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20 Must-Own Books to Teach You Manly Skills

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20 Must-Own Books to Teach You Manly Skills

The Man’s Manual

There are some essential manly tips that for some reason other books seem to overlook. The Man’s Manual: Poker Secrets, Beer Lore, Waitress Hypnosis, and Much, Much More covers the stuff no one else does. Learn the right way to flirt with a waitress, what to do when you whack your thumb with a hammer and even the best way to clean a dirty fridge. (Hint: it involves a pickup truck and a carwash).


Self-Defense For Modern Times

Studying martial arts teaches discipline, keeps you in peak physical condition and makes you pretty bad-ass, but sometimes it’s hard to imagine how breathing exercises can prepare you for real world situations. Self-Defense For Modern Times offers insight on fighting in an urban setting and trains your mind to react to real dangers and stress in front of you.


Details Men’s Style Manual

It’s not that guys don’t care about looking good—we just don’t like to spend a lot of time or energy on fashion. Well and maybe some of us are a little clueless. For those of us man enough to admit it, there’s Details Men’s Style Manual: The Ultimate Guide for Making Your Clothes Work for You. Dress up or down with guy friendly, low-maintenance tips like how to wear one white shirt for 4 different occasions. Complete with pictures and full color illustrations and simple explanations of what works and why.


Brocabulary: The New Man-i-festo of Dude Talk

Years of polishing your vocabulary, and yet you’ve never been able to skillfully articulate in an unequivocal manner a term to describe the precise number of Jager shots it takes to entice a woman to get naked with you. Dude, you’ve gotta get in the testosterzone with Brocabulary. Pick it up and get your brommunication on.


ESPN Gameday Gourmet

Sure, you may have the big screen TV and the beer, but if you wanna throw the ultimate game night bash you’ve gotta have more on the table than corn chips. Learn how to make manly meals that fit into sports fan’s food groups: deep-friend, char-grilled, long-smoked and cheese-packed. ESPN GameDay Gourmet will fill you up with over 80 recipes, cooking tips, and of course ESPN’s unique brand of humor.


Male Grooming: Fabulous Tips on Looking Great

Recently men have discovered that personal hygiene = increased sex appeal. (Thanks Axe body spray) But now that the floodgate to better grooming has opened there’s an overwhelming amount of advice and tips and it’s hard to make sense of it all. Male Grooming: Fabulous Tips on Looking Great breaks it down with simple tips about everything from nails, body hair and there’s an entire chapter on our largest organ, which to our surprise (and dismay) is our skin.


Hold on to Your NUTs: The Relationship Manual for Men

Sometimes in a serious relationship it’s hard to hold on to your NUTs—NUTs of course referring to your Non-negotiable, Unalterable Terms. You know—the things that are important to you and define you as a man—your NUTs. Hold on to Your NUTs: The Relationship Manual for Men gives men tools to build a strong relationship and learn to compromise without giving up what’s important.


How to Be a Gentleman: A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy

Sometimes the unspoken rules of chivalry and refinement get blurred in the modern age. It’s not always clear if it’s appropriate to take that important business call on your cell phone during a date and it’s hard to display proper etiquette without sounding like a snob. Luckily there’s an answer—How to Be a Gentleman: A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy is an up to date guide that covers all this and more.


How to Fix Damn Near Everything

It’s common knowledge that it’s a guy’s job to be Mr. Fix-it. Too bad how to fix stuff isn’t also common knowledge. Stop trying to wing-in and snag a copy of How to Fix Damn Near Everything, jam-packed with over 300 diagrams and illustrations.


How to Give Her Absolute Pleasure

Even if you fancy yourself well versed in the art of pleasing a woman, it’s never a bad idea to learn some new moves. And what better way to learn How to Giver Her Absolute Pleasure than with explicit details, straight forward answers and over 70 step-by-step illustrations. Discover rare details and hot tips and get to know her elusive erogenous zones more
intimately.


Men’s Health Real Life Survival Guide

Sure, over-the-top worst case scenario survival guides are fun reads, but what about life’s day to day problems… like how to unhook a bra with one hand, evade a speeding ticket or clean a questionable carpet stain. Take on these every day emergencies with Men’s Health Real Life Survival Guide.


How’s Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well

According to Ernest Hemingway, along with bull fighting and big game hunting, dry martini drinking is one of numerous essential manly pursuits. Drinking isn’t just something you do with your buds, but a fine art that takes finesse. Eric Felton’s How’s Your Drink explores the history, culture and importance of the cocktail in an amusingly wry tone.


Machiavellian Poker Strategy

16th century Italian philosopher, politician and writer Niccolo Machiavelli was known for his expediency, deceit and cunning—qualities that of course are essential in poker. David Apostolico uses Machiavelli’s literary works The Prince and how it’s theme of ruthless self-preservation can be valuable in becoming a stronger player in Machiavellian Poker Strategy: How to Play Like a Prince and Rule the Poker Table.


How to Repair Your Car

Knowing how to fix your car is really the most important thing a guy should learn. There’s nothing more embarrassing than asking another dude for roadside assistance and it can be really frustrating getting ripped off by your mechanic because you don’t know how to talk to him. (And yes, he DOES make fun of you behind your back). How to Repair Your Car by Paul Rand explains the terminology, trouble shooting charts and 50 easy step-by-step projects that will save you thousands.


The Retrosexual Manual: How to Be a Real Man

Do you remember a time before men carried purses, shopped at IKEA or put “product” in their hair? Dave Besley, author of The Retrosexual Manual: How to Be a Real Man remembers. You know, when men were men and women cooked us breakfast in the morning. Learn how to become a retrosexual and be the hairy, loud, dominant guy she really wants (even if she doesn’t know it yet).


The Dudes’ Guide to Pregnancy

When you find out she’s pregnant you look for a book to give you a crash course on parenting, but before long you realize that you really need help surviving the pregnancy. Practical, yet hilariously lewd advice from one dude to another about all the do’s and don’ts that will get
you through the next 9 months in one piece.


The Great Life: A Man’s Guide to Sports, Skills, Fitness, and Serious Fun

An amusing and extensive guide to everything fun in life from Sports, Fitness, Women, Skills, Adventure and Vices. The Great Life is a collection of over 150 essays that offer knowledge on everything from landing a plane to cooking for a woman to brewing your own beer. An easy and fun read with photos, quotes, charts, step-by-step instructions and
terse comic strips.


Golf: The Best Instruction Book Ever!

The title of this book, Golf: The Best Instruction Book Ever promises a lot, and it delivers! GOLF Magazine’s top 100 gold teachers put their heads together to transform you from a subpar golfer into a golfer who consistently hits under par! The book features tips on driving, iron play, trouble shots, putting, as well as impressing photography and useful
diagrams.


The Art of Talking to Anyone

A man’s conversational skills can get him anywhere, like into a great position professionally or (ahem) socially. The Art of Talking to Anyone: Essential People Skills for Success in Any Situation teaches essential communication tools and how to use the right words at the right time. Get straight to the point or charm your way through a conversation with confidence.


What Fish Don’t Want You to Know: An Insider’s Guide to Freshwater Fishing

Anyone can toss a line in the water and get lucky at some point, but if you really wanna catch the big one you’ve gotta learn What Fish Don’t Want You to Know. Discover how to read the water, chose the right gear, anticipate fish behavior and of course, how to become a master baiter.


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