Kaplan's Plot, by Jason Diamond
Elijah Mendes was hoping for a more triumphant return to Chicago. His mother, Eve, is dying of cancer, his business flamed out, and he has nowhere else to go. So he returns to Chicago feeling listless and shattered, worried about how he’s going to help his mother despite their chilly relationship. He finds some inspiration when he discovers that their family owns a Jewish cemetery and that a man he’s never heard of, his great-uncle Solomon Kaplan, is buried in a plot there. With a new sense of purpose—and an excuse to talk more deeply with his mother—Elijah begins pursuing a family mystery of extraordinary proportions.
Elijah discovers his grandfather Yitz, Eve’s father, was a powerful gangster in the 1920s. She was ashamed and never spoke about him to Elijah. As secrets unravel, the past and present become intertwined, and Yitz’s story forces Elijah and Eve to bond in ways they never have before and begin to accept each other, not as who they wish they were but as they both are.
The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes, by Chanel Cleeton
London, 2024: When American expat Margo Reynolds is hired to source a book that’s more than one hundred and twenty years old, she thinks her greatest challenge is going to be that there’s only one copy in existence. However, it quickly becomes clear that her client isn’t the only person determined to procure the book at any cost. Thrust into a deadly quest, Margo teams up with an unlikely ally—the man she loved and lost—and is forced to confront the ghosts of her own past as the lingering feelings that simmer between them ignite.
Havana, 1966: Pilar Castillo’s days are spent working as a librarian in Havana, her nights spent hoping for her husband’s freedom after his unjust imprisonment. But Pilar has a secret that could jeopardize her life. She’s fighting Fidel’s regime in her own way, and when she comes into possession of a book that was published more than sixty years earlier, she must decide how much she’s willing to risk to protect the literary works entrusted to her care.
Boston, 1900: For Cuban teacher Eva Fuentes, traveling from Havana to Harvard to participate in the largest cultural exchange between Cuba and the United States is not only a chance to represent her country at a critical time in its bid for independence, but also an opportunity to work on the book she’s writing. When a moonlit encounter with an enigmatic stranger alters the course of Eva’s summer at Harvard, and as secrets, lies, and forbidden love rise to the surface, Eva’s life—and legacy—is irrevocably changed.
The Lack of Light, by Nino Haratischwili
As the turbulent twentieth-century nears its end, calls for independence grow increasingly louder in the Soviet Georgia. During this period of great upheaval, childhood friends Keto, Dina, Nene, and Ira grow up in one of the many “Italian courtyards” that define Tbilisi’s Sololaki neighborhood. The four girls are as different as can be: Dina, the rebellious, daughter of an unconventional mother; Ira, the clever outsider; Nene, the romantic, and niece of the most powerful criminal in the city; and Keto, the sensitive, motherless waif. Rising up to challenges both personal and political —a first love that can only blossom in secret, violence that erupts in the wake of national independence, bloody street battles and civil wars, food rationing and power cuts—the four women’s friendship seems indestructible, until an unforgivable act of betrayal and a tragic death shatters their bond.
A woman who has left two husbands announces she will celebrate her 55th birthday by holding a swayamvar. Drawn from an ancient custom in her Indian culture, this is an event in which suitors line up to compete in a feat of wills and strength to win a beautiful princess’s hand in marriage. The woman, a renowned and respected intellectual in an American town who had once declared she was "past such petty matters as love" is setting herself up for widespread societal ridicule. But her self-esteem and sexual libido are off the charts even as her body withers from disability, fading beauty, and an appetite for cake.
Cécé, by Emmelie Prophète, Aidan Rooney (translator)
Cécé La Flamme, as she’s known by her loyal Facebook friends, captures photographs of still bodies. Figures scorched and bruised, left to the rubble of the Cité of Divine Power. When she posts an image of a corpse, Cécé’s followers skyrocket. “Nothing got more attention than a good corpse that was nice and warm or already rotting.” Just beside visions of rot and neglect, she posts pictures of her toes, gullies crisscrossing the cité, and her own lips painted blue. With every image, Cécé seeks control and wants to create a frank, intimate record of the terror in her cité.
Cécé’s world begins and ends with the cité – a slum peopled by gangs, yelping kids, grandmothers, junkies, and preachers. The very gate that encloses the cité was constructed by militant gang members. First boss Freddy, then Joël, then Jules César rule the gang that holds the cité in a chokehold. Sharp, sincere, and desperate, Cécé cleaves life for herself out of social media, sex work, and attempts at friendship with other women. When an American journalist offers to buy the rights to Cécé’s photographs, she demands double the cash. When an abusive former client dies, she wears hot pink to his funeral. Emmelie Prophète’s novel is fierce, devastating, and suggestive – a record of a woman clawing back control.
Minor Black Figures, by Brandon Taylor
A newcomer to New York, Wyeth is a Black painter who grew up in the South and is trying to find his place in the contemporary Manhattan art scene. It’s challenging. Gallery shows displaying bad art. Pretentious artists jockeying for attention. The gossip and the backstabbing. While his part-time work for an art restorer is engaging, Wyeth suffers from artist’s block with his painting and he is finding it increasingly difficult to spark his creativity. When he meets Keating, a white former seminarian who left the priesthood, Wyeth begins to reconsider how to observe the world, in the process facing questions about the conflicts between Black and white art, the white gaze on the Black body, and the compromises we make – in art and in life.
As he did so adeptly in Booker finalist Real Life and the bestselling The Late Americans, Brandon Taylor brings to life in Minor Black Figures a fascinating set of characters, this time in the competitive art world, and the lives they lead with each and on their own. Minor Black Figures is an involving and tender portrait of friendship, creativity, and the connections between them.
Every good parent wants to create relationships with their children that are filled with joy, connection, and healthy attachment. Yet well-meaning but traumatized parents--those who suffered as children or who are dealing with traumatic events as adults--tend to see the world from a survival point of view. If that's you, you might suspect that your own trauma is negatively influencing your parenting behaviors. Where can you turn for support and wisdom?
Post-Traumatic Parenting goes far beyond the fad social-media trends like "gentle" and "responsive" parenting to provide a clear, easy-to-follow, and substantive guide, offering both what to do and why it works, so traumatized parents can create the kind of relationship they want with their children of any age. In this book, you'll learn how to properly adjust your techniques and strategies, act in accordance with your defined parenting values, and, best of all, create your own survival strategies and flip them into your parenting superpower.
Experienced, renowned traumatic parenting expert, workshop leader, speaker, and founder of the Center for Psychological Growth, a large children's therapeutic practice in New Jersey, child psychologist Dr. Robyn Koslowitz directly explains exactly how every post-traumatic parent can reverse the damage from their own traumas and forge a strong, healthy relationship with their children. Finally, you can find true joy in the day-to-day of parenting. It's time to recognize that post-traumatic parenting is a deep, authentic, powerful healing journey. It features easy-to-follow instructions, along with simple tools, to help you effectively parent your children, no matter what happened in the past. Let Post-Traumatic Parenting help you break the cycle, enjoy the journey, and create healthy, joyful, dynamic, lasting relationships with your children. It is a singular guide to becoming the parent you always wanted to be.
Sunken Lands: A Journey Through Flooded Kingdoms and Lost Worlds, by Gareth E. Rees
From Stone Age lands that slipped beneath the English Channel to the rapid inundation of New Orleans, Gareth E. Rees explores stories of flooded places from the past – and those disappearing before our eyes.
The places lost to the eternally shifting boundaries between water and land continue to have a powerful emotional resonance today. Their uncertain features emerge to haunt us, briefly, when the moon draws back the tide to reveal a spire or a tree stump. And, imbued with myths and warnings from the past, these underwater worlds can also teach us important lessons about the unavoidability of change, the ebb and flow of Earth’s natural cycles, and the folly of trying to control them.
Sunken Lands peels back the layers of silt, sea and mythology to reveal what our submerged past can tell us about our imminent future as rising sea levels transform our planet once more.
Con artists are everywhere—your new boyfriend or girlfriend, your new neighbor or coworker, your new friend—and they don’t outsmart you; they out-feel you to get their hands on your money. In Anatomy of a Con Artist, Walton lays out “the tells” based on hundreds of real-life cases he’s investigated,
Red Flag #1—A Stranger Offering Someone new and overly helpful insinuates themselves into your life.
Red Flag #3—Drama, Drama, Constant dramatic “emergencies” to pull you in.
Red Flag #8—Beak Faux generosity—gifts, money, or favors to bring your guard down.
After being scammed out of nearly $100,000 by a devious con artist, Walton was turned away by police. Infuriated and armed with the investigative skills he’d gained from years as a TV reporter, Walton launched his own investigation and built a compelling criminal case authorities could not ignore. Walton got his con artist charged, prosecuted, and convicted, then devoted his life to helping other victims do the same. This book packs in all he has learned.
Some con artists scheme for money, some for attention, some just for the thrill of lying. And if you think it can’t happen to you, then you are exactly the kind of “mark” a professional con artist is looking for. With this insightful guide in your hands, you are far less likely to get conned and far more likely to spot these nefarious manipulators from a mile away—and cross the street when you see them coming.
Baking Across America: A Vintage Recipe Road Trip, by B. Dylan Hollis
From the deserts of the Southwest to the Green Mountains of Vermont, the USA is as sweet as it gets. In this tour de food, B. Dylan Hollis takes you on a delicious road trip to taste everything from the coffee-crazed creations of the Pacific Northwest to the larger-than-life sheet cakes of Texas.
You’ll be hitting the pavement in vintage style as Dylan leads you on a journey through the culture capitals of America to bring you the very best bakes the country has to offer. His retro recipes span the decades from the 1850s to the 1990s and feature famous (and infamous!) desserts from every state.
With his signature wry humor, Dylan explores the US and uncovers the history of nostalgic local favorites, including Whoopie Pies on the rocky Maine coast, Beignets in jazzy New Orleans, and Date Shakes blended up in a mid-century mansion in Palm Springs.