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She's a lamb! : a novel / by Hambrock, Meredith,author.;
"A darkly comic suspense in the vein of All's Well and Yellowface, She's a Lamb! is an edgy and incisive novel that marches toward showtime with a growing unease about the dangers of magical thinking and the depths of delusion. Jessamyn St. Germain is meant to be a star. Not an actor who occasionally books yogurt commercials and certainly not a lowly usher at one of Vancouver's smallest regional theaters. No, she is bound for greatness, and that's why the part of Maria in the theater's upcoming production of The Sound of Music is hers. Or it's going to be. Jessamyn may have been relegated to the position of childminder for the little brats playing the von Trapp children, but it's so obvious she's there for a different reason -- the director wants her close to the role so when Samantha, the lead, inevitably fails, Jessamyn will be there to take her place in the spotlight. This must be it. Because if it isn't, well, then every skipped meal, every brutal rehearsal, every inch won against a man attempting to drag her down will have all been for nothing. Sharp, relentless, and darkly funny, She's a Lamb! is a cutting satire about the grotesque pall patriarchy casts over one woman's delusional quest to achieve her dreams and the depths she will sink to for a chance at the life she's convinced she deserves."--
Subjects: Black humor.; Psychological fiction.; Satirical fiction.; Novels.; Acting in musical theater; Actresses; Narcissism; Patriarchy; Women in musical theater;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Huge : a novel / by Butt, Brent,1966-author.;
"It's 1994, and three stand-up comedians have embarked on a tour of smaller communities across a remote stretch of rural countryside. Dale is a forty-something comic from Chicago who's on the back half of a mediocre career and thinking about quitting the business. Rynn is a twenty-something fast-rising star from Dublin with a big Hollywood break on her horizon. The third performer is a local act, a late addition to the bill who has agreed to open the shows and do all the driving. He goes by Hobie Huge, and he is, indeed, enormous. His comedic ability, however, is not. He's weirdly eager, annoyingly enthusiastic and brutally unfunny. All of which wouldn't be so bad ... if the brutality ended there. By the time Dale and Rynn realize Hobie's true talents and disturbing motivation, it may be too late--and their tour becomes less about getting laughs and more about getting off the road alive."--Back cover.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Comedians; Cruelty; Interpersonal relations; Tours;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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My murder / by Williams, Katie,1978-author.;
"A tautly paced novel in which a young mother who was cloned and brought back to life following her own murder comes to suspect that there is more to the story of her life and death than anyone is telling her. What if the murder you had to solve was your own? Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She's also the clone of the original Louise who, along with four other victims of a local serial killer, has been brought back to life by a government project to return the women to their grieving families. But as the new Lou re-adapts to her old life, questions remain about what exactly preceded her death, and how much to trust those around her. Understanding the truth may determine what comes next for Lou. Darkly comic and lightly speculative, My Murder offers an exploration of ideas about personal identity, domestic life, and reinvention, within a thrilling, surprising, and entertaining mystery"--
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Human cloning; Mothers; Murder; Serial murderers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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888 love and the divine burden of numbers / by Chang, Abraham,author.;
"Young is an American Born Chinese (ABC) growing up in Queens and has been told by his beloved Su Su (uncle) that one has only seven great loves in a lifetime. Young's childhood is marked by an obsessive love of comics, music, and movies ... as well as a parade of school-yard crushes, tantalizing pen-pal exchanges, and a lasting infatuation with Winona Ryder. But, at the end of 1995, when Young is a sophomore at NYU, he meets Erena-brilliant, charismatic, quick-witted, and crassly funny. They fall in love and, for Young, it feels so real that he's thrilled and terrified that it could be his lasting love number seven. Interspersed through Young and Erena's story are flashbacks to various points in the 80s and early 90s where we meet Young's great loves one through five. Written with the pop culture fluency of High Fidelity, the tender family drama of Everything Everywhere All at Once, the literary scope of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and with a bombastically sweet style all his own, Abraham Chang's 888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers is a monumental debut that will be read for years to come"--
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Chinese Americans; Love; Man-woman relationships; Nineteen nineties;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Nobody asked for this : a novel / by Toews, Georgia,author.;
"Virginia is twenty-two and a stand-up comedian. In between working the rounds of Toronto's small comedy club circuit and auditioning for paper towel commercials, she is tiptoeing around her depressed roommate and childhood friend, Haley, and having biweekly dinners with her bereaved stepdad, Dale, while trying to manage her own grief at the loss of her mother. She is also secretly working to get the green card that will be her ticket to L.A. and, she hopes, a glittering comedy career. But when Dale tells her that he wants to sell their family home, and when a date with a fellow comic turns into a shattering encounter, she is forced to confront the limits of comedy--and friendship. Not every experience can be neatly packaged into a "bit," and not every friendship is meant to last. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Nobody Asked for This reaches into the messy depths of love, friendship, grief and trauma and, like all the best jokes, is utterly unpredictable."--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Comedians; Friendship; Grief; Interpersonal relations; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The marionette : a novel / by Fallis, Terry,author.;
"Bestselling and beloved author Terry Fallis' tenth novel, The Marionette introduces readers to a new hero, James Norval, a world-famous thriller writer whose life takes an unexpected turn from the pages of his novels into the perilous world of espionage. James Norval has built a successful career crafting the thrilling adventures of his fictional hero, Hunter Chase, a character admired by readers and movie-goers worldwide. But despite his fame and fortune, Norval has always harboured a secret dream of living the life he writes about--a life as a field operative for CSIS, Canada's Security Intelligence Service. That dream becomes a reality when a series of unfortunate events lands Norval in a foreign prison. Rescued by CSIS, he is given an unexpected opportunity: to use his unique position as the favourite writer of the Malian president to assist in a delicate and dangerous mission. With the help of agent Lauren Cooper, Norval must infiltrate the Malian government and execute a daring plan to exfiltrate fifteen Canadian nationals before the corrupt powers that control the country uncover their true intentions. The Marionette is a comic thriller by a master of the craft. Full of Terry Fallis' signature wit and combined with a pulse-pounding high-stakes plot, this is a must-read for fans of espionage and intrigue."--
Subjects: Humorous fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Authors; Intelligence officers; Life change events;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Snake oil : a novel / by Dimberg, Kelsey Rae,author.;
Rhoda West is Silicon Valley's favorite female CEO: the luminously charismatic founder of the fast-growing startup Radical, a wellness company whose core mission is the betterment of women's lives. Rhoda's Instagram page offers intimate glimpses of her personal life alongside promotions for the cult-status products developed in the Well, Radical's secretive lab. Dani Lang is a "quester," as Rhoda calls her most avid followers. Dani found Radical at a low point in her life, and took an entry level job just to get in the door. When she volunteers to test a controversial new supplement, Dani wins an opportunity to rise in the company, even to work with Rhoda herself. Cecelia Cole is a "quasher." She grinds away at the Customer Worship queue, resenting the entitled customers, the woo-woo Radical jargon, and Rhoda's smiling hypocrisy. Cecelia, who suffers from a miserable chronic illness, knows that the remedies Rhoda sells can't cure real sickness. Just as Rhoda announces another fundraising round that could turn Radical into a billion-dollar unicorn, an anonymous Twitter account begins spilling snarky gossip from inside the startup. Is Rhoda really the nurturing leader she presents to the world, or a fraud? Or is this just another case of a woman in business being punished for her strength and audacity? Tensions rise and loyalties clash, then tragedy strikes during a company party. In the aftermath of what looks more and more like a crime, even the most faithful questers begin to wonder to what lengths Rhoda will go to protect her company. Part page-turning suspense, part darkly comic skewering of startup culture, Snake Oil is a gripping exploration of ambition and authenticity, shining a revealing light on the wellness world.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Murder; Quacks and quackery; Secrecy; Women chief executive officers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Land of no regrets : a novel / by Muktadir, Sadi,author.;
"Nabil, freshly plucked from middle school in Scarborough, is struggling to find his place at Al Haque Islamic Academy. Between the intense religious studies and new rules, he still longs for his past life of baseball, video games, comic books and girls. When he stumbles upon two students, Maaz and Nawaaz, doing something they shouldn't be doing, he quickly falls into their company and joins them in their misdeeds. Together with the new transfer student and unruly class clown, Farid, the group executes their rebellion. One day, while exploring the Madrasa at night, the boys discover the diary of a student who lived on the grounds when it was an all-girls Catholic school. Cynthia Lewis' words connect them to a bygone era and inspires them to hatch a plot to escape. They form a pact, and together, their ultimate decision sends them hurtling down a path that changes their lives forever. Strikingly original, and as poignant as it is humorous, Land of No Regrets is a vibrant, compassionate exploration of faith, friendship, identity, and the true value of freedom."--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Novels.; Faith; Friendship; Identity (Psychology); Islamic religious education; Madrasahs; Schools;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The three of us : a novel / by Agbaje-Williams, Ore,author.;
"What if your two favorite people hated each other with a passion? The wife has it all. A big house in a nice neighborhood, a ride-or-die snarky best friend, Temi, with whom to laugh about facile men, and a devoted husband who loves her above all else--even his distate for Temi. On a seemingly normal day, Temi comes over to spend a lazy afternoon with the wife: drinking wine, eating snacks, and laughing caustically about the husband's shortcomings. But when the husband comes home and a series of confessions are made, the wife's two confidantes are suddenly forced to jockey for their positions, throwing everyone's integrity into question--and their long-drawn-out territorial dance, carefully constructed over years, into utter chaos. Told in three taut, mesmerizing parts--the wife, the husband, the best friend--over the course of one day, The Three of Us is a subversely comical, wildly astute, and painfully compulsive triptych of domestic life that explores cultural truths, what it means to defy them, and the fine line between compromise and betrayal when it comes to ourselves and the people we're meant to love"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Female friendship; Married people;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Pluck : a memoir of a Newfoundland childhood and the raucous, terrible, amazing journey to becoming a novelist / by Morrissey, Donna,1956-author.;
"A deeply personal account of love's restorative ability as it leads renowned novelist Donna Morrissey through mental illness, family death, and despair to becoming a writer--told with charm and inimitable humour. When Donna Morrissey left the only home she had ever known, an isolated Newfoundland settlement, at age 16, she was ready for adventure. She had grown up without television or telephones but had absorbed the tragic stories and comic yarns of her close-knit family and community. The death of her infant brother marked the family, and years later, Morrissey suffers devastating guilt about the accidental death of her teenage brother, whom she'd enticed to join her in the oilfields. Her misery was compounded by her own misdiagnosis of a terminal illness, all of which contributed to crippling anxiety and an actual diagnosis of PTSD. Many of those events and themes would eventually be transformed and recast as fictional gold in Morrissey's novels. In another writer's hands, Morrissey's account of her personal story could easily be a tragedy. Instead, she combines darkness and light, levity and sadness into her tale, as her indomitable spirit and humour sustain her. Morrissey's path takes her from the drudgery of being a grocery clerk (who occasionally enlivens her shift with recreational drugs) to western oilfields, to marriage and divorce and working in a fish-processing plant to support herself and her two young children. Throughout her struggles, she nourishes a love of learning and language. Morrissey layers her account of her life with stories of those who came before her, a breed rarely seen in the modern world. It centers around iron-willed women: mothers and daughters, wives, sisters, teachers and mentors who find the support, the wind for their wings, outside the bounds given to them by nature. And it is a mysterious older woman she meets in Halifax who eventually unleashes the writer that Morrissey is destined to become. An inspiring and insightful memoir, Pluck illustrates that even when you find yourself unravelling, you can find a way to spin the yarns that will save you--and delight readers everywhere."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Morrissey, Donna, 1956-; Anxiety disorders; Brothers; Novelists, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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