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Books published by publisher Bella Books

  • Baby, Don't Hurt Me: Stories and Scars from Saturday Night Live

    Chris Kattan, Seth Meyers, Travis Thrasher

    Hardcover (BenBella Books, May 7, 2019)
    You may know him as Mango, Mr. Peepers, the gibberish-spouting Suel Forrester, or one half of the head-bopping brothers in A Night at the Roxbury. Maybe you remember him as the forlorn gothic kid Azrael Abyss, Gay Hitler, or the guitarist in the “More Cowbell” sketch. Whichever it is, Chris Kattan has earned a spot in the hearts of a generation of comedy fans. Chris Kattan has defied comparison, expectations, and sometimes gravity with his inimitable style of physical comedy. By creating some of the most memorable Saturday Night Live characters, as well as his many roles in film and television, Kattan has remained one of the most fearless and versatile comedians in the world. Not long after Chris was labeled one of the improv group Groundlings’ “must-see” performers in the company, he was cast on SNL—and within the first six weeks, Chris’s film career also took off. Now, for the first time, Kattan opens up about eight seasons on SNL, performing alongside friends and future legends including Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey, and guest hosts from Charlize Theron to Tom Hanks to David Bowie. He also shares stories of his unusual childhood (involving a secluded mountain with zen monks) with Leonard Cohen and Alan Watts. Baby, Don’t Hurt Me offers an unprecedented look into Chris’s life, from his fascinating relationship with Lorne Michaels, a private Valentine’s Day dinner with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, an unforgettable flight with Beyoncé, and even breaking his neck on live television. Baby, Don’t Hurt Me is a candid, revealing memoir from a timeless comedian and a window into the world of millennium-era SNL, from the rehearsals to the after-after parties, as narrated by your hilarious and inspiring friend—who just so happened to be there for all of it.
  • Pretty Little Killers: The Truth Behind the Savage Murder of Skylar Neese

    Geoffrey Fuller Daleen Berry

    eBook (BenBella Books, July 8, 2014)
    In Pretty Little Killers, journalist Daleen Berry and investigator Geoffrey Fuller expand upon their New York Times bestselling ebook The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese to give you even more information behind one of the most horrific and shocking murders of our time. Including over 100 pages of new material, Pretty Little Killers shares the latest theories and answers the questions that have left many people baffled.After killer Shelia Eddy pled guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison and Rachel Shoaf was sentenced to thirty years for second-degree murder, family, friends, investigators, and other key sources reveal the facts you would have learned if the case had gone to trial.Including specific details drawn from Rachel’s confession, Pretty Little Killers looks at the crime through the eyes of the victim and killers, providing intimate testimony from the pages of Rachel’s personal journal, Skylar’s diary and school papers, and court records.Berry and Fuller examine all this, including previously unreported details about Rachel and Shelia’s rumored lesbian relationship and explain why more than one investigator believes Skylar’s murder was a thrill kill.Most important, Pretty Little Killers provides a satisfying answer to Skylar’s final question: “Why?”
  • Queerleaders

    M. B. Guel

    Paperback (Bella Books, March 17, 2020)
    “Mack snuck a look over her shoulder at the cheerleaders just as Veronica took her place at the top of the pyramid. Time seemed to slow as Veronica swung her long, blond ponytail over her shoulder, pompoms high in the air…” Mackenzie is used to being different from other kids―and to being bullied for not fitting into the rigid social expectations of her Catholic high school. Luckily, Mack’s best friend Lila has her back so school isn’t the total hell it could be. But it’s pretty damn close. Until something very mysterious happens―Mack becomes a cheerleader magnet. Even she has a hard time believing it. And Lila is not too happy about her friend’s sudden popularity with the cool kids. Is Mack being set up for an epic fail? Or is she finally headed for acceptance–and maybe even romance… M.B. Guel is the winner of Bella’s “fan fiction to published author” contest. Queerleaders is their debut novel.
  • When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11: Or How to Explain Quantum Physics with Heavy Metal

    Philip Moriarty

    eBook (BenBella Books, July 31, 2018)
    There are deep and fascinating links between heavy metal and quantum physics. No, really!While teaching at the University of Nottingham, physicist Philip Moriarty noticed something odd, a surprising number of his students were heavily into metal music. Colleagues, too: a Venn diagram of physicists and metal fans would show a shocking amount of overlap. What's more, it turns out that heavy metal music is uniquely well-suited to explaining quantum principles.In When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to Eleven, Moriarty explains the mysteries of the universe's inner workings via drum beats and feedback: You'll discover how the Heisenberg uncertainty principle comes into play with every chugging guitar riff, what wave interference has to do with Iron Maiden, and why metalheads in mosh pits behave just like molecules in a gas.If you're a metal fan trying to grasp the complexities of quantum physics, a quantum physicist baffled by heavy metal, or just someone who'd like to know how the fundamental science underpinning our world connects to rock music, this book will take you, in the words of Pantera, to “A New Level.”For those who think quantum physics is too mind-bendingly complex to grasp, or too focused on the invisibly small to be relevant to our full-sized lives, this funny, fascinating book will show you that physics is all around us . . . and it rocks.
  • Being Emily

    Rachel Gold

    eBook (Bella Books, June 15, 2018)
    They say that whoever you are it’s okay, you were born that way. Those words don’t comfort Emily, because she was born Christopher and her insides know that her outsides are all wrong.They say that it gets better, be who you are and it’ll be fine. For Emily, telling her parents who she really is means a therapist who insists Christopher is normal and Emily is sick. Telling her girlfriend means lectures about how God doesn’t make that kind of mistake.Emily desperately wants high school in her small Minnesota town to get better. She wants to be the woman she knows is inside, but it’s not until a substitute therapist and a girl named Natalie come into her life that she believes she has a chance of actually Being Emily.A story for anyone who has ever felt that the inside and outside don’t match and no one else will understand…In this new, expanded version you will find:Updated languageExpanded and additional scenesA new note from the authorA new introductionEmily & Claire ten years laterThe groundbreaking classic updated for our generation!
  • Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child

    James Breakwell

    Paperback (BenBella Books, Nov. 6, 2018)
    This isn’t a book about overachieving at parenting. This isn’t even a book about achieving exactly the right amount. This is a book about doing as little as possible without quite ruining your child. Overachieving parents want you to believe the harder you work, the better your kid will turn out. That lie ends now. The truth is most kids end up remarkably unremarkable no matter what you do, so you might as well achieve mediocrity by the easiest possible route. The goal of “bare minimum parenting” is to turn your child into a functional adult with only a fraction of the effort spent by super moms and dads. If you do it right, your kid will be no better or worse off than their kids, but with more free time left for you. That's more valuable than all the participation trophies in the world. In Bare Minimum Parenting, amateur parenting expert James Breakwell will teach you to stop worrying and embrace your child's destiny as devastatingly average. To get there, you'll have to overcome your kid, other parents, and yourself, all of whom will push you to do more than is absolutely necessary. Honestly, by reading this far, you’re already trying too hard. But don't stop now. You're exactly the kind of person who needs this book.
  • Just Girls

    Rachel Gold

    eBook (Bella Books, Nov. 23, 2014)
    Jess Tucker sticks her neck out for a stranger—the buzz is someone in the dorm is a trans girl. So Tucker says it’s her, even though it’s not, to stop the finger pointing. She was an out lesbian in high school, and she figures she can stare down whatever gets thrown her way in college. It can’t be that bad. Ella Ramsey is making new friends at Freytag University, playing with on-campus gamers and enjoying her first year, but she’s rocked by the sight of a slur painted on someone else’s door. A slur clearly meant for her, if they’d only known. New rules, old prejudices, personal courage, private fear. In this stunning follow-up to the groundbreaking Being Emily, Rachel Gold explores the brave, changing landscape where young women try to be Just Girls.
  • Floodtide: A Novel of Alpennia

    Heather Rose Jones

    eBook (Bella Books, Dec. 13, 2019)
    The streets are a perilous place for a young laundry maid dismissed without a character for indecent acts. Roz knew the end of the path for a country girl alone in the city of Rotenek. A desperate escape in the night brings her to the doorstep of Dominique the dressmaker and the hope of a second chance beyond what she could have imagined. Roz’s apprenticeship with the needle, under the patronage of the royal thaumaturgist, wasn’t supposed to include learning magic, but Celeste, the dressmaker’s daughter, draws Roz into the mysterious world of the charm-wives. When floodwaters and fever sweep through the lower city, Celeste’s magical charms could bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor of Rotenek, but only if Roz can claim the help of some unlikely allies.Set in the magical early 19th century world of Alpennia, Floodtide tells an independent tale that interweaves with the adventures.A Novel of Alpennia.
  • Reinvention Roadmap: Break the Rules to Get the Job You Want and Career You Deserve

    Liz Ryan

    eBook (BenBella Books, Dec. 6, 2016)
    Break the rules and take charge of your career!The traditional job-search approaches just don’t work anymore, and the days of trusting your career to your employer are long over. The new-millennium workplace requires all of us to rewrite the rules and start treating our careers like we’re running a business—which means understanding the markets for our talents, knowing our value, and looking out over the horizon to plot our paths going forward.Liz Ryan is a former Fortune 500 HR SVP and the world’s most widely read workplace thought leader. She understands the recruiting system as only an insider can, and she shows you how to stay focused on your goals and distinguish yourself from masses of job seekers. In Reinvention Roadmap, you’ll discover new tools, such as a “Pain Letter” and your “Human-Voiced Resume” to land not just any job, but a job that celebrates your unique talents and takes you to the level where you want to be.Whether you’re entering the workplace or looking to switch careers, you can get the perfect job if you step off the beaten path and follow the approaches insiders use to gain access to the best positions. Reinvention Roadmap is the colorful, fun, irreverent, and deeply practical guide to getting the job you want and building the career of your dreams.
  • Harris Rules: A Real Estate Agent's Practical, No-BS, Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Rich and Free

    Tim Harris, Julie Harris

    eBook (BenBella Books, June 4, 2019)
    Where does business come from? That’s the question every real estate agent asks but few have a truthful answer for. In an industry constantly selling the “easy button” and overrun with shiny widgets, agents are pulled in multiple directions at once, each promising that if they “just do this,” their dreams of success and fortune will come true. After 20 years in the business, thousands of home sales, and hundreds of thousands of coaching calls, Tim and Julie Harris tell the hard truths about what it really takes to make it in real estate. The new, revised edition of Harris Rules outlines specific, actionable, and proven rules of engagement that any agent—rookie or veteran—can count on as they pursue their real-estate funded goals and dreams. Harris Rules lays the groundwork, beginning with how agents need to think about the business. Moving them forward with a step-by-step action plan, Tim and Julie show agents how to create longevity by scaling the business and then teach them how to monetize it. In this book, you’ll learn: - How to control your mindset to get more things done, even when you don’t “feel” like it - The ideal schedule of a top-producing agent and how to focus it on what matters, profit - Why you can’t rely on only one method of generating leads - How to use the proven Seven-Step Listing Process to win the listing virtually every time - How to really achieve financial freedom With all-new case studies, resources, and Q&As for the highly motivated agent, Harris Rules covers tricky topics with much-needed frankness: making a profit, why having a team isn’t the “golden calf,” gaining multiple lead sources (that you don’t have to pay for!), focusing on listings, and the fact that repetitious boredom does pay off. Tim and Julie will tell you the truth: Harris Rules is the savvy agent’s all-inclusive, no-BS guide to succeed in real estate.
  • The Charioteer's Son: A Story of Roman Britain

    Stephanie Baudet

    eBook (Bella Books, Aug. 31, 2017)
    Julius dreams of being a charioteer like his father, who drove for the Greens in Rome before his death in the arena.But Rome is now a thousand miles away and his family are slaves to a retired army general, Gius Septimus Aquitanius. They have recently moved to Britannia; to Aqua Sulis.Within days of their arrival in Britannia, Julius overhears some men in the public baths plotting to kidnap his master's daughter, Olivia. No one will believe him - until Olivia disappears. A ransom is demanded and the family turns to Julius; only he has heard the kidnapper's voice. Can he find them and rescue Olivia? Together with Olivia's brother, Flavius, Julius sets out on a desperate and dangerous search.
  • It's All Greek to Me: Transform Your Health the Mediterranean Way with My Family's Century-Old Recipes

    Debbie Matenopoulos, Peter Capozzi

    Paperback (BenBella Books, Jan. 9, 2018)
    Debbie Matenopoulos, the first member of her family born in America, grew up in a traditional Greek household, eating delicious, authentic Greek cooking that her family had passed down for generations. By the time Debbie had started her television career in New York on The View, she began eating a standard American diet. But despite carefully limiting how much she ate, she found herself gaining weight and lacking energy. As Debbie’s career as an entertainment news reporter and television host on BS, MTV, E!, and other networks had her constantly on the go, she was grabbing whatever food was readily available. It was only when she returned to her traditional Greek diet that she found herself easily—and healthily—realizing her natural weight and regaining her natural energy, stamina, and physique. Now, in It's All Greek to Me, Debbie shares 120 of her family's traditional Greek recipes and adds her own touch to make them even healthier and easier to prepare—plus, this new edition features 15 brand new recipes! After tasting Debbie’s dishes, such as her mouthwatering version of Spanakopita (Spinach Feta Pie), Kalamaria Kaftera (Spicy Calamari), her family’s secret recipe for Baklava, and, of course, Arni kai Patates (Classic Roasted Leg of Lamb with Potatoes)—you’ll be amazed these delicious foods are good for you. With a foreword by Dr. Michael Ozner, one of the nation’s leading cardiologists, the recipes in It’s All Greek to Me adhere to the healthiest diet on the planet: the traditional Mediterranean Diet. Modern science is catching up to what Greeks have known for millennia: health comes from eating natural, whole-food ingredients that haven’t been processed or pumped full of hormones, antibiotics, or preservatives. Let It’s All Greek to Me bring your friends and family together to share in the experience of a Greek meal and way of life. Opa!A portion of all proceeds will benefit the ALS Association.