Dysfunctional colleagues, disenchanted husband; Kate King is furiously flailing to keep afloat. Seemingly now invisible to the opposite sex and with beige knitwear starting to call to her, Kate is struggling to hold up both ends as proficient boss and dutiful wife. Can she continue to balance precariously between the two, or is one side of her life about to hit the ground with a resounding thud?'This is well-written, very funny and I raced through it, occasionally squealing in horror at the antics of Kate's colleagues. It's also a joy to read about a strong woman with a big job and fiery opinions, a nice antidote to the sugary sweet sort of chick lit.' THE DAILY MAILKate King is furiously flailing to keep afloat. As her team bicker, finger-point and cheat their way through rumours of sackings and site closures, her ill-tempered husband is becoming increasingly embittered and secretive. Kate knows she must address his petulant question: “Surely there’s more to life than this?” but all her energies are required to dodge the corporate bullets constantly fired in her direction.Under pressure from an attractive, younger colleague, Kate is also concerned by her sudden invisibility to the opposite sex and the alarming appearance of back fat. Disturbingly, beige knitwear has started to call to her from the shelves of M&S.Growing more and more suspicious of her husband’s activities, pressure builds on Kate both at work and at home until her turbulent year reaches its climactic end. Can she continue to balance precariously between work and marriage, or is one end of the scales going to hit the ground with a resounding thud?

They say if you stare at him long enpigh. you can see what's written on the wall behind him. They say a lot of things about the Schwa, but one thing's for sure: noone ever noticed him. Except me. My name is Antsy Bonano- and I can tell you what's true and what's not 'cause I was there. I was the one who realized the Schwa was functionaly invisible and used it to make some big bucks. But I was also the one that caused him more grief than a friend should. So if you all just shut up and listen, I'll spill everything. Unless of course, the Schwa-effect wipes him out of my brain before I'm done...

Janet Evanovich is the hottest author in America, and her Stephanie Plum novels have taken the nation by storm! She's accidentally destroyed a dozen cars. She's a target for every psycho and miscreant this side of the Jersey Turnpike. Her mother's convinced she'll end up dead . . . or worse, without a man. She's Stephanie Plum, and she kicks butt for a living (well, she thinks it sounds good to put it that way. . . .). It begins as an innocent trip to the deli-mart, on a quest for nachos. But Stephanie Plum and her partner, Lula, are clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. A robbery leads to an explosion, which leads to the destruction of yet another car. It would be just another day in the life of Stephanie Plum, except that she becomes the target of a gang---and of an even scarier, more dangerous force that comes to Trenton. With super bounty hunter Ranger acting more mysteriously than ever (and the tension with vice cop Joe Morelli getting hotter), she finds herself with a decision to make: how to protect herself and where to hide while on the hunt for a killer known as the Junkman. There's only one safe place, and it has Ranger's name all over it---if she can find it. And if the Junkman doesn't find her first. With Lula riding shotgun and Grandma Mazur on the loose, Stephanie Plum is racing against the clock in her most suspenseful novel yet. Ten Big Ones is page-turning entertainment, and Janet Evanovich is the best there is.

The Barnes & Noble Review Detective Chief Inspector Jack Spratt and his trusty sergeant, Mary Mary, are back in another sidesplitting Nursery Crime adventure from Jasper Fforde: the sequel to 2005's The Big Over Easy. In The Fourth Bear, Spratt must track down a legendarily violent criminal known as the Gingerbreadman, a "seven-foot biscuit with a bad attitude." After successfully apprehending the infamous Great Long Red-Legg'd Scissor-man, who cuts the digits off children who suck their thumbs, Spratt is inexplicably forced to take a leave of absence while a medical review board assesses his competency. With Mary Mary working as the acting head of the Nursery Crime Division -- and Spratt as her "consultant" -- the misfit members of the NCD are faced with two very different cases: to help track down the deranged Gingerbreadman, who has just escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, and to find Henrietta "Goldilocks" Hatchett, an investigative reporter who mysteriously disappeared while working on a story about prizewinning pickles. The last to see her alive: a family of three bears who have recently experienced strange porridge problems Fans of authors who specialize in outlandish, absurdist fiction -- Terry Pratchett, Christopher Moore, et al. -- will absolutely devour Fforde's Nursery Crime novels. If the essences of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Mother Goose were blended together, Fforde's Nursery Crime saga would be the result. Readers should be warned, however, that after reading The Fourth Bear, they will never look at porridge the same way again Paul Goat Allen

Generations of readers have delighted in the work of the great American humorist Don Marquis, who was frequently compared to Mark Twain. These free-verse poems, which first appeared in Marquis's New York newspaper columns, revolve around the escapades of Archy, the philosophical cockroach who was once a poet, and Mehitabel, a streetwise alley cat who was once Cleopatra. Reincarnated as the lowest creatures on the social scale, they prowl the rowdy streets of New York City in between the world wars. The antics of these two immortal characters are now made available for the first time in their original order of publication in this unique, comprehensive collection, which features many poems never before reprinted. First time in Penguin Classics Archy and Mehitabel is considered the inspiration for E.B. White's Charlotte's Web Features many new poems never reprinted since they were first published early in the twentieth century Introduction places Marquis in the context of American humor and the history of satire

When a Hag, an orphan boy and a troll called Ulf get sent to rescue a princess from an ogre, they expect it to be a fairly standard magical mission. But the ogre is depressed, the princess doesn't want to be rescued - and the ogre's dead wife is turning in her grave.

Guy is convinced that the man and woman with whom he has lived all his life cannot possibly be what they claim to be--his parents. They're too weird! Would anyone else's mother tie-dye every pair of underwear in the house? Would anyone else's father perform the famous oyster trick by sucking an oyster up his nose with a horrible noise and spitting it out of his mouth--in a restaurant? No--except maybe the parents of the weirdest, craziest, most unappealing kid in Guy's whole class, Bob-o. But Bob-o's parents are as normal as parents come--just like Guy. This gives Guy food for thought, especially when he finds out that he and Bob-o have the same birthday, and were born in the same hospital! Guy and his best friend Buzz are determined to find out the truth about what really took place the day Guy and Bob-o were born. Readers will delight in Weeks's humorous yet sensitive handling of this classic adolescent phase--the search for identity. 00-01 Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist

From beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, a beautiful boxed set collection of his first three charming, matchless novels that have taken the world by storm: A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and Britt-Marie Was Here. Fredrik Backman’s novels have delighted readers with their irrepressible charm, whimsy, and warmth. Now, for the first time, all three of his novels are collected in one boxed set, making this a perfect gift for both longtime and new fans. In A Man Called Ove, an unexpected friendship forms when a young family moves next door to the neighborhood curmudgeon. In this feel-good tale of love and redemption, Backman explores the profound impact one life has on countless others. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is the story of a young girl named Elsa who is struggling after the death of her beloved and eccentric grandmother. When she discovers a series of letters her grandmother wrote apologizing to people she had wronged, Elsa embarks on a life-changing adventure. With humor and heart, this is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different. Finally, in Britt-Marie Was Here, Backman tells the “heartwarming story about a woman rediscovering herself after a personal crisis…fans of Backman will find another winner in these pages” (Publishers Weekly). When the fastidious Britt-Marie leaves her cheating husband and starts over in a small backwater town, she never expects to find herself drawn into the lives of its quirky and odd inhabitants. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?

Edward Clare, PM of England, doesn’t know the price of a liter of milk. Worse, he’s admitted it on national television. The public that ushered him to a landslide election has turned against him. Edward decides the only way to get closer to the men and women on the street is to travel the country dressed in drag. Leaving his high-powered, ambitious wife to attend to things in his absence, he sets out. In this comic romp Sue Townsend sends up, roasts, hoists and generally petards the once and future prime ministers as only she can.

Araminta Spook Skeleton Island

As always, Bertie is about to find himself in the soup (or 'up to the knees in bisque') and Jeeves is poised to pull him out - quite possibly after pushing him in in the first place. In this omnibus of characteristically hilarious short stories and novels, Jeeves is for the first time shockingly employed to resolve the woes of someone other than Bertie Wooster. Contains The Mating Season, Ring for Jeeves and Very Good, Jeeves...

"Ruthlessly wicked...Wonderful...His best book yet." ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION When the precious clue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the sleazy real-estate agent/villain Francis X. Kingsbury and can end only one way.... BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Carl Hiaasen's Bad Monkey.

Shy Violet has been overweight for years. Then she signs up for a structured diet plan and rapidly turns into a butterfly. Now she is gorgeous and has renewed confidence but has she taken this thing too far and lost everything?Shy Violet has been overweight for years. Then she signs up for a structured diet plan and rapidly turns into a butterfly. Now she is gorgeous and has renewed confidence but has she taken this thing too far and lost everything? Written in the style of a series of monologues. Set in England

Grundy Golem got no respect. So, to prove himself, he volunteered for a quest to find the long-lost dragon, Stanley Steamer. On the way, he somehow manages to free a damsel in distress-- but not without incurring the wrath of the Sea Hag in the process. And when it comes to avenging herself on Grundy, the Sea Hag will never give up.... From the Paperback edition.

One rule. One winner. One hundred million dollars.Everyone has their price.A group of random strangers are invited to take part in a mysterious lottery with an intriguing premise. Twenty-seven accept the offer.But what begins as an unusual social experiment quickly descends into something much more sinister. The contestants receive more than they bargained for, and the dark side of human nature reveals itself.As the lottery spirals into a life-and-death struggle for survival, Alice Kato is left searching for answers. How far are ordinary people willing to go to win this extraordinary amount of money? Is there anyone she can trust? Is there any way out?And just who exactly is pulling all the strings?Everyone has their price. Most just don't know what it is yet.