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The Seven Keys of Balabad
by Mark Zug Paul HavenInspired by the years he spent in Afghanistan and Pakistan as bureau chief with The Associated Press, Paul Haven's intricately crafted tale is filled with details of everyday life in this remote and frequently overlooked part of the world. Loosely based on the legendary Golden Hoard of Bactria--the renowned hidden treasure discovered in northern Afghanistan in 1978--this fast-paced middle-grade novel will appeal to readers who like their twists and turns filled with mysterious characters, exotic locales, and an utterly relatable protagonist. Welcome to Balabad, birthplace of the international secret society known as the Brotherhood of Arachosia--and rumored hiding place of the grandest riches the world has ever known. Balabad is also the country Oliver Finch has called home ever since his father was reassigned to this dull, war-torn dust bowl. Each day runs into the next for Oliver until a five-hundred-year-old sacred carpet is stolen. Then one of the few friends he has disappears. Oliver is determined to figure out what exactly is going on. But in order to do that he'll have to consult with a one-eyed warrior, track down the far-flung members of the Brotherhood, and unlock a centuries-old secret! Suddenly, life in Balabad for Oliver has become a whole lot more interesting . . . and dangerous.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
by Shehan KarunatilakaAn Instant National Bestseller • One of the New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2022 • An NPR Book We Loved in 2022 • Named a Best Fiction Book of 2022 by the Washington Post, Times (UK), Financial Times, and The Guardian. Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a searing satire set amid the mayhem of the Sri Lankan civil war. Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka. Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a “thrilling satire” (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.
The Seven Sneezes (A\golden Classic Ser.)
by Golden Books Bruce IngmanA classic Golden Book, with lots of kid appeal, is back in print!What happens when the local rag man sneezes? The kitten's ears end up on the bunny. The bunny's ears end up on the kitten. The dog meows, the cat barks. "No barnyard will have me!" crows the rooster, whose tail feathers now sprout out of his head. But with a little concentration--and a lot of pepper--the rag man tries to sneeze everything right: "Katchoo! Katchim! Katcham! Katchibble! Fumadiddle! Skedaddle! Fiddle-faddle!" Hilariously reillustrated by Bruce Ingman, this classic Golden Book will delight a new generation.From the Hardcover edition.
The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig (A Love Story): A Love Story
by Don ZolidisJanesville, Wisconsin (cold in the sense that there is no God)1994The best thing that's ever happened to Craig is also the worst: Amy. Amy and Craig never should've gotten together. Craig is an awkward Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek, and Amy is the beautiful, fiercely intelligent student-body president of their high school. Yet somehow they did?until Amy dumped him. Then got back together with him. Then dumped him again. Then got back together with him again. Over and over and over. Unfolding during their senior year, Amy and Craig's exhilarating, tumultuous relationship is a kaleidoscope of joy, pain, and laughter as an uncertain future-and adult responsibility-loom on the horizon. Craig fights for his dream of escaping Janesville and finding his place at a quirky college, while Amy's quest to uncover her true self sometimes involves being Craig's girlfriend?and sometimes doesn't. Seven heartbreaks. Seven joys.Told nonsequentially, acclaimed playwright Don Zolidis's debut novel is a brutally funny, bittersweet taste of the utterly unique and universal experience of first love.
The Seven Year Bitch
by Jennifer BelleFrom the bestselling author of High Maintenance and Going Down comes a witty, heartfelt comic novel about marriage, motherhood, and discovering that the life you have is exactly the one you want. What’s a fabulous New York City girl supposed to do when she finds herself fantasizing about the Grim Reaper more than she fantasizes about her husband? When she can’t help but give him the finger on the set of Sesame Street? And when she doesn’t exactly hope for a safe landing when he goes away on business? No, ex-hedge fund manager and new mom Isolde Brilliant hasn’t got the seven year itch-taking care of her baby and husband and having a growing suspicion that she’s living life in captivity has turned her into a seven year bitch. That’s New York author Jennifer Belle’s deliciously provocative phrase for the boredom, anger, and hurt that can creep into even the best of marriages-and affect even the most saintly of wives. In the tradition of Jennifer Weiner and Meg Wolitzer, Belle delivers a dead-on, raw and hilarious novel about motherhood and marriage and discovering the life you have is exactly the one you wanted. .
The Seven Year Slip
by Ashley Poston"A gorgeous love story from one of the finest romance writers out there." —Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer AfterA New York Public Library Best Book of 2023A Most Anticipated Book by Entertainment Weekly ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ PopSugar ∙ Real Simple ∙ BookRiot ∙ and more!An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn&’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn&’t sure her heart can take it.And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt&’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would&’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she&’ll be doomed.After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.
The Seventh Day
by Yu Hua Allan H. BarrFrom the acclaimed author of Brothers and To Live: a major new novel that limns the joys and sorrows of life in contemporary China. Yang Fei was born on a moving train. Lost by his mother, adopted by a young switchman, raised with simplicity and love, he is utterly unprepared for the tempestuous changes that await him and his country. As a young man, he searches for a place to belong in a nation that is ceaselessly reinventing itself, but he remains on the edges of society. At age forty-one, he meets an accidental and unceremonious death. Lacking the money for a burial plot, he must roam the afterworld aimlessly, without rest. Over the course of seven days, he encounters the souls of the people he's lost. As Yang Fei retraces the path of his life, we meet an extraordinary cast of characters: his adoptive father, his beautiful ex-wife, his neighbors who perished in the demolition of their homes. Traveling on, he sees that the afterworld encompasses all the casualties of today's China--the organ sellers, the young suicides, the innocent convicts--as well as the hope for a better life to come. Yang Fei's passage maps the contours of this vast nation--its absurdities, its sorrows, and its soul. Vivid, urgent, and panoramic, The Seventh Day affirms Yu Hua's place as the standard-bearer of modern Chinese fiction.From the Hardcover edition.
The Seventh Function of Language: A Novel
by Laurent Binet“A cunning, often hilarious mystery for the Mensa set and fans of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia.” —Heller McAlpin, NPRParis, 1980. The literary critic Roland Barthes dies—struck by a laundry van—after lunch with the presidential candidate François Mitterand. The world of letters mourns a tragic accident. But what if it wasn’t an accident at all? What if Barthes was . . . murdered?In The Seventh Function of Language, Laurent Binet spins a madcap secret history of the French intelligentsia, starring such luminaries as Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Julia Kristeva—as well as the hapless police detective Jacques Bayard, whose new case will plunge him into the depths of literary theory (starting with the French version of Roland Barthes for Dummies). Soon Bayard finds himself in search of a lost manuscript by the linguist Roman Jakobson on the mysterious “seventh function of language.”A brilliantly erudite comedy, The Seventh Function of Language takes us from the cafés of Saint-Germain to the corridors of Cornell University, and into the duels and orgies of the Logos Club, a secret philosophical society that dates to the Roman Empire. Binet has written both a send-up and a wildly exuberant celebration of the French intellectual tradition.“Binet juxtaposes car chases with highbrow in-jokes and ruminations. The book is a love letter to the power of language—the most dangerous weapon is the tongue.” —The New Yorker“An affectionate send-up of an Umberto Eco–style intellectual thriller that doubles as an exemplar of the genre, filled with suspense, elaborate conspiracies, and exotic locales.” —Esquire
The Several Lives of Orphan Jack
by Sarah EllisWinner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award and the IODE Violet Downey Book Award For young Jack, life is tough at the Opportunities School for Orphans. But Jack is good at staying out of trouble. He has skipped over trouble, danced around trouble, slid under trouble, melted away from trouble, talked his way out of trouble and slipped between two close troubles like a cat through a picket fence. When Jack turns twelve, he is given the biggest opportunity of all, but suddenly his life is nothing but trouble. Still, he is a clever and resilient boy, and eventually he makes his way into the big world. Jack is rich in ideas, and soon he finds there is a place for an enterprising boy who has whims, concepts, plans, opinions, impressions, notions and fancies to spare. In the tradition of Natalie Babbitt, Sarah Ellis brings her quirky sense of humor and imagination to bear in this witty, warm fable. Bruno St-Aubin's evocative black-and-white illustrations capture perfectly the dreadful Schoolmaster Bane, the crowlike accountant Mr. Ledger, Lou the skinny bun merchant, and Christabel, the miller's little daughter.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
by J. Maarten TroostFantasized about quitting the 9-5? Walking away from credit card debt and student loans? Think living in the South Pacific for two years sounds like a perfect solution and perhaps even a winning idea for your first novel? Maarten Troost does just that, setting up as a devil-may-care islander while his girlfriend, Sylvia, gets to work on saving the planet, or at least a little part of it on an end-of-the-world atoll, Tarawa. Life on Tarawa resembles not so much paradise as a theatre of the absurd where planes fly with the aid of masking tape, Coconut Stalinism prevails as national government and Sylvia is co-opted by the CIA to spy on the Chinese. But abandoning continental hang-ups like barbequeing the local dogs and watching on as international industrial fishing trawlers plunder the world's richest tuna supply aren't so easy.
The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins
by Irvine WelshThe famed--some would say notorious--author of Trainspotting and many other brilliant offenses against common literary decency comes at last to America, with a dark and twisted tale of personal training and abject codependency in the fading glitter of Miami's South Beach, with a novel that asks the provocative question: Why would you want to be "the Biggest Loser" anyway? When Lucy Brennan, a Miami Beach personal-fitness trainer, disarms an apparently crazed gunman chasing two frightened homeless men along a deserted causeway at night, the police and the breaking-news cameras are not far behind. Within hours, Lucy becomes a hero. Her celebrity is short-lived, though: the "crazed gunman," turns out to be a victim of child sexual abuse and the two men are serial pedophiles. The solitary eye-witness, the depressed and overweight Lena Sorenson, thrilled by Lucy's heroism and decisiveness, becomes obsessed with the trainer and enrolls as a client at her Bodysculpt gym. It quickly becomes clear that Lena is more interested in Lucy's body than her own. Then, when one of the pedophiles she allowed to escape carries out a heinous sex attack, Lucy's transition from hero to villain is complete. When Lucy imprisons Lena, and can't stop thinking about the sex lives of Siamese twins, the real problems start. In Lucy and Lena, Irvine Welsh has created two of his most memorable female protagonists, and one of the most bizarre, sadomasochistic folie à deux in contemporary fiction. The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins taps into two great obsessions of our time--how we look and where we live--and tells a story so subversive and dark it blacks out the Florida sun.From the Hardcover edition.
The Sex Sphere
by Rudy RuckerPunk-rock science fiction! Nuclear terrorists, a political kidnapping, and a giant woman from the fourth dimension. Say good-bye to the old world. This literary tour de force explores the landscape of the higher dimensions with the humor and vigor of an underground cartoon. At the same time, it manages to be a heartfelt and realistic depiction of a contemporary marriage.
The Sex, Love & Stiletto Series 4-Book Bundle
by Lauren LayneHailed by Ruthie Knox as "fun, sexy, and sharp as a spike heel," the Sex, Love & Stiletto series from USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne introduces the glamorous columnists of Stiletto magazine and the ridiculously hot men who love them. Now all four novels--After the Kiss, Love the One You're With, Just One Night, and The Trouble with Love--are together in one eBook bundle. AFTER THE KISS"After the Kiss is a knock-your-stilettos-off, total page-turning treat that had me fan-girling up within the first chapter."--USA Today bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly Julie Greene loves flings: first dates, first kisses, that first sexy romp between the sheets. But when Julie has to write an article about the magical shift between dating and "I do," she'll need a man brave enough to reform a total commitment-phobe. Normally, that man would be Mitchell Forbes, a devastatingly handsome workaholic who stays in relationships far too long. But Mitchell is looking to cut loose for once, and Julie's exactly the type of no-strings fling he's looking for. In other words, he's the polar opposite of what she needs--and exactly what she wants. LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH"Spunky, flirty, and full of sass, Love the One You're With is everything a romance should be! Lauren Layne has a winner."--New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig After her fiancé turns out to be the kind of rotten, cheating liar she always warns her readers about, Grace Brighton swears off relationships for six months. She makes an exception for a joint article on dating with a gorgeous counterpart from the men's magazine Oxford--and tries to tell herself she's not instantly smitten. Jake Malone only agreed to this fluffy assignment because his playboy reputation makes his new editor nervous. But after just one date with snooty, sumptuous, sensational Grace, Jake starts taking this assignment a whole lot more seriously. JUST ONE NIGHT"Sexy, sassy, and surprisingly sweet, Just One Night is a total page-turner!"--New York Times bestselling author Donna Alward As Stiletto's resident "sexpert," Riley McKenna writes articles that are the magazine's most read. But when Riley is forced to confront a long-hidden secret--that her own sexual experience is limited to one awkward college encounter--she calls in the favor of a lifetime. Sam Compton knows two things about his best friend's little sister: She's the woman for him, and she's completely off-limits. Sam shouldn't even consider Riley's proposition. But after a one-night stand in the name of research, they learn firsthand that, with each other, there's no such thing as just one night. THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE"The Trouble with Love is a heartwarming read I devoured in one sitting and haven't been able to stop smiling over since."--New York Times bestselling author Violet Duke Five years ago, Emma Sinclair was a blushing bride-to-be. Now she's the ice queen of the Manhattan dating scene--and her latest article forces her to face the devilishly sexy guy who ditched her at the altar. After giving up everything for a pro soccer career, Alex Cassidy is hanging up his cleats and taking a shot at journalism . . . in the same city as his former fiancée. But Emma isn't the innocent girl he remembers. She's chic, sophisticated, and assertive--and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has never wanted her more.
The Sexiest Man Alive
by Juliet RosettiJuliet Rosetti's steamy Escape Diaries series--perfect for fans of Kristan Higgins and Susan Elizabeth Phillips--continues as Mazie's on-again, off-again relationship with certified hottie Ben Labeck simmers out of control. Mazie Maguire doesn't need some lousy awards panel to tell her what she already knows: Ben Labeck--the chiseled, 6'3" photojournalist and hockey player who drives her wild--is the Sexiest Man Alive. And she especially doesn't need the rest of the world to know it, too. Watching every last woman in the Milwaukee metro area throw themselves at the man who shares Mazie's bed is more than any respectable single lady should bear. So when Ben has the nerve to "forget" to call for a week, Mazie decides to call it off for good. But as she jumps back into the dating game, Mazie catches the attention of some real bad boys: The Skulls. When the motorcycle gang kidnaps Mazie in a case of mistaken identity, she suddenly sees Ben's behavior in a whole new light. She'd do anything to wake up in Ben's surprisingly tender arms one more time--so long as the Sexiest Man Alive doesn't go and get himself killed trying to save her.Praise for the Mazie Maguire series Tangled Thing Called Love "With humor to rival Sophie Kinsella and romance and mystery akin to Janet Evanovich, [Juliet] Rosetti's title has something to appeal to most contemporary romance fans."--Library Journal "I highly suggest that anyone who enjoys fun, funny, romantic mysteries, similar in heart to Janet Evanovich's work, check out Juliet Rosetti's Tangled Thing Called Love."--Aya M. Productions "The banter between Mazie and Ben is still sharp and witty."--Clue Review Crazy for You "Mazie is a klutz in the spirit of Stephanie Plum. . . . She's a take-life-by-the-horns kind of person that I want to know. Quirky, delightful fun . . . More Mazie please."--Barbara Vey, Publishers Weekly "I can still remember how happy I felt while reading the book."--Keeper's Book Reviews "A light read, with laughter abound . . . truly hilarious."--Literarily Illumined The Escape Diaries "I can't say enough good things about this fun, delightful book. It's a quick read that will have you calling your friends to have them read it so you can all talk about it."--Barbara Vey, Publishers Weekly Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from other Loveswept titles.
The Sh!t No One Tells You About Divorce: A Guide to Breaking Up, Falling Apart, and Putting Yourself Back Together
by Dawn DaisA bestselling author offers a refreshingly honest, compassionate guide to the sh!tstorm that is divorce: falling apart, staying afloat, and new beginnings (whether you are ready for them or not). After 12 years together, 2 children, 10 pets, and 5 properties, Dawn and her partner decided to call it quits. In the newest installment of her bestselling Sh!t No One Tells You series, Dawn tries to figure out what happened… and what happens next. Dawn takes you on her own bumpy, meandering, and often absurd journey through the destruction of a life exploded by divorce. She dodges legal hurdles, irrational decisions, alarmed therapists, random hobbies, and a concerning number of dating app profiles that look like the beginning of a true crime podcast. But somehow, she found herself stronger—and happier—on the other side. Leaning into the mess, Dawn helps you learn the art of embracing Netflix and cry, the healing power of profanity, the importance of assembling the right support squad, how to survive the sh!tshow of co-parenting, and much more. Joined by an insightful chorus of divorced friends, Dawn delivers a true-to-life and funnier-than-it-should-be guide to discovering the unexpected value in the wreckage. What if divorce isn&’t just a loss—but an opportunity?
The Sh!t No One Tells You About Pregnancy: A Guide to Surviving Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Beyond (Sh!t No One Tells You #4)
by Dawn DaisThe fourth book in Dawn Dais's popular Sh!t No One Tells You series offers "been there, freaked out about that" advice for expectant parents The fourth title in Dawn Dais's popular parenting series, The Sh!t No One Tells You About Pregnancy is quite possibly the funniest, and most heartfelt, yet. After all, pregnancy is not all about scanning Pinterest for baby shower themes and registering for ironic onesies, and sometimes the less flattering aspects of gestation have a way of dimming a bit of that so-called pregnancy glow.Not to worry! Dawn is here, ready to shepherd you through the experience of one human body taking on the task of growing another human body. (Spoiler alert: It ain't always pretty.)Dawn covers it all, sharing expert lists, tips, warnings, and even a series of Parent-Training Workouts designed to increase readers' tolerance to the various indignities of parenthood, like peeing with an audience and surviving an afternoon in Chuck E. Cheese.The Sh!t No One Tells You About Pregnancy is a must-have guide for expectant moms (and their partners!) who are looking for some counsel, comedy, and camaraderie during their ultimate countdown to parenthood.
The Shaadi Set-Up
by Lillie ValeIn this witty and heartfelt rom-com debut for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Emily Henry, and Tessa Bailey, an Indian American woman signs herself and her boyfriend up for a matchmaking site to prove they're a perfect match, only to be paired with her ex instead.High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that's exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency. While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she's not taking any risks. To prove she's definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she's shocked when MyShaadi's perfect match for her isn't Neil...it's Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn't so wrong after all....
The Shacking Up Series (Shacking Up)
by Helena HuntingThree sexy, hilarious full-length Shacking Up novels by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting together in one convenient package for the first time! Shacking UpRuby Scott is months behind on rent and can’t seem to land a steady job. She has one chance to turn things around with a big audition. But instead of getting her big break, she gets sick as a dog and completely bombs it in the most humiliating fashion. All thanks to a mysterious, gorgeous guy who kissed—and then coughed on—her at a party the night before.Luckily, her best friend might have found the perfect opportunity; a job staying at the lavish penthouse apartment of hotel magnate Bancroft Mills while he’s out of town, taking care of his exotic pets. But when the newly-evicted Ruby arrives to meet her new employer, it turns out Bane is the same guy who got her sick.Hooking UpAmalie Whitfield is the picture of a blushing bride during her wedding reception–her husband can be heard, by Amalie and their guests, getting off with someone else. She has every reason to freak out, and in a moment of insanity, she throws herself at the first hot-blooded male she sees. But he’s not interested in becoming her revenge screw.Amalie decides to go on her honeymoon alone, only to find the man who rejected her also heading to the same tiny island for work. But this time he isn’t holding back. They might agree that what happens on the island should stay on the island, but neither one can deny that their attraction is more than just physical. Making UpCosy Felton is great at her job—so when the hottest guy she’s ever seen walks into the shop looking completely overwhelmed, she’s more than happy to turn on the charm and help him purchase all of the items on his list. Griffin Mills is using his business trip in Las Vegas as a chance to escape the broken pieces of his life in New York City but pleasantly surprised when he finds himself attracted to the sales girl that helped him.As skeptical as Cosy may be of Griffin’s motivations, there’s something about him that intrigues her. But sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas and when real life gets in the way, all bets are off.
The Shade Seller: A Korean Folk Tale
by Teri Farrell-GittinsIn this Korean folktale, a greedy merchant sells the shade from his tree to a passing traveler. What he doesn’t realize, however, is just how clever this traveler is! What happens when the merchant’s ploy backfires and the traveler decides to stay in the shade?
The Shadow Man: A Novel
by Sofia ShafquatIn this first novel, Sofia Shafquat combines the insightful humor of Cathy Guisewite with a fresh new literary voice and a quintessentially California milieu. She speaks to women of the nineties who still remember lifetimes spent waiting for elusive and resistant men. What makes them such shadows? What would it have taken to make them real?
The Shaker's Guide to Good Manners
by Flo Morse Vincent NewtonThe intimate guide to life as a Shaker in 19th century America "Never make more free with your inferiors than you are willing they should make with you; it learns them to be saucy." Such sage words of advice come from Mother Ann Lee's Society of the Shakers, who in 1844 published A Juvenile Guide, or Manual of Good Manners, Consisting of Counsels, Instructions, & Rules of Deportment for the Young. Known for their piety, their economy, and (perhaps most famously) their celibacy, the Shakers knew a thing or two about etiquette and proper decorum. With this incredible artifact of a bygone era, you can experience what it was like to live in a rural 19th century religious community, where children were taught to "be careful not to talk too loud, nor too much" and to "always have a place for every thing, and keep every thing in its place."
The Shakespeare Requirement: A Novel
by Julie SchumacherThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in this hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members. Once more into the breach...Now is the fall of his discontent, as Jason Fitger, newly appointed chair of the English Department of Payne University, takes arms against a sea of troubles, personal and institutional. His ex-wife is sleeping with the dean who must approve whatever modest initiatives he undertakes. The fearsome department secretary Fran clearly runs the show (when not taking in rescue parrots and dogs) and holds plenty of secrets she's not sharing. The lavishly funded Econ Department keeps siphoning off English's meager resources and has taken aim at its remaining office space. And Fitger's attempt to get a mossbacked and antediluvian Shakespeare scholar to retire backfires spectacularly when the press concludes that the Bard is being kicked to the curricular curb. Lord, what fools these mortals be! Julie Schumacher proves the point and makes the most of it in this delicious romp of satire.
The Shambling Guide to New York City (The Shambling Guides #1)
by Mur Lafferty"Wit, style and plenty of sardonic dialogue, like Douglas Adams writing an episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" - James Lovegrove, The Financial TimesCOULD YOU FIND A HOTEL FOR A HARPY? OR A BAR FOR A BIGFOOT? Following the disaster that was her last job, Zoë is searching for a fresh start as a travel writer in New York City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position, though, Zoë is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her résumé - human. Not to be put off by anything - especially not her blood-drinking boss or death goddess co-worker - Zoë delves deep into the monster world. But her assignments turn deadly when the careful balance between humans and monsters starts to crumble with Zoë right in the middle. "If Buffy grew up, got therapy and found a real job, it would look like this." - Scott Sigler "Shows exactly why so many writers have been buzzing about Mur Lafferty for so many years: an unbeatable mixture of humor, heart, imagination, and characterization. I want to live in Mur's New York." - Cory Doctorow "Lafferty's novel has wit, style and plenty of sardonic dialogue, like Douglas Adams writing an episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" - James Lovegrove, The Financial Times "THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY is a high-concept, high-comedy romp through the supernatural underworld. It's like nothing you've ever read before - and that's a good thing." - Seanan McGuire (aka Mira Grant, author of FEED) "A wild ride through the secret side of New York City, Mur Lafferty's mighty debut is urban fantasy the way it should be: fast, funny, with bags of action and characters you'll love. A total delight from cover to cover." - Adam Christopher, author of EMPIRE STATE "Without Mur Lafferty, the SF genre would be a much duller place." - Paul Cornell
The Shambling Guide to New York City (The Shambling Guides #1)
by Mur LaffertyFollowing the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a fresh start as a travel writer in New York City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position, though, Zoe is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her résumé - human.Not to be put off by anything - especially not her blood-drinking boss or death goddess co-worker - Zoe delves deep into the monster world. But her assignments turn deadly when the careful balance between humans and monsters starts to crumble - with Zoe right in the middle.
The She Code
by Chris Marie Green"I suspected my friendship with Sheila was doomed on the night she blew my boyfriend...."Meet Mandy Halsey, fresh out of college and determined to go from being a receptionist at the assembly line comic book house where she works to being a real-live penciler by the end of the year. That's the plan, anyway.But life isn't cooperating. First, her job feels like a dead end. Second, her personal life isn't exactly on fire, either, especially since her best friend seems to be moving in on every guy who catches Mandy's eye. Is it just Mandy's imagination or has Sheila totally changed since graduation, becoming someone who's almost a stranger?No way, because the BFFs grew up with The She Code. See, girls have rules with each other, so surely the friend Mandy grew up with wouldn't ever break the Code--and break Mandy's heart at the same time...THE SHE CODE, a new adult/single girl/geek lit hybrid, is all about the bright side of angst--because there definitely is one! Featuring 35 sketches and comic panels by Billy Martinez of Neko Press Comics."It's sort of like 250 pages of therapy, only cheaper. And funnier." - Sandra, Reads and Reviews