Book picks similar to
How my Gay Uncle F'ed up Christmas: The Legend of Sodomy Cat by Nicholas Black
contemporary-fiction
have-but-not-read
humor-satire-or-parody
it-was-free
Wonderkid
Wesley Stace - 2014
This is the rock and roll dream, and the Wonderkids are living it. But something’s wrong. The gigs are sold out, sure, but the halls are packed with little kids—not sexy hipsters. And that screaming? It sounds more wailing, actually. The TV appearances are PBS on Saturday morning, rather than Saturday Night Live, and as for Number Ones . . . you don’t want to know.Exposed in his impressionable youth to the absurdist literature of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, the Wonderkids’ lead singer, songwriter, and resident mad genius Blake Lear has always written lyrics as silly as they are infectious. Why make sense, he says, when nonsense is so much more fun? Rock and roll has always been for the kids, right?This is why Blake has no objection when the band is offered a deal with the devil: the Wonderkids will be rock stars, adored and revered. The catch? Their audience will be children. They will be a “kindie” band avant la lettre, before the Wiggles and Dan Zanes were a twinkle in Raffi’s eye. The band takes America by storm, and things go very right—until they go very wrong. The temptations of the road are many, and the Wonderkids are big kids, too.Narrated by Sweet, a boy Blake adopts on a whim, who becomes the band’s disciple, merch guy, amateur psychologist, and—eventually—damage control guru, Wonderkidis a delirious and surprisingly touching novel of the dangers of compromise, thwarted ambition, and fathers and sons, told with tremendous humor and energy by Wesley Stace—the rare writer who is as comfortable inside a rock club as he is inside a bookstore. A backstage epic of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but also sippy cups, pillow fights, and Baby Bjorns, this is Almost Famous through the looking glass.
Pluto, Animal Lover
Laren Stover - 1994
He is obsessed with cleanliness, his health, astrology, animals and whether or not they're being treated humanely, and with Wanda, a beautiful redhead and fellow dog-walker with a mysterious night job. Pluto's twisted sensibility, radical compulsions, despair at human behavior, and utopian dreams - realized with the help of his pet raven, Sunshine - drive the novel toward a climax that is as inevitable as it is surprising. At once dark comedy and psychological suspense, Pluto, Animal Lover introduces a character you will never forget and a writer with one of the most daring and distinctive voices in contemporary literature.
Unexpected Second Chances
K.C. Mills - 2020
Those who truly want and deserve to have their hearts protected always seem to come up short. That has been Simira’s experience and for that reason her focus is on the only person who has ever loved her unconditionally, her son.Ebo and Simira have given up all hope but that is when things begin to turn in their favor. When you stop looking for and expecting love, it occasionally finds its way to you.
BIG SLICK (Jon "Big Slick" Elder Book 2)
Elijah Drive - 2016
“Razor sharp writing, crackling dialogue, characters that jump off the page and slap you in the face. In BIG SLICK, Elijah Drive delivers a compulsively readable thriller that held me captive until the last page. Can’t wait to read the next one.”—Dwayne Alexander Smith – FORTY ACRES.“An emotional roller coaster of a novel that manages to be profound, moving and completely surprising. A rarity for a thriller, BIG SLICK shocks you by exploring the mystery of the characters in addition to the situation they’re trapped in.”—Ato Essandoh – HBO’s VINYL, DJANGO UNCHAINED, BLOOD DIAMOND, CBS’s ELEMENTARY, BBC America’s COPPER.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues & My Own Private Idaho
Gus Van Sant - 1993
My Own Private Idaho charts the pilgrimage of a narcoleptic hustler who is searching for his long-lost mother in a world absent of love.
Forever with You: Inspiring Messages of Healing & Wisdom from Your Loved Ones in the Afterlife
Patrick Mathews - 2012
Join medium Patrick Mathews as he communicates with those who have passed over, sharing their experiences of the other side and the profound impact their continuing presence has on us. With warmth and sensitivity, Patrick answers questions about God and angels, heaven and hell, reincarnation, the purpose of physical life, and what happens when we pass. In his down-to-earth style, Patrick helps us understand what it's like to talk to spirits and explains how they help us overcome life's most difficult moments.After the phenomenal success of Never Say Goodbye, Patrick invites us back for more inspirational stories of life after life, and describes with grace and humor what it's really like to communicate with the other side.
Dead Man's Walk: An Unofficial Inspector Morse Mystery
Antony James - 2018
Set in 1971, Detective Sergeant Morse is confronted by two deaths along Dead Man’s Walk, which he’s sure are connected to the Oxford Martyrs of the 1550s. There are clues and red-herrings aplenty as Morse uses his detective skills to be metaphorically furlongs ahead of the field, albeit on the wrong racecourse. For Morse there is romance, an unpleasant academic with which to contend, beer in copious quantities, opera, a crossword-type clue, and even an appearance by a boy named Dexter, but above all there is a murder mystery puzzle, set against the backdrop of 1970s Oxford, which only he can solve. For those who love Oxford, the iconic Inspector Morse or even just a good old mystery, Dead Man’s Walk is a taut, entertaining tale of intrigue and delight. Antony James is a British author. A pseudonym for Antony Richards, he is the chairman of the Inspector Morse Society and was a close friend of the late Colin Dexter. He is also an actor with the Irregular Special Players, who regularly produce Sherlock Holmes-based plays.
Two From the Heart
James Patterson - 2017
After her marriage falls apart and a hurricane destroys her home she realizes that her life has fallen out of focus. So she takes to the road to ask long lost friends and strangers a simple question: "What's your best story?" Can the funny, tragic, inspirational tales she hears on her journey help Anne see what she's been missing? Tyler Bron seemingly has it all-a successful company and more money than he knows how to spend. But he has no life. So he hires a struggling novelist to write one for him. There are no limits to the fictional world that Bron's money can transform into a reality, and he soon becomes the protagonist of a love story beyond his wildest imagination. But will Tyler Bron be able to write the happy ending himself?
On Fire
Lindsay McKenna - 2015
But her bond with Mike Tarik comes at the expense of her family's expectations that she quit the military and start a family in her village. A sergeant in the US Marine Corps and a Shadow Warrior, Khat is torn between giving in to the love she has for this courageous man and walking away from him forever. But deep in dangerous territory, Khat goes missing. The only man who can save her is the one she might need to give up. With Mike's bravery, Khat learns to trust in the future, all while her ingrained values pull her back to old traditions. Will love or duty win out?
Two Sisters In Ireland
Jeanne Selmer - 2014
But a chance meeting at Logan Airport introduces them to Aoife, an elderly Irish widow who is returning home to the joys and stresses of her tight-knit family. Encouraged by their conversation with Aoife, the sisters are determined to see more than the usual tourist attractions. By veering off the beaten paths, they find holy wells and unexpectedly encounter ghosts and fairies. They sing in pubs and have fun meeting interesting people. Their new experiences ignite passions both spiritually and physically. Through rich descriptions of Ireland’s beautiful scenery and the stories told by its people, this tale brings readers along on a colorful and engaging journey.
Unwell
Marie Chow - 2014
She doesn’t take the road to abortion. She decides to give her child a fighting chance in life, without the angst and drama that’s shaped her own bittersweet life.With a poignant lack of emotion, the young mother shares her life story. As the child of Asian parents who moved to America early in her life, the mother shares how her life disintegrated after her parents’ divorce. From upper middle class suburban to sharing her mean aunt’s house to a one bedroom apartment in a shabby neighborhood, this mother endures the indignity that comes with the change of status. From her father’s absence to her mother becoming a married man’s mistress, her story reads like a tragic Victorian novel set in the 21st century, but that’s where the similarity ends—she is definitely not a shy country miss and she certainly did not take the easy way out. This amazing story chronicles the life of a woman who fought for everything she got, faced her demons and made the hard choices. Her fortitude and candor are disarming, her avant-garde views strangely endearing. You’ve never read a book like this and probably never will again. Get your copy today and take the literary journey of a lifetime. Through this glimpse into the life of a woman of integrity, sacrifice and love, you’ll feel her pain, live her failures and cheer for the meager joys that come her way. But the one thing you’ll never do… is forget her. Or her story.
Harmony House
Ruth Hay - 2017
Both retired widows, they've reached the point in their lives where it would make most sense to move into a retirement community. Neither want that for their future, however, and they devise a plan to solve all their problems and provide a residence designed exactly to their requirements. But it won't work for just two women--and so the search is on for the perfect companions to share Harmony House.
Loving Lauren
Jill Sanders - 2013
Now she’s not only in charge of her two younger sisters, but she’s running a full-blown Texas ranch. Caring for a thousand‑acre ranch has its ups and downs, physically, mentally, and financially. All she is looking for is a little break. What she doesn't have time for is someone who will only complicate her life further.Chase is back in his hometown. Helping his dad with his veterinary practice is high on his list. So is being with the lovely Lauren West. Years ago, he found a unique way to bind them together. Now all he has to do is prove to her that he’s the right man to spend the rest of her life with.
Coming from an Off-Key Time
Bogdan Suceavă - 2004
He depicts madness of all kinds but especially religious beliefs and their perversion by all manner of outrageous sects. Here horror and humor reside impossibly in the same time and place, and readers experience the vertiginous feeling of living in the middle of a violent historical upheaval.Even as Coming from an Off-Key Time suggests the influence of such writers as Mikhail Bulgakov, the fantastic satirist of the early Soviet Union, Suceavă engages the complexities of a quickly changing country in search of its bearings and suspicious of its past. Bogdan Suceavă is an associate professor of mathematics at California State University, Fullerton. One of Romanian literature’s most promising and original young writers, he is the author of four novels, two books of short stories, and several collections of poems.Alistair Ian Blyth’s previous translations include Filip Florian, Little Fingers (2009); Lucian Dan Teodorovici, Our Circus Presents (2009); and Catalin Avramescu’s An Intellectual History of Cannibalism (2009).
Backslide
Keith Thomas Walker - 2017
That was around the time Kole stepped away from “the Organization,” vowing to never take another life. A tragic accident changes everything. In order to protect Dana, Kole must revive his old lifestyle. And despite her attempts to resist, she finds herself falling for him all over again.