Humorous fiction

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Book SynopsisA laugh-out-loud read from the Sunday Times bestselling author of If I Never Met YouTrade ReviewPraise for Here’s Looking At You: ‘An absolute blinder of a read’ Sun ‘A romantic and charming read guaranteed to deliver plenty of laugh-out-loud moments’ OK! ‘Mhairi McFarlane’s characters shine with wit and insight’ Irish Times ‘Sparkly writing, laugh out loud funny and a story that'll keep you enthralled. What's not to love?’ Jane Fallon Praise for You Had Me at Hello: ‘Very very witty and funny. Left me in awe … a total gem’ Marian Keyes ‘The funniest, most romantic book I've read since One Day’ Lisa Jewell ‘I loved this book. It made me laugh and reminded me that anything's possible in love – and in everything else for that matter’ Minnie Driver ‘Mhairi is darkly funny and quite, quite rude … You Had Me at Hello is a breath of tart, Northern air’ Sarra Manning

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Book SynopsisIt only takes one night to fall in love…Trade Review PRAISE FOR ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS ‘A feel-good tale guaranteed to make you forget all the bad stuff’ The Sun ‘For brilliantly written pure escapism, Lindsey Kelk’s On a Night Like This conjures up a modern-day Cinderella story with some killer one liners’ Stylist ‘Funny and feel-good, this is another brilliant read from Lindsey Kelk’ Closer ‘Lindsey Kelk is a serious comic talent’ Emma Hughes, The Guardian ‘We all need an escape at times, and who better to serve a delicious, escapist romance?’ Woman and Home ‘Heartwarming and full of humour’ Prima ‘We loved this feel-good book’ Bella

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Tim O'Brien is one American author whose works I look forward to the most. His new novel’s ironic depiction of a post-Iraq War, mid-COVID, and mid-Trump world is piercing and razor-sharp." — Haruki Murakami “O’Brien’s first novel in two decades was well worth the wait. . . . In the age of ‘mythomania,’ O’Brien takes aim at the lies that power this country, and how and why they sustain us. America Fantastica peers straight into the dark heart of the American psyche, and it's unafraid of the comedy and tragedy staring back.” — Esquire, Best Books of the Fall “[A] compulsively readable, cackle-worthy social satire about our truth-challenged times. ... Without letting anyone off the hook, America Fantastica holds a cracked mirror up to a poisoned zeitgeist and dares you not to laugh. Resistance is futile.” — Boston Globe “Tim O’Brien’s first novel in 21 years is an antic, caustic and funny condemnation of the way we live now in the United States." — Wall Street Journal "This is the first novel in 20 years from O’Brien, a National Book Award winner, who is best known for The Things They Carried. The story is a madcap heist/road-trip starring a bank robber (who used to be a journalist) and his spitfire hostage, Angie. In hot pursuit are a bumbling private eye, a drug-fueled billionaire and a wannabe Charles Manson." — New York Times, "34 Works of Fiction to Read This Fall" “[A] timely odyssey. ... O'Brien paints a new, unflinching portrait of Americana that reads like a road map to our modern age.” — Entertainment Weekly, “Must List” “A satirical romp through a country plagued by deceit. ... There are echoes of his famous Vietnam War novel, Going After Cacciato, a book built on a darkly absurd pursuit amid individual and national uncertainty. ... It’s one of those books where you can sense the author enjoying himself and it’s fun to be along for the ride. A broadly engaging and entertaining work.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Tim O’Brien is one of our greatest storytellers, and his latest—America Fantastica—is a beauty. Steeped in acute wisdom and hilarious wisecracks, this satirical romp through the ‘mythomania’ and ‘lying contagion’ that plagues our society is also a study in one man’s broken heart and the truths that have shaped it.” — Jill McCorkle “Hunter S. Thompson meets Sacha Baron Cohen in this amusing and alarming road trip to the center of America’s mendacious heart. ... O’Brien keeps everything afloat on a cloud of pure gonzo bliss. If this is indeed the author’s valedictory novel, he’s bowing out with a star-spangled bang." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “O’Brien’s farcical satire blends fierce social commentary and a searing indictment of our post-fact culture into a nonstop joyride.” — Booklist "A desperate bank robbery morphs into a cross-country chase featuring hit men, a billionaire tycoon, jealous lovers, and several ex-cons. O’Brien hands America a mirror once more." — Goodreads, Most Anticipated Books of the Fall "His searing accounts of the Vietnam War brought him fame and the National Book Award. Now, after a 20-year hiatus from writing fiction, a long-awaited new novel takes aim at contemporary America." — GQ “A simultaneously raucous and surprisingly empathetic novel. ... If Elmore Leonard had collaborated with the Coen brothers to produce a screenplay, the result might loosely resemble America Fantastica.” — Bookreporter.com

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Book Synopsis[A] definitive work of millennial literature . . . wretchedly riveting. —Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker “Girls + Office Space + My Year of Rest and Relaxation + anxious sweating = The New Me.” —Entertainment Weekly I'm still trying to make the dream possible: still might finish my cleaning project, still might sign up for that yoga class, still might, still might. I step into the shower and almost faint, an image of taking the day by the throat and bashing its head against the wall floating in my mind. Thirty-year-old Millie just can't pull it together. She spends her days working a thankless temp job and her nights alone in her apartment, fixating on all the ways she might change her situation--her job, her attitude, her appearance, her life. Then she watches TV until she falls asleep, and the cycle begins again. When th

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Book SynopsisAn anthropologist and his daughter travel to Kermunkachunk, the capital of Chalazia, to conduct research for an ethnography on the Chalazian Mafia Faction (a splinter group of the Chalazian Children''s Theater). The book takes place over the course of a night at the Bar Pulpo, Kermunkachunk''s #1 spoken-word karaoke bar. Moreover, it''s Thursday, Father/Daughter Nite, when the bar is frequented by actual fathers and daughters as well as couples cosplaying fathers and daughters.Somehow emanating from the letters on an optometrist''s eye chart, from karaoke screens in the bar, and from posters on a piazza that''s the scene of phantasmagorical and unending mob wars, Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit relentlessly pulls the rug out from under itself, leaving you suspended in a state of perpetual exhilaration.Leyner, one of the most blazingly imaginative and influential writers of the last thirty years, has not only written his funniest novel, he''s broken through to s

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Book SynopsisAn anthropologist and his daughter travel to Kermunkachunk, the capitol of Chalazia, to conduct research for an ethnography on the Chalazian Mafia Faction (a splinter group of the Chalazian Children''s Theater). The book takes place over the course of a night at the Bar Pulpo, Kermunkachunk''s #1 spoken-word karaoke bar, where conversations are actually being read from multiple karaoke screens arrayed around the barroom. Moreover, it''s Thursday, Father/Daughter Nite, when the bar is frequented by actual fathers and daughters as well as couples cosplaying fathers and daughters. Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit is a book about the deep pleasures of reading and drinking, the tumultuous reign of a cabal of mystic mobsters, and, of course, the transcendent love of a father for his daughter.

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Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewAs delightful as anything Naipaul has written. * New York Review of Books *V. S. Naipaul has a substantial claim as a comic writer . . . This humour, conducted throughout with the utmost stylistic quietude, is completely original. -- Kingsley Amis * Spectator *

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Book Synopsis#1 bestselling author Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels are: “irresistible” (Houston Chronicle), “stunning” (Booklist), “outrageous” (Publishers Weekly), “brilliantly evocative” (The Denver Post), and “making trouble and winning hearts” (USA Today).   New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is certain of three truths: People don’t just vanish into thin air. Never anger old people. And don’t do what Tiki tells you to do.   After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie

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Book SynopsisUsing the cover artwork of our much-loved Virago Modern Classics hardback range, these elegant porcelain mugs celebrate three of our most popular titles: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. They are a must-have for all Virago fans, and are surely the most stylish way to enjoy your morning coffee! Each mug is presented in a beautiful gift-box with corresponding artwork. The mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe. Rebecca and Excellent Women feature artwork by award-winning textile designer Neisha Crosland: www.neishacrosland.com Valley of the Dolls features artwork by textile designer and founder of Biba, Barbara Hulanicki: www.barbarahulanickidesign.comTrade ReviewI'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym -- Richard Osman * Guardian *Why shouldn't the lives of cardigan-wearing spinsters and fussy confirmed bachelors be the engines of some of the finest comic writing in English? Not only was Pym a comic genius but she was ever so wise * The Times *Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life -- Anne TylerOne of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century -- Alexander McCall Smith

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize''tender, vicious, hilarious, exhilarating, devastating and HOPEFUL''Daisy Buchanan''my favourite kind of debut novel''Caroline O''Donoghue''a riotous rollercoaster of hilarity, tenderness and beautiful craziness that kept me hooked from the start''Sara Lawrence, Daily MailFrances was not looking for a relationship when she met Elaine in a bar. She was, in fact, looking to drown her sorrows and nurse a broken heart. But somehow, Elaine ended up in Frances''s bed and never left.Now, faced with mounting pressure from her drug dealer to access some cash, Frances comes up with a terrible idea - she asks Elaine to move in with her. Unfortunately, this makes Elaine even more sex-crazed and maniacal with love. Frances fears she may never escape the relationship, so, given no choice, she makes the obvious decision: she will sedate Elaine.Trade ReviewSedating Elaine is a brilliantly quirky, surreally funny story of a woman who comes up with the craziest idea ever for clearing her debts. In Frances, Dawn Winter has created an intriguingly headstrong yet vulnerable character with an astonishing talent for making the worst possible life-decisions. I laughed, cringed and held on to the edge of my seat as Frances' hare-brained scheme hurtled along like a runaway train heading for a precipice. A thoroughly entertaining read! -- Sarah HaywoodAs soon as I read the synopsis for Sedating Elaine I was hooked - it's tender, vicious, hilarious, exhilarating, devastating and HOPEFUL. The vibe is Amy Sedaris x Eleanor Oliphant. I LOVED it. -- Daisy BuchananIn Dawn Winter's knockout debut, Sedating Elaine, Frances owes money to a drug dealer and, with no way of getting it, contrives to have her obnoxiously upbeat, generationally wealthy girlfriend, Elaine, move in with her so she can shake her down for money... The prose, like Frances, is sprightly and dry. Crisp. Delivered with a shrug... Frances is funny and winning... You find yourself rooting for the drugging to go off without a hitch * New York Times *It's not often I root for a depressive villain hellbent on doping up their girlfriend, but there's so much in Dawn's book that's painfully relatable to a lot of people - building up exes into demigods, irrational hatred for perfectly sweet-natured rebounds, general frustration with life and not really understanding how unresolved trauma can still manipulate you. Although it's a bonkers premise, Sedating Elaine is an emotionally charged story that's beautifully told - I was very impressed by the writing: lovely and thoughtful but also deliciously catty, as well as engrossing, compelling, and darkly funny with well-drawn characters whose complexities come as naturally as breathing in and out . . . an enjoyable riot of a novel -- Justin MyersThe story of a savage anti-heroine that feels part Hitchcock fantasy, part Patrick Bateman. Brutal, funny, and genuinely shocking in places, Sedating Elaine is my favourite kind of debut novel: in that you can tell it was written by someone with an acid drive to write something they have never read anywhere before -- Caroline O’DonoghueSedating Elaine is a delightfully unhinged romp through romantic debacle, jaw-dropping decisions, and an emotional quagmire of guilt and longing. In this deft debut, Dawn Winters has created a modern, madcap comedy of errors that ultimately offers a touching lesson in forgiveness. Utterly bonkers and as darkly comic as it gets, Sedating Elaine is a brilliant, bingeable read -- Rachel Yoder, author of NIGHTBITCHSedating Elaine is a tasty caffeinated jolt that grabs you from page one and races you to a surprisingly moving conclusion - I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Dawn Winter's dazzling wit is beautifully coupled with a natural ability to explore difficult themes like loss and forgiveness. A winning debut -- Steven Rowley, bestselling author of LILY AND THE OCTOPUS'Brash and engaging' * Kirkus *Winter's sharp debut blends humor and emotional reflections with an exploration of trauma, substance abuse, and dysfunctional relationships . . . Written in moving and candid prose, this takes an unflinching look at what troubled people are capable of, and what they might need to be healed. The result is amusing and touching in equal parts' * Publisher's Weekly *Sedating Elaine has everything I crave in a novel: a delightfully subversive premise; a narrator with her life in shambles; and a voice that crackles with heart and wit. What really kept me turning the pages, though, was Winter's unexpected and poignant look at loss and grief. I loved this book -- Grant Ginder, author of THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDINGElectric prose paired with a sharp-edged wit, on its surface SEDATING ELAINE is an off-kilter bop that will make you sweat and flip pages. However, the true victory of Winter's debut is its unblinking desire to capture humanity in all its crooked beauty. Frances is a narrator who reminds us to look past people's rough exteriors and consider their vulnerable insides -- Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of PIZZA GIRLSharply observed, morally chaotic, in moments both madcap and elegiac, Sedating Elaine does the surprising work of putting human emotional damage on display first for laughs, and then for love, if the reader's heart can bear it -- Rufi Thorpe, author of THE KNOCKOUT QUEENI loved this clever, funny and slightly mad debut about love, sex, grief and guilt . . . It's a riotous rollercoaster of hilarity, tenderness and beautiful craziness that kept me hooked from the start. -- Sara Lawrence * Daily Mail *Hilarious, tender, crazy and beautiful -- Wendy Holden * Irish Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisA stoner, an Instagram model, a Czech oligarch, and a missing unicorn. Nick Fox and Kate O'Hare have their work cut out for them in their weirdest, wildest adventure yet in this New York Times bestseller by Janet and Peter Evanovich.Straight arrow FBI Agent Kate O'Hare always plays by the rules.  Charming Con Man Nicholas Fox makes them up as he goes along.  She thinks he's nothing but a scoundrel.  He thinks she just needs to lighten up.  They're working together to tackle the out-of-bounds cases ordinary FBI agents can't touch.  And, their relationship?  Well, there hasn't been so much explosive chemistry since Nitro was introduced to Glycerin.Next on the docket: The mysterious disappearance of the Silicon Valley billionaire, known as the Big Kahuna.  Kate's been assigned to find him but no one seems particularly keen on helping.  His twenty-six year old adult actress wife-turned Instagram model wife and his s

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Book SynopsisAn Instant New York Times BestsellerA #1 LibraryReads and Indie Next Pick!From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesisâ??with explosive results.Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee KÃnigswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering projectâ??a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academiaâ??Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward. Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee

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