Search results for ""author weird"

Since 1973 KISS has recorded over 20 studio albums; been recognized as an innovator in rock presentations; witnessed a firestorm of rumors and controversies; remained a thorn in critics' sides; and continues to surprise its massive fan-following the KISS Army with various career twists and turns. Moreover many television shows movies toys and even comics have kept KISS a bigger-than-life name in entertainment for decades.ÞYet with all that has been written over the years there are subjects that fans have never put to rest when it comes to the hottest band in the land : What were the most significant concerts? Why did ÊPhantom of the ParkÊ turn out that way? What were the best ä and worst ä album covers? How did the comics come about? And what the heck is a deuce?ÞThese subjects and more appear in ÊKISS FAQÊ ä showcasing the good bad and the weird that has made KISS the legendary ultimate rock-and-roll party band still going strong after 40 years. Accompanying this entertaining work of solid rock scholarship are dozens of rare images ä from posters to live shots and beyond. Also included is a foreword by Bill Starkey the creator of the original KISS Army.

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From male bisexuality to religion in pop, Little Richard spent the 1950s pioneering ideas that are still too challenging for the mainstream. As a Black multimillionaire rock star, he was the most exciting person on the planet between 1955 and 1957, the years in which his seismic debut album was created. Featuring new interviews with famous fans including Sir Elton John, Dave Grohl, Joan Jett and Nile Rodgers, this is the first in-depth look at Here’s Little Richard since Richard Penniman’s death in May 2020. The book explores his roots in the queer underground of the American South, a scene so progressive you’d scarcely believe it thrived seven decades ago, and early rebel music such as jump blues, which soon collided with the emerging juggernaut that was rock’n’roll. When that weird alchemy occurred, the self-proclaimed Living Flame was ready to spark the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie and Prince into existence. Those close to the tale pinpoint the ways in which ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Tutti Frutti’ remain omnipresent – and why the latter was the ‘WAP’ of its day. This is the story of how Little Richard changed the world in 28 minutes and 30 seconds. A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!

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Looking across the cultural landscape of the twenty-first century, its literature, film, television, comic books, and other media, we can see multiple examples of what Shelley S. Rees calls a “changeling western,” what others have called “weird westerns,” and what Michael K. Johnson refers to as “speculative westerns”—that is, hybrid western forms created by merging the western with one or more speculative genres or subgenres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and alternate history.Speculative Wests investigates both speculative westerns and other speculative texts that feature western settings. Just as “western” refers both to a genre and a region, Johnson’s narrative involves a study of both genre and place, a study of the “speculative Wests” that have begun to emerge in contemporary texts such as the zombie-threatened California of Justina Ireland’s Deathless Divide (2020), the reimagined future Navajo nation of Rebecca Roanhorse’s Sixth World series (2018–19), and the complex temporal and geographic borderlands of Alfredo Véa’s time travel novel The Mexican Flyboy (2016). Focusing on literature, film, and television from 2016 to 2020, Speculative Wests creates new visions of the American West.

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“Chickens are a lot more mainstream than veganism and a little bit like kombucha: super weird twenty years ago, now somewhat popular and made even more so by logos, brands, and hashtags.” So begins Gina Warren’s deep dive into the backyard chicken movement. Digging into its history and food politics, she provides a highly personal account of the movement’s social and cultural motivations, the regulations it faces, and the ways that chicken owners build community. Weaving together interviews with urban agriculture advocates, entrepreneurs such as a $225 per hour “chicken consultant,” animal rights campaigners, and a fabulous cross-section of chicken enthusiasts, Warren sheds light on Americans’ complex relationship with animals—as guardians, companions, and eaters—and what it means to be a conscious eater. As Warren chronicles her own misadventures raising chickens, her pursuit of what’s best for her own flock leads past chicken tutus and gourmet chicken treats and into serious attempts at sustainable eating, such as cooking insects and dumpster diving. The result is a fresh and charming story that speaks to backyard chicken owners, while also raising questions about sustainable farming, industrial agriculture, and our connections with the animals we love.

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"A world of green: a new and weird world of grim, dark shadows and frenzied activity; of conflicting sounds varying from the roar and thunder of overhead gantries, the sharp, shrill staccato beat of automatic hammers, to the echoing ring of steel upon steel, and the hollow wheezing and thumping of the hydraulic moulding machines".Starting as an apprentice at Bevan's foundry, Ieuan Morgan enters a new and testing world. His colleagues soon turn out to be his tormentors while life at home is not without its challenges. It is hard for the young man to sustain his dreams of one day being a writer, and of a better world. Things have to get worse before getting better so unemployment casts its long shadow over the town. But the lay-offs give the gifted Ieuan time to read and think and on a visit to the fair to meet Sally, a gentle, consumptiveyoung woman from the wrong side of the tracks.With this, his destiny changes course. Written with a deep authenticity born from bitter experience, William Glynne-Jones depicts life in the fictional town of Abermor and especially the daily grind of foundry life, in a workplace fraught with dangers. Farewell Innocence is a heartfelt and affecting account of a young man's rites of passage in hard times.

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The third in our award-winning Atlas series, following Dinosaur Atlas and Animal Atlas, Lonely Planet Kids’ Bug Atlas focuses on the magical miniature world of creepy crawlies. Continent by continent, we take a tour around the globe to uncover fascinating bugs, insects, scorpions, spiders and other icky things that live around, alongside - and often even on - us.Maps show where the critters live, while gatefolds and flaps open to reveal their wonderful, and sometimes very weird, mini lives. From spiders the size of dinner plates, stick insects as long as golf clubs and mega-ant colonies that stretch across countries to cannibal mantises, zombie ants, giant millipedes, beautiful butterflies, shiny iridescent beetles and more, this is a fascinating, in-depth exploration of the world of bugs.As with previous titles in this series, Bug Atlas features a mixture of art and photography, densely packed with information and illustrated with incredible images.Features include: Detailed maps of every continent showing where all the fascinating bugs live. Data boxes for each amazing species, listing its name, size, habitat, diet and more. Life-size elements, both big and small, showing you just how enormous a goliath-bird eating spider is (you don’t want to know) to tiny bugs that share our homes almost unnoticed. Incredible macro photography revealing the minute detail of these minibeasts Animal Adaptations – Showing how each species is perfectly adapted for its environment, including the amazing camouflage of leaf insects. About Lonely Planet Kids: Lonely Planet Kids - an imprint of the world's leading travel authority Lonely Planet - published its first book in 2011. Over the past 45 years, Lonely Planet has grown a dedicated global community of travelers, many of whom are now sharing a passion for exploration with their children. Lonely Planet Kids educates and encourages young readers at home and in school to learn about the world with engaging books on culture, sociology, geography, nature, history, space and more. We want to inspire the next generation of global citizens and help kids and their parents to approach life in a way that makes every day an adventure. Come explore!

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Brand new adventures for Barry Loser in this new series of full colour graphic novels – perfect for fans of DogMan, Bunny vs Monkey and Kitty Quest ‘RIDONKULOUSLY FUNNY, EVERY KID SHOULD GET THEIR HOOTER INTO THIS TOTAL WINNER OF A GRAPHIC NOVEL’– Jenny Pearson, bestselling author of The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates Celebrating Barry Loser’s 10th birthday with a new series of graphic novel adventures! The bestselling, award-winning Barry Loser series is ten years old and Barry, Bunky, Nancy and the gang are off on a series of new adventures – in full colour graphic novel format and with ‘how to draw’ sections to help you make your own comic books! In the first book, Barry has had enough of being a loser and wants to prove he’s a Total Winner, but when his parents ban him from gaming he has to think outside of the box . . . Barry also has a new cat called French Fries – the keelest cat ever amen. Jim Smith’s books have sold 840k copies in the English language, and sold in 17 territories. He won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Scholastic Lollies award, was shortlisted for the Waterstones prize, and had a World Book Day book. Have you got all of Jim Smith’s amazekeel books? Barry Loser: I am not a loser Barry Loser: I am still not a loser Barry Loser: I am so over being a loser Barry Loser: I am sort of a loser Barry Loser and the holiday of doom Barry Loser and the case of the crumpled carton Barry Loser hates half term Barry Loser and the birthday billions Barry Loser: worst school trip ever! Barry Loser is the best at football NOT Barry Loser and the trouble with pets My dad is a loser free ebook My mum is a loser free ebook Future Ratboy and the attack of the killer robot grannies Future Ratboy and the invasion of the nom-noms Future Ratboy and the quest for the missing thingy The Super Weird Mysteries Danger at Donut Diner Attack of the Haunted Lunchbox My Pencil Case is a Time Machine

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The new book from the bestselling author of Flesh Wounds. A funny and frank look at the way Australia used to be - and just how far we have come. 'It was simpler time'. We had more fun back then'. 'Everyone could afford a house'.There's plenty of nostalgia right now for the Australia of the past, but what was it really like?In The Land Before Avocado, Richard Glover takes a journey to an almost unrecognisable Australia. It's a vivid portrait of a quite peculiar land: a place that is scary and weird, dangerous and incomprehensible, and, now and then, surprisingly appealing.It's the Australia of his childhood. The Australia of the late '60s and early '70s.Let's break the news now: they didn't have avocado.It's a place of funny clothing and food that was appalling, but amusingly so. It is also the land of staggeringly awful attitudes - often enshrined in law - towards anybody who didn't fit in.The Land Before Avocado will make you laugh and cry, feel angry and inspired. And leave you wondering how bizarre things were, not so long ago.Most of all, it will make you realise how far we've come - and how much further we can go.PRAISERichard Glover's just-published The Land Before Avocado is a wonderful and witty journey back in time to life in the early 1970s. For a start, he deftly reclaims the book's title fruit from those who have positioned it as a proxy for all that is wrong with today's supposedly feckless and spendthrift young adults. Rather than maligning the avocado (and young people), he cleverly appropriates the fruit as an exemplar of how far we have come since the 1970s' Richard Wakelin, Australian Financial Review'This is vintage Glover - warm, wise and very, very funny. Brimming with excruciating insights into life in the late sixties and early seventies, The Land Before Avocado explains why this was the cultural revolution we had to have' Hugh Mackay 'Hilarious and horrifying, this is the ultimate intergenerational conversation starter' Annabel Crabb PRAISE FOR FLESH WOUNDS'A funny, moving, very entertaining memoir' Bill Bryson, New York Times 'The best Australian memoir I've read is Richard Glover's Flesh Wounds' Greg Sheridan, TheAustralian

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When AA meetings make her want to drink more, alcoholic murderess Maeve sets up a group for psychopaths … The dark, unpredictable, electrifyingly original new thriller from critically acclaimed cult author Will Carver.‘Totally insane, and I mean that in the best of ways. Maeve is a brilliant character … Incredibly dark and very funny’ Harriet Tyce, author of It Ends at Midnight‘I fell in love with Carver's murderous Maeve. This is an Eleanor Oliphant for crime fans. Carver truly at his best’ Sarah Pinborough, author of Insomnia‘Another wild ride … a darkly delicious page-turner’ S J Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep––––––––––––––Welcome to the Club…Maeve has everything. A high-powered job, a beautiful home, a string of uncomplicated one-night encounters. She’s also an addict: A functioning alcoholic with a dependence on sex and an insatiable appetite for killing men. When she can’t find a support group to share her obsession, she creates her own. And Psychopaths Anonymous is born. Friends of Maeve. Now in a serious relationship, Maeve wants to keep the group a secret. But not everyone in the group adheres to the rules, and when a reckless member raises suspicions with the police, Maeve’s drinking spirals out of control. She needs to stop killing. She needs to close the group. But Maeve can’t seem to quit the things that are bad for her, including her new man…A scathing, violent and darkly funny book about love, connection, obsessions and sex – and the aspects of human nature we’d prefer to hide – Psychopaths Anonymous is also an electrifyingly original, unpredictable thriller that challenges virtually everything.––––––––––––––––––‘Carver is a smart, stylish writer who has created a uniquely scary personality. We glimpse the world seen through the eyes of a grotesque character who is just normal enough to leave us entertained and disturbed in equal part’ Daily Mail ‘Wickedly fun’ Crime Monthly‘Will Carver’s most exciting, original, hilarious and freaky outing yet … I loved it’ Helen FitzGerald, author of Worst Case Scenario‘So in-your-face it’s almost claustrophobic, it’s also a compulsive and unforgettable reading experience’ LoveReading ‘Carver highlights the dark side of the current era, such as the negative consequences of ubiquitous online porn and society’s disregard for its outcasts … [a] powerful look into the abyss of a psychopathic personality’ Publishers Weekly‘Vivid and engaging and completely unexpected’ Lia Middleton, author of When They Find Her‘Dark in the way only Will Carver can be … oozes malevolence from every page’ Victoria Selman, author of Truly Darkly Deeply‘A wickedly dark and funny novel, with a protagonist you can’t help but root for’ Lisa Hall, author of The Woman in the Woods‘Move the hell over Brett Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk … Will Carver is the new lit prince of 21st-century disenfranchised, pop darkness’ Stephen J. Golds‘Maeve is the best female fictional character since Marla Singer...’ Christopher HooleyPraise for Will Carver‘Cements Carver as one of the most exciting authors in Britain. After this, he’ll have his own cult following’ Daily Express‘A novel so dark and creepy Stephen King will be jealous he didn’t think of it first’ Michael Wood‘One of the most compelling and original voices in crime fiction … The whole thing feels like a shot of adrenaline’ Alex North‘Deliciously fresh and malevolent story-telling … If you like something fresh and unusual, grab this book’ Craig Sisterson‘Weirdly page-turning’ Sunday Times‘Laying bare our 21st-century weaknesses and dilemmas, Carver has created a highly original state-of-the-nation novel’ Literary Review‘Arguably the most original crime novel published this year’ Independent‘At once fantastical and appallingly plausible … this mesmeric novel paints a thought-provoking if depressing picture of modern life’ Guardian‘This book is most memorable for its unrepentant darkness…’ Telegraph‘Unlike anything else you’ll read this year’ Heat

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Why are you wearing THAT?! Only joking, you look great! That's the title of this book, which is all about the clothes that people have worn throughout history. Once upon a time, humans didn't wear very much at all, except for the odd animal fur. Nowadays, we have all sorts of cool, weird and wonderful fashions. But how did these fashions develop? And where did they come from? How do people even make clothes? Read this book to find out the answers to these questions and much, much more! You'll learn about three-metre-wide skirts, shoes so pointy they need to be chained to your knees, sports team kits and the future of fashion. Why Are You Wearing THAT? A history of the clothes we wear is part of the Astro range from Rising Stars Reading Planet. Astro books are ideal for struggling and reluctant readers aged 7-11. Each book is dual-banded so that children can improve their fluency whilst enjoying exciting fiction and non-fiction relevant to their age. Reading Planet books have been carefully levelled to support children in becoming fluent and confident readers. Each book features useful notes and questions to support reading at home and develop comprehension skills. Interest age: 10-11 Reading age: 7-8 years

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Maths is all around us. From a single snowflake to the changing seasons; from our favourite songs to the buildings we live in, and even the way our planet spins through space. Don't believe it? Just open up this book and discover some of the weird and wonderful ways that maths affects our everyday lives. You'll also find out about some pioneering mathematicians - from Leonardo Fibonacci, who studied sequences in numbers and nature nearly 800 years ago, to Ada Lovelace, who helped to develop the first computer codes. You can even try some challenges yourself to help you master maths. One day, you could use maths to unlock more strange secrets of the universe! The Hidden Maths Inside Everything is part of the Astro range from Rising Stars Reading Planet. Astro books are ideal for struggling and reluctant readers aged 7-11. Each book is dual-banded so that children can improve their fluency whilst enjoying exciting fiction and non-fiction relevant to their age. Reading Planet books have been carefully levelled to support children in becoming fluent and confident readers. Each book features useful notes and questions to support reading at home and develop comprehension skills. Interest age: 9-10 Reading age: 7-8 years

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With contributions from twenty-three poets, three engineers, and over thirty musicians, Pink Thunder presents a musical and lyrical experiment by award-winning songwriter / composer Michael Zapruder, to see what happens when poems are sung instead of spoken. Potent with weird, funny, and singular possibilities, Pink Thunder's playful and startling songs take their form entirely from the shape of the poems from which they are made. The result is a collection of musical readings both compelling and surprising. You are invited to listen. This full-color hardcover book reproduces the poems in lush hand-lettered versions illuminated by Arrington de Dionyso. It also contains an artist’s statement by Michael Zapruder and an introduction by Scott Pinkmountain. In addition, it comes with a CD containing twenty-two tracks. The book also features photographs from the recording sessions and the Wave Poetry Bus Tour. A one-of-a-kind project with a unique design to match, Pink Thunder will undoubtedly change the way you both think about and experience poetry and music. Contributing poets include: Joshua Beckman, David Berman, Carrie St. George Comer, Gillian Conoley, Bob Hicok, Noelle Kocot, Dorothea Lasky, Brett Fletcher Lauer, Anthony McCann, Valzhyna Mort, Hoa Nguyen, Sierra Nelson, Tyehimba Jess, Travis Nichols, D.A. Powell, Matthew Rohrer, Mary Ruefle, James Tate, Joe Wenderoth, Dara Weir, and Matthew Zapruder.

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Australia -Culture Smart! appears on Oprah's Austalian Adventure! Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include * customs, values, and traditions* historical, religious, and political background* life at home* leisure, social, and cultural life* eating and drinking* dos, don'ts, and taboos* business practices* communication, spoken and unspoken Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers. Sunday Times Travel . . . the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries. Global Travel . . .full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas. Observer . . .as useful as they are entertaining. Easyjet Magazine . . .offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world. New York Times

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The natural world is filled with diverse - not to mention quirky and odd - animal behaviors. Consider the male praying mantis that continues to mate after being beheaded; the spiders, insects, and birds that offer gifts of food in return for sex; the male hip-pocket frog that carries his own tadpoles; the baby spiders that dine on their mother; the beetle that craves excrement; or the starfish that sheds an arm or two to escape a predator's graps. "Headless Males Make Great Lovers and Other Unusual Natural Histories" celebrates this extraordinary world of animals with essays on curious creatures and their amazing behaviors. Marty Crump - a tropical field biologist well known for her work with the reproductive behavior of amphibians - examines here the bizarre conduct of animals as they mate, parent, feed, defend themselves, and communicate. Crump's enthusiasm for the unusual behaviors she describes - from sex change and free love in sponges to aphrodisiac concoction in bats - is visible on every page, thanks to her skilled storytelling. Steeped in biology, "Headless Males Make Great Lovers" points out that diverse and unrelated animals often share seemingly bizarre behaviors - evidence, Crump argues, that these natural histories, though outwardly weird, are successful ways of living. Illustrated throughout, "Headless Males Make Great Lovers" will enchant the general reader with its tales of blood-squirting horned lizards and intestine-ejecting sea cucumbers - all in the service of a greater appreciation of the diversity of the natural histories of animals.

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Benjamin Percy is a versatile and propulsive storyteller whose genre-busting novels and story collections have ranged from literary to thriller to postapocalyptic. In his essay collection, Thrill Me, he laid bare for readers how and why he channels disparate influences in his work. Now, in his first story collection since the acclaimed Refresh, Refresh, Percy brings his page-turning skills to bear in Suicide Woods, a potent brew of horror, crime, and weird happenings in the woods. A boy in his uncle’s care falls through the ice on a pond and emerges in a frozen, uncanny state. A group of people in therapy for suicidal ideation undergoes a drastic session in the woods with fatal consequences. A body found on a train and a blood-soaked carpet in an empty house are clues to a puzzling crime in a small town. And in a pulse-quickening novella, thrill seekers on a mapping expedition into the “Bermuda Triangle” of remote Alaska are stranded on a sinister island that seems to want them dead. In story after story, which have appeared in magazines including the Virginia Quarterly Review, Orion Magazine, McSweeney’s, and Ploughshares, Percy delivers haunting and chilling narratives that will have readers hanging on every word. A master class in suspense and horror, Suicide Woods is a dark, inventive collection packed to the gills with eerie, can’t-miss tales.

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This book is about having ideas and-a much longer haul-making them work. David Jones, best known for his Daedalus column, tells many stories about creators and their creations, including his own fantastical-seeming contributions to mainstream science-such as unrideable bicycles and chemical gardens in space. His theory of creativity endows each of us with a Random-Ideas Generator, a Censor, and an Observer-Reasoner. Jones applies the theory to a wide range of weird scientific experiments that he has conducted for serious scientific papers, for challenging printed expositions, and for presentations to a TV audience. He even suggests new ones, not yet tried! Creativity is as essential to science as curiosity, physical intuition, and shrewd deduction from well-planned experiments. But, says Jones, ingenuity is very uncertain-even for the greatest inventors, about 80 percent of ideas fail. Jokiness can help, and so can lots of random data. Jones has copious clever advice that will help you have that madly brilliant private thought in the first place-and will encourage you to take it further. Neither dense nor demanding, The Aha! Moment is engrossing, edifying, and scientifically serious; yet it is lightly written, has many jokes, and asks lots of silly questions. As Jones shows, it can often pay to take an absurd idea seriously.

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Pick-your-own-path and puzzle-packed mystery collide in the third book in Lauren Magaziner’s hilarious and interactive middle grade series. In the Case Closed books, the reader helps Carlos and his friends hunt ghosts at a haunted hotel.In this wildly entertaining adventure, YOU pick which suspects to interview, which questions to ask, and which clues to follow. You pick the path—you crack the case!Carlos Serrano is now officially an apprentice detective at Las Pistas Detective Agency. He finally earned his mom’s trust, but his next case will be his most difficult one yet. Guests at a creepy mountain hotel are complaining of weird disturbances, threatening messages, and hair-raising howls!Carlos, along with his best friend, Eliza, and her wacky little brother, Frank, arrive on the scene to investigate a . . . ghost? What secrets is this haunted hotel hiding? With tricky puzzles, ghoulish secrets, ectoplasmic enemies, and dozens of impossible choices, these junior detectives need your sleuthing skills!Can you help Carlos and his friends unravel the mystery before it’s too late? Or will it be case closed?Middle grade readers will enjoy all four books in this favorite series: Mystery in the Mansion (#1), Stolen from the Studio (#2), Haunting at the Hotel (#3), and Danger on the Dig (#4)!

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As a professor at Yale, William Deresiewicz saw something that troubled him deeply. His students, some of the nation's brightest minds, were adrift when it came to the big questions: how to think critically and creatively and how to find a sense of purpose. Now he argues that elite colleges are turning out conformists without a compass. Excellent Sheep takes a sharp look at the high-pressure conveyor belt that begins with parents and counsellors who demand perfect grades and culminates in the skewed applications Deresiewicz saw first-hand as a member of Yale's admissions committee. As schools shift focus from the humanities to "practical" subjects like economics, students are losing the ability to think independently. It is essential, says Deresiewicz, that college be a time for self-discovery, when students can establish their own values and measures of success in order to forge their own paths. He features quotes from real students and graduates he has corresponded with over the years, candidly exposing where the system is broken and offering clear solutions on how to fix it. "Excellent Sheep is likely to make…a lasting mark….He takes aim at just about the entirety of upper-middle-class life in America….Mr. Deresiewicz's book is packed full of what he wants more of in American life: passionate weirdness" (The New York Times).

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*THE MOST RELATABLE NOVEL SAD GIRLS WILL READ ALL YEAR*A laugh-out-loud-funny, addictive book book about growing up, finding your purpose and whether everyone really does have a novel within them, for fans of MONICA HEISEY, OTTESSA MOSHFEGH and COCO MELLORS.'Brilliant' Daily Mail'Comic' Guardian'Extremely relatable' Sydney Morning Herald'Unique and smart' Emma Gannon'Weird and witty' Chloë Ashby'I loved it' Laura KayMaybe my main character will slowly lose their mind too. Novels usually need an abandoned woman going crazy in them. It's gonna be, like, a sad girl novel. An Australian expat in Berlin, Kim is jobless, rootless, and - as she's slowly discovering - somewhat useless.That is until a chance encounter with Matthew, a hotshot New York literary agent, gives Kim the direction she's been craving. This year she will: * Finally write her novel * Decide what said novel is actually about * Romantically pin down the increasingly flighty Matthew * Be less jealous of sharing attention with best friend Bel's baby * Convince her therapist that the amount of artichokes she eats doesn't classify as an eating disorder * Stay sane in the process of achieving the aboveBecause Kim's story will not become a sad girl novel.Definitely not.

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Did you grow up playing video games when you had to wait online to get them? Do you remember the bad, weird, or otherwise underrated video games of your youth? Did you like a few of them more than your friends did? A Selective History of Bad' Video Games will walk you down memory lane and perform unholy excavations of games you remember, games you've forgotten, and games you never knew you wanted to read about during your lunch break. From a seemingly nude Atari 2600 karate referee to a basketball star doing martial arts to a tiger that speaks broken English and walks through walls, the book will try to uncover what the developers were thinking and occasionally succeed. While there's been some recent coverage of the most famously bad video game E.T. this book starts there and continues on to 40 other curiously (or unsurprisingly) unsuccessful video games during the first few decades of the industry's lifespan. Written by a modern day video game developer, the book explores why these games failed, whether or not they truly deserved it, and what could have made them better. The covered games include screen shots that capture awkward moments, irreverent captions, and pages of tongue-in-cheek psychoanalysis.

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The one where I become a mother...Charlotte Crosby is a woman of many talents - reality TV star, Celebrity Big Brother winner, businesswoman extraordinaire, Mastermind contestant - and now a mam!In the six years since her last memoir, the number 1 Sunday Times bestseller Brand New Me, Charlotte has been extremely busy. Leaving the bad boys of her past behind (what WAS she thinking?!), she has travelled the world, started a new family business, met the love of her life, dealt with cancer close to home, suffered the loss of her beloved Nana Jean, and had Alba, her perfect bundle of joy. Here, in Me, Myself and Mini Me, Charlotte talks us through the rollercoaster of these last few jam-packed years and opens up about the realities of pregnancy and parenthood. From dry vaginas and pre-natal depression, to 4am feeds and poo-namis, with her trademark warmth and humour Charlotte perfectly captures the weirdness and wonder of new motherhood.Packed full of heartfelt poems, flashbacks to hysterical life plans from years gone by, touching letters to her younger self, and lessons she has learnt along the way, Charlotte invites you to join her for the latest chapter of life in Crosby Manor.

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Let Secret Brooklyn guide you around the unusual and unfamiliar. Step off the beaten track with this fascinating Brooklyn guide book and let our local experts show you the well-hidden treasures of this amazing city. Ideal for local inhabitants and curious visitors alike. One of the weirdest and most glorious museums this weird and glorious city has ever seen", one of only two trees that have been designated as New York City landmarks, the oldest building in New York City, the hobbit doors of Dennet Place, a park with only one tree, learn how to breathe fire, swallow swords, hammer a nail into your skull and charm a snake, the oldest subway tunnel in the world, world's smallest Torah, a secret museum built into the hallway of a Williamsburg apartment, a farm inside Domino Sugar factory site, world's first commercial rooftop vineyard ... Far from the crowds and the usual cliches, Brooklyn offers countless off-beat experiences and is home to any number of well-hidden treasures that are revealed only to residents and travellers who find their way off the beaten track. An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Brooklyn well or would like to discover the other face of the city.

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Embark on a magical tour of the forest floor and discover one of the most fascinating living organisms on this planet - fungi!Not quite animals and not quite plants, the mysterious kingdom of fungi is full of secrets! Let’s unearth them together with this weird and wonderful book about mushrooms. Inside the pages of this children’s science and nature book, you’ll discover exactly what fungi are and more! • Gorgeous illustrations in Wenjia Tang’s popular style • Introduction to a scientific topic in an engaging, soft way, through scenes and thoughtful layouts • Everything kids would ever want to know on the overlooked but fascinating topic - fungi From tiny microbes to the largest living thing, fungi are everywhere! Without fungi, our ecosystem would not work. It provides food for plants and animals and creates a place for them to live. But beware, some types of fungi can destroy crops through fungal diseases or even change animals’ behavior. This fascinating foraging book for kids is sure to keep little ones engaged and entertained! Did you know that fungi are made to make medicine for humans? Or that the most mushrooms can be seen in autumn? This picture book about nature is packed with fun facts about fungi. It includes gross-out stories of fungal infections that kids will love, incredible facts about "bananageddon", crop disease, epidemics, and zombified ants! It’s the ultimate gift for children who are interested in nature and microorganisms.

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With 101 tips explaining the dos and don’ts of virtual meetings, delivered with abundant humour, You’re On Mute will help you master video calls in "the new normal."If life on Zoom is getting you down and you’re dreading the next inevitable invite to a Teams meeting, don’t panic, help is at hand. Whether you need to stop doing that weird wave at the end of meetings or want to break the habit of being transfixed by your own face in the corner of the screen, the fun advice inside this book has got you covered. Advice includes: Mastering online etiquette – from the right way to say hello to the right time to hang up How to make multi-generational family video calls workable for both grandparents and children ("You're still on mute, grandma!") Ensuring your next video quiz is an entertaining test of knowledge rather than a painful test of endurance Best practices for work-related video calls, from being sensitive to camera-shy coworkers to the ideal backdrop for a job interview Successfully navigating an online romance, covering first dates to long-term relationships Avoiding the "must not dos" of video calls, whether it's the serious matter of security or the shame of surprise screen sharing In no time you’ll be living your best life online, bringing your A game to any virtual work meeting, catch-up with family, quiz with friends, online date and more.

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A Sunday Times BestsellerHave you ever had a strange urge to jump from a tall building, or steer your car into oncoming traffic? You are not alone. In this captivating fusion of science, history and personal memoir, writer David Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind, and how they drive millions of us towards obsessions and compulsions.'One of the best and most readable studies of a mental illness to have emerged in recent years . . . an honest and open and, yes, maybe life-changing work' – Matt Haig, Observer Told with fierce clarity, humour and urgent lyricism, this extraordinary book is both the haunting story of a personal nightmare, and a fascinating doorway into the darkest corners of our minds.David has suffered from obsessive compulsive disoder (OCD) for twenty years, and The Man Who Couldn't Stop is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences. What might lead an Ethiopian schoolgirl to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece; or a pair of brothers to die beneath an avalanche of household junk that they had compulsively hoarded? At what point does a harmless idea, a snowflake in a clear summer sky, become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts?Drawing on the latest research on the brain, as well as historical accounts of patients and their treatments, this is a book that will challenge the way you think about what is normal, and what is mental illness.

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Get out in your garden and discover the history hidden in the hedges.Did the Romans have rakes? Did the monks get muddy? Did potatoes seem really, really weird when they arrived on our shores?Drawn from Jenny Uglow's own love for plants, this lively 'potted' history of gardening in Britain takes us on a garden tour from the thorn hedges around prehistoric settlements to the rage for ornamental grasses and 'outdoor rooms' today. Tracking down the ordinary folk who worked the earth - from weeding women to florists - as well as aristocrats and grand designers and famous plant-hunters, A Little History of British Gardening is brought to life by gorgeously vivid illustrations and Uglow's insightful wisdom. Not only dealing with flowery meads, grottoes and vistas, landscapes and ha-has, parks and allotments, Uglow explains, for example, how the Tudors made their curious knots; how housewives used herbs to stop freckles; how the suburbs dug for victory in World War II.With a brief guide to particular historic or evocative gardens open to the public, this is a book to put in your pocket when planning a crisp, winter's day out - but also to read in your armchair with a well-earned glass of red, after a hard day's graft in your own garden.'Enchanting, stirringly evocative and fascinating' Daily Mail'This book will be a joy for any gardener' Independent

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'In this excellent book, Ecott's evocative telling makes me want to go to this weird and wonderful place.' - PAUL THEROUX'I never want to leave the remote island world so atmospherically, precisely educed between the covers of this book. Ecott's prose has the power of tides, his perception is as searching as the Atlantic wind, and he has the soul of a natural-born naturalist. A masterpiece.' - JOHN LEWIS-STEMPLEFollowing the natural cycle of the year, The Land of Maybe captures the essence of 'slow life' on the 18 remote, mysterious islands which make up the Faroes in the North Atlantic. Closer to the UK than Denmark, this fast disappearing world is home to a close-knit society where just 50,000 people share Viking roots and a language that is unlike any other in Scandinavia.We follow the arrival of the migratory birds, the over-wintering of the sheep and the way food is gathered and eaten in tune with the seasons. Buffeted by the weather and the demands of a volatile natural environment, people still hunt seabirds and herd pilot whales for a significant portion of their basic food needs.This is not a travelogue, but a deeper exploration of how 'to be' in a tough landscape; a study of a people and a way of life that represents continuity and a deep connection to the past. The Land of Maybe offers not just a refuge from the freneticism of modern life, but lessons about where we come from and how we may find a balance in our lives.

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'Peculiarly hilarious!' - William Gibson'Every page is a pleasure' - Lindsey FItzharris'Utterly charming' - Tom Holland'Laugh-out-loud' - Garth Nix'A must read' - Fergus Butler-Gallie'Brims with self-effacing charm' - Caitlin Doughty'Unfortunately I have mislaid the book in question' - Neil GaimanWelcome to Sotheran's, one of the oldest bookshops in the world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards, unlabelled keys, poisoned books and some things that aren't even books, presided over by one deeply eccentric apprentice.Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd on Sackville Street (est. 1761) to interview for a job. Allured by the smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap, he was soon balancing teetering stacks of first editions, fending off nonagenarian widows and trying not to upset the store's resident ghost (the late Mr Sotheran, hit by a tram).Darkshire came to love Sotheran's, not just for its illustrious history (or for producing the most cursed book of all time), but also its joyous disorganization and the unspoken rules of its gleefully old-fashioned staff, whose mere glance may cause a computer to burst into flames.By turns unhinged and earnestly dog-eared, Once Upon a Tome is the rather colourful story of life in one of the world's oldest bookshops and a love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling.

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'As informative as it is poetic' Dolly Alderton'Compassionate, funny and beautifully written' Daisy Buchanan------------------------------Every woman will experience the panic years in some way between her mid-twenties and early-forties.This maddening period of transformation and personal crisis is recognisable by the myriad of decisions we make - about partners, holidays, jobs, homes, savings, friendships - all of which are impacted by the urgency of the single decision that comes with a biological deadline, the one decision that is impossible to take back; whether or not to have a baby. But how to stay sane in such a maddening time? How to know who you are and what you might want from life? How to know if you're making the right decisions? Raw, hilarious and beguilingly honest, Nell Frizzell's account of her panic years is both an arm around the shoulder and a campaign to start a conversation. This affects us all - women, men, mothers, children, partners, friends, colleagues - so it's time we started talking about it with a little more candour.WHAT READERS ARE SAYING- 'Loved this book! Highly recommend for any woman (or man!) during the weird time in your 20s' *****- 'Those panicky feelings of being a 24-30 something put into words' *****- 'This book brings forth a sigh of relief. Excellent book that really taps into what so many of us are thinking and feeling, but not saying' *****

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'Laugh-out-loud funny, intensely suspenseful, page-turning fun' Allison Brennan_____________Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, strong cups of coffee - and, now, a nationwide manhunt?Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff, expecting nothing more than a quiet ride. But now a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of this is reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that the trouble at her daughter's new school, plus a kidnapped rooster named Puff Daddy, and, well, the forecast looks anything but sunny.But even clouds have their silver linings. This one's got Levi, Sunshine's sexy, almost-old flame, and Quincy Cooper, a fiery-hot US Marshall. With temperatures rising everywhere she turns, Del Sol's normally cool-minded sheriff is finding herself knee-deep in drama and danger.Can Sunshine face the call of duty - and find the kidnapper who's terrorising her beloved hometown - without falling head over high heels in love . . . or worse?'A Bad Day For Sunshine is a great day for the rest of us' Lee Child'From the creative genius who brought you Charley Davidson comes your newest obsession: Sunshine Vicram. Mother. Sheriff. Warden of weird' Susan Donovan

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Maybe Jesus was joking, the disciples didn’t know what they were doing and the New Testament is a lot funnier than you might think. You would think it weird if someone suddenly ascended into heaven, right? Reading between the lines, do we detect a touch of rivalry between Peter and John? And surely the lack of parables in the latter’s mystical tome is simply crying out to be redressed . . . In this sparklingly witty book, BBC sitcom writer James Cary gives us a new and liberating way of looking at the gospel as he entertainingly relates it to a modern context, with references ranging from Charles Dickens to The Vicar of Dibley. Cheerfully playing around with the text, he takes the Bible seriously but allows us to laugh at our own petty vanities and foibles – and be enlightened in the process. The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer is ideal for anyone wanting to liven up their Bible reading and looking for new ways to be thrilled by this sacred text. It’s also perfect for priests, pastors, youth leaders and all those involved in ministry and giving sermons, as James Cary shows using comedy and humour is a brilliant way to communicate the gospel. Warm, funny and full of brilliant insight and Christian humour, The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer will make you laugh out loud and shake your head in awe. You’ll never read the Bible the same way again.

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Prisoners of Geography meets Bill Bryson: a funny, fascinating, beautifully illustrated – and timely – history of countries that, for myriad and often ludicrous reasons, no longer exist. ‘Countries are just daft stories we tell each other. They’re all equally implausible once you get up close’ Countries die. Sometimes it’s murder, sometimes it’s by accident, and sometimes it’s because they were so ludicrous they didn’t deserve to exist in the first place. Occasionally they explode violently. A few slip away almost unnoticed. Often the cause of death is either ‘got too greedy’ or ‘Napoleon turned up’. Now and then they just hold a referendum and vote themselves out of existence. This is an atlas of nations that fell off the map. The polite way of writing an obituary is: dwell on the good bits, gloss over the embarrassing stuff. This book fails to do that. And that is mainly because most of these dead nations (and a lot of the ones that are still alive) are so weird or borderline nonsensical that it’s impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff. The life stories of the sadly deceased involve a catalogue of chancers, racists, racist chancers, conmen, madmen, people trying to get out of paying tax, mistakes, lies, stupid schemes and General Idiocy. Because of this – and because treating nation states with too much respect is the entire problem with pretty much everything – these accounts are not fussed about adding to all the earnest flag saluting in the world, however nice some of the flags are.

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Macbeth is arguably the world's most famous monarch. Both the historical king and the literary character have fascinated writers and audiences for centuries, beginning with the poets who recited their verses at the medieval monarch's court. Macbeth's legend began almost immediately after his death as medieval and Renaissance writers gradually replaced the king with a semi-literary character developed and embroidered to suit their own political and cultural agenda. The process of transformation culminated in playwright William Shakespeare's The Tragedie of Macbeth. Investigating the man and the legend, Benjamin Hudson traces the eleventh-century prince's rise to prominence from local warlord to international ruler. Battling Vikings, English, and his fellow Scots, Macbeth was involved in a Dano-Norwegian conflict, made a pilgrimage to Rome, and gave refuge to Norman knights. He was more than a mere warlord. With his queen, Gruoch, the widow of a man who killed Macbeth's father, he was a benefactor of churches. The historical prince was an important innovator who used new fighting tactics, developed an international outlook to government, and encouraged intellectual pursuits. Hudson also tracks the ways in which popularizers developed the women behind the fictional Lady Macbeth and the weird sisters. Drawing on centuries of Celtic and Scandinavian sources, popular entertainment, political theory, folklore, and art, Macbeth before Shakespeare recovers the genuine king from the historical record and shows how he was replaced by the legendary monster of ambition.

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START TRAINING FOR A MORE FEARLESS, FULFILLING LIFE! Following on from the bestselling book How to be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable, this personal-growth card deck is packed with weird and wonderful challenges to develop your mental and physical strength. By forcing you to face up to negative emotions such as embarrassment, fear and boredom, the challenges make you grow as a person (whilst having a lot of fun in the process). Learn to spin a pen like a pro ... don’t speak for an entire day ... cover your hands and face in honey and don’t touch anything for an hour. Or maybe you’d like to create the world’s weirdest sandwich ... or set your personal best doing push-ups ... or go for a backward walk in public ... The challenges have been designed to start building your confidence and get you trying new things straightaway. The more you complete, the more you’ll build momentum to throw at epic adventures of your own devising. There’s an accompanying booklet that explains how to use the cards and how to take things further by creating your own challenges. The deck will appeal to all of those who love How to Be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable, as well as a wider audience of motivational card users and personal development enthusiasts. Get ready to leave your comfort zone!

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Adolescents face unique pressures and worries. Will they pass high school? Should they go to college? Will they find love? And what ways do they want to act in the world? The uncertainty surrounding the future can be overwhelming. Sadly, and all too often, if things don't go smoothly, adolescents will begin labeling themselves as losers, unpopular, unattractive, weird, or dumb. And, let's not forget the ubiquitous 'not good enough' story that often begins during these formative years. These labels are often carried forward throughout life. So what can you do, now, to help lighten this lifelong burden?The Thriving Adolescent offers teachers, counselors, and mental health professionals powerful techniques for working with adolescents. Based in proven- effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the skills and tips outlined in this book will help adolescents and teens manage difficult emotions, connect with their values, achieve mindfulness and vitality, and develop positive relationships with friends and family. The evidence based practices in this book focus on developing a strong sense of self, and will give adolescents the confidence they need to make that difficult transition into adulthood.Whether it's school, family, or friend related, adolescents experience a profound level of stress, and often they lack the psychological tools to deal with stress in productive ways. The skills we impart to them now will help set the stage for a happy, healthy adulthood. If you work with adolescents or teens, this is a must-have addition to your professional library.

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A rollicking tale created by two of the UK's rising radio stars. Arthur, Grace and Kieran are back, and there are BIG dramas at Victory Road! Something weird is going on - every time a Victory Road sports team competes, they lose - somehow the opposition always knows their strategy. Grace, Arthur and Kieran can spot a dodgy situation when they see one, and very quickly they decide that there's a mole leaking information to a rival school. But who is the mole and what are they set to gain from their sneaky behaviour? With a whole host of new and old characters, the race is on to uncover the culprit. Will Arthur and Grace figure it out? When they're working together, anything is possible... The sequel to Listen Up Will appeal to both boys and girls Line illustrations throughout add to the humour For fans of David Baddiel and David Solomons - full of humour and high jinks crime solving Written by two of Britain's rising radio stars - the story is authentic and full of behind-the-scenes realities Roman Kemp is not only the son of the 1980s super-couple Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet) and Shirley Holliman (Wham) but has appeared on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and Celebrity Gogglebox Vick Hope has hosted shows on MTV, Sky One, Channel 4 and ITN and was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018

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The hilarious first book in an all-new illustrated middle-grade series starring young inventor Rube Goldberg—now in paperback Grab a wrench, flip a switch, and get ready to spring into this all-new, sidesplitting illustrated series featuring a young master of machines—Rube Goldberg! With summer gone too quickly, Rube must finally face what he’s been dreading all vacation: middle school! He’s not ready for new classes, new people, new everything—and it’s really taking a toll on him. With his anxieties in full gear, all Rube wants to do is do what he does best: invent! When Principal Kim announces that the school is going to throw a Contraption Convention—Con Con—Rube is ready to show off his skills and get out of his funk! But things just can’t seem to go right for Rube: He gets banned from Con Con, his friendships are strained, and weird, ghostly incidents begin to throw the town into total chaos. But Rube has a big solution to every little problem, and he’s ready to get back on track, solve the ghostly mystery, and come up with something brilliant before it’s time to face the judging table!

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Travel the myriad worlds of the DC Multiverse. If you want to truly understand DC Comics, The DC Book is your one-stop guide to the DC Multiverse. It is a unique and insightful examination of this mind-boggling comics universe that takes readers on a compelling journey from the dawn of Super Heroes to the formation of the Dark Multiverse... and beyond.Meticulously researched and expertly written, The DC Book is packed with stunning, painstakingly selected artwork, illuminating infographics, and incisive, specially curated essays that shed new light on the ever-evolving DC Multiverse. From the world's finest Super Heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, to iconic villains like the Joker, Lex Luthor, and Darkseid, to mythic realms like Apokolips and Themyscira, to cosmic energies like The Source and The Speed Force, The DC Book explores the key concepts, characters, and events that have defined and shaped DC Comics over the past 80 years. The book's content is divided into key subject areas--The Multiverse, Dark Multiverse, and Metaverse; Weird Science and Super Tech; Down to Earth; Mysteries from Space; Mystic Realms and Dream Worlds; and Time Warps and Other Earths--that form the foundations of DC Comics. The DC Book is an invaluable roadmap to DC Comics that no fan will want to miss!

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Discover a world of fascinating facts and stats about the beautiful game. Dive in and deepen your knowledge while following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar! From record-breaking goals to famous football mascots – learn about the funny and extraordinary moments that make football fantastic. This fully illustrated book of trivia takes footie fans on a breathtaking round-the-world tour, visiting every continent to discover incredible football stories, from record-breaking goals, amazing players, and stunning stadiums to weird and wonderful football mascots. The perfect gift for any young fans aged 7+ inspired by the 2022 World Cup. Kick off your footballing journey and see the world in a whole new light! WITH FABULOUSLY SHINY FOILED COVER Clive Gifford started writing books at the age of 16 and hasn’t stopped since! He has had over 150 books published, most of which are for children. His books have been nominated for, or won, Royal Society, School Library Association, Blue Peter, Smithsonian and TES awards. Clive lives in Manchester. Tracy Worrall creates her artwork using both digital and traditional media. She produced animations for an award-winning educational television series for the Discovery Channel. Tracy lives in Liverpool.

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Some people think that museums are boring places full of glass cases, dust and stuff no one cares about: wrong! In a hidden headquarters below the exhibits there's a gang ready to handle dangerous, spooky or just plain weird problems: the Museum Mystery Squad.Techie-genius Nabster, mile-a-minute Kennedy and sharp-eyed Laurie (along with Colin the hamster!) tackle the surprising conundrums happening at the museum. From prehistoric creatures that move and secret Egyptian codes to missing treasure and strange messages from the past, there's no brain-twisting, totally improbable puzzle the Squad can't solve.Someone's sent the museum a blackmail letter threatening to steal a prized exhibit from the brand-new Space Zone. Can the Squad make one giant leap in their investigation, and stop the gravity-defying thief before an out-of-this-world artefact 3,2,1... takes off?In the Case from Outer Space, the Squad investigate puzzling planets, amazing astronauts and marvellous moon rocks to try to solve their latest mystery.Young readers will love the riddles, red herrings and big reveals jam-packed into this fun-filled series of mystery stories by Mike Nicholson. The enjoyable extras like wacky facts and activities, as well as zany illustrations by Mike Phillips, will keep amateur detectives entertained for hours.

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THE PERFECT GIFT for all of the 'GROWN-UPS' still wondering what life is all about. Talking about the farmer's market:How much are these carrots? What, per kilogram?Each? Really? What does 'heritage' mean? Could I just have an onion, then, please?Oh. Do you take credit cards?_____________Talking about running:Why am I running? Where am I going?Do I want a longer life if I have to spend so much of it running?Why aren't I at home? Am I running away from home? Am I scared of home? Why is my brain full of weird, horrible thoughts? Is it because running is so very, very boring? Why did I forget my headphones? This delightful book is the latest in the series of Ladybird books which have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them. The large clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. Featuring original Ladybird artwork alongside brilliantly funny, brand new text. 'Hilarious' Stylist

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**A BARACK OBAMA'S 2024 READING LIST title**Remarkable . . . vividly captures the urgency of youth, and becomes a heart-breaking elegy for a communal, almost utopian approach to urban life. Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World BehindBright with defiance, intelligence, and stubborn love. To spend time with these characters is a gift. C Pam Zhang, author of How Much of These Hills is GoldIn the early 1980s, Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are three teenagers drawn together by their shared sense of alienation and desire for something different. Allied in the weirdest parts of themselves, they envision each other as artistic collaborators and embark on a future defined by freedom and creativity.By the time they are adults, their dreams are murkier. As a performance artist, Giselle must navigate an elite social world she never conceived of. As a coder thrilled by the internet's early egalitar

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Selected by Aimee Nezhukumatathil as the winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, Danni Quintos carves a space for brown girls and weird girls in her debut collection of poems. Two Brown Dots explores what it means to be a racially ambiguous, multiethnic, Asian American woman growing up in Kentucky. In stark, honest poems, Quintos recounts the messiness and confusion of being a typical ‘90s kid—watching Dirty Dancing at sleepovers, borrowing eye shadow out of a friend’s caboodle, crushing on a boy wearing khaki shorts to Sunday mass—while navigating the microagressions of the neighbor kids, the awkwardness of puberty, and the casual cruelties of fellow teenagers. The mixed-race daughter of a dark skinned Filipino immigrant, Quintos retells family stories and Phillipine folklore to try and make sense of an identity with roots on opposite sides of the globe. With clear-eyed candor and a wry sense of humor, Quintos teases the line between tokenism and representation, between assimilation and belonging, offering a potent antidote to the assumption that “American” means “white.” Encompassing a whole journey from girlhood to motherhood, Two Brown Dots subverts stereotypes to reclaim agency and pride in the realness and rawness and unprettyness of a brown girl’s body, boldly declaring: We exist, we belong, we are from here, and we will continue to be.

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Some people think that museums are boring places full of glass cases, dust and stuff no one cares about: wrong! In a hidden headquarters below the exhibits there's a gang ready to handle dangerous, spooky or just plain weird problems: the Museum Mystery Squad.Techie-genius Nabster, mile-a-minute Kennedy and sharp-eyed Laurie (along with Colin the hamster!) tackle the surprising conundrums happening at the museum. From pre-historic creatures that move and secret Egyptian codes to missing treasure and strange messages from the past, there's no brain-twisting, totally improbable puzzle the Squad can't solve.---------------Strange lights, eerie sounds -- something spooky is happening at the museum. The ghostly goings-on centre on a dented Roman helmet. Could it be haunted? The Squad aren't convinced but what better place is there for a ghost to hide than in a museum full of seriously old and rather dead things? --------------------In the Case of the Roman Riddle, the Squad investigate ancient treasure, mystery mosaics and suspicious centurions to try to solve their latest mystery.Young readers will love the riddles, red herrings and big reveals jam-packed into this fun-filled series of mystery stories by Mike Nicholson. The enjoyable extras like wacky facts and activities, as well as zany illustrations by Mike Phillips, will keep amateur detectives entertained for hours.

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For fans of Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea ‘Absolutely stunning . . . Full of longing, mystery, fear and hope. I loved this book to pieces!’ – Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face Ro is stuck. She’s just entered her thirties, she’s estranged from her mother, and her boyfriend has just left her to join a mission to Mars.Her days are spent dragging herself to her menial job at an aquarium, and her nights are spent drinking sharktinis (mountain dew and copious amounts of gin, plus a hint of jalapeno). With her best friend pulling away to focus on her upcoming wedding, Ro’s only companion is Dolores, a giant Pacific octopus who also happens to be Ro’s last remaining link to her father, a marine biologist who disappeared while on an expedition when Ro was a teenager.When Dolores is sold to a wealthy investor intent on moving her to a private aquarium, Ro finds herself on the precipice of self-destruction. Wading through memories of her youth, Ro has one last chance to come to terms with her childhood trauma, recommit to those around her, and find her place in an ever-changing world.‘Utterly original‘ – Bryan Washington, author of Memorial‘Sea Change stole my big weirdo heart‘ - Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl

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'Songs are there for the people, to be used by people, in any way they want to use them.' (Polly Jean Harvey, 1993) This book takes Polly Jean at her word. Kate Schatz puts together a collection of stories that is weird, dark, and seductive in its portrayals of women, kidnapping, love, sex, isolation and power. Each story begins and ends with the first and last line of each song, and many of the remaining song lyrics will appear throughout each piece. Rid of Me lends itself easily and readily to a literary interpretation. Musically, apt comparisons have been made to everything from Beefheart and Patti Smith to vintage Delta Blues and Celtic punk. But lyrically and emotionally, Rid of Me deserves other comparisons: there is the gothic horror of Shirley Jackson and Poe, the confessional pain of Plath, the carnality of NiN, and the sardonic wit of Dorothy Parker. Harvey employs specific literary devices: repetition and allusion as well as recurring tropes, themes and images (size/measurements, bleeding, desire, body parts, skin) and a penchant for myth and archetypes (fire, hair, hands, Mary, the moon, queens, kings). Schatz does the same. The 33 1/3 series is acclaimed for experimenting with different ways of writing about music. This book will bolster that reputation further.

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A Stargrave supplement of exploration and adventure, full of strange and wonderful alien worlds, species, and technologies. Just beyond the rim of what was once ‘civilized space’ lies the vast, colourful expanse of the Crokoan Nebula. Seeking their fortunes, bold independent crews press deep into this largely unexplored sector. But the Ravaged Galaxy is a dangerous place, and the threats that crews face are not limited to those found on a planet’s surface. In fact, more independent crews meet their ends in the dark void of space than are wiped out in gunfights. Black holes, asteroid fields, and even the legendary space kraken can all destroy a ship and its crew. It takes a deft hand on the controls, a sharp eye on navigation, and a bit of wizardry with the engines to fly between the stars. This supplement for­ Stargrave focuses on the ships that serve as the crews’ transports, strategic headquarters, and homes, including new upgrades, a damage system, and rules for crew assignments such as piloting, gunnery, and navigation. New powers, soldiers, technology, and backgrounds for captains and first mates help reinforce crews, while rules for space encounters – dangerous, interesting, and potentially profitable incidents – and five new scenarios bring them face to face with strange alien species and other terrifying dangers in weird and wonderful locations, from unexplored planets to the depths of space.­

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The raucous and surprisingly poignant story of a young, Russia-obsessed American writer and comedian who embarked on a solo tour of the former Soviet Republics, never imagining that it would involve kidnappers, garbage bags of money, and encounters with the weird and wonderful from Mongolia to Tajikistan.Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Siberia are not the typical tourist destinations of a twenty-something, nor the places one usually goes to eat, pray, and/or love. But the mix of imperial Russian opulence and Soviet decay, and the allure of emotionally unavailable Russian men proved strangely irresistible to comedian Audrey Murray.At age twenty-eight, while her friends were settling into corporate jobs and serious relationships, Audrey was on a one-way flight to Kazakhstan, the first leg of a nine-month solo voyage through the former USSR. A blend of memoir and offbeat travel guide, this thoughtful, hilarious catalog of a young comedian’s adventures is also a diary of her emotional discoveries about home, love, patriotism, loneliness, and independence.Sometimes surprising, often disconcerting, and always entertaining, Open Mic Night in Moscow will inspire you to take the leap and embark on your own journey into the unknown. And, if you want to visit Chernobyl by way of an insane-asylum-themed bar in Kiev, Audrey can assure you that there’s no other guidebook out there. (She’s looked.)

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