Muse Reviews » Please show me how!

Please show me how!

I don’t even think I held in my hands this particular book the night it arrived on my doorstep for review. We had some friends over that evening, and it was promptly intercepted, opened, and pored over, unbeknown to me. I finally realized I’d better track this book down so I could see for myself what all the hype was about….and when I asked my husband about its whereabouts, he sheepishly responded, “It may be at work. On a coworkers’s desk. Not mine.” Turns out this book had made the rounds throughout his workplace, and it would require a covert operation to get it back into the hands of its rightful owner.

It’s three days later, and I am happy to say that I have the book back in hand. And now I know why this book was such a hot commodity with our fun-loving friends.

This book, Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know (Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic), is an absolute riot. It is one part serious, one part ludicrous, and one part absolutely hilarious.

It is purely enjoyable from an art standpoint — the silhouetted people demonstrating various things, the lines and colors simple and uncluttered, just like any how-to manual would demonstrate. (Think the instructional safety signs you see inside an airplane.)

(I snuck a pic of my husband reading the book — he’s totally engrossed with it.)

You name it, this book probably tells you how to do it/make it/pull it off. Want a little sampling of what you’d expect to find within its cover?

There’s practical help for relationships, such as how to:
- Fill my home with romance (#218)
- Sizzle with some salsa moves (#200)
- Flirt with emoticons (#201)

There are helpful household hints, like how to:
- Make classic fried chicken (#92)
- Feed a cat a pill (#297)
- Make the perfect bed (#233)
- De-rust a cast iron pan (#73)

Parenting tips, such as how you might:
- Hang a tire swing (#2)
- Create the ultimate tree house (#260)
- Remove gum from a child’s hair (#309)

A few good medical and health tips, like how to:
- Strike a basic yoga pose (#353)
- Treat a case of frostbite (#442)
- Vanquish a case of hiccups (#474)

Travel tips aren’t excluded either, since they tell you how to:
- Pack a first aid kit (#336)
- Stay limber on an airplane (#373)
- Triumph over seasickness (#394)

And we mustn’t leave out these things, just IN CASE we ever need to know how to:
- Use pants to stay afloat (#448)
- Mold a false fingerprint (#487)
- Apply traditional geisha makeup (#164)

By now, it must be incredibly obvious how difficult this book really is to put down.

Show Me How by Collins Design will be hit the shelves this week and will retail for $24.95.

How would you like to win one? HarperCollins is giving TWO of you a chance to win a copy of Show Me How. All you have to do is leave me one comment telling me something you hope this book teaches you how to do. I’ll close the contest at 11pm EST next Friday, November 7th, 2008, and announce the two winners the next day. U.S. entries only. Good luck!

59 Comments so far
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I would love to know how to knit or crochet. My great-grandmother and mother in law were fabulous and very talented knitters. I never had a chance to learn from them (both have passed on). So that is one thing I’d really love to be showed how to do it.

Thanks for a great giveaway!

Fix a toilet. We only have one, and I have nightmares of what would happen if it broke…

I hope this book could show me how to keep a house spotless with three young kids running around

Looks like a super interesting book!

My son would totally be all over the molding a false finger print thing! He loves all those CSI shows!

I’d really hope this book would teach me how to repaint my house in a frugal manner. Barring that, I’d hope for a good recipe for deep dish pizza.

I can tell why everyone enjoyed this book!!

I hope it tells how to cure colic (lol – anyone want to guess what’s going on at our house?? lol)

thanks for a fun giveaway!! (I’m off to find this book for Christmas gifts!)

I hope it tells me how to choose a perfectly ripe cantaloupe at the market.

Hi, I have always wanted to know the correct way to apply wallpaper! Please
enter me in your delightful drawing. Many thanks, Cindi

How to really clean yucky bathroom tile! And I think my husband would not sleep until he read it cover to cover. I just hope he uses what he learns!

I’d like to learn how to make a veggie omelet without it looking awful…it always sticks to the pan or falls apart.

I hope it tells me how to catch a runaway horse. You know, just in case.

How about how to fold a fitted sheet that has elastic all the way around. Mine never turn out looking anything near tidy.

Do you think this book could tell me how to find the perfect man? haha, ok I guess I will settle for the geting gum outta the hair, that sounds useful since I’ve been in that situation and the only way i figured out how to get it out was to cute the hair!

I’ve always wanted to learn how to CORRECTLY make fried chicken!

Hope I learn to 500 things that make my family smile!

I would like to know how to hang a picture so that it stays straight.

Thank you!

janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com

I was definitely thinking something along the lines of stain removal

Ha I learned how to use my pants to float in the military LOL.
Humm learn how to go on a trip without looking like the flintstones everytime.
Stormy5475@aol.com

Looks like an interesting book! I recently had spinal fusion surgery and I could use some tips for staying limber on an airplane.

I want to know how often I should vacuum the carpets (I don’t have time to do it every day) and how do I keep dog hair to a minimum (without shaving the dog)

Before I die, I am determined to learn how to whistle through my fingers – you know, the really, really LOUD kind of whistle that can be heard a block away. I am green with envy of people who have this long coveted skill.

I would love to learn how to crochet. My mom has tried to show me but I just havent gotten it yet. thank you for the chance to win

I hope this book can tell me how to survive the in-laws during the holidays. LOL

Ahhhh…there’s so many silly little things. How to iron a button-down shirt, how to darn a sock, how to sew on a button, ooh – how to strip an old dresser and then restain it. All of the things my parents would have taught me if they were still around!

I would love to learn how to French braid my own hair. Thanks for the giveaway.

Either how to crochet or sew like a pro.
thanks
jen62728@aol.com

I hope this book will show how to soften a perm that is too tight.

Hmmm. I would like to learn how to make my son take a nap when he’s convinced that he doesn’t need one.

I would love tips on maintaining a home (chores) so I don’t feel like I’m doing the whole thing every day -I’m always exhausted.

I’m trying to think of something witty to say….but it’s not coming…so, maybe the book could teach me?

[...] Muse Reviews – Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know (Instructions for Life from the Everyday to the Exotic (Nov 7th/US) [...]

show me how to use my potential instead of sitting in front of the computer all day:)
lol

I would love to know how to knit

How to strike up really cool and interesting convos.

How to protect a Christmas tree from a toddler?

Teach my family to clean!

Oh I would so love this book – all the things I never knew that I should know how to do… Now I can!

Will it show me how to stop procrastinating when I have article deadlines? Sounds like an amazing book.

What a fun and funny book. sounds like the perfect light reading.

I need to know how to get stains out of old linens (like the ones from my grandmother).

Thanks for having the giveaway!

This book sounds like so much fun, almost as much fun as reading the things that people would like to learn how to do. I think mine would have to be how to keep my kids’ rooms organized and mostly clean…

I would love to learn how to dance!

im hoping for some home repair. my husband and i hope to buy soon but he is not a handy man… so i hope this can help!

I would like to know how to cleanly and easily “deseed” a pomegranate. I know there is a way. They are so good to eat but sooooo messy!

How to get an ink stain out of clothing.

I would love to learn how to make little robots and things. We went to the maker faire last year and I was just amazed at the little hobby crafts you could make out of little servos and bread boards.

I hope this book teaches me how to knit and/or crochet! My mom doesn’t have the patience to teach me, and no one else knows how! =)

hope it tells how to hang a shelf, hang kitchen cabinets, get a relationship back with husband after kids!

I want to learn how to knit. Is that in there? Or give myself a haircut?

I hope it talks about car things – like how to change the oil or check tire pressure. Thanks for the chance!

Does it tell me how to find time to do the things it tells me how to do?

I hope this book teaches how to get a toddler to behave each and every time in the checkout line at the grocery store!!! But more seriously, I hope it teaches how to give a basic haircut.

I hope it tells me how to thump a melon to check for ripeness! I never did understand how to do that!! Great giveaway – thanks for offering it!
~Tanya
the4moyers(at)msn(dot)com

I hope it has the directions to fold the perfect tee shirt…i remember when Martha Stewart made that popular awhile back, but I can’t remember the steps…

I hope this book would teach you how to play the piano! I don’t mean like a concert pianist, but the fundamentals It would be nice to find a quick-start how-to guide for piano… Thanks for the giveaway!

Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice)

I hope it teaches me how to get gum out of hair and how to do taxes when you suck at money math. LOL

Hope this book teaches me how to stop time, make time go faster, be cool, be warm, have a happy face, have a pretty face, and how to do more and more, and to how do less and less…and how to put the book down!!! It sounds GREAT!

I would like to learn how to change the oil in my car myself.

I’d love to know how to win this giveaway!

I would like to know how to take better pictures.

How to wiggle my nose and have anything I want appear ( like I dream of Jeannie!)

anamcara2007@yahoo.com

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