Ten hilarious short stories for anyone who hates the holidays! The holiday season is one of laughter, fun, generosity, and time with friends and family . . . or so it’s supposed to be. But we all know that the holiday season can actually be absolutely depressing, no matter how hard we try. So from the wit of humorist Alex Bernstein comes this “miserable” collection of short stories based around Christmas and Hanukkah. Included are short stories, such as: “Blue Christmas” “K-Rope” “The Smoking Lounge” “Brownie Mix” “The #$@!# Bicycle Boys Save Christmas, Again!” And more! No matter what holiday you celebrate, this quirky yet bittersweet compilation will be sure to have you longing for mid-January. Whether you want these tales for yourself or for a loved one you really don’t care about, Miserable Holiday Stories will be sure to have any holiday “realist” prepared for the misery they feel during that blessed holiday season.

Ten hilarious short stories for anyone who hates the holidays! The holiday season is one of laughter, fun, generosity, and time with friends and family . . . or so it’s supposed to be. But we all know that the holiday season can actually be absolutely depressing, no matter how hard we try. So from the wit of humorist Alex Bernstein comes this “miserable” collection of short stories based around Christmas and Hanukkah. Included are short stories, such as: “Blue Christmas” “K-Rope” “The Smoking Lounge” “Brownie Mix” “The #$@!# Bicycle Boys Save Christmas, Again!” And more! No matter what holiday you celebrate, this quirky yet bittersweet compilation will be sure to have you longing for mid-January. Whether you want these tales for yourself or for a loved one you really don’t care about, Miserable Holiday Stories will be sure to have any holiday “realist” prepared for the misery they feel during that blessed holiday season.

Reproduction of the original.

Funny Short Stories for Heart-Breakers, the Broken-Hearted and the Completely Utterly Confused Whether you’re headed to that exciting first date where you’ll inevitably spill Cabernet all over yourself or you and your significant other are celebrating Date Night #4,081 with an extra pint of Halo Top, everyone can agree on one thing: Love Stinks. How to escape the endless cycle of melancholy? Well, you probably can’t. What you can do is take comfort in humorist Alex Bernstein’s new collection of stories about miserable mad crushes, amorous infidelities and bittersweet romances. Hear stories of horrific bridesmaids’ dresses, strange love at airports, awkward confessions, manic pixie dream girls, uncomfortable road trips, the bizarre state of future sex and, of course, true, everlasting love. So, curl up with your favorite valentine and enjoy such titles as: Circle in the Square The Qualified Apology The Eight Hour Kiss Sexpo 2041 Come Home Soon My Annoying Mother Commiserate lost love and painfully awkward first dates with Miserable Love Stories!

Fascinating patient stories and dynamic exercises help you connect to healing emotions, ease anxiety and depression, and discover your authentic self. Sara suffered a debilitating fear of asserting herself. Spencer experienced crippling social anxiety. Bonnie was shut down, disconnected from her feelings. These patients all came to psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel seeking treatment for depression, but in fact none of them were chemically depressed. Rather, Jacobs Hendel found that they’d all experienced traumas in their youth that caused them to put up emotional defenses that masqueraded as symptoms of depression. Jacobs Hendel led these patients and others toward lives newly capable of joy and fulfillment through an empathic and effective therapeutic approach that draws on the latest science about the healing power of our emotions. Whereas conventional therapy encourages patients to talk through past events that may trigger anxiety and depression, accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), the method practiced by Jacobs Hendel and pioneered by Diana Fosha, PhD, teaches us to identify the defenses and inhibitory emotions (shame, guilt, and anxiety) that block core emotions (anger, sadness, fear, disgust, joy, excitement, and sexual excitement). Fully experiencing core emotions allows us to enter an openhearted state where we are calm, curious, connected, compassionate, confident, courageous, and clear. In It’s Not Always Depression, Jacobs Hendel shares a unique and pragmatic tool called the Change Triangle—a guide to carry you from a place of disconnection back to your true self. In these pages, she teaches lay readers and helping professionals alike • why all emotions—even the most painful—have value. • how to identify emotions and the defenses we put up against them. • how to get to the root of anxiety—the most common mental illness of our time. • how to have compassion for the child you were and the adult you are. Jacobs Hendel provides navigational tools, body and thought exercises, candid personal anecdotes, and profound insights gleaned from her patients’ remarkable breakthroughs. She shows us how to work the Change Triangle in our everyday lives and chart a deeply personal, powerful, and hopeful course to psychological well-being and emotional engagement.

“Every Christmas, I still think about that guitar and the sacrifice it represented. And I hope I don’t forget to think about the greatest sacrifice of all, God’s gift of Himself.” Christmas has become synonymous with shopping, overindulging, competition, and stress. But according to Mike Huckabee (who was a pastor before getting into politics), that was never God’s intention. Going back to the Nativity, Christmas is supposed to be about simple things: faith, love, family, and hope. The hard part, in today’s crazy world, is remembering that those simple things are the most precious of all. Now Huckabee recounts twelve Christmas memories—often funny, sometimes deeply moving—that range from his childhood in Arkansas to his years as a young husband and father to his time as a governor and then a presidential candidate. These true stories will help you smile, take a deep breath, and maybe slow down your own holiday treadmill. If you’re looking for a little clarity, sanity, and inspiration at this insane time of year, you’re sure to enjoy A Simple Christmas.

A collection of holiday stories guaranteed to depress you even more than usual. (Not actually guaranteed.)