Science and religion study the same phenomenon --- the cosmos itself --- but an impenetrable barrier seems to separate them. Author Tim Garvin removes that barrier and offers a resonant handshake. Instead of sitting across from each other in opposition, scientists and seekers can sit at a table made round by wonder. As EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE dives into the nature of knowing and existence, it reveals a mutuality in humankind unimagined by theology or biology, a mutuality in the nature of being itself. From there, it develops an explanation of existence by employing the thought and insight of the inner world's two most penetrating cartographers, Aurobindo Ghose and Meher Baba, whose work and a close-notice of life itself reveal the deep purpose of creation.

The 20th-century American department store: a palace of consumption where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York, Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled. In this hothouse atmosphere, three women rose to the top. In the 1930s, Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller came to her husband's department store as a housewife and wound up running the company. Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor championed American designers during World War II --- before which US fashions were almost exclusively Parisian copies --- becoming the first businesswoman to earn a $1 million salary. And in the 1960s, Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel reinvented the look of the modern department store and inspired a devoted following of ultra-chic shoppers, as well as decades of copycats.

On Bronson Street, in the projects of Toledo, Ohio, in a crowded house occupied by a family of 14, Tom Seeman starts a very important list. Just as the trash-strewn field in his backyard is home to a treasure trove of wild animals, Tom’s list, “Animals I Want To See One Day,” is home to dreams of adventure in places far away from the downtrodden neighborhood where he lives. But for all its hardship and crime, Bronson Street is also something of a mythical street, populated by unforgettable people who share food, protect each other, and give surprising gifts of beauty and merriment, proving that the bonds of community and friendship (often across racial and social lines) can bridge any divide and transcend what many of us are taught to believe about each other.

Use neuroscience to retrain your brain and make better life choices. Dr. Helen McKibben's approach combines the study of the body, the brain, and the interaction between emotion and memory. She enables us to tap into the biomechanics of emotions, resolve triggered feelings and make better life choices. DROP is filled with interviews that illustrate how real people have applied this method to their lives. Dr. McKibben guides us through her revolutionary and innovative self-help technique of dropping to the blank screen to learn how to manage triggered feelings and to understand why we feel the way we do. By monitoring neuromuscular signals that indicate unconscious triggered emotions, we can work with the brain rather than against it. She teaches us a practical, self-reliant method to retrain our brains and change our responses to life's stressors.

Bhikkhuni Dhammananda defied convention to become the first woman fully ordained in the Thai Theravada Buddhist tradition. Dubbed “Rebel Monk” by the Thai press, she faced enormous opposition from the media, the public and senior orthodox Thai monks. She has given a fresh existence to the ancient tradition. American author Cindy Rasicot became her student and disciple in 2005. This compelling book tells the story of Venerable Dhammananda’s remarkable path from TV personality, author, academic, wife and mother to ordained bhikkhuni. Cindy Rasicot writes beautifully of their relationship and shares Bhikkhuni Dhammananda’s gentle wisdom and direct insights about how to live a more powerful and compassionate life.

In this revelatory memoir, Anna Gazmarian tells the story of how her evangelical upbringing in North Carolina failed to help her understand the mental health diagnosis she received, and the work she had to do to find proper medical treatment while also maintaining her faith. When Anna is diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011, she’s faced with a conundrum. While the diagnosis provides clarity about her manic and depressive episodes, she must confront the stigma that her evangelical community attaches to her condition. Over the course of 10 years, we follow Anna on her journey to reframe her understanding of mental health to expand the limits of what her religious practice can offer.

Growing up a headstrong Irish Catholic girl in a notoriously tough housing estate in Northern England, Moya Hession-Aiken has just one goal --- to live a rich, creative life in America. SHOULDER tells the story of the riotous and hilarious path from her boisterous but warm family back home to her education in London and her escape to New York in the 1980s, where she finds everything she’s looking for --- exciting jobs in the fashion industry and later at MTV --- but where she also meets the man of her dreams, only to lose him to cancer following the birth of their son. Told in a voice that is equal parts Alan Bennett and Frank McCourt, this is a story about the thrill of taking chances and the unbearable pain of loss, as well as a profound meditation on what it takes to survive and what it means to care for others.

In this ambitious and groundbreaking book, Philippa Gregory tells the story of England over 900 years, for the very first time placing women --- some 50 percent of the population --- center stage. Using research skills honed in her work as one of our foremost historical novelists, Gregory trawled through court records, newspapers and journals to find highwaywomen and beggars, murderers and brides, housewives and pirates, female husbands and hermits. The “normal women” you will meet in these pages went to war, plowed the fields, campaigned, wrote and loved. They rode in jousts, flew Spitfires, issued their own currency, and built ships, corn mills and houses. They committed crimes or treason, worshipped many gods, cooked and nursed, invented things and rioted. A lot.

As a young girl growing up in Houston, Margaret Juhae Lee never heard about her grandfather, Lee Chul Ha. His history was lost in early 20th-century Korea and guarded by Margaret’s grandmother, who Chul Ha left widowed in 1936 with two young sons. To his surviving family, Lee Chul Ha was a criminal, and his granddaughter was determined to figure out why. STARRY FIELD chronicles Chul Ha’s untold story. Combining investigative journalism, oral history and archival research, Margaret reveals the truth about the grandfather she never knew. But reclaiming his legacy, in the end, isn’t what Margaret finds the most valuable. It is through the series of three long-form interviews with her grandmother that Margaret finally finds a sense of recognition she’s been missing her entire life.

Born to Mexican immigrants south of the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth had the world at her fingertips. She was preparing to enter her freshman year of high school as the number one student when her own country suddenly took away the most important right a child has: the right to have a family. When her parents’ visas expired and they were forced to return to Mexico, Elizabeth was left responsible for her younger brother, as well as her education. Even though her parents couldn’t stay, there was no way she could let go of the opportunities the U.S. could provide. Armed with only her passport, Elizabeth became what her school would eventually describe as an unaccompanied homeless youth, one of thousands of underage victims affected by family separation due to broken immigration laws.