SHIRLEY JACKSON: A RATHER HAUNTED LIFE

Ruth Franklin

A New York Times Notable Book of 2016

A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Pick of 2016
An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of 2016
A Time Magazine Top Nonfiction of 2016
A Seattle Times Best Book of 2016
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2016
An NPR 2016's Great Read
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016
A Nylon Best Book of 2016
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2016
A Booklist 2016 Editors' Choice

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography
Winner of the Edgar Award in Critical/Biographical
Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction

“With this welcome new biography Franklin makes a thoughtful and persuasive case for Jackson as a serious and accomplished literary artist. . . . [Franklin] sees Jackson not as an oddball, one-off writer of horror tales and ghost stories but as someone belonging to the great tradition of Hawthorne, Poe and James, writers preoccupied, as she was, with inner evil in the human soul.”—New York Times Book Review

“Ruth Franklin’s sympathetic and masterful biography both uncovers Jackson’s secret and haunting life and repositions her as a major artist whose fiction so uncannily channeled women’s nightmares and contradictions that it is ‘nothing less than the secret history of American women of her era.’”—Washington Post

“Franklin is a conscientious, lucid biographer, and her book is never less than engaging.”—The Wall Street Journal

THE WHISTLER

John Grisham

A #1 New York Times Best Seller

“Riveting…finely drawn…The Whistler centers on an elaborate conspiracy involving an Indian reservation, an organized crime syndicate and a crooked judge skimming a small fortune from the tribal casino’s monthly haul.”—The New York Times Book Review  

“A main character who’s a seriously appealing woman...a whistle-blower who secretly calls attention to corruption...a strong and frightening sense of place...Grisham’s on his game.”—The New York Times

“A fascinating look at judicial corruption…an entirely convincing story and one of Grisham’s best.  I can’t think of another major American novelist since Sinclair Lewis who has so effectively targeted social and political ills in our society. In Grisham’s case, it is time at least to recognize that at his best he is not simply the author of entertaining legal thrillers but an important novelistic critic of our society. In more than 30 novels, he has often used his exceptional storytelling skills to take a hard look at injustice and corruption in the legal world and in our society as a whole.”
—The Washington Post   

HOW TO BE A PERSON IN THE WORLD

Heather havrilesky

A NEW YORK TIMES best seller

"A genuinely humorous and compelling voice...Havrilesky's writerly energy and passion confirm that the exchange of best friend wisdom -- a domain that has always been considered 'female,' and therefore trivial -- can be elevated into art."—The New York Times Book Review

"The best advice columnist of her generation."—Esquire

"[Havrilesky] is part Buddha and part Amy Schumer: wise, whip-smart, and profanely funny."—Entertainment Weekly

Should you quit your day job to follow your dreams? How do you rein in an overbearing mother? Will you ever stop dating wishy-washy, noncommittal guys? Should you put off having a baby for your career? Heather Havrilesky, the author of the weekly advice column Ask Polly, featured in New York Magazine’s The Cut, is here to guide you through the “what if’s” and “I don’t knows” of modern life with the signature wisdom and tough love her readers have come to expect. How to Be a Person in the World is a collection of never-before-published material along with a few fan favorites. Whether she’s responding to cheaters or loners, lovers or haters, the depressed or the down-and-out, Havrilesky writes with equal parts grace, humor, and compassion to remind you that even in your darkest moments you’re not alone.

SLEEPING GIANTS

Sylvain Neuvel

An IndieNext Pick

"A page-turner of the highest order."—Kirkus Reviews

“As high-concept as it is, Sleeping Giants is a thriller through and through. . . . Not only is Sleeping Giants one of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory, it’s a smart demonstration of how science fiction can honor its traditions and reverse-engineer them at the same time.”—NPR

"Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, Sleeping Giants is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoot for (and lands among) the stars."—Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising

"Pick for the year's breakout blockbuster a la The Martian."—Barnes & Noble

An enormous hand flowing with strange symbols is found in South Dakota by young Rose Franklin, who years later becomes a scientist and heads the team studying this unbelievable artifact. The hand is just the beginning as the researchers hunt for more pieces of what turns out to be an enormous alien robot-like construct. Through transcripts of interviews of those investigating the machine and a secretive man directing the work, we follow the discovery and assembly of the relic and the mystery of who left it and why. Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction? 

INTERIOR DARKNESS

Peter Straub

The new collection from a "master of the form"

"Brilliant, spooky, almost addictive in the way the stories roll out before the readers’ eyes, Interior Darkness is the definitive collection of Peter Straub’s best short works...sure to entertain and dazzle all who take in its exceptionally crafted words." - New York Journal of Books

“Interior Darkness is a book for those who think they dislike horror, as well as for those who love and respect the genre. Filled with terror, wit and unexpected grace notes, it’s a remarkable achievement that reflects the arc of a lengthy and celebrated career." - Washington Post

"If the only mass-market horror writer you've ever read is Stephen King, you owe it to yourself to check out Peter Straub." - Rob Merrill, Associated Press

"Dark, brooding fiction from a master of the form." - Kirkus Reviews

"This outstanding collection of 16 reprints highlights what makes Straub such a master of genre-bending horror and suspense, and it’s an effective introduction for readers new to his considerable body of work...This is a powerful collection from an enduring favorite in literary chills." - Publishers Weekly

“Peter Straub's shorter fictions are like tiny novels you drown in: perfectly pitched, terrifyingly smart, big-hearted, dangerous, and even cruel...If you care about the short story, you should read this book, and watch a master at work.” - Neil Gaiman
 

Thing Explainer

Randall Munroe

A #1 New York Times Best Seller

“…a wonderful guide for curious minds.” —Bill Gates
 
“Like any good work of science writing, [Thing Explainer] is equal parts lucid, funny, and startling.’’ —NewYorker.com

From the creator of the webcomic xkcd and author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller What If?, brilliantly annotated blueprints that explain everything from nuclear bombs to ballpoint pens.

Have you ever tried to learn more about some incredible thing, only to be frustrated by incomprehensible jargon? Randall Munroe is here to help using line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, “ten hundred”) most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is, including: 

Food-heating radio boxes (microwaves); Tall roads (bridges); Computer buildings (datacenters); The shared space house (the International Space Station); The other worlds around the sun (the Solar System); The big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates); The pieces everything is made of (the Periodic Table); Planes with turning winds (helicopters); Boxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers); and The bags of stuff inside you (cells) Funny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone—age 5 to 105—who has ever wondered how things work, and why. 

Rogue Lawyer

John Grisham

An Instant #1 New York Times Best Seller

"Terrific...so cleverly plotted it could be used as a how-to manual in fiction writing classes." - The Washington Post

"Sebastian Rudd is a kind of social justice warrior and Grisham uses him to take jabs at the legal system…all with a blunt, rude, gravelly poetic wise guy voice that makes Rudd come across as a kind of 21st-century Philip Marlowe." -The New York Times Book Review

His phone number is unlisted. His office is a bulletproof van. He’s on the right side of the law, sort of...

Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. He works out of a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, fine leather chairs, a hidden gun compartment, and a heavily armed driver. He has no firm, no partners, no associates, and only one employee, his driver, who’s also his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddy. He lives alone in a small but extremely safe penthouse apartment, and his primary piece of furniture is a vintage pool table. He drinks small-batch bourbon and carries a gun.

Sebastian defends people other lawyers won’t go near: a drug-addled, tattooed kid rumored to be in a satanic cult, who is accused of molesting and murdering two little girls; a vicious crime lord on death row; a homeowner arrested for shooting at a SWAT team that mistakenly invaded his house. Why these clients? Because he believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial, even if he, Sebastian, has to cheat to secure one. He hates injustice, doesn’t like insurance companies, banks, or big corporations; he distrusts all levels of government and laughs at the justice system’s notions of ethical behavior.

Sebastian Rudd is one of John Grisham’s most colorful, outrageous, and vividly drawn characters yet. Gritty, witty, and impossible to put down, Rogue Lawyer showcases the master of the legal thriller at his very best. 

City on Fire

Garth Risk Hallberg

A New York Times Best Seller

"A big, stunning first novel...A novel of head-snapping ambition and heart-stopping power."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"A soaring debut...a magesterial epic"—Vanity Fair

"Garth Risk Hallberg has written the kind of debut novel that only comes around once every 20 years or so—one that everyone who’s read it roots for. ... An edge-of-your-seat epic, which is as tightly told as it is ambitious."—Elle

"Thrilling...Exuberant...A kind of punk Bleak House."—Vogue

New York City, 1976. Meet Regan and William Hamilton-Sweeney, estranged heirs to one of the city’s great fortunes; Keith and Mercer, the men who, for better or worse, love them; Charlie and Samantha, two suburban teenagers seduced by downtown’s punk scene; an obsessive magazine reporter and his idealistic neighbor—and the detective trying to figure out what any of them have to do with a shooting in Central Park on New Year’s Eve.

The mystery, as it reverberates through families, friendships, and the corridors of power, will open up even the loneliest-seeming corners of the crowded city. And when the blackout of July 13, 1977, plunges this world into darkness, each of these lives will be changed forever.

City on Fire is an unforgettable novel about love and betrayal and forgiveness, about art and truth and rock ’n’ roll: about what people need from each other in order to live…and about what makes the living worth doing in the first place.

Ancillary Mercy

Ann Leckie

A New York Times Best Seller

"This glorious series summit is suffused with the wit and the skillful eye for character that fans have come to expect from Leckie. Breq and her lieutenants are destined to be beloved giants in the space opera canon."—Publishers Weekly

"Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy is the best thing to happen to science fiction this decade, and Leckie totally sticks the landing in this stunning conclusion to the series."—Buzzfeed

"Leckie creates a grand backdrop to tell an intimate, cerebral story about identity and empowerment. ... Wraps up the story arc with plenty of room to tell many more tales in this universe. Let’s hope Leckie does."—Kirkus

For a moment, things seem to be under control for the soldier known as Breq. Then a search of Atheok Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist - someone who might be an ancillary from a ship that's been hiding beyond the empire's reach for three thousand years. Meanwhile, a messenger from the alien and mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai - ruler of an empire at war with itself. Anaander is heavily armed and extremely unhappy with Breq. She could take her ship and crew and flee, but that would leave everyone at Athoek in terrible danger. Breq has a desperate plan. The odds aren't good, but that's never stopped her before.