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THE WINTER HEIR

Months after the events of The Claiming (2023), Summer faerie princess Lady Dew Drop, nicknamed “Dewy,” remains a captive of the Winter Fae. They’re confining her to their Winter Court until Spense Ferrous, an apprentice mage in the human kingdom Telridge, tracks down a missing Heir—the child of exiled Princess Snow. It’s a seemingly impossible task […]

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THE NEW ANTISEMITISM

In his careful delineation of the causes of the most recent flare-up of antisemitism, Lappin, a professor of natural language processing, first looks at the big-picture forces that are feeding much of global society’s grievances, including widespread anti-immigration sentiment and ethno-nationalism. As the author demonstrates, extremist movements—such as those whose members chant, “Jews will not […]

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MISO MAGIC

Waking up to the first snowfall of the year, Chiyoko wants to build a snowman, but Papa says there’s no time. Today, they’ll be going to the misogura, a wooden barn, to learn the family business of making miso. Throughout the day, Chiyoko and Papa clean the tubs, cook rice, sprinkle powder to make kōji […]

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THE NOTEBOOK

British publisher and diarist Allen brings his love of notebooks to a lively, wide-ranging history of bound blank pages. Notebooks, he writes, “interest me as a technology that has had tangible effects on the world around us.” The author started keeping a journal in 2002: “Writing a diary made me happier; keeping things-to-do lists made […]

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PARTISAN NATION

Noted political scientists Pierson, author of Winner-Take-All Politics, and Schickler, author of Racial Realignment, draw on their extensive scholarship to examine various periods of American history during which polarization was particularly virulent, yet held largely in check until the 1960s by the regional diversity of political mechanisms and institutions of state political parties, media, and […]

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LUNCH BUDDIES

What to do on this rainy Saturday? Poofy the dog and the nameless talking sandwich—both of whom readers will remember from the earlier book—convince Marco that video games are out (the sandwich lacks opposable thumbs), as is pranking sister Julia, who’s now a potential ally. Then the sun emerges, and Marco and the sandwich decide […]

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THE STALIN AFFAIR

On the huge canvas of World War II, the alliance between the Soviet Union and the British-U.S. partnership was crucial, but it came about only through a combination of diplomacy and desperation. So argues prolific historian Milton, author of Checkmate in Berlin, Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and other notable books of history. Churchill, in […]

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WHAT TIME THE SEXTON’S SPADE DOTH RUST

Flavia’s never been more alone. Her beloved father, Col. Haviland de Luce, has died, leaving her an orphan; her sister Ophelia is off on the grand tour with her bridegroom; and her sister Daffy (Daphne to the uninitiated) is bound for Oxford. Flavia would be entirely on her own if it weren’t for her father’s […]

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OUR BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS

The story begins, “Suddenly the lights went out”—and readers are plunged into the dark of night. The first-person narrator gathers the courage to ask their girl companion questions: “Don’t you think there’s something really beautiful about people?” “What do you think can fit in a person’s heart?” The conversation between the two ebbs and flows, […]

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CARLA’S GLASSES

Carla’s thrilled that Vision Screening Day’s approaching. She hopes she’ll need glasses because no one else in class wears them. Her friend Buster scoffs, “You like to be different.” Next day, Carla’s wearing self-made purple pipe-cleaner frames. She tells Buster she wants to see what styles and colors will flatter her when she gets real […]