Through extensive new research that included records saved by the Monuments Men themselves, Anders Rydell tells the untold story of Nazi book theft, as he himself joins the effort to return the stolen books. When the Nazi soldiers ransacked Europe’s libraries and bookshops, the books they stole were not burned. Instead, the Nazis began to compile a library of their own that they could use to wage an intellectual war on literature and history. But when the war was over, most of the books were never returned. Instead many found their way into the public library system, where they remain to this day. Now, Rydell finds himself entrusted with one of these stolen volumes, setting out to return it to its rightful owner.
When Vance Lake --- broke, jobless and recently dumped --- takes refuge with twin brother Craig back home on Cape Cod, he unwittingly finds himself smack in the middle of a crisis that would test the bonds of even the most cohesive family, let alone the Lakes. Craig is strangely mournful and angry at equal turns. His exasperated wife, Gina, is on the brink of an affair. At the center of it all is 17-year-old Amanda: adored niece, rebellious daughter and stubborn stepdaughter. She’s also pregnant. Told in alternating points of view by each member of this colorful New England clan, THE NEWS AT THE END OF THE WORLD follows one family into a crucible of pent-up resentments, old and new secrets, and memories long buried.
New Orleans musician and werewolf Birch "Buzz" MacKinlay thinks she's alone in the world until the mysterious and captivating Rowan welcomes her into his pack. Her new pack mates take her through a crash course on the use of her werewolf gifts as she learns all about other shape-shifters in the world. But she also discovers that there is a dark and growing danger to her new world as other "shifters" around her begin to die and disappear. With the menace closing in, her pack must work together with the rest of the “shifter” world to learn who --- or what --- is behind the threat before they are all destroyed.
At 32, Faith Frankel has returned to her claustro-suburban hometown, where she writes institutional thank-you notes for her alma mater. It's a peaceful life, and surely with her recent purchase of a sweet bungalow on Turpentine Lane, her life is finally on track. Never mind that her fiancé is off on a crowdfunded cross-country walk, too busy to return her texts (but not too busy to post photos of himself with a different woman in every state). And never mind her witless boss, or a mother who lives too close, or a philandering father who thinks he's Chagall. When she finds some mysterious artifacts in the attic of her new home, she wonders whether anything in her life is as it seems.
It’s been three months since crime reporter Poppy Thornton was left to die in an abandoned warehouse by her cousin Stacy, chief suspect in a high society murder. Rescued by the quick thinking of Chesterton Holte and Police Inspector J.B. Loring, Poppy is determined to get the real story and see justice done. But Stacy has fled Philadelphia with the widow of the man he is accused of murdering, and now an international manhunt is on for the suspected conspirators. Meanwhile, Poppy, Holte and Loring have a new mystery: the disappearance of GAD Pearce, 18-year-old heir to the Pearce fortune, who has vanished while traveling through Eastern Europe. The suspects range from the young man’s jealous siblings to a mysterious cult of Armenian refugees.
Since her death in 1979, Elizabeth Bishop, who published only a hundred poems in her lifetime, has become one of America’s best-loved poets. And yet --- painfully shy and living out of public view in Key West and Brazil, among other hideaways— --- she has never been seen so fully as a woman and an artist. Megan Marshall makes incisive and moving use of a newly discovered cache of Bishop’s letters --- to her psychiatrist and to three of her lovers --- to reveal a much darker childhood than has been known, a secret affair, and the last chapter of her passionate romance with the Brazilian modernist designer Lota de Macedo Soares.
Long ago, the Kieba, last goddess in the world, raised up her mountain in the drylands of Carastind. Ever since then, she has dwelled and protected the world from unending plagues and danger. Gulien Madalin, heir to the throne of Carastind, suspects that his father has offended the Kieba so seriously that she has withdrawn her protection from the kingdom. Worse, he fears that Carastind’s enemies suspect this as well. Then he learns that he is right. And invasion is imminent. When Gulien’s sister, Oressa, overhears news about the threatened invasion, she is shocked to discover what her father plans to give away in order to buy peace. But Carastind’s enemies intend to not only conquer the kingdom, but also cast down the Kieba and steal her power.
After discovering a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, 16-year-old Noa is reminded of the child who was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night. Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another --- or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
The mage Cassius has just arrived on the island of Scipio. Five miles of slum on the edge of 50 miles of jungle, Scipio is a lawless haven for criminals, pirates and exiles. The city is split in two, each half ruled by a corrupt feudal lord. Both of them answer to a mysterious general who lives deep in the jungle with his army, but they still constantly battle for power. If a man knows how to turn their discord to his advantage, he might also turn a profit. But trained on the Isle of Twelve, Cassius is no ordinary spellcaster, and his goal is not simply money. This is a treacherous island where the native gods are restless and anything can happen.
When a Thai girl overdoses smuggling drugs, the trail points to Danillo, the one criminal who MMA-trained public prosecutor Jana Berzelius most wants to destroy. Meanwhile, the police are zeroing in on the elusive head of the long-entrenched Swedish narcotics trade. Berzelius craves to know his identity, even as she clandestinely tracks Danillo, who has threatened to out her for who she really is. She knows she must kill him first, before he can reveal her secrets. If she fails, she will lose everything. As she prepares for the fight of her life, Berzelius discovers an even more explosive and insidious betrayal --- one that entangles her inextricably in the whole sordid network of crime.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
December's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Housemaid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, 100 Nights of Hero,The Chronology of Water and Not Without Hope; the series premiere of Paramount+'s "Little Disasters"; the season premiere of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" on Disney+ and Hulu; the season finales of HBO's "IT: Welcome to Derry" and Apple TV+'s "Down Cemetery Road"; the midseason finales of "Tracker" and "Watson" on CBS; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Karen Kingsbury's The Christmas Ring and Black Phone 2.