Being in love means being brave in The Love Haters, the newest laugh out loud, all the feels rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center. Producer Janie Vaughnâs co-worker helps her get a career-making gig profiling a Coast Guard rescue swimmer (who just happens to be his brother)âby claiming, falsely, that Janie is his girlfriend.
As Janie spends time in Key West with the swimmer, Tom âHutchâ Hutcheson (along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane), she gets trapped by that lieâfalling madly for Hutch, even as he thinks sheâs the one woman on earth he canât date.
Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensueâalong with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally ânormalâ life for a career in stand-up comedy.
Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, itâs normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesnât help that sheâs always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddyâs latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.
With her signature deep empathy and insight, Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author, Lisa Genova, has crafted another profoundly moving novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is a compelling read for anyone interested in understanding the nuances of mental health.
The Nobel Prize winnerâs latest masterwork, set in a sanitarium on the eve of World War I, probes the horrors that lie beneath our most hallowed ideas.
In September 1913, MieczysĆaw, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at Wilhelm Opitzâs Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in what is now western Poland. Every day, its residents gather in the dining room to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur, to obsess over money and status, and to discuss the great issues of the day: Will there be war? Monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women inherently inferior?
Meanwhile, disturbing things are beginning to happen in the guesthouse and its surroundings. As stories of shocking events in the surrounding highlands reach the men, a sense of dread builds. Someone--or something--seems to be watching them and attempting to infiltrate their world.
Little does MieczysĆaw realize, as he attempts to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target.
A century after the publication of The Magic Mountain, Tokarczuk revisits Thomas Mann territory and lays claim to it, blending horror story, comedy, folklore, and feminist parable with brilliant storytelling.
Sheâs rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. Sheâs spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comediesâgood ones! That win contests! But sheâs also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie YatesâThe Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!âitâs a break too big to pass up.
Emmaâs younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Donât meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesnât want to write with anyoneâmuch less âa failed, nobody screenwriter.â Worse, the romantic comedy heâs written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesnât even care about the scriptâitâs just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emmaâs not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matterâeven if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story theyâre writing breaks all Emmaâs rulesâand comes true?
From the iconic internationally bestselling author of the Crazy Rich Asians comes a story where a forbidden affair erupts amid a decadent tropical wedding. This outrageous comedy of manners is penned by the iconic author of Crazy Rich Asians.
Rufus Leung Gresham, future Duke of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel, finds that the legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending. Beneath the magazine covers and Instagram stories of manors and yachts lies nothing but a gargantuan mountain of debt. The proposed solution by Rufus's scheming mother is for Rufus to seduce a wealthy woman at his sister's wedding, which is a gathering of sultans, barons, and oligarchs at a luxury eco-resort.
Should Rufus marry SolĂšne de Courcy, a French hotel heiress, or pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius? Or will he betray his family, squander his legacy, and confess his love to Eden Tong, the girl next door?
When a volcanic eruption disrupts the wedding and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family's plansâand their reputationâare at risk. Can the once-great dukedom rise from the ashes, or will a secret tragedy, hidden for decades, reveal a shocking twist?
In this globetrotting tale, Kevin Kwan takes us from the black sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Los Angeles to the inner sanctums of England's oldest family estates, delivering a juicy, hilarious, sophisticated, and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, sex, and the many lies we tell about them all.
Reboot is a raucous and wickedly smart satire of Hollywood, toxic fandom, and our chronically online culture. It follows David Crader, a washed-up actor on his quest to revive the cult TV drama that catapulted him to teenage fame.
Once a former child actor from the hit 90s teen drama Rev Beach, David now juggles his new roles as deadbeat dad, part-time alcoholic, and occasional videogame voice actor. Summoned to Los Angeles by Grace, his ex-wife and former co-star, David sees an opportunity for a rebootânot just of the show that made him famous but also of his listless existence.
Hollywood, the Internet, and a fractured nation have other plans, though. David soon drinks himself to a realization: The seemingly innocuous revival of an old Buffy rip-off could be the spark that sets ablaze a nation gripped by far-right conspiracies, toxic fandoms, and mass violence.
Reboot is a madcap and eerily prescient speculative comedy for our era of glass-eyed doomscrolling and 90s nostalgia. It's a tale of former teen heartthrobs, online edge lords, and fish-faced cryptids, perfect for anyone who still agonizes over Angel versus Spike, lives in fear of the QAnon mom next door, or has run afoul of a rabid "stan" and lived to tell the tale.
So many ways to torpedo your career and your love lifeâŠSo little time. A woman accidentally reveals all her secrets in this witty and charming novel from the author of Eight Perfect Hours.
Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herselfâher feelings, her truths, even her dreamsâin an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.
But Millie does write emailsâsarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One. As every truth, lie, and secret sheâs worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything sheâs ever swept under the carpet.
A delightful novel about alien invasions, conspiracies, and the incredibly silly things people are willing to believeâsome of which may actually be trueâfrom the Nebula and Hugo award-winning author of Blackout and All Clear.
When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommateâs UFO-themed weddingâcomplete with a true-believer bridegroomâshe canât help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously donât exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one.
Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles. Nor is Francie the only victim of the alienâs abduction spree. Before long, he has acquired a charming con man named Wade, a sweet little old lady with a casino addiction, a retiree with a huge RV and a love for old Westerns, and a UFO-chasing nutjob who is thoroughly convinced the alien intends to probe them and/or take over the planet.
But the more Francie gets to know the alien, the more convinced she becomes that heâs not an invader. That heâs in trouble and she has to help him. Only she doesnât know howâor even what the trouble is.
Part alien-abduction adventure, part road trip saga, part romantic comedy, The Road to Roswell is packed full of Men in Black, Elvis impersonators, tourist traps, rattlesnakes, chemtrails, and Close Encounters of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth kind. Can Francie, stuck in a neon green bridesmaidâs dress, save the worldâand still make it back for the wedding?
I decided to talk to women about their vaginas, to do vagina interviews, which became vagina monologues. At first, women were reluctant to talk. They were a little shy. But once they got going, you couldn't stop them. Women secretly love to talk about their vaginas. They get very excited, mainly because no one's ever asked them before.
So begins Eve Ensler's hilarious, eye-opening tour into the last frontier, the forbidden zone at the heart of every woman. Adapted from the award-winning one-woman show that's rocked audiences around the world, this groundbreaking book gives voice to a chorus of lusty, outrageous, poignant, and thoroughly human stories, transforming the question mark hovering over the female anatomy into a permanent victory sign. With laughter and compassion, Ensler transports her audiences to a world we've never dared to know, guaranteeing that no one who reads The Vagina Monologues will ever look at a woman's body the same way again.
You'll Grow Out of It hilariously and candidly explores the journey of the twenty-first-century woman.
As both a tomboy and a late bloomer, comedian Jessi Klein grew up feeling more like an outsider than a participant in the rites of modern femininity.
In You'll Grow Out of It, Klein offersâthrough an incisive collection of real-life storiesâa relentlessly funny yet poignant take on a variety of topics she has experienced along her strange journey to womanhood and beyond. These include her transformation from a Pippi Longstocking-esque tomboy to an "are-you-a-lesbian-or-what" tom man, attempting to find watchable porn, and identifying the difference between being called "ma'am" and "miss" ("Miss" sounds like you weigh ninety-nine pounds).
Raw, relatable, and consistently hilarious, You'll Grow Out of It is a one-of-a-kind book by a singular and irresistible comic voice.
Amy Schumer, the Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and star of Inside Amy Schumer and the acclaimed film Trainwreck, has taken the entertainment world by storm with her winning blend of smart, satirical humor.
In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex, sharing the experiences that have shaped who she isâa woman with the courage to bare her soul and stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.
Ranging from the raucous to the romantic, the heartfelt to the harrowing, this highly entertaining and universally appealing collection is the literary equivalent of a night out with your best friendâan unforgettable and fun adventure that you wish could last forever.
Whether sheâs experiencing lust-at-first-sight while in the airport security line, sharing her own views on love and marriage, admitting to being an introvert, or discovering her cross-fit instructorâs secret bad habit, Amy Schumer proves to be a bighearted, brave, and thoughtful storyteller that will leave you nodding your head in recognition, laughing out loud, and sobbing uncontrollablyâbut only because itâs over.
Modern Romance: An Investigation is a journey into the intricacies of finding love in the modern era. Aziz Ansari, known for his sharp comedic voice, and Eric Klinenberg, an NYU sociologist, present an in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils that come with the quest for love in times where technology has given us more options than ever.
The book takes a humorous and thoughtful look at how the culture of finding love has dramatically transformed in a relatively short period. A few decades ago, the search for a partner was confined to local neighborhoods and family connections. Now, the pursuit of a soul mate extends over years and across continents, with technology as the driving force behind these new romantic dynamics.
Ansari and Klinenberg designed a massive research project that included hundreds of interviews and focus groups from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They also analyzed behavioral data, surveys, and online discussion forums, enlisting the help of leading social scientists. This blend of humor and social science research results in a unique narrative that offers an unforgettable tour of romance in the 21st century.
Don't love your enemy. Declare war on him.
Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasnât fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days. After what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then, sheâs lost eighty-five pounds, gotten four streaks of purple in her hair, and moved to Buttcrack-of-Nowhere, Ohio, to help her mom escape a bad relationship.
All the girls in her new school want one thingâJack Hunter, the Ice Prince of East Summit High. Hot as an Armani ad, smart enough to get into Yale, and colder than the Arctic, Jack Hunter's never gone out with anyone. Sure, people have seen him downtown with beautiful women, but he's never given high school girls the time of day. Until Isis punches him in the face.
Jackâs met his match. Suddenly everything is a game.
The goal: Make the other beg for mercy.
The game board: East Summit High.
The reward: Something neither of them expected.
From the creators of the wildly popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves... no matter where we live.
Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.
Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "King City" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.
Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it.
Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "King City". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures...if they can ever find it.
What happens when a superhero can beat the snot out of every villain with just one punch? Can he find an opponent to give his life meaning, or is he doomed to a life of superpowered boredom? Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problemâhe just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on!
Garo, a man who admires monsters, attacks the Hero Association! But after pulverizing the heroes there, he just leaves. What the heck does this guy want?! Meanwhile, Class-B, Rank-1 Miss Blizzard visits Saitama at his apartment. Since he's just a low-ranking hero, she thinks she can make him one of her subordinates, but as always, Saitama has other plans!
Parks and Recreation actor and Making It co-host Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in this New York Times bestseller.
Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a womanâwho better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreationâs Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworkingâhe runs his own woodshopâPaddle Your Own Canoe features tales from Offermanâs childhood in small-town Minooka, IllinoisââI grew up literally in the middle of a cornfieldââto his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally.
It also offers hard-bitten battle strategies in the arenas of manliness, love, style, religion, woodworking, and outdoor recreation, among many other savory entrees.
A mix of amusing anecdotes, opinionated lessons and rants, sprinkled with offbeat gaiety, Paddle Your Own Canoe will not only tickle readers pink but may also rouse them to put down their smart phones, study a few sycamore leaves, and maybe even hand craft (and paddle) their own canoes.
Jim Gaffigan never imagined he would have his own kids.
Though he grew up in a large Irish-Catholic family, Jim was satisfied with the nomadic, nocturnal life of a standup comedian, and was content to be "that weird uncle who lives in an apartment by himself in New York that everyone in the family speculates about." But all that changed when he married and found out his wife, Jeannie, "is someone who gets pregnant looking at babies."
Five kids later, the comedian whose riffs on everything from Hot Pockets to Jesus have scored millions of hits on YouTube, started to tweet about the mistakes and victories of his life as a dad. Those tweets struck such a chord that he soon passed the million followers mark. But it turns out 140 characters are not enough to express all the joys and horrors of life with five kids, so he's now sharing it all in Dad Is Fat.
From new parents to empty nesters to Jim's twenty-something fans, everyone will recognize their own families in these hilarious takes on everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to growing up in a big family ("I always assumed my father had six children so he could have a sufficient lawn crew") to changing diapers in the middle of the night ("like The Hurt Locker but much more dangerous") to bedtime (aka "Negotiating with Terrorists").
Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.
In this instant New York Times bestseller, comedian and Chelsea Lately regular Jen Kirkman champions every womanâs right to follow her own pathâeven if that means being âchildfree by choice.â
In her debut memoir, actress and comedian Jen Kirkman delves into her off-camera life with the same snarky sensitivity and oddball humor she brings to her sold-out standup shows and the Chelsea Lately roundtable, where she is a writer and regular performer.
As a woman of a certain age who has no desire to start a family, Jen often finds herself confronted (by friends, family, and total strangers) about her decision to be âchildfree by choice.â I Can Barely Take Care of Myself offers honest and hilarious responses to questions like âWho will take care of you when you get old?â (Servants!) and provides a peek into the psycheâand weird and wonderful lifeâof a woman who has always marched to the beat of a different drummer and is pretty sure sheâs not gonna change her mind, but thanks for your concern.
Ah yes, hello! You there! Standing in the bookstore looking at the book! Yes, I would like to have a word with you, if I might.
Hello.
OK, maybe I need a few more words, such as, perhaps, thank you for picking up the book. You are half-way to saying, "Yes, I think I would like to read this book," which is a very nice thing for you to say.
You see, as the author of this book, the more people who pick it up and glance at this hopefully humorous blurb (my publisher told me earlier today that I needed to write a blurb, and advised it would be good to make it funny. I am doing my best, Tc.) the more people will hopefully decide to purchase it, and if that happens, you will be happy because you will have possession of a hilarious bit of writing (my book). I will be happy because writers write so readers can read. And Tc will be happy because the whole point of agreeing to publish The World According to Crash - Miscellaneous Stuff & Stuff is, well, to sell books.
So let's make the world a happier place all around and purchase, read, and hopefully write a rockin' review of The World According to Crash - Miscellaneous Stuff & Stuff.
Thank you for your time.
After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that heâs still in good health, and one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isnât interested (and heâd like a bit more control over his alcohol consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey.
It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, he has actually played a key role in them. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.
Greg Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, heâs innocent. Or at least sort of. The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors.
Greg knows that when the snow melts, heâs going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?
Ellen DeGeneres, the stand-up comedian, television host, best-selling author, and actress, candidly discusses her personal life and professional career. She shares her experiences and thoughts on becoming a judge on American Idol.
With her winning, upbeat candor, Ellen brings us up to date about her life as a kindhearted woman who chose to step away from American Idol because she didn't want to be mean. Her stories are lively, hilarious, and often sweetly poignant.
According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter - the world's only totally reliable guide to the future - the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea...
People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it's only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons â well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel â would quite like the Rapture not to happen.
And someone seems to have misplaced the AntichristâŠ
'How cool was Will Freeman?' Too cool! At thirty-six, he's as hip as a teenager. He's single, child-free, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also found a great way to score with women: attend single parents' groups full of available (and grateful) mothers, all hoping to meet a Nice Guy.
Which is how Will meets Marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old on the planet. Marcus is a bit strange: he listens to Joni Mitchell and Mozart, looks after his mum and has never owned a pair of trainers. But Marcus latches on to Will - and won't let go. Can Will teach Marcus how to grow up cool? And can Marcus help Will just to grow up?
For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long â Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this roguesâ gallery of power seekers. Heâs an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.
That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. Sheâs freshly transplanted from New York City to Bostonâs North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzleâs bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track âŠuntil itâs suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.
Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. Sheâs not sure about Diesel. Heâs offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.
The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, wrath, sloth, and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything thatâs fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.
Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is pregnant! She couldn't be more overjoyed-especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery... to the latest, coolest pram... to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke's glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky's perfect world starts to crumble. She's shopping for two... but are there three in her marriage?
EM WATTS IS GONE. Emerson Watts didnât even want to go to the new SoHo Stark Megastore grand opening. But someone needed to look out for her sister, Frida, whose crush, British heartthrob Gabriel Luna, would be singing and signing autographs there along with the newly appointed Face of Stark, teen supermodel sensation Nikki Howard. How was Em to know that disaster would strike, changing her and life as sheâd known it forever? One bizarre accident later, and Em Watts, always the tomboy, never the party princess, is no longer herself. Literally. Now getting her best friend, Christopher, to notice that sheâs actually a girl is the least of Emâs problems. But what Emâs pretty sure sheâll never be able to accept might just turn out to be the one thing thatâs going to make her dream come true.
NIKKI HOWARD IS HERE TO STAY.
Foolâthe bawdy and outrageous New York Times bestseller from the unstoppable Christopher Mooreâis a hilarious new take on William Shakespeare's King Lear...as seen through the eyes of the foolish liege's clownish jester, Pocket. A rousing tale of gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, Fool joins Moore's own Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, and You Suck! as modern masterworks of satiric wit and sublimely twisted genius, prompting Carl Hiassen to declare Christopher Moore "a very sick man, in the very best sense of the word."
They say that diplomacy is a gentle art. That its finest practitioners are subtle, sophisticated individuals for whom nuance and subtext are meat and drink. And that mastering it is a lifetime's work. But you do need a certain inclination in that direction. It's not something you can just pick up on the job.
Which is a shame if you find yourself dropped unaccountably into a position of some significant diplomatic responsibility. If you don't really do diplomacy or haven't been to school with the right foreign bigwigs or aren't even sure whether a nod is as good as a wink to anyone, sighted or otherwise, then things are likely to go wrong. It's just a question of how badly...
An irreverent comic adventure, spanning three continents, about a father and son against each other and against the world. For most of his life, Jasper Dean couldnât decide whether to pity, hate, love, or murder his certifiably paranoid father, Martin, a man who overanalyzed anything and everything and imparted his self-garnered wisdom to his only son. But now that Martin is dead, Jasper can fully reflect on the crackpot who raised him in intellectual captivity, and what he realizes is that, for all its lunacy, theirs was a grand adventure.
As he recollects the events that led to his fatherâs demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveriesâabout his infamous outlaw uncle, Terry, his mysteriously absent European mother, and Martinâs constant losing battle to make a lasting mark on the world he so disdains. Itâs a story that takes them from the Australian bush to the cafĂ©s of bohemian Paris, from the Thai jungle to strip clubs, asylums, labyrinths, and criminal lairs, and from the highs of first love to the lows of failed ambition. The result is a wild rollercoaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings.
When Chelsea Handler needs to get a few things off her chest, she appeals to a higher power - vodka. You would too if you found out that your boyfriend was having an affair with a Peekapoo or if you had to pretend to be honeymooning with your father in order to upgrade to first class. Welcome to Chelsea's world - a place where absurdity reigns supreme and a quick wit is the best line of defense.
In this hilarious, deliciously skewed collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous. Whether she's convincing her third-grade class that she has been tapped to play Goldie Hawn's daughter in the sequel to Private Benjamin, deciding to be more egalitarian by dating a redhead, or looking out for a foulmouthed, rum-swilling little person who looks just like her... only smaller, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into the most outrageous situations.
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea showcases the candor and irresistible turns of phrase that have made her one of the freshest voices in comedy today.
Do you want to be popular? Everyone wants to be popularâor at least, Stephanie Landry does. Steph's been the least popular girl in her class since a certain cherry Super Big Gulp catastrophe five years earlier. Does being popular matter? It matters very muchâto Steph. That's why this year, she has a plan to get in with the It Crowd in no time flat. She's got a secret weapon: an old book calledâwhat else?âHow to Be Popular.
What does it take to be popular? All Steph has to do is follow the instructions in The Book, and soon she'll be partying with the It Crowd (including school quarterback Mark Finley) instead of sitting on The Hill Saturday nights, stargazing with her nerdy best pal Becca, and even nerdier Jason (now kind of hot, but still), whose passion for astronomy Steph once shared. Who needs red dwarves when you're invited to the hottest parties in town?
But don't forget the most important thing about popularity! It's easy to become popular. What isn't so easy? Staying that way.
When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, sheâs in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accidentâin a Mercedes no lessâLexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and sheâs about to find out just how much things have changed.
Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husbandâwho also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person sheâŠwell, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.
Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?
Secrets have a way of getting out, especially when a diary is involved. Whatever you do, donât ask Greg Heffley how he spent his summer vacation, because he definitely doesnât want to talk about it. As Greg enters the new school year, heâs eager to put the past three months behind him... and one event in particular. Unfortunately for Greg, his older brother, Rodrick, knows all about the incident Greg wants to keep under wraps.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules chronicles Gregâs attempts to navigate the hazards of middle school, impress the girls, steer clear of the school talent show, and most important, keep his secret safe.
STOP. You should not have touched this flyer with your bare hands. NO, don't put it down. It's too late. They're watching you. My name is David Wong. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours.
You may not want to know about the things you'll read on these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it's too late. You touched the book. You're in the game. You're under the eye. The only defense is knowledge. You need to read this book, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me.
The important thing is this: The drug is called Soy Sauce and it gives users a window into another dimension. John and I never had the chance to say no. You still do. I'm sorry to have involved you in this, I really am. But as you read about these terrible events and the very dark epoch the world is about to enter as a result, it is crucial you keep one thing in mind: None of this was my fault.
Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into a new year and a new school where undersize weaklings share the corridors with kids who are taller, meaner and already shaving. Desperate to prove his new found maturity, which only going up a grade can bring, Greg is happy to have his not-quite-so-cool sidekick, Rowley, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's popularity to his own advantage. Recorded in his diary with comic pictures and his very own words, this test of Greg and Rowley's friendship unfolds with hilarious results.
The novel evolved and expanded from an 1849 short story or sketch entitled Oblomov's Dream. The novel focuses on the midlife crisis of the main character, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, an upper middle class son of a member of Russia's nineteenth century landed gentry. Oblomov's distinguishing characteristic is his slothful attitude towards life. While a common negative characteristic, Oblomov raises this trait to an art form, conducting his little daily business apathetically from his bed.
While clearly comedic, the novel also seriously examines many critical issues that faced Russian society in the nineteenth century. Some of these problems included the uselessness of landowners and gentry in a feudal society that did not encourage innovation or reform, the complex relations between members of different classes of society such as Oblomov's relationship with his servant Zakhar, and courtship and matrimony by the elite.
Cold Comfort Farm is a wickedly funny portrait of British rural life in the 1930s. Flora Poste, a recently orphaned socialite, moves in with her country relatives, the gloomy Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm, and becomes enmeshed in a web of violent emotions, despair, and scheming, until Flora manages to set things right.
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male. But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.
Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .
People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.
Christopher Moore, the man whose Lamb served up Jesus' "missing years" (with the funny parts left in), and whose Fluke found the deep humor in whale researchers' lives, now shines his comic light on the undiscovered country we all eventually explore -- death and dying -- and the results are hilarious, heartwarming, and a hell of a lot of fun.
Who can forget our beloved gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, who ever comes to the rescue when the hapless Bertie Wooster falls into trouble. My Man Jeeves is sure to please anyone with a taste for pithy buffoonery, moronic misunderstandings, gaffes, and aristocratic slapstick.
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One day, Haruhi, a scholarship student at the exclusive Ouran High School, breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to the "Host Club," a mysterious campus group consisting of six super-rich (and gorgeous) guys. To pay back the damages, she is forced to work for the club, and it's there that she discovers just how wealthy the boys are and how different they are from everybody else.
Join Haruhi on this adventurous journey as she navigates through the extravagant world of the elite, filled with comedy, romance, and unexpected friendships.
Ronald Psmith ("the âpâ is silent, as in pshrimp") is always willing to help a damsel in distress. So when he sees Eve Halliday without an umbrella during a downpour, he nobly offers her an umbrella, even though itâs one he picks out of the Drone Clubâs umbrella rack.
Psmith is so besotted with Eve that, when Lord Emsworth, her new boss, mistakes him for Ralston McTodd, a poet, Psmith pretends to be him so he can make his way to Blandings Castle and woo her.
And so the farce begins: criminals disguised as poets with a plan to steal a priceless diamond necklace, a secretary who throws flower pots through windows, and a nighttime heist that ends in gunplay. How will everything be sorted out? Leave it to Psmith!
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is a madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers' entanglements that continues to delight readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades.
Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest, while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend, the "rivals" fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their belovedsâpandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded handbag can save the day.
This edition includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader appreciate Wilde's wry wit and elaborate plot twists.
The irresistible heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Ties the Knot is back! And this time Becky Bloomwood and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic.... With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky's biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to pack light. But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he's moving to New York for business--and he asks Becky to go with him! Before you can say "Prada sample sale," Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury boutiques. Surely it's only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky's bills miles away in London. But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line! Shopaholic Takes Manhattan--but will she have to return it?
Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum has a big problem on her hands: Seven-year-old Annie Soder and her mother, Evelyn, have disappeared. Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house.
Finding a kidnapped child is not an assignment for a bounty hunter. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother are not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of abduction. Even though Stephanie's plate is full with miscreants who missed their court dates, including old nemesis and violent drunk Andy Bender and an elusive little old lady accused of grand theft auto, she can't disappoint Grandma Mazur!
So she follows the trail left by Annie and Evelynâand finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with a very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiancĂ© Joe Morelli and Stephanie's mentor and tormentor, Ranger, warn Stephanie about Abruzzi, but it's Abruzzi's eyes and mannerisms that frighten Stephanie the most. Stephanie needs Ranger's savvy and expertise, and she's willing to accept his help to find Annie even though it might mean becoming too involved with Ranger.
Stephanie, Ranger, Lula (who's not going to miss riding with Ranger), and Evelyn's lawyer/laundromat manager set out to find Annie. The search turns out to be a race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, a Rangerette known as Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and the Abruzzi crew. Not to mention the fact that there's a killer rabbit on the loose!
Strap on your helmet and get ready for the ride of your life. Hard Eight. The world of Plum has never been wilder.