The history of the Ivy League dates back to 1869 when Princeton played the first college football game against Rutgers. THE ANCIENT EIGHT explores Ivy League football today. To play in the NFL, one must maintain the highest academic standards and be a great football player. The rivalries are as intense, as are the strict rules --- but there is also a genuine purity in the Ivy League. Through intimate interviews with players, coaches and key figures, John Feinstein uncovers the unique culture that defines football on the Ivy League gridiron, offering unparalleled access to the remarkable coaching staffs and student-athletes who balance their academic ambitions with their passion for the game.
Fast-talking, warm-hearted and endlessly rewatchable, “Gilmore Girls” has bonded real-life mothers and daughters since 2000, when its iconic pilot introduced us to Lorelai, Rory and their idyllic Connecticut town of Stars Hollow. More than 20 years later, it has become one of the most-streamed TV shows ever. In an anthology as intimate and quick-witted as “Gilmore Girls” itself, Ann Hood invites 15 writers to investigate their personal relationships to the show. Joanna Rakoff considers how Emily Gilmore helped her understand her own mother; Sanjena Sathian sees herself --- and Asian American defiance --- in Lane Kim; Freya North connects with her son through the show; Francesco Sedita discovers an antidote to pandemic loneliness; and Nina de Gramont offers a comic ode to the unreality of Stars Hollow.
With the apocalyptic threat of moonfall looming ever closer, Nyx and her allies must venture into the eternally sunblasted lands to search for an ancient weapon buried untold millennia ago. All the while, enemies close upon her flanks, and a greater danger lurks ahead. For beneath a desert turned to glass, hidden from the scorching heat, life thrives --- both wondrous and monstrous. But a more fearsome menace lies even deeper, where an ancient army has been seeded to protect a secret from any who dare seek it out. Can Nyx truly trust those at her side? Or even herself? For while her gifts grow ever stronger, so does the danger of losing herself to a dark madness. Worst yet, the same afflicts Bashaliia, her winged and bonded brother. Elsewhere, a looming war explodes across the Crown, forging new alliances and greater enmities, as lands around the globe are drawn into fiery conflict.
For the past 18 years, Ivy Gordon has been the most famous star at the Dollhouse Academy, the elite boarding school and talent incubator that every aspiring performer dreams of attending. But in secret diary entries, she begins to reveal the truth of her life at the Dollhouse: strange medical exams, mysterious supplements, and something unspeakable that has left her terrified and feeling like a prisoner. Ramona Halloway and her best friend, Grace Ludlow, grew up idolizing Ivy. Neither has made much headway in showbiz until a lucky break grants them entry to the Dollhouse. When Ramona begins to receive threatening anonymous messages, it’s easy to dismiss them as a prank from a rival. Her bigger concern is Grace’s skyrocketing success. But as the messages grow more unsettling, so does life at the Dollhouse.
Evan Smoak is a highly trained former government assassin who has survived for years by keeping his circle to a few trusted confidants and a strict code he calls “The Ten Commandments.” Tommy Stojack might be Evan's best friend in the world. He is a gifted gunsmith who has created much of Evan's own weapons and combat gear. But now he apparently has crossed one of Evan's hardest lines, and their argument explodes into open warfare. Now Evan has no choice but to track and face down his only friend. In the meantime, Tommy has left town in order to honor his own promise to help a dead friend's son. While Tommy is fighting to save the son with everything he’s got, Evan arrives with vengeance in mind. But as deadly as the former Orphan X is, there is an even more dangerous threat about to arrive on the scene. Will any of them get out alive?
London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment. As they embark on their own investigation, the Queens of Crime discover that they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.
THE BURROW brings together a family trying to find their way forward in the wake of a devastating loss. Parents Jin and Amy Lee adopt a rabbit for their daughter, Lucie, in the hopes of restoring a bit of joy to their home in the Australian suburbs. At first, each family member benefits from the distraction of a new creature in need of care. However, things are upended when the arrival of Amy’s estranged mother breaks their fragile sense of peace. The family is forced to confront the terrible circumstances surrounding their tragedy and to ask themselves whether opening their hearts to the rabbit will help them to heal or only invite further sorrow.
As the smoke from Canadian wildfires chokes Detroit, PI Amos Walker is tasked with investigating a fatal hit-and-run. The victim is Spencer Bennett, a junior law associate with the Waterford Group, and he supposedly had a file of confidential documents on him when he died. But those documents have now gone missing, and the firm is dead set on Walker finding them. As Walker digs deeper into the events leading to Bennett's death, all signs are pointing towards the crash being anything but accidental. Summer in Detroit was hot enough before the smoke descended, but as the temperature rises and more bodies crop up in connection to the missing file, Walker will have to track down those documents --- and unearth why they were worth killing over --- before it's too late.
When Vivian Lesperance meets Oscar Schmidt, a middle manager at a soap company, at the turn of the 20th century, she finds a partner she can guide to build the life she wants --- not least because, more interested in men himself, Oscar will leave Vivian to tend to her own romances with women. But Vivian's plans require capital, so the two pair up with Squire Clancey, scion of an old American fortune. Together they found Clancey & Schmidt, a preeminent manufacturer of soap, perfume and candles. When Oscar and Squire fall in love, the trio form a new kind of partnership. Vivian reaches the pinnacle of her power, building Clancey & Schmidt into an empire of personal care products while operating behind the image of both men. But exposure threatens, and all three partners are made aware of how much they have to lose.
SHE’S NOT THERE was the first bestselling work written by a transgender American. Since its publication 20 years ago, Jennifer Finney Boylan has become the go-to person for insight into the impact of gender on our lives. But CLEAVAGE is more than a deep dive into gender identity; it’s also a look at the difference between coming out as trans in 2000 --- when many people reacted to Boylan’s transition with love --- and the present era of blowback and fear. How does gender affect our sense of self? Our body image? The passage of time? The friends we lose --- and keep? Boylan considers her womanhood, reflects on the boys and men who shaped her, and reconceives of herself as a writer, activist, parent and spouse.
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from July 11th to July 25th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of CULPABILITY by Bruce Holsinger and THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA by Lisa Scottoline.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
July's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of "Ballard" on Prime Video, "Dexter: Resurrection" on Paramount+ with Showtime, "The Institute" on MGM+, "Washington Black" on Hulu, and "The Hunting Wives" on Netflix; the season premieres of Apple TV+'s "Foundation" and Prime Video's "The Summer I Turned Pretty"; the season finales of "Nine Perfect Strangers" on Hulu and "Sullivan's Crossing" on The CW; the films Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Juliet & Romeo, The Amateur and The Actor.