“We plan our days, but we don’t control them.” – Lisa Wingate, Before We Were Yours
Birds Aren’t Real: The True Story of Mass Avian Murder and Largest Surveillance Campaign in US History by Peter McIndoe & Connor Gaydos
nonfiction / comedy.
Have you ever seen a baby pigeon? You haven’t, have you? No one has, not in many, many years. They used to be everywhere. You couldn’t walk out of your front door in New York City in the 1930s without seeing dozens of those little guys scurrying around. Today, there are millions of grown up pigeons in New York, but not a baby pigeon to be seen. That’s because they come out of the factory as adults.
This is one of the many smoking guns of the bird drone surveillance crisis. Since 1959, the Deep State has mercilessly slaughtered over 12 billion birds and replaced them with identical drones that are designed to spy on private citizens and report their every action directly to the government. From pet canaries to Sesame Street, the shadowy figures that pull the strings have infiltrated every aspect of our society, making a mockery of civil liberties while the American people live in blissful ignorance. Until now.
In Birds Aren’t Real, whistleblowers Peter McIndoe and Connor Gaydos trace the roots of a political conspiracy so vast and well-hidden that it almost seems like an elaborate hoax. These hero Bird Truthers have risked life and limb to compile and disseminate a treasure trove of information about the origins of the surveillance crisis, its spread, and the patriots who are on the front lines today, raising awareness and working to reclaim America as the land of the free. This urgent manifesto features a host of useful illustrations, activities, and leaked classified documents that will convince even the most outspoken skeptic that birds aren’t real. The truth is out there: will you stand and fight before it’s too late?
“[A] sly debut political parody… a silly and winning spoof.” – Publishers Weekly
“…ridicules the bizarre distortions that have become an embedded part of American sociopolitical reality… Quirky and humorously provocative.” – Kirkus Reviews
“This hilarious trip down a wormhole of alternate facts will have you falling over laughing (or might just blow your mind).” – Isabelle McConville, Barnes & Noble
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear
fiction / mystery / historical fiction.
London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.
Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.
The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.
“[W]onderful… a satisfying conclusion.” – Daneet Steffens, Boston Globe
“Winspear gives Maisie the grace to face her pain, and wraps up the series with a deft touch. Like many readers, I will dearly miss the voice of Maisie Dobbs.” – Sarah Weinman, New York Times
“Winspear delivers a most elegant and satisfying resolution… It’s a privilege to experience life with Winspear’s determined and maximally resilient woman protagonist.” – Jane Murphy, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
fiction / historical fiction / fantasy.
Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits—torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community.
It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London. Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating tale of love and scientific pursuit. Thomas and Grace will ask themselves what it means to love and be loved, what is fixed and what is mutable, how much of our fate is predestined and written in the stars, and whether they can find their way back to each other.
A thrillingly ambitious novel of friendship, faith, and unrequited love, rich in symmetry and symbolism, Enlightenment is a shimmering wonder of a book and Sarah Perry’s finest work to date.
“No novel is ever perfect, but this one comes close. Read it, then read it again. This is a book full of unexpected wonders.” – John Burnside, Literary Review
“[A] stunning, multilayered novel… Perry’s shimmering prose draws readers gradually into the story, until suddenly, we are captivated by the rich, psychologically complex, and intimate characters as they grapple philosophically with issues of faith, religion, science, astronomy, and love in all its guises.” – Lillian Dabney, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…extraordinary and ambitious… What Perry has done in this layered, intelligent and moving book is to construct a kind of quantum novel, one that asks us to question conventional linear narratives and recognise instead what is ever-present in Perry’s luminous vision of Essex: truth, beauty and love.” – Alex Preston, The Guardian
Eruption by Michael Crichton & James Patterson
fiction / suspense / science fiction.
The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the master of the modern thriller to create the most anticipated mega bestseller in years.
Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.
“[An] epic thriller… It’s classic Crichton: a cinematic story rooted in science and infused with plenty of heart, tackling big themes like love and loss… a fast-paced and deeply considered story…” – Annabel Gutterman, Time
“[Has] all the elements of a summer blockbuster coming in a couple years to a theater near you… the pages practically turn themselves.” – Rob Merrill, Associated Press
“[An] explosion of stomach-knotting suspense, action, and the kind of secrets worth killing to protect… Think 2012 meets Mission: Impossible, and you’ve got Eruption, a story that mixes pure adrenaline with spine-tingling suspense, as Crichton and Patterson put on a masterclass in writing, delivering nonstop thrills and pure breathless entertainment of the highest order. Without question, this is by far the best story of all the uncompleted works Crichton left behind… the kind of old-school thriller that’s easy to get lost in… Guaranteed to be the reading event of the summer, whatever you do, do not miss this book.” – Ryan Steck, The Real Book Spy
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty ★
fiction.
From the porch of his home, Charles Lamosway has watched the life he might have had unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. On the far bank, he caught brief moments of his neighbor Elizabeth’s life—from the day she came home from the hospital to her early twenties. But there’s always been something deeper and more dangerous than the river that divides him from her and the rest of the tribal community. It’s the secret that Elizabeth is his daughter, a secret Charles is no longer willing to keep.
Now, it’s been weeks since he’s seen Elizabeth, and Charles is worried. As he attempts to hold on to and care for what he can—his home and property; his alcoholic, quick-tempered, and bighearted friend Bobby; and his mother, Louise, who is slipping ever deeper into dementia—he becomes increasingly haunted by his past. Forced to confront a lost childhood on the reservation, a love affair cut short, and the death of his beloved stepfather, Fredrick, in a hunting accident—a death he and Louise are at odds over as to where to lay blame—Charles contends with questions he’s long been afraid to ask. Is his secret about Elizabeth his to share? And would his daughter want to know the truth, even if it could cost her everything she’s ever known?
From the award-winning author of Night of the Living Rez, Morgan Talty’s debut novel, Fire Exit, is a masterful and unforgettable story of family, legacy, bloodlines, culture and inheritance, and what, if anything, we owe one another.
“When all is said and done, Fire Exit is one of those books that will become more meaningful with the days, weeks, and months after closing the cover.” – Nick Rees Gardner, Independent Book Review, STARRED REVIEW
“…spellbinding… a compassionate portrait of a man who is desperate to understand who he is and where he came from.” – Shannon Carlin, Time
“Stark and tender, Talty’s debut novel compassionately addresses tough choices in matters of family and love… Talty’s tersely poetic, descriptive prose grounds this story in the physical… an utterly absorbing story, always firmly rooted in the corporeal; tough, honest, but not bitter.” – Julia Kastner, Shelf Awareness
“[An] immersive, thought-provoking story… Talty doesn’t miss a step in switching from short stories to a novel, and there’s no sophomore slump in this second book; indeed, Fire Exit cements his reputation as one of our best young writers.” – Josh Christie, Portland Press Herald
The Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan
fiction / historical fiction.
As a Hungarian immigrant working as a studio hack writing monster movies in 1950s Hollywood, George Curtis must navigate the McCarthy-era studio system filled with possible communists and spies, the life of closeted men along Sunset Boulevard, and the inability of the era to cleave love from persecution and guilt. But when Madeline, a famous actress, offers George a writing residency at her estate in Malibu to work on the political writing he cares most deeply about, his world is blown open. Soon Madeline is carrying George like an ornament into a class of postwar L.A. society ordinarily hidden from men like him.
What this lifestyle hides behind, aside from the monsters on the screen, are the monsters dwelling closer to home: this bacchanalia covers a gnawing hole shelled wide by the horror of the war they thought they’d left behind and the glimpse of an atomic future. It’s here that George understands he can never escape his past as György, the queer Jew who fled Budapest before the war and landed in New York, all alone, a decade prior.
Spanning from sun-drenched Los Angeles to the hidden corners of working-class New York to a virtuosic climax in the Las Vegas desert, The Future Was Color is an immaculately written exploration of postwar American decadence, reinventing the self through art, and the psychosis that lingers in a world that’s seen the bomb.
“Ambitious, perspicacious, and humane.” – Kirkus Reviews
“This portrait of an artist in the making dazzles.” – Publishers Weekly
“…exquisite… Nathan writes with the eloquence of a nimble mind working at the height of his powers. Gripping from the first sentence… Profound, life-affirming, and splendidly seductive, The Future Was Color deserves to become a new lodestar in the ever-expanding constellation of gay literature.” – Dave Wheeler, Shelf Awareness
Godwin by Joseph O’Neill
fiction.
Mark Wolfe, a brilliant if self-thwarting technical writer, lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Sushila, and their toddler daughter. His half-brother Geoff, born and raised in the United Kingdom, is a desperate young soccer agent. He pulls Mark across the ocean into a scheme to track down an elusive prospect known only as “Godwin”—an African teenager Geoff believes could be the next Lionel Messi.
Narrated in turn by Mark and his work colleague Lakesha Williams, Godwin is a tale of family and migration as well as an international adventure story that implicates the brothers in the beauty and ugliness of soccer, the perils and promises of international business, and the dark history of transatlantic money-making.
As only he can do, Joseph O’Neill investigates the legacy of colonialism in the context of family love, global capitalism, and the dreaming individual.
“Another exceptional entry in the O’Neill corpus.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“This is a wondrous novel, full of insights, one that leaves the reader questioning why there isn’t more fiction about the world’s most popular sport.” – Alexander Moran, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…exciting and incisive… As O’Neill artfully pairs the thrill of the hunt for Godwin with the complex politics of cooperative work, the driving force that connects the twinned narratives is the corruptive power of capitalism. This has all the velocity and swerve of an unstoppable free kick.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (But I’m Going to Anyway) by Chelsea Devantez
nonfiction / memoir / comedy.
There are things Chelsea Devantez probably shouldn’t be telling you. Many of them are in this book: some are embarrassing (like when she tried to break her three year spell of celibacy using a guide of seduction tips). Some are confessional (getting sentenced to the “hell hill” at Mormon church camp). Some are TMI (a series of outrageous doctor visits that ended with one doctor misdiagnosing her as “pregnant.” Woopsies!).
Then there are things Chelsea really shouldn’t be telling you: like the time her biggest family secret was publicly outed, or about the drive-by shootings and the precipitating domestic violence she survived. Yet through it all, it’s the women in Chelsea’s life who kept her going – from the lowest points of her childhood when she and her mom had only $100 left to their name, all the way to her career highs as the Emmy-nominated Head Writer for The Problem with Jon Stewart and sensational podcaster deemed “the celebrity memoir whisperer” by her fans.
In I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This, Chelsea centers each story around a different woman who shaped her life, taking us on a tour of friends and strangers, fictional characters and celebrities, heroes and villains who will destroy any Netflix algorithm for a “strong female lead.” Reading it will feel kinda like that moment at a party when your friend beckons you close, sloshes her martini around, and covertly whispers, “I really shouldn’t say this, but…”
“Funny, sad, overwhelming, and full of good intentions and sound advice.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Devantez’s writing, especially about the silencing she has faced related to what she calls The Big Scary Domestic Violence Thing, is incisive and witty. She has a brilliant command of tone and delivers an emotional punch alongside the laughs. A rich, thoughtful, laugh-out-loud memoir, Devantez’s debut is a book to devour in one sitting.” – Laura Chanoux, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse
fiction / fantasy.
Serapio, avatar of the Crow God Reborn and the newly crowned Carrion King, rules Tova. But his enemies gather both on distant shores and within his own city as the matrons of the clans scheme to destroy him. And deep in the alleys of the Maw, a new prophecy is whispered, this one from the Coyote God. It promises Serapio certain doom if its terrible dictates are not fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Xiala is thrust back amongst her people as war comes first to the island of Teek. With their way of life and their magic under threat, she is their last best hope. But the sea won’t talk to her the way it used to, and doubts riddle her mind. She will have to sacrifice the things that matter most to unleash her powers and become the queen they were promised.
And in the far northern wastelands, Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, seeks a way to save Tova from the visions of fire that engulf her dreams. But another presence has begun stalking her nightmares, and the Jaguar God is on the hunt.
Nominated for the Nebula, Lambda, Locus, and Hugo Awards, winner of the Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Ignyte Award from Fiyah magazine, the Between Earth and Sky trilogy is amongst our most lauded modern fantasy series from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse.
“The exquisite storytelling doesn’t release readers until the final page is turned.” – Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“…complex, suspenseful, and ultimately satisfying… A strong ending and a new classic of the fantasy genre.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Bestseller Roanhorse is in top form in the satisfying conclusion to her Between Earth and Sky epic fantasy trilogy… Roanhorse weaves the myriad plot threads together seamlessly, building to an epic climax. It’s a worthy finale to a blockbuster series.” – Publishers Weekly
Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius by Carrie Courogen
nonfiction / biography / film.
Miss May Does Not Exist, by Carrie Courogen is the riveting biography of comedian, director, actor and writer Elaine May, one of America’s greatest comic geniuses. May began her career as one-half of the legendary comedy team known as Nichols and May, the duo that revolutionized the comedy sketch.
After performing their Broadway smash An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Elaine set out on her own. She toiled unsuccessfully on Broadway for a while, but then headed to Hollywood where she became the director of A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and the legendary Ishtar. She was hired as a script doctor on countless films like Heaven Can Wait, Reds, Tootsie, and The Birdcage. In 2019, she returned to Broadway where she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in The Waverly Gallery. Besides her considerable talent, May is well known for her reclusiveness. On one of the albums she made with Mike Nichols, her bio is this: “Miss May does not exist.” Until now.
Carrie Courogen has uncovered the Elaine May who does exist. Conducting countless interviews, she has filled in the blanks May has forcibly kept blank for years, creating a fascinating portrait of the way women were mistreated and held back in Hollywood. Miss May Does Not Exist is a remarkable love story about a prickly genius who was never easy to work with, not always easy to love and frequently punished for those things, despite revolutionizing the way we think about comedy, acting, and what a film or play can be.
“The writing in this book is whip-smart and funny. It produces a fully realized portrait of a mysterious film genius.” – Lisa Henry, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] vibrant biography… captures [May’s] larger-than-life spirit in lithe prose… This is a gem.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“…exceedingly entertaining… [a] splendid book… Miss May Does Not Exist is revelatory scholarship that gives full measure to this artist who, despite obstacles and setbacks (some self-inflicted), is an exalted figure in the comedy pantheon, a distinct voice whose outlier creative life Courogen captures through original research, archival material and scores of interviews with those in the privileged orbit of the May-verse.” – Donald Liebenson, Washington Post
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
fiction / science fiction / comedy.
To fix the world they must first break it, further.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.
When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.
Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
Sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming.
“[A] hilariously biting dystopian tale…” – Ariel Zeitlin, Library Reads
“With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans.” – Publishers Weekly
“A surprisingly thoughtful and compelling story from Tchaikovsky about one robot’s journey through their own version of Dante’s circles of hell, complete with all the other hells they’d rather never have imagined.” – Marlene Harris, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
fiction / historical fiction / mystery.
Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the remote Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them… or worse.
Oklahoma, 1990. Law enforcement ranger Valerie Boren-Odell arrives at newly minted Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children unearthed in a cave. Val’s quest for the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.
In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the rugged and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.
“…stellar… Wingate’s insightful depiction of her young characters’ vulnerability and resourcefulness enriches the intricate plotting, and her portrayal of the region’s history, culture, and landscape enthralls. Wingate is at the top of her game.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“A novel about hope and the search for justice that will satisfy readers looking for a story rich with historical detail and emotional connection. You’ll want to share this one with friends.” – Isabelle McConville, Barnes & Noble
“With descriptions that engage all the senses and protagonists who fight for what they know is right despite inner conflict, Wingate’s latest shines a light on an important part of history and the deep connection between place and the people who call it home.” – Maribeth Fisher, Booklist
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
fiction / romance.
Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.
Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.
No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her… by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there?
“Monaghan makes the blossoming love between Ali and Ethan both believable and heartwarming as they grow together out of painful past experiences. It’s the ideal beach read.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Sweetly satisfying, with themes of found family and the real love story of a woman coming back into her own.” – Susan Maguire, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“As I’ve come to expect from Annabel Monaghan, this book was so much more than ‘just’ a summer romance. It’s a soulful rediscovery of who a woman is, her worth, her place, and how it feels to be loved for those things… a gorgeous romance that’s unapologetically lovely.” – Queer Media Review
Swift River by Essie Chambers ★
fiction / historical fiction.
It’s the summer of 1987 in Swift River, and Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive. Ever since her Pop disappeared seven years ago, she and her mother hitchhike everywhere they go. But that’s not the only reason Diamond stands out: she’s teased relentlessly about her weight, and since Pop’s been gone, she is the only Black person in all of Swift River. This summer, Ma is determined to declare Pop legally dead so that they can collect his life insurance money, get their house back from the bank, and finally move on.
But when Diamond receives a letter from a relative she’s never met, key elements of Pop’s life are uncovered, and she is introduced to two generations of African American Newberry women, whose lives span the 20th century and reveal a much larger picture of prejudice and abandonment, of love and devotion. As pieces of their shared past become clearer, Diamond gains a sense of her place in the world and in her family. But how will what she’s learned of the past change her future?
A story of first friendships, family secrets, and finding the courage to let go, Swift River is a sensational debut about how history shapes us and heralds the arrival of a major new literary talent.
“Call your book club: This symphonic debut is your next read.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] deeply moving portrayal of a girl you will absolutely fall for and cheer on through every scene of this remarkable debut.” – Kristyn Kusek Lewis, Real Simple
“Insightful, moving, and wryly funny, Chambers’ debut is sure to be a book-club favorite.” – Lindsay Harmon, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] mesmerizing account of inherited trauma in what was once a ‘sundown town’… [Diamond is a] gutsy girl [with] a keen intellect, a beautiful singing voice and an irrepressible, hopeful outlook. Her often-humorous narration is the novel’s central, propelling force. Chambers masterfully delivers the message of Swift River: ‘Our instincts, our deepest intuitions, are really our ancestral memory; our people speaking through us.’” – Alice Cary, BookPage
Traveling Without Moving: Essays from a Black Woman Trying to Survive in America by Taiyon J. Coleman
nonfiction / memoir / essays / current events.
The Fair Housing Act passed in 1968, and more than fifty years later, yours seems to be the only Black family on your block in Minneapolis. You and your Black African husband, both college graduates, make less money than some White people with a felony record and no high school diploma. You’re the only Black student in your graduate program. You just aren’t working hard enough. You’re too sensitive. Sandra Bland? George Floyd? Don’t take everything so personally. Amid the White smiles of Minnesota Nice and the Minnesota Paradox—the insidious racism of an ostensibly inclusive place to live—what do you do? If you’re Taiyon J. Coleman, you write.
In Traveling without Moving, Coleman shares intimate essays from her life: her childhood in Chicago—growing up in poverty with four siblings and a single mother—and the empowering decision to leave her first marriage. She writes about being the only Black student in a prestigious and predominantly White creative writing program, about institutional racism and implicit bias in writing instruction, about the violent legacies of racism in the U.S. housing market, about the maternal health disparities seen across the country and their implication in her own miscarriage. She explores what it means to write her story and that of her family—an act at once a responsibility and a privilege—bringing forth the inherent contradictions between American ideals and Black reality.
Using a powerful blend of perspectives that move between a first-person lens of lived experience and a wider-ranging critique of U.S. culture, policy, and academia, Coleman’s writing evinces how a Black woman in America is always on the run, always Harriet Tubman, traveling with her babies in tow, seeking safety, desperate to survive, thrive, and finally find freedom.
“These potent essays spill the tea.” – Star Tribune
“[An] ebullient, insightful, frank, and humorous essay collection suffused with a joyful defiance; ultimately, it reads like a well-deserved celebration of Coleman’s many personal and professional triumphs… [a] compulsively readable book of essays about [Coleman’s] encounters with racism.” – Kirkus Reviews
We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
nonfiction / history.
Black resistance to white supremacy is often reduced to a simple binary, between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolence and Malcolm X’s “by any means necessary.” In We Refuse, historian Kellie Carter Jackson urges us to move past this false choice, offering an unflinching examination of the breadth of Black responses to white oppression, particularly those pioneered by Black women.
The dismissal of “Black violence” as an illegitimate form of resistance is itself a manifestation of white supremacy, a distraction from the insidious, unrelenting violence of structural racism. Force—from work stoppages and property destruction to armed revolt—has played a pivotal part in securing freedom and justice for Black people since the days of the American and Haitian Revolutions. But violence is only one tool among many. Carter Jackson examines other, no less vital tactics that have shaped the Black struggle, from the restorative power of finding joy in the face of suffering to the quiet strength of simply walking away.
Clear-eyed, impassioned, and ultimately hopeful, We Refuse offers a fundamental corrective to the historical record, a love letter to Black resilience, and a path toward liberation.
“…enthralling… fascinating… By astutely delineating how Black resistance strategies have always existed on a spectrum between the binary of nonviolence vs. violence, Carter Jackson demolishes an unnecessarily rigid distinction. The result is an invigorating paradigm shift.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[Carter Jackson] fuses solid research with an urgent authorial voice, bringing a fresh perspective to the haunted history of American race relations… taut and fiery… An uncompromising yet accessible rejoinder to conventional wisdom about race and violence in the U.S.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…compelling and often counterintuitive… The book is most effective in unearthing the stories of little-known, everyday rebellions, especially from the lives of Black women. These histories have been at best under-told, if not lost altogether… History — complicated, cleareyed and unrepentant — is [Carter Jackson’s] warning and her weapon of choice.” – Linda Villarosa, New York Times
When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff
nonfiction / history.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Watergate comes the most up-to-date and complete account of D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history and the moment that secured the Allied victory in World War II.
D-Day is one of history’s greatest and most unbelievable military and human triumphs. Though the full campaign lasted just over a month, the surprise landing of over 150,000 Allied troops on the morning of June 6, 1944, is understood to be the moment that turned the tide for the Allied forces and ultimately led to the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II. Now, a new book from bestselling author and historian Garrett M. Graff explores the full impact of this world-changing event—from the secret creation of landing plans by top government and military officials and organization of troops, to the moment the boat doors opened to reveal the beach where men fought for their lives and the future of the free world.
Fascinating, action-packed, and filled with impressive detail, When the Sea Came Alive captures a human drama like no other, and offers a fitting tribute to the men and women of the Greatest Generation.
“A timely reminder of the cost of war, as well as the bravery of those who stormed the beaches all those decades ago.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Everything you could ever want to know about D-Day in one book. Superstar historian Garrett M. Graff delivers a meticulously researched, yet deeply human narrative about the military campaign that changed the course of the world.” – Isabelle McConville, Barnes & Noble
“…gripping and propulsive… Harrowing recollections from survivors of the first wave of landings (‘If you moved, you were dead’; ‘Wherever possible I crawled around bodies’) paired with descriptions of elite operations with narrow yet crucial goals—like the team of Rangers who practiced six months to scale a single cliff—add up to a panoramic view of an astonishingly intricate plan coming to fruition, undertaken by men and women with a clear sense of its momentousness. Readers will be spellbound.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
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