Becky is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets her dream actor, Felix Callahan, by chance. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened, though nothing has happened... it isn't sexual. It isn't even quite love.
But soon Felix shows up in the Utah 'burbs to visit, and before they know what's hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky's husband is pretty cool about it. Her children roll their eyes. Her best friend can't get her head around it. But Felix (think Colin Firth) and Becky have something special... something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it?
Shannon Hale's latest novel is at turns hilarious and heartbreaking, completely real, and utterly surreal too. One of those magical stories that explores all the permutations of what happens when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life, and changes everything...
Eleven Bridesmaid Dresses Donât Lie
Since she was just a little girl, Jessie Stone dreamed up hundreds of marriage proposals, doodled the romantic ideas in her journal with her treasured purple pen, and fantasized about wedding dresses and falling in love. She's been a bridesmaid nearly a dozen times, waved numerous couples off to sunny honeymoons, and shopped in more department stores for half-price fondue pots than she cares to remember. But shopping for one key component of these countless proposals hasn't been quite as productiveâa future husband.
The man she thought she would marry cheated on her. The crush she has on her best friend Blake is at very bestâŠwell, crushing. And speed dating has only churned out memorable horror stories.
So when God shows up one day, in the flesh, and becomes a walking, talking part of her life, Jessie is skeptical. What will it take to convince her that the Almighty has a better plan than one sheâs already cooked up in her journals? Can she turn over her pen and trust someone else to craft a love story beyond her wildest dreams?
Meet Nikki Maxwell! She's starting eighth grade at a new schoolâand her very first diary packed with hilarious stories and art in Book One of the #1 New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries series! New school. New mean girl. New crush. New diary so I can spill about all of itâŠ
I put a lot of really personal stuff in this diary along with my sketches and doodles. But, mostly itâs about how TRAUMATIC it was transferring to my new private middle school, Westchester Country Day. And, how a lot of the CCP (Cool, Cute & Popular) kids were really SNOBBY and made my life TOTALLY miserable. People like, oh, I donât know, maybeâŠMACKENZIE HOLLISTER!! And, it just so happened that I got stuck with a locker right next to hers. I could NOT believe I had such CRAPPY luck. I knew right then and there it was going to be a VERY, VERY long school year :-( !
13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel:
Emily the Strange: 13 years old. Able to leap tall buildings, probably, if she felt like it. More likely to be napping with her four black cats; or cobbling together a particle accelerator out of lint, lentils, and safety pins; or rocking out on drums/guitar/saxophone/zither; or painting a swirling feral sewer mural; or forcing someone to say "swirling feral sewer mural" 13 times fast . . . and pointing and laughing.
Annie Richards knows there are a million things to look out forâbicycle accidents, food poisoning, chicken pox, smallpox, typhoid fever, runaway zoo animals, and poison oak. That's why being careful is so important, even if it does mean giving up some of her favorite things, like bike races with her best friend, Rebecca, and hot dogs on the Fourth of July.
Everyone keeps telling Annie not to worry so much, that she's just fine. But they thought her brother, Jared, was just fine too, and Jared died.
It takes a new neighbor, who looks as plain as a box of toothpicks but has some surprising secrets of her own, to make Annie realize that her plans for being careful aren't working out as well as she had hoped. And with a lot of help from those around herâand a book about a pig, tooâAnnie just may find a way to close her umbrella of sadness and step back into the sunshine.
With winsome humor and a dash of small-town charm, Lisa Graff's third novel is a touching look at rising above grief and the healing power of community.
Oh. My. Gods. is a modern girl's comedic odyssey in a school filled with the descendants of Greek gods. When Phoebe's mom returns from Greece with a new husband and moves them to an island in the Aegean, Phoebe's plans for her senior year and track season are ancient history.
Now she must attend the uber exclusive academy, where admission depends on pedigree, namely, ancestry from Zeus, Hera, and other Greek gods. That's right, they're real, not myth, and their teen descendants are like the classical heroes: supersmart and super beautiful with a few superpowers. And now they're on her track team!
Armed only with her Nikes and the will to win, Phoebe races to find her place among the gods.
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones. With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger.
As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.
Debut author Jacqueline Kelly deftly brings Callie and her family to life, capturing a year of growing up with unique sensitivity and a wry wit.
It all starts with a school essay. When twelve-year-old Gratuity ("Tip") Tucci is assigned to write five pages on "The True Meaning of Smekday" for the National Time Capsule contest, she's not sure where to begin. Was it when her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Or maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge, bizarre spaceships descended on the Earth and the aliens â called Boov â abducted her mother?
The Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it "Smekland" (in honor of glorious Captain Smek), and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod. In any case, Gratuityâs story is much, much bigger than the assignment. It involves her unlikely friendship with a renegade Boov mechanic named J.Lo; a futile journey south to find Gratuityâs mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom; a cross-country road trip in a hovercar called Slushious; and an outrageous plan to save the Earth from yet another alien invasion.
Fully illustrated with "photos," drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences, this is a hilarious, perceptive, genre-bending novel by a remarkable new talent.
Everyone knows the cumulative rhyme âThis Is the House That Jack Built,â but The Napping House is close on its heels in the race for posterity:
âAnd on that granny
there is a child
a dreaming child
on a snoring granny
on a cozy bed
in a napping house,
where everyone is sleeping.â
Included in the napping house menagerie is a dozing dog, a snoozing cat, a slumbering mouse, and a wakeful flea who ends up toppling the whole sleep heap with one chomp!
Don Woodâs delightfully detailed comical illustrations are bathed in moonlight blues until the sun comes up, then all is color and rainbows and a very awake household.
For Creel, all is right with the world. The dragon king, Shardas, and his queen, Velika, have made a comfy home on the Far Isles, and humans and dragons seem to be at peace. It's the perfect time for Creel to plan her wedding to Prince Luka.
Well, it was perfect â until Velika gets kidnapped, and Creel and Luka set off to save her. And if their most dangerous adventure yet wasn't enough to throw off the wedding, a bridal-gown fiasco just might do the trick.
Creel wouldn't trade her friendship with the dragons for the world, but doesn't every girl deserve her happily ever after?
The Best Things in Life Are Always Forbidden
Vanda Barkowski is in trouble. As the owner of a hot nightclub, she's more unconventional than most of her fellow vampires. If some think her a little out of control, then so be it. But after three former employees filed a complaint about her temper, Vanda is sentenced to an anger management class. Worse, Phil Jones agreed to be her sponsor. Phil, the mortal who is forbidden to her...
If Vanda knew whoâor whatâPhil really is, she'd reconsider her attraction to him, for his true nature is wilder than anything she'd ever imagined. He has tackled the beast within and now is the perfect person to help Vanda with her rage... if only he can keep his cool when she makes him so undeniably hot. But with rogue vamps on the loose, will they ever have their forbidden nights?
Letters from the Earth is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works, written during a difficult time in his life. Twain was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point-of-view of a dejected angel on Earth.
This title story consists of letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. By analyzing the idea of heaven and God that is widely accepted by believers, Twain is able to take the silliness that is present and study it with the common sense that is absent. It's not so much an attack as a cold dissection.
Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man. Twain's writings in Letters From the Earth find him at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever.
Everyone thinks their parents are embarrassing, but Hannah knows she's got them all beat. Her dad made a fortune showcasing photos of pretty girls and his party lifestyle all over the Internet, and her mom was once one of her dad's girlfriends and is now the star of her own website. After getting the wrong kind of attention for way too long, Hannah has mastered the art of staying under the radar...and that's just how she likes it.
Of course, that doesn't help her get noticed by her crush. Hannah's sure that gorgeous, sensitive Josh is her soul mate. But trying to get him to notice her; wondering why she suddenly can't stop thinking about another guy, Finn; and dealing with her parents make Hannah feel like she's going crazy. Yet she's determined to make things work out the way she wants â only what she wants may not be what she needs...
Once again, Elizabeth Scott has created a world so painfully funny and a cast of characters so heartbreakingly real that you'll love being a part of it from unexpected start to triumphant finish.
When it comes to the laws of attraction, there are no rules. Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson are lawyers who know the meaning of objection. A feminist to the bone, Payton has fought hard to succeed in a profession dominated by men. Born wealthy, privileged, and cocky, J.D. has fought hard to ignore her. Face to face, they're perfectly civil. They have to be. For eight years they've kept a safe distance and tolerated each other as co-workers for one reason only: to make partner at the firm.
But all bets are off when they're asked to join forces on a major case. At first apprehensive, they begin to appreciate each other's dedication to the lawâand the sparks between them quickly turn into attraction. But the increasingly hot connection doesn't last long when they discover that only one of them will be named partner. Now it's an all-out war. And the battle between the sexes is bound to make these lawyers hot under the collar.
There's dreadful news from the symphony hallâthe composer is dead!
If you have ever heard an orchestra play, then you know that musicians are most certainly guilty of something. Where exactly were the violins on the night in question? Did anyone see the harp? Is the trumpet protesting a bit too boisterously?
In this perplexing murder mystery, everyone seems to have a motive, everyone has an alibi, and nearly everyone is a musical instrument. But the composer is still dead.
Perhaps you can solve the crime yourself. Join the Inspector as he interrogates all the unusual suspects.
Then listen to the accompanying audio recording featuring Lemony Snicket and the music of Nathaniel Stookey performed by the San Francisco Symphony. Hear for yourself exactly what took place on that fateful, well-orchestrated evening.
Demigods and Monsters is a fascinating exploration into the world of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Released just before the March 2013 feature film Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, this edition is updated through The Last Olympian and includes several brand new essays!
The #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson series â The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titanâs Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian â features a dyslexic boy who discovers he is the son of a Greek god, the target of mythical Greek monsters, and the center of a prophecy that could change the balance of power in the world forever.
In Demigods and Monsters, YA authors delve into the series' Greek gods, demigods, monsters, and prophecy, adding insight and even more fun to Riordanâs page-turner series. The book also includes an introduction by Percy Jackson series author Rick Riordan that provides further insight into the series and its creation, and a glossary of ancient Greek myth, with plenty of information on the places, monsters, gods, and heroes that appear in the series.
Massie Block: When the Pretty Committee deems its boy-fast null and void, boy fever sweeps through BOCD. What better way to backhandspring into new crush Dempsey's heartâand make old crush Derrington jealousâthan cheer for him on the soccer field? And just like that, Massie forms BOCD's first-ever cheerleading squad. But will Massie still have something to cheer about when Dempsey starts spending a lot of time with LBR Layne Abeley? Give me an "E" for Ehmagawd!
Kristen Gregory: With Massie and her SBFF (secret best friend forever) Layne vying for the same boy, Kristen has to make a choice: A) the Pretty Committee, or B) the Witty Committee. And if she doesn't choose fast, she'll end up C) Committeeless.
Dylan Marvil: Is hiding something, and it's not just those peanut butter Luna bars stashed under her mattress. She's got a secret crush on Derringtonâand it's no secret that he likes burpilicious redheads...
Alicia Rivera: Prefers pliés to pom-poms, especially when Massie orders her to the bottom of the cheer-pyramid. Can Alicia accept her beta status, or is it time to become alpha of her own squad?
Claire Lyons: Now that she's back with Cam, Claire finally has her love life in order. But her friends are trading crushes like styling tips. Will the Pretty Committee survive the boy-swap intact, or is the Clique about to come apart at the seams?
The Chocolate Lovers' Club brings together four very different women with one thing in common: they can't resist chocolate. This is an irresistible novel for anyone who wishes they were a member!
Lucy Lombard can't resist it - rich, creamy, sweet, delicious chocolate. For her, there's nothing it won't cure - from heartache to a headache - and she's not alone. Sharing her passion are three other addicts: Autumn, Nadia, and Chantal. Together, they form The Chocolate Lovers' Club.
They meet in their sanctuary, Chocolate Heaven, as often as they can. With a cheating boyfriend who promises he'll change, a flirtatious boss, a gambling husband, and a loveless marriage, there's always plenty to discuss...
Honeymoon in Vegas? Already the alpha pair of Denver's werewolf pack, Kitty and Ben now plan to tie the knot human-style by eloping to Vegas. Kitty is looking forward to sipping frou-frou drinks by the pool and doing her popular radio show on live TV. But her hotel is stocked with werewolf-hating bounty hunters.
Elsewhere on the Strip, an old-school magician might be wielding the real thing; the vampire community is harboring a dark secret; and the irresistible star of a suspicious animal act is determined to seduce Kitty.
Sin City has never been so wild, and this werewolf has never had to fight harder to save not only her wedding, but her very life.
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man is the #1 New York Times bestseller from the new guru of relationship advice, Steve Harvey. This invaluable self-help book empowers women everywhere to take control of their relationships.
The host of a top-rated radio show listened to by millions dailyâand of cable TVâs The Steve Harvey ProjectâHarvey knows what men really think about love, intimacy, and commitment. In this book, the author, media personality, and stand-up comedian gets serious, sharing his wealth of knowledge, insight, and no-nonsense advice for every good woman who wants to find a good man or make her current love last.
Discover surprising insights into the male mentality and strategies for taming that unruly beast. Women should listen to Steve Harvey when it comes to what a good man is about. Harvey dispenses a lot of fabulous information about men, making this book a must-read for anyone looking to understand the opposite sex better.
Bestselling author and columnist Carl Hiaasen returns with another hysterical mystery for kids set in Florida's Everglades. Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved.
But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see.
Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture.
That's life in the swamp, kids!
Boy: Tales of Childhood is a delightful autobiography by the world-renowned storyteller, Roald Dahl. In this captivating memoir, Dahl takes us on a journey through his early years in England.
From his mischievous days at boarding school, where he was quite the prankster, to his enviable role as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Dahl's childhood was full of excitement and surprises. His boyhood tales are packed with anecdotesâsome funny, some painful, all interestingâthat are sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
Experience the hilarious and sometimes painful memories of Dahl's youth, vividly shared in this timeless classic.
Superb Stories, Daring Deeds, Fantastic Adventures
Going Solo is the action-packed sequel to Boy, a tale of Roald Dahl's exploits as a World War II pilot. Told with the same irresistible appeal that has made Roald Dahl one of the world's best-loved writers, Going Solo brings you directly into the action and into the mind of this fascinating man.
This second part of Roald Dahl's extraordinary life story takes you on a journey through his experiences in Africa and his time as a wartime fighter pilot. It is a story that is funny, frightening, and full of fantasy - as you would expect.
Join Roald Dahl in this thrilling autobiographical adventure!
"Liberals seem to have hit upon a reverse Christ story as their belief system." He suffered and died for our sins; liberals make the rest of us suffer for sins we didnât commit. Who are the victims here? To hear liberals tell it, youâd think they do nothing but suffer at the hands of ruthless entities like the "Republican Attack Machine" and Fox News.
Really? Itâs just another instance of the Big Lie, of course, told so often that some people have actually started to believe it. In Guilty, Ann Coulter explodes this myth to reveal that when it comes to bullying, no one outdoes the Left. Citing case after case, ranging from the hilariously absurd to the shockingly vicious, Coulter dissects these so-called victims who are invariably the oppressors.
For instance:
He's Just Not That Into You is based on a popular episode of Sex and the City and offers tough love advice for otherwise smart women on how to tell when a guy just doesnât like them enough. This way, they can stop wasting time making excuses for a dead-end relationship.
For ages, women have come together over coffee, cocktails, or late-night phone chats to analyze the puzzling behavior of men. Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo are here to say thatâdespite good intentionsâyouâre wasting your time. Men are not complicated, although theyâd like you to think they are. And there are no mixed messages.
The truth may be, Heâs just not that into you. Unfortunately, guys are too terrified to ever directly tell a woman, âYou're not the one.â But their actions absolutely show how they feel. Reexamining familiar scenarios and classic mindsets that keep us in unsatisfying relationships, Behrendt and Tuccilloâs wise and wry understanding of the sexes spares women hours of waiting by the phone, obsessing over the details with sympathetic girlfriends, and hoping his mixed messages really mean, âIâm in love with you and want to be with you.â
Heâs Just Not That Into You is provocative, hilarious, and, above all, intoxicatingly liberating. It deserves a place on every womanâs night table. It knows youâre a beautiful, smart, funny woman who deserves better. The next time you feel the need to start âfiguring him out,â consider the glorious thought that maybe, Heâs just not that into you. And then set yourself loose to go find the one who is.
Finding your one true love can be a Grimm experience!
After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah Delano wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrissy (Chrysanthemum) Everstar: Savannahâs gum-chewing, cell phoneâcarrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Showing why sheâs only Fairâbecause sheâs not a very good fairy studentâChrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White.
Finally, she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannahâs class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight.
Laughs abound in this clever fairy tale twist from a master of romantic comedy.
There's been a murder. Allegedly. William de Worde is the Discworld's first investigative journalist. He didn't mean to be - it was just an accident. But, as William fills his pages with reports of local club meetings and pictures of humorously shaped vegetables, dark forces high up in Ankh-Morpork's society are plotting to overthrow the city's ruler, Lord Vetinari.
An ethical journalist, de Worde has a proclivity for investigating storiesâa nasty habit that soon creates powerful enemies eager to stop his presses. And what better way than to start the Inquirer, a titillating (well, what else would it be?) tabloid that conveniently interchanges what's real for what sells. But de Worde's got an inside line on the hot story concerning Ankh-Morpork's leading patrician, Lord Vetinari. The facts say Vetinari is guilty. But as William de Worde learns, facts don't always tell the whole story. There's that pesky little thing called ... the truth.
The Ghosts of Ashbury High is a captivating tale set in the exclusive New South Wales high school, where student essays, scholarship committee members' notes, and other writings reveal the intriguing interactions among a group of modern-day students. Their lives intertwine with the story of a young Irishman who was transported to Australia in the early 1800s, creating a blend of contemporary life and historical echoes.
Amelia and Riley, two 'bad kids' from Brookfield High, have transferred to Ashbury High for their final year. In love since they were fourteen, they lead a life filled with dancing and sleeping through school. Their presence at Ashbury creates a buzz, capturing the attention of everyone. Teachers and students alike are drawn to their cool, self-contained world, hoping to be a part of it. As the future looms and final year pressures mount, the past and present of Ashbury students collide in unexpected ways.
Ich bin ein KĂ€nguru - und Marc-Uwe ist mein Mitbewohner und Chronist. Nur manches, was er ĂŒber mich erzĂ€hlt, stimmt. Zum Beispiel, dass ich mal beim Vietcong war. Das Allermeiste jedoch ist ĂŒbertrieben, verdreht oder gelogen! Aber ich darf nicht meckern. Wir gehen zusammen essen und ins Kino, und ich muss nix bezahlen.
Mal bissig, mal verschroben, dann wieder liebevoll ironisch wird der Alltag eines ungewöhnlichen Duos beleuchtet. Völlig absurd und ein groĂer LesespaĂ.
The third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the âfunnyâ back in, um, funny series. That didnât really work, did it?
If youâve read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are â and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you havenât read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now youâre on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead youâre going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that.
White picket fences can be dangerous to vampires. Sometimes a womanâs gotta chooseâŠ
Pia Thomason doesnât have a typical life, but she wants one. The husband, the kids, the house in the suburbs⊠With her fortieth birthday looming, she decides to do something drastic, and takes off on a singlesâ tour through romantic Europe.
But the few guys on the trip leave much to be desiredâunlike the two men Pia sees in a small Icelandic town. Handsome, mysterious, and very dangerous⊠Just the sight of them puts her in a dither. When their paths cross again, Pia knows one thing for certain: Where vampires are concerned, love isnât the only thing at stake.
Katherine V thought boys were gross. Katherine X just wanted to be friends. Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail. K-19 broke his heart.
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.
Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
Rogue Hunter: An Immortal Who Protects The World From Renegade Vampires
Samantha Willan is a workaholic lawyer. She's grateful for some rest and relaxation in cottage country, and after a recent breakup she wants to stay as far away from romance as possible. Then she meets her irresistible new neighbor. There's something strange and mysterious about his eyes. Is it just her imagination, or are they locked on her neck?
Garrett Mortimer is a rogue hunter. His last assignment united Lucian Argeneau with his lifemate, and Mortimer is hoping this one will be less... adventurous. He's here to track down a reported rogue, but fun in the sun is every bloodsucker's nightmare. Worse, he can't seem to get his mind off Samantha, especially when he spies her skinny-dipping in the lake. After eight hundred years as a bachelor, is he ready to turn a volatile attraction into a lasting love affair?
State by State is a panoramic portrait of America, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey. This collection celebrates and appreciates all fifty states (and Washington, D.C.) through the eyes of fifty-one acclaimed writers.
Inspired by the Depression-era WPA guides, this anthology features delightful essays on the American character. Contributors include renowned and bestselling authors such as Louise Erdrich, Jonathan Franzen, Ann Patchett, Anthony Bourdain, William T. Vollmann, S.E. Hinton, Dave Eggers, Myla Goldberg, Rick Moody, and Alexander Payne.
Experience the full plumage of American life, in all its riotous glory, as these essays take you on a journey through the states, each with its own unique flavor and story.
Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people. By the time he was a teenager, his odd habitsâsuch as an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them)âhad earned him the label âsocial deviant.â
No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on.
After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS, for whom he created their legendary fire-breathing guitars. Later, he drifted into a ârealâ job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be ânormalâ and do what he simply couldnât: communicate. It wasnât worth the paycheck.
It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Aspergerâs syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himselfâand the world.
Look Me in the Eye is the moving, darkly funny story of growing up with Aspergerâs at a time when the diagnosis simply didnât exist. A born storyteller, Robison takes you inside the head of a boy whom teachers and other adults regarded as âdefective,â who could not avail himself of KISSâs endless supply of groupies, and who still has a peculiar aversion to using peopleâs given names (he calls his wife âUnit Twoâ).
Ultimately, this is the story of Robisonâs journey from his world into ours, and his new life as a husband, father, and successful small business ownerârepairing his beloved high-end automobiles. Itâs a strange, sly, indelible accountâsometimes alien, yet always deeply human.
The Uncommon Reader is a deliciously funny novella that celebrates the pleasure of reading. When the Queen, in pursuit of her wandering corgis, stumbles upon a mobile library, she feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, the Queen is transformed as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word.
The author of The History Boys, Alan Bennett, is one of Britainâs best-loved literary voices. With The Uncommon Reader, he brings us a playful homage to the written word, imagining a world in which literature becomes a subversive bridge between powerbrokers and commoners. By turns cheeky and charming, the novella features the Queen herself as its protagonist.
When her yapping corgis lead her to a mobile library, Her Majesty develops a new obsession with reading. She finds herself devouring works by a tantalizing range of authors, from the BrontĂ« sisters to Jean Genet. With a young member of the palace kitchen staff guiding her choices, itâs not long before the Queen begins to develop a new perspective on the world - one that alarms her closest advisers and tempts her to make bold new decisions.
Brimming with the mischievous wit that has garnered acclaim for Bennett on both sides of the Atlantic, The Uncommon Reader is a delightful celebration of books and writers, and the readers who sustain them.
Paranormal meets transcendental in this provocative and hilarious novel. Victor Pelevin has established a reputation as one of the most brilliant writers at work today; his comic inventiveness has won him comparisons to Kafka, Calvino, and Gogol. Time has described him as a "psychedelic Nabokov for the cyberage."
Pelevinâs new novel, his first in six years, is both a supernatural love story and a satirical portrait of modern Russia. It concerns the adventures of a hardworking fifteen-year-old Moscow prostitute named A. Huli, who in reality is a two thousand-year-old were-fox who seduces men in order to absorb their life force. She does this by means of her tail, a hypnotic organ that puts men into a trance in which they dream they are having sex with her.
A. Huli eventually comes to the attention of and falls in love with a high-ranking Russian intelligence officer named Alexander, who is also a werewolf (unbeknownst to our heroine). And that is only the beginning of the fun.
This is a stunning and ingenious work of the imagination, arguably Pelevinâs sharpest and most engrossing novel to date.
Welcome to Nightshade, Californiaâa small town full of secrets. Itâs home to the psychic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom-shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case!
Teenage girls are being mysteriously attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy Giordano is a junior. When Daisy discovers that a vampire may be the culprit, she canât help but suspect head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new âlook.â Samantha appears a little... well, dead, and all the most popular kids at school are copying her style. Is looking dead just another fashion trend for Samantha, or is there something more sinister going on? To find out, Daisy joins the cheerleading squad.
It's not always easy being a female warrior with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fearâa lotâor else salute. Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother's soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once, it would be nice to really talk to a man, the way she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer.
Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly, and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safeâa far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle.
With her days spent fighting a man who fills her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn't get any stranger. She's wrong...
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I should die before I awake,
I pray the popular attend my wake.
Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.
If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.
In Monterey, on the California coast, Sweet Thursday is what they call the day after Lousy Wednesday, which is one of those days that are just naturally bad.
Returning to the scene of Cannery Rowâthe weedy lots and junk heaps and flophouses of Monterey, John Steinbeck once more brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tearsâfrom Fauna, the new headmistress of the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter.
This story captures the essence of humanity with humor and poignancy, painting a vivid picture of post-World War II life.
How can anyone describe this book? It isn't a parable, a fairy story, or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery.
What we suppose we are trying fumblingly to say is, in a word, that it is Thurber. There are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story: if you have always wanted to love a Princess; if you always wanted to be a Prince; if you always wanted the wicked Duke to be punished; or if you always wanted to live happily ever after.
Too little of this kind of thing is going on in the world today. But all of it is going on valorously in The 13 Clocks.
When Betty MacDonald married a marine and moved to a small chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild. With no running water, no electricity, a house in need of constant repair, and days that ran from four in the morning to nine at night, the MacDonalds had barely a moment to put their feet up and relax. And then came the children.
Yet, through every trial and pitfallâthrough chaos and catastropheâthis indomitable family somehow, mercifully, never lost its sense of humor. It is an immortal, hilarious, and heartwarming classic about working a chicken farm in the Northwest.
When the moon is full at Blandings, strange things happen: among them the commissioning of a portrait of The Empress, twice in succession winner in the Fat Pigs Class at the Shropshire Agricultural Show.
What better choice of artist, in Lord Emsworth's opinion, than Landseer. The renowned painter of The Stag at Bay may have been dead for decades, but that doesn't prevent Galahad Threepwood from introducing him to the castle - or rather introducing Bill Lister, Gally's godson, so desperately in love with Prudence that he's determined to enter Blandings in yet another imposture.
Add a gaggle of fearsome aunts, uncles and millionaires, mix in Freddie Threepwood, Beach the Butler and the gardener McAllister, and the moon is full indeed.
Dinnie, an overweight enemy of humanity, was the worst violinist in New York, but was practicing gamely when two cute little fairies stumbled through his fourth-floor window and vomited on the carpet...
When a pair of fugitive Scottish thistle fairies end up transplanted to Manhattan by mistake, both the Big Apple and the Little People have a lot of adjusting to do. Heather and Morag just want to start the first radical fairy punk rock band, but first theyâll have to make a match between two highly unlikely sweethearts, start a street brawl between rival gangs of Italian, Chinese, and African fairies, help the ghost of a dead rocker track down his lost guitar, reclaim a rare triple-bloomed Welsh poppy from a bag lady with delusions of grandeur, disrupt a local community performance of A Midsummer Nightâs Dream, and somehow manage to stay sober enough to save all of New York from an invasion of evil Cornish fairies. If they can stop feuding with each other, that is.
David Sedaris's ability to transform the mortification of everyday life into wildly entertaining art is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this remarkable new book.
Trying to make coffee when the water is shut off, David considers using the water in a vase of flowers, leading his chain of associations from the French countryside to a hilariously uncomfortable memory of buying drugs in a mobile home in rural North Carolina.
In essay after essay, Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily lifeâhaving a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger on a plane or armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirdsâto the most deeply resonant human truths.
Culminating in a brilliant account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, David Sedaris's sixth essay collection is a new masterpiece of comic writing from a writer worth treasuring.
From a stellar talent comes another scorchingly sensual novel. The Goddesses have had it with the Trojan War. So much devastationâall because of some silly male egos. The worst of the bunch is that cocky, handsome brute Achilles. But the only way to stop a man like Achilles is to distract him with something far more pleasurable than combat.
Enter Kat, a modern girl from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Goddesses transform her into a Trojan princess, having no doubt that she'll capture Achilles's attention. But can her independent spirit match the unquenchable fire of his epic rage? Goddess only knows!