Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell, 431 pages

 Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly , David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear to us today in their portraits.

Taking us right back to King Arthur ( he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I ( she dies), as the monarchy began to lose its power. It’s a tale of bizarre and curious ascensions, inadequate self-control, and at least one total Cnut, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed King.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history—and is damned if he’ll let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything. 

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the monarchy came to be—and who is to blame.

Hagar the Horrible We're Doing Lunch by Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

Hagar the Horrible A Turn for the Worse by Chris Browne, 128 pages

 Even with a map in hand, Hagar, Lucky Eddie, and the rest of the crew never seem to get their travel plans quite right. Each wrong turn means extra laughs for more than 100 million daily readers. Now comes an all-new collection of mirth and mishaps.

Hagar the Horrible I Dream of Genie!? by Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

Hagar the Huggable by Chris Browne, 128 pages

 

They're Playing Your Song, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz, 128 pages

 

You're Not For Real, Snoopy! by Charles M. Schulz, 128 pages

 Selected cartoons about Charlie Brown and his dog, Snoopy.

Wrack and Rune by Charlotte MacLeod, 180 pages

 When 105-year-old Hilda Horsefall tells young reporter Cronkite Swope of a stone carved with Norse runes that once sat in the nearby woods, the writer starts salivating at the thought of breaking the news that Vikings once marauded through their sleepy Massachusetts countryside. But while he's jotting down notes, a scream rings out, and Cronkite finds an even bigger story. A farmhand has been burned to death by quicklime, and Cronkite gets an exclusive scoop.

In this neck of New England, strange deaths are invariably referred to Professor Peter Shandy, the only local with the know-how to connect fearsome quicklime to the Vikings of old. But as he digs into the ancient mystery, he finds the forgotten Norse gods are not above demanding a modern sacrifice.

So Not Meant to Be by Meghan Quinn, 512 pages

 Am I friends with JP Cane?

Ha! That's laughable.

Besides the fact that he’s adopted some far-fetched notion from the movie When Harry Met Sally that says men and women can't be friends and work together, it’s safe to say we're not friends. He's annoyingly loud, obnoxiously handsome, and has made an art out of poking all my hot buttons . . . multiple times a day.

So you can imagine how disgruntled I am when I not only have to fly to San Francisco with him for work, but stay in the same penthouse. Yup, we're sharing the same air, twenty-four-seven. We're talking full-fledged working roommates.

The man doesn't know what it means to wear a shirt, thrives off protein bars, and you guessed it, moans loud enough for people to believe he's Meg Ryan in a restaurant.

Spoiler Alert: I WON'T be having what he's having.

Tack on his continuous flirting and his polished good looks, and I'm caught staring down the barrel of a seductive temptation that makes it hard for me to sleep at night.

But guess who can control herself? This girl.

Because if there is one thing I know for certain, it's that JP Cane and I are so not meant to be.

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn, 433 pages

 In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.

Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule...

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein, 324 pages

 A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter.

When grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling his memoirs, he knows he’s never going to be able to write them. He hates revealing a single thing about himself, is allergic to most emotions, and can’t imagine doing a good job of putting pen to paper.

And so in walks curvy, cheery, cute as heck ghostwriter Mabel Willicker, who knows just how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail out of Alfie. They banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds.

But after their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, the pair have to pretend to be an item for a public who’s ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. Or at least, it feels like it’s pretend―until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control. Now they just have to is this sizzling chemistry just for show? Or something so real it might just give them their fairytale ending?

Wheels of Fortune by Mort Walker and Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

Hi and Lois Modern Chaos by Mort Walker and Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy, 315 pages

 In this evocative tale from the bestselling author of The Dressmaker’s Gift, a strange new city offers a young girl hope. Can it also offer a lost soul a second chance?

Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It’s a world away from the trouble back home—and Josie loves it.

Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling—with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie, who once looked out on the same view of the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew a very different Casablanca.

It’s not long before Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie’s eyes. But can a new perspective help her turn tragedy into hope, and find the comfort she needs to heal her broken heart?

Hi and Lois Up Two Late by Mort Walker and Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

Hi and Lois Home Sweat Home! by Mort Walker and Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

Hi and Lois Sleepbusters by Mort Walker and Dik Browne, 128 pages

 

How to be Eaten by Maria Adelmann, 291 pages

 This darkly funny and provocative novel reimagines classic fairy tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma.

In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairy tale ending. And Raina's love story will shock them all.

Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each other’s stories, gradually they begin to realize that they may have more in common than they supposed . . . What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? And is it too late for them to rescue each other?

Dark, edgy, and wickedly funny, this debut for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, and Kelly Link takes our coziest, most beloved childhood stories, exposes them as anti-feminist nightmares, and transforms them into a new kind of myth for grown-up women.

Abs of Steel, Buns of Cinnamon by Cathy Guisewite, 128 pages

 The saga of one woman's quest for romance, career fulfillment, and the perfect bowl of double-fudge ice cream.

  Millions of women have commiserated with America's favorite frustrated female as she struggles with dieting, work, and romance in a world filled with chocolate, evil bosses, and the ever-present opposite sex. Abs of Steel, Buns of Cinnamon is filled with some of the funniest comic strips that follow every woman's frazzled friend as she battles everything from the all-too-honest dressing room mirror to a mountainous "IN" box.

  Join Cathy as she rationalizes her way from one neurosis to the next with her trusty dog, Electra, and her aging, well-intentioned mother by her side. You'll feel right at home curling up with a bowl of Rocky Road as Cathy copes with reality and what creator Cathy Guisewite calls "the four basic guilt food, love, mother, and career."

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor, 432 pages

 Patrick Taylor first charmed readers with An Irish Country Doctor, a warm and enchanting novel in the tradition of James Herriot and Jan Karon. Now Taylor returns to the colorful Northern Ireland community of Ballybucklebo, where there's always something brewing beneath the village's deceptively sleepy surface.

Young Doctor Barry Laverty has only just begun his assistantship under his eccentric mentor, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, but he already feels right at home in Ballybucklebo. When the sudden death of a patient casts a cloud over Barry's reputation, his chances of establishing himself in the village are endangered, especially since the grieving widow is threatening a lawsuit.

While he anxiously waits for the postmortem results that he prays will exonerate him, Barry must regain the trust of the gossipy Ulster village, one patient at a time. From a put-upon shop girl with a mysterious rash to the troubled pregnancy of a winsome young lass who's not quite married yet, Ballybucklebo provides plenty of cases to keep the two country G.P.s busy.

Not all their challenges are medical in nature. When a greedy developer sets his sights on the very heart of the community, the village pub, it's up to the doctors to save the Black Swan (affectionately known to the locals as the "Mucky Duck") from being turned into an overpriced tourist trap. After all, the good citizens of Ballybucklebo need some place to drink to each other's health. . . .

Whether you've visited in the past, or are discovering Ballybucklebo for the first time, An Irish Country Village is an ideal location for anyone looking for wit, warmth, and just a touch of blarney.

Utterly Mad (Mad Reader 4) by William Gaines, 154 pages

 

A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson, 368 pages

 Sometimes two cooks in the kitchen are better than one in this swoony romantic comedy from the author of I'm So (Not) Over You.

Xavier Reynolds is doing less than stellar. He just got dumped, was passed over for a prestigious fellowship, and to top it all off he's right back home in Harper's Cove, Maine (population: 9,000). The last thing he wants to do is to work as a prep chef in the kitchen of the hip new restaurant in town, The Wharf. Especially since the hot, single-father chef who owns it can't delegate to save his life.

Logan O'Hare doesn't understand Xavier or why every word out of his mouth is dipped in sarcasm. Unfortunately, he has no choice but to hire him--he needs more help in the kitchen and his tween daughter, Anne, can only mince so many onions. It might be a recipe for disaster, but Logan doesn't have many options besides Xavier.

Stuck between a stove and a hot place, Logan and Xavier discover an unexpected connection. But when the heat between them threatens to top the Scoville scale, they'll have to decide if they can make their relationship work or if life has seasoned them too differently.

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, 358 pages

 For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club , an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer. 

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
 
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
 
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.

An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor, 421 pages

 Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, a different kind of academic work is taking place. Just don’t call it “time travel”―these historians “investigate major historical events in contemporary time.” And they aren’t your harmless eccentrics either; a more accurate description, as they ricochet around history, might be unintentional disaster-magnets.

From Tudor England to the burning city of Persepolis, from a medieval St. Mary’s under siege to Victorian Rushford and a very nasty case of gaol fever, Max is struggling to keep her private life intact. There’s an ambitious programme hindered by giant teapots, plus Mrs. Midgely’s objection to dead hamsters in her airing cupboard, and Mr. Markham’s stubborn refusal to reveal his exact marital status.

And as if that’s not enough―the unfortunately not leprosy-laden Malcolm Halcombe is back. Admittedly, none of this is the most secure platform from which to launch an initiative to bring down the renegade Clive Ronan, but hey―what’s the worst that could happen?

The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart Palmer, 160 pages

 For the third graders at Jefferson School, a field trip is always a treat. But one day at the New York Aquarium, they get much more excitement than they bargained for. A pickpocket sprints past, stolen purse in hand, and is making his way to the exit when their teacher, the prim Hildegarde Withers, knocks him down with her umbrella. By the time the police and the security guards finish arguing about what to do with Chicago Lew, he has escaped, and Miss Withers has found something far more interesting: a murdered stockbroker floating in the penguin tank.

With the help of Detective Oscar Piper, this no-nonsense spinster embarks on her first of many adventures. The mystery is baffling, the killer dangerous, but for a woman who can control a gaggle of noisy third graders, murder isn't frightening at all.

Mad's Maddest artist Don Martin Bounces Back, 224 pages

 Mad Magazine's cartoon book about the crazy adventures of Fester Bestertester and his friend Karbunkle. Wackier-than-ever cartoons.

Loneliness is Rotting on a Bookrack by Johnny Hart, 128 pages

 

B.C. Strikes Back by Johnny Hart, 128 pages

 

head 'em off, Tumbleweeds by Tom K. Ryan, 128 pages

 Odd little comic collection that I'd never heard of before.

New Normal by Michelle Paris, 281 pages

 After the sudden death of her husband, Emilie Russell just wants to feel normal. But being a middle-aged widow doesn't come with a how-to manual. Her well-meaning friend, Viv, believes the cure to all that ails is simple: a new man. So, she sets Emilie up with her handsome and charming new neighbor, widower Colin. There's only one problem with the plan-Colin is gay.

Emilie embarks on a rollicking journey of self-discovery with Colin as her mentor and best friend. From learning to swipe right without cringing while midlife dating in constricting shapeware to cougar moments in Key West, Emilie reenters the dating pool with both humorous and soul-crushing results.

With the encouragement of her friends, including a new furry one, plus a little therapy, Emilie begins forging a new life, one where she exchanges tears for laughter, and one that maybe-just maybe-includes the courage to find love again.

The Child Within Has Been Awakened But the Old Lady on the Outside Just Collapsed by Cathy Guisewite, 128 pages

   Cathy's battles are Happily embarking on a new diet plan, she goes to the video store to rent Fat Busters, Butt Busters, Abs of Steel, Buns of Steel, Lean Legs and Buns, Trim Tummy and Thighs, Thighs, Tums and Bums—and runs into erstwhile boyfriend Irving. She tries, once and for all, to organize her office, finally answering the letter that's at the bottom of the "Dear Mr. Cooper, Your letter of two years ago has been designated an historic landmark." Her sweet bespectacled mom interrupts Cathy during a frantic day at work, knowing full well that "For every perfectly timed annoying interruption, there's a half-hour guilt-follow-up call to come."

  Cathy's life is filled with other characters who keep her hopping, shopping, and her faithful puppy Electra; her newlywed co-worker Charlene; Andrea, her upwardly mobile friend, mother of Zenith and Gus and now a permanent temp in Cathy's office; and Cathy's boss Mr. Pinkley. Together, they fill Cathy's life with challenges, changes, and choices—in a consistently amusing series.

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie, 212 pages

 The Tuesday Night Club is the name for a varied group of guests who challenge each other to solve recent, and not so recent, crimes. It begins one evening when the group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and the conversation turns to unsolved crimes. Over the weeks, we learn about the case of the dripping bloodstains, the thief who committed his crime twice over, the message from the death-bed of a poisoned man who talked of a 'heap of fish’, the strange case of the missing will, and a spiritualist who warned that ‘Blue Geraniums’ meant death.

Pit your wits against the powers of deduction of the ‘Tuesday Night Club’. But don't forget that Miss Marple is present. Sometime later, many of the same people are present at a dinner given by Colonel and Dolly Bantry. Another set of six problems. Even later there's a thirteenth. Can you match Miss Marple's performance?

The 13 stories are: 1. The Tuesday Night Club, 2. The Idol House of Astarte, 3. Ingots of Gold, 4. The Bloodstained Pavement, 5. Motive v. Opportunity, 6. The Thumbmark of St. Peter, 7. The Blue Geranium, 8. The Companion, 9. The Four Suspects, 10. A Christmas Tragedy, 11. The Herb of Death, 12. The Affair at the Bungalow, and 13. Death by Drowning.

The Luck Runs Out by Charlotte MacLeod, 194 pages

At Balaclava Agricultural College, a kidnapping and pig-napping are followed by murder

Newlyweds Peter and Helen Shandy are picking out flatware when a pair of gun-toting hooligans bursts into the silversmith’s shop, emptying the safe and leaving with Helen as their hostage. Although the police recover Helen quickly, her professor husband is badly shaken by the ordeal. Early the next morning, the college’s head of animal husbandry frantically reports another hostage situation in progress. Belinda, the school’s beloved sow, has been kidnapped, and only Peter can bring home the bacon.
 
There’s a possible witness to the pig-napping in Miss Flackley, the farrier, but before she can point Peter toward the vanished porker, she’s found dead in the barn’s mash feeder. By the time Peter discovers the link between the two heists, pigs may really fly.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi, 393 pages

 Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.

Another Saturday Night of Wild and Reckless Abandon by Cathy Guisewite, 128 pages

 

Men Should Come With Instructions Booklets by Cathy Guisewite, 128 pages

 Cathy is for every bright thinking woman who takes 300 pounds of luggage on a two-day business trip...keeps a six-pack of candy in her briefcase...declares her independence, and then begs her mother to hem her dress-for-success outfit...and copes with modern relationships by buying more shoes.