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Bibsy Cross and the Time Capsule (Bibsy Cross)
by Liz Garton ScanlonMeet Bibsy Cross, the precocious, regular-pegular eight-year-old who isn't so sure she wants to capture her childhood in a time capsule in the fourth installment of this charming chapter book series.Most things are easy-peasy, regular-pegular for Bibsy Cross. She loves her parents, her cat, her best friend, Natia. She loves school and the library. And she loves a good school project.But this time, each student is tasked with creating a time capsule, and Bibsy's not so sure she wants to trap the present in a box. She needs her childhood now, not preserved for the future. When Nanaberry comes--not just for a visit, but for good--she helps Bibsy see the project in a new light.Will Bibsy figure out how to preserve her memories without letting them go?
Way Off Base (The Area 51 Files)
by Julie BuxbaumIs Area 51&’s cover blown?! Sky and her otherworldly friends scramble to protect its secrets when a UFO goes missing in the fourth installment of this laugh-out-loud, Edgar Award-nominated series for young readers.For the first time since Sky got to Area 51, things seem to be under control. No bunker hideouts. No incoming space toilets. No kidnappings of beloved relatives. In fact, everyone is in a celebratory mood because a special government visitor is coming to Area 51!But on the morning of the visit, a UFO goes missing from the science lab. And then a mysterious whistleblower goes to the media saying they have evidence of a UFO landing! Did someone steal the UFO in order to reveal it to the whole wide world? Sky and her friends have less than a week to solve the mystery of the missing UFO, or all of Area 51&’s secrets will be at risk. Guess things aren&’t so calm after all!
Princeton Review SSAT Prep, 2nd Edition: 3 Practice Tests + Review & Techniques + Drills (Private Test Preparation)
by The Princeton ReviewWORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER, WITH THE PRINCETON REVIEW. Get all the prep you need to ace the SSAT with 3 full-length practice tests, up-to-date content reviews for every test section, and extra practice online.Techniques That Actually WorkTime-saving tips to help you effectively tackle the examProblem-solving tactics demonstrated on the trickiest test questionsPoint-earning strategies for multiple-choice questionsEverything You Need for a High ScoreComprehensive strategies for the Writing, Math, Verbal, and Reading sectionsDetailed coverage of fundamental math skills and frequently appearing vocabulary words for the SSAT®Information on the SSAT at Home testing option for the Middle and Upper levelsAccess to a student study guide via your online Student ToolsPractice Your Way to Excellence3 full-length practice tests (one Middle and one Upper level in the book, one Elementary level online) with detailed answer explanations675+ drill questions across every level, subject, and question type to keep track of your progressOnline versions of the Middle and Upper level tests in the book to help you prepare for at-home testing
The Dog Who Made It Better
by Katherin NolteDr. Blob may not be a doctor but he is a dog with a very important job...it might even include saving a life or two. An uplifting tale of hope, healing, and the power of family to overcome grief.Dr. Blob has the best life a dog could ask for. He eats and he sleeps and he plays. He loves his family and they love him back. Life is pretty perfect.Then the Very Bad Thing happens. Suddenly life doesn't seem so perfect and Dr. Blob is more afraid than he ever remembers being. How can he help his family get past the tragedy when what's hurting them can't be bitten or growled at? To make matters worse, there's a new pet in the house and a growing threat outside of it in the form of an animal-hating neighor with a sinister plan. Will Dr. Blob be able to protect all he loves and save his family from grief? The Dog Who Made It Better is the story of a dazzling, if cowardly, Bernese Mountain dog learning what he would sacrifice for his faimly—and how, sometimes, the best way to overcome our fears is to face them.
Minecraft: Roll for Adventure: The Temple of the Charged Creeper (Minecraft)
by Matt Forbeck Marty ForbeckRoll the dice to create your very own Minecraft story in this tabletop game—with instructions and an adventure book!When a village is raided by illagers, its poor inhabitants seek the aid of a mighty hero to track down the invaders. They need someone brave, clever, and determined. They need you!Make crucial decisions, craft powerful items, roll dice to battle mobs, and explore the Overworld on your epic journey to discover and destroy the mysterious Temple of the Charged Creeper. This book contains:• A complete adventure book with a bestiary of wicked mobs and a collection of perilous adventure locations.• A character sheet and rules reference to help you track your heroic progress (or to let you play with your friend as your narrator!).So sharpen your sword, prepare your pickaxe, and grab your dice. Your epic Minecraft adventure begins now!
The Homemade God: A Novel
by Rachel JoyceWith sparkling wit and insight, this powerful novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry reminds us that family is everything, even when it falls apart.&“The beautiful writing, unforgettable characters, and stunning setting make this a must-read.&”—Bonnie Garmus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry&“It&’s all here, dear readers. Art. Beauty. Pain. Redemption. Rachel Joyce&’s masterful skill and emotional breadth are dazzling.&”—Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left UndoneThere is a heatwave across Europe, and four siblings have gathered at their family&’s lake house to seek answers about their father, a famous artist, who recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his long-awaited masterpiece.Now he is dead. And there is no sign of his final painting.As the siblings try to piece together what happened, they spend the summer in a state of lawlessness: living under the same roof for the first time in decades, forced to confront the buried wounds they incurred as his children, and waiting for answers. Though they have always been close, the things they learn that summer—about themselves—and their father—will drive them apart before they can truly understand his legacy. Meanwhile, their stepmother&’s enigmatic presence looms over the house. Is she the force that will finally destroy the family for good?Wonderfully atmospheric, at heart this is a novel about the bonds of siblinghood—what happens when they splinter, and what it might take to reconnect them.
Fools for Love: Stories
by Helen SchulmanA virtuosic, laugh-out-loud collection of stories that explore the fraught and fantastic nature of human connection—featuring women, men, various couples, and one terribly precocious baby enmeshed in tangled romances of all shapes and sizes.The wide-ranging and inventive stories that make up Helen Schulman&’s Fools for Love are funny, sexy, sometimes sad, and always surprising. A single American mother and a French Orthodox rabbi fall in love over poetry, as she helps to dismantle a shuttered bookstore in Paris. A rebellious young woman marries a series of men who are all wrong for her and proceeds to cheat on each of them; her widowed mother finds her deceased husband&’s sex diaries and decides she needs to make up for lost time. And in the title story, a blossoming East Village playwright realizes that her marriage to a brilliant actor is doomed, after watching his performance in an alternative production of Sam Shepard&’s iconic play.Characters wander in and out of one another&’s stories—and beds—in these hilarious tales of lust and attachment—a rollicking feast of love and loss that is not unlike the experience of life itself. Fools for Love is a vital addition to Schulman&’s acclaimed body of work—a collection that showcases at every turn what Katie Kitamura has referred to as her &“sharp observation, buoyant wit, and unfailing empathy.&”
Bring the House Down: A Novel
by Charlotte RuncieA theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox. &“Excellent…brilliant…a fiery reminder that we still have so far to go when it comes to men behaving poorly and getting away with it.&”—LitHub"A binge-worthy novel that explores our obsessions, our inner critic, and who we think we are in person and in print. Intimate, real, and really funny. This one has teeth.&” —Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Come and Get It and Such a Fun Age One of Glamour's Best Books for Book ClubsAlex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn&’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair&’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.Unaware that she&’s gone home with the theater critic who&’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she&’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
Blue Book Library Edition Volume 1 (Blue Book)
by James Tynion IVFrom the New York Times bestseller and multi-Eisner award-winner James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake, The Department of Truth) and Eisner award-winning Michael Avon Oeming (Powers, B.P.R.D., Judge Dredd) comes this ambitious, non-fiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters in a deluxe, oversized hardcover format.James Tynion IV presents what he calls his &“True Weird&” stories. Tales of ordinary people encountering the strange and the impossible. Teaming with artist Michael Avon Oeming and letterer Aditya Bidikar, they retell some of the most popular UFO and alien encounter accounts starting with two infamous cases:First, the Betty and Barney Hill abduction—the widely-publicized and very first abduction that went on to shape and influence all future encounter stories.Second, we follow pilot Kenneth Arnold who flew his Call-Air A-2 over the skies of the Pacific Northwest and encountered otherworldly blinding flashes of silver light that would change the course of his life forever.Collects the first two arcs of Blue Book in a deluxe, oversized, library edition format.Tiny Onion Studios and Dark Horse Comics present a line of upcoming creator-owned work from the mind of James Tynion IV across a broad spectrum of his interests, from non-fiction supernatural encounters to high concept coming-of-age monster comics.
Vera, or Faith: A Novel
by Gary ShteyngartA poignant, sharp-eyed, and bitterly funny tale of a family struggling to stay together in a country rapidly coming apart, told through the eyes of their wondrous ten-year-old daughter, by the bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story and Our Country Friends&“Pull up a beach chair: The book of the summer is here. . . . A poignant Harriet the Spy–esque delight.&”—People (Book of the Week)&“Genius . . . [a] miracle.&”—The Washington Post&“A novel you can read in one sitting that will stay with you forever.&”—Karen Russell &“Very funny, very sad, very sharp, and completely delightful.&”—Elif Batuman&“A brilliant fable about childhood, and so much more, in our broken country.&”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)&“A must-read.&”—The Los Angeles Times&“Shteyngart is one of the best comedians in literature today.&”—BookPage (starred review)A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Bustle, Vulture, Town & Country, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Book Riot, Publishers Weekly, Literary Hub, AV Club, Hey AlmaThe Bradford-Shmulkin family is falling apart. A very modern blend of Russian, Jewish, Korean, and New England WASP, they love one another deeply but the pressures of life in an unstable America are fraying their bonds. There's Daddy, a struggling, cash-thirsty editor whose Russian heritage gives him a surprising new currency in the upside-down world of twenty-first-century geopolitics; his wife, Anne Mom, a progressive, underfunded blue blood from Boston who's barely holding the household together; their son, Dylan, whose blond hair and Mayflower lineage provide him pride of place in the newly forming American political order; and, above all, the young Vera, half-Jewish, half-Korean, and wholly original.Observant, sensitive, and always writing down new vocabulary words, Vera wants only three things in life: to make a friend at school; Daddy and Anne Mom to stay together; and to meet her birth mother, Mom Mom, who will at last tell Vera the secret of who she really is and how to ensure love's survival in this great, mad, imploding world.Both biting and deeply moving, Vera, or Faith is a boldly imagined story of family and country told through the clear and tender eyes of a child. With a nod to What Maisie Knew, Henry James's classic story of parents, children, and the dark ironies of a rapidly transforming society, Vera, or Faith demonstrates why Shteyngart is, in the words of The New York Times, "one of his generation's most exhilarating writers."
The Art of Queenship in the Hellenistic World
by Patricia Eunji KimIn The Art of Queenship in the Hellenistic World, Patricia Eunji Kim examines the visual and material cultures of Hellenistic queens, the royal and dynastic women who served as subjects and patrons of art. Exploring evidence in the interconnected eastern Mediterranean and western Asia from the fourth to second centuries BCE, Kim argues that the arts of queenship were central to expressions of dynastic (and sometimes even imperial) consolidation, continuity, and legitimacy. From gems, coins, and vessels to monuments and sculpture, the visual and material cultures of queenship appeared in a range of sacred settings, public spaces, royal courts, and domestic domains. Encompassing several dynasties, including the Hecatomnids, Argeads, Ptolemies, Seleucids, and Attalids, Kim inaugurates new methods for comparing and interpreting visual articulations of queenship and ideal femininity from distinct yet culturally entangled contexts, thus illuminating the ways that women had an impact art and politics in the ancient world.
The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Medieval Italy: Art, Devotion, and Liturgy in Orvieto
by Sara Nair JamesLate medieval Italy witnessed the widespread rise of the cult of the Virgin, as reflected in the profusion of paintings, sculptures, and fresco cycles created in her honor during this period. The cathedral of papal Orvieto especially reflects the strong Marian tradition through its fresco and stained-glass window narrative cycles. In this study, Sara James explores its complex narrative programs. She demonstrates how a papal plan for the cathedral to emulate the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome, together with Dominican and Franciscan texts, determined the choices and arrangement of scenes. The result is a tour de force of Marian devotion, superior artistry, and compelling story-telling. James also shows how the narratives promoted agendas tied to the city's history and principal religious feasts. Not only are these works more interesting, sophisticated, and theologically rich than previously realized, but, as James argues, each represents the acme in their respective media of their generation in central Italy.
Pay Up!: Conservative Myths About Tax Cuts for the Rich
by John L. CampbellSince the Reagan era, conservatives in the United States have championed cutting taxes, especially for wealthy individuals and corporations, as the best way to achieve economic prosperity. In his new book, Pay Up!, John L. Campbell shows that while these claims are highly influential, they are also wrong. Using historical and cross-national evidence, the book challenges and refutes every justification conservatives have made for tax cuts – that American taxes are too high; they hurt the economy; they facilitate government waste; they constitute an unfair downward redistribution of income; and they threaten individual freedom – and conversely shows that countries can actually benefit from higher taxes, especially when tax increases fall most heavily on those most able to pay them. Through clear prose and a well-reasoned argument, Campbell's book provides an accessible, engaging, and much-needed perspective on the role of taxes in American society.
The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius' Meditations (Cambridge Companions to Literature)
by John SellarsThe Meditations of the second-century Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius is consistently one of the best-selling philosophy books among the general public. Over the years it has also attracted famous admirers, from the Prussian king Frederick the Great to US President Bill Clinton. It continues to attract large numbers of new readers, drawn to its reflections on life and death. Despite this, it is not the sort of text read much by professional philosophers or even, until recently, taken especially seriously by specialists in ancient philosophy. It is a highly personal, easily accessible, yet deceptively simple work. This volume, written by leading experts and aimed at non-specialists, examines the central philosophical ideas in the work and assesses the extent to which Marcus is committed to the philosophy of Stoicism. It also considers how we ought to read this unique work and explores its influence from its first printed publication to today.
The Lavender Blade: An Exorcist's Chronicle
by E.L. DeardsFor readers who loved New York Times bestseller Gideon the Ninth, Deards delivers a queer speculative fiction novel about what happens when a con artist exorcist becomes possessed for real.A pair of con artist demon exorcists scam the nation's wealthiest . . . until one of them is possessed for real Colton and Lucian make a living conning the desperate with fake exorcisms—Lucian is the charm, Colton the trick, and together, they&’ve turned deception into survival. Their work is dangerous, their romance even riskier, but they&’ve always found a way to stay ahead. Until Lucian is truly possessed. A powerful demon takes hold, twisting his body into something unnatural, horrific, wrong—and no priest, no con, no desperate lie can fix it. With time running out and Lucian slipping further away, Colton has no choice but to learn real magic, break every rule, and attempt the impossible. Because if he fails, Lucian won&’t just be lost. He&’ll be something else entirely.
The Hiroshima Men: The Quest to Build the Atomic Bomb, and the Fateful Decision to Use It
by Iain MacGregorAn epic, riveting history based on new interviews and research that elucidates the approval, construction, and fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, the Japanese port city of Hiroshima was struck by the world&’s first atomic bomb. Built in the US by the top-secret Manhattan Project and delivered by a B-29 Superfortress, a revolutionary long-range bomber, the weapon destroyed large swaths of the city, instantly killing tens of thousands. The world would never be the same. The Hiroshima Men&’s vivid narrative recounts the decade-long journey toward this first atomic attack. It charts the race for the bomb during World War II, as the Allies fought the Axis powers, and is told through several key characters: General Leslie Groves, leader of the Manhattan Project alongside Robert Oppenheimer; pioneering Army Air Force pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets Jr.; the mayor of Hiroshima, Senkichi Awaya, who would die alongside eighty thousand fellow citizens; and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer John Hersey, who traveled to Japan for the New Yorker to expose the devastation the bomb inflicted on the city and to describe in unflinching detail the dangers posed by radiation poisoning. This thrilling account takes the reader from the corridors of power in the White House and the Pentagon to the test sites of New Mexico; from the air war above Germany to the Potsdam Conference of Truman, Churchill, and Stalin; from the savage reconquest of the Pacific to the deadly firebombing air raids across Japan. The Hiroshima Men also includes Japanese perspectives—a vital aspect often missing from Western narratives—to complete Iain MacGregor&’s nuanced, deeply human account of the bombing&’s meaning and aftermath.
The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition
by Arnaud LauretLearn how to design web APIs that are a delight to use and maintain.Thousands of developers have followed renowned API expert Arnaud Lauret&’s guidance to create APIs that are flexible, secure, and easily integrated. This new edition of the bestselling The Design of Web APIs covers the latest updates to the OpenAPI standard, teaches you to streamline and standardize API design decisions with rationale and automation, and gives you insights you can apply to other API styles, such as gRPC. You&’ll quickly see how a well-designed and properly-documented API gives your users autonomy—and saves you from constant explanations and hand-holding. This fully revised second edition of The Design of Web APIs teaches you the principles and techniques you need to design easy-to-consume public and private web APIs. In it, you&’ll learn how to: • Analyze requirements to identify API capabilities for versatile, reusable designs • Create HTTP-based REST APIs with CRUD, batch/bulk, or long operations • Design interoperable, user-friendly APIs with seamless operations and data flow • Ensure secure, efficient APIs while overcoming limitations and constraints • Modify APIs without breaking compatibility, evaluating consequences carefully • Future-proof your APIs and choose effective versioning strategies • Document REST APIs using OpenAPI and JSON Schema for seamless implementation • Streamline and standardize API design decisions with rationale and automation The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition teaches vital skills for gathering requirements, balancing business and technical goals and constraints, and adopting a consumer-first mindset. Each chapter is packed full of hands-on examples, including designing an Online Shopping API and user-friendly banking operations, and over seventy exercises to help your new skills stick. Plus, you&’ll explore paradigms applicable beyond REST APIs, and fully describe and document your APIs with OpenAPI and JSON Schema. Your web APIs will soon be easier to consume and your clients—internal and external—will be happier than ever! About the technology Web APIs open up your software to developers, exposing features, and capabilities to other programs. Well-designed web APIs are a joy. The bad ones are a nightmare, with endless impact on system performance, developer productivity, and end-user experience. This book shows you how to design APIs your fellow developers will love to use. About the book The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition teaches you to design efficient and adaptable REST APIs. This revised and rewritten second edition contains the latest updates to the OpenAPI standard, along with insights you can apply to other API styles such as GraphQL. Learn vital skills for gathering requirements, creating easy-to-consume public and private web APIs, and handling non-backward compatible modifications and versioning. What's inside • Design reusable, user-friendly and interoperable APIs • Document your APIs with OpenAPI and JSON Schema • Create secure and efficient APIs by design • Streamline and standardize API design decisions About the reader Written for developers with experience building and consuming APIs. About the author Arnaud Lauret runs the API Handyman blog and is a frequent speaker at API conferences. He currently works as an API Industry Researcher at Postman. Table of Contents 1 What is API design? Part 1 2 Identifying API capabilities 3 Observing operations from the REST angle 4 Representing operations with HTTP 5 Modeling data 6 Describing HTTP operations with OpenAPI 7 Describing data with JSON Schema in OpenAPI Part 2 8 Designing user-friendly, interoperable data 9 Designing user-friend
Guardian of the Sea (The Kingdom of Wrenly)
by Jordan QuinnPrince Lucas visits the underwater mermaid kingdom in this twenty-second magical adventure of The Kingdom of Wrenly series!After many years, the mysterious mermaids have finally opened their gates to the Kingdom of Wrenly. No one is more excited than Prince Lucas and Clara, who are visiting the underwater castle for a royal ball! But when they arrive under the sea, the children discover that not every mermaid is happy about the new visitors from the mainland… With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Kingdom of Wrenly chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.
Daikon: A Novel
by Samuel Hawley&“Thrilling…Builds to a pulse-pounding climax. The result is the most imaginative take on Hiroshima since Edwin Corley&’s The Jesus Factor.&” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) &“A riveting tale about war, intrigue, love, and perseverance.&” —John Grisham • &“I could not look away. This novel is storytelling at its finest.&” —Karl Marlantes • &“Spellbinding…A breathtaking chain reaction that unleashes the true power of the novel.&” —Adam Johnson • &“Extraordinary…Daikon will sweep you away.&” —Jess Walter • &“Exhilarating…I loved this book, and you will love it too.&” —Arthur Golden A sweeping and suspenseful novel of love and war, set in Japan during the final days of World War II, with a shocking historical premise: three atomic bombs were actually delivered to the Pacific—not two—and when one of them falls into the hands of the Japanese, the fate of a couple that has been separated from one another becomes entangled with the fate of this terrifying new device.War has taken everything from physicist Keizo Kan. His young daughter was killed in the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and now his Japanese American wife, Noriko, has been imprisoned by the brutal Thought Police. An American bomber, downed over Japan on the first day of August 1945, offers the scientist a surprising chance at salvation. The Imperial Army dispatches him to examine an unusual device recovered from the plane&’s wreckage—a bomb containing uranium—and tells him that if he can unlock its mysteries, his wife will be released. Working in secrecy under crushing pressure, Kan begins to disassemble the bomb and study its components. One of his assistants falls ill after mishandling the uranium, but his alarming deterioration, and Kan&’s own symptoms, are ignored by the commanding officer demanding results. Desperate to stave off Japan&’s surrender to the Allies, the army will stop at nothing to harness the weapon&’s unimaginable power. They order Kan to prepare the bomb for manual detonation over a target—a suicide mission that will strike a devastating blow against the Americans. Kan is soon confronted with a series of agonizing decisions that will test his courage, his loyalty, and his very humanity. An extraordinary debut novel that is the result of twenty-seven years of work by its author, Daikon is a gripping and powerfully moving saga that calls to mind such classics as Cold Mountain. It is set amid the chaos and despair of the world&’s third largest city lying in ruins, its population starving and its leadership under escalating assault from without and within. Here is a haunting epic of love, survival, and impossible choices that introduces a singular new voice on the literary landscape.
The Secret Market of the Dead
by Giovanni De FeoAn &“enthralling&” (Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library and Elusive) Italian-inspired gothic historical fantasy about a young woman who finds her power in the nocturnal realm that lurks beneath her town.Just beyond the waking edges of Lucerìa, an 18th-century town in the kingdom of Naples, lies the Night: an enigmatic fiefdom governed by seven immortals and fueled by Moira, the power to reshape one&’s destiny. On this porous border separating Day from Night, Oriana spends her time fantasizing about becoming a smith in her father&’s forge and eavesdropping on whispered tales of beasts and men who roam the nocturnal realm. But in the Night, these stories come alive, as Oriana saw for herself after she inadvertently trespassed into the Secret Market of the Dead, where vendors hawk Moira to those desperate enough to accept its immeasurably steep price. Years later, when her father chooses her twin brother to succeed him, Oriana challenges her sibling to a series of trials to determine the forge&’s true heir. But as the twins&’ fierce competition escalates, with the town and her own family set firmly against her, Oriana realizes that to break free from the stifling confines of Day, she must once again embrace the Night—and, as always, everything comes with a cost.
The Year of Dating Myself: How My Solo Tour Healed More Than Just My Heartbreak
by Abby RosmarinFans of Eat, Pray, Love and Wild will love this heartwarming memoir in which the main character is her own hero.Abby knew her pattern all too well: get her heart broken, swear off dating, find a man &“worth&” breaking that vow for . . . Rinse. Repeat. However, after leaving a particularly traumatic relationship, Abby realized that something had to change if she wanted to kick the pattern. One night while purchasing a solo concert ticket, an epiphany was born: she needed a year in which she was her own dating interest. One full year to give herself the care and consideration that she once gave to romantic partners. A year to treat herself the way she wished a partner would. A year where she stepped outside of her comfort zone and broke free from codependency. The Year of Dating Myself: How My Solo Tour Healed More Than Just My Heartbreak is a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit and the capacity to heal after heartbreak. What started out as a way to refocus her priorities quickly developed into something far bigger than she could&’ve ever predicted. The year became a chance to reconnect with her ailing mother, get answers to her biggest genetic fear, remember the power of friendship, and realize all the inner strength that she had all along. She once spent years waiting for her fairytale prince to come and save her. In this story, the princess saves herself.
Bottom of the Breath: A Novel
by Jayne MillsFor fans of Liane Moriarty and Maria Semple, this contemporary debut novel weaves together romance, mystery, and adventure as a woman travels to the Grand Canyon seeking answers after uncovering an old family secret.After crashing into a devastating revelation, Cyd&’s tranquil life on the Florida panhandle is further upended when she receives a letter announcing an inheritance from an estranged aunt. The inheritance contains mysterious &“items of a personal nature&” which Cyd must collect in person halfway across the country. In a last attempt to salvage her deteriorating marriage, Cyd agrees to travel with her husband on what he promises—and she questions—will be the trip of a lifetime. As they set out, a hurricane threatens their hometown. Soon, fueled by the growing threat of the storm and the tension brewing between them, the couple&’s long-suppressed problems erupt. Cyd digs deep for the courage to continue the journey on her own, unsure if either her home or her marriage will survive. Once in Phoenix, Cyd learns the strange details of the inheritance and a decades-old family secret. But what was the whole truth? Clues and instinct lead Cyd to Sedona and then to the Grand Canyon. She descends into the vast chasm alone searching for answers to newly raised questions and age-old mysteries. She steps off the beaten path, literally, knowing she must make peace with her pain-filled past and her uncertain future.
Such Good People: A Novel
by Amy BlumenfeldAn emotionally gripping, character-driven novel about the ripple effect of a split-second decision to protect a friend.&“A poignant story of love, loss, loyalty, and being torn between right and wrong. You won&’t be able to put this one down.&”—Emily Liebert, USA Today best-selling author of Pretty Revenge&“One of those multi-dimensional must-reads that wins both as a page-turning legal story about social injustice, prejudice and redemption, and an emotional character-driven tale of love, family, and lifelong friendship. Fans of Tayari Jones&’ An American Marriage, Rebecca Searles&’ In Five Years, and Allison Larkin&’s The People We Keep will devour Amy Blumenfeld&’s latest triumph. Such Good People is Such a Good Book!&”—Samantha Greene Woodruff, best-selling author of The Lobotomist&’s Wife and The Trade OffIt&’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday in the spring of her freshman year of college, and April is standing at the back of a crowded Manhattan bar waiting for her friend, Rudy, to arrive. Their eyes lock the moment he enters the room, and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever. Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, he&’s incarcerated. And within months, she meets Peter, a prodigious young attorney who makes her world recognizable again. Nearly fifteen years later, April is happily living in Chicago married to Peter, a mother of three with a fulfilling career and standing yoga date with her girlfriends. On the eve of Peter&’s election for local office, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines explode about April&’s past, jeopardizing Peter&’s campaign and everything they hold dear. Suddenly, April is faced with an impossible choice: protecting the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life a possibility. Such Good People is a captivating portrait of blurred lines, divided loyalties, and what it means to love purely, steadfastly, and interminably.
Intelligent Computing: Proceedings of the 2025 Computing Conference, Volume 2 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #1424)
by Kohei AraiThis book compiles a curated selection of insightful, rigorously researched, and state-of-the-art papers presented at the Computing Conference 2025, hosted in London, UK, on June 19–20, 2025. Drawing submissions from across the globe, the conference received 473 papers, each subjected to a stringent double-blind peer-review process. Of these, 169 papers were accepted for inclusion, reflecting exceptional scholarship and innovation across disciplines such as IoT, artificial intelligence, computing, data science, networking, data security, and privacy. Researchers, academics, and industry leaders converged to share pioneering ideas, transformative methodologies, and practical solutions to real-world challenges. By bridging academic theory and industrial application, the conference catalyzed opportunities for knowledge synthesis and interdisciplinary progress. The diverse contributions within this proceedings not only address contemporary technological issues but also anticipate future trends, offering frameworks for continued exploration. We trust this collection will serve as an indispensable reference for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers navigating the evolving landscapes of computing and digital innovation. As we reflect on the conference&’s outcomes, we are confident that the insights and collaborations forged here will inspire sustained advancements in these critical fields. May the ideas within these pages spark further inquiry, drive technological evolution, and contribute meaningfully to solving the challenges of our interconnected world.
Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever
by Joseph CoxWritten &“in the manner of a good crime thriller&” (The Wall Street Journal), the inside story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever, in which the FBI created its own tech start-up to wiretap the world In 2018, a powerful app for secure communications called Anom took root among organized criminals. They believed Anom allowed them to conduct business in the shadows. Except for one thing: it was secretly run by the FBI. Backdoor access to Anom and a series of related investigations granted American, Australian, and European authorities a front-row seat to the underworld. Tens of thousands of criminals worldwide appeared in full view of the same agents they were trying to evade. International smugglers. Money launderers. Hitmen. A sprawling global economy as efficient and interconnected as the legal one. Officers watched drug shipments and murder plots unfold, making arrests without blowing their cover. But, as the FBI started to lose control of Anom, did the agency go too far? A painstakingly investigated exposé, Dark Wire reveals the true scale and stakes of this unprecedented operation through the agents and crooks who were there. This fly-on-the-wall thriller is a caper for our modern world, where no one can be sure who is listening in.