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The Wilderness
by Angela Flournoy
An era-defining novel about five Black women over the course of their twenty-year friendship.
Desiree, Danielle, January, Monique, and Nakia are in their early twenties and at the beginning: Of their careers, of marriage, of motherhood, and of big-city lives in New York and Los Angeles. Together, they are finding their way through the wilderness, that period of life when the reality of contemporary adulthood—overwhelming, mysterious, and full of freedom and consequences—swoops in and stays. As these friends move from the late 2000’s into the late 2020’s, from young adults to grown women, they must figure out what they mean to one another—amid political upheaval, economic and environmental instability, and the increasing volatility of modern American life.
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One of Us
by Dan Chaon
A playfully macabre and utterly thrilling tale about orphaned twins on the run from their uncle who find refuge in a bizarre traveling carnival.
It’s 1915 and the world is transforming, but for thirteen-year-old Bolt and Eleanor—twins so close they can literally read each other’s minds—life is falling apart. When their mother dies, they are forced to leave home under the care of a vicious con man who claims to be their long-lost uncle Charlie. During a late-night poker game, when one of his rages ends in murder, they decide to flee. Salvation arrives in the form of Mr. Jengling, founder of the Emporium of Wonders and father to its many members. He adopts Bolt and Eleanor, who travel by train across the vast, sometimes brutal American frontier with their new family. But as Bolt falls in deeper with their new clan, he finds Eleanor pulling further away from him. And when Uncle Charlie picks up their trail, the twins find themselves facing a peril as strange as it is terrifying.
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Hot Wax
by M. L. Rio
A vivid and immersive tale of one woman’s reckless mission to make sense of the events that shattered her childhood.
Summer, 1989: ten-year-old Suzanne is drawn like a magnet to her father’s forbidden world of electric guitars and tricked-out cars. When her mother remarries, she jumps at the chance to tag along on the concert tour with the band Gil and the Kills. But fame has sharper fangs than anybody realized, and as the band blazes up the charts, internal power struggles set Gil and his group on a collision course destined for a bloody reckoning. The only witness to a desperate act of violence, Suzanne spends the next twenty-nine years trying to disappear. She trades the music and mayhem of her youth for the quiet of the suburbs–until her father’s sudden death resurrects the troubled past she tried so hard to bury.
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Buckeye
by Patrick Ryan
This captivating epic weaves the intimate lives of two Midwestern families across generations, from World War II to the late twentieth century.
In the small Ohio town of Bonhomie, a stolen moment of passion–sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe–binds Cal Jenkins and Margaret Salt together. Cal is wounded not by war, but by his inability to serve in it; Margaret is a woman escaping her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, is a seer who can conjure the dead, and Margaret’s husband Felix is serving on a Navy cargo ship. As the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie, but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Twenty-five years later, as another war convulses America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter set in motion a series of events that will upend the next generation of both families.
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Crooks: A Family Story
by Lou Berney
An electrifying new novel that follows a uniquely American crime family on an unforgettable journey across four decades.
For Buddy, a low-level mob wise guy, and Lillian, a charming pickpocket, the criminal underworld is the only life they’ve ever known. When they’re forced to flee the glittering Babylon of Las Vegas, they end up opening a club in Oklahoma City—a town that quickly feels like a gold mine of fresh marks and easy new money. Along for the ride are their five children, all of them raised into the family business of crime–until the day comes when they each must make their own way in the world, even if they can never completely escape the family’s long, dark shadow. Spanning forty years, each Mercurio lives with the weight of a dark legacy that ultimately threatens to destroy the whole family.
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Wild Reverence
by Rebecca Ross
Set in the world of the gods in Divine Rivals, bestselling author Rebecca Ross delivers a sweeping novel filled with tension, romance, and dark secrets.
Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters, there is a mortal boy named Vincent who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world. As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams.
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10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World: How Parents Can Stop Smartphones, Social Media, and Gaming from Taking Over Their Children's Lives
by Jean M. Twenge
Jean Twenge, PhD, award-winning professor of psychology, returns with a concrete and accessible guide to raising resilient and happy children in a time of overwhelming technological intrusion.
Parenting today often feels like an uphill battle, with technology invading every corner of our kids’ lives. From the rise of social media addiction to the growing mental health crisis among children and teens, parents are grappling with how they can create a healthy, balanced relationship with technology for their kids. Drawing on her decades as a psychologist and her personal experience as the mother of three teenagers, Twenge offers ten actionable rules for raising independent and well-rounded children. Short, empowering, and timely, this book equips parents with the tools to combat not just immediate harms such as online bullying but also to nurture essential life skills.
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This Is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web
by Tim Berners-Lee
The inventor of the World Wide Web explores his vision’s promise—and how it can be redeemed for the future.
Perhaps the most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of technologist. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, he famously distributed his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread adoption changed everything—transforming humanity into the first digital species.In this intimate memoir, Berners-Lee tells the story of his iconic invention, exploring how it launched a new era of creativity and collaboration while unleashing powerful forces that imperil truth and privacy and polarize public debate. Peppered with rich anecdotes and amusing reflections, This Is for Everyone is a gripping, in-the-room account of the rise of the digital world.
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Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language
by Adam Aleksic
From linguist Adam Aleksic comes a captivating exploration of how internet algorithms are transforming language and communication in unprecedented ways.
From “brainrot” memes and incel slang to the trend of adding “-core” to different influencer aesthetics, the internet has ushered in an unprecedented linguistic upheaval. We’re entering an entirely new era of etymology, heralded by the invisible forces driving social media algorithms. As a professional linguist, Adam Aleksic understands the gravity of language and the way we use it: he knows the ways it has changed, how it reflects society, and how we carry centuries of human history on our tongues. As a social media influencer, Aleksic is also intimately familiar with the internet’s reach and how social media impacts the way we engage with one another. New slang emerges and goes viral overnight. Accents are shaped or erased on YouTube. Grammatical rules, loopholes, and patterns surface and transform language as we know it. Algospeak is an energetic, astonishing journey into language, the internet, and what this intersection means for all of us.
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Beast in the Machine: How Robotics and AI Will Transform Warfare and the Future of Human Conflict
by G. M. Dougherty
A defense technology expert and military leader reveals the future of robotic warfare and illuminates the path to navigate the approaching storm of global change.
The world is plunging into a new era of warfare dominated by robotic systems and artificial intelligence. As drones and other new weapons fill the headlines, militaries, governments, and concerned citizens are asking urgent questions about this emerging revolution. Author George M. Dougherty provides much-needed answers from a unique perspective as a senior military leader of US Air Force science and technology. With vivid examples and easy-to-understand explanations of emerging technologies, Dougherty reveals the trends driving change and helps us to anticipate and prepare for what comes next. Informed by insider expertise as well as a humane moral perspective, Dougherty tackles this controversial subject head-on. The US and other global democracies must navigate this disruptive era wisely, or risk becoming its victims.
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Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over Tiktok
by Emily Baker-white
A riveting account of the rise of the most effective attention-algorithm ever invented, and the superpower struggle to control it.
TikTok boasts 1.6 billion active users worldwide and wields unprecedented power over culture, politics, and commerce—making its addictive algorithm the greatest prize in America’s technological cold war with China. In Every Screen on the Planet, Harvard-trained lawyer and investigative journalist Emily Baker-White charts TikTok’s rise from the Chinese founders’ ambitions to its emergence as the world’s most valuable startup—and a potential surveillance and propaganda tool for strongmen. Touching on politics, finance, business, and technology, she explains how the war for TikTok will either create a blueprint for autocrats to warp our information landscape or close the open internet as we know it.
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Mastering Video Content Creation: A Practical Guide to Social Media Growth With Expertly Shot and Edited Posts
by Justin Espejo
Make your videos stand out online, increase engagement, and expand your audience with this guide to leveling up your content creation.
Award-winning vlogger Justin Espejo, who grew his following from 3K to 300K in 30 days, breaks down his secrets to success in simple lessons anyone can implement. You’ll learn to film quality videos and cut together cinematic edits on any software, making it easy and fun to create scroll-stopping content. Edit clips with a professional finish, using hacks like the match cut and whip pans. Polish your content with color correction, sound design, and other postproduction features. Strike the perfect balance between the algorithm and authenticity. With this incredible resource at your side, you’ll have everything you need to launch a successful platform that goes viral and stays that way.
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