New Book Releases This Week: January 21, 2025

With a colorful cast of characters and a cellar full of wine, anything can happen―from murder to a second chance at love―in Jenny Elder Moke’s half mystery, half romance adult debut set at a lavish destination wedding.

A high-end wedding on a private island off the coast of Seattle sounds like something out of a magazine. But for bestselling mystery author Kate Valentine, it’s more like a nightmare.

Why Kate agreed to attend her ex-fiancé’s wedding is its own enigma, but she’ll plaster on a fake smile for two nights, with the aid of free champagne, naturally. And because the groom happens to be her editor, she’ll try to finish a draft of her latest Loretta Starling mystery as a wedding gift. But when the bride is poisoned and Kate stumbles across a dead body, she finds herself in a real-life mystery that eerily echoes the plot of her latest novel. And the only person who seems willing to help Kate catch the killer is Jake Hawkins, aka: the Hostralian; aka: Kate’s biggest romantic regret.

As the wine flows and the weather threatens to hold every guest hostage, bitter resentments and long-held grudges surface amongst the colorful crowd. Anyone could be capable of murder, it seems. What would Loretta do? Unfortunately, Kate doesn’t have a clue.

Rivals-to-lovers gets an academic send-up in this charming and irresistible romantic comedy from Emma Lord, New York Times bestselling author of Tweet Cute and Begin Again!

At long last, Sadie has vanquished her lifelong academic rival — her irritatingly charming, whip smart next door neighbor, Seb — by getting the coveted, only spot to her dream college. Or at least, so she thinks. When Seb is unexpectedly pulled off the waitlist and admitted, Sadie has to compete with him all over again, this time to get a spot on the school’s famous zine. Now not only is she dealing with the mayhem of the lovable, chaotic family she hid her writing talents from, as well as her own self doubt, but she has to come to terms with some less-than-resentful feelings for Seb that are popping up along the way.

But the longer they compete, the more Sadie and Seb notice flaws in the school’s system that are much bigger than any competition between them. Somehow the two of them have to band together even as they’re trying to crush each other, only to discover they may have met their match in more ways than one.

In this nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.

After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea “Bennie” Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s right—but also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs. Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.

Most family reunions end in tears. This one will end in murder.

Meet the Agarwals, who have gathered on a private, luxury island off the west coast of Scotland for a much-anticipated family reunion.

Raj, the patriarch and a business tycoon, is about to announce to his wife and three children the succession plan for his multimillon-dollar Delhi-based company. Shalini, the fragile matriarch, is ready to have her husband to herself after years of sacrifice to the family business. Myra, the golden child, owner of the island and host of the reunion, is, unbeknownst to her family, on the brink of bankruptcy. Aseem, the son and supposed heir, is torn between his love for his wife and his duty to family. Aisha, the youngest, a party girl whose antics are legendary, can’t pass up an opportunity to wreak havoc. And then there’s Zoe, Aseem’s wife, the outsider whose #InstaPerfect life is built on a foundation of lies.

They’ve all got secrets they would die to protect. Who will survive this high-stakes reunion, and who will become a victim of their own greed? One thing is certain: this family gathering will shatter more than just their illusions of unity.

Knives Out meets high seas intrigue on a literary cruise to nowhere in this intelligent, wildly funny locked room mystery for fans of Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz, Nita Prose, and Agatha Christie!

The USA Today bestselling host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age murder mystery into the present-day, as the ghostwriter’s skills are put to the test aboard a bestselling author’s decidedly insalubrious cruise.

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. So goes the adage, but sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a very popular, bestselling author—and the ghostwriter’s long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days.

Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband—who is also on board. And she’s acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres, while basking in Payton’s reflected glow.

Between mentoring guests, flirting with Payton’s ex, and taking bets on how long before someone performs a reenactment of Titanic’s “I’m flying!” scene (answer: not long enough), there’s plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there’s one activity nobody expected: solving a murder.

When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn’t even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe—except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist . . .

In Alexandra Vasti’s newest Regency rom-com, a reclusive earl’s life is turned upside down when a stranger shows up on his doorstep with an astonishing proposal—and an inconvenient connection to espionage.

For three years, wallflower heiress Lydia Hope-Wallace has anonymously penned seditious pamphlets. And for almost as long, she’s corresponded with the Earl of Strathrannoch, whose political ambition is matched only by his charm. When Arthur’s latest letter reveals his dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him the only salvation she can think of—a marriage of convenience. To, um, herself.

Unfortunately, the Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is.

When a bewitching redheaded stranger offers him her hand in marriage, Arthur Baird is stunned—but when he learns that his traitorous brother has been writing to her under Arthur’s name, he’s bloody furious. He’s content to live alone in his moldering castle, and he has no desire for a provocative, radical wife. (Or at least, he shouldn’t.)

But Arthur is desperate to track down his brother, who’s become dangerously entangled in British espionage, and he needs Lydia’s help. What he doesn’t need? The attraction that burns hotter each moment they spend together. As Lydia slips past his defenses and his brother’s mysterious past becomes a very present threat, Arthur will have to risk everything to keep her safe—even his heart.

Old flames reignite in Sunrise Cove in this charming enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, small-town, forced-proximity love story about family, friendships, and true love from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.

When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all.

As a special investigative agent for the National Park Service, Noah’s used to living under intense pressure. Or he was until he got injured on the job. Now unhappily recuperating at home while being smothered by his loving but nosy family, he’d love nothing more than a good distraction.

So when Olive shows up looking like a million bucks, he has to do a gut and heart check. Because nope, no matter what, he can’t fall for her again, the woman who once blew up his entire life and never looked back. How ironic then that his own personal hell (Olive) is also his ticket out of town. The question is, will the risk be worth the reward?

Greco-Roman mythology and the mystery of the vanished Roanoke colony collide in this epic adventure filled with sapphic longing and female rage—a debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes.Before, Scopuli. It has been centuries since Thelia made the mistake that cost her the woman she loved. As the handmaidens charged with protecting Proserpina, the goddess of spring, Thelia and her sisters are banished to the island of Scopuli, cursed to live as sirens—winged half-woman, half-bird creatures. In luring men to their death, they hope to gain favor from the gods who could free them. But then ships stop coming and Thelia fears a fate worse than the underworld. Just as time begins to run out, a voice emerges, Proserpina’s voice; and what she asks of Thelia will spark a daring and dangerous quest for freedom.Now, Roanoke. Thelia can’t bear to reflect on her last moments in Scopuli, where she left behind her sisters. After weeks drifting at sea, Thelia’s renewed human body is close to death. Luckily, an unfamiliar island appears on the horizon—Roanoke. Posing as a princess arriving on a sailboat filled with riches, Thelia infiltrates the small English colony. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that this place is dangerous, especially for women. As she grows closer to a beautiful settler who mysteriously resembles her former love, Thelia formulates a plan to save her sisters and enact revenge on the violent men she’s come to hate. But is she willing to go back to Scopuli and face the decisions of her past? And will Proserpina forgive her for all that she’s done?Told in alternating timelines, Those Fatal Flowers is a powerful, passionate, and wildly cathartic love letter to femininity and the monstrous power within us all.

To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the last decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some dead, others just… gone. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save. Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her. What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.

From P. C. Cast, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the landmark House of Night urban fantasy series, comes an epic, lusty, magic-filled romantasy about British warrior queen Boudicca. Perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Madeline Miller!

In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen. Tall and flame-haired, Boudicca is devoted to Andraste, the Iceni’s patron goddess, known for her raven familiar, her fierceness and her swirling blue tattoos. Boudicca and her two young daughters will carry the tribe forward in dangerous times.

Roman tax collector Catus Decianus, expecting weakness in a female ruler, launches a devastating attack on the tribe’s stronghold. Boudicca and her family barely survive—but they refuse to bend the knee. She calls a war council, bringing together her most trustworthy allies, including her childhood friend Rhan, now a powerful Druid seer, and the horse master Maldwyn, whose devotion to Boudicca runs deeper than a warrior to a queen.

Surprising the Romans, Boudicca’s armies sack the wealthy cities of Camulodunum, Londinium and Veralamium. As the snow falls, the Celts retreat to a hidden valley to plot their assault on the remaining Roman legions, determined to force the invaders from Britan.

But in the jagged ice of winter the Druid Rhan foresees a tragic end to Boudicca’s rebellion. Although the defeat of the Iceni is spelled out in signs sent by the gods, Rhan swears she will alter the future and save her queen. Now the battle-hardened Boudicca must put her trust in the powers of the otherworld to save her from both the traitors in her midst and from Rome’s mighty legions.

Inspired by the rich history of Boudicca’s attack on Roman Britain, bestselling author P. C. Cast crafts an epic, mythic retelling of one of time’s most legendary female warriors.

She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world. Barbie is born in this bold new novel by USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen.

When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she’s setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up.

In 1956, the only dolls on the market for little girls let them pretend to be mothers. Ruth’s vision for a doll shaped like a grown woman and outfitted in an enviable wardrobe will let them dream they can be anything.

As Ruth assembles her team of creative rebels—head engineer Jack Ryan who hides his deepest secrets behind his genius and designers Charlotte Johnson and Stevie Klein, whose hopes and dreams rest on the success of Barbie’s fashion—she knows they’re working against a ticking clock to get this wild idea off the ground.

In the decades to come—through soaring heights and devastating personal lows, public scandals and private tensions— each of them will have to decide how tightly to hold on to their creation. Because Barbie has never been just a doll—she’s a legacy.

Zoe Brennan may be the loneliest lesbian in Blue Ridge, but at least she has her family vineyard, a deep, abiding vendetta against her ex-best-friend-now-enemy, and the occasional meaningless hook-up to keep her busy.

When a prestigious wine festival announces it’s coming to Blue Ridge, it kicks off a battle royale among local vineyards vying for the opportunity to host it. Zoe’s in it to win it—getting chosen would put Brennan Vineyards on the map while also sticking it to the rival vineyard next door. But disaster strikes when Zoe’s father is called home to Italy to care for his sick mother, leaving Brennan Vineyards without a vintner.

Dejected, Zoe impulsively agrees to a blindfolded threesome with a friend and, excitingly, a stranger. After having the best sex of her life, Zoe’s horrified to discover the butch beneath the blindfold is none other than Laine Woods, Napa-trained vintner, Zoe’s first crush, and her enemy’s big sister.The Napa-trained vintner, Zoe discovers, her father’s just hired as his replacement.

Laine assures Zoe they can put their sizzling one-night stand behind them, but Laine’s snobbery and Zoe’s pride collide at every step, creating a potent pour of sexual and professional tension. Zoe and Laine must learn to work together to win the wine festival, but when working together means late nights under the stars, letting go of the past, and learning each other all over again, Zoe has to be careful or Laine Woods might crush her heart for good.

In this sweeping crossover of romantic fantasy and Hindu mythology, acclaimed author Kritika H. Rao reimagines the famous tale of a celestial dancer tasked with seducing a human sage, but when she finds herself falling in love with her mark, she will be forced to choose between loyalty to her home and being true to herself—perfect for readers of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Kaikeyi, and Circe.

Across the mortal and immortal realms, celestial dancers known as apsaras are revered for their beauty, allure, and enchanting magic. But Meneka knows that is not all they are. Trained as a weapon—a warrior—Meneka despises leaving each of her marks in thrall to her potent illusions. With every seduction Lord Indra, king of heaven, demands of her for his political gain, she craves her freedom more and more.

When a mortal sage’s growing powers threaten Indra’s supremacy in his own realm, Meneka seizes a rare opportunity. She strikes a deal—if she can seduce this dangerous man, Indra will allow her to forgo future missions. But upon meeting the sage, Kaushika, Meneka finds herself captivated by his energy, ignited by his empathy and passion, even though he threatens everything she’s ever known. Can she overthrow the man who is—little by little—stealing her heart, or is Kaushika seducing her instead? As war looms in the skies, Meneka must choose between her duty to protect her home, and the sage who is showing her what true love can mean.

Romantic, spellbinding, and empowering, The Legend of Meneka breathes new life into Hindu mythology to weave a lustrous tale of a woman discovering the cosmic power within herself. This first book in the Divine Dancers duology is a completely unputdownable adventure for lovers of romantasy and myth retellings.

In this poignant, funny, and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.

There’s a madman dog beside me, and the hounds of memory ahead of us . . . It’s love and beasts and wild mistakes, and regret, but never to change things.

What happens when the Zusak family opens their home to three big, wild, street-hardened dogs—Reuben, more wolf than hound; Archer, blond, beautiful, destructive; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm?

The answer can only be chaos: There are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property damages, injuries, hospital visits, wellness checks, pure comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that must be read to be believed.

There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love—and the joy and recognition of family.

Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) is a tender, motley, and exquisitely written memoir about the human need for both connection and disorder, a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty—but also the visceral truth of the natural world—straight to our doors and into our lives and change us forever.

The Bourne Identity meets X-Men in Bloodshot, a heart-pounding adventure based on the hit comic series from Valiant Entertainment.

He wakes up in the middle of the woods with chalk-white skin, the ability to heal from any injury, and no memory of who or what he is. He is Bloodshot, and now he’s caught between the shadowy defense contractor that wants to capture him, and the underground network of psychic teens that want to destroy him.

Now, Kalea, the girl who found him, has a target on her back just for trying to help him. To save himself and his friends, Bloodshot must stay alive long enough to unravel the mystery of his own identity—and deal with the real possibility that his own family are the ones who most want him dead.

A dazzling debut novel set in 1980s New York, when cocaine is as easy to get as ice cream, about one young woman’s summer of infinite possibility—and looming danger.

It was the summer of 1986, when the girl was found dead in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum—half-naked, legs splayed, arms flung over her head. Larynx crushed.

There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986: avoid her mother’s depression-fueled rages, and lose her virginity before she starts college in the fall. Both are seemingly impossible—when her mother isn’t lying in bed for days, she’s lashing out at Nina over any perceived slight. And after a blowjob gone spectacularly wrong, Nina is the talk of Flanagan’s, the Upper East Side bar where young Manhattan society congregates. It doesn’t help that she’s Jewish, an outsider among the blue-eyed blondes who populate this rarified world. She can fit in, kind of, with enough alcohol and prescription drugs stolen from her parents’ medicine cabinet.

Flanagan’s is where she pines for the handsome, preppy, and charismatic Gardner Reed, whom every girl wants to sleep with and every guy wants to be. After she’s introduced to cocaine, Nina plunges headlong into her pursuit of Gardner, oblivious to the warning signs. When a new medication seemingly frees her mother from darkness, and Nina and Gardner grow closer, it seems like Nina might finally get what she wants. But at what cost?

Freud called cocaine “a gorgeous excitement,” but a gorgeous excitement for the wrong guy can be lethal.

A confidence scheme, when properly executed, will follow five movements in close and inviolable order.

I. The Mark II. The Intrusion. III. The Ballyhoo. IV. The Knot. V. All In.

There may be many counterstrikes along the way, for such is the nature of the game; it contains so many turns, so many endless possibilities…

1898. Quinn le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman, has five days to pull off her most ambitious plot  trap a highly eligible duke into marriage and lift a fortune from the richest family in England.

Masquerading as the season’s most enviable debutante, Quinn puts on a brilliant act that earns her entrance into the grand drawing rooms and lavish balls of high society—and propels her straight into the inner circle of her the charismatic Kendals. Among those she must convince are the handsome bachelor heir, the rebellious younger sister, and the esteemed duchess eager to see her son married.

But the deeper she forges into their world, the more Quinn finds herself tangled in a complicated web of love, lies, and loyalty. The Kendals all have secrets of their own, and she may not be the only one playing a game of high deception…

Stephanie Dowrick, PhD, embraces a whole body, whole-self approach to radically reduce stress, quieten anxiety, and return power to each reader through strong, self-supporting solutions you can use in daily life.Anxiety and stress are wildfire problems. Why is no secret. You live in a crazily stressful world. What you can do right now needs urgent addressing. With consummate insight and compassion, Stephanie Dowrick offers a new way to look at anxiety (and yourself) that is accessible, supportive and immediately effective. Drawing on decades of professional experience, her own story, plus the latest in mind-body-brain insights, she puts workable knowledge into your hands. Always inspiring, always practical, this book returns the life-changing power of choice and inner security to you—where they belong. ‘Read. This. Book. It’s a lifesaver.’ – Magda Szubanski AO‘Through her rich experience and diverse training and expertise, Dr. Dowrick has made an array of connected insights accessible to us a timely gift in our anxious and troubled world.’ – Patrick McGorry AO, Professor of Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne‘One of the most useful books I have read in over 40 years as a psychotherapist.’ – Helen Palmer, Director, Psychosynthesis Education & Research, New Zealand‘Stephanie Dowrick has drawn on decades of research, insight and experience to put anxiety in its proper body, mind and soul.’ – Tom Tilley, Television and radio presenter, author of Speaking in Tongues‘Wise, insightful and, most importantly, genuinely useful.’ – Nigel Marsh, author, host of Five of My Life‘Beautifully written by one of the most authentic teachers of our time ‘ – Tao de Haas, Clinical Psychotherapist and Coach‘A rousing affirmation for everyone who has felt like they are nothing more than a diagnosis. Stephanie Dowrick gets to the heart of what it means to be anxious.’ – Dr. Neela Janakiramanan, reconstructive surgeon, author of The Registrar‘Such a comfort of a book, and so very important right now. Stephanie Dowrick’s insight, wisdom and generosity shine from every page. I want a copy by my bed!’ – Kathryn Heyman, PhD, author of Fury‘As a consummate storyteller, Dr. Stephanie Dowrick knows that we all carry the most important healing stories within us, if we learn to open ourselves to their stirring presence and power. ‘ – Mark S. Burrows, PhD, author of Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness and Life‘This book is so comforting and JOYFUL It gives us a way out, to learn to tame our dragons rather than going full-bore slaying.’ – Jenna Price, PhD, journalist and social commentator‘This is a book I would thoroughly recommend to people who consult me for counselling.’ – Dr. Josie McSkimming, Clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapist‘Both profound and profoundly helpful.’ – Richard Griffiths, PhD, Mental Health Advocate

Timely and thought-provoking, Nancy Reddy unpacks and debunks the bad ideas that have for too long defined what it means to be a “good” mom.

When Nancy Reddy had her first child she found herself suddenly confronted with the ideal of a perfect mother—a woman who was constantly available, endlessly patient, and immediately invested in her child to the exclusion of all else. Reddy had been raised by a single working mother, considered herself a feminist, and was well on her way to a PhD. Why did doing motherhood “right” feel so wrong?

For answers Reddy turned to the mid-20th century social scientists and psychologists whose work still forms the basis of so much of what we believe about parenting. It seems ludicrous to imagine modern moms taking advice from mid-century researchers, yet their bad ideas about so-called “good” motherhood have seeped pervasively into our cultural norms. In The Good Mother Myth, Reddy debunks the flawed lab studies, sloppy research, and straightforward misogyny of researchers from Harry Harlow, who claimed to have discovered love by observing monkeys in his lab, to the famous Dr. Spock, whose bestselling parenting guide included just one illustration of a father interacting with his child. Blending history of science, cultural criticism, and memoir, The Good Mother Myth pulls back the curtain on the flawed social science behind our contemporary understanding of what makes a good mom.

In his provocative, crackling new novel, Andrew Lipstein spins a wicked web through the heart of Copenhagen. You’ll question everyone and everything—even the very nature of truth.

Cecilie is a fed-up New York Times reporter. Her husband, Reuben, is a disgraced former NPR host and grudging stay-at-home dad. Neither can wait to flee New York and spend the summer in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cecilie’s hometown. But their vacation begins to turn inside out as soon as they land: Cecilie’s first love, Jonas, has been diagnosed with a rare, fatal illness. All of Cecilie’s friends are desperate to get him help—that is, except for Mikkel, a high-powered journalist who happens to be the only one Jonas will listen to.

Mikkel’s influence quickly extends to Reuben, who’s not only intoxicated by Mikkel’s charm, but discovers in him a new model of masculinity—one he found hopelessly absent in America. As Mikkel indoctrinates Reuben with ever more depraved stunts, Reuben senses something is seriously amiss. Cecilie, too, begins to question who to trust—even herself. Drawn in by the gravity of the past, she can’t help but stray onto the road not taken.

A twisting, thrilling tale of loyalty and deceit, lovers and fools, Andrew Lipstein’s Something Rotten proves that sometimes to be kind you have to be cruel beyond belief.

A stunning historical novel of post-war Paris that interweaves a coming-of-age story, a cross-cultural romance, and a portrait of the international youth at a definitive moment in contemporary history

Paris, 1947. The city, recovering from the war, is brimming with young international students – African, Indochinese, Arab, as well as American and French – balancing on the precipice of a new world. Cecile Rosenbaum, a young Jewish girl quickly developing her own intellectual and political ideals, meets Minette – a feisty, French-born girl of Senegalese descent – on the bus to a Communist Youth Conference. There, she meets and begins to fall in love with Seb, who arrived from West Africa with his sister at just seven years old.

As Seb toils for the exams that will permit him to study French architecture at the Parisian university Beaux-Arts, he also begins to dig into his roots in Dahomey, the West African kingdom where he came from. Cecile struggles at her job at the Louvre, clashes with her white, Jewish family, and reckons with her memories of a childhood under Nazi occupation and her fierce dedication to her new political ideologies. Seb and Cecile find themselves entangled, and along the course of the novel they lose and find each other again – in the corners of jazz clubs, at a Louis Armstrong concert, in the square where Seb’s exam scores will be posted, and, finally, at a protest that turns shockingly violent.

Nuanced, powerful, and sharply realized, The New Internationals is a brilliant work of historical fiction that celebrates the awakening of the post-colonial movements of the 20th century and international youth population in Paris who rose up – and came together – in the beginnings of a vibrant political moment.

An exuberant, deeply moving novel by the National Book Award–nominated author of Fieldwork.


Celebrated stage actress Mona Zahid wakes up on Thanksgiving morning to the clamor of guests packed into her Manhattan apartment and to a wave of her in-laws are lurking on the other side of the bedroom door; she’s still fighting with her husband; and in just a few weeks she will begin rehearsals as Shakespeare’s Cleopatra, the hardest role in theater. In an impulsive burst, Mona bounds out the door with the family dog in tow (“I forgot the parsley!” is her lame excuse) to find her estranged mentor, Milton Katz, who was recently forced out of the legendary theater company he founded amid accusations of sexual misconduct. Mona’s escape turns into an overnight adventure that brings her face-to-face with her past, with her creative power and its limitations, and ultimately, with all the people she has ever loved.


Beguilingly approachable and intricately constructed, at once funny and sad and wise, Mona Acts Out is a novel about acting and telling the truth, about how we play roles to get through our days, and how the great roles teach us how to live.

A moving culinary memoir about the relationship between food and family—sustenance and survival—from a chef, award-winning journalist, and daughter of a Holocaust survivor.When you’re raised by someone who once survived on potato peels and coffee grounds, you develop a pretty healthy respect for food.Bonny Reichert avoided everything to do with the Holocaust until she found herself, in midlife, suddenly typing those words into an article she was writing. The journalist had grown up hearing stories about her father’s near-starvation and ultimate survival in Auschwitz-Birkenau, but she never imagined she would be able to face this epic legacy head on. Then a chance encounter with a perfect bowl of borscht in Warsaw set Bonny on a journey to unearth her culinary lineage, and she began to dig for the roots of her food obsession, dish by dish. Tracing the defining moments of her life, from her colorful childhood in the restaurant business to the crumbling of her first marriage and the intensity of young motherhood, her decision to become a chef and that life-altering visit to Poland, the author recounts a tale of scarcity and plenty, stepping into the kitchen to connect her past to her future. Whether it’s the flaky potato knishes and molasses porridge bread she learned to bake at her Baba Sarah’s elbow, the creamy vichyssoise she taught herself to cook in her tiny student apartment, or the brown butter eggs her father, now 93, still scrambles for her whenever she needs comfort, cuisine is both an anchor and an identity; a source of joy and a signifier of survival.How to Share an Egg is a journey of deep flavors and surprising contrasts. By turns sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, this is one woman’s search to find her voice as a writer, chef, mother and daughter. Do the tiny dramas of her own life matter in comparison to everything her father has seen and done? This moving exploration of heritage, inheritance, and self-discovery sets out to find the answer.

A frank, funny and informative guide to menopause and aging by beloved actress Naomi Watts, one of the leading voices in menopause awareness

At thirty-six, Naomi Watts had just completed filming King Kong and was trying to start a family when she was told that she was on the brink of menopause. It is estimated that seventy-five million women in the United States are currently dealing with menopause symptoms (dry itchy skin, raging hormones, night sweats), and yet the very word “menopause” continues to be associated with stigma and confusion. With so little information, many women feel unprepared, ashamed, and deeply alone when the time comes.

This is the book Naomi Watts wishes she had when she first started experiencing symptoms. Like sitting down over coffee and having an intimate chat with your girlfriend, Dare I Say It blends funny and poignant stories from Naomi and her friends with advice from doctors, hormone experts, and nutritionists to take the secrecy and shame out of menopause and aging. Answering questions such as: What’s hormone therapy and should I be on it? Will I ever sleep again? Will I get myself back? What happened to my libido? Do I need eighteen serums for my aging skin? Whose body is this anyway? Who am I now? Naomi Watts shares the most up-to-date research on how to manage menopause symptoms and tackle the physical and emotional challenges we encounter as we age.

Irreverent, bold, and reassuring, Dare I Say It is the companion every woman needs to embrace the best version of herself as she moves into what can be the most powerful and satisfying period of her life.

From Edgar Award-winning author Erika Krouse, a visceral, dazzling collection of stories set across the globe, about characters desperate for salvation.

Erika Krouse’s Edgar Award-winning debut memoir, Tell Me Everything, was hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “lyrical, jarring, propulsive,” and The Washington Post as “mesmerizing on every page.” Now, with an electrifying new collection of stories, Save Me, Stranger, she further cements her reputation as an essential voice.

From the coldest town on earth, to a sex shop in Bangkok, to a haunted bed and breakfast in the Rockies, we meet characters at hinge moments. A runaway fights for her future while driving an ice cream truck in gang territory; a cleaning woman investigates the teenager who died in her stead; an Alaskan terminal patient discovers new life in helping others die. This collection explores the borderlands between humor and hurt, community and self, and hope and despair, redefining what it means to survive.

Scalpel-sharp, unsparingly funny, and achingly wise, Krouse’s expansive stories build to unforgettable emotional catharses, as these men and women must decide how far they are willing to go to save each other—and themselves.