Robert Fulghum

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Michigan

Second Thoughts from a Secret Life

Down-to-earth, personal, and often humorous accounts of the factors and events that led 64 modern philosophers to love philosophy.

Maybe (Maybe Not)

62c59eec-fc97-4448-83e0-190cff222a7e-1

Maryland

Essays

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2018 by Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Buzzfeed, Elle, Cosmopolitan, The Millions, InStyle, Bustle, BookRiot, and Southern Living Sloane Crosley returns to the form that made her a household name in really quite a lot of households: Essays! From the New York Times–bestselling author Sloane Crosley comes Look Alive Out There—a brand-new collection of essays filled with her trademark hilarity, wit, and charm. The characteristic heart and punch-packing observations are back, but with a newfound coat of maturity. A thin coat. More of a blazer, really. Fans of I Was Told There’d Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number know Sloane Crosley’s life as a series of relatable but madcap misadventures. In Look Alive Out There, whether it’s scaling active volcanoes, crashing shivas, playing herself on Gossip Girl, befriending swingers, or staring down the barrel of the fertility gun, Crosley continues to rise to the occasion with unmatchable nerve and electric one-liners. And as her subjects become more serious, her essays deliver not just laughs but lasting emotional heft and insight. Crosley has taken up the gauntlets thrown by her predecessors—Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, David Sedaris—and crafted something rare, affecting, and true. Look Alive Out There arrives on the tenth anniversary of I Was Told There’d be Cake, and Crosley’s essays have managed to grow simultaneously more sophisticated and even funnier. And yet she’s still very much herself, and it’s great to have her back—and not a moment too soon (or late, for that matter).

Look Alive Out There

e96b6dd5-af9f-490f-8263-d800d2223581

Kate Harding

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

North Carolina

Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America

Twenty-Three Leading Feminist Writers on Protest and Solidarity When 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump and 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, how can women unite in Trump’s America? Nasty Women includes inspiring essays from a diverse group of talented women writers who seek to provide a broad look at how we got here and what we need to do to move forward. Featuring essays by REBECCA SOLNIT on Trump and his “misogyny army,” CHERYL STRAYED on grappling with the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s loss, SARAH HEPOLA on resisting the urge to drink after the election, NICOLE CHUNG on family and friends who support Trump, KATHA POLLITT on the state of reproductive rights and what we do next, JILL FILIPOVIC on Trump’s policies and the life of a young woman in West Africa, SAMANTHA IRBY on racism and living as a queer black woman in rural America, RANDA JARRAR on traveling across the country as a queer Muslim American, SARAH HOLLENBECK on Trump’s cruelty toward the disabled, MEREDITH TALUSAN on feminism and the transgender community, and SARAH JAFFE on the labor movement and active and effective resistance, among others.

Nasty Women

d1caace0-f16d-4791-a868-cbdc6a4ab111-1

Luvvie Ajayi

California

The Do-Better Manual

New York Times Bestseller #1 Washington Post Bestseller USA Today Bestseller Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee Redbook “20 Books By Women You Must Read this Fall” GoodHousekeeping.com “17 New Best New Books to Read This Fall” BookRiot “100 Must-Read Hilarious Books” Hilariously wry social commentary, delivered as a guide to modern manners; in hardcover for the first time, with festive packaging and tour de force bonus essay about the “walking Cheeto” as U.S. president. In this hilarious book of essays, comedian, activist, and hugely popular culture blogger Luvvie Ajayi inspires us to good behavior, one sharp and funny side-eye at a time. The go-to source for bracingly smart takes on pop culture at her enormously popular blog AwesomelyLuvvie.com, she has also become a bulwark of good humor and crucial common sense at what can seem a common sense-free time. I'm Judging You dissects our cultural obsessions and calls out bad behavior in our increasingly digital, connected lives. With a lighthearted, rapier wit and a unique perspective it’s the handbook the world needs now, doling out the hard truths and a road map for bringing some "act right" to our popular culture, social media, and our lives.

I'm Judging You

77c99aac-a6df-4517-9278-2c11acfee3ce-1

Amy Poehler

Spine is cracked on first page. See picture 

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New York

In a perfect world . . . We'd get to hang out with Amy Poehler, watching dumb movies, listening to music, and swapping tales about our coworkers and difficult childhoods. Because in a perfect world, we'd all be friends with Amy—someone who seems so fun, is full of interesting stories, tells great jokes, and offers plenty of advice and wisdom (the useful kind, not the annoying kind you didn't ask for, anyway). Unfortunately, between her Golden Globe-winning role on Parks and Recreation, work as a producer and director, place as one of the most beloved SNL alumni and cofounder of the Upright Citizens' Brigade, involvement with the website Smart Girls at the Party, frequent turns as acting double for Meryl Streep, and her other gig as the mom of two young sons, she's not available for movie night. Luckily we have the next best thing: Yes Please, Amy's hilarious and candid book. A collection of stories, thoughts, ideas, lists, and haikus from the mind of one of our most beloved entertainers, Yes Please offers Amy's thoughts on everything from her "too safe" childhood outside of Boston to her early days in New York City, her ideas about Hollywood and "the biz," the demon that looks back at all of us in the mirror, and her joy at being told she has a "face for wigs." Yes Please is chock-full of words and wisdom to live by.

Yes Please

a20c676c-0246-4e30-a47f-8fbc6c62604f

Daphne Merkin

Virginia

Passions and Provocations

Few writers today have created more stir than Daphne Merkin--admired as much for her personal daring on the page as for the wit and power of her prose. Whether writing about the sexual pleasures of spanking (a piece that elicited a storm of response when it appeared in The New Yorker), losing her religion, her obsession with rock 'n' roll, her own failed marriage, or other vexed subjects, she is always tough-minded, compulsively readable, and at times recklessly candid. From her own cosmetic surgery "fix" to her flirtation with the idea of lesbianism, from the subversive thrill of shoplifting to the hidden madness of family life--she takes on the taboos and sacred cows we're fascinated by but seldom talk about. The bold and startling title essay, in which she confronts the demons of the Holocaust, is an example of this gifted writer at her most affecting: intensely self-probing but profoundly engaged with the world at large. Once in a while a writer appears who can immerse herself in the complex, raging currents of her time and make sense of them. In this dazzling collection of maverick essays--at once bracingly intelligent, morally reflective, and richly entertaining--Daphne Merkin illuminates the often tragicomic secrets that tell the true story of the way we live now.

Dreaming of Hitler

f89a8340-db04-4254-87ac-6ca2767a5ee9-0

#paperback #socialscience #essays #chuckpalahniuk #nonfiction #palahniuk #smokefreehome 

Massachusetts

True Stories

A collection of nonfiction writings documents encounters with Marilyn Manson and Juliette Lewis, the challenges faced by the author when "Fight Club" was made into a movie, the lives of submariners, and the violent experiences of college wrestlers.

Stranger Than Fiction

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Life after the American Dream

Winner of the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction



Brave, clear-eyed, and passionate, Stakes Is High is the book we need to guide us past crisis mode and through an uncertain future.



The events of the past decade have forced us to reckon with who we are and who we want to be. We have been invested in a set of beliefs about our American identity: our exceptionalism, the inevitable rightness of our path, the promise that hard work and determination will carry us to freedom. But in Stakes Is High, Mychal Denzel Smith confronts the shortcomings of these stories -- and with the American Dream itself -- and calls on us to live up to the principles we profess but fail to realize.
 
In a series of incisive essays, Smith exposes the stark contradictions at the heart of American life, holding all of us, individually and as a nation, to account. We've gotten used to looking away, but the fissures and casual violence of institutional oppression are ever-present.
 
There is a future that is not as grim as our past. In this profound work, Smith helps us envision it with care, honesty, and imagination.

Stakes Is High

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Dust cover has minor flaws #hardcover #nonfiction #danrather #essays #history #events #political #thoughtprovoking #news 

Mississippi

Essays at the Turn of the Century

Ranging from political campaigns to public school crises to turmoil in Russia, the bestselling author and CBS Evening News anchor examines the tragedies and triumphs that shape our nation. Complete with new essays on recent events, Rather explores America at the end of the twentieth century and looks ahead to its future as we enter the twenty-first. With his distinctive blend of frontline energy and a journalist's knack for a good story, Rather looks at the awesome struggles and everyday accomplishments he's witnessed at home and around the globe. With candor, compassion, and sometimes irreverence, Rather examines world leaders and local heroes.

Deadlines and Datelines is not without lighter moments. In one laugh-out-loud essay, Rather skewers the phenomenon of "dumb bass," or bass that are bred to go after any hook in sight. On the culture beat, Rather offers personal interviews and insightful appreciations as well as a compelling tribute to JFK, Jr. Throughout these essays, Rather offers readers a wide range of though-provoking observations, and shows yet again the skill and intelligence that have made him "part of our world" for more than four decades.

Deadlines and Datelines

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no book jacket, small stamp inside cover #hardcover #nonfiction #humor #comedy #essays

Pennsylvania

Brain Droppings

R. Eric Thomas

Texas

Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays

"R. Eric Thomas didn't know he was different until the world told him so. Everywhere he went--whether it was his rich, mostly white, suburban high school, his conservative black church, or his Ivy League college in a big city--he found himself on the outside looking in. In essays by turns hysterical and heartfelt, Eric redefines what it means to be an 'other' through the lens of his own life experience"--Publisher marketing.

Here for It

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David Sedaris

Wisconsin

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

de89e85a-36ae-43cc-af07-27a84835f773-1

Selected Essays 

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Amy Lyle

A Collection of Funny Essays and One-Liners about the Struggles of Everyday Life

The number one best-selling author of "The Amy Binegar-Kimmes-Lyle Book Of Failures" brings you her newest gem, "We're All A Mess. It's OK." Over one hundred contributors share their failures, setbacks and most embarrassing moments for this compilation of hilarity with the hopes that their stories would give the embarrassed and struggling souls some comic and inspirational relief.

Life is riddled with pain, disappointments, and failures, but given enough time, they're folly. "We're All A Mess. It's OK" captures life's most absurd moments honestly and without a filter. It's filled with funny essays and one-liners that highlight the grainier sides of being human and imperfect.

The book covers everything from horrible internet dating experiences, the strangest of co-workers, vacations that went array, to the worst holiday gifts of all time. It's an anthology of real-life disasters.

You'll enjoy comedian/actor Kim Banta's tale, "My First Date and a Sluggish Toilet," detailing a first date in the nicest home in town, ending with an overflowing toilet and panicked placement of poo into her purse.

And... "You Must Have Me Confused With Someone Else" depicts Dane Levent's severe behavior problems with her golden retriever, Buddy, after picking him up from boarding, only to find out a week later that she had the wrong dog.

And... "He's Worth the Wait" by Bes. D describes her mother-in-law's long-term relationship with a convicted felon she had met on Meet-An-Inmate.com.

And... "Saying 'I'm Sorry' Will Not Fix This Situation" by Ashley P. is a hilarious tale of turning her best date into her worst date by leaping onto her partner's lap, causing what is called in medical terminology, a penile fracture.

And... Follow along with Traci Jo's daily embarrassment by her mother, picking her up from school wearing different wigs, such as Dorothy Hamill and Marilyn Monroe.

And... Read an entire chapter dedicated to strange conditions, such as Shelley Miner Gardler's need to gather her pets before she leaves to tell them goodbye and to assign one to be in charge while she's away.

And... Discover why Christine T sorts M&Ms in ROYGBIV order and eats them first by frequency until they're even, and then one of each color in order, until they're gone.

These humorous essays and quips are about the blunders and snafus, and of everyday life that most of us can relate to. It's like "Chicken Soup for the Soul" if you threw in snark and expletives. If you like Jenn Mann, Samantha Irby, and Jenny Lawson, you will love "We're All A Mess. It's OK." Get a copy for your funniest friends, or for grouchy people, maybe it will cheer them up.

The book is an easy read and offers a real message that we all can survive, even the worst of failures and ultimately, even though we're all a mess, it's OK.

Snarky women, quip, short stories, essays, funny, humorous essays, humor essays, gifts for women, funny stories, dating, relationships, failures, work, family, cats, dogs, alpacas.

We're All a Mess, It's Ok

b11ab90b-f3c7-45b5-a248-0de5b1a71ee6-1

Larissa Zageris

Kitty Curran

A series of essays exploring what makes Keanu Reeves a pleasure to watch and an absolute joy of a human being. 

Illinois

This illustrated collection of humorous essays and fun extras makes the case for one of our most iconic celebrities, from Bill and Ted to John Wick.

For an actor who's been in so many mega-hits and equally mega misses, it can be tough to track Keanu Reeves's accomplishments. But true fans know that Keanu is so much more than his Bill and Ted persona, both onscreen and off. During his long career-over 30 years, though you wouldn't know it from his immortal looks-he has constantly subverted Hollywood stereotypes and expectations. He's the type to start his own publishing company, reread Hamlet, write a grown-up children's book, photobomb people's weddings, eat lunch alone in the park while looking very sad, and give away his salary to the film crew.

For Your Consideration- Keanu Reeves examines the ways in which Keanu strives to be kind and excellent in work and in life. The authors also explore various Internet conspiracies about his age, help you identify which Sad Keanu meme you are, give you the Keanu and Winona Ryder fanfic your heart desires, and much, much more.

For Your Consideration: Keanu Reeves

64dc2ba3-7331-438f-96ee-4748c12c3108-1

Helen Ellis

Stories

A sharp, funny, delightfully unhinged collection of stories set in the dark world of domesticity, American Housewife features murderous ladies who lunch, celebrity treasure hunters, and the best bra fitter south of the Mason Dixon line. Meet the women of American Housewife: they wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. They pump the salad spinner like it's a CPR dummy. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies out of the oven. These twelve irresistible stories take us from a haunted prewar Manhattan apartment building to the set of a rigged reality television show, from the unique initiation ritual of a book club to the getaway car of a pageant princess on the lam, from the gallery opening of a tinfoil artist to the fitting room of a legendary lingerie shop. Vicious, fresh, and nutty as a poisoned Goo Goo Cluster, American Housewife is an uproarious, pointed commentary on womanhood.

American Housewife

aeaac683-3da2-4567-af72-070a0894d365

New Jersey

New and Selected Essays

In Search of a Beautiful Freedom brings together the best work from Farah Jasmine Griffin's rich forays on music, Black feminism, literature, the crises of Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19, and the Black artists she esteems. She moves from evoking the haunting strength of Odetta and the rise of soprano popular singers in the 1970s to the forging of a Black women's literary renaissance and the politics of Malcolm X through the lens of Black feminism. She reflects on pivotal moments in recent American history--including the banning of Toni Morrison's Beloved--and celebrates the intellectuals, artists, and personal relationships that have shaped her identity and her work.

Featuring new and unpublished essays along with ones first appearing in outlets such as the New York Times and NPR, In Search of a Beautiful Freedom is a captivating collection that celebrates the work of "one of the few great intellectuals in our time" (Cornel West).

In Search of a Beautiful Freedom

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In Praise of Whale Sharks, Fireflies, and Other Astonishments

World of Wonders

#comedy #hardcover #autobiography #memoir #amypoehler #funny  #snl #essays #humor #nonfiction 

Indiana

The Patch

Nevada

Essays from Now or Never

Barbara Kingsolver has entertained and touched the lives of legions of readers with her critically acclaimed and bestselling novels The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, and Pigs in Heaven. In these twenty-five newly conceived essays, she returns once again to her favored literary terrain to explore the themes of family, community, and the natural world. With the eyes of a scientist and the vision of a poet, Kingsolver writes about notions as diverse as modern motherhood, the history of private property, and the suspended citizenship of humans in the animal kingdom. Her canny pursuit of meaning from an inscrutable world compels us to find instructions for life in surprising places: a museum of atomic bomb relics, a West African voodoo love charm, a family of paper dolls, the ethics of a wild pig who persistently invades a garden, a battle of wills with a two-year-old, or a troop of oysters who observe high tide in the middle of Illinois. In sharing her thoughts about the urgent business of being alive, Kingsolver the essayist employs the same keen eyes, persuasive tongue, and understanding heart that characterize her acclaimed fiction. Defiant, funny, courageously honest, High Tide in Tucson proves once again that "there is no one quite like Barbara Kingsolver in contemporary literature."--Washington Post Book World

High Tide in Tucson

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Essays offer a satiric look at fashion, television, celebrities, friendship, baseball, names, men, self-help books, fantasies, infidelity, and the sixties

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Robert Fulghum

Maybe (Maybe Not)

Sloane Crosley

Look Alive Out There

Kate Harding

Nasty Women

Luvvie Ajayi

I'm Judging You

Amy Poehler

Yes Please

Daphne Merkin

Dreaming of Hitler

Chuck Palahniuk

Stranger Than Fiction

Mychal Denzel Smith

Stakes Is High

Dan Rather

Deadlines and Datelines

George Carlin

Brain Droppings

R. Eric Thomas

Here for It

David Sedaris

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Michel de Montaigne

Selected Essays

Amy Poehler

Yes Please

Amy Poehler

Yes Please

Amy Lyle

We're All a Mess, It's Ok

Larissa Zageris; Kitty Curran

For Your Consideration: Keanu Reeves

Helen Ellis

American Housewife

Farah Jasmine Griffin

In Search of a Beautiful Freedom

Aimee Nezhukumatathil

World of Wonders

Amy Poehler

Yes Please

John McPhee

The Patch

Barbara Kingsolver; Paul Mirocha (Illustrator)

High Tide in Tucson

Cynthia Heimel

If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?