Adult

Ten years ago, Jorie Stroud was the rising star of the October Film Haunt --- a trio of horror enthusiasts who camped out at the filming locations of their favorite scary movies, sharing their love through their popular blog. But after a night in the graveyard from Proof of Demons --- perhaps the most chilling cult film ever made, directed by the enigmatic Hélène Enriquez --- everything unraveled. Now, Jorie has built an isolated life with her young son in Vermont. In the devastating wake of her viral, truth-stretching Proof of Demons blog entry, Jorie has put it all behind her. Until a videotape arrives in the mail. Jorie fears someone might be filming her. And the “Rickies” --- Enriquez obsessives who would do anything for the reclusive director --- begin to cross lines in shocking ways. It seems Hélène Enriquez is making a new kind of sequel…and Jorie is her final girl.

It’s been years since the three Ryan sisters were all together at their beloved family home on the eastern shore of Long Island. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by an accident on their brother Topher’s boat: A friend’s brother was killed, the resulting lawsuit nearly bankrupted their parents, and Topher spiraled into depression, eventually taking his life. Now the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, eager to reconnect, but each carrying a heavy secret. When the eldest, Cait, invites a guest from their shared past to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface, nearly overpowering the flickering light of their family bond. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves --- and one another.

All Otaha Higuchi wants to do is work with books. However, the exhausting nature of her work at a chain bookstore quickly brings reality crashing down around her. She is on the verge of quitting when she receives a message from somebody anonymous, inviting her to apply for a job at "The Night Library." The library exclusively stores books by deceased authors, and none of them can be checked out. Instead, they’re put on public display to be revered and celebrated by the library’s visitors. Night after night, Otaha bonds with her colleagues over meals in the café, each of which are inspired by the literature on the shelves. But as strange occurrences start happening around the library that may bring the threat of its closure, Otaha and her friends fear that the peace they have found there will be forever lost to them.

Cats and writers are a match made in book heaven. Throughout history, our feline friends have served as trusted desk mates from the composition of a single poem to the creation of the first English dictionary. In INSPIRED BY CATS, author Nava Atlas and illustrator Bob Eckstein capture these endearing, enduring relationships in a witty, sophisticated collection featuring 60 famous authors and their beloved companions. Novelists, poets, humorists, short story writers and memoirists from all eras are represented --- from Mark Twain, Colette and Ernest Hemingway to Ray Bradbury and Toni Morrison.

Meryem is 25 years old, drinks too much coffee, goes on dates with terrifying men, and never says what she really thinks. A Canarian from a Moroccan family, she’s just started working as an intern at a mega-chain supermarket, where the only thing she and her boss have in common is their mutual hatred for each other. To pass the time, Meryem begins to write fan fiction starring her office mates. Surrounded by insecure and inept individuals, she reimagines her bland day job through fabricated office crushes and coworker drama. But to get through the daily grind, she’s going to have to summon more than just her imagination.

Lyrical, at times hilarious, and always heartfelt, each of these ten stories is a reflection of individual choice in the face of man-made apocalypse: in a near-future Seoul, where air pollution has become so fatal that the city has been encased in a translucent biodome, a civil engineer charged with its upkeep contemplates an arranged marriage. A painter, disenchanted with New York City, travels to the South of France and falls into a dalliance with an entrepreneur who claims to have invented a new color. And on an island where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, upon which other countries have relegated their waste to form a mountain of landfill, a local boy facing daily privation gets internet famous for his K-pop-inspired dances. 

Karl and Molly were never together. There was a time, right after high school, where it seemed like they might finally cross the line from friends to lovers…but instead, a foolish misunderstanding meant they never spoke again. Molly went to LA and got married. Karl stayed in Harlot’s Bay and bought a bakery. Now divorced, Molly narrates monster romance audiobooks, and Karl is an ever-diligent listener, clinging to his only piece of the one that got away. Still, Molly hasn’t totally left Harlot’s Bay behind. When she hears that Karl’s obituary has run in the local paper, unexpected grief prompts her to hop on the next flight to Maryland…where she finds Karl very much alive, the victim of nothing but an accidental obituary. As the pair reunite, they finally hash out their missed connection. True, Molly isn’t quite ready to trust again, but Karl is determined to prove himself worthy of her faith and devotion.

In Scotland’s Western Hebrides, Eleanor Bruton’s body is discovered on the shore. To her family, Eleanor was an ordinary middle-aged woman. Little did they know she was harboring a dark and all-consuming secret. A scrap of fraying embroidery that seems worthless at first glance. For over a century, two rival organizations of women have gone to deadly lengths to secure the valuable artifact: The Order of St Katherine and the Fellowship of the Larks. When Dr. Anya Brown garners international attention for her translation of the cryptic Folio 9, she is handpicked by Diana Cornish, a professor and high-ranking member of the Fellowship, to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies in St Andrews. Unbeknownst to Anya she’s been recruited at great personal danger to translate ancient texts that the Fellowship believes critical to their mission. 

In 2022, a report was released by atmospheric scientists at the University of Northern Illinois, warning that winds --- the force at the center of all these dangerous natural events --- are expected to steadily increase in the years ahead, strengthening in power, speed and frequency. While this prediction worried the insurance industry, governmental leaders, scientists, and conscientious citizens, one particular segment of society received it with unbridled enthusiasm. To the energy industry, rising wind strength and speeds as an unalloyed boon for humankind --- a vital source of clean and “safe” power. Between these two poles --- wind as a malevolent force, and wind as savior of our planet --- lies a world of fascination, history, literature, science, poetry and engineering that Simon Winchester explores with the curiosity and vigor that are the hallmarks of his bestselling works. 

In 1978, Greta Rideout was the first woman in United States history to accuse her husband of rape, at a time when the idea of “marital rape” seemed ludicrous to many Americans and was a crime in only four states. After a quick and conservative trial acquitted John Rideout, and a defense lawyer lambasted that “maybe rape is the risk of being married,” Greta was ridiculed and scorned from public life, while John went on to be a repeat offender. Thrust into the national spotlight, Greta and her story would become a national sensation, a symbol of a country’s unrelenting and targeted hate toward women and a court system designed to fail them at every turn. A now little-remembered trial deserving of close, wide and lasting attention, Sarah Weinman turns her signature intelligence and journalistic rigor to the enduring impact of this case.