Wednesday, July 14, 2021

iTunes Store: Top 25 Books in Humor 2021-07-14

Liz Miele & Chelsea Trousdale - Why Cats are A******s artwork Why Cats are A******s
Liz Miele & Chelsea Trousdale
Genre: Humour
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: March 30, 2021
Publisher: Skyhorse
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

Most people love cats. They’re fluffy, playful, and can be a joy to have as a companion. However, they can also be huge a******s. So what can you do? How do you deal with a roommate who always seems to be plotting to kill you? While we all love sharing adorable photos of kittens, these frisky felines are known more for marching to the beat of their own drum than abiding by the rules. From running around your home at two in the morning, knocking everything off your shelves, or taking up most of your bed, these furry critters can be immensely selfish and disrespectful to those who give them endless love and affection. Why Cats Are A******s is up for such a challenge. From studying their history all the way back to ancient Egypt, comedian Liz Miele—the daughter of veterinarians—digests the cat psyche to try and understand why they do the things they do, and how we, as their loyal servants, can handle domestic bliss with them around. With the help of her cat Pasta, Miele breaks down the common behaviors of cats in an attempt to try and better understand their plan of attack (if there is one), as well as what we can do to better prepare ourselves. Whether you have one, two, or twelve fur babies, Why Cats Are A******s is the ultimate guide to better understanding your pet’s behavior while taking back your home from these domesticated terrorists.



Elizabeth Dutton - 1,033 Reasons to Smile artwork 1,033 Reasons to Smile
Elizabeth Dutton
Genre: Humour
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: September 01, 2011
Publisher: Skyhorse
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

With all the impending doomsday predictions everyone is looking for a reason to smile these days. And why not? Smiling has been shown to relieve stress, boost the immune system, release endorphins, and even make us more attractive. It’s the natural drug. So put down the Xanax and pick up a copy of 1,033 Reasons to Smile . Whether it’s the sight of baby animals wrestling each other or watching pigeons fight over a Cheeto, there are more than enough funny, silly, and downright weird reasons to put a smile on your face inside this little book of joy, including:      • When the person in the next lane lets you ahead of them in heavy traffic      • When you finally get back into your own bed after being away from home      • You check the calendar on a Friday and realize that Monday is a holiday We're all looking for a reason to smile these days. Here's 1,033 of them.



Helen Ellis - Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light artwork Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light
Essays
Helen Ellis
Genre: Humour
Price: $14.99
Publish Date: July 13, 2021
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

The bestselling author of American Housewife and Southern Lady Code returns with a viciously funny, deeply felt collection of essays on friendship among grown-ass women. When Helen Ellis and her lifelong friends arrive for a reunion on the Redneck Riviera, they unpack more than their suitcases: stories of husbands and kids; lost parents and lost jobs; powdered onion dip and photographs you have to hold by the edges; dirty jokes and sunscreen with SPF higher than they hair-sprayed their bangs senior year; and a bad mammogram. It's a diagnosis that scares them, but could never break their bond. Because women pushing fifty won't be pushed around. In these twelve gloriously comic and moving essays, Helen Ellis dishes on married middle-age sex, sobs with a theater full of women as a psychic exorcises their sorrows, gets twenty shots of stomach bile to the neck to get rid of her double chin, and gathers up the courage to ask, "Are you there, Menopause? It's Me, Helen." A book that reads like the best cocktail party of your life, Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light is chockablock with fabulous characters: cat-lady plastic surgeons and waterpark Adonises; bridge ladies and poker players; platinum medallion fliers and Garage Sale Swindlers; forty-year-old divorcées; fifty-year-old new moms and still-young octogenarians. Alive with the sensational humor and ferocious love for her friends that won Helen Ellis legions of fans, this book has a raw vulnerability and an emotional generosity that takes this acclaimed author to a whole new level of accomplishment.



Neil Gaiman - Don't Panic artwork Don't Panic
Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Neil Gaiman
Genre: Humour
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: October 30, 2018
Publisher: Open Road Media
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

The #1 New York Times –bestselling author’s “hilarious . . . idiosyncratic . . . delightful” and definitive companion to a global phenomenon ( Publishers Weekly ).   Douglas Adams’s “six-part trilogy,” The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy grew from a blip of a notion into an ever-expanding multimedia universe that amassed an unprecedented cult of followers and became an international sensation. As a young journalist, Neil Gaiman was given complete access to Adams’s life, times, gossip, unpublished outtakes, and files (and became privy to his writing process, insecurities, disillusionments, challenges, and triumphs). The resulting volume illuminates the unique, funny, dramatic, and improbable chronicle of an idea, an incredibly tall man, and a mind-boggling success story.   In Don’t Panic , Gaiman celebrates everything Hitchhiker : the original radio play, the books, comics, video and computer games, films, television series, record albums, stage musicals, one-man shows, the Great One himself, and towels. And as Douglas Adams himself attested: “It’s all absolutely devastatingly true—except the bits that are lies.”   Updated several times in the thirty years since its original publication, Don’t Panic is available for the first time in digital form. Part biography, part tell-all parody, part pop-culture history, part guide to a guide, Don’t Panic “deserves as much cult success as the Hitchhiker’s books themselves” ( Time Out ).  



David Steinberg - Inside Comedy artwork Inside Comedy
The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades
David Steinberg
Genre: Humour
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: July 13, 2021
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

The world of comedy and comedians of the last five decades. By the man the New York Times calls "a comic institution himself," the only comedian (twenty-six years in stand-up) to have made Elie Wiesel laugh, as well as having appeared on The Tonight Show (140 times, second only to Bob Hope, but who's counting). From the director of TV comedy series Mad About You, Seinfeld, Friends, Weeds and Curb Your Enthusiasm .   Larry David:  “I’m lucky. I know and love David Steinberg. You don’t. Now's your chance. Don’t blow it!"   “David has always been a comedy hero to me. One of his many gifts is the ability to inspire funny people to be even funnier, as you will discover in this truly hilarious, insightful book.” --Martin Short   From David Steinberg, a rabbi's son from Winnipeg, Canada, who at age fifteen enrolled at Hebrew Theological College in Chicago (the rabbinate wasn't for him) and four years later, entered the master's program in English literature at the University of Chicago, until he saw Lenny Bruce, the "Blue Boy" of Comedy, the coolest guy Steinberg had ever seen, and joined Chicago's Second City improvisational group, becoming, instead, the comedian's comedian, director, actor, working with, inspired by, teaching, and learning from the most celebrated, admired, complicated comedians, then and now--a funny, moving, provocative, insightful look into the soul, wit, and bite of comedy and comedians--a universe unto itself--of the last half-century. From the greats: George Burns, Lenny Bruce, Sid Caesar, Lucille Ball, Mel Brooks, and Carl Reiner, et al., to the newer greats: Carol Burnett, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Billy Crystal, Bob Newhart, and the man for all comedy, Martin (Marty) Short; to the greats of right now: Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wanda Sykes; and more . . . Steinberg, through stories, reminiscences, tales of directing, touring, performing, and, through the comedians themselves talking (from more than 75 interviews), makes clear why he loves comedy and comedians who have been by his side in his work, and in his life, for more than sixty years. Here are: Will Ferrell, Eric Idle, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Myers, Groucho himself and the greatest of them all (at least of the last half century), Jonathan Winters . . .



Joan Rivers - I Hate Everyone...Starting with Me artwork I Hate Everyone...Starting with Me
Joan Rivers
Genre: Humour
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: June 05, 2012
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

“An entertaining rant…The only thing missing is the sound of a drumroll and cymbals to feel as though one is sitting in a nightclub watching a live comedy marathon…A raucous, biting look at life.”— Kirkus Reviews   “Nobody, but nobody, can hate like Joan Rivers. It is a gift. It is also shocking, the things she makes us laugh at…Joan Rivers is extraordinary, but she's not for the easily offended—or for anyone who gets offended at all.”— People   Joan Rivers, comedienne, actress, jewelry monger, and an award-winning international star (she can sneer in eight different languages) lives by her own golden rule: Do unto others before they do unto you—and for God’s sakes, do it funny!  Her career in comedy may have begun with self-loathing, but, after looking at the human decrepitude around her, she figured Why stop here when there are so many other things to hate? With all of her diverse experiences, Joan has looked down at, turned away from, and thrown up over a lot of hateful things, deplorable places, and despicable people. Thank God she took notes.   Here—uncensored and uninhibited—Joan says exactly what’s on her mind…And HER mind is a terrible thing to waste.  She proudly kicks the crap out of ugly children, dating rituals, funerals, and lousy restaurants. She nails First Ladies, closet cases, and hypocrites to the wall. She shows no mercy towards doctors and feminists, and even goes after Anne Frank and Stephen Hawking.  Joan lets everyone—including herself—have it in this one hundred percent honest and unabashedly hilarious love letter to the hater in all of us.



Lynne Truss - Eats, Shoots and Leaves artwork Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Lynne Truss
Genre: Humour
Price: $14.99
Publish Date: May 26, 2011
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Seller: Harper Collins Canada Limited

'If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood.' Frank McCourt The international bestseller, reissued and with a new introduction. A witty, entertaining, impassioned guide to perfect punctuation, for everyone who cares about precise writing. When social histories come to be written of the first decade of the 21st century, people will note a turning point in 2003 when declining standards of punctuation were reversed. Linguists will record Lynne Truss as the saviour of the semi-colon and the avenging angel of the apostrophe. 'This book will stimulate and satisfy. It's worth its weight in gold.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'A witty, elegant and passionate book that should be on every writer's shelf.' Observer 'Lynne Truss deserves to be piled high with honours.' John Humphrys 'It can only be a matter of time before the new government seizes the chance to appoint her as minister for punctuation. The manifesto is already written.' Guardian 'She's a soul sister. She's one of us.' Richard Madeley



Trae Crowder, Corey Ryan Forrester & Drew Morgan - The Liberal Redneck Manifesto artwork The Liberal Redneck Manifesto
Draggin' Dixie Outta the Dark
Trae Crowder, Corey Ryan Forrester & Drew Morgan
Genre: Humour
Price: $14.99
Publish Date: October 04, 2016
Publisher: Atria Books
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

The Liberal Rednecks—a Southern-based stand-up comedy group known for their scathing political satire—celebrate all that’s good about Dixie while leading a progressive revolution toward a New South. The American South is home to some of the best music, cuisine, athletics, whiskey, and weather the country has to offer, but its reputation as a haven for its “right-wing, Bible-beatin’, assault-rifle-totin’” citizens precedes it—and, according to the Liberal Rednecks, rightfully so. Yet, as they explain it, the situation in the South is far more complex than “hypocritical, nose-up-in-the-air Yankees” give it credit for. And they should know—they are native sons. Whip-smart, hilarious, and incisive, the Liberal Rednecks are lifelong, down-home Southern boys who aren’t afraid to call out the outdated traditions and intolerant attitudes of their native land—while also shining a proud light on the most misunderstood region of the country. Their mission: to provide a manifesto for young progressives south of the Mason-Dixon line to rise up and claim their homeland—without abandoning the best of their culture. Exploring race, class, guns, religion, drug addiction, alcoholism, and homophobia, the Liberal Rednecks tell it like it is while challenging stereotypes at every turn. Fresh, funny, and surprising, The Liberal Redneck Manifesto gives us a vision of Dixieland as it exists now—and what it could become.



Jim Davis - Garfield Chews the Fat artwork Garfield Chews the Fat
His 17th Book
Jim Davis
Genre: Humour
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: February 18, 1989
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

Who's back in the limelight again? It's Garfield! Leading the world in most naps snoozed per year, perfecting the art of eating without coming up for air, and discovering that dessert is the most important meal of the day. Garfield's back, and we've got him right where we want him!



Mindy Kaling - Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) artwork Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
Mindy Kaling
Genre: Humour
Price: $10.99
Publish Date: November 01, 2011
Publisher: Crown
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER •  In this hilarious instant classic, the  creator of  The Mindy Project  and  Never Have I Ever  invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood. “[Kaling is] like Tina Fey’s cool little sister. Or perhaps . . . the next Nora Ephron.”— The New York Times   Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”    Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!   With several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? proves that Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.   Praise for  Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? “Where have you been all our lives, Mindy?” — Glamour “Who wouldn’t want to hang out with Mindy Kaling? . . . [ Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? ] is like a mash note to comedy nerds.” — Time Out New York “Very funny.” — Boston Globe



Tina Fey - Bossypants (Enhanced Edition) artwork Bossypants (Enhanced Edition)
Tina Fey
Genre: Humour
Price: $10.99
Publish Date: April 05, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL" ( Sunday Telegraph ). Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live ; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence. Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've always suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy. Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!



Ellen DeGeneres - Seriously...I'm Kidding artwork Seriously...I'm Kidding
Ellen DeGeneres
Genre: Humour
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: October 04, 2011
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

I've experienced a lot the last few years and I have a lot to share. So I hope that you'll take a moment to sit back, relax and enjoy the words I've put together for you in this book. I think you'll find I've left no stone unturned, no door unopened, no window unbroken, no rug unvacuumed, no ivories untickled. What I'm saying is, let us begin, shall we?



Jim Gaffigan - Food: A Love Story artwork Food: A Love Story
A Love Story
Jim Gaffigan
Genre: Humour
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: October 21, 2014
Publisher: Crown
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A brilliantly funny tribute to the simple pleasures of eating” ( Parade ) from the author of Dad Is Fat Have you ever finished a meal that tasted horrible but not noticed until the last bite? Eaten in your car so you wouldn’t have to share with your children? Gotten hungry while watching a dog food commercial? Does the presence of green vegetables make you angry?   If you answered yes to any of the following questions, you are pretty pathetic, but you are not alone. Feast along with America’s favorite food comedian, bestselling author, and male supermodel Jim Gaffigan as he digs into his specialty: stuffing his face. Food: A Love Story is an in-depth, thoroughly uninformed look at everything from health food to things that people actually enjoy eating.



Bill Watterson - Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat artwork Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
A Calvin and Hobbes Collection
Bill Watterson
Genre: Humour
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: September 06, 1994
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Seller: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Now available for the first time as an e-book! Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat chronicles another segment of the multifarious adventures of this wild child and his faithful, but skeptical, friend. If the best cartoons compel readers to identify themselves within the funny frames, then all who enjoy Calvin and Hobbes are creative, imaginative, and ... bad, bad, bad! Calvin, the irascible little boy with the stuffed tiger who comes to life are a pair bound for trouble. Boring school lessons become occasions for death-defying alien air battles, speeding snow sled descents elicit philosophical discussions on the meaning of life, and Hobbe's natural inclination to pounce on his little friend wreaks havoc on Calvin's sense of security. Calvin's the kid we all wish we'd been. Sassy, imaginative, far more verbal than his parents can manage, Calvin is the quintessential bad boy -- and the boy we love to see. He terrorizes little Susie, offers "Candid Opinions" from a neighborhood stand, and questions his parents' authority. "What assurance do I have that your parenting isn't screwing me up?" he demands. Calvin and Hobbes manages to say what needs to be said about childhood and life: "Eww, mud," says Calvin. "Look at this gooshy, dirty, slimy, thick, wet mud ... Bleecch ... Talk about a kid magnet!"



Tucker Max - I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell artwork I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Tucker Max
Genre: Humour
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: March 01, 2012
Publisher: Citadel Press
Seller: Kensington Publishing Corp.

The “highly entertaining and thoroughly reprehensible” #1 New York Times bestseller—now with sixteen pages of photos and a new introduction ( The New York Times ). My name is Tucker Max, and I am an a*****e. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging d******d. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world. --from the Introduction Actual reader feedback: "I find it truly appalling that there are people in the world like you. You are a disgusting, vile, repulsive, repugnant, foul creature. Because of you, I don’t believe in God anymore. No just God would allow someone like you to exist." "I’ll stay with God as my lord, but you are my savior. I just finished reading your brilliant stories, and I laughed so hard I almost vomited. I want to bring that kind of joy to people. You’re an artist of the highest order and a true humanitarian to boot. I'm in both shock and awe at how much I want to be you."



David Sedaris - The Best of Me artwork The Best of Me
David Sedaris
Genre: Humour
Price: $15.99
Publish Date: November 03, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

“Genius… It is miraculous to read these pieces… You must read The Best of Me .” —Andrew Sean Greer, New York Times Book Review A  New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice A CNN and  Christian Science Monitor  Best Book of the Month For more than twenty-five years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to read without laughing.   Now, for the first time collected in one volume, the author brings us his funniest and most memorable work. In these stories, Sedaris shops for rare taxidermy, hitchhikes with a lady quadriplegic, and spits a lozenge into a fellow traveler’s lap. He drowns a mouse in a bucket, struggles to say “give it to me” in five languages, and hand-feeds a carnivorous bird.   But if all you expect to find in Sedaris’s work is the deft and sharply observed comedy for which he became renowned, you may be surprised to discover that his words bring more warmth than mockery, more fellow-feeling than derision. Nowhere is this clearer than in his writing about his loved ones. In these pages, Sedaris explores falling in love and staying together, recognizing his own aging not in the mirror but in the faces of his siblings, losing one parent and coming to terms—at long last—with the other.   Taken together, the stories in The Best of Me reveal the wonder and delight Sedaris takes in the surprises life brings him. No experience, he sees, is quite as he expected—it’s often harder, more fraught, and certainly weirder—but sometimes it is also much richer and more wonderful.   Full of joy, generosity, and the incisive humor that has led David Sedaris to be called “the funniest man alive” ( Time Out New York ), The Best of Me spans a career spent watching and learning and laughing—quite often at himself—and invites readers deep into the world of one of the most brilliant and original writers of our time.



M.E. Evans - Naked (in Italy) artwork Naked (in Italy)
A Memoir About the Pitfalls of La Dolce Vita
M.E. Evans
Genre: Humour
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: October 01, 2019
Publisher: ME LLC
Seller: Ingram DV LLC

"Throughout this wittily acerbic memoir, Evans offers dry humor and sharp feminist insights." -Kirkus Reviews "In a series of vignettes, Evans describes her many embarrassing moments and triumphs with vivid emotional detail." -BookLife A page-turning, heart-wrenching, hilarious debut in the tradition of Elizabeth Gilbert, Jenny Lawson, Samantha Irby, Cheryl Strayed, and Sally Rooney.  In her late twenties, M.E. Evans hops on a plane to Italy on a mission to change her life and that's exactly what happens. Unfortunately, personal growth isn't always easy. In Naked, bestselling author, M.E. Evans, tackles the personal growth narrative in a way that is refreshingly honest, unapologetically sensual, and wildly entertaining.  If you've ever set foot in a foreign country or picked up a travel memoir you probably think you already know what Naked is about: a dreamy personal account of the life-altering beauty that is Italy. And sure, that's in there, nestled somewhere between the profound grief, bruised ego, debilitating anxiety, chronic depression, vagina paintings, a boyfriend with billowing chest hair, and a mother-in-law who forcibly irons your underwear. Though Naked takes place (mostly) in Italy, it's less about travel and more about personal identity and believing in relationships.  Evans' dream of a magical life abroad is marred by forbidden love, the death of her younger brother, and a batshit crazy family, yet she skillfully merges tragedy and humor for a wild emotional journey exploring what it means to be human-flaws and all. Evans' wit, compassion, and vulnerability make reading this book a rarely authentic and relatable experience. You'll cry, you'll cackle, and you'll want Evans to be your best friend.



Josh Gondelman - Nice Try artwork Nice Try
Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results
Josh Gondelman
Genre: Humour
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: September 17, 2019
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Seller: Harper Collins Canada Limited

“If you only read one book in your life, it probably shouldn’t be this one. However, if you’re not operating an inexplicable one-book policy, these stories are funny, touching, and more than worth your time.” — John Oliver “Josh Gondelman is one of the most original hilarious voices out there today. This book will hook you and make you laugh and laugh.” — Amy Schumer Emmy-Award winning writer and comedian Josh Gondelman’s collection of personal stories of best intentions and mixed results. Josh Gondelman knows a thing or two about trying—and failing. The Emmy Award-winning stand-up comic—dubbed a “pathological sweetheart” by the New York Observer—is known throughout the industry as one of comedy’s true “nice guys.” Not surprisingly, he’s endured his share of last-place finishes. But he keeps on bouncing back. In this collection of hilarious and poignant essays (including his acclaimed New York Times piece “What if I Bombed at My Own Wedding?”), Josh celebrates a life of good intentions—and mixed results. His true tales of romantic calamities, professional misfortunes, and eventual triumphs reinforce the notion: we get out of the world what we put into it. Whether he’s adopting a dog from a suspicious stranger, mitigating a disastrous road trip, or trying MDMA for the first (and only) time, Josh only wants the best for everyone—even as his attempts to do the right thing occasionally implode. Full of the warm and relatable humor that’s made him a favorite on the comedy club circuit, Nice Try solidifies Josh Gondelman’s reputation as not just a good guy, but a skilled observer of the human condition.



Bathroom Readers' Institute - Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Canada, Eh artwork Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Canada, Eh
Bathroom Readers' Institute
Genre: Humour
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: July 15, 2012
Publisher: Portable Press
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

PGW Uncle John's taking the plunge . . . into the Great White North!   Raincoast Hey, Canada! Uncle John salutes you! For 25 years, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has been wildly popular in Canada, so we decided to dedicate an entire edition to our friends in the Great White North--even though much of the continental U.S. is north of Canada’s southernmost point. That misconception--and a whole lot more--is revealed in this loving ode to a friendly nation with a colorful history and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Whether you’re a true Canuck, or just always wanted to be one, Yukon count on us to deliver great bathroom reading! Read about…   * Stealing the Stanley Cup (literally) * The origins of Tim Hortons and Kraft dinners * Jellied moose nose and other Canadian delicacies * Move over Napa: the story of Canadian “ice wine” * The government’s secret official UFO division * Canada’s homegrown rock ’n’ roll bands * All about those dam beavers * The answer to Canada’s most burning question: Does Santa Claus really have his own postal code? And much, much more!



B.S. Harris - The Cheap Handyman artwork The Cheap Handyman
True (and Disastrous) Tales from a [Home Improvement Expert] Guy Who Should Know Better
B.S. Harris
Genre: Humour
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: May 04, 2021
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

Hilarious adventures in home renovations and repairs, from a real-life Red Green. Meet Brian Harris, a (mostly) retired, self-proclaimed jack of all trades with a knack for home improvements and inventive money-saving schemes. Armed with a soldering gun, his trusty 9-foot ladder, and of course the handyman’s secret weapon—duct tape—Brian’s projects start out as simple chores: trim a tree branch, stain the cedar siding on his home...but all too often they end in costly disaster. Sometimes he’s trying to do the right thing, like the time he wrecked his pool while saving some baby ducks. Often, he channels his inner MacGyver: he once taped his hockey skate back together so he could finish his rec-league game, only to get suspended for falling on the referee when it broke (again). But usually, he’s just trying to save a buck, like the time he accidentally destroyed an expensive car key fob because he wouldn’t pay the (outrageous) $10 fee to have the new battery professionally replaced. Filled with funny and entertaining true stories from the everyday life of an average guy just trying to save a few dollars, The Cheap Handyman is a tribute to anyone who has ever thought, “Sure! I can do that!”



Anna Fields - The Girl in the Show artwork The Girl in the Show
Three Generations of Comedy, Culture, and Feminism
Anna Fields
Genre: Humour
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: August 08, 2017
Publisher: Arcade
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

For fans of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer—and every other "funny woman"—comes a candid feminist comedy manifesto exploring the sisterhood between women's comedy and women's liberation. “I’m not funny at all. What I am is brave.” —Lucille Ball From female pop culture powerhouses dominating the entertainment landscape to memoirs from today’s most vocal feminist comediennes shooting up the bestseller lists, women in comedy have never been more influential. Marking this cultural shift, The Girl in the Show explores how comedy and feminism have grown hand in hand to give women a stronger voice in the ongoing fight for equality. From I Love Lucy to SNL to today’s rising cable and web series stars, Anna Fields's entertaining, thoughtful, and candid retrospective combines personal narratives with the historical, political, and cultural contexts of the feminist movement. With interview subjects such as Abbi Jacobson, Molly Shannon, Mo Collins, and Lizz Winstead—as well as actresses, stand-up comics, writers, producers, and female comedy troupes—Fields shares true stories of wit and heroism from some of our most treasured (and underrepresented) artists. Creating a blueprint for the feminist comedians of tomorrow using lessons of the past, The Girl in the Show encourages readers to revel in—and rebel against—our collective ideas of "women's comedy."



Nora Ephron - I Remember Nothing artwork I Remember Nothing
Nora Ephron
Genre: Humour
Price: $10.99
Publish Date: November 09, 2010
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

Nora Ephron returns with her first book since the astounding success of I Feel Bad About My Neck, taking a cool, hard, hilarious look at the past, the present, and the future, bemoaning the vicissitudes of modern life, and recalling with her signature clarity and wisdom everything she hasn’t (yet) forgotten. Ephron writes about falling hard for a way of life (“Journalism: A Love Story”) and about breaking up even harder with the men in her life (“The D Word”); lists “Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again” (“There is no explaining the stock market but people try”; “You can never know the truth of anyone’s marriage, including your own”; “Cary Grant was Jewish”; “Men cheat”); reveals the alarming evolution, a decade after she wrote and directed You’ve Got Mail, of her relationship with her in-box (“The Six Stages of E-Mail”); and asks the age-old question, which came first, the chicken soup or the cold? All the while, she gives candid, edgy voice to everything women who have reached a certain age have been thinking . . . but rarely acknowledging. Filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true—and could have come only from Nora Ephron— I Remember Nothing is pure joy.



Bill Watterson - Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons artwork Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons
A Calvin and Hobbes Collection
Bill Watterson
Genre: Humour
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: January 07, 1992
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Seller: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Now available for the first time as an e-book! In Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons, Calvin suffers a host of hardships. He gets attacked by his new two-wheeler bike. Hobbes gets kidnapped by Susie, a slimy girl. His father cancels Calvin's personal TV network. Self-multiplying deranged mutant killer monster snow goons threaten to take over the yard. And if that wasn't enough, the ethicated duplicate of Calvin's good side wreaks havoc with his reputation by doing good deeds. Yet Calvin conquers all with his irrepressible spirit and a little help from alter-egos Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man, and Tracer Bullet, private eye. Readers are delighted by Calvin's resourceful wit, which applies to everything from philosophical speculations to attempts to outsmart his parents.



Bill Watterson - The Days Are Just Packed artwork The Days Are Just Packed
Bill Watterson
Genre: Humour
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: September 07, 1993
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Seller: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Now available for the first time as an e-book! Calvin, the self-proclaimed "Boy of Destiny," continues to save the universe with his alter egos, Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man, at least until Miss Wormwood or his mother bring him back to reality. Susie, Calvin's nemesis and love interest, remains Calvin's favorite target. And when he's not recovering from a ferocious tiger attack, Calvin creates hideous snowmen, plays a moral cat-and-mouse game with Santa, conducts his infamous Dad polls, and combats the monsters under his bed.



Bill Watterson - It's a Magical World artwork It's a Magical World
Bill Watterson
Genre: Humour
Price: $10.99
Publish Date: September 01, 1996
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Seller: Andrews McMeel Publishing

When cartoonist Bill Watterson announced that his phenomenally popular cartoon strip would be discontinued, Calvin and Hobbes fans throughout the world went into mourning. Fans have learned to survive -- despite the absence of the boy and his tiger in the daily newspaper. It's a Magical World delivers all the satisfaction of visiting its characters once more. Calvin fans will be able to see their favorite mischief maker stir it up with his furry friend, long-suffering parents, classmate Susie Derkins, school teacher Miss Wormwood, and Rosalyn the baby-sitter. It's a Magical World includes full-color Sundays and has it all: Calvin-turned-firefly waking Hobbes with his flashlight glow; courageous Spaceman Spiff rocketing through alien galaxies as he battles Dad-turned-Bug-Being; and Calvin's always inspired snowman art. There's no better way for Watterson fans to savor again the special qualities of their favorite strip.