Humor Short

In this dual collection of short stories, Alexander McCall Smith brings his trademark humor and warmth to inventive tales of spying and vengeance. In one story, a spy dropped deep into enemy territory manages to disguise himself—quite convincingly—as a nun. In another, an invitation to join the Vatican Secret Service sends a prospective operative down a rabbit hole of controversy and confusion. A third story finds an author, on the brink of public ruin, seeing the error of his ways after an act of kindness saves the day.

Innkeeper Max Moran is again involved in solving a murder when the actor playing the victim at a murder mystery dinner held at the Fireside Inn gives the best performance of his life and actually dies. Chief of police Philpot, who hates Max with a passion, dearly wishes to prove that Max is the killer, thus forcing Max to discover the killer's true identity. As usual, Max travels unsteadily along a twisty road that eventually leads him to the culprit. At the same time, Max has a starring role in the local Christmas play, Curzin' Toward Bethlehem, which reinterprets the story of the three ...

One day, Stan and Jan Berenstain were captured by a family of bears. It was a family of three - an overenthusiastic Papa whose high opinion of himself was exceeded only by his ability to do silly things (often placing himself in jeopardy from bees, skunks, low-hanging branches, whales, irate farmers, etc.) a wise, steady Mama with a firm grip on reality, and a bright enterprising little boy cub.

The Young, the Rich, and the Scandalous… When Josh moved in next door, the only thing hotter than our chemistry was the gossip. The whispers started before we even finished our first flirty conversation by the pool. ✔ Wealthy widow? Check. ✔ Hot, younger neighbor? Check. ✔ Scandal? Oh, absolutely. Palm Beach loves a juicy story, and this one writes itself. They think I’m a gold digger, but I’d trade every dime of my late husband’s fortune for just one more night with him. Still, that didn’t stop the rumors back then, and it sure won’t stop them now—especially when Josh ...

A fast-paced fifty-page short story book about two budding astronauts, a space hound named Chewie and a rather pissed off creature in the form of a Kraken. Contains epic storytelling, dark humor and general silliness.

The one thing that could be expected to disturb the peace of life at Blandings is the incursion of imposters. Blandings has imposters like other houses have mice. On this occasion there are two of them--both intent on a dangerous enterprise.

The “best short story writer in English” (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose—wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned—Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.

“There’s a dead elf in the doorway!” With those words, the adventures of the gals of Callie’s Cakes are back on! The ladies have their work cut out for them. There’s a dead Christmas Elf trying to spoil Christmas, a murderer determined to destroy Anna’s wedding, a thief doing his best to discredit Kristie’s Youth Facility, and a vandal out to stop Callie’s wedding. But there’s nothing a cupcake or two won’t solve. Welcome to the cupcake bakery Callie's Cakes where murder investigations are on the menu. Recipes included. Cupcakes, unfortunately, are not. Get all four ...

Wolf shifter Raif Williams is a cynical, hard-boiled detective. The last thing he wants is a mate. He’s already married to the police force. Clumsy, awkward photographer Denny Wade has sworn off men. Why else would she live in a town of mostly females? When chasing a lead brings Raif to the eclectic town of Helen’s Corner, and face to face with clumsy Denny, he's forced to face a truth more frightening than any of the ruthless criminals he chases. He's just found his mate. NOTE: In the late 1800s, on a homestead in New Mexico, Helen Cartwright was widowed under mysterious circumstances....

Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.

I Never Dreamed There was a Rugged, Handsome Mountain Man In My Future… But in the Mountains of Montana, I get my Second Chance at love... and so does he. Rylie Mills’ life is about to change forever: A vacation fling becomes insta-love in the nth degree? I never dreamed this could happen to me. Ever. It was the last thing I ever expected, especially since I came on this mini-vacation telling myself over and over that I wasn’t here for any reason other than to relax and recharge I can’t shake the feeling that I belong in the city, not out here in the Montana mountains, and I have a ...

Some things are best left alone…. When Charlie gets a text inviting her to play a game, her first instinct is to delete it. It’s obviously a scam because nothing in life comes for free. But her world is painfully dull, her future uninspiring. Surely, just looking can’t hurt… right? The rational side of her warns against it. Don’t fall for it. No one hands out opportunities like this. And yet, she goes ahead and clicks ‘yes’ and in that instant, her life veers off course in ways she never could have imagined. And once she’s in, there’s no way out...

Patrick McManus, author of How I Got This Way and one of America's favorite humorists, is an impish commentator on the obvious and not so obvious absurdities of modern life. His national best seller, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw, is a collection of hilarious short pieces about fishing, its exotic equipment, and activities like "gunkholing". You will learn, for example, that the best way to learn to fish is to build an addition to your house first.

From the creator of the beloved and universally acclaimed television series BoJack Horseman, a fabulously off-beat collection of short stories about love - the best and worst thing in the universe. Equally at home with the surreal and the painfully relatable (and both at once), Bob-Waksberg delivers a killer combination of humor, romance, whimsy, cultural commentary, and crushing emotional vulnerability.

Bestselling authors Candace Ayers and Kym Dillon bring you SHORT "lunchtime quickie" reads—condensed romances intended to be read in under 2 hours! Paranormal passion only a shifter can deliver. Let the games begin! When I'm offered a get-out-of-jail-free card, I take it. All I have to do is pop out a pup for money. One minute I'm entering some weird mating ceremony. The next, a hot hunk with bulging biceps is claiming me. Men only ever want one thing from me. And, hey, I'll give it. It's in my contract. But this wolf daddy wants more. I don't do love or affection. I don't even know how. ...

Eighteen of the very best American short stories, each a classic in its own right. Stories include "The Little Frenchman and his Water Lots", by George Pope Morris; "The Angel of the Odd", by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Schoolmasters’s Progress", by Caroline M.S. Kirkland; "The Watkinson Evening", by Eliza Leslie; "Titbottom’s Spectacles", by George William Curtis; "My Double and "How He Undid Me", by Edward Everett Hale; "A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters", by Oliver Wendell; and more.

WANTED: ONE LIFEGUARD WHO DOESN'T MAKE ME CRAZY Brooke Lawson's fresh start at Seabreeze Cove has one major flaw: Zane "The Beast" Carter. He's arrogant, bossy, and has biceps that should be illegal in the state of Florida. Oh, and he's her new partner. HELP NEEDED: PARTNER WHO FOLLOWS THE RULES Zane doesn't need assistance—especially not from the sassy rookie who knocked his rescue can into the ocean on her first day. She challenges everything: his authority, his technique, and his ironclad rule against mixing business with pleasure. WARNING: HIGH RISK OF DROWNING (IN FEELINGS) When a ...

His nickname at work, where his colleagues avoid him like a plague, is "Mr. Accident". Alongside a lonely stretch of road on his way home one evening, he earns his reputation once again. While he sits with a dying youth trapped inside an overturned and crumpled automobile, Mr. Accident tells the boy how he earned his reputation. His is a sordid tale of endless cacophony and disaster, and death follows Mr. Accident like a shadow. Today, he earns his nickname with flare. If you should cross paths with Mr. Accident, beware.

Penniless and downtrodden at the loss of his wife and one of his daughters, Samuel Clemens turned to writing. The short stories and essays in Letters from the Earth find Clemens—under the pseudonym of Mark Twain—at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever. Written as diary entries, Twain penned a series of letters from the point of view of a dejected angel on Earth who observes the many curious natures of man. These pieces, gathered by Twain's literary executor, feature sharp takes on the inconsistencies of Christianity and farcical criticisms of American life.

Laugh till you cry in this new collection of stories from the “Serena Williams of humor writing” (New York Times Book Review) about raising babies and trying to learn how not to be one.