THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this cozy fantasy, WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN (Ace) from  New York Times  bestselling author, Jenn McKinlay. Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded. Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book’s potential pow...

  Lulu Gardner only takes predictable shots. After faulting on tennis stardom at eighteen, Lulu, now a thirtysomething single parent, is in control of her game. But when an unanticipated blunder threatens her teaching job, Lulu’s stable, well-planned—okay, boring—world spins out. And somehow, her godparents convince her to join them for a “de-stressing” destination pickleball vacation in Costa Rica. Maybe an all-inclusive picklecation is just the pick-me-up she needs to loosen her grip. Or it would have been if she wasn’t backhanded by the sight of her high school fling, Tyler Demming, on the beachside courts. Fresh off the pickleball pro tour, the reigning bad boy of paddle sports is as studly and snarky as ever. Even though his public image took a hit with a ballsy publicity stunt, Tyler seems to be the big shot he’s always been. But Lulu’s had years to steel herself against his rugged good looks and hypnotic charm. Despite the changes she sees in Tyler since their teenage days, ...

  Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers―one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her―are the only ones searching for the truth. Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before―and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence. Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children. But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even thou...

  The captivating story behind Canada’s beloved sweet treat.   From the quiet beauty of sugar maple forests to the high-tech, high-stakes world of syrup production, this book takes you on a remarkable journey into one of Canada’s most cherished traditions. Led by Peter Kuitenbrouwer, a forester with a deep appreciation for the land, this beautifully illustrated narrative uncovers the rich Indigenous heritage of maple syrup, explores its cultural significance and reveals the complex industry that sustains it today, where vast warehouses store a product so valuable it became the target of the Great Maple Syrup Heist, one of Canada’s most infamous thefts.      Blending history, culture and science in a story that stretches from eastern Canada and into the northeastern US,  Maple Syrup  stands as a testament to the resilience, communal joy and economic intricacies that define maple syrup, and is the perfect read for anyone who loves Canada, its h...

  There’s something in the water in Bayern County… When mysterious drownings plague her small town, a detective haunted by her serial killer father must uncover whether revenge, ancient legends, or something darker lurks beneath the surface. Lieutenant Anna Koray thought she'd finally found solid ground and escaped her past as the daughter of a notorious serial killer. A loving boyfriend, a loyal dog, a life that almost feels normal—except darkness has a way of seeping in. When she saves a boy from drowning, the strange marks on his body tell a disturbing story: something in the depths tried to drag him under. Days later, another victim surfaces with identical marks, and Anna's instincts scream that these are no accidents. Both victims are connected to the Kings of Warsaw Creek—men of the town's wealthiest and most influential families. And they have enemies. Others whisper that there are witches in Bayern County, seeking revenge for a long-ago murder. Perhaps it's the ...

  READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON  TODAY |  AN INSTANT  NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER! In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she'd like to call the child, Cora hesitates... Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora's and her young son's lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose,  The Names  explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing. With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp draws us into the story of one family, told through a prism of what-ifs, causing us to consider the "one... precious life" we are given. The bo...

“The best book about adultery since  Madame Bovary .”  —Tony Tulathimutte, author of  Rejection A hilariously acerbic  sliding doors novel about a chance meeting between two young parents, both happily married (just not to each other) that sparks a will-they-won’t-they romance—perfect for fans of  Big Swiss  and  Acts of Service . When Cora meets Sam at a baby group in their small town, the chemistry between them is undeniable. Both are happily married young parents with two kids, and neither sees themselves as the type to engage in an affair. Yet their connection grows stronger, and as their lives continue to intertwine, the romantic tension between them becomes all-consuming—until their worlds unravel into two parallel timelines. In one, they pursue their feelings. In the other, they resist. As reality splits, the everyday details of Cora’s life—her depressing marketing job, her daughter’s new fascination with the afterlife, her husband’s obsession w...

  My mother had died, but still I heard her voice. . . In BAD, BAD GIRL (Knopf),  Gish’s mother, Loo Shu-hsin, is born in 1924 to a wealthy Shanghai family whose girls are expected to restrain themselves. Her beloved nursemaid—far more loving to her than her real mother—is torn from her even as she is constantly reprimanded: “Bad, bad girl! You don’t know how to talk!” Sent to a modern Catholic school by her progressive father, she receives not only an English name—Agnes—but a first-rate education. To his delight, she excels. But even then, he can only sigh, “Too bad. If you were a boy, you could accomplish a lot.” Agnes finds solace in books and, in 1947, announces her intention to pursue a PhD in America. As the Communist revolution looms, she sets sail, never to return. Gish Jen grew up in New York, where she spoke more Yiddish than Chinese. She has been featured in a PBS American Masters program on the American novel. Her distinctions also include a National Endowment for ...

  THE SWIMMER of AUSCHWITZ (Monoray) is the extraordinary story of an Olympian who was imprisoned in Auschwitz and survived to tell his story. Alfred Nakache, a Jewish child from Constantine, never imagined that he would one day swim for France at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, nor that he would achieve a world record, as he did in 1941. As a child, he was petrified of the water and yet, somehow, through sheer willpower and determination, he rose to become one of the very best swimmers in the world. That was until 1943, when he was banned from the pool - and in the same year, deported and sent to Auschwitz. Not knowing if he would ever see his wife and daughter again, Alfred battled on, through the humiliation and the pain, even defying the guards by swimming in the water reserves of Auschwitz. Somehow - miraculously - he survived, swimming every day until the end of his life. The Swimmer of Auschwitz, written by Renaud Leblond  is the unique, true story of a forgotten h...

  One ordinary school. Three extraordinary women … In the 1920s, three young girls enter a strict, cheerless convent school in a quiet London suburb. Six years later they leave, to change the world … Maureen  was the movie star, whose role as Tarzan’s Jane helped rewrite the rules of cinema censorship. Sonia  was the aspiring writer who became George Orwell’s wife and the guardian of his literary legacy. And  Vivian  was the actress as iconic as the roles she played, from Cleopatra to Scarlett O’Hara. Together their careers encompassed glamour and tragedy, triumph and scandal. From Bloomsbury to Hollywood, and from the cafés of Paris to the theatres of New York, this novel is a breath-taking epic spanning four decades in three unforgettable lives. Caroline is originally from Yorkshire and spent a year living in Paris before reading PPE at Oxford University. She trained as an actress and then fell into a career in finance, going on to write various commercial fic...

THE LAST WITCH (HarperCollins) is a deeply compelling historical horror novel following a woman accused of being a witch who must use her voice to fight for her life—and the truth. Innsbruck, 1485.  Helena Scheuberin should be doing what every other young wife is doing: keeping house, supporting her husband, and bearing his children, but as an outspoken, strong woman, she sometimes has difficulty fitting in. Then she draws the unwanted attention of a malign priest who is just starting his campaign to root out “witches” from among the women of her town, and when her husband’s footman dies, she finds herself accused not only of murder but of witchcraft. Helena must find the courage to risk her life and the lives of others by standing up to a man determined to paint her as the most wicked of all.... Based on the incredible true story of a woman who challenged a man who went on to become one of Europe’s most notorious and cruel witchfinders, this novel offers a jewel-bright portrait of...

  In Amber Sparks’ highly anticipated debut novel, a reclusive mother and her saturnine daughter move into a haunted building brimming with eccentrics—and secrets. Just past the edge of summer, Alice and Fern arrive at the Pine Lake Apartments—a former sanitorium occupied by an ensemble of peculiar neighbors and a smattering of ghosts.  Among the living: a professional mermaid, a handyperson moonlighting as a medium, and an awkward professor of medieval studies. For the determinedly private Alice, Pine Lake seems the perfect place to hide herself and her daughter—until the day Fern finds a dead body in the dumpster.  Intent on solving this mystery, and dodging warnings from her increasingly paranoid mother, Fern’s investigation digs up long-buried secrets that implicate each of her neighbors - and conjures a new party from beyond the grave.  A darkly funny gothic tale,  Happy People Don’t Live Here  is an unforgettable novel from a “master of the fantastic”...

  A blazing collection of responses to the U.S.'s shocking annexation threats and the swell of Canadian national unity that followed, from a remarkable array of Canada's sharpest and most influential minds.   2025. Donald Trump is president. And he is insisting that Canada is for sale. It feels disorienting, even existential, to watch a trade war escalate and to hear an American president vow to make Canada “the 51st state.” Amid this disorientation, there is an urgent question: how do we meet the moment?       This is not the first time we have had an identity crisis resulting in a swell of Canadian pride, but it is the first time many Canadians have experienced the direct threat of American imperialism knocking so loudly on our country’s door. The fact that treaties can be broken, that resources can be stolen, and that the consequences of land theft include loss of culture, ritual, and identity is not new to the Indigenous and refugee peoples li...

  Convinced that the key to the unraveling of his own life is tied to the tragic death of a young Hollywood starlet, an unheralded writer embarks on a quest to solve the cold case in THE COLUMNIST'S DAUGHTER (Little,BrownandCompany) by Patrick Ryan. Jed Rosenthal hasn’t published a book in fourteen years, the mother of his child left him in a “trial separation” that has stretched on indefinitely, and he struggles to navigate the daily sorrows of their co-parenting arrangement. But the implosion of Jed’s family is simply a footnote in the larger history of the Rosenthal family’s decline.   Just days after the JFK assassination, Karyn “Cookie” Kupcinet was found dead in her Hollywood apartment. The press reported that the 22-year-old was strangled, yet unanswered questions linger to this day. Cookie’s parents—Chicago royalty, Irv and Essee Kupcinet—had been close friends with Jed's grandparents, but in the aftermath of her death, their friendship abruptly and inexplicably ended....

Bestselling author, Howard Green profiles former Scotiabank CEO. Rick Waugh and sketches an unprecedented and up-close picture of what it is like to run a global bank, often during financial chaos, while leading more than 80,000 employees in more than fifty countries. From navigating a violent economic default and loss in Argentina and a bailout of the Dominican Republic to surviving the global financial crisis, actively promoting women in banking, and helping secure the NBA’s Raptors for Toronto, Rick Waugh was in the room. Green captures the riveting stories, intense conflicts, and pivotal moments that occurred at one of Canada’s biggest banks, a significant player in international finance. Waugh’s clear-eyed approach to managing risk offers valuable lessons for navigating economic uncertainty, lessons that will become increasingly relevant as we enter a new era of global insecurity. His simple formula: when assessing deals, investments, or major decisions, know your downside, ne...

  Two sisters, separated by oceans and global conflict, are bonded through music and love in this new WWII novel, in the LIGHT of the SUN (Waterbrook)h. The year is 1941, and in the Philippines, Caramina Grassi dreams of training in Italy to become an opera singer like her older sister, Rosa. But as war erupts, her world is shattered, forcing her to cling to the music that has always been her refuge. When her family’s lives are threatened and they are forced to flee to the jungle, she comes to understand that music is more than comfort. It becomes a muse that fuels her courage, sacrifice, and unwavering focus on the light. Meanwhile, in Florence, just as Rosa Grassi’s long-awaited opera debut arrives, Mussolini tightens his grip on Italy. Drawn into  la Resistenza,  the underground resistance, Rosa feels lost in a fog of deception that clouds everything she thought to be true. In a time when family or friend could be foe, Rosa will learn that performing isn’t just for the...