By Alexander McCall Smith
Series Corduroy Mansions Novels
Recommended By Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk

Terence Moongrove’s estate is turned upside down by the cosmological experiments of two New Age operators, while literary agent Barbara Ragg takes on a companion of the Abominable Snowman and Pimlico terrier Freddie de la Hay is recruited by MI6.

By W. Bruce Cameron

Searching for his purpose over the course of multiple canine lives, Bailey is reborn as a golden-haired puppy after a tragic death as a stray.

By Cameron Stracher

Stracher, a graduate of Harvard Law School and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, gives a hilarious and horrifying account of his ordeal as a young associate at a major Wall Street law firm.

By Alexander McCall Smith

“Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi travel to the north of Botswana, to the stunning Okavango Delta, to visit a safari lodge where there have been several unexplained and troubling events--including the demise of one of the guests (From the Publisher).”

By David Sedaris

“Sedaris has a knack for turning heartbreaking antics into moments of outrageous humor… In one tale that features his mother, she cozies up to a rich old aunt in anticipation of an inheritance, and in another she locks her children outside on the fifth snow day home from school (Library Journal).”

By A.J. Jacobs
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

"Documents the author's effort to follow a complicated two-year program of dubious diet and exercise practices in a wayward effort to promote perfect health that tests the patience of his long-suffering wife (From the Publisher)."

By John Lithgow

Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse is a satirical poetry collection from award–winning actor and bestselling author John Lithgow. Chronicling the last few raucous years in American politics, Lithgow takes readers verse by verse through the history of Donald Trump's presidency.

By Katherine Heiny
Recommended By Lisa H., Readers' Services Librarian

Falling in love with Duncan, the world’s most prolific seducer of women, Jane finds herself part of an unconventional family, which includes his best friend and ex-wife, when one terrible car crash permanently intertwines her life with Duncan’s.

By Jon Stewart

Presents a humorous summation of the history of humanity and our achievements in society, government, religion, science, and culture.

By Jane Austen

Emma Woodhouse imagines that she dominates those around her in the small town of Highbury, but her inept matchmaking creates problems for herself and others.

By Smauel Butler

The nineteenth-century English philosopher satirizes the hypocraisy of his own society through sketches depicting an imaginary world.

By Jonathan Tropper

“By turns funny and moving, Tropper's warm, winning tale will appeal to both male and female readers and may draw comparisons to Nick Hornby and John Scott Shepherd (Booklist).”

By Brian Z. Tamanaha

Growing concern with the crisis in legal education has led to high-profile coverage in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and many observers expect it soon will be the focus of congressional scrutiny. Bringing to the table his years of experience from within the legal academy, Tamanaha has provided the perfect resource for assessing what’s wrong with law schools and figuring out how to fix them.

By Kevin Wilson

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist's work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents' madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents' strange world. When the lives they've built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance - their magnum opus - whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what's ultimately more important: their family or their art. The novel displays a keen sense of the complex performances that unfold in the relationships of people who love one another.

By Brent Spiner
Recommended By Meghan F., Children's Services Librarian

A serio-comic, semi-autobiographical thriller from the actor best known for portraying the android Lieutenant Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation describes the bizarre relationship between a celebrity and one of his obsessed fans.

By Matty Simmons

A tribute to the popular comedic film by National Lampoon draws on interviews with contributors to describe its low-budget compilation of mostly unknown actors, the antics that shaped its creation, and its unexpected success.

By Hunter S. Thompson

Records the experiences of a free-lance writer who embarked on a zany journey into the drug culture.

Became the movie: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

By Liza Palmer

As a child, Grace Hawkes was abandoned by her father; as an adult, she feels abandoned when her mother dies unexpectedly. Not knowing what to do, Grace runs away. Five years later she reunites with her siblings at her father's deathbed and confronts her past.

By Cathy Guisewite
Recommended By Amy B., Children's Librarian

The award-winning creator of the iconic Cathy comic strip presents an illustrated first collection of whimsical, wise and honest essays about being a woman in what she lovingly terms, "the panini generation."

By Chuck Palahniuk

In a confusing world poised on the brink of mayhem, Tyler Durden, a projectionist, waiter, and anarchic genius, comes up with an idea to create clubs in which young men can escape their humdrum existence and prove themselves in barehanded fights.

By James Frey
Recommended By Ralph Guiteau, Readers' Services Librarian

Written from the perspective of his family, friends, and followers, in the same way the story of Jesus Christ was told in the New Testament, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible is the story of Ben Zion Avrohom, also known as Ben Jones, also known as the Messiah, also known as the Lord God.

By Jess Walter

Follow Matt in his weeklong quest to save his marriage, his sanity and his dreams.

By Jess Walter

Matt Prior is losing his job, his wife, and his house, and he’s about to lose his mind—until he discovers a way that he might possibly be able to save it all.

By Olivia Goldsmith

Three faithful, middle-age wives, who have been abandoned for "trophy wives"--younger, blonder, and sexier models--by their successful husbands, decide to get even and seek public revenge before New York society.

Became the movie: The First Wives Club.

By Christopher Buckley

Florence Farfarletti has a plan for female emancipation in the Middle East, and enlists the help of a diverse group to help her carry out her plan of reaching her audience with TV shows.

By Tim Dorsey
Series Serge Storms

When five million dollars in a suitcase is dropped into the trunk of the wrong car, a whole convoy of homicidal whackos follows in hot pursuit, with a stop in Miami to take in the last game of the Series.

By David Abrams

A satirical tale set in the chaotic world of Baghdad's Forward Operating Base Triumph traces the daily experiences of men and women soldiers who avoid combat by remaining at the base and spending their days playing video games, watching television and getting acquainted in empty portable toilets.

By Jim Gaffigan
Recommended By Amy B., Children's Librarian

Celebrates the comedian’s offbeat love affair with American junk foods, sharing his observations about such topics as unappetizing coconut water, the essential nature of pretzel bread, and the deliciousness of bacon cheeseburgers.

By Fannie Flagg

Mrs. Threadgoode’s tale of two high-spirited women of the 1930s, Idgie and Ruth, helps Evelyn, a 1980s woman in a sad slump of middle age, to being to rejuvenate her own life.

By Anthony Bourdain
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

With the chefs of Los Angeles ruling the town like crime lords, sushi chef Jiro, a chef known for decapitating patrons who dare request a California roll, is sought after by both the "Internationalists" and the "Vertical farm" families.

By Anthony Bourdain

Jiro, born the heir to a Yakuza crime family, never longed to travel the criminal path laid out before him, but instead chose to secretly study the rich culinary history of his homeland, something that would have significant repercussions if discovered by his gangster father.

By Elmore Leonard

Chili Palmer, a Miami loanshark, and Harry Zimm, a film producer in debt, become reluctant partners as they become embroiled in the seductive but deadly Hollywood scene.

By Jane Fallon
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director

"Fallon takes "careful what you wish for" to hilarious heights in her debut novel, a comedy of errors triggered by a mistress who discovers thrice-weekly hookups with her married lover are better than a 24/7 relationship with him (Publishers Weekly)."

By Jill Davis
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

After landing a job as a reporter at the "New York News," Ruby Capote joins three other women for evenings playing poker and finds herself falling for her intriguing and challenging boss, Michael.

By Joseph Heller

This deeply moving novel is the story of David – yes, King David – but as you’ve never seen him before, you already know David as the legendary warrior king of Israel, husband of Bathsheba, and father of Solomon; now meet David as he really was: the cocky Jewish kid, the plagiarized poet, and the Jewish father.

By Marie Phillips
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

"British blogger Phillips's delightful debut finds the Greek gods and goddesses living in a tumbledown house in modern–day London and facing a very serious problem: their powers are waning, and immortality does not seem guaranteed. In between looking for work and keeping house, the ancient family is still up to its oldest pursuit: crossing and double–crossing each other (From Publishers Weekly)."

By Joshilyn Jackson

Arlene Fleet finds she still has not escaped her hometown when an old classmate turns up asking questions about her past.

By Roz Chast

An uproarious graphic–novel tribute to Manhattan that reflects on the culture clash between her rural–raised children and herself, sharing zany and occasionally practical advice on subjects ranging from sidewalk gum wads to navigating honeycombed grids.

By Ann Leary
Recommended By Jackie, Head of Readers' Services

“Successful real-estate broker, family woman and raging alcoholic Hildy Good embarks on a life of denial and loneliness while resenting the intervention of her loved ones and becoming embroiled in a scandal in her New England town that involves two craggy seniors (From the Publisher).”

By Neil Gaiman
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

The world is going to end next Saturday, but there are a few problems--the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, and the representatives from heaven and hell decide that they like the human race.

By Allen Kurzweil

Confronted by both professional and personal crisis, reference librarian Alexander Short gains a new lease on life when he meets Henry James Jesson III, who hires him for some research into an enigmatic eighteenth-century inventor.

By Steven Rowley
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian, Donna Burger, Readers' Services Librarian, Sue Ann R., Head of Children's Services

When Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP) for short, takes on the role of primary guardian for his young niece and nephew, he sets “Guncle Rules,” but soon learns that parenting isn’t solved with treats or jokes as his eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility.

By David Rakoff
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director

“Presents a whimsical defense of pessimism that intersperses accounts of the author’s own experiences with wry observations on universal absurdities and injustices (From the Publisher).”

By Lore Segal
Recommended By Audrey Honigman, Library Clerk

“A dark comedy about life in post-September 11 America features characters struggling with a broken medical system in a Manhattan emergency room where an upsurge in sudden-onset Alzheimer’s raises questions about a possible terrorist plot (From the Publisher).”

By Margaret Atwood
Recommended By Jessikah Chautin, Community Engagement Specialist, Meghan F., Children's Services Librarian

A look at the near future presents the story of Offred, a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, an oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction.

By Ali Wentworth
Recommended By Amy B., Children's Librarian

The actress and comedian chronicles her mission of self-improvement—initiated as the result of a particularly inspirational tweet and expanded to include parenting, fitness, relationship, and dieting advice—in a series of comic vignettes.

By Michael Frayne

When a frustrated philosopher uncovers what he believes is a lost painting by Bruegel in a boorish neighbor’s basement, he embarks on a quest to separate the work from its owner.

By Jacob Tomsky

A veteran of the hospitality business uses humor and irreverence to describe working in the industry, coming clean on the housekeeping department, the unwritten code of bellhops and what really goes on in a valet parking garage.

By Angela S. Choi

Determined to thwart her parents' plans to marry her off into Asian suburbia, Fiona seeks her freedom at any price.

By Beth Lisick

A lighthearted analysis of the multibillion-dollar self-help industry traces the author’s year-long experimentation with the empowerment and self-improvement philosophies of such names as John Gray, Richard Simmons, and Suze Orman.