Staff Picks

12 quilt block designs to craft your personal quilt, plus shared quilter stories and more quilting projects, in this community-themed quilting book by internationally renowned award-winning teacher Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Foreword by quilting thought-leader Meg Cox, author of The Quilter's Catalog

Victoria Findlay Wolfe is an award-winning quilter, artist, and teacher whose designs balance traditional, modern, and art-quilting styles. In The Quilting Experience, she shares twelve original block designs for quilters to create their own unique "Experience Quilt." Each block represents a profound life theme such as Friendship, Travel, Celebration, and Grief, to let crafters reflect their personal life narrative. Clear instructions for each block allow for multiple size and color variations.

Also included are:

- Thought-provoking, poignant, and amusing stories shared by diverse quilters, to illuminate each Quilting Experience life theme

- 11 additional projects for quilts and pillows, with lessons and tips on techniques like efficient partial seam construction, to collage together blocks of various sizes beyond a basic grid layout

- A foreword by quilting thought-leader Meg Cox, emphasizing how diversity among quilters offers strength to all

Connect through the stories of a diverse community of quilting bees as you're life's journey takes visual shape with The Quilting Experience.

Edited by Kate 

Kathryn Kellogg is taking her accessible tips for a zero-waste lifestyle and focusing on the heart of the house. Our kitchens can produce a shocking amount of waste and, even though food scraps may seem harmless, they can't properly decompose in a landfill. What's more: wasting food can strain your wallet. The average American family of four will lose $1,500 annually on food waste. It's time to turn things around!

101 Tips for a Zero Waste Kitchen is your guide to reducing waste in your kitchen. Kathryn will teach you how to buy in bulk, avoid unnecessary packaging, upcycle jars, and more. Plus, she'll give you recipes that make use of your scraps: preserve your lemon peels for extra flavor, create simple syrup from strawberry tops, and revive shriveled mushrooms. With a little work and Kathryn in your corner, you'll have the tools you need to reach the ultimate goal: no produce left behind!

Edited by Kate

A down-to-earth, actionable guide that culls through the chaos of information and misinformation into digestible, accessible chapters that balances proven science with the demands of being a busy new parent of toddler.

Congratulations! You’ve survived the first twelve months of parenthood, along with all the joys, worry, and sleep deprivation they bring. Welcome to the toddler years—and a whole new set of challenges.
From toilet training, picky eating, and naptime to separation anxiety, screen time, and (whisper it) tantrums, toddlerhood brings developmental milestones and decisions that can feel totally daunting, especially in this golden age of mommy bloggers, parenting podcasts, and fear-mongering posts. How can you feel confident and empowered in your choices when there is so much at stake?

As both an experienced pediatrician and a mother, Rebekah Diamond understands the need for a child rearing approach that keeps things simple, without sacrificing science or safety. Just as she did in her first book, Parent Like a Pediatrician, which focused on your baby’s first year, she cuts through the noise to tackle the wonders and hardships of raising a toddler. Instead of strict guidelines and overwhelming commands, Dr. Diamond offers advice that is medically sound, inclusive, and realistic for busy parents. There is no single “right” away to parent, but Eat Sleep Tantrum Repeat will show you how to create a way that is right for you and your child, and make these toddler years safe, science-approved, and joyful.

Edited by Kate 

Go on a global aerial odyssey with this photographic compendium of more than 200 full-color images from on high, by the world's most innovative photographers at National Geographic.

See the world from a unique perspective with this gorgeous, oversized coffee table book--the perfect gift for lovers of art, nature, photography, and travel!

Join National Geographic on a world tour like no other, with over 200 exhilarating photographs that'll take you soaring above the colorful roofs of European cities, discovering the intricate patchwork of American cornfields, tracing the surprising silhouettes of tropical islands, and witnessing the startling intricacy of underwater anemones--all thanks to photographers who refocused their lenses, looking down.

This extraordinary collection contains:

• 4 sections exploring how these images from above speak to us through color, shape, texture, and scale.
• In-depth interviews with prestigious photographers showing how the artists climbed, flew, dug, or rocketed into space to capture their most impressive shots.
• Dedicated sidebars revealing how we have always experimented with top-down perspective, from ancient earthworks to modern drones.

Curated by acclaimed nature photographer and National Geographic explorer Jeffrey Kerby, every photo in World From Above offers a new way of looking at life on our planet.

Edited by Kate 

A groundbreaking look at the life and art of one of the most influential, modern painters of the late nineteenth century and founder of the Impressionist movement

“Wullschläger emerges with a strikingly different picture of the artist. Passionate, prickly, edgy and unstable, her Monet, the unrecognizable Monet, is a powerful new character in art.” —The Sunday Times (London)

Drawing on thousands of never-before-translated letters and unpublished sources, this biography reveals dramatic new information about the life and work of one of the late nineteenth century’s most important painters. Despite being mocked at the beginning of his career, and living hand to mouth, Monet risked all to pursue his vision, and his early work along the banks of the Seine in the 1860s and ’70s would come to be revered as Impressionism. In the following decades, he emerged as its celebrated leader in one of the most exciting cultural moments in Paris, before withdrawing to his house and garden to paint the late Water Lilies, which were ignored during his lifetime and would later have a major influence on all twentieth-century painters both figurative and abstract.

This is the first time we see the turbulent life of this volatile and voracious man, who was as obsessed by his love affairs as he was by nature. He changed his art decisively three times when the woman at the center of his life changed; Wullschläger brings these unknown, passionate, and passionately committed women to the foreground. Monet's closest friend was Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau; strong intellectual currents connected him to writers from Zola to Proust, as well as to his friends Manet, Renoir, and Pissarro. Brilliant and absorbing, this biography will forever change our understanding of Monet's life and work.

Edited by Kate

Experience mouthwatering Southern baking--from humble home kitchens to innovative new Southern chefs. One of the world's richest culinary traditions comes to life through this essential cookbook from bestselling author Anne Byrn. With 200 recipes from 14 states and more than 150 photos, Baking in the American South has the biscuits, cornbread, cakes, and rolls that will help you bake like a Southerner, even if you aren't.

Recipes can tell you volumes if you pay attention--the crops raised, languages spoken, family customs, old world flavors, and, often, religion. Did you know that where a mill was located affected the recipes handed down from that area? Or that baking and selling pound cakes directly impacted the Civil Rights Movement? These stories and recipes, developed from good times and bad, have been collected and perfected over years and are now accessible to us all. Anne's expertise in assessing, modernizing, and developing well-written recipes makes this the definitive guide for bakers of all levels.

From-scratch, Southern classic recipes include:

• Thomasville Cheese Biscuits
• Ouita Michel's Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins
• Nina Cain's Batty Cakes with Lacy Edges
• The Best Lemon Meringue Pie
• Georgia Gilmore's Pound Cake

This fascinating dive into the history of 14 Southern states--Texas, Florida, Kentucky, and more--features stories and beautifully photographed recipes from pre-Civil War times to today's Southern kitchens. It's about the places, the people, the products and the culture of the moment that influenced what people baked. It's about African-American women and the monumental contributions they have made to the art of Southern baking, about home cooks and how they've kept traditions alive wherever they settle by baking family recipes each year for holidays and celebrations, and about the pastry chefs who have thoughtfully reimagined how the South bakes.

Experience the recipes and the stories behind them that showcase the substantial contributions Southern baking has made to American baking at large. Food historians, bakers, foodies, and cookbook collectors from every corner of the country will want this cookbook in their collections.

Edited by Kate 

A tribute to Mexico’s most important holiday, this extraordinary and definitive volume documents the immense creativity displayed by this popular annual celebration.

While there have been other books about the Day of the Dead, most are long out of print and aridly academic. This book features both exceptional “traditional” Indigenous material—such as vibrant folk art and crafts, flamboyant costumes and masks, special food and drink—but also a much more funky, modern approach that blends lively music and dance, colorful parades, cutting-edge contemporary street art, and a festive atmosphere that engages all of the senses with handmade altars, flowers, painted skulls, toys, paintings, murals, and other art objects.

Featuring hundreds of specially commissioned photographs and voluminous in-depth research, the book is lavishly illustrated and designed with an aesthetic that draws on both traditional material as well as Mexico’s contemporary street art style. Blending visual elements inspired by the country’s pre-Hispanic heritage, European influences, and modern art trends, the book explores the evolution of the Day of the Dead and the special role it plays. This book is the definitive, authentic resource for all things Day of the Dead.

Edited by Kate

Want the granny look but too hip to be square? This is the book is for you!

Most granny square books offer patterns for squares (and only squares), in one size only, using many different stitches. Every Way with Granny Crochet offers 50 fab shapes to crochet all using the classic 'granny' stitch. Think outside the box (or square, that is), grab your hook and create circles, stars, flowers and a bounty of geometric shapes.

With in-depth exploration of familiar granny stitch shapes and instructions for exclusive motifs not seen elsewhere, the shape section is an invaluable resource. Each granny pattern is provided in full written form as well as easy-to-follow visual charts suitable for crocheters at any level of experience.

Learn how to resize, customize and utilize the shapes to create your own original granny-gorgeous designs, from tiny ornaments to epic afghans. What's more, pairings are suggested to highlight which shapes work well together and spark inspiration for unique 'patchwork' crochet projects.

The finishing section walks you through multiple techniques to whip(stitch) your gorgeous grannies together or give them a finishing touch with clean and simple crochet borders. See all the grannies in action in the showcase sampler blanket, outlining how to use shapes and techniques from the book to create a graphic-granny showstopper!

Every Way with Granny Crochet is the go-to crochet stitch dictionary missing from your craft bookshelf and has what it takes to be a shelf staple to inspire crocheters for years to come.

Edited by Kate

The New York Times bestselling authors of The Genius of Dogs take us into their “Puppy Kindergarten” at Duke University, a center to study how puppies develop, to show us what goes in to raising a great dog.

Don’t miss Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods in Netflix’s film Inside the Mind of a Dog!

“A firehose of knowledge suffused with levity and charm.”—Alexandra Horowitz, author of Inside of a Dog

What does it take to raise a great dog? This was the question that husband-and-wife team Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods hoped to answer when they enrolled one hundred and one puppies in the Duke Puppy Kindergarten. With the help of a retired service dog named Congo, Brian, Vanessa, and their team set out to understand the secrets of the puppy mind: What factors might predict whether a puppy will grow up to change someone’s life?

Never has cuteness been so cutting edge. Applying the same games that psychologists use when exploring the development of young children, Hare and Woods uncover what happens in a puppy’s mind during their final stage of rapid brain development. Follow the adventures of Arthur, who makes friends with toy dinosaurs; Wisdom, the puppy genius; and Ying, who fails at cognitive games that even pigeons usually pass with flying colors. Along the way, learn about when puppies finally start to retain memories for longer than just a few seconds, or when they finally develop some self-control.

Raising dozens of puppies on a college campus means you get pretty good at answering big questions, such as: When do puppies sleep through the night? How do you stop them from eating poop? How can we help our puppies grow up to be the best dogs they can possibly be? Whether you are a new puppy parent or a perennial puppy lover, Puppy Kindergarten will answer every question you’ve ever had about puppies—and some you never thought to ask.

Edited by Kate 

A collection of easy tips, tricks and hacks from Family Handyman to help readers clean better, get organized, solve everyday problems around the house and more.

From the reader-favorite section in Family Handyman magazine comes Handy Hints. Inside, more than 200 reader-submitted tips save you time and money and solve problems around the house and garden — from hidden pipes to sagging shelves to stinky gym bags. You’ll find:
•Chapters of hints devoted to cleaning, maintenance, organization, safety and security, DIY tools and techniques, and everyday solutions to minor inconveniences around the home
•Projects to replace broken tile and build a storage lift for the garage
•Easy-to-understand instructions for each hint and accompanying photos

Edited by Kate

From the acclaimed author of the "wonderfully funny and openhearted" (NPR) Drinking with Men comes a poignant, wrenching, and ultimately hopeful book--equal parts memoir and social history--that follows the author, after a series of tragic losses, to Northern Ireland, where she finds a path toward healing.

Rosie Schaap had a solid career as a journalist and a life that looked to others like nonstop fun: all drinking and dining and traveling to beautiful places--and getting paid to write about it. But under the surface she was reeling from the loss of her husband and her mother--who died just one year apart. Caring for them had claimed much of her daily life in her late thirties. Mourning them would take longer.

It wasn't until a reporting trip took her to the Northern Irish countryside that Rosie found a partner to heal with: Glenarm, a quiet, seaside village in County Antrim. That first visit made such an impression she returned to make a life. This unlikely place--in a small, tough country mainly associated with sectarian strife--gave her a measure of peace that had seemed impossible elsewhere.

Weaving personal narrative and social history, The Slow Road North is a moving and wise look at how a community can offer the key to healing. It's a portrait of a complicated place at a pivotal time--through Brexit, a historic school integration, and a pandemic--and a love letter to a village and a culture.

Edited by Kate 

A sweeping biography of one of the most influential and successful business-women in American history, BECOMING ELIZABETH ARDEN opens the Red Door to a world of wealth, glamor, and the profitable business of beauty

Elizabeth Arden was a household name on six continents and a millionaire several times over before her death in 1966. Arden counted British royalty and social elites from the overlapping worlds of New York, Hollywood, London, and Paris among her clients. She revolutionized skin care and cosmetics, making it acceptable for all women to embrace glamour and wear makeup—not just actresses and prostitutes. She created a successful international business empire before women gained the vote and at a time when virtually no woman owned or ran a national company. She developed the first luxury spa and insisted on a holistic understanding of health and beauty. Unconventional and driven, Arden fervently believed that every woman could be beautiful.

Acclaimed biographer Stacy Cordery does full justice to one of America’s greatest entrepreneurs. Canadian-born Florence Nightingale Graham turned herself into Elizabeth Arden, using her uncanny sense of the possible to take full advantage of everything New York City offered, building her company and becoming one with her brand. In an astounding rags-to-riches tale, Elizabeth Arden came to personify sophistication and refinement. Her hard work and innovation made makeup, fitness, and style not only acceptable but de rigueur. Arden prospered throughout the Depression, reimagined women’s needs during two World Wars, and by pioneering new approaches to marketing and advertising, ushered beauty into the modern era. Cordery delivers a compelling picture of a modern CEO whose career provides a model for aspiring businesses to this day.

Edited by Kate

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The new and improved Whole30 program, featuring an updated approach to food freedom, the Original and Plant-Based programs, and over 100 new recipes
 
Do you struggle with cravings, blood sugar regulation, inflammation, fatigue, digestive issues, pain, or other symptoms? The Whole30 can help you discover the foods that are holding you back—in just 30 days.
 
Since 2009, the Whole30 program has helped millions of people radically transform their health, habits, and relationship with food and discover lasting food freedom. Grounded in nutrition and behavior-change science and fifteen years of clinical evidence, the Whole30 program has been praised by countless doctors and dietitians and is supported by thousands of glowing testimonials.
 
Inspired by her community, the newest research, and the ever-changing food landscape, Whole30 co-founder Melissa Urban has expanded the program to be even more accessible, supportive, and effective. In The New Whole30, you’ll find completely updated rules, language, and success strategies for every phase of your journey. The book now includes two different programs, each with its own guidelines, resources, and recipes: the Original Whole30 (for omnivores) and the Plant-Based Whole30 (for vegans, vegetarians, or anyone exploring a plant-based diet). You’ll also find more than 100 all-new recipes plus some updated Whole30 favorites, all of which are 100 percent gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and free of added sugar.
 
In her signature direct and empathetic style, Urban distills more than a decade of expert knowledge and experience into the essential resource for Whole30 alumni and first-timers alike. The New Whole30 is sure to be your ultimate guide to success.

Edited by Kate 

"What is Indian food in America?" In her eagerly anticipated debut cookbook, acclaimed food writer Khushbu Shah injects an electric and irresistible energy into the story of Indian food, with 125 recipes inspired by the cooking of the diaspora. From the savory and bold flavors of Achari Paneer Pizza to the ultimate home-cooked comfort meal, a pot of Spinach Tadka Dal with rice, Khushbu's recipes are flavor-packed, party-pleasing, and wonderfully surprising. She invites readers on a journey far beyond butter chicken (though she has a stellar recipe for it), offering instructions for preparing meals, drinks, and desserts as diverse as Saag Paneer Lasagna, Classic Dosas, Keralan Fried Chicken Sandwiches, Pani Puri Mojitos, and a Masala Chai Basque Cheesecake. Khushbu makes it easy to dive in, equipping home cooks with a list of simple-to-find pantry staples alongside vibrant images, clever tips and tricks, and illuminating essays that introduce a thrilling voice in American food.

Edited by Kate

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Make pizza night a weekly tradition with these 52 seasonal pizzas paired with salads for a complete meal—from the award-winning author of Bread Toast Crumbs and creator of the popular blog Alexandra’s Kitchen.

“I dare you to flip through Ali’s easy-to-follow, farm-fresh recipes and not feel inspired to plan your first pizza night immediately.”—Jenny Rosenstrach, bestselling author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians

Making great pizza isn’t complicated. Whether you’re using a kitchen oven, a grill, or an outdoor pizza oven, it all starts with the dough.

In Pizza Night, Alexandra Stafford presents four simple doughs—thin-crust, pan, Neapolitan-style, and gluten-free (plus sourdough variations)—and easy techniques for perfecting your crust. From there, you can create a variety of delicious pizzas, including Detroit-Style Pizza for a Crowd, Classic Margherita Pizza, and Winter White Pizza with Garlic and Herbs. You can make it the same day or ahead; make it extra cheesy and decadent or go the healthy road—pizza-making easily adapts to busy schedules and tastes and requires little in special equipment.

Arranged seasonally, each pizza is paired with a salad, from a springtime Salami and Red Onion Pizza with Calabrian Chiles and Hot Honey served with an Arugula Salad with Prosciutto and Parmesan, to a fall Broccoli Rabe and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza accompanied by a Farm Share Harvest Slaw to a summery Roasted Hatch Chili Pizza with Corn and Oaxaca with a Melon, Cucumber and Mint Salad. To end your meal on a sweet note, there are also a handful of simple desserts to choose from (Loaf Pan Tiramisu, One-Bowl Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake). Pizza Night serves up a year’s worth of delicious, inspired, and satisfying pizzas and salads.

Edited by Kate 

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Make pizza night a weekly tradition with these 52 seasonal pizzas paired with salads for a complete meal—from the award-winning author of Bread Toast Crumbs and creator of the popular blog Alexandra’s Kitchen.

“I dare you to flip through Ali’s easy-to-follow, farm-fresh recipes and not feel inspired to plan your first pizza night immediately.”—Jenny Rosenstrach, bestselling author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians

Making great pizza isn’t complicated. Whether you’re using a kitchen oven, a grill, or an outdoor pizza oven, it all starts with the dough.

In Pizza Night, Alexandra Stafford presents four simple doughs—thin-crust, pan, Neapolitan-style, and gluten-free (plus sourdough variations)—and easy techniques for perfecting your crust. From there, you can create a variety of delicious pizzas, including Detroit-Style Pizza for a Crowd, Classic Margherita Pizza, and Winter White Pizza with Garlic and Herbs. You can make it the same day or ahead; make it extra cheesy and decadent or go the healthy road—pizza-making easily adapts to busy schedules and tastes and requires little in special equipment.

Arranged seasonally, each pizza is paired with a salad, from a springtime Salami and Red Onion Pizza with Calabrian Chiles and Hot Honey served with an Arugula Salad with Prosciutto and Parmesan, to a fall Broccoli Rabe and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza accompanied by a Farm Share Harvest Slaw to a summery Roasted Hatch Chili Pizza with Corn and Oaxaca with a Melon, Cucumber and Mint Salad. To end your meal on a sweet note, there are also a handful of simple desserts to choose from (Loaf Pan Tiramisu, One-Bowl Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake). Pizza Night serves up a year’s worth of delicious, inspired, and satisfying pizzas and salads.

Edited by Kate

Decode the subtle signals of hormones with this foundational book from expert endocrinologist and leading researcher in the field.

Hormones rule our lives. From conception, to birth, to our last breath, hormones control the delicate processes that keep our bodies in balance. However, when this careful stasis is disturbed, our hormones can wreak havoc on our health.

Max Nieuwdorp, MD, PhD, knows exactly what signals your hormones are sending you and how they impact how you look, feel, and behave. In this foundational guide to hormonal health, he breaks down how hormones impact every system in the body, empowering you with the knowledge you need to get to the root of chronic health problems and set yourself up long lasting, sustainable wellness.

Inspired by Dr. Nieuwdorp’s day-to-day interaction with his patients, The Power of Hormones describes hormonal health in a detailed and accessible style, helping you clue in to symptoms of hormonal imbalance such as persistent fatigue and weight gain. His unique approach advocates for considering the far-reaching roles played by hormones throughout the body and is a go-to guide for understanding how they influence our health, our lives, and who we are.

Edited by Kate

Your guide to crafting embroidery masterpieces! Embark on an embroidery adventure with Jennifer as your mentor, igniting your own creative process. Discover Jennifer's organic approach, inspiring you to forge your path in embroidery. This book unravels everything from daily neural challenges to unconventional backgrounds, "auditioning" threads to create a unique color palette, and blending traditional stitches with a modern flair. Watch as common stitches morph into extraordinary treasures. Go on a journey through the stages of crafting unique embroidery, breaking free from conventions, and embracing joyous experimentation. With Jennifer's guidance, unleash your imagination and delight in creating unique embroidery art! Includes step-by-step instructions to 45 of Jennifer's favorite simple and most versatile stitches and how to transform them by adding other simple embroidery stitches and embellishments to create pressure points, movement, and softness. Explore multiple surfaces to incorporate embroidery--textile art, slow stitching, fabric journals, crazy quilting--that will appeal to all levels of stitchers. A beautiful, inspiring embroidery book that's an excellent tool for teachers and students alike.

Edited by Kate

Explore Your Crafty Nature

Let needle and thread transport you with 25 one-of-a-kind cross-stitch projects that evoke a peaceful, invigorating walk in the forest. Max Pigeon, cross-stitch designer and founder of Pigeon Coop, beautifully captures light, depth and color in these modern designs that celebrate the majesty of nature.

Stitchers can let their creative side go wild with patterns that range from minimalist tree motifs to detailed landscape masterpieces. Spend time creating the elegant beauty of The Mighty Oak or play with silhouettes in the two-hoop Eagle Ravine. Try your hand at stitching on black Aida cloth with the impressive Aurora, or challenge yourself to complete a more intricate scene with the stunning Sequoia Falls. With Max’s expert guidance and these inspiring, thoughtful cross-stitch patterns, the serene world of the woods is at your fingertips.

Edited by Kate

Explore the spiritual practices, legends, and traditions of various Indigenous tribes throughout the North American continent.

The Indigenous peoples of North America have followed a wide variety of spiritual traditions, many of which have been carried on to present day. Native American Spiritualism offers powerful insight into the origins and practices of Indigenous American spirituality while also providing guidance to help unlearn colonialist perspectives of Indigenous cultures and embrace an enlightened, nature-focused existence full of traditions of your own making.

This multifaceted guide to discovering your spirituality provides lessons on:
 

• Oral Traditions and the historical events of Mythic Time
• Key value systems of eight Nations, including the Chippewa, Sioux, and Chumash Nations
• Native American seasonal ceremonies and their cultural significance
• Everyday life in the Nations, including common foods, clothes, objects, and games
• And more!

As with every title in the Mystic Traditions series, Native American Spiritualism is a celebration of a unique and beautiful culture. As such, the subject matter and content has been treated with the utmost care and respect to ensure an accurate and reverent presentation that is accessible to a variety of audiences, and serves to further educate and foster support for these rich practices and traditions for years to come.

Illustrated with stunning imagery, Native American Spiritualism is a must-read for practitioners who wish to explore the origins of their craft and practices.

The Mystic Traditions series explores mystical and spiritual traditions and magical practices from around the world from a modern perspective. These guides offer concise introductions to the origins of mystical practices; explain key concepts, figures, and legends in these traditions; and give straightforward and engaging instruction on how to connect directly with these practices through rituals, spells, and more.

Also from the Mystic Traditions series: Celtic Mysticism, Zen Buddhism.

Edited by Kate 

In 2011, Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom. Brutal government repression transformed peaceful protests into one of the most devastating conflicts of our times, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. The Home I Worked to Make takes Syria's refugee outflow as its point of departure. Based on hundreds of interviews conducted across more than a decade, it probes a question as intimate as it is universal: What is home? With gripping immediacy, Syrians now on five continents share stories of leaving, losing, searching, and finding (or not finding) home. Across this tapestry of voices, a new understanding emerges: home, for those without the privilege of taking it for granted, is both struggle and achievement. Recasting "refugee crises" as acts of diaspora-making, The Home I Worked to Make challenges readers to grapple with the hard-won wisdom of those who survive war and to see, with fresh eyes, what home means in their own lives.

Edited by Kate 

The life and times of Catherine de’ Medici—the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe—as seen through her often controversial role in religion and the arts.

During an age of heightened religious conflict, Catherine de' Medici lived her life at the center of sixteenth-century European and French politics. Daughter of Lorenzo II, the Medici ruler of Florence—and then wedded to a French prince by papal decree at the age of fourteen—Catherine first became queen consort of France and then mother to three French kings (Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III) who reigned in an era of almost continuous civil and religious strife.

A lavish promoter of the arts, Catherine patronized poets, painters, and sculptors; lavished ruinous sums on the building and embellishment of monuments and palaces; and masterminded spectacular entertainments and tournaments that prefigure the splendor and ritual of the court of Versailles.

Catherine maintained eighty ladies-in-waiting at court; it was rumored she used these women as bait to seduce courtiers for her political ends. Her admiration for the seer Nostradamus fueled claims of her love for the occult and the dark arts. Posterity has condemned her as the epitome of the scheming royal matriarch, her reputation tainted forever by her role in instigating the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Protestants in 1572.

Catherine de’ Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen is Mary Hollingsworth's evocative, authoritative biography of the most extraordiary woman of the sixteenth-century.

Edited by Kate 

A behind-the-scenes look at The New Yorker cartoon caption contest, its history, how it's judged, and the secrets to writing a winning caption

Every week, thousands of people enter The New Yorker cartoon caption contest in hopes of seeing their name and caption in print. But only one person has made it to the finalists’ round an astounding fifteen times and won eight contests: Lawrence Wood, also known as the Ken Jennings of caption writing.

What's Wood's secret? What makes a caption good or bad? How do you beat the crowd? And most important, what makes a caption funny?

Packed with 175 of the magazine's best cartoons and featuring a foreword by Bob Mankoff, former cartoon editor of The New Yorker and creator of the caption contest, Your Caption Has Been Selected takes you behind the scenes to learn about the contest’s history, the way it’s judged, and what it has to say about humor, creativity, and good writing. Lawrence reveals his own captioning process and shows readers how to generate the perfect string of words to get a laugh. Informative, funny, and just a little vulgar, this book will delight anyone who doesn't have a personal vendetta against the author.

Edited by Kate 

Miss May Does Not Exist, by Carrie Courogen is the riveting biography of comedian, director, actor and writer Elaine May, one of America’s greatest comic geniuses. May began her career as one-half of the legendary comedy team known as Nichols and May, the duo that revolutionized the comedy sketch.

After performing their Broadway smash An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Elaine set out on her own. She toiled unsuccessfully on Broadway for a while, but then headed to Hollywood where she became the director of A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and the legendary Ishtar. She was hired as a script doctor on countless films like Heaven Can Wait, Reds, Tootsie, and The Birdcage. In 2019, she returned to Broadway where she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in The Waverly Gallery. Besides her considerable talent, May is well known for her reclusiveness. On one of the albums she made with Mike Nichols, her bio is this: “Miss May does not exist.” Until now.

Carrie Courogen has uncovered the Elaine May who does exist. Conducting countless interviews, she has filled in the blanks May has forcibly kept blank for years, creating a fascinating portrait of the way women were mistreated and held back in Hollywood. Miss May Does Not Exist is a remarkable love story about a prickly genius who was never easy to work with, not always easy to love and frequently often punished for those things, despite revolutionizing the way we think about comedy, acting, and what a film or play can be.

Edited by Kate 

The definitive story of the seven Cleopatras, the powerful goddess-queens of ancient Egypt



One of history's most iconic figures, Cleopatra is rightly remembered as a clever and charismatic ruler. But few today realize that she was the last in a long line of Egyptian queens who bore that name.  

  

In The Cleopatras, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the dramatic story of these seven incomparable women, vividly recapturing the lost world of Hellenistic Egypt and tracing the kingdom's final centuries before its fall to Rome. The Cleopatras were Greek-speaking descendants of Ptolemy, the general who conquered Egypt alongside Alexander the Great. They were closely related as mothers, daughters, sisters, half-sisters, and nieces. Each wielded absolute power, easily overshadowing their husbands or sons, and all proved to be shrewd and capable leaders. Styling themselves as goddess-queens, the Cleopatras ruled through the canny deployment of arcane rituals, opulent spectacles, and unparalleled wealth. They navigated political turmoil and court intrigues, led armies into battle and commanded fleets of ships, and ruthlessly dispatched their dynastic rivals.   

  

The Cleopatras is a fascinating and richly textured biography of seven extraordinary women, restoring these queens to their deserved place among history's greatest rulers.   

Edited by Kate 

The story of the celebrated rapper and the iconic Wu-Tang Clan, told by one of its founding members

Dennis Coles—aka Ghostface Killah—is a co-founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, a legendary hip hop group who established themselves by breaking all the rules, taking their music to the streets during hip hop’s golden era on a decade-long wave of releasing anthem after classic anthem, and serving as the foundation of modern hip hop. An all-star cast who formed like Voltron to establish the pillars that serve as the foundation of modern hip hop and released seminal albums that have stood the test of time.

Rise of a Killah is Ghost’s autobiography, focusing on the people, places and events that mean the most to him as he enters his fourth decade writing and performing. It’s a beautiful and intense book, going back to the creative ferment that led to Ghost’s first handwritten rhymes. Dive into Ghost’s defining personal moments, his battles with his personal demons, his journey to Africa, his religious viewpoints, his childhood in Staten Island, and his commitment to his family (including his two brothers with muscular dystrophy), from the Clan’s early successes to the pinnacle of Ghost’s career touring and spreading his wings as a solo artist, fashion icon, and trendsetter.

Exclusive photos and memorabilia, as well as graphic art commissioned for this book, make Rise of a Killah both a memoir and a unique visual record, a “real feel” narrative of Ghost’s life as he sees it, a one of a kind holy grail for Wu-Tang and Ghost fans alike.

Edited by Kate 

None of us make it through life without experiencing loss that leaves us feeling broken. That’s what makes grief so normal.

In Normal Broken, Kelly Cervantes isn’t trying to tell you what to do, how to feel, or the right way to heal. She’s also not flinging sunny thoughts, vibes, and prayers at you. After losing her daughter to epilepsy, she knows that grief is many things. It’s weird. It sucks. It’s all-encompassing. Something everyone will have to deal with. But never linear. Just as what we are grieving varies, so do our journeys to process it.

Normal Broken was born out of this desire to meet people where they are in their grief journeys, to lend a hand, or maybe to just sit in the dark with them. To acknowledge your brokenness and to feel broken together—never pressured to “move on” or “think positive.”

With chapters that can be read in any order, Normal Broken is divided into “moments” of grief that will allow you to choose what you need at any given time—such as:

• When you’re not sure if you want to heal
• When your greatest fear is socializing
• When you’re facing anniversaries and other meaningful dates
• When you’re ready to be okay

Kelly also shares stories from her ongoing journey, along with advice she wishes someone had given her, and simple exercises to help you reflect on where you are. Normal Broken is designed to serve as a companion through your own grief journey, whether you are mourning the loss of a child, a friend, a family member, or anyone special in your life.

Edited by Kate 

'Evocative and beautifully written, it's a deeply immersive read' Observer

'Charles Foster is the most original voice in nature writing today - funny, urgent, poetic, philosophical and deeply moving' Patrick Barkham

'Utterly exhilarating... This book demands we change our ways' Lee Schofield

'There aren't many writers like Charles around... a deeply thought-provoking book' James Aldred

'Reading this book feels like being made suddenly omniscient. In other words, you really have to' Tom Moorhouse

'Astonishingly playful, humorous, immensely varied and outrageously intelligent... The most inventive British writer presently at work on the theme of nature' Mark Cocker

What is it like to live in a world built by humans? These eight genre-blending stories reveal the complexity, beauty and fragility of wild lives - a brilliantly modern twist on classics like Watership Down and Tarka the Otter.

A fox, grown strong on pepperoni pizza from the dustbins of the East End, dances along a railway track towards Essex, the territory of wild foxes and wilder huntsmen.

An orca, mourning the loss of her mother in a valley west of Skye, knows that she must now lead the pod as matriarch. She swims again through her childhood, thinking about the old ways, the old roads, laid down thousands of years ago. But the old roads aren't so easy now.

At moonrise in a West Country river, an otter floats slowly downstream. The tide, though it pushes him landwards when it exhales, seems to pull him out when it inhales. He turns on his back. He can see the stars clearly for the first time and wonders if he can swim to them.

The wild has never stopped waiting. It has only ever been in exile, right under our noses, waiting to confound, outrage and re-enchant.

Edited by Kate

Deepen your relationship with the natural world through more than 80 delightfully inventive recipes featuring seasonal ingredients, plus thoughtful essays, tips, and basic techniques for foraging, preserving, and cooking over an open fire.

At a time when we urgently need to connect with the earth, Rooted Kitchen offers a fresh way to appreciate nature and the treasures it provides. Organized seasonally, you’ll find recipes to make the most of your farmers market or neighborhood foraging haul, such as a comforting Nettle Orecchiette with Sausage and Mint in spring (and how to use nettle leaves to make a nutritious, soothing cup of tea on chilly mornings); Nectarine Salad with Cucumber, Fennel, Feta and Herbs in summer; and Fire-Roasted Pumpkin Fondue with Chanterelles in fall.

You’ll also find tips for harvesting ingredients, from mushrooms to nettles to edible flowers, along with preserving, fermenting, beginner foraging techniques, and mindfulness activities. Seasonal ingredients are spotlighted so you can make the most of nearby nature. It can be as simple as pairing salmon with the distinct flavor of spruce tips snipped from a tree or plucking lilac blossoms and making Rhubarb-Lilac Jam to dollop on a pavlova. From small urban backyards to nearby parks to forests and beyond, when we become more connected to the outdoors through our food, it sparks a deeper connection to ourselves.

Edited by Kate 

The comprehensive guide to living with furniture, no matter your style, from the author of The Interior Design Handbook.
 
Interior-design sensation Frida Ramstedt changed how we think about designing a harmonious home with her book The Interior Design Handbook. Now she brings that same authoritative and comprehensive focus to this complementary guide that’s all about the most essential and functional items within your home.
 
No matter your style of home, we all want our spaces to feel inviting and comfortable. And the key to that is quality furniture that supports your lifestyle. The Furniture Handbook shares the foundational rules of choosing, arranging, and caring for the furniture in every room of your home. From selecting the perfect size dining table and seating that fits your family to arranging your living room pieces for the best flow, the basic principles that interior designers use and that everyone should master are provided.

• Know what to pay extra attention to when choosing and rearranging furniture and what common complaints people have so you can avoid them.
• Understand the dimensions and details of furniture design that determine whether a piece is comfortable or not.
• Select quality upholstery that looks beautiful and will endure wear and tear from pets, kids, and daily life.
• Learn how to match the scale of different pieces and plan what goes where before you start moving your furniture, so you never regret the time and money you have invested.
 
Complete with simple and elegant illustrations, The Furniture Handbook is your key to creating beautiful, personal spaces in your home.

Edited by Kate

A vibrant exploration of Korean cuisine, both in Korea and in Koreatowns around the globe, with more than 75 bold, flavor-packed recipes and stunning photography from the New York Times bestselling authors of Koreatown.
“A whirlwind introduction to a whole new world of food and an entirely new perspective on Korean cooking.”—Ruth Reichl, journalist and author of The Paris Novel

Join chef Deuki Hong and journalist Matt Rodbard as they take an insider’s look at the exciting evolution of Korean food through stories of chefs and home cooks, as well as recipes that are shaping modern Korean cuisine, including sweet-spicy barbecue, creative rice and seafood dishes, flavor-bombed stews, and KPOP-fueled street food.

In Koreatown, Deuki and Matt explored the foods of Korean American communities across the United States. Now with Koreaworld, they show how Korean cuisine today is nothing less than an international culinary revolution, from the ancient plant-based cooking of famed Buddhist monk-chefs to modern charred-greens rice rolls and pork-stuffed fried peppers.

Koreaworld takes readers into the bustling metropolis of Seoul, where the modern-day barbecue scene is pushing into new territory with recipes like Smoked Giant Short Ribs cooked over hay and where the city’s third-wave coffee culture is exploding. Deuki and Matt also visit Jeju Island, where seafood dishes like Jeju Whole Fried Smashed Rock Fish rule supreme, and they explore the plant-based temple cuisine found in the rural province of Jeolla-do, with dishes such as Cold Broccoli Salad with Ssamjang Mayo. The tour continues with late-night food adventures in Los Angeles and stops in the kitchens of innovative chefs from New York City to Portland who are putting modern spins on Korean classics with dishes like Rice and Ginseng–Stuffed Roast Chicken, Grilled Kimchi Wedge Salad, Kkaennip Pesto, and Pineapple Kimchi Fried Rice. Filled with recipes, stories, and conversations of Korean food’s global evolution, Koreaworld is essential reading for anyone curious about the future of food.

Edited by Kate 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better, a guide to navigating a second pregnancy when the first did not go as planned—with Dr. Nathan Fox, maternal fetal medicine specialist

In Expecting Better, Emily Oster revolutionized the pregnancy landscape with her data-driven approach. In the years since, she kept hearing questions from readers on how to approach a second pregnancy when the first has not gone as planned.

While The Unexpected is a book that Oster hopes no one needs, the reality is that 50 percent of pregnancies include complications, a fact we don’t talk about. Preeclampsia, miscarriage, hyperemesis gravidarum, preterm birth, postpartum depression: these are lonely experiences, and that isolation makes treatment harder to access—and crucial research and policy change less likely to happen.

The Unexpected lays out the data on recurrence and treatments shown to lower or mitigate risk for these conditions in subsequent pregnancies. It also provides readers road maps to facilitate productive conversations with their providers, with insights from lauded maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr. Nathan Fox.

By bridging the knowledge gap and making space for difficult conversations, The Unexpected promises to make the hardest parts of pregnancy a little bit less so.

Edited by Kate 

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history—until now.

“This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!” —Misty Copeland, author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy

“Utterly absorbing, flawlessly-researched…Vibrant, propulsive, and inspiring, The Swans of Harlem is a richly drawn portrait of five courageous women whose contributions have been silenced for too long!” —Tia Williams, author of A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarca was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company—the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a troupe of women and men who became each other’s chosen family. She was the first Black company ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star; she was cast in The Wiz and in a Bob Fosse production on Broadway. She performed in some of ballet’s most iconic works with other trailblazing ballerinas, including the young women who became her closest friends—founding Dance Theatre of Harlem members Gayle McKinney-Griffith and Sheila Rohan, as well as first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells.

These Swans of Harlem performed for the Queen of England, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder, on the same bill as Josephine Baker, at the White House, and beyond. But decades later there was almost no record of their groundbreaking history to be found. Out of a sisterhood that had grown even deeper with the years, these Swans joined forces again—to share their story with the world.

Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamour and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of both their historic careers and the sustaining, grounding power of female friendship, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.

Edited by Kate 

An illuminating selection of writings on a wide variety of topics—everything from technique, music theory, and daily routine to spirituality and systemic racism—from the personal journals of Sonny Rollins, master of the tenor saxophone and “jazz’s greatest living improviser” (The New York Times).

Sonny Rollins is one of the towering masters of American music, a virtuoso of the saxophone, and an unequaled improviser whose live performances are legendary and who has reshaped modern jazz time and time again over the course of a career lasting more than sixty years. A turning point in that legendary career came in 1959, when Rollins stepped back from performing and recording to begin a new regime of musical exploration, which saw him practicing for hours, sometimes all through the night, on the Williamsburg Bridge. This was also the moment when he started the notebook that would become a trusted companion in years to come—not a diary so much as a place to ponder art and life and his own search for meaning in words and in images.

At once quotidian and aphoristic, the notebooks mingle lists of chores and rehearsal routines with ruminations on nightclub culture, racism, and the conundrums of the inner life. And always there is the music—questions of embouchure, fingering, and technique; of harmony and dissonance; of his own and others’ art and the art of jazz. “Any definition,” Rollins insists, “which seeks to separate Johann Sebastian Bach from Miles Davis is defeating its own purpose of clarification. . . .The Musings of Miles is then the Bouncing of Bach both played against each other.”

Edited and introduced by the critic and jazz scholar Sam V.H. Reese, The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins provides an unequaled glimpse into the mind and workshop of a musical titan, as well as a wealth of insight and inspiration to readers.

Edited by Kate 

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An intimate memoir of love, desire, and personal growth that follows a happily married mother as she explores sex and relationships outside her marriage * "This book about open marriage is going to blow up your group chat"--The Washington Post

Molly Roden Winter was a mother of small children with a husband, Stewart, who often worked late. One night when Stewart missed the kids' bedtime--again--she stormed out of the house to clear her head. At a bar, she met Matt, a flirtatious younger man. When Molly told her husband that Matt had asked her out, she was surprised that Stewart encouraged her to accept.

So began Molly's unexpected open marriage and, with it, a life-changing journey of self-discovery. Molly signs up for dating sites, enters into passionate flings, and has sex in hotels and public places around New York City. For Molly it's a mystery why she wants what she wants. In therapy sessions, fueled by the discovery that her parents had an open marriage, too, she grapples with her past and what it means to be a mother and a whole person.

Molly and Stewart, who also begins to see other people, set ground rules: Don't date an ex. Don't date someone in the neighborhood. Don't go to anyone's home. And above all, don't fall in love. In the years that follow, they break most of their rules, even the most important one. They grapple with jealousy, insecurity, and doubts, all the while wondering: Can they love others and stay true to their love for each other? Can they make the impossible work?

More is an electric debut that offers both steamy fun and poignant reflections on motherhood, daughterhood, marriage, and self-fulfillment. With warmth, humor, and style, Molly Roden Winter delivers an unputdownable journey of a woman becoming her most authentic self.

Edited by Kate 

An illuminating selection of writings on a wide variety of topics—everything from technique, music theory, and daily routine to spirituality and systemic racism—from the personal journals of Sonny Rollins, master of the tenor saxophone and “jazz’s greatest living improviser” (The New York Times).

Sonny Rollins is one of the towering masters of American music, a virtuoso of the saxophone, and an unequaled improviser whose live performances are legendary and who has reshaped modern jazz time and time again over the course of a career lasting more than sixty years. A turning point in that legendary career came in 1959, when Rollins stepped back from performing and recording to begin a new regime of musical exploration, which saw him practicing for hours, sometimes all through the night, on the Williamsburg Bridge. This was also the moment when he started the notebook that would become a trusted companion in years to come—not a diary so much as a place to ponder art and life and his own search for meaning in words and in images.

At once quotidian and aphoristic, the notebooks mingle lists of chores and rehearsal routines with ruminations on nightclub culture, racism, and the conundrums of the inner life. And always there is the music—questions of embouchure, fingering, and technique; of harmony and dissonance; of his own and others’ art and the art of jazz. “Any definition,” Rollins insists, “which seeks to separate Johann Sebastian Bach from Miles Davis is defeating its own purpose of clarification. . . .The Musings of Miles is then the Bouncing of Bach both played against each other.”

Edited and introduced by the critic and jazz scholar Sam V.H. Reese, The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins provides an unequaled glimpse into the mind and workshop of a musical titan, as well as a wealth of insight and inspiration to readers.

Edited by Kate 

The #1 New York Times bestselling author and celebrity chef offers fast and flavorful recipes to help anyone cook like a chef in 30 minutes(ish) or less—every day of the week.

Finding himself at home more during the pandemic and in the hybrid world that followed, James Beard Award–winning author and chef Rocco DiSpirito rediscovered for the first time in decades the joy of cooking for and savoring weekday meals with his family and friends, something that was not a regular occurrence when he was working in a busy restaurant or as celebrity chef on the go.

Of course, as a home cook preparing nightly family meals, Rocco also experienced the fatigue of spending hours planning and cooking every night rather than sitting at the table enjoying family and friends. That’s what inspired this book: a collection of 100 no-fuss weekday meals to help you cook like a chef every night, in about thirty minutes or less. Every recipe is full of flavor and is sure to be a hit with the entire family. Recipes include many of Rocco’s favorites from over the years, plus all-new dishes, as well as classic Italian dishes from his childhood, including Mama Nicolina’s Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe and Sweet Sausage, Linguine Vongole, Everyday Pesto Orzo Caprese Salad, Salmon Miso Marmalade, Tuna Avocado Furikake Crudo, Hot Chili BBQ Ribs, and more.

This book is all about simple ingredients, lots of flavor, and efficient cooking. It’s sure to become the essential cookbook for everyday dinners that everyone will love.

Edited by Kate 

“Fans of Ree Drummond’s ‘Pioneer Woman’ culinary brand and Jill Winger’s ‘Prairie Homestead’ books will find Schoenith’s charming debut to be an equally beguiling introduction to cooking good old-fashioned food and living a simpler life.”—Library Journal

“The Heirloomed Kitchen is a beautiful, inspiring cookbook marked by warm Southern hospitality and nostalgia for days gone by.”—Foreword Reviews

Ashley Schoenith’s The Heirloomed Kitchen: Made-from-Scratch Recipes to Gather Around for Generations takes us back to our grandmother’s kitchen with enticing aromas and made-from-scratch meals cooked with love.

This carefully curated cookbook with nostalgic-style photography beautifully presents the food while also showcasing heirloom cookware, serving vessels and utensils, and the gracious gentility of Southern hospitality. The recipes are slow-paced and packed with family memories taken from those splattered, handwritten recipe cards passed down from mother to child to grandchild.

The 100 plus recipes, along with elegant photography, bring you to the table for family meals with breakfasts, appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, sides, desserts, special holiday gatherings, and, of course, classic drinks for the cocktail hour. You’ll find Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits, Fried Green Tomatoes, Chicken and Dumplings, St. George Island Shrimp and Grits, Cornmeal-Fried Okra, Banana Pudding Cups, Wild Strawberry Shortcakes, Derby Mint Juleps, and Back Porch Sun Tea all calling you to the dining room for food, family, and memory making.

More accolades:

“The Heirloomed Kitchen is a visually stunning book, beautifully styled with Ashley's textiles and family keepsakes. Ashley's organic sensibility to both her day job, as a textile designer, and her approachable and comforting family of recipes make me want to dive in and live in this book. If you do not already have a soft spot for the south, it's heritage, traditions and history, follow Ashley's recipes for gathering around a table, a well set table, and enjoy your family and friends.”—Anne Quatrano, author of Summerland, chef & owner, Bacchanalia & Star Provisions

“It's no surprise that Ashley's strong sense of place rings true throughout this beautiful book. Nods to Ice Milk and Parker House Rolls were a reminder to rediscover the simple recipes tied to memories of my childhood. Her thoughtful notes, storied recipes, and signature aesthetic will no doubt inspire readers to honor and create their own unique traditions around the table.”—Carrie Morey, author of Hot Little Suppers & owner of Callies Hot Little Biscuit

“The Heirloomed Kitchen is a treasure trove of time-honored recipes that celebrate the cherished tradition of gathering together around dishes that will always feel like home. Each page is a delicious journey, and Ashley has masterfully captured the joy of Southern cooking. This book is a must-have for anyone who believes the best meals are made with love and enjoyed with family."—Courtney Dial Whitmore, author of The Southern Entertainer's Cookbook.

Edited by Kate 

“A beautiful book for readers researching affordable options for chic yet environmentally friendly ADU construction.”—Library Journal

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are good for people and communities. An inside look at 25 charming, ultra-functional, extra living spaces will inspire you to build one of your own!

An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is a smaller housing unit built on the same lot as a primary dwelling (also known as Additional or Auxiliary Dwelling Units) — think granny flat, in-law unit, laneway house). It has an arrangement for sleeping, cooking, and lavatory. An ADU can be detached, attached, a garage conversion, or a basement conversion. The uses are myriad—for family members, guest spaces, rental income, or more.

These attractive, well-designed ADUs are located from coast to coast across the US and Canada. Each house includes information about the type of construction, the major green features, and how it is used. A variety of styles (e.g., laneway houses, garage conversions, and stand-alone independent structures, and ones connected to the primary house) show versatility and ways to blend new ADUS into the architecture of the primary house and neighborhood.

Each featured ADU shows how to make the most of the small space for comfortable living without the burden of a big house to care for.

More Accolades:

“The contemporary architectural designs are sleek, and the environmentally friendly features offer insight into how housing can be made more efficient. This is worth a look.”—Publishers Weekly

Edited by Kate 

A profound, startling new understanding of Jewish life, illuminating the forgotten heart of Jewish theology and practice: love.

A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held—one of the most important Jewish thinkers in America today—recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition, offering the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity. Blending intellectual rigor, a respect for tradition and the practices of a living Judaism, and a commitment to the full equality of all people, Held seeks to reclaim Judaism as it authentically is. He shows that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness.

Ambitious and revelatory, Judaism Is About Love illuminates the true essence of Judaism—an act of restoration from within.

Edited by Kate 

Characterized by "a radical simplicity and seriousness of purpose, along with a fearless interest in autobiography and its tragedies and redemptions" (Matthew Zapruder, New York Times Magazine), Marie Howe's poetry transforms penetrating observations of everyday life into sacred, humane miracles. This essential volume draws from each of Howe's four previous collections--including What the Living Do (1997), a haunting archive of personal loss, and the National Book Award-longlisted Magdalene (2017), a spiritual and sensual exploration of contemporary womanhood--and contains twenty new poems. Whether speaking in the voice of the goddess Persephone or thinking about aging while walking the dog, Howe is "a light-bearer, an extraordinary poet of our human sorrow and ordinary joy" (Dorianne Laux).

Edited by Kate 

A kinder, funner usage guide to the ever-changing English language and a useful tool for both the grammar stickler and the more colloquial user of English, from linguist and veteran professor Anne Curzan
 
“I was bowled over, page after page, by the author’s fine ear for our language and her openhearted erudition. I learned a lot, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more.”—Benjamin Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author of Dreyer’s English

Our use of language naturally evolves and is a living, breathing thing that reflects who we are. Says Who? offers clear, nuanced guidance that goes beyond “right” and “wrong” to empower us to make informed language choices. Never snooty or scoldy (yes, that’s a “real” word!), this book explains where the grammar rules we learned in school actually come from and reveals the forces that drive dictionary editors to label certain words as slang or unacceptable.

Linguist and veteran English professor Anne Curzan equips readers with the tools they need to adeptly manage (a split infinitive?! You betcha!) formal and informal writing and speaking. After all, we don’t want to be caught wearing our linguistic pajamas to a job interview any more than we want to show up for a backyard barbecue in a verbal tux, asking, “To whom shall I pass the ketchup?” Curzan helps us use our new knowledge about the developing nature of language and grammar rules to become caretakers of language rather than gatekeepers of it. Applying entertaining examples from literature, newspapers, television, and more, Curzan welcomes usage novices and encourages the language police to lower their pens, showing us how we can care about language precision, clarity, and inclusion all at the same time.

With lively humor and humanity, Says Who? is a pragmatic and accessible key that reveals how our choices about language usage can be a powerful force for equity and personal expression. For proud grammar sticklers and self-conscious writers alike, Curzan makes nerding out about language fun.

Edited by Kate 

"VERDICT Informative and full of big flavors, this is a delicious and accessible introduction to Caribbean food for novices; will be a welcome addition to library shelves." —Library Journal

Through 80+ recipes, Code Noir tells the interesting and complex story of Caribbean cuisines that are not only incredibly rich in flavor but also in history.

Code Noir is a cookbook steeped in history. Not just because of the title, which hits on a seventeenth-century decree in which King Louis XIV recorded how enslaved Africans in the French colonies were to be treated, but also because it deals with the food and the people that, through the gruesome course of history, came together in the Caribbean.

Inside, chef and culinary activist Lelani Lewis goes back to her Caribbean roots with classics like jerk chicken, salted cod fritters, pepperpot stew, and Guinness punch. She also shares new creations with typically Caribbean ingredients like cassava, corn, coconut, lime, plantain, and chilies: plantain with peanut and lime salsa, sweet potato gratin with ginger cream, and crème anglaise of creamed corn and caramelized guava.

Edited by Kate 

A fascinating guide to the rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence and how this powerful technology will impact our lives, our careers, and our world.

Artificial intelligence is driving workforce disruption on a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution.

In schools and universities AI technology has forced a reevaluation of the way students are taught and assessed. Meanwhile, ChatGPT has become a cultural phenomenon, reaching a hundred million users and attracting a reputed $1 trillion investor interest in its parent company, OpenAI.

The race to dominate the generative AI market is accelerating at breakneck speed, inspiring breathless headlines and immense public interest.

Welcome to AI provides a rare view into a frontier area of computer science that will change everything about how you live and work. Read this book and better understand how to succeed in the AI-enabled future.

An incisive exploration of women and work, showing how globalization’s promise of liberation instead set the stage for repression—from the acclaimed author of Factory Girls

“Exhaustively reported and researched, Egyptian Made takes us halfway across the world and inside the intimate lives of women caught between tradition and independence.”—Monica Potts, New York Times bestselling author of The Forgotten Girls

What happens to the women who choose to work in a country struggling to reconcile a traditional culture with the demands of globalization? In this sharply drawn portrait of Egyptian society—deepened by two years of immersive reporting—Leslie T. Chang follows three women as they persevere in a country that throws up obstacles to their progress at every step, from dramatic swings in economic policy to conservative marriage expectations and a failing education system.

Working in Egypt’s centuries-old textile industry, Riham is a shrewd businesswoman who nevertheless struggles to attract workers to her garment factory and to compete in the global marketplace. Rania, who works on a factory assembly line, attempts to climb to a management rank but is held back by conflicts with co-workers and the humiliation of an unhappy marriage. Her colleague Doaa, meanwhile, pursues an education and independence but sacrifices access to her own children in order to get a divorce.

Alongside these stories, Chang shares her own experiences living and working in Egypt for five years, seeing through her own eyes the risks and prejudices that working women continue to face. She also weaves in the history of Egypt’s vaunted textile industry, its colonization and independence, a century of political upheaval, and the history of Islam in Egypt, all of which shaped the country as it is today and the choices available to Riham, Rania, and Doaa. Following each woman’s story from home and work, Chang powerfully observes the near-impossible balancing act that Egyptian women strike every day.

A 2024 MOST ANTICIPATED READ -- The Millions, BookPage, LitHub, and more

From the national bestselling novelist and essayist, a groundbreaking collection of brand-new pieces about the role of cultural criticism in our ever-changing world.

In her writing for Harper's, the London Review of Books, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, Lauren Oyler has emerged as one of the most trenchant and influential critics of her generation, a talent whose judgments on works of literature--whether celebratory or scarily harsh--have become notorious. But what is the significance of being a critic and consumer of media in today's fraught environment? How do we understand ourselves, and each other, as space between the individual and the world seems to get smaller and smaller, and our opinions on books and movies seem to represent something essential about our souls? And to put it bluntly, why should you care what she--or anyone--thinks?

In this, her first collection of essays, Oyler writes with about topics like the role of gossip in our exponentially communicative society, the rise and proliferation of autofiction, why we're all so "vulnerable" these days, and her own anxiety. In her singular prose--sharp yet addictive, expansive yet personal--she encapsulates the world we live and think in with precision and care, delivering a work of cultural criticism as only she can.

Bringing to mind the works of such iconic writers as Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, and Terry Castle, No Judgment is a testament to Lauren Oyler's inimitable wit and her quest to understand how we shape the world through culture. It is a sparkling nonfiction debut from one of today's most inventive thinkers.

Edited by Kate 

This essential guide to growing a bountiful food garden includes detailed seed-starting, growing, and harvesting information for 62 vegetables, fruits, and herbs, a complete companion-planting guide, and organic pest-control handbook.

The latest addition to Storey's bestselling Backyard Homestead series, The Backyard Homestead Guide to Growing Organic Food is a one-stop reference for all the key information food gardeners need to grow a healthy, bountiful garden. Author Tanya Denckla Cobb presents key information based on extensive research and years of experience, including when to start seeds for each type of crop (and at what temperature), how far apart to space seedlings, how to tell when a crop is ready to harvest, and notes on preservation. The book features a comprehensive companion planting guide and an in-depth review of the most effective organic pest control practices, including recipes for how to make your own pest deterrent sprays.

Edited by Kate 

Taking its cues from the wonderful world of online dating, Houseplant Hookups explores the pros and cons of cohabitating with different houseplants.

★ “Isabel, who hails from three generations of plant-loving family members, shares her expertise and knowledge of houseplants in this amusing, informative book, best for neophyte horticulturists who might not yet have a green thumb.”—Library Journal, Starred Review

Cohabitation is a big step in any relationship, so to make sure you don’t get stuck with a deadleaf, Houseplant Hookups digs up all the dirt on 35 prospective houseplant partners. By first setting the foundation for a successful relationship with information on purchasing, propagating, and basic plant care, it’ll be easy to know when you’ve found the One.

Does your apartment have a scenic view of a brick wall? The Snake Plant thrives in low light. Tend to forget you’re even in a relationship? The Golden Pothos is anything but codependent and won’t hold neglect against you. Far more helpful than your average Tinder profile, Houseplant Hookups will help you decide if a relationship with a Fiddle Leaf Fig is more likely to be a fling or a forever kind of love.

Not sure where to start? Take the Cosmo-inspired quiz to narrow down your matches.

The perfect gift for any plant or gardening enthusiast, these illustrated dating profiles are as hilarious as they are informative.

More Accolades:

“The playful profiles provide a helpful overview of common houseplants, and Degnan’s colorful illustrations accentuate the distinguishing characteristics of each....Readers curious about what houseplant is right for them will want to consult this.”—Publishers Weekly

“The book is absolutely fantastic. Witty, clever, tasteful, beautiful... unique. One of a kind. I also love how the book feels in your hands. The quality of the printing and colors are magnificent.”—Alina Fassakhova, New York Based artist and plant enthusiast

“Houseplant Hookups is a fun book, with a creative approach to an otherwise fairly mundane topic. It engages readers with indoor horticulture and reminds us that no matter how big (or small) the garden, there is a perfect plant out there for all of us.”—Alice Bennett on Reedsy

“Agatha Isabel's Houseplant Hookups is the perfect book for people whose brown thumbs have let many a plant die. Clear explanations, a friendly tone, and lots of humor ease plant-shy readers into trying for plant love again.”—Shelf Awareness

Edited by Kate 

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the creator of Kat Can Cook comes 110 simple, nourishing, mostly gluten-free recipes that are big on flavor and reimagine the concept of “healthy food.”

Kat Ashmore’s mission is to empower hungry readers everywhere to feed themselves and their loved ones well and have fun doing it. Rather than focusing on restriction or deprivation, she asks: What can we add to our plates? After she turned to TikTok for a creative outlet, her series of big, meal-in-a-bowl salads, known affectionately as “Hungry Lady Salads,” went viral on social media, and she found a likeminded community of home cooks who wanted to fall in love with cooking again.

In Ashmore's debut cookbook, she shares 110 wholesome, comforting mostly gluten-free recipes that are full of flavor, nourishment, and fun—and meant to be devoured in big bites! With her signature personality and joy, this cookbook is a celebration of nature and seasonality and encourages home cooks to rethink familiar ingredients. From Hungry Lady Salads and weeknight dinners to snacks and desserts, Big Bites shares recipes for

• Breakfasts: Avocado Toast with Hot Honey; Goat Cheese Fried Eggs
• Snacks: Burrata with Roasted Grapes; 5-Minute Tzatziki
• Hungry Lady Salads: Shaved Caesar Salad with Fennel and Crispy Chickpeas; Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Sesame Date Dressing
• Weeknights: Honey Mustard Roasted Salmon; One-Pot Pasta with Chicken Sausage + Broccoli
• Sunday Suppers: The Ultimate Beef Meatloaf with Caramelized Onions and Horseradish; Crispy Cod Cakes with Tartar Sauce
• Veggies + Sides: Salt and Vinegar Smashed Potatoes; Parmesan Roasted Zucchini
• Desserts: Orange Ricotta Company Cake; Extra Fudgy Avocado Brownies
• Secret Weapons: Quick Pickled Red Onions; Any-Green Sauce

Bring joy back into your kitchen with Kat Ashmore and Big Bites!

Edited by Kate 

Before the sensational cases of Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony—before even Lizzie Borden—there was Polly Bodine, the first American woman put on trial for capital murder in our nation’s debut media circus.

On Christmas night, December 25, 1843, in a serene village on Staten Island, shocked neighbors discovered the burnt remains of twenty-four-year-old mother Emeline Houseman and her infant daughter, Ann Eliza. In a perverse nativity, someone bludgeoned to death a mother and child in their home—and then covered up the crime with hellfire.

When an ambitious district attorney charges Polly Bodine (Emelin’s sister-in-law) with a double homicide, the new “penny press” explodes. Polly is a perfect media villain: she’s a separated wife who drinks gin, commits adultery, and has had multiple abortions. Between June 1844 and April 1846, the nation was enthralled by her three trials—in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Newburgh—for the “Christmas murders.”

After Polly’s legal dream team entered the fray, the press and the public debated not only her guilt, but her character and fate as a fallen woman in society. Public opinion split into different camps over her case. Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman covered her case as young newsmen. P. T. Barnum made a circus out of it. James Fenimore Cooper’s last novel was inspired by her trials.

The Witch of New York is the first narrative history about the dueling trial lawyers, ruthless newsmen, and shameless hucksters who turned the Polly Bodine case into America’s formative tabloid trial. An origin story of how America became addicted to sensationalized reporting of criminal trials, The Witch of New York vividly reconstructs an epic mystery from Old New York—and uses the Bodine case to challenge our system of tabloid justice of today.

Edited by Kate 

From the author of the definitive biography of Frank Sinatra, the story of how jazz arrived at the pinnacle of American culture in 1959, told through the journey of three towering artists—Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans—who came together to create the most iconic jazz album of all time, Kind of Blue

The myth of the ’60s depends on the 1950s being the “before times” of conformity, segregation, straightness—The Lonely Crowd and The Organization Man. This all carries some truth, but it does nothing to explain how, in 1959, America’s great indigenous art form, jazz, reached the height of its power and popularity, thanks to a number of Black geniuses so legendary they go by one name—Monk, Mingus, Rollins, Coltrane, and, above all, Miles. Nineteen fifty-nine saw Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, and more come together to record what is widely considered the greatest jazz album of all time, and certainly the bestselling: Kind of Blue.

3 Shades of Blue is James Kaplan’s magnificent account of the paths of the three giants to the mountaintop of 1959 and beyond. It’s a book about music, and business, and race, and heroin, and the towns that gave jazz its home, from New Orleans and New York to Kansas City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and LA. It’s an astonishing meditation on creativity and the strange hothouses that can produce its full flowering. It’s a book about the great forebears of this golden age, particularly Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and the disrupters, like Ornette Coleman, who would take the music down truly new paths. And it’s about why the world of jazz most people know is a museum to this never-replicated period.

But above all, 3 Shades of Blue is a book about three very different men—their struggles, their choices, their tragedies, their greatness. Bill Evans had a gruesome downward spiral; John Coltrane took the mystic’s path into a space far away from mainstream concerns. Miles had three or four sea changes in him before the end. The tapestry of their lives is, in Kaplan’s hands, an American odyssey with no direction home. It is also a masterpiece, a book about jazz that is as big as America.

Edited by Kate 

During childhood summers in Louisiana, Andre Dubus III's grandfather taught him that men's work is hard. As an adult, whether tracking down a drug lord in Mexico as a bounty hunter or grappling with privilege while living with a rich girlfriend in New York City, Dubus worked--at being a better worker and a better human being.

In Ghost Dogs, Dubus's nonfiction prowess is on full display in his retelling of his own successes, failures, triumphs, and pain. In his longest essay, "If I Owned a Gun," Dubus reflects on the empowerment and shame he felt in keeping a gun, and his decision, ultimately, to give it up. Elsewhere, he writes of a violent youth and of settled domesticity and fatherhood, about the omnipresent expectations and contradictions of masculinity, about the things writers remember and those they forget. Drawing upon kindred literary spirits from Rilke to Rumi to Tim O'Brien, Ghost Dogs renders moments of personal revelation with emotional generosity and stylistic grace, ultimately standing as essential witness and testimony to the art of the essay.

Edited by Kate 

The story of how unexpected connections between music, technology, and race across three tumultuous decades changed American culture.

How did a European social dance craze become part of an American presidential election? Why did the recording industry become racially divided? Where did rock 'n' roll really come from? And how do all these things continue to reverberate in today's world?

In Revolutions in American Music, award-winning author Michael Broyles shows the surprising ways in which three key decades--the 1840s, the 1920s, and the 1950s--shaped America's musical future. Drawing connections between new styles of music like the minstrel show, jazz, and rock 'n' roll, and emerging technologies like the locomotive, the first music recordings, and the transistor radio, Broyles argues that these decades fundamentally remade our cultural landscape in enduring ways. At the same time, these connections revealed racial fault lines running through the business of music, in an echo of American society as a whole.

Through the music of each decade, we come to see anew the social, cultural, and political fabric of the time. Broyles combines broad historical perspective with an eye for the telling detail and presents a variety of characters to serve as focal points, including the original Jim Crow, a colorful Hungarian dancing master named Gabriel de Korponay, "Empress of the Blues" Bessie Smith, and the singer Johnnie Ray, whom Tony Bennett called "the father of rock 'n' roll." Their stories, and many others, animate Broyles's masterly account of how American music became what it is today.

Edited by Kate 

From young Afghani activist and Amnesty International Global Youth Ambassador Pashtana Durrani, a deeply inspiring memoir about the power of learning and the value of educators in their many forms – from teachers, mentors, and role models, to fathers, mothers, and any one of us with the drive to stand against ignorance…

A Ms. Magazine Pick for Most Anticipated Feminist Books


“Pashtana’s story highlights the resourcefulness and bravery of young women in Afghanistan. I hope readers will be inspired by her mission to give every girl the education she deserves and the opportunity to pursue her dreams.”—Malala Yousafzai

Inspired by generations of her family’s unwavering belief in the power of education, Pashtana Durrani recognized her calling early in life: to educate Afghanistan’s girls and young women, raised in a society where learning is forbidden. In a country devastated by war and violence, where girls are often married off before reaching their teenage years and prohibited from leaving their homes, heeding that call seemed both impossible and dangerous.

Pashtana was raised in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan where her father, a tribal leader, founded a community school for girls within their home. Fueled by his insistence that despite being a girl, she mattered and deserved an education, Pashtana was sixteen when, against impossible odds, she was granted a path out of the refugee camp: admittance to a preparatory program at Oxford. Unthinkably and to her parents’ horror, she chose a different path. She chose Afghanistan.

Pashtana founded the nonprofit LEARN and developed a program for getting educational materials directly into the hands of girls in remote areas of the country, training teachers in digital literacy. Her commitment to education has made her a target of the Taliban. Still, she continues to fight for women’s education and autonomy in Afghanistan and beyond.

Courageous and inspiring, Last to Eat, Last to Learn is the story of how just one person can transform a family, a tribe, a country. It reminds us of the emancipatory power of learning and the transformational potential that lies within each of us.

A portion of proceeds from Last to Eat, Last to Learn will be donated to LEARN (LearnAfghan.org), the NGO dedicated to providing quality education and healthcare to communities in conflict zones.

Edited by Kate 

"Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a "contract wife," a second-class citizen who was hired as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Switzerland. She needed his permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to her apartment, and she performed menial duties for the CIA. Despite battling sexism at all levels of the agency, Mendez's talent for espionage was clear, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles. She lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, as well as at CIA Headquarters. She confronted dangerous situations that called on her spy training: coming face to face with a rogue Jihadi who had brought down an American plane, and helping steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet embassy, among other high stakes situations. She became an international spy and ultimately Chief of Disguise at CIA's Office of Technical Service--a kind of female American version of James Bond's famous "Q." In this breakthrough memoir, Mendez recounts not only the drama of her international spy career but the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate the CIA's misogynistic world. She was undermined, harassed, and threatened, and saw colleagues experience worse. While maintaining a patriotic mission and working to advance her own career, she was a firsthand witness to the cost of this gendered culture, both to the women who worked there, and to the interests of the agency and the nation it serves. In True Face is both clear-eyed and dramatic: the story of an incredible spy career, and what it took to achieve it"--

Edited by Kate

The definitive book on how systemic racism in America really works, revealing the vast and often hidden network of interconnected policies, practices, and beliefs that combine to devastate Black lives



In recent years, condemnations of racism in America have echoed from the streets to corporate boardrooms. At the same time, politicians and commentators fiercely debate racism's very existence. And so, our conversations about racial inequalities remain muddled.



In Metaracism, pioneering scholar Tricia Rose cuts through the noise with a bracing and invaluable new account of what systemic racism actually is, how it works, and how we can fight back. She reveals how--from housing to education to criminal justice--an array of policies and practices connect and interact to produce an even more devastating "metaracism" far worse than the sum of its parts. While these systemic connections can be difficult to see--and are often portrayed as "color-blind"--again and again they function to disproportionately contain, exploit, and punish Black people.



By helping us to comprehend systemic racism's inner workings and destructive impacts, Metaracism shows us also how to break free--and how to create a more just America for us all.

Edited by Kate 

Your table is ready . . . Learn to draw over 100 adorable doodles of your favorite snacks, desserts, drinks, and more!

Welcome to the Kawaii Doodle Café, where popular kawaii artist Faith Varvara shows you how to draw over 100 cute and tasty foods, both sweet and savory, with easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorials, including breakfast, lunch, snacks, à la carte items, pastries, desserts, and drinks, along with tableware. This adorable book includes:
 

• A simple drawing style perfect for beginner artists of all ages.
• Delectable foods and drinks from around the world, including Tiramisu, Crème Brûlée, Strawberry Parfait, Avocado Toast, Breakfast Burrito, Japanese Omurice, Bubble Tea, and much more!
• A cozy café aesthetic.
• A fun introduction about the café and its cute, talented staff.
• Tips for drawing and coloring your foods.
• Endless options to customize the foods to create your own feasts. 
• Coloring pages.

Soon enough, you’ll be a regular customer, filling your sketchbook with a delicious memory every time you visit.

Keep doodling away as you collect all the fun books in the Kawaii Doodle series, which include: Kawaii Doodle Class, Mini Kawaii Doodle Class, Kawaii Doodle Cuties, Mini Kawaii Doodle Cuties, Kawaii Doodle World, Kawaii Kitties, and Kawaii Doggies.

"Beguiling. The gentle and persistent search by Darlington sparkles." --The Guardian

A plan formed in my mind. I would explore the places in this land that hid my grail. I would spend a whole year or longer, if that's what it took, wading through marshes, hiding between mossy rocks, paddling down rivers and swimming in sea lochs; recording my journey through the seasons as I searched for wild otters.

Mysterious, graceful, and ever-clever, otters have captivated our imaginations, despite the fact that few people have encountered one in the wild. In Otter Country, celebrated nature writer Miriam Darlington captures the fascination she's had for these playful animals since childhood, and chronicles her immersive journey into their watery world.

Over the course of a single year, Darlington takes readers on a winding expedition in pursuit of these elusive creatures--from her home in Devon, England, and through the wilds of Scotland, Wales, the Lake District, and the countryside of Cornwall. As she's drawn deeper into wilder habitats, trekking through changing landscapes, seasons, and weather, Darlington meets biologists, conservationists, fishing and hunting enthusiasts, and poets--enriching her understanding, admiration, and awe of the wild otter. With each encounter, she reveals the scientific, environmental, and cultural importance of this creature and the places it calls home.

Full of wonder, hope, and an abiding love for the natural world, Otter Country: An Unexpected Adventure in the Natural World is a beautiful and captivating work of nature writing, pursuing one of nature's most endearing and endlessly fascinating creatures.

How to keep alive 119 gorgeous indoor plants, then help them bloom and thrive.

You've welcomed a plant into the home: Now what? Your first job is to keep it alive, then after that help it bloom and thrive. Learn all the tips and tricks you need to become a proud plant parent--of more than 100 different plants (if you're up for it)!

Yellowed leaves, drooping leaves, dried leaves, even though you've watered it: What's going on? How Not to Kill Your Houseplant will explain--and fix--your houseplant woes.

Learn to spot the danger signs and take the proper action to rescue your sick plant.

Follow quick tips to understand what your plant does and doesn't like: how much light, water, food, heat, and humidity.

Discover the perfect plant for your unique space and needs. Bathrooms, cold rooms, at a desk, on a windowsill, or in a gloomy corner or hot suntrap--there are plants for every location to create your own indoor oasis.

This is your guide to every stage of plant parenting for beginners, from identifying exactly what's in the pot to keeping it in check when it grows too well!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTESLLER • From the author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work—and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life
“A winning combination of stories, studies, and guidance that might well transform the worst communicators you know into some of the best.”—Adam Grant, author of Think Again and Hidden Potential

Come inside a jury room as one juror leads a starkly divided room to consensus. Join a young CIA officer as he recruits a reluctant foreign agent. And sit with an accomplished surgeon as he tries, and fails, to convince yet another cancer patient to opt for the less risky course of treatment. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg blends deep research and his trademark storytelling skills to show how we can all learn to identify and leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation.

Communication is a superpower and the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). If you don’t know what kind of conversation you’re having, you’re unlikely to connect. 

Supercommunicators know the importance of recognizing—and then matching—each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and deeply held beliefs that color so much of what we say and how we listen. Our experiences, our values, our emotional lives—and how we see ourselves, and others—shape every discussion, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work. In this book, you will learn why some people are able to make themselves heard, and to hear others, so clearly.

With his storytelling that takes us from the writers’ room of The Big Bang Theory to the couches of leading marriage counselors, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these three conversations—and teaches us the tips and skills we need to navigate them more successfully.

In the end, he delivers a simple but powerful lesson: With the right tools, we can connect with anyone.

An acclaimed chef offers a historically informed cookbook that will change how you think about Midwestern cuisine.

Celebrated chef Paul Fehribach has made his name serving up some of the most thoughtful and authentic regional southern cooking—not in the South, but in Chicago at Big Jones. But over the last several years, he has been looking to his Indiana roots in the kitchen, while digging deep into the archives to document and record the history and changing foodways of the Midwest.

Fehribach is as painstaking with his historical research as he is with his culinary execution. In Midwestern Food, he focuses not only on the past and present of Midwestern foodways but on the diverse cultural migrations from the Ohio River Valley north- and westward that have informed them. Drawing on a range of little-explored sources, he traces the influence of several heritages, especially German, and debunks many culinary myths along the way.

The book is also full of Fehribach’s delicious recipes informed by history and family alike, such as his grandfather's favorite watermelon rind pickles; sorghum-pecan sticky rolls; Detroit-style coney sauce; Duck and manoomin hotdish; pawpaw chiffon pie; strawberry pretzel gelatin salad (!); and he breaks the code to the most famous Midwestern pizza and BBQ styles you can easily reproduce at home. But it is more than just a cookbook, weaving together historical analysis and personal memoir with profiles of the chefs, purveyors, and farmers who make up the food networks of the region.

The result is a mouth-watering and surprising Midwestern feast from farm to plate. Flyover this!

The Official Story of a Musical Icon─Told in Full for the First Time in his Own Words!

"The most entertaining music memoir since Elton John's Me... This is George O'Dowd in all his exhausting glory." Observer

#1 New Release in Gay Studies and LGBTQ+ Biographies

Karma is the definitive autobiography from the incomparable Grammy, Brit, and Ivor Novello award-winning lead singer of Culture Club, and LGBTQ+ vanguard: Boy George.

Nothing short of an amazing story. Karma is the long-anticipated celebrity memoir from Boy George. The memoir delivers a searingly honest and captivating account of his extraordinary life. Take a front-row seat to the highs and lows of a life lived in the spotlight. Boy George's compelling storytelling shines a light on his encounters with legendary figures like David Bowie, Prince, and Madonna, providing an intimate peek into the music industry's glittering world.

Humor, sarcasm, and signature style. This is the explosive and honest account of Boy George's life as a child growing up in sixties London and coming out to his Irish Catholic family. Hear his account of his exploration of his sexuality through the hedonism of the seventies (the glam rock and punk rock revolution that birthed Culture Club), his recollections of the heydays of the nineties, and his ultimately embracing the man and artist that he is today. For those seeking books on self-acceptance and recovery from addiction, Karma stands as an example of the transformative power of embracing one's true self.

Inside explore:

• An explosive self-acceptance journey
• The glitz and glamour as well as personal struggles that have shaped Boy George's life
• An essential addition to the library of celebrity autobiographies and LGBTQ+ books for adults

Edited by Kate

A revelatory new history that reexamines the brutal reality of the Holocaust-and reinterprets the events as a living trauma from which modern society has not yet recovered

One of the UK's most acclaimed books of the year: "Outstanding" (Times Literary Supplement); "Remarkable" (Guardian); "Important and challenging" (Jewish Chronicle); "Deeply haunting" (Telegraph)

The Holocaust is much discussed, much memorialized, and much portrayed. But there are major aspects of its history that have been overlooked.

Spanning the entirety of the Holocaust, this sweeping history deepens our understanding. Dan Stone--Director of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London--reveals how the idea of "industrial murder" is incomplete: many were killed where they lived in the most brutal of ways. He outlines the depth of collaboration across Europe, arguing persuasively that we need to stop thinking of the Holocaust as an exclusively German project. He also considers the nature of trauma the Holocaust engendered, and why Jewish suffering has yet to be fully reckoned with. And he makes clear that the kernel to understanding Nazi thinking and action is genocidal ideology, providing a deep analysis of its origins.

Drawing on decades of research, The Holocaust: An Unfinished History upends much of what we think we know about the Holocaust. Stone draws on Nazi documents, but also on diaries, post-war testimonies, and even fiction, urging that, in our age of increasing nationalism and xenophobia, it is vital that we understand the true history of the Holocaust.

Edited by Kate

A scathing reexamination of the lives of nine female celebrities in the 2000s, and the sexist, exploitative culture that took them down



Welcome to celebrity culture in the early aughts: the reign of Perez Hilton, celebrity sex tapes, and dueling tabloids fed by paparazzi who were willing to do anything to get the shot. It was a time when the Internet was still the Wild West, and when slut-shaming, fat-shaming, and revenge porn were all considered perfectly legitimate. Celebrity was seen as a commodity to be consumed, and for the famous women of this era, they were never as popular--or as vulnerable--as when they were in crisis.



Toxic tells the stories of nine women who defined the hell of celebrity in the 2000s and explores how they were devoured by fame, how they attempted to control their own narratives, and how they succeeded or (more often) failed. These women come from all walks of fame--pop music, acting, reality TV, and WWE wrestling. Some of them you think you know already, and others will be less familiar, but Toxic reveals these women neither as pure victims nor as conniving strategists, but as complex individuals trying to navigate celebrity while under attack from a vicious and fast-changing media. Their portrayal has shaped the way that all women--famous or otherwise--are viewed today, and their experiences preempted the now-universal condition, especially thanks to social media, of living under the public gaze.



In this book, Ditum brings readers back to a time before second chances and redemption arcs, and traces the ripple effects that came in the wake of spending a decade vilifying our idols. We'll see how these women's stories intersect with the birth of YouTube, the rise of Internet pornography, and the emergence of Donald Trump as a political force. It's time to come to terms with how those cultural events shaped the way we see ourselves, our bodies, our relationships, our aspirations, and our presence in the wider world. We are all products of the toxic decade.

Edited by Kate 

Joining the ranks of Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Zora Neale Hurston's rediscovered classic Barracoon, an immersive and revelatory history of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on US soil, told through the stories of its survivors--the last documented survivors of any slave ship--whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways.

The Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on American soil, docked in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in July 1860--more than half a century after the passage of a federal law banning the importation of captive Africans, and nine months before the beginning of the Civil War. The last of its survivors lived well into the twentieth century. They were the last witnesses to the final act of a terrible and significant period in world history.

In this epic work, Dr. Hannah Durkin tells the stories of the Clotilda's 110 captives, drawing on her intensive archival, historical, and sociological research. The Survivors of the Clotilda follows their lives from their kidnappings in what is modern-day Nigeria through a terrifying 45-day journey across the Middle Passage; from the subsequent sale of the ship's 103 surviving children and young people into slavery across Alabama to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement in Selma; from the foundation of an all-Black African Town (later Africatown) in Northern Mobile--an inspiration for writers of the Harlem Renaissance, including Zora Neale Hurston--to the foundation of the quilting community of Gee's Bend--a Black artistic circle whose cultural influence remains enormous.

An astonishing, deeply compelling tapestry of history, biography, and social commentary, The Survivors of the Clotilda is a tour de force that deepens our knowledge and understanding of the Black experience and of America and its tragic past.

The Survivors of the Clotilda includes 30 artworks and photographs.

Edited by Kate 

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business) presents an inspirational guide for encouraging positive changes in your life--one day and one challenge at a time.

I did a new thing today!

Years ago, Tabitha Brown started a 30-day personal challenge that she called "I Did a New Thing!" The challenge was simple. Every day she would do something she'd never done before. Sometimes it was something small like trying a new food. Other times, she'd step it up a bit and speak to someone she'd never spoken to before. Still other times, she'd do the hard thing--facing a fear that she had, like having that tough conversation with a friend. No matter what it was, the point was that she was going to take a leap of faith and watch God open up a new lane for her.

One of the "new things" she tried was a vegan challenge. She'd been struggling with illness for nearly a year and was desperately searching for healing. She challenged herself to eat vegan every day for thirty days, and six years later, her life has never been the same--all because she decided to do a new thing.

In I Did a New Thing, Tab shares her own stories and those of others, alongside gentle guidance and encouragement to create these incredible changes for yourself and see what good can come from them. Whether that means having the hard conversation or trying for a promotion or simply wearing something different or doing something kind for someone else, Tab has a plan for you: Try one new thing, every single day, for thirty days. You don't have to wait until Monday or the beginning of a new month or year to get started. There's no set time and place or any extra preparation required. All you have to do is show up for yourself. And that can start right now.

Edited by Kate 

Quit your on-again, off-again relationship with dieting for good—and become healthier and happier than ever.

You've tried to eat only vegetables. You've tried to eat only meat. You've gone gluten-free, dairy-free, satisfaction-free—but you shouldn't have to. In fact, you don't have to.

It’s time to stop restricting yourself and learn to make your relationship with food healthy—without forcing yourself to eat "healthy."

Dietitian Kim Shapira has developed six simple rules that will change your relationship with food forever. In This Is What You’re Really Hungry For, she breaks down the science to get your brain and your body on board; replaces fad diets that do not last with a sustainable method that encourages you to eat what you love; and empowers you to be the authority in your own body.

Kim’s refreshing approach will help you:

• Lose weight—or maintain your current weight
• Resolve blood pressure issues
• Improve your energy levels
• Reframe your beliefs about food and why you eat
• Identify foods that don’t love you back
• Manage your emotions in authentic, healthy ways

Food should be a source of joy and nourishment in your life—not stress—and This Is What You’re Really Hungry For will help you get there. Featuring a foreword by Kaley Cuoco, this will be the last “diet” book you ever need—without ever asking you to go on a diet.

Edited by Kate 

A "magisterial" (Sunday Times) illumination of how books were used in war across the twentieth century--both as weapons and as agents for peace



We tend not to talk about books and war in the same breath--one ranks among humanity's greatest inventions, the other among its most terrible. But as esteemed literary historian Andrew Pettegree demonstrates, the two are deeply intertwined. The Book at War explores the various roles that books have played in conflicts throughout the globe. Winston Churchill used a travel guide to plan the invasion of Norway, lonely families turned to libraries while their loved ones were fighting in the trenches, and during the Cold War both sides used books to spread their visions of how the world should be run. As solace or instruction manual, as critique or propaganda, books have shaped modern military history--for both good and ill.

With precise historical analysis and sparkling prose, The Book at War accounts for the power--and the ambivalence--of words at war.

Edited by Kate 

A fascinating, ground-level backstage pass to the creation, launch, and reach of the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest orbiting astronomy observatory, is now nearly a million miles from Earth, probing the first stars and galaxies, documenting the structure and evolution of the universe, and searching for signs of life in other solar systems. In a series of extraordinary photographs, Inside the Star Factory tells the story of the Webb Telescope from conception to launch—a marvel of ingenuity and engineering that entailed more than 100 million people hours over a span of thirty years.

The project’s lead photographer Chris Gunn was there from the start, documenting the Webb’s tumultuous history—the behind-the-scenes details of its construction, from the cutting-edge technology required for an observatory operating at temperatures as low as –370°F, beyond reach for repair, to the human story of an engineering team pursuing an unprecedented goal under incomparable pressure. Derided as the “telescope that ate astronomy,” billions of dollars over budget, ten years over schedule, nearly canceled twice, Webb was simply too big to fail.

Accompanied by science writer Christopher Wanjek’s overview of the Webb’s history and profiles of the scientists and engineers who built it, this exclusive illustrated guide shows readers the heady world of scientific discovery at the very limits of human knowledge—and the very beginning of space and time.

Edited by Kate 

"In the age of hot takes and trolling, this expansive and funny study of the art and science of trash talk reveals something essential about public life--and even human nature. In the modern economy and culture, fame and virality have become increasingly difficult to separate from success. From athletes to comedians to politicians to big-ticket CEOs, everyone seemingly has to manage their brand. Saying the wrong thing is often more profitable than saying the right one. We are all, it seems, engaged in a giant insult comedy roast, even when we don't want to be. The tradition of talking trash goes back to ancient Greece, and is not always innocent fun. Who gets to do it to whom, how, and when? In this energetic and wide-ranging book, Rafi Kohan takes the measure of this sneakily important practice. Talking to historians, athletes, comedians, and more, he describes what they do and why they do it, and also asks why it's so central to the human experience. From military stress tests at Fort Bragg to the basketball court to the Jeff Ross Roast Battle, he writes about what's funny and what's mean, where the line is, and the consequences--sometimes severe--of crossing it. Trash Talk is full of good jokes and bad jokes, name-calling and moralizing. But it's also belonging, freedom, and how to live with other people"--

Edited by Kate 

From a New York Times bestselling author, this groundbreaking book celebrates and examines the history of Asian Americans on the big screen, exploring how iconic films have shaped Hollywood, representation, and American culture.



In 2018, the critical and financial success of Crazy Rich Asians ignited new fires in Hollywood to create and back Asian-centric stories. Since then, the number of movies featuring Asian Americans, either in front or behind the camera, has boomed and ushered in a new era of filmmaking. But many films, like The Joy Luck Club in 1993, paved the way for Asian American-led films before Crazy Rich Asians and to today. The Golden Screen is an in-depth look at those films, and the factors that played into their success.



The Golden Screen includes commentary and conversations from Hollywood's most visible faces, such as Simu Liu, Lulu Wang, Daniel Dae Kim, Janet Yang, Ronny Chieng, Alice Wu, and Ken Jeong. See the movies that inspired today's modern stars to enter moviemaking, and how they're paying it forward to the next wave of creators.



Featuring beautiful, original artwork from nine esteemed Asian illustrators, including: Toma Nguyen, barbarian flower, Jun Cen, Cryssy Cheung, Cliff Chiang, Yu-Ming Huang, JiYeun Kang, Ashraf Omar, and Zi Xu.



A beautiful keepsake and collection of over 100 photographs and original art, The Golden Screen is perfect for movie and history fans alike, and reaffirms the importance of the Asian American film canon, and all the people involved, in an increasingly diverse Hollywood.

Edited by Kate 

How Art Is Made looks at renowned works of art from across the centuries and around the globe and asks the intriguingly simple question – how were these works actually made?
 
Divided into two sections – materials and methods – each chapter showcases a single work of art which demonstrates the mastery and innovative use of a single material or method, from oil paint, pastel and pencil, to woodcut, litho and impasto. Each work is presented as the centerpiece of a capsule history, while comparative works are also included to help amplify our understanding.

How, for example, did Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel fresco, or Turner become such a master of watercolor? How did Warhol turn so effectively to screen printing, and how does Yayoi Kusama create such beguiling 'infinity rooms'?

The book enhances the experience of looking at great works of art and guides us to a deeper understanding of how they were created and why we regard them as so important.

Edited by Kate 

*A Next Big Idea Club December 2023 Must-Read*

Podcaster Jamila Souffrant shows how to skyrocket your savings, blast through debt and ultimately accelerate your unique and truly epic journey to financial freedom and independence

Our fast-paced world prioritizes the productive busybody--financial security alwaysseems to rule over the insatiable hankering for a Friday night splurge. However, Jamila Souffrant argues that you can in fact spend and save responsibly, all while enjoying that extra side of guacamole. In this book, Jamila will teach you how to:

• Determine which of the 4 "Journeyer" stages you fall into and how you should be evaluating your spending and saving goals accordingly
• Map out different scenarios to quit your job, retire early, and reach financial independence
• Downsize costly daily expenses in ways you never considered, and spend more in ways that bring you joy
• Create an effective debt payoff plan that works for you

As a wife, mother of three and first-generation Jamaican immigrant, Jamila knows all too well the struggles of saving for tomorrow while spending liberally today. Now, in her first book, Jamila offers her seasoned expertise in Your Journey to Financial Freedom, providing readers with the resources they need to not only save for cake but eat it, too.

Edited by Kate 

Enjoy your night in with these movies that tell queer stories.

Have you noticed something about every “100 Greatest Movies Ever Made” list? The people in those movies . . . they’re almost all straight, white men. With so much incredible cinema to choose from, those lists only begin to peer into the cinematic and wider world.

It’s time to push past the gatekeepers of what makes a movie “great” or “culturally significant” and get a broader view of what’s out there. Kyle Turner has selected 100 of cinema’s greatest queer films that are often overlooked but foundational to the art form and the wider culture.

Starting in early cinema with trailblazers like Making a Man of Her and Different from Others, the list progresses through the eras, from Hitchcock’s Rope to cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show to today’s fast-growing list of queer films, including Carol, The Duke of Burgundy, and Moonlight. From lesser-known names to Academy Award winners, The Queer Film Guide offers a fresh take on what defines great cinema, lending a voice to the diverse creators and characters who’ve shaped the art form.

Edited by Kate 

"In Wallance’s bracing narrative, Kennan emerges as a cheerful, deeply decent companion, an uncompromising observer whose greatest strength was his ability to change his mind. He’s a welcome change from the callous imperialists who people most Victorian travelogues, and his humanity allows Into Siberia to delve into horror without succumbing to despair." — The New York Times Book Review

In a book that ranks with the greatest adventure stories, Gregory Wallance’s Into Siberia is a thrilling work of history about one man’s harrowing journey and the light it shone on some of history’s most heinous human rights abuses.

In the late nineteenth century, close diplomatic relations existed between the United States and Russia. All that changed when George Kennan went to Siberia in 1885 to investigate the exile system and his eyes were opened to the brutality Russia was wielding to suppress dissent.

Over ten months Kennan traveled eight thousand miles, mostly in horse-drawn carriages, sleighs or on horseback. He endured suffocating sandstorms in the summer and blizzards in the winter. His interviews with convicts and political exiles revealed how Russia ran on the fuel of inflicted pain and fear. Prisoners in the mines were chained day and night to their wheelbarrows as punishment. Babies in exile parties froze to death in their mothers’ arms. Kennan came to call the exiles’ experience in Siberia a “perfect hell of misery.”

After returning to the United States, Kennan set out to generate public outrage over the plight of the exiles, writing the renowned Siberia and the Exile System. He then went on a nine-year lecture tour to describe the suffering of the Siberian exiles, intensifying the newly emerging diplomatic conflicts between the two countries which last to this day.

Edited by Kate 

Drawing on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, filmmakers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, this "monumental origin story" celebrates the legacy of the Velvet Underground, which burns brighter than ever in the 21st century (New York Times bestselling author Bob Spitz).

A "Must Read" by Nylon and​ BookRiot

Rebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen--whether it be the 1960s or the 2020s--the Velvet Underground represents ground zero.

Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang around a psychedelic rock and roll band--a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol's Factory--the Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up. They never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and invented the archetype that would be copied by everyone from Sid Vicious to Bobby Gillespie. They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. In that sense they invented punk and then some. It could even be argued that they invented modern New York.

Drawing on interviews and material relating to all major players, from Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, Andy Warhol, Jon Savage, Nico, David Bowie, Mary Harron, and many more, award-winning journalist Dylan Jones breaks down the band's whirlwind of subversion and, in a narrative rich in drama and detail, proves why the Velvets remain the original kings and queens of edge.

Edited by Kate 

For breathwork fans who want to go deeper—20+ science-backed breathing practices to boost your energy, unlock your mind-body connection, and heal from chronic stress

Breathwork expert Jesse Coomer reveals how to breathe our way to better health, increased vitality, and mental clarity by unlocking The Language of Breath.

Using powerful, proven breathwork exercises, Coomer delivers a new paradigm to the world of breathwork: one that reconnects us to our innate mind-body wisdom and bridges the evolutionary disconnect between our bodies, brains, and the stressors of modern-day life.

By engaging with our breath as a language that we can listen to and learn, we can:

• Combat the dysregulation, disconnection, and stressors of our always-on, hamster-wheel culture
• Learn why contorting our natural sleep, wake, and eating cycles to fit modern-day schedules is making us sick
• Use breathwork to reset and reclaim our natural agency and innate wisdom
• Guard against the physical effects of overwork and chronic stress

With practical exercises and simple techniques, this book provides a step-by-step approach to using breath as a tool for self-discovery and transformation. From overcoming stress and anxiety to managing chronic illness, The Language of Breath is a must-read for anyone seeking to harness the power of their own breath to live a healthier, happier life.

Edited by Kate 

In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome, from its slightly shabby Iron Age origins to its reign as the undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean. Now, drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and writing about Roman history, Beard turns to the emperors who ruled the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) and taking us through the nearly three centuries--and some thirty emperors--that separate him from the boy-king Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).

Yet Emperor of Rome is not your typical chronological account of Roman rulers, one emperor after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Instead, Beard asks different, often larger and more probing questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? What kind of jokes did Augustus tell? And for that matter, what really happened, for example, between the emperor Hadrian and his beloved Antinous? Effortlessly combining the epic with the quotidian, Beard tracks the emperor down at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven.

Along the way, Beard explores Roman fictions of imperial power, overturning many of the assumptions that we hold as gospel, not the least of them the perception that emperors one and all were orchestrators of extreme brutality and cruelty. Here Beard introduces us to the emperor's wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers, and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hand--whose chamber pot disputes were adjudicated by Augustus, and whose budgets were approved by Vespasian, himself the son of a tax collector.

With its finely nuanced portrayal of sex, class, and politics, Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman fantasies (and our own) about what it was to be Roman at its richest, most luxurious, most extreme, most powerful, and most deadly, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.

Edited by Kate

When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected that, like other wild orphans they'd rescued, she'd be a temporary presence. But Alfie's feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family, joining a menagerie of dogs and chickens and making a home for herself in the backyard. Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual; Alfie had been braided into their world, and was now pulling them into hers.

Alfie & Me is the story of the remarkable impact this little owl would have on their lives. The continuing bond of trust following her freedom--and her raising of her own wild brood--coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a year in which Carl and Patricia were forced to spend time at home without the normal obligations of work and travel. Witnessing all the fine details of their feathered friend's life offered Carl and Patricia a view of existence from Alfie's perspective.

One can travel the world and go nowhere; one can be stuck keeping the faith at home and discover a new world. Safina's relationship with an owl made him want to better understand how people have viewed humanity's relationship with nature across cultures and throughout history. Interwoven with Safina's keen observations, insight, and reflections, Alfie & Me is a work of profound beauties and magical timing harbored within one upended year.

Edited by Kate

A companion to the #1 music podcast on Spotify, this book takes readers through the greatest hits that define a weirdly undefinable decade.



The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.

Edited by Kate 

With the whimsy and heart of The Soul of an Octopus and the surprising details of the very best science writing, The Curious World of Seahorses brilliantly captures the ocean's most charismatic and mysterious inhabitant.

"When God created the seahorse," says one marine biologist, "he may have had one too many."

Of all the creatures in the ocean, there are none more charming and magical--or more strange--than the seahorses. Masters of disguise, graceful dancers, and romantic lovers, seahorses are found not only in the seagrass meadows and mangroves of the world, but also throughout the annals of human history and culture--surfacing everywhere from chess and Greek mythology to Disney movies like The Little Mermaid and Pokémon games.

Equipped with a pouch like a kangaroo, a long snout like an anteater, and complete with a crown unique as a human fingerprint, the seahorse defies easy categorization. The only fish to swim in an upright position, seahorses are terrible swimmers, but they make up for it with an incredible talent for holding onto seagrass or coral. They have no stomach or teeth--only intestines. Most seahorses are monogamous, and meet with their life partner every few weeks to perform a dance that can last up to nine hours. The most unique aspect of the seahorse is their reproductive cycle, as it is the male of the species who becomes pregnant.

In this entertaining and informative book, science writer Till Hein shares the most tantalizing findings from the world of seahorses, and the role they have played in human culture. He reveals their secrets, from their intriguing biological features and hunting strategy to their use in medicine throughout history, their appearances in Greek and Celtic mythology, and even the medieval belief that they descended from dragons.

Endlessly fascinating and charmingly approachable, The Curious World of Seahorses will captivate any reader looking to learn more about one of the most incredible creatures on Earth.

Edited by Kate 

It's time to get crafty! Join internationally renowned artist and content creator Lucia Mallea on a fun and colorful crafting journey through 24 stylish projects.

From stunning paper flowers and cheerful party decorations to DIY home décor and even stylish fashion accessories, readers will learn how to elevate inexpensive craft supplies into stunning works of art like cake stands, flower curtains, parrot earrings, statement stars, and more. Each project includes frustration-free step-by-step instructions and gorgeous photos of the finished results. Readers will discover how to choose the right tools, master basic techniques, and add fun embellishments to their creations. And the best part? This book includes handy ready-to-go templates and a bonus pullout project. It's time for readers to gather their friends, break out the glue guns, and craft themselves happy!

Edited by Kate

Welcome to the Shitty Craft Club! Based on the TikTok sensation by comedian Sam Reece, Shitty Craft Club is an empowering guide to creativity, embracing chaos, and finding inner calm.



Did you know that you are a glorious and incredible artist? Wait, really? Well, you are. Shitty Craft Club gives you permission to have fun and be as weird, wild, and wonderful as you want to be. It's about trying your best, not perfection.



With step-by-step instructions and funny, deeply relatable tales from her life, Sam Reece, founder of the Shitty Craft Club movement, hilariously guides you through dozens of projects. Melding the nihilistic spirit of millennial/Gen Z humor with Amy Sedaris's gonzo crafting style and a healthy dose of Lisa Frank vibes, Reece proves there's no limit to what a craft can be.



Making a bunch of pom-poms so you can be your own cheerleader? That's a craft. Sculpting a rhinestone shrimp out of aluminum foil and a glue gun? A craft. Having literally one sip of water (congrats, by the way)? Yup, you bet--a craft. Because life is hard. So why not spend a bit of time gluing some trash to more trash if it makes you happy?



A SHITTY PHENOMENON: From in-person events at the Ace Hotel and Milk Bar to viral projects on Instagram and TikTok, Sam Reece, the creator of Shitty Craft Club, has cultivated a movement that strikes a chord in today's stressed-out world. This book captures all the magic of the club (and hopefully inspires you to start your own).



SELF-ESTEEM OVER SELF-IMPROVEMENT: In times of uncertainty and burnout, we all need a little more self-compassion. Treat yourself with kindness and care. Shitty Craft Club gives us the tools to cope in a creative and fun way without feeling the pressure to make everything perfect.



FOR FANS OF MAKING IT AND AT HOME WITH AMY SEDARIS: With projects like Rhinestone Wall Shrimp, the Corndle, and the Shitty Trophy, this book will inspire you to pick up a glue gun, buy a bucket of beads, and make your own strange and beautiful creations.



Perfect for:

• Fans of Sam Reece and the Shitty Craft Club sensation
• Crafters and DIY enthusiasts
• Self-care and mindfulness practitioners
• Fans of Making It, Nailed It!, and At Home with Amy Sedaris
• Creative gift for Mother's Day, graduation, holidays, and birthdays

Edited by Kate 

Discover anew the herstory of art that Publishers Weekly calls "illuminating" and Foreword Reviews calls "spirited" for an enlightening art history read.

How many female artists can you name? Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Marina Abramovic? How about female artists who lived prior to the Modern era? Maybe Artemisia Gentileschi and then... even a regular museum-goer might run out of steam. What about female curators, critics, patrons, collectors, muses, models and art influencers?

This book provides a 360 degree look at the role, influence, and empowerment of women through art--including women artists, but going beyond those who have taken up a brush or a chisel. In 1971, Linda Nochlin published a famous essay, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" This book responds to it by showing that not only have there been scores of great women artists throughout history, but that great women have shaped the story of art. The result is a book that sheds light on the art world in a very new way, finally celebrating the great women artists and influencers who deserve to be much better known. The entire history of art can be told as a herstory of art.

Edited by Kate 

127 nourishing soups, stews, broths, chowders, and chilis!

There are no better appliances for making soups and stews than an Instant Pot or slow cooker. Simply add all the ingredients and let it simmer to perfection. Nourish your bodies and souls with easy, delicious, and nutritious bowls of goodness.

In addition to great recipes, you'll also find tips on how to set up and use your Instant Pot, how to know when your food is perfectly done, and more. Here are more than 100 recipes including:

• Potato Bacon Soup
• Turkey Rosemary Veggie Soup
• Chicken Cheddar Broccoli Soup
• Southwest Chicken and White Bean Soup
• Shredded Pork Tortilla Soup
• Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
• Mediterranean Lentil Soup
• Cider and Pork Stew
• Moroccan Beef Stew
• Chipotle Beef Chili
• Vegetarian Chili with Corn
• And more!

Make the most of your Instant Pot or slow cooker with these easy and delicious recipes!

Edited by Kate 

“A stellar gift choice.”—Tasting Table’s Best Cookbooks to Gift this Holiday Season

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

NAMED A BEST COOKBOOK OF FALL 2023 BY FOOD & WINE, DELISH, and TASTING TABLE

The ultimate gift for the home cook on your list—from beginner to experienced kitchen enthusiast—with over 100 easy-to-follow recipes that perfect the classics while celebrating imperfection with humor and grace, from the culinary genius and creator behind the Babish Culinary Universe.

In his wildly popular Basics with Babish series, YouTube star Andrew Rea, who has amassed millions of subscribers, attempts, often fails, but always teaches cooking techniques for all levels of cooks. He’s explained everything from how to make challah bread and English muffins to Asian dumplings and homemade bacon. Now those classic, essential recipes (and many more) are compiled into an authoritative cookbook which contains hundreds of step-by-step photographs with tips and tricks to help you troubleshoot anything from broken butter to burnt bread to bony branzino. Basics with Babish isn’t just a kitchen Bible for a new generation of home chefs, it’s a proud reclamation of mistakes which encourages you to learn from your and Andrew’s missteps alike.

Andrew Rea launched Binging with Babish on YouTube in 2016, recreating and reimagining dishes from famous television programs and movies inspired by everything from Mad Men to The Simpsons to Game of Thrones. The tie-in cookbook, Binging with Babish, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and fans of that book and countless more will delight in this new cookbook which will truly teach you how to cook, with Rea’s beloved sense of humor and guiding hand throughout.

Edited by Kate 

The adventures of Peter Rabbit and his friends have been delighting generations of children around the world for over 120 years. In this unique craft book, Beatrix Potter's iconic illustrations have been brought to life as knitted characters, allowing you to create 12 adorable animals from the best-loved Peter Rabbit(tm) stories.

With step-by-step instructions and beautiful photography, you'll be able to make all the most enduring characters from Beatrix Potter's world. Knit Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Flopsy Bunny, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, Mr. Jeremy Fisher, Tom Kitten, Squirrel Nutkin, the Tailor of Gloucester, Samuel Whiskers, Mr. Tod the fox, and Tommy Brock the badger, and dress them up in simple felt garments to complete the storybook look.

Author Claire Garland has translated Beatrix Potter's original illustrations into delightfully accurate knitted versions, which will be instantly recognizable to fans of the Peter Rabbit stories. Once you have knitted the characters, making the clothes elevates them to the next level. Whether it's Peter's distinctive blue jacket and little shoes or Benjamin Bunny's Tam O'Shanter and handkerchief, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's mop cap and apron, the Tailor of Gloucester's glasses, and Mr. Jemery Fisher's red tailcoat, every detail has been considered and can be recreated with easy techniques..

All the knitting techniques needed to knit the animals and sew the clothes are included, with step-by-step photos and full-size templates.

Featuring original illustrations and quotes from the tales alongside the patterns, this is a visual treat for fans of Peter Rabbit, allowing you to knit heirloom toys to enjoy for generations to come.

Officially licensed by Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. BEATRIX POTTER(tm) and PETER RABBIT(tm) © Frederick Warne & Co., 2023

Edited by Kate 

The Bible is teeming with monsters. Giants tromp through the land of milk and honey; Leviathan swims through the wine-dark sea. A stunning array of peculiar creatures, mind-altering spirits, and supernatural hitmen fill the biblical heavens, jarring in both their strangeness and their propensity for violence--especially on God's behalf.

Traditional interpretations of the creatures of the Bible have sanded down their sharp, unsavory edges, transforming them into celestial beings of glory and light--or chubby, happy cherubs. Those cherubs? They're actually hybrid guardian monsters, more closely associated with the Egyptian sphinx than with flying babies. And the seraphim? Winged serpents sent to mete out God's vengeance. Demons aren't at war with angels; they're a distinct supernatural species used by Satan and by God. The pattern is chilling. Most of these monsters aren't God's opponents--they're God's entourage.

Killer angels, plague demons, manipulative spirits, creatures with an alarming number of wings (and eyes all over)--these shapeshifters and realm-crossers act with stunning brutality, each reflecting a facet of God's own monstrosity. Confronting God's monsters--and the God-monster--may be uncomfortable, but the Bible is richer for their presence. It's not only richer; the stories of the monsters of the Bible can be as fun, surprising, and interesting as any mythology. For anyone interested in monsters, myths, folklore, demons, and more, God's Monsters is an entertaining deep dive into the creaturely strangeness of the Bible.

Edited by Kate 

Lunchtime is just as exciting as dinner in this delightful new cookbook that combines Meike Peters's inventive and craveable recipes with gorgeous photography. These 115 recipes are guaranteed to perk up your day (or your dinner).



"Perfect for experienced cooks, who will relish Peters's imaginative takes on classic dishes as well as her inspired original culinary creations, and those new to the kitchen, who will feel empowered by the clear, easy-to-follow format and welcoming tone of the recipes." ―Library Journal, starred review



This bold new cookbook by James Beard Award-winning author and photographer Meike Peters invites us to indulge in simple, satisfying, and scrumptious meals to feed our midday cravings. With a few tricks and clever flavor combinations to keep your mind, body, and soul happy, Noon makes it easy to treat yourself throughout the day.



These 115 quick and creative recipes span vibrant salads and sandwiches, cozy pastas, and savory tarts, as well as warming soups, speedy schnitzels, and Mediterranean seafood treats. Whether you're in the mood for the mouthwatering Autumn Salad with Jerusalem Artichokes, Walnuts, and Apples, a texturally intoxicating Carrot and Pear Salad with Tahini and Sesame Seeds, or the surprising zip of Sauerkraut and Hummus on Sourdough Bread, this book has your taste buds covered.



Attainable yet crave-worthy, the recipes in Noon can equally suit the start, middle, or end of your day. Our lives have changed, and these recipes flexibly fit any reality, from working from home or lunch at the office to leisurely weekend lunches with friends. Noon is about a pause, no matter when you need it. With year-round recipes and stunning photography, this book will keep you well fed and happy at any time of day.



DELICOUS FOOD: Meike Peters is a truly talented recipe developer and food blogger who puts a unique twist on her dishes, such as Lime Mussels with Zucchini and Cilantro, Peach and Plum Caprese with Burrata, and Rösti (Swiss potato cake) with Pistachio-Feta Dip. With a similar vibe to Diana Henry, Nigella Lawson, and Heidi Swanson, she is a delight to learn from and be inspired by.



GREAT VALUE: This book is packed with 115 recipes and 120 photos at an affordable price, making it an excellent self-purchase or thoughtful cooking gift.



MODERN LUNCH COOKBOOK: Years into the pandemic, we are all sick of the same lunch from home options. This book is perfect for anyone needing to whip up a great lunch in fifteen minutes or less, or for the many returning to work and needing inspiration for super tasty lunches to take with us.



FLEXIBLE & EASILY SCALABLE RECIPES: The focus is on celebrating a midday meal (a.k.a. lunch), but the recipes work just as well for dinner, weekdays, or weekends; each recipe can easily be scaled up or down.



Perfect for:

• Those looking for fun and fresh alternatives for their lunchtime meal
• Fans of Meike Peters, her blog and podcast, and her previous cookbooks
• Anyone who loves celebrity chefs like Heidi Swanson, Diana Henry, and Nigella Lawson
• Birthday, holiday, housewarming, or hostess gift for foodies or home cooks

Edited by Kate 

Lunchtime is just as exciting as dinner in this delightful new cookbook that combines Meike Peters's inventive and craveable recipes with gorgeous photography. These 115 recipes are guaranteed to perk up your day (or your dinner).



"Perfect for experienced cooks, who will relish Peters's imaginative takes on classic dishes as well as her inspired original culinary creations, and those new to the kitchen, who will feel empowered by the clear, easy-to-follow format and welcoming tone of the recipes." ―Library Journal, starred review



This bold new cookbook by James Beard Award-winning author and photographer Meike Peters invites us to indulge in simple, satisfying, and scrumptious meals to feed our midday cravings. With a few tricks and clever flavor combinations to keep your mind, body, and soul happy, Noon makes it easy to treat yourself throughout the day.



These 115 quick and creative recipes span vibrant salads and sandwiches, cozy pastas, and savory tarts, as well as warming soups, speedy schnitzels, and Mediterranean seafood treats. Whether you're in the mood for the mouthwatering Autumn Salad with Jerusalem Artichokes, Walnuts, and Apples, a texturally intoxicating Carrot and Pear Salad with Tahini and Sesame Seeds, or the surprising zip of Sauerkraut and Hummus on Sourdough Bread, this book has your taste buds covered.



Attainable yet crave-worthy, the recipes in Noon can equally suit the start, middle, or end of your day. Our lives have changed, and these recipes flexibly fit any reality, from working from home or lunch at the office to leisurely weekend lunches with friends. Noon is about a pause, no matter when you need it. With year-round recipes and stunning photography, this book will keep you well fed and happy at any time of day.



DELICOUS FOOD: Meike Peters is a truly talented recipe developer and food blogger who puts a unique twist on her dishes, such as Lime Mussels with Zucchini and Cilantro, Peach and Plum Caprese with Burrata, and Rösti (Swiss potato cake) with Pistachio-Feta Dip. With a similar vibe to Diana Henry, Nigella Lawson, and Heidi Swanson, she is a delight to learn from and be inspired by.



GREAT VALUE: This book is packed with 115 recipes and 120 photos at an affordable price, making it an excellent self-purchase or thoughtful cooking gift.



MODERN LUNCH COOKBOOK: Years into the pandemic, we are all sick of the same lunch from home options. This book is perfect for anyone needing to whip up a great lunch in fifteen minutes or less, or for the many returning to work and needing inspiration for super tasty lunches to take with us.



FLEXIBLE & EASILY SCALABLE RECIPES: The focus is on celebrating a midday meal (a.k.a. lunch), but the recipes work just as well for dinner, weekdays, or weekends; each recipe can easily be scaled up or down.



Perfect for:

• Those looking for fun and fresh alternatives for their lunchtime meal
• Fans of Meike Peters, her blog and podcast, and her previous cookbooks
• Anyone who loves celebrity chefs like Heidi Swanson, Diana Henry, and Nigella Lawson
• Birthday, holiday, housewarming, or hostess gift for foodies or home cook

Edited by Kate 

Kids are tough on their clothes...Fortunately, they're creative too!

Mending With Kids shows you how to make kids' torn and stained clothes wearable again using a variety of simple sewing and decorating techniques that foster kids' participation. It includes helpful tips and techniques for patching, collage (with felt and fabrics), iron-ons, stenciling, darning, embroidery, hand-painting, and much more--including templates for making your own patches and stencils!

Best of all, most of these techniques are easy enough for kids to join in and put their personal stamp on their clothes--which they absolutely love doing! And with your supervision, they'll pick up practical skills along the way.

In this book, you'll find practical ideas and advice on clothes-savers like:

• Using added bands of fabric to cover, patch and lengthen jeans and trousers (kids outgrow them so fast!)
• Combining patching with embroidery to make a repair into a design element
• Embroidering around holes to make them look like part of the original design (make a worm hole in an embroidered apple, for instance!)
• Turning an iron-on patch into a canvas for your kid's artistry--just grab some permanent markers and have fun
• Covering stains with a creative use of paint (use the stencil patterns in this book, or use ready-made stencils to add favorite animals, cars, flowers and more)
• And many other ideas that turn clothing repair into a shared adventure!

It's a win-win-win collaboration--you, your kids, and this book!

Through the eyes of two frontline journalists comes a gripping narrative history of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement centered around a cast of four core activists, culminating in the 2019 mass protests and Beijing's brutal crackdown.


Hong Kong was an experiment in governance. Handed back to China in 1997 after 156 years of British rule, it was meant to be a carve-out between hostile systems: a bridge between communism and capitalism, authoritarianism and liberal democracy. "One country, two systems" kept its media free, its courts independent and its protests boisterous, designed also to convince Taiwan of a peaceful solution to Beijing's desire for reunification.



Yet this formulation excluded Hong Kong's own people, their future negotiated by political titans in faraway capitals. In 2019, an ill-conceived law spear-headed by a sycophantic leader pushed millions to take to the streets in one of the most enduring protest movements the world has ever seen. Xi Jinping responded with a draconian national security law that sought not only to end the demonstrations but quash the "problem" of Hong Kongers' identity and desire for freedom.



Reverend Chu, who believed Hong Kong had to carry the spirit of students at Tiananmen Square, saw his silver-haired comrades who birthed the city's modern pro-democracy movement handcuffed and taken from their homes. Tommy, an art student radicalized into throwing Molotov cocktails, watched "braves" like him brutalized by police before his own arrest prompted him to flee. Finn epitomized the decentralized nature of the movement and its internet-fueled victories, but online anonymity couldn't stop his life from unravelling. Gwyneth could predict her eventual fate when she chose to give up her career as a journalist to stand for election as an opposition candidate, and did it anyway.



In Among the Braves, Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin tell the story of Hong Kong's past, and what the sacrifices of its people mean for global democracy's shaky foundation.

Edited by Kate 

Anxiety Mindset Coach and hypnotherapist Georgie Collinson offers a 12-week program to help you master your anxious mind and achieve unshakable inner confidence

The Anxiety Reset Method is a 12-week program designed to combat high-functioning anxiety, using holistic solutions that address both the psychological and physical factors behind anxiety. Merging science with the spiritual, and good health with good sense, this successful method addresses both mind and body in order to build resilience and change your relationship to anxiety forever.

High-functioning anxiety is a perfectionistic, pressure-fueled type of anxiety. Despite the anxious feelings, people with high-functioning anxiety perform well, often very well, and are experts at hiding their struggle. But beneath the successful exterior, they feel panicked, overwhelmed, and pushed to the breaking point.

Over the course of 12 weeks, anxiety mindset coach, hypnotherapist, certified nutritionist, and naturopath Georgie Collinson will help you transform your relationship to anxiety. With practices, weekly checklists, and key idea sections, The Anxiety Reset Method provides a clear pathway to overcome the exhausting pressure of high-functioning anxiety and build the resilience you need to thrive​. Your anxiety has controlled the narrative for too long--it's time to master your anxiety and find the unshakeable inner confidence you deserve.

"An approachable program I wholeheartedly believe actually works"--Sarah Wilson, New York Times Bestselling author of First, We Make the Beast Beautiful ​Master Your Anxious Mind

Edited by Kate 

Named a Most Anticipated Book by Vulture, Elle, Chicago Tribune, The Millions, and Lit Hub

"Comedy Book changes the way we talk about an art form that is more diverse and exciting than ever before.” —Seth Meyers "A sharp, loving, well written exploration and analysis of the art form that makes us smile, helps us relate, and is perpetually mysterious." —Jenny Slate

From a beloved comedy critic, a wisecracking, heartfelt, and overdue chronicle of comedy’s boom—and its magic.

Comedy is king. From multimillion-dollar TV specials to sold-out stand-up shows and TikTok stardom, comedy has never been more popular, democratized, or influential. Comedians have become organizing forces across culture—as trusted as politicians and as fawned-over as celebrities—yet comedy as an art form has gone under-considered throughout its history, even as it has ascended as a cultural force.

In Comedy Book, Jesse David Fox—the country’s most definitive voice in comedy criticism and someone who, in his own words, “enjoys comedy maybe more than anyone on this planet"—tackles everything you need to know about comedy. Weaving together history and analysis, Fox unravels the genre’s political legacy through an ode to Jon Stewart, interrogates the divide between highbrow and lowbrow via Adam Sandler, and unpacks how marginalized comics create spaces for their communities. Along the way, Fox covers everything from comedy in the age of political correctness and Will Smith’s slap to the right wing’s relationship with comedy and, for Fox, comedy’s ability to heal personal tragedy.

With memorable cameos from Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney, Ali Wong, Kate Berlant, and countless others, Comedy Book is an eye-opening education in how to engage with our most omnipresent art form, a riotous history of American pop culture, and a love letter to laughter.

Edited by Kate 

FROM THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF HIGH-RISERS comes a groundbreaking and honest investigation into the crisis of the American criminal justice system–through the lens of parole. Perfect for fans of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy

“Correction ranks among the very best books on life inside and outside of prison I have ever read." ―Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023: Chicago Review of Books

The United States, alone, locks up a quarter of the world’s incarcerated people. And yet apart from clichés—paying a debt to society; you do the crime, you do the time—there is little sense collectively in America what constitutes retribution or atonement. We don’t actually know why we punish.

Ben Austen’s powerful exploration offers a behind-the-scenes look at the process of parole. Told through the portraits of two men imprisoned for murder, and the parole board that holds their freedom in the balance, Austen’s unflinching storytelling forces us to reckon with some of the most profound questions underlying the country’s values around crime and punishment. What must someone who commits a terrible act do to get a second chance? What does incarceration seek to accomplish?

An illuminating work of narrative nonfiction, Correction challenges us to consider for ourselves why and who we punish–and how we might find a way out of an era of mass imprisonment.

Edited by Kate 

A work of on-the-ground reporting into the science of, and cultural ideas around, wildfires and fire management that challenges the ethos of the conservation movement, offering a hopeful vision of the connection between humans and our environment.

In a riveting investigation of the science and ecology of wildfires, journalist M.R. O'Connor ventures into some of the oldest, most beautiful, and remote forests in North America to explore the powerful and ancient relationship between trees, fires, and humans. Along the way, she describes revelatory research in the fields of paleobotany and climate science to show how the world's forests have been shaped by fire for hundreds of millions of years. She also reports on the compelling archeological evidence emerging from the field of ethnoecology that proves how, until very recently, humans were instigators of forest fires, actively molding and influencing the ecosystems around them by inserting themselves into the loop of a natural biological process to start "good fires."

As she weaves together first-hand reportage with research and cultural insights, O'Connor also embeds on firelines alongside firefighters and "pyrotechnicians." These highly trained individuals are resurrecting the practice of prescribed burning in an effort to sustain fire-dependent forest ecologies and prevent the catastrophic wildfires that are increasing in frequency and intensity as a result of global warming. Hailing from diverse backgrounds including state and federal agencies, scientific laboratories, and private lands and tribal nations, these fire starters are undertaking a radical and often controversial effort to promote, protect, and expand the responsible use of fire to restore ecological health to landscapes. At the heart of Ignition is a discussion about risk and how our relationship to it as a society will determine our potential to survive the onslaught of climate change.

Edited by Kate 

Not many memoirs are generational events. But when Sly Stone, one of the few true musical geniuses of the last century, decides to finally tell hislife story, it can’t be called anything else.

As the front man for the sixties pop-rock-funk band Sly and the Family Stone, a songwriter who created some of the most memorable anthems of the 1960s and 1970s (“Everyday People,” “Family Affair”), and a performer who electrified audiences at Woodstock and elsewhere, Sly Stone’s influence on modern music and culture is indisputable. But as much as people know the music, the man remains a mystery. After a rapid rise to superstardom, Sly spent decades in the grips of addiction.

Now he is ready to relate the ups and downs and ins and outs of his amazing life in his memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). The book moves from Sly’s early career as a radio DJ and record producer through the dizzying heights of the San Francisco music scene in the late 1960s and into the darker, denser life (and music) of 1970s and 1980s Los Angeles. Set on stages and in mansions, in the company of family and of other celebrities, it’s a story about flawed humanity and flawless artistry.

Written with Ben Greenman, who has also worked on memoirs with George Clinton and Brian Wilson, and in collaboration with Arlene Hirschkowitz, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is a vivid, gripping, sometimes terrifying, and ultimately affirming tour through Sly’s life and career. Like Sly, it’s honest and playful, sharp and blunt, emotional and analytical, always moving and never standing still.

Edited by Kate 

A poignant memoir of love, trauma, and recovery after a life-changing stroke, twinned to a powerful account of his father's experience in World War II, by a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award.

“A beautiful, compelling memoir...Raban’s final work is a gorgeous achievement.” —Ian McEwan, New York Times best-selling author of Lessons

In June 2011, just days before his sixty-ninth birthday, Jonathan Raban was sitting down to dinner with his daughter when he found he couldn’t move his knife to his plate. Later that night, at the hospital, doctors confirmed what all had suspected: that he had suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke, paralyzing the right side of his body. Once he became stable, Raban embarked on an extended stay at a rehabilitation center, where he became acquainted with, and struggled to accept, the limitations of his new body—learning again how to walk and climb stairs, attempting to bathe and dress himself, and rethinking how to write and even read.

Woven into these pages is an account of a second battle, one that his own father faced in the trenches during World War II. With intimate letters that his parents exchanged at the time, Raban places the budding love of two young people within the tumultuous landscape of the war’s various fronts, from the munition-strewn beaches of Dunkirk to blood-soaked streets of Anzio. Moving between narratives, his and theirs, Raban artfully explores the human capacity to adapt to trauma, as well as the warmth, strength, and humor that persist despite it. The result is Father and Son, a powerful story of mourning, but also one of resilience.

Edited by Kate 

Nicolson crafts a geography of the ancient world and a brilliant exploration of our connections to the past.

What is the nature of things?
What is justice? How can I be myself?
How should we treat each other?

Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests. Twenty-five hundred years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbor cities, a few heroic men and women decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own thinking minds to the conundrums of life.

These great innovators shaped the beginnings of western philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus, in Ephesus, was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. On the Aegean island of Lesbos, the early lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus asked themselves, “How can I be true to myself?” On Samos, Pythagoras imagined an everlasting soul and took his ideas to Italy, where they flowered again in surprising and radical forms.

The award-winning writer Adam Nicolson travels with us through this transforming world and asks what light these ancient thinkers can throw on our deepest preconceptions. Enhanced with maps, photographs, and artwork, How to Be is an expedition into early ideas. Nicolson takes us to the dawn of investigative thought and makes the fundamental questions of the ancient philosophers new again. What are the principles of the physical world? How can we be good in it? And why do we continue to ask these questions? It is an enthralling, exhilarating journey.

Edited by Kate 

A biting, brilliant, often hilarious guide to socialism for budding anti-capitalists who know it's time to dump their toxic ex (Capitalism) and try something finer. Journalist Malaika Jabali debunks myths, centers forgotten socialists of color who have shaped our world, and shows socialism is not all Marx and Bernie Bros--it can be pretty sexy.



We've all dated someone who took control of the relationship--you know, someone who makes you feel like you're unhappy because you're just not putting in the work, or it's all in your head. But when you think about trying to meet new people, it feels terrifying. Like, have you looked at Tinder recently? It's rough out there!



Your tough-love new best friend, award-winning journalist, policy attorney, and life-long socialist Malaika Jabali is here to say: we are all in a generations-long toxic relationship with Capitalism, and it is time to get the h*ll out of there and move ALONG.



She gives you everything you need to know about what a healthy relationship could actually look like, issue by issue--from healthcare and housing to the whole concept of American democracy--with our new boo: Socialism. And no, Socialism isn't the boring, grey, authoritarian, Cold-War-era monster that you've heard about.



With accessible explanations and illustrations, often surprising graphs and stats, and some Drake memes, this book will show you that we NEED to build a world that's safer, kinder, cleaner, healthier, and more equal. And that this isn't a utopian dream - it's within our grasp, if we collectively decide to call out Capitalism for what it really is and wake up to a better future.



Fun, smart, and inspiring, It's Not You It's Capitalism is the hottest new relationship in your life!

Edited by Kate