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Eclectic Casts in Fiction
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This Is Where the Serpent Lives
by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Moving from Pakistan’s sophisticated cities to its most rural farmlands, this book captures the proximity of extreme wealth to poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station.
The destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters are linked through violence and love, resilience, and tragedy. From Afra, who rose from abject poverty to the role of trusted servant to an affluent gangster; to Saqib, an errand boy who is eventually trusted to lead his boss’s new farming venture. Saqib’s boss, the wealthy landowner Hisham, reminisces about meeting his wife while she was dating his brother. Gazala, a young teacher, falls for Saqib and his bold promises for their future before learning about his plans to skim money from the farm’s profits. In matters of both business and the heart, Mueenuddin’s characters struggle to choose between the paths that are moral and the paths that will allow them to survive.
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The Charmed Library
by Jennifer Moorman
The Charmed Library invites you into a world where words come alive, secrets are steeped in magic, and lives are transformed one story at a time.
As an assistant librarian, Stella Parker is surrounded by her favorite words. But Stella has a gift: she can see words not just on the page, but all around her--words that shimmer and flit like living things, carrying emotions and whispers of untold stories. For years, she's kept this gift hidden, scribbling fragments into notebooks, unsure of their purpose. However, Stella's world is upended when she tosses a journal filled with love notes to her ex into the library's furnace. This impulsive act awakens a new kind of magic--words that surge through her with undeniable urgency and purpose. Suddenly, Stella begins to wonder: Could her gift help guide others to the stories they need most? Could these words hold the power to change lives--including her own?
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The Age of Calamities: Stories
by Senaa Ahmad
A genre-defying, mind-bending collection of absurdist, funny, and speculative short stories.
In this bold and enchanting collection, Senaa Ahmad takes license with history and its players, sending the reader on a thrilling ride. In “Let’s Play Dead,” Henry VIII wants Anne Boleyn gone, but there’s a tiny problem―she keeps coming back to life no matter what he does. “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” hurls readers back to 1945, where they assume the role of a technician for the Manhattan Project, surrounded by labyrinthine paths and harrowing outcomes. And “Inside the House of the Historian” invites us to a dinner party turned murder mystery. These stories and others delve into the surreal nature of today through the lens of yesterday.
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It Should Have Been You
by Andrea Mara
Your neighbors have secrets. How far would they go to keep them?
You press send and your message disappears. Full of secrets about your neighbors, it’s meant for your sister. But it doesn’t reach her – it goes to the entire local community WhatsApp group instead. As rumor spreads like wildfire through the picture-perfect neighborhood, you convince yourself that people will move on, that this will quickly be forgotten. But then you receive the first death threat.
The next day, a woman is murdered. And what’s even more chilling is that she had the same address as you –26 Oakpark– but in a different part of town. Did the killer get the wrong house?
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The Last of Earth
by Deepa Anappara
A stunning historical novel set in nineteenth-century Tibet that follows two outsiders as they venture into a forbidden kingdom.
1869. Tibet is closed to Europeans. In response, Britain begins training Indians—permitted to cross borders that white men may not—to undertake illicit, dangerous surveying expeditions into Tibet. Balram is one such surveyor-spy, an Indian schoolteacher who, for several years, has worked for the British, often alongside his dearest friend, Gyan. But Gyan went missing on his last expedition and is rumored to be imprisoned within Tibet. Desperate to rescue his friend, Balram agrees to guide an English captain on a foolhardy mission. They cross paths with that of another Westerner in disguise, fifty-year-old Katherine. Denied a fellowship in the all-male Royal Geographical Society in London, she intends to be the first European woman to reach Lhasa. As Balram and Katherine make their way into Tibet, they will face storms and bandits, snow leopards and soldiers, fevers and frostbite.
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A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang
by Lee Onhwa
A sweetly magical and uplifting novel about a young woman who inherits an enchanted bakery that spirits visit on their last stop before the afterlife.
Twenty-seven-year-old Yeon-hwa has inherited a neighborhood bakery from her grandmother. Curiously, her grandmother’s will spells out two conditions: Yeon-hwa must keep the shop going for at least another month and only open it to customers from 10 PM until midnight. Yeon-hwa is hesitant at first, but she agrees to the terms. Yeon-hwa soon learns that the Hwawoldang—the name means “flower moon temple”—is not an ordinary dessert shop. The customers who arrive late at night are spirits, there to attend to unfinished business before being reincarnated. The sweets they crave hold some deep significance in their earthly lives, and they expect Yeon-hwa to meet their requests, as her grandmother did. Aided by the shop’s resident black cat, Yeon-hwa learns how to find closure for her customers—and begins to unravel her own family’s secrets as well.
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Health & Self-Help in Nonfiction
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Awakening: The Path to Freedom and Enlightenment
by Deepak Chopra
Bestselling author Deepak Chopra offers an accessible, powerful guide to unlock the power of awakened consciousness.
In this groundbreaking guide to spiritual and personal wellness, Deepak Chopra unveils profound discoveries on how we can connect with our true self and construct a life free from fear. Building on decades of spiritual teachings, Chopra illustrates how to move from a state of simply surviving to leading an awakened life that unlocks the dormant potential within each of us. He also offers a Wellbeing Index by which we can track our progress on this journey towards awakening, helping increase intuition, and access to insight. Ultimately, through the practices in Awakening, Chopra aims to propel all humanity toward an epoch of unprecedented transformation.
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My Parents Are Dead: What Now?: A Panic-Free Guide to the Practicalities of Death
by Becky Robison
An approachable, expert-fueled guide to dealing with the legal, financial, and logistical hurdles of parent death—without losing your sense of humor.
Whether you’ve recently lost a parent or are just trying to plan for the toughest day of your life so far, you’re probably experiencing a lot of dizzying emotions. Unfortunately, our legal and financial systems don’t care about your feelings. Whether you’re holding it together or falling apart, you are going to need to enter an overwhelming labyrinth of paperwork and bureaucracy. After losing both parents, Becky Robison devoted herself to making death and post-death logistics easier on others—reading up on estate law, becoming a trained death doula, and starting her website DeadParentsWhatNow.com. Nothing about this is easy. The good news is, you have someone on your side.
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Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy
by Chris Duffy
From a comedian and host of a hit TED podcast, a hilarious and enlightening guide to laughing your way into a fuller life.
Ten years ago, when Chris Duffy was an exhausted fifth grade teacher, he taught the funniest person he's ever known: 11-year-old Gary C. Gary was the school newspaper's official food critic, blasting cafeteria pizza for looking like cardboard and alleging that the baked beans weren't "beany" enough. These days, Duffy is a comedian and the host of a podcast with millions of listeners, but he's never forgotten the joy of laughing with Gary during that bleak Boston winter. Gary taught him that a life without a sense of humor isn't much of a life at all. With curiosity and wit, Duffy takes us on a journey to learn how a good laugh can bring us closer to the good life. Using psychology and the wisdom of fellow comedians, Duffy reveals that a sense of humor can turn you into the kind of person others want to be around.
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But I'm Bored!: Discover the Power of Independent Play to Raise Confident, Resilient Kids
by Lizzie Assa
An inspiring, real-world guide to fostering independent play in children.
“But I’m bored.” Parents constantly hear these three dreaded words from their kids, and it’s no secret why—our kids don’t know how to play by themselves anymore and make their own fun. Busy schedules, on-demand screens, and safety concerns have transformed the landscape of play for children today, and parents have been unfairly expected to fill in the gap. Independent play is Lizzie Assa’s specialty, and she has become the go-to expert on the topic to the 200K parents who follow her on Instagram and the 20K newsletter subscribers. The key, she argues, is to prioritize independent, unstructured play. Through high-impact, low-effort strategies, parents learn how to create play pockets in their home, choose open-ended toys that spark imagination, set play boundaries (and stick to them), and enforce the wonders of quiet time
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Plant Powered Plus: Activate the Power of Your Gut to Tame Inflammation and Reclaim Your Health
by Will Bulsiewicz
A powerful program to fight inflammation and boost your immune system by healing your gut.
Dr. Will Bulsiewicz’s patients seek him out first and foremost because he’s a gastroenterologist. But more and more, he hears that in addition to their constipation or IBS, patients are also suffering from allergies, depression, thyroid problems, and more. What many don’t realize is that the gut is the gateway for both health and illness. So, if you have issues with your gut, chances are you may have issues with chronic illness. In Plant Powered Plus, Dr Bulsiewicz offers a powerful program for addressing inflammation due to an imbalance in the gut with a combination of plant-forward diets. This book is a solutions-based approach to reclaiming a healthful, protective immune system that defends us rather than attacks us.
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The Stoic Habit: How to Own Your Choices--Even When It's Difficult
by Bob Robinson
A practical pathway to developing the strength of character needed to handle any of life's challenges with wisdom and purpose.
This isn't another self-help book filled with quick fixes and empty promises. Instead, it's a practical framework for developing wisdom, mental strength, emotional intelligence, and unshakeable character through daily habits and proven practices. Find lasting calm and resilience through time-tested wisdom. Gain clarity and control over your emotions and responses to stress. Turn any obstacle into an opportunity for growth and learning. Through small, deliberate actions, you'll discover how to build the mental strength and character needed to handle anything life presents.
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