Since Marilyn Monroe appeared on the first cover in 1953, Playboy has published more than 650 issues containing more than 100,000 pages. You’d need to sacrifice a whole forest of trees to print each of those issues again though, so Playboy has kindly created the Cover to Cover Archive Hard Drive, a ‘travel-friendly’ 250GB drive that contains every issue ever printed from 1953 to 2010.

[Playboy Cover to Cover Archive Hard Drive]

The 48 Hour Magazine was “a raucous experiment in using new tools to erase media’s old limits. As the name suggests, we’re going to write, photograph, illustrate, design, edit, and ship a magazine in two days.”

The first issue, titled Hustle, received more than 1,500 submissions, which two dozen editors then trimmed down to the final 70 selections.

If you’d like to see what a unique idea, a handful of volunteers and a weekend’s worth of hustle can produce, then head on over and order up a copy.

[48 Hour Magazine]

If all books read themselves in a kick-ass voice and animated their story using a mix of stop motion and paper craft, I’m guessing I’d probably read more!

The idea of combining a book with a soundtrack sounds so intuitive, I’m surprised it hasn’t been done before.

Eric Steuer and Tim Molloy worked together on the book, called How to Break Bad News, about a reporter who goes undercover at a fast food restaurant chain to expose labor abuses – but then finds he prefers working there to being a reporter.

The soundtrack is being distributed for free, and matches the tone that the authors wanted to set with each part of the book.

I hope this becomes a tread, because everything’s better with a little music.

[Via: Boing Boing]

The SuicideGirls are a group of girls that revolt against the typical ‘adult’ star, and believe that all women are beautiful in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

To help celebrate that belief, they have created a book called SuicideGirls: Beauty Redefined, and it’s “a 396 page hardcover tribute to the stunning SuicideGirls from around the world”.

The images are collected by region and represent the most beautiful nude images of the SuicideGirls from the past 8 years.

The discreet black cover is meant to match your decor and not look out of place on a coffee table when your parents come over, and all copies of the book purchased through the SuicideGirls website will even be hand signed by Missy Suicide and Courtney Riot themselves.

Check out the semi-NSFW video below for more info, or visit the SuicideGirls website to purchase for just $40.

[(NSFW) SuicideGirls - Beauty Redefined]

[Via: (NSFW) Josh Spear]

Fray is a quarterly series of independently produced books that are filled with true personal stories, articles and original art. Each one revolves around a central storytelling theme, and is about proving that extraordinary things happen to ordinary people.

It’s about finding that common thread that connects us all together. And it’s an invitation and a dare to get involved: What’s your story?

For a little history, Fray began as a website, where they presented individually designed, true first-person stories. It then evolved into a series of live storytelling events, Fray Days and Fray Cafes that took place all over the world and were attended by thousands of people. Now, the book phase that they’re currently in is their third evolution, and hopefully their best to date.

Their first issue was called ‘Busted’, and it was all about “true stories of getting caught in the act”. Their current issue, called Geek, is about “true stories of taking things too seriously” and features 60 pages of true stories, interviews and original art in full color, as well as a special pull-out centerfold.

In addition, they’re currently having a sale, and for just $35 plus shipping, you’ll get the first two issues, a limited edition Geek pocket protector, and two more issues in 2009.

If you’d like to participate in Fray, their next issue is called Sex & Death, and they’re taking submissions until January 31, 200, so you’ve got a limited amount of time to get something in.

Either way though, it’s definitely a unique format that bucks the trend of high quantity, ad supported printing, and with a bunch of very passionate people supporting it, it’s definitely worth checking out to see what you think.

[Fray]

Then pick up The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You: A Guide to Self-Diagnosis for Hypochondriacs.

Filled with symptoms that you probably have right now (or as I like to call them, warning signs) this book will make sure no runny nose goes unchecked, no upset stomach gets ignored, and no headache is experienced without a clear understanding of their direct link to measles, mumps, and/or the plague.

Plus, there are plenty of cute illustrations for the kiddies.

[Via: Uncrate]

The Art of Manliness has put together a fantastic list called “100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library”.

It’s filled with books that change your life and shape your perspective on politics, religion, money and love.

These are the books that have shaped not only the lives of individual men, but also have helped to define the broader cultural ideas of what it means to be a man.

Take a look:

[The Art of Manliness - 100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library]

If you remember, Snuff is about Cassie Wright, a porn priestess who intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication.

To give Cassie’s character a little more believability, two videos were created to promote Cassie’s previous work:

The Wizard of Ass – Dorothy is Not a Virgin Anymore:

and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang:

Don’t you wish every book’s advertising was this…interesting?

[Via: Sand & Cotton]

Charles Cumming’s The 21 Steps is a story told entirely within Google Maps.

Simply click on each link in order to follow the trail as the story unfolds across a map of the world.

[The 21 Steps]

[Via: Neatorama]

The 21 Steps is interesting in that it’s “told by following the story as it unfolds across a map of the world”.

By using a Google Maps interface, you can follow the trail by clicking the link at the bottom of each bubble.

Is this the future of reading?

[The 21 Steps]

[Via: The Presurfer]

Armed America: Portraits of American Gun Owners in Their Homes “isn’t a book about guns. It’s a book about people”.

Kyle Cassidy traveled 15,000 miles over the course of two years to ask those featured just one question: Why do you own a gun?”

The goal was to humanize an issue as polarizing as gun ownership and gun control, and according to the reviews, Kyle succeeded.

[Armed America]

Inside this issue are “steampunky stories and biographies, an interview with New Weird shakers Ann and Jeff VanderMeer and makers Donna Lynch and Steve Archer, DIY millinery, making a Jacob’s Ladder, learning to plate stuff with brass, and the straight dope on Victorian hallucinogens”.

It’s available to buy, but it’s also available as a free digital download so that you can see if SteamPunk is right for you.

[SteamPunk Magazine]

[Via: Boing Boing]

Fuck This Book is a collection of unaltered and untasteful images of “real public signs that have been mischievously altered by stickers bearing the most expressive of all four-letter words”.

What’s the message?

Thankfully, nothing: “This is not social commentary. There is no message. It’s not meant to offend, exploit, or embarrass anyone.”

Instead, it’s just meant to be a juvenile, profane, and timeless look at our lives in a world that has been persuasively transformed.

[Fuck This Website]

[Via: Uncrate]

Neill Strauss lives by that motto, and he definitely knows how to play the game. Thankfully, with “Rules of the Game”, he also wants to teach you the rules so that you can play the game as well.

More than just a sequel, “Rules of the Game” is actually a pair of books.

The first, called “The Stylelife Challenge”, shows you how to master the game in just 30 days. It’s the ultimate guide to landing the woman of your dreams, and aims at helping you to confront your insecurities and overcome them through a process of rigorous self-examination, briefings and field missions.

The second, called “The Style Diaries”, shows you what kind of world Neill has been living in. Filled with tales of seduction and sexual (mis)adventure, it includes accidental marriages, threesomes, sex experiments, and more, taking you further into the seduction underworld than ever before.

Neill’s first book, called simply “The Game”, is now an international best seller, and these are meant to be follow-ups, so if you’d like to play, make sure you start from the beginning by reading that first. However, for advanced players who are already familiar with some of the rules, this advanced lesson should help you to get past the first few lessons and into the real heart of the game.

Just make sure you’re ready for what’s on the other side of the rabbit hole.

BTW: I just lost the game.

[Via: Acquire]

Though it took over four years, Taryn Simon managed to gain access into some of America’s mot top-secret, highly restricted areas for her latest book, called An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar.

Topics include decomposing bodies, radioactive waste, deadly viruses and death-row recreation, so you know the results are going to be good.

Check out Wired’s article for a preview, and prepare to get behind closed doors into areas that you were never meant to see.

[Taryn Simon]

[Wired - Photographer Taryn Simon Shoots America's Best-Kept Secrets]

Vice Magazine has never held back with their visuals; preferring to fill their pages with raw and uncut “alternative photography” from around the world.

Now you can enjoy “Vice Photographers”, “Vice’s Photojournalism”, “Vice Fashion”, and more in 335 pages of Vice anthology called The Vice Photo Book.

Buy it, toss it on a coffee table, and prepare to kick your alternative ego up a notch.

[Vice Magazine]

[Via: Format Magazine]

Wish you knew what books are on The New York Times critics’ favorites list? Which are disappointing only because they have to end? Which are the ones that they mention to their friends? Which are the ones that they take on vacation? Which are well executed, whatever the genre or subject matter?

Well wonder no more, because they have put together a list of their favorite books of 2007, and it’s a great way for you to get started on 2008.

[The New York Times - Critics' Picks: Favorite Books Of 2007]

Playboy’s The Complete Centerfolds is a coffee table book that features 720 pages of the over 600 Playmates that have graced the centerfold of every issue of Playboy. Ever.

Since each centerfold is printed exactly as it appeared in the magazine, this full-sized volume is huge, and it comes in its own velvet lined, combination locked leather briefcase.

And you said you read it for the articles…

[Via: Acquire]

Rowling created seven copies of the book, then gave six away to friends and family, with one remaining for public sale. While the book was estimated to sell for $100,000, bidding soon turned that number into the tax, and Amazon paid out a hefty fee for the limited edition piece of history.

All is not lost though: The proceeds form the book go towards a charity that Rowling co-founded called Children’s Voice.

In addition, the Sotheby’s sale broke a number of records:

• The highest price achieved at auction for a modern literary manuscript.
• The highest price achieved at auction for a work by J.K. Rowling.
• The highest price achieved at auction for a children’s book.

I guess that’s quite the thank-you.

[Via: Mashable]