Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction 'An instant classic' - THE GUARDIAN 'A bloody masterpiece.' - MELISSA BRODER, author of THE PISCES 'Witty, emotional and gripping, Open Throat is a short but savage thrill ride' - THE INDEPENDENT 'Open Throat is Bret Easton Ellis meets mountain lion in the Hollywood Hills . . . it already has people talking' - THE SUNDAY TIMES I’ve never eaten a person but today I might . . . A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Fascinated by the voices around them, the lion spends their days protecting a nearby homeless encampment, observing hikers complain about their trauma and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their own identity. When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call 'ellay'. As they confront a carousel of temptations and threats, the lion takes us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: do they want to eat a person, or become one? 'Open Throat is what fiction should be.' - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 'A blinding spotlight beam of a book that I was completely unable and unwilling to put down.' - Catherine Lacey, author of Pew Named a Most Anticipated Book by The New York Times, ELLE, Vanity Fair, Buzzfeed, i-D, Boston Globe, Nylon, Alta, Shondaland, Chicago Review of Books, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Literary Hub.

Open Throat

Mark Vonnegut set out in search of Eden with his VW bug, his girlfriend, his dog, and his ideals, but genetic predisposition and a whole lot of **** going down made him crazy in a culture that told him mental illness is a myth and schizophrenia is a sane response to an insane society. Describing his experiences during the late '60s and early '70s, Eden Express reveals how Mark went from being a recent college grad who was in love and living communally on a farm-with a famous, doting father, a cherished dog, and a prized jalopy-to having nervous breakdowns and then, eventually, emerging from them to write this book and to find the meaningful life that had-for a while-seemed out of reach. But the real story here is that, throughout his harrowing experience, Mark's sense of humor let him see the humanity in what he was going through and that his gift for language let him describe it in such a way that others could begin to imagine its utter ordinariness as well as the madness that we all share.

The Eden Express

Seven years have passed since Orris, a mage of Tobyn-Ser’s Order, returned from the violent chaos of Bragor-Nal. The threat of attack from Lon-Ser has been eliminated, but the establishment of trade between Tobyn-Ser and its western neighbor has brought new and disturbing changes to the land. Large tracts of woodland have been logged and sold off in exchange for more of Lon-Ser’s “advanced goods.” The Order and the League continue their struggle for supremacy, and a new force, a “People’s Movement,” has allied itself with so-called independent mages who claim no ties to either body. In Lon-Ser, Melyor, the beautiful Gildriite who made herself Bragor-Nal’s Sovereign, is nearly killed in an assassination attempt. Her ally, Shivohn, matriarch of Oerella-Nal, is herself killed by a similar attack. Treachery and betrayal lie at the heart of a plot that endangers not only Lon-Ser but also Tobyn-Ser and its Mage-Craft. When Jaryd, who has been unbound for months, finally binds to an eagle, he fears the worst, for, throughout the history of Tobyn-Ser, the binding of a mage to an eagle has always been a harbinger of war. When Cailin, a League mage, binds to a second eagle, Jaryd fears that his land teeters on the brink of Civil War. Crisis grips both lands. Can Melyor overcome an unseen enemy and a thousand years of prejudice to save Lon-Ser? Can Jaryd and Cailin bring peace to the mages of Tobyn-Ser in time to stop an old and emboldened enemy from destroying everything they hold dear?

LonTobyn Chronicle

Eagle-Sage

In 1967, during the time of peace, free love, and hitchhiking, nineteen-year-old Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen walking home to her apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. One month later, her naked body stabbed over thirty times and missing both feet and a forearm was discovered on an abandoned farm. A year later, the body of twenty-year-old Joan Schell was found, similarly violated. Over the next two years, five more bodies of female students were uncovered around the area. In the wake of these murders, southeastern Michigan was terrorized by something it had never experienced before: a serial killer. But after multiple failed investigations, a chance sighting finally led to a suspect: an all-American boy studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University who wasn't all that he seemed.

The Michigan Murders

When most of us go for a walk, a single sense-sight- tends to dominate our experience. But when New York Times-bestselling author and expert navigator Tristan Gooley goes for a walk, he uses all five senses to read everything nature has to offer. A single lowly weed can serve as his compass, calendar, clock, and even pharmacist. In How to Read Nature, Gooley introduces readers to his world- where the sky, sea, and land teem with marvels. Plus, he shares 15 exercises to sharpen all of your senses. Soon you'll be making your own discoveries, every time you step outside!

The Making of America Series

Alexander Hamilton

Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature?to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. The Case Against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda. In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable.

The Case Against Perfection

On February 24th, 1868, the impeachment of the United States’ seventeenth president was initiated. Democrat Andrew Johnson was accused of ""high crimes and misdemeanors"" that were detailed in eleven articles of impeachment and faced trial before the United States Senate. Andrew Johnson took office after John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln on April 15th, 1965. After months of Johnson and the Senate butting heads, oftentimes with Johnson defying the Senate and doing whatever he wanted, the final straw came when Johnson fired his Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. The eleven-week trial began on March 4th, 1868, and ended with the president escaping removal from office by just one vote. In this detailed look at the birth of the impeachment process and the seventeenth president's historical term, listeners will learn about one of the most vital tools available to the United States government.

The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson

On the night of August 11, 1956, in the East Hampton hamlet of Springs, Jackson Pollock crashed his car into a tree, killing himself. Pollock, the world-renowned abstract painter and notorious alcoholic, also killed his 24-year old passenger Edith Metzger in the crash…or did he? Metzger’s autopsy reveals that she was already dead before the crash. Murdered? Perhaps. This shocking disclosure draws vacationing Detective Juanita Diaz and her husband, Captain Brian Fitzgerald of the NYPD, into a homicide investigation that implicates famous members of East Hampton’s art community, including Pollock himself.

Art of Murder Mysteries

An Accidental Corpse

When Mark Zuckerberg announced in front of a cheering Oprah audience his $100 million pledge to transform the Newark Schools - and to solve the education crisis in every city in America - it looked like a huge win for then-mayor Cory Booker and governor Chris Christie. But their plans soon ran into a constituency not so easily moved - Newark's key education players, fiercely protective of their billion-dollar-per-annum system. It's a prize that, for generations, has enriched seemingly everyone, except Newark's students. Expert journalist Dale Russakoff delivers a story of high ideals and hubris, good intentions and greed, celebrity and street smarts - as reformers face off against entrenched unions, skeptical parents, and bewildered students.

The Prize

Highlights Listen & Learn! Audio Studies are the perfect tools for educators, parents, and students. With full lessons that present key comprehension skills, an educational audiobook, and multiple-choice questions, these studies help listeners better understand elements such as plot, characterization, vocabulary, and other essential foundational skills. This Highlights Listen & Learn! Audio Study, intended for those in grade five, tells the story of a teenage boy who is inspired by a story his grandparents tell him. As a result, he feels inspired to perform something original at his own school talent show. In addition to the story, this Audio Study provides a full lesson on the importance of characters, how the sequence of events presented in a story can change our perception, and features key vocabulary words. Highlights has always been an essential part of childhood, inspiring memorable experiences for generations of families. Highlights' Fun with a Purpose philosophy has helped children grow to become their best selves-curious, creative, caring, and confident. Listen & Learn! Audio Studies will entertain and engage young children while encouraging literacy, self-confidence, and joyful learning!

Highlights Listen & Learn!

Highlights Listen & Learn!: Let There Be Rock!

Choices we can expect to encounter—from life-changing career moves to the best route to the coast—can expend a lot of time and mental energy if we haven’t learned the basic skills required for getting things done effectively and decisively. This book is a basic practical guide to the all-important mental process by which we all live our lives: analyzing a situation, sorting out how to respond to it, and taking action accordingly. It reveals how to solve problems and make choices swiftly and satisfactorily, how to reduce mental stress while working under pressure, and how to turn bright ideas into positive action. Following the techniques and exercises given here, you’ll soon discover that you’re using your brain more efficiently.

Think Smart, Act Smart

In Sicily: Land of Love and Strife, A Filmmaker's Journey, the process of capturing the island nation on film is revealed. A country rich with natural beauty and historic sites, and a people distinguished by their passion, struggles, philosophy, and the depth and diversity of their culture, has unfortunately been overshadowed by its association with organized crime. Spano invites the listener to follow him on his journey to celebrate the real Sicily, and to change the public perception of his family’s homeland.

Sicily: Land of Love and Strife

During his campaign for the presidency, one of Donald Trump’s signature promises was that he would build a “great great wall” on the border between the United States and Mexico, and Mexico was going to pay for it. A year and a half into his term, with only a few prototype segments erected, the wall is the 2,000-mile multibillion-dollar elephant in the room of contemporary American life. In The Great Great Wall, architectural historian and critic Ian Volner takes a deep dive into the story of Trump’s wall. Volner follows the conception, selling, design, and construction (or lack thereof) of this expensive and consequential barrier, giving listeners a detailed description of what’s happening in Washington, DC—and along the border. He also travels far afield, to China, the Middle East, northern England, and back to our border to examine the barriers we’ve been building for centuries. Why do we build walls? What do they reveal about human history?

The Great Great Wall

This celebrated classic gives a soldier's-eye-view of the Guadalcanal battles; crucial to World War II, the war that continues to fascinate us all. Unlike some of those on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, Richard Tregaskis volunteered to be there. One of only two on-location news correspondents, he lived alongside the soldiers: sleeping on the ground--only to be awoken by air raids--eating meager rations, and braving some of the most dangerous battlefields of World War II. He more than once narrowly escaped the enemy's fire, and so we have this incisive and exciting inside account of the groundbreaking initial landing of U.S. troops on Guadalcanal. This 2nd edition features a new Introduction by Mark Bowden, renowned journalist and author of Black Hawk Down.

Guadalcanal Diary

For months, Cathy Wood has fed the Alpine Manor residents, bathed them, and even moistened their eyes with artificial tears. To her, without their memories the residents live in a state worse than death-and she has decided to relieve them of their pain. Wood and her lover, Gwen Graham, make a pact to kill those whom they were hired to care for. No one notices when an elderly person dies a quiet death, but as these two slip deeper into their plan, the terrible secret becomes unbearable. Lowell Cauffiel's account of the Alpine Manor murders is a chilling saga of true crime and the twisted lengths to which some will go in pursuit of justice.

Forever and Five Days

On an August night in 1986, Jennifer Levin left a Manhattan bar with Robert Chambers. The next morning, her strangled, battered body was found in Central Park. Linda Wolfe goes beyond the headlines and media hype to re-create a story of a teenager whose immigrant mother was determined to make a better life for her son, a petty thief and drug user who'd been expelled from the best schools. It's all here, from the initial police investigation, during which Chambers claimed Levin died accidentally during rough sex, to the media frenzy of the courtroom, where Chambers took an eleventh-hour plea. Wasted powerfully depicts the freewheeling 1980's society that spawned a generation steeped in violence and the fatal impulses that drove Robert Chambers to kill.

Wasted

Twin brother and sister Benji and Kelly wander off at the local county fair after witnessing their parents argue. When Benji runs into a group of bullies, he escapes into a tent called The Memory Emporium, where he meets a strange old man named Louis. The old man shows him a magically vivid memory of a fighter pilot in the hopes of getting him to pay to see the other memories he’s collected from people over the years. Benji quickly realizes the ability to take memories could help his parents stop fighting with each other, and he asks Louis to teach him how to become a “memory thief.” But Louis isn't the only person with the ability to show and manipulate memories. There's also the mysterious Genevieve, a Memory Thief with much more nefarious motives. And soon, she’s stolen more and more memories from people in town―including Benji’s sister. Now Benji must learn how to manipulate memories to stop her, but having this newfound power comes at a cost to his family, and possibly to his own mind as well.

The Memory Thief

When the acclaimed Cuban painter Wifredo Lam turns up dead in his Greenwich Village studio, officers Juanita Diaz and Brian Fitzgerald of the NYPD must investigate the crime. But what they find is much more gruesome than they ever could have imagined. Suspicion soon falls on a tight-knit circle of Surrealist refugees who fled Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, and Diaz and Fitzgerald must traverse the city, from Chinatown's underworld to Spanish Harlem's gangland, to find the truth. Did one of the artists' bizarre parlor games turn deadly? Or is there something even more sinister afoot?

An Exquisite Corpse

Although dinosaur fossils were first found in England, a series of dramatic discoveries during the late 1800s turned North America into a world center for vertebrate paleontology. At the same time, the United States emerged as the world’s largest industrial economy, and creatures like tyrannosaurus, brontosaurus, and triceratops became emblems of American capitalism. Large, fierce, and spectacular, American dinosaurs dominated the popular imagination, making front-page headlines and appearing in feature films. Assembling the Dinosaur follows dinosaur fossils from the field to the museum and into the commercial culture of North America’s Gilded Age. Business tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan made common cause with vertebrate paleontologists to capitalize on the widespread appeal of dinosaurs, using them to project American exceptionalism back into prehistory. Learning from the show-stopping techniques of P. T. Barnum, museums exhibited dinosaurs to attract, entertain, and educate the public. By assembling the skeletons of dinosaurs into eye-catching displays, wealthy industrialists sought to cement their own reputations as generous benefactors of science, showing that modern capitalism could produce public goods in addition to profits. Behind the scenes, museums adopted corporate management practices to control the movement of dinosaur bones, restricting their circulation to influence their meaning and value in popular culture.

Assembling the Dinosaur

On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears. According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods. For centuries, people have reported encounters with the Sasquatch?a species of hairy, bipedal man-apes said to inhabit the deepest recesses of this pristine wilderness. Driven by his own childhood obsession with the creatures, John Zada decides to seek out the diverse inhabitants of this rugged and far-flung coast, where nearly everyone has a story to tell, from a scientist who has dedicated his life to researching the Sasquatch to members of the area’s First Nations and a former grizzly-bear hunter-turned-nature tour guide. With each tale, Zada discovers that his search for the Sasquatch is a quest for something infinitely more complex, cutting across questions of human perception, scientific inquiry, indigenous traditions, the environment, and the power and desire of the human imagination to believe in?or reject?something largely unseen.

In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond

Dr. Steven Laureys has conducted groundbreaking research into human consciousness for more than twenty years. For this bestselling book, he explores the effect of meditation on the brain. He uses hard science to explain the benefits of a practice that was once thought of as purely spiritual. The result is a highly accessible, scientifically questioning guide to meditation, designed to open the practice to a broader audience. A mix of fascinating science, inspiring anecdotes, and practical exercises, this accessible book offers scientific evidence that meditation can have a positive impact on all our lives.

The No-Nonsense Meditation Book

Lions, Komodo dragons, dogs, monkeys, and pheasants?all have shared spotlights and tabloid headlines with celebrities such as Sharon Stone, Thomas Edison, and David Hasselhoff. In this critically acclaimed collection, Lydia Millet hilariously tweaks these unholy communions to run a stake through the heart of our fascination with famous people and pop culture in wildly inventive stories that “evoke the spectrum of human feeling and also its limits” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). While in so much fiction animals exist as symbols of good and evil or as author stand-ins, they represent nothing but themselves in Millet's ruthlessly lucid prose. Implacable in their actions, the animals in Millet’s spiraling fictional riffs and flounces show up their humans as bloated with foolishness yet curiously vulnerable, as in a tour-de-force, Kabbalah-infused interior monologue by Madonna after she shoots a pheasant on her Scottish estate. Millet treads newly imaginative territory with these charismatic tales.

Love in Infant Monkeys

Book 1: Children of Amarid For a millennium, the Children of Amarid have served the people of Tobyn-Ser using the Mage-Craft that flows from the psychic bond they forge with their avian familiars. When the land is thrown into turmoil and faith in the Mage-Craft is badly shaken, it falls to Jaryd, a young mage with extraordinary potential, to find and destroy Tobyn-Ser’s enemies before they destroy all he holds dear. Book 2: The Outlanders Four years after the insidious, devastating invasion by agents of Lon-Ser, Tobyn-Ser's Order of Mages and Masters is riven by conflict and paralyzed by inaction. Young and rebellious mage Orris, frustrated by their inability to act, takes matters into his own hands and ventures to Lon-Ser himself. Thrust into a world with a language he does not comprehend and a technology he can barely fathom, he must end the threat that’s coming to Tobyn-Ser without getting himself or his new companions killed. Book 3: Eagle-Sage Seven years have passed since Orris, a mage of Tobyn-Ser’s Order, returned from the violent chaos of Bragor-Nal. The threat of attack from Lon-Ser has been eliminated, but the establishment of trade between Tobyn-Ser and its western neighbor has brought new and disturbing changes to the land. Treachery, betrayal, and crisis grips both Lon-Ser and Tobyn-Ser. Jaryd fears that his land teeters on the brink of civil war. Will his magic be enough to bring peace to the mages of Tobyn-Ser in time to stop an emboldened enemy?

The LonTobyn Chronicle

Experience the height of the Jazz Age through the eyes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the most notable authors in American literature. This collection includes: This Side of Paradise The Beautiful and the Damned The Great Gatsby

The Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Take a journey inside the body—as an alien! Hop aboard a flying saucer and travel alongside your alien guides who are on a mission to understand the wonders of human body systems. Explore the circulatory system, the digestive system, the skeletal system, and more. Lively audio introduces concepts such as what the body is made of and how it responds to stimuli such as broken bones, burns, and illnesses. From major organs to types of blood cells, story-driven text delivers expert-reviewed nonfiction information about the amazing human body and how it works to stay healthy. Get a close-up view of how a healthy body works to fight invaders like viruses… or spaceships. A raucous exploration of body systems with a twist. Mayo Clinic Press Kids creates empowering health and wellness content in partnership with pediatric experts. Proceeds from the sale of every book go to benefit important medical research and education at Mayo Clinic.

The Human Body

Chicago hairstylist Bastian Russo has only three things to his name: a pair of $1,200 shears, a Boystown studio apartment, and a list of men's names written on his closet wall. His constant worry that he's not good enough and his chronic inability to trust are what leaves him heartbroken time and again. After he adds the latest name, he turns to his best friend, Andres Wood, for solace. But instead of treating Bastian to dinner, drinks, and the usual effortless banter, Andres makes an interesting suggestion: that Bastian should get over the breakup by dating… Andres. Sure, Andres is successful and attractive, but he also knows everything there is to know about Bastian—including what an insecure pain in the ass he is. Meanwhile, everyone in Bastian's life, from his mother to his co-workers, thinks he's an idiot for not having dated Andres already. So, what could go wrong? Everything. Now Bastian has to sort out his inadequacy and trust issues to prove he's worthy of transitioning from Andres' best friend to his lover. Otherwise, it's a matter of time before one or both of them end up on Bastian's list of Boystown Heartbreakers.

Boystown Heartbreakers

Clay has had his fill of home life. A global plague has brought the world to a screeching halt, and with little to look forward to but a summer of video-calling friends, vying with annoying sisters for the family computer, and tuning out his parents’ financial worries, he’s only too happy to retreat to the woods. From the moment the elegant little dog with the ornate collar appears like an apparition among the trees, Clay sees something uncanny in her. With this mysterious Elphinore as guide, he’ll glimpse ancient secrets folded all but invisibly into the forest. Each day the dog leads Clay down paths he never knew existed, deeper into the unknown. But they aren’t alone in their surreal adventures. There are traps and terrors in the woods too, and if Clay isn’t careful, he might stray off the path and lose his way forever. Heartfelt and exhilarating, wry and poignant, this story seamlessly merges the fantastic and the familiar in a tale both timely and timeless.

Elf Dog and Owl Head

As the ongoing Flint water crisis marks its tenth anniversary, Chariton reveals shocking new evidence of the major government cover-up that resulted in the poisoning of Flint—and shatters what you think you know about what caused the water crisis. From crooked Wall Street financial schemes to political payoffs, destruction of evidence, witness tampering, falsified water data, threatened whistle blowers, and panicked phone calls, We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 Americans reveals, for the first time, the real story behind how the government poisoned a major American city—and how they are still getting away with it. As the cover-up continues a decade later, innocent residents have been arrested, surveilled, threatened, and gaslit to feel like they are crazy. With more and more sick residents slowly dying every year, Flint’s lead levels again on the rise, and cancer rates surging across the city, it is time for the true, sinister story of the Flint water cover-up to be told. Based on eight years of reporting, thousands of confidential documents from the criminal investigation, and the former governor of Michigan’s own words under oath, Jordan Chariton takes readers on the road to crisis before the Flint River switch—when government officials blew through all stop signs and orchestrated a financial scheme that allowed a nearly bankrupt Flint to borrow $100 million for a controversial new water system. As brown, smelly water flowed through Flint homes and residents grew sick, politicians intentionally and knowingly allowed Americans to drink poison as they prioritized their own political ambitions and survival. Just when you think the levels of callousness and disregard for the people can’t drop any lower, Chariton digs even deeper to expose one of the biggest government cover-ups of the twenty-first century. We the Poisoned is a cautionary tale about “run-government-like-a-business” leaders who champion privatization and economic development at the expense of the environment, public health, and vulnerable citizens. Perhaps even more important, with water and environmental contamination surging across the US, Chariton’s revelations provide a road map for how to fight back and prevent similar tragedies from happening to other communities.

We the Poisoned

In a time when people believed flying was impossible, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier proved that the sky wasn’t the limit. When most thought horseback was the only way to race, Bertha and Karl Benz fired up their engines. From the invention of the bicycle and the passenger steam locomotive to the first liquid-fuel propelled rocket and industrial robot, inventors across the world have redefined travel. Informative and celebratory, this collective biography tells the story of the experiments, failures, and successes of visionaries who changed the way the world moves.

From Here to There

Mae Barlowe’s annual beach trip is anything but a vacation. It’s the anniversary of the worst day of her life. When her husband and best friend surprise her with a last-minute itinerary change in the form of a couples’ cruise, she struggles to hide her reservations about the new plan. A week spent cruising around in a tropical paradise sounds like a dream come true to everyone else, but for Mae, it’s an eerie reminder of chilling memories from her past. Once on board the ship, a mysterious stranger causes confusion among the group, leading them to ask unsettling questions of one another. Before they can get real answers, tragedy strikes. Trapped on the vessel as it ventures toward their first destination, the friends struggle to come to grips with their new reality. How do they stay safe when danger seems to be lurking around every corner? Who can be trusted when nothing is quite what it seems? How far will they go to protect the ones they love? Sun, sand, and secrets await on this cruise to die for.

You Can Trust Me

Before Harry Houdini (1874–1926) became the greatest magician in the world, he was just little Ehrich Weisz, a Hungarian-born immigrant who moved to America with his family and performed stage tricks for a little extra cash. He started off with card tricks and then eventually began performing the escape acts that would make him famous. Known for his daring and death-defying illusions, he would do some of the greatest tricks ever: escaping from a milk can, being buried alive, and being locked inside a crate and thrown into a river. He conquered each of these seemingly impossible feats and showed the world the power of a little magic. Fun and fast-paced, Harry Houdini tells the story of the curious boy who became the world’s greatest magician and reveals how Houdini did some of his most stunning escapes.

First Names

Harry Houdini

How is it that we can walk unfamiliar streets while maintaining a sense of direction? How can we come up with shortcuts on the fly, in places we’ve never traveled? The answer is the complex mental map in our brains. This feature of our cognition is easily taken for granted, but it’s also critical to our species’ evolutionary success. In From Here to There, Michael Bond tells stories of the lost and found―Polynesian sailors, orienteering champions, early aviators―and surveys the science of human navigation. Navigation skills are deeply embedded in our biology. The ability to find our way over large distances in prehistoric times gave Homo sapiens an advantage, allowing us to explore the farthest regions of the planet. Wayfinding also shaped vital cognitive functions outside the realm of navigation, including abstract thinking, imagination, and memory. Bond brings a reporter’s curiosity and nose for narrative to the latest research from psychologists, neuroscientists, animal behaviorists, and anthropologists. He also turns to the people who design and expertly maneuver the world we navigate: search-and-rescue volunteers, cartographers, ordnance mappers, urban planners, and more. The result is a global expedition that furthers our understanding of human orienting in natural and built environments.

Athletes throughout history have dreamed of competing in the Olympics—and some were kids themselves when those dreams and plans began! In Kid Olympians: Summer, discover the childhood stories of legends such as -Usain Bolt, who used to skip practices to go to the arcade and play video games. -Serena Williams, who sometimes hit her tennis ball over the fence on purpose! -Tatyana McFadden, who had to fight to be allowed on her school’s track team Featuring kid-friendly text, this book will inspire you to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before! The diverse and inspiring group also includes Dick Fosbury, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Gertrude Ederle, Nadia Comaneci, Ellie Simmonds, Tommie Smith, Wilma Rudolph, and Megan Rapinoe.

Kid Legends

Kid Olympians: Summer

National Book Award winner Pete Hautman explores a friendship like no other—and the universal truth that dogs make life better, especially for underdogs. Evan doesn’t seem to fit in at school or at home. He goes out of his way to avoid attention. He sits at the back of the bus, keeps his head down in class, and keeps to himself. But when a burr-covered border collie—a survivor with a gut instinct about the Boy—starts following him around and joining him on his runs, Evan’s simple duck-and-dodge existence becomes a lot more complicated… a lot more like life. Evolving from wary companions to steadfast friends, Evan and the dog run fast and far together, thwart an abusive dog breeder and the school bully, and find the courage to stand up for themselves and open up to those who matter most. Narrated in alternating viewpoints, this relatable contemporary novel with classic coming-of-age themes has all the hope, pathos, and emotional complexity that mark Pete Hautman’s books for middle-grade readers—and is a deeply satisfying read for animal lovers.

Answers to Dog

In 1851, Father Jean Marie Latour becomes the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. While the area is American by law, it's still Mexican and Indian by custom and belief. During the years that follow, Latour tirelessly but gently spreads his faith while facing external and internal obstacles. Loosely based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy and the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, this novel chronicles the events that occur after the capture of the southwest by American forces during the Mexican-American war.

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Captain Delano is approached on the open sea by a battered-looking ship lead by Captain Benito Cereno. Cereno, always accompanied by his personal slave Babo, explains that his crew was transporting a group of slaves from Africa when their ship was caught and damaged in severe weather. He is polite but always timid, and requests supplies for his ships remaining journey. Captain Delano agrees to help but begins to notice the strange social interactions and atmosphere of Cereno's crew and the slaves. Delano begins to believe that Cereno is hiding something, and turns out to be right, as a climactic battle breaks out between the two crews, Benito Cereno greatest secret is uncovered.

Benito Cereno

“Moody and mesmerizing, The Body Next Door takes readers on a twisty, creepy, and compelling ride through family dysfunction and betrayal.” —Darby Kane, internationally bestselling author of The Engagement Party They buried their secrets, but not deep enough… Hannah McCullough’s life is far from perfect, but you’d never know it by looking at her. Instead, you’d see a beautiful young mother wholly devoted to her two children and a docile wife utterly besotted with her self-made millionaire husband, Allan. You’d see the designer clothes she wears, the luxury car she drives, the dewy-eyed au pair she employs. You wouldn’t see the dark secret she carries. But when a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can’t seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep, in places she knows she shouldn’t. As the police investigation into the gruesome discovery deepens, the facade of Hannah’s picture-perfect marriage starts to crumble, and she soon finds herself on a dire hunt for answers. And Hannah’s search takes an unexpected turn after she crosses paths with three strangers with shocking secrets of their own.

The Body Next Door

Leo Anthony Martino loves love. Unfortunately, love doesn’t love Leo back. Leo Martino’s hunt for love has been a total flop. Over the years, every single crush has ghosted him, leaving him miserable and alone. By senior year, Leo concludes he must be unlovable. It’s time to stop trying. But when he finds himself obsessing over the irresistible Lincoln Chan, Leo decides to give love one last shot—and this time, he has a plan. He’s going to change everything about himself to become the “perfect boyfriend.” And the plan actually works. . .but will he take it too far?

Leo Martino Steals Back His Heart

Unlike other biographies, the Making of America series goes beyond individual narratives linking influential figures to create an overarching story of America's growth that will deepen understanding of the country we live in today. This bundle featuring Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson tells the story of American constitutional history from the founding of the nation through the end of the Civil War. Listeners will begin by learning about Alexander Hamilton, a man who envisioned his country as a multi-racial, urbanized, capitalistic America with a strong central government. Hamilton's story epitomizes the American dream and leads nicely into the story of Andrew Jackson. Born in the Carolina backwoods, Jackson joined the American Revolutionary War at the age of thirteen. He then went on to become a consequential, polarizing figure in history. Finally, Abraham Lincoln's life and contributions are considered. One of America's most beloved presidents, Lincoln guided the United States through the Civil War, helped end slavery in America, and strengthened the federal government. Each historical figure discussed in this bundle made an everlasting impact on America's trajectory, and their contributions can be seen in almost every facet of our government.

The Making of America

The Making of America: Volume 1

The Harpers have lost one of their own, a legendary adventurer named Artus Cimber, keeper of the artifact known as the Ring of Winter. They’ve hired you to travel to the jungle-clad land of Chult to find him. Hopefully, you can manage to find Cimber before the frost giants do—or the zombies that infest the land get you first. You’re in the jungle now, cleric. Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest.

Endless Quest

Dungeons & Dragons: Into The Jungle

The Abbotts are liars. Their charming façade is far from the chilling reality that exists behind closed doors. But despite their secrets, they aren’t killers...are they? When a member of their quiet community is brutally murdered, the Abbotts find themselves prime suspects of the crime. The couple is desperate to prove their innocence, but when a tape is discovered with horrifying evidence, everything changes. With shocking truths beginning to surface, Rachael and Caide must decide just how far they are willing to go to protect those they love. Can they trust anyone around them, including each other? They’re liars, remember? This book was previously published as If It Walks Like a Killer.

Becoming Mrs. Abbott

Although humankind today can peer far deeper into the universe than ever before, we still find ourselves surrounded by the unknown and perhaps the unknowable. All great science fiction has used the human imagination to explore that realm beyond the known, just as theistic religions have done since long before the genre existed. As Hugo Award-winning author Robert Charles Wilson argues in Owning the Unknown, the genre’s freewheeling speculation and systematic world-building make it a unique lens for understanding, examining, and assessing the truth claims of religions in general and Christianity in particular. Drawing on his personal experience, his work as a science-fiction writer, and his deep knowledge of the classics of the genre, he makes the case for what he calls intuitive atheism—an atheism drawn from everyday personal knowledge that doesn’t depend on familiarity with the scholarly debate about theology and metaphysics, any more than a robust personal Christianity does. And as he reminds us, the secrets that remain hidden beyond the borders of the known universe—should we ever discover them—will probably not resemble anything currently found in our most prized philosophies, our most sacred texts, or our most imaginative science fiction.

Owning the Unknown

Burdened by poverty and spiritually dulled by a loveless marriage to Zeena, his older and ailing wife, Ethan Frome is emotionally stirred by the arrival of their youthful cousin, Mattie Silver, who becomes employed as household help. Mattie's presence not only brightens a gloomy house but also stirs long-dormant feelings in Ethan. However, their growing love for each other is discovered by the embittered Zeena, and it presages an ending to the tale that is both shocking and savagely ironic.

Fiction Collection

Ethan Frome

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Kiester, a heartfelt debut that explores the complexity of a modern-day marriage when a new mother vanishes one morning. "This powerful novel takes an honest, unflinching look at the challenges of modern parenthood from both sides of a marriage." - Tracey Lange, New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans Love isn’t something that happens to you; it’s something you must choose every day. From the moment Ben and June met in a hospital waiting room on New Year’s Eve, their love has seemed fated. Looking back at all the tiny, unlikely decisions that brought them together, it was easy to believe their relationship was special. But now, after several years of marriage, June is struggling as a new mom. At times, she wonders about the life she didn’t choose—what might have been if she hadn’t given up the lead role in a famous ballet to start a family. Feeling like a bad mom and more alone than ever, she writes to her deceased mother, hoping for a sign of what she should do next. One morning, Ben wakes to the sound of his baby and quickly realizes that June is gone, along with her suitcase. As Ben attempts to piece together June’s disappearance, her new friends mention things he knows nothing about—a mysterious petition, June’s falling-out with another mom, her strange fixation on a Greek myth. The more Ben uncovers about June, the more he realizes how little he actually knows her. And now the only way to bring June home is to understand why she left. Told through alternating perspectives of husband and wife, The Truth About Ben and June is a witty and wise page-turner about life’s many crossroads and a heartfelt reminder that we create our own destiny.

The Truth About Ben and June

In the quiet streets of Prague, all manner of otherworldly creatures lurk in the shadows. Unbeknownst to its citizens, their only hope against the tide of predators are the dauntless lamplighters—a secret elite of monster hunters whose light staves off the darkness each night. Domek Myska leads a life teeming with fraught encounters with the worst kind of evil: pijavica, bloodthirsty and soulless vampiric creatures. Despite this, Domek finds solace in his moments spent in the company of his friend, the clever and beautiful Lady Ora Fischer—a widow with secrets of her own. When Domek finds himself stalked by the spirit of the White Lady—a ghost who haunts the baroque halls of Prague castle—he stumbles across the sentient essence of a will-o'-the-wisp, a mischievous spirit known to lead lost travelers to their death, but who, once captured, are bound to serve the desires of their owners. After discovering a conspiracy amongst the pijavica that could see them unleash terror on the daylight world, Domek finds himself in a race against those who aim to twist alchemical science for their own dangerous gain.

The Lights of Prague

WITH SUBSTANTIAL MATERIAL NOT INCLUDED IN THE DOCUMENTARY Academy Award winner Oliver Stone was able to secure what journalists, news organizations, and even other world leaders have long coveted: extended, unprecedented access to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Putin Interviews are culled from more than a dozen interviews with Putin over a two-year span-never before has the Russian leader spoken in such depth or at such length with a Western interviewer. No topics are off limits in the interviews, which first occurred during Stone's trips to meet with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in Moscow and most recently after the election of President Donald Trump. Prodded by Stone, Putin discusses relations between the United States and Russia, allegations of interference in the US election, and Russia's involvement with conflicts in Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere across the globe. Putin speaks about his rise to power and details his relationships with Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump. Th

The Putin Interviews

The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society—even if, after more than two hundred years, they are more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins, Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the reader in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society. We meet Mirabeau, Robespierre, and Danton, in all of their brilliance and vengefulness; we witness the failed escape and execution of Louis XVI; we see women demanding equal rights and black slaves wresting freedom from revolutionaries who hesitated to act on their own principles; and we follow the rise of Napoleon out of the ashes of the Reign of Terror. Based on decades of scholarship, A New World Begins will stand as the definitive treatment of the French Revolution.

A New World Begins

We take the seven-day week for granted, rarely asking what anchors it or what it does to us. Yet weeks are not dictated by the natural order. They are, in fact, an artificial construction of the modern world. With meticulous archival research that draws on a wide array of sources—including newspapers, restaurant menus, theater schedules, marriage records, school curricula, folklore, housekeeping guides, courtroom testimony, and diaries—David Henkin reveals how our current devotion to weekly rhythms emerged in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. Reconstructing how weekly patterns have insinuated themselves into the social practices and mental habits of Americans, Henkin argues that the week is more than just a regimen of rest days or breaks from work: it’s a dominant organizational principle of modern society. Ultimately, the seven-day week shapes our understanding and experience of time.

The Week

We all know that we age- but do you know exactly how, and why? And do you wonder what you can do- whatever your age- to slow the process so you can live well, for longer? This book comprehensively answers these questions. Medical doctor and polymath scientist Kris Verburgh illuminates the biological mechanisms that make our bodies susceptible to heart attacks, strokes, dementia, diabetes, and other aging-related diseases. We learn about the crucial role of poorly functioning mitochondria, shortened telomeres, proteins and carbohydrates, and more. Having explained the aging process at work, Dr. Verburgh then provides the tools we need to slow it down: his scientifically backed Longevity Staircase. This simple yet innovative step-by-step method offers better health and a longer life span through nutrition- currently our best defense in the fight against aging and disease. And with each passing day, advances in biotechnology- once the stuff of science fiction- are emerging as part of the longevity code. Dr. Ve

The Longevity Code

Equality 7-2521 is a young man who yearns to understand “the Science of Things,” but he lives in a bleak, dystopian future where independent thought is a crime and where science and technology have regressed to primitive levels. All expressions of individualism have been suppressed in his world: personal possessions are nonexistent, individual preferences are condemned as sinful, and romantic love is forbidden. Obedience to the collective is so deeply ingrained that the very word “I” has been erased. In pursuit of his quest for knowledge, Equality 7-2521 struggles to answer the questions that burn within him.

Anthem

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