Biography Humor

With no camping or RV experience, author Sue Ann Jaffarian decided to chuck her life in Los Angeles for a life on the road in a van. Newly retired from her long-time career as a paralegal, she got rid of most of her belongings, packed up her laptop, and embraced a new adventure of traveling the country and writing full-time, adding travel writing to her career as a popular mystery novelist. Not always sunshine and unicorns, her experiences gave her more self-reliance, a new appreciation of nature, and a love for the quirky, interesting, and thought-provoking.

HEADING SOUTH is a light-hearted account of an English brother and sister’s reconnection with the Spanish side of their family. When the author was just four years old their father, Francisco, left the family home in Preston, Lancashire and disappeared from their lives. One day Adam, now twenty-eight, receives a letter from his errant dad and decides to take a break from supply teaching and accept an invitation to visit him in rural Malaga. Later joined by his sister Kate, a series of events begins to unfold which promises to change both their lives forever. Please ‘look inside’ ...

In 1959, the year Terry Galloway turned nine, the voices of everyone she loved began to disappear. No one yet knew that an experimental antibiotic given to her mother had wreaked havoc on her fetal nervous system, eventually causing her to go deaf. As a self-proclaimed "child freak," she acted out her fury with her boxy hearing aids and Coke-bottle glasses by faking her own drowning at a camp for crippled children

Writer, actor, and director Desiree Akhavan shares the stories she was told to shut up about—hilarious, horny, heartbreaking tales of a life in pursuit of art, love, and a better haircut.

"An utterly brilliant and wonderfully executed idea." –Jennifer Clarke (singer/songwriter) and Lenny Clarke (comedian/actor) Told from two different perspectives, The Cringe Chronicles is a unique father-daughter memoir following Kristin Tougias on her teenage tribulations and strange family vacations. Kristin’s father, author and travel writer Michael J. Tougias, is a bit eccentric and a true nonconformist who inadvertently adds to Kristin’s woes. At the end of each chapter chronicling their misadventures, Kristin’s father Michael gives his personal and humorous point of view, ...

At the age of 9, Romesh Ranganathan delivered his first ever stand-up set at a Pontin's Holiday Camp talent competition, smashing the only other competitor, a young girl playing the kazoo. The gig went so well that Romesh retired his comic genius for 22 years, hiding behind the guise of a maths teacher, before finally revealing himself again (no, not like that) at the tender age of 31. In 2010, Ranganathan staged his epic comeback gig to an almost silent room, and has since gone on to earn his place as the most in-demand overweight vegan Sri Lankan comedian in Britain.

BOTH HANDS FULL is the amusing and enlightening account of one lottery winner’s struggle to come to terms with his new-found wealth. When Andy Langford lands a huge Lotto prize, it comes at a time of imminent change in his so-far satisfactory life. Having discovered that his wife is having a serious love affair, he feels compelled to shoulder his great monetary burden alone and elects to move back to Lancashire to live with his shrewd but kindly mother. Determined to share the greater part of his windfall with those less fortunate than himself, he considers the options open to him which ...

People are often surprised when they learn of the worldwide adventures of Michael J. Hawron Not just because of the extent of his travels or the remarkable experiences he’s had, but because he’s made a life with his family in the small town of New Boston, Texas. Putting down roots in a town thousands of miles away from the people you know can be as harrowing as immigrating to an entirely new country, but the right house, in the right town, with the right people can make all the difference in the world. ˃˃˃ After settling in New Boston during an unplanned detour, Hawron has learned ...

A Flamingo Under the Carousel will make you laugh, cry, and feel a thousand emotions in between. The thirty short stories offer a unique view of the world through the use of various genres These previously published short pieces are presented together for the first time. Ranging from the literary to the apocalyptical, it is a journey through the themes of crime, 1960's culture, rock music, and love. From flights of fancy in a mystical underground world discovered by young children to a generational suite of immigrant stories, humorous travel adventures to sports tales, and finally on to ...

THE CONTENTED EXPAT is Alan Laycock’s long-awaited follow-up to The Reluctant Expat. Although essentially a sequel, a detailed recap renders it not altogether essential to have read those books in order to enjoy the tale of his action-packed sabbatical in the Asturian seaside town of Lastres. Here Alan’s wife Inma attempts to contain his insatiable curiosity and burning desire to integrate, no matter how much of a fool he makes of himself. Initially he wishes to sail off into the Bay of Biscay with the local fishermen, but as usual things don’t quite work out as he anticipated… Part...

The first book in 25 years from Jerry Seinfeld features his best work across five decades in comedy. Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub Catch a Rising Star as a 21-year-old student in autumn of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything.

When the legendary comedian Barry Cryer died in January 2022, there was a vast outpouring of grief, appreciation and anecdotes – from the general public and fellow comics alike. Now, his son, Bob, is doing what Barry’s humility did not allow: revealing the story of the man behind the jokes. This book is an ode to both Barry’s incredible life and to the lessons he so generously imparted on the art of comedy during his sixty-year career.

FINDING MY FEET is the second instalment of THE RELUCTANT EXPAT, Alan Laycock’s light-hearted account of his life in Spain. Part Three of Alan’s story is now also available.

Edited by Toni Morrison and first published in 1974, An Autobiography is a classic of the Black Liberation era which resonates just as powerfully today. Long hard to find, it is reissued now with a new introduction by Davis, for a new audience inspired and galvanised by her ongoing activism and her extraordinary example. In the book, she describes her journey from a childhood on Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama, to one of the most significant political trials of the century.

Stefanie Sargnagels Blick auf die USA ist so unverwechselbar wie ihr Schreiben: Sarkastisch, schonungslos ehrlich und doch voll Sympathie bringt sie uns das ländliche Amerika nahe und berichtet nebenbei herzerwärmend über die Lebensnotwendigkeit von Frauenfreundschaften. 2022 tauscht Stefanie Sargnagel widerstrebend das bequeme Wiener Sofa gegen ein Flugticket in die USA ein. In Iowa soll sie an einem College mitten im Nirgendwo Creative Writing unterrichten.

Known for her sharp, witty and surreal view on everyday life, Lucy shares the unpredictable craziness of being a mum in this brilliant and laugh-out-loud 'mumoir'. Mums everywhere will recognise the madness of it all. Like when Lucy was hospitalised during her third trimester with chest pains but it turned out to be a burrito. Or when she was so tired at the park she forgot her own child's name.

Who hasn't dreamed of one day ruling your own country? Along with great power comes unlimited influence, control, admiration, and often wealth. How to Be a Dictator will teach you the tricks of the trade - how to rise to the top and stay in power, and how to enjoy the fruits of your excellence.

Thatcher Stole My Trousers chronicles a time when comedy and politics united in electrifying ways. Recounting the founding of the Comedy Store, the Comic Strip and the Young Ones, and Alexei’s friendships with the comedians who – like him – would soon become household names, this is a unique and beguiling blend of social history and memoir. Fascinating, funny, angry and entertaining, it is a story of class and comedy, politics and love, fast cars and why it’s difficult to foul a dwarf in a game of football.

THE MAN IN THE TENT – MY LIFE UNDER CANVAS: GETTING STARTED IN SPAIN is the continuation of Tony Beardsall’s light-hearted account of the outdoor life which he commenced at the age of fifty-one. In this stand-alone volume he describes his first months on Spanish soil, from his mobile first winter in eastern Andalusia, through a more static period in the north of Malaga, to further travels in search of the perfect place to settle down, in a tent, of course.Readers of THE MAN IN THE TENT – MY LIFE UNDER CANVAS: THE FIRST FOUR YEARS will be familiar with Tony’s modus operandi, but a ...

*All three books in the series are now available in an omnibus edition under the title THREE MEN IN SPAIN* IT’S NOT ABOUT THE VAN is Harry Storrar’s account of a year spent making multiple trips around Spain with his Belgian wife Laura in their curious camper van, Bambi. After his friend Jeremy described Bambi’s initial north to south journey in THREE MEN IN A VAN, and Geoff followed it up with the extremely imaginative story of his solo adventures in ONE MAN IN A VAN, Laura thought it only right that Harry should complete the cycle by writing a book of his own, with her inestimable ...