Humor Theory

The latest installment in the lively and deliciously charming 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favorite residents of Scotland’s most celebrated address navigating their enchanting and eventful lives Settle in and take a trip back to Scotland’s favorite fictitious street with Bertie...

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The definitive, behind-the-scenes look at the most popular sitcom of the last decade, packed with all-new, exclusive interviews with the producers and the entire cast—from journalist and the host of The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast, Jessica Radloff. The...

Susan Huckle is your typical homeschooled '90s kid in an End Times-obsessed Pentecostal Christian church on California's central coast. She's ready for the Rapture (any day now!) but wonders why God hasn't healed her dad yet from a paralyzing stroke.

Explore how humor actually works through a clear, structured account of incongruity theory and the cognitive steps that turn a mismatch into laughter or amusement. This book examines why jokes surprise us, how minds build expectations, and what happens when those expectations are broken in just the right way. Moving from basic definitions to applied analysis, it shows how humor depends on prediction, interpretation, and re interpretation. Readers will see how mental models shape what we expect, how different kinds of incongruity, semantic, pragmatic, syntactic, causal, can create comic ...

"A masterly book" —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan "A classic" —Simon Kuper, Financial Times An economist explores the five laws that confirm our worst fears: stupid people can and do rule the world Throughout history, a powerful force has hindered the growth of human welfare...

With The Rosie Project, “Graeme Simsion achieved the impossible and created an entirely new kind of romantic hero” (Jojo Moyes, New York Times bestselling author). Now Don Tillman returns in the hilarious and charming sequel to the international sensation. Get ready to fall in love all over...

Witty, heartfelt, deeply weird, and utterly original, Mr. Yay explores how we grapple with inexplicable sudden shifts in the world around us, and the conspiracy theories and identity crises they birth. If the past we remember has changed, are we who we think we are? Is anyone?

Inspiration for the TV series Living Biblically streaming now! From the New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It-All comes a fascinating and timely exploration of religion and the Bible. A.J. Jacobs chronicles his hilarious and thoughtful year spent obeying?as literally as possible?the...

What happens when self-help meets real life — and loses? When one man stumbles upon the latest viral trend, The Let Them Theory, he decides to test it in the wild: on his girlfriend, on his dog, and on his sanity. Mia calls it delusion. Frosty (the dog) just wants her dinner. But our narrator is determined to “let them” — to let everyone do whatever they want while pretending it’s spiritual growth. Soon, letting go turns into losing control: burnt dinners become “acts of freedom,” unwashed dishes become “lessons in detachment,” and ignoring texts is “emotional ...

Meet the Female Chauvinist Pig - the new brand of "empowered woman" who wears the Playboy bunny as a talisman, bares all for Girls Gone Wild, pursues casual sex as if it were a sport, and embraces "raunch culture". If male chauvinist pigs of years past thought of women as pieces of meat, Female Chauvinist Pigs of today are doing them one better. They think they're being brave, they think they're being funny, but in Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy asks if the joke is on them.

A hilarious and incisive exploration of the joys of reading from a teacher, bibliophile, and Thurber Prize Semifinalist We read to escape, to learn, to find love, to feel seen. We read to encounter new worlds, to discover new recipes, to find connection across difference, or simply to pass a...

Abridged for audio. Read by the author, Clive James. With fascinating essays on towering figures from Anna Akhmatova to Stefan Zweig, via Charles de Gaulle, Hitler, Thomas Mann and Wittgenstein, Cultural Amnesia is one of the crowning achievements in Clive James's illustrious career as a critic...

At a time when Christian nationalism has taken root in the US government, the literal interpretation of scripture is no longer merely a theological curiosity—it is shaping policy, justifying exclusion, and wielding genuine power over millions of lives. While Donald Trump has become the convenient tool of a decades-long scheme to degrade the separation of Church and State, The Batshit Crazy Bible meets this moment head-on. Robert Ragnar—lawyer by training, reluctant theologian by necessity—has done what most believers and non-believers alike have never done: read the Bible in its ...

Basie Wenger, a 24-year-old trained percussionist from Philadelphia, impulsively takes on a sudden posting as choir director for a church in Kansas City. Trying to adjust to small town life is difficult enough.

Multi-award winning and USA Today bestselling crime writer Lou Berney returns to his critically acclaimed thriller series starring former mob wheelman Shake Bouchon, who finds himself dragged into a high-stakes hostage rescue, among the mighty temples and shadowy underground of Cambodia. During...

A corrupt police detective enjoying semi-retirement in Tidewater Virginia stumbles onto an unsolved homicide. Given his nature, he’d be happy to leave it unsolved, but a few of his friends and neighbors have other ideas and steer him to a chance at redemption.

WHAT IS IT REALLY LIKE LIVING IN A HAUNTED HOUSE? Despite popular belief it’s a horror show filled with screaming apparitions and terror-filled nights, sometimes it isn’t very scary at all, but it can be interesting and entertaining. GHOST THEORIES, Raising a Family in a Haunted House, is the true story of an ordinary family cohabitating with mischievous entities that sometimes interrupt a normal day, or night. Join Jeff, Maurine, Sheri and Rae on their 5-year journey as they discover what being haunted is really like

Grab your beverage of choice, we’re going back on the road! Bringing you A Haunted Road Atlas: Next Stop, from the New York Times bestselling authors of true crime/supernatural podcast And That’s Why We Drink! From the truest crimes to the spookiest supernaturals, this guide will have even...

The only AI book that turns tech blunders into belly laughs — while sneaking in serious smarts. "A book every executive should have." — Andrew A., Entrepreneur “I’ve read books that make you rethink AI—this one transformed the way I talk about it.” – Fernanda C., Reviewer Ever screamed at Siri? Rolled your eyes at a robo-advisor? Wondered whether AI is actually coming for your job — or just your patience? Finance expert and tech insider Lynn Raebsamen (CFA) takes you behind the curtain on today's most powerful — and most hilariously fallible — technologies. From self-...

A landmark in women’s empowerment—as relevant as ever after a year marked by unprecedented political protest—that honors female sexuality in all its complexity. "I was worried about vaginas. I was worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more worried that we don't think about...