88 books like Alphamaniacs

This book is an ode to the pleasures of words - their sound, look, and meaning. It consists of lists of words such as "words to read backward" including drows, mulp and gubdeb. Or "heavy words" such as duffle, blunderbuss, and galoshes. "Words for times of day" include dusk, owl cry, dewfall, and gloaming.

It is perfectly illustrated by Ben Shahn with black and white line drawings. The scratchy, uneven, expressive lines perfectly capture both the humor and gravity of the words. I have loved these books since I was a child and The Wordy Book sprang out of that love.

Another book by Steig! Yes! This book was written and illustrated by Wm. Steig. It does not contain CDB oils. It doesn’t actually contain words either. It only contains letters. When you read the letters out loud you hear words. Some of the sentences would be confusing, but Steig’s illustrations help you to figure out the meaning.

For example, C D B means See the Bee.
He talks about emotions: I N-V U
He describes situations: D N S 5 X. That one might be confusing if it didn’t have a picture of the hen and the x that she just laid.

This book makes you hear and see words differently, and it is funny. If you find this book X-L-R-8-N then you will be happy to know that there is a sequel - C D C! Dip your toes into the deep blue C of letters and sounds.

Martha Speaks is a classic for good reason. How can you not get attached to a dog who is fed vegetable soup that goes to her brain, not her stomach, and then is able to speak--incessantly? This fun book is the basis for the Emmy-nominated PBS TV series of the same name. Read and watch away!

Jeanne Steig wrote a giddy delightful poem for each letter of the alphabet. The poems are replete with weird and wonderful words. The goofy illustrations by William Steig tickle your eyes. One of my favorite poems is "Mishmash". Notice all of the many M words in Mishmash: mallet, misguided, minimize, mix, milk. Could Myron majestically mash potatoes? Mmmm, no.

Mishmash
Making mashed potatoes, Myron?
Must you mix them with the hammer?
This bizarre, misguided method
Causes quite a katzenjammer.

Might you add the milk and butter
In a more majestic manner?
Might a mallet not be better?
That would minimize the clamor.

I loved the book because the author’s love for the sport comes across so plainly. The stories from the spiritual home of surfing, Oahu’s North Shore, are wonderful. It’s an essential text for anyone getting into the sport, capturing its soul better than anything else I have read.

This book was published at the beginning of the cocktail revolution and was instrumental to creating the idea that cocktails could be based on peak season produce in the same way that food is.

Everything from herbs, fruits, and vegetables get featured in a drink. While the book is historically important, it still feels modern, packed with techniques to make the best of the season’s bounty. 

Torn between the Hardy Boys novels and Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer mysteries, I’ve reluctantly gone with the Hardy Boys.

Both authors (although there were many pseudonymous writers of the Hardy Boys series) taught a fledging writer invaluable lessons about keeping the story moving forward while leaving the reader hanging from the edge of a cliff at the end of each chapter.

What I adored about Joe and Frank Hardy was the freedom they had as teenagers. They never seemed to have to go to high school, they drove their own car, they were never short of money, and they solved mysteries that their detective father never could.

My kind of guys!

Oh, Noah. Noah, Noah, Noah. Ask any old-school Emma Scott fan their favorite tortured hero of hers, and their answer will likely be Noah Lake. This one is broken emotionally and physically, which makes it hard to hold a grudge when he lashes out. Not that I even had a grudge to begin with. I mean, think of what he’s suffered! One of the best parts of the angry tortured hero trope is all that delicious groveling, but with Noah, I didn’t need much. (Alright, fine. I didn’t need any.) FYI, Rush is a standalone that’s only connected to the other books in the series by its city setting.

Surfing has been at the center of my life since I was twelve, and no book has ever captured it quite like William Finnegan’s masterpiece. I was gripped by—and related to—his obsession. I felt like I was right there with him, riding that nearly transparent wave off a remote island of Fiji.

And the grappling with how surfing fits into adult life—yes, that too, really hit home.

Malfi is an expert of cold-weather horror, and he doesn't disappoint with this journey through the Himalayas.

Extreme sports enthusiast Tim Overleigh joins a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to Godesh Ridge in Nepal. But Tim, mourning his dead wife and still in recovery from a serious climbing accident, has a lot of mental baggage to unpack.

Worse, the people he's with – and the forces on the mountain – aren't what he thought he was signing up for. Part survival story, part murder mystery, this is a page-turner that kept me white-knuckled all the way through to the finale.