Sh*t My Dad Says

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Randall Munroe · 312 pages

Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a

Modern Romance

Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg · 288 pages

From NYU Wagner: At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. Wit

Dad Is Fat

Jim Gaffigan · 274 pages

"In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who's best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children--everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers' communication skills ("they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news"), to the

Attachments

Rainbow Rowell · 336 pages

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . " Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives

Redshirts

John Scalzi · 320 pages

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It's a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on "Away Missions" alongside the starship's famous senior officers. Life couldn't be better...until Andrew begins to realize that 1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, 2)

Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris · 272 pages

A recent transplant to Paris, humorist David Sedaris, bestselling author of “Naked”, presents a collection of his strongest work yet, including the title story about his hilarious attempt to learn French. David Sedaris' move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious pieces, including the title essay, about his attempts to learn French from a sadistic teacher who declares that every day sp

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Bill Bryson · 288 pages

Bill Bryson on his most personal journey yet: into his own childhood in America's Mid-West.Some say that the first hint that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came when his mother sent him to school in lime-green Capri pants. Others think it all started with his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have l

Seriously... I'm Kidding

Ellen DeGeneres · 248 pages

The stand-up comedian, television host, best-selling author and actress candidly discusses her personal life, her professional career and describes what it was like to become a judge on American Idol.

Bossypants

Tina Fey · 277 pages

Tina Fey’s new book *Bossypants* is short, messy, and impossibly funny (an apt description of the comedian herself). From her humble roots growing up in Pennsylvania to her days doing amateur improv in Chicago to her early sketches on Saturday Night Live, Fey gives us a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of modern comedy with equal doses of wit, candor, and self-deprecation. Some of the funnie

Super Chill: A Year of Living Anxiously

Adam Ellis · 120 pages

Takedown Twenty

Janet Evanovich · 337 pages

New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows better than to mess with family. But when powerful mobster Salvatore "Uncle Sunny" Sunucchi goes on the lam in Trenton, it's up to Stephanie to find him. Uncle Sunny is charged with murder for running over a guy (twice), and nobody wants to turn him in -- not his poker buddies, not his bimbo girlfriend, not his two right-hand men, Shorty and Moe. Even

Why Not Me?

Mindy Kaling · 240 pages

Hollywood starlet Mindy Kaling shares her ongoing, laugh-out-loud journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life.

Magical Thinking: True Stories

Augusten Burroughs · 272 pages

An Abundance of Katherines

John Green · 256 pages

Katherine V thought boys were gross Katherine X just wanted to be friends Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail K-19 broke his heart When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Judy Blume · 120 pages

Any fourth grader would agree that Peter Hatcher has a terrible problem—his little brother, Fudge. But the grown-ups in his life just can't see that there is something wrong with a two-year-old who breaks his front teeth try- ing to fly, decides that he is a dog, goes on a no-eat strike, and scribbles all over his brother's homework. Peter is always asked to perform so that Fudge will be less of

About a Boy

Nick Hornby · 288 pages

Nick Hornby's second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bitnerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and b

Wayside School Is Falling Down

Louis Sachar · 179 pages

"Watch Closely," said Mrs. Jewls. "You can learn much faster using a computer instead of paper and pencil." Then she pushed the new computer out the window. The children watched it fall thirty floors and smash against the sidewalk. "See?" said Mrs. Jewls. "That's gravity! I've been trying to teach you about gravity, but the computer showed you a lot quicker!" That's the way things happen a

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Helen Simonson · 394 pages

You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major P

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Steve Krug · 204 pages

Yesterday's Web looked far different from today's Web, and tomorrow's Web will look more different still. Amidst all of this change, however, one aspect of Web use remains the same: The sites that offer the best, easiest, most intuitive experience are the ones people visit again and again. To ensure that your sites provide that experience, this guide from usability guru Krug distills his years of

My Drunk Kitchen: A Guide to Eating, Drinking, and Going with Your Gut

Hannah Hart · 240 pages

One day Hart, a bored New York City transplant, decided to make a fake cooking show for a friend back in California. In her book, she presents a collection of stories, drawings, drink recommendations, cooking tips, and recipes to make and enjoy between drinks. The result is a hilarious -- and surprisingly useful -- reminder to enjoy life, and that together we can make it through.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

Chelsea Handler · 247 pages

In this new collection of original essays, the #1 bestselling author of "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" delivers one laugh-out-loud moment after another as she sets her sights on the ridiculous side of childhood, adulthood, and daughterhood.

Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott · 240 pages

Anne Lamott gives her perspective on the art and work of writing. The title comes from a family story when her brother had to complete a report on birds. He put it off until the last minute and was overwhelmed. Her father counseled him saying they would take it, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird."

The Pointless Book

Alfie Deyes · 192 pages

" ... the ultimate addition to his YouTube channel a weird and funny video-diary of fun, challenges and nothingness: bake a cake in a mug; take part in a people-watching challenge; create a time capsule; diarise a week of your life and learn to make origami. Fully illustrated and packed with a host of games, activities and pranks, Alfie invites you to join his online following as he challenges you

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

Steve Martin · 216 pages

The author shares the stories of his years in stand-up comedy in a humorous memoir that recalls a first job selling guidebooks at Disneyland, his early magic and comedy act, his years of honing his craft, and the sacrifice, discipline, and originality it took to take him to the top.