Cruel Yule!

If the upcoming holidays bring out your inner Grinch, you may want to take an irreverent look at the season with comic David Sedaris. In Holidays on Ice, he describes his hilarious stint as an elf in Macy’s Santa Land. Sedaris shares his frustration while viewing a local school’s Christmas Pageant. He compares Dutch and American holiday customs in a fairly obnoxious way.Even Halloween and Easter traditions provide a target for his teasing. While this book tends to be offensive and off-beat, it made me laugh. It might be just the thing needed to beat the holiday blues. DB

Teen-Adult Crossover: A Mooo-ving Story

Looking for your next Epic Read? Look no further than Libba Bray's Going Bovine, winner of the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award.
Cameron Smith just wants to coast through high school (and life) with as little effort as possible. But then the unthinkable happens: He is diagnosed with a rare and particularly vicious form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (a.k.a. mad cow disease). Within weeks, perhaps days, he will die. Bummer! As Cameron wastes away in the hospital, he is visited by Dulcie, a pink-haired, punk rock angel with a bad sugar habit. Dulcie promises Cameron that if he goes on a quest to find Dr. X, a mysterious mad scientist who went missing several years ago, he will not only save the universe from certain destruction, he will also be cured of all ailments. Armed with a magical, health-protecting wristband from Disney World and accompanied by Gonzo, his paranoid roommate, Cameron reluctantly accepts the challenge. Cameron and Gonzo journey from Texas to Florida. Along the way they jam with a ghostly jazz musician, narrowly escape being brainwashed by a bizarre happiness cult, pick up a very strange companion who may (or may not) be the Norse god Balder in disguise, party at the world's biggest Spring Break bash, and dodge evil fire giants. Finally, Cameron accomplishes his mission...with some very unexpected results. Loosely based on Don Quixote, Going Bovine will appeal to readers on many different levels. Don't hurt your happiness. Check out Going Bovine today!--AJL

It's been 30 years since the Official Preppy Handbook

True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World by Lisa Birnbach is the update you have been waiting for of The Official Preppy Handbook by the same author. Be prepared to laugh outloud at sections titled: "Daddy's New Girlfriend: just like Mummy only twenty-three years younger", "Your Personal Trainer: a Cautionary Tale", "Your Driver, Formerly known as the chauffeur". There are wardrobe details with a list of vintage stores (two in Michigan, guess where?), another list of "The 42 Preppiest Places to Have a Summer House" (think the coasts, nothing up north in Michigan, although "lakes are preppier than pools"). This book will amuse you with staged photos and country club rules (no spandex bicycle wear). Near the end is a "Do-it-yourself True Prep Eulogy". That is just what we will need when we die laughing.