Adult

With U.S.–Iran relations at a thirty-year low, Iranian-American writer Hooman Majd dared to take his young family on a year-long sojourn in Tehran. THE MINISTRY OF GUIDANCE INVITES YOU NOT TO STAY  traces their domestic adventures and closely tracks the political drama of a terrible year for Iran's government.

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.

In CAT SENSE, renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using cutting-edge scientific research to dispel the myths and explain the true nature of our feline friends. Tracing the cat’s evolution from lone predator to domesticated companion, Bradshaw shows that although cats and humans have been living together for at least eight thousand years, cats remain independent, predatory, and wary of contact with their own kind, qualities that often clash with our modern lifestyles.

Jane Austen’s classic tale of two sisters --- one eminently reasonable, the other deeply romantic --- has already yielded one fine movie, three miniseries, and a parody novel awash in sea monsters. Now it’s been catapulted into the 21st century by a veteran British writer, with results that confirm its enduring fascination.

ALL THE SONGS delves deep into the history and origins of the Beatles and their music.

An explosion at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art kills Audrey Decker while she and her 13-year-old son, Theo, pay an afternoon visit. Theo survives, but before he stumbles to safety, a wounded elderly man encourages him to steal the Museum’s 1654 Carel Fabritius painting of a goldfinch and to deliver a gold ring to the Hobart and Blackwell antiques shop. Thus begins an 800-page adventure involving Vegas gamblers, underworld criminals, and Park Avenue privilege.

Racked by guilt over his older brother’s childhood death, 16-year-old Jon Mosher turns his rage into victories running track. Meanwhile, Ray Cappicciano is trying to take care of his baby brother while staying out of the way of his abusive father. Jon and Ray form a tight friendship, but it’s not until Ray falls in love with Karen Dorsey that the three friends begin to dream of breaking away from Brewster for good. Freedom, however, has its price.

In A CURIOUS INVITATION, Suzette Field, who co-runs London’s premier party promoters The Last Tuesday Society --- casts her professional eye over some famous fictional festivities: taking place everywhere from ancient Babylon in 500 BC to outer space in the distant future.

Making use of an astonishing cache of little-studied material, including documents, objects, and portraits only just discovered, Jill Lepore brings Jane Franklin to life in a way that illuminates not only this one extraordinary woman but an entire world.

In ONE SUMMER, Bill Bryson transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life. A number of major events transpired in that epochal summer of 1927, and Bryson captures its outsized personalities, exciting events and occasional just plain weirdness. In that year, America stepped out onto the world stage as the main event.