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Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet
As populations fall and once-great migration multitudes wither away, the future of birds may seem grim. But surprisingly, from gnatcatchers and waterfowl to select groups of forest songbirds, some bird populations are soaring. Habitats and species that once neared extinction are now multiplying around the world because bird conservation is making things better.
The Return of the Oystercatcher explores the recovery efforts that are not only preventing declines in bird population, but helping birds to thrive. From the spectacular recovery of North American raptors, whose numbers have tripled in the last fifty years, to the mind-bending resurgence of the Canada goose in Maine--which increased its population by 146,000 percent during the same period--Scott Weidensaul shares amazing stories of hope and progress in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Weidensaul also depicts the initiatives at the heart of this recovery, from the hyperlocal to the hemispherically immense: wetlands restoration, raptor protection, and bans on harmful pesticides, as well as the US Farm Bill and the preservation of sovereign lands by Indigenous communities. The result is a roadmap of breathtaking environmental resilience in some of the most unlikely places, including a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific, the vast boreal forest that stretches across Canada, a hereditary estate in England, and a watery wilderness at the edge of a Ukrainian war zone.
Because birds are so diverse, so ubiquitous, and cover virtually every square mile of the Earth's surface, the fight to save the birds is also one to save the world. The Return of the Oystercatcher is an inspiring story of what's working in bird conservation--and what can work for the rest of the planet.
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First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads
Acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan tells the story of baseball in America, from its rough-and-tumble origins through the first decades of the twentieth century and into the pivotal summer of 1933--when national crisis and a sport's fight for survival converged in baseball's first All-Star Game
1933. America was still reeling from the crash. Breadlines stretched around city blocks, and shantytowns sprawled in the shadows of skyscrapers. American optimism was fading--and baseball was in trouble, too. Owners slashed budgets, fans stayed home, and even the mighty Babe Ruth seemed to have lost some of his magic. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt offered hope, but just days before his inauguration, five shots rang out--missing the president-elect, killing the mayor of Chicago, and setting in motion a chain of events that would eventually bring together the world's best ballplayers for the first All-Star Game.
It was a newspaperman's idea: The Game of the Century. Put the world's best players on one field and let the public decide who belonged there. At a moment when some feared the national pastime would not survive the decade, Chicago would host the ballgame as the highlight of the 1933 World's Fair. The city hoped to shed its reputation as a haven for gamblers and gangsters and help restore America's standing on the world stage. But abroad, dark clouds were gathering. Hitler was Germany's new chancellor, and Mussolini had consolidated his power. As visitors strolled the fairgrounds, Italian warplanes flew overhead, and a zeppelin sent by the German delegation circled the city emblazoned with a swastika.
The First All-Star Game is the story of a nation and a sport at a crossroads, and a sweeping look back at baseball's early history and the America that shaped it. Deeply researched and filled with remarkable characters--legendary players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Lefty Grove rubbing shoulders with Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, and Charles Lindbergh--Randall Sullivan explores the history of an American obsession and captures the moment when both the sport and the nation found renewal in a single spectacle of hope.
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My Name Was Gerry Sass
The Sopranos meets Six Feet Under in this thrilling debut crime novel about the killing of a hitman-for-hire, his daughter who wants revenge, and a priest who accidentally witnessed everything
Gerry Sass is not who he appears to be. On the surface, he is the proud owner of a local country music station outside of Mystic, Iowa. Beneath it, he's a mob-connected hitman-for-hire who launders money through the station WIOA.
One morning in 1986, his life of crime catches up to him when two men march him out into the woods and shoot him in the back of the head. Plunged into purgatory, he's doomed to a painful examination of his life. Unbeknownst to the assassins, Gerry's closest friend, a Catholic priest named Father Dan, witnesses his execution yet does nothing to stop it.
Meanwhile, Gerry's daughter, Early, jumps into his prized Mustang with a thirst for revenge. On her adrenaline-fueled hunt, she comes to realize that she's more like Gerry than she ever chose to admit.
Alternating between the voices of a grieving and adrenaline-fueled daughter, a guilt-ridden priest with no one he can trust, and the voice of a dead killer not quite yet gone, My Name Was Gerry Sass exposes the complicated natures of family, grief, and God in this propulsive and darkly funny novel.
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Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran
A moving and harrowing portrait of the lives of Iranians across five decades, tracing the promise of the 1979 Iranian revolution, its betrayal by forces of autocracy, and a people's undying spirit of resistance "The best book to understand Iran today. . . . impossible to put down."
--EDWARD FISHMAN, author of Chokepoints "A masterwork of reporting. . . . a kind of skeleton key for understanding the present moment."
--JONATHAN BLITZER, author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here "One of the most incisive works on Iranian society in a generation."
--SCOTT ANDERSON, author of King of Kings In 1979, a revolution in Iran swept aside a monarchy, fueled by the Iranian people's dreams of social justice and political freedom. But in the years that followed, the movement's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and his acolytes instead built a system that served their narrow faction and worsened beyond imagination the brutality and corruption that had existed under the previous government. In Stolen Revolution, award-winning journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin tell the entwined stories of six Iranians who, together, have lived the arc of modern Iranian history in all its bitter twists and enduring hopes. We meet Mehdi Karroubi, a devotee of Khomeini, who rose to the heights of power before being cast out of the inner circle. Hila Sedighi, a young activist, gave voice through her poetry to her peers' hopes and shattered dreams. Amir Moghadam, an ambitious government bureaucrat, witnessed corruption and graft on a scale that impelled him to take enormous risks to expose the truth. Said Rahmani returned to Iran to spark a start-up boom in his native country and encountered a ruthless security state. And Rozhin Yousefzadeh and Kosar Eftekhari, both born in the 1990s, joined a mass movement that confronted a ferocious state apparatus: the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. All have paid an enormous price for resisting the government's strangling rule. Today, Iran is caught between crisis and hope. In this vivid and unforgettable narrative, Stolen Revolution centers ordinary Iranians and their destiny, and conveys a gutting view of life in a modern authoritarian state.Sold out -
Buried in a Book (Main)
Bookshop owner Charley James is plunged into a mystery involving a rare book worth killing for in this new Cozy Bookshop Mystery by award-winning and national bestselling author T.C. LoTempio.
No treats but lots of tricks and murder! Retired thriller author and current bookshop owner Charley James is preparing for Halloween in her small hometown of Austin, Pennsylvania--what she isn't prepared for is discovering the body of a woman at the local inn. Charley recognizes the stranger as a suspicious customer who popped in just to hide a rather peculiar book at her store--did she already know she was about to lose her life for it? Pursuing this mysterious case, Charley can't seem to stay out of trouble, and no one knows this better than Detective Hottie, Ian Grant. But Charley has a mind of her own and, together with cat Poe, sets off on another puzzle-riddled quest, unaware that the killer might be someone she knows . . . "If you've ever wondered what it would be like to read a Hallmark Mystery movie in book format, wonder no more" (Cozy Crime Mystery). For fans of Laura Childs's Tea Shop Mysteries, Jenn McKinlay's Library Lover's Mysteries, and Ellery Adams's Secret, Book & Scone Society Novels. -
Boy in the Wall (Main)
The discovery of a missing boy's body uncovers cruel schemes in this twisty, fast-paced K-9 thriller series set in the Windy City of Chicago.
What if the past won't let you go? It was supposed to be a fun dog demo day for the students at Henry Horner Elementary School in Chicago--but when Cory Pratt's cadaver dogs sniff out the body of a missing teenage boy wedged into the wall of the cafeteria, his family's life is shattered. It seems like tragedy follows the Shortridges. With the eldest son having taken his life a few years earlier, Patrick being found mutilated and murdered devastates the whole clan further. Now everyone is fearing for seven-year-old sister Charlotte. When a kidnapping attempt on the young girl fails, Cory and his detective sister Crystal are sure someone is targeting the Shortridges. But who is behind these savage attacks and why would someone want to kill off such a seemingly unassuming family? "A mighty impressive thriller" (Booklist on The Dead Years), perfect for fans of action-packed K-9 mystery series, such as Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries, Paula Munier's Mercy Carr Mysteries and Susan Furlong's Bone Gap Travellers Mysteries. -
Death Stalks Glevum (Main)
"A mastery of period detail matches the engrossing plot . . . Brilliant " Publishers Weekly Starred Review of The Rewards of Treachery
On his way to see the Emperor's spy, Junio is distracted by something even more unpleasant . . .
Glevum, Britannia, 200 AD. Britannia is still reeling from the brutal Succession Wars. After the defeat and execution of Britannia's governor, Clodius Albinus, Emperor Severus is determined to seek out his enemies in the Roman Empire's northernmost outpost. In such troubled times, the arrival of the plague and the activities of Appius Limpnus, a suspected spy for Emperor Severus, are the last thing Glevum needs. Senior magistrate Marcus Septimus asks Libertus's adopted son Junio to keep an eye on Appius by creating a mosaic outside his property. But when Junio discovers two bodies near the road on his way to Appius's townhouse, he is reluctantly diverted to investigating another mystery. Suddenly Junio must navigate a deadly trail of spying, scheming and betrayal that leads to a killer . . . This smartly plotted, evocative and engaging historical mystery set in Roman Britain at the start of the 3rd century will appeal to fans of LINDSEY DAVIS, STEVEN SAYLOR and DAVID WISHART. -
Rebel Diet Meal Prep Cookbook: Eat Healthier, Save Money, Lose Weight
The companion to the bestselling The Rebel Diet, with new recipes and nine meal prep plans to help you lose weight. If you're tired of restrictive diets that leave you feeling hungry and deprived, or if you struggle to stay on track and maintain a healthy body weight, meal prep just might be the answer you've been seeking. Benji Xavier, the bestselling author of The Rebel Diet, invites you to simplify your approach to achieving a healthier body weight through meal prep. Benji's own journey took him from feeling tired and unhealthy to losing over 100 pounds, and meal prep played a significant role in his success. The Rebel Diet Meal Prep Cookbook will show how to create delicious, healthier versions of the foods you already love while saving time and money in the process. This companion cookbook to bestselling The Rebel Diet is packed with all brand-new recipes and nine unique meal prep plans, each designed to make healthy eating accessible and--more importantly--enjoyable. Each prep plan features four recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a sweet treat) along with three alternative recipes that can be swapped in to match your tastes. Every prep plan includes a comprehensive shopping list and step-by-step guide to help you plan your prep day. Benji includes tips for ingredient shopping and customizing prep plans, and he emphasizes a flexible approach that will enable you to make just a few, or an entire week's worth of meals, according to your needs. And in true Benji fashion, the flavors are bold, exciting, and never boring; you will find meals to satisfy every craving, such as Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese (Comfort Foods Meal Prep), Turkey-Potato Taco Bowls (Latin-Inspired Meal Prep), and Pancakes at Tiffany's (Vegetarian Meal Prep). It's time to redefine your thinking about eating healthy by using meal prep to build a more sustainable path to a healthier, happier you.Sold out -
Sold outJellyfish Problem
A marine biologist makes the discovery of a lifetime when called to rescue the inhabitants of a small Maine island being menaced by a giant, glowing jellyfish in this richly imagined, wholly original debut. Dr. Jo Ness prefers jellyfish to people. Her best friend, Aldo, was the exception, but he died seven months ago. So she spends her days hidden away at an underfunded aquarium with her specimens and a draft of the jellyfish guide she and Aldo had been working on together. His voice is alive in the notes in the margins, and it's enough. Almost. Until she receives a call from Nadia, one of the few other humans she's loved but whom she hasn't heard from in years, asking for her help. Nadia tells her a grand tale of a giant jellyfish terrorizing her tiny island off the coast of Maine and sends a grainy video of the creature. Frankly, the footage looks fake, but Jo drops everything to fly across the country to see Nadia again, and to find this supposed sea beast. She couldn't save Aldo, but perhaps she can help Nadia. But when Jo arrives on Shattering Point, Nadia is nowhere to be found, and the islanders she meets each have something different to say about the creature they've dubbed Clementine . . . a jellyfish who changes all who see it. At turns an ode to classic sea monster stories and a vibrant tale of human connection, The Jellyfish Problem is an unforgettable debut that announces a new talent.Sold out -
When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class
From one of the most electric and consequential figures to emerge from the contemporary American labor movement, the remarkable story of his battle to create the first Amazon union in the U.S. and a powerful call to arms on behalf of the working class "With candor and fierce moral clarity, Chris Smalls takes readers behind the scenes of the most consequential labor uprising in modern history--and it's one hell of a ride." --Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland In the early days of the Covid pandemic, warehouse worker Chris Smalls and his colleagues continued showing up as the rest of the world was shutting down. A dedicated and experienced Amazon employee, increasingly frustrated by the inner workings of the retail giant, Smalls had already felt himself reaching a breaking point. So, when coworkers around him began falling ill, and with no transparency or assurances of safety coming from those in charge, he made the only choice left available to him. He staged a walkout with friend Derrick Palmer, eventually finding himself on the picket line without a job. But what began as a demand to keep essential employees safe in a crisis would grow into a movement devoted to achieving dignity and security for the American wage worker, sparking a groundswell of organizers at the most notable companies across the nation--including Starbucks, Trader Joe's, and Apple--and leading to lasting change for labor. When the Revolution Comes is the riveting inside story of how a young Black man from Hackensack, NJ with little-to-no resources led a scrappy band of Staten Island warehouse workers in an improbable fight against Amazon, the second largest private employer in the U.S., and won. This epic David-and-Goliath tale traces Smalls' dramatic story, from a childhood spent navigating his dad's stints in and out of prison to his early pursuits of a career in music; from his years of sacrifice and economic uncertainty as a father of three, fighting a miasma of warehouse managerial politics in an effort to make ends meet, to his ascension as the leader of a new generation's labor movement. A deeply personal and eye-opening account of the creation of the Amazon Labor Union, When the Revolution Comes is both a searing exposé of what it's like to be working class in America today as well as the empowering story of what is possible when the overworked, underpaid, and disempowered join together, a movement born in community.Sold out -
Power Lines: Maps That Shaped the Way We See the World
A collection of the greatest political maps in history and how these images have an unmatched power to influence our thinking--and our world. -
Ambition Penalty: How Corporate Culture Tells Women to Step Up--And Then Pushes Them Down
For women disillusioned by the failed promises of girl power, a data-driven guide that reveals the hidden forces still fueling gender inequality at work.
We spoke up. We took charge. We asked for more. But where has it actually left us? Not only are generations of women more burned-out than ever, but the gender pay gap has barely budged in decades.
In The Ambition Penalty, journalist Stefanie O'Connell presents a deeply researched and sometimes shocking look at the ways women remain passed over and excluded, not for a lack of ambition but because of it. She calls it "the ambition penalty"--the sum of the financial, personal, and professional costs women face for daring to want more.
The Ambition Penalty dismantles the myth that women are less ambitious than their male peers and debunks common claims--like women aren't confident enough and don't negotiate enough--used to justify stubborn gender gaps in power. This book reveals why decades of educational gains and empowerment messages have not translated into corresponding advances for women at work or at home.
The Ambition Penalty gives women the talking points they can use to call out these biases and lays out proven practices for leaders and allies committed to cultivating environments where women's ambitions are supported, rewarded, and celebrated.
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Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made
Two iconic dynasties--the Kennedys and the Windsors--whose glamour and ambition defined an era. ** For fans of FX's new Ryan Murphy limited series Love Story. ** For nearly a century, two families an ocean apart have captured the world's collective imagination: the British Windsors and the American Kennedys. Much ink has been spilled on their individual trysts, tragedies, and triumphs over the years, but no one has examined their powerful and intertwined legacies. Until now. In The Kennedys and the Windsors, acclaimed journalist Caroline Hallemann unearths the story of two iconic families whose lives, ambitions, and respective reigns have mirrored each other in surprising ways. Through rich archival research and fresh interviews from insiders on both sides of the Atlantic, Hallemann reveals how an upstart Irish Catholic family with little access into elite New England society came to host dinner parties for a King and Queen, and forge an eventual path to the White House. In the process, she draws out some startling parallels between the two families: the style icons Princess Diana and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (both tragically gone too soon), the frustrated "second sisters" Princess Margaret and Lee Radziwill, the scandal-plagued next generation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the man formerly known as Prince Andrew, and the current generation's shared struggle to figure out what a monarchy (actual or imagined) means in the twenty-first century. From Queen Elizabeth's coronation to President Kennedy's historic London visit, from JFK Jr.'s shocking death to Prince Harry's decisive break with his family, Hallemann traces the key moments in the lives of these two dynasties through a fresh and fascinating lens, showing how they have intersected over the generations in ways that not only shaped their images and legacies, but history itself.Sold out -
Hidden Nations of Animals: A Grand Tour of Earth's Wild Civilizations
An instant classic of nature writing and breathtaking blueprint for a more expansive view of animalkind, inspired by the profound sense of awe that accompanies an expedition into unknown lands "Shatters the notion that humanity holds a monopoly on civilization." --Joaquin Phoenix "This book will leave you feeling like a vital member of the broader world of animals--a cosmopolitan citizen of the zoopolis." --Robert Moor From far-flung forest settlements in Canada's "beaver belt" to disputed territories of clashing Argentine ant armies, Ryan Huling's around-the-world odyssey takes us to places most people don't even know exist. Along the way, we meet renowned ecologists, anthropologists, geographers, and historians whose work has uncovered vast sub-Saharan tunnel complexes, booming animal metropolises nestled within the urban sprawl of the American Southwest, and ancient Silk Road-style migration routes that traverse the Eurasian Steppe. When humans settle in an area, it is deemed, by definition, populated. By contrast, the millions of other species we share this planet with have long been viewed as fleeting ephemera, living brief and transitory lives in "uninhabited" wilderness. Over the course of a year, Huling investigates how technology is rapidly changing that perception by deepening humanity's understanding of our fellow animals and their unique relationships with the land, air, and sea. His immersive account fuses with vivid full-color maps and hand-drawn sketches by award-winning cartographer Oliver Uberti, revealing a radically reimagined version of our world and illuminating its true contours for the first time.Sold out