This collection of humorous short essays combines affection for the timeless values of community life in an English village with a nostalgia for aspects that are quietly slipping away. Easy to dip into, this light-hearted volume provides entertaining reading for anyone interested in modern English rural community life, wherever they live. Written between 1991 and 2015, most of these essays first appeared in the Hawkesbury Parish News, the community newspaper for Hawkesbury Upton, the Cotswold village in which Debbie Young has lived for the last 25 years. Very active in village life, she is founder of the annual Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival.

Robert Eddison, a national journalist and playwright, has recorded every original thought he has had since June 1997. They now run to many thousand and take the form of witty, and often profound, one-line observations on an awesome variety of (150) different subjects, ranging from childbirth to political correctness. Publications in which they have most recently appeared include the Week and the London Times. Well known around the world for his witty one-liners, Robert has amassed a huge following on social media including more than 33,000 Twitter followers and 14,000 Instagram followers. His first book, volume one, contains a selection of his finest aphorisms to entertain and amuse the masses.

Ecstatic Essays is a small book with big ideas - with essays on a diverse range of subjects from the truth, atheism, love, the fear of failure and much, much more. This book is not recommended to folks with a rusty brain, as it could cause a haemorrhage and jolt them from their soporific slumbers! If you think you are a free thinker - then we dare you to fork out and purchase it.

Beneath California's scenic landscape lies a strange and dark side, full of spine-tingling tales and frightful imagery. Creepy California: Strange and Gothic Tales from the Golden State explores the disturbing and macabre stories of unexplained deaths, intentional live burials, true crimes, and ghosts who haunt the Pacific Coast. This spooky collection includes the extraordinarily odd, like the account of a coroner, who "borrowed" the stylish clothes of one dead man and even sold the corpse's head to a doctor for scientific research, and the paranormal, like the tale of a haunted, two-story house in San Francisco that was moved across town in an effort to dislodge its ghostly tenants. The attempt failed, and the San Francisco Chronicle commented that "the neighborhood has been kept in a constant dread and torment by unearthly groans, mysterious lights, and agonized shrieks emanating from their dread habitation." An intriguing and frightful look at the disturbing side of the state, Creepy California promises to send chills down your spine and keep you looking over your shoulder.

Beneath California's scenic landscape lies a strange and dark side, full of spine-tingling tales and frightful imagery. Creepy California: Strange and Gothic Tales from the Golden State explores the disturbing and macabre stories of unexplained deaths, intentional live burials, true crimes, and ghosts who haunt the Pacific Coast. This spooky collection includes the extraordinarily odd, like the account of a coroner, who "borrowed" the stylish clothes of one dead man and even sold the corpse's head to a doctor for scientific research, and the paranormal, like the tale of a haunted, two-story house in San Francisco that was moved across town in an effort to dislodge its ghostly tenants. The attempt failed, and the San Francisco Chronicle commented that "the neighborhood has been kept in a constant dread and torment by unearthly groans, mysterious lights, and agonized shrieks emanating from their dread habitation." An intriguing and frightful look at the disturbing side of the state, Creepy California promises to send chills down your spine and keep you looking over your shoulder.

Brace yourself for a journey into a creepy, dark side of the American Midwest you thought you knew-a side teeming with real-life surrealism and historical horror-comedy. From tales of the booming grave-robbing industry of late 19th-century Indiana to the story of a Michigan physician who left his estate to his pet monkeys, Keven McQueen investigates a spooky and twisted side of Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Exploring burial customs, unexplained deaths, ghost stories, premature burials, the industry of grave robbing, bizarre murders, peculiar wills and much more, this creepy collection reveals the colorful untold stories of the region and offers intriguing, if sometimes macabre, insights into human nature and our history. A fun and frightful look at a vein of darkness running through the Midwest, Horror in the Heartland promises to send chills down your spine.

Ricky Tomlinson, author and entertainer, has worked in pubs and clubs up and down the country and seen more than his fair share of last orders. CHEERS . . . MY ARSE! is his hilarious collection of classic tales from the heart of publand. Featuring riotous stories that celebrate our best-loved hell raisers - Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Oliver Reed and Richard Burton, to name a few - and the escapades of modern-day drinking heroes (like the Gallagher brothers and Johnny Vegas), this is the perfect book for anyone who's ever had one too many . . .

Some call it weird. Others, eclectic, creative, hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny, and good old-fashioned snort-milk-out-your-nose humor. Whatever adjective you apply to "Close to Home," it has become one of the most popular comic panels in the funny pages today.

" Close to Home" has devout fans that range from elementary students to octogenarians. As one fan put it, "I feel like you have been looking in my window and are drawing my life!" Though by no means a Peeping Tom, John McPherson does have the unique skill of being able to take those idiosyncrasies of daily life that drive us all nuts and infuse them with razor-sharp wit.

In "When Bad Things Happen to Stupid People" John features angry letters from readers, cartoons that were killed by the editor, a glimpse inside his creative process, and never-before-seen photos of his erasers, quill pens, and his lucky drawing slippers. Who could resist it?

WHAT DO A FORMER FASHION MODEL, AN EX-NUN, AND A FRAT BOY HAVE IN COMMON? VIRTUALLY NOTHING, EXCEPT THAT EACH HAS EXPERIENCED A UNIVERSAL RITE OF PASSAGE: BEING A BRIDESMAID.
Each year 11 million bridesmaids lead their best friends down the aisle. Most wear matching dresses, and nearly all have a thing or two to say about the bride. In this uproarious oral history, editor and journalist Eimear Lynch offers us an intimate glimpse at the moments the wedding photographer failed to capture.
From the accidental bridesmaid who helped sew the bride into her "designer" gown to the tomboy who struggled to carry Princess Diana's twenty-five foot train, "The Bridesmaids "lifts the veil on the Big Day. Opening with her own experiences as a five-time 'maid, Eimear gives us stories that are by turns heartfelt, funny, scandalous, and sometimes downright strange. An ode to the good, the bad, the strapless chiffon, and the occasional three-piece suit--and, above all, to the supporting actresses and actors who wore them--"The Bridesmaids" is a colorful walk down the aisle that you won't want to miss, and the perfect companion for every bridesmaid-to-be.

Three doctors explore and explain the least recommended techniques lurking in the darkest corners of medicine through the ages. Entertaining and informative, (and sometimes just plain gross), 1 Out of 10 Doctors Recommends examines the strangest and most unusual medical practices, including: drinking your own urine to fight infection, using live eels to relieve constipation, and licking a patient's head to diagnose Cystic Fibrosis. As licensed medical physicians who believe that humour is the best medicine, the authors decode the methods behind the seemingly mad science in these lighthearted mini essays. 3 out of 3 authors recommend that you read it immediately! Kooky, creepy, crazy examples include: Bee venom to treat herpes, intestinal parasites for allergy meds, "Natural" ways to make your genitalia larger, Potato to stop bleeding after delivery, Salt pork for a sore throat, Vampire Facials.

The letters page of Old Git magazine continues to offer its readers an opportunity to ask and provide answers to the most pressing questions of our times. Questions such as: Would it help global warming if I left my fridge door open? What's the riskiest game of risk ever played? If I fell down a disused mineshaft would Lassie really run and get help, or just sit there licking his balls? Do Bats Have Bollocks? features a host of completely new and untrue questions and answers. With bags more rude jokes, shaggy dog stories and the odd entry from a new, bewildered editor who's wondering what the hell he's got himself into, this book is every bit as laugh-out-loud funny as last year's hugely successful volume Do Ants Have Arseholes?

Now that Boris Johnson has left Downing Street to spend more time with his families, you can celebrate/lament his departure with this multiple-choice adventure where you take back control. Packed with 350 million* endings, this is the perfect stocking filler this Christmas. (* - this figure may be misleading). Yes, you are Boris Johnson, about to embark on a quest to fulfil your childhood ambition to be World King, a position so important that you will have to invent it first. It's not going to be easy. You will be entranced by a monster called Trump, bewitched by a sorceress called Carrie, captivated by your backbench Orcs - and royally shafted by a little hobgoblin called Michael Gove. Not everyone wants you to be World King. So watch out for those false turns which see you begging Prince Harry for a job, rotting in a Dubai jail, recruited by the KGB, wandering round Kabul trying to find 150 dogs to rescue, starting WWIII or mistaking wine, cheese, vomit and karaoke for a work event. And try instead to use your magical powers to become the Emperor of this land; the star of the hit musical "Boris on Broadway"; or even the PM who leads Britain back into the EU in 2024. Yes, you are The Neverending Tory. And this is your story. Kids of all ages love The Neverending Tory: "I read the endings where he doesn't become Prime Minister again and again" T. May, age 65, Maidenhead "I have never been Prime Minister, but this book gave me the chance to see what it might be like" J. Corbyn, age 73, The Allotment, North London

The perfect gift for Christmas! What does 'custard and jelly' mean in cockney rhyming slang? Which biscuit has half of its name on top of the cooker and the other half on the door? And 25 million of what drink are served by British Airways each year? We Brits can't get enough of a quiz. Stumped for office party chit-chat? Quiz. Midweek visit to the pub? Quiz. Stuck inside in pyjamas on a rainy night and in the mood to cause a big family argument? You got it - quiz. This book is correspondingly filled with questions on all things wonderfully and unequivocally British - you'll find all sorts of tickly teasers, complex conundrums, worrisome word searches and much more on topics ranging from our iconic weather to types of cake. Best enjoyed with a cup of tea and your favourite biscuit(s). *** ANSWERS: Telly, Hobnob, buy the book and find out! *** Praise for Very British Problems 'Had us guffawing into our Earl Grey tea' Bella 'My favourite twitter account at the moment is Very British Problems (@soverybritish) . . . it makes me laugh out loud' Tom Hiddleston 'Hilarious' Daily Express 'Temple pays affectionate and comic homage to the sheer quirkiness of being British' Good Book Guide