WIN BIG -- It's Happy Haul-idays from Chronicle Books!

It's SO easy to win.  Read about the list of items I've put together.  Leave a comment below.  If Chronicle Books picks your comment, we BOTH win up to $500 worth of great stuff in the list below!  Even if you don't win, you can always visit their website to purchase the items you just can't live without.  As a fan and customer of Chronicle Books for years, I have no qualms about recommending their products.

Since I have both a film criticism and a book criticism blog, I am combining the two interests into one enormous and amazing list which I'll call STORIES & STORYTELLERS.



For the Cinephile...

Secret Lives of Great Filmmakers, By Robert Schnakenberg $16.95
What Your Teachers Never Told You About the World's Greatest Directors

Readers will discover that:
• Charlie Chaplin's corpse was stolen and held for a 400,000£ ransom.
• Akira Kurosawa dreamed of making the ultimate Godzilla film.
• Alfred Hitchcock "lost" his belly button during abdominal surgery—and often shocked his leading ladies by flashing his curiously smooth tummy.


(I might be able to finish one of these...)
TCM Classic Movie Crossword Puzzles, By Turner Classic Movies $9.95

Foreword by Robert Osborne 7 x 9 in; 96 pp

Art of the Modern Movie Poster - International Postwar Style and Design $75.00

By Judith Salavetz, Spencer Drate, and Sam Sarowitz With text by Dave Kehr

11 x 13 in; 516 pp ; 1500 color images; b/w photos throughout

Critically authoritative, visually stunning, and physically massive, Art of the Modern Movie Poster is the first and last word on post-WWII film poster design.

Hollywood Glamour Pack, includes $27.95

Leading Men 7 x 9 in; 240 pp; 200 color and b/w photographs, paperback

Leading Ladies 7 x 9 in; 240 pp; 200 b/w and color photographs, paperback
Full of surprising trivia, film stills, posters, and stunning photos, Leading Men and Leading Ladies pays tribute to the most charismatic, enduring, and elegant actors of their time.

(A flip-book, one of four "scenes" available.)
Petit Cinéma: Bridge $4.95

From the collection of Gaumont Cinémathèque and The Museum of Modern Art 

4 x 2-1/4 in; 120 pp ; b/w photographs throughout, paperback

Picture Show $19.95

Classic Movie Posters from the TCM Archives
By Dianna Edwards, Foreword by Robert Osborne

9 x 12 in; 168 pp ; 150 color images

Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters $40.00

Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film, By August Ragone

8-1/2 x 10-1/2 in; 208 pp ; 200 b/w and color images, hardcover

Moleskine Passions Film Journal $19.95

5 x 8-1/4 in; 240 pp; hardcover

King Kong Journal $10.95

5-9/16 x 8-3/8 in; 96 pp ; debossed cover with tip-on, 2-color throughout, hardcover

Cinescopes $14.95

What Your Favorite Movies Reveal About You By Risa Williams and Ezra Werb

5-1/2 x 7-1/2 in; 176 pp; paperback

The Action Hero's Handbook $14.95

How to Catch a Great White Shark, Perform the Jedi Mind Trick, Track a Fugitive, and Dozens of Other TV and Movie Skills
By David Borgenicht and Joe Borgenicht

5 x 7 in; 192 pp; paperback

The Action Heroine's Handbook $14.95

How to Win a Catfight, Drink Someone Under the Table, Choke a Man with Your Bare Thighs, and Dozens of Other TV and Movie Skills
By Jennifer Worick and Joe Borgenicht

5 x 7 in; 192 pp; paperback

Movies to Check Out $10.95

By the Imagineering Company

4-3/4 x 6-5/8 in; 128 pp; hardcover 

For the Bibliophile...

Lethal Vintage - A Sunny McCoskey Napa Valley Mystery $23.95

By Nadia Gordon

Lethal Vintage offers a look at what goes on in the mansions above the vines.

Ramayana - Divine Loophole $29.95

By Sanjay Patel

8-3/4 x 8 in; 208 pp; full-color images throughout
Pixar animator Sanjay Patel lends a lush, whimsical illustration style and lighthearted voice to one of Hindu mythology's best-loved and most enduring tales.

(Awesomest party game EVER)

Dracula's Heir - An Interactive Mystery $24.95

By Sam Stall 10 x 8 in; 88 pp ; interactive removable features, hardcover

As with The Crimes of Dr. Watson, Dracula's Heir features an original novella plus several removable clues, including a private journal, a death certificate, a newspaper, and more. Once you've solved the mystery, you can open the final signature (sealed at the printer) to test your sleuthing skills.

(I kinda want to try this now... )

The Englishman Who Posted Himself and Other Curious Objects $24.95 

By John Tingey

6 x 9 in; 176 pp ; 125 color and 15 b/w images, hardcover

Mysterio's Encyclopedia of Magic and Conjuring - A Compendium of Astonishing Illusions $24.95

By Gabe Fajuri

7-1/4 x 9 in; 368 pp; hardcover  

(For lovers of THE KINGDOM OF OHIO)

Lost States - True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It $24.95

By Michael Trinklein

8 x 10 in; 160 pp; hardcover

And for the Bravest of All: The Writer...

Copywriting - Successful Writing for Design, Advertising, and Marketing $24.95

By Mark Shaw

7 x 10 in; 208 pp ; 100 illustrations, paperback

You Know You're a Writer When . . . $9.95

By Adair Lara

4 x 6 in; 96 pp; hardcover

(I know I could use this on my desk at times)

The Writer's Toolbox - Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the "Write" Side of Your Brain $24.95

By Jamie Cat Callan

6-3/4 x 9-1/4 x 2 in; hinged box, 64-page, 2-color booklet, 60 cards, 60 wooden sticks, 4 spinning palettes

Like anything on this list?  Have people on your gift list that you'd like to surprise?  Just leave a comment below!