Adult

During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces based in Britain and Italy launched their first round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. Their goal: to smash the main factories and production centers of the Luftwaffe while also drawing German planes into an aerial battle of attrition to neutralize the Luftwaffe as a fighting force prior to the cross-channel invasion, planned for a few months later. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this aerial offensive quickly became known as “Big Week,” and it was one of the turning-point engagements of World War II. In BIG WEEK, acclaimed World War II historian James Holland chronicles the massive air battle through the experiences of those who lived and died during it.

It’s 1491. In the small village of Oakham, its wealthiest and most industrious resident, Tom Newman, is swept away by the river during the early hours of Shrove Saturday. Was it murder, suicide or an accident? Narrated from the perspective of local priest John Reve --- patient shepherd to his wayward flock --- a shadowy portrait of the community comes to light through its residents’ tortured revelations. As some of their darkest secrets are revealed, the intrigue of the unexplained death ripples through the congregation. But will Reve, a man with secrets of his own, discover what happened to Newman? And what will happen if he can’t?

Ever since she met him, Miss Caroline Bingley has intended to wed Mr. Darcy. Her brother, Charles, takes a country estate, Netherfield Park, where he is drawn to Jane Bennet. To Caroline’s initial amusement, Mr. Darcy takes note of Elizabeth Bennet, but humor turns to concern when his interest increases. At the same time, Caroline meets Mr. Tryphon, a young man new to London and introduced to society by Caroline’s friend, Lady Eleanor Amesbury. Try as she may, Caroline finds it well-nigh impossible to maintain her decorum in his company. Despite her growing feelings for Mr. Tryphon’s dark eyes, and the touch of his firm forearm beneath her gloved fingers, Caroline knows that her future life is entwined with that of Mr. Darcy.

England, 1324: a land rife with superstition and gripped by fear of the Church’s holy wrath. When a beggar is murdered in the quiet village of Bottesford, his body draped across the altar of St. Mary’s church in a perverse pose of pagan sacrifice, the Pope’s Inquisitor General places the small hamlet in his sights. Anxious to stave off the Inquisition, the Bishop of Lincoln dispatches Thomas Lester, son of a disgraced Templar Knight, to investigate --- but the Archbishop’s fanatical emissary has already arrived to conduct his own inquiry. Thomas’ investigation uncovers a viper’s nest of perfidious players. As this sordid drama unfolds, Thomas finds himself falling in love with a woman whose beauty is matched only by her defiance of the Church’s fearsome power.

Products of their run-down Pennsylvania mining town, three brothers grapple with their lives in decline. Harvey drives a delivery truck; Stevie works odd jobs; and Will is a struggling bar owner whose wife, Laci, is edging toward desperation when her boss offers her more money…for a price. Then, in this tight circle where prosperity is rare --- and hope, even rarer --- comes a breaking point in a simple but indefensible slight. When Harvey gets shafted by his brother-in-law in a deal over a vintage Indian motorcycle, he enlists the help of Stevie and Will to set things right. But the revenge plan goes awry, and the three men stumble upon a shocking secret that, if revealed, would upend their lives.

A body just turned up in the small town of Portland, Pennsylvania. The crime is eerily similar to a 20-year-old cold case, and lead detective Parker Reed is intent on connecting the two murders. The past meets the present when Becca Kingsley, who returns to Portland to be with her estranged but dying father, runs into Parker, her childhood love. As the daughter of the former police chief, Becca is quickly drawn into the case. Coming home has brought something ominous to the surface --- memories long buried, secrets best kept hidden. Becca starts questioning all of her past relationships, including one with a man who has watched over her for years. For the first time, she wonders if he is more predator than protector.

After the end of her marriage, Kate Granger has retreated to her parents’ home on Lake Superior to pull herself together --- only to discover the body of a murdered woman washed into the shallows. Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. Only Kate can identify the woman, who she has seen before in her dreams. One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.

Unexpectedly separated from his wife, Arky Levin suddenly has the space he needs to work composing film scores --- but none of the peace of mind he needs to create. As he wanders the city, it’s almost by chance that he stumbles upon an exhibition that will change his life. Visitors to the Museum of Modern Art sit across a table from the performance artist Marina Abramović, for as short or long a period as they choose. Although some go in skeptical, almost all leave moved. And the participants are not the only ones to find themselves changed by this unusual experience: Arky finds himself drawn to the exhibit. He returns day after day to watch other people sit with Abramović --- and he begins to understand what might be missing in his life and what he must do.

In the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery. Together these heirs of Washington, Jefferson and Adams took the country to war, battled one another for the presidency and set themselves the task of finishing the work the Founders had left undone.

When Mma Potokwane suggests to Mma Ramotswe that she run for a seat on the Gaborone City Council, Mma Ramotswe is at first reluctant. But when she learns that developers plan to build the flashy Big Fun Hotel next to a graveyard, she allows herself to be persuaded. Her opponent is none other than Mma Makutsi’s old nemesis, Violet Sephotho, who is in the pocket of the hotel developers. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe has acquired a new client: one of her late father’s old friends, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Charlie volunteers to be the lead investigator in the case to prove he’s ready to be more than an apprentice, as well as to impress a new girlfriend.