If you're not having fun, you're not fully living. Catherine Price, the author of How to Break Up with Your Phone, makes the case that fun is critical to our well-being and shows us how to have more of it.

Journalist and screen/life balance expert Catherine Price argues that our always-on, tech-addicted lifestyles have made us obsess over intangible concepts such as happiness, while obscuring the fact that real happiness lies in the everyday experience of fun. True Fun—which Price defines as the magical confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow—will give us the fulfillment we so desperately seek.

Using True Fun as your compass, you will be happier and healthier, more productive, less resentful, and less stressed. You'll have more energy, find community, and a sense of purpose.

Weaving together scientific research with personal experience, Price reveals the surprising mental, physical, and cognitive benefits of fun, and offers a practical, personalized plan for achieving better screen/life balance and attracting more True Fun into our daily lives—without feeling overwhelmed.

The Power of Fun is groundbreaking, eye-opening, and packed with useful advice. It won't just change the way you think about fun; it will bring you back to life.

Practicing law in a large partnership, Sydney Jones was primed for making partner. Then her life turned upside down after a disagreement with her boss at Birdman & Birdman. Leaving the office, she was swiftly kidnapped and taken to her assailants’ hideaway, beaten, and raped. With no memory of whom she was put her at a disadvantage with her captors. Through gritted teeth, she promised a day of repercussions for their actions while mentally visualizing her revenge.

Warned by her assailants to keep her mouth shut or else, she was delivered to her home. Not recognizing her former living quarters, she was careful in exploring her options for regaining her memory. Piecing together the reasons for her kidnapping brought her into contact with people, some she could trust and others risky. The problem was the amnesia prevented her from recognizing the difference.

Tapped for crime once nudged her toward caution for something afoul was going on at Birdman & Birdman. She prepared for a fight. With a vision of fury she made a chilling decision – never to be a victim again.

The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships, and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.

“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.

At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life-changing. It introduced her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.

A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds us how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.

From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

Ésta es la profecía de Quetzalcóatl, su revelación, nuestro destino. El 13 de agosto de 1521 cayó Tenochtitlán en manos de decenas de miles de guerreros de diversos pueblos y ciudades del Anáhuac. Los herederos de los toltecas se liberaron del terrible yugo de los hijos de Huitzilopochtli, con el inesperado pero indispensable apoyo de un puñado de aventureros castellanos. Una era llegó a su fin y, como siempre ocurre en la historia humana, una nueva comenzó a nacer. Descendió la noche sobre el Pueblo del Sol e inició el amanecer de un México que no ha sabido salir de las tinieblas.

El regreso de Quetzalcóatl es un recorrido que abarca a toda la humanidad, y que pasa de la historia a la filosofía, de la psicología a la religión, y de ahí al misticismo para volver a la historia. Va de Teotihuacán a Roma, del mundo maya al valle del Nilo, de Mesoamérica a la India, de la toltequidad a la filosofía griega, y ante todo del pasado que debemos superar al presente en el que tenemos una última oportunidad para tratar de vislumbrar el futuro. Si descifras a Quetzalcóatl podrás salvar a México de hundirse en su inframundo.

Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction is a groundbreaking anthology that brings together thirteen extraordinary tales of speculative fiction from China, translated into English for the very first time. Curated and translated by the critically acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting Christine Ni, this collection offers a diverse and captivating array of stories that will take readers on a journey through the imaginative landscapes of Chinese science fiction.

From the celebrated Jiang Bo's 'Starship: Library' to Regina Kanyu Wang's 'The Tide of Moon City', and Anna Wu's 'Meisje met de Parel', readers are presented with a tapestry of narratives that span a variety of themes and perspectives. The writers featured in this anthology include award winners, bestsellers, screenwriters, playwrights, philosophers, university lecturers, and computer programmers, showcasing the breadth and depth of Chinese SF.

Sinopticon invites readers to explore the transformational and often visionary world of Chinese speculative fiction, making it an essential read for all fans of the genre.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow presents a groundbreaking account of human history, challenging established notions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of the state, political violence, and social inequality. The book reveals new perspectives on human emancipation and the history of civilization itself.

The authors, renowned for their respective fields in activism, public intellectualism, and comparative archaeology, delve into the origins of theories that have shaped our understanding of humanity's past. They question the portrayal of remote ancestors as either innocent and equal or aggressive and warlike, and they explore the implications of these characterizations for today's society.

Graeber and Wengrow draw on extensive research in archaeology and anthropology to challenge the conventional wisdom about human history. They invite readers to consider what humans were doing throughout evolutionary history if not living in small hunter-gatherer bands, and what kinds of social and economic organization arose from agriculture and urban development if not hierarchy and domination.

The Dawn of Everything not only transforms our understanding of the human past but also offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom and ways of organizing society. This monumental book is a testament to intellectual range, curiosity, moral vision, and the power of direct action.

At dusk on a November evening in 2020, a woman slips out of her garden gate and turns up the hill. Kate is in the middle of a two-week quarantine period, but she just can't take it anymore - the closeness of the air in her small house, the confinement. And anyway, the moor will be deserted at this time. Nobody need ever know.

But Kate's neighbour, Alice, sees her leaving and Matt, Kate's son, soon realizes she's missing. And Kate, who planned only a quick solitary walk - a breath of open air - falls and badly injures herself. What began as a furtive walk has turned into a mountain rescue operation.

Unbearably suspenseful, witty and wise, The Fell asks probing questions about the place the world has become since March 2020, and the place it was before. Sarah Moss's novel is a story about compassion and kindness and what we must do to survive, and it will move you to tears.

You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have. So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. There is a fix, Acho says. But in order to access it, we’re going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations.

In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask—yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.”

In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity—but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.

Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family.

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.

Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.

Prepare for the thrilling finale in the epic Aurora Cycle series about a band of unlikely heroes who just might be the galaxy's last hope for survival.

Is this the end? What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course. Wait... Not. So. Fast.

When we last saw Squad 312, they were working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally. But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the team has one last chance to rewrite theirs. Maybe two. It's complicated.

Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem. Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy's most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too. Actually saving the galaxy, though? Now that will take a miracle.

Every harvest moon, the Witch Collector rides into our valley and leads one of us to the home of the immortal Frost King, to remain forever. Today is that day—Collecting Day. But he will not come for me. I, Raina Bloodgood, have lived in this village for twenty-four years, and for twenty-four years he has passed me by. His mistake.

Raina Bloodgood has one desire: kill the Frost King and the Witch Collector who stole her sister. On Collecting Day, she means to exact murderous revenge, but a more sinister threat sets fire to her world. Rising from the ashes is the Collector, Alexus Thibault, the man she vowed to slay and the only person who can help save her sister.

Thrust into an age-old story of ice, fire, and ancient gods, Raina must abandon vengeance and aid the Witch Collector in saving the Frost King or let their empire—and her sister—fall into enemy hands. But the lines between good and evil blur, and Raina has more to lose than she imagined. What is she to do when the Witch Collector is no longer the villain who stole her sister, but the hero who’s stealing her heart?

We Are Not Like Them is a riveting novel about the lifelong bond between two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event. Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions.

Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia. However, the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager.

Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.

This story is a powerful and poignant exploration of race in America today and its devastating impact on ordinary lives, offering a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges.

Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple is all about easy-to-follow, gluten-free recipes for enticing breads, cakes, pies, tarts, biscuits, and cookies. It even includes a special holiday baking chapter.

Aran Goyoaga shares her gluten-free all-purpose baking mix so you can whip up a batch to keep in your pantry. An added bonus is that each recipe offers dairy-free substitutions and some are naturally vegan as well.

With inventive, well-tested recipes and Aran’s clear guidance (plus 145 of her stunning photos), gluten-free baking is happily unfussy, producing irresistibly good results every time.

Recipes include:
• One-Bowl Apple, Yogurt, and Maple Cake
• Double Melting Chocolate Cookies
• Honeyed Apple Pie
• Buttery Shortbread
• Lemon Meringue Tartlets
• Baguettes, brioche, and boules
• Crispy Potato, Leek, and Kale Focaccia Pie
• Pumpkin and Pine Nut Tart
• And so many more tempting recipes!

How Do You Live? is a profound literary work that explores the intricacies of life, morality, and human connection. Through the story of a young boy and his uncle, the book delves into philosophical discussions that are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published in Japan. It is a coming-of-age tale that invites readers to reflect on their own lives and the choices they make. The narrative is complemented by thoughtful commentary that encourages a deeper understanding of one's purpose and the impact of one's actions on the world.

A Land With a People is a collection of personal stories, history, poetry, and art that elevates rarely heard Palestinian and Jewish voices and visions. Eloquently framed with a foreword by the dynamic Palestinian legal scholar and activist, Noura Erakat, this book began as a storytelling project of Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City and subsequently transformed into a theater project performed throughout the New York City area.

Stories touch hearts, open minds, and transform our understanding of the “other”―as well as our comprehension of own roles and responsibilities. A Land With a People emerges from this reckoning, bringing us the narratives of secular, Muslim, Christian, and queer Palestinians who endure the particular brand of settler colonialism known as Zionism. It relays the transformational journeys of Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, queer, and Palestinian Jews who have come to reject the received Zionist narrative.

Unflinching in their confrontation of the power dynamics that underlie their transformation process, these writers find the courage to face what has happened to historic Palestine, and to their own families as a result. Contextualized by a detailed historical introduction and timeline charting 150 years of Palestinian and Jewish resistance to Zionism, this collection will stir emotions, provoke fresh thinking, and point to a more hopeful, loving future―one in which Palestine/Israel is seen for what it is in its entirety, as well as for what it can be.

History, magic, and adventure collide in this riveting middle-grade fantasy novel about an unusual boy who unlocks an ancient relic—and with it, a forgotten world. Befriended by a band of young witches, Archibald Finch must quickly adapt to survive in Lemurea, where a battle born in the Middle Ages is still unfolding.

Archibald is a risk-averse boy with quirks that earn him plenty of eye-rolls, especially from his older sister, Hailee. Things get worse when his parents move the family from London to his grandmother’s creepy manor in the English countryside. Now he has to deal with hairless dolls in the library, weird stone creatures on the roof, and a spooky forest at the edge of the backyard. But these turn out to be the least of Archibald's problems...

One day, as he's exploring the cavernous house, he finds a curious globe that whisks him away to a secret world, hidden for 500 years. Archibald finds himself on a thrilling adventure full of medieval magic, mysterious symbols, and the strangest beasts, while Hailee—who witnessed her brother’s disappearance—embarks on a daring quest to find him.

Acclaimed, award-winning author N.K. Jemisin (The Fifth Season, The City We Became) makes her comic book debut with bestselling artist Jamal Campbell (Naomi) as they thrust you into a stunning sci-fi murder mystery on the other side of the universe!

For the past six months, newly chosen Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein has been protecting the City Enduring, a massive metropolis of 20 billion people. The city has maintained peace for over 500 years by stripping its citizens of their ability to feel. As a result, violent crime is virtually unheard of, and murder is nonexistent.

But that’s all about to change in this new graphic novel that puts a unique spin on the legacy of the Green Lanterns! Far Sector collects Far Sector #1-12.

The Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook is the essential primer needed to launch, lead, and sponsor successful projects in today's project economy. With project management skills becoming increasingly vital for every leader and manager, this comprehensive guide by expert Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez presents a new and simple framework designed to significantly increase any project's chances of success.

The handbook is packed with case studies from a wide range of industries around the globe. It aims to teach readers how to effectively manage their organization's projects, strategic programs, and agile initiatives, ensuring that the best ones are pushed ahead to completion. This timeless yet forward-looking resource will equip professionals to thrive in a project-driven world.

Featuring a universal project framework known as the Project Canvas, the book breaks down projects into essential building blocks that are easily understood by all stakeholders. Readers will learn a common language for project managers and executives to run successful projects across their organizations, the twelve principles of successful projects, and techniques for managing a strategic and balanced project portfolio.

Addressing global trends such as automation, sustainability, diversity, and crisis management, The HBR Project Management Handbook is a must-read for ambitious professionals seeking to excel in their careers through step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, and real-life stories.

Rifqa is Mohammed El-Kurd’s debut collection of poetry, written in the tradition of Ghassan Kanfani’s Palestinian Resistance Literature.

The book narrates the author’s own experience of dispossession in Sheikh Jarrah—an infamous neighborhood in Jerusalem, Palestine, whose population of refugees continues to live on the brink of homelessness at the hands of the Israeli government and US-based settler organizations.

Named after the author’s late grandmother who was forced to flee from Haifa upon the genocidal establishment of Israel, the book makes the observation that home takeovers and demolitions across historical Palestine are not reminiscent of the 1948 Nakba, but are in fact a continuation of it: a legalized, ideologically-driven practice of ethnic cleansing.

It was Vera's idea to buy the Itza. The "world's most advanced smart speaker!" didn't interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo. It made things worse. The cold spots and scratching in the walls were weird enough, but peculiar packages started showing up at the house—who ordered industrial lye? Then there was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza projecting light shows in an empty room.

It was funny and strange right up until Vera was killed, and Thiago's world became unbearable. Pundits and politicians all looking to turn his wife's death into a symbol for their own agendas. A barrage of texts from her well-meaning friends about letting go and moving on. Waking to the sound of Itza talking softly to someone in the living room...

The only thing left to do was get far away from Chicago. Away from everything and everyone. A secluded cabin in Colorado seemed like the perfect place to hole up with his crushing grief. But soon Thiago realizes there is no escape—not from his guilt, not from his simmering rage, and not from the evil hunting him, feeding on his grief, determined to make its way into this world.

A bold, original horror novel about grief, loneliness and the oppressive intimacy of technology, This Thing Between Us marks the arrival of a spectacular new talent.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play offers a humorous and rousing set of literal and figurative sojourns, as well as a mission statement about comprehending, protecting, and truly experiencing the outdoors. This narrative is fueled by three journeys undertaken by actor, humorist, and New York Times bestselling author Nick Offerman.

Offerman has always felt a particular affection for the Land of the Free—not just for the people and their purported ideals but for the actual land: the bedrock, the topsoil, and everything in between that generates the health of your local watershed. In this book, Nick takes a humorous, inspiring, and elucidating trip to America's trails, farms, and frontier to examine the people who inhabit the land, what that has meant to them and us, and to the land itself, both historically and currently.

In 2018, Wendell Berry posed a question to Nick, a query that planted the seed of this book. This led Nick on two memorable journeys with pals—a hiking trip to Glacier National Park with his friends Jeff Tweedy and George Saunders, as well as an extended visit to his friend James Rebanks, the author of The Shepherd's Life and English Pastoral. He followed that up with an excursion that could only have come about in 2020—Nick and his wife, Megan Mullally, bought an Airstream trailer to drive across (several of) the United States.

These three quests inspired some “deep-ish” thinking from Nick about the history and philosophy of our relationship with nature in our national parks, in our farming, and in our backyards; what we mean when we talk about conservation; and the importance of outdoor recreation, all subjects very close to Nick's heart.

With witty, heartwarming stories and keen insight into the human problems we all confront, this book is both a ramble through and a celebration of the land we all love.

Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself. Like its predecessor All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s new novel is a tale of hope and of profound human connection.

Constantinople, 1453:
An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love.

Idaho, 2020:
An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans?

Unknown, Sometime in the Future:
With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance.

Light From Uncommon Stars is a defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley. This tale weaves together cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

Shizuka Satomi has made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. Six have already been delivered. When Shizuka encounters Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway with wild talent, the curse seems to be lifting as she's found her final candidate.

However, Shizuka's plans are complicated when she meets Lan Tran, a retired starship captain and interstellar refugee, in a donut shop. Lan's kindness and celestial gaze challenge Shizuka's understanding of a soul's worth. As their lives intertwine with magic, identity, and hope, they begin to form a family worth crossing the universe for.

Can reading a book make you more rational? Can it help us understand why there is so much irrationality in the world? Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now, answers these questions in Rationality. In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding--and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing?

Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply irrational--cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions. Instead, he explains that we think in ways that are sensible in the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning our best thinkers have discovered over the millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, and optimal ways to update beliefs and commit to choices individually and with others.

These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book--until now. Rationality also explores its opposite: how the rational pursuit of self-interest, sectarian solidarity, and uplifting mythology by individuals can add up to crippling irrationality in a society. Collective rationality depends on norms that are explicitly designed to promote objectivity and truth.

Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with insight and humor, Rationality will enlighten, inspire, and empower.

In this important and timely book, workplace well-being expert Jennifer Moss helps leaders and individuals prevent burnout and create healthier, happier, and more productive workplaces.

We tend to think of burnout as a problem we can solve with self-care: more yoga, better breathing techniques, and more resilience. But evidence is mounting that applying personal, Band-Aid solutions to an epic and rapidly evolving workplace phenomenon isn't enough—in fact, it's not even close. If we're going to solve this problem, organizations must take the lead in developing an antiburnout strategy that moves beyond apps, wellness programs, and perks.

In this eye-opening, paradigm-shifting, and practical guide, Jennifer Moss lays bare the real causes of burnout and how organizations can stop the chronic stress cycle that an alarming number of workers suffer through. The Burnout Epidemic explains:

• What causes burnout—and what organizations can do to prevent it
• Why traditional wellness initiatives fall short
• How companies can build an antiburnout strategy based on prevention, not perks
• How leaders can measure burnout in their own organizations
• What leaders can do to develop a healthier culture that prioritizes resilience and curiosity

As the pandemic has shown, self-care is important, but it's not a cure-all for burnout. Employers need to do more. With fascinating research, new findings from the pandemic, and interviews with business leaders around the globe, The Burnout Epidemic offers readers insightful and actionable advice that will empower them to help themselves—and their employees—feel healthier and happier at work.

A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik's groundbreaking crossover series. At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year—and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules.

With keen insight and mordant humor, Novik reminds us that sometimes it is not enough to rewrite the rules—sometimes, you need to toss out the entire rulebook.

It's the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

A pair of fierce foes are forced to work together to save the arts at their school in this swoony YA enemies-to-lovers romance that fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson are sure to adore.

Lifelong rivals Natalie and Reid have never been on the same team. So when their school's art budget faces cutbacks, of course Natalie finds herself up against her nemesis once more. She's fighting to direct the school's first ever student-written play, but for her small production to get funding, the school's award-winning band will have to lose it. Reid's band. And he's got no intention of letting the show go on.

But when their rivalry turns into an all-out prank war that goes too far, Natalie and Reid have to face the music, resulting in the worst compromise: writing and directing a musical. Together. At least if they deliver a sold-out show, the school board will reconsider next year's band and theater budget. Everyone could win. Except Natalie and Reid. Because after spending their entire lives in competition, they have absolutely no idea how to be co-anything. And they certainly don't know how to deal with the feelings that are inexplicably, weirdly, definitely developing between them...

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas is an insightful and perspective-shifting journey by celebrated journalist Omar Mouallem. In the book, Mouallem explores his personal connection with Islam, delving into its influence on his values, politics, and heritage. Having grown up in a Muslim household, he later adopted atheism and used his voice to critique organized religion. However, as a father, Mouallem is confronted with the challenges his children may face due to their heritage in an increasingly nativist Western world.

Mouallem embarks on a quest to uncover the untold history of Islam across the Americas, visiting thirteen unique mosques from California to Quebec, and Brazil to Canada's icy north. Through his travels, he encounters diverse Muslim communities, each providing varied perspectives on what it means to be Muslim in the Americas. This exploration reveals the significant role Islam has played in shaping the continent, influencing everything from industrialization to political shifts.

Ultimately, Praying to the West uncovers a hidden narrative of home and belonging. It highlights the ongoing struggle for acceptance in towns and cities across the Americas, advocating for a more inclusive future for all.

In this wickedly funny cultural critique, the author of the critically acclaimed memoir and Hulu series Shrill exposes misogyny in the #MeToo era.

This is a witch hunt. We're witches, and we're hunting you.

From the moment powerful men started falling to the #MeToo movement, the lamentations began: this is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Coming, firebrand author Lindy West turns that refrain on its head. You think this is a witch hunt? Fine. You've got one.

In a laugh-out-loud, incisive cultural critique, West extolls the world-changing magic of truth, urging readers to reckon with dark lies in the heart of the American mythos, and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic, politics of not being a white man in the twenty-first century. She tracks the misogyny and propaganda hidden (or not so hidden) in the media she and her peers devoured growing up, a buffet of distortions, delusions, prejudice, and outright bullsh*t that has allowed white male mediocrity to maintain a death grip on American culture and politics.

West writes, “We were just a hair’s breadth from electing America’s first female president to succeed America’s first black president. We weren’t done, but we were doing it. And then, true to form—like the Balrog’s whip catching Gandalf by his little gray bootie, like the husband in a Lifetime movie hissing, ‘If I can’t have you, no one can’—white American voters shoved an incompetent, racist con man into the White House.”

We cannot understand how we got here—how the land of the free became Trump's America—without examining the chasm between who we are and who we think we are, without fact-checking the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and each other. The truth can transform us; there is witchcraft in it. Lindy West turns on the light.

If you have ADHD, your brain doesn't work in the same way as a normal or neurotypical brain does because it's wired differently. You and others may see this difference in circuitry as somehow wrong or incomplete. It isn't.

It does present you with significant challenges like time management, organization skills, forgetfulness, trouble completing tasks, mood swings, and relationship problems.

In Your Brain's Not Broken, Dr. Tamara Rosier explains how ADHD affects every aspect of your life. You'll finally understand why you think, feel, and act the way you do. Dr. Rosier applies her years of coaching others to offer you the critical practical tools that can dramatically improve your life and relationships.

Anyone with ADHD—as well as anyone who lives with or loves someone with ADHD—will find here a compassionate, encouraging guide to living well and with hope.

"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." —Satoru Iwata

Satoru Iwata was the former Global President and CEO of Nintendo and a gifted programmer who played a key role in the creation of many of the world's best-known games. He led the production of innovative platforms such as the Nintendo DS and the Wii, and laid the groundwork for the development of the wildly successful Pokémon Go game and the Nintendo Switch. Known for his analytical and imaginative mind, but even more for his humility and people-first approach to leadership, Satoru Iwata was beloved by game fans and developers worldwide.

In this motivational collection, Iwata addresses diverse subjects such as locating bottlenecks, how success breeds resistance to change, and why programmers should never say no. Drawn from the "Iwata Asks" series of interviews with key contributors to Nintendo games and hardware, and featuring conversations with renowned Mario franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto and creator of EarthBound Shigesato Itoi, Ask Iwata offers game fans and business leaders an insight into the leadership, development and design philosophies of one of the most beloved figures in gaming history.

When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.

As a third-year PhD candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships—but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor—and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend, Eileen, is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young—but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in.

Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

By the end of this book, you will understand what is valuable, how to measure value, and how to optimize the flow of value—from idea to your customer. As legacy organizations transition to newer, end-to-end agile operating models, the Project Management Office (PMO) needs to redesign its mission and operation to be more in line with these modern ways of working. This requires being more customer-focused and value-adding, and less tied to antiquated processes and mindsets.

Visionary leaders are transitioning into enablers of this change, maximizing value through the entire organization. Middle management, including program and project managers (PMs), are racing to maximize their professional relevancy in this new world.

This book defines the role of the agile value management office (VMO), using case studies and a clear road map to help PMs visualize and implement a new path where middle management and the VMO are valued leaders in the age of business agility.

Going toe-to-toe with a brooding Scotsman is rather bold for a respectable suffragist, but when he happens to be one's unexpected husband, what else is an unwilling bride to do?

London banking heiress Hattie Greenfield wanted just three things in life:

• Acclaim as an artist.
• A noble cause.
• Marriage to a young lord who puts the gentle in gentleman.

Why then does this Oxford scholar find herself at the altar with the darkly attractive financier Lucian Blackstone, whose murky past and ruthless business practices strike fear in the hearts of Britain's peerage? Now she's stuck with a churlish Scot who just might be the end of her ambitions.

When the daughter of his business rival all but falls into his lap, Lucian sees opportunity. As a self-made man, he has vast wealth but holds little power, and Hattie might be the key to finally setting long-harbored political plans in motion. Driven by an old desire for revenge, he has no room for his new wife's apprehensions or romantic notions, bewitching as he finds her.

But a sudden journey to Scotland paints everything in a different light. Hattie slowly sees the real Lucian and realizes she could win everything—as long as she is prepared to lose her heart.

Horror master Junji Ito explores a new frontier with a grand cosmic horror tale in which a mysterious woman has her way with the world! Did she wander in? Or was she drawn in…? A woman walks alone at the foot of Mount Sengoku. A man appears, saying he's been waiting for her, and invites her to a nearby village. Surprisingly, the village is covered in hairlike volcanic glass fibers, and all of it shines a bright gold.

That night, as the villagers gaze up at the starry sky, countless unidentified flying objects come raining down on them—the opening act for the terror about to occur.

The Forsyte Saga was the title originally destined for that part of it which is called The Man of Property; and to adopt it for the collected chronicles of the Forsyte family has indulged the Forsytean tenacity that is in all of us. The word Saga might be objected to on the ground that it connotes the heroic and that there is little heroism in these pages. But it is used with a suitable irony; and, after all, this long tale, though it may deal with folk in frock coats, furbelows, and a gilt-edged period, is not devoid of the essential heat of conflict. Discounting for the gigantic stature and blood-thirstiness of old days, as they have come down to us in fairy-tale and legend, the folk of the old Sagas were Forsytes, assuredly, in their possessive instincts, and as little proof against the inroads of beauty and passion as Swithin, Soames, or even Young Jolyon. And if heroic figures, in days that never were, seem to startle out from their surroundings in fashion unbecoming to a Forsyte of the Victorian era, we may be sure that tribal instinct was even then the prime force, and that family and the sense of home and property counted as they do to this day, for all the recent efforts to talk them out.

Can we change the minds of science deniers? Encounters with flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, coronavirus truthers, and others who defy reason are the focus of this work. In a world where many citizens reject scientific expertise in favor of ideology and conspiracy theories, Lee McIntyre's book, How to Talk to a Science Denier, offers a poignant exploration into the culture of science denialism.

McIntyre, drawing on his own experiences, such as attending a Flat Earth convention, along with academic research, seeks to understand the common themes of science denialism. These themes are evident in misinformation campaigns that have persisted over decades, ranging from tobacco companies denying the link between smoking and lung cancer to the current day anti-vaxxer movement.

In his quest to communicate the truth and values of science, McIntyre shares personal anecdotes, such as engaging discussions with coal miners and a scientist friend about genetically modified organisms. He presents tools and techniques for effective communication, emphasizing the importance of calm, respectful conversations and face-to-face engagement with science deniers.

Through this book, McIntyre not only shares insights into the psychology of denial but also provides a hopeful message: it is possible to make a difference by standing up against science denial, which can have life-or-death consequences.

The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn't enough time. We're obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we're deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and "life hacks" to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon.

Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on "getting everything done," Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of the unhelpful ways we've come to think about time aren't inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we've made as individuals and as a society--and that we could do things differently.

Dead Souls, a seminal work in Russian literature, offers a vivid portrayal of provincial Russian life. It is celebrated for its realistic depiction as well as for its exaggerated narrative, serving both as a tribute to the Russian spirit and a scathing satire of the imperial Russian flaws of venality, vulgarity, and pomp. At the heart of the story is Gogol's cunning antihero, Chichikov, who traverses the countryside engaging in transactions for "dead souls" - deceased serfs who still represent value to those astute enough to trade in them. This journey introduces us to a cast reminiscent of Dickens, filled with peasants, landowners, and scheming officials, all drawn into Chichikov's elaborate scheme. Through this narrative, Gogol masterfully explores themes of human oddity and error, making Dead Souls a masterpiece of both humor and insight.

Eleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that "love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer..." A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune.

Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness — sexual pleasure for its own sake — or risking everything to find her own "inner light" and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.

First you march, then you run. From the #1 bestselling, award–winning team behind March comes the first book in their new, groundbreaking graphic novel series, Run: Book One.

“In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect Union here in America.” –Congressman John Lewis

The sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series March—the continuation of the life story of John Lewis and the struggles seen across the United States after the Selma voting rights campaign.

To John Lewis, the civil rights movement came to an end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But that was after more than five years as one of the preeminent figures of the movement, leading sit–in protests and fighting segregation on interstate busways as an original Freedom Rider. It was after becoming chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and being the youngest speaker at the March on Washington. It was after helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. And after coleading the march from Selma to Montgomery on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory. But John Lewis knew that victories are just the beginning. In Run: Book One, John Lewis and longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin reteam with Nate Powell—the award–winning illustrator of the March trilogy—and are joined by L. Fury—making an astonishing graphic novel debut—to tell this often overlooked chapter of civil rights history.

Capturing the same charm and whimsy she brought to Seattle Walk Report, Instagram darling Susanna Ryan takes things a step further, revealing the forgotten history behind the people, places, and things that shaped Seattle.

Cartoonist and creator of Seattle Walk Report, Susanna Ryan strolls on with a quirky new illustrated guide celebrating Seattle's historical treasures and outdoor wonders.

In Secret Seattle, Ryan explores the weird and wonderful hidden history behind some of the city's most overlooked places, architecture, and infrastructure, from coal chutes in Capitol Hill, to the last remainder of Seattle's original Chinatown in Pioneer Square, to the best places in town to find century-old sidewalks.

Discover pocket parks, beautiful boulevards, and great public gardens while learning offbeat facts that will make you see the Emerald City in a whole new way.

Perfect for both the local history buff who never leaves a favorite armchair to a walking enthusiast looking for offbeat and off-the-beaten-path scavenger hunts.

The narrator of The Zahir is a bestselling novelist who lives in Paris and enjoys all the privileges money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover. Was Esther kidnapped, murdered, or did she simply escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn't have any answers, but he has plenty of questions of his own.

Then one day Mikhail finds the narrator and promises to reunite him with his wife. In his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator discovers something unexpected about himself.