Adult

CONJURE WOMEN is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter, Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a midwife; and their master’s daughter, Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom.

Maya Shanbhag Lang grew up idolizing her mother, an accomplished physician who immigrated to the United States from India and completed her residency, all while raising her children. Maya’s mother had always been a source of support --- until Maya became a mother herself. Then the parent who had once been so capable and attentive became suddenly and inexplicably unavailable. Struggling to understand this abrupt change, Maya searches for answers and soon learns that her mother is living with Alzheimer’s. Unable to remember or keep track of the stories she once told her daughter, Maya’s mother divulges secrets about her past that force Maya to reexamine their relationship. It becomes clear that Maya never really knew her mother, despite their close bond.

The Parisian design houses in 1928, the crash of 1929, the losses of war, the drug culture of the 1960s --- history holds many surprises, and lives are changed forever. For richer or for poorer, in cramped apartments and grand mansions, the treasured wedding dress made in Paris in 1928 follows each generation into their new lives, and represents different hopes for each of them, as they marry very different men. From inherited fortunes at the outset to self-made men and women, the wedding dress remains a cherished constant for the women who wear it in each generation and forge a destiny of their own. It is a symbol of their remaining traditions and the bond of family they share in an ever-changing world.

Math-genius mercenary Cas Russell has stopped a shadow organization from brainwashing the world, and discovered that her past was deliberately erased and her superhuman abilities deliberately created. And that's just the start. When a demolitions expert targets Cas and her friends, and the hidden conspiracy behind Cas' past starts to reappear, the past, present and future collide in a race to save one of her dearest friends.

In 1692, Bridget Bishop was hanged as a witch. Two hundred years later, her legacy lives on in the scions of two very different lines: one dedicated to using their powers to heal and help women in need; the other, determined to grasp power for themselves by whatever means necessary. This clash will play out in the fate of Annis, a young woman in Gilded Age New York who finds herself a pawn in the family struggle for supremacy. She'll need to claim her own power to save herself --- and resist succumbing to the darkness that threatens to overcome them all.

Spanning a century and two continents --- from the muddy fields of Ireland to a hotel room in Paris, a dingy bar in Segovia to an airplane bound for Taipei --- Billy O’Callaghan’s 12 stories explore the resiliency of the human heart and its ability to keep beating in the wake of bereavement, violence, lost love, and incomparable trauma and grief. Three gunshots on the Irish border define the course of a young man’s life; a writer clings fast to a star-crossed affair with a woman who has never been fully within his reach; a fisherman accustomed to hard labor rolls up his sleeves to dig a grave for his child; and a pair of newlyweds embark on their first adventure, living wild on the deserted Beginish Island.

To this day, mention the name “Andy Warhol” to almost anyone, and you’ll hear about his famous images of soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. But though Pop Art became synonymous with Warhol’s name, his life and work are infinitely more complex and multi-faceted than that. In WARHOL, esteemed art critic Blake Gopnik takes on Andy Warhol in all his depth and dimensions. “The meanings of his art depend on the way he lived and who he was,” as Gopnik writes. “That’s why the details of his biography matter more than for almost any cultural figure,” from his working-class Pittsburgh upbringing as the child of immigrants to his early career in commercial art to his total immersion in the “performance” of being an artist, accompanied by global fame and stardom --- and his attempted assassination. 

On March 3, 2017, Amy Krouse Rosenthal penned an op-ed piece for the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column --- "You May Want to Marry My Husband.” It appeared 10 days before her death from ovarian cancer. A heartbreaking, wry, brutally honest and creative play on a personal ad --- in which a dying wife encouraged her husband to go on and find happiness after her demise --- the column quickly went viral, reaching more than five million people worldwide. In MY WIFE SAID YOU MAY WANT TO MARRY ME, Jason describes what came next: his commitment to respecting Amy’s wish, even as he struggled with her loss.

This powerful collection of short stories traces an emotional arc inspired by Madeleine L'Engle's early life and career, from her lonely childhood in New York to her life as a mother in small-town Connecticut. In a selection of 18 stories discovered by one of her granddaughters, we see how L'Engle's personal experiences and abiding faith informed the creation of her many cherished works. Some of these stories have never been published; others were refashioned into scenes for her novels and memoirs. Almost all were written in the 1940s and '50s, from L'Engle's college years until just before the publication of A WRINKLE IN TIME.

Baseball is a sport of decisions. Some are so small and routine they become the building blocks of the game itself --- what pitch to throw or when to swing away. Others are so huge they dictate the future of franchises --- when to make a strategic trade for a chance to win now, or when to offer millions and a multi-year contract for a 28-year-old star. These decisions have long shaped the behavior of players, managers and entire franchises. But as those choices have become more complex and data-driven, knowing what’s behind them has become key to understanding the sport. THE INSIDE GAME explores as never before the essential question: What were they thinking?