More than 30 acclaimed writers—including diverse voices such as Nikki Giovanni, David Omotosho Black, Natasha Trethewey, Barry Jenkins, Jacqueline Woodson, Tayari Jones, and Angela Flournoy—reflect on their experience and expertise in this unique book on the craft of writing that focuses on the Black creative spirit. How We Do It is an anthology curated by Black writers for the creation and proliferation of Black thought. While a creator’s ethnicity does not solely define them, it is inherently part of who they are and how they interpret the world. For centuries, Black creators have utilized oral and written storytelling traditions in crafting their art. But how does one begin the process of constructing a poem or story or character? How do Black writers, when faced with questions of “authenticity,” dive deep into the essence of their lives and work to find the inherent truth? How We Do It addresses these profound questions. Not a traditional “how to” writing handbook, it seeks to guide rather than dictate and to validate the complexity and range of styles—and even how one thinks about craft itself. An outstanding list of contributors offer their insights on a range of important topics. Pulitzer Prize winner Jericho Brown explores the lives personified in poetry, while Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey explores decolonizing enduring metaphors. National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy illuminates the pain of grief in all forms and how it can be revealed in the act of creation, and iconoclast Nikki Giovanni offers an elegiac declaration on language. New and previously published essays and interviews provide encouragement, examples, and templates, and offer lessons on everything from poetic form and plotting a story to the lessons inherent in the act of writing, trial & error, and finding inspiration in the works of others, including those of Toni Morrison, Shakespeare, and Edward P. Jones. A handbook and a reference tool, How We Do It is a thoughtful and welcome tool that offers direction to help Black artists establish their own creative practice while celebrating and widening the scope of the Black writer’s role in art, history, and culture. Contributors include Daniel Omotosho Black, Jericho Brown, Breena Clark, Rita Dove, Camille T. Dungy, W. Ralph Eubanks, Curdella Forbes, Angela Flournoy, Ernest Gaines, Nikki Giovanni, Marita Golden, Ravi Howard, Terrance Hayes, Mitchell S. Jackson, Barry Jenkins, Charles Johnson, Tayari Jones, Jamaica Kincaid, Tony Medina, E. Ethelbert Miller, Elizabeth Nunez, Carl Phillips, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Rion Amilcar Scott, Evie Shockley, Natasha Trethewey, Frank X Walker, Afaa M. Weaver, Crystal Wilkinson, Jacqueline Woodson, Tiphanie Yanique.

How We Do It

Growing up, Muggsy Bogues was always told he should do something else, anything besides basketball. He never acknowledged his many doubters except to prove them spectacularly wrong. Twenty years after receiving his first basketball as a toddler, he stood proud—at five-foot-three—as the starting point guard for the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA. From the East Baltimore playground courts where he earned his nickname by muggin' opponents for possession of the ball to Dunbar High School where he excelled alongside future NBA players, Bogues set the tone in his early years for the great heights he'd reach professionally. In this new autobiography, Bogues delves deep into his life and career, reflecting on legendary battles with Michael Jordan, John Stockton, and other generational stars of ’80s and ’90s hoops. He shares far-ranging anecdotes from playoff runs in Charlotte, filming Space Jam, and even watching a young Steph Curry grow up. Conversational and clear-sighted, this is a story of uncompromising vision and fleet-footed determination during a golden era for the NBA.

Muggsy

In this new collection, Richard Thomas has crafted fourteen stories that push the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Equally provocative and profound, each story is masterfully woven with transgressive themes that burrow beneath the skin. - A poker game yields a strange prize that haunts one man, his game of chance now turned into a life-or-death coin flip. - A set of twins find they have mysterious new powers when an asteroid crashes in a field near their house and the decisions they make create an uneasy balance. - A fantasy world is filled with one man’s desire to feel whole again, finally finding love, only to have the shocking truth of his life exposed in an appalling twist. - A father and son work slave labor in a brave new world run by aliens and mount a rebellion that may end up freeing them all. - A clown takes off his make-up in a gloomy basement to reveal something more horrifying under the white, tacky skin. Powerful and haunting, Thomas’s transportive collection dares you to examine what lies in the darkest, most twisted corners of human existence and not be transformed by what you find. A foreword by Brian Evenson is included.

Spontaneous Human Combustion

Imagine a world devoid of violence—a world where fists can’t hit, guns don’t kill, and bombs can’t destroy. In this tantalizing novel of possibility, this has—suddenly and inexplicably—become our new reality. The U.S. president must find a new way to wage war. The Pope ponders whether the Commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” is still relevant. A dictator takes his own life after realizing that the violence he used to control his people is no longer an option. In the first days after the change, seven people who have experienced violence struggle to adapt to this radical new paradigm: Dab, a bullied middle schooler; Marcus, a high-school student whose brother is the last victim of gun violence in America; Ann, a social worker stuck in an abusive marriage; Richard, a professor whose past makes him expect the worst in the present; Gabriela, who is making a dangerous border crossing into the U.S.; the Empty Shell, a dissident writer waiting to be tortured in a notorious prison; and Julian, a white supremacist plotting a horrific massacre. As their fates intertwine, the promise and perils of this new world begin to take shape. Although violence is no longer possible, mindless cruelty is still alive and well—and those bent on destruction still seek the means to achieve it. For fans of Ben Winters and Sarah Pinsker, this mind-bending and thought-provoking novel pushes the limits of fiction, questioning the violence sewn into our DNA.

The Damage Done

“A book that both taught me so much and also kept me on the edge of my seat. It is an invaluable text from a supremely talented writer.” —Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed The definitive history of the pervasiveness of racial inequality in American higher education America’s colleges and universities have a shameful secret: they have never given Black people a fair chance to succeed. From its inception, our higher education system was not built on equality or accessibility, but on educating—and prioritizing—white students. Black students have always been an afterthought. While governments and private donors funnel money into majority white schools, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and other institutions that have high enrollments of Black students, are struggling to survive, with state legislatures siphoning away federal funds that are legally owed to these schools. In The State Must Provide, Adam Harris reckons with the history of a higher education system that has systematically excluded Black people from its benefits. Harris weaves through the legal, social, and political obstacles erected to block equitable education in the United States, studying the Black Americans who fought their way to an education, pivotal Supreme Court cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, and the government’s role in creating and upholding a segregated education system. He explores the role that Civil War–era legislation intended to bring agricultural education to the masses had in creating the HBCUs that have played such a major part in educating Black students when other state and private institutions refused to accept them. The State Must Provide is the definitive chronicle of higher education’s failed attempts at equality and the long road still in front of us to remedy centuries of racial discrimination—and poses a daring solution to help solve the underfunding of HBCUs. Told through a vivid cast of characters, The State Must Provide examines what happened before and after schools were supposedly integrated in the twentieth century, and why higher education remains broken to this day. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

The State Must Provide

Riley “Blues Boy” King (1925-2015) was born into deep poverty in Jim Crow Mississippi. Wrenched away from his sharecropper father, B.B. lost his mother at age ten, leaving him more or less alone. Music became his emancipation from exhausting toil in the fields. Inspired by a local minister’s guitar and by the records of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker and encouraged by his cousin, the established blues man Bukka White, B.B. taught his guitar to sing in the unique solo style that, along with his relentless work ethic and humanity, became his trademark. In turn, generations of artists claimed him as inspiration, from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Carlos Santana and the Edge. King of the Blues presents the vibrant life and times of a trailblazing giant. Witness to dark prejudice and lynching in his youth, B.B. performed incessantly (some 15,000 concerts in 90 countries over nearly 60 years). Several of his concerts, including his landmark gig at Chicago’s Cook County Jail, endure in legend to this day. His career roller-coastered between adulation and relegation, but he always rose back up. At the same time, his story reveals the many ways record companies took advantage of artists, especially those of color. Daniel de Visé has interviewed almost every surviving member of B.B. King’s inner circle, and their voices and memories enrich and enliven the life of this Mississippi blues titan, whom his contemporary Bobby “Blue” Bland simply called “the man.”

King of the Blues

Successful financial adviser Cathleen McAlister has worked hard to achieve what she considers the perfect life. There isn't much else she could possibly want . . . except the man who got away while she was climbing the ladder of success.

Extreme Satisfaction

Sydney Corbain never forgot her explosive encounter with Tyrone Hardcastle at her brother's wedding. So when she runs into him in New York City on business, they both see this as an opportunity to explore their undeniable attraction. But can a whirlwind of passion turn into long-lasting love?

Irresistible Attraction

A steamy one night stand is all it should have been between Mallory Standish and Hunter Sloan--one night with the sexy P.I. is about all she can handle. But when circumstances throw them back together, Mallory's about to learn that the "P" in P.I. stands for playa...but even the baddest boys around can be tamed.  

The Hunter

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood A Goodreads Choice Awards 2019 Semifinalist One of BookBub’s Best Science Fiction Books of 2019 One of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2019 So Far One of The Nerd Daily’s Best Debut Novels of 2019 Featured in The Millions “A Year in Reading” One of Entropy’s Best Fiction Books of 2019 He’ll go anywhere and any when to save his daughter Kin Stewart is an everyday family man: working in IT, trying to keep the spark in his marriage, struggling to connect with his teenage daughter. But his current life is a far cry from his previous career…as a time-traveling secret agent from over a century in the future. Stranded in suburban San Francisco since the 1990s after a botched mission, Kin has kept his past hidden from everyone around him, until one afternoon, his “rescue” team arrives—eighteen years too late. Their mission: return Kin to 2142, where he’s been gone only weeks, not years, and where another family is waiting for him. A family he can’t remember. Torn between two lives, Kin’s desperate efforts to stay connected to both will threaten to destroy the agency and even history itself. With his daughter’s very existence at risk, he will have to take one final trip to save her—even if it means breaking all the rules of time travel in the process. “Heartfelt and thrilling… Chen’s concept is unique, and [his characters’] agony is deeply moving. Quick pacing, complex characters, and a fascinating premise.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Here and Now and Then

A celebration of #GirlDads everywhere by The Dad Gang CEO, Sean Williams! A fun read-aloud written in upbeat rhyming verse, Girl Dad is a book that honors the strong men who raise, love, and uplift strong girls. Perfect for fans of Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry and Made for Me by Zack Bush. Share Girl Dad with the dads in your life, on Father's Day or any day.

Girl Dad

“The Movement Made Us takes literature to a momentous Southern Black space to which I honestly never thought a book could take us. This is literally the Movement that made us and both Davids love us whole here with a creation that is as ingenious as it is soulfully sincere. Stunning.”—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy A dynamic family exchange that pivots between the voices of a father and son, The Movement Made Us is a unique work of oral history and memoir, chronicling the extraordinary story of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and its living legacy embodied in Black Lives Matter. David Dennis Sr, a core architect of the movement, speaks out for the first time, swapping recollections both harrowing and joyful with David Jr, a journalist working on the front lines of change today. Taken together, their stories paint a critical portrait of America, casting one nation’s image through the lens of two individual Black men and their unique relationship. Playful and searching, anxious and restorative, fearless and driving, this intimate memoir features scenes from across David Sr’s life, as he becomes involved in the movement, tries to move beyond it, and ultimately returns to it to find final solace and new sense of self—revealing a survivor who travels eternally with a cabal of ghosts. A crucial addition to Civil Rights history, The Movement Made Us is the story of a nation reckoning with change and the hopes, struggles, setbacks, and triumphs of modern Black life. This is it: the extant chronicle of why we live, why we move, and for what we are made.

The Movement Made Us

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER "My Grandmother's Hands will change the direction of the movement for racial justice."— Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology. The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn't just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police. My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide. Paves the way for a new, body-centered understanding of white supremacy—how it is literally in our blood and our nervous system. Offers a step-by-step healing process based on the latest neuroscience and somatic healing methods, in addition to incisive social commentary.

My Grandmother's Hands

Sy’noba, a young female lioness with roots in the African savanna, finds herself battling with her true identity now that she is living in civilization among non-shifters. The pride’s king, Koja, who already has two wives, has his eyes set on Sy’noba, the little sister of his first wife, Asha. With jealousy brewing in the pride, will Asha turn on Sy’noba? Will Sy’noba find herself when her back is against the wall, or will she become Koja’s third wife? Eze Saber, a young rich man who inherited his family’s business at a young age, crosses paths with a familiar feline from his past, but she doesn’t know of him yet. Will sparks fly when she realizes their true identities? Or will Lynx, Eze’s drop-dead gorgeous roommate, interfere with fate? Everyone is out for love. Will Sy’noba escape the treacherous lion’s pride and find her king, or will she die trying? Will Asha make a deadly choice for the sake of her cubs? Can love save Lynx from her outrage?

Roar

Due to a temporary peace agreement between the Brotherhood and Corsican, Maxwell and Boris leave with the French and embark on an adventure that proves to be deadly, life-changing, and brutally hilarious. This book should be read after Dirty Cravings (book six of the Lion and Mouse series). While it does feature sexually explicit scenes, it is not a romance. Content Warning: There is a flashback that may be psychologically triggering to those that have experienced sexual abuse. This moment is not used to entertain but to provide insight into the traumatic bond that Maxwell and Emily have with each other.

The Lion and The Mouse

Dirty Macking

The New York Times bestselling author of MY GRANDMOTHER'S HANDS surveys America's deteriorating democracy and offers embodied practices to help us protect ourselves and our country. In THE QUAKING OF AMERICA, therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem takes readers through somatic processes addressing the growing threat of white-supremacist political violence. Through the coordinated repetition of lies, anti-democratic elements in American society are working to incite mass radicalization, widespread chaos, and a collective trauma response in tens of millions of American bodies. Currently, most of us are utterly unprepared for this potential mayhem. This book can help prepare us—and possibly prevent further destruction. This preparation focuses not on strategy or politics, but on practices that can help us Build presence and discernment in our bodies Settle our bodies during the heat of conflict Maintain our safety, sanity, and stability in dangerous situations Heal our personal and collective racialized trauma Practice embodied social action Turn toward instead of on one another THE QUAKING OF AMERICA is a unique and perfectly timed guide to help us navigate our widespread upheaval and build an antiracist culture. "Resmaa Menakem is one of our country's most gifted racial healers. His brilliant new book could not be more timely."—Michael Eric Dyson, author of Entertaining Race and Long Time Coming "Resmaa Menakem is a visionary, and his work is absolutely essential for antiracist practice.”—Robin DiAngelo, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility and Nice Racism

The Quaking of America

From 70 of the most successful mystery writers in the business, an invaluable guide to crafting mysteries—from character development and plot to procedurals and thrillers—“this is a writing guide that readers and writers will turn to again and again” (Booklist, starred review). Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is known for providing unparalleled resources on the craft, art, and business of storytelling, helping writers of all levels improve their skills for nearly a century. Now, this handbook helps authors navigate the ever-shifting publishing landscape—from pacing, plotting, the business side of publishing, to the current demand for diversity and inclusivity across all genres, and more. Featuring essays by a new generation of bestselling experts on various elements of the craft and shorter pieces of crowd-sourced wisdom from the MWA membership as a whole, the topics covered can be categorized as follows: —Before Writing (rules; genres; setting; character; research; etc.) —While Writing (outlining; the plot; dialogue; mood; etc.) —After Writing (agents; editors; self-pub; etc.) —Other than Novels (short stories; true crime; etc.) —Other Considerations (diverse characters; legal questions; criticism) Also included is a collection of essays from MWA published authors—including Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, and Charlaine Harris—selected by bestselling authors Lee Child and Laurie King and arranged thematically answering, “What piece of writing advice do you wish you’d had at the beginning of your career?” “Everything you wanted to know about how to plan, draft, write, revise, publish, and market a mystery” (Kirkus Reviews), this inclusive manual provides practical, current, easily digestible advice for new and established authors alike.

How To Write a Mystery

Young Neil deGrasse Tyson was starstruck when he first visited the sky theater at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. He couldn't believe the crowded, glittering night sky at the planetarium was real—until a visit to the country years later revealed the impossible. That discovery was like rocket fuel for Neil's passion about space. His quest for knowledge took him from the roof of his apartment building to a science expedition in northwest Africa, to a summer astronomy camp beneath a desert sky, and finally back home to become the director of the Hayden Planetarium, where it all began. Before long, Neil became America's favorite guide to the cosmos. This story of how one boy's quest for knowledge about space led him to become a star scientist is perfect for young children who are fascinated by the universe, aspiring scientists, and the dreamer in all of us. It will ignite your own sense of wonder.

Starstruck

You may think that the story of the saxophone begins with Dexter Gordon or Charlie Parker or on a street corner in New Orleans. It really began in 1840 in Belgium with a young daydreamer named Joseph-Antoine Adolphe Sax—a boy with bad luck but great ideas. Coretta Scott King Honoree Lesa Cline-Ransome unravels the fascinating history of how Adolphe's once reviled instrument was transported across Europe and Mexico to New Orleans. Follow the saxophone's journey from Adolphe's imagination to the pawn-shop window where it caught the eye of musician Sidney Bechet and became the iconic symbol of jazz music it is today.

The Story of the Saxophone

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shanora Williams brings you the highly anticipated conclusion to the #1 bestselling taboo novel that had readers craving for more. Dear Chloe Knight, I know you still think of me. You must because I am constantly thinking about you. I can’t deny what I feel any longer—that you are, without a doubt, the love of my life. It doesn’t matter that I’m married, or that I’ve heard you’ve gotten engaged. I don’t care if it costs me everything just to get you back. I would walk to the ends of the earth for you. I would kill for you. I would die for you. I’m coming home, Little Knight, and I will make you mine again. I can’t wait to tell you the truth—that I love you. That I need you. That I can hardly fucking breathe without you. I will risk it all because I know that you belong to me … just as I belong to you. And this time, nothing is going to stand in my way … unless that something is you.

The Mr. Black Duet

Forever, Mr. Black

Follow custodians in a hospital as they work to keep people healthy and happy. These health heroes do the important work of keeping our hospitals safe and clean. Discover the tools and supplies custodians use as they work with other hospital staff. Like all health heroes, they make sure the needs of the patient come first. Meet a real custodian from Mayo Clinic, and find out how these health heroes save the day, every day!

Health Heroes

I'm a Custodian

Hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor was one of basketball’s all-time-greatest players—an innovative athlete, team player, and quiet force for change. One of the first professional African-American players, he inspired others on and off the court. But when traveling for away games, many hotels and restaurants turned Elgin away because he was black. One night, Elgin had enough and staged a one-man protest that captured the attention of the press, the public, and the NBA. Winner of the 2021 Orbis Pictus Award, Above the Rim is a poetic, exquisite telling of the life of an underrecognized athlete and a celebration of standing up for what is right.

Above the Rim

“The definitive story” (Tyler Kepner, The New York Times baseball columnist) of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s incredible, unparalleled run to break Roger Maris’s home run record and the franchise both men called home. Aaron Judge, the hulking superman who carried an easy aw-shucks demeanor from small-town California to stardom in the Big Apple, had long established his place as one of baseball’s most intimidating power hitters. Baseballs frequently rocketed off his bat like cannon fire, dispatching heat-seeking missiles toward the “Judge’s Chambers” seating area in right field, sending delirious fans scattering for souvenirs. But even in a high-tech universe where computers measure each swing to the nth degree, Roger Maris’s American League mark of sixty-one home runs seemed largely out of reach. It had been more than a decade since baseball wiped clean the stains of its performance-enhanced era, in which cartoonish sluggers Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds made a mockery of the record book. Given a more level playing field against pitchers sporting hellacious arsenals unlike anything Babe Ruth or Maris could have imagined, only an exceptional talent could even consider making a run at sixty-one homers. Judge, who placed the bet of his life by turning down a $213.5 million extension on the eve of the regular season, promised to rise to the challenge. “In the most thorough telling yet of an all-time-great Yankees performance” (Jeff Passan, New York Times bestselling author), veteran Yankees beat reporter Bryan Hoch unravels the remarkable journey of Judge’s run to shatter Maris’s beloved sixty-one-year-old record. In-depth, inspiring, and with an expert’s insight, 62 also investigates the more significant questions raised in a season unlike any other, including how—and where—Judge will deliver his encore.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shanora Williams comes a forbidden romance about a college woman who helplessly falls for her best friend’s father. Dear Mr. Black, I know you were hurting. I heard your cries for help. I wished over and over again that I could make it better, but as you stated I was too inexperienced; too good for someone as bad as you. Perhaps you were right, but it didn’t matter because what I did know was that I loved the way you felt—loved the way you smelled. I loved how hard you got for me, and when you called me your Little Knight. I had been madly in love with you ever since I was twelve years old, but I shouldn’t have been. My best friend—your daughter—Isabelle would have hated it. I couldn’t afford to lose her. Besides, you two had already lost enough. Losing Mrs. Black was the epitome. It’s me, Chloe Knight. I wanted to be there for you no matter what, but Isabelle needed me too, and she would have hated me if she ever found out I was sleeping with her father. ** Dear Mr. Black was formerly titled the #1 bestseller, Tainted Black.

Dear Mr. Black

Bleu Levell is cautious with her heart these days. After unknowingly having children with a married man, she’s recovering from heartbreak and betrayal. With her children’s father locked up on gun charges, Bleu has thrown herself into work and motherhood. It wasn’t until she meets photographer O’Shea Boulware, her massage client, that she considers opening her heart to love again. Tables turn when her ex, Isaiah, is suddenly released and looking to get that old thing back. His possessive nature won’t allow him to let Bleu go so easily, even with his wife in his back pocket. Even with years between them, he still loves Bleu and is willing to pay the ultimate price to have her. What happens when obsession turns deadly? Join this trio’s journey of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption as the drama unfolds.

Pick Up Your Feelings

A New Yorker writer’s intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur’s life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur’s single “Changes” became an anthem for the worldwide protests against the murder of George Floyd. The song became so popular, in fact, it was vaulted back onto the iTunes charts more than twenty years after its release—making it clear that Tupac’s music and the way it addresses systemic racism, police brutality, mass incarceration, income inequality, and a failing education system is just as important now as it was back then. In Changes, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Tupac’s birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, Sheldon Pearce offers one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive accounts yet of the artist’s life and legacy. Pearce, an editor and writer at The New Yorker, interviews dozens who knew Tupac throughout various phases of his life. While there are plenty of bold-faced names, the book focuses on the individuals who are lesser known and offer fresh stories and rare insight. Among these are the actor who costarred with him in a Harlem production of A Raisin in the Sun when he was twelve years old, the high school drama teacher who recognized and nurtured his talent, the music industry veteran who helped him develop a nonprofit devoted to helping young artists, the Death Row Records executive who has never before spoken on the record, and dozens of others. Meticulously woven together by Pearce, their voices combine to portray Tupac in all his complexity and contradiction. This remarkable book illustrates not only how he changed during his brief twenty-five years on this planet, but how he forever changed the world.

Changes

The fascinating, “upfront and unapologetic” (Kirkus Reviews) memoir of Richard Williams, a businessman, tennis coach, subject of the major motion picture King Richard, and father to two of the greatest athletes and professional tennis champions of all time—Venus and Serena Williams. Born into poverty in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1940s, Richard Williams was blessed by a strong, caring mother who remained his lifelong hero, just as he became a hero to Venus and Serena. From the beginning of his life, Richard’s mother taught him to live by the principles of courage, confidence, commitment, faith, and love. He passed the same qualities on to his daughters, who grew up loving their father and valuing the lessons he taught them. “I still feel really close to my father,” says Serena. “We have a great relationship. There is an appreciation. There is a closeness because of what we’ve been through together, and a respect.” A self-made man, Williams has walked a long, hard, exciting, and ultimately rewarding road during his life, surmounting many challenges to raise a loving family and two of the greatest tennis players who ever lived. Black and White is the extraordinary story of that journey and the indomitable spirit that made it all possible.

Black and White

A “captivating thriller full of twists and surprises” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author) about what happens when the death of a husband and father isn’t the tragedy everyone believes—perfect for fans of the Netflix original series Dead to Me. Emma Walsh has finally worked up the courage to confront her husband James about his drinking. But James never shows up to meet her as planned, and all her righteous words go unsaid. And unsaid they remain, because the next time Emma sees James, his body lies crumpled amidst the wreckage of his flashy car. In the aftermath of the fatal crash, Emma and her teenage children begin to embrace life without James’s looming, volcanic presence. Buoyed by the support of her two closest friends, she struggles to deal with her grief, complicated by the knowledge that her husband’s legacy as an upstanding business owner and family man shines only because so many people, for so long, were so willing to keep his secrets—secrets that twist into new and unexpected shapes as the mysterious details of his last day of life begin to come to light. A “stylish” (Publishers Weekly) and “delicious” (Booklist) domestic thriller, Wish You Were Gone will keep you guessing “until not just the last page, but the last paragraph” (Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author).

Wish You Were Gone

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year “An instant sports classic.” —New York Post * “Stellar.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A true masterwork…880 pages of sheer baseball bliss.” —BookPage (starred review) * “This is a remarkable achievement.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will. Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious, The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize–winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than two hundred years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?” Baseball’s legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game’s all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, unfairly forgotten All-Stars, talents of today, and more. He doesn’t rely just on records and statistics—he lovingly retraces players’ origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball’s past and present. Just how good a pitcher is Clayton Kershaw in the 21st-century game compared to Greg Maddux dueling with the juiced hitters of the nineties? How do the career and influence of Hank Aaron compare to Babe Ruth’s? Which player in the top ten most deserves to be resurrected from history? No compendium of baseball’s legendary geniuses could be complete without the players of the segregated Negro Leagues, men whose extraordinary careers were largely overlooked by sportswriters at the time and unjustly lost to history. Posnanski writes about the efforts of former Negro Leaguers to restore sidelined Black athletes to their due honor and draws upon the deep troves of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and extensive interviews with the likes of Buck O’Neil to illuminate the accomplishments of players such as pitchers Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe Williams; outfielders Oscar Charleston, Monte Irvin, and Cool Papa Bell; first baseman Buck Leonard; shortstop Pop Lloyd; catcher Josh Gibson; and many, many more. The Baseball 100 treats readers to the whole rich pageant of baseball history in a single volume. Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, it is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it.

The Baseball 100

A collection of the year’s best essays, selected by Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Wesley Morris and series editor Kim Dana Kupperman. “Imparting some piece of yourself—any part—is arduous and warrants some kind of commendation,” writes guest editor Wesley Morris in his introduction. Both personal and personable, the essayists in this volume use their own vulnerability to guide readers on excursions that unfold on uncomfortable edges. From contemplating the nuances of memory to exploring the complexities of family, romance, gender identity, illness, and death, Morris’s selection of essays presents a roundup of the thinkers who masterfully grapple with the issues of our time. The Best American Essays 2024 includes TEJU COLE • MICHAEL W. CLUNE • YIYUN LI • JAMES McAULEY • RÉMY NGAMIJE • JENNIFER SENIOR • SALLIE TISDALE • JERALD WALKER • JENISHA WATTS and others

The Best American Essays 2024

A collection of the year’s top food and travel writing, selected by the trailblazing New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated host of Taste the Nation and Top Chef Padma Lakshmi. “Food and travel are natural companions,” writes guest editor Padma Lakshmi. From this pairing comes “the possibility of seeing anew, of examining how we make and assign meaning.” The essays in this year’s Best American Food and Travel Writing circle the world—from Dakar in Senegal, to Michoacán in south-central Mexico, to the Camino de Santiago in Spain—and deepen our understanding of our place in it. An ode to the American grilled cheese spurs the desire to find beauty in the smallest daily activities. An obsessive odyssey for the perfect Chinese food blossoms into a heart-wrenching search for a lost childhood. Bold and insightful, joyful and moving, this collection celebrates the experiences that connect us all. The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024 includes C PAM ZHANG • LIGAYA MISHAN • KIESE LAYMON • MARIAN BULL • MAYUKH SEN • BEN TAUB • AND OTHERS

The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024

From Marcus Collins, strategist to Apple, Nike and Beyoncé, discover the powerful force behind what we buy, what we do, and who we want to be . . . 'Compelling and vivid' – Robert Cialdini, author of Pre-Suasion We all try to influence others in our daily lives. We are all marketers, whether you are a manager motivating your team, an employee making a big presentation, an activist staging a protest or a company executive selling the next big thing. In For the Culture, Marcus Collins argues that the most powerful vehicle for influencing behaviour is true cultural engagement. To inspire communities, we first need to think hard about how we appeal to their values and what we will contribute to their culture. With a deep perspective based on a century’s worth of data, Collins breaks down the many ways in which culture influences behaviour. Using captivating stories from his own life as a top marketer – including spearheading digital strategy for Beyoncé, working with iTunes and Nike+ on their collaboration, and designing ads for McDonalds – he shows readers how they can do the same. Full of memorable examples, from 1960s hippy culture to the enduring success of Patagonia, For the Culture offers the essential tools for creating lasting engagement and influence. 'Some people seem to intuitively ‘get it.’ Most do not. Collins articulates ‘it’ for the rest of us and provides not just an understanding, but a guide for how to actually engage and influence culture' – Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO, Reddit

For the Culture

'This is David Baldacci at his best' - Michael Connelly 'I couldn’t stop turning the pages, fascinated, moved, horrified' – Alex Michaelides 'A Tour de Force' – S.A. Cosby 'May be the best novel David Baldacci has ever written' - Scott Turow 'A tale of high tension, false assumptions and stubborn humanity' - Stacey Abrams Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a murder case sets a duo of Black and white lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused Black defendants in this courtroom drama from the number one bestselling author David Baldacci. Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial. Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in town. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era. Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.

A Calamity of Souls

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Life only really starts when we start serving others. For many people, military service isn’t simply a job. It’s a ticket out of a lonely society and into a family of enduring bonds. In over a decade of working with veterans, Johnny Joey Jones has discovered the power of battle-forged friendships. Suffering a life-changing injury while deployed in Afghanistan, he faced a daunting recovery. But coming home would have been much harder without the support of his brothers and sisters in arms. In Unbroken Bonds of Battle, Joey tells the stories of those very warriors, who for years have supported and inspired him on the battlefield and off. Through unfiltered and authentic conversations with American heroes in every branch of service, Joey tackles the big questions about life, loss, and, of course, hunting. Powerful life lessons are woven throughout these personal oral histories. Also included is a scrapbook of beautiful candid photographs from the lives of these modern warriors. A gorgeous patriotic keepsake, Unbroken Bonds of Battle reminds us of the costs paid by those who defend our freedom through unvarnished, inspiring tales of friendship.

Fox News Books

Unbroken Bonds of Battle

Don’t miss the seventh book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Food Group series from Jory John and Pete Oswald! The Big Cheese is the best at everything, and brags about it, too. When the annual Cheese-cathlon comes around, the Big Cheese is prepared to win, as always. But what happens when the quiet new kid, Wedge Wedgeman, comes out on top? Is a slice of humility all the Big Cheese needs to discover that some things are better than being the best? Jory John and Pete Oswald serve up another heaping plate of laughs and lessons with this empowering, witty, and charming addition to their #1 New York Times bestselling series! Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald’s other funny bestselling books for kids ages four to eight and anyone who wants a laugh: The Bad SeedThe Good EggThe Cool BeanThe Couch PotatoThe Smart CookieThe Sour GrapeThe Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky!The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It Gets!The Bad Seed Goes to the LibraryThe Good Egg and the Talent ShowThat’s What Dinosaurs Do

The Food Group

The Big Cheese

Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception. Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans. To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula. The queer love child of pulp horror and ​classic ​sci-fi, Of Monsters and ​Mainframes ​is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.

Of Monsters and Mainframes

'A wild, roaming marvel of a debut... some of the weirdest and funniest prose imaginable' MEGAN NOLAN 'The funniest book of the year and one of the smartest' GARY SHTEYNGART A hilarious, surreal, and devastating journey into the mind of Reality Kahn, a young woman on a quest to be the greatest girlfriend of all time. It was decreed from the moment she was bornth. Twenty-three-year-old Reality Kahn would embark on a quest so great, so bold. She would become the greatest girlfriend of all time. She would be a zine maker, an aspiring notary, the greatest waterslide commercial actress on the Eastern Seaboard. She would receive messages from the beyond in the form of advice from the esteemed and ancient ladies’ magazine, Girlfriend Weekly. When she attends a party at a punk venue known as ‘Paradise’, Reality meets Ariel, her fated boyfriend. Determined to win his affection, she joins a cutting-edge clinical trial created by Dr Zweig Altmann to help her become a perfect girlfriend. She stars in a new commercial. She learns how to become an indelible host. But Reality will also learn that sheer will and determination, and a very open heart, are not always enough to make true love manifest. At turns laugh-out-loud funny, tragic and jarring, Reality’s quest grows ever more complicated as the men in her life: Ariel, her agent Jethro, and Dr Altmann himself, prove treacherous. ​ PARADISE LOGIC is a thrilling breakdown of our obsession with authentic true love, and announces Sophie Kemp as a brilliant and wholly original new voice in fiction. Advance reader reviews for PARADISE LOGIC: ‘I had so much fun reading Kemp’s debut... absolutely nuts, in the best way' ‘What a weird book, I loved it... incredibly readable and worryingly relatable'

Paradise Logic

“Here, at last, is someone doing something new.” —The New York Times “The style is George Saunders meets Ottessa Moshfegh.” —The Guardian “The funniest book of the year and one of the smartest.” —Gary Shteyngart A hilarious, surreal, and devastating journey into the mind of Reality Kahn, a young woman on a quest to be the greatest girlfriend of all time. It was decreed from the moment she was born. Twenty-three-year-old Reality Kahn would embark on a quest so great, so bold. She would become the greatest girlfriend of all time. She would be a zine maker, an aspiring notary, the greatest waterslide commercial actress on the Eastern Seaboard. She would receive messages from the beyond in the form of advice from the esteemed and ancient ladies magazine, Girlfriend Weekly. When she attends a party in Gowanus at a punk venue known as “Paradise,” Reality meets Ariel, who will become her boyfriend. She bravely works for his everlasting affection and joins a clinical trial created by Dr. Zweig Altmann to help her become a more perfect girlfriend. She stars in a new commercial. She learns how to become an indelible host. But Reality will also learn that sheer will and determination, and a very open heart, are not always enough to make true love manifest. At turns laugh-out-loud funny, tragic, and jarring, Reality’s quest grows ever complicated as the men in her life: Ariel, her waterpark commercial agent Jethro, and Dr. Altmann himself prove treacherous. Paradise Logic is a thrilling, psychosexual breakdown of our obsession with authentic true love, asking whether that is even possible in a patriarchal world, and announces Sophie Kemp as a wholly original, transformative, and brilliant new voice in fiction.

New York Times Bestselling Author “The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” —New York Times Book Review Jackie Burke’s future looks grim. She’s been a flight attendant for twenty years and she’s down to working for an island–hopping airline the day she lands in Palm Beach International with fifty grand and is taken into custody. The Feds know Jackie works for a man who sells machine guns to bad guys, but they don’t know his name. Jackie looks at her options. She can tell what she knows about Ordell Robbie, the gun dealer, and get off—except that if Ordell suspects you’re talking about him, you’re dead. Or she can keep her mouth shut and do five years. Then she meets Max Cherry—late fifties, recently separated, and just starting to think that maybe there’s more to life than being a bail bondsman—and sees she has more options than she thought. Max is hooked on Jackie from the first time he sees her. But when he meets Ordell, he has quite a different reaction. Nineteen years a bail bondsman, Max knows trouble when he sees it. Jackie comes up with a plan to play the Feds off against the bad guys and walk off with Ordell’s money, but she needs Max’s help. Max allows himself to be drawn in just to stay near Jackie, yet he can’t help but wonder if he’s being used. As for Ordell, he’s making it now after years of busted deals. No one is going to stand in the way of his million-dollar payoff…

Rum Punch

“The best thriller of 2025.” —The Boston Globe * “Genius.” —The Washington Post “A literary thriller of the highest order” (Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Couple), Heartwood takes you on a gripping journey as a search and rescue team race against time after an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental. Heartwood is a “gem of a thousand facets—suspenseful, transporting, tender, and ultimately soul-mending,” (Megan Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning) that tells the story of a lost hiker’s odyssey and is a moving rendering of each character’s interior journey. The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. At its core, Heartwood is an “unputdownable” (Real Simple) and redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.

Heartwood (A Read with Jenna Pick)

The new Captain America has a big shield to carry. Is he up to the task? In these short stories inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, Sam Wilson takes up the shield and proves his mettle. Sam Wilson has a heavy shield to lift as the new Captain America. Read an action-packed anthology about Sam Wilson. Inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, the stories will see Sam prove he is ready to carry the shield as he faces Skrulls, Sabretooth, Kingpin, and other infamous villains. A revolutionary anthology written by authors of African Heritage and inspired by the Marvel Comics universe. Slated to take part are several noted, award-winning authors including bestselling author Kyoko M., fantasy author L.L. McKinney, crime writer Gary Phillips, sci-fi author Sheree Renée Thomas, comics creator Alex Simmons, horror and mystery writer Nicole Givens Kurtz, and many more. Edited by Jesse J. Holland, distinguished visiting scholar in residence at the U.S. Library of Congress who edited the Marvel anthology Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda and wrote the novelization of the graphic novel Black Panther: Who Is the Black Panther?, which was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. Featuring original stories from: L.L. McKinney Maurice Broaddus Gar Anthony Haywood Nicole Givens Kurtz Kyoko M. Sheree Renee Thomas Gary Phillips Danian Jerry Gloria J. Browne Marshall Glenn Parris Christopher Chambers Alex Simmons Isabelle Hardesty

Captain America

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