Adult

In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world’s birds in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled across 41 countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species --- by far the biggest birding year on record. This is no travelogue or glorified checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the globe.

This tale of true love, high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing and a frightening assortment of wild beasts, as depicted in the 1987 film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Fred Savage, Robin Wright and others, is now available in a beautiful new package, with foil and embossing on the cover and an interior printed on elegant uncoated cream stock with rough-cut edges. This keepsake edition also includes 50 full-page color illustrations by Michael Manomivibul, full-color chapter openers, and a gorgeous color map printed on the endpapers.

Using his father’s handwritten notes, journal entries and correspondences, Beau L’Amour uncovers how and why many never-before-seen manuscripts were written --- and speculates about the ways they might have ended. These selections celebrate Louis L’Amour’s vision and virtuosity, including the first seven chapters of a powerful novel about the Trail of Tears, a chilling Western horror story, and a tale of the American Revolution featuring a character related to L’Amour’s well-known Sackett family. At the other end of the spectrum are classic adventures, such as "The Golden Tapestry," set in 1960s Istanbul, as well as several uniquely different attempts at what would have been the most profoundly intimate of all of L’Amour’s novels.

After a rocky marriage and even rockier divorce, Sheriff Flint Cahill finally has something good in his life again. Maggie Thompson’s down-to-earth charm and beautiful smile hooked him from the start. When she disappears on the day they plan to start their lives together, all signs point to abduction --- and his ex-wife. Functioning on adrenaline and instinct, Flint must call on his every resource to bring Maggie home before it’s too late. Maggie’s only chance at surviving her abductor and a raging winter storm depends on an old vendetta that could destroy it all. But the Cahills don’t give up easily, and Flint’s love will have to be strong enough to conquer anything, including the unimaginable.

When hotshot movie executive Mick Branson arranges dinner on Christmas Eve to discuss a work opportunity, Raine McCall is intrigued --- by the offer and the man. She's a no-makeup, no-frills single mom who's happy with her quiet life. Sharing chili cheeseburgers and sizzling kisses with Mick is sure heating up her holiday, but country girl and power player don't mix. It's not just work that's brought Mick back to Mustang Creek. Since he first visited to oversee a documentary, free-spirited graphic designer Raine has been in his head. Putting down roots in the Wild West wasn't in the script. But there are some Christmas gifts you can't walk away from, even when they turn your whole world upside down.

At 14 Dianne Lake --- with little more than a note in her pocket from her hippie parents granting her permission to leave them --- became one of "Charlie’s girls," a devoted acolyte of cult leader Charles Manson. In this poignant and disturbing memoir of lost innocence, coercion, survival and healing, Dianne Lake chronicles her years with Charles Manson, revealing for the first time how she became the youngest member of his Family and offering new insights into one of the 20th century’s most notorious criminals and life as one of his "girls."

Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life, but he won’t say whose --- not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it. The man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of this little girl. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so he seeks him out and tells him this story.

Laurie Moran’s television show “Under Suspicion” is a hit, both in the ratings and its record of solving cold cases. But her romantic break from former host Alex Buckley has left her with on-air talent she can’t stand --- Ryan Nichols --- and a sense of loneliness. Now Ryan has suggested a new case. Three years ago, Virginia Wakeling, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one of the museum’s most generous donors, was found dead in the snow. The leading suspect then and now is her much younger boyfriend and personal trainer, Ivan Gray. Laurie’s skepticism about the case is upended by a tip from her father’s NYPD connection, and soon Laurie realizes there are a bevy of suspects --- including Virginia’s trusted inner circle.

A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: “You don’t know me, but I’m your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database.” Who are these people, he wondered, and how do I find them? So began A.J.’s three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history. His journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, found himself singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends, but not our family.