Idiot


Laura Clery - 2019
    She writes songs about her anatomy, talks trash about her one-eyed rescue pug, and sexually harasses her husband, Stephen. And it pays the bills! Now, in her first-ever book, Laura recounts how she went from being a dangerously impulsive, broke, unemployable, suicidal, cocaine-addicted narcissist, crippled by fear and hopping from one toxic romance to the next…to a more-happy-than-not, somewhat rational, meditating, vegan yogi with good credit, a great marriage, a fantastic career, and four unfortunate-looking rescue animals. Still, above all, Laura remains an amazingly talented, adorable, and vulnerable, self-described…Idiot. With her signature brand of offbeat, no-holds-barred humor, Idiot introduces you to a wildly original—and undeniably relatable—new voice.Oh, the places I've peed --High school Hammer time --My summer of (possibly too much) freedom --How to ignore a hundred red flags --The Damon inside --A spoonful of sugar --Look, Mom! I'm on TV! --New beginnings (but, like, for real) --Two apartments and a home --Maggie: cat --Walking through fear

The Grade Cricketer


Dave Edwards - 2015
    Described as the most original voice in cricket, The Grade Cricketer represents the fading hopes and dreams of every ageing amateur sportsman. In this tell-all 'autobiography', The Grade Cricketer describes his cricketing career with unflinching honesty and plenty of humour, in turn providing insights into the hyper-masculine cricket 'dressing room'. This one-time junior prodigy is now experiencing the lean, increasingly existential years of adult cricket. Here, he learns quickly that one will need more than just runs and wickets to make it in the alpha-dominated grade cricket jungle, where blokes like Nuggsy, Bruiser, Deeks and Robbo reign supreme. Through it all, The Grade Cricketer lays bare his deepest insecurities - his relationship with Dad, his fleeting romances outside the cricket club - and, in turn, we witness a gentle maturation; a slow realisation that perhaps, just maybe, there is more to life than hitting 50 not out in third grade and enjoying a few celebratory beers afterwards. Or is there? * * * The Grade Cricketer book is based upon the popular Twitter account, @gradecricketer, which has received critical acclaim for its frighteningly honest portrayal of amateur cricket. Now, the time has finally come for this middling amateur sportsman to tell his story in full. 'The Grade Cricketer is the finest tribute to a sport since Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, and the best cricket book in yonks. It's belly-laughing funny but it's also a hymn to the grand and complex game delivered with a narrative pace and ability I'm afraid most Test players don't have. For anyone who ever dreamed of excelling at a sport but never quite made it but still gave it your life, this is the story. A great read!' - Tom Keneally AO.

All At Sea: One man. One bathtub. One very bad idea.


Tim FitzHigham - 2009
    The book follows the author's death-defying 200-mile journey in his antique Thomas Crapper bath - not just across the Channel, but around Kent - right up to the tremendous reception and huge media attention which awaited him under Tower Bridge. Tim met the Queen, and his bath now resides in the National Maritime Museum of Great Britain.

The Stranger and the World's Bravest Little Girl


Gregg Olsen - 2013
    A woman is condemned for the “final betrayal of motherhood” – killing her children. A grieving mother becomes convinced that the man convicted of murdering her beautiful teenage daughter is innocent. New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen (If Loving You Is Wrong, Starvation Heights) and veteran journalist Rebecca Morris (Ted and Ann – The Mystery of a Missing Child and Her Neighbor Ted Bundy), delve into their Notorious USA crime files to take a new look at Idaho’s most notorious crimes. Cases include: Shasta Groene – the brave little girl was the only survivor of a random murder and kidnapping in Coeur d’Alene. Jeralee Underwood – an eleven-year-old who had the bad luck to meet a ruthless killer as she performed her favorite task of the day, delivering newspapers to her Pocatello neighborhood. Robin Row – the only woman on Idaho’s Death Row liked to set fires that killed her children. She just happened to have purchased life insurance before the tragic incidents. Angie Dodge – Carol Dodge grieved her daughter’s murder for years, until she became convinced the police had coerced a confession and convicted the wrong man. Now she’s working for Christopher Tapp’s release. Lyda Trueblood – America’s first female serial killer liked to bake apple pies. She sprinkled in a secret ingredient – arsenic. Sarah Johnson – The teenager with the blonde ponytail shot her parents with a rifle, then hid her blood-spattered pink bathrobe in the garbage. With a bonus essay from Olsen, author of the 2005 Idaho Book of the Year, The Deep Dark – Disaster and Redemption in America’s Richest Silver Mine. About the authors: GREGG OLSEN IS THE NEW YORK TIMES, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of twenty books, both true crime and fiction, including Abandoned Prayers, Closer than Blood, A Twisted Faith, Starvation Heights, and If Loving You Is Wrong. He appears frequently on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Early Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, Snapped, Deadly Women, and A&E's Biography. REBECCA MORRIS IS A VETERAN JOURNALIST and the author of Ted and Ann – The Mystery of a Missing Child and Her Neighbor Ted Bundy. Her writing has appeared in People, Entertainment Weekly, New York Newsday, The Seattle Times, The Oregonian and many other publications. She worked in broadcast journalism in New York. Olsen and Morris’s book about missing Utah mom Susan Cox Powell, her husband Josh, and their boys Charlie and Braden, If I Can’t Have You –Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance and the Murder of her Children will be published by St. Martin’s in 2014. Also by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris The Girl and the Horrors of Howard Avenue (Notorious Oregon) The Boy Who Fired the First Shot (Notorious Washington) If there’s a notorious case you’d like us to write about – anywhere in the country – contact us: Gregg@GreggOlsen.com Rebecca@RebeccaTMorris.com

Spoiled Rotten America: Outrages of Everyday Life


Larry Miller - 2006
    Known for years as an actor, writer, comedian, and sexual pioneer, he's gained a new following as a cultural commentator and frequent guest on political shows. Now, in Spoiled Rotten America, he fixes his gaze on what's funny about our daily lives—which includes, roughly speaking, everything. From middle-aged drinking ("When you're in your twenties, you can drink all night and bungee-jump off a bridge the next day. If I drank all night, I'd want to go off that bridge without the cord") to the excesses of our eating habits ("This is why the world hates us: the size of the portions we order. Thank God they've never shown us eating on Al Jazeera—that would be the end of it"), Miller finds the silver lining of absurdity within every black cloud.Ultimately, though, Spoiled Rotten America is more than just the average yukfest. It's an insightful, and surprisingly heartfelt, plea for us to notice what's best and worst about ourselves. "The American pendulum only swings to extremes," he writes. "The news is on all day, but we know less and less; there's music in every mall, but we don't hear it; everyone has a phone but nothing to say. The chubbiest of us have the strictest diets, because we can't learn to modulate and moderate. It's all or nothing. One bite of a cookie, and suddenly you're on a plane to Vegas with a hooker. To the Cranky Nitpickers of America—a club I'd join in a second if I weren't already its president—it's long been understood that the world is going to Hell in a handbasket."What better time for a collection of seventeen comic essays?"What better time indeed.

Summary of The Body by Bill Bryson: A Guide for Occupants


Best Book Briefings - 2019
    So often, we take our bodies for granted. We’re rarely curious about how they work and what we can do to make them work better. In The Body, Bill Bryson takes you on a tour inside your body so you can gain a better understanding of how it functions and its amazing ability to heal itself. At the times you doubt yourself, or think of yourself as less than wonderful, this summary of The Body will remind you of the miracle you truly are.

Advancing Your Spirit 4-CD Set: Finding Meaning In Your Life's Journey


Wayne W. Dyer - 2008
    This is a rare opportunity to hear two luminaries from the field of self-development together for the first time on an audio program.As you absorb the information on these four CDs, you’ll find that you can transform your challenges and concerns into spiritual triumphs; learn the keys to empowering yourself in the midst of change, chaos, and complexity by understanding and applying spiritual principles to your life; and discover the deeper meaning inherent in your daily experiences and see your life as a blueprint for growth and personal evolution.

Learn Spanish with Paul Noble


Paul Noble - 2010
    As Paul's two students progress, you progress alongside them. A native speaking Spanish expert helps Paul to deliver the course and to perfect your pronunciation.

Iced Beer and Other Tantalising Tips for Life


Lee Lin Chin - 2016
    Here she shares her views on all the important topics, from acceptable careers (bartender; brewer) to her favourite cocktail recipe (beer, preferably obscure Japanese, served on ice). Written with Lee Lin's inimitable flair and contempt for all beneath her, this book will give you the Chinspiration you need to live a transcendent life.

Egghead; or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone


Bo Burnham - 2013
    100 million people viewed those videos, turning Bo into an online sensation with a huge and dedicated following. Bo taped his first of two Comedy Central specials four days after his 18th birthday, making him the youngest to do so in the channel's history. Now Bo is a rising star in the comedy world, revered for his utterly original and intelligent voice. And, he can SIIIIIIIIING!In EGGHEAD, Bo brings his brand of brainy, emotional comedy to the page in the form of off-kilter poems, thoughts, and more. Teaming up with his longtime friend, artist, and illustrator Chance Bone, Bo takes on everything from death to farts in this weird book that will make you think, laugh and think, "why did I just laugh?"

I Heart My Little A-Holes


Karen Alpert - 2013
    because he wants to watch Caillou, he’s an a-hole. When your daughter outlines every corner of your living room with a purple crayon, she’s an a-hole. When your rug rats purposely decorate the kitchen ceiling with their smoothies, they’re a-holes. So it’s only natural to want to kill them sometimes. Of course you can’t because you’d go to prison, and then you’d really never get to poop alone again. Plus, there’s that whole loving them more than anything in the whole world thing. Karen Alpert is the writer of the popular blog Baby Sideburns. You may have seen some of her more viral posts like “Ten Things I Really F’ing Want for Mother’s Day,” “Daddy Sticker Chart” and “What NOT to F’ing Buy My Kids this Holiday.” Or you may know her from her Facebook page that has over 130,000 followers. I Heart My Little A-Holes is full of hilarious stories, lists, thoughts and pictures that will make you laugh so hard you’ll wish you were wearing a diaper.

Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits


Celia Rivenbark - 2004
    Bestselling Author of We’re Just Like You, Only Prettier and Bless Your Heart, Tramp Hang on to your hats! We’re in for some fiercely funny weather and crackling-sharp observations from Celia Rivenbark, of whom USA Today has said, “Think Dave Barry with a female point of view.” With her incomparable style and sassy southern wit, you’ll hear from Celia on:--The joys of remodeling Tara--How Harry Potter bitch-slaps Nancy Drew--Britney’s To-Do list: pick okra, cover that thang up--How rugby-playing lesbians torpedoed beach day--Why French women suck at competitive eating--The truth about nature deficit disorder--The difference between cockroaches and water bugs--The beauty of BedazzlersAnd much, much more! Whether she’s doing her taxes or extolling the virtues of Madonna’s mothering skills, Celia Rivenbark will keep you laughing until the very last page.

Ask Me What's For Dinner One More Time: Inappropriate Thoughts on Motherhood


Meredith Masony - 2020
    Meredith Masony founded That’s Inappropriate in 2014 as an innocent and humorous way to chronicle her chaotic days as a working mom, child wrangler, and busy wife. It soon evolved into a massive, dynamic community of parents—now nearly three million strong—brought together by their shared belief that parenthood and marriage don’t have to be perfect. Now, in Ask Me What's for Dinner One More Time, Meredith shares her collection of witty essays on the universal frustrations of being a mom in today’s world, presenting her laugh-out-loud perspective on sex, aging, anxiety, friendship, and much more. Perfect for fans of Jenny Lawson, Laura Clery, and Jen Mann, these essays provide laughter, relief, validation, and “a metaphorical hug for all of those moments you spend crying on your bathroom floor, thinking that you are failing at the hardest job on the planet.”

House of Fun: 20 glorious years in parliament


Simon Hoggart - 2012
    It is instant history with added jokes.Read about how John Major learned the English language from his time in Nigeria. There is Tony Blair, with his verb-free sentences which imply everything and promise nothing. Gordon Brown, the grumpiest prime minister of recent years, both Stalin and Mr Bean. And now David Cameron - who really, really hates being drawn with a condom on his head.Let's not forget John Prescott, who can wrestle the English language to the mat and win by two falls to a submission, Michael Fabricant with his hairpiece stolen from the tail of a My Little Pony, Sir Peter Tapsell, a grandee so grand that when he rises to speak, Hansard writers are replaced by a crack team of monks to write up his words in illuminated lettering. Nick Clegg, with his default expression of a man's whose chldren's puppy is still missing. And of course, the famous 2010 press conference in the garden of Downing Street, a love-in that would have been illegal in 44 American states.This book will have you laughing, chuckling, roaring, sniggering, and sometimes despairing.

No Encore for the Donkey


Doug Stanhope - 2020
    Iconoclast. Apostate. Drunk. Many words have been used to describe Doug Stanhope, but rarely has “hopeful” been one of them. However, heading into 2016, Stanhope peered through the apocalyptic fog and saw a forecast that was more rainbows than acid rain: His first book was set for release, his new stand-up special was in the can, and he was about to film a television pilot with his friend and confidant Johnny Depp. The sharks of Hollywood were circling, and Stanhope’s pockets were filled with chum. The only thing that could stop Doug was himself, and that’s exactly what he did.First came the booze, then came the pills, then came the stripper, and then, Doug came. A tryst aboard a cruise ship leaves him literally and figuratively adrift when his scorned wife, Bingo, reveals she is in love with another man: a jug-sippin’, guitar-pickin’ hobo. A simple, black-out fling turns out to be a pebble tossed into the lake of you-know-what named 2016, and in No Encore for the Donkey, Stanhope traces the resulting rings.Written and performed by Stanhope, his third memoir follows the veteran comedian on a quest to save his marriage, his wife, and eventually his wife’s life. Our hero's journey finds Stanhope cuddling with Johnny Depp in his Los Angeles mansion, receiving some much-needed TLC from Marilyn Manson, and - most daunting - building a new hour of comedy in the rusted-out hellscapes of post-industrial America.Equal parts love letter, road romp, and harrowing condemnation of the failures of America’s mental health care system, No Encore for the Donkey is a hilarious and heartbreaking account of a man balancing on the edge of damnation. With Bingo in a coma and Trump about to be elected, Stanhope sifts through the ruins of his own personal cataclysm in order to answer the big questions: What does it mean to love someone when you can’t love yourself? What is the point of success if you have no one to share it with? And is the end of the world BYOB?