That Thing You Do A Novel

In That Thing You Do With Your Mouth, actress and voice-over artist Samantha Matthews offers—in the form of an extended monologue, prompted and arranged by New York Times bestselling author (and Matthews’s cousin once removed) David Shields—a vivid investigation of her startling sexual history. From her abuse at the hands of a family member to her present-day life in Barcelona, where she briefly moonlighted as a dubber of Italian pornography into English, Matthews reveals herself to be a darkly funny, deeply contemporary woman with a keen awareness of how her body has been routinely hijacked, and how she has been “formatted” by her early trauma. Her story is a study of her uneasy relationships with female desire, her tormentors, and her lovers—with whom she seeks out both the infliction and receipt of harm. This book is an attempt, sometimes self-thwarted, to break down barriers: sexual and emotional for Matthews, literary for Shields. For them, the only response to the unspeakable is to speak, to do that thing you do with your mouth, as directly and honestly as possible. Their provocative performance refuses neat resolution or emotional pornography; it will have readers, from literary critics to Jezebel commentators, raving, raging, celebrating, talking.

Welcome to the world of Whispering Bay romance, where hot heroes and smart heroines collide to find their happily-ever-afters! Allie Grant doesn't believe in second chances. She does, however, believe in the power of a permanent paycheck. So when a tipster reports that the soon-to-be demolished senior center in her hometown is haunted, Allie hightails it to Whispering Bay to get the scoop that could secure her dream job at Florida! magazine. What she finds, though, is far scarier than any ghost. Cue her ex-boyfriend, sexy construction foreman Tom Donalan.When Tom catches Allie poking around his construction site, he quickly realizes his former high school flame is just as feisty as ever. And, heaven help him, her irresistible, mile-high legs still take his breath away. But Tom isn't about to delay the building's demolition because of a silly ghost story.With neither of the stubborn exes backing down from their opposing positions, sparks fly. And, underneath the surface, the fire of their old attraction burns as hot as ever. When strange things start happening with increasing frequency around town, even a tough skeptic like Tom is tested. The question is, can Allie and Tom stop fighting long enough to get to the bottom of Whispering Bay's ghost problem-and the more important matter of mending their broken hearts?

Friends don’t let friends marry the wrong man. But where, oh where, is Mr. Right? In high school, Greta Steinburg and her two BFFs made a pact: none of them would get married unless they all approved the man in question. Since then, Greta has had her fair share of romantic ups and downs—but now, after her latest failed relationship, she is done. Greta announces that her days of dating are officially over, and she’s kissed the idea of happily-ever-after goodbye. . . Of course her friends will hear none of it. Instead, they insist that Greta go out with Jon, the hottest new DJ who just happened to be at her sister’s wedding. To get her friends off her back, Greta proposes that they pretend to date. The only problem is, for every fake date they have—from feeding angry rhinos to crashing a kiddie roller-skating party—Jon wants a real one. Each time they get together, their attraction grows. . .and soon there’s no turning back. Could it be that true love requires a leap of faith—and that Jon is the one Greta’s been waiting for all along? Kayti McGee's That Thing You Do is a charmingly sexy novel about finding love in the least likely place.

All her life, tomboy Molly Malone, has been one of the guys. When her brother decides to get married it means the gang will reunite, but more importantly it means Nate Jacobs will finally come home. With the impending nuptials looming fast and a family that can barely put together a grocery list, Molly will be tested like never before. To make matters worse, one look from Nate confirms he’s still her kryptonite and that her teenage crush is now something more. He's only ever thought of her as ‘one of the boys’ and to protect her heart, she’s determined to keep it that way. At thirty years of age, sports agent Nate Jacobs has got it all. Dream job, nice home, expensive car, and all the eye candy he can handle. But lately he’s realized something is missing. He just doesn’t know what it is. So, coming home to Crystal Lake for his buddy’s wedding is a welcome distraction. He can kick back, relax and get his head on straight. The only problem? Molly Malone. She’s still the pain in the ass she always was, so why is he thinking things he shouldn’t be? Like kissing her? Like what is underneath those baggy jeans? She’s also acting weird and that makes him wonder, what the hell is she hiding?

An antidote to our obsession with busyness, author Madeleine Dore explores the joys of releasing ourselves from the burden of productivity guilt. 'A radical masterpiece ... While many books insist on changing your life, this one invites you to deepen and expand it.' - Mari Andrew, author of My Inner Sky 'Deep, thoughtful, gently instructive, nourishing.' - Clare Bowditch, author of Your Own Kind Of Girl 'Read it and sigh with relief.' - Hugh Mackay, author of The Kindness Revolution Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. There's the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don't want to do, the thing we've been putting off (despite it being the most important thing). Even on days when we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious or disappointed. After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn't one-instead, we're being set up to fail. I Didn't Do the Thing Today is an inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal, to embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life. For anyone who has ever felt the pressure to do more, be more, achieve more, this antidote to our doing-obsession is the permission slip we all need to find our own way.

In That Thing You Do With Your Mouth, actress and voiceover artist Samantha Matthews offers—in the form of an extended monologue, prompted and arranged by New York Times–bestselling author (and Matthews’s cousin-by-marriage) David Shields—a vivid investigation of her startling sexual history. From her abuse at the hands of a family member to her present-day life in Barcelona, where she briefly moonlighted as a dubber of Italian pornography into English, Matthews reveals herself to be a darkly funny, deeply contemporary woman with a keen awareness of how her body has been routinely hijacked and how she has been “formatted” by her early trauma. Her story is a study of her own uneasy relationships with female desire, her tormentors, and her lovers--with whom she seeks out both the infliction and receipt of harm. This book is an attempt, sometimes self-thwarted, to break down barriers: sexual and emotional for Matthews, and literary for Shields. For Matthews and Shields, the only response to the unspeakable is to speak, to do that thing you do with your mouth, as directly and honestly as possible. Their provocative performance refuses neat resolution or emotional pornography; it will have readers, from literary critics to Jezebel commentators, raving, raging,

There are many true things about you—true things you use to build an identity. Parent. Introvert. Victim. Student. Extrovert. Entrepreneur. Single. These truths can identify you, your successes and failures, your expectations and disappointments, your secret dreams and hidden shames. But what if your true identity isn't found in any of these smaller truths, but in the grand truth of who God says you are? In other words, lots of things are true about you—but are they the truest? David Lomas invites you to discover and live out the truth of who God created you to be: you are loved, you are accepted, and you are made in God's image. It's time to move beyond the lesser voices and discover why everything changes when you become who you really are.

Blending confessional criticism and cultural autobiography, David Shields explores the power of literature to make life survivable, maybe even endurable. Evoking his deeply divided personality, his character flaws, his woes, his serious despair, he wants "literature to assuage human loneliness, but nothing can assuage human loneliness. Literature doesn't lie about this—which is what makes it essential." This is a captivating, thought-provoking, utterly original book about the essential acts of reading and writing.