A talented guitarist, Melody Li arrives in Cassette City with her walls up and her headphones firmly on—but this analog town has other plans. A mushroom named Taki and a green raccoon called Snackwich will need help if they want to win the Battle of the Bands. Though Melody’s a loner, she’s eager to bring […]
For many fans, the consensus “big three” rappers are J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, distinct artists from different backgrounds and with a history of collaboration. And, more infamously, feuding: Beef entangling all three consumed much of 2024, culminating in Lamar’s savage Drake diss track, “Not Like Us,” which won him a Song of the […]
O’Brien, author of The Second Most Powerful Man in the World, offers an exploration of grand strategy: decisions by a supreme authority for actions beyond the command of military forces. Readers will learn more from stand-alone biographies of the author’s five subjects, but he provides solid overviews of their decision-making processes. All maintained that they […]
Canines became a fixture in Leone’s life in 1994, when her then-6-year-old son, Jesse, made it clear he wanted a dog. The author and her husband bought him a bichon frise puppy named Goody, and they nicknamed him the “Prince of Dogs.” Twelve years later—and a few months after Jesse passed away in his sleep […]
As the story goes (related years later by a friend of the writer), once when Franz Kafka was walking in a Berlin park, he met a mother whose child, Saskia, was in tears. Learning that the child had lost her doll Christiana, he began bringing her postcards he’d gathered in his travels with notes from […]
Nina, who was introduced in the first book as a new addition to Ellie’s friend group, hasn’t gelled equally with all the pals and is stirring up drama. The venue where Ellie’s friend Charlie wanted to hold her bat mitzvah party closed, so she may not get to celebrate after the religious service. This leads […]
Arlo Hatch is a lawyer specializing in business litigation. Though his love for Stella, the daughter of one of his clients, is a bright spot in his life, Arlo is disenchanted with his career and yearns for a change. After Arlo is unsuccessfully mugged, Kostya Kozlov—a former client who was recently released from prison—benevolently takes […]
Leah Covington, on her way home from the restaurant she runs with her uncle in Oklahoma City, survives a frightening assault. The assailant lands in jail, but Leah’s social life, even months later, has yet to recover. When she finally goes out with her little sister, Kayla, Leah reunites with the muscular, handsome police officer […]
Sir Kelton, Squire, and Shadow are escorting Cade to wizard school, but they keep returning to the same marked cairn. They encounter Sir Reynholm the Bold of Upper Claxtonbury, but the group is separated when a swarm of giant mosquitoes attack. Squire relies on his wits, survival skills, and flashback memories of a conversation with […]
Throughout her illustrious career, from her 1950s star-making Broadway debut as an understudy in Pajama Game to leading roles in acclaimed films like Some Came Running and The Apartment, Shirley MacLaine has diligently chronicled her life’s journey. Her bestselling memoirs, beginning with Don’t Fall Off the Mountain (1970) and including Out on a Limb (1983), […]