Adult

As the first Black woman to consistently publish in the field of science fiction, Octavia Butler was a trailblazer. With her deft pen, she created stories speculating the devolution of the American empire, using it as an apt metaphor for the best and worst of humanity. Her fiction charts the rise and fall of the American project --- the nation’s transformation from a provincial backwater to a capitalist juggernaut --- made possible by chattel slavery --- to a bloated imperialist superpower on the verge of implosion. In this outstanding work, Susana M. Morris places Butler’s story firmly within the cultural, social and historical context that shaped her life: the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, women’s liberation, queer rights, Reaganomics. Morris reveals how these influences profoundly impacted Butler’s personal and intellectual trajectory and shaped the ideas central to her writing.

Welcome to North Falls --- a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help --- and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

The world of unknowable objects --- magical items that most people have no idea possess powers --- has been quiet for decades. But when Frank Simpson, the longest-standing member of the Society of Unknowable Objects, hears of a new artifact coming to light in Hong Kong, he sends Magda Sparks --- author by day and newest member --- to investigate. Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects. Returning to London, Magda learns hers is not the only secret being kept from the other two members. Her discoveries will lead her on a perilous journey, across the Atlantic to the deep south of the United States, now in pursuit of not an unknowable object, but an unknowable person: the professional killer she first faced in Hong Kong.

Margot Wayward is in manically gleeful self-destruct mode. Following the implosion of a 10-year relationship, she’s wilfully derailing her successful career, joyfully taking down men on dating apps and living in total chaos. Until one day, when Margot has a vision of herself with a man she’s never met before. She doesn’t believe in fate. But when Margot meets single-dad Henry, the vision comes true: exactly as she’d foreseen it. As her future continues to reveal itself, a glimpse at a time, Margot realises she knows exactly what’s going to happen, and when. And there’s nothing she can do to change any of it. So Margot has to decide how to live, how to love again and how to be herself. Because if you can’t change your destiny, how on earth do you live your present?

Kurshan, a mother of five living in Jerusalem, struggles to balance her passion for books with her responsibilities as a parent. Gradually she learns how to relate to reading not as a solitary pursuit and an escape from the messiness of life, but rather as a way of forging connection and teaching independence. Introducing her children to sacred and secular literature --- including the beloved classics of her childhood --- she becomes both a better mother and a more compassionate reader. Chief among the books Kurshan reads with her children is the Torah, whose ancient wisdom illuminates her family's path. Structured in five parts corresponding to the first five books of the Bible, this memoir traces the profound parallels between the biblical narrative and the daily rhythms of parenthood.

Abby wants a baby more than anything. But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future. That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer to serve as a surrogate. It's an offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true. But soon, strange things start happening. And it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby's child has an unspeakable secret. And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Mrs. B, the landlady of The Marigold Cottages only rents to people she cares about: Sophie, a young playwright with a dark past; Hamilton, an agoraphobe who likes to overshare; Ocean, a queer sculptor raising two kids; the perfectionist Lily-Ann; and Nicholas, a finance bro who’s hiding secrets.The tenants live contentedly in their bungalows in Santa Barbara, until Anthony, a potentially violent ex-con moves in. Three weeks later, a dead body is discovered on the streets. Anthony is arrested, and the tenants have sighs of relief. Until Mrs. B, goes to the police station and confesses to the crime herself. The tenants form “The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective” to save their landlady. As clues are unearthed and secrets are revealed, the community of misfits grows more tight-knit until a second body is found. 

Peace in Mexico City is fragile. Rebellion brews in the North, and when the people’s safety is at risk, Pantera must once again become the demure viceregent Leonora to stop a war before it begins. But her friends are scattered, Tezca is gone, and one wrong move could seal her fate. Caution is her ally, for the real Prince of Asturias --- her former betrothed --- has arrived at court, reigniting rumors that Leonora and Pantera are one. A greater threat looms in the mountains, where a false king seeks to summon the god of night using a weapon of untold power. It’s up to the Godslayer to confront this enemy...and the one growing within her. Only by embracing her divine origins can Leonora triumph over the forces of darkness --- and maybe even spark a revolution that could change Mexico’s fate forever.

Now that crime fiction author Joe Penvale has finished his medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the Orient Express in Paris. Meredith also hopes that Joe will be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead --- and one still missing.

Strange things are happening behind the bright facade of Bayside’s premier laundromat, JoyfulSuds, home to Joy Moody and her twin daughters. For much of their lives, Joy has been lying to Cassie and Andie. What started as a colorful tale to explain how the twins came to live with her grew over the years. Joy really did think she had more time. The girls have long believed they are vital to the future and must stay hidden to stay safe. Joy has told them that their impending 21st birthday is significant; they will step into their roles as leaders of a revolution and life as they know it will change. On Andie and Cassie’s birthday, Joy Moody is found dead and her girls face a world they are not prepared for without their mother.