NEED a page-turner for that week at the beach or a book to distract you while your kids climb the walls during summer vacation?

Look no further. Wry Toast has a stack of reading material that's free to a good home.

If you're interested in one of these titles, email me at
Email: egross@freelancestar.com.

--Edie Gross

'IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA ' BY MEGHAN ROWLAND AND CHRIS TURNER-NEAL

Billed as a "cautionary guide to avoiding 101 of life's potentially most regrettable decisions," this book is a humorous collection of ideas that seemed relatively harmless at first, but inevitably, often through no fault of your own, end in unmitigated disaster.

Among them: Using a neti pot to clear up your sinuses, attending a Presidents Day sale and drafting a fantasy football team. What could go wrong? According to this book, everything.

'WE LEARN NOTHING' BY TIM KREIDER

Kreider's collection of essays and cartoons focuses on life's absurdities.

I took a quick look at a few of the essays and they're equal parts angry, sad and funny. So if you're equal parts angry, sad and funny, this should be right up your alley.

Also, filmmaker Judd Apatow likes it. At least, he says he does on the book jacket.

'HOW TO LIVE WITH A MAN AND LOVE IT!' BY JENNIFER WORICK & 'STUFF EVERY HUSBAND SHOULD KNOW' BY ERIC SAN JUAN

This one's a two-fer with "his" and "hers" volumes.

Worick's book, filled with campy '50s-era photos and equally campy '50s-era advice is a tongue-in-cheek guide to "catching and keeping your man." At least I hope it's tongue-in-cheek. I refuse to believe that "offering your man-boy special prizes, incentives or even an allowance each week for jobs well done" is valid marital advice.

San Juan's manual, with tips on everything from how to hire a handyman to how to live with a pregnant woman, is slightly more practical and considerably more humorous. It even includes step-by-step instructions for how to fold shirts. That's hot.

'GETTING MARRIED AND OTHER MISTAKES' BY BARBARA SLATE

If the two books mentioned above didn't work for you, this one might be more appropriate.