New York Times Bestseller ""There is no writer quite like Dolly Alderton working today and very soon the world will know it.” —Lisa Taddeo, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Three Women “Dolly Alderton has always been a sparkling Roman candle of talent. She is funny, smart, and explosively engaged in the wonders and weirdness of the world. But what makes this memoir more than mere entertainment is the mature and sophisticated evolution that Alderton describes in these pages. It’s a beautifully told journey and a thoughtful, important book. I loved it.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and City of Girls The wildly funny, occasionally heartbreaking internationally bestselling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends. Everything I Know About Love is about bad dates, good friends and—above all else— realizing that you are enough. Glittering with wit and insight, heart and humor, Dolly Alderton’s unforgettable debut weaves together personal stories, satirical observations, a series of lists, recipes, and other vignettes that will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age—making you want to pick up the phone and tell your best friends all about it. Like Bridget Jones’ Diary but all true, Everything I Know About Love is about the struggles of early adulthood in all its terrifying and hopeful uncertainty.

Everything I Know About Love

'This is every woman’s dream revenge plot come to life.' Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Are you on a date that doesn’t feel right? Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar?Worried you’re being followed home?Message M.After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a hotline for women who feel unsafe walking home alone at night: Message M. But very quickly she realises that there’s much more to be done to help the women who call in. Because the men just do it again the next night, and the next, and the next… And when her own sister is assaulted on a night out, the temptation to take the law into her own hands becomes too much to resist. Because M can also stand for murder… A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted serial killer thriller with a villainous female lead. Perfect for fans of Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer, or anyone who enjoyed watching You. Readers are OBSESSED with How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways!‘A masterclass in murder. Millie is the serial killer you never knew you needed in your life.’ LM Chilton ‘Deliriously dark and incredibly funny. How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways is a wild revenge comedy that had me reading all night…Addictive and twisty, I loved it!’ Katie Marsh ‘We love the dark humour in this thriller.’ That’s Life Crime Scene ‘Eve Kellman – I applaud you. This was absolutely fantastic.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I loved this book! Brilliant twists all the way through and so cleverly written. A must read!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is … clever, quick-paced, and such a twist on the serial killer genre.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely LOVED this book! I flew through it! The feminine rage and the witty banter was *chefs kiss*. I can't wait for this to come out so I can buy copies for all my friends!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways

Ambientada en las montañas del sur de los Apalaches, Demon Copperhead es la historia de un muchacho nacido de una madre soltera adolescente en una caravana, sin más patrimonio que el buen aspecto y el pelo cobrizo de su difunto padre, un ingenio cáustico y un feroz talento para la supervivencia. Relatado con su propia voz, Demon se enfrenta a los peligros modernos de los hogares de acogida, el trabajo infantil, las escuelas en ruinas, el éxito deportivo, la adicción, los amores desastrosos y las pérdidas aplastantes. A través de todo ello, se enfrenta a su propia invisibilidad en una cultura popular en la que incluso los superhéroes han abandonado a los pueblos rurales en favor de las ciudades. Hace muchas generaciones, Charles Dickens escribió David Copperfield a partir de su experiencia como superviviente de la pobreza institucional y sus daños en los niños de su sociedad. Esos problemas aún no se han resuelto en la nuestra. Dickens no es un requisito indispensable para los lectores de esta novela, pero le sirvió de inspiración. Al trasladar una novela épica victoriana al Sur de Estados Unidos contemporáneo, Barbara Kingsolver recurre a la ira y la compasión de Dickens y, sobre todo, a su fe en el poder transformador de una buena historia.

Demon Copperhead

En la pequeña aldea de Maran, enclavada en lo alto de las montañas en un rincón olvidado del Cáucaso, un lugar donde los sueños, las maldiciones y los milagros se toman muy en serio, una comunidad unida discute, cotillea y ríe sin que el paso del tiempo la afecte.En su vida cotidiana –cosechando, haciendo baklava, limpiando las casas–, los aldeanos se apoyan unos a otros en los buenos y en los malos momentos. Sin embargo, a veces basta una chispa de romance para que la vida dé un vuelco, y un complot para unir a dos de los habitantes más obstinadamente solteros de Maran pronto da al pueblo algo nuevo de qué hablar... Y del cielo cayeron tres manzanas es una fábula conmovedora que capta brillantemente la idiosincrasia de una pequeña comunidad. Llena de imágenes suntuosas y humor cálido, es una vibrante historia sobre la resistencia, la belleza de los pequeños detalles y el lujo de la amistad cotidiana.

Y del cielo cayeron tres manzanas

Hatoko Amemiya acaba de regresar a Kamakura, el pueblo costero donde creció junto a su abuela, para retomar el negocio familiar de una papelería. La suya es una estirpe de escribientes, un antiguo oficio que Hatoko está decidida a honrar y a hacer pervivir en el tiempo a través de pequeños recados que sus clientes le encomiendan: cómo despedirse de alguien, dar la bienvenida a un recién nacido o recordar la dulzura de un primer amor, todo tiene cabida dentro de los márgenes de las cartas, las cuales Hatoko se ocupa de confeccionar con delicadeza, escogiendo el sello adecuado, las palabras, la tinta y el gramaje exactos para cada una de ellas. Ito Ogawa entreteje en La papelería Tsubaki un relato conmovedor sobre los detalles que componen el día a día de una pequeña comunidad japonesa, con el telón de fondo de los paisajes, la gastronomía y las festividades que celebran el paso de las estaciones del año, así como el privilegio de recibir, como si de una carta se tratase, el relevo de afectos y enseñanzas transmitidas de generación en generación.

La papelería Tsubaki

Estem en contra és un recull de relats d'humor que observa la vida i les situacions quotidianes del dia a dia des de la sàtira. A través de situacions absurdes de personatges curiosos, en Xavier Gual presenta la nostra realitat com una sèrie de disbarats inesperats i molt còmics. Al cap i a la fi, que és més humà que estar en contra d'alguna cosa, encara que sigui en contra dels que estan en contra? Xavier Gual (Barcelona, 1973) és escriptor i periodista, llicenciat en filologia catalana a la Universitat de Barcelona. Les seves històries, siguin curtes o llargues, estan carregades de sarcasme i d'un humor àcid molt característic de l'autor. Ha publicat reculls de contes i diverses novel·les de narrativa adulta, policíaca i novel·la juvenil. Ha guanyat diversos premis, entre ells el Premi Mercè Rodoreda, el Premi Ribera d'Ebre o el Premi Pere Quart. Els seus llibres han estat traduïts a diversos idiomes, entre ells l'italià i el francès.

Estem en contra

El debut literari de Paula Bonet, la pintora espanyola més important i popular dels últims anys. Novel·la calidoscòpica, L'anguila endinsa el lector en aquells dies lluminosos en què Paula, encara nena, visitava el seu avi a la botiga familiar, plena de mobles que prefiguraven els camins foscos que els anys i la vida li tenien reservats. Els fantasmes que habitaven la botiga de l'avi passen a formar part d'una memòria llunyana i feliç que s'alça com un refugi contra un present marcat pel despertar del cos, de la consciència de ser carn, font de desig i sexe. Ser un cos que crea vida i alhora la rebutja i la destrueix sense raó. Ser un cos que, de sobte, es torna estrany i aliè, habitat pels ulls que el miren i li donen forma a cada instant. L'anguila és una mirada descarnada al passat, al camí que configura el que som, una exploració de la memòria, del cos violentat, la carn i la sang d'una vida perduda. «La renovadora obra de Paula Bonet, en desmarcar-se del que hem anat sentint tota la vida, ens transporta a un art enginyós, complex, savi, que fa avançar permanentment els nostres límits.» Enrique Vila-Matas «Bonet, sense compassió ni autocomplaença, escriu una novel·la amb un final feliç: el món es comença a transformar, i una dona es fa un autoretrat amb la carn de l'escriptura, els àcids i els olis.» Marta Sanz

Univers digital

L'anguila

Retalls de vides que veiem pel forat del pany. El diccionari diu que un hotel és un establiment destinat a acollir persones, especialment si són de pas per una població, per un preu convingut. Tots són diferents i alhora tenen una cosa en comú: són espais que són casa i alhora no-llocs, on gairebé tot és possible. En aquest volum trobareu una dotzena d'històries amb personatges en moviment, que dormen en llits que no són seus i viuen dies de parèntesi. Retalls de vides que veiem pel forat del pany. A Grand Hotel hi ha una selecció d'autors catalans que es presten a jugar per vacances i amb la seva imaginació se'ns emporten cap a dins de dotze habitacions diferents. Què hi haurà? Xavier Bosch - Magí Camps - Maria Canelles - Roc Casagran - Alba Dalmau - Gerard Guix - Xavier Mas Craviotto - Jordi Nopca - Berta Noy - Llucia Ramis - Natàlia Romaní - Sílvia Soler

Grand Hotel

Segons Confuci, «una dona educada és una dona sense valor», però Tan Yunxian —nascuda en una gran família, però tot i així perseguida des de ben petita per la mort, la separació i la solitud— és educada pels seus avis d’una manera molt diferent. En el valor de l’educació. L’àvia, una de les poques metgesses de la Xina, ben aviat li ensenya els pilars de la medicina tradicional. En l’aprenentatge d’aquest art, coneix Meiling, una jove aprenent de llevadora, que aviat es convertirà en la seva millor amiga. Totes dues noies aprendran plegades de les malalties i trastorns que pateixen moltes dones durant l’embaràs i el part. D’aquest temps en comú, neix una bonica amistat, destinada a créixer amb els bons i els mals moments, i és que, com diuen les dues amigues, sovint, de l’adversitat, en pot florir la bellesa. Això no obstant, Yunxian és a punt de perdre la vida que coneix, plena d’amistat i sororitat, amb l’arribada d’un matrimoni que la reclourà a la pràctica d’unes tradicions ancestrals que, fins aleshores, li havien estat alienes.

El cercle de dones de la senyora Tan

La Hatoko Amemiya acaba de tornar a Kamakura, el poble costaner on va créixer a cura de la seva àvia, per reprendre el negoci familiar d’una papereria. La seva és una nissaga d’escrivents, un antic ofici que la Hatoko està decidida a honorar i fer perviure en el temps a través dels petits encàrrecs que els clients li encomanen: com acomiadar-se d’algú, saludar un nouvingut o recordar la dolcesa d’un primer amor, tot té cabuda dins els marges de les cartes, les quals la Hatoko s’ocupa de confeccionar amb delicadesa, escollint el segell adequat, les paraules, la tinta i el gramatge exactes per a cadascuna d’elles. Ito Ogawa teixeix un relat commovedor sobre els detalls que farceixen el dia a dia de qualsevol comunitat, tot plegat tenyit de fons amb els paisatges, la gastronomia i les festivitats japoneses que acompanyen i celebren el pas de les estacions de l’any, el relleu d’afectes i ensenyances que heretem com cartes obertes de generació en generació.

La paperería Tsubaki

Sense feina, acabada de divorciar i amb la mort del seu pare encara recent, la Gris es troba, amb quaranta anys, amb una vida a la deriva i que cada cop sent menys seva. Des de fa temps una idea li ronda pel cap: marxar ben lluny dels carrers i de la gent de Puebla, Mèxic. Cap a la terra dels seus avantpassats, aquella Catalunya remota de què tant li havia parlat l’avi Antoni quan era petita. En un viatge invers al que havia fet el seu avi en arribar a Mèxic l’any 1939, com a exiliat d’un país en guerra, la Gris viatja a Catalunya, on hi descobrirà històries noves, paisatges, olors, costums i tradicions singulars i, sobretot, una família que no sabia que tenia i que amaga un secret en forma de xal de seda amb unes roses vermelles pintades i que els podria vincular al gran Salvador Dalí. I potser, també, hi podrà trobar la manera de tornar a ser feliç.

Estimada Gris

L'illa de les dones del mar és l'amistat narrada de dues dones a l'illa coreana de Jeju, que van saber sobreposar-se al curs de la història.Ambientada a l'illa coreana de Jeju, L'illa de les dones del mar és la història de l'amistat entre la Mi-ja i la Young-sook, dues joves d'origen molt diferent, que aviat van ser arrossegades pel curs inexorable de la història. La seva amistat va ser testimoni del colonialisme japonès dels anys trenta i quaranta del passat segle, així com de la Segona Guerra Mundial i l'adveniment d'unes noves tecnologies que havien de canviar el món en què havien crescut. La Mi-ja i la Young-sook no sabien fins a quin punt la història posaria en perill una amistat que estava destinada a superar totes les adversitats. «Una poderosa i essencial història d'humanitat». The Los Angeles Review of Books «Brillant, reflexiva i empàtica..... Necessària». The New York Times «La nova i captivadora novel·la de la Lisa See celebra la fortalesa de les dones i la força de la seva amistat». O, The Oprah Magazine

L'illa de les dones del mar

Després de llegir la història de la Haru, llegiràs la teva vida d'una altra manera. "Mai no tiris contra ningú; mai no tiris per seduir ningú; mai no tiris per ser més que ningú; mai no tiris per demostrar-te res a tu mateixa; el tir amb arc és un estat que es pot compartir." Aquestes són les paraules que acompanyen la Haru des de la seva entrada al dojo, on aprendrà l'art del tir amb arc, fins al camí vital que li farà qüestionar-ho tot, arriscar-ho tot i perdre-ho tot. Per rebre-ho tot.

Llibres digitals

Haru

Perduda enmig de Jinbō-chō, el barri de les llibreries i editorials de Tòquio, paradís dels lectors, hi ha la petita llibreria Morisaki, que ha estat regentada per la família de Takako durant tres generacions. És el regne de Satoru, l’oncle excèntric de Takako, entusiasta i una mica desequilibrat, que dedica la vida als llibres i a Morisaki, sobretot després que la seva dona l’abandonés. Takako, en canvi, es troba en una espiral de caos i depressió que li ha costat les amistats i la feina des que Hideaki, l’home del qual estava enamorada, li digués que s’havia promès amb una altra dona. L’oferta del seu oncle, que necessita ajuda a la llibreria, no pot arribar en un moment millor per capgirar completament la seva vida. De sobte, Takako, que no ha estat mai una gran lectora, viu envoltada de llibres i discuteix amb entusiasme sobre literatura, alhora que descobreix una nova passió.

Els meus dies a la llibreria Morisaki

La novel·la de l'Eixample. Un gran passeig per la Barcelona d'avui, un passeig des de la perspectiva de la protagonista, una burgesa típica de l'Eixample, una dona ja gran, que pensa i reflexiona sobre el seu entorn, sobre la seva realitat, sobre la ciutat que va ser seva i que, ara, cada dia, es va fent més i més desconeguda. Camina i reflexiona, pensa en les seves relacions personals, en el setge dels turistes, la relació amb els seus fills. També reflexionarà i recordarà coses sobre el seu marit, ja mort fa uns quants anys. Una dona, la protagonista, en vies d'extinció. El xoc de l'abans i l'ara a través d'una perspectiva molt especial. Una novel·la amb Barcelona com a escenari i protagonista, des de l'Eixample més burgès als barris més populars. Un retrat de la Barcelona d'ahir i una reflexió de la d'avui.

Saber estar

A Jinbocho, el districte de llibreries més gran del món, la gent passeja amb curiositat entre milions de llibres. Novel·les històriques i contemporànies, còmics, llibres d'assaig i incomptables opcions perquè tothom en pugui gaudir. A la llibreria Morisaki, una minúscula llibreria familiar especialitzada en literatura japonesa moderna, s'hi acumulen piles de llibres a les estances fins que n’envaeixen tots els racons. Quan el timbre de la porta anuncia l'arribada d'un client, apareix sempre l’oncle Satoru. Des de fa un temps l'ajuda la seva dona, la Momoko, i la seva neboda, la Takako, sol acompanyar-lo en les estones lliures. Per l'aniversari de casament del Satoru i la Momoko, la noia els regala un viatge romàntic. El Satoru pateix per la llibreria, però accepta que la Takako el substitueixi uns dies: submergir-se en l'atmosfera atemporal de Jinbōchō, en el seu panorama acolorit de clients habituals i visitants fidels, és l'incentiu que la Takako necessitava. Darrere del seu entusiasme apareixen uns quants interrogants: per què el Satoru actua de manera tan estranya?, qui és la dona del paraigua vermell que hi ha sempre al final del carrer?, quins misteris més amaga la mítica i entendridora lliberia Morisaki?

Amics i llibres a Jinbocho

Ambientada a les muntanyes del sud dels Apalatxes, Demon Copperhead és la història d'un noi nascut d'una mare soltera adolescent en una caravana, sense més patrimoni que el bon aspecte i els cabells rogencs del seu difunt pare, un enginy càustic i un ferotge talent per a la supervivència. Relatat amb la seva veu, Demon s'enfronta als perills moderns de les llars d'acollida, el treball infantil, les escoles en ruïnes, l'èxit esportiu, l'addicció, els amors desastrosos i les pèrdues aclaparadores. A través de tot això, s'enfronta a la seva pròpia invisibilitat en una cultura popular en què fins i tot els superherois han abandonat els pobles rurals a favor de les ciutats. Fa moltes generacions, Charles Dickens va escriure David Copperfield a partir de la seva experiència com a supervivent de la pobresa institucional i els seus danys als nens de la seva societat. Aquests problemes encara no s'han resolt a la nostra. Dickens no és un requisit indispensable per als lectors d'aquesta novel·la, però li va servir d'inspiració. En traslladar una novel·la èpica victoriana al Sud dels Estats Units contemporani, Barbara Kingsolver recorre a la ira i la compassió de Dickens i, sobretot, a la fe en el poder transformador d'una bona història.

La clau anglesa, presentada com un drama familiar de caire rural, ambientada a la població de Cruallops, ens parla de com el fatalisme del destí i les conseqüències irrevocables d'uns actes que arrelen en el passat abocaren al desastre les vides del Tomàs i la Rosa. La novel·la ens parla del passat i del present de tots dos personatges, que amaguen molt més del que deixen veure, i només entenent què va passar en aquell passat incert, i com intenten defugir-lo, entendrem un desastre familiar que sembla enunciat i irrevocable, de conseqüències terribles. El nou llibre d'Antoni Pladevall, una de les veus més consolidades del panorama català, autor de l'exitTerres de lloguer i Premi Prudenci Bertrana el 2014.

La clau anglesa

Though Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's earliest novels, it was not published until after her death--well after she'd established her reputation with works such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. Of all her novels, this one is the most explicitly literary in that it is primarily concerned with books and with readers. In it, Austen skewers the novelistic excesses of her day made popular in such 18th-century Gothic potboilers as Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers all figure into Northanger Abbey, but with a decidedly satirical twist. Consider Austen's introduction of her heroine: we are told on the very first page that "no one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine." The author goes on to explain that Miss Morland's father is a clergyman with "a considerable independence, besides two good livings--and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters." Furthermore, her mother does not die giving birth to her, and Catherine herself, far from engaging in "the more heroic enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush" vastly prefers playing cricket with her brothers to any girlish pastimes. Catherine grows up to be a passably pretty girl and is invited to spend a few weeks in Bath with a family friend. While there she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor, who invite her to visit their family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Austen amuses herself and us as Catherine, a great reader of Gothic romances, allows her imagination to run wild, finding dreadful portents in the most wonderfully prosaic events. But Austen is after something more than mere parody; she uses her rapier wit to mock not only the essential silliness of "horrid" novels, but to expose the even more horrid workings of polite society, for nothing Catherine imagines could possibly rival the hypocrisy she experiences at the hands of her supposed friends. In many respects Northanger Abbey is the most lighthearted of Jane Austen's novels, yet at its core is a serious, unsentimental commentary on love and marriage, 19th-century British style

Northanger Abbey

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM 20TH CENTURY FOX Two reckless but lovable all-American bros make a strong case for maturing slowly through their outrageous yet enlightening misadventures across this great country of ours. My brother and I are looking for wedding dates for our cousin’s wedding. We’ve been told by the bride that bringing dates is “mandatory” so we “won’t harass all of my friends all night” and “stay under control.” Rather than ask some fringe women in our lives to go and face the inevitable ‘does this mean he wants to take it to the next level?!’ questions, we’d rather bring complete strangers and just figure it out… We’re both in our 20s, single, dashingly tall, Anglo-Saxon, respectfully athletic, love to party, completely house trained…love our mother, have seen Love Actually several times…raw, emotional, sensitive, but still bad boys.…You should be attractive or our aunts will judge you, but not TOO attractive or one of our uncles might grope you. Dave and Mike Stangle thought nothing of it when they boozily decided to turn to the “activity partners” section of Craigslist to solicit dates to their cousin’s wedding. The hilarious, out-of-this-world ad that they came up with—featuring a picture of the two brothers as centaurs—immediately went viral, eventually landing these Wayfarers-wearing, moped-riding, completely reckless but ultimately loveable bros in the annals of the “Internet famous.” In Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, the Stangle brothers bring their trademark, off-color humor to everything from their most embarrassing adolescent experiences (like getting beat up by a girl on their front lawn...in front of their dad), to the most outrageous predicaments (like tripping on mushrooms with their bulldog, Frank), to proper sexting etiquette, and finally to breaking up a midget bar fight (you have to shoo them away). With the incredible comedic chemistry of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers and the uncensored honesty of Tucker Max, Mike and Dave insist there’s nothing wrong with just seeing where life takes you.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

LGBTQ advice columnist John Paul Brammer writes a “wise and charming” (David Sedaris) memoir-in-essays chronicling his journey from a queer, mixed-race kid in America’s heartland to becoming the “Chicano Carrie Bradshaw” of his generation. “A master class of tone and tenderness.” —The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) “Should be required reading.” —Los Angeles Times The first time someone called John Paul (JP) Brammer “Papi” was on the gay hookup app Grindr. At first, it was flattering; JP took this as white-guy speak for “hey, handsome.” But then it happened again and again…and again, leaving JP wondering: Who the hell is Papi? Soon, this racialized moniker became the inspiration for his now wildly popular advice column “¡Hola Papi!,” launching his career as the Cheryl Strayed for young queer people everywhere—and some straight people too. JP had his doubts at first—what advice could he really offer while he himself stumbled through his early twenties? Sometimes the best advice comes from looking within, which is what JP does in his column and book—and readers have flocked to him for honest, heartfelt wisdom, and more than a few laughs. In this hilarious, tenderhearted book, JP shares his story of growing up biracial and in the closet in America’s heartland, while attempting to answer some of life’s most challenging questions: How do I let go of the past? How do I become the person I want to be? Is there such a thing as being too gay? Should I hook up with my grade school bully now that he’s out of the closet? Questions we’ve all asked ourselves, surely. ¡Hola Papi! is “a warm, witty compendium of hard-won life lessons,” (Harper’s Bazaar) for anyone—gay, straight, and everything in between—who has ever taken stock of their unique place in the world.

A Must-Read Memoir

Hola Papi

Madi is counting on Paris’s reputation as the City of Love. Now she just needs to figure out if it’s old love or new love... Madi After two years and zero proposals, my relationship could use a little spark. Paris during the holidays seems like just the ticket—one perfect, final opportunity for my boyfriend to take things to the next level. The fact that he’s rented me the tiny servant quarters in the apartment of a very good-looking Frenchman is . . . puzzling. And when he asks that Frenchman to take me around the city while he’s busy at work trainings? Color me confused. Is this some sort of pre-engagement test? If so, I’m not sure I’m doing too hot. Rémy Offering to host my friend’s vacation rental means making sure the first review is five solid, sparkling stars. When the guest who shows up is a beautiful American woman, I’m thinking my task might be more enjoyable than I thought. Until I find out she has a boyfriend. Madi deserves to have an amazing time in Paris, though, so I’m more than happy to oblige when the guy asks me to show her the city. It’s cool. I’m cool. This is all for that five-star review…

Christmas Escape

Host for the Holidays

An indispensable reference for anyone who knows how to read—or wants to fool people into thinking they do—The Funny Thing Is... is sure to make you laugh. Ellen DeGeneres published her first book of comic essays, the #1 bestselling My Point...And I Do Have One, way back in 1996. Not one to rest on her laurels, the witty star of stage and screen has since dedicated her life to writing a hilarious new book. That book is this book. After years of painstaking, round-the-clock research, surviving on a mere twenty minutes of sleep a night, and collaborating with lexicographers, plumbers, and mathematicians, DeGeneres has crafted a work that is both easy to use and very funny. Along with her trademark ramblings, The Funny Thing Is... contains hundreds of succinct insights into her psyche and offers innovative features including: -More than 50,000 simple, short words arranged in sentences that form paragraphs. -Thousands of observations on everyday life—from terrible fashion trends to how to handle seating arrangements for a Sunday brunch with Paula Abdul, Diane Sawyer, and Eminem. -All twenty-six letters of the alphabet.

The Funny Thing Is...

Grammy Award Nominee for Best Spoken Word Album! Steve Martin's talent has always defied definition: an actor who's kept us riveted for over 25 years, a razor-sharp screenwriter, an acclaimed playwright. In this ingeniously funny collection of humorous riffs, those who thought Martin's gifts were confined to the screen will discover what readers of The New Yorker magazine already know: that Martin is a master of the written word. Hilariously funny and intelligent in their skewering of the topic at hand, the audiobook's pieces, some of which first appeared in The New Yorker, feature Martin at his finest. With a playwright's ear for dialogue, a sense of irony only Steve Martin could muster, and a first-class comic ability to perfectly time the punch line, Pure Drivel will have listeners crying with laughter, and marveling at the fact that in addition to all of his many talents, Steve Martin is also a superb writer.

Pure Drivel

From the bestselling author of White Noise comes a riveting exploration on wealth as a man's life gradually falls to pieces over the course of one day—now a major motion picture directed by David Cronenberg and starring Robert Pattinson. It is an April day in the year 2000 and an era is about to end. The booming times of market optimism—when the culture boiled with money and corporations seemed more vital and influential than governments— are poised to crash. Eric Packer, a billionaire asset manager at age twenty-eight, emerges from his penthouse triplex and settles into his lavishly customized white stretch limousine. Today he is a man with two missions: to pursue a cataclysmic bet against the yen and to get a haircut across town. Stalled in traffic by a presidential motorcade, a music idol’s funeral and a violent political demonstration, Eric receives a string of visitors—experts on security, technology, currency, finance and a few sexual partners—as the limo sputters toward an increasingly uncertain future. Cosmopolis, Don DeLillo’s thirteenth novel, is both intimate and global, a vivid and moving account of the spectacular downfall of one man, and of an era.

Cosmopolis

“You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to read it again.” —theSkimm “Fiercely funny, powerfully smart, and remarkably brave.” —Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild A hilarious and candid essay collection from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner that explores everything from motherhood to grief. Jennifer Weiner is many things: a bestselling author, a Twitter phenomenon, and an “unlikely feminist enforcer” (The New Yorker). She’s also a mom, a daughter, and a sister, a clumsy yogini, and a reality-TV devotee. In this “unflinching look at her own experiences” (Entertainment Weekly), Jennifer fashions tales of modern-day womanhood as uproariously funny and moving as the best of Nora Ephron and Tina Fey. No subject is off-limits in these intimate and honest essays: sex, weight, envy, money, her mother’s coming out of the closet, her estranged father’s death. From lonely adolescence to hearing her six-year-old daughter say the F word—fat—for the first time, Jen dives into the heart of female experience, with the wit and candor that have endeared her to readers all over the world.

Hungry Heart

Two unlikely friends hatch an extraordinary scheme to expose the theater world in this “layered, hyperaware, and as entertaining as it is incendiary” (Mateo Askaripour, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel exploring perception, redemption, and how success shapes us all. “American Fiction meets Queenie: The Grand Scheme of Things skewers racism in the arts, while humorously and honestly exploring the importance of community, and what we’ll do for love and success” (Jenna Clake, author of Disturbance). Meet Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo. Or, for short, Eddie: an aspiring playwright who dreams of making it big in London’s theater world. But after repeated rejections, Eddie suspects her non-white sounding name might be the problem. Enter Hugo Lawrence Smith: good looking, well-connected, charismatic, and…very white. Stifled by his law degree and looking for a way out of the corporate world, he finds a kindred spirit in Eddie after a chance encounter at a cafe. Together they devise a plan, one which will see Eddie’s play on stage and Hugo’s name in lights. They send out her script under his name and vow to keep the play’s origins a secret until it reaches critical levels of success. Then they can expose the theater world for its racism and hollow clout-chasing. But as their plan spins wildly out of control, Eddie and Hugo find themselves wondering if their reputations, and their friendship, can survive.

The Grand Scheme of Things

Comedian and star of The Office and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and host of The Great American Baking Show Ellie Kemper delivers a hilarious, refreshing, and inspiring collection of essays “teeming with energy and full of laugh-out-loud moments” (Associated Press). “A pleasure. Ellie Kemper is the kind of stable, intelligent, funny, healthy woman that usually only exists in yogurt commercials. But she’s real and she’s all ours!” —Tina Fey “Ellie is a hilarious and talented writer, although we’ll never know how much of this book the squirrel wrote.”—Mindy Kaling Meet Ellie, the best-intentioned redhead next door. You’ll laugh right alongside her as she shares tales of her childhood in St. Louis, whether directing and also starring in her family holiday pageant, washing her dad’s car with a Brillo pad, failing to become friends with a plump squirrel in her backyard, eating her feelings while watching PG-13 movies, or becoming a “sports monster” who ends up warming the bench of her Division 1 field hockey team in college. You’ll learn how she found her comedic calling in the world of improv, became a wife, mother and New Yorker, and landed the role of a bridesmaid (while simultaneously being a bridesmaid) in Bridesmaids. You’ll get to know and love the comic, upbeat, perpetually polite actress playing Erin Hannon on The Office, and the exuberant, pink-pants-wearing star of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If you’ve ever been curious about what happens behind the scenes of your favorite shows, what it really takes to be a soul cycle “warrior,” how to recover if you accidentally fall on Doris Kearns Goodwin or tell Tina Fey on meeting her for the first time that she has “great hair—really strong and thick,” this is your chance to find out. But it’s also a laugh-out-loud primer on how to keep a positive outlook in a world gone mad and how not to give up on your dreams. Ellie “dives fully into each role—as actor, comedian, writer, and also wife and new mom—with an electric dedication, by which one learns to reframe the picture, and if not exactly become a glass-half-full sort of person, at least become able to appreciate them” (Vogue.com).

My Squirrel Days

“A quick-witted, wry sendup of the advertising industry and corporate culture…A clear-eyed, sympathetic story about complex family ties and the possibility of healing” (The Washington Post). Finbar Dolan is lost and lonely. Except he doesn’t know it. Despite escaping his blue-collar Boston upbringing to carve out a mildly successful career at a Madison Avenue ad agency, he’s a bit of a mess and closing in on forty. He’s recently called off his wedding. Now, a few days before Christmas, he’s forced to cancel a long-postponed vacation in order to write, produce, and edit a Superbowl commercial for his diaper account in record time. Fortunately, it gets worse. He learns that his long-estranged and once-abusive father has fallen ill. And that neither his brothers nor his sister intend to visit. It’s a wake-up call for Fin to re-evaluate the choices he’s made, admit that he’s falling for his coworker Phoebe, question the importance of diapers in his life, and finally tell the truth about his life and his past. In the spirit of Then We Came to the End and This Is Where I Leave You, novelist John Kenney, a regular New Yorker contributor, mines his own advertising background to creating this moving debut, nothing short of “a masterful blend of wit and seriousness, stunning in its honesty” (Booklist, starred review).

Truth in Advertising

From Bustle columnist and Twitter sensation Sophia Benoit, this “charming and often laugh-out-loud funny” (Vogue) memoir-in-essays explores the ins and outs of modern womanhood—from finding feminism, the power of pop culture, and how to navigate life’s constant double standards—perfect for fans of Shrill and PEN15. Like so many women, Sophia spent her formative years struggling to do the “right” thing—to make others comfortable, to take minimal and calculated risks, to live up to society’s expectations—only to realize that there was so little payoff to this tiresome balancing act. Tired of trying so hard, Sophia finally let go of the crushing pressure to be perfect. She navigates the highs and lows of the dating world (high: being a beta tester for Bumble; low: hastily shaving her legs before a hotel hookup and getting blood all over the sheets), and walks the line between being a “chill” girl and making sure her boyfriend’s nonchalance about altitude sickness doesn’t get him killed. She learns what it means to be a feminist, how to embrace her own voice, and when to listen to women who have been through more and have been doing the work longer. With topics ranging from how to be the life of the party (even when you have crippling anxiety), to an ill-fated consultation with a dietician who deemed Sophia’s overindulgence in ketchup a serious health risk, to a masterful argument for why no one should judge you for having an encyclopedic knowledge of reality TV, Well, This Is Exhausting is not only “one of the funniest books you’ll read this year, but it’s also one of the most important” (Shondaland).

Well, This Is Exhausting

A New York Times Bestseller A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize “Askaripour closes the deal on the first page of this mesmerizing novel, executing a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy.” —Colson Whitehead, author of The Nickel Boys “A hilarious, gleaming satire as radiant as its author. Askaripour has announced himself as a major talent of the school of Ralph Ellison, Paul Beatty, Fran Ross, and Ishmael Reed. Full of quick pacing, frenetic energy, absurd—yet spot on—twists and turns, and some of the funniest similes I’ve ever read, this novel is both balm and bomb.” —Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored People For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street—a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems. There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor. After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.

Black Buck

After getting my heart broken, I’ve sworn off athletes forever. Then my best friend has to go and marry an NHL player, and his teammate, Colby Knight, won’t leave me alone. Colby is a master at scoring (on and off the ice), and he’s not used to being told no. So he takes my disinterest as an invitation to pursue me even harder. I ignore him…until I realize I can use his expertise to help me get my crush’s attention. But now that he’s my dating coach, and we’re spending so much time together, I’m growing more and more distracted. I mean, those dimples? Very enticing. Just when I think he might be more than just a playboy hockey player, a blast from the past comes back and reminds me why I swore off athletes in the first place. Can I trust Colby, or is he just another jerk who will break my heart? Trigger warnings: cheating exes; mild language

D.C. Eagles Hockey

Flirtation or Faceoff

A witty and winsome new way of looking at the complex relationship between cats and people: through the eyes of one erudite and attentive Italian gatto. We live on a planet infested with humans. They are a pernicious species, yet undeniably clever and capable—even if the reasons behind their actions are often incomprehensible to us felines. But while it is true that there have never been so many primates on Earth, in reality, they are quite simple to teach using well-practiced domestication techniques, such as loud vocalizations, strategic nighttime alarms, and selective displays of affection. And if you choose your specimen carefully, you’ll find that it can be completely tamed, and you'll end up with the best, most faithful companion you could possibly wish for. Translated from the Italian by Katherine Gregor

How to Train Your Human

“Eye-opening, thought-provoking, and enlightening.” —USA Today “An indispensable guide to the business logic of the networked era.” —Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody “A stimulating exercise in thinking really, really big.” —San Jose Mercury News What Would Google Do? is an indispensable manual for survival and success in today’s internet-driven marketplace. By “reverse engineering the fastest growing company in the history of the world,” author Jeff Jarvis, proprietor of Buzzmachine.com, one of the Web’s most widely respected media blogs, offers indispensible strategies for solving the toughest new problems facing businesses today. With a new afterword from the author, What Would Google Do? is the business book that every leader or potential leader in every industry must read.

What Would Google Do?

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death. It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.

Grim Reaper

A Dirty Job

A laugh-out-loud love story with big ideas – and squirrelsSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016 Can squirrels speak? Do snails scream? Will a young couple, newly engaged, make it to their wedding day? Will their dysfunctional families ruin everything? Will they be undone by the advances of a very sexy, very unscrupulous heiress to a pharmaceuticals corporation? Is getting married even a remotely reasonable idea in the twenty-first century? And what in the world is a ‘Veblen’ anyway? ‘Raw and weird and hilarious’ Guardian ‘A touching, wildly funny and peculiarly elegant look at the travails of love of all kinds’ Sunday Express ‘Elizabeth McKenzie is clearly some sort of genius’ Paul Murray ‘I can’t remember a book I enjoyed more’ Nina Stibbe ‘Seriously funny and extraordinarily well written’ Jonathan Franzen, Guardian books of the year

The Portable Veblen

2017 Audie Award Finalist for Audiobook of the Year and Narration by the Author #1 New York Times Bestseller "Amy Schumer's book will make you love her even more. For a comedian of unbridled (and generally hilarious) causticity, Schumer has written a probing, confessional, unguarded, and, yes, majorly humanizing non-memoir, a book that trades less on sarcasm, and more on emotional resonance." —Vogue "The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo is an alternatingly meditative, sexually explicit, side-splittingly hilarious, heart-wrenching, disturbing, passionately political, and always staggeringly authentic ride through the highs and lows of the comedic powerhouse's life to date." —Harper's Bazaar "This is your happy hour with Amy Schumer...It's Bossypants meets Trainwreck meets your long weekend." —TheSkimm “Amy’s got your back. She’s in your corner. She’s an honesty bomb. And she’s coming for you.” —Actress Tilda Swinton and Trainwreck co-star The Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and star of Inside Amy Schumer, Hulu's Life & Beth, and the acclaimed film Trainwreck has taken the entertainment world by storm with her winning blend of smart, satirical humor. Now, Amy Schumer has written a refreshingly candid and uproariously funny collection of (extremely) personal and observational essays. In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is—a woman with the courage to bare her soul to 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 friend—an unforgettable and fun adventure that you wish could last forever. Whether she’s 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 instructor’s 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 uncontrollably—but only because it’s over.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo

'This blistering story puts you in mind of last year's blockbuster hit, Yellowface . . . Enjoyable, riotously mischievous and gleefully direct, without losing nuance or lapsing into caricature' Daily Mail Meet Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo. Or, for short, Eddie: an aspiring playwright who dreams of making it big in London's theatre world. But after repeated rejections from white talent agents, Eddie suspects her non-white sounding name might be the problem. Enter Hugo Lawrence Smith: good looking, well-connected, charismatic and . . . very white. Stifled by his law degree and looking for a way out of the corporate world, he finds a kindred spirit in Eddie after a chance encounter at a cafe. Together they devise a plan which will see Eddie's play on stage and Hugo's name in lights and expose the theatre world for its racism and hollow clout-chasing. But as their plan spins wildly out of control, Eddie and Hugo find themselves wondering if their reputations, and their friendship, can survive.

A New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2012 Dylan Thomas Prize and 2012 L.A. Times First Novel Prize The Van Meters have gathered at their family retreat on the New England island of Waskeke to celebrate the marriage of daughter Daphne to an impeccably appropriate young man. The weekend is full of lobster and champagne, salt air and practiced bonhomie, but long-buried discontent and simmering lust seep through the cracks in the revelry. Winn Van Meter, father-of-the-bride, has spent his life following the rules of the east coast upper crust, but now, just shy of his sixtieth birthday, he must finally confront his failings, his desires, and his own humanity.

Seating Arrangements

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘This is Pride and Prejudice 2.0 and I must confess, I liked it more than the original’ STYLIST ‘Bold and brilliant’ GLAMOUR 'Sheer joy… Giddy and glam and a hearty update of Pride and Prejudice’ JESSIE BURTON, author of The Miniaturist Liz and Jane Bennet are good daughters. They’ve come home to suburban Cincinnati to get their mother to stop feeding their father steak as he recovers from heart surgery, to tidy up the crumbling Tudor-style family home, and to wrench their three sisters from their various states of arrested development. Once they are under the same roof, old patterns return fast. Soon they are being berated for their single status – and for two successful women in their late thirties, it really is too much to bear. That is, until the Lucas family’s BBQ throws them in the way of some eligible single men . . . In this dazzling, heart-warming read, the much-loved classic Pride and Prejudice is catapulted into our modern world, singing out with hilarity and truth. __________________________________________________ Praise for ELIGIBLE: ‘If there exists a more perfect pairing than Curtis Sittenfeld and Jane Austen, we dare you to find it’Elle ‘These days, if Curtis Sittenfeld writes it, I read it’ Judy Blume ‘Eligible has all the charm, wit and romance of Pride & Prejudice…an absolute delight’ Red ‘Dazzling’Woman and Home ‘Such a feast of a book’ Nigella Lawson ‘Not since “Clueless,” has Austen been so delightedly interpreted’ New York Times

Eligible

‘Perfect, kind, hilarious and persuasive’ Lena Dunham‘You need this book. Your mum needs this book. Your best friend needs this book. Everyone needs a dose of Happy Fat!’ Julie Murphy‘I am a fat person and I love my body. I feel lucky to be able to say that – it has taken a lot of work and a lot of time. I want to tell you what I have learned and how I got here.’ In Happy Fat, comedian Sofie Hagen shares how she removed fatphobic influences from her daily life and found self-acceptance in a world where judgement and discrimination are rife. From shame and sex to airplane seats, love and getting stuck in public toilets, Sofie provides practical tips for readers – drawing wisdom from other Fat Liberation champions along the way. Part memoir, part social commentary, Happy Fat is a funny, angry and impassioned look at how taking up space in a culture that is desperate to reduce you can be radical, emboldening and life-changing.

Happy Fat

In Be(com)ing Nigerian: A Guide, Elnathan John provides an affecting, unrestrained and satirical guide to the Nigerians you will meet at home and abroad, or on your way to hell and to heaven. It is a searing look at how power is performed, negotiated and abused in private and in public; in politics, business, religious institutions and in homes. From the exploration of religious hypocrisy to inequality in matters of the heart, the collection is a jab at Nigerian society and what it means to be a Nigerian. Beyond poking fun at the holders of power, it is also a summons, a provocation and a call for introspection among all levels of society. As is often said in Nigeria, when you point with one finger, there are four others pointing back at you. This engrossing read is a must-have for Nigerians on how to move beyond shame and arrogance, and for nonNigerians, a uniquely informative guide on how to accept their awe and envy of Nigerians. It is an invitation for everyone to embrace and rejoice in their inner Nigerian. Here is your definitive guide to Be(com)ing Nigerian.

Becoming Nigerian

GRAMMY NOMINEE Audie Award, Humor, 2015 Amy Poehler is hosting a dinner party and you're invited! Welcome to the audiobook edition of Amy Poehler's Yes Please. The guest list is star-studded with vocal appearances from Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and even Amy's parents - Yes Please is the ultimate audiobook extravaganza. Also included? A one-night-only live performance at Poehler's Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Hear Amy read a chapter live in front of a young and attractive Los Angeles audience. While listening to Yes Please, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll become convinced that your phone is trying to kill you. Don't miss this collection of stories, thoughts, ideas, lists, and haikus from the mind of one of our most beloved entertainers. Offering Amy's thoughts on everything from her ""too safe"" childhood outside of Boston to her early days in New York City, her ideas about Hollywood and ""the biz"", the demon that looks back at all of us in the mirror, and her joy at being told she has a ""face for wigs"" - Yes Please is chock-full of words, and wisdom, to live by.

Yes Please

This funny and wise new memoir from Harrison Scott Key, winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, will inspire laughter and hope for anyone who’s ever been possessed by a dream of what they want to be when they grow up. Little-known author Mark Twain once said that the two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why. He's talking about dreams here, the destiny that calls every living soul to some kind of greatness. What Mr. Twain doesn't say is: A dream is also a monster that wants to eat you. Nobody tells you this part of the American Dream — until now. In this new memoir, Congratulations Who Are You Again, readers join Harrison Scott Key on his outrageous journey to becoming a great American writer. As a young boy in Mississippi, Harrison possessed many special gifts, such as the ability to read and complete college applications. And yet, throughout young adulthood, he failed at many vocations, until one day, after drinking perhaps too many beers and dusting off his King James Bible, he stumbled across a passage about a lonely pelican, which burst into flame inside him. In a mad blaze of holy illumination, Harrison realized his dream: to set the world afire with the light inside him. He would write a funny book. This was his dream. With unforgettable wit and tenderness, Congratulations Who Are You Again is Harrison’s instructive tale of pursuing his destiny with relentless and often misguided devotion, transforming his life beyond all comprehension: He becomes a signer of autographs, a doer of interviews, a casher of checks that are ""worth more money than my father had ever imagined any of us might see, this side of a drug-related felony."" On this journey, Harrison finds that as he gains the world, he stands on the precipice of losing everything that means the most: his family, his mind, his soul. Hilarious, honest, and absolutely practical, Congratulations Who Are You Again is a no-holds-barred look at the life of every ambitious human creature, whether you want to write books or make music, start a business or start a revolution. This is an audiobook for the dreamers.

Congratulations, Who Are You Again?

“Kirsten Miller has that rare ability to take a serious subject and make it very, very funny. I enjoyed this novel and you will too.”--James Patterson The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything. Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need. What Lula doesn’t know is that a local troublemaker has stolen her wholesome books, removed their dust jackets, and restocked Lula’s library with banned books: literary classics, gay romances, Black history, witchy spell books, Judy Blume novels, and more. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor. That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. That's when the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books

A Masterpiece of Satire on Hell’s Latest Novelties and Heaven’s Unanswerable Answer C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

The Screwtape Letters

"It’s f*cking great!!! Raw, intimate, hilarious, actually inspiring.” –Jon Stewart *A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK FROM BUSTLE, GOODREADS, GOODREADS, SHEREADS, BOOKRIOT, AND MORE* A dynamic memoir-in-essays by comedian, screenwriter, and podcaster Chelsea Devantez, detailing her tumultuous upbringing and uproarious career path into Hollywood, featuring a bonus chapter exclusive to the audio edition. There are things Chelsea Devantez probably shouldn’t be telling you. Many of them are in this book: some are embarrassing (like when she tried to break her three year spell of celibacy using a guide of seduction tips). Some are confessional (getting sentenced to the “hell hill” at Mormon church camp). Some are TMI (a series of outrageous doctor visits that ended with one doctor misdiagnosing her as “pregnant.” Woopsies!). Then there are things Chelsea really shouldn’t be telling you: like the time her biggest family secret was publicly outed, or about the drive-by shootings and the precipitating domestic violence she survived. Yet through it all, it’s the women in Chelsea’s life who kept her going – from the lowest points of her childhood when she and her mom had only $100 left to their name, all the way to her career highs as the Emmy-nominated Head Writer for The Problem with Jon Stewart and sensational podcaster deemed “the celebrity memoir whisperer” by her fans. In I Shouldn't Be Telling You This, Chelsea centers each story around a different woman who shaped her life, taking us on a tour of friends and strangers, fictional characters and celebrities, heroes and villains who will destroy any Netflix algorithm for a “strong female lead.” Reading it will feel kinda like that moment at a party when your friend beckons you close, sloshes her martini around, and covertly whispers, “I really shouldn’t say this, but…”

I Shouldn't Be Telling You This

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · A RUPAUL'S BOOK CLUB PICK A Town & Country Must-Read Book of Summer 2024! One of Vulture's Best New Audiobooks of 2024. ""A delightful and sharp-witted tour through a lifetime’s worth of travel exploits and misadventures. . . . Readers are bound to catch the travel bug.""—Publishers Weekly ""Filled with warmth and self-deprecating humor, Janetti's relatable observations convey his deep affection for [his husband] Brad and the places they love."" —The Washington Post In this hilarious and often touching collection, the author, television writer, and producer takes us with him on travels across the globe. Gary Janetti has gained a devoted following, with a huge audience on social media, and two bestselling collections of essays under his belt. His new collection will prompt laughter but also delighted recognition as Janetti tackles the absurdity and glory of travel. In We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay, he shares stories of his varied trips around the world. Tag along as he enjoys an unexpectedly transformative stay at a rigorous Italian spa where he and his husband go from deep grumpiness to exaltation. Take a ride on the Orient Express to Venice and discover a surprising side of London, including a hilarious dinner with actress Maggie Smith. And pull up a deck chair to watch the entertainment as Gary embarks on a family cruise on the Queen Mary 2. Interspersed with recollections of his trips are personal meditations on dining alone as well as journeys to such diverse destinations as Mykonos, Australia, a Noma pop-up, and other glamorous spots. Gary is unabashedly frank about his very exacting travel needs, and delivers practical advice on all aspects of the traveler’s life, from very precise packing instructions, suggestions on how to get upgrades, and restaurant and hotel recommendations in his favorite cities. Aspirational, charmingly acerbic, and as diverting as the best vacation can be, delivering both laughs and moments of sharp recognition, Gary’s funny collection is the perfect getaway companion, for both seasoned nomads and curious armchair travelers.

We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay

The wonderful story collection from the author of Standard Deviation‘Heiny's work does something magical: gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve and makes you laugh along the way’ Lena Dunham ‘Like Cheever mixed with Ephron’ New York Times ‘Simply wonderful, I savoured every page’ Guardian Maya’s dog is dying, and she is planning to leave her boyfriend. On the whole she feels worse about the dog. Nina thought it might be difficult to summon the moral fortitude to have an extramarital affair with a Presbyterian minister living above the garbage, but she discovers that almost anything is possible. A teenager finds an affair with her history teacher too sealed off from the rest of her life, like the last slice of cake under a glass dome. These women are best friends, roommates and mistresses. They tipple and titillate, fantasize and fumble, worry and wander. They make poor choices in men and children’s magicians and wise choices in what to wear to meet their lovers’ wives. None of them are single (or carefree or mellow) but all are irresistible and all too familiar.

Single, Carefree, Mellow

A propulsive page-turning thriller following the hit reality TV show Garden State Goddesses where secrets are uncovered, intense rivalries surface, and a startling murder propels a producer on a riveting quest for the truth. On this season of Garden State Goddesses: Getting canceled means getting killed. When Hope Bennett marries Carmela’s brother, Leo, she becomes not only a Fontana, but a Garden State Goddess—and not everyone is happy. Secrets will be revealed, decades-long rivalries will surface, and a sudden murder will lead to a reality reckoning no one is prepared for—least of all the show’s producer, Eden, who must race to catch a killer and save the most dramatic season of all time. “Juicy, gossipy, and deliciously vicious, one thing is certain: this New Jersey neighborhood has enough secrets to guarantee renewal. Readers will be clamoring for season two of this funny, dark guilty pleasure.” —KATY HAYS, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters “Like the best, most addictive reality TV, The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey is about people behaving badly—lying, cheating, back-stabbing, and worse. I started reading for all the juicy drama, but it was the murder mystery that had me racing through pages at the end.” —ANA REYES, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines “Secrets, gallows humor, campy reality TV stars, and an Instagram gossip account called Shady Di—Astrid Dahl’s The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey is the kind of book I wanted to live inside. LOLing and gasping my way through, I nearly wished I’d written it myself!” —ANNA DORN, author of Perfume & Pain

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey

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