Family Humor

The title story tells of a typical Christmas at the farm before the coming of Flora Poste. It is a parody of the worst sort of family Christmas: Adam Lambsbreath dresses up as Father Christmas in two of Judith's red shawls. There are unsuitable presents, unpleasant insertions into the pudding and Aunt Ada Doom orders Amos to carve the turkey, adding: 'Ay, would it were a vulture, 'twere more fitting!'

Within months of having taken control of the family detective business, Izzy Spellman is accused of embezzling from a former client, the ridiculously wealthy Mr. Slayter, who happens to have Alzheimer's, which Izzy and he are diligently trying to keep under wraps. Not only is Slayter's business and reputation on the line, but if Izzy gets indicted for embezzlement, she'll lose everything - her business, her license, and her family's livelihood. Is this the end of Izzy Spellman, PI?

For the first time in Spellman history, Isabel Spellman might be the most normal member of her family. Mom has taken on an outrageous assortment of extracurricular activities. Dad has a secret. Her brother and sister are at war, but neither will reveal the source of the conflict. While domestic disturbances abound, there is one source of sanity in the Spellman household: Demetrius Merriweather, employee of the month for 18 months straight. Things aren't any simpler on the business side of Spellman Investigations....

In a smart and funny new novel by the author of the critically acclaimed Small Admissions, a family’s move to New York City brings surprises and humor as their lives merge with the captivating world of Broadway. In an audiobook that delivers laughs, warmth, and delightful wish fulfillment, Poeppel dives into celebrity culture and modern motherhood with her trademark style.

Fanny is married to absent-minded Oxford don Alfred and content with her role as a plain, tweedy housewife. But overnight her life changes when Alfred is appointed English ambassador to Paris. In the blink of an eye, Fanny's mixing with royalty, Rothschilds and Dior-clad wives, throwing cocktail parties and having every indiscreet remark printed in tomorrow's papers.

Den betörend geheimnisvollen Namen "Calypso" teilen sich unter anderem eine griechische Meeresnymphe, ein afrikanisch-karibischer Tanzrhythmus und ein Saturnmond. Fragt man David Sedaris, ist Calypso ein besonders bescheuerter Name für eine Katze. Aber auch ein betörend geheimnisvoller Titel für die lang erwartete neue Geschichtensammlung eines der erfolgreichsten Humoristen unserer Zeit, der es wie kein anderer versteht, zarte Schönheit im Hässlichen zu entdecken und die banale Komik des schönen Scheins zu entlarven.

Isabel Spellman's life consists of 24-hour surveillance, routine investigations into her acquaintances, and listening devices planted in her deadbolt-locked room. For a 28-year-old in a family composed almost entirely of private investigators or former cops, the tools of the trade turn typical family dysfunction into commonplace espionage.

New York City is on high alert: a gasoline truck is stuck in the Midtown tunnel and the driver has fled. Through panic and gridlock, Alex and Ruth must transport their beloved old dachshund, whose back legs are suddenly paralyzed, to the animal hospital, using a cutting board as a stretcher. But this is also the weekend when Alex and Ruth must sell the apartment in which they have lived for most of their adult lives.

On a snowy December evening, Sam Jermyn steps into the life of bespoke hat maker Ava. Sparks fly, and not necessarily the good ones. Times are tough for Ava - she’s struggling to make ends meet, her ex-boyfriend is a bully and, worst of all, it’s nearly Christmas. So when Sam commissions Ava to make a hat for someone special, she makes a promise that will change her life. She just doesn’t know it yet....

Olivia Morten is perfect. Maybe she's constantly hungry, but her body is to die for. Maybe her high-flying publicist job has taken over her life, but her clients are LA's hottest celebrities. Maybe her husband is never around, but he is a drop-dead-gorgeous doctor. And maybe her past harbors an incredibly embarrassing secret, but no one remembers high school...right? When Ben Dunn, Olivia's high school archnemesis - and onetime crush - suddenly resurfaces, all of her hard-won perfection begins to unravel.

Lucy and Owen, ambitious, thoroughly-therapized New Yorkers, have taken the plunge, trading in their crazy life in a cramped apartment for Beekman, a bucolic Hudson Valley exurb. They've got a 200-year-old house, an autistic son obsessed with the Titanic, and 17 chickens, at last count. It's the kind of paradise where stay-at-home moms team up to cook the school's "hot lunch", dads grill grass-fed burgers, and, as Lucy observes, "chopping kale has become a certain kind of American housewife's version of chopping wood".

Samantha van Leer is a sophomore at Vassar College majoring in psychology with a minor in human development. She has four dogs: Alvin, Harvey, Dudley, and Oliver - for whom the prince in this story is named.

La série culte ! Après le désolant épisode du collège, tout paraît s'arranger pour les orphelins Baudelaire : les voici de retour dans leur ville natale, où un couple chic et fortuné, Jérôme et Esmé d'Eschemizerre, vient de les adopter. Violette, Klaus et Prunille vont-ils trouver le bonheur au 667, boulevard Noir, à quelques rues seulement de leur ancien quartier ?

Coop is cooking up another sure-misfire scheme (big surprise), and this time the comedy plays out from Sean’s point of view. What’s the new master plan? Making a cheapo horror movie guaranteed to make Coop, Sean, and Matt filthy rich! It’s a terrible idea, and Sean knows it. But he actually is desperate for cash - and for a way to wipe that big fat L off his girlfriend-less forehead. But when he agrees to write a script about the attack of zombie-vampire humanzees, he has no idea just how powerful a chick magnet this movie will be. Suddenly Sean is juggling not one but three interested ladies.

What happens when a trio of overworked and underappreciated good moms get pushed beyond their limits? They turn "bad" - ditch the kids, the housework, and their clueless partners with hilarious and heartwarming results. Based on the popular movies, Bad Moms: The Novel gives fans a new way to enjoy their favorite characters, Amy, Carla, and Kiki, as they smash the Perfect Mom pedestal, take on the grown-up Queen Bees, forge deeper bonds with their kids, get some long overdue respect and recognition, and indulge in a few hours of some crazy fun.

For Duffy Sinclair, life boils down to one simple thing: maintaining his residence at the idyllic Centennial Assisted Living. Without it, he’s destined for the roach-infested nursing home down the road. So, he keeps his shenanigans to the bare minimum with the help of his straight-laced best friend and roommate, Carl Upton. But when Carl’s granddaughter Josie climbs through their bedroom window with booze on her breath and a black eye, Duffy’s faced with trouble that’s sticking around and hard to hide.

Perhaps best known for his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, #1 New York Times best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith delights fans around the world with his warmhearted 44 Scotland Street novels. In the series’ sixth entry, the residents of 44 Scotland Street grapple with problems both trivial and severe, but none so great as when six-year-old Bertie Pollock - who longs to be seven - mislays his mum and learns a valuable lesson about wish fulfillment.

New Jersey transplant and sassy brunette Annisa Gobrowski has a problem - literally everyone at her Florida high school is blonde. No lack of golden highlights is going to stop Annisa from making the cheerleading squad. But after accidentally breaking the most popular girl in school's nose, and discovering the cheerleaders all hate her, she starts having second thoughts. Is it too much to ask to land a spot on the team, win the heart of her dreamy crush, and make tons of new friends? Annisa is on the verge of giving up, but the cheerleader in her just won't let her quit.

Sally Parker is struggling to find the hero inside herself. All she wants to do is lie down. Her husband, Frank, has lost his business, their home and their savings in one fell swoop. Their bank cards are being declined. The children have gone feral. And now the bailiffs are at the door. What does an ordinary woman do when the bottom falls out? Sally Parker is about to surprise everybody. Most of all herself. Funny, warm, life-affirming and true, The Best Things is a big-hearted tale of failing, falling and finding a way back up.

La série culte ! Nous les avions quittés sur un radeau emporté par un torrent en crue, nous les quitterons cette fois sur la plage embrumée de Malamer, en une sorte d'étrange retour à la case départ...Entre les deux, tout se passe au fond des mers. Recueillis à bord d'un petit sous-marin boîte à sardines, commandé par un capitaine Virelevent aussi jovial que soupe-au-lait, nos orphelins vont découvrir qu'il n'y a décidément jamais de réponse sûre à la question : "Ami ou ennemi ?".