In Mindy's yoga-obsessed, thirty-is-the-new-wife neighborhood, every day is a battle between Dunkin' Donuts, her jaws-of-life jeans, and Beth Diamond, the self-absorbed sancti-mommy next door who looks sixteen from the back. So much for sharing the chores, the stores, and the occasional mischief to rival Wisteria Lane. It's another day, another dilemma until Beth's marriage becomes fodder on Facebook. Suddenly the Ivy League blonde needs to be “friended,” and Mindy is the last mom standing. Together they take on hormones and hunger, family feuds and fidelity, and a harrowing journey that spills the truth about an unplanned pregnancy and a seventy-year-old miracle that altered their fates forever. Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead is a hilarious, stirring romp over fences and defenses that begs the question, what did you do to deserve living next door to a crazy woman? Sometimes it's worth finding out.

With the unbeatable combination of both compelling fiction and great insight on the writer's journey, these award-winning and bestselling authors of the Girlfriends Book Club join together to bring you ONE MORE PAGE! Enjoy 17 excerpts of outstanding fiction by authors Christa Allan (All They Want for Christmas), Judith Arnold (Changes), Marilyn Brant (The Road to You), Sylvie Fox (The Good Enough Husband), Jenny Gardiner (Something in the Heir), Maria Geraci (That Thing You Do), Tonya Kappes (Checkered Crime), Leslie Langtry (Merit Badge Murder), Leslie Lehr (Wife Goes On), Maggie Marr (One Night for Love), Ellen Meister (Dorothy Parker Drank Here), Ellyn Oaksmith (50 Acts of Kindness), Jess Riley (Mandatory Release), Saralee Rosenberg (Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead), Sara Rosett (Elusive), Wendy Tokunaga (His Wife and Daughters), and L.J. Wilson (Ruby Ink). Also included in this book as a *special bonus* are 34 of the GBC's most popular blog posts on the subject of writing craft and the writing life, which you won't want to miss. So pick up this sampler, sit back, and get drawn into a wonderful world of unputdownable essays & stories!

The sixth edition of the highly successful The City Reader juxtaposes the very best classic and contemporary writings on the city to provide the comprehensive mapping of the terrain of Urban Studies and Planning old and new. The City Reader is the anchor volume in the Routledge Urban Reader Series and is now integrated with all ten other titles in the series. This edition has been extensively updated and expanded to reflect the latest thinking in each of the disciplinary areas included and in topical areas such as compact cities, urban history, place making, sustainable urban development, globalization, cities and climate change, the world city network, the impact of technology on cities, resilient cities, cities in Africa and the Middle East, and urban theory. The new edition places greater emphasis on cities in the developing world, globalization and the global city system of the future. The plate sections have been revised and updated. Sixty generous selections are included: forty-four from the fifth edition, and sixteen new selections, including three newly written exclusively for The City Reader. The sixth edition keeps classic writings by authors such as Ebenezer Howard, Ernest W. Burgess, LeCorbusier, Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs, and Louis Wirth, as well as the best contemporary writings of, among others, Peter Hall, Manuel Castells, David Harvey, Saskia Sassen, and Kenneth Jackson. In addition to newly commissioned selections by Yasser Elshestawy, Peter Taylor, and Lawrence Vale, new selections in the sixth edition include writings by Aristotle, Peter Calthorpe, Alberto Camarillo, Filip DeBoech, Edward Glaeser, David Owen, Henri Pirenne, The Project for Public Spaces, Jonas Rabinovich and Joseph Lietman, Doug Saunders, and Bish Sanyal. The anthology features general and section introductions as well as individual introductions to the selected articles introducing the authors, providing context, relating the selection to other selection, and providing a bibliography for further study. The sixth edition includes fifty plates in four plate sections, substantially revised from the fifth edition.

Crime scene cleaner and amateur medium Sadie Novak’s ability to talk to the dead is a sure-fire way to solve crimes, but sometimes Sadie thinks she’d prefer a channel into the minds of the living instead… While attempting to renew her relationship with on-again-off-again boyfriend Zack, Sadie discovers something that throws her romantic plans for a loop. With her love life in shambles, Sadie needs a distraction from all the drama. But sometimes, getting what you wish for isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For the first time, the noble detective who’s repeatedly saved Sadie’s backside finds himself on the wrong end of a homicide investigation. Sadie is determined to prove that Dean Petrovich was framed for his ex-wife’s murder. But when her investigative trip to the crime scene—a luxurious day spa—puts the killer hot on her trail, Sadie will have to put all of her problems aside to keep from dropping dead…

Was there more to medieval and Renaissance comedy than Chaucer and Shakespeare? Bien sûr. For a real taste of saucy early European humor, one must cross the Channel to France. There, in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the sophisticated met the scatological in popular performances presented by roving troupes in public squares that skewered sex, politics, and religion. For centuries, the scripts for these outrageous, anonymously written shows were available only in French editions gathered from scattered print and manuscript sources. Now prize-winning theater historian Jody Enders brings twelve of the funniest of these farces to contemporary English-speaking audiences in "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries. Enders's translation captures the full richness of the colorful characters, irreverent humor, and over-the-top plotlines, all in a refreshingly uncensored American vernacular. Those who have never heard the one about the Cobbler, the Monk, the Wife, and the Gatekeeper should prepare to be shocked and entertained. "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries is populated by hilarious characters high and low. For medievalists, theater practitioners, and classic comedy lovers alike, Enders provides a wealth of information about the plays and their history. Helpful details abound for each play about plot, character development, sets, staging, costumes, and props. This performance-friendly collection offers in-depth guidance to actors, directors, dramaturges, teachers, and their students. "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries puts fifteenth-century French farce in its rightful place alongside Chaucer, Shakespeare, commedia dell'arte, and Molière—not to mention Monty Python. Vive la Farce!

Winter Ashburn was once the toast of the ton, but now she skirts the margins of high society by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Her latest mark is none other than Rory Jameson, the rake who dared mistake her for a lady of the evening. Winter has stolen from her fair share of scandalously handsome men in the past . . . so why does her heart beat faster as she approaches his door? Rory Jameson is a rake, it's true. And he's caught many a thief while on secret missions for the Crown, but none has been this intriguing, this enticing. He will make Winter repay what she took so shamelessly . . . and melt her icy façade with the heat of his wicked touch. But her kiss sets his soul on fire—and now he will never be satisfied until he has made this alluring temptress his own.

A knight never reveals her secrets . . . When young Diana Winslow arrived at Castle Bannaster, her beauty and bravery disguised beneath a servant's dress, she had no idea her life would change forever. But now the cruel and lecherous Viscount Bannaster lies dead—and the novice Bladeswoman cannot escape her guilt. Nothing, not even fighting for the Crown, can erase her fears . . . especially when she comes face to face with Thomas, the viscount's startlingly seductive brother. Desperate to keep him from discovering the truth, Diana attempts a daring abduction. But all her skills as a knight are no defense against the powerful, irresistible nobleman who has just become her prisoner. A man with a mystery of his own. A man who eyes her so hungrily, so wantonly, that he could tempt her to give up all her secrets for one wicked night in his arms . . .

It is morning. The sun is shining through your bedroom window. You hear the alarm clock ringing, and the birds are chirping outside. You try with all of your strength to move, but you are held in place upon your bed by a force you cannot explain. A voice is speaking to you in a faintly audible sound. You are terrified by what is happening, but you cannot move. The voice becomes louder until it is the only sound you can hear in the room. And then, suddenly, everything is swept away into blackness, and you can no longer see anything. You hear the voice again saying, You have been assigned to take The Test.

When destiny called, she pressed 1 for more options With the name Robyn Fortune, shouldn't luck be a sure thing? Instead, black clouds love me. All I did was show up at a family bar mitzvah and cue lightning . . . this huge storm blew in. My mom announced she was leaving my dad and moving in with me. (Perfect! More competition on JDate.) I found out my boss planned to fire me. (Help wanted: Be the exclusive makeup artist for a two-faced network news star.) My ex's gambling debts left me near bankruptcy. (Please buy our wedding gifts on craigslist.) But, good news. I was offered money to date a man who had worse luck than me. (Dear Visa, I hope you appreciate that I said yes.) If not for my friend Rachel, I would have chickened out. Instead, I went to his apartment, spotted an old photo, and realized it was HIM! The boy I was mad for in college but never got to meet. And get this! Turns out our paths had been crossing since birth. Coincidence or karma? Our finagling families wouldn't talk . . . until the day destiny sent me on a wild ride that became my long lost spiritual journey. Ladies, take my advice. When fate knocks, answer the damn door!