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As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents “copulated” in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-20th century. Amane strives to get away from this strange “system”, but her infatuations have a sexual force that is undeniable. As an adult in an appropriately sexless marriage --- sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest --- Amane and her husband Saku decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally, and every person is considered a Mother to all children. Men are beginning to become pregnant using artificial wombs that sit outside of their bodies like balloons, and children are nameless, called only “Kodomo-chan.” Is this the new world that will purify Amane of her strangeness once and for all?

The word atavism, coined by a botanist and popularized by a criminologist, refers to the resurfacing of a primitive evolutionary trait or urge in a modern being. This inventive collection from Lydia Millet offers overlapping tales of urges ranging from rage to jealousy to yearning --- a fluent triumph of storytelling, rich in ideas and emotions both petty and grand. As they pick away at the splitting seams in American culture, Millet’s characters shimmer with the sense of powerlessness we share in an era of mass overwhelm. In these stories sharp observations of middle-class mores and sanctimony give way to moments of raw exposure and longing: ATAVISTS performs an uncanny fictional magic, full of revelation but also hilarious, unpretentious and warm.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography, or at least to meet with, the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game. One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice. Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family. Three: Hayden Anderson is glowering at her in a way that suggests he sees her as competition. But it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story could be a mystery, tragedy or love ballad...depending on who’s telling it.

While on a routine security assessment in India, Taskforce operator Pike Logan foils an attempted attack on a meeting between the CIA and India’s intelligence service. Both government agencies believe it’s nothing more than a minor terrorist attack. After another terrorist operation at the Taj Mahal, he begins to believe that outside powers are attacking India in the gray zone between peace and war. But the separatists conducting the operations have their own agenda. After a massive slaughter and kidnapping of hostages during an elaborate Indian pre-wedding party, only Pike Logan and his team can de-escalate the tension by rescuing the captives. It will take everything that Logan and the taskforce have to foil an intricate plot that leaves countless lives in the balance.

Spring is in full bloom and everything is blossoming just right for Harry in Crozet, Virginia. Restorations to the long-shuttered local segregated school are nearly complete and the school will be renamed to commemorate an important community member. To honor the former students, Harry and her friends are hard at work planning a reunion. But the 15 acres behind the school are enticing for more than just a school reunion. One realtor soon reveals plans to buy the land and build over it --- unless the crew can find a way to stop the sale. In their search to prevent the purchase, they come across something unexpected: a dead body, which might not be the first to show up this season. With a little aid from Tee Tucker and Pirate, as well as feline sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, Harry just might have a chance at solving this mystery and preventing the land purchase once and for all.

The Navajo Nation police are on high alert when a U.S. Cabinet Secretary schedules an unprecedented trip. The visit coincides with a plan to resume uranium mining along the Navajo Nation border. Is it coincidence that a cult with a propensity for violence arrives at a private camp group outside Shiprock the same week to celebrate the summer solstice? When the outsiders’ erratic behavior makes their Navajo hosts uneasy, Officer Bernadette Manuelito is assigned to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, Darleen Manuelito, Bernie’s high spirited younger sister, learns one of her home health clients is gone. Darleen’s discovers that the client’s grandson is also missing. Darleen’s information meshes with a case Chee has begun to solve that deals with the evil underside of human nature.

Blythe Benedict is content. Her life didn’t end when her marriage did. In fact, she’s more than happy living in her comfortable house in Boston, working as a middle school teacher and raising four wonderful children. But no amount of that drama could change the family’s beloved annual summer trip to Nantucket. Blythe has always treasured the months spent at her island home-away-from-home and has fond memories of her children growing up there. Blythe must contend with teenage angst, her ex-mother-in-law’s declining health and a troubling secret involving her ex-husband. This particular island summer may not be as relaxing as Blythe had hoped, but she’s never felt that life has given her more than she can handle --- especially when she has the love and support of her family around her.

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall. When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history and decide whether she can open up to love for them --- or herself --- while there’s still time. Told from three intimate points of view, THE BRIGHT YEARS is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.

John Collan’s greatest anxiety is how to circumvent the village’s devil goat on his way to collect water. But the arrival of a well-dressed stranger from London upends his life forever: John is not John Collan but Lambert Simne and has been hidden in the countryside after a brotherly rift over the crown. Removed from his humble origins and sent to Oxford to be educated in a manner befitting the throne’s rightful heir, Lambert is put into play by his masters. He learns the rules of etiquette in Burgundy and the machinations of the court in Ireland, where he encounters the intractable Joan, the delightfully strong-willed and manipulative daughter of his Irish patrons. Joan has two paths available to her --- marry or become a nun. Lambert’s choices are similarly stark: he will either become king or die in battle. Together they form an alliance that will change the fate of the English monarchy.

Alexandra Bouvier is born in Paris in 1900, at the dawn of a new century. From an early age, she is encouraged to think for herself by her enlightened family: her father, a French doctor; her mother, an American nurse; and her maternal grandfather a highly regarded newspaperman back in the Midwest. At age 14, Alex’s comfortable life is upended as war erupts across Europe. The merciless fighting, coupled with the fast-spreading Spanish flu, wreaks havoc on the continent, as well as on Alex’s loved ones. By the time she is 18, she has suffered unimaginable losses. With her grandfather’s support, she attends the University of Chicago and decides to follow his footsteps into journalism. As a newspaper intern she meets reporter Oliver Foster. He too has known devastating loss and the two are drawn to each other, though both fear any attachment. As it turns out, Alex has good reason to be cautious.

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train. She’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner and the bite marks on her coffee table. She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can't ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women. As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.

National Park Service investigator Michael Walker is battling smugglers stealing priceless artifacts when he’s dispatched to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, where, in the first stage of a potential global disaster, a team of scientists has gone missing. Meanwhile, in Florida’s Everglades National Park, FBI special investigator Gina Delgado traces the murder of an environmental science intern back to another U.S. Geological Survey team’s ongoing experiments that are decimating the fragile ecosystem. That is before she’s dispatched to the scene of a sunken U.S. nuclear submarine, the entire crew of which has inexplicably been killed. The connection between these disparate investigations lies in a deadly prehistoric organism, frozen for thousands of years in the ice until global warming brings it back to life in what could mean the death of all life on Earth.

Present day: Annie Adams is just settling into life in Castle Knoll when local fortune teller Peony Lane crosses her path and shares a cryptic message. When Peony Lane is found dead only hours later inside the locked Gravesdown Estate, Annie quickly realizes that someone is out to make her look guilty while silencing Peony at the same time. 1967: A year has passed since her friend Emily disappeared, and Frances Adams finds herself caught between two men. Ford Gravesdown is one of the only remaining members of a family known for its wealth. Archie Foyle is a local who can’t hold down a job. But when Frances teams up with Archie to investigate the car crash that claimed the lives of Ford's family, it quickly becomes clear that this was no accident. The question is, just how far does the blackness creep through the heart of Castle Knoll?

Two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner was the second most googled person in 2023...and not for his impressive filmography. His searing portrayals on film ranged from an Iraq-based army bomb technician to a crooked Camden mayor. He also captured hearts as fan-favorite comic book marksman Hawkeye in seven Marvel films. Yet, his otherworldly success on-screen faded to the periphery when a 14,000-pound snowplow crushed him on New Year’s Day 2023. Somehow able to keep breathing for more than half an hour, he was subsequently rushed to the ICU. In this debut memoir, Jeremy writes in blistering detail about his accident and the aftermath. His writing captures the essence of profound transformation, exploring the delicate interplay between vulnerability and strength, despair and hope, redemption and renewal.

For Kristine Gasbarre and generations of young women in her small hometown, Mrs. Korthaus wasn’t just a high school English teacher --- she offered a window into a bigger world. Her focus on her students means that most never learned about her: how before making a career pivot into teaching, she’d marched on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., attended JFK’s inauguration, and built a career as a business leader when women couldn’t yet open finance accounts in their own names. Now a celebrated writer herself, Kristine reunites with her beloved teacher just as Mrs. Korthaus is newly retired, widowed and diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. As the two women reflect on their intertwined journeys over the past 30 years, Mrs. Korthaus’ enduring insight on self-determination, spirituality and the teaching profession takes on deeper meaning.

Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the sun-soaked village of Positano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But Haven is hoping to find more than old artifacts beneath the azure waters; she is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones her late father spotted on his final dive. Upon Haven’s arrival, strange maelstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town. As Haven searches for her father’s sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery and one woman’s quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary art of stregheria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Haven must unravel the Amalfi Curse before the region is destroyed forever.

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters --- to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has --- a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson provides a riveting narrative covering the middle years of the Revolution. Stationed in Paris, Benjamin Franklin woos the French; in Pennsylvania, George Washington pleads with Congress to deliver the money, men and materiel he needs to continue the fight. In New York, General William Howe, the commander of the greatest army the British have ever sent overseas, plans a new campaign against the Americans --- even as he is no longer certain that he can win this searing, bloody war. Timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the Revolution, Atkinson’s brilliant account of the lethal conflict between the Americans and the British offers not only deeply researched and spectacularly dramatic history, but also a new perspective on the demands that a democracy makes on its citizens.

This state-of-the-art smart home has everything: a next-generation entertainment system, an ultramodern kitchen where every appliance is online and even a personal AI to control it all. Standing above its owner's lifeless body, FBI agent Jude Mackenzie is faced with the daunting task of discovering how the woman was killed by her own home. How do you catch a murderer that doesn't leave any fingerprints? Enter Special Agent Victoria Tennant, whose familiarity with cybercrime reveals the stark truth: a machine can only do what it's been directed to. As the number of "accidents" begins to rise, the pair must race to uncover the perpetrator even as they find themselves caught in their digital crosshairs! There's nowhere to hide when danger may be as close as the very phones in their pockets.

At 63 years old, PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, if it weren’t for the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to win Michelle back. But PJ becomes a sudden guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. PJ thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who’s adrift in her 20s, to come along to babysit. And Pancakes joins, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death. This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for --- a fresh shot at love and parenting --- but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It’s very possible his heart can’t take it.

Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what. Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One friend walks up --- and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears. Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy --- and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods.

After their mother dies, Haidie Richards and her younger brother, Boots, are put to work in an orphanage. Their father left four years earlier to find a gold mine in Colorado Territory, and since then he’s sent only three letters. Still, Haidie is certain that he is alive, has struck gold and will soon send for them. But patience is not one of Haidie’s virtues and soon she and her brother make a break for it. Boots and Haidie, disguised as a boy, embark on a dangerous journey deep into Western territory. Along the way, Haidie learns fast not only how to handle mules, oxen and greedy men, but also that you are better off in a community. Hers includes a card shark, independent “spinster” sisters and a very fierce dog. Once she arrives in Colorado and finds out the truth about her father, Haidie will need all her new friends for a get-even plot worthy of The Sting.

When a minor criminal is murdered in the smallest residential square in London, elderly heiress and landlady Celeste van Duren recruits two of her tenants to investigate. Her cleaner, Audrey, knows everyone and is liked by all, while failed writer Lewis is known by no one. He hates his job and his life, and he’s not that fond of Audrey either --- but Celeste is persuasive. As they hunt for clues in and around the Square, they discover everyone has something to hide, including their fellow residents. Audrey and Lewis must find a way to work together if they’re to find the killer in their midst. Assuming, of course, there’s just the one.

Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death. When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days or return to a place where she’s already been. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s.

A VIEW FROM THE STARS features a range of short works from the past three decades of New York Times bestselling author Cixin Liu's prolific career, putting his nonfiction essays and short stories side-by-side for the first time. This collection includes essays and interviews that shed light on Liu's experiences as a reader, writer and lover of science fiction throughout his life, as well as short fiction that gives glimpses into the evolution of his imaginative voice over the years.