Adult

After decades as a real estate broker specializing in old religious properties, 52-year-old Claire is looking for something new. And then, on the eve of her 30th college reunion, a call comes from Rome. It’s from a struggling convent facing a precipitous end, and Claire isn’t so sure she can help out. But once in Rome, she finds a group of funny, fearless nuns in a gorgeous, if crumbling, villa. It leads her unexpectedly to wonder: maybe she should stay in Rome. In the convent. Forever. Her college roommate and business partner has thoughts. So does Claire’s daughter. And so does Marcus, a once-buzzy actor, who’s still as devastatingly handsome as he was when he first fell for Claire at 18. He’s come and gone from Claire’s life since college but reappears in Rome just as she’s about to decide what’s next.

Vera Wong lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. One morning, Vera discovers a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand is a flash drive. After calling the cops, she swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer. What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them.

Alexandra Robbins goes behind the scenes to tell the true, sometimes shocking, always inspirational stories of three teachers as they navigate a year in the classroom. She follows Penny, a southern middle school math teacher who grappled with a toxic staff clique at the big school in a small town; Miguel, a special ed teacher in the western United States who fought for his students both as an educator and as an activist; and Rebecca, an East Coast elementary school teacher who struggled to schedule and define a life outside of school. Robbins also interviewed hundreds of other teachers nationwide who share their secrets, dramas and joys. Interspersed among the teachers’ stories are hard-hitting essays featuring cutting-edge reporting on the biggest issues facing teachers today.

Set in the Allegheny Mountains of Appalachia, TAKE WHAT YOU NEED traces the parallel lives of Jean and her beloved but estranged stepdaughter, Leah, who's sought a clean break from her rural childhood. In Leah’s urban life with her young family, she‘s revealed little about Jean, how much she misses her stepmother’s hard-won insights and joyful lack of inhibition. But with Jean’s death, Leah must return to sort through what’s been left behind. What Leah discovers is staggering: Jean has filled her ramshackle house with giant sculptures she’s welded from scraps of the area’s industrial history. There’s also a young man now living in the house who played an unknown role in Jean’s last years and in her art.

Part memoir, part courtroom drama, and part primer for advocates fighting assaults on free speech, STIFLED LAUGHTER is the story of one woman's efforts to restore literary classics to the classrooms of rural north Florida. Updated with a new introduction, Claudia Johnson's honest, often hilarious, first-person account of censorship in its modern form provides valuable insight into why the books children read at school remains a controversial issue, and why free speech in America remains a precarious right. Johnson fights tirelessly to keep texts like Lysistrata and “The Millers Tale” in Florida school textbooks regardless of a preacher’s efforts to take them out. Readers are given a glimpse into the courtroom and all the drama, passion and hard work that follows.

On a cold November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the Commissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice’s canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. As the investigation expands, Brunetti, Vianello, Commissario Griffoni and Signora Elettra each assemble pieces of a puzzle --- random information about real estate and land use, books, university friendships --- that appear to have little in common. Until Brunetti stumbles over something that transports him back to his own student days, causing him to reflect on lost ideals and the errors of youth, on Italian politics and history, and on the accidents that sometimes lead to revelation.

Corey Douglas’ former mentor, Jimmy Dietrich, had his whole identity wrapped up in being a cop. When Jimmy retired three years ago, his marriage quickly deteriorated, and he tried --- and failed --- to get back on the force. Jimmy was left to try to adjust to life as a civilian. Not long after, two bodies were pulled from the Passaic River: a local woman, Susan Avery, and Jimmy Dietrich. With no true evidence available, the deaths went unsolved and the case declared cold. This didn’t stop the whispers: an affair gone wrong...a murder-suicide committed by Jimmy. Corey never believed it. With this case, the K Team has the opportunity to find the real murderer and clear Jimmy’s name.

In 1969, sisters Trang and Quỳnh, desperate to help their parents pay off debts, leave their rural village and become “bar girls” in Sài Gòn. The once-innocent Trang eventually gets swept up in an irresistible romance with a charming American helicopter pilot. Decades later, an American veteran, Dan, returns to Việt Nam with his wife, Linda, hoping to find a way to heal from his PTSD and reckon with secrets from his past. At the same time, Phong --- the son of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman --- embarks on a search to find his parents and a way out of Việt Nam. Past and present converge as these characters come together to confront decisions made during a time of war --- decisions that force them to look deep within and find common ground across race, generation, culture and language.

Penny Rush has problems. Her marriage is over, and she has quit her job. Her mother and stepfather went missing in the Australian outback five years ago; her mentally unbalanced father provokes her; and her grandmother, Dr. Pincer, keeps experiments in the refrigerator and something worse in the woodshed. But Penny is a virtuoso at what’s possible when all else fails. There will be a road trip in the Dog of the North, an old van with gingham curtains, a piñata and stiff brakes. There will be injury and peril. There will be a dog named Kweecoats and two brothers who may share a toupee. There will be questions: Why is a detective investigating her grandmother, and what is “the scintillator”? And can Penny recognize a good thing when it finally comes her way?

For three years, Dolly Alderton has been sharing her wisdom, warmth and wit with the diverse universe of fans who have turned to her “Dear Dolly” column seeking guidance on a host of life problems. Dolly has thoughtfully answered questions ranging from the painfully --- and sometimes hilariously --- relatable to the occasionally bizarre. Without judgment, and with deep empathy informed by her own, much-chronicled adventures with love, friends and dating, Dolly helps us navigate the labyrinths of life. In DEAR DOLLY, she brings together her collected knowledge in one invaluable volume that will make you think, make you laugh, and help you confront any conundrum or crisis.