Adult

In 1913, the restless world sat on the brink of unimaginable suffering. But for one woman, the darkness of a new era had already made itself at home. Isadora Duncan would come to be known as the mother of modern dance, but in the spring of 1913 she was a grieving mother, after a freak accident in Paris resulted in the drowning death of her two young children. The accident cracked Isadora’s life in two: on one side, the brilliant young talent who captivated audiences the world over; on the other, a heartbroken mother spinning dangerously on the edge of sanity.

Laguna Beach, California, 2010. Alireza Courdee, a 14-year-old straight-A student and chemistry whiz, takes his first hit of pot. In as long as it takes to inhale and exhale, he is transformed from the high-achieving son of Iranian immigrants into a happy-go-lucky stoner. For the first time, Reza --- now Rez --- feels like an American teen. But then he changes again, falling out with the bad boy surfers and in with a group of kids more awake to the world around them, who share his background and whose ideas fill him with a very different sense of purpose. Within a year, Reza and his girlfriend are making their way to Syria to be part of a Muslim nation rising from the ashes of the civil war.

The North Korean army invades South Korea in June 1950, intent on uniting the country under Communist rule. In response, the United States mobilizes a force to defend the overmatched South Korean troops, and together they drive the North Koreans back to their border with China. But several hundred thousand Chinese troops have entered Korea, laying massive traps for the Allies. In November 1950, the Chinese spring those traps. Allied forces, already battling stunningly cold weather, find themselves caught completely off guard as the Chinese advance around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A force that once stood on the precipice of victory now finds itself on the brink of annihilation.

At first glance, the quirky, overworked narrator of Weike Wang’s debut novel seems to be on the cusp of a perfect life: she is studying for a prestigious PhD in chemistry that will make her Chinese parents proud (or at least satisfied), and her successful, supportive boyfriend has just proposed to her. But instead of feeling hopeful, she is wracked with ambivalence: the long, demanding hours at the lab have created an exquisite pressure cooker, and she doesn’t know how to answer the marriage question. When it all becomes too much and her life plan veers off course, she finds herself on a new path of discoveries about everything she thought she knew.

We hear plenty about whether or not to get married, but much less about what it takes to stay married. Clichés around marriage --- eternal bliss, domestic harmony, soul mates --- leave out the real stuff. After marriage you may still want to sleep with other people. Sometimes your partner will bore the hell out of you. And when stuck paying for your spouse’s mistakes, you might miss being single. In WEDDING TOASTS I’LL NEVER GIVE, Ada Calhoun presents an unflinching but also loving portrait of her own marriage, opening a long-overdue conversation about the institution as it truly is.

Memorial Day weekend means that seasonal visitors have descended on the glamorous island of Nantucket. Year-round resident Darcy Cotterill will be hitting the beach and meeting her new summertime neighbors. But the last person she expects to see staying next door is her ex-husband, Boyz, along with his wife, Autumn, and stepdaughter Willow. Darcy must also navigate the highs and lows of a new romantic relationship with local carpenter Nash Forester, even as she becomes smitten with handsome vacationer Clive Rush, a musicologist in town to write a book and visit family. And she finds herself pulled into the concerns of Boyz, Autumn, a charming elderly neighbor and an at-risk teen.

Get ready for the ultimate Jack Reacher experience: a thrilling new novella and 11 previously published stories, together for the first time in one pulse-pounding collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child. NO MIDDLE NAME begins with “Too Much Time,” a brand-new work of short fiction that finds Reacher in a hollowed-out town in Maine, where he witnesses a random bag-snatching but sees much more than a simple crime. No suitcase. No destination. No middle name. No matter how far Reacher travels off the beaten path, trouble always finds him. Feel bad for trouble.

When renowned "enigmalogist" Jeremy Logan travels to an isolated writers' retreat deep in the Adirondacks to work on his book, he discovers the remote community has been rocked by the grisly death of a hiker on Desolation Mountain. The attack occurred during the full moon and the body was severely mauled, but the unusual savagery calls into question the initial suspicions of a bear attack. Logan's theories take a dramatic turn when he meets Laura Feverbridge, a respected scientist who is still struggling with the violent loss of her father months earlier. As Feverbridge shares her research with Logan, he begins to wonder whether he is actually up against something he can’t believe is real.

When future NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still an 18-year-old high school basketball prospect from New York City named Lew Alcindor, he accepted a scholarship from UCLA largely on the strength of Coach John Wooden's reputation as a winner. It turned out to be the right choice, as Alcindor and his teammates won an unprecedented three NCAA championship titles. But it also marked the beginning of one of the most extraordinary and enduring friendships in the history of sports. In COACH WOODEN AND ME, Abdul-Jabbar reveals the inspirational story of how his bond with John Wooden evolved from a history-making coach-player mentorship into a deep and genuine friendship.

Chuck Klosterman has created an incomparable body of work in books, magazines, newspapers and on the Web. His writing spans the realms of culture and sports, while also addressing interpersonal issues, social quandaries and ethical boundaries. He has written nine previous books, and contributed profiles and essays to outlets such as GQ, Esquire, Billboard, The A.V. Club and The Guardian. Klosterman’s 10th book collects his most intriguing of those pieces, accompanied by fresh introductions and new footnotes throughout. He presents many of the articles in their original form, featuring previously unpublished passages and digressions.