Books

Mr. Mean lives up to his name. He lived in what could've been a nice house, but wasn't. It had no pictures, curtains, carpets nor fires. He made his furniture out of old orange boxes and complained about the price of nails. He has a tiny appetite so he only eats very small meals, usually only one meal a day which isn't much at all. He never spends a penny of his money so he keeps his money in a box in a cupboard in his kitchen. He is so mean he gave his brother a piece of coal last Christmas.

Mr. Nonsense lives in Nonsenseland, in a house on top of a tree. When asked why he sleeps in a rowing boat, the answer is "I tried sleeping in a motorboat and it was somewhat uncomfortable." When asked why he eats porridge on toast, the answer is, "I tried porridge sandwiches and I didn't like them." Mr. Nonsense is best friends with Mr. Silly, and when it snows yellow snow, they go for a toboggan in Mr. Nonsense's rowing boat bed and somehow manage to build square snowballs.

That's the deliciously racy topic that Jaine Bright and her three girlfriends are pondering one night at their favorite after-hours hot spot: Mr. Perfect. Would he be tall, dark, and handsome? Caring and warmhearted -- or will just muscular do? As their conversation heats up, they concoct a tongue-in-cheek checklist that becomes an overnight sensation, spreading like wildfire at work and sizzling along e-mail lines. But what began as a joke among friends turns deadly serious when one of the…