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The Last Black Unicorn
By Tiffany Haddish. 2017
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER &“An inspiring story that manages to be painful, honest, shocking, bawdy and hilarious.&” —The New York…
Times Book Review From stand-up comedian, actress, and breakout star of Girls Trip, Tiffany Haddish, comes The Last Black Unicorn, a sidesplitting, hysterical, edgy, and unflinching collection of (extremely) personal essays, as fearless as the author herself.Growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles, Tiffany learned to survive by making people laugh. If she could do that, then her classmates would let her copy their homework, the other foster kids she lived with wouldn&’t beat her up, and she might even get a boyfriend. Or at least she could make enough money—as the paid school mascot and in-demand Bar Mitzvah hype woman—to get her hair and nails done, so then she might get a boyfriend. None of that worked (and she&’s still single), but it allowed Tiffany to imagine a place for herself where she could do something she loved for a living: comedy. Tiffany can&’t avoid being funny—it&’s just who she is, whether she&’s plotting shocking, jaw-dropping revenge on an ex-boyfriend or learning how to handle her newfound fame despite still having a broke person&’s mind-set. Finally poised to become a household name, she recounts with heart and humor how she came from nothing and nowhere to achieve her dreams by owning, sharing, and using her pain to heal others. By turns hilarious, filthy, and brutally honest, The Last Black Unicorn shows the world who Tiffany Haddish really is—humble, grateful, down-to-earth, and funny as hell. And now, she&’s ready to inspire others through the power of laughter.Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines
By Joy Buolamwini. 2023
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • &“The conscience of the AI revolution&” (Fortune) explains how we&’ve arrived at an era of AI harms…
and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls.&“Dr. Joy Buolamwini has been an essential figure in bringing irresponsible, profit-hungry tech giants to their knees. If you&’re going to read only one book about AI, this should be it.&”—Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Shortlisted for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book AwardTo most of us, it seems like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been at the forefront of AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making.After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Memphis and then developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini followed her lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art to MIT in 2015. As a graduate student at the &“Future Factory,&” she did groundbreaking research that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants across the world.Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls &“the coded gaze&”—the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products—and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity &“excoded&” and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them.Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, &“The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few.&”A Sackful of Limericks
By Michael Palin. 2016
If you've ever wondered what happened to the young fellow from Malta who bought his grandfather an altar…If you're concerned…
about the camper called Jack who found a huge snake in his pack…And if you suspect that an eccentric landowner called Grey spent Christmas a very strange way but aren't sure precisely what that entailed…Then a dip into Michael Palin's Sackful of Limericks will provide all the answers – and a lot of fun besides.Rules for Modern Life: A Connoisseur's Survival Guide
By Sir David Tang. 2016
Do gentlemen wear shorts? What are the rules regarding interior decor in a high-security prison? Is it ever acceptable to…
send Valentine's cards to one's pets?The twenty-first century is an age of innumerable social conundrums. Around every corner lies a potential faux pas waiting to happen. But if you've ever struggled for the right response to an unwelcome gift or floundered for conversation at the dinner party from hell, fear not: help is at hand.In Rules for Modern Life, Sir David Tang, resident agony uncle at the Financial Times, delivers a satirical masterclass in navigating the social niceties of modern life. Whether you're unsure of the etiquette of doggy bags or wondering whether a massage room in your second home would be de trop, Sir David has the answer to all your social anxieties - and much more besides.Round the Bend
By Jeremy Clarkson. 2011
Jeremy Clarkson gets REALLY riled up in Round the BendWhat's it like to drive a car that's actively trying to…
kill you?This and many other burning questions trouble Jeremy Clarkson as he sets out to explore the world from the safety of four wheels. Avoiding the legions of power-crazed traffic wombles attempting to block highway and byway, he he:- Shows how the world of performance cars may be likened to Battersea Dogs Home- Reveals why St Moritz may be the most bonkers town in all of the world- Reminds us that Switzerland is so afraid of snow that any flakes falling on the road are immediately arrested- Argues that washing a car is a waste of timeFunny, globe-trotting, irreverent and sometimes downright rude, Round the Bend is packed with curious and fascinating but otherwise hopelessly useless stories and facts about everything under the sun (and just occasionally cars). It's Jeremy Clarkson at his brilliant best.Praise for Jeremy Clarkson'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening StandardRoot Around Britain
By Will Donaldson. 1993
Conveniently arranged in alphabetical order, from Abstractions (you'll find them on the Continent, of course') to Weather, Root Around Britain…
tells the story of a quest. A quest for the essence of Englishness; a quest for a new television series which Mr Root can sell to the fat man in Birmingham; a quest for a peerage and the right way to pay for it ('old money' or 'new money'?); and, finally, a quest for the means to humiliate a nosy neighbour. What could be more English than that?'Rommel?' 'Gunner Who?': A Confrontation in the Desert (Spike Milligan War Memoirs)
By Spike Milligan. 1974
VOLUME TWO OF SPIKE MILLIGAN'S LEGENDARY MEMOIRS IS A HILARIOUS, SUBVERSIVE FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF WW2'Brilliant verbal pyrotechnics, throwaway lines and…
marvelous anecdotes' Daily Mail 'Desperately funny, vivid, vulgar' Sunday Times ______________'Keep talking, Milligan. I think I can get you out on Mental Grounds.' 'That's how I got in, sir.' 'Didn't we all.' The second volume of Spike Milligan's legendary recollections of life as a gunner in World War Two sees our hero into battle in North Africa - eventually. First, there is important preparation to be done: extensive periods of loitering ('We had been standing by vehicles for an hour and nothing had happened, but it happened frequently'), psychological toughening ('If a man dies when you hang him, keep hanging him until he gets used to it') and living dangerously ('no underwear!'). At last the battle for Tunis is upon them . . .______________'The most irreverent, hilarious book about the war that I have ever read' Sunday Express 'Milligan is the Great God to all of us' John Cleese 'The Godfather of Alternative Comedy' Eddie Izzard 'A totally original comedy writer' Michael Palin 'Close in stature to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in his command of the profound art of nonsense' GuardianRoad to the Dales: The Story of a Yorkshire Lad
By Gervase Phinn. 2011
A unique look into the childhood experiences of Gervase Phinn in Road to the Dales.Gervase tells of a life full…
of happiness, conversation, music and books shared with his three siblings, mother and father. This book is a snapshot of growing up in Yorkshire in the 1950s - reminisce with Gervase, and share in his personal journey - of school days and holidays as well as his tentative steps into the adult world. Devour numerous uproarious stories including the incident involving a broken greenhouse, crashing his brother's newly restored bike as well as secrets about his first dates, adventures at summer camp, family trips to Blackpool and many other captivating tales.With a wicked ear for the comical, and a sharp eye for detail, Road to the Dales visits poignant moments, significant events and precious memories from a boy called Gervase Phinn.Gervase Phinn is an author and educator from Rotherham who, after teaching for fourteen years in a variety of schools, moved to North Yorkshire to be a school inspector. He has written autobiographies, novels, plays, collections of poetry and stories, as well as a number of books about education. He holds five fellowships, honorary doctorates from Hull, Leicester and Sheffield Hallam universities, and is a patron of a number of children's charities and organizations. He is married with four adult children. His books include The Other Side of the Dale, Over Hill and Dale, Head Over Heels in the Dales,The Heart of the Dales, Up and Down in the Dales and Trouble at the Little Village School.Revolting Rhymers: Competition Winners
By Quentin Blake. 2017
The Winning Entries of the most REVOLTING Poetry Competition!To celebrate the BBC's new two-part animation of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes,…
the Roald Dahl Literary Estate launched a poetry competition with a twist, asking chiddlers far and wide to submit their most revolting - and humorous rhymes. We were inundated with thousands of disgusterous entries! To discover our winners, we waded through burps, farts and rotten eggs; bogies, vile stew and goo to find the funniest and most revolting specimens. This eBook contains the crème de la phlegm-hand picked by children's author, songwriter and McFly frontman, Tom Fletcher, and Wales's Children's Poet Laureate, Anni Llyn. A huge thank you to our revolting partners Puffin Books, the National Literacy Trust, Literature Wales, Magic Light, and the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre for all their help and support!The Rev Diaries
By Reverend Adam Smallbone. 2014
The Rev Diaries is the hilarious tie-in novel to the award-winning hit BBC1 comedy, Rev, starring Tom Hollander.'I went into…
the newsagent's for a packet of fags and I saw the exercise book, and I thought, yes, that's got your name on it. Or it soon will. Buy it and fill it with your thoughts, which are many and beautiful and frequently in service to the Lord. Make a diary of your time at St Saviour's. Maybe, in two hundred years' time, you'll be celebrated as the Samuel Pepys of the Church of England. Or a sort of Reverend Bridget Jones. Is that too much to hope for, Lord?'Meet Rev. Adam Smallbone, recently promoted from a sleepy rural parish to funky, inner-city St Saviour's in Hackney. Out of his depth in his new, urban surroundings, he's doing the best he can, supported by his loving, but agnostic wife, Alex.As Adam struggles with the unfamiliar demands of his new parish, there aren't many he can turn to. There's the wild Colin, the waspish Archdeacon, the pompous Nigel, the smothering Adoha and Ellie, the formidably attractive headmistress of the local C of E school. There's God of course. There's always God. But in Adam's hour of need, will God - and Alex - be enough?Rev. Adam Smallbone is the vicar of St Saviour's in Hackney. He studied History at Bristol University, and was ordained in 1999. He is married to Alexandra, a solicitor. He was a curate in the Ipswich Diocese before becoming the vicar of St Peter's, Gromford, where he was able to be asleep most nights by 9 p.m.Remembering Ronnie Barker
By Richard Webber. 1993
Ronnie Barker was one of our most respected and best-loved comedy actors and here, in this fascinating biography, Richard Webber…
delves deep in to the heart of Barker's life and career, peppering his narrative with original and incisive memories from some of Barker's closest contemporaries, including Ronnie Corbett, Michael Palin and Barry Cryer. Star of the much-adored comedy classics Porridge, The Two Ronnies - one of the most successful and long-running television comedy shows ever on British television - and Open All Hours, Ronnie Barker was universally admired by the public and industry insiders alike. From his early days writing for and performing skits on The Frost Report right up to his retirement in 1988, he lit up television screens across the country with his wonderful gift for comedy and his remarkable skill for character acting. Beyond his performances on the stage and screen, Barker was also an accomplished comedy writer, providing many of the sketches and songs for The Two Ronnies and contributing material to a number of other television and radio shows. And despite his retirement he retained pole position in the public's affection, returning to the screen in 1999 to team up with his erstwhile comedy partner and great friend Ronnie Corbett for a Two Ronnies night on BBC1, followed by a BAFTA tribute in 2004 and a final appearance on television in 2005 on The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook. Effortlessly funny, universally adored and an actor and writer responsible for some of Britain's best-loved and most-respected comedy, Ronnie Barker was a true comedy legend. Here he's brought to the page in winning style as he's remembered by those who best loved and knew him.Really?: The World According To Clarkson
By Jeremy Clarkson. 2013
JEREMY CLARKSON'S LATEST - AND MOST OUTRAGEOUS - TAKE ON THE WORLDCLARKSON'S BACK - AND THIS TIME HE'S PUTTING HIS…
FOOT DOWNFrom his first job as a travelling sales rep selling Paddington Bears to his latest wheeze as a gentleman farmer, Jeremy Clarkson's love of cars has just about kept him out of trouble.But in a persistently infuriating world, sometimes you have to race full-throttle at the speed-bumps.Because there's still plenty to get cross about, including:· Why nothing good ever came out of a meeting· Muesli's unmentionable side effects · Navigating London when every single road is being dug up at once· People who read online reviews of dishwashers· ****ing driverless carsBuckle up for a bumpy ride - you're holding the only book in history to require seatbelts . . .Praise for Jeremy Clarkson: Brilliant . . . Laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny . . . Will have you in stitches' Time Out 'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening StandardPuffin's Brilliantly Big Bumper Joke Book: An A-Z of Everything Funny!
By Brough Girling, John Byrne. 1990
A complete A - Z of hilarious jokes and gags to make you giggle. Arranged in alphabetical sections, this bumper…
book is packed full of the best (and very worst) jokes for every occasion!The Private Life Of Islam: An Algerian Diary
By Dr Ian Young. 1974
Ian Young spent a summer as a medical student in a provincial maternity unit in Algeria. This book is taken…
from the diary he began on arrival, when he found himself the privileged witness of the insides not just of Kabyl women, but also some much-trumpeted ideology. The immediate villains are a couple of expatriate Bulgarian gynaecologists. Dr Vasilev, at the closing stages of a career of fathomless incompetence, forms a bond of affection with the author and they spend many hours in the office over an old route map of Bulgaria, discussing mileages and motorcycles as Maternity drifts beneath them like an abandoned ship. Dr Kostov packs a powerful bedside punch and saves his humanitarian feelings for the health of the Deutschmark. The two form a macabre comic team as they take the reader through a series of medical nightmares. But their lot is scarcely more enviable than that of their female victims: the foreign doctors are the unhappy executors, working in blood, excrement and death, of the most respected attitudes in Algeria. The Private Life of Islam is a ruthlessly clear-sighted view of a particular place at a particular time. It is also a classic in the art of story-telling.'A real achievement, personal as well as literary.' David Pryce-Jones, The Times'A parable of the reality behind a vast amount of modern social and political fantasy, even in the most developed of countries.' David Holden, Sunday TimesPreventable: How a Pandemic Changed the World & How to Stop the Next One
By Devi Sridhar. 2022
**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER | BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK**The definitive story of COVID-19 and how global politics…
shape our health - from a world-leading expert and the pandemic's go-to science communicator Professor Devi Sridhar has risen to prominence for her vital roles in communicating science to the public and speaking truth to power. In Preventable she highlights lessons learned from outbreaks past and present in a narrative that traces the COVID-19 pandemic - including her personal experience as a scientist - and sets out a vision for how we can better protect ourselves from the inevitable health crises to come.In gripping and heartfelt prose, Sridhar exposes the varied realities of those affected and puts you in the room with key decision makers at crucial moments. She vibrantly conveys the twists and turns of a plot that saw: deadlier varients emerge (contrary to the predictions of social media pundits who argued it would mutate to a milder form); countries with weak health systems like Senegal and Vietnam fare better than countries like the US and UK (which were consistently ranked as the most prepared); and the quickest development of game-changing vaccines in history (and their unfair distribution)Combining science, politics, ethics and economics, this definitive book dissects the global structures that determine our fate, and reveals the deep-seated economic and social inequalities at their heart - it will challenge, outrage and inspire.'A brutally compelling reminder that if voices like Devi's had been listened to, so many more could have lived' OWEN JONES'One of the most brilliant scientists in the world who has been proven consistently right in this crisis' PIERS MORGAN'Excellent . . . Fair, clear and compelling' NICOLA STURGEON'Those who have found Professor Devi Sridhar's expertise and calm advice invaluable since the arrival of Covid-19 will be glad to know that she has written Preventable' RACHEL COOKE, Guardian, Non-fiction to look out for in 2022Port Out, Starboard Home: The Fascinating Stories We Tell About the words We Use
By Michael Quinion. 2005
Can it really be true that 'golf' stands for 'Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden'? Or that 'rule of thumb' comes from…
an archaic legal principle that a man may chastise his wife, but only with a rod no thicker than his thumb?These and hundreds of other stories are commonly told and retold whenever people meet. They grow up in part because expressions are often genuinely mysterious. Why, for example, are satisfying meals 'square' rather than any other shape? And how did anyone ever come up with the idea that if you're competent at something you can 'cut the mustard'?Michael Quinion here retells many of the more bizarre tales, and explains their real origins where they're known. This is a fascinating treasure-trove of fiction and fact for anyone interested in language.Popular Errors Explained
By Stewart McCartney. 2011
In 1841 John Timbs wrote a book called Popular Errors Explained. It went on - with Timbs' other great series…
'Curiosities of ...' - to become one of the great popular books of the 19th century, running into many editions and selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Some say the popularity of his one hundred and fifty volumes led him to outsell a certain Mr Dickens.Stewart McCartney, under the Timb's title of Popular Errors Explained has created a new book, capturing the zeal and enthusiasm of the original, to be 'agreeable, by way of abstract and anecdote so as to become an advantageous and amusing guest at any intellectual fireside.' The book has completely new material - around 200 or so 'popular errors' from science and literature, history, sport, popular culture and so on. Each entry will have that eyebrow raising 'I didn't know that!' or 'Surely that cannot be true!' feel. Every one will explode a commonly held misbelief.Playgroups and Prosecco: The (mis)adventures of a single mum
By Jo Middleton. 2019
A hilarious and totally relatable book about the adventures of a single mum, for fans of Catastrophe and Motherland. Readers…
of Why Mummy Drinks, Unmumsy Mum and The Single Mum's Wish List will love this debut novel from parenting blogger Slummy Single Mummy.'You'll end up warming to Frankie so much that you'll be wishing you could crack open a bottle of prosecco with her in real life!' MIKE GAYLE, bestselling author of The Man I Think I Know________________________________January 3rdJaffa Cakes - 7. Times I was forced to watch a small child do a dance involving a dusty piece of ribbon found under the sofa - 4. Inappropriate thoughts about Zac Efron - undisclosed. Single mum Frankie’s whole life revolves around her kids. But when your toddler has a more active social life, something has to change. Forget ‘me-time’, Frankie would settle for some adult conversation, and watching something other than the Disney channel. The local playgroup may be ruled by Instagram mums with perfect husbands but Frankie accidentally forms a splinter group of single parents. After all, Mummy really needs a playdate of her own. (Now pass the prosecco.)________________________________WHAT READERS ARE SAYING'As a mum of three I could totally relate to this novel on so many levels' - Titian'Hilarious - made me laugh out loud' - Dominique'Lots of funny anecdotes parents will recognise!' - Claire'With shades of Bridget Jones, Frankie stumbles through life as a single mum' - Ann'A very funny and realistic look at motherhood' - KatrinaPlay It Again, Tom
By Augustus Brown. 2007
Dogs can smell electricity. Cats can heal bones by purring. Kittens can contact their mothers via a secret, ultra-sonic language.…
Dogs can understand a vocabulary of 200 human words. Every day, it seems, new scientific discoveries are fuelling the age old argument about which of man's two best friends really is the superior species. Augustus Brown fans the flames further with this collection of the weirdest, most wonderful and downright incredible of these truths about cats and dogs. Did you know, for instance, that dogs can see moving objects 900 yards away, and that cats can sense earthquakes coming? Or that dogs prefer Bach to Britney, while cats prefer drugs to chocolate? Fascinating, funny and provocative, his book may not settle the debate once and for all. But it is certain to set cat and dog lovers arguing like, well you know what...'If you had to pick two things you wanted - if you had to - what would you pick?'I hesitated.…
This was a bigger question than usually got asked at these post-match debriefs. 'I suppose the honest answer would be,' I said, still accessing the last pieces of required data from a jumbled mind, 'meeting my soul mate, and finding an idyllic house abroad somewhere.'Inspired by breathtaking views and romantic dreams of finding love in the mountains, Tony Hawks impulsively buys a house in the French Pyrenees. Here, he plans to finally fulfil his childhood fantasy of mastering the piano, untroubled by the problems of the world. In reality, the chaotic story of Tony's hopelessly ill-conceived house purchase reads like the definitive guide to how not to buy a house in France. It finds him flirting with the removal business in a disastrous attempt to transport his piano to France in a dodgy white van; foolishly electing to build a swimming pool himself; and expanding his relationship repertoire when he starts co-habiting, not with an exquisite French beauty, but with a middle-aged builder from West London.As Tony and his friends haplessly attempt to fit into village life, they learn more about themselves and each other than they ever imagined.