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It's that time of year again; time for fun with family, rest, relaxation, and decadent dishes! The Penguin Online group has put together a collection of our very best recipes from some of our very best cookbooks to help you and yours celebrate Thanksgiving.

Avoid a Thanksgiving disaster: if any of these scenarios hit close to home, you'll be thankful for Penguin Recipes, a wonderful collection of recipes chosen from some of our most popular cookbooks!

Scenario 1: Your 67-year-old Aunt Cleo, who was supposed to cook Thanksgiving dinner, eloped with her 22-year-old masseur and is now honeymooning in Fiji! You are stuck cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 15 people and have NO recipes or cookbooks at home. Penguin Recipes will give you some delicious ideas to help you save the day while your aunt catches rays.

Scenario 2: Your cousin Lauren, aka "Little Miss Perfect," has always made the hors d'oeuvres on Thanksgiving night and, of course, they've always been perfect. This year she's studying for her MCAT (yes, she's decided to go to medical school) so you'll have to handle the appetizers. To absolutely knock everyone's socks off and get the relatives talking about how great YOU are, consult Penguin Recipes.

In writing the book there was never any problem finding enough information about walking and walkers. The problem was always more about what to leave out than what to include. I'm happy to stand by the decisions I made. But every now and then I find a new snippet of information and I'm disappointed that it's too late to include it in the book.

For instance I just saw an interview with Richard Branson, in Parade magazine. They asked, "Are Americans too afraid of taking risks?" And Branson replied, "People do need to be a bit braver. When I was 4 years old, my mother dropped me out of the car to walk three miles to my grandmother's house-to find my own way." Wha?

I would love to have been a fly on the wall of granny's house when young Richard walked in the door: I'm assuming he did walk in the door, though the interview doesn't actually say so. I wonder what kind of celebrations they had.

My other recent discovery, on just reading Bran Stoker's "Dracula" - for the first time I'm ashamed to admit - is that an awful lot of trouble starts because Lucy Westenra, who is quite the sexy minx, goes sleep walking, that's when Dracula gets her, bites her in the neck and turns her into one of his vampires. A lesson learned there.

View more information on The Lost Art of Walking

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Penguin Group (USA) Launches "What to Give & What to Get," A Chance for Readers to Find out which Books Their Favorite Authors will Give this Holiday Season

Elizabeth Gilbert, Khaled Hosseini, Geraldine Brooks, Nick Hornby, Jan Karon, Michael Pollan, Stuart Woods and Mike Lupica Are Among the New York Times Bestselling, Award-winning Penguin Group (USA) Authors Sharing Their Personal "Wish Lists" for Giving Books this Holiday

New York, New York, November 25, 2008 ... Penguin Group (USA) has announced the launch of "What to Give & What to Get," a chance for consumers to get an inside look at the books on the personal wish lists of some of their favorite authors this holiday season. Close to forty beloved authors from across Penguin Group (USA) have shared the books current or classic, and from any publisher, that make up their personal holiday gift lists this year, for readers everywhere as this year's shopping season begins.

Elizabeth Gilbert, Khaled Hosseini, Geraldine Brooks, Nick Hornby, Jan Karon, Michael Pollan, Stuart Woods, Mike Lupica, Jan Brett, W.E.B. Griffin, Nathaniel Philbrick and many other New York Times bestselling, award-winning Penguin Group (USA) writers participated in the campaign and were asked to share the books that they both would like to give and to receive this season. The resulting messages, heartwarming, humorous and generous of spirit are posted on the Penguin website for public viewing. "Important, Elegant, Affordable. This holiday, change a life, give a book" posters and marketing materials are being offered by Penguin Group (USA) sales representatives to booksellers, who also are free to download the materials off the Penguin bookseller site for display in their stores. This campaign is to help customers who are shopping for the perfect books to give as gifts this year, and to help drive consumer traffic into bookstores throughout the holiday season.