Adult

In the Old City of Québec, Kay Harper falls in love with a puppet in the window of the Quatre Mains, a toy shop that is never open. Late one night, she fears someone is following her home. Surprised to see that the lights of the toy shop are on and the door is open, she takes shelter inside. The next morning, her husband Theo wakes up to discover his wife is missing. Kay has been transformed into a puppet, and is now a prisoner of the back room of the Quatre Mains, trapped with an odd assemblage of puppets from all over the world who can only come alive between the hours of midnight and dawn. The only way she can return to the human world is if Theo can find her and recognize her in her new form.

Throughout her illustrious career as the Queen of Crime, P. D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Now, for the first time, four of the best are collected here. In “The Twelve Clues of Christmas,” Adam Dalgliesh is drawn into a case that is pure Agatha Christie. In “A Very Commonplace Murder,” a respectable clerk’s secret taste for pornography is only the first reason he finds for not coming forward as a witness to a terrible crime. “The Boxdale Inheritance” finds Dalgliesh reinvestigating a notorious murder at the insistence of his godfather --- only to uncover the darkest of family secrets. And in the title story, a bestselling crime novelist describes the crime in which she herself was involved some 50 years ago.

This new volume of Pat Conroy’s nonfiction brings together some of the most charming interviews, magazine articles, speeches and letters from his long literary career, many of them addressed directly to his readers with his habitual greeting, “Hey, out there.” Ranging across diverse subjects, such as favorite recent reads, the challenge of staying motivated to exercise, and processing the loss of dear friends, Conroy’s eminently memorable pieces offer a unique window into the life of a true titan of Southern writing.

As a follow-up to his 1999 autobiography, Arnold Palmer, a man considered by many to be the most important golfer in history, takes stock of the many experiences of his life, bringing new details and insights to some familiar stories and sharing new ones. Gracious, fair and a true gentleman, this book is Palmer’s gift to the world --- a treasure trove of entertaining anecdotes and timeless wisdom. 

The grandchild of Jewish immigrants from Hungary, Paul Simon has not only sold more than 100 million records, won 15 Grammy Awards and been installed into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame twice, but has also animated the meaning --- and flexibility --- of personal and cultural identity in a rapidly shrinking world. He has lived one of the most vibrant lives of modern times --- a story replete with tales of Carrie Fisher, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Dylan, Woody Allen, Shelley Duvall, Nelson Mandela, drugs, depression, marriage, divorce and more. Peter Ames Carlin's HOMEWARD BOUND is the first major biography of one of the most influential popular artists in American history.

Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he's staging a “Tempest” like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge. After 12 years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his “Tempest” and snare the traitors who destroyed him. It's magic! But will it remake Felix as his enemies fall?

To four girls who have nothing, their friendship is everything: they are each other’s confidants, teachers and family. The girls are all named Guinevere --- Vere, Gwen, Ginny and Win --- and it is the surprise of finding another Guinevere in their midst that first brings them together. They come to The Sisters of the Supreme Adoration convent by different paths, each with her own complicated, heartbreaking story that she safeguards. However, the girls are more than the sum of their parts, and together they form the all-powerful and confident The Guineveres, bound by the extraordinary coincidence of their names and girded against the indignities of their plain, sequestered lives.

At the height of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman committed a gaffe that sent shock waves around the world. When asked by a reporter about the possible use of atomic weapons in response to China's entry into the war, Truman replied testily, "The military commander in the field will have charge of the use of the weapons, as he always has." This suggested that General Douglas MacArthur, the willful, fearless and highly decorated commander of the American and U.N. forces, had his finger on the nuclear trigger. A correction quickly followed, but the damage was done. Two visions for America's path forward were clearly in opposition, and one man would have to make way.

Alexander Bruno travels the world winning large sums of money from amateur “whales” who think they can challenge his peerless acumen at backgammon. But after a troubling run of bad luck in Singapore and Berlin --- perhaps brought on by his chance encounter with childhood acquaintance Keith Stolarsky and his girlfriend Tira Harpaz, or perhaps the emergence of a blot that distorts his vision --- Bruno passes out and is brought to the hospital. There, he’s given a depressing diagnosis and his only hope is to return to Berkeley, where he discovered his psychic abilities, and undergo experimental surgery paid for by the scheming Stolarsky.

Fifth-generation New Yorker, third-generation bartender and first-generation author Tara Clancy was raised in three wildly divergent homes: a converted boat shed in working class Queens, a geriatric commune of feisty, Brooklyn-born Italians, and a sprawling Hamptons estate she visited every other weekend. From scheming and gambling with her force-of-nature grandmother, to brawling with 11-year-old girls on the concrete recess battle yard of MS 172, to holding court beside Joey O’Dirt, Goiter Eddy and Roger the Dodger at her dad’s local bar, Tara leapfrogs across these varied spheres, delivering stories from each world with originality, grit and outrageous humor.