Download or read book Overheard in the Office written by S. Morgan Friedman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-02-05 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes never-before-published gems that can't be found at overheardintheoffice.com! The office is no place for dirty, personal, inappropriate talk-but that doesn't stop most people. From the loading dock to the ladies' room, this compelling collection presents some of the most bizarre, shocking, and hilarious real life conversations overheard in workplaces around the world.

Download or read book Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself written by Alan Alda and published by Random House. This book was released on 2007-09-04 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insightful and funny look at some of the impossible questions Alan Alda has asked himself over the years: What do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?) Picking up where his bestselling memoir left off–having been saved by emergency surgery after nearly dying on a mountaintop in Chile–Alda finds himself not only glad to be alive but searching for a way to squeeze the most juice out of his new life. Looking for a sense of meaning that would make this extra time count, he listens in on things he’s heard himself saying in private and in public at critical points in his life–from the turbulence of the sixties, to his first Broadway show, to the birth of his children, to the ache of September 11, and beyond. Reflecting on the transitions in his life and in all our lives, he notices that “doorways are where the truth is told,” and wonders if there’s one thing–art, activism, family, money, fame–that could lead to a “life of meaning.” In a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself. Praise for Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself “Engagingly thoughtful and thought-provoking . . . [Alan Alda] candidly shares many stories of his life, so easily and wittily you can hear him speak as you read.” –Sydney Sun Herald “Alda is chatty, easygoing and humble, rather like a Mr. Rogers for grownups. His words of inspiration would be a perfect gift for a college grad or for anyone facing major life changes.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Smart, engaged, funny and observant.” –San Antonio Express-News

Download or read book The Idea of You written by Robinne Lee and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now an original movie on Prime Video starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine! When Solène Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of a prestigious art gallery in Los Angeles, takes her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favorite boy band, she does so reluctantly and at her ex-husband’s request. The last thing she expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things. What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as Solène and Hayes navigate each other’s disparate worlds: from stadium tours to international art fairs to secluded hideaways in Paris and Miami. And for Solène, it is as much a reclaiming of self, as it is a rediscovery of happiness and love. When their romance becomes a viral sensation, and both she and her daughter become the target of rabid fans and an insatiable media, Solène must face how her new status has impacted not only her life, but the lives of those closest to her.

Download or read book Perfectly Clear written by Michelle LeClair and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The revelatory memoir by former "poster girl for Scientology" Michelle LeClair about her defection from the Church, her newly accepted sexual identity, and the lengths to which Scientology went to silence it. For years, Michelle LeClair, former President of Scientology's international humanitarian organization, tried to reconcile her sexual orientation with the anti-gay ideology of the church. Michelle finally ends her horrific marriage, finds the love of her life, a woman, and ultimately leaves the Church. But the split comes at a terrible price. Her once pristine reputation is publicly dragged through the mud, the police raid her home, her ex-husband tries to gain full custody of their children, and the multi-million dollar business she built from scratch is utterly destroyed. In this tell-all memoir, Michelle offers an insider's perspective on Scientology's pervasive influence, secret rituals, and ruthless practices for keeping members in line. It's a story of self-acceptance, of finding the strength and courage to stand up for your emotional freedom, and of love prevailing.

Download or read book Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores written by Jennifer Campbell and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2012-09-13 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Booksellers share the quirky questions and odd requests from customers that leave them speechless . . . “I’ve forgotten my glasses, can you read me the first chapter?” “Did Beatrix Potter ever write a book about dinosaurs?” “Excuse me . . . is this book edible?” Filled with funny, quirky illustrations by the BAFTA Award-winning Brothers McLeod and featuring contributions from booksellers across the United States the UK, and Canada, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores is a celebration of bookstores large and small, and of the brilliant booksellers who toil in those literary fields—and most of all, the myriad of colorful characters who walk through the doors every day. This irresistible collection is proof positive that booksellers everywhere are heroes. “So funny, so sad . . . Read it and sigh.” —Neil Gaiman

Download or read book Garner s Quotations written by Dwight Garner and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A selection of favorite quotes that the celebrated literary critic has collected over the decades. From Dwight Garner, the New York Times book critic, comes a rollicking, irreverent, scabrous, amazingly alive selection of unforgettable moments from forty years of wide and deep reading. Garner’s Quotations is like no commonplace book you’ll ever read. If you’ve ever wondered what’s really going on in the world of letters today, this book will make you sit up and take notice. Unputdownable!

Download or read book The Platypus of Doom Other Nihilists written by Arthur Byron Cover and published by Universe of God-Like Men. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEBULA NOMINEE AUTHOR'S BRILLIANT, PROFOUND, ZANY, OFF-THE-WALL SF EXTRAVAGANZA!"Unclassifiable, brilliant, takes weird to a whole new level! Highly recommended!" -Goodreads 5-star reviewSPECIAL BONUS: Reprinted for the first time ever since its original 1973 appearance in the anthology "Infinity Five," the first story set in the universe of God-like Men, "IN BETWEEN THEN AND NOW."From the My Reader's Block review blog: ""The Platypus of Doom" This gigantic, bow-tie-wearing space monster can grant the winner of the "great game"* his or her heart's desire. Sounds great, right. Well, you know the old adage....Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it. [*The great game appears to be ping pong, by the way: -) ]""The Armadillo of Destruction" An immortal creature that feeds off the powerful negative energy of hate. He's often on the lookout for a new energy source--which always ends badly for the source. Leopold Janifer thinks he has found a way to beat the Armadillo's system. Is he right?""The Aardvark of Despair" Can Davis, a mean-streets private eye who has been flung through a time vortex into the future, help Dr. Bishop and his family shake off the suicidal depression that the Aardvark instills in its victims?""The Clam of Catastrophe" Will the Clam, the goddess of love, teach the first and most long-lived consulting detective to love and then turn it into disillusionment. Or will the detective find the solution the one of man's oldest problems?When you meet these monsters, never fear, for there are godlike men in this book to defeat them!"There is, under the near-farcical trappings, an examination of such things as love, hate, motivation, and the meaning of existence itself. Cover manages to pose his questions with a light touch that offers food for though as well as entertaining stories." - My Reader's Block reviews"Four absolutely staggering novelettes, saucy and sharp and fun. Cover plays games that are worthy of Philip Jose Farmer (until it was proven otherwise, I thought that Cover *was* Farmer!) The Platypus, et al, are small-g gods, interfering, in an Euripdean fashion, with the fates of mankind. The stories have hidden depths and riddles that reward the effort of solving, but, mostly, they entertain. This is thoughtful stuff, but also highly readable." -Amazon verified reviewFor fans of Diskworld and Xanth!Cover image: Ron Miller; Design: Frankie Hill

Download or read book What Holly Heard written by R.L. Stine and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Holly Denver is the biggest gossip at Shadyside High. Her best friends Miriam Maryles and Ruth Carver are sure it’s going to get her in big trouble someday. But Miriam and Ruth never thought Holly would wind up dead—strangled with her own scarf. Now the murderer thinks Holly told her friends what she heard—and will do anything to silence them forever.

Download or read book Topsy Turvy written by J. Michael Mahoney and published by Author House. This book was released on 2008-09-28 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TOPSY TURVY: A Book for All in One The author's personal collection of favorite quotations, hopefully to be enjoyed by all who read them.

Download or read book That s Not What I Heard written by Stephanie Kate Strohm and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of The Date to Save and It's Not Me, It's You comes a new novel about what happens when a rumor about a breakup is more interesting than the truth! "For fans of Mean Girls and other high school comedies." - Kirkus Reviews"Plenty of hyperbole provides copious amounts of laughter. Give this to readers who crave something light and humorous." - BooklistWhat did you hear?Kimberly Landis-Lilley and Teddy Lin are over. Yes, the Kim and Teddy broke up.At least that's what Phil Spooner thinks he overheard and then told Jess Howard, Kim's best friend. Something about Teddy not liking Kim's Instas? Or was it that Teddy is moving to Italy and didn't want to do long distance? Or that Kim slid into someone else's DMs?Jess told her boyfriend, Elvis, that he needs to be on Kim's side. Especially if he wants to keep her as his girlfriend. But Elvis is also Teddy's best friend.Now, Kim's run out of school for the day. Jess is furious. Elvis is confused. And half the lunch period won't talk to Teddy. Even the teachers have taken sides.William Henry Harrison High will never be the same again!

Download or read book In Fifty Years We ll All Be Chicks written by Adam Carolla and published by Crown. This book was released on 2011-05-17 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A couple years back, I was at the Phoenix airport bar. It was empty except for one heavy-set, gray bearded, grizzled guy who looked like he just rode his donkey into town after a long day of panning for silver in them thar hills. He ordered a Jack Daniels straight up, and that's when I overheard the young guy with the earring behind the bar asking him if he had ID. At first the old sea captain just laughed. But the guy with the twinkle in his ear asked again. At this point it became apparent that he was serious. Dan Haggerty's dad fired back, "You've got to be kidding me, son." The bartender replied, "New policy. Everyone has to show their ID." Then I watched Burl Ives reluctantly reach into his dungarees and pull out his military identification card from World War II. It's a sad and eerie harbinger of our times that the Oprah-watching, crystal-rubbing, Whole Foods-shopping moms and their whipped attorney husbands have taken the ability to reason away from the poor schlub who makes the Bloody Marys. What we used to settle with common sense or a fist, we now settle with hand sanitizer and lawyers. Adam Carolla has had enough of this insanity and he's here to help us get our collective balls back. In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks is Adam's comedic gospel of modern America. He rips into the absurdity of the culture that demonized the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, turned the nation's bathrooms into a lawless free-for-all of urine and fecal matter, and put its citizens at the mercy of a bunch of minimum wagers with axes to grind. Peppered between complaints Carolla shares candid anecdotes from his day to day life as well as his past—Sunday football at Jimmy Kimmel's house, his attempts to raise his kids in a society that he mostly disagrees with, his big showbiz break, and much, much more. Brilliantly showcasing Adam's spot-on sense of humor, this book cements his status as a cultural commentator/comedian/complainer extraordinaire.

Download or read book Sophie s World written by Jostein Gaarder and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2007-03-20 with total page 599 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Download or read book Leaving the Witness written by Amber Scorah and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A fascinating glimpse into the consciousness of being an outsider in every possible way, and what it takes to find your path into the life you'd like to lead."--Nylon A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries. A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture--and a whole new way of thinking--turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true. As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness. Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery--with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.

Download or read book We Have Always Lived in the Castle written by Shirley Jackson and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate.

Download or read book Extracurricular Book 1 of 3 written by Josie Brown and published by Signal Press. This book was released on 2019-05-05 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BOOK 1 OF JOSIE BROWN'S LATEST 3-NOVEL EPISODIC SERIES Audrey Thorpes's dirty little secret will soon be the downfall of everyone and everything she holds dear: love, family, friends, and her high school alma mater.​ It's your child's senior year. A private prep school's reputation is at stake. A math teacher refuses to grade his final exams on a curve. Students have only one more shot at the SAT before college applications are due. And a few desperate parents have much more money than brains. In Extracurricular, new lust, old loves, a dark family secret, and rich crazy parents behaving badly lead to a college admissions cheating scandal, setting off a crisis of conscience for the parents, teachers, administrator, and the students involved — And a catharsis for one couple about their marriage. NOTE TO READERS: As with all episodic novel series, Books 1 and 2 end in cliffhangers and all plot threads are resolved in Book 3 PRAISE FOR EXTRACURRICULAR - BOOK 1 “Josie Brown brings it, in this ripped-from-the-headlines romp of a novel set in the world of academia and its shadow world – extracurricular activities that may not be legal. It has romance and intrigue, and a pace that doesn’t let up. Highly entertaining. Sure to delight Brown’s legions of fans.” —Eileen Goudge, author, Garden of Lies and The Diary "Sharp, smart, and sexy, Brown's timely new series about the cut-throat world of college admissions is a must-read. As always, Brown's cast of characters are a delicious mix of sweethearts, scoundrels and the just plain morally corrupt. Never predictable, Extracurricular is thoroughly readable and immensely enjoyable." —Meredith Schorr, author of The Boyfriend Swap and the Blogger Girl series "Delicious, hilarious, and addictive, Extracurricular has all the hallmarks of a classic Josie Brown book: fleshed-out, juicy characters, a to-die-for plot, and a ripped-from-the headlines premise. I absolutely loved it and must read the entire series!" —Samantha M. Bailey, Woman on the Edge "Master storyteller of the competitively elite, Totlandia’s Josie Brown graduates from strollers and playgroups to the high stakes game of college admissions in this captivating tale of trickery, deceit, and unrequited love. Told across three episodic novels, in Book 1, meet the movers, the shakers, and the dirty-deal makers that, together, establish a page-turning premise to carry us forward: It’s the tiny twists of fate that change us. A++ for Extracurricular!" —Julie Valerie, author of Holly Banks Full of Angst and the Village of Primm series “Josie Brown has hit it out of the ballpark with this timely tale of family, friends, love and the morally corrupt. As always, Ms. Brown’s writing is sharp, smart, and oh-so witty. She’ll have you laughing out loud one minute and cringing the next at her characters’ antics and comments. Filled with twist and turns and complicated emotions that lead to decisions that play pivotal moments in the characters lives, this story will reach out and grab your attention from page one and not let go until the end. I now sit on tenterhooks awaiting the next release to find out who will be going down and who will be saved.” —Gail Chianese, author, Love Runs Deep and A Navy Homecoming “The characters were well-drawn, the story line was great, and a few unexpected twists throughout made it a fun read… I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book and see what happens.” — Reading Mom.Me

Download or read book The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary written by Catherine Gray and published by Aster. This book was released on 2019-12-26 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **From the Sunday Times Bestselling Author** Life-affirming - THE TELEGRAPH Wonderful - INDEPENDENT She made it her mission to learn how to be default happy rather than default disgruntled - RADIO 4 - WOMAN'S HOUR Take a leaf out of Gray's book and be kinder to yourself by appreciating life just as it is - IRISH TIMES This book came to me in an hour of need - during lockdown when I had to focus on the positive, appreciate simple things, not lose my shit, and value each day. It was a pure joy for me and held my hand - SADIE FROST Interesting and joyful. Lights a path that could help us to build resilience against society's urging to compare life milestones with peers - LANCET PSYCHIATRY Underwhelmed by your ordinary existence? Disillusioned with your middlin' wage, average body, 'bijou' living situation and imperfect loved ones? Welcome to the club. There are billions of us. The 'default disenchanted'. But, it's not us being brats. Two deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenons conspire against our satisfaction. We have negatively-biased brains, which zoom like doom-drones in on what's wrong with our day, rather than what's right. (Back in the mists of time, this negative bias saved our skins, but now it just makes us anxious). Also, something called the 'hedonic treadmill' means we eternally quest for better, faster, more, like someone stuck on a dystopian, never-ending treadmill. Thankfully, there are scientifically-proven ways in which we can train our brains to be more positive-seeking. And to take a rest from this tireless pursuit. Whew. Catherine Gray knits together illuminating science and hilarious storytelling, unveiling captivating research showing that big bucks don't mean big happiness, extraordinary experiences have a 'comedown' and budget weddings predict a lower chance of divorce. She reminds us what an average body actually is, reveals that exercising for weight loss means we do less exercise, and explores the modern tendency to not just try to keep up with the Murphys, but keep up with the Mega-Murphies (see: the social media elite). Come on in to this soulful and life-affirming read, to discover why an ordinary life may well be the most satisfying one of all.

Download or read book The How of Happiness written by Sonja Lyubomirsky and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-12-27 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to achieve the happiness you deserve "A guide to sustaining your newfound contentment." —Psychology Today "Lyubomirsky's central point is clear: a significant portion of what is called happiness . . . is up for grabs. Taking some pages out of the positive psychology playbook, she coaches readers on how to snag it." —The New York Review of Books You see here a different kind of happiness book. The How of Happiness is a comprehensive guide to understanding the elements of happiness based on years of groundbreaking scientific research. It is also a practical, empowering, and easy-to-follow workbook, incorporating happiness strategies, excercises in new ways of thinking, and quizzes for understanding our individuality, all in an effort to help us realize our innate potential for joy and ways to sustain it in our lives. Drawing upon years of pioneering research with thousands of men and women, The How of Happiness is both a powerful contribution to the field of positive psychology and a gift to people who have sought to take their happiness into their own hands.