Afraid of looking like an idiot? Alexandra Petri lost Jeopardy! by answering “Who is that dude?” on national TV. Afraid of bad jokes? Alexandra Petri won an international pun championship.Petri has been a debutante, reenacted the Civil War, and fended off suitors at a Star Wars convention while wearing a Jabba the Hutt suit. One time, she let some cult members she met on the street baptize her, just to be polite. She’s a connoisseur of the kind of awkwardness that most people spend whole lifetimes trying to avoid. If John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris had a baby…they would never let Petri babysit it.But Petri is here to tell you: Everything you fear is not so bad. Trust her. She’s tried it. And in the course of her misadventures, she’s learned that there are worse things out there than awkwardness—and that interesting things start to happen when you stop caring what people think.

    It premiered 37 years ago, in 1973, and, after 31 series it finally came to an end last year – even though all its original protagonists – Compo, Foggy, even Nora Batty – are now dead. Remarkably, for a series of such longevity and international appeal, it is all about elderly people, has little action or plot, and is set and filmed in and around the small Yorkshire town of Holmfirth. Now, Andrew Vine, the deputy editor of Yorkshire’s daily newspaper, has written the definitive history of this television phenomenon. It covers the show’s inauspicious beginnings, with low ratings, its endless reinvention as participants like Bill Owen, Michael Bates, Brian Wilde and Kathy Staff retired or died, the appearance of a string of guest stars from John Cleese and Norman Wisdom to Thora Hird and Russ Abbott (both of whom soon found themselves fixtures in the cast), and the ingenious plot contrivances as the protagonists became too old and frail to attempt any of the slapstick stunts with runaway prams – indeed any outdoor action. Holmfirth is now a year-round tourist attraction, and endless repeats and new DVD box sets will ensure a readership for this book for years to come.

    

    Animal combines autobiography and evolutionary history to create a funny, fascinating insight into the forces that mould and affect modern women.Animal is entertaining and informative, personal and universal – silly about lots of things and serious about some. It's a laugh-out-loud investigation to help us understand and forgive our animal urges and insecurities.

    As a former, long-time anxiety sufferer myself, I remember vividly the extremely unpleasant and often terrifying symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. This book is my way of reaching my hand out to you and pulling you into a world of calm and productivity! Here are just a couple of the things you'll learn about be able to apply right away Indispensable guidance on identifying your REAL triggers, not just the ones you ASSUME are triggers. The seductive power of automatic and catastrophic thinking Coping strategies that you can use any time (every time you use these, you are rewiring your brain to panic less in the future) Understanding and breaking the feedback loop that panic and anxiety lull you into over the course of years The changes you MUST make to how you react to situations in order to fight anxiety A panic and anxiety "cheat sheet" that you can easily refer to any time, even in the middle of an attack Stop thinking and start doing. Grab the book and get your hands dirty with applying the techniques within. You'll thank yourself! Tags: panic relief, anxiety relief, coping with anxiety, panic attacks and anxiety, anxiety relief, anxiety self help, panic disorder

    Richman--the basis of the Saturday Night Live "Coffee Talk" character developed by her son-in-law, Mike Myers--makes it her mission to get everyone to shake off the blues and make their way back into the world.

    But, no bear hugs, please. Kathleen Keating and Mimi Noland combine their talents to show how and why all kinds of hugs have positive results on IQ, aging, self-esteem, and stress. Simple line art drawings of charismatic cartoon bears lend a whimsical touch to book guaranteed to touch your heart. A great gift idea for someone who needs a hug. A beary, beary uplifting book.

    Learn how to slow down and move at your own pace, become your own boss, and just devour those irritating people who get in your way.Do you struggle out of bed each morning and sway lifelessly across the room, mouth agape, arms hanging slack, murmuring unintelligibly? Well, take heart: you’re not alone! But these other staggering, limp, perpetually drowsy folks just happen to be zombies—and it turns out they can teach us a lot about enjoying life. And only here, between the covers of this book, will you learn their secrets to happiness.And there’s more, because zombies can offer no-nonsense advice on love, playing to your strengths, and more. The table of contents includes:The 24 Habits of Highly Effective ZombiesSlow Down! (You Move Too Fast)Be Your Own BossStrength in NumbersNo Credit Letting Go of Your Ego and Adopting a Zombie’s Spirit of CooperationAnd much more!Learn how to love your undead yourself and succeed in the real world.“We’ve all heard the slurs and stereotypes, but few people stop to consider how much humans have to learn from zombies. What about all the good things zombies do? This book is a guide through the life lessons that can be gleaned from one of the netherworld’s most successful creatures: the implacable, untamable zombie. Whatever your setback or ailment, zombies feel your pain. Have you ever felt as if other people were smarter than you? Quicker on the uptake? Zombies feel this way every day. Have you ever been tongue-tied while those around you knew exactly what to say? (Maybe when you did speak, it came out as nothing more than some guttural croaks and gurgles, and possibly very simple words like ‘brains?’). Zombies haven’t let this stop them. Do you drool at inappropriate times? Stagger when you walk? Stare unblinkingly at passersby, sometimes for hours on end, unnerving each one of them?”

    The right way, the wrong way and the Top Gear way. Although, on reflection, that's usually just the wrong way, but faster and with more shouting. Anyway, the good news is that this third way of doing things can be applied to almost anything, and that includes motoring in general. All you need is the right guidance, which is where the brand new Top Gear Alternative Highway Code comes in. Top Gear's Altnernative Highway Code will show you how to bring the ambitious but rubbish philosophies of the world's most popular TV programme to your driving, containing advice on general motoring, as well as specific tips on how to deal with common eventualities like a rapidly sinking amphibious camper van, a caravan airship that's just crashed into a small bush, or a stupid home-made limousine that's snapped in half while transporting a top celebrity to an awards ceremony.Road users should not leave home without it.

    Your relationships with your friends, your family, and your God are suffering.Ready for a change of pace? Here’s help. Little House on the Freeway takes a look at the breakneck speed at which we live and reveals how to not only put on the brakes, but how to get off the freeway altogether. With a special section, “101 Ways to Give Rest to Your Family” and a new chapter that addresses the perils of the Internet, this timeless classic about the importance of quality family time has been updated to rescue a whole new generation from hurry.Don’t let busyness, productivity, or the tempation to “keep up with the Joneses” keep you from the peace and incredible quality of relationships God created for you.“Hurry and busyness are everyday parts of modern life. True priorities of things that matter most may be lost. Little House on the Freeway offers biblical insights and principles to our hurried existence–help from the Word of God for the life being lived in the fast lane.” -Billy Graham

    Compact enough to fit in the glove compartment or handbag, The Portable Essential Oils is your take-anywhere guide to 250 of the most fundamental essential oil remedies anytime you need them. Having access to your essential oils when you need them is important, and also that essential oils are not a one-size-fits-all remedy. In The Portable Essential Oils, natural health expert Anne Kennedy offers ailment-specific essential oil therapies to address common health concerns—enabling you with safe, convenient ways to take your well-being into your own hands—including: 50 of the most versatile essential oils, including 7 must-haves for home or on-the-go 250 essential oils remedies for or everyday health issues Essential Oil remedies that are safe for use with children and at which ages Shopper's guide on which essential oils to buy, which to be wary of, and important questions to ask

    Talking Cock combines answers to questions about sexuality, circumcision, and strange behavior with a deeply researched history, poignant true-life confessions, and insights from the hilarious to the downright obscene.

    In this raffish, hilarious, scathing yet often surprisingly humane collection, Gill applies his unmatched wit to the largest and smallest issues of our time. Whether you're struggling to satisfy your other half, having a crisis over your baldness, don't like your daughter's boyfriend, or need the definitive rules on shorts, leather jackets and man-bags, AA Gill has all the answers - but you'd better brace yourself first.

    For two years her mind was dark, but in the third year, her mind broke free, and she was able to think clearly and to hear and feel everything—but no one knew. When she was fifteen years old, against all odds and medical predictions, she was finally able to communicate through eye blinks, and she gradually regained her ability to speak and eat and move her upper body, but she faced the devastating reality of paralysis from the waist down because of damage to her spine. However, Victoria didn’t lose her strength or steadfast determination, and two years later, she won a gold medal for swimming at the London 2012 Paralympics. In Locked In, Victoria shares her never-before-published story—the pain, the struggle, the fight to live and thrive, and most importantly, the faith that carried her through. Her journey was not easy, but by believing in God’s healing power and forgiveness, she is living proof that, despite seemingly insurmountable odds and challenges, the will to survive and resolve to live can be a force stronger than our worst deterrents. Not many people get a second chance at life like Victoria has, and she made a promise to God that she would make every moment count.

    “The purpose of this book,” says Housden, “is to inspire you to lighten up and fall in love with the world and all that is in it.” Reading it is a pleasure indeed.“When you die,God and the angels will hold you accountablefor all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.”Roger Housden, author of the bestselling Ten Poems series, presents a joyously affirmative, warmly personal, and spiritually illuminating meditation on the virtues of opening ourselves up to pleasures like being foolish, not being perfect, and doing nothing useful, the pleasure of not knowing, and even (would you believe it?) the pleasure of being ordinary.