Adult

Cats and writers are a match made in book heaven. Throughout history, our feline friends have served as trusted desk mates from the composition of a single poem to the creation of the first English dictionary. In INSPIRED BY CATS, author Nava Atlas and illustrator Bob Eckstein capture these endearing, enduring relationships in a witty, sophisticated collection featuring 60 famous authors and their beloved companions. Novelists, poets, humorists, short story writers and memoirists from all eras are represented --- from Mark Twain, Colette and Ernest Hemingway to Ray Bradbury and Toni Morrison.

Meryem is 25 years old, drinks too much coffee, goes on dates with terrifying men, and never says what she really thinks. A Canarian from a Moroccan family, she’s just started working as an intern at a mega-chain supermarket, where the only thing she and her boss have in common is their mutual hatred for each other. To pass the time, Meryem begins to write fan fiction starring her office mates. Surrounded by insecure and inept individuals, she reimagines her bland day job through fabricated office crushes and coworker drama. But to get through the daily grind, she’s going to have to summon more than just her imagination.

Spanning multiple locales and epochs, this transportive collection shows what it means to live as human inhabitants on our one miraculous planet. Each of these 10 stories is a reflection of individual choice in the face of man-made apocalypse: in a near-future Seoul, where air pollution has become so fatal that the city has been encased in a translucent biodome, a civil engineer charged with its upkeep contemplates an arranged marriage. A painter, disenchanted with New York City, travels to the South of France and falls into a dalliance with an entrepreneur who claims to have invented a new color. And on an island where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, upon which other countries have relegated their waste to form a mountain of landfill, a local boy facing daily privation gets internet famous for his K-pop-inspired dances. 

Karl and Molly were never together. There was a time, right after high school, when it seemed like they finally might cross the line from friends to lovers. But instead, a foolish misunderstanding meant they never spoke again. Molly went to LA and got married. Karl stayed in Harlot’s Bay and bought a bakery. Now divorced, Molly narrates monster romance audiobooks, and Karl is an ever-diligent listener. Still, Molly hasn’t totally left Harlot’s Bay behind. When she hears that Karl’s obituary has run in the local paper, unexpected grief prompts her to hop on the next flight to Maryland…where she finds Karl very much alive, the victim of nothing but an accidental obituary. As the pair reunite, they finally hash out their missed connection. True, Molly isn’t quite ready to trust again, but Karl is determined to prove himself worthy of her faith and devotion.

On a frigid, windswept day in Scotland’s Western Hebrides, Eleanor Bruton’s body is discovered on the shore. Little did Eleanor’s family know that she was harboring a dark and all-consuming secret --- a scrap of fraying embroidery that seems worthless at first glance. For over a century, two rival organizations of women have gone to deadly lengths to secure the valuable artifact in the hopes of finding the original medieval manuscript from which it was torn. When Dr. Anya Brown garners international attention for her translation of the cryptic Folio 9, she is handpicked by Diana Cornish, a professor and high-ranking member of the Fellowship, to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies in St. Andrews. Unbeknownst to Anya, she’s been recruited at great personal danger to translate ancient texts that the Fellowship believes critical to their mission.

In 2022, a report was released by atmospheric scientists at the University of Northern Illinois, warning that winds are expected to steadily increase in the years ahead. While this prediction worried the insurance industry, governmental leaders, scientists and conscientious citizens, one particular segment of society received it with unbridled enthusiasm. To the energy industry, rising wind strength and speeds are an unalloyed boon for humankind --- a vital source of clean and “safe” power. Between these two poles --- wind as a malevolent force, and wind as savior of our planet --- lies a world of fascination, history, literature, science, poetry and engineering that Simon Winchester explores. In THE BREATH OF THE GODS, he explains how wind plays a part in our everyday lives, from airplane and car travel to the “natural disasters” that are becoming more frequent and regular.

In 1978, Greta Rideout was the first woman in United States history to accuse her husband of rape, at a time when the idea of “marital rape” seemed ludicrous to many Americans and was a crime in only four states. After a quick and conservative trial acquitted John Rideout and a defense lawyer lambasted that “maybe rape is the risk of being married,” Greta was ridiculed and scorned from public life, while John went on to be a repeat offender. Thrust into the national spotlight, Greta and her story would become a national sensation, a symbol of a country’s unrelenting and targeted hate toward women and a court system designed to fail them at every turn. A now little-remembered trial deserving of close, wide and lasting attention, Sarah Weinman turns her signature intelligence and journalistic rigor to the enduring impact of this case. 

Eliot and his wife, Claire, have been happily married for nearly four decades. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has shifted into the role of caregiver. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.

In Julian, California, every day is April 23rd --- and in a time loop, there are no rules. Being trapped inside the plot of a sci-fi film would almost be inspiring for LA screenwriter Carly Hart…if she wasn’t waking up at her dad’s funeral every single day. Carly wants out. Funeral director Adam Rhodes is equally frustrated. Every loop, Adam regenerates in the middle of a fight with his ex-wife. Her infidelity wrecked their perfect life together, and now Adam must relive her confession over and over again. There’s only one solution to ending the misery: breaking the time loop. Which is easier said than done. And there’s another hurdle to overcome: Carly and Adam can’t stand each other. The sooner they find a solution, the sooner they’ll never have to see each other again. Yet somehow the tension between the two is hotter than a solar flare and as rare as the daily total solar eclipse.

California, Southern Humboldt County, 1985. Renata Drake steps off a Greyhound bus and into small-town Garberville, hoping to disappear. But she’s made a mistake. The FBI has the cannabis-producing “Emerald Triangle” town --- and its corrupt residents --- in their sights. Even worse, a teenage girl is missing. And when she turns up dead, the third in three years, it’s clear a serial killer is living among them. Renata knows about murdered girls and the burning desire for justice --- and for revenge. Her younger sister, Josie, is gone, and now so is the man who killed her. Renata didn’t stay in Washington, D.C. to be arrested for executing a murderer, and she shouldn’t stay here either. But Renata decides to investigate, and what she uncovers will trigger a final reckoning: for herself, for a killer, and for all of Southern Humboldt.