As a farmer in Upstate New York and Vermont, Ellyn Gaydos lives on the knife edge between loss and gain. Her debut memoir draws us into this precarious world, conjuring with stark simplicity the lifeblood of the farm. Joy and tragedy are frequent bedfellows. Fields go barren and animals meet their end too soon, but then their bodies become food in a time-old human ritual. Seasonal hands are ground down by the hard work, but new relationships are formed, love blossoms and Gaydos yearns to become a mother. As winter’s dark descends, PIG YEARS draws us into a violent and gorgeous world where pigs are star-bright symbols of hope and beauty surfaces in the furrows, the sow, even in the slaughter.

Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the “Perfect Immigrant Daughter”: Enroll in an elite medical school. Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend. Surround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends. But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents, whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a lot less proud of their daughter. Suddenly, Angie begins to question everything. And just when things couldn’t get more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez, who seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent.

Felicia “Fe Fe” Stevens is living with her vigilantly loving mother and older teenage brother in building 4950 of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes. It’s the summer of 1999, and her high-rise is next in line to be torn down by the Chicago Housing Authority. It is at this time that she forms a tentative trio with the devout Precious Brown and Stacia Buchanan, daughter of a Gangster Disciple Queen-Pin. But when Fe Fe welcomes a mysterious new friend, Tonya, into their fold, the dynamics shift, upending the lives of all four girls. Decades later, as she remembers that fateful summer, Fe Fe tries to make sense of the grief and fraught bonds that still haunt her and attempts to reclaim the love that never left.

Nora Hamilton, a romance channel screenwriter, turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive Leo Vance is cast as her ne’er-do-well husband, Nora’s life will never be the same. The morning after shooting wraps, Leo has a proposition. He will pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. The extra seven grand would give Nora breathing room, but it’s the need in his eyes that makes her say yes. Seven days: it’s the blink of an eye or an eternity depending on how you look at it. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.

Bonnie Lincoln just wants to be left alone. To come home from work, shut out the voice that reminds her of some devastating losses, and unwind in front of the nostalgic, golden glow of her favorite TV show, “Three’s Company.” When Bonnie wins the lottery, a more grandiose vision --- to completely shuck off her own troublesome identity --- takes shape. She plans a drastic move to an isolated mountain retreat where she can recreate the iconic apartment set of “Three’s Company” and slip into the lives of its main characters: no-nonsense Janet Wood, pleasantly airheaded Chrissy Snow, and confident Jack Tripper. While her best friend, Krystal, tries to drag her back to her old life, Bonnie is determined to transcend pain, trauma and the baggage of her past by immersing herself in the ultimate binge-watch.

Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing after college, she did not expect to be 25, still living at home and one of the few Black employees at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves. All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a pep talk or three. How hard could it be? But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head.

Georgina Wagman has it all --- a great marriage, a great job at a prestigious law firm, and great friends. Until, that is, she walks in on her husband Nathan in a compromising position with a junior associate. Divorce is not a part of the five-year plan, so she comes up with an idea to save her marriage and recapture the spark. She and Nathan are going to become swingers. Georgina won't embark on this adventure alone, though. Her friends, Felix and Norah, and their respective partners decide to tag along for the ride. Her plan is foolproof, until she runs into a college ex at her first swingers’ party. When they reconnect, Georgina will find herself torn between her head and her heart, with her very happiness hanging in the balance.

When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.” Trembling with fear, she reveals their shocking story to Danial, and it will be up to him to determine just how truthful she is. But when his crew makes a shocking discovery, Danial realizes that if he doesn’t act soon, they could all fall under the dark spell of the island.

The Kingsley family is beloved for their military heroics and political service. In 1967, after Joseph S. Kingsley, Jr. is killed in a tragic accident, his charismatic son inherits the weight of that legacy. But despite his best intentions, Joe III has trouble meeting the expectations of a nation. Cate Cooper also grew up fatherless, and after her mother marries an abusive man, she is forced to fend for herself. After being discovered by a model scout, Cate decides that her looks may be her only ticket out of the cycle of disappointment that her mother has always inhabited. When Joe and Cate unexpectedly cross paths one afternoon, their connection is instant and intense. But can their relationship survive the glare of the spotlight and the so-called Kingsley curse?

Dr. Yungman Kwak is in the twilight of his life. Every day for the last 50 years, he has headed to Horse Breath’s General Hospital, where he treats the women and babies of the small rural Minnesota town he chose to call home. He immigrated from Korea after the Korean War, forced to leave his family, ancestors, village and all that he knew behind. But his life is built on a lie. And one day, a letter arrives that threatens to expose it. His life is thrown into chaos --- the hospital abruptly closes, his wife refuses to spend time with him, and his son is busy investing in a struggling health start-up. Yungman faces a choice --- he must choose to hide his secret from his family and friends, or confess and potentially lose all he’s built.