Adult

For the September 2016 issue of GQ, Michael Chabon wrote a piece about accompanying his then-13-year-old son to Paris Men’s Fashion Week. Possessed with a precocious sense of style, Abe was in his element chatting with designers he idolized and turning a critical eye to the freshest runway looks of the season. Chabon Sr. sat idly by, staving off yawns and fighting the impulse that the whole thing was a massive waste of time. Despite his own indifference, however, what gradually emerged as Chabon ferried his son to and from fashion shows was a deep respect for his son’s passion. With the GQ story as its centerpiece, and featuring six additional essays, POPS illuminates the meaning, magic and mysteries of fatherhood.

Years ago, her sister Rachel vanished. Now she is almost certain the man who took Rachel sits in the passenger seat beside her. He claims to have dementia and no memory of murdering girls across Texas in a string of places where he shot eerie pictures. To find the truth, she proposes a dangerous idea: a 10-day road trip with a possible serial killer to examine cold cases linked to his haunting photographs. Is he a liar or a broken old man? Is he a pathological con artist --- or is she? You won’t see the final, terrifying twist spinning your way until the very last mile.

THE LAST COWBOYS is Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John Branch’s epic tale of one American family struggling to hold on to the fading vestiges of the Old West. For generations, the Wrights of southern Utah have raised cattle and world-champion saddle-bronc riders --- many call them the most successful rodeo family in history. Now they find themselves fighting to save their land and livelihood as the West is transformed by urbanization, battered by drought and rearranged by public-land disputes. Could rodeo, of all things, be the answer?

Ever since she was a child, Jane has longed for a cloistered life as a nun. But her large noble family has other plans, and as an adult, Jane is invited to the King’s court to serve as lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon. The devout Katherine shows kindness to all her ladies, which makes rumors of Henry’s lustful pursuit of Anne Boleyn --- also lady-in-waiting to the queen --- all the more shocking. But once Henry disavows Katherine and secures Anne as his new queen --- forever altering the religious landscape of England --- he turns his eye to another: Jane herself. Urged to return the King’s affection and earn favor for her family, Jane is drawn into a dangerous political game that pits her conscience against her desires.

During his illustrious career with the World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, Keith Hernandez was a perennial fan favorite, earning 11 consecutive Gold Gloves, a National League co-MVP Award, and a batting title. But it was his unique blend of intelligence, humor and talent --- not to mention his unflappable leadership, playful antics and competitive temperament --- that transcended the sport and propelled him to a level of renown that few other athletes have achieved. Now, with a striking mix of candor and self-reflection, Hernandez takes us along on his journey to baseball immortality.

Sam Clair figures she’ll be a good sport and spend a night out at the theater in support of her upstairs neighbors, who have small parts in a play in the West End. Her boyfriend Jake Field, a Scotland Yard detective, agrees to tag along to what is apparently an extra-bloody play filled with dramatic, gory deaths galore. But as the curtain opens to the second act, a dummy is hanging from the rafters, who’s been made up to look suspiciously like Campbell Davison, the director of the production. When Sam sees the horrified faces of the actors onstage, she realizes that this is indeed not a dummy, but Davison himself --- and this death is not part of the show. Now everyone wants to know: Who killed Campbell Davison?

Margaret Jacobsen is just about to step into the bright future she’s worked for so hard and so long: a new dream job, a fiancé she adores, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, everything she worked for is taken away in a brief, tumultuous moment. In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Maggie must confront the unthinkable. First, there is her fiancé, Chip, who wallows in self-pity while simultaneously expecting to be forgiven. Then, there's her sister Kit, who shows up after pulling a three-year vanishing act. Finally, there's Ian, her physical therapist, who won't let her give in to her pity, and who sees her like no one has seen her before.

Kimberly Crepeaux is a notorious jailhouse snitch, teen mother and heroin addict whose petty crimes are well-known to the rural Maine community where she lives. So when she confesses to her role in the brutal murders of Jackie Pelletier and Ian Kelly, the daughter of a well-known local family and her sweetheart, the locals have little reason to believe her story. However, FBI investigator and interrogator Rob Barrett knows that Kimberly’s story --- a grisly, harrowing story of a hit and run fueled by dope and cheap beer that becomes a brutal stabbing in cold blood --- is how it happened. But one thing remains elusive: Where are Jackie and Ian’s bodies?

Brit is the second violinist, a beautiful and quiet orphan; on the viola is Henry, a prodigy who's always had it easy; the cellist is Daniel, the oldest and an angry skeptic who sleeps around; and on first violin is Jana, their flinty, resilient leader. Together, they are the Van Ness Quartet. After the group's youthful, rocky start, they experience devastating failure and wild success, heartbreak and marriage, triumph and loss, betrayal and enduring loyalty. They are always tied to each other --- by career, by the intensity of their art, by the secrets they carry, by choosing each other over and over again.

Conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen, New York’s Blackwell’s Island, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse and a number of hospitals, quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, "a lounging, listless madhouse." Digging through city records, newspaper articles and archival reports, Stacy Horn tells a gripping narrative through the voices of the island’s inhabitants. We also hear from the era’s officials, reformers and journalists, including the celebrated undercover reporter Nellie Bly. DAMNATION ISLAND shows how far we’ve come in caring for the least fortunate among us --- and reminds us how much work still remains.