The hero of 15 books by Lawrence Block, Scudder is a winningly smart-assed private eye who can shoot the breeze (and the bad guys) with the best of them, and has a capacity for abstract thought to boot.

ECONOMIST: Character is what makes these thrillers

Block engraving may be used to print books in a variety of traditional styles, to create modern books with conventional binding, or to reproduce ancient Chinese books.

UNESCO: Culture

Developed by the company Traveler's Tales, the latest in the LEGO series, "LEGO The Lord of the Rings, " puts Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn and the rest of the characters from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy into block toy form as they trace storylines from the popular books and movies.

CNN: Lord of the Rings lines, as delivered by LEGO characters

Inside the hangarlike, cinder-block space, folding tables are piled with mountains of yarn, looming gear and books with titles like Knitting with Dog Hair.

FORBES: Days of Wine and Redwoods