripts for television shows Dawson’s Creek and Space Ghost
and the film Drive Me Crazy, and has written several novels for
young adults.
SAVE VERONICA MARS! For more
information, visit
saveveronicamars.tv!
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This is Chick-Lit
September 2006
Edited by Lauren
Baratz-Logsted
Suggested Retail Price:
$14.95 US | $20.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop Price:
$11.96 US | $16.76 CAN
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“A wonderful compilation of
talented and diverse authors ... a long overdue and smart answer
to the naysayers of an often maligned genre. It’s funny, a
little edgy, thoughtful and thoroughly entertaining, not to
mention lots of interesting and eye-opening stuff for clever
guys who want to see how the other half thinks.”
Nelson DeMille,
bestselling author of Plum Island
“Like a
lot of snotty literary types, I have often sneered at chick
lit … I’m here to tell you: I was wrong. These stories,
which take chick lit beyond its Bridget Jonesian beginnings,
show that it’s time to take this maturing genre a little
more seriously. In this round of the culture wars, at least,
the point goes to the chick-lit girls.”
Priya Jain, BUST
Magazine |
Chick-lit is
lit.
In
the last decade, chick-lit has exploded in popularity. Readers relate to
the stories told by a growing group of powerful and fun women: chick-lit
writers.
THIS IS CHICK-LIT
sets out to prove that chick-lit is not only enjoyable, but smart
and timely. With an introduction that accurately highlights the argument
between “Chick” and “Lit” and a collection of stories from the country’s
best fiction writers, This is Chick-Lit offers the best of the best.
It’s thought-provoking, funny and most of all entertaining from start to
finish.
Rebelling against the Random House title, This is Not Chick-Lit,
THIS IS CHICK-LIT
defends the worth of the genre through various
contributors who prove that being labeled “chick-lit” doesn’t make a
story, or its author, part of the literary underclass, but quite the
opposite.
Contributors include:
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Lauren
Baratz-Logsted
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Deanna
Carlyle
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Jennifer Coburn
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Johanna Edwards
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Karin
Gillespie
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Raelynn Hillhouse
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Andrea
Schicke Hirsch
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Julie
Kenner
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Harley
Jane Kozak
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Stephanie Lehmann
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Caren
Lissner
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Cara
Lockwood
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Ariella Papa
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Kayla
Perrin
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Rachel
Pine
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Gena
Showalter
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Karen
Siplin
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Heather Swain
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Lauren Baratz-Logsted
is the author of
The Thin Pink Line,
Crossing the Line,
A Little Change of
Face,
How Nancy Drew Saved
My Life,
Vertigo
and the forthcoming Young Adult novel
Angel’s
Choice. Lauren was also
a contributor to BenBella Books’ anthology Flirting
with Pride & Prejudice.
She lives with her husband, Greg, and daughter, Jackie, in Danbury,
Connecticut.
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Welcome to
Wisteria Lane: On America's Favorite Desperate Housewives
May 2006Edited by Leah Wilson
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.95 US | $24.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop Price:
$14.36 US | $20.36 CAN
Desperate for more
Desperate
Housewives?
Take a trip down Wisteria Lane to explore the scandal, intrigue and
mayhem in the smash hit!
More than 25 million people know that Desperate Housewives, the
biggest show to hit television in years, is not just entertaining and
fun, it is smart and just plain good. In a time when quality television
is hard to come by and reality TV has a monopoly on the airwaves,
Desperate Housewives exploded out of nowhere.
Welcome to
Wisteria Lane
is what every fan desperately needs. It celebrates the brilliance of
ABC’s Desperate Housewives, and it answers the question: why on
earth is this show so special? With thoughtful essays and hilarious
insights, Welcome to Wisteria Lane tells us just why so many
people tune in every Sunday and talk about nothing else every Monday
morning.
From how Desperate Housewives reflects the truth about friendship
to how suburban living is hazardous to your health, from hating Lynette
to why men love this show, Welcome to Wisteria Lane has something
for every Desperate fan.
Topics Include:
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Is Julie Mayer
destined to become Bree Van De Kamp? Beth Kendrick examines
the parenting styles on Wisteria Lane and thinks it just may be
inevitable
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Jill Winters
explores how each of Wisteria Lane’s male residents is the source of
his own destruction
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Deanna Carlyle
compares American viewers to European ones, and comes away with the
reason Susan, Bree, Lynette, Gabby and Edie are so popular in
translation
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Television
Without Pity’s Evany Thomas compares Desperate Housewives
to its obvious sister-in-arms program: Sex and the City but
also…The Golden Girls?
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Michelle
Cunnah
shows why Susan Mayer is the best friend a housewife could ever have
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Cara Lockwood
looks behind Suburbia’s white picked fences to find an explanation
for Desperate Housewives’ deliciously dark comic undertones
Contributors Include:
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Sharon
Bowers
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Michelle
Cunnah
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Laura
Caldwell
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Deanna
Carlyle
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Whitney
Gaskell
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Nancy
Herkness
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Alesia
Holiday
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Beth
Kendrick
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Julie
Kenner
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Cara
Lockwood
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Lani
Diane Rich
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Shanna
Swendson
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Evany
Thomas
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Evelyn
Vaughn
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Jill
Winters
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Sarah
Zettel
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Leah Wilson is the co-editor of Mapping
the World of Harry Potter and King Kong is Back!
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Totally Charmed:
Demons, Whitelighters and the Power of Three
November 2005
Edited by New York
Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Crusie
Suggested Retail Price:
$14.95 US |
$20.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$11.96 US | $16.76 CAN
Charmed
is a television phenomenon: three gorgeous, kick-ass witches committed
to protecting innocents and cursed at finding love. In Totally
Charmed, romance novelists, science fiction and fantasy writers and
more celebrate the hit WB show that has changed the face of the fight
against evil forever.
Contributors include:
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Tanya
Huff
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Nick
Mamatas
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Bob
Metzger
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Vera
Nazarian
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Jody Lyn Nye
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Anne
Perry
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Laura
Resnick
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Jennifer Crusie is a
New York Times bestselling author whose novels include Bet Me,
Faking It, Fast Women and Welcome to Temptation. She is a frequent
contributor to the BenBella Books Smart Pop series and editor of
Totally Charmed: Whitelighters, Demons and the Power of the Three.
She holds an MA in feminist criticism and
an MA in fiction. For more information visit
www.jennycrusie.com. |
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Two-Faced: Confessions of a Soap
Opera Make-up Artist
November 2005
Timothy Alan
Suggested Retail Price:
$24.95 US |
$34.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$19.96 US | $27.76 CAN
“Simply
put, Timothy Alan is the Monet of make-up; each face is his canvas, each
photo his masterpiece. Had he been born at another time, his works of
art would have been hung in museums instead of published in magazines.”
—Michael Ausiello, TV Guide
“This book is an absolute joy for the soap opera enthusiast, featuring
soap stars from (the) all networks … Full color, glossy and generous
head shots adorn nearly every page.” – eyeonsoaps.com
“(Two-Faced) is about more than how to accentuate one’s beauty through
the simple, easy and common sense application of the basics in make-up.
It’s really on a deeper level a celebration of women in all their
various facets, styles and make-ups of beauty, written with sensitivity,
compassion and cheeky humor by the professional make-up artist soap
opera magazine editors turned to for their cover and interview shots.”
Carol Banks Weber, soapzone.com (read
the full review here)
“I wanted to share with you just how great a book this is. The book is
helpful, beautifully photographed, and extremely funny. For anyone who
has ever wondered...how do they get the soap stars looking so beautiful
every day and I wonder if I could do that at home...this book has your
answers!” – Deborah Horton, allsoapscoops.com (read
the full review here)
When Timothy Alan
says that his life is a soap opera, he means it. For more than 20 years,
the award-winning make-up artist has glamorized daytime television's
biggest stars— from Susan Lucci, Kelly Ripa and Sarah Michelle Gellar,
to Yasmine Bleeth and Katherine Kelly Lang—he's done them all.
Now, in his new
book, Two-Faced: Confessions of a Soap Opera Make-Up Artist, Tim
along with
some
of today's hottest soap opera actresses (and some of his closest
friends), are dishing up everything from great skin, hair and make-up
tips, to soap insider scoop, even tackling some tougher (and juicier)
topics such as career aspirations, family, love and sex.
You’ll be privy to conversations that have, until now, been confined to
the sets of All My Children, Days of Our Lives, Guiding
Light, Passions and other great soaps. Tim’s intimate
one-on-one conversations include great stars including Judi Evans,
Crystal Hunt, Eva La Rue, Amelia Marshall and Hillary B. Smith.
A
portion of the proceeds will be donated to
Gilda’s Club
NYC.
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Flirting with
Pride and Prejudice: Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit
Masterpiece
September 2005
Edited by New
York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Crusie
Suggested Retail Price:
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Special Smart Pop
Price:
$11.96 US | $16.76 CAN
(STARRED REVIEW)
"Each contribution to this smart and entertaining collection is a pure
delight, adding up to an unusually enjoyable work of literary
criticism...This is one book about Austen's novels that teens will
actually enjoy reading."
John Charles,
Booklist
“Readable and interesting … the selections reflect some current thinking
on the topic and add another much-needed volume to the general
literature of the field. Provocative and entertaining … this makes for
fascinating, sometimes hilarious, reading and should find a home in
collections focusing on the popular romance genre.”
Kristin
Ramsdell, Library Journal
“... pop culture has never had a tastier harvest. ... Funny and full of
smart ideas, Flirting with Pride and Prejudice is a chick lit
feast, complete with saucy appetizers before every bite by the queen of
romantic comedy, Jennifer Crusie.”
Cindy Harrison,
Romantic Times
Book Club magazine
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of the most beloved
novels of our time, transcending the literary world to earn a spot on
every woman’s nightstand. Now, Flirting with Pride and Prejudice
takes a fresh and humorous look at Austen’s classic tale of looking for
Mr. Right, marrying rich and finding true love in the process.
Flirtatious interludes include:
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Karen Joy Fowler,
bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club, explores the
genius of Austen’s work, its appeal to the truly feminine and
compares them to comic books, teen magazines and fairytales
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Renowned
historical romance author Cheryl Sawyer tells the little
known tale of Jane Austen’s chance encounter with the infamous Lord
Byron
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New York Times
bestselling author Teresa Medeiros
explains the unfathomable allure of the ever-stoic Mr. Darcy
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Popular Salon.com
television critic Joyce Millman ponders the
implications of a new reality show: Pride
and Prejudice
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Bestselling fantasy writer Mercedes Lackey
puts a fantastical twist on the matchmaking ploys of the newly
married Elizabeth
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Acclaimed Buffy and Firefly
screenwriter Jane Espenson sheds light on one of the most
lightly drawn characters of Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Darcy’s
enigmatic little sister, Georgiana
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Bestselling romance author Jill Winters
retells Pride and Prejudice to reveal the untold story of
Mary’s secret life
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Celebrated chick-lit, romance and comedic novelist
Michelle Cunnah considers how cell phones would have drastically
changed the courtship of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy
Other contributors include (in order
of appearance):
- Beth Kendrick
- Jennifer O'Connell
- Laura Caldwell
- Lawrence Watt-Evans
- Joe Beverly
- Elisabeth Fairchild
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- Adam Roberts
- Shanna Swendson
- Lauren Baratz-Logsted
- Jennifer Coburn
- Laura Resnick
- Sarah Zettel
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- Lani Diane Rich
- Mercedes Lackey
- Melissa Senate
- Erin Dailey
- Alesia Holliday
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Jennifer Crusie is a
New York Times bestselling author whose novels include Bet Me,
Faking It, Fast Women and Welcome to Temptation. She is a frequent
contributor to the BenBella Books Smart Pop series and editor of
Totally Charmed: Whitelighters, Demons and the Power of the Three.
She holds an MA in feminist criticism and
an MA in fiction. For more information visit
www.jennycrusie.com.
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Alias Assumed:
Sex, Lies and SD-6
August 2005
Edited by Kevin
"Marshall J. Flinkman" Weisman
Suggested Retail Price:
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Special Smart Pop
Price:
$11.96 US | $16.76 CAN
From SD-6 to the CIA, from kick-ass costumes and multi-colored wigs to
dysfunctional family relationships and undercover office romance, the
hit spy drama Alias has won the hearts of savvy viewers
everywhere. With its smart writing, adrenaline fueled plotlines and
intricate story arcs, Alias has a complexity well-worth a little
government-style interrogation.
Alias Assumed
takes a deeper look at the show that’s redefining the spy genre. Topics
include:
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Parenting guru
Britta Coleman on why shooting your first born just may be the
best parenting decision you’ll ever make
-
Critic
Catherine Tunnacliffe on television’s most provocative
love-triangle: Sydney, Vaughn ... and Jack
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Novelist Jody
Lynn Nye on the training of a secret agent, a.k.a. why Sydney
needs better time management skills
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Television Without
Pity’s Erin Dailey on what every girl needs to find romance:
subterfuge, brainwashing and an AK-47
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Ex-spook Robert
Stokes on how Alias’ CIA measures up to the real thing
-
And science writer
David Harris on quantum entanglement, the veracity of truth
serums and the real likelihood of discovering that your roommate has
been replaced by a clone
Other contributors
include:
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Susan
M. Garrett
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Candace Havens
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Misty
K. Hook, Ph.D.
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Mary
Lavoie
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Paul
Levinson, Ph.D.
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Joyce
Millman
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Joanne
Mira Seo
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Tracy
S. Morris
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Sally
Stabb, Ph.D.
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Leigh Adams Wright
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Kevin
Weisman plays Alias series regular, “Marshall J. Flinkman.”
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Diana Rigg: The
Biography
May 2004
Kathleen Tracy
Suggested Retail Price:
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Special Smart Pop
Price:
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The first and only
biography of the woman behind The Avengers' Emma Peel, one of
America's most-loved television heroines and feminist icons.
Diana Rigg: The
Biography
gives readers a frank and honest look at the professional and private
life of a star, a mother, a sex symbol and a Dame. |
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Backstreet Mom: A
Mother’s Tale of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean’s Rise to Fame, Struggle with
Addiction and Ultimate Triumph
December 2003
Denise I. McLean and Nicole P. Gotlin
Introduction by AJ McLean
Suggested Retail Price:
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$23.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$5.00 US | $7 CAN
Backstreet Mom,
the story of one single mother's courageous battle to save her son,
could be the story of any woman with a child in trouble.
There's more money at
stake, more public attention and a larger than life career in the
balance. But any mother who's ever faced the pain of a child unraveling
will find herself in the pages of this honest and inspiring memoir.
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Seven Seasons of
Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite
Television Show
October 2003
Edited by Glenn Yeffeth
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Special Smart Pop
Price:
$12.76 US | $18.36 CAN
Science fiction and fantasy authors, typically immune to the appeal of
television science fiction, cannot resist the charms of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer.
Seven Seasons of Buffy
is a collection of fun, irreverent and surprising essays on Buffy
by some of science fiction and fantasy's most important authors,
including David Brin, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Lawrence Watt-Evans,
Sherrilyn Kenyon and Jennifer Crusie.
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