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The Adjunct by Maria AdelmannMeet Sam, an adjunct professor at a public university in Baltimore who takes a last-minute gig at the private liberal arts college down the road. Overworked and underpaid, her life is a blur of back-to-back classes, side hustles, and job applications as she attempts to claw her way toward a full-time position. But her already precarious existence is thrown into disarray when she runs into her former grad school adviser, Dr. Tom Sternberg, on campus. Tom and Sam have a complicated history, the lasting impact of which has haunted her academic career, and it’s the last thing she wants to think about as she navigates academic politics, institutional hurdles, and romantic entanglements with men and women that further complicate a sexuality not even she can define. Then she learns that Tom left his old job for undisclosed reasons—and his long-awaited second novel is about a professor’s reckoning with his checkered past. As whispers spread that Sam is the inspiration behind a central character, she fights to regain control of the story while questioning everything she thought she knew about her future—and herself.
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American Fantasy by Emma StraubWhen the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous 1990s boyband, and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them for thirty years. Newly divorced and with an empty nest, Annie is on board as a lark to appease her sister. Once a diehard fan of the band as a teen, her tastes have matured, and she feels out of place amid the sea of bedazzled, air-brushed t-shirts bearing the singers' faces. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing before her, something is unlocked. "Maybe that was nostalgia after all, the music a direct vein to her childhood, the least complicated part of her life. A short cut to happiness." Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the music of her youth, and the thousands of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she comes in contact with Keith, the band's slightly depressed, fifty-something lead singer - not just a celebrity but someone clearly in need of a friend - she feels like anything is possible. But a lot can go wrong on a ship ruled by hormones and hope, frustration and fantasy. Packed with wisdom, heart, and laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, youth, nostalgia, marriage, and middle age, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.
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Edmonia: A Novel of a Boundary-Breaking American Sculptress by Brianne BakerAt the age of 8, orphaned, precocious Wildfire seems fated to a life of toil selling her handmade crafts to Niagara Falls tourists alongside her Ojibwe aunts. But Wildfire’s older half-brother, Samuel, has been making other plans for his gifted sibling. Soon, she is set on a new trajectory—and with it comes her birth name, Edmonia, and a revelation about her true origins. Ensconced at the home of a trusted benefactor while Samuel makes his fortune in California, Edmonia flourishes—despite her abhorrence for etiquette lessons. Privately nurturing artistic ambitions, she advances through the abolitionist’s prep school and lands at Oberlin College. But at Oberlin lies a devastating trap: Edmonia is accused of poisoning, nearly fatally, two friends, with tainted wine. What ensues is a headline-making trial, a vicious attack by a white mob—and a bold journey that will lead Edmonia from a crucial introduction in Boston to a vibrant community of celebrated expatriate women artists in Rome, and encounters with such distinguished figures as President Ulysses S. Grant, Pope Pius IX, and Frederick Douglass. Still, Edmonia’s success is plagued by stinging critiques, potent racism, and haunting self-doubt. She must decide, too, whether to abandon her romantic entanglements, or devote herself to bringing to life her visions of beauty and justice—and hopefully, forge her place in a rapidly changing world.
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The Lack of Light: A Novel of Georgia by Nino HaratischwiliThey are four, as different as can be: the romantic Nene, the clever outsider Ira, the idealistic Dina, and the sensitive Keto. Inseparable since childhood, they grow up together in an old Tiblisi courtyard, in Georgia, at a time when the Soviet Union is crumbling and the future of their country is in question. Each in her own way experiences love, hope, and disappointment as local mob wars, romance, and civil war threaten to swallow up their worlds. Rising to challenges both personal and political --a first love that can only blossom in secret, violent street skirmishes, a ravaging drug epidemic--the four women's friendship seems indestructible, until an unforgivable act of betrayal and a tragic death shatter their bond. Decades later, the three survivors reunite at a major retrospective of their late friend's photography. The pictures on display tell the story not only of their country but also of their friendship, and, confronted by them, Nene, Ira, and Keto relive their staggering loss. Then, unexpectedly, something new is glimpsed, and forgiveness seems within reach.
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The Neverending Book by Naoki MatayoshiAn aged, near-blind, book-loving king sends two of his subjects out into the world to learn about unusual and magical books. One year later, they return to tell the whimsical, tender, and touching stories they’ve learned. Among them are: a book that runs faster than a cheetah, a pair of books that are identical twins, a diary shared by two children with painful secrets, a photo album left by a dying father for when his daughter gets married, and the most romantic story in the world . . .
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Redbelly Crossing by Candice FoxSince a violent confrontation tore apart a family five years ago, brothers and fellow cops Russell and Evan haven’t spoken a word to each other. When they’re both assigned to the murder of a young journalist in the tiny town of Redbelly Crossing, their paths are forced to cross again. This was supposed to be the week Russell could repair things with his teenage daughter, and instead, he has to drag her on a murderous ride into the middle of snake-infested nowhere. For Evan, this case is exactly what he needed: a high-profile investigation that will give him the chance to rebuild his career after a terrible mistake that nearly ended it. Then a dark discovery leaves Evan with only one way out: to bury the truth Russell is so determined to uncover.
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Small Boat by Vincent DelecroixIn November 2021, an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants from France to the UK capsized in the English Channel, causing the deaths of 27 people on board. Despite receiving numerous calls for help, the French authorities wrongly told the migrants they were in British waters and had to call the British authorities for help. By the time rescue vessels arrived on the scene, nearly three hours later, all but two of the migrants had died, the worst single loss of life ever to occur in the Channel. Vincent Delecroix’s acclaimed Small Boat is a fictional first-person account of the French navy officer who took the migrants’ calls—and her attempts to justify the indefensible. Accused of failing in her duty, she refuses to be held more responsible than others for this disaster, than the crises behind these tragedies. What unfolds is a gripping, thought-provoking examination of the darkest threat to our humanity.
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Sour Cherry by Natalia TheodoridouThe tale begins with Agnes. After losing her baby, Agnes is called to the great manor house to nurse the local lord's baby boy. But something is wrong with the child: his nails grow too fast, his skin smells of soil, and his eyes remind her of the dark forest. As he grows into a boy, then into man, a plague seems to follow him everywhere. Trees wither at the roots, fruits rot on their branches, and the town turns against him. The man takes a wife, who bears him a son. But tragedy strikes in cycles and his family is forced to consider their own malignancy-until wife after wife, death after death, plague after plague, every woman he touches becomes a ghost. The ghosts become a chorus, and they call urgently to our narrator as she tries to explain, in our very real world, exactly what has happened to her. The ghosts can all agree on one thing, an inescapable truth about this man, this powerful lord who has loved them and led them each to ruin: If you leave, you die. But if you die, you stay. Natalia Theodoridou's haunting and unforgettable debut novel, Sour Cherry, confronts age-old systems of gender and power, long-held excuses made for bad men, and the complicated reasons we stay captive to the monsters we love.
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Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke'My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.' Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie's followers - all 8 million of them - don't know won't hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They're sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn't simply living the good life, she's living the ideal - and just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn't hers. Her home, her husband, her children - they're all familiar, but something's off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she's expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible. A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.
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Wolvers by Taylor BrownBroke, dispossessed, and angry at the government after losing his family's New Mexico ranch, Trace Temple is looking for revenge. He's living out of his truck when a shadowy militia movement hires him to take down the legendary she-wolf of the Dark Canyon pack, One-Eleven. But One-Eleven is no ordinary wolf. Cunning, fiercely protective of her young, and seasoned in the ways of men, she leads her pack deep into the forbidding desert peaks and canyons, always one step ahead of pursuit. After a harrowing brush with death in the backcountry, Trace has a change of heart-only to be replaced by a professional hunter and assassin named Murdoch, who ruthlessly pursues his animal quarry while stalking Trace himself. To survive, Trace must join forces with a pair of unlikely allies: a survivalist animal protector who deploys feral senses and deep wilderness skills to protect the wolves, and Imogen Cruz, a local rancher, childhood friend, and unrequited love of Trace's early years. Together, they must fight to protect not only themselves and the Dark Canyon pack, but ultimately, the Gila Wilderness itself-the world's first designated wilderness area. In Wolvers, award-winning author Taylor Brown presents a suspenseful, thrillingly-written tale set at the burning edge of today's Southwest, where once-extinct wolves have returned, the land is tinder-dry and fragile, and desperate men seek to reclaim what they believe is theirs to rule.
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Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health by Roxanne KhamsiOur DNA is the indispensable set of instructions that guides our growth and vitality. The common misconception is that this molecular blueprint stays the same throughout our lives. In reality, the genetic makeup of our cells is continuously mutating, from the moment we are conceived until our last breath. The hidden changes that amass in our genomes can have a huge influence on our health. In this groundbreaking book, science writer Roxanne Khamsi describes our bodies as active landscapes of mutation. She reveals how the forces of Darwinian evolution operate within our own tissues. The effects can be devastating, such as when mutant blood cells outcompete their normal counterparts and increase the risk of heart attacks. But mutations can also make our bodies more resilient: Liver cells with genetic changes seem to cope better with excess calories. And immune cells with remixed DNA can make more effective antibodies against the microbes that threaten us. By letting go of the antiquated idea that every cell in a body has the same exact DNA, we can usher in a whole new era of medicine, including better vaccines and treatments that outsmart cancer. Beyond Inheritance will open your eyes to the immense genetic diversity that exists within you and its incredible potential to shape your well-being.
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Carthage: A New History by Eve MacDonaldFor 600 years, the ancient kingdom of Carthage dominated the western Mediterranean, rising from a small city on the coast of North Africa, founded in the ninth century BCE, to the region's largest, richest empire in the third. The home of Hannibal and Dido, of war elephants and enormous wealth, beauty, and technological sophistication, at its height Carthage commanded one of the ancient world's great navies and territory spanning the coast of northwestern Africa, modern-day Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, and beyond. It was inevitable that the Carthaginians came to vie with Rome for ultimate supremacy over the Mediterranean; the epic conflict stretched over more than one century, three wars, and 43 years of active fighting. When at last Carthage fell and the city was destroyed, the history of the realm and the Carthaginians was subsumed by their conquerors, and the story of the real Carthage was lost. In this groundbreaking new history-the first in more than a decade-rising-star ancient historian Eve MacDonald tells the essential story of the lost culture of Carthage and of its forgotten people, using brand-new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend. Taking readers on a journey from the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the coast of Africa, Carthage puts the city and the story of North Africa once again at the center of Mediterranean history. Reclaimed from the Romans, this is the Carthaginian version of the dramatic tale-revealing to us that, without Carthage, there would be no Rome.
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Finding My Way: A Memoir by Malala YousafzaiMalala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate and author of I Am Malala, shares the most private journey of her young life-a story of friendship and first love, of mental illness and self-discovery, and of trying to stay true to yourself when everyone wants to tell you who you are. In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was thrust onto the public stage at fifteen years old, after the Taliban's brutal attack on her life. Millions of people around the world were inspired by her courage and dedication to fighting for girls' education, lining up to meet her and filling stadiums to hear her speak. But away from the cameras and crowds, Malala was still a young woman struggling to find her place in the world. Now, in Finding My Way, Malala shares a breathtaking story of searching for identity, a candid exploration of coming of age in the spotlight ,and an intimate look at her life today. With an accessible voice that showcases the parts of her life rarely shown in public, Malala traces her path from high school loner to reckless college student to a young woman at peace with her remarkable past and hopeful for the future.
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Homesick Nomad: Settling Into an Untethered Life by Brianna MadiaBrianna Madia is beloved for her honest and enthralling accounts of life in the wilderness, finding her own way by rejecting society’s expectations, so what happens when she falls in love and has to reset the boundaries of her fierce independence? Homesick Nomad finds Bri splitting her time between her beloved wild desert in Utah and her boyfriend’s cozy suburban home in the Pacific Northwest, reckoning with: a new urge to soften into the embrace of the comforts of home defining her purpose and direction in life, including the big decision facing women, the question of motherhood, and the fear that committing to others means sacrificing independence. She’s not only defying convention to prove something to herself or to others—a simpler way of life out in the desert actually brings her peace, as she realizes when resisting “upgrades” to her trailer like running water. Balancing the liberation of the wilderness with the natural compromises of love, Bri navigates these familiar tensions by embracing her life in its wholeness, richer for both the stability of home and the profundity of wide open spaces.
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The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon by Peter Schweizer Our debates about immigration revolve around what happens with immigrants once they arrive. We need to start talking about who is sending them and why. For decades, establishment elites sold us the story of immigration as a compassionate renewal of the American Dream within a harmonious melting pot. But beneath that narrative lies a different reality: Mass migration has morphed into the most powerful political weapon ever aimed at the United States--one engineered by elites at home and aided by adversaries abroad. Now Peter Schweizer, the bestselling investigative journalist of our time, is blowing the lid off this whole series of schemes. Backed by years of forensic fieldwork and a trove of confidential documents and intercepted communications--linking political leaders, global NGOs, and even drug cartels--Schweizer detonates a political shock wave eclipsing his past bombshells, revelations that have sparked FBI probes and bipartisan reforms. Urgent, shocking, and overflowing with national security implications, The Invisible Coup makes America's greatest political threat visible for all to see--and solve.
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The Lost Cities of El Norte: Coronado's Quest, the Unconquered West, and the Birth of American Indian Resistance by Peter StarkIn 1540, the grandest exploring expedition ever assembled in the Americas paraded north from the ruins of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, a glittering column of 2,000 men heading into the unknown. Their destination was El Norte Misterioso—The Mysterious North, present-day United States—where fabulous cities of gold were rumored to shine beyond the horizon. Two years later, survivors began stumbling back, half dead. Lost to poisoned arrows, brutal deserts, starvation, cold, desertion, and countless other hardships, 90% of those who left would never return. Led by Francisco Coronado and backed by the full weight of the Spanish empire, the superpower of its day, they had expected to seize the land, steal its riches, and subjugate its peoples, just as they had so recently done to the mighty Aztec and Inca empires. But instead they encountered the unconquered American West, populated by complex societies of indigenous nations, masters of a vast and unforgiving landscape who fiercely resisted this European “incursion” onto their lands. Coronado and his people traversed 2,500 miles of unmapped terrain, ranging across the present-day U.S. states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and finally Kansas. They were the first Europeans to gaze upon the Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains; made first contact with the Puebloan peoples; crossed the Sonoran Desert and the Great Plains, where they encountered endless herds of bison and the nomadic tribes who followed them. After leading the largest exploring cavalcade ever assembled in the New World, wearing his gilded armor and bobbing plume, Coronado retreated back to Mexico City two years later accompanied only by a hundred or so hangers-on and carried on a litter, a broken man. America’s Southwest and Plains would remain unconquered for the next 300 years.
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Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz PellyAn unsparing investigation into Spotify's origins and influence on music, weaving unprecedented reporting with incisive cultural criticism, illuminating how streaming is reshaping music for listeners and artists alike. Drawing on over one hundred interviews with industry insiders, former Spotify employees, and musicians, Mood Machine takes us to the inner workings of today's highly consolidated record business, showing what has changed as music has become increasingly playlisted, personalized, and autoplayed. Building on her years of wide-ranging reporting on streaming, music journalist Liz Pelly details the consequences of the Spotify model by examining both sides of what the company calls its two-sided marketplace: the listeners who pay with their dollars and data, and the musicians who provide the material powering it all. The music business is notoriously opaque, but here Pelly lifts the veil on major stories like streaming services filling popular playlists with low-cost stock music and the rise of new payola-like practices. For all of the inequities exacerbated by streaming, Pelly also finds hope in chronicling the artist-led fight for better models, pointing toward what must be done collectively to revalue music and create sustainable systems. A timely exploration of a company that has become synonymous with music, Mood Machine will change the way you think about and listen to music.
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The Pursued: A True Story of Stalking, Memory, and Madness in America's Heartland by Corey MeadFrom 1977 to 1981, Ruth Finley, an ordinary wife and mother from Kansas, was tormented by an elusive maniac known as the Poet. The police, already on edge from BTK’s reign of terror, spent years searching for the stalker. Meanwhile, his cryptic letters in rhymed verse grew more disturbing and violent, spilling into deeds like stabbing and kidnapping. In this propulsive nonfiction account, as Ruth is surveilled from all sides, her nightmare takes a chilling turn: The stalker is no stranger at all. It’s someone the police have been close to for years, someone nearer to home than Ruth dared to admit. The revelation recasts what seemed like a cruel twist of fate as something far more disturbing.
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She's Under Here: A Memoir by Karen PalmerIn 1989, shortly after her second marriage, Palmer and her new husband quit their jobs without notice. They pulled her two young daughters out of school and buckled them into the rear seat of a used car purchased with cash. The trunk was packed with clothing and toys, pillows and blankets, four place settings, one pot, one pan, and a sack that contained every penny they had. Living with the fear of Palmer's dangerous ex-husband had become untenable: This was DIY witness protection. Stalking. Death threats. Then the kidnapping of her three-year-old daughter. With searing honesty and illuminating grace, Palmer explores the lines between desire and fear, victim and perpetrator, captivity and freedom, and the difficult choices women must make when none of the options are good. Haunted by her past, Palmer's future could not be guaranteed, and she details her escape with immersive intensity.
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Why We Drink Too Much: The Impact of Alcohol on Our Bodies and Culture by Charles KnowlesDrinking alcohol can be fun; its chemical effects on our brain are fundamentally pleasurable, and it can have social benefits. Alcohol may also help us forget the worries in our lives and temporarily overcome psychological barriers to human interaction. But there are downsides. We now know that alcohol, even in quite modest amounts, is not good for our long-term health. So why do we, as humans, consume alcohol at all, and why does our tendency to drink “too much” vary from person to person? Pairing scientific expertise with his personal experiences, Dr. Charles Knowles offers us an accessible window into what really happens in our brains and bodies when we drink, and why we do it. People vary greatly in the amount of reward they derive from alcohol, both physically and mentally. It’s in the genes that we were born with and the environment in which we grew up. For some of us, alcohol is greatly enhancing; for others, it is not much fun at all.
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