more days for kids across the country through First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that distributes books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families. This new #GiveaBook framework gives readers everywhere the power to give back and donate Penguin Random House books to students and educators in their local communities, continuing our mission to help nourish a passion for reading among the next generation of readers. The #GiveaBook campaign doesn’t stop at 100,000 books. Now through December 31, 2016, Penguin Random House is tripling the impact of donations made to First Book. Your donation through www.firstbook.org/prhcould help provide three times as many books to kids in local communities.  First Book can provide a new book to a child in need for just $3. Every $3 donated, online and off, will also be matched with an in-kind donation of two additional books from Penguin Random House. Penguin Random House celebrated the launch of #GiveaBook and the giving season by distributing books as gifts to readers at locations in New York, Maryland, Indiana and California. Through this cross-departmental effort, Emily Condlin has been leading the team driving the #GiveaBook 2016 campaign, highlighting the ongoing impact of our social responsibility programs. Thank you for joining us in celebrating the positive power of books and reading this holiday season. Stay tuned for more campaign updates and for shareable social media assets to help spread the word.

    IN SUCH GOOD COMPANY: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, And Fun in The Sandbox by Carol Burnett, narrated by the author (Random House Audio; Produced by Aaron Blank; Crown Archetype Print & E-book)       M TRAIN by Patti Smith, narrated by the author (Random House Audio; Produced by Orli Moscowitz; Knopf Print & E- book)       UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN: A Personal History of L.A. Punk by John Doe with Tom DeSavia, narrated by the authors and a full cast (Random House Audio; Produced by Dan Zitt; Da Capo Press Print & E-book)       UNFAITHFUL MUSIC & DISAPPEARING INK by Elvis Costello, narrated by the author (Penguin Audio; Produced by Dan Zitt; Blue Rider Press Print & E-book)     Penguin Random House Audio titles have previously received 39 GRAMMY® nominations and 13 GRAMMY® Awards. The 59th Annual GRAMMY® Awards will be presented Sunday, February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles. We are thrilled for our Audio colleagues and author/narrators.

a water-spraying salute from firetrucks. As travel to Cuba ramps up so has an interest in its culture, history and politics. With that in mind, we’ve curated the following fine fiction and nonfiction to do with the intriguing island nation.   FEATURED TITLES   ¡CUBA!: RECIPES AND STORES FROM THE CUBAN KITCHEN by Dan Goldberg, Andrea Kuhn and Jody Eddy As the borders of Cuba continue to relax, more tourists are flooding in to find a country that is rich in history and steeped in tradition. Award-winning photographer Dan Goldberg has been visiting and photographing Cuba for almost a decade. Packed with 75 approachable and delectable recipes for classic Cuban dishes; essays on Cuba’s culture, history, and politics, and hundreds of breathtaking photos, ¡CUBA! offers readers a unique opportunity to dive into the food and culture of this vibrant country.   THE ROUGH GUIDE TO CUBA Discover all of Cuba’s highlights with insider information ranging from Cuba’s diverse music, Scuba diving, and colonial architecture to its world-class ballet and baseball, political history and captivating capital city, Havana. Clear maps make your travels around this spectacular country easy and unforgettable.   CUBANO BE, CUBANO BOP: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF JAZZ IN CUBA by Leonardo Acosta, Paquito D’Rivera, Daniel S. White Based on unprecedented research in Cuba, the direct testimony of scores of Cuban musicians, and the author’s unique experience as a prominent jazz musician, CUBANO BE, CUBANO BOP is destined to take its place among the classics of jazz history. The work pays tribute not only to a distinguished lineage of Cuban jazz musicians and composers, but also to the rich musical exchanges between Cuban and American jazz throughout the twentieth century.   THE BOYS FROM DOLORES: FIDEL CASTRO’S SCHOOLMATES FROM REVOLUTION TO EXILE by Patrick Symmes At once sweeping and intimate, this remarkable history is a tour de force investigation of the world that gave birth to Fidel Castro – and the world his Cuban Revolution left behind.   BACARDI AND THE LONG FIGHT FOR CUBA by Tom Gjelten In this widely hailed book, NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten fuses the story of the Bacardi family and their famous rum business with Cuba’s tumultuous experience over the last 150 years to produce a deeply entertaining historical narrative.   SELECTED WRITINGS by Jose Marti José Martí (1853-1895) is the most renowned political and literary figure in the history of Cuba. A poet, essayist, orator, statesman, abolitionist, and the martyred revolutionary leader of Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain, Martí lived in exile in New York for most of his adult life, earning his living as a foreign correspondent. Throughout the 1880s and early 1890s, Martí’s were the eyes through which much of Latin America saw the United States.   BEFORE NIGHT FALLS: A MEMOIR by Reinaldo Arenas The shocking memoir by visionary Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas “is a book above all about being free,” said The New York Review of Books–sexually, politically, artistically. Arenas recounts a stunning odyssey from his poverty-stricken childhood in rural Cuba and his adolescence as a rebel fighting for Castro, through his suppression as a writer, imprisonment as a homosexual, his flight from Cuba via the Mariel boat lift, and his subsequent life and the events leading to his death in New York.   DREAMING IN CUBAN by Cristina García Here is the dreamy and bittersweet story of a family divided by politics and geography by the Cuban revolution. It is the family story of Celia del Pino, and her husband, daughter and grandchildren, from the mid-1930s to 1980.   THE ISLAND OF ETERNAL LOVE by Daina Chaviano Alone in a city that haunts her, far from her family, her history, and the island she left behind, Cecelia seeks refuge in a bar in Little Havana where a mysterious old woman’s fascinating tale keeps Cecelia returning night after night.   THE SUGAR KING OF HAVANA : THE RISE AND FALL OF JULIO LOBO, CUBA’S LAST TYCOON by John Paul Rathbone Drawing on stories from the author’s own family history and other tales of the island’s lost haute bourgeoisie, THE SUGAR KING OF HAVANA is a rare portrait of Cuba’s glittering past—and a hopeful window into its future.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   THE RED UMBRELLA by Christina Gonzalez This a moving tale of a 14-year-old girl’s journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan—an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro’s revolution.   For more on these and related titles visit the edelweiss collection: Cuba

THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR is Yoon’s second novel and widely regarded as a stunning follow-up to her 2015 YA hit, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, which will make the jump to the big screen in August of 2017 and will star Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson. Buzz for Yoon’s second novel was high in the months leading up to the publication of THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR on November 1. It was featured everywhere from The New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2016 list, to Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine. It is currently #6 on The New York Times bestsellers list for young adult hardcovers. Kirkus, USA Today, Time Magazine, Buzzfeed, and so many others have all given it glowing reviews. This book is inspired by Big History (to learn about one thing, you have to learn about everything). In THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR, to understand the characters and their love story, we must know everything around them and everything that came before them that has affected who they are and what they experience. Two teens–Daniel, the son of Korean shopkeepers, and Natasha, whose family is here illegally from Jamaica–cross paths in New York City on an eventful day in their lives–Daniel is on his way to a college interview with a Yale alum, Natasha is meeting with a lawyer to try and prevent her family’s deportation to Jamaica–and fall in love. In one of this book’s many starred reviews, Booklist praised Yoon, saying that THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR is “lyrical and sweeping, full of hope, heartbreak, fate…and the universal beating of the human heart.”

1.     #GiveABook and Change a Life

This holiday season, Penguin Random House is giving you 5 books in your honor to donate to your community through our third annual #GiveaBook holiday campaign. With your help, we have donated more than 85,000 books to children in need across the country through #Giveabook since its inception in 2014. This year, we’re donating an additional 50,000 books to children nationwide through First Book. Click here to claim 5 of these 50,000 books for your local students and teachers today.

2.     Help Young Readers Get Ahead with Read Ahead

Read Ahead ignites a love of reading in young students in New York City through mentoring, improving their confidence as well as their odds for success in school and life. Help nourish a passion for reading early in life by making a one-time or recurring contribution through their Page Turners program.

3.     Share a Bedtime Story with Worldreader

Reading to kids throughout their childhoods has a lasting and powerful impact on their future. This holiday season, join Worldreader, the innovative nonprofit that uses technology to bring digital books to every child and their family, to help give the gift of a bedtime story to kids around the globe. Watch how Penguin Random House Author Ambassador Tad Hills is spreading the joy of books and reading around the world. Make a donation of any size and your contribution will go towards making a collection of ebooks free, so that families around the world can read to their children.

4.     Buy One, Give One with Penguin Random House and Zulily

This year, get your holiday shopping done on zulily and help children in need across the country. Beginning on #CyberMonday on November 28 and throughout the holiday season Penguin Random House will donate one book for every Penguin Random House book sold on zulily. Look for the special Buy One, Give One badge for qualifying items and give the gift of reading to kids in need across the country.

5.     Give a Gift of Joy with Save the Children

Browse Save the Children’s Gifts of Joy Catalog to find your perfect #GivingTuesday gift. Choose to educate a girl for just $75 and you’ll give the gift of books, resources, and access to an education. For less than 20 cents a day, you can change a girl’s life forever.

6.     Help to Defend Freedom of Expression with PEN America

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the US and worldwide. Support PEN America and their efforts to champion the freedom to write and to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Join Penguin Random House in supporting PEN America and become a member today.

7.     Support the Literary Community with Poets and Writers

Poets and Writers is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers. By subscribing to the Poets and Writers magazine and becoming a member at any level, you can help the non-profit with their mission to foster the professional development of poets and writers, promote communication throughout the literary community, and help create an environment in which the widest possible public can appreciate literature.

8.     Support UJA and Help People in need.

Contribute to the UJA Federation of New York today and your support will have a global effect. Each year, UJA’s work touches 4.5 million people in more than 70 countries through a network of more than 100 charitable organizations. Donate today and visit their new volunteer website, www.timeforgood.org, to find meaningful volunteer projects around New York City in the five boroughs, Westchester and LI.

9.     Put Girls First and Donate to the Malala Fund

Join Malala Yousafzai’s #YesAllGirls movement and make a donation to support education programs for girls around the world. In her words, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.” Help make it happen.

10.     Support Jumpstart and Make a Difference

Because every child deserves a jump start, donate now and your gift will support Jumpstart’s early education program, providing children who are at risk of failing school with the support they need to be successful in preschool and ready for life. Celebrate #GivingTuesday by sharing this story on social media.

This holiday season, zulily’s campaign will benefit First Book, a Penguin Random House partner and nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books and educational resources to kids nationwide, and Treehouse, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to giving children and teens in the foster care system the essentials they need to succeed in school and in life. Penguin Random House is proud to partner with zulily as the exclusive source of books to both First Book and Treehouse. For every Penguin Random House book sold on zulily we will donate one book to First Book, throughout the holiday season beginning #CyberMonday, November 28. Look for the special Buy One, Give One badge for qualifying books and give the gift of a bedtime story. In addition to our contributions to First Book, Penguin Random House will also provide Treehouse with books to offer for free to kids and teens in the Seattle foster care system throughout the holiday season. Read more about zulily’s campaign here. Celebrate #GivingTuesday by sharing this story on social media.

children in need across the country through our #GiveaBook holiday season campaign since its inception in 2014. This year, we are donating an additional 50,000 books to First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books and educational resources to children from low-income families. We’re giving readers the chance to claim 5 of these 50,000 books for students in their home states. To claim yours and support your community visitwww.penguinrandomhouse.com/giveabook, complete the form, and Penguin Random House and First Book will make 5 books available to students and educators near you. Tomorrow on Giving Tuesday, our Penguin Random House colleagues in New York, Maryland, Indiana and California will celebrate the campaign kickoff by distributing more than 1,500 free books as gifts to readers in their home towns. Be sure to snap a picture and share using the hashtag #Giveabook to spread the word. Thank you for joining us in celebrating the positive power of books and reading this holiday season, and helping to create our next generation of readers. Stay tuned to Igloo to learn more about the campaign and for shareable social media assets to hep spread the word. Visit www.penguinrandomhouse.com/giveabook to #GiveaBook and give back.

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving – a secular holiday originally celebrated as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. What follows is a selection of books to help us all have “an attitude of gratitude” for each other, nature’s bounty and, of course, books!   FEATURED TITLES   GRATITUDE by Oliver Sacks No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks. During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death. Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.   THE GRATITUDE DIARIES: HOW A YEAR LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT SIDE CAN TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE by Janice Kaplan Former Parade Editor-in-Chief, Janice Kaplan spends a year living gratefully and transforms her marriage, family life, work and health. Through extensive interviews with experts and lively conversations with real people including celebrities like Matt Damon, Daniel Craig, and Jerry Seinfeld, Kaplan discovers the role of gratitude in everything from our sense of fulfillment to our children’s happiness.   A YEAR OF DAILY GRATITUDE: A GUIDED JOURNAL FOR CREATING THANKFULNESS EVERY DAY by Lorraine Miller Thoughtful quotations, easy-to-follow exercises and meditations, and space to record personal reflections offers a personalized path to inner peace. Filled with inspiring images and organized around monthly themes like growth, faith, and perspective, this guided journal is as visually palliative as it is emotionally rewarding.   TIES THAT BIND: STORIES OF LOVE AND GRATITUDE FROM THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF STORYCORPS by Dave Isay TIES THAT BIND honors the people who nourish and strengthen us. StoryCorps founder Dave Isay draws from ten years of the revolutionary oral history project’s rich archives, collecting conversations that celebrate the power of the human bond and capture the moment at which individuals become family.   THANKS HELP WOW: THE THREE ESSENTIAL PRAYERS by Anne Lamott It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.   THE LITTLE BOOK OF THANKS: A GIFT OF JOY AND APPRECIATION by Anne Rogers Smyth With inspiring words of gratitude, this tiny book with a great big message, helps us recognize the people who make our lives brighter and our hearts lighter. Enlightening quotes and short writings paired with adorable animal photos provide the perfect way to acknowledge everyone who makes a difference: a parent, friend, sibling, spouse, colleague, teacher, mentor, or anyone else who has enriched your life.   GRATITUDE AND TRUST: SIX AFFIRMATIONS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE by Paul Williams, Tracey Jackson Paul Williams is an alcoholic. Tracey Jackson is not. But together, these two close friends are working to apply the principles of the recovery movement to those countless people who are not addicts but nevertheless suffer from difficulties and pain.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   GIVING THANKS by Jonathan London, Gregory Manchess; Ages 3 to 7 How can a young boy ever show his gratitude for all the beauty he sees? He will learn from his father, who thanks the earth and the sky, the frogs and the crickets, the hawk and the deer, even the trees that wave their arms in the breeze. Majestic as the most beautiful autumn day and filled with glimpses of favorite woodland animals, GIVING THANKS is truly a gift to readers.   LADYBUG GIRL GIVES THANKS by David Soman, Jacky Davis; Ages 2 to 5 Ladybug Girl tells us why she’s thankful for all of her favorite things. And she has so much to be thankful for—Bingo, the trees, her books, her friends and family, and, of course, pumpkin pie!   For more information on these and related titles visit Gratitude

the program to reach children in Worldreader-affiliated schools as well as adults in libraries. Tad talks about his Author Ambassador experiences in his first blog post, The Power of Reading to Kids: “I am not a researcher, scientist, academic or someone who has gathered empirical evidence about the value of reading to children, but I’ve seen first-hand how a book or story can introduce children to a world they’ve never seen, a concept that has never occurred to them, or a life they haven’t lived. I’ve seen books bring people together and as I have visited classrooms in the United States and throughout the world, most recently in Ghana and Kenya with Worldreader, I’m always amazed at how stories can connect people.” Tad’s 5-day Author Ambassador journey featured visits to the Kibera School for Girls (Kibera, Kenya), St. Mary’s Boarding School (Narok, Kenya), Kade School (Accra, Ghana) and Dordiak Educational Complex (Accra, Ghana). The trip was captured documentary-style and is presented in a Worldreader blog post today and can be viewed on the Penguin Random House YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/aQT1CFr3-I0 Penguin Random House and Worldreader proudly partner to help create a world where everyone is a reader. Visit www.worldreader.org and www.penguinrandomhouse.com to learn more about how we are committed to creating the next generation of readers around the world.

Best Awful, and memoirs like Wishful Drinking, Carrie has established herself as a singular comedic voice, tinged with the sadness of modern living. While some of the early press on The Princess Diarist has focused on Carrie’s revelations about her relationship with Harrison Ford four decades ago, her book brilliantly dissects the questions of fame, aging and longing for connections in Hollywood (and in our families).” With her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, Fisher became one of the world’s most famous pop-culture icons.  As she prepared to return to the Star Wars series in 2015, Fisher made a most interesting discovery—three long-forgotten journals she had kept during the making of the first Star Wars film in 1976. Filled with the musings, insights, and witticisms of her nineteen-year-old self, they also document an affair with one of her co-stars that has never been revealed until now, with the publication of THE PRINCESS DIARIST. “I’ve rarely talked about being Leia at length—not deliberately in any event,” Fisher writes. She definitely corrects that state of affairs with her new memoir, reflecting on how she got to be Leia, what it was like to actually play her, and how Leia has changed her life. “I’m asked about her all the time,” she writes. “How she is. What her plans are for episodes VIII and IX.  How things are going with Harrison.” As it turns out, Harrison Ford plays a significant role in Fisher’s new book. “I’ve spent so many years not telling the story of Harrison and me having an affair on the first Star Wars movie that it’s difficult to know exactly how to tell it now,” she writes. “I suppose I’m writing this because it’s forty years later and whoever we there then—superficially at least—we no longer are now. Whoever I might have infuriated then wouldn’t have the energy to be infuriated now. And even if they did, I wouldn’t have the energy to feel as guilty as I would have thirty or twenty or—well, there’s no way I could’ve written it even ten years ago.” Lest she be accused of kissing and telling without warning or scruple, Fisher notes that, before disclosing anything that is possibly someone else’s secret to tell, she first lets that person know about her intention. “I don’t want to make anyone else look stupid,” she writes. “That’s a privilege I reserve for myself.” Besides, she says, if she hadn’t written about it, someone else would have. Someone without direct knowledge of the “situation.” Someone who would wait—cowardly—until after her passing to speculate on what happened and make her look bad. Or Internet folks, who would conjecture about it with their proof being heretofore-unseen publicity pictures from Japan. Beyond “Carrison,” Fisher offers fresh, funny, and touching new takes on many of the major events of her remarkable life and career, starting with her childhood in the Hollywood fishbowl, as the daughter of the famously divorced Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Their bitter split amid the tabloid glare when Fisher left Reynolds for her best friend, Elizabeth Taylor, and the subsequent decline of her parents’ finances and starry luster, made her vow never to go into show business. But at fifteen she was in a Broadway show starring her mother, and at seventeen, she won the role of a jaded, intellectually and sexually precocious teenager in Shampoo, which brought her to the attention of George Lucas.

Maya Angelou Teacher Award for Poetry was presented by Dr. Maya Angelou’s great granddaughter Caylin Johnson. The award specifically focuses on poetry initiatives and is awarded in honor of Dr. Maya Angelou’s legacy. The 2016 awards also consist of a $10,000 first-place grant, one $5,000 second-place grant, and one $2,500 third-place grant for each teacher’s respective school. In addition, book donations are made to these winners. Ten additional runner-ups receive $250 grants and books donations. Pictured, left to right: Michael Gentile, VP, Director, Academic Marketing, Penguin Random House; Melanie Fallon-Houska, Director of Corporate Giving, Penguin Random House; Caylin Johnson, Dr. Maya Angelou’s great grand-daughter; Kristen Nevins, $10,000 Grant Recipient; Gillian Schneider, $10,000 Maya Angelou Grant Recipient; Doug Hesse, NCTE President; and Susan Houser, NCTE President-Elect Melanie Fallon-Houska, Director, Corporate Giving, underscored Penguin Random House’s commitment to nurturing a universal passion for reading and creating lifelong readers during a short presentation, and recognized the 2016 Teacher Awards for Literacy winners and presented them with their grant awards:

• Kristen Nevins –$10,000 Grant Recipient, Third Grade Teacher, Dr. Charles C. Polk Elementary School, Roselle, NJ
• Gillian Schneider  – $10,000 Maya Angelou Grant Recipient, English Teacher, Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville, IL
• Amy Rasmussen  – $5,000 Grant Recipient, English Teacher, Lewisville High School, Lewisville, TX
• Joyce Victor  – $2,500 Grant Recipient, Teacher Tutor, Owens Primary School, Bakersfield, CA

  These awards recognize the nation’s most dynamic and resourceful teachers who use their creativity to inspire and successfully instill a love of reading in students.  They are open to full- and part-time teachers in public schools across the United States.  Winners are awarded grants to help further their innovative reading programs and to disseminate them to other teachers around the country. The Penguin Random House Teacher Awards for Literacy Highlights Video shows the difference these grants are making to the teachers, schools, and, most importantly, the kids. Watch the video here and go to http://foundation.penguinrandomhouse.com for 2017 guidelines and application. The first 2016 application received by September 1, 2017 will receive a free class set of Penguin Random House titles. Deadline for all applications is September 15, 2017.

FICTION CONCLAVE by Robert Harris (Knopf) The best-selling author, Robert Harris, turns to today’s Vatican in a ripped-from-the-headlines novel, and gives us his most ambitious, page-turning thriller yet–where the power of God is nearly equaled by the ambition of men. The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals. Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth. NOVELS, TALES, JOURNEYS by Alexander Pushkin (Knopf) The father of Russian literature, Pushkin is beloved not only for his poetry but also for his brilliant stories, which range from dramatic tales of love, obsession, and betrayal to dark fables and sparkling comic masterpieces, from satirical epistolary tales and romantic adventures in the manner of Sir Walter Scott to imaginative historical fiction and the haunting dreamworld of “The Queen of Spades.” The five short stories ofThe Late Tales of Ivan Petrovich Belkin are lightly humorous and yet reveal astonishing human depths, and his short novel, The Captain’s Daughter, has been called the most perfect book in Russian literature. PRESENCE: COLLECTED STORIES by Arthur Miller (Penguin Classics) Though best known for creating some of the greatest dramas of the twentieth century, Arthur Miller was also a master of the short story. Initially published in prestigious venues like the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and Esquire, his fiction constitutes a fascinating and indispensable portion of his life’s work. PRESENCE: COLLECTED STORIES revives and reintroduces these masterly works, making available in one volume stories previously scattered across various collections. Here, as in his best plays, Miller pulls apart the threads of American life with tender humanism and unmatched psychological realism. These stories build on the landscape of Miller’s drama, of Broadway dives and Brooklyn shipyards where businessmen, writers, bums, and blue-collar workers struggle for self-worth. THE SPY by Paulo Coelho (Knopf) When Mata Hari arrived in Paris she was penniless.  Within months she was the most celebrated woman in the city. As a dancer, she shocked and delighted audiences; as a courtesan, she bewitched the era’s richest and most powerful men. But as paranoia consumed a country at war, Mata Hari’s lifestyle brought her under suspicion. In 1917, she was arrested in her hotel room on the Champs Elysees, and accused of espionage. Told in Mata Hari’s voice through her final letter, THE SPY is the unforgettable story of a woman who dared to defy convention and who paid the ultimate price. NONFICTION THE PRINCESS DIARIST by Carrie Fisher (Blue Rider Press) When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford. With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, THE PRINCESS DIARISTis Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. VICTORIA: THE QUEEN by Julia Baird (Random House) This page-turning biography reveals the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen—a Victoria for our times. In a world where women were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand. Drawing on sources that include fresh revelations about Victoria’s relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning. THE KEYS by DJ Khaled (Crown Archetype) From Snapchat sensation, business mogul, and recording artist DJ Khaled, the book They don’t want you to read reveals his major keys to success: Stay away from They; Don’t ever play yourself; Secure the bag; Respect the code; Glorify your success; Don’t deny the heat; Keep two rooms cooking at the same time; Win, win, win no matter what.     ISLAND PEOPLE by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro (Knopf) From the moment Columbus gazed out from the Santa María‘s deck in 1492 at what he mistook for an island off Asia, the Caribbean has been subjected to the misunderstandings and fantasies of outsiders. Running roughshod over the place,  they have viewed these islands and their inhabitants as exotic allure to be consumed or conquered. The Caribbean stood at the center of the transatlantic slave trade for more than three hundred years, with societies shaped by mass migrations and forced labor.  But its people, scattered across a vast archipelago and separated by the languages of their colonizers, have nonetheless together helped make the modern world—its politics, religion, economics, music, and culture. Jelly-Schapiro gives a sweeping account of how these islands’ inhabitants have searched and fought for better lives. YOUNG READERS TROUBLE MAKES A COMEBACK by Stephanie Tromly (Kathy Dawson Books) Now that the infuriating and irresistible Philip Digby has left town for a lead on his sister who disappeared years ago, Zoe Webster is looking forward to a quiet spring semester. She’s dating a cute quarterback, hanging out with new friends, and enjoying being “a normal.” Which is of course when Digby comes back. He needs Zoe’s help, and not just to find his sister. Zoe can either choose to stay on her current path toward popularity, perfect SAT scores, and Princeton, or she can take a major detour with Digby, and maybe find out what that kiss he stole from her really meant. Digby and his over-the-top schemes always lead somewhere unexpected and Zoe’s beginning to learn she might just like jumping into the unknown. When it comes to Digby, for Zoe at least, the choice might already be made. PLENTY OF LOVE TO GO AROUND by Emma Chichester Clark (Nancy Paulsen Books) Based on the adventures of Emma Chichester Clark’s real-life dog, Plum, this delightful romp gently tackles feelings of jealousy and the difficulties of sharing, in endearing, dynamic illustrations that readers will love. Plum the dog loves being her family’s Special One. So when Binky the cat moves in next door and everyone showers him with attention, Plum feels left out. Cats are not her favorite thing! Binky follows Plum everywhere, even to the park, which everyone knows is not for cats. And on top of that, Binky is so annoyingly clever. Is he the new Special One? Or is there enough love for both of them? DAN AND PHIL BOXED SET by Dan Howell and Phil Lester (Random House Books for Young Readers) YouTube sensations Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) present their NYT bestselling THE AMAZING BOOK IS NOT ON FIRE and DAN AND PHIL GO in one amazing box. Now you can own their complete collection! In your hands is a box (pretty heavy, huh?) containing two books created by two awkward guys who share their lives on the Internet. Dan and Phil invite you on a journey inside their world!

Here are our NYT Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2016 honorees: THE CAT FROM HUNGER MOUNTAIN Written and illustrated by Ed Young (Philomel Books) PREACHING TO THE CHICKENS: The Story of Young John Lewis By Jabari Asim. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis (Nancy Paulsen Books) THE TREE IN THE COURTYARD: Looking Through Anne Frank’s Window By Jeff Gottesfeld. Illustrated by Peter McCarty (Knopf Books for Young Readers) This year’s judges were G. Brian Karas, a Penguin Random House author and illustrator; Cynthia Weill, director of the Center for Children’s Literature at Bank Street College of Education; and Cheryl Wolf, the librarian for two New York City public elementary schools, the Neighborhood School and S.T.A.R. Academy.

the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It got us thinking about the art of conversation, which is also the art of listening. Both are key to health and happiness, for the individual and society. We all see how technology affects conversation, for better or worse. With that in mind please enjoy the following array of titles that are either conversations themselves, or about them. So let’s read, let’s talk, let’s listen…   FEATURED TITLES ABSOLUTELY ON MUSIC: CONVERSATIONS by Haruki Murakami, Seiji Ozawa This deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing provides a glimpse into the minds of the two maestros between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and his close friend, the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.   J. D. SALINGER: THE LAST INTERVIEW: AND OTHER CONVERSATIONS by J. D. Salinger, David Streitfeld From the moment J. D. Salinger published The Catcher in the Rye in 1951, he was stalked by besotted fans, would-be biographers, and pushy journalists.  These enlightening, provocative, and even amusing conversations reveal a writer fiercely resistant to the spotlight but powerless to escape its glare.   THE WISDOM OF FORGIVENESS: INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS AND JOURNEYS by Dalai Lama, Victor Chan The extraordinary documentation of the evolving friendship between the Dalai Lama and the man who followed him across Ireland and Eastern Europe, on a pilgrimage to India’s holy sites, and through the Dalai Lama’s near fatal illness.   SICK IN THE HEAD: CONVERSATIONS ABOUT LIFE AND COMEDY by Judd Apatow At 16, comedy director Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up) started hosting a radio show for his local high school station, and he would call up the biggest comics of the day – comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Steve Allen, Sandra Bernhard and talk to them about what got them into comedy, and what made them stay in. Thirty years later, Apatow is still interviewing comics. Featuring interviews with luminaries like Mel Brooks and Chris Rock and modern icons like Louis CK and Amy Schumer, this is a book for fans of comedy, from the nerdiest fan of all.   YOU WERE ALWAYS MOM’S FAVORITE!: SISTERS IN CONVERSATION THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES by Deborah Tannen Conversations between sisters reveal a deep and constant tug between two dynamics—an impulse toward closeness and an impulse toward competition. Wise and witty, You Were Always Mom’s Favorite! will leave you with a profound new understanding of the unique and precious sister bond.   EINSTEIN’S GOD: CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT by Krista Tippett Drawn from Krista Tippett’s Peabody Award-winning public radio program, the conversations in this profoundly illuminating book reach for a place too rarely explored in our ongoing exchange of ideas—the nexus of science and spirituality. Whether she is speaking with celebrated surgeon and author Sherwin Nuland about the biology of the human spirit or questioning Drawin biographer James Moore about his subject’s religious beliefs, Tippett offers a rare look at the way our best minds grapple with the questions for which we all seek answers.   DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success.   RECLAIMING CONVERSATION: THE POWER OF TALK IN A DIGITAL AGE by Sherry Turkle Sherry Turkle investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity—and how we can reclaim conversation. Based on five years of research and interviews in homes, schools, and the workplace, Turkle argues that we have come to a better understanding of where our technology can and cannot take us and that the time is right to reclaim conversation.   CHANGING THE CONVERSATION: THE 17 PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION by Dana Caspersen, Joost Elffers From the producer of THE 48 LAWS OF POWER, this is a graphic, two-color manual that teaches the key 17 principles that help resolve conflict. The book shows how to step out of destructive patterns, discover new approaches to problems, create useful dialogue in difficult situations, and find long-lasting solutions for conflicts.   THE ART OF CONVERSATION: A GUIDED TOUR OF A NEGLECTED PLEASURE by Catherine Blyth Reclaim the pleasures and possibilities of great conversation with this sparkling guide from the witty pen of an Englishwoman wise to its art: What transforms encounters into adventures is how we listen, laugh, flirt, and flatter. Blyth celebrates techniques for reading and changing minds, whether you’re in a bar or a boardroom.   TEN CONVERSATIONS YOU MUST HAVE WITH YOUR SON: PREPARING YOUR SON FOR A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL LIFE by Tim Hawkes Having been a headmaster for 25 years and an internationally recognized expert in the field of raising and educating boys, Dr. Hawkes is in a unique position to know what goes on inside the minds of teenage boys. Ten Conversations You Must Have with Your Son is the one book anyone with a teenage son should read to help them prepare him for adulthood.   THE MOSAIC OF ISLAM: A CONVERSATION WITH PERRY ANDERSON by Suleiman Mourad, Perry Anderson Today, 23 percent of the global population is Muslim, but ignorance and misinformation about Islam persist. In this fascinating and useful book, Perry Anderson interviews the noted scholar of Islam Suleiman Mourad about the Qur’an and the history of the faith.   For more information on these and related titles visit conversation titles  

Mr. Whitehead accepted his award to thunderous applause from the 700 guests, among them, our CEO Markus Dohle, publishing colleagues from across our imprints, and members of the Penguin Random House shareholder board, including Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe and Pearson CEO John Fallon, both attending their first-ever NBA ceremony. In THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (Doubleday HC & E-Book; Random House Audio; Penguin Random House Canada distribution; Literatura Random House/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, Fall 2017), a #1 New York Times Hardcover Fiction bestseller from Doubleday, Colson Whitehead tells the harrowing story of Cora, an indomitable teenage slave and her desperate bid for freedom from an antebellum cotton plantation in Georgia circa 1850.  In August, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD became an Oprah’s Book Club selection, was excerpted in a stand-alone New York Times Magazine section, and received rave reviews. In her New York Times daily review, Michiko Kakutani said the novel “possesses the chilling matter-of-fact power of the slave narratives collected by the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s, with echoes of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and brush strokes borrowed from Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and Jonathan Swift… Whitehead has told a story essential to our understanding of the American past and the American present.” From the podium, Mr. Whitehead exuberantly observed that the “last four months since the book came out have been incredible,” noting that Doubleday has been his “only publisher for eighteen years” he’s been an author.  He thanked his publicity teams over the years, and praised his editor Bill Thomas: “No matter what kooky [book] idea I come up with, he assures me we will do an incredible job publishing it. Thank you for your faith in me all these years,” said Mr. Whitehead.  “It is incredible to have someone like Bill in your corner.” Earlier in the evening Knopf/Vintage author Robert A. Caro was presented with the National Book Foundation’s 2016 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.  Read a report on this memorable moment here. In a book world of dizzying change, the National Book Awards ceremony dinner remains a celebration of authors, publishers, and the readers we serve. Our cross-company pride in Colson Whitehead’s achievement, and in Bill Thomas, and the publishing team at Doubleday, also embraces our multiple Penguin Random House NBA longlist semi-finalists and short list finalists this year. It continues to be a humbling privilege for us to have the opportunity to bring their work to the widest possible audience. Here is a complete list of our National Book Award winners since the formation of Penguin Random House: Fiction: 2016: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday) 2015: FORTUNE SMILES: Stories by Adam Johnson (Random House) 2014: REDEPLOYMENT by Phil Klay (Penguin Press) 2013: THE GOOD LORD BIRD by James McBride (Riverhead) Nonfiction: 2015: BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Spiegel & Grau) Poetry: 2015: VOYAGE OF THE SABLE VENUS by Robin Coste Lewis (Knopf) Young People’s Literature: 2014: BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen Books)

with two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle Awards, and the National Humanities Medal, presented by President Obama in 2010. This award is given annually to an author who has enriched our literary heritage over a lifetime of achievement.Throughout his illustrious career, Mr. Caro has demonstrated the power of biography to illuminate not just individuals but also the societies they influence and shape. Renowned librarian and educator Dr. William P. Kelly introduced Mr. Caro as “the greatest biographer of our time—and one might argue of all time.”  The Medal, he said, honors the recipient as “biographer, historian and journalist, and for his contribution to American letters…His passion for getting the story right is the stuff of legend,” adding that the author’s “narrative power derives from getting the language right.” Mr. Caro, gracious and modest, followed his standing ovation from the 700 dinner guests by observing that “one particularly nice aspect” of receiving this lifetime achievement award was the opportunity of “remembering experiences from [his] lifetime.” Our author affectionately praised his editor Bob Gottlieb and Knopf Managing Editor, Kathy Hourigan, who both have worked editorially with him on all his books since 1972, “44 years.” He acknowledged “another big part of my life is Sonny Mehta. It has meant a lot to have Sonny with me, “noting that after he first reads the new work in manuscript, Knopf’s Chairman and Editor in Chief unfailing “always picks out the things I want readers to get out of my book.” Mr. Caro recognized Knopf Production head Andy Hughes—“who is most responsible, long though they are, that my books are beautiful;”—and Tony Chirico, Anne Messitte, Paul Bogaards, Nicholas Latimer, and Russell Perreault, “not only friends, but friends of decades.” Mr. Caro, whose biography of Lyndon Johnson has grown from three to four and now five eagerly anticipated volumes, expressed his further gratitude that, “Never once has anyone at Knopf ever asked me when I was going to finish my book.” Mr. Caro concluded: “This award has made me remember a life, and that has been a great gift for me,” leaving the podium to a second standing ovation.

Cookbooks, Debut Goodreads Author, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction, Middle Grade & Children’s Books. Votes may be cast for the Goodreads Best Books of the Year through November 27. Here are our Goodreads Choice Awards 2016 final round nominees: Fiction SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine) THE GIRLS by Emma Cline (Random House) MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout (Random House) WHAT IS NOT YOURS IS NOT YOURS by Helen Oyeyemi (Riverhead) ELIGIBLE by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House) Mystery & Thriller BROTHERHOOD IN DEATH by J.D. Robb (Berkley) FOOL ME ONCE by Harlan Coben (Dutton) THE TRESPASSER by Tana French (Viking) THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR by Shari Lapena (Pamela Dorman Books/Viking) Historical Fiction HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi (Knopf) A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles (Viking) THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday) THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR by Helen Simonson (Random House) THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE by Melanie Benjamin (Delacorte Press) Fantasy MAGIC BINDS by Iona Andrews (Ace) MARKED IN FLESH by Anne Bishop (Roc) FEVERBORN by Karen Marie Moning (Delacorte Press) FIRE TOUCHED by Patricia Briggs (Ace) Romance THE BEAST by J.R. Ward (NAL) THE OBSESSION by Nora Roberts (Berkley) KINGS RISING by C.S. Pacat (Berkley) Science Fiction SLEEPING GIANTS by Sylvain Neuvel (Del Rey) BLOODLINE (Star Wars) by Claudia Gray (LucasBooks) DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch (Crown) MORNING STAR by Pierce Brown (Del Rey) THE LAST ONE by Alexandra Oliva (Ballantine)’ CROSS TALK by Connie Willis (Del Rey) Horror MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM by Grady Hendrix (Quirk) THE CITY OF MIRRORS by Justin Cronin (Ballantine) Humor WHERE AM I NOW? by Mara Wilson (Penguin Books) MOTHER, CAN YOU NOT? by Kate Siegel (Crown Archetype) BASED ON A TRUE STORY by Norm Macdonald (Spiegel & Grau) DAN AND PHIL GO OUTSIDE by Dan Howell and Phil Lester (Random House Children’s Books) YOU CAN’T TOUCH MY HAIR by Phoebe Robinson (Blue Rider Press) Nonfiction ORIGINALS by Adam Grant (Viking) BUT WHAT IF WE’RE WRONG by Chuck Klosterman (Blue Rider Press) EVICTED by Matthew Desmond (Crown) DARK MONEY by Jane Mayer (Doubleday) Memoir & Autobiography WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi (Random House) LAB GIRL by Hope Jahren (Knopf) History & Biography WHITE TRASH by Nancy Isenberg (Viking) Science & Technology PATIENT H.M. by Luke Dittrich (Random House) INTO THE MAGIC SHOP by James Doty (Avery) THE BIG PICTURE by Sean Carroll (Dutton) THE GENIUS OF BIRDS by Jennifer Ackerman (Penguin Press) IN A DIFFERENT KEY by John Donovan and Caren Zucker Food & Cookbooks ALTON BROWN: Everyday Cook by Alton Browne (Ballantine) CRAVINGS by Chrissy Teigen (Clarkson Potter) OH SHE GLOWS EVERYDAY by Angela Liddon (Avery) OUTLANDER KITCHEN by Theresa Carle-Sanders (Delacorte Press) Debut Goodreads Author THE MOTHERS by Brit Bennett (Riverhead) LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly (Ballantine) THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner (Crown Books for Young Readers) REBEL OF THE SANDS by Alwyn Hamilton (Viking Books for Young Readers) Young Adult Fiction SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel) THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR by Nicola Yoon (Delacorte Press) HOLDING UP THE UNIVERSE by Jennifer Niven (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill) CALAMITY by Brandon Sanderson (Delacorte Press) Middle Grade & Children’s Books SUMMERLOST by Ally Condie (Dutton Books for Young Readers) MR. LEMONCELLO’S LIBRARY OLYMPICS by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Books for Young Readers) FURTHERMORE by Tahereh Mafi (Dutton Books for Young Readers)

underachievers to the best team in major league baseball. Granted full access to team president Theo Epstein, manager Joe Maddon, and the Cubs players, Verducci, Sports Illustrated’s Senior Baseball Writer and FOX Sports Analyst, will reveal how Epstein and Maddon built, led, and inspired the team that broke a 108-year championship drought by focusing on the mental side of the game as much as the physical, emphasizing chemistry as well as statistics. Starting with Epstein’s first year with the team in 2011, Verducci will detail how key players like Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Jon Lester, and Jake Arrieta were deftly brought into the organization by Epstein and managed by Maddon to outperform expectations. Together, Epstein and Maddon proved that clubhouse culture is as important as on-base percentage, and that intangible components like personality, vibe, and positive energy are necessary for a team to perform to their fullest potential. THE CUBS WAY will be released simultaneously in the United States and Canada in print, digital, and audio formats.  The deal was announced by Crown Archetype Vice President and Editorial Director Tricia Boczkowski. Executive Editor Mary Reynics acquired North American, electronic book, and first-serial rights from David Black of the David Black Agency and will edit the book. The Penguin Random House audiobook edition will be narrated by the author. Said Boczkowski, “The Chicago Cubs’ dramatic triumph in winning the World Series Championship for the first time in 108 years was the greatest sports story of the year and one that will endure in baseball lore. THE CUBS WAY is a celebration of this iconic team and an exploration of their journey to breaking the longest curse in baseball. We’re thrilled to have Tom Verducci, one of the most respected sportswriters today, narrating their inspiring and historic story.” Said Verducci, “The Cubs won 114 games on their way to one of the most meaningful championships in our lifetimes. The beauty of their story is in all the little victories it took to build a consummate example of teamwork.”

Penguin Random House is the world’s largest trade book publisher. The company, led by CEO Markus Dohle, was formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin and Random House by Bertelsmann and Pearson, who own 53 percent and 47 percent, respectively. Mr. Hoffman has served on the Penguin Random House Board of Directors since the company’s inception and has been Chairman of the Audit Committee during that time. Until his retirement earlier this year, he held leadership positions for Penguin and Pearson for the past 27 years, among them, Chairman and CEO of the Learning Network; President, Pearson Inc; Chief Financial and Chief Administrative Officer of the Penguin Group; and Chief Financial Officer, Pearson Inc. He was a member of the Pearson PLC Executive Committee since 2003. Mr. Hoffman also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the GED Testing Service. He has also held board positions at The Economist Group, MarketWatch, and Interactive Data Corporation. Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, said, “I congratulate Philip Hoffman on his appointment as the new Chairman of Penguin Random House. From the beginning, he has closely supported Penguin Random House’s development as an equally expert and responsible advisor. I look forward to working even more intensively with him in the future. “At the same time, I would like to sincerely thank John Makinson for his outstanding contribution to the Penguin Random House success story over the past few years. The smooth integration of the two companies, the ongoing development of Penguin Random House, and many of the company’s successes would have been inconceivable without him.” John Fallon, CEO of Pearson said, “Philip Hoffman has played a leading role in developing both Pearson and Penguin’s businesses over the past two decades.  As Chairman, his strategic insights, commercial expertise, and industry knowledge will serve Penguin Random House extremely well. “John Makinson spent a decade leading the creative and commercial resurgence of Penguin and the last four years ensuring the tie up with Random House builds on that success. In an engagement with Pearson that dates back to 1979, John has proved himself to be a highly talented and inspirational colleague for all seasons -- distinguished journalist, finance director, publishing executive and leader, highly regarded by his colleagues and industry peers. We thank him for all his work on Pearson's behalf and wish him every future success." Philip Hoffman said, “I am delighted to be taking on the role of Chairman of Penguin Random House, continuing the outstanding Board leadership begun by my colleague and friend John Makinson. Since my days at Penguin, book publishing has always been close to my heart. As a member of the Penguin Random House Board these past three years, I have really enjoyed working with Markus Dohle and his team, and I look forward to plugging in more deeply with them to help drive the continued success of this amazing company.” The Penguin Random House Board of Directors currently comprises John Makinson, Chairman, Penguin Random House; Markus Dohle, CEO, Penguin Random House; Milena Alberti, CFO, Penguin Random House; John Fallon, CEO, Pearson PLC; Thomas Götz, General Counsel and Head of Legal Department, Bertelsmann; Bernd Hirsch, Chief Financial Officer, Bertelsmann; Philip Hoffman, former Chief Corporate Finance and Strategic Development Officer, Pearson PLC; Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO, Bertelsmann; Baroness Rebuck, DBE, Chair Penguin Random House U.K. Board; Emmanuel Roman, CEO, Pacific Investment Management Co.; Coram Williams, CFO, Pearson PLC; and Lauren Zalaznick, Media Executive.

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About Penguin Random House

Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, is dedicated to its mission of nourishing a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers everywhere. The company, which employs more than 10,000 people globally, was formed on July 1, 2013, by Bertelsmann and Pearson, who own 53 percent and 47 percent, respectively. With nearly 250 independent imprints and brands on five continents, Penguin Random House comprises adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses in more than 20 countries worldwide, including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, South Africa, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Portugal, and Uruguay. With over 15,000 new titles, and close to 800 million print, audio and eBooks sold annually, Penguin Random House’s publishing lists include more than 60 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors.

Trevor Noah says, “So much of my story growing up in South Africa during apartheid is about the strength of my mother. She didn’t believe in self-pity. ‘Learn from your past and be better because of your past,’ she used to say, ‘but don’t cry about your past. Life is a full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold on to it. Don’t be bitter.’” Chris Jackson, Vice President, Publisher and Editor in Chief, One World, Random House, edited BORN A CRIME, and says, “Trevor comes from an entirely different world than his viewers, certainly than Jon Stewart came from. What the book does is it puts Trevor back into the world he came from. He grew up at this turning point at the end of apartheid-era South Africa and the birth of this very tumultuous new society. As a mixed-race kid, he was the child who should not have existed in that society. And then, in the new world, he had these opportunities that never had existed in the old world. It’s infused with humor throughout, but what’s really amazing about it is it’s so moving.”

Last week The New York Times reported on this phenomenon, which has been compared to the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Harlem Shake and Planking, in the article Mannequin Challenge Is the New Viral Video Sensation You Probably Can’t Avoid: “Groups of people are gathering and freezing themselves in place, often in elaborate poses and scenarios, as one camera-toting person walks through the scene to zoom in on the details. As is often the case, teenagers are leading the way. Many of the videos are set to the song ‘Black Beatles’ by Rae Sremmurd, making it the unofficial anthem of the meme. The rap duo recorded its own version of the challenge at a recent concert.” More #MannequinChallenge videos are popping up everywhere, including on the Fox N.F.L. Sunday pregame show, college football’s S.E.C. Network and on Penguin Random House author Giada De Laurentiis’ Twitter feed as Family night dinner w/ a side of…. #mannequinchallenge.

FICTION SWING TIME by Zadie Smith (Penguin Press) An ambitious, exuberant new novel moving from North West London to West Africa, from the multi-award-winning author of WHITE TEETH and ON BEAUTY. Two brown girls dream of being dancers—but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: about rhythm and time, about black bodies and black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It’s a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in their early twenties, never to be revisited, but never quite forgotten, either. Tracey makes it to the chorus line but struggles with adult life, while her friend leaves the old neighborhood behind, traveling the world as an assistant to a famous singer, Aimee, observing close up how the one percent live. TURBO TWENTY-THREE by Janet Evanovich (Bantam) Larry Virgil skipped out on his latest court date after he was arrested for hijacking an eighteen-wheeler full of premium bourbon. Fortunately for bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, Larry is just stupid enough to attempt almost the exact same crime again. Only this time he flees the scene, leaving behind a freezer truck loaded with Bogart ice cream and a dead body—frozen solid and covered in chocolate and chopped pecans. As fate would have it, Stephanie’s mentor and occasional employer, Ranger, needs her to go undercover at the Bogart factory to find out who’s putting their employees on ice and sabotaging the business. It’s going to be hard for Stephanie to keep her hands off all that ice cream, and even harder for her to keep her hands off Ranger. ODESSA SEA by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler (Putnam) Dirk Pitt, the director of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, is on the Black Sea, helping to locate a lost Ottoman shipwreck, when he responds to an urgent Mayday—“Under attack!”—from a nearby freighter. But when he and his colleague Al Giordino arrive, there is nobody there. Just dead bodies and a smell of sulfur in the air. As Pitt and Giordino explore, a blast from the stern scuttles the ship swiftly, almost taking them with it. Filled with breathtaking suspense and remarkable imagination, ODESSA SEA is further proof that when it comes to adventure writing, nobody beats Clive Cussler. CATALYST (STAR WARS) by James Luceno (Del Rey) War is tearing the galaxy apart. For years the Republic and the Separatists have battled across the stars, each building more and more deadly technology in an attempt to win the war. As a member of Chancellor Palpatine’s top secret Death Star project, Orson Krennic is determined to develop a superweapon before their enemies can. And an old friend of Krennic’s, the brilliant scientist Galen Erso, could be the key. Galen’s energy-focused research has captured the attention of both Krennic and his foes, making the scientist a crucial pawn in the galactic conflict. But after Krennic rescues Galen, his wife, Lyra, and their young daughter, Jyn, from Separatist kidnappers, the Erso family is deeply in Krennic’s debt. NONFICTION BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah (Spiegel & Grau) Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. I LOVED HER IN THE MOVIES: Working with the Legendary Actresses of Hollywood by Robert Wagner with Scott Eyman (Viking) In a career that has spanned more than sixty years Robert Wagner has witnessed the twilight of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the rise of television, becoming a beloved star in both media. During that time he became acquainted, both professionally and socially, with the remarkable women who were the greatest screen personalities of their day. I LOVED HER IN THE MOVIES is his intimate and revealing account of the charisma of these women on film, why they became stars, and how their specific emotional and dramatic chemistries affected the choices they made as actresses as well as the choices they made as women. TESTIMONY by Robbie Robertson (Crown Archetype) On the 40th anniversary of The Band’s legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half-century. Robbie Robertson’s singular contributions to popular music have made him one of the most beloved songwriters and guitarists of his time. With songs like “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” and “Up on Cripple Creek,” he and his partners in The Band fashioned a music that has endured for decades, influencing countless musicians. WONDERLAND: How Play Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson (Riverhead) This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes a long-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused. Johnson’s storytelling is just as delightful as the inventions he describes, full of surprising stops along the journey from simple concepts to complex modern systems. He introduces us to the colorful innovators of leisure: the explorers, proprietors, showmen, and artists who changed the trajectory of history with their luxurious wares, exotic meals, taverns, gambling tables, and magic shows. GENDER OUTLAW by Kate Bornstein (Vintage) On one level, GENDER OUTLAW details Bornstein’s transformation from heterosexual male to lesbian woman, from a one-time IBM salesperson to a playwright and performance artist. But this particular coming-of-age story is also a provocative investigation into our notions of male and female, from a self-described nonbinary transfeminine diesel femme dyke who never stops questioning our cultural assumptions. GENDER OUTLAW was decades ahead of its time when it was first published in 1994. Now, some twenty-odd years later, this book stands as both a classic and a still-revolutionary work—one that continues to push us gently but profoundly to the furthest borders of the gender frontier. LUCKY BASTARD: My Life, My Dad, And The Things I’m Not Allowed to Say on TV by Joe Buck (Dutton) Sports fans see Joe Buck everywhere: broadcasting one of the biggest games in the NFL every week, calling the World Series every year, announcing the Super Bowl every three years. They know his father, Jack Buck, is a broadcasting legend and that he was beloved in his adopted hometown of St. Louis. Yet they have no idea who Joe really is. Or how he got here. They don’t know how he almost blew his career. They haven’t read his funniest and most embarrassing stories or heard about his interactions with the biggest sports stars of this era. POETRY FOREVER WORDS by Johnny Cash, with Foreword by John Carter Cash and introduced by Paul Muldoon (Blue Rider Press) A collection of never-before-published poems by Johnny Cash, edited and introduced by Pulitzer-prize winning poet Paul Muldoon with a foreword by John Carter Cash.  Illustrated with facsimile reproductions of Cash’s own handwritten pages. Since his first recordings in 1955, Johnny Cash was an icon in the music world. In this collection of poems and song lyrics that have never been published before, we see the world through his eyes and view his reflection on his own interior reality, his frailties and his strengths alike. FOREVER WORDS confirms Johnny Cash as a brilliant and singular American literary figure. YOUNG READERS THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE by Alexandra Monir (Delacorte Press) One dead body, one photograph, one compromising secret. Nicole Morgan has been labeled many things—the geeky music girl, the shy sidekick of Miss Popularity, and the girl with the scar. Now only one name haunts her through the halls of Oyster Bay Prep. The girl in the picture. After heartthrob Chace Porter is found dead in the woods near the school, the police search for the girl snuggled up next to him in a picture discovered among his personal effects. A girl no one knew was even close to him—and whose best friend, Lana Rivera, was his girlfriend. Nicole is that girl, and now she’s the primary suspect in his murder. In alternating points of view—that of suspect Nicole Morgan and that of Lana Rivera—and weaving between present-day, flashbacks, and the characters’ surreal subconscious, THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE is a unique tale of teen friendship, romance, and deadly secrets. INTO THE LION’S DEN by Linda Fairstein (Dial Books for Young Readers) Someone has stolen a page from a rare book in the New York Public Library. At least, that’s what Devlin’s friend Liza thinks she’s seen, but she can’t be sure. Any other kid might not see a crime here, but Devlin Quick is courageous and confident, and she knows she has to bring this man to justice—even if it means breathlessly racing around the city to collect evidence. But who is this thief? And what could the page—an old map—possibly lead to? With her wits, persistence, and the help of New York City’s finest (and, okay, a little bit of help from her police commissioner mother, too), Dev and her friends piece the clues together to uncover a mystery that’s bigger than anyone expected—and more fun, too. THE CAT FROM HUNGER MOUNTAIN by Ed Young (Philomel Books) Caldecott Medalist Ed Young delivers a visually stunning, poignant story about humility, wastefulness, and appreciating what one has. In a place called Hunger Mountain there lives a lord who has everything imaginable yet never has enough. To satisfy his every desire, he hires builders to design the tallest pagoda; a world-famous tailor to make his clothing from silk and gold threads; and a renowned chef to cook him lavish meals with rice from the lord’s own fields. What more could he possibly want? Yet when drought plagues the land, Lord Cat is faced with his first taste of deep loss, he ventures down the mountain and what he discovers will change his life forever. THE TURNCOAT’S GAMBIT by Andrea Cremer (Philomel Books) Charlotte has spent her whole life fighting the British Empire, following in the footsteps of her parents and their group of rebels. But when her reunion with her mother laid bare horrible truths about the rebellion, Charlotte knew she had to escape. Now she is on the run, with no idea who the enemy is–or which of her compatriots is truly on her side. In this action-packed conclusion to the Inventor’s Secret trilogy, full of swashbuckling pirates and young ladies who can hold their own against them, Charlotte will need to fight for her life and for her beliefs — whatever they might be.

  FEATURED TITLES   THE POWER OF KINDNESS: THE UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OF LEADING A COMPASSIONATE LIFE–TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Piero Ferrucci, Foreword by The Dalai Lama When The Power of Kindness first appeared in 2006 it thrilled and challenged readers with one audacious promise: Your acts of generosity and decency are the secret to a fuller, more satisfying life. Kindness is not some squishy virtue but the very key to your own happiness.   EMOTIONAL FIRST-AID: HEALING REJECTION, GUILT, FAILURE, AND OTHER EVERYDAY HURTS by Guy Winch, Ph.D. We all sustain emotional bruises from time to time, and when it happens, most of us have no idea what to do about it. However—if left untreated—feelings of failure, guilt, rejection, and loss can spiral into much bigger ailments. Fortunately, there is such a thing as mental first aid for battered emotions.   OVERCOMING LIFE’S DISAPPOINTMENTS: LEARNING FROM MOSES HOW TO COPE WITH FRUSTRATION by Harold S. Kushner From the bestselling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People —a passionate and practical book that teaches us how to overcome life’s inevitable disappointments—in our work and family life, and to our personal hopes and dreams.   SMALL VICTORIES: SPOTTING IMPROBABLE MOMENTS OF GRACE by Anne Lamott In Small Victories Lamott writes of forgiveness, restoration, and transformation, how we can turn toward love even in the most hopeless situations, how we find the joy in getting lost and our amazement in finally being found.   PROFIT FROM HAPPINESS by Jake Ducey In this enlightening, simple, heart-opening book, Jake Ducey asserts that the secret to high achievement and happiness at work, at school, in your heart, and at home is the deeply human need to wholeheartedly connect with and become more valuable to those around you.     THE GIVING WAY TO HAPPINESS: STORIES AND SCIENCE BEHIND THE LIFE-CHANGING POWER OF GIVING by Jenny Santi, Foreword by Deepak Chopra Jenny Santi overturns conventional thinking about what it takes to be happy by revealing how giving to others—whether in the form of money, expertise, time, or love—has helped people from all walks of life find purpose and joy.   UNITED by Cory Booker A passionate new voice in American politics, United States Senator Cory Booker makes the case that the virtues of empathy, responsibility, and action must guide our nation toward a brighter future.     THE BOOK OF JOY by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Carlton Abrams Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME: THE LIFE AND SONGS OF WOODY GUTHRIE by Elizabeth Partridge; Ages 12 and up Before Springsteen and before Dylan, there was Woody Guthrie. With “This Machine Kills Fascists,” scrawled across his guitar in big black letters, Woody Guthrie brilliantly captured in song the experience of twentieth-century America. Whether he sang about union organizers, migrant workers, or war, Woody took his inspiration from the plight of the people around him as well as from his own tragic childhood.   PEACE IS AN OFFERING by Annette LeBox, Stephanie Graegin; Ages 3-5 “Peace is an offering, a muffin or a peach. A birthday invitation, or a trip to the beach.” Peace can be found almost anywhere if you’re looking for it. With rhythmic, rhyming text and a diverse cast of neighborhood children, this poetic picture book captures the everyday ways people make the world better for each other, from giving a gift just because to comforting a friend who’s feeling blue.   THE SNEETCHES AND OTHER STORIES by Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss’ timeless picture-book classic The Sneetches and Other Storieswonders are you a Star-Belly Sneetch or a Plain-Belly Sneetch? This delightful book contains four tales with deliciously subtle takes on how silly it is to be, well, silly.   A IS FOR ACTIVIST by Innosanto Nagara A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. For more information on these and related titles visit Campaign Recovery Titles

Madeleine Thien entranced the jurors with its detailed, layered, complex drama of classical musicians and their loved ones trying to survive two monstrous insults to their humanity: Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in mid-twentieth century China and the Tiananmen Square massacre of protestors in Beijing in 1989 … A beautiful homage to music and to the human spirit, DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING is both sad and uplifting in its dramatization of human loss and resilience in China and in Canada.” Congratulations to Ms. Thien, her editor and publisher as well as these Giller Prize finalists: Mona Awad for 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A FAT GIRL, published by Penguin Canada and edited by Nicole Winstanley Gary Barwin for YIDDISH FOR PIRATES, published by Random House Canada and edited by Amanda Lewis The Scotiabank Giller Prize annually awards $100,000 to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The award is named in honor of the late literary journalist Doris Giller and was founded in 1994. More information can be found at www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca. Watch Madeleine Thien's acceptance speech here.

with Joe, I’ve learned to love baseball and football even more. Joe’s deep knowledge about the game, the players, and what it takes to share all the details with the viewing audience adds a new — and fascinating — level to everything I watch. And there’s no better example than the 2016 World Series. I loved Joe’s perspective as a viewer, but after having read – and edited – his book, I was able to enjoy the Series, and his calls, on an even deeper level. I know readers will have a similar experience after reading LUCKY BASTARD. They’ll learn what’s going on behind the scenes of the sports they love, and also enjoy Joe’s genuinely funny, razor-sharp wit. I feel so lucky to have worked with Joe, and so lucky to be sharing this book with all of you.” Before beginning this book project, Joe Buck said, “I can’t wait to tell the emotional and often funny story of my life as both a sportscaster and my father’s son. Perceptions will be addressed and confessions made.” LUCKY BASTARD accomplishes that and more. While sports fans see and hear Joe everywhere: broadcasting one of the biggest games in the NFL every week, calling the World Series every year, announcing the Super Bowl every three years. And they know his father, Jack, a broadcasting legend and beloved in his adopted hometown of St. Louis. Most fans and readers have no idea who Joe really is. In this book, readers will learn how hard Joe can laugh at himself—that he thinks some of his critics have a point — and what it was really like to grow up in his father’s shadow. Joe and Jack were best friends, but it wasn’t that simple. Jack Buck, the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals for almost fifty years, helped Joe get his broadcasting start at eighteen. But Joe had to prove himself, first as a minor league radio announcer and then on local TV, national TV with ESPN, and then finally on FOX. He now has a successful, Emmy-winning career, but only after a lot of dues-paying, learning, and pretty damn entertaining mistakes that are recounted in this book.

FICTION NIGHT SCHOOL by Lee Child (Delacorte Press) It’s 1996, and Reacher is still in the army. In the morning they give him a medal, and in the afternoon they send him back to school. That night he’s off the grid. Out of sight, out of mind. Two other men are in the classroom—an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. Each is wondering what the hell they are doing there. Then they find out: A Jihadist sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has received an unexpected visitor—a Saudi courier, seeking safe haven while waiting to rendezvous with persons unknown. A CIA asset, undercover inside the cell, has overheard the courier whisper a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.” From Langley to Hamburg, Jalalabad to Kiev, NIGHT SCHOOL moves like a bullet through a treacherous landscape of double crosses, faked identities, and new and terrible enemies, as Reacher maneuvers inside the game and outside the law. AFTER ATLAS by Emma Newman (Roc) Gov-corp detective Carlos Moreno was only a baby when Atlas left Earth to seek truth among the stars. But in that moment, the course of Carlos’s entire life changed. Atlas is what took his mother away; what made his father lose hope; what led Alejandro Casales, leader of the religious cult known as the Circle, to his door. And now, on the eve of the fortieth anniversary of Atlas’s departure, it’s got something to do why Casales was found dead in his hotel room—and why Carlos is the man in charge of the investigation. To figure out who killed one of the most powerful men on Earth, Carlos is supposed to put aside his personal history. But the deeper he delves into the case, the more he realizes that escaping the past is not so easy. There’s more to Casales’s death than meets the eye, and something much more sinister to the legacy of Atlas than anyone realizes. THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE by Thomas Hardy (Vintage) THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE, one of Thomas Hardy’s most powerful novels, opens with a scene of shocking heartlessness. In a fit of drunken rage, Michael Henchard, an out-of-work laborer, sells his wife and baby daughter to a passing sailor. When the horror of what he has done dawns on him the next day, he determines to set his life on a different path, and through years of hard work and ambition rises to become the rich and respectable mayor of his town. Secret guilt continues to haunt this proud and brooding man, however, and when his wife and grown daughter return to Casterbridge, Henchard is set on the path to a dramatic confrontation with his own deeply flawed nature. Hardy’s keen insight into the course of wayward lives and his instinctive feel for the beauty of the rural landscape come together in this unforgettable portrait of a tragic hero. LEOPARD’S FURY by Christine Feehan (Jove) With her own bakery in San Antonio, Evangeline Tregre made a new life far from the brutal lair of shifters she was born into. Though she is all too aware of her leopard-shifter blood, she never felt the sensation of a wild animal stirring inside her. Not until Alonzo Massi walked into her bakery. The powerful shifter is as irresistible as he is terrifying, but his icy demeanor tells her to keep her distance. Alonzo knows better than to let himself get involved with someone like Evangeline. But even with his lean muscle and iron will, Alonzo isn’t strong enough to stay away from the one woman who can make him feel at peace. And when their secret lives draw a mortal threat, Alonzo unleashes the feral passion he keeps pent up inside himself. NONFICTION THE ARTIST’S WAY MORNING PAGES JOURNAL by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee) Elegantly repackaged, THE MORNING PAGES JOURNAL is one of THE ARTIST’S WAY’S most effective tools for cultivating creativity, personal growth, and change. Now more compact and featuring spiral binding to make for easier use, these Morning Pages invite you to do three pages daily of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness, which provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize, and synchronize the day at hand. This daily writing, coupled with the twelve-week program outlined in The Artist’s Way, will help you discover and recover your personal creativity, artistic confidence, and productivity. BUTTER CELEBRATES! by Rosie Daykin (Knopf) What’s a celebration without something delicious that’s been baked with love? Rosie Daykin, author of Butter Baked Goods and owner of the Vancouver bakery of the same name, believes that celebrating is about much more than just circling a date on the calendar. It’s a chance to spend time with your family and friends, to laugh really hard, to let things get a little chaotic, and to eat lots of delicious baked goods. Whether you’re an experienced baker or just starting out, Rosie’s straightforward recipes are easy to follow and will produce irresistible results. It will inspire you to celebrate life and to create new traditions and memories along the way. THE VANILLA BEAN BAKING BOOK: Recipes for Irresistible Everyday Favorites and Reinvented Classics by Sarah Kieffer (Avery) Readers find the Vanilla Bean blog while hunting for the perfect chocolate cake or cinnamon roll recipe, or another everyday favorite. They stay for founder Sarah Kieffer’s simple approach to home baking, the utterly transporting, dreamlike quality of her photography, and her evocative storytelling.  Most of all, the Vanilla Bean blog celebrates the soulfulness of baking. Kieffer mastered the art of home baking while working in tiny kitchens in the back of coffeehouses and bakeries in Minnesota. With recipes that help simplify the process behind complicated techniques, Vanilla Bean has built a dedicated following of several hundred thousand loyal readers and won several awards, including the Reader’s Choice Award for best baking blog from Saveur. MY LOST POETS by Philip Levine (Knopf) In prose both as superbly rendered as his poetry and as down-to-earth and easy as speaking, Levine reveals the things that made him the poet he became. In the title essay, originally the final speech of his poet laureate year, he recounts how as a boy he composed little speeches walking in the night woods near his house and how he later realized these were his first poems. He wittily takes on the poets he studied with in the Iowa Writing Program: John Berryman, who was his great teacher and lifelong friend, and Robert Lowell, who was neither. His deepest influences–jazz, Spain, the working people of Detroit–are reflected in many of the pieces. There are essays on Spanish poets he admires, William Carlos Williams, Wordsworth, Keats, and others. A wonderful, moving collection of writings that add to our knowledge and appreciation of Philip Levine–both the man and the poet. YOUNG READERS DEAD GIRLS SOCIETY by Michelle Krys (Delacorte Press) Hope is sick of everyone treating her like she’s breakable. Sure, she has cystic fibrosis (basically really bad lungs), but she’s tired of being babied by her mom and her overprotective best friend, Ethan, not to mention worrying about paying for her expensive medication and how she’s going to afford college. And she’s bored with life in her run-down New Orleans suburb. When an invitation arrives from a mysterious group that calls itself the Society, Hope jumps at the chance for some excitement. This could be her ticket out. All she has to do is complete a few dares and she just might win some real money. But the Society isn’t all that it seems . . . and soon Hope finds that playing the game isn’t a choice—it’s a requirement. DOUBLE ECLIPSE by Melissa de la Cruz (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers) Twin witches Mardi and Molly Overbrook are back for another summer in North Hampton, and this year they’re serious about two things: avoiding trouble and dedicating themselves to rest and relaxation. Molly’s headed to Aunt Ingrid’s, while Mardi has convinced their father, Troy—a.k.a. Thor, the god of thunder—to let her crash with her boyfriend, Trent, who also happens to be Tyr, the god of war. It’s a tangled web they weave, but that’s to be expected where gods and goddesses are concerned. Their vacation’s just begun when an old secret is revealed, leaving Molly and Mardi to question everything they’ve ever known about their family. Then a hot new guy comes to town and starts brewing even more trouble . . . and soon enough, the twins are back to their old tricks. THE DOOR THAT LED TO WHERE by Sally Gardner (Delacorte Press) AJ Flynn has just failed all but one of his major exams, and at almost seventeen years old, he sees a future that’s far from rosy. So when he’s offered a junior clerk position at a London law firm, he hopes his life is about to change—and it does, but he could never have imagined how much. While on the job, AJ finds an old key labeled with his birth date, and he’s determined to find the door it will open. When he does just that, AJ and his group of scrappy friends begin a series of amazing journeys to the past—1830, to be exact. When they discover a crime that only they can solve, the boys go from wayward youths to intrepid young men with a purpose in life. But with enemies all around, can they unravel the mysteries of the past before the past unravels them? THE SEELIE KING’S WAR by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple (Viking Books for Young Readers) The war that Prince Aspen and midwife’s apprentice Snail started—purely by accident—is at hand. The Unseelie Army, the evil side of Faerie, will soon invade and destroy the Seelie kingdom. Aspen is terrified, not simply because his homeland is on the verge of ruin, but because he is now, after the death of his father and brothers, the Seelie King. He is a young, untried king; a king without a battle plan. But he has Snail, his first and only friend, and the only one who can raise the army Aspen needs—an army of changelings, like her. First, however, she has to convince the mysterious, dangerous Professor Odds, the changelings’ leader, who has a destructive plan of his own.

outside the law.  To learn about the inspiration behind NIGHT SCHOOL, how his storylines are rooted in real life, the best part of seeing his books adapted into Hollywood movies, and his daily writing routine, read our interview with Lee Child. What inspired you to go back in time to 1996 and Jack Reacher’s Army Days for your latest book NIGHT SCHOOL? Lee Child: Readers tell me they’re always interested in seeing Reacher during his military career, and prequels are fun for me as a writer – they give me a chance to show him as a younger man, possibly more naive and optimistic and energetic.  In particular, I was interested in the mid-1990s – the security threats we’re used to by now were just becoming apparent, and no one knew exactly who was involved, or where, or why.  But the administration was smart enough to admit they didn’t know anything, and to follow an improvised, whack-a-mole policy. So I felt it was a very interesting era. How have real-life incidents and news headlines influenced some of the storylines you’ve created? LC: Always, from the very first book, KILLING FLOOR, which was written when the US was updating its paper currency because of counterfeiting fears, all the way to MAKE ME, which caught up with the Deep Web, and now Night School, which traces the early origins of jihadist terror. I think thrillers need to be rooted in real life – although I have learned that if I can imagine it, it’s already happening somewhere. Literally, you can’t make this stuff up. What are the best aspects of seeing your novels adapted into films on the big screen? LC: Frankly and honestly, from my point of view, the best part is seeing someone spend $100m on promoting my books. How would you describe your writing routine and regimen? LC: It’s disciplined, in that I work every day I can, but also a little self-indulgent, in that I start late in the morning. It’s the best job in the world. What piece of advice would you give to fledgling writers trying their hand at the suspense/thriller genre? LC: I would say if you’ve read a lot in the genre, then just go for it. Do exactly what you want, and don’t listen to advice from me or anyone else. A book needs a kind of organic vitality, and it won’t have that if you write by committee. Ignore all thoughts that include the words “ought” or “should.”  Write to please yourself alone. If you like the book, so will other people.

cultures in the Americas were far from uncivilized or savage. Societies were often egalitarian; Tribal civilizations could be massive and urban and their governments were quite well-developed. In commemoration of the culture and people that were the original settlers of this land, we present the following books that celebrate and offer insight into Native life.   FEATURED TITLES   THE EARTH IS WEEPING: THE EPIC STORY OF THE INDIAN WARS FOR THE AMERICAN WEST by Peter Cozzens Bringing together a pageant of fascinating characters including Custer, Sherman, Grant, and a host of other military and political figures, as well as great native leaders such as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Red Cloud, The Earth is Weeping—lauded by Booklist as “a beautifully written work of understanding and compassion”—is the fullest account to date of how the West was won…and lost.   “ALL THE REAL INDIANS DIED OFF”: AND 20 OTHER MYTHS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dina Gilio-Whitaker In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker unpack the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans that have misinformed generations.   THE LAKOTAS AND THE BLACK HILLS: THE STRUGGLE FOR SACRED GROUND by Jeffrey Ostler The Lakota Indians made their home in the majestic Black Hills mountain range during the last millennium, drawing on the hills’ endless bounty for physical and spiritual sustenance. Yet the arrival of white settlers brought the Lakotas into inexorable conflict with the changing world, at a time when their tribe would produce some of the most famous Native Americans in history, including Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse.   THIS INDIAN COUNTRY: AMERICAN INDIAN ACTIVISTS AND THE PLACE THEY MADE by Frederick Hoxie In this bold and sweeping counter narrative to our conventional understanding of Native American history, celebrated academic historian Frederick E. Hoxie presents the story of Native American political activism—a chronicle that spans more than two hundred years. Highlighting the activists—some famous and some unknown beyond their own communities—who have sought to bridge the distance between indigenous cultures and the U.S. republic.   WHERE THE LIGHTNING STRIKES: THE LIVES OF AMERICAN INDIAN SACRED PLACES by Peter Nabokov For thousands of years, Native Americans have told stories about the powers of revered landscapes and sought spiritual direction at mysterious places in their homelands. In this important book, respected scholar and anthropologist Peter Nabokov writes of a wide range of sacred places in Native America.   ATLAS OF INDIAN NATIONS by Anton Treuer In the most comprehensive atlas of Native American history and culture available, the story of the North American Indian is told through maps, photos, art, and archival cartography.   NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS by George Catlin Catlin’s unprecedented fieldwork culminated in more than five hundred oil paintings and his now-legendary journals, which, as Peter Matthiessen writes in his introduction, “taken together… constitute the first, last, and only ‘complete’ record of the Plains Indians ever made at the height of their splendid culture.”   THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED AT LITTLE BIGHORN: A LAKOTA HISTORY by Joseph M. Marshall III The saga of Custer’s Last Stand has become ingrained in the lore of the American West, and the key players – Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and George Armstrong Custer – have grown to larger-than-life proportions. Now, award-winning historian Joseph M. Marshall presents the revisionist view of the Battle of the Little Bighorn that has been available only in the Lakota oral tradition.   THE APACHE WARS: THE HUNT FOR GERONIMO, THE APACHE KID, AND THE CAPTIVE BOY WHO STARTED THE LONGEST WAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY by Paul Andrew Hutton A stunningly vivid historical account of the manhunt for Geronimo and the 25-year Apache struggle for their homeland.  They called him Mickey Free. His kidnapping started the longest war in American history, and both sides—the Apaches and the white invaders—blamed him for it. A mixed-blood warrior who moved uneasily between the worlds of the Apaches and the American soldiers, he was never trusted by either but desperately needed by both.   IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE: THE STORY OF LEONARD PELTIER AND THE FBI’S WAR ON THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT by Peter Matthiessen, Martin Garbus On a hot June morning in 1975, a desperate shoot-out between FBI agents and Native Americans near Wounded Knee, South Dakota, left an Indian and two federal agents dead. Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014) has written an “indescribably touching, extraordinarily intelligent” (Los Angeles Times Book Review) chronicle of the tragedy.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   TALKING LEAVES by Joseph Bruchac; Ages 10 And Up From the acclaimed author of Code Talker, a compelling new work of historical fiction about Sequoyah and the creation of the Cherokee alphabet. Thirteen-year-old Uwohali has not seen his father, Sequoyah, for many years. So when Sequoyah returns to the village, Uwohali is eager to reconnect and learn from one of his people’s greatest craftsman. But Sequoyah’s new obsession with making strange markings causes friends and neighbors in their tribe to wonder whether he is crazy or worse-   THE LEGEND OF THE BLUEBONNET by Tomie dePaola; Ages 4 to 8 When a killing drought threatens the existence of the tribe, a courageous little Comanche girl sacrifices her most beloved possession–and the Great Spirit’s answer results not only in much needed rain but a very special gift in return. “An ideal complement to Native American and Texas studies…” – Booklist   For more information about these and related titles visit Native American Heritage Month.

Miriam Klein Stahl. From 430 BCE to 2016, spanning 31 countries around the world, the book features an array of diverse figures, showing the immense range of what women have done and can do.  Read on as Julie and Kate share their insights. The combination of text and art in RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE is very unique and striking. What initially brought you into contact with Kate and Miriam and how would you describe the editorial process of working with them as this book came to be? Julie Bennett: I first learned about Kate and Miriam via their New York Times-bestselling book, Rad American Women A-Z. When Miriam’s agent, an old friend of mine, contacted me about doing an internationally focused follow-up, I was immediately on board. The process of making RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE  was both creative and collaborative. Kate and Miriam have an abundance of ideas and work very quickly, so we spent a good amount of time trying to narrow down the list of women to feature in the book, and then share their histories completely but concisely. There are so many important stories to tell, we could fill five more books with the ladies we had to leave out. (The list of 250 “more rad women” at the back of the book introduces readers to many of them.) The most powerful element in the book for me is the final profile, called “The Stateless.” It shines a light on the millions of women around the world who are refugees, displaced, or seeking asylum. The idea for this piece developed relatively late in the editorial process, and at first I wasn’t sure we’d have room to include it. But after everyone on the book team cried while reading Kate’s words, we knew we had to make it fit. What sparked the ideas and concepts for Rad Women A-Z, then RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE? Kate Schatz: I got the idea for the first book when my daughter was two years old. I wanted her to have the kind of book I would’ve loved as a kid—something empowering and inspiring and fun to read. When I reached out to Miriam, an artist whose work I greatly admire, she felt the same. And so we made it happen! As a feminist and a history-lover, a book about cool women from American history was a joy to create; as a new parent whose bookshelves were inundated with A-Z books, the concept for the format came easily. For the second book we knew we wanted to go worldwide—it’s what many of our readers, young and older, requested. It felt like an exciting challenge for us, and in a time of rising nationalism and xenophobic around the world, we knew it was an important approach to take. What was the criteria for selecting the women to profile in RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE  and what did you want to emphasize in words and art? KS: We strive to include a diverse and unexpected array of women who have one thing in common: a story of inspiring perseverance against great odds. We include women from every continent and region of the world, and combine well-known figures with more obscure ones. 30 out of the 40 stories are about non-white women, and that commitment to diverse storytelling is important to use. We also showcase women who succeeded in an array of fields, from sports to science to political leadership. Through the illustrations and the narratives, we want to create compelling figures whose stories are engaging and relatable, no matter where they’re from or how long ago they lived. We want to emphasize the strength, power, and complexity of these women.   Who do you see as the primary reading audience for RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE  and what aspects of the book do you think will resonate most strongly with readers? KS: If I had to choose, I’d say that the sweet spot for this book is age 12—but the success of our first book showed us just how challenging it is to predict who our primary reading audience is! We really wanted to create and aesthetic and narrative experience that would appeal to a wide range of ages. I know parents who read these books to their preschoolers, I know college kids who have them in their dorms, and I know older adults who bought them for their grandkids—and then decided to keep them! I think that stories of strong women, many of whom are underappreciated, resonate with lots of readers. Another powerful aspect that’s been exciting to witness since Rad Women Worldwide came out a few weeks ago is what it means to young people who are immigrants, or the children of immigrants, to find their countries and cultures represented in the book. RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE only tells 40 stories from 31 countries, but in the back of the book we include a list of 250 more women from almost every country in the world. We did a visit to a middle school in Queens recently and students were flipping through the pages, and exclaiming with joy when they found the name of someone from their home country. That was amazing to see. JB: The book was written primarily for a young adult audience, but adults are also coming to it for the bold and graphic art and stories of both known and less familiar women. Parents are using it for bedtime stories for their daughters, and educators will want to share these profiles with girls and boys to illustrate what’s possible when one has purpose and dedication. This also makes a powerful and positive gift for girls of all ages, who will be inspired to connect to their own passions, find their true selves, and help make a better future for all of us.

exhaustion, and danger in an uncompromising quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. A remarkable work of performance in its own right, WALK THROUGH WALLS is a vivid and powerful rendering of the unparalleled life of an extraordinary artist. For fascinating insights, read on. What was the genesis of Marina Abramović’s memoir, WALK THROUGH WALLS, and what was involved in the title being acquired by Crown? Marina is turning seventy in November and decided to mark the occasion by writing her memoir. When she came around with her agent to meet with publishers, we were her twelfth and final meeting. But durational performance artist that she is, Marina was as full of energy as if it were her first. Before the meeting began she perused the bookshelves in the conference room until she came across two titles that delighted her so much she wanted to take them home: one called Yogurt and the other called Unleash the Power of the Female Brain. From those disparate topics we launched into an expansive conversation that gave us a true taste of Marina’s dynamic storytelling ability and were completely hooked. How would you describe the editor/writer relationship and process between you and Marina during the creation of this book? To know Marina is to love her. Within moments of meeting her you understand why thousands of people stood in line at her 2010 MoMA retrospective for a chance to sit across from her and communicate nonverbally. She is warm, funny, smart, and endlessly charismatic…. She’s also insanely busy, traveling nonstop with a full year of exhibitions ahead. So no small credit is due to her collaborator, James Kaplan (author of Frank and Sinatra), who managed to capture Marina’s distinctive voice so vividly on the page. Once you join Marina’s team, you join her extended family, and it’s a wonderful family to be a part of. What aspects of WALK THROUGH WALLS do you think will resonate most strongly with readers? Marina set out to write a book that would resonate with anyone who has experienced pain…which is to say all of us. In pushing her own body past its limits, she was able to overcome her fears, find human connection, and experience emotional and spiritual transformation. She hopes to inspire people to leave their comfort zones, walk through their own walls, and experience the freedom that comes with perseverance. There’s also an epic, heart-rending love story at the book’s core that sucks you in from the start. And jokes. Lots of jokes tinged with her indelible Balkan sense of humor.

FICTION THE AWARD by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press) Gaëlle de Barbet is sixteen years old in 1940 when the German army occupies France and frightening changes begin to occur. She is powerless when French gendarmes take away her closest friend, Rebekah Feldmann, and her family for deportation to an unknown, ominous fate. Gaëlle begins a perilous journey with the French Resistance, hoping to save lives to make up for the beloved friend she could do nothing to help. Taking terrifying risks, Gaëlle becomes a valuable member of the Resistance. Gaëlle’s life will take her from Paris to New York, from a career as a Dior model to marriage and motherhood, unbearable loss, and mature, lasting love. She returns to Paris to run a small museum, but her label as a collaborator remains, until her granddaughter, a respected political journalist, ensures that her grandmother’s brave acts are recognized. THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI by James L. Haley (Putnam) It is 1801 and President Thomas Jefferson has assembled a deep-water navy to fight the growing threat of piracy, as American civilians are regularly kidnapped by Islamist brigands and held for ransom, enslaved, or killed, all at their captors’ whim. The Berber States of North Africa, especially Tripoli, claimed their faith gave them the right to pillage anyone who did not submit to their religion. Young Bliven Putnam, great-nephew of Revolutionary War hero Israel Putnam, is bound for the Mediterranean and a desperate battle with the pirate ship Tripoli. He later returns under legendary Commodore Edward Preble on the Constitution, and marches across the Libyan desert with General Eaton to assault Derna—discovering the lessons he learns about war, and life, are not what he expected. THUS BAD BEGINS by Javier Marias (Knopf) Madrid, 1980. Juan de Vere, nearly finished with his university degree, takes a job as personal assistant to Eduardo Muriel, an eccentric, once-successful film director. Urbane, discreet, irreproachable, Muriel is an irresistible idol to the young man. But Muriel’s voluptuous wife, Beatriz, inhabits their home like an unwanted ghost; and on the periphery of their lives is Dr. Jorge Van Vechten, a family friend implicated in unsavory rumors that Muriel now asks Juan to investigate. As Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers only more questions. What is at the root of Muriel’s hostility toward his wife? How did Beatriz meet Van Vechten? What happened during the war? Marías leads us deep into the intrigues of these characters, through a daring exploration of rancor, suspicion, loyalty, trust, and the infinitely permeable boundaries between the deceptions perpetrated on us by others and those we inflict upon ourselves. FIRST LIGHT by Bill Rancic (Putnam) Set amid the wild woods of the Yukon, FIRST LIGHT tells the story of Daniel Albrecht and Kerry Egan, young lovers leaving a work trip in Alaska to plan their wedding back home in Chicago. Not long into their trip, both engines of their plane catch fire and send them careening into a mountainside in the middle of a terrible snowstorm. Kerry is seriously injured in the accident, and it soon becomes clear that search-and-rescue teams aren’t going to find the survivors in time to save her. Daniel—the one person with survival experience amid the passengers—makes the courageous decision to find help and bring it back to the rest of the passengers, hoping against hope he might save the woman he loves. NONFICTION KENNETH CLARK by James Stourton (Knopf) The definitive biography of this brilliant polymath–director of the National Gallery, author, patron of the arts, social lion, and singular pioneer of television–that also tells the story of the arts in the twentieth century through his astonishing life. Kenneth Clark’s thirteen-part 1969 television series, Civilisation, established him as a globally admired figure. Clark was prescient in making this series: the upheavals of the century, the Cold War among others, convinced him of the power of barbarism and the fragility of culture. He would burnish his image with two memoirs that artfully omitted the more complicated details of his life. Now, drawing on a vast, previously unseen archive, James Stourton reveals the formidable intellect and the private man behind the figure who effortlessly dominated the art world for more than half a century. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, VOLUME 3: The War Years and After, 1939-1962 by Blanche Wiesen Cook (Viking) Historians, politicians, critics, and readers everywhere have praised Blanche Wiesen Cook’s biography of Eleanor Roosevelt as the essential portrait of a woman who towers over the twentieth century. The third and final volume takes us through World War II, FDR’s death, the founding of the UN, and Eleanor Roosevelt’s death in 1962. It follows the arc of war and the evolution of a marriage, as the first lady realized the cost of maintaining her principles even as the country and her husband were not prepared to adopt them. This is a sympathetic but unblinking portrait of a marriage and of a woman whose passion and commitment has inspired generations of Americans to seek a decent future for all people. Modest and self-deprecating, a moral force in a turbulent world, Eleanor Roosevelt was unique. ZAYN by Zayn (Delacorte Press) The first and only official book from ZAYN. Global superstar ZAYN shares a photographic journey of his life since leaving One Direction. ZAYN opens up with this collection of thoughts, inspiration, and never-before-seen personal photographs. After five years of massive success with One Direction, ZAYN launched his career as a solo artist with Mind of Mine, becoming one of the most successful artists in the world. Now, for the first time ever, ZAYN is going to tell and show all in this intimate and raw scrapbook of his life. Never-before-released photos give readers insight to ZAYN, no-holds-barred. With hundreds of full-color photographs and ZAYN’s notes, drawings, song lyrics, and personal stories, the book captures ZAYN’s most private moments and his candid feelings on fame, success, music, and life. AMERICAN DREAMER by Tommy Hilfiger and Peter Knobler (Ballantine) AMERICAN DREAMER brims with anecdotes that cover Tommy’s years as a club kid and scrappy entrepreneur in 1970s New York as well as unique insights into the exclusive A-list personalities with whom he’s collaborated and interacted, from Mick Jagger and David Bowie to Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. But this is more than just a fashion icon’s memoir—it’s a road map for building a brand, both professionally and personally. Tommy takes us behind the scenes of every decision—and every mistake—he’s ever made, offering advice on leadership, business, team-building, and creativity. This is the story of a true American original, told for the first time in his own words, with honesty, humor, and the insatiable appetite for life and style that proves that sometimes you have to dream big to make it big. BY WOMEN POSSESSED by Arthur Gelb and Barbara Gelb (Putnam) This is a tour through both a magical moment in American theater and the troubled life of a genius. Not a peep show or a celebrity gossip fest, this book is a brilliant investigation of the emotional knots that ensnared one of our most important playwrights. Handsome, charming when he wanted to be: O’Neill was the flame women were drawn to—all, that is, except his mother, who never let him forget he was unwanted. BY WOMEN POSSESSED follows O’Neill through his great successes, the failures he was able to shrug off, and the long eclipse, a twelve-year period in which, despite the Nobel, nothing he wrote was produced. But ahead lay his greatest achievements: The Iceman Cometh and Long Day’s Journey into Night. Both were ahead of their time and both received lukewarm receptions. YOUNG READERS THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR by Nicola Yoon (Delacorte Press) Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story. Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us. The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true? THE OUTSIDERS 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION by S.E. Hinton (Penguin Books) Celebrating 50 years of the novel that laid the groundwork for the YA genre, this is the ultimate edition for fans of THE OUTSIDERS. A perfect way to honor this impressive milestone and a must-have for fans of all ages. This special edition of the groundbreaking novel contains: never before seen photos and letters from the publisher’s archives, original review clippings and media coverage, photos from the author’s personal collection, a gallery of covers around the world, new material from the stars and director of the iconic film–including Francis Ford Coppola, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, and others, and much more! TEDDY & CO. by Cynthia Voigt, illustrated by Paola Zakimi (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Teddy is a thinking kind of bear. Of all his friends, he does the most wondering. He lives with a ragtag group of lost toys—a very hungry snake, an elephant who likes to bake, two charmingly silly pigs, and a reclusive penguin—and they all bump along happily together. But their peaceful world gets shaken up when new toys arrive—first a rabbit, who is not as soft and floppy as he looks, and then a beautiful doll with royal ambitions. Will the newcomers learn to fit into the community? Or will the community be forever changed by them? As Teddy the philosopher would answer: Yes. Cynthia Voigt’s charming tale of community and compromise comes alive in the adorable pictures from Paola Zakimi. YOU IN FIVE ACTS by Una Lamarche (Razorbill) At a prestigious New York City performing arts school, five friends connect over one dream of stardom. But for Joy, Diego, Liv, Ethan and Dave, that dream falters under the pressure of second-semester, Senior year. Ambitions shift and change, new emotions rush to the surface, and a sense of urgency pulses between them: Their time together is running out. Diego hopes to get out of the friend zone. Liv wants to escape, losing herself in fantasies of the new guy. Ethan conspires to turn his muse into his girlfriend. Dave pines for the drama queen. And if Joy doesn’t open her eyes, she could lose the love that’s been in front of her all along.

celebration has mobilized over 17 million people in an effort to address educational inequalities that leave too many children unprepared for kindergarten. This year’s Read for the Record was an incredible illustration of the campaign’s reach and importance. Physical and digital event materials were distributed by Random House Children’s Books nationwide to schools, libraries and bookstores, with everyone reading and enjoying THE BEAR ATE YOUR SANDWICH. A host of celebrities supported the campaign on social media, including Julianne Moore (774k Twitter followers), Danica McKellar (120k Twitter followers), Lauren Conrad (3.54million Twitter followers), Bridget Moynahan (56k Twitter followers) and Scott Kelly (2.06million Twitter followers). See a sampling of the wide array of terrific posts below.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A READING OF THE BEAR ATE YOUR SANDWICH

https://youtu.be/MRhtZ8DspaE?list=PLDcpsppkgAloXxGU9Y09vmHLZevSoM4TO

                

Today, October 26 – which would have been Pat Conroy’s 71st birthday – Doubleday went live with #PatConroyDay on Pat’s Facebook page as well as the Penguin Random House, Random House Publishing Group, and Doubleday/Nan A. Talese Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.Readers and booksellers are encouraged to share their own Pat Conroy Day posts, memories, and photos. Five entries per person per platform, and the promo runs until 11:59 p.m. tonight. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday published Conroy’s new nonfiction book, A LOWCOUNTRY HEART: Reflections on a Writing Life, on Tuesday (10/25). The Pat Conroy Literary Center is a 5013c nonprofit and located in Conroy’s hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina. The Center will provide space for book clubs and writing groups, offer master classes in poetry, memoir and fiction, and give support and encouragement to both emerging and advanced writers of all ages.  A Conroy museum will be located onsite and honorary board members include John Grisham, Charlie Gibson, Ron Rash and Barbra Streisand. Donations can also be made directly via www.patconroyliterarycenter.org.

testimony and archival documents. The true flesh-and-blood man behind the legend has long remained a mystery. Unscrupulous newspaper accounts and Capone’s own tall tales perpetuated his mystique, but through dogged research Ms. Bair debunks the most outrageous of these myths. With the help of Capone’s descendants, she discovers his essential humanity, uncovering a complex character that was flawed and sometimes cruel but also capable of nobility. “Two things surprised me as I wrote about Al Capone,” says Ms. Bair. “The first was how briefly he was on top of the gangster world, only 5-6 years in the 1920s, and yet, how his name is known today all over the world. The second was how deeply private his family had become, not only his own descendants but also those of his siblings. I joke about this but it’s true, that I was responsible for any number of Capone family reunions when I introduced them to each other, because until I came along to write about their family, none of them had any idea that the others even existed.” Dan Meyer, Associate Editor, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, comments: “When I learned that Deirdre intended to write about Al Capone, I was surprised, to say the least—he’s unusual company for Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Carl Jung, to name just a few of the impressive figures Deirdre has written about before. And while Capone’s cultural power is undeniable, as a subject for biography he presents particular challenges: his own grandstanding for reporters eager to scoop the most salacious account possible, competitive newspapers desperate to print the most lurid details regardless of the facts, and a slim paper trail of primary documents from his life—for obvious reasons, given his line of work. But Deirdre’s unique access to the Capone family provides a window into the life that the press couldn’t capture: how he lived behind closed doors, what motivated him and what troubled him. We all think we know Al Capone, but as Deirdre ably shows, the historical man was far more complex than any Hollywood portrayal.”

FICTION THE WHISTLER by John Grisham (Doubleday) From John Grisham, America’s #1 bestselling author, comes the most electrifying novel of the year, a high-stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State. We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice. But what happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe? It’s rare, but it happens. SEX, LIES & SERIOUS MONEY by Stuart Woods (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) Stone Barrington takes on a client who gives him a run for his money in the newest heart-stopping thriller from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author. Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature—and value—of his recent turn of fortune. From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles…and Stone quickly learns that easy money isn’t always so easy. THE BOAT ROCKER by Ha Jin (Pantheon) New York, 2005. Chinese expatriate Feng Danlin is a fiercely principled reporter at a small news agency that produces a website read by the Chinese diaspora around the world. Danlin’s explosive exposés have made him legendary among readers—and feared by Communist officials. But his newest assignment may be his undoing: investigating his ex-wife, Yan Haili, an unscrupulous novelist who has willingly become a pawn of the Chinese government in order to realize her dreams of literary stardom. Haili’s scheme infuriates Danlin both morally and personally—he will do whatever it takes to expose her as a fraud. But in outing Haili, he is also provoking her powerful political allies, and he will need to draw on all of his journalistic cunning to emerge from this investigation with his career—and his life—still intact. PRETTY PAPER by Willie Nelson (Blue Rider Press) It’s the early sixties and Willie Nelson is down and out, barely eking out a living as a singer-songwriter. The week before Christmas, he spots a legless man on a cart, selling wares in front of Leonard’s Department Store in Fort Worth, Texas. The humble figure, by the name of Vernon Clay, piques Willie’s curiosity, but Vernon is stubbornly private and—despite Willie’s charming queries—has no interest in telling his story. Willie is tenacious, though, and he eventually learns that Vernon is a fellow musician, a fine guitarist and singer. When Vernon disappears, he leaves behind only a diary, which tells an epic tale of life-altering tragedies, broken hearts, and crooked record men, not to mention backroad honky-tonks, down-home cooking, and country songwriting genius. Deeply moved and spurred on by Vernon’s pages, Willie aims to give the man one last shot at redemption and a chance to embody the holiday spirit. NONFICTION COOKING FOR JEFFREY by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter) Ina’s most personal cookbook yet, COOKING FOR JEFFREY is filled with the recipes her husband Jeffrey and their friends request most often as well as charming stories from Ina and Jeffrey’s many years together. There are traditional dishes that she’s updated, such as Brisket with Onions and Leeks, and Tsimmes, a vegetable stew with carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and prunes, and new favorites, like Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken and Roasted Salmon Tacos. You’ll also find wonderful new salads, including Maple-Roasted Carrot Salad and Kale Salad with Pancetta and Pecorino. Desserts range from simple Apple Pie Bars to showstoppers like Vanilla Rum Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel. For the first time, Ina has included a chapter devoted to bread and cheese, with recipes and tips for creating the perfect cheese course. With options like Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschettas and Challah with Saffron, there’s something everyone will enjoy. A LOWCOUNTRY HEART by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese) Final words and heartfelt remembrances from bestselling author Pat Conroy take center stage in this winning nonfiction collection, supplemented by touching pieces from Conroy’s many friends. This new volume of Pat Conroy’s nonfiction brings together some of the most charming interviews, magazine articles, speeches, and letters from his long literary career, many of them addressed directly to his readers with his habitual greeting, “Hey, out there.” Ranging across diverse subjects, such as favorite recent reads, the challenge of staying motivated to exercise, and processing the loss of dear friends, Conroy’s eminently memorable pieces offer a unique window into the life of a true titan of Southern writing. WALK THROUGH WALLS by Marina Abramovic (Crown Archetype) In 2010, more than 750,000 people stood in line at Marina Abramović’s MoMA retrospective for the chance to sit across from her and communicate with her nonverbally in an unprecedented durational performance that lasted more than 700 hours. This celebration of nearly fifty years of groundbreaking performance art demonstrated once again that Marina Abramović is truly a force of nature. Marina’s story, by turns moving, epic, and dryly funny, informs an incomparable artistic career that involves pushing her body past the limits of fear, pain, exhaustion, and danger in an uncompromising quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. A remarkable work of performance in its own right, WALK THROUGH WALLS is a vivid and powerful rendering of the unparalleled life of an extraordinary artist. CARRY THIS BOOK by Abbi Jacobson (Viking) From the mind of Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson, a wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful illustrated look at the world around us—all through the framework of what we carry. With bright, quirky, and colorful line drawings, Jacobson brings to life actual and imagined items found in the pockets and purses, bags and glove compartments of real and fantastical people—whether it’s the contents of Oprah’s favorite purse, Amelia Earhart’s pencil case, or Bernie Madoff’s suitcase. How many self-tanning lotions are in Donald Trump’s weekender? What’s inside Martha Stewart’s hand-knit fanny pack? What kind of protein bars does Michelle Obama hide in her tiny clutch at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner? CARRY THIS BOOK provides a humorous and insightful look into how the things we carry around every day can make up who we are. NOT DEAD YET by Phil Collins (Crown Archetype) Phil Collins pulls no punches—about himself, his life, or the ecstasy and heartbreak that’s inspired his music. In his much-awaited memoir, NOT DEAD YET, he tells the story of his epic career, with an auspicious debut at age 11 in a crowd shot from the Beatles’ legendary film A Hard Day’s Night. A drummer since almost before he could walk, Collins received on the job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis. Soon, he would step into the spotlight on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel and begin to stockpile the songs that would rocket him to international fame with the release of Face Value and “In the Air Tonight.” Whether he’s recalling jamming with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, pulling together a big band fronted by Tony Bennett, or writing the music for Disney’s smash-hit animated Tarzan, Collins’s storytelling chops never waver. And of course he answers the pressing question on everyone’s mind: just what does “Sussudio” mean? POETRY FLOAT by Anne Carson (Knopf) From the renowned classicist and MacArthur Prize winner: a new collection that explores myth and memory, beauty and loss, all the while playing with–and pushing–the limits of language and form. Anne Carson consistently dazzles with her inventive, shape-shifting work and the vividness of her imagination. Float reaches an even greater level of brilliance and surprise. Presented in an arrestingly original format–individual chapbooks that can be read in any order, and that float inside a transparent case–this collection conjures a mix of voices, time periods, and structures to explore what makes people, memories, and stories “maddeningly attractive” when observed in spaces that are suggestively in-between. YOUNG READERS WANDERING STAR by Romina Russell (Razorbill) Orphaned, disgraced, and stripped of her title, Rho is ready to live life quietly, as an aid worker in the Cancrian refugee camp on House Capricorn. But news has spread that the Marad–a group of unbalanced Risers determined to overturn harmony in the Galaxy–could strike any House at any moment. Then, unwelcome nightmare that he is, Ochus appears to Rho, bearing a cryptic message that leaves her with no choice but to fight. Now Rho must embark on a high-stakes journey through an all-new set of Houses, where she discovers that there’s much more to her Galaxy–and to herself–than she could have ever imagined. And just when Rho has started to come to terms with the pain of losing Mathias, the stars deliver their most shocking surprise yet. UPROOTED by Albert Marrin (Knopf Books for Young Readers) On the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor comes a harrowing and enlightening look at the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II— from National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin. Just seventy-five years ago, the American government did something that most would consider unthinkable today: it rounded up over 100,000 of its own citizens based on nothing more than their ancestry and, suspicious of their loyalty, kept them in concentration camps for the better part of four years. How could this have happened? Uprooted takes a close look at the history of racism in America and carefully follows the treacherous path that led one of our nation’s most beloved presidents to make this decision. Meanwhile, it also illuminates the history of Japan and its own struggles with racism and xenophobia, which led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, ultimately tying the two countries together. GLITTER by Aprilynne Pike (Random House Books for Young Readers) Outside the palace of Versailles, it’s modern day. Inside, the people dress, eat, and act like it’s the eighteenth century—with the added bonus of technology to make court life lavish, privileged, and frivolous. When Danica witnesses an act of murder by the young king, her mother makes a cruel power play . . . blackmailing the king into making Dani his queen. When she turns eighteen, Dani will marry the most ruthless and dangerous man of the court. She has six months to escape her terrifying destiny. Six months to raise enough money to disappear into the real world beyond the palace gates. Her ticket out? Glitter. A drug so powerful that a tiny pinch mixed into a pot of rouge or lip gloss can make the wearer hopelessly addicted. MY NAME IS JAMES MADISON HEMINGS by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Terry Widener (Schwartz & Wade) In an evocative first-person account accompanied by exquisite artwork, Winter and Widener tell the story of James Madison Hemings’s childhood at Monticello, and, in doing so, illuminate the many contradictions in Jefferson’s life and legacy. Though Jefferson lived in a mansion, Hemings and his siblings lived in a single room. While Jefferson doted on his white grandchildren, he never showed affection to his enslaved children. Though he kept the Hemings boys from hard field labor—instead sending them to work in the carpentry shop—Jefferson nevertheless listed the children in his “Farm Book” along with the sheep, hogs, and other property. Here is a profound and moving account of one family’s history, which is also America’s history.

featuring shimmering foil-stamped covers, bold type design, and a series introduction by the inimitable Neil Gaiman. With this series, some of the most popular, prescient, path-breaking books of the last 70 years—long available mainly in disposable mass-market format—are now available in beautiful, collector-worthy editions, joining the ranks of the Penguin Classics at a moment when science fiction and fantasy pervade some of our most popular cultural franchises, including television, film, fashion, dance, and music. Want to know which Penguin Galaxy title is right for you? Take this quiz. Still can’t decide? All six are available in a stunning, limited-edition lucite boxed set. Click on the covers below to find out more about each title.

What are some of the primary characteristics that distinguish a Virgil Flowers novel from a Lucas Davenport novel? Virgil works for Lucas at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He came about because once Lucas got married and had a family, he had to settle down a little – he couldn’t be the sexy loose cannon he used to be. So John created Virgil as a younger Lucas, but with a lot of idiosyncrasies of his own. There tends to be more humor in the Flowers books, and they’re more freewheeling, so they have their own distinct style, while still being part of the Davenport universe – every book has some interaction between Virgil and Lucas, sometimes about the case Virgil’s working on, sometimes about incidents that may have been in the previous Prey book – or even one that’s coming up. How would you describe your editor/author relationship with John Sandford and how it has evolved over the years? We’ve been working together since 1988, so, as you can imagine, we know each other’s minds pretty well by now, and there’s a lot of mutual trust. We use shorthand, and tend to anticipate one another’s thoughts, with the result that we often don’t actually have to voice those thoughts – they’re already incorporated into the book. It’s a great partnership. How does John keep the Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series fresh and where can he take the series going forward? John keeps his characters fresh by constantly evolving them, getting them into new situations, both personal and professional, setting new parameters. With Davenport, for instance, he started as a Minneapolis cop, rose to deputy chief, then got picked by the governor to be a state-wide troubleshooter. Now, as a result of events in the last two Prey books, Davenport is embarking on a new role as a federal marshal, but with a difference – he gets to pick his own cases, anywhere in the country. As for Virgil, his role has stayed pretty much the same so far, but in ESCAPE CLAUSE, he’s getting kind of serious about a woman he met in the last book. Only problem is, she has a sister named Sparkle who has her own eye on Virgil, and, as you can imagine, that provides problems: You mess around with Sparkle, she tells him, you could get yourself stabbed. “She carries a knife?” “No, but I do.”

potentially damaging emails and transcripts of the candidate’s Goldman Sachs speeches that were hacked from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta’s private email account. To meet public interest in cyber-security and whistleblowers we present the following titles:   Headline: Ecuador: We have ‘temporarily restricted’ Assange’s internet (AP)   THE SNOWDEN FILES: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE WORLD’S MOST WANTED MAN by Luke Harding The official movie tie-in to the Oliver Stone-directed major motion pictureSnowden. The book offers a definitive account of Edward Snowden, the extraordinary NSA whistleblower behind the biggest intelligence leak in history and the forces that tried to stop him; written by reporter Luke Harding, member of the Guardian’s Snowden coverage team.   HACKER, HOAXER, WHISTLEBLOWER, SPY: THE MANY FACES OF ANONYMOUS by Gabriella Coleman Here is the ultimate book on the worldwide movement of hackers, pranksters, and activists that operates under the non-name Anonymous, by the writer the Huffington Post says “knows all of Anonymous’ deepest, darkest secrets.”   THIS MACHINE KILLS SECRETS: JULIAN ASSANGE, THE CYPHERPUNKS, AND THEIR FIGHT TO EMPOWER WHISTLEBLOWERS by Andy Greenberg This is the unauthorized telling of the revolutionary cryptography story behind the motion picture The Fifth Estate and the documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks. WikiLeaks brought to light a new form of whistleblowing, using powerful cryptographic code to hide leakers’ identities while they spill the private data of government agencies and corporations.   BLACK CODE: SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY, AND THE DARK SIDE OF THE INTERNET by Ronald J. Deibert In BLACK CODE, Ronald J. Deibert, a leading expert on digital technology, security, and human rights, lifts the lid on cyberspace and shows what’s at stake for Internet users and citizens.   GLASS HOUSES: Privacy, Secrecy, and Cyber Insecurity in a Transparent World by Joel Brenner Like the rest of us, governments and corporations inhabit “glass houses,” all but transparent to a new generation of spies who operate remotely from such places as China, the Middle East, Russia, and even France. In this urgent wake-up call, Brenner draws on his extraordinary background to show what we can—and cannot—do to prevent cyber spies and hackers from compromising our security and stealing our latest technology.   FUTURE CRIMES: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It by Marc Goodman From former FBI Futurist, Interpol advisor and beat cop Marc Goodman, a deep dive into the digital underground illuminating the alarming ways criminals, corporations, and even countries are using new and emerging technologies against you—and how this makes everyone more vulnerable than you ever thought possible.   THE WIKILEAKS FILES : THE WORLD ACCORDING TO US EMPIRE by WikiLeaks, Julian Assange The WikiLeaks Files exposes the machinations of the United States as it imposes a new form of imperialism on the world. The book also includes an introduction by Julian Assange, founder and editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, examining the ongoing debates about freedom of information, international surveillance, and justice. For more information on these and other titles on cyber-security and whistleblowers visit the collection: Cyber-Security & Whistleblowers

“When the Igloo announcement about DOGS AND THEIR PEOPLE came out, several coworkers encouraged me to send in a photo of my babies,” says Camille Dewing-Vallejo, Senior Copy Manager, Ad Promo, Random House. “Nearly every week, someone stops me or my husband (Richard Vallejo, Online & Digital Sales Manager, Random House Children’s Books), and asks to take a picture of our dogs. So I’ve been photographing Finn, a nine-year-old Dogue de Bordeaux, since he was a puppy. Then, when we rescued young Gemma last December, my Instagram photos became a double-dose of adorableness. We’re so excited to be included in this beautiful book of much-loved dogs. Now everyone can see and enjoy these sweet—and BIG—faces!” “I’m really excited to have Goosie featured in Dogs and Their People,” says Alice Rahaeuser, Production Associate, Random House Children’s Books. “We’ve had Goosie for over ten years now, and as anyone can attest, I love talking about her.  It means a lot to me that Goosie was included, because she is such an important part of our lives.” Sam Lawrence, Senior Manager, People Programs, Human Resources:  “My dog, Otto, is a typical French bulldog – plenty of energy, spunky little personality, and enough gas to fuel a Prius.  He is also very much a neighborhood celebrity.  Rarely a day goes by without a pet or a friendly hello from someone I don’t know, but my dog clearly does.  After attending a Bark Box party for NYC dogs a couple of years ago, a New York magazine reporter convinced my husband and I to start an Instagram account for Otto (@OttoGene_Frenchie). We love sharing him and his adventures online, so we are absolutely THRILLED to be included in this amazing book, as we know they had so many other wonderful pooches to choose from!” Bark & Co., a company dedicated to the happiness of dogs everywhere, talks about the inspiration behind the creation of Dogs and Their People: “Over the past 4+ years, BarkPost, our media site, has shared some of the most astounding and heartwarming dog stories on the Internet, but we felt something was missing in our coverage of what it really means to have a dog in your life.  We wanted to be able to celebrate the best kind of couch-snuggling, belly-scratching, snout-kissing humans by featuring the small, intimate, and snuggly moments that make loving a dog so special.” Kerri Kolen, Executive Editor, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, who edited the book, says, “The Bark brand and the dogs they serve were the inspiration! Bark has tapped into such a happy audience with all of their content and product; and we wanted to celebrate that happiness with a book by and for them.”  Kerri adds: There are no dogs not worthy! This book could have been thousands of pages, if not more. We’ll just have to make another one!”

what they experience. Two teens—Daniel, the son of Korean shopkeepers, and Natasha, whose family is here illegally from Jamaica—cross paths in New York City on an eventful day in their lives. He is on his way to an interview with a Yale alum, she is meeting with a lawyer to try and prevent her family’s deportation to Jamaica, and they fall in love. THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR (Delacorte Press) “Nicola Yoon’s writing is sophisticated, emotional, and thought provoking. Once you start reading you can’t stop.” Start spreading the word early using the hashtag #TheSunIsAlsoAStar In its third year, Penguin Random House’s Title Wave program continues to amplify exposure across the house and bring new readers to buzzing books. DARK MATTER, the Summer 2016 Title Wave, debuted at #15 on the New York Times Bestseller list and made its way directly into the hands of readers and books clubs through social media posts. When the time came to suggest titles for this Fall 2016 season, there was certainly no lack of excitement surrounding the finalists nominated by sales to receive the Title Wave treatment. The following titles were among the finalists in the in the running to become the Fall Title Wave pick. A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW (Viking Adult) “Reading this book is like discovering the beauty of language for the first time, allowing the reader to experience the best in literature.” #PermanentStaycation—Like Count Rostov sentenced to the Grand Metropol Hotel in A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, post on social media the places you would love to spend a lifetime of house arrest. THE MOTHERS (Riverhead) “This is one of the best books I’ve read all year. . . .This is a novel of love, hurt, disappointment, and so much more. I still can’t believe this is her first book.” Not just for literary buffs— THE MOTHERS has been praised internally for approaching issues of religion and teenage pregnancy in an accessible and compelling way which could appeal to High School readers. KIDS OF APPETITE (Viking Young Readers) “The last time I saw an author with this potential, his name was John Green.” If you loved THE OUTSIDERS, you will love KIDS OF APPETITE —make that connection and use the great quotes for social media posts. Even better, make a playlist for the book and post it on Spotify and Pandora.  

books he has designed have become New York Times bestsellers. Last month, Jason was chosen by Publishers Weekly, American Booksellers Association, The Association of American Publishers and the Frankfurt Book Fair as a 2016 PW Star Watch Honoree, recognized as one of “publishing’s brightest lights.” Jason is also the author/illustrator of an upcoming picture book, and founder of the community project Books Beyond Borders, which you will learn more about as you read on. What initially drew you to the world of young readers book design? As a kid, I loved reading comic books and the sci-fi novels of HG Wells that my grandfather gave me. As I read them, I’d draw my own adventures, inspired by those awesome stories. For the quiet kid that I was growing up, those books were a way for me to take off to worlds far away and be like the brave and bold heroes I read about. In middle school, my parents, seeing that I took better to comics than the baseball team, enrolled me in cartooning and drawing classes at an art school in our small Pennsylvania town. I’m so thankful for that because it’s where I met other people who loved art and creating stories too, and that I did have a talent for drawing—it’s where I found my voice. Those early experiences set me on the course to study art in college, at Pratt Institute in New York City. There I met two amazing mentors, Megan Halsey and Bert Waggott. I took Megan’s children’s book illustration class and rediscovered the picture books that had such an impact on me growing up, as well as the great new ones that were being made today. I very quickly fell in love with the art of creating picture books and knew that’s what I wanted to do. Bert Waggott was the Design professor who introduced me to the art of typography and graphic design. I loved working with type and learning from him what went into making beautiful books. One day, he asked if I’d be interested in applying for an internship at Dial Books for Young Readers, where his friend Nancy Leo-Kelly worked as a designer. I jumped at the chance, got the internship, and began working with art director Atha Tehon, and the Dial art department. It was an amazing experience, and after graduation I started with Penguin Young Readers full time—where I am today, doing what I love. What has made this job so exciting for me over the years is the passion of the talented people I work with, the beautiful books that we have the opportunity to create, and the readers that we get to reach and inspire through these books—the same way the books I read as a kid inspired me. How would you describe the conceptual processes you follow when envisioning then creating a book cover? One of the things that I love about my work is that we get to create projects across such a wide range of formats—from Board-Books to Graphic Novels, from Picture Books to illustrated Middle-Grade and Young Adult. Even though each of these are very different, a similarity is that the process of designing the cover is a collaborative one. I work with the illustrator, editor, publisher, executive art director, and others early on in the process and begin sketching out thoughts for the cover image, designing the title-type, or playing with the composition and layout of a sketch the illustrator has sent me. Those ideas for the cover come from the story and what we can pull from it in terms of setting, character, or mood, and also how the entire design of the book can tie together as a cohesive package. After designing a variety of layouts, we get together and “kick-the-tires” to see what’s working and what’s not—and then go back and rework until we’ve hit on the final cover. I think the back-and-forth conversation that happens around the cover design is what ends up making the final version great. And when the cover’s great, it can be what brings readers to their next favorite book. Which of your book cover designs are you most proud of and why? It’s tough to pick just a few books to share because I do put much thought and care into the design of each one, and am fortunate to be a part of making such incredible titles. One series that I particularly love designing is Brad Meltzer and Chris Eliopoulos’ bestselling ORDINARY PEOPLE CHANGE THE WORLD. With twelve titles and counting, I’m proud of how each cover stands well on its own and looks great as a collection too—each has so much heart. Another title that I’m proud of designing is the picture book, ROBO-SAUCE. This was a tour de force to produce. The challenge that the author gave me was to find a way to create a book that would transform into a completely new book—with its own alternate cover—as the result of something awesome that happens in the story. And, the way it needed to work had to be simple and easy enough for a child or a parent to do as they read the story. I worked on many variations to engineer the final fold-out-and-wrap-around silver foil and neon-orange jacket that creates the transformation of ROBO-SAUCE to ROBO-BOOK. The end result was something totally original and exciting to discover inside the book. I’m also very proud of the design of the Newbery Honor-winning Roller Girl. When designing the cover, I took inspiration from the look of colorful roller-derby posters. The cover is impactful, fun, and I’m happy at how this title has reached so many readers. What role do you think its cover plays in attracting a young reader or parent to a book? The cover is really our first impression of a book, and it’s my goal to make it welcoming and intriguing for a young reader or parent to pick up and discover the story within. When designing a book, I put much time and care not only into the layout, but also to the physical aspects of the book. The great thing about a book is that picking it up and reading it is a tactile experience (and in the case of picture books, something that’s often going to be shared between a parent and a child). So, the trim size of the book, number of pages, the type of paper used on the interior and jacket, and any effects that we may employ on the cover (like foil, neon inks, embossing, different types of lamination, and more) are all deliberate choices that I can make to enhance the experience of reading the book, and make it memorable. What was the inspiration behind the creation of Books Beyond Borders? Books Beyond Borders was created through a conversation I had with a friend who has done outreach work in Africa. She told me about the children that she worked with in Nigeria who were in need of something that I took for granted—books and paper. I was moved, and chose to help. Through conversations with friends, coworkers, and family, I was able to gather an abundance of books to donate. I found the more people I talked to, the more books came my way, and also more individuals willing to help. I also saw that there was just as much need here at home as there was at my friend’s school in Africa. Since February 2016, this community project has gathered and donated over 1,000 books locally and in multiple countries—Kenya, Nepal, and South Africa. What’s next for the project is a program to teach children how to create their own books from simple materials, and share those stories with each other around the world. The books that I read as a kid transported me to places I could only dream of being, and opened the doors to a love of art and learning, which in turn lead to my career in publishing. That’s something that I am honored to be a part of creating for others through the books we make together.

FICTION A GAMBLER’S ANATOMY by Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday) Handsome, impeccably tuxedoed Bruno Alexander travels the world winning large sums of money from amateur “whales” who think they can challenge his peerless acumen at backgammon. Fronted by his pasty, vampiric manager, Edgar Falk, Bruno arrives in Berlin after a troubling run of bad luck in Singapore. Perhaps it was the chance encounter with his crass childhood acquaintance Keith Stolarsky and his smoldering girlfriend Tira Harpaz. Or perhaps it was the emergence of a blot that distorts his vision so he has to look at the board sideways. Things don’t go much better in Berlin. Bruno’s flirtation with Madchen, the striking blonde he meets on the ferry, is inconclusive; the game at the unsettling Herr Kohler’s mansion goes awry as his blot grows worse; he passes out and is sent to the local hospital, where he is given an extremely depressing diagnosis. PARIS FOR ONE AND OTHER STORIES by Jojo Moyes (Pamela Dorman Books) From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ME BEFORE YOU and AFTER YOU, PARIS FOR ONE AND OTHER STORIES is an irresistibly romantic collection filled with humor and heart. Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She’s never even been on a romantic weekend away—to anywhere—before. Traveling abroad isn’t really her thing. But when Nell’s boyfriend fails to show up for their mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone—including herself—wrong.  Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life? Funny, charming, and irresistible, PARIS FOR ONE is quintessential Jojo Moyes—as are the other stories that round out the collection. CAKEWALK by Rita Mae Brown (Bantam) The night a riot breaks out at the Capitol Theater movie house—during a Mary Pickford picture, no less—you can bet that the Hunsenmeir sisters, Louise and Julia, are nearby. Known locally as Wheezie and Juts, the inimitable, irrepressible, distinctly freethinking sisters and their delightful circle of friends are coming of age in a shifting world—and are determined to understand their place in it. Across town, the well-to-do Chalfonte siblings are preparing for the upcoming wedding of brother Curtis. But for youngest sister Celeste, the celebration brings about a change she never expected and a lesson about love she’ll not soon forget. Set against the backdrop of America emerging from World War I, Cakewalk is an outrageous and affecting novel about a small town where ideas of sin and virtue, love and sex, men and women, politics and religion, can be as divided as the Mason-Dixon Line that runs right through it. ESCAPE CLAUSE by John Sandford (Putnam) The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large, and very rare, Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they’ve been stolen for their body parts. Traditional Chinese medicine prizes those parts for home remedies, and people will do extreme things to get what they need. Some of them are a great deal more extreme than others—as Virgil is about to find out. Then there’s the homefront. Virgil’s relationship with his girlfriend Frankie has been getting kind of serious, but when Frankie’s sister Sparkle moves in for the summer, the situation gets a lot more complicated. For one thing, her research into migrant workers is about to bring her up against some very violent people who emphatically do not want to be researched. For another…she thinks Virgil’s kind of cute. NOTWITHSTANDING by Louis de Bernieres (Vintage) As the world around it marches forward, the bucolic English village of Notwithstanding remains unchanged. It is, as it always has been, a place of pubs and cricket pitches, where local eccentrics—a retired colonel who has eschewed clothes, a spiritualist living with the ghost of her husband, and a dog named Archibald Scott-Moncrieff—almost fit in. In this delightfully evocative collection of stories, in which a young couple falls in and out of love by letter alone, an eleven-year-old boy battles a monstrous fish, and a man of the cloth has a premonition of death, Louis de Bernières conjures up a rural idyll long since forgotten. Funny, bittersweet, and deeply felt, NOTWITHSTANDING is the bestselling author of CORELLI’S MANDOLIN at his most enchanting. NONFICTION LUCKY PEACH PRESENTS POWER VEGETABLES! by Peter Meehan and the Editors of Lucky Peach (Clarkson Potter) Mostly vegetarian and infrequently vegan, the recipes in LUCKY PEACH PRESENTS POWER VEGETABLES! are all indubitably delicious. The editors of Lucky Peach have colluded to bring you a portfolio of meat-free cooking that even carnivores can get behind. Designed to bring BIG-LEAGUE FLAVOR to your WEEKNIGHT COOKING, this collection of recipes, developed by the Lucky Peach test kitchen and chef friends, features trusted strategies for adding oomph to produce with flavors that will muscle meat out of the picture. THE MURDER OF SONNY LISTON by Shaun Assel (Blue Rider Press) On January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston was found dead in his home—of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was acci­dental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide, investigative journalist Shaun Assael treats the boxer’s death as a cold case. The result is a page-turning who­dunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas. THE MURDER OF SONNY LISTON takes a fresh look at the legendary boxer, the town he called home, and one of America’s most enduring mysteries. THE TUNNELS by Greg Mitchell (Crown) In the summer of 1962, the year after the rise of the Berlin Wall, a group of young West Germans risked prison, Stasi torture, and even death to liberate friends, lovers, and strangers in East Berlin by digging tunnels under the Wall. Then two U.S. television networks heard about the secret projects and raced to be first to document them from the inside. NBC and CBS funded two separate tunnels in return for the right to film the escapes, planning spectacular prime-time specials. President John F. Kennedy, however, was wary of anything that might spark a confrontation with the Soviets, having said, “A wall is better than a war,” and even confessing to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, “We don’t care about East Berlin.” JFK approved unprecedented maneuvers to quash both documentaries, testing the limits of a free press in an era of escalating nuclear tensions. GOOD CLEAN FUN: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop by Nick Offerman (Dutton) Nestled among the glitz and glitter of Tinseltown is a testament to American elbow grease and an honest-to-god hard day’s work: Offerman Woodshop. Captained by hirsute woodworker, actor, comedian, and writer Nick Offerman, the shop produces not only fine handcrafted furniture, but also fun stuff—kazoos, baseball bats, ukuleles, mustache combs, even cedar-strip canoes. Now Nick and his ragtag crew of champions want to share their experience of working at the Woodshop, tell you all about their passion for the discipline of woodworking, and teach you how to make a handful of their most popular projects along the way. This book takes readers behind the scenes of the woodshop, both inspiring and teaching them to make their own projects and besotting them with the infectious spirit behind the shop and its complement of dusty wood-elves. POETRY SCRIPTORIUM by Melissa Range (Beacon Press) The poems in SCRIPTORIUM are primarily concerned with questions of religious authority. The medieval scriptorium, the central image of the collection, stands for that authority but also for its subversion; it is both a place where religious ideas are codified in writing and a place where an individual scribe might, with a sly movement of the pen, express unorthodox religious thoughts and experiences. In addition to exploring the ways language is used, or abused, to claim religious authority, SCRIPTORIUM also addresses the authority of the vernacular in various time periods and places, particularly in the Appalachian slang of the author’s East Tennessee upbringing. Throughout SCRIPTORIUM, the historical mingles with the personal: poems about medieval art, theology, and verse share space with poems that chronicle personal struggles with faith and doubt. YOUNG READERS GEMINA by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Knopf Books for Young Readers) The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller ILLUMINAEcontinues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault. Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion. Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, GEMINA raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless. WHAT LIGHT by Jay Asher (Razorbill) Sierra’s family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon—it’s a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other. Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other. By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. But Sierra sees beyond Caleb’s past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. As disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra discover the one thing that transcends all else: true love. HAMSTER PRINCESS: RATPUNZEL by Ursula Vernon (Dial Books for Young Readers) Princess Harriet Hamsterbone does not like sitting around at home. How’s a princess supposed to have any fun when her parents are constantly reminding her to be careful and act princessly? So when her pal Prince Wilbur needs help finding a stolen hydra egg, Harriet happily takes up the quest.  The thief’s trail leads them to a wicked witch and a tall tower, occupied by a rat whose tail has more to it than meets the eye! The third book in the award-winning comic hybrid Hamster Princess series will make you look at rodents, royalty, and fairy tales in a whole new light. THE EMOTIONARY by Eden Sher (Razorbill) All her life, Eden Sher has suffered from dyscommunicatia (n. the inability to articulate a feeling through words.). Then, one day, she decided that, whenever she had an emotion for which she had no word, she would make one up. The result of this is The Emotionary, which lives at the intersection of incredibly funny and very useful. Chock full of words you always wanted/never knew you needed, often accompanied by illustrations of hilarious and all-too-familiar situations, The Emotionary will be a cherished tool for you or the world-class feelings-haver in your life.

cycle. What do the wealthy pay in taxes? What are the rules? Are there fair loopholes, or are laws being broken? What would make for fair taxes? Here are some books that examine these urgent questions, as we head into November.   FEATURED TITLES:   WEALTH AND OUR COMMONWEALTH: WHY AMERICA SHOULD TAX ACCUMULATED FORTUNES by William H. Gates, Chuck Collins Weaving personal narratives, history, and plenty of solid economic sense, Bill Gates and Chuck Collins make a sound and compelling case for estate tax reform, not repeal.   PERFECTLY LEGAL: THE COVERT CAMPAIGN TO RIG OUR TAX SYSTEM TO BENEFIT THE SUPER RICH–AND CHEAT EVERYBODY ELSE by David Cay Johnston By relating the compelling tales of real people across all areas of society, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston exposes exactly how the middle class is being squeezed to create a widening wealth gap that threatens the stability of the country.   SHOWDOWN AT GUCCI GULCH : LAWMAKERS, LOBBYISTS, AND THE UNLIKELY TRIUMPH OF TAX REFORM by Alan Murray The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was the single most sweeping change in the history of America’s income tax. It was also the best political and economic story of its time.   DIRTY SECRETS: HOW TAX HAVENS DESTROY THE ECONOMY by Richard Murphy The revelations from the Panama Papers show unknown levels of secret money: how the superrich hide their wealth from the rest of us. Dirty Secrets uncovers the extent of the corruption behind this crisis and exposes the failures of those in power to control this rampant greed.   GENERATION DEBT: HOW OUR FUTURE WAS SOLD OUT FOR STUDENT LOANS, BAD JOBS, NO BENEFITS, AND TAX CUTS FOR RICH GEEZERS–AND HOW TO FIGHT BACK by Anya Kamenetz GENERATION DEBT offers a truly gripping account of how young Americans are being ground down by low wages, high taxes, huge student loans, sky-high housing prices, not to mention the impending retirement of their baby boomer parents. Twenty-four-year-old Anya Kamenetz examines this issue from every angle and provides a riveting, rousing manifesto that will inspire everyone to take care of their financial future.   RICH IS NOT A FOUR LETTER WORD: HOW TO SURVIVE OBAMACARE, TRUMP WALL STREET, KICK-START YOUR RETIREMENT, AND ACHIEVE FINANCIAL SUCCESS by Gerri Willis In Rich Is Not a Four-Letter Word, veteran financial journalist and pundit Gerri Willis takes on the progressive mind set championed by liberals that gives government bureaucrats the right to decide what’s best for us, resulting in bigger government programs, more bureaucracy, and more wasted taxpayer money. She dissects Obamacare and Democratic tax initiatives to show how they have hamstrung the average American.   For more information on the titles visit Taxes

            Check back on Igloo in the coming days for more previews of our Fall Books.

DK Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler reflects on the making of the book: “GEM is no ordinary guide to mineralogy. It gave us an opportunity to photograph the world’s most precious minerals and metals afresh in a contemporary style—much larger than life size—so readers can really see the beauty in our planet’s treasures. And it gave our team a chance to get our hands on the most stunning jewelry and artifacts, and tell the extraordinary tales behind some of the world’s most famous pieces like the Dom Pedro Aquamarine and Marie Antoinette’s diamond earrings. It’s not just minerals and rocks! It’s a treasure trove of delights.” Aja Raden, an experienced jeweler, trained scientist and well-read historian, explains her journey to GEM: “My first book, Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World  was actually only written on a dare. I went to a birthday party in Paris full of writers and editors and agents, drank too much champagne and the next thing I knew, I had agreed to write a book about eight pieces of jewelry that changed the world. I was thrilled with the reception Stoned received, even more so when the success of that book lead DK to ask me to write the forward to Gem. In a way, both as an author and as a jewelry designer, it was just as exciting as publishing my own book. “While there are countless reference guides, visual encyclopedias and coffee-table books in the same vein, there are no other books like GEM. It’s the most comprehensive and lavish volume of its kind that I’ve ever seen. And I’ve pretty much seen all of them. GEM features not only amazing historical pieces from all over the world, but brings together common and rare examples of gems, minerals and metals of every kind, putting each stone in its historic and scientific context. It’s the kind of book that makes all of your other reference books on the topic obsolete, and it looks damn good doing it.”

readers to question everything they know about privilege, power and race. Jodi and Jennifer talk about how SMALL GREAT THINGS came to be and how they think readers everywhere will be deeply affected and inspired to have further discussions about issues that are important to us all. Jodi Picoult In your novels, you often place your characters in situations where there are no easy answers, and where their choices can have lasting consequences. This is most definitely the case in SMALL GREAT THINGS. What was the inspiration behind the writing of this book and creation of its central storyline and characters? I had wanted to write about race for about twenty years, and even started a novel and abandoned it, concerned about my “right to write” about a life I’ve never led, and whether this was my story to really tell. Then I read a real-life news story in 2012 about a Michigan nurse who helped deliver the baby of a white supremacist, who requested that she and other African Americans not touch the infant.  The nurse sued the hospital, but it got me thinking — what if she was alone with the baby and something went wrong?  What if she wound up on trial with a white public defender who – like most people I know –  would never consider herself to be a racist? What if the story was told by the nurse, the lawyer, and the white supremacist as they faced their beliefs about race, power, and privilege? Suddenly I knew this WAS my story to tell. I wasn’t writing it to tell people of color what their lives are like.  I was writing to people like me, to say that even though it’s easy to point to a white supremacist and say, “He’s a racist,” it’s harder to point to yourself and say the same thing. And yet, it’s true — because if you’re white in this country, you hold all the power — and that’s part of the equation of racism. As you were writing the book, what were some of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the process? I couldn’t ask my readers to unpack their biases without doing that myself. So I attended social justice workshops, where I left in tears every night as I realized how much I had overlooked the privileges I’d had as a white woman.  I also sat down with multiple women of color who shared their stories with me, kindly overlooking my ignorance.  I talked about race with them in a way I’d never talked to people of color before — it was intense, and upsetting, and very healing.  They were also sensitivity readers for me — making sure that the voice of Ruth was accurate and authentic. Part of my research, too, involved meeting with two former Skinheads who now actively speak out against racism. Their experiences were horrifying to hear about, but I kept thinking: if THEY can change, can’t the average white person change too? How much did your own personal experiences impact the development of aspects of SMALL GREAT THINGS? I learned so much about racism in general — it’s easy to see the headwinds of racism, the things that make it harder for a person of color to achieve success. It’s harder to see the tailwinds — the ways that being white has contributed to our own success. I’d spent years chalking that up to luck or hard work…but in reality, the opportunities I may have had are a direct result of the fact that someone of color may not have had those opportunities. It’s a huge concept to wrap your head around — and once you do, you won’t see the world the same way. I know I don’t. In what ways do you envision how your readers may react to the novel’s dilemmas, particularly the ones involving race, prejudice, and the justice system? Everyone who has read it so far has been deeply affected.  From the African American man who came up to me after I spoke at a conference and burst into tears, and then said, embarrassed, “I’m so sorry. I just…never expected to hear anything like that here…” to the white people who write me weeks after they have finished the book to tell me about micro-aggressions they’ve noticed and how they’ve been so much more aware and critical of their own behavior. Here’s the thing about racism – it’s systemic and institutional, but it’s both perpetuated and dismantled in individual acts. Most of us don’t talk about racism because we don’t HAVE to, and because we are afraid of offending people. It’s my hope that this book will be a springboard for discussion, and will give readers the tools and the vocabulary to join a conversation that this country desperately needs to have. Jennifer Hershey As Jodi’s editor, what do you see as your primary role? One of the main characters of her new novel is a labor and delivery nurse, so I just can’t resist using that as an analogy for my role. Providing support and encouragement as the novel is being “born” is a huge element of my job. Beyond that, as part of an amazing team that includes brilliant publicists and marketers and art directors and sales people, my goal is to help strategize and coordinate all those efforts so that we can get the novel into the hands of the widest possible readership. How would you describe your editor/author relationship/process with Jodi on this book and how it compared to prior novels of hers that you have worked on? It was similar to our previous experiences. Jodi is a dream to work with because she has a very clear vision of what she is trying to accomplish and is very open-minded to any suggestions that may help her do it even more effectively. She is passionate about her subject matter and I responded powerfully to it, so we had thought-provoking and emotional conversations about the questions her characters are forced to confront in the story. What elements of SMALL GREAT THINGS do you feel may have the strongest impact on readers and spark the most discussion? Jodi has three very different point of view characters in the story, and they each, obviously, see the dramatic events that are unfolding in a very different way, through a very different lens. As a reader, then, it’s almost impossible not to think hard about your own point-of-view on our world, our culture, as you rotate among those different lenses. It is definitely one of those books that you want to talk about the minute you finish reading it!

SJP for Hogarth will selectively publish high-quality works of fiction by both established writers and distinctive emerging voices with critical and commercial promise, with its first list anticipated to debut in 2018. As Editorial Director of the sub-imprint, Ms. Parker will be involved in every aspect of the publication of books issued by SJP for Hogarth, from their selection and acquisition to cover design and promotion, working in close partnership with Molly Stern, Senior Vice President, Publisher, Crown, Hogarth, Broadway, Crown Archetype, and Three Rivers Press. Ms. Parker will be supported on individual book projects by members of Hogarth’s editorial team in New York, led by Lindsay Sagnette, Editorial Director of Fiction for Crown and Hogarth, and Alexis Washam, Executive Editor, as well as by the Hogarth editorial team in London. An avid reader who traces her lifelong love of writing to an early childhood spent checking books out of her local library, Ms. Parker’s association with Hogarth began in 2012 when she met Ms. Stern by chance at a media luncheon in New York.  Ms. Stern subsequently sent her an advance copy of Anthony Marra’s critically acclaimed debut novel A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA, which Ms. Parker fell instantly in love with and decided to vigorously champion. Ms. Parker and Ms. Stern decided to form a book club, which has been meeting regularly for the past three years. They both see the launch of SJP for Hogarth as a natural extension of Ms. Parker’s authentic love of great books and of her desire to support and bring attention to the most talented writers working today. Said Ms. Parker, “As a lifelong book lover, as someone who treasures and admires the skill and talent of original and powerful story tellers it is my great privilege to be invited into the world and business of books. Especially thrilling to join those who serve the rich history that is Hogarth. I so look forward to offering to readers the sort of books that have inspired my life long devotion to the written word.” Said Molly Stern, “From the moment we met, I was drawn to Sarah Jessica’s extraordinary passion for books and her natural instinct for what makes for great writing.  The Hogarth editorial team and I cannot wait to partner with her as she brings her excellent taste and infectious enthusiasm to bear in support of both writers and reading.” Sarah Jessica Parker is the star and executive producer of Divorce, which premiered Sunday (10/9) on HBO. She currently serves as a Vice-Chairman of the board of directors for the New York City Ballet. In November 2009, the Obama administration elected her to be a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

FICTION SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine Books) Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse with more than twenty years’ experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she’s been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don’t want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other’s trust, and come to see that what they’ve been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong. THE MOTHERS by Brit Bennett (Riverhead) It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother’s recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor’s son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it’s not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance—and the subsequent cover-up—will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are full-fledged adults and still living in debt to the choices they made that one seaside summer, caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, and dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they had chosen differently? HAG-SEED by Margaret Atwood (Hogarth) Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he’s staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge. After twelve years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his Tempest and snare the traitors who destroyed him. It’s magic! But will it remake Felix as his enemies fall? CRIMSON DEATH by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley) Anita has never seen Damian, her vampire servant, in such a state. The rising sun doesn’t usher in the peaceful death that he desperately needs. Instead, he’s being bombarded with violent nightmares and blood sweats. And now, with Damian at his most vulnerable, Anita needs him the most. The vampire who created him, who subjected him to centuries of torture, might be losing control, allowing rogue vampires to run wild and break one of their kind’s few strict taboos. Some say love is a great motivator, but hatred gets the job done, too. NONFICTION THE MAN WHO KNEW: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan by Sebastian Mallaby (Penguin Press) Sebastian Mallaby’s magisterial biography of Alan Greenspan, the product of over five years of research based on untrammeled access to his subject and his closest professional and personal intimates, brings into vivid focus the mysterious point where the government and the economy meet. To understand Greenspan’s story is to see the economic and political landscape of the last 30 years–and the presidency from Reagan to George W. Bush–in a whole new light. As the most influential economic statesman of his age, Greenspan spent a lifetime grappling with a momentous shift: the transformation of finance from the fixed and regulated system of the post-war era to the free-for-all of the past quarter century. The story of Greenspan is also the story of the making of modern finance, for good and for ill. AMARO by Brad Thomas Parsons (Ten Speed Press) The European tradition of making bittersweet liqueurs–calledamari in Italian–has been around for centuries. AMARO is the first book to demystify this ever-expanding, bittersweet world, and a must-have for any home cocktail enthusiast or industry professional. Starting with a rip-roaring tour of bars, cafés, and distilleries in Italy, amaro’s spiritual home, Brad Thomas Parsons—author of the James Beard and IACP Award–winner Bitters—will open your eyes to the rich history and vibrant culture of amaro today. With more than 100 recipes for amaro-centric cocktails, DIY amaro, and even amaro-spiked desserts, you’ll be living (and drinking) la dolce vita. GONE ‘TIL NOVEMBER by Lil Wayne (Plume) In 2010, recording artist Lil Wayne was at the height of his career. A fixture in the rap game for more than a decade, Lil Wayne (aka Weezy) had established himself as both a prolific musician and a savvy businessman, smashing long-held industry records, winning multiple Grammy Awards, and signing up-and-coming talent like Drake and Nicki Minaj to his Young Money label. All of this momentum came to a halt when he was convicted of possession of a firearm and sentenced to a yearlong stay at Rikers Island. Suddenly, the artist at the top of his game was now an inmate at the mercy of the American penal system. Taken directly from Wayne’s own journal, this intimate, personal account of his incarceration is an utterly humane look at the man behind the artist. THE CLANCYS OF QUEENS by Tara Clancy (Crown) From scheming and gambling with her force-of-nature grandmother, to brawling with eleven-year-old girls on the concrete recess battle yard of MS 172, to hours lounging on Adirondack chairs beside an immaculate croquet lawn, to holding court beside Joey O’Dirt, Goiter Eddy, and Roger the Dodger at her Dad’s local bar, Tara leapfrogs across these varied spheres, delivering stories from each world with originality, grit, and outrageous humor. ButTHE CLANCYS OF QUEENS is not merely an authentic coming-of-age tale or a rowdy barstool biography. Chock-full of characters who escape the popular imaginings of this city, it offers a bold portrait of real people, people whose stories are largely absent from our shelves. YOUNG READERS THE MIDNIGHT STAR by Marie Lu (Putnam Books for Young Readers) Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained. When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger. BEAST by Brie Spangler (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Tall, meaty, muscle-bound, and hairier than most throw rugs, Dylan doesn’t look like your average fifteen-year-old, so, naturally, high school has not been kind to him. When Dylan goes up on his roof only to fall and wake up in the hospital with a broken leg—and a mandate to attend group therapy for self-harmers he meets Jamie. She’s funny, smart, and so stunning, even his womanizing best friend, JP, would be jealous. She’s also the first person to ever call Dylan out on his self-pitying and superficiality. As Jamie’s humanity and wisdom begin to rub off on Dylan, they become more than just friends. But there is something Dylan doesn’t know about Jamie, something that shouldn’t change a thing. She is who she’s always been—an amazing photographer and devoted friend, who also happens to be transgender. But will Dylan see it that way? STILL LIFE WITH TORNADO by A.S. King (Dutton Books for Young Readers) Sixteen-year-old Sarah can’t draw. This is a problem, because as long as she can remember, she has “done the art.” She thinks she’s having an existential crisis. And she might be right; she does keep running into past and future versions of herself as she wanders the urban ruins of Philadelphia. Or maybe she’s finally waking up to the tornado that is her family, the tornado that six years ago sent her once-beloved older brother flying across the country for a reason she can’t quite recall. After decades of staying together “for the kids” and building a family on a foundation of lies and domestic violence, Sarah’s parents have reached the end. Now Sarah must come to grips with years spent sleepwalking in the ruins of their toxic marriage. As Sarah herself often observes, nothing about her pain is remotely original—and yet it still hurts. A HAT FOR MRS. GOLDMAN by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Schwartz & Wade) Mrs. Goldman always knits hats for everyone in the neighborhood, and Sophia, who thinks knitting is too hard, helps by making the pom-poms. But now winter is here, and Mrs. Goldman herself doesn’t have a hat—she’s too busy making hats for everyone else! It’s up to Sophia to buckle down and knit a hat for Mrs. Goldman. But try as Sophia might, the hat turns out lumpy, the stitches aren’t even, and there are holes where there shouldn’t be holes. Sophia is devastated until she gets an idea that will make Mrs. Goldman’s hat the most wonderful of all. Readers both young and old will relate to Sophia’s frustrations, as well as her delight in making something special for someone she loves.

submitted for award consideration are reviewed by a panel of judges, who include authors, librarians, critics, booksellers, and others. All finalists receive a $1000 prize, a medal, and become members of the National Book Foundation. Each category winner will receive a $10,000 prize and a bronze sculpture. We would like to congratulate all of this year’s chosen authors on this momentous achievement! The winner in each category will be revealed on November 16th, but until then we suggest reading the following finalists:   FICTION THE ASSOCIATION OF SMALL BOMBS by Karan Mahajan Woven among the story of  the Khurana and Ahmed families is the gripping tale of Shockie, a Kashmiri bomb-maker who has forsaken his own life for the independence of his homeland. Karan Mahajan writes brilliantly about the effects of terrorism on victims and perpetrators, proving himself to be one of the most provocative and dynamic novelists of his generation. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre–Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share. NONFICTION BLOOD IN THE WATER: THE ATTICA PRISON UPRISING OF 1971 AND ITS LEGACY byHeather Ann Thompson Drawing from more than a decade of extensive research, historian Heather Ann Thompson sheds new light on every aspect of the uprising and its legacy, giving voice to all those who took part in this forty-five-year fight for justice: prisoners, former hostages, families of the victims, lawyers and judges, and state officials and members of law enforcement. Blood in the Water is the searing and indelible account of one of the most important civil rights stories of the last century. YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE RAYMIE NIGHTINGALE by Kate DiCamillo As the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw  three girls into an unlikely Summer friendship — and challenge each of them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways. THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR by Nicola Yoon ”A love story that is smart without being cynical, heartwarming without being cloying, and schmaltzy in all the best ways.“—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review See the complete NBA 2016 Finalists list by visiting www.nationalbook.org. Visit a collection of our favorite 2010-2016 NBA Finalists by clicking here.

FEATURED RELEASES   THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins Film stars Emily Blunt; Release: October 7, 2016; Trailer The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.   NEVER GO BACK by Lee Child “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is directed by Ed Zwick and stars Tom Cruise; Release: October 21, 2016; Trailer Finally arriving in Virginia, hoping to see the woman he spoke to on the phone in 61 Hours, Reacher finds himself drafted back into the Army and facing a case that digs deep into his past—and has personal ramifications that could change Reacher for life. LION by Saroo Brierley Film stars Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel, and Rooney Mara; Release: November 25, 2016; Trailer Originally published as A LONG WAY HOME, LION tells the story of a five-year-old Indian boy lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years late, he sets out to find his lost family.   AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth Film stars Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, David Strathairn and Dakota Fanning; Release: October 28, 2016; Trailer Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. As the American century draws to an uneasy close, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all our century’s promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss.   INFERNO by Dan Brown Film is directed by Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks and Felicity Jones; Release: October 28, 2016; Trailer Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings.   GOAT: A MEMOIR by Brad Land Film stars Nick Jonas; Release: September 23, 2016; Trailer This searing memoir of fraternity culture and the perils of hazing provides an unprecedented window into the emotional landscape of young men.   FENCES by August Wilson Film stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis; Release: Christmas Day, 2016; Trailer Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. The new spirit of liberation in the 1960s is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.   DENYING THE HOLOCAUST: THE GROWING ASSAULT ON TRUTH AND MEMORY by Deborah E. Lipstadt The Film “Denial” stars Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall; Release: September 30, 2016; Trailer Lipstadt shows how Holocaust denial thrives in the current atmosphere of value relativism, and argues that this chilling attack on the factual record not only threatens Jews but undermines the very tenets of objective scholarship that support our faith in historical knowledge.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs ; Ages 14 And Up Film is directed by Tim Burton and stars Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson, and Judi Dench; Release: September 30, 2106; Trailer Movie tie-in bonus features include a Q&A with author Ransom Riggs, eight pages of color stills from the film and a sneak preview of HOLLOW CITY, the next novel in the series. A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness; Ages 12 and up Film stars Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones; Release: January, 2017 An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.   ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L.M. Montgomery PBS Masterpiece Theatre adaptation stars Ella Ballentine, Martin Sheen, Sara Botsford; Release: Thanksgiving Day; Trailer Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. WONDER by R. J. Palacio; Ages 8 to 12 Film stars Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson; Current release date: April, 2017 Over 5 million people have fallen in love with WONDER and Auggie Pullman, the ordinary boy with the extraordinary face, who inspired a movement to Choose Kind. This special movie tie-in trade paperback edition features an eight-page full-color insert with photos from the film, a new introduction by the author, and a family discussion guide.   IN DEVELOPMENT/PRE-PRODUCTION   IT’S WHAT I DO: A PHOTOGRAPHER’S LIFE OF LOVE AND WAR by Lynsey Addario Film is directed by Stephen Spielberg and stars Jennifer Lawrence Lynsey Addario was just finding her way as a photographer when September 11th changed the world. One of the few photojournalists with experience in Afghanistan, she gets the call to return and cover the American invasion. She makes a decision she would often find herself making—not to stay home, not to lead a quiet or predictable life, but to risk her life, to set out across the world, and to make a name for herself.   THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US by Charles Martin Film stars Kate Winslet and Idris Elba A pair survives a plane crash in the mountains where they are forced to trust each other and find safety while badly injured. Both a tender and page-turning read, THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US will reaffirm your belief in the power of love to sustain us.   For more book-to-screen adaptations visit: Books to Film

DJ Khaled posted on his Instagram and Twitter pages:

FAN LUV !! New book alert ! #THEKEYS #BOOK Pre order nowhttps://t.co/4Lhv6E5Ae0 #THEKEYS #NOV22 pic.twitter.com/k7g9YzVSPj

— DJ KHALED (@djkhaled) September 29, 2016

A major force in the music industry—mogul, executive, mega-producer, and recording artist— DJ Khaled has amassed millions of followers devoted to his inspirational, motivational, and often whimsical quotes on achieving success in life.  In his ten-second snap chat self-help sermons, he refers to his pieces of uniquely phrased wisdom as “keys,” using the key emoji to signify their importance. Written in the upbeat and positive tone for which he is known, THE KEYS will offer Khaled’s philosophy for success, featuring stories from his own life as he reveals all of the major keys. Khaled will also discuss the meaning behind some of his famous catchphrases, which have become part of the cultural lexicon despite their enigmatic nature, including “another one,” “securing the bag,” “special cloth alert,” “bless up,” and more. And throughout the book will be “Mogul Talk” sidebars, featuring insight gleaned from famous friends.

Ms. Skloot posted on her Facebook page: “Everyone! This is a MUST WATCH! This amazing group of 7th and 8th graders from Kipp Bridge in Oakland made a brilliant rap video about Henrietta Lacks (aka HeLa) and it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened. Seriously! What an honor it was to meet them — they did their best to teach me to dab for my cameo … with mixed results. So much fun! Huge props to the great Science With Tom for his work with them and #STEM education. Show them and science education some love! Watch! Share!”  She also tweeted on Twitter: “#MUSTWATCH!! These amazing 7th graders made a brilliant rap video about #HenriettaLacks & it’s one of the best things ever! #HeLa #STEM For colleagues who have not read the book, Henrietta Lacks, dubbed “HeLa” by scientists, was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance. Ms. Skloot’s phenomenal book tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

Claire Zion: “Home and family are at the heart of every Jane Green novel, whether set in a ramshackle cottage, a chic city apartment, or a weathered beach bungalow; and they also take center stage in GOOD TASTE.  This isn’t just Jane’s first cookbook after writing seventeen novels – it’s a collection of stories about the meals and gatherings that she has hosted throughout her lifetime, filled with cherished recipes passed down from her parents, with many focusing on her British upbringing (her scones recipes is incredible!).” Jane Green: “Writing and cooking have always been my great passions, and although my cooking was often amazing, it was sometimes terrible. I always described it as being a bit like Russian Roulette – you never quite knew how it was going to turn out, largely because I am fearless, but I didn’t have an understanding of the science behind it. Five years ago I took myself off to culinary school to learn the science, and the basics, as well as fantastically fab things like super-quick knife skills. It completely changed the way I cook. Interestingly, I trained in very formal, French cooking, but that isn’t what I cook. Food, for me, is love – it is all about gathering the people I love in a warm, comfortable space, and feeding them the kinds of foods that make them feel nurtured, safe, and loved. I am far more apt to serve them delicious comfort food, one-pot casseroles or lovely braised dishes that feed the heart and soul.”

 This Collectible Edition is not available in stores and will include an alternate cover printed on special materials as well as a full-color insert of all illustrations from the 20th Anniversary Edition. All George R. R. Martin Box editions will be on display and available for pre-order at New York Comic Con, from October 6–9, and are also available for pre-order at grrmbox.com. Scott Shannon, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Digital Content at Random House, said, “We are tremendously excited to partner with George and HBO to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of George’s groundbreaking fantasy series. We have been thrilled to see the fan base of A Song of Ice and Fire grow and expand over the past 20 years, and we think fans of the books and the HBO series will be delighted.” George R. R. Martin wrote, in part, on his blog grrm.livejournal.com: “As part of the celebration Random House is releasing not only the book itself, which is fully illustrated and leather bound, but also three special LIMITED editions that will include exclusive hand picked items in a gorgeous wooden display box. Random House will be hosting a live online unboxing event on Facebook tomorrow if you want to catch this live sneak peak showing of just what to expect in one of their special, limited, and ultra limited editions of the one and only GRRM box.”

Available for pre-order now for shipping to consumers in the US and Canada in December, The book box will be available for a limited time while supplies last in three versions: Special Edition includes the Collectible Edition of A Game of Thrones bound in eco-trim fiber with gilded pages and a ribbon marker, as well as an exclusive T-shirt, a reproduction of Robert Baratheon’s will, an iron coin of the Faceless Man, and Living Language Dothraki. Limited Edition includes all the items from the Special Edition. It also comes with A Game of Thrones: The Card Game with an exclusive card, holiday lights, exclusive miniatures of Lord Commander Jon Snow and Queen Daenerys, an exclusive Maester’s journal, and a limited edition silk map of King’s Landing. All items are packaged in a box printed with illustrations from the Collectible Edition of A Game of Thrones. Ultra-Limited Edition (limit of 200) includes a bonded leather-bound version of the Collectible Edition of A Game of Thrones signed by author George R. R. Martin, and all the items from the Limited Edition. All items are packaged in a wood box, lined in velvet, and engraved with George R. R. Martin’s symbol.

Brian Tart, President and Publisher of Viking, said, “I’m looking forward to publishing Ken Follett at Viking next fall, and delighted that he has decided to continue with the Kingsbridge series. Millions of readers were riveted by the first two books,The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, and the saga now continues.  A COLUMN OF FIRE is a gripping and adventurous tale and sure to enthrall old and new readers alike.” A COLUMN OF FIRE begins in 1558 where the ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn apart by religious conflict. As power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, high principles clash bloodily with friendship, loyalty, and love.  Set during one of the most turbulent and revolutionary times in history, A COLUMN OF FIRE is one of Follett’s most exciting and ambitious works yet, and is perfect both for long-time fans of the Kingsbridge series as well as readers new to Ken Follett. He is one of the world’s most successful authors. Over 160 million copies of the 30 books he has written have been sold in over 80 countries and in 33 languages.

In addition to the original trio, the #firstvote16 campaign has recruited more authors, including Margaret Stohl, Melissa de la Cruz and Kami Garcia. Author and publisher David Levithan, who oversees the NYC Teen Author Festival, came aboard with his roster of contacts, and the team at We Need Diverse Books added their contact list to the mix. They also partnered with Rock the Vote to create a special destination page where people can register online and provide information on the concerns of young voters Along the way, Ms. Lockhart took note of others’ likeminded efforts: “We loved the work Hank and John Green were doing on getting out the vote – Hank is partnered with YouTube to create voter information videos for all 50 states – and we love Tumblr’s voter registration widget.” Ms. Lockhart describes the #firstvote16 campaign as nonpartisan and humorous, and says that it acknowledges that voting can be daunting. Bottom line: “It is meant to be empowering, a little cheeky, fun to watch, and to drive young people to register and to vote.” Read the complete #firstvote16 Publishers Weekly article here.

The special event allows readers to sign up at www.theseasonofstories.com to receive contemporary fiction stories at no cost from acclaimed and award-winning authors Anthony Marra, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Adam Johnson, Elizabeth McCracken, among others, published by Crown and other Penguin Random House imprints. Season of Stories will present readers with a different short story each week. New stories begin each Tuesday, and will unfold in daily emails containing a portion of the story, with the full narrative wrapping up on Friday. At the conclusion of each story, readers will have the option to purchase the book in which the featured story appeared, through the site, from their retailer of choice. “We created Season of Stories to connect with readers where they spend so much of their time—their email. Our mission is to make participants’ inboxes a more literary space, with great stories, and to help them discover previously unfamiliar authors,” said Alana Buckbee, Assistant Director of Community Development at Crown Publishing Group. “The program’s emails are the perfect length to dive into while waiting in line, commuting, or during a lunch break.” The stories featured in the program are all written in the first-person in order to create a personal connection and imbue the reading experience with the intimacy of one-to-one email communication. Season of Stories will share captivating tales that capture the broad range of the human experience, from small town America to Africa, spanning past to present time. Readers can sign up for this program at http://theseasonofstories.com. Comments or questions can be directed to [email protected].

FICTION THE TRESPASSER: A Novel by Tana French (Viking) Being on the Murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she’s there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she’s getting close to the breaking point. Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers’ quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed to a shine, and dead in her catalogue-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There’s nothing unusual about her—except that Antoinette’s seen her somewhere before. AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth (Vintage) As the American century draws to an uneasy close, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all our century’s promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth’s protagonist is Swede Levov, a legendary athlete at his Newark high school, who grows up in the booming postwar years to marry a former Miss New Jersey, inherit his father’s glove factory, and move into a stone house in the idyllic hamlet of Old Rimrock. And then one day in 1968, Swede’s beautiful American luck deserts him. For Swede’s adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager—a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. BROKEN TRUST by W.E.B. Griffin (Putnam) Having investigated his share of gruesome murders, Philadelphia Homicide Sergeant Matt Payne is beginning to think nothing can shock him – until the case of a young socialite’s death lands on his desk. The Camilla Rose Morgan he’d known as a teenager was beautiful and brilliant – how was it possible she’d jumped to her death from her own balcony? Her brother tells Payne she’d tragically been battling a lifetime of mental demons, and there is plenty of evidence of it, but still…something just doesn’t sit right. The more Payne digs, the more complications he discovers. Reputations are on the line here, and lives – and if Payne doesn’t tread carefully, one of them may be his own. CROSSTALK by Connie Willis (Del Rey) In the not-too-distant future, a simple outpatient procedure to increase empathy between romantic partners has become all the rage. And Briddey Flannigan is delighted when her boyfriend, Trent, suggests undergoing the operation prior to a marriage proposal—to enjoy better emotional connection and a perfect relationship with complete communication and understanding. But things don’t quite work out as planned, and Briddey finds herself connected to someone else entirely—in a way far beyond what she signed up for. But that’s only the beginning. As things go from bad to worse, she begins to see the dark side of too much information, and to realize that love—and communication—are far more complicated than she ever imagined. TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS by Debbie Macomber (Ballantine Books) Friendly and bubbly, Julia Padden likes nearly everyone, but her standoffish neighbor, Cain Maddox, presents a particular challenge. No matter how hard she’s tried to be nice, Cain rudely rebuffs her at every turn, preferring to keep to himself. But when Julia catches Cain stealing her newspaper from the lobby of their apartment building, that’s the last straw. She’s going to break through Cain’s Scrooge-like exterior the only way she knows how: by killing him with kindness. To track her progress, Julia starts a blog called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Unbelievably, Julia feels herself falling for Cain—and she suspects that he may be falling for her as well. But as the popularity of her blog continues to grow, Julia must decide if telling Cain the truth about having chronicled their relationship to the rest of the world is worth risking their chance at love. NONFICTION THE FRENCH CHEF IN AMERICA by Alex Prud’homme (Knopf) Julia Child is synonymous with French cooking, but her legacy runs much deeper. Now, her great-nephew and MY LIFE IN FRANCE coauthor vividly recounts the myriad ways in which she profoundly shaped how we eat today. He shows us Child in the aftermath of the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, suddenly finding herself America’s first lady of French food and under considerable pressure to embrace her new mantle. We see her dealing with difficult colleagues and the challenges of fame, ultimately using her newfound celebrity to create what would become a totally new type of food television. Every bit as entertaining, inspiring, and delectable as MY LIFE IN FRANCE, THE FRENCH CHEF IN AMERICA uncovers Julia Child beyond her “French chef” persona and reveals her second act to have been as groundbreaking and adventurous as her first. YOU CAN’T TOUCH MY HAIR by Phoebe Robinson (Plume) A hilarious and timely essay collection about race, gender, and pop culture from upcoming comedy superstar and 2 Dope Queenspodcaster Phoebe Robinson. Being a black woman in America means contending with old prejudices and fresh absurdities every day. Comedian Phoebe Robinson has experienced her fair share over the years: she’s been unceremoniously relegated to the role of “the black friend,” as if she is somehow the authority on all things racial; she’s been questioned about her love of U2 and Billy Joel (“isn’t that . . . white people music?”); she’s been called “uppity” for having an opinion in the workplace; she’s been followed around stores by security guards; and yes, people do ask her whether they can touch her hair all. the. time. Now, she’s ready to take these topics to the page—and she’s going to make you laugh as she’s doing it. SPACEMAN by Mike Massimino (Crown Archetype) Mike Massimino’s childhood space dreams were born the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Growing up in a working-class Long Island family, he catapulted himself to Columbia and then MIT, only to flunk his first doctoral exam and be rejected three times by NASA before making it through the final round of astronaut selection. Taking us through the surreal wonder and beauty of his first spacewalk, the tragedy of losing friends in the Columbia shuttle accident, and the development of his enduring love for the Hubble Telescope—which he and his fellow astronauts were tasked with saving on his final mission—Massimino has written an ode to never giving up and the power of teamwork to make anything possible. SPACEMAN invites us into a rare, wonderful world where science meets the most thrilling adventure, PICK ME UP by Adam J. Kurtz (TarcherPerigee) On the heels of his internationally successful first book, 1 PAGE AT A TIME, graphic designer and illustrator Adam J. Kurtz delivers another intimate and engaging journal for anyone who loves to explore ideas, record thoughts and feelings, and capture those fleeting but amazing moments of everyday life. Unlike a linear journal, this book can be opened up to any page, encouraging and engaging readers time and time again through continued use. Rather than simply complete tasks and turn pages, users are encouraged to leave their mark, and if they land on the same page days or weeks later, they can review, reflect, and revise their previous response. AMERICAN ULYSSES by Ronald C. White (Random House) In his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the “Trinity of Great American Leaders.” But the battlefield commander–turned–commander-in-chief fell out of favor in the twentieth century. In AMERICAN ULYSSES, Ronald C. White argues that we need to once more revise our estimates of him in the twenty-first. Based on seven years of research with primary documents—some of them never examined by previous Grant scholars—this is destined to become the Grant biography of our time. White, a biographer exceptionally skilled at writing momentous history from the inside out, shows Grant to be a generous, curious, introspective man and leader—a willing delegator with a natural gift for managing the rampaging egos of his fellow officers. His wife, Julia Dent Grant, long marginalized in the historic record, emerges in her own right as a spirited and influential partner. POETRY THE RAIN IN PORTUGAL by Billy Collins (Random House) THE RAIN IN PORTUGAL—a title that admits he’s not much of a rhymer—sheds Collins’s ironic light on such subjects as travel and art, cats and dogs, loneliness and love, beauty and death. His tones range from the whimsical—“the dogs of Minneapolis . . . / have no idea they’re in Minneapolis”—to the elegiac in a reaction to the death of Seamus Heaney. A student of the everyday, here Collins contemplates a weather vane, a still life painting, the calendar, and a child lost at a beach. His imaginative fabrications have Shakespeare flying comfortably in first class and Keith Richards supporting the globe on his head. By turns entertaining, engaging, and enlightening, THE RAIN IN PORTUGAL amounts to another chorus of poems from one of the most respected and familiar voices in the world of American poetry. YOUNG READERS HOLDING UP THE UNIVERSE by Jennifer Niven (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything in new and bad-ass ways, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone. Until he meets Libby. OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS by Krystal Sutherland (Putnam Books for Young Readers) Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can’t-eat-can’t-sleep kind of love that he’s been hoping for just hasn’t been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything’s about to change. Grace isn’t who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys’ clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It’s obvious there’s something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. WELCOME TO WONDERLAND #1: HOME SWEET MOTEL by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Books for Young Readers) Eleven-year-old P. T. Wilkie may be the greatest storyteller alive. But he knows one thing for a fact: the Wonderland Motel is the best place a kid could ever live! All-you-can-eat poolside ice cream! A snack machine in the living room! A frog slide! A giant rampaging alligator! (Okay, that last one may or may not be made up.) There’s only one thing the Wonderland doesn’t have, though—customers. And if the Wonderland doesn’t get them soon, P.T. and his friend Gloria may have to say goodbye to their beloved motel forever. They need to think BIG. They need to think BOLD. They need an OUTRAGEOUS plan. Luckily for them, Gloria is a business GENIUS, and OUTRAGEOUS is practically P.T.’s middle name. With Gloria’s smarts and P.T.’s world-famous stories and schemes, there’s got to be a way to save the Wonderland! EVERYONE WE’VE BEEN by Sarah Everett (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Addison Sullivan has been in an accident. In its aftermath, she has memory lapses and starts talking to a boy who keeps disappearing. She’s afraid she’s going crazy, and the worried looks on her family’s and friends’ faces aren’t helping. Addie takes drastic measures to fill in the blanks and visits the Overton Clinic. But there she unwittingly discovers it is not her first visit. And when she presses, she finds out that she had certain memories erased. Flooded with questions about the past, Addison confronts the choices she can’t even remember and wonders if you can possibly know the person you’re becoming if you don’t know the person you’ve been.

Warms congratulations to our 5 Under 35 honorees and their publishers. “Most people have heard of the National Book Awards, but for 11 years the National Book Foundation has also been devoted to shining a light on emerging talent,” said National Book Foundation executive director Lisa Lucas. “These novels and short story collections are among the best we’ve seen and remind us that literature is alive and thriving.” Each honoree will receive a $1,000 prize, sponsored by the Amazon Literary Partnership. “We are proud to add the current 5 Under 35 honorees to the National Book Foundation’s roster of remarkable writers,” said David Steinberger, chairman of the board of directors of the National Book Foundation. "There is no doubt that all 5 Under 35 honorees have expanded and will continue to expand the literary landscape by producing work that engages the world at large.” View the complete list of 2016 5 Under 35 honorees here.

Penguin Random House.  Additionally, a U.S. Spanish language edition will be published by Vintage Espanol.  The announcement was made today by Sonny Mehta, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Jason Kaufman, Vice President and Executive Editor at Doubleday, will edit the novel. In keeping with his trademark style, Brown interweaves codes, science, religion, history, art and architecture into this new novel. ORIGIN thrusts Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon into the dangerous intersection of humankind’s two most enduring questions, and the earth-shaking discovery that will answer them. There are more than 200 million copies of Dan Brown’s books in print worldwide, and his novels have been translated into 56 languages. Brown is represented by Heide Lange at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc. He is the author of numerous #1 international bestsellers, including THE DA VINCI CODE, INFERNO, THE LOST SYMBOL, ANGELS & DEMONS, DECEPTION POINT and DIGITAL FORTRESS.

Subsequent previews will present titles by more bestsellers as well as debut and emerging authors plus books from other genres, such as memoir and young readers.                      Check back on for more previews of our books in the coming weeks.

fought. Please join us in sharing widely information that can help us deter, detect, fight, and live with breast cancer. Visit http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month for more information. FEATURED TITLES:   LIVING WELL BEYOND BREAST CANCER: A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE FOR WHEN TREATMENT ENDS AND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE BEGINS by Marisa Weiss, Ellen Weiss What do I do now? Why am I still so tired? Am I really cured? How do I reduce my risk of recurrence? Is it safe for me to get pregnant? How do I get rid of the hot flashes so I can sleep? This fully revised and updated second edition contains crucial information about these issues and more—including the revolutionary medical advances in follow-up testing, ongoing treatments, and recovery.   TAKING CARE OF YOUR GIRLS: A BREAST HEALTH GUIDE FOR GIRLS, TEENS, AND IN-BETWEENS by Marisa C. Weiss, M.D., Isabel Friedman A groundbreaking book written by a mother and daughter for mothers and daughters, Taking Care of Your “Girls” is a practical guide to breast care and a girl-to-girl conversation about the feelings and emotions that come with the territory.   A BREAST CANCER ALPHABET by Madhulika Sikka A definitive and approachable guide to life during, and after, breast cancer The biggest risk factor for breast cancer is simply being a woman. Madhulika Sikka’s A Breast Cancer Alphabet offers a new way to live with, and plan past, the hardest diagnosis that most women will ever receive: a personal, practical, and deeply informative look at the road from diagnosis to treatment and beyond.   PROMISE ME: HOW A SISTER’S LOVE LAUNCHED THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT TO END BREAST CANCER by Nancy G. Brinker From the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a deeply moving story of family and sisterhood, the dramatic “30,000-foot view” of the democratization of a disease, and a soaring affirmative to the question: Can one person truly make a difference?   THE NEW GENERATION BREAST CANCER BOOK: HOW TO NAVIGATE YOUR DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OPTIONS-AND REMAIN OPTIMISTIC-IN AN AGE OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD by Dr. Elisa Port From the Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Co-director of the Dubin Breast Center in Manhattan, the definitive guide to managing breast cancer in the information age, an optimistic antidote to internet information about screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.   BETTER: HOW I LET GO OF CONTROL, HELD ON TO HOPE, AND FOUND JOY IN MY DARKEST HOUR by Amy Robach In this very personal book, Good Morning America anchor Amy Robach retraces the 12 months following her breast cancer diagnosis in October 2013, revealing details about her on-air mammogram on GMA, her treatment and its impact on her work life and family life, and her emotional journey from initial shock and devastation to resilience, bravery, and hope. Also available as an audio book read by the author   WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi, Abraham Verghese A deeply humane, inspiring memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal diagnosis that attempts to answer the questions: given that all organisms die, what makes a meaningful life? And, as a doctor, what does it mean to hold mortal—and moral—responsibility for another person’s identity?   THEN CAME LIFE: LIVING WITH COURAGE, SPIRIT, AND GRATITUDE AFTER BREAST CANCER by Geralyn Lucas The author of Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy shares her funny, moving story of leaving the experience of cancer behind and learning to survive the challenges of a life she thought she would not have.   STOP BREAST CANCER BEFORE IT STARTS by Samuel S. Epstein MD, Rosalie Bertell PhD DR. SAMUEL S. EPSTEIN, a leading authority on the causes and prevention of cancer, carefully outlines and presents evidence and preventative choices that all Americans should know about. Stop Breast Cancer Before it Starts empowers women to take charge of their health and make a real difference in the fight against cancer.   For more on these and related titles visit the collection: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Penguin Press Editor Emily Cunningham shares these insights: “While some history readers may know Lorena Hickok’s name, she has been more or less lost to history. With warmth and style, Sue Quinn brings ‘Hick’ and her relationship with one of our most beloved First Ladies to life. When FDR asked his wife for feedback on the now-famous ‘fear itself’ speech, Eleanor read it out loud to Hick, word by word. Hick even had her own room at the White House during Roosevelt’s presidency. Sue’s book is packed with wonderful discoveries like these. “From the first time I picked up the manuscript I was stunned by the feat that Sue has pulled off here: Not only has she revealed a new side of Eleanor, someone we thought we knew well, but in Hick she’s also introduced us to a woman who was every bit Eleanor’s equal in her intellect, her spirit, her sense of purpose. It’s a brilliant book that we feel very proud to publish.” Author Susan Quinn reveals, “When I began writing ELEANOR and HICK, I referred to Eleanor Roosevelt by her initials, ER—an accepted practice among historians. That felt cold and distant. So what to call her? No one called her Eleanor when she was alive. FDR called her ‘Babs’ and those she was closest to called her ‘Mrs. R.’  Even Lorena Hickok called her ‘Mrs. R.’ around others.  Only in her letters did she address her as ‘Dear You,’ and ‘Darling.’ But if Lorena Hickok was going to be ‘Hick,’ then Eleanor Roosevelt had to be Eleanor.  As soon as I started using her first name, Eleanor stepped off her pedestal and came alive on the page.”

Readers of Unbound Worlds will find original, smart, engaging, and quirky content, like articles that explore the landscapes of science fiction, how to write time travel, interviews with authors including Brian Herbert, who is keeping the Dune legacy alive and book lists such as 3 Chilling Tales Inspired by the Doomed Franklin Expedition. “Unbound Worlds welcomes readers of all stripes, from fangirls to sci-fi diehards and those new to the genre. As we evolve and expand Suvudu into this new experience, our hope is that readers find Unbound Worlds the ideal go-to destination for the latest happenings in science fiction and fantasy books and news”, said Kristin Fritz,Unbound Worlds Director. “Our goal is to create a place where readers can discover books and feel a sense of connection with authors and fellow fans.” Unbound Worlds marks the transformation of Suvudu, originally launched in 2008, into a brand-new experience that shares an inside look into the vast universe of science fiction and fantasy literary culture, its creators and fans. The site also offers a sleeker, vastly updated design, mobile features, and an expanded editorial scope providing even more of the engaging content that defined Suvudu. Visitors to Unbound Worlds can expect to find:

• Exclusive Content such as interviews and original author essays.

 

• Event Coverage of conventions with details about author appearances, panels, and signings.

 

• Features that include book lists, 50-Page Friday excerpts, and coverage of popular series.

 

• Sweeps and Giveaways such as prizes, swag, and advance reads.

 

• Cage Match, an annual original fiction bracket-style tournament of characters that enlists writers to create fictional battles and readers to vote for winners.

  Unbound Worlds produces a weekly email newsletter and can be found on Twitter,Facebook, and YouTube.

Open House has become so popular that this year’s 10th annual event on December 15 will not be held on the 2nd floor at 1745 Broadway but at a larger Manhattan space, Hunter College’s Kaye Playhouse (695 Park Avenue). Even with triple the seating capacity, all tickets were gone in a flash. Of particular attraction to readers is the terrific featured author line-up, which includes Diana Gabaldon, Jodi Picoult, Trevor Noah, Jon Meacham, Fannie Flagg, George Saunders, Lindsey Lee Johnson, Alie Hoffman, Allison Pataki, Laura McHugh and Sana Krasikov. Guests are traveling in from 18 states (as far away as California). Held three times per year, this unique day-long experience brings together the biggest names in publishing for a full day of interactive author panels and book talks. Readers get a behind-the-books look at what’s new at this all-inclusive event. For more details about Open House, click here.

In supporting the 34th annual Banned Books Week (#BannedBooksWeek), Penguin Random House has rallied participation across all divisions and imprints, with a new dedicated landing page that includes a catalogue highlighting diverse titles.  This catalogue was included in 500 Banned Books Week Kits distributed by the ABA to adult and children’s retailers around the country. A full list of frequently challenged YA and Adult books and a sweepstakes to win a personalized banned books box filled with 10 of your favorite banned or challenged books is also included on the site. Penguin Random House Library Marketing will promote the sweepstakes through designed Banned-Books-themed quote cards shareable on social media. Additionally, their popularBanned Books Quiz from last year—taken by 14,000 people—was updated for 2016. The quiz and sweepstakes will be shared widely via theirTwitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms. Random House and Random House Children’s Books will celebrate with promotions via social media and special outreach for educators and librarians. Follow its kids and teen social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), @RHCBEducators on Twitter, and the “Random School House” Facebook page for even more special content. Also, find resources on FirstAidFirstAmendment.com including Censorship Causes Blindness posters, a High School Teacher’s Guide, support for librarians and parents to discuss banned books, Tips for Discussing Banned Books with Teens and more. Penguin Books and Penguin Young Readers’ will celebrate with exclusive Banned Books Week content, including author selfies and special videos in support of the week’s activities on PenguinTeen.com and its social channels. Educators and librarians are invited to celebrate their freedom to read by noting their favorite banned or challenged book on Penguin Classroom’s social media channels. Check outPenguin and Penguin Classics Twitter, Instagram, andTumblr throughout the week.   We encourage Penguin Random House colleagues to select a Banned Book to read this week and share thoughts about their reading experiences on social media. All publishers, including Penguin Random House, will thematically explore why diverse books are among the most frequently banned.  It is estimated that over half of all banned books are by authors of color, or contain events and issues concerning diverse communities, according to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

FICTION RECKLESS CREED by Alex Kava (Putnam) In Chicago, a young man jumps from his thirtieth-story hotel room; along the Missouri river, a hunter and his son stumble upon a lake whose surface is littered with snow geese, all of them dead; and in southern Alabama, Ryder Creed and his search-and-rescue dog Grace find the body of a young woman who went missing in the Conecuh National Forest…and it appears she filled her pockets with rocks and walked into the river. Before long Ryder Creed and FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell will discover the ominous connection among these mysterious deaths. What they find may be the most prolific killer the United States has ever known. ASHLEY BELL by Dean Koontz (Bantam) Bibi Blair is a fierce, funny, dauntless young woman—whose doctor says she has one year to live. She replies, “We’ll see.” Her sudden recovery astonishes medical science. An enigmatic woman convinces Bibi that she escaped death so that she can save someone else. Someone named Ashley Bell. But save her from what, from whom? And who is Ashley Bell? Where is she? Bibi’s obsession with finding Ashley sends her on the run from threats both mystical and worldly, including a rich and charismatic cult leader with terrifying ambitions. DARK GHOST by Christine Feehan (Jove) Monk. Bounty hunter. Vampire slayer. Andre Boroi has spent centuries battling the undead, holding out against the dark with honor. But now, gravely wounded by master vampire Costin Popescu, Andre will be easy to track. His only chance is to disappear into the gray mist of the Carpathians. To wait. To hope. In the mountains in search of a precious crystal, geologist Teagan Joanes suddenly finds herself hunted by those she once trusted. Then she comes across the warrior—wounded, wanting and irresistible. Andre has been craving her for an eternity: his lifemate. Her warmth envelops him. Her scent pulsates. And with every beat of her heart, Teagan surrenders to a passion she can’t possibly comprehend. A NIGHT WITHOUT STARS by Peter F. Hamilton (Del Rey) After centuries trapped inside the Void, the planet Bienvenido—along with its inhabitants, both human and Faller—has been expelled into normal space. But the survivors are millions of light-years from the Commonwealth, which knows nothing of their existence. As the two races plunge into mortal conflict for sole possession of the planet, the humans seem destined to lose—despite the assistance of the mysterious Warrior Angel, who possesses forbidden Commonwealth technology. With the Fallers’ numbers growing, and their ability to mimic humans allowing them to infiltrate all levels of society, it’s only a matter of time before they surge to victory. Then, on a routine space flight, Major Ry Evine inadvertently frees a captive vessel that crash-lands on Bienvenido carrying the last, best hope for human survival: a baby. But a far from ordinary one. NONFICTION ELEANOR AND HICK: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn (Penguin Press) A warm, intimate account of the love between Eleanor Roosevelt and reporter Lorena Hickok—a relationship that, over more than three decades, transformed both women’s lives and empowered them to play significant roles in one of the most tumultuous periods in American history In 1932, as her husband assumed the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt entered the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the First Lady with dread. By that time, she had put her deep disappointment in her marriage behind her and developed an independent life—now threatened by the public role she would be forced to play. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press: Lorena Hickok. Over the next thirty years, until Eleanor’s death, the two women carried on an extraordinary relationship: They were, at different points, lovers, confidantes, professional advisors, and caring friends. DINNER AT THE LONG TABLE by Andrew Tarlow and Anna Dunn (Ten Speed Press) Andre Tarlow has grown a restaurant empire on the simple idea that a meal can somehow be beautiful and ambitious, while also being unfussy and inviting. DINNER AT THE LONG TABLEincludes family-style meals that have become a tradition in his home. Written with Anna Dunn, the editor in chief of the company’s quarterly magazine Diner Journal, the cookbook is organized by occasion and punctuated with personal anecdotes and photography. Much more than just a beautiful cookbook, DINNER AT THE LONG TABLE is a thematic exploration into cooking, inspiration, and creativity, with a focus on the simple yet innate human practice of preparing and enjoying food together. THE CRASH DETECTIVES by Christine Negroni (Penguin Paperback Original) In THE CRASH DETECTIVES, veteran aviation journalist and air safety investigator Christine Negroni takes us inside crash investigations from the early days of the jet age to the present, including the search for answers about what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. As Negroni dissects what happened and why, she explores their common themes and, most important, what has been learned from them to make planes safer. Indeed, as Negroni shows, virtually every aspect of modern pilot training, airline operation, and airplane design has been shaped by lessons learned from disaster. Along the way, she also details some miraculous saves, when quick-thinking pilots averted catastrophe and kept hundreds of people alive. TIME TRAVEL by James Gleick (Pantheon) The story begins at the turn of the previous century, with the young H. G. Wells writing and rewriting the fantastic tale that became his first book and an international sensation: The Time Machine. It was an era when a host of forces was converging to transmute the human understanding of time, some philosophical and some technological: the electric telegraph, the steam railroad, the discovery of buried civilizations, and the perfection of clocks. James Gleick tracks the evolution of time travel as an idea that becomes part of contemporary culture—from Marcel Proust to Doctor Who, from Jorge Luis Borges to Woody Allen. He investigates the inevitable looping paradoxes and examines the porous boundary between pulp fiction and modern physics. Finally, he delves into a temporal shift that is unsettling our own moment: the instantaneous wired world, with its all-consuming present and vanishing future. THE LATE BLOOMER by Ken Baker (TarcherPerigee) On the surface, Ken Baker seemed a model man. He was a nationally ranked hockey goalie; a Hollywood correspondent for People; a guest-lister at celebrity parties; and girls came on to him. Inside, though, he didn’t feel like the man he was supposed to be. The testosterone-driven culture in which Ken grew up made it agonizingly difficult for him to seek help. But in time he discovered something that lifted years of pain, frustration, and confusion: a brain tumor was causing his body to be flooded with massive amounts of a female hormone, which was disabling his masculinity. Five hours of surgery accomplished what years of therapy, rumination, and denial could not — and allowed Ken Baker to finally feel — and function — like a man. POETRY STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: Poems by Alison Deming (Penguin) In her fifth book of poems, STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, Alison Hawthorne Deming explores dimensions of grief and renewal after losing her brother and mother. Grounded in her communion with nature and place, she finds even in Death Valley, that most stark of landscapes, a spirit of inventiveness that animates the ground we walk on. From the cave art of Chauvet to the futuristic habitat of Biosphere 2, that inventiveness becomes consolation for losses in family and nature, a means to build again a sense of self and world in the face of devastating loss. THE SOBBING SCHOOL by Joshua Bennett (Penguin) THE SOBBING SCHOOL, Joshua Bennett’s mesmerizing debut collection of poetry, presents songs for the living and the dead that destabilize and de-familiarize representations of black history and contemporary black experience. What animates these poems is a desire to assert life, and interiority, where there is said to be none. Figures as widely divergent as Bobby Brown, Martin Heidegger, and the 19th-century performance artist Henry Box Brown, as well as Bennett’s own family and childhood best friends, appear and are placed in conversation in order to show that there is always a world beyond what we are socialized to see value in, always alternative ways of thinking about relation that explode easy binaries. YOUNG READERS THE FEVER CODE (MAZE RUNNER, BOOK FIVE; PREQUEL) by James Dashner (Delacorte Press) All will be revealed in the fifth book in James Dashner’s #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series. This is the story that fans all over the world have been waiting for—the story of how Thomas and WICKED built the Maze. You will not want to miss it. A prequel to the worldwide Maze Runner phenomenon, THE FEVER CODE is the book that holds all the answers. How did WICKED find the Gladers? Who are Group B? And what side are Thomas and Teresa really on? Lies will be exposed. Secrets will be uncovered. Loyalties will be proven. Fans will never see the truth coming. Before there was the Maze, there was The Fever Code. THE INQUISITOR’S TALE by Adam Gidwitz; illustrated by Hatem Aly (Dutton Books for Young Readers) 1242. On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children: William, an oblate on a mission from his monastery; Jacob, a Jewish boy who has fled his burning village; and Jeanne, a peasant girl who hides her prophetic visions. They are accompanied by Jeanne’s loyal greyhound, Gwenforte . . . recently brought back from the dead. As the narrator collects their tales, the story of these three unlikely allies begins to come together. Featuring manuscript illuminations throughout by illustrator Hatem Aly and filled with Adam’s trademark style and humor, THE INQUISITOR’S TALE is bold storytelling that’s richly researched and adventure-packed. RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE by Kate Schatz, illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl (Ten Speed Press) RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE tells fresh, engaging, and inspiring tales of perseverance and radical success by pairing well researched and riveting biographies with powerful and expressive cut-paper portraits. From 430 BCE to 2016, spanning 31 countries around the world, the book features an array of diverse figures, including Hatshepsut (the great female king who ruled Egypt peacefully for two decades) and Malala Yousafzi (the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize) to Poly Styrene (legendary teenage punk and lead singer of X-Ray Spex) and Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft (polar explorers and the first women to cross Antarctica). This progressive and visually arresting book is a compelling addition to women’s history and belongs on the shelf of every school, library, and home. MORE THAN MAGIC by Kathryn Lasky (Wendy Lamb Books) Ryder Holmsby is the same age as Rory, the popular TV cartoon character her animator parents created. Ryder and Rory are alike—bold and brave! But Ryder is a bit lonely: Mom passed away a couple of years ago, and Dad is dating a woman with snooty teenage daughters. Ryder doesn’t fit in with them at all. And then: Shazam! Rory jumps out of the TV into Ryder’s bedroom to tell her that the TV studio behind her parents’ show is trying to turn Rory into a dopey princess—no more adventures. She needs Ryder’s help! The two girls team up with a crew of animated and real-life friends to save the day in both worlds.

Advance film buzz is reaching a fever pitch, with outlets such as People, The New York Times,NPR, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly declaring it “the must-watch film for the fall.”  All coverage keeps Paula Hawkins and the book front and center. Still to come: Paula and the film’s star Emily Blunt will appear on NBC’s Today Show and will be on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter. THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN movie poster on New York City subway platform walls includes this tag line: “Based on the Thriller That Shocked the World.” THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN filmgoers’ mantra: “See the movie. Read the book.” Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/y5yk-HGqKmM

The award, which comes with a $10,000 prize, is given annually to an author who has enriched our literary heritage over a lifetime of achievement. Throughout his illustrious career, Mr. Caro has demonstrated the power of biography to illuminate not just individuals but also the societies they influence and shape. His previous honors include a National Book Award, two Pulitzer Prizes, and three National Book Critics Circle Awards. In 2010, President Obama presented him with a National Humanities Medal. “Robert Caro has long been one of our most treasured biographers,” said David Steinberger, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Book Foundation. “His ability to understand power, privilege, and the unique ways in which that power has shaped American government and American cities throughout the 20th century is a road map that will endure because of its depth, breadth, and import, and we are honored to have the privilege to present him with this medal.” Dr. William P. Kelly will present the medal to Mr. Caro at the National Book Awards ceremony on Wednesday, November 16. Previous recipients of this medal include John Ashbery, Judy Blume, Don DeLillo, E.L. Doctorow, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, John Updike and Eudora Welty.

“While diversity is seldom given as a reason for a challenge, it seems, in fact, to be an underlying and unspoken factor. These challenged works are often about people and issues which include LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities—people or issues that, perhaps, challengers would prefer not to consider.” (bannedbooksweek.org) To learn more and for free resources visit: ala.org   FEATURED TITLES   A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines From the author of A Gathering of Old Men and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman comes a deep and compassionate novel. A young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to teach visits a black youth on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Together they come to understand the heroism of resisting.   PERSEPOLIS: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD by Marjane Satrapi Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.     HABIBI by Craig Thompson At once contemporary and timeless, Habibi gives us a love story, in the form of a graphic novel, of astounding resonance: a parable about our relationship to the natural world, the cultural divide between the first and third worlds, the common heritage of Christianity and Islam, and, most potently, the magic of storytelling.   THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement to veteran writer and journalist Alex Haley. In a unique collaboration, Haley worked with Malcolm X for nearly two years, interviewing, listening to, and understanding the most controversial leader of his time.   THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS by Isabel Allende In one of the most important and beloved Latin American works of the twentieth century, Isabel Allende weaves a luminous tapestry of three generations of the Trueba family, revealing both triumphs and tragedies.     THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL by Anne Frank, Otto M. Frank… Since its publication in 1947, ANNE FRANK: THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL has been read by tens of millions of people all over the world. It remains a beloved and deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit.   THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon An instant classic—both poignant and funny—about an autistic boy who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor’s dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world.     FOR YOUNGER READERS   I AM JAZZ by Jessica Herthel, Jazz Jennings, Shelagh McNicholas; Ages 4 to 8 The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere. “This is an essential tool for parents and teachers to share with children whether those kids identify as trans or not. I wish I had had a book like this when I was a kid struggling with gender identity questions. I found it deeply moving in its simplicity and honesty.”—Laverne Cox (who plays Sophia in “Orange Is the New Black”)   HOOPS by Walter Dean Myers, John Ballard; Ages 12 And Up All eyes are on seventeen-year-old Lonnie Jackson while he practices with his team for a city-wide basketball Tournament of Champions. His coach, Cal, knows Lonnie has what it takes to be a pro basketball player because he, too, once had the chance—but sold out.   TWO BOYS KISSING by David Levithan; Ages 14 And Up Based on true events—and narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS—TWO BOYS KISSING follows Harry and Craig, two seventeen-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record.     For more information on these and other banned/challenged titles visit: Banned Books Week, 2016

From Knopf Poetry Editor Deb Garrison: “It’s a great adventure to publish her because she continues to push boundaries and innovate with every book. After her Pulitzer for STAG’S LEAP, a stunning collection about the unmaking and remaking of a world that comes with a divorce, she delivers something completely other and equally stunning. “When we hear the word ‘ode’ we think of Horace, of Keats and his Grecian urn. Sharon is working in one of the oldest poetic forms, and by the way the very simple white [book cover] jacket with black type was her idea. But the poems inside go out on a limb; they don’t shy away from difficult and mostly untraditional subjects, from body parts usually not spoken of in poetry. Take her opening, an ‘Ode to the Hymen’: ‘You were very sturdy, weren’t you, / you took your job seriously — I’d never / felt such pain — you were the hourglass lady / the magician saws in two.”’ “I think readers have come to expect this from Sharon – none of it is tame! But it’s all profound. An ‘Ode to the Penis’ or an ‘Ode of Withered Cleavage’ is not meant to shock but to help us see what we don’t normally see, the rich materials that are unsung all around us. (To the penis, she says, ‘I’m just saying / I like you – not as object but / a subject, a prime mover, a working / theory of plumbing and ecstasy.’) The variety is wonderful – ‘Hip Replacement Ode,’ ‘Pine Tree Ode,’ ‘Real Estate Ode,’ ‘Single Lady’s Ode.’  It’s an ultra-modern book of gratitude for what surrounds us, what is us.”

FICTION HOME by Harlan Coben (Dutton) A decade ago, kidnappers grabbed two boys from wealthy families and demanded ransom, then went silent. No trace of the boys ever surfaced. For ten years their families have been left with nothing but painful memories and a quiet desperation for the day that has finally, miraculously arrived: Myron Bolitar and his friend Win believe they have located one of the boys, now a teenager. Where has he been for ten years, and what does he know about the day, more than half a life ago, when he was taken? And most critically: What can he tell Myron and Win about the fate of his missing friend? Drawing on his singular talent, Harlan Coben delivers an explosive and deeply moving thriller about friendship, family, and the meaning of home. INFERNO by Dan Brown (Anchor) Now a major motion picture, the #1 worldwide bestseller is now available in a new movie tie-in edition. Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno. REPUTATIONS by Juan Gabriel Vasquez (Riverhead) Javier Mallarino is a living legend. He is his country’s most influential political cartoonist, the consciousness of a nation. A man capable of repealing laws, overturning judges’ decisions, destroying politicians’ careers with his art. His weapons are pen and ink. Those in power fear him and pay him homage. At sixty-five, after four decades of a brilliant career, he’s at the height of his powers. But this all changes when he’s paid an unexpected visit from a young woman who upends his sense of personal history and forces him to re-evaluate his life and work, questioning his position in the world. THRICE THE BRINDED CAT HATH MEW’D by Alan Bradley (Delacorte Press) In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Canada, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted on the docks with unfortunate news: Her father has fallen ill, and a hospital visit will have to wait while he rests. Only too eager to run an errand for the vicar’s wife, Flavia hops on her trusty bicycle, Gladys, to deliver a message to a reclusive wood-carver. Finding the front door ajar, Flavia enters and stumbles upon the poor man’s body hanging upside down on the back of his bedroom door. The only living creature in the house is a feline that shows little interest in the disturbing scene. Curiosity may not kill this cat, but Flavia is energized at the prospect of a new investigation. NONFICTION HERO OF THE EMPIRE by Candice Millard (Doubleday) From New York Times bestselling author Candice Millard, a thrilling narrative of Winston Churchill’s extraordinary and little-known exploits during the Boer War. Churchill would later remark that this period, “could I have seen my future, was to lay the foundations of my later life.” Millard spins an epic story of bravery, savagery, and chance encounters with a cast of historical characters—including Rudyard Kipling, Lord Kitchener, and Mohandas Gandhi—with whom he would later share the world stage. But Hero of the Empire is more than an adventure story, for the lessons Churchill took from the Boer War would profoundly affect 20th-century history. MAKING SENSE OF GOD: An Invitation to the Skeptical by Timothy Keller (Viking) We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, MAKING SENSE OF GOD shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives. BASED ON A TRUE STORY by Norm Macdonald (Spiegel & Grau) Wild, dangerous, and flat-out unbelievable, here is the incredible memoir of the actor, gambler, raconteur, SNL veteran, and one of the best stand-up comedians of all time. As this book’s title suggests, Norm Macdonald tells the story of his life—more or less—from his origins on a farm in the-back-of-beyond Canada and an epically disastrous appearance on Star Search to his account of auditioning for Lorne Michaels and his memorable run as the anchor of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live—until he was fired because a corporate executive didn’t think he was funny. But BASED ON A TRUE STORY is much more than a memoir; it’s the hilarious, inspired epic of Norm’s life. HOW TO MAKE A SPACESHIP: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight by Julian Guthrie (Penguin Press) From the age of eight, when Peter Diamandis watched Apollo 11 land on the Moon, his singular goal was to get to space. When he realized NASA was winding down manned space flight, Diamandis set out on one of the great entrepreneurial adventure stories of our time. If the government wouldn’t send him to space, he would create a private space flight industry himself. The story of the bullet-shaped SpaceShipOne, and the other teams in the hunt, is an extraordinary tale of making the impossible possible. It is driven by outsized characters—Burt Rutan, Richard Branson, John Carmack, Paul Allen—and obsessive pursuits. In the end, as Diamandis dreamed, the result wasn’t just a victory for one team; it was the foundation for a new industry and a new age. EYES ON THE STREET by Robert Kanigel (Knopf) EYES ON THE STREET is a revelation of the phenomenal woman who raised three children, wrote seven groundbreaking books, saved neighborhoods, stopped expressways, was arrested twice, and engaged at home and on the streets in thousands of debates–all of which she won. Here is the child who challenged her third-grade teacher; the high school poet; the journalist who honed her writing skills at Iron Age, Architectural Forum, Fortune, and other outlets, while amassing the knowledge she would draw upon to write her most famous book, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES. Here, too, is the activist who helped lead an ultimately successful protest against Robert Moses’s proposed expressway through her beloved Greenwich Village; and who, in order to keep her sons out of the Vietnam War, moved to Canada, where she became as well known and admired as she was in the United States. POETRY ODES by Sharon Olds (Knopf) Following the Pulitzer prize-winning collection STAG’S LEAP, Sharon Olds gives us a stunning book of odes. Opening with the powerful and tender “Ode to the Hymen,” Olds addresses and embodies, in this age-old poetic form, many aspects of love and gender and sexual politics in a collection that is centered on the body and its structures and pleasures. The poems extend parts of her narrative as a daughter, mother, wife, lover, friend, and poet of conscience that will be familiar from earlier collections, each episode and memory burnished by the wisdom and grace and humor of looking back. Olds treats us to an intimate examination that, like all her work, is universal, by turns searing and charming in its honesty. YOUNG READERS OWL SEES OWL by Laura Godwin and Rob Dunlavey (Schwartz & Wade) With just three or four words per page, this story follows a baby owl one night as he leaves the safety of his nest (Home/Mama/Brother/Sister) and explores the starry world around him (Soar/Glide/Swoop/Swoosh). Inspired by reverso poetry, the words reverse in the middle when the baby owl is startled upon seeing his reflection in the pond (Owl/Sees/Owl). Afraid of it, little owl takes off toward home, soaring over farms and forests (Swoosh/Swoop/Glide/Soar) until he is finally safely home again (Sister/Brother/Mama/Home). OTIS AND THE KITTENS by Loren Long (Philomel) On the farm where Otis the tractor lives, it hasn’t rained in a long time and farmers all over the valley have grown anxious with water in such short supply. One hot afternoon, when Otis and his friends are resting beneath the shade of the apple tree, Otis spots something moving down in the valley—an orange tabby cat headed straight for the old barn. But then Otis sees something else that causes his engine to sputter . . . a swirl of smoke coming from the same barn. A fire! Told with a sense of play and devotion, this is a heartwarming tale that reminds readers that sometimes even those who we count on to help us need a little help themselves. THE GOLDEN COMPASS GRAPHIC NOVEL, VOLUME 2 by Philip Pullman (Knopf Books for Young Readers) The eagerly awaited second volume in the graphic novel adaptation of Philip Pullman’s international bestseller THE GOLDEN COMPASS. This second volume of the graphic novel finds Lyra in the far North. With the help of Gyptian fighters, newfound witch allies, and the armored bear Iorek Byrnison, she means to rescue the children held captive by the notorious Gobblers. The stunning full-color art offers both new and returning readers a chance to experience the story of Lyra, an ordinary girl with an extraordinary role to play in the fates of multiple worlds, in an entirely unique way. KIDS OF APPETITE by David Arnold (Viking Books for Young Readers) Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell. It begins with the death of Vic’s father. It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle. The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it. But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between. This is a story about: a coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey, the momentous nature of the Palisades in winter, one dormant submarine, two songs about flowers, being cool in the traditional sense, sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards, simultaneous extreme opposites, a narrow escape from a war-torn country, a story collector, how to listen to someone who does not talk, falling in love with a painting, falling in love with a song, and falling in love.

  FEATURED TITLES BATMAN:The Story of the Dark Knight by Ralph Cosentino THE ESSENTIAL BATMAN ENCYCLOPEDIA by Robert Greenberger BATMAN: A VISUAL HISTORY by DK BATMAN CHARACTER ENCYCLOPEDIA by DK BATMAN! (DC SUPER FRIENDS) by Billy Wrecks and Ethen Beavers View additional Batman related titles by clicking here. BATMAN TRIVIA

• How much do you know about Batman? Try your hand at these questions.
• What is the name of Batman’s alter ego?
• What is Batman’s other hero name?
• Who is Batman’s closest ally?
• Who is Batman’s sidekick?
• Which city does Batman protect?
• What is the name of Bruce Wayne’s house?
• Where does Batman hide his secret base?
• What is the name of the current Robin?
• Which arch villain lives in Gotham City?
• What is the name of Batman’s feline foe?

  TRIVIA  ANSWERS

• Bruce Wayne
• The Dark Knight
• Alfred Pennyworth
• Robin
• Gotham City
• Wayne Manor
• The Batcave
• Damian Wayne
• The Joker
• Catwoman

  Score = number of questions answered correctly 1-3 – Good Job! You know who to signal in a super emergency. 4-6 – Wow! You could be part of the Justice League. 7-9 – Excellent! We know who to call for the next Robin. 10 – Are you secretly Bruce Wayne? You’re a Batman expert!

Titled ZAYN, the artist’s only official book will share a photographic journey of his life, presenting a collection of thoughts, inspirations, personal stories, notes and drawings, and never-before-seen personal photographs.

Within the first few pages, Zayn reveals the impetus behind publishing his first book: “I’m going to show you as much as I can so that you can judge me on my own terms, not on what the press or anyone else says.”

From a normal childhood in Bradford to the unprecedented fame of One Direction and solo superstardom, this beautifully illustrated book encapsulates his outlook on life: his inspirations, experiences and his candid thoughts on fame, success and music.

celebrate their independence days during this period and Columbus Day (Día de la Raza) is October 12th. Enjoy the following array of titles – memoir, history, poetry and fiction – to mark the occasion. For more information visit: http://www.hispanicheritagemonth.org/ FEATURED TITLES   AN ORGANIZER’S TALE: SPEECHES by Cesar Chavez, edited by Ilan Stavans The first major collection of writings by civil rights leader Cesar Chavez One of the most important civil rights leaders in American history, Cesar Chavez was a firm believer in the principles of nonviolence, and he effectively employed peaceful tactics to further his cause. Through his efforts, he helped achieve dignity, fair wages, benefits, and humane working conditions for hundreds of thousands of farm workers.   A HOUSE OF MY OWN: STORIES FROM MY LIFE by Sandra Cisneros A richly illustrated jigsaw autobiography and an intimate album of a literary legend’s life and career— From the Chicago neighborhoods where she grew up—and which inspired her groundbreaking novel, The House on Mango Street—to the region of Mexico where her “ancestors lived for centuries,” the places Sandra Cisneros has resided have provided inspiration for her now-classic works of fiction and poetry.   THE GHOSTS OF HERO STREET: HOW ONE SMALL MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY GAVE SO MUCH IN WORLD WAR II AND KOREA by Carlos Harrison This is the compelling and inspiring account of a street in Silvis, Illinois, and the families who sent more than fifty-seven of their own to fight in World War II and Korea—and who would not be denied their dignity or their honor.   LATINO AMERICANS: THE 500-YEAR LEGACY THAT SHAPED A NATION by Ray Suarez Latino Americans chronicles the rich and varied history of Latinos, who have helped shaped our nation and have become, with more than fifty million people, the largest minority in the United States. This companion to the landmark PBS miniseries vividly and candidly tells how the story of Latino Americans is the story of our country.   LATIN AMERICAN FOLKTALES: STORIES FROM HISPANIC AND INDIAN TRADITIONS edited by John Bierhorst The wisdom and artistry of Latin America’s storytellers preserve one of the world’s richest folktale traditions—combining the lore of medieval Europe, the ancient Near East, and pre-Columbian America.   PLACES LEFT UNFINISHED AT THE TIME OF CREATION by John Phillip Santos Finalist for the National Book Award! In this beautifully wrought memoir, award-winning writer John Philip Santos weaves together dream fragments, family remembrances, and Chicano mythology, reaching back into time and place to blend the story of one Mexican family with the soul of an entire people   FOR YOUNGER READERS   YES! WE ARE LATINOS: POEMS AND PROSE ABOUT THE LATINO EXPERIENCE by Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy, David Diaz Thirteen young Latinos and Latinas living in America are introduced in this book celebrating the rich diversity of the Latino and Latina experience in the United States. Free-verse fictional narratives from the perspective of each youth provide specific stories and circumstances for the reader to better understand the Latino people.   PORTRAITS OF HISPANIC AMERICAN HEROES by Juan Felipe Herrera, Raul Colon This visually stunning book showcases twenty Hispanic and Latino American men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the arts, politics, science, humanitarianism, and athletics. Gorgeous portraits complement sparkling biographies of Cesar Chavez, Sonia Sotomayor, Ellen Ochoa, Roberto Clemente, and many more.   RETURN TO SENDER by Julia Alvarez After Tyler’s father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected to her American life.   DOÑA FLOR: A TALL TALE ABOUT A GIANT WOMAN WITH A GREAT BIG HEART by Pat Mora, Raul Colon Doña Flor is a giant woman who lives in a puebla with lots of families. She loves her neighbors–she lets the children use her flowers for trumpets, and the families use her leftover tortillas for rafts. So when a huge puma is terrifying the village, of course Flor is the one to investigate.     For more on these and related titles, visit the collection: Hispanic Heritage Month titles

FICTION NUTSHELL by Ian McEwan (Nan. A Talese) Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She’s still in the marital home—a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse—but John’s not there. Instead, she’s with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy’s womb. Told from a perspective unlike any other, Nutshell is a classic tale of murder and deceit from one of the world’s master storytellers and the bestselling author of ATONEMENT and THE CHILDREN ACT.   LITTLE NOTHING by Marisa Silver (Blue Rider Press) In an unnamed country at the beginning of the last century, a child called Pavla is born to peasant parents. Her arrival, fervently anticipated and conceived in part by gypsy tonics and archaic prescriptions, stuns her parents and brings outrage and scorn from her community. Pavla has been born a dwarf, beautiful in face, but as the years pass, she grows no farther than the edge of her crib. When her parents turn to the treatments of a local charlatan, his terrifying cure opens the floodgates of persecution for Pavla. Little Nothing unfolds across a lifetime of unimaginable, magical transformation in and out of human form, as an outcast girl becomes a hunted woman whose ultimate survival depends on the most startling transfiguration of them all. THE TEA PLANTER’S WIFE by Dinah Jefferies (Crown) THE TEA PLANTER’S WIFE is the #1 International bestselling novel by Dinah Jeffries set in 1920s Ceylon. The novel is about a young Englishwoman who marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he’s keeping terrible secrets about his past, including what happened to his first wife, that lead to devastating consequences.     AN OBVIOUS FACT: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Viking) In the midst of the largest motorcycle rally in the world, a young biker is run off the road and ends up in critical condition. When Sheriff Walt Longmire and his good friend Henry Standing Bear are called to Hulett, Wyoming—the nearest town to America’s first national monument, Devils Tower—to investigate, things start getting complicated. As competing biker gangs; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; a military-grade vehicle donated to the tiny local police force by a wealthy entrepreneur; and Lola, the real-life femme fatale and namesake for Henry’s ’59 Thunderbird come into play, it rapidly becomes clear that there is more to get to the bottom of at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally than a bike accident. ROBERT B. PARKER’S DEBT TO PAY by Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam) All is quiet in Paradise, except for a spate of innocuous vandalism. Good thing, too, because Jesse Stone is preoccupied with the women in his life, both past and present. As his ex-wife, Jenn, is about to marry a Dallas real-estate tycoon, Jesse isn’t too sure his relationship with former FBI agent Diana Evans is built to last. But those concerns get put on the back burner when a major Boston crime boss is brutally murdered. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Jesse suspects it’s the work of Mr. Peepers, a psychotic assassin who has caused trouble for Jesse in the past. NONFICTION BIG BAD BREAKFAST by John Currence (Ten Speed Press) From the James Beard Award winner, Top Chef Masters contestant, and acclaimed author comes this fun, festive, and highly caffeinated ode to the joys and rituals of the Southern breakfast, with 75 recipes inspired by the author’s popular restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi. John Currence is one of the most celebrated and well-loved chefs in the South. Among his string of highly successful restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi, Big Bad Breakfast holds a special place in diners’ hearts: It is a gathering place where people from all walks come together to share the most important meal of the day, breakfast. GOOD VIBRATIONS by Mike Love (Blue Rider Press) As a founding member of The Beach Boys, Mike Love has spent an extraordinary fifty-five years, and counting, as the group’s lead singer and one of its principal lyricists. The Beach Boys, from their California roots to their international fame, are a unique American story — one of overnight success and age-defying longevity; of musical genius and reckless self-destruction; of spirituality, betrayal, and forgiveness — and Love is the only band member to be part of it each and every step. His own story has never been fully told, of how a sheet-metal apprentice became the quintessential front man for America’s most successful rock band, singing in more than 5,600 concerts in 26 countries. TASTE & TECHNIQUE by Naomi Pomeroy (Ten Speed Press) Naomi Pomeroy knows that the best recipes are the ones that make you a better cook. A twenty-year veteran chef with four restaurants to her name, she learned her trade not in fancy culinary schools but by reading cookbooks. From Madeleine Kamman and Charlie Trotter to Alice Waters and Gray Kunz, Naomi cooked her way through the classics, studying French technique, learning how to shop for produce, and mastering balance, acidity, and seasoning. In TASTE & TECHNIQUE, Naomi shares her hard-won knowledge, passion, and experience along with nearly 140 recipes that outline the fundamentals of cooking. WHEN IN FRENCH: Love in a Second Language by Lauren Collins (Penguin Press) A language barrier is no match for love. Lauren Collins discovered this firsthand when, in her early thirties, she moved to London and fell for a Frenchman named Olivier—a surprising turn of events for someone who didn’t have a passport until she was in college. But what does it mean to love someone in a second language? Collins wonders, as her relationship with Olivier continues to grow entirely in English. Are there things she doesn’t understand about Olivier, having never spoken to him in his native tongue? Does “I love you” even mean the same thing as “je t’aime”? When the couple, newly married, relocates to Francophone Geneva, Collins—fearful of one day becoming “a Borat of a mother” who doesn’t understand her own kids—decides to answer her questions for herself by learning French. YOUNG READERS WHEN THEY FADE by Jeyn Roberts (Knopf Books for Young Readers) TATUM is the only person at school who knew the truth about the affair her best friend, Claudette, has been having with Mr. Paracini, their married teacher. And at the time, confiding in an adult seemed like the right thing to do. But now, everyone in town has turned against Tatum. As the bullying from her classmates escalates, it seems that nowhere is safe for her anymore. MOLLY was brutally murdered in the early 1970s, but there is no afterlife for her. Molly is able to fade back to earth for a few fleeting moments, and when she fades, she finds herself hitchhiking along a lonely road, telling the unsuspecting drivers who stop for her things about their future that only she can see. One foggy night, Tatum sneaks out for a drive. The teenage hitchhiker she picks up doesn’t talk much, until she suddenly turns to Tatum and says: “You’re going to die. It will hurt and you’ll be alone. And no one will help you.” And then she disappears. THE READER by Traci Chee (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers) Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed—and punish the people responsible. BEAUTIFUL BLUE WORLD by Suzanne LaFleur (Wendy Lamb Books) Sofarende is at war. For twelve-year-old Mathilde, it means food shortages, feuding neighbors, and bombings. Even so, as long as she and her best friend, Megs, are together, they’ll be all right. But the army is recruiting children, and paying families well for their service. If Megs takes the test, Mathilde knows she will pass. Megs hopes the army is the way to save her family. Mathilde fears it might separate them forever. This touching and suspenseful novel is a brilliant reimagining of war, where even kindness can be a weapon, and children have the power to see what adults cannot. THE BILL THE CAT STORY: A BLOOM COUNTY EPIC by Berkeley Breathed (Philomel) Almost thirty-five years ago Berkeley Breathed launched a little-known comic strip called “Bloom County.” Bloom County’s popularity soared, it was soon syndicated nationally, had millions of daily readers, and before long its creator was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Then, nine years later, “Bloom County” sadly came to a close. It had simply ceased being fun for Berkeley Breathed. Now, more than twenty-five years after it ended, “Bloom County” has returned in full force online, with an ever-growing fan base every bit as zealous as it was in the strip’s heyday. THE UNGRATEFUL DEAD by Rose Cooper (Delacorte Books for Young Readers) Middle school is a life and death experience for Annabel Craven, a girl able to communicate with the spirit world with her phone. From the author of I TEXT DEAD PEOPLE! All Annabel Craven wants is to be normal. But that’s hard to do when ghosts keep texting her. And keeping her secret from her nosy new stepsister isn’t going to be easy. When a ghost girl named Harper begs Anna to help her rejoin the living, Anna warns her that it’s impossible. Once you’re dead, you can’t just start living again . . . or can you?  

  These are the sentiments Anna Dewdney expressed in her essay “How Books Can Teach Your Child to Care.” Anna tragically passed away this week at the age of fifty after a battle with brain cancer. Dewdney was a passionate educator and strong advocate for literacy. In addition to being an author of many favorite children’s books, including the popular Llama Llama series, she also illustrated numerous other children’s stories. She was force in the world of children’s literature that will be greatly missed. In lieu of a funeral service, she asked that people read to a child instead. Therefore, our FridayReads suggestions are an arrangement of Anna Dewdney’s books that we strongly encourage you to read with a child this weekend in her honor and memory. In lieu of a funeral service, Anna asked that people read to a child instead. Therefore, our FridayReads suggestions are an arrangement of Anna Dewdney’s books that we encourage you to read with a child this weekend in her honor and memory. Selected Anna Dewdney Books:   LLAMA LLAMA SERIES These best-selling picture books feature pre-schooler Llama Llama whose adventures include bedtime drama, a first day of school, and a sleepover at Gram and Grandpa’s. The fun-to-read rhyming text, gentle humor, and familiar situations are extremely comforting and helpful to young children.   LLAMA LLAMA MISSES MAMA It’s Llama Llama’s first day of preschool! And Llama Llama’s mama makes sure he’s ready. They meet the teachers. See the other children. Look at all the books and games. But then it’s time for Mama to leave. And suddenly Llama Llama isn’t so excited anymore. Will Mama Llama come back?   NOBUNNY’S PERFECT In simple sentences and sweet illustrations, Nobunny’s Perfect is an ideal introduction to behavior that young children will understand and enjoy. And, most importantly, it will make a bunny proud to be the best bunny he can be!   GRUMPY GLORIA Poor Gloria the bulldog thinks she has lost her best friend when the little girl who owns her receives a doll as a birthday present. Suddenly the girl Gloria does everything with now does everything with her new doll! But Gloria can’t exactly tell anyone why she’s upset, so the girl’s brother and sister figure that Gloria just needs some cheering up.   LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA In this infectious rhyming read-aloud, Baby Llama turns bedtime into an all-out llama drama! Tucked into bed by his mama, Baby Llama immediately starts worrying when she goes downstairs, and his soft whimpers turn to hollers when she doesn’t come right back. But just in time, Mama returns to set things right.   Learn more about Anna Dewdney and her books by visiting these links: http://www.llamallamabook.com/ Anna Dewdney Titles Edelweiss Collection

A story about a son, the mother who left him as a child, and how his search to uncover the secrets of her life leads him to reclaim his own, THE NIX has all of the elements that will make for “must-see TV.”

composers of old, music is a unifying force in our world, bringing people together across vast cultural and geographical divisions. Classical music speaks both to the mind and to the heart, giving us something to think about as well as to experience.” Read the entire, rhapsodic, proclamation here: FEATURED TITLES BACH: MUSIC IN THE CASTLE OF HEAVEN by John Eliot Gardiner From one of the greatest living interpreters of Bach’s music: a landmark study that explains in wonderful detail how the composer worked, how his music is constructed, how it achieves its effects—and what it can tell us about Bach the man.   MOZART: A LIFE by Paul Johnson Mozart’s music has enthralled listeners for centuries. In this brilliant biography, acclaimed historian Paul Johnson draws upon his expert knowledge of the era and Mozart’s own private letters to conjure Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life and times in rich detail.   CONVERSATIONS WITH BEETHOVEN by Sanford Friedman, Richard Howard Deaf as he was, Beethoven had to be addressed in writing, and he was always accompanied by a notebook in which people could scribble questions and comments. Conversations with Beethoven, in a tour de force of fictional invention, tells the story of the last year of Beethoven’s life almost entirely through such notebook entries   WHY MAHLER?: HOW ONE MAN AND TEN SYMPHONIES CHANGED OUR WORLD by Norman Lebrecht Following Mahler’s every footstep from birthplace to grave, scrutinizing his manuscripts, talking to those who knew him, Lebrecht constructs a compelling new portrait of Mahler as a man who lived determinedly outside his own times.   SECRET LIVES OF GREAT COMPOSERS: WHAT YOUR TEACHERS NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE WORLD’S MUSICAL MASTERS by Elizabeth Lunday, Mario Zucca True tales of murder, riots, heartbreak, and great music…Secret Lives of Great Composers recounts the seamy, steamy, and gritty history behind the great masters of international music.   WHAT TO LISTEN FOR IN MUSIC by Aaron Copland In this fascinating analysis of how to listen to both contemporary and classical music analytically, eminent American composer Aaron Copland offers provocative suggestions that will bring readers a deeper appreciation of the most viscerally rewarding of all art forms.   LETTERS by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; edited by Michael Rose, Peter Washington Mozart’s remarkable life was well and richly documented in letters: his own and those concerning him written by others. This volume brings together a fascinating selection, giving us a detailed portrait of the composer’s life and times.   CLASSICAL MUSIC: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works by Phil G. Goulding When author Phil Goulding first tried to learn about classical music, he found himself buried in an avalanche of technical terms and complicated jargon–so he decided to write the book he couldn’t find. The result is a complete classical music education in one volume. Comprehensive, discriminating, and delightfully irreverent!   FOR YOUNG READERS SERGEI PROKOFIEV’S PETER AND THE WOLF: With a Fully-Orchestrated and Narrated CD by Sergei Prokofiev, Janet Schulman, Peter Malone; Ages 3 to 7 THERE IS NO better way to introduce children to classical music than with Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale of the little boy (played by all the strings of the orchestra) who, with the help of a bird (played by the flute), outsmarted the big, bad wolf (played by the French horns). And now with this book and CD package, children can look and listen all at the same time.   FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF MARIA ANNA MOZART by Elizabeth Rusch, Lou Fancher, Steve Johnson; Ages 5 to 8 By the time she was 12, she was considered one of the finest pianists in Europe, but today few people know her name. Maria Mozart, like her famous brother Wolfgang, was a musical prodigy.   For more on these and related titles visit: Classical Music Month

Ms. O’Neil examines how some of the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether or not we get a car loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated. But as Ms. O’Neil reveals in this urgent and timely book, the opposite is true. Before we present Ms. Cook’s “Three Questions” responses, here is a brief look at her background: She began her publishing career at Addison-Wesley in 1996, and went on to work at Basic Books and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt before joining Penguin Random House.  Amanda specializes in idea-driven and narrative nonfiction and has worked with a wide range of journalists and scholars, including Erik Larson, Matthew Desmond, Natalie Angier, Deborah Blum, Steven Strogatz, Roland Fryer, Jo Marchant, and Michael Specter. How did Cathy O’Neil first come to your attention and what were your first impressions of the WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION proposal? I first heard about Cathy from her agent, Jay Mandel, a few months before the proposal was ready. I started reading her blog and immediately fell in love with her fearless voice and her mission: to expose the secret and disastrously unfair mathematical models that increasingly control our lives. I also learned her great backstory. After receiving a Ph.D. in math from Harvard, Cathy taught at Barnard, then went to Wall Street, eager to put her math skills to use predicting movements in the market. I think she was the only female quant at D.E. Shaw. But when she realized her hedge fund was betting against people’s retirement funds, she became deeply disillusioned. Math—her first love—was being used in a way she felt was immoral. Cathy left Wall Street and became a financial advisor to the Occupy Movement, leading their Alternative Banking Group, and then took a job as a data scientist for a New York start-up. When the proposal arrived, I was even more intrigued. As a culture, we’d already started talking about inequality, but no one was looking at Big Data as a cause. I think we all tend to see math as objective, pure. Cathy certainly did. But as she learned first-hand, algorithms that score teachers, sort resumes, grant (or deny) loans, evaluate workers, and set parole are not static descriptions of reality. They change reality, by expanding or limiting the opportunities people have. And these models are opaque, unregulated, and unaccountable. As a mathematician deeply concerned with social justice, Cathy was the perfect person to put all the pieces together. That “Big Data” and “mathematical models” shape so many important life decisions may be alarming to many.  As her editor, in what ways did you work with Cathy to develop and present the most essential elements of the book?   Working with mathematicians is always fun—they’re comfortable with abstraction, so they tend to be good structural thinkers (though this is the first time I ever received an initial outline in the form of a spreadsheet!). Mostly what I helped Cathy do was widen the range of examples in the book. These “weapons of math destruction” are everywhere—in schools, in police departments, in hospitals, in workplaces—and we wanted readers to have a sense of that. Unfortunately, there has been very little reporting on this topic, precisely because the models are hidden, so finding stories of real people damaged by algorithms was a challenge. Cathy tells the story of one excellent teacher who was fired after receiving a bad score on something called the Value-Added Model, which Cathy shows is no better at evaluating teachers than rolling a pair of dice. There’s another story about a college kid who went to Vanderbilt, and had almost perfect SAT scores. He had bipolar disorder but was managing it well, yet he kept getting turned down for minimum-wage jobs. Through a friend, he discovered he was being screened out by a computerized personality test, one that is now being used in 60-70% of workplaces around the country. The stories are out there and we’re going to be hearing more of them. Who do you see as the primary audience for WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION and what are some of the key takeaways that may have the most significant impact on readers? I think that people who read Paul Krugman, watch Rachel Maddow, and support Elizabeth Warren will love this book. But what Cathy writes about affects us all.  E-scores are a great example. These are like credit scores, but they determine your creditworthiness using alternative data—things like your shopping habits, your age, your gender, your social networks, your zip code. Computers can churn through this data so quickly that some call centers even use e-scores to decide how long to make you wait for a customer service representative. If you live in a certain part of the city, or the algorithm doesn’t like who your friends are, you could be on hold for much longer. In the case of e-scores, it means that a person with a bad score (because they live in a poor neighborhood, say) is less likely to get a loan, less likely to get a job when their score is used for hiring, which keeps them in the poor neighborhood, which in turn worsens their score. Cathy calls this a “death spiral.” It’s basically a new, digital form of redlining. We all need to be aware of it so that we can protect ourselves and advocate for change.

Dewdney’s soothing tales are synonymous with calming early-childhood anxiety. She was praised by the Chicago Tribune as a “geographer extraordinaire of the emotional terrain of preschoolers and their mothers.” Books in her Llama Llama series, which have almost ten-million-copies in print, include LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA,  LLAMA LLAM,A HOLIDAY DRAMA,  LLAMA LLAMA MISSES MAMA, and LLAMA LLAMA TIME TO SHARE. LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA was chosen as Jumpstart’s Read for the Record book in 2011, setting the world benchmark for the most readings of a single book in one day. Dewdney was also the author/illustrator of Nobunny’s Perfect and NELLY GNU AND DADDY TOO. She had just completed work on a new picture book, LITTLE EXCAVATOR, scheduled for publication in June 2017 by Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. Netflix is in production with an animated Llama Llama series, scheduled for release in 2017. Jen Loja, President, Penguin Young Readers said, “The entire Penguin Young Readers family is heartbroken.  And as we grieve, we also celebrate Anna’s life, in dedicating ourselves to carrying forward her mission of putting books into as many little hands as possible.  We will miss her so, but consider ourselves so lucky to be her publishing family and her partner in her legacy.” Ken Wright, Vice President and Publisher, Viking Children’s Books commented, “Anna was an extraordinary talent. But much more than that, she was a dear, dear friend to so many of us at Viking and Penguin, and she will be deeply and personally missed by her entire Penguin family.” Anna Dewdney was born in New York City on December 25, 1965. Before becoming a full-time author and illustrator, she worked as a rural mail carrier and taught at a boys’ boarding school for many years. She lived with her family and three dogs in a restored home from 1820 on the site of an old stone mill, where she actively worked on the gardens. She was an outspoken advocate of literacy, and believed that the act of reading to a child fostered empathy and kindness in that child. In a 2013 article for The Wall Street Journal, she wrote, “When we read books with children, we share other worlds, and even more importantly, we share ourselves.  Reading with children makes an intimate, human connection that teaches that child what it means to be alive as one of many beings on the planet.” In lieu of a funeral service, she asked that people read to a child instead. Anna Dewdney is survived by her partner Reed Duncan, and two grown daughters, Berol and Cordelia Dewdney.

Amor Towles: “When RULES OF CIVILITY came out in 2011 and Viking contracted to publish my second novel, I wasn’t sure what my second novel was going to be. At the time, I shared with my editor, Paul Slovak, a number of different ideas and he encouraged me to go with my instincts. So, I did just that; and without much of a rationale, I chose to pursue the rather odd premise (that I had come up with some years before) of a Russian aristocrat living under house arrest in Moscow a luxury hotel. “In retrospect, I see that my choice was probably influenced by an unconscious desire for change and the resulting artistic challenges that change presents–because RULES OF CIVILITY and A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW are a study in contrasts. Where the former takes place over a single year, the latter spans thirty-two. Where the former roves across a city, the latter takes place in one building. Where the former is from the perspective of a young working class woman on the rise, the latter is from the perspective of an aging gentleman who has lost everything. And where the former is virtually free of children and parents, the latter is very much concerned with generational relationships. One last difference is that A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is much longer than RULES OF CIVILITY; but it has the same cover price, so you get 50% more words for your money! “Recently, Viking/Penguin contracted to publish my next two novels and I couldn’t be more thrilled. During the publication of RULES, I had the pleasure of meeting a wide variety of Viking/Penguin people in New York and across the country. To a person I found them professional, friendly, and devoted to books. When Penguin and Random House merged, to be honest, I felt a moment of trepidation. But I needn’t have worried. The majority of the people I worked with on RULES have been a part of the team launching A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW; and we have the added benefit of some fabulous new team members thanks to the merger. And, yes, Lydia Hirt has dragged me to the gates of social media and pushed me in; so there’s that, too. “In a few days, I will be leaving New York for almost two months on the road, thanks to the publicity team. Would I prefer to stay at home and watch Netflix? Yes. But I figure if I’m going to spend four years writing a book, I should be willing to spend a year helping it find its audience. While I will not be able to start writing my next novel until I’ve finished touring, I have been developing several ideas in some detail. As to which idea I’ll pursue, I expect I’ll once again take Paul’s advice and follow my instincts.” When asked, “What was it that enabled Amor to create such a vivid fictional world in his new novel?” Paul Slovak responded, “To put it simply, it is because he is an exquisite storyteller with a dazzling imagination, a writer of great artistry, sophistication, and elegance who excels on every level.  What both RULES and GENTLEMAN share, and what makes Amor such a captivating and talented writer, and a joy to work with, are finely drawn, unforgettable characters who practically leap off the page; sharp, utterly memorable dialogue; vivid scene setting; splendid atmosphere; precise observations of manners, refinement, and taste; and a flawless command of voice, style, and structure, all of which make for the most completely pleasurable reading experience.  But Amor is also a writer who likes to set new challenges for himself; with GENTLEMAN, it wasn’t just tackling an entirely different setting, time period, and narrative voice, but the whole notion of trapping his main character, and his readers, inside a single building for thirty-two years – how do you make such a confined life interesting, and fulfilling?  Amor pulls it off brilliantly, and impressively.  Above all, he has a deep understanding of human nature, and an unparalleled ability to get inside his characters’ minds and hearts and to transmit that to the page in the most memorable and magical of ways.” Meredith Burks, Manager, Publicity, Viking/Penguin, provides an overview of the publicity campaign for A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW: “We have an incredible media lineup that’s already started to roll out. GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW has appeared in Town & Country, Conde Nast Traveler, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Marie Claire, Virtuoso Life, and DuJour Magazine’s September issues. O, The Oprah Magazine will include the book in its October issue. Amor will be profiled in The Wall Street Journal’s Fall Books Preview, and The New York Times’ “What I Love” column, and interviewed by Lynn Neary for NPR’s Morning Edition, and PBS-TV’s Well Read. We have reviews confirmed in theNew York Times Book Review, Washington Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Refinery29, The Millions, NRP.org, and more regional print and online outlets.   Amor will launch the book with an event at the Upper East Side Barnes & Noble in New York and set out on a national tour with over 30 events in 26 cities.” A sampling of praise for A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW: “The same gorgeous, layered richness that marked Towles’ debut, RULES OF CIVILITY, shapes this novel about an early-20th-century Russian count sentenced by a Bolshevik tribunal to spend the rest of his life in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel.” —Entertainment Weekly “House arrest has never been so charming as in Towles’s second novel, an engaging 30-year saga set almost entirely inside the Metropol, Moscow’s most luxurious hotel...empathetic, and entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly “The book moves briskly from one crisp scene to the next, and ultimately casts a spell as captivating as RULES OF CIVILITY, a book that inhales you into its seductively Gatsby-esque universe.”—Town & Country “In all ways a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight . . . this book more than fulfills the promise of Towles’ stylish debut, RULES OF CIVILITY.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred) “As urbane, cultured, and honey-smooth as the Count himself, even as his situation inevitably creates suspense, this enthralling work is highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred)

FICTION RAZOR GIRL by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf) RAZOR GIRL is the new full-tilt, unstoppably hilarious and entertaining novel from the best-selling author of SKINNY DIPand BAD MONKEY, Carl Hiaasen. When Lane Coolman’s car is bashed from behind on the road to the Florida Keys, what appears to be an ordinary accident is anything but (this is Hiaasen!). Behind the wheel of the other car is Merry Mansfield–the eponymous Razor Girl–and the crash scam is only the beginning of events that spiral crazily out of control while unleashing some of the wildest characters Hiaasen has ever set loose on the page. A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW: A Novel by Amor Towles (Viking) A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW immerses us in an elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. DEAR MR. M by Herman Koch (Hogarth) Once a celebrated writer, M had his greatest success with a suspense novel based on a real-life disappearance. Upon publication, M’s novel was a runaway bestseller, one that marked his international breakthrough. That was years ago, and now M’s career is fading. But not when it comes to his bizarre, seemingly timid neighbor who keeps a close eye on him and his wife. Why? From alternating points of view, where no one is to be trusted, Herman Koch weaves together an intricate tale of a writer in decline, a teenage couple in love, a missing teacher, and a single book that entwines all of their fates. APPRENTICE IN DEATH by J.D. Robb (Berkley) The shots came quickly, silently, and with deadly accuracy. Within seconds, three people were dead at Central Park’s ice-skating rink. Eve Dallas has seen a lot of killers during her time with the NYPSD but never one like this. When Eve’s husband, Roarke’s computer program leads her to the location of the sniper, she learns a shocking fact: There were two—one older, one younger. Someone is being trained by an expert in the science of killing, and they have an agenda. Central Park was just a warm-up. And as another sniper attack shakes the city to its core, Eve realizes that though we’re all shaped by the people around us, there are those who are just born evil. NONFICTION THE PIGEON TUNNEL: Stories from My Life by John le Carré (Viking) From his years serving in British Intelligence during the Cold War, to a career as a writer that took him from war-torn Cambodia to Beirut on the cusp of the 1982 Israeli invasion to Russia before and after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, bestselling author John le Carré has always written from the heart of modern times. In this, his first memoir, le Carré is as funny as he is incisive, reading into the events he witnesses the same moral ambiguity with which he imbues his novels. Best of all, le Carré gives us a glimpse of a writer’s journey over more than six decades. WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION by Cathy O’Neil (Crown) A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life — and threaten to rip apart our social fabric. We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we get a car loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated. But as Cathy O’Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. MARTHA STEWART’S VEGETABLES by Editors of Martha Stewart Living (Clarkson Potter) In this beautiful book, Martha Stewart—one of America’s best-known cooks, gardeners, and all-around vegetable lovers—provides home cooks with an indispensable resource for selecting, storing, preparing, and cooking from the garden and the market. The 150 recipes, many of which are vegetarian, highlight the flavors and textures of everyday favorites and uncommon varieties alike. Martha Stewart’s Vegetables makes eating your greens (and reds and yellows and oranges) more delicious than ever. THE RED BANDANNA by Tom Rinaldi (Penguin Press) When Welles Crowther was a young boy, his father gave him a red handkerchief for his back pocket. Welles kept it with him that day, and just about every day to come; it became a fixture and his signature. Fresh from college, he took a Wall Street job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, with the dream of becoming a firefighter with the FDNY. When the Twin Towers fell, Welles’s parents had no idea what happened to him. Eight months after the attacks, Welles’s mother read a news account from several survivors, badly hurt on the 78th floor of the South Tower, who said they and others had been led to safety by a stranger, carrying a woman on his back, down nearly twenty flights of stairs. The survivors didn’t know his name, but despite the smoke and panic, one of them remembered a single detail clearly: the man was wearing a red bandanna. SUBSTITUTE by Nicholson Baker (Blue Rider Press) In 2014, after a brief orientation course and a few fingerprinting sessions, Nicholson Baker became an on-call substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. He awoke to the dispatcher’s five-forty a.m. phone call and headed to one of several nearby schools; when he got there, he did his best to follow lesson plans and help his students get something done. What emerges from Baker’s experience is a complex, often touching deconstruction of public schooling in America: children swamped with overdue assignments, over­whelmed by the marvels and distractions of social media and educational technology, and staff who weary themselves trying to teach in step with an often outmoded or overly ambitious standard curriculum. BEST. STATE. EVER. By Dave Barry (Putnam) We never know what will happen next in Florida. We know only that, any minute now, something will. Every few months, Dave Barry gets a call from some media person wanting to know, “What the hell is wrong with Florida?” Somehow, the state’s acquired an image as a subtropical festival of stupid, and as a loyal Floridian, Dave begs to differ. Sure, there was the 2000 election. And people seem to take their pants off for no good reason. And it has flying insects the size of LeBron James. But it is a great state, and Dave is going to tell you why. Join him as he celebrates Florida from Key West at the bottom to whatever it is that’s at the top, from the Sunshine State’s earliest history to the fun-fair of weirdness that it is today. POETRY POEMS ABOUT SCULPTURE Foreword by Robert Pinsky, Edited by Murray Dewart (Everyman’s Library) Sculpture has the longest memory of the arts: from the Paleolithic era, we find stone carvings and clay figures embedded with human longing. And poets have long been fascinated by the idea of eternity embodied by the monumental temples and fragmented statues of ancient civilizations. From Keats’s Grecian urn and Shelley’s “Ozymandias” to contemporary verse about Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Janet Echelman’s wind-borne hovering nets, the pieces in this collection convert the physical materials of the plastic arts—clay, wood, glass, marble, granite, bronze, and more—into lapidary lines of poetry. YOUNG READERS COME OVER TO MY HOUSE by Dr. Seuss (Random House Books for Young Readers) This delightful Dr. Seuss book has come back—with a brand new look! Written in 1966, this multi-cultural Beginner Book about home and friendship features the good doctor’s signature rhyme and all-new, charming artwork by award-winning illustrator Katie Kath. A great choice for beginning readers as well as for read-alouds, the message of the book—that kids are the same all over the world—is as true today as it was 50 years ago. Perfect for expanding a child’s worldview—and home library—it’s ideal for birthdays, holidays, and happy occasions of all kinds! TALES OF THE PECULIAR by Ransom Riggs (Dutton Books for Young Readers) Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—the collection of fairy tales known to hide information about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series. Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. SIX DOTS: A STORY OF YOUNG LOUIS BRAILLE by Jen Bryant (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Louis Braille was just five years old when he lost his sight. He was a clever boy, determined to live like everyone else, and what he wanted more than anything was to be able to read. Award-winning writer Jen Bryant tells Braille’s inspiring story with a lively and accessible text, filled with the sounds, the smells, and the touch of Louis’s world. Boris Kulikov’s inspired paintings help readers to understand what Louis lost, and what he was determined to gain back through books. I AM GEORGE WASHINGTON by Bred Meltzer; illustrated by Christopher Eliopolous (Dial Books for Young Readers) We can all be heroes. That’s the inspiring message of this New York Times Bestselling picture book biography series from historian and author Brad Meltzer. Learn all about George Washington, America’s first president. George Washington was one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known. He was never afraid to be the first to try something, from exploring the woods around his childhood home to founding a brand new nation, the United States of America. With his faith in the American people and tremendous bravery, he helped win the Revolutionary War and became the country’s first president. LUCY AND LINH by Alice Pung (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Lucy is a bit of a pushover, but she’s ambitious and smart, and she has just received the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to a prestigious school. She is soon welcomed into the Cabinet, the supremely popular trio who wield influence over classmates and teachers alike. Linh is blunt, strong-willed, and fearless—everything Lucy once loved about herself. She is also Lucy’s last solid link to her life before private school, but she is growing tired of being eclipsed by the glamour of the Cabinet. As Lucy floats further away from the world she once knew, her connection to Linh—and to her old life—threatens to snap. Sharp and honest, Alice Pung’s novel examines what it means to grow into the person you want to be without leaving yourself behind. UGLY by Robert Hoge (Viking Books for Young Readers) When Robert Hoge was born, he had a tumor the size of a tennis ball in the middle of his face and short, twisted legs. Surgeons removed the tumor and made him a new nose from one of his toes. Amazingly, he survived—with a face that would never be the same. Strangers stared at him. Kids called him names, and adults could be cruel, too. Everybody seemed to agree that he was “ugly.” But Robert refused to let his face define him. This poignant memoir about overcoming bullying and thriving with disabilities shows that what makes us “ugly” also makes us who we are.

FEATURED TITLES   BELLE CORA by Phillip Margulies “Margulies strikes gold. . . . Belle’s remarkable story mirrors that of her young country, on the verge of civil war, and her sharp, engaging voice brings her tale to vivid life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)   SURVIVAL OF THE PRETTIEST by Nancy Etcoff; Ages In this provocative, witty, and thoroughly researched inquiry into what we find beautiful and why, Nancy Etcoff, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, skewers the enduring myth that the pursuit of beauty is a learned behavior.   THE CORSET DIARIES by Katie Macalister No woman in her right mind would consent to wearing a corset for a month. Especially a “skinny-challenged” woman like Tessa. But dreams of being debt-free dance in her head at the offer of appearing in a reality TV show. “A Month in the Life of a Victorian Duke” is about real people pretending to live on an English estate, circa 1879. And Tessa’s leading man – a real-life Duke – is so handsome she can barely breathe, with or without the corset…   STRICTLY TABOO by Jaid Black Here are three beautiful, daring women who find themselves succumbing to the forbidden, overpowering passion ignited by their arch enemies. Set in three different worlds-the past, the present, and the future-these stories will take readers way beyond their wildest imagination and into their most sensuous fantasies.   STEAMED: A STEAMPUNK ROMANCE by Katie Macalister When one of Jack Fletcher’s nanoelectromechanical system experiments is jostled in his lab, the resulting explosion sends him into the world of his favorite novel-a seemingly Victorian-era world of steampower, aether guns, corsets, and goggles.   THE PERFECT MISTRESS by Victoria Alexander Harrison Landingham, Earl of Mountdale, can’t let the obstinate Julia release the shameless memoir that could ruin his family’s name. But the only way to stop her may be equally sordid–if far more pleasurable. For his rivals are intent on seducing the captivating woman to acquire the book.   THE SWEET FAR THING by Libba Bray; Ages 12 and up “A rare treat that offers a bit of everything—romance, magic, history, Gothic intrigue—and delivers on all of it in 819 beautifully crafted pages.”—People Magazine   THE FASHION BOOK by DK; Ages 13 to 17 From corsets and camis to tailoring and textiles, The Fashion Book is a sassy style guide for teenage girls who want to discover the stories behind their favorite looks, find their own style, and learn what makes the fashion world tick.   View the entire collection here: Corset Covers

Miss Crake, one of Miss Peregrine’s sister ymbrynes, that will reveal a secret time loop before it resets on Saturday. The photos can be seen here. Participating bookstores will receive TALES OF THE PECULIAR giveaway items to help celebrate the day and one store, in particular, will be named the grand prize winner with a “peculiar” watch for every customer in the store who purchases a copy of TALES OF THE PECULIAR that day. Ransom Riggs will be visiting five bookstores in and around San Francisco on Loop Day and additional tour stops begin on 9/6. View the full tour schedule here.

 

• THE GIRLS by Emma Cline (Random House)

 

• HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi (Knopf)

 

• HOW I BECAME A NORTH KOREAN by Krys Lee (Viking)

  Congratulations to our authors and their publishers. View the complete 2016 First Novel Prize shortlist here Each shortlisted author receives $1,000, with $10,000 going to the First Novel Prize winner, who will be announced at The Center for Fiction’s Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner on December 6 at The Metropolitan Club in New York. The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is awarded to the best debut novel published between January 1 and December 31 of the award year. This year’s judges are Viet Thanh Nguyen, Chris Abani, Kate Christensen, Rivka Galchen, and Kate Walbert.

For more information visit: national-suicide-prevention-week   FEATURED TITLES   NIGHT FALLS FAST: UNDERSTANDING SUICIDE by Kay Redfield Jamison From the author of AN UNQUIET MIND, this is a book that helps us to understand the suicidal mind, to recognize and come to the aid of those at risk, and to comprehend the profound effects on those left behind. It is critical reading for parents, educators, and anyone wanting to understand this tragic epidemic.   THE BURN JOURNALS by Brent Runyon I don’t want to get out of bed. I’m so stupid. I did so many things wrong. I don’t know what to do. I’m going to be in so much trouble. What am I going to do? I’m completely screwed. In 1991, fourteen-year-old Brent Runyon came home from school, doused his bathrobe in gasoline, put it on, and lit a match. He suffered third-degree burns over 85% of his body and spent the next year recovering in hospitals and rehab facilities. During that year of physical recovery, Runyon began to question what he’d done, undertaking the complicated journey from near-death back to high school, and from suicide back to the emotional mainstream of life.   NO TIME TO SAY GOODBYE: SURVIVING THE SUICIDE OF A LOVED ONE by Carla Fine Suicide would appear to be the last taboo. Even incest is now discussed freely in popular media, but the suicide of a loved one is still an act most people are unable to talk about–or even admit to their closest family or friends. This is just one of the many painful and paralyzing truths author Carla Fine discovered when her husband, a successful young physician, took his own life in December 1989.   ON SUICIDE by Emile Durkheim Émile Durkheim, one of the fathers of modern sociology, was the first to suggest that suicide might be as much a response to society as an act of individual despair. When he looked at social, religious, or racial groups that had high incidences of suicide, he discovered that abnormally high or low levels of social integration increase the likelihood of suicide.   REASONS TO STAY ALIVE by Matt Haig Matt Haig’s positive, accessible, and life-saving memoir of his struggle with depression, and how his triumph over the illness taught him to live again.     YOUNG ADULT   ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven; Ages 14 and Up Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning! Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he thinks of ways he might kill himself, but every day he also searches for—and manages to find—something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.   HOLD STILL by Nina LaCour, Mia Nolting ; Ages 12 And Up In the wake of her best friend Ingrid’s suicide, Caitlin is left alone, struggling to find hope and answers. When she finds the journal Ingrid left behind for her, she begins a journey of understanding and broadening her horizons that leads her to new friendships and first love.   I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman; Ages 14 and up After her best friend drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody travels to Tacoma to pack up Meg’s college room. Investigating her friend’s final days, Cody uncovers mysterious emails on Meg’s computer, eventually leading her to an online suicide “support” group. Forman has written an ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.   MORE HAPPY THAN NOT by Adam Silvera; Ages 14 and Up In the months after his father’s suicide, it’s been tough for sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again—but he’s still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he’s slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.   Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher; Ages 12 and Up “Thirteen Reasons Why will leave you with chills long after you have finished reading.” —Amber Gibson, NPR’s “All Things Considered”     A WORLD WITHOUT YOU by Beth Revis; Ages 12 and Up After the unexpected loss of his girlfriend, a teenage boy suffering from delusions is convinced that he can travel through time to save her, in this gripping new novel from New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis.     For more on these and related titles, visit the edelweiss collection: Suicide Prevention Week Titles

his freedom under the harsh rule of the Martial Empire. The book garnered comparisons to such cultural touchstones as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones, won the first-ever People’s Choice Best Fantasy Book Award, and appeared on a dozen different “Best of 2015” lists. A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT is even better than Tahir’s groundbreaking debut, says Ben Schrank, President & Publisher of Razorbill: “Even now, I’m astonished at the complexity of the journey Sabaa Tahir takes us on in A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT. It’s rare that an author grows so much between a debut and a sequel and Sabaa, by her own admission, is overjoyed at how much deeper and more dramatic her storytelling is in Torch. I’ve been desperate to share her achievement ever since I read the first draft so I’m very proud and happy now that this book is finally out in the world.” The increased intensity of TORCH is no accident. Tahir picked up her own pace in writing it, and decided to approach the book as more than a sequel: “It took me six years, a boatload of research, and a relentless kind of stubbornness to write AN EMBER IN THE ASHES. It took two years, an unmentionable amount of chocolate, and a crazed kind of obsession to write A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT,” says Tahir. “I realized early on that I didn’t want TORCH to feel like the second book in a series. While it was essential to follow Laia and Elias as they grew and changed, it was also important to show that their struggle is no less harrowing now that they’ve left Blackcliff.  I truly hope that the result is a story that will have readers biting their nails until the wee hours.” Tahir will celebrate the release of TORCH with a launch event at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, CA, followed by a national tour that will feature guest appearances by such buzzed about YA authors as Stephane Garber (Caraval), Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke and Bone series), Renee Ahdieh (The Wrath and the Dawn), Jennifer Lynne Barnes (The Fixer), and Nicola Yoon (Everything, Everything). Tahir’s fans, who call themselves “Emberlings,” will be able to meet the author at her events in Seattle, Portland, Raleigh, D.C., NYC, Greater Boston / Providence, St. Louis, Chicago, Oklahoma City, and Los Angeles, as well as at appearances throughout the fall at major consumer festivals such as the Decatur Book Festival (Atlanta), Texas Teen Book Festival (Austin), and YallFest (Charleston). Marissa Grossman, Assistant Editor at Razorbill and part of Tahir’s editorial team, says the hype is justified: “No one keeps me turning the pages like Sabaa Tahir. Since devouring the first draft of A Torch Against the Night, I’ve jumped at every chance to discuss the novel with early readers and fellow Emberlings. But now is the moment I’ve been waiting for: the day when anyone and everyone can read Torch and experience this exquisite, terrifying, and epic sequel that I can’t stop talking about.” Early raves for the Indie Next Pick offer a consensus—A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT is a triumphant return for Tahir: “Spectacular.”—Entertainment Weekly “The plot runs like a well-oiled machine, ratcheting up the tension with every chapter.”—NPR.org « “Even higher stakes than its predecessor . . . thrilling.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review « “Tahir proves to be a master of suspense and a canny practitioner of the cliffhanger, riveting readers’ attention throughout. . . . [An] action-packed, breathlessly paced story.”—Booklist, starred review “If you thought book one was tension-filled, just wait for this one.”—Bustle.com “As heartbreaking as it is action-packed, delivering a worthy second installment in Tahir’s bestselling series.”—Paste With more major media coverage still to come, including a full-page profile in Entertainment Weekly and interviews on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” and PRI’s “The World,” one thing is for sure: reviewers Schrank and Grossman won’t be the only ones who can’t stop talking about A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT, a book being positioned as the biggest YA fantasy release of the year.

Now, Governor Cuomo is adding WiFi to that list, and I am excited to announce that we have partnered with the MTA and Transit Wireless to create ‘Subway Reads,’ an in-transit reading experience for all those New York City subway riders. The promotion launches on August 29, and runs for eight weeks. Transit Wireless has already equipped 175 stations with WiFi and plans to complete all 278 by the end of the year. Penguin Random House is doing what we do best, providing great reads – over 175 e-book samples and five free e-short stories from a variety of authors – Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Alexander McCall Smith, Colson Whitehead, Junot Diaz, Jacqueline Woodson… just to name a few. There is a story for every New Yorker. Visit SubwayReadsNY.com to learn more, and to see the breadth and depth of literary content we’re offering: from travel guides to today’s bestsellers, poetry to New Yorker essays, children’s and YA titles to New York history. The selection totals 50+ hours of reading – enough content to ensure great reads on a daily commute from Downtown Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan for the entire length of the promotion. And no matter what your subway trip, you can use the ‘Read Time’ function to pick a text based on the duration. For traveling between Hudson Street and 1745 the 20 minute reads are perfectly timed. Subway Reads serves our mission to foster a universal passion for reading and to connect our stories with readers everywhere – even underground. In a city as fast-paced and electric as New York, we can celebrate the opportunity to get lost in a good book, for however long or short your ride may be. So when you’re on the subway, rest assured that the next time you hear a street musician come aboard your car shouting “It’s showtime!,” you have over 175 stories to take you away – without the weight of a single book in your bag.

FICTION THE NIX by Nathan Hill (Knopf) A Nix can take many forms. In Norwegian folklore, it is a spirit who sometimes appears as a white horse that steals children away. It’s 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson—college professor, stalled writer—has a Nix of his own: his mother, Faye. He hasn’t seen her in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. In Nathan Hill’s remarkable first novel, a Nix is anything you love that one day disappears, taking with it a piece of your heart. From the suburban Midwest to New York City to the 1968 riots that rocked Chicago and beyond, THE NIXexplores—with sharp humor and a fierce tenderness—the resilience of love and home, even in times of radical change. THE DARKEST SECRET by Alex Marwood (Penguin Books Original) When a child goes missing at an opulent house party, it makes international news. But what really happens behind closed doors? Twelve years ago, Mila Jackson’s three-year-old half-sister Coco disappeared during their father’s fiftieth birthday party. Her identical twin Ruby was left behind as the only witness. The girls’ father, Sean, was wealthy and influential, as were the friends gathered at their seaside vacation home for the weekend’s debauchery. The case ignited a media frenzy and forever changed the lives of everyone involved. RUSHING WATERS by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press) Danielle Steel fearlessly tackles a catastrophe and its aftermath with characters who are joined together by accident, then share their vulnerabilities, regrets, losses, and hopes. Hurricane Ophelia is bearing down on New York City. And in a matter of hours, six people, along with their families, friends, and millions of other New Yorkers living around them, will be caught up in the horrific flooding it unleashes. Keenly observed and brilliantly told, this is an unforgettable story that proves that while life can change in an instant, even the darkest storm can bring forth courage, resilience, unexpected joy, and new life. THE ENGLISH TEACHER by Yiftach R. Atir (Penguin Books Original) After attending her father’s funeral, former Mossad agent Rachel Goldschmitt empties her bank account and disappears. But when she makes a cryptic phone call to her former handler, Ehud, the Mossad sends him to track her down. Finding no leads, he must retrace her career as a spy to figure out why she abandoned Mossad before she can do any damage to Israel. But he soon discovers that after living under cover for so long, an agent’s assumed identity and her real one can blur, catching loyalty, love, and truth between them. In the midst of a high-risk, high-stakes investigation, Ehud begins to question whether he ever knew his agent at all. NONFICTION VICTUALS by Ronni Lundy (Clarkson Potter) VICTUALS explores the diverse and complex food scene of the Mountain South through recipes, stories, traditions, and innovations. Each chapter explores a specific defining food or tradition of the region–such as salt, beans, corn (and corn liquor). The essays introduce readers to their rich histories and the farmers, curers, hunters, and chefs who define the region’s contemporary landscape. Sitting at a diverse intersection of cuisines, Appalachia offers a wide range of ingredients and products that can be transformed using traditional methods and contemporary applications. THE BRIDGE TO BRILLIANCE: How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World by Nadia Lopez with Rebecca Paley (Viking) When thirteen-year-old Vidal Chastanet told photographer Brandon Stanton that his principal ,“Ms. Lopez,” was the person who most influenced his life, it was the pebble that started a whirlwind for Nadia Lopez and her small, new public school in one of Brooklyn’s most wretched communities. The posting on Stanton’s wildly popular site Humans of New York (HONY) went mega-viral. Lopez found herself in the national spotlight and headed for a meeting with Obama, as well as the beneficiary of a million-dollar IndieGoGo campaign for the school. Here is her first-person account of what it took to get to that moment. ALL UNDER HEAVEN by Carolyn Phillips (Ten Speed Press) Vaulting from ancient taverns near the Yangtze River to banquet halls in modern Taipei, ALL UNDER HEAVEN is the first cookbook in English to examine all 35 cuisines of China. Drawing on centuries’ worth of culinary texts, as well as her own years working, eating, and cooking in Taiwan, Carolyn Phillips has written a spirited, symphonic love letter to the flavors and textures of Chinese cuisine. With hundreds of recipes–from simple Fried Green Onion Noodles to Lotus-Wrapped Spicy Rice Crumb Pork–written with clear, step-by-step instructions, ALL UNDER HEAVEN serves as both a handbook for the novice and a source of inspiration for the veteran chef. NATURALLY, DELICIOUS: 100 Recipes for Healthy Eats That Make You Happy by Danny Seo (Pam Krauss Books) In his wildly popular new magazine, Naturally, Danny Seo, editor-in-chief Danny Seo presents a modern and stylish take on green living, and in his first cookbook, he extends that fresh approach into the kitchen. NATURALLY, DELICIOUS will show home cooks that preparing healthy, delicious food on a daily basis doesn’t have to feel like an expensive, time-consuming chore. HEAD BALL COACH by Steve Spurrier (Blue Rider Press) College football’s most colorful, endearing, and successful pioneer, Steve Spurrier, shares his story of a life in football — from growing up in Tennessee to winning the Heisman Trophy to playing and coaching in the pros to leading the Florida Gators to six SEC Championships and a National Championship to elevating the South Carolina program to new heights — and coaching like nobody else. He’s been called brash, cocky, arrogant, pompous, egotistical, and hilarious, but, mostly, he’s known as the Head Ball Coach, a self-ordained term introduced to the lexicon of football by none other than the man, himself, Steve Spurrier. YOUNG READERS A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill) A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT is the astonishing sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, AN EMBER IN THE ASHES. Elias and Laia are running for their lives. Following the events of the Fourth Trial, an army led by Masks hunts the two fugitives as they escape the city of Serra and journey across the vast lands of the Martial Empire. Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—and save her brother, whose knowledge of Serric steel is the key to the Scholars’ future. And Elias is determined to stay by Laia’s side…even if it means giving up his own chance at freedom. GIRL IN PIECES by Kathleen Glasgow (Delacorte Press) Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people do in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you. A deeply moving portrait of a girl in a world that owes her nothing, and has taken so much, and the journey she undergoes to put herself back together. Kathleen Glasgow’s debut is heartbreakingly real and unflinchingly honest. It’s a story you won’t be able to look away from. BETWEEN WORLDS by Skip Brittenham (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers) The town of Eden Grove has a legend: In the center of a pine forest there is an aspen grove, and in the center of the aspen grove is an ancient, magnificent tree. Mayberry and Marshall have heard the stories about the Wishing Tree, but they know nothing like that could really exist near their dreary town. Misunderstood and restless, the teenagers wish for a lot of things, including being on another planet altogether. Somewhere with magic and adventure—someplace where they can be heroes. And then the unlikeliest thing happens: On a hike through the forest, they find the Wishing Tree. The pair make their wish, fall asleep and wake up on Nith, a world that is exactly what they asked for. FURTHERMORE by Tahereh Mafi (Dutton Books for Young Readers) There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn’t miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it’s been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she’s about to embark on one to find the other. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself—and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

  Sandra Cisneros for A HOUSE OF MY OWN (Knopf) in the Creative Nonfiction category. Jill Leovy for GHETTOSIDE (Spiegel & Grau) in the Research Nonfiction category. Congratulations to our authors and their publishers. View the complete list of PEN Center USA Literary Awards winners here. The winning writers in each category receive $1,000 and will be honored September 28 at the Literary Awards Festival in Beverly Hills, California.

  “Greater than scene is situation. Greater than situation is implication. Greater than all of these is a single, entire human being, who will never be confined in any frame.” –  Eudora Welty   FEATURED TITLES   HOW TO WRITE LIKE TOLSTOY: A JOURNEY INTO THE MINDS OF OUR GREATEST WRITERS by Richard Cohen From critically acclaimed author Richard Cohen comes an essential, engrossing book about writing—what makes good prose, how to create it, and a lively account of the difficult lessons that even the greatest writers have had to learn.   ON WRITING by Eudora Welty Eudora Welty was one of the twentieth century’s greatest literary figures. For as long as students have been studying her fiction, writers have been looking to her to answer the profound questions of what makes a story good, a novel successful novel, and a writer an artist. On Writing presents the answers in seven concise chapters.   THE ACCIDENTAL LIFE: AN EDITOR’S NOTES ON WRITING AND WRITERS by Terry McDonell A celebration of the writing and editing life, as well as a look behind the scenes at some of the most influential magazines in America (and the writers who made them what they are).   WRITING DOWN THE BONES: FREEING THE WRITER WITHIN by Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron With insight, humor, and practicality, Natalie Goldberg inspires writers and would-be writers to take the leap into writing skillfully and creatively. She offers suggestions, encouragement, and solid advice on many aspects of the writer’s craft: on writing from “first thoughts” (keep your hand moving, don’t cross out, just get it on paper) to listening (writing is ninety percent listening; the deeper you listen, the better you write and more…   BIRD BY BIRD: SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE by Anne Lamott “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”   WOE IS I: THE GRAMMARPHOBE’S GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH IN PLAIN ENGLISH by Patricia T. O’Conner With chapters on spelling and punctuation, and fresh insights into the rights, wrongs, and maybes of English grammar and usage, Woe Is I offers down-to-earth explanations and plain-English solutions to the language mysteries that bedevil all of us delivered with lively humor.   WRITING IN RESTAURANTS by David Mamet Temporarily putting aside his role as playwright, director, and screen-writer, David Mamet digs deep and delivers thirty outrageously diverse vignettes.     WHY WE WRITE: 20 ACCLAIMED AUTHORS ON HOW AND WHY THEY DO WHAT THEY DO edited by Meredith Maran In Why We Write, twenty well-known authors candidly share what keeps them going and what they love most—and least—about their vocation. Contributors include: Isabel Allende, Walter Mosley, Jennifer Egan, Armistead Maupin, Jane Smiley and Sara Gruen.   ON TEACHING AND WRITING FICTION by Wallace Stegner, edited by Lynn Stegner Wallace Stegner founded the acclaimed Stanford Writing Program-a program whose alumni include such literary luminaries as Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, and Raymond Carver. Here Lynn Stegner brings together eight of Stegner’s previously uncollected essays-including four never-before-published pieces -on writing fiction and teaching creative writing.   FOR YOUNGER WRITERS   WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK by DK Publishing Write Your Own Book is filled with creative writing prompts to help kids tell their stories. Young writers can design their own cover and fill up the notebook with their own exciting and creative stories, completely unique to themselves.   WOE IS I, JR.: THE YOUNGER GRAMMARPHOBE’S GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH IN PLAIN ENGLISH Patricia T. O’Conner, Tom Stiglich Just like Woe Is I, O’Conner’s national bestseller for adults, this junior version uses conversational language and witty, entertaining examples to show how fun and easy it can be to use good English.   For more on these and related titles, visit the edelweiss collection: Writing Workshop

While studying at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Ms. Jackson was awarded the Maytag Fellowship for Excellence in Fiction to complete her first novel, THE STAR SIDE OF BIRD HILL. Penguin Press first published the book in June 2015; most recently, a Penguin paperback edition was released. The novel, which follows two sisters who are suddenly sent from their home in Brooklyn to Barbados to live with their grandmother, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Debut Fiction and was long-listed for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Jackson’s book has been reviewed and praised by several publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Kirkus Reviews, Oprah.com, NPR.org and more. Fellow Penguin Random House author Jacqueline Woodson will be joining Jackson for a discussion. Ms. Woodson is the author of the New York Times Bestselling and National Book Award-winning memoir, BROWN GIRL DREAMING as well as more than two dozen other award-winning books for young readers. Woodson is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Woodson was also recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.

Museum in Seattle. Dinosaurs are perpetually fascinating to all ages and we recommend the following books to meet rekindled interest. Headlines: T. rex with Well-Preserved Skull Found in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation(Scientific American)   FEATURED TITLES   GRAVE SECRETS OF DINOSAURS: SOFT TISSUES AND HARD SCIENCE by Phillip Manning Dr. Manning takes us on a thrilling, globe-spanning tour of dinosaur mummy finds—from the first such excavation in 1908 forward.     JURASSIC PARK: A Novel by Michael Crichton An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true: This is the classic thriller of science run amok that took the world by storm.     HOW TO BUILD A DINOSAUR: THE NEW SCIENCE OF REVERSE EVOLUTIONby Jack Horner and James Gorman A world-renowned paleontologist reveals groundbreaking science that trumps science fiction: how to grow a living dinosaur   T-REX TRYING: THE UNFORTUNATE TRIALS OF A MODERN PREHISTORIC FAMILY by Hugh Murphy From the author of the sleeper hit T-Rex Trying, a sweetly funny new collection of drawings of T-Rex and his family being stymied by the modern world—and their unfortunately short arms. DINOSAUR ART: THE WORLD’S GREATEST PALEOART by Philip J. Currie, Steve White, Scott D. Sampson In Dinosaur Art, ten of the top contemporary paleoartists reveal a selection of their work and exclusively discuss their working methods and distinct styles. Filled with breathtaking artwork – some never before seen – and cutting edge paleontology, this is a treasure trove for dinosaur enthusiasts, art lovers and budding illustrators.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   SEA REX by Molly Idle; Ages 3-5 Following in the extremely large and funny footsteps of Tea Rex and Camp Rex, Sea Rex stars Cordelia and her Cretaceous comrades as they spend what Cordelia hopes will be a pleasant day at the beach. Between scaly sunburns and dino-sized waves, will Cordelia get her perfect beach day?   EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DINOSAURS by DK Publishing; Ages 7-10 Packed with images, games, size comparisons, timelines, a glossary, an index, and more, Everything You Need to Know about Dinosaurs will satisfy the curious minds of dinosaur-crazed kids, and be a trusted source for parents wanting to introduce their young readers to the world of dinosaurs.   DINOSAURS BEFORE DARK (Magic Tree House # 1) Mary Pope Osborne; Ages 6-9 the mysterious tree house whisks Jack and Annie to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark…or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner? Visit the Magic Tree House website magictreehouse.com   DINOSAUR!; Ages 8-12 Created in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and packed with fun facts on fossils, amphibians, sea creatures, woolly mammoths, Neanderthals, insects and more, Dinosaur! will intrigue readers and provide an experience that will redefine natural history for kids.   For more on these and related titles, visit the edelweiss collection: Dinosaurs

I wouldn’t be able to put it down.  He was right.  I read straight through, on my commute, when I got home, when I got up at 5 am to finish it before work.  It’s absolutely compulsive and the twists never stop.  I think that’s what distinguishes Shari’s work from so many other suspense novels.  She can plot like nobody’s business.  And clearly, we weren’t alone in thinking so—some of the best writers in the business have raved about THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR.  Best of all, Shari is already at work on her second novel, which is just what an editor hopes when you discover a commercial talent like Shari Lapena. “ “I am absolutely thrilled and delighted to be a Pamela Dorman Books/Viking author,” says Ms. Lapena. “I grew up reading Penguins in softcover (didn’t everyone?) and it’s a dream come true to now be part of Penguin Random House. I feel a bit like Cinderella must have felt, toiling in rags, until plucked from obscurity by her fairy godmother, (in my case, my agent, Helen Heller) and swept into a glamorous existence where all her dreams come true. In my case that means having a book come out with all the excitement, expertise, and enthusiasm that I’ve enjoyed at Viking.” Pondering the origins of her book and its path to publication, Ms. Lapena says, “When I first sat down to write THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR, I wrote it for myself. I knew I could write a book, but I wanted to see if I could write a thriller. I had no idea that the book would resonate with so many people. I owe so much to the people at Viking, especially Brian Tart, who so quickly recognized the strength of the book—which was soon affirmed by strong interest from so many other places. But it was Viking that showed interest first, and I am so glad to be at Viking, where everything from editorial to marketing and publicity is absolutely first rate!” Here are some of the raves from among the chorus of A-level authors: “I read this novel at one sitting absolutely riveted by the storyline.  The suspense was beautifully rendered and unrelenting!” —Sue Grafton “Meticulously crafted and razor-sharp.  THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR lingers long after you turn the final page.” —Harlan Coben “Shari Lapena has written a stunning debut thriller.  Turn on the night lights and lock all your doors and windows.  THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR grabs you with each twist and shocks you with every betrayal.” —Linda Fairstein “A twisty, utterly riveting tale that will send readers on a wild rollercoaster ride of emotions. Shocking revelations kept me turning the pages like a madwoman.” —Tess Gerritsen  “Real men read women writers – because of books like this.  Trust me.”—Lee Child

of 8 weeks, this stunning glass award was passed between all departments, including IT, In-House Sales, Human Resources, Finance and Fulfillment, in those locations. Akin to how National Hockey League Stanley Cup-winning team players possess the prized trophy for one day each, our colleagues were able to enjoy and feel great pride in their work, accomplishments and this recognition during their time with this award. The only stipulation was that they take photos to commemorate their day with the award. A selection of these fun pics are featured with this article. Congratulations to all. Crawfordsville Employees      Westminster Employees    

FICTION SURRENDER, NEW YORK by Caleb Carr (Random House) Caleb Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author, returns with a contemporary, edge-of-your-seat thriller featuring the brilliant but unconventional criminal psychologist Dr. Trajan Jones. In the small town of Surrender in upstate New York, Dr. Jones, a psychological profiler, and Dr. Michael Li, a trace evidence expert, teach online courses in profiling and forensic science from Jones’s family farm. Once famed advisors to the New York City Police Department, Trajan and Li now work in exile, having made enemies of those in power. Protected only by farmhands and Jones’s unusual “pet,” the outcast pair is unexpectedly called in to consult on a disturbing case. THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR: A Novel by Shari Lapena (Pamela Dorman Books) How well do you know the couple next door? Or your husband? Or even—yourself? Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story. Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years. BEHOLD THE DREAMERS by Imbolo Mbue (Random House) Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice. THE DOLLHOUSE by Fiona Davis (Dutton) “The Dollhouse. . . . That’s what we boys like to call it. . . . The Barbizon Hotel for Women, packed to the rafters with pretty little dolls. Just like you.” Fiona Davis’s stunning debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City’s glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950’s a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and editors lived side-by-side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success, and where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon’s glitzy past. NONFICTION THE TERROR YEARS by Lawrence Wright (Knopf) With the Pulitzer Prize–winning THE LOOMING TOWER, Lawrence Wright became generally acknowledged as one of our major journalists writing on terrorism in the Middle East. Here, in ten powerful pieces first published in The New Yorker, he recalls the path that terror in the Middle East has taken, from the rise of al-Qaeda in the 1990s to the recent beheadings of reporters and aid workers by ISIS. On the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, THE TERROR YEARS is at once a unifying recollection of the roots of contemporary Middle Eastern terrorism, a study of how it has grown and metastasized, and, in the scary and moving epilogue, a cautionary tale of where terrorism might take us yet. THE IRAN WARS by Jay Solomon (Random House) For more than a decade, the United States has been engaged in a war with Iran as momentous as any other in the Middle East—a war all the more significant as it has largely been hidden from public view. Through a combination of economic sanctions, global diplomacy, and intelligence work, successive U.S. administrations have struggled to contain Iran’s aspirations to become a nuclear power and dominate the region—what many view as the most serious threat to peace in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran has used regional instability to its advantage to undermine America’s interests. THE IRAN WARS is an absorbing account of a battle waged on many levels—military, financial, and covert. THE CYBER EFFECT by Mary Aiken (Spiegel & Grau) Mary Aiken is the world’s leading expert in forensic cyberpsychology—a discipline that combines psychology, criminology, and technology to investigate the intersection where technology and human behavior meet. In this, her first book, Aiken has created a starting point for all future conversations about how the Internet is shaping development and behavior, societal norms and values, children, safety, security, and our perception of the world. Cyberspace is an environment full of surveillance, but who is looking out for us? THE CYBER EFFECT offers a fascinating and chilling look at a future we can still do something about. BLOOD IN THE WATER by Heather Ann Thompson (Pantheon) The first definitive account of the infamous 1971 Attica prison uprising, the state’s violent response, and the victims’ decades-long quest for justice—including information never released to the public—published to coincide with the forty-fifth anniversary of this historic event. Heather Ann Thompson sheds new light on one of the most important civil rights stories of the last century, exploring every aspect of the uprising and its legacy from the perspectives of all of those involved in this forty-five-year fight for justice: the prisoners, the state officials, the lawyers on both sides, the state troopers and corrections officers, and the families of the slain men. YOUNG READERS SPONTANEOUS by Aaron Starmer (Dutton Books for Young Readers) Mara Carlyle’s senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until—wa-bam!—fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period pre-calc. Katelyn is the first, but she won’t be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation. As the seniors continue to pop like balloons and the national eye turns to Mara’s suburban New Jersey hometown, the FBI rolls in and the search for a reason is on. Whip-smart and blunt, Mara narrates the end of their world as she knows it while trying to make it to graduation in one piece. It’s an explosive year punctuated by romance, quarantine, lifelong friendship, hallucinogenic mushrooms, bloggers, ice cream trucks, “Snooze Button™,” Bon Jovi, and the filthiest language you’ve ever heard from the President of the United States. SQUISH #8: POD VS. POD by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers) From the New York Times bestselling, Eisner-winning creators of Babymouse, it’s green . . . it’s blobby . . .  it’s gross . . . it’s SQUISH(!), a comic-book-loving amoeba whose adventures are perfect for fans of Captain Underpants. Uh-oh! Squish’s friend Pod just hasn’t been himself lately. One minute he’s happy-dancing; the next he’s sobbing in his soup. What’s going on? (Hint: “mitosis” is the process that splits single-celled organisms. That’s right, splits.) It is truly pod vs. pod—and may the best pod, umm, win? THIEVING WEASELS by Billy Taylor (Dial Books for Young Readers) Cameron Smith attends an elite boarding school and has just been accepted to Princeton University alongside his beautiful girlfriend, Claire. Life for Cameron would be perfect, except that Cameron Smith is actually Skip O’Rourke, and Skip O’Rourke ran away from his grifter family four years ago…along with $100,000 of their “earnings” (because starting a new life is not cheap). But when his uncle Wonderful tracks him down, Skip’s given an ultimatum: come back to the family for one last con, or say good-bye to life as Cameron. NOT AS WE KNOW IT by Tom Avery (Schwartz & Wade) Twins Jamie and Ned do everything together. But Ned is sick with cystic fibrosis, and he may someday leave Jamie behind. One day the boys find a strange animal on the beach: smooth flesh on one end, scales at the other, and short arms and legs with long webbed fingers and toes. Could it be a merman, like in the old stories Granddad tells? Together, the boys name the creature Leonard and decide to hide him in a tub in their garage. But why is Leonard here? Jamie hopes he might bring some miracle that will stop his brother from going where he can no longer follow. But Ned, who grows closer to Leonard every day, doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

FEATURED TITLES THE BEE BOOK by DK Publishing BACKYARD FARMING: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza PLAN BEE: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Hardest-Working Creature on the Planet by Susan Brackney LETTERS FROM THE HIVE: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind by Stephen Buchmann and Banning Repplier   FOR YOUNGER READERS HONEY BEES: Letters from the Hive by Stephen Buchmann FLIGHT OF THE HONEY BEE by Raymond Huber and Brian Lovelock DK Readers L1: BUSY BUZZY BEE by Karen Wallace DK Readers L2: AMAZING BEES by  Sue Unstead    For more information on these and related titles visit the collection: Bees

This month, we shine the spotlight on Sue Grimshaw, Category Specialist and Editor at Large, who celebrated her fifth year with the company on March 28, 2016!  Get the scoop on Sue by checking out her interview below: Describe your role at Penguin Random House. My title is Category Specialist and Editor at Large. I’m an acquiring editor for the digital division for the Loveswept and Flirt imprints and have also acquired for Bantam during my five years of employment. Why did you decide to join Penguin Random House? The first sixteen years of employment in the book industry were as romance buyer for Borders Incorporated.  A year before their closing, Scott Shannon contacted me asking if I’d be interested in working in a new division. The timing was perfect. What is your favorite part about your job? I love working with our team; the digital division has the best group of people. I also enjoy my authors and their amazing stories. What would people never guess you do in your role? In my previous job, as a book buyer, I’ve always been very focused on the entire vertical process of buying, marketing and selling books — good or bad, that has not changed today.  I’m forever promoting on my social media pages enticing readers to buy our books. What is your proudest moment at Penguin Random House? Definitely achieving my first New York Times bestseller, that’s something no editor forgets. Before working at Penguin Random House, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had? I was a cosmetic buyer for Kmart prior to Borders, and I enjoyed traveling overseas where we worked with vendors to produce cosmetic accessories. Long flights but always a great time. What advice would you give to recent new hires? Be passionate about what you do and be patient. Good things take time and the harder you work the more you’ll achieve. What is an ability you wish you had? A photographic memory would be wonderful  If you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go? Australia — there is so much to see, so much that appeals to me.  It’s on my bucket list. If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it? Fearless  — I’ll leave it at that.

What are your favorite summer reading rituals? When I’m on vacation, I love waking up in the morning and reading before I get out of bed. Picking up my book, right where I left off the night before, and not having the usual get-dressed-make-breakfast-make-lunch-get-out-the-door extravaganza ahead of me is a luxury. I also love a pilgrimage to the Montague Book Mill, a rambling used bookstore off of Route 63 in Western Massachusetts. It’s set on the banks of the Sawmill River, and the peace of the place is enhanced by the creaky floor-boards. Their motto is “Books you don’t need in a place you can’t find.” What are some of the titles on your current Clarkson Potter list that excite you the most? In the early fall, there’s POWER VEGETABLES! by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach. As you can probably tell from the lava lamps on the cover, the vibe is “so wrong it’s right.” I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard reading a cookbook. Pete calls it “all-caps cooking” for people who want to eat more vegetables. Not a hard sell. He always brings me in for the food, but I stay for the laughs; his is a humor that’s one part lovable downtown cool dude, and one part grown-up who never takes himself too seriously. Pete’s gift—the whole charm of Lucky Peach, I think—is in creating great recipes that keep it real. I know someone who has all the ingredients used in LUCKY PEACH PRESENTS 101 EASY ASIAN RECIPES on his kitchen counter so that every recipe is within arm’s reach. I admire that, but am glad I don’t live with it! Our most transporting summer cookbook is VICTUALS by Ronni Lundy. It’s really a sui generis oral history of Appalachia. Each chapter opens with an essay about a particular tradition like salt making, or pickling, or seed saving.  Ronni brings grace to difficult subjects, too, such as Appalachia’s role in slavery and shows the vibrancy and rich lives of a people who have been written off as unsophisticated and poor. It’s fashionable to say that the food of Appalachia is being rediscovered by a new generation, but that notion isn’t right: what Ronni shows us is that it never disappeared. And the photography! It’s so beautiful: grounding like the best documentary photography, but also exuding that special, stay-for-dinner Southern warmth. Francis Lam, Ronni’s editor, is wildly knowledgeable about the South and Southern food and Stephanie Huntwork, the book’s designer, hails from West Virginia. Their collaborative magic is on every page. What are two of your all-time favorite summer reads and why? It’s tough to pick just two. Middlesex, A FINE BALANCE, THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, Heat, BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS. I can’t not mention those. But if I had to pick just two: The summer before my senior year in college, I was lucky to have landed an internship at FSG. They were just about to publish John McPhee’s Looking for a Ship. I remember taking the galley into Union Square Park during lunch one day and coming across a sentence that compared the size of the merchant ship on which McPhee’s subject, Andy Chase, finds a job, to that of Union Square Park. I was tickled by the immediacy of the passage and the thought that perhaps McPhee had written that sentence after leaving his publisher one afternoon. And I was exhilarated, too, by the idea that someone would put a book into your hands after having just waved goodbye to the author. That was the summer I discovered and fell in love with the romance of publishing. Last summer I read A LITTLE LIFE. I had an attachment to it that I can’t remember having had in a long time. Why? I suppose because it’s a story of remarkable friendships and the rhythms of those friendships that sometimes ebb and flow in all the wrong ways—and then sometimes do so with musical perfection. I was so engrossed in the book, I became deluded, thinking the four main characters were my friends, too. That last page was like an anguished goodbye. It’s also such a courageous book. Yanagihara writes the unspeakable. But not just unspeakable tragedy; she also writes unspeakable love. I brought the hardcover on a family vacation and read whenever we had even the briefest downtime. My kids started bringing their books on our sightseeing trips, too. There’s a picture from the trip of three of us reading: my son has Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, my daughter is buried in a Judy Moody and I have A LITTLE LIFE. I’d like to caption that shot, “The family that reads together sticks together…”

Part of the Penguin Random House Foundation mission to nurture the next generation of readers and writers, the Creative Writing Awards program operates internally with essential support from our team of talented editors, designers, published authors and employee volunteers.  After two mornings spent volunteering their time to brainstorm, write, and edit dialogue with some of our 2016 student recipients, Kelly Delaney, Random House Children’s Editorial; Camille Dewing-Vallejo, Random House Marketing; Eryn Levine, Digital Publishing Group (Pictured with student Tajrean Rahman); and Deanna Masselli, Information Technologies, read aloud the completed scenes for an invited group of their Penguin Random House colleagues. Tackling a broad range of topics from friendship to infidelity to gender identity to critical conflicts, it was hard to believe that the mature dialogue in this staged reading of original scenes was written by recent high school graduates. Phillip Stamper-Halpin, Publishing Development and Author Platforms, also volunteered his time to meet with these Summer Writers to discuss his experience both promoting and developing authors, as well as sharing his own perspective as a Penguin Random House employee by day, author by night. “Speaking with the winners was an incredible experience. They’re such an ambitious group, and—though their writing styles are wonderfully diverse—they all speak with a passion for writing and telling their stories. I’m excited to follow their writing careers and learn of the successes that will come from both the scholarships and the retreat.” Creative writing awards recipient Ha Young Ahn, summarized her experience best on the final morning free write, “It only took six days — six days for me to fall in love with writing again. This summer wasn’t filled with the adventurous vacations in foreign countries that I had dreamed of. I didn’t grow taller or learn a cool new hobby or anything like that. But I did fall in love, with writing. And it’s not just a summer romance. That, I can assure you.” Are you interested in working with young writers?  The Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards’ program will kick off the new academic year this October with more than 50 writing workshops in NYC public high schools.  Volunteers are needed to attend workshops and distribute student applications and promotional materials. If you’re interested in learning more about the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards click here.   About the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards Penguin Random House is passionate about fostering the freedom to create for our authors and our employees. This freedom to create is at the very heart of the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards.  Looking for writing with a strong, clear voice, by authors who are daring, original and unafraid to take risks; we want to know what the kids of New York City public high schools have to say. We believe in the power of books to connect and change lives, and recognize the unique vision and voices of New York City high school seniors with scholarship awards while inspiring student writers and educators with empowering opportunities for their voices to be heard. We believe in the power of books to connect and change lives, and recognize the unique vision and voices of New York City high school seniors with scholarship awards while inspiring student writers and educators with empowering opportunities for their voices to be heard. 

   FEATURED TITLES:   THE BLACKBERRY FARM COOKBOOK: FOUR SEASONS OF GREAT FOOD AND THE GOOD LIFE by Sam Beall Molly O’Neill Nestled in the blue mists of Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, the 10,000-acre bucolic refuge of Blackberry Farm houses a top-rated small inn with one of the premier farm-to-table restaurants in the country. This sumptuous cookbook offers a collection of recipes that are as inspired by the traditional rustic cooking of the mountainous south as they are by a fresh, contemporary, artistic sensibility.   THE FARM ON THE ROOF: WHAT BROOKLYN GRANGE TAUGHT US ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP, COMMUNITY, AND GROWING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS by Anastasia Cole Plakias The founders of Brooklyn Grange, the world’s largest green-rooftop farm, share their inspirational story of changing the world through entrepreneurship.   COLD COMFORT FARM by Stella Gibbons The deliriously entertaining Cold Comfort Farm is “very probably the funniest book ever written” (The Sunday Times, London). When the recently orphaned socialite Flora Poste descends on her relatives at the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm in deepest Sussex, she finds a singularly miserable group in dire need of her particular talent: organization.   FARM CITY: THE EDUCATION OF AN URBAN FARMER by Novella Carpenter What starts out as a few egg-laying chickens leads to turkeys, geese, and ducks. Novella Carpenter offers a charming memoir, full of hilarious moments, fascinating farmer’s tips, and a great deal of heart, Farm City offers a beautiful mediation on what we give up to live the way we do today.   A CHICKEN IN EVERY YARD: THE URBAN FARM STORE’S GUIDE TO CHICKEN KEEPING by Robert and Hannah Litt Robert and Hannah Litt have dispensed advice to hundreds of urban and suburban chicken-keepers from behind their perch at Portland’s Urban Farm Store, and now they’re ready to help you go local and sustainable with your own backyard birds. In this handy guide to breeds, feed, coops, and care, the Litts take you under their experienced wings.   BACKYARD HOMESTEADING: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY by Kim Pezza Backyard Farming: Homesteading is your all-in-one guide to successfully turning your rural property, suburban home, or urban dwelling into a productive food oasis.   FOR YOUNGER READERS:   DOUG UNPLUGS ON THE FARM by Dan Yaccarino; Ages 5 to 9 When Doug’s family journey is interrupted by some sheep in the road, he goes from downloading information about farm animals to actually interacting with them! Kids will enjoy this lively celebration of farm life and the value of hands-on learning which encourages them to go screen-free and explore the real world!   A YEAR ON THE FARM by Sue Unstead; Ages 5 to 7 Follow the busy lives of Mr. and Mrs. Farmer through A Year on the Farm, looking after the animals and growing crops. Look out for the busy Red Tractor who’s helping out!   BABY FARM ANIMALS by Garth Williams; Ages 2 to 5 No one has illustrated animals with as much warmth, humor, and realism as Garth Williams. This classic–full of piglets, kittens, calves, and bunnies–is one of his best. Simple, humorous text identifies each fuzzy, furry, or feathery farm animal capering about the farm.   MY FARM FRIENDS by Wendell Minor; Ages 3 to 5 Wendell Minor’s bright, bold artwork and jaunty verse celebrate the wonders of our farm friends, and a list of fun facts gives curious animal-lovers even more to enjoy.   For more information on these and related titles visit the collection: Farming

To see the entire list click here.

HOMEGOING, Yaa Gyasi’s first novel, quickly made its way onto several must-read lists of 2016 including the Wall Street Journal’s “Most Exciting Fiction Reads,” Elle Magazine’s “19 Summer Books That Everyone Will Be Talking About,” and The Millions’ “Most Anticipated Books of 2016.” The book traces the story of two half-sisters who were involuntarily separated, with one sold into slavery and the other married to a British slaver. Gyasi elucidates the legacy of slavery as she follows the descendants of each sister from the plantations of the South, all the way through present day. Acclaimed author of BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, Ta-Nehisi Coates says of the book “I think I needed to read a book like this to remember what is possible. I think I needed to remember what happens when you pair a gifted literary mind to an epic task. HOMEGOING is an inspiration.” Introducing Gyasi will be Imbolo Mbue, author of the forthcoming novel BEHOLD THE DREAMERS (Random House). In BEHOLD THE DREAMERS, Mbue beautifully writes of a Cameroonian family’s path to living the American dream as immigrants, pulling from her own experiences as a Cameroonian native. In both of their debut novels, Gyasi and Mbue present readers with the opportunity to view race, class, and the world in a new light.

time, and the effect was deeply shocking. People said it felt like they were seeing a brand new color. Society was never the same again, and neither was anyone after seeing a light bulb for the first time.” Noah Eaker, Executive Editor, Random House, edited THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT and says, “I had loved both Graham’s first novel, The Sherlockian, and his Oscar-winning script for the film, The Imitation Game. But nothing prepared me for the sheer excitement of this book.  I hadn’t read a book that so skillfully matched historical flavor with a suspenseful plot.  As a reader you’re constantly kept on your toes, even as you’re being exposed to so much cool knowledge about a pivotal moment for America and the world.  What was so fun about editing Graham was the way he went about his research: every line of the book is informed either by a deep understanding of the events of the Current War or the most brilliant kind of storytelling guesswork.” THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT delves into who controls the means to turn night into day, the person who will make history—and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country? Black Bear Pictures acquired film rights to THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT and will reunite Mr. Moore as screenwriter with The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum for the film adaptation of the book. It was also recently announced that Academy Award-winning actor Eddie Redmayne is set to star as Paul Cravath. The book has garnered amazing praise from fellow authors, including Erik Larson, Gillian Flynn and Scott Turow: “In THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT , Graham Moore takes us back to the dawn of light—electric light—into a world of invention and skullduggery, populated by the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, Tesla, and the novel’s hero, a young lawyer named Paul Cravath (a name that will resonate with ambitious law students everywhere). It’s part legal thriller, part tour of a magical time—the age of wonder—and once you’ve finished it, you’ll find it hard to return to the world of now.”  —Erik Larson “Mesmerizing, clever, and absolutely crackling, THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT is a triumph of imagination. Graham Moore has chosen Gilded Age New York as his playground, with outsized characters—Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse—as his players. The result is a beautifully researched, endlessly entertaining novel that will leave you buzzing.” —Gillian Flynn “THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT  is a wonder, a riveting historical novel that is part legal thriller, part techno-suspense. This fast-paced story about the personal and legal clash over the invention of the light bulb is a tale of larger-than-life characters and devious doings, and a significant meditation on the price we as a society pay for new technology. Thoughtful and hugely entertaining.” —Scott Turow During publication week, Mr. Moore will be in New York and appear at Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on August 16 at 7:00 pm. He also has an event at the Book Cellar in Chicago on August 18.

FICTION THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT by Graham Moore (Random House) Soon to be a major motion picture starring Eddie Redmayne,THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT a thrilling novel based on actual events, about the nature of genius, the cost of ambition, and the battle to electrify America—from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game, Graham Moore. New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make history—and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country? ARROW OF GOD by Chinua Achebe (Penguin Books) First published in 1964 and now available in a new paperback edition, ARROW OF GOD is regarded by Chinua Achebe as his greatest achievement.  ARROW OF GOD is a tale of the generation that came after Okonkwo as they took up their own struggle between continuity and change. Spare and powerful, ARROW OF GOD is an unforgettable portrayal of the loss of faith, and the downfall of a man in a society forever altered by colonialism. ARROW OF GOD is the second novel in Chinua Achebe’s masterful African trilogy, following THINGS FALL APART  (a classic of international literature) and preceding NO LONGER AT EASE. THE GENTLEMAN by Forrest Leo (Penguin Press) When Lionel Savage, a popular poet in Victorian London, learns from his butler that they’re broke, he marries the beautiful Vivien Lancaster for her money, only to find that his muse has abandoned him. Distraught and contemplating suicide, Savage accidentally conjures the Devil — the polite “Gentleman” of the title — who appears at one of the society parties Savage abhors. The two hit it off: the Devil talks about his home, where he employs Dante as a gardener; Savage lends him a volume of Tennyson. But when the party’s over and Vivien has disappeared, the poet concludes in horror that he must have inadvertently sold his wife to the dark lord. Newly in love with Vivien, Savage plans a rescue mission to Hell. CURIOUS MINDS by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton (Bantam) Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, teams up with Emmy-winning writer Phoef Sutton for a brand-new series of mysteries featuring Emerson Knight and Riley Moon, a dynamic duo with instant and undeniable chemistry. Emerson Knight is introverted, eccentric, and has little to no sense of social etiquette. Riley Moon’s aggressive Texas spitfire attitude has helped her land her dream job as a junior analyst with mega-bank Blane-Grunwald. At least Riley Moon thought it was her dream job, until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight. What starts off as an inquiry about missing bank funds in the Knight account leads to inquiries about a missing man, missing gold, and a life-and-death race across the country. NONFICTION TROUBLED REFUGE by Chandra Manning (Knopf) Drawing on records of the Union and Confederate armies, the letters and diaries of soldiers, transcribed testimonies of former slaves, and more, Chandra Manning allows us to accompany the black men, women, and children who sought out the Union army in hopes of achieving autonomy for themselves and their communities. Ranging from the stories of individuals to those of armies on the move to debates in the halls of Congress, TROUBLED REFUGE probes the particular and deeply significant reality of the contraband camps: what they were really like and how former slaves and Union soldiers warily united there, forging a dramatically new but highly imperfect alliance between the government and African Americans. THE ART OF RIVALRY by Sebastian Smee (Random House) Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Sebastian Smee tells the fascinating story of four pairs of artists—Manet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Pollock and de Kooning, Freud and Bacon—whose fraught, competitive friendships spurred them to new creative heights. Rivalry is at the heart of some of the most famous and fruitful relationships in history. THE ART OF RIVALRY follows eight celebrated artists, each linked to a counterpart by friendship, admiration, envy, and ambition. All eight are household names today. But to achieve what they did, each needed the influence of a contemporary—one who was equally ambitious but possessed sharply contrasting strengths and weaknesses. THE BOY WHO RUNS by John Brant (Ballantine Books) The extraordinary odyssey of Julius Achon takes a barefoot twelve-year-old boy from a village in northern Uganda to the rebel camp of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army, where he was made a boy soldier, and then, miraculously, to a career as one of the world’s foremost middle-distance runners. But when a devastating tragedy prevents Julius from pursuing the gold at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he is once again set adrift and forced to forge a new path for himself, finally finding his true calling as an internationally recognized humanitarian. Today, Julius is the director of the Achon Uganda Children’s Fund, a charity whose mission is to improve the quality of life in rural Uganda through access to healthcare, education, and athletics. Written by award-winning sportswriter John Brant, THE BOY WHO RUNS is an empowering tale of obstacles overcome, challenges met, and light wrested from darkness. SEVEN SKELETONS by Lydia Pine (Viking) Over the last century, the search for human ancestors has spanned four continents and resulted in the discovery of hundreds of fossils. While most of these discoveries live quietly in museum collections, there are a few that have become world-renowned celebrity personas—ambassadors of science that speak to public audiences. In SEVEN SKELETONS, historian of science Lydia Pyne explores how seven such famous fossils of our ancestors have the social cachet they enjoy today. Drawing from archives, museums, and interviews, Pyne builds a cultural history for each celebrity fossil—from its discovery to its afterlife in museum exhibits to its legacy in popular culture. YOUNG READERS THE FLAME NEVER DIES by Rachel Vincent (Delacorte Press) Nina Kane was born to be an exorcist. And since uncovering the horrifying truth—that the war against demons is far from over—seventeen-year-old Nina and her pregnant younger sister, Mellie, have been on the run, incinerating the remains of the demon horde as they go. In the badlands, Nina, Mellie, and Finn, the fugitive and rogue exorcist who saved her life, find allies in a group of freedom fighters. They also face a new threat: Pandemonia, a city full of demons. But this fresh new hell is the least of Nina’s worries. The well of souls ran dry more than a century ago, drained by the demons secretly living among humans, and without a donor soul, Mellie’s child will die within hours of its birth. PIPER GREEN AND THE FAIRY TREE: THE SEA PONY by Ellen Potter (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Move over Junie B. Jones! Get to know Piper Green as she discovers the ordinary magic right outside her front door. Piper Green is in for another adventure when she finds an unusual whistle hidden inside the Fairy Tree in her front yard. But Piper doesn’t want a whistle… she wants a pony! On a trip with her dad to check the family’s lobster traps, the whistle attracts the attention of an unexpected friend. Could the fairy whistle working its magic after all? THE EDGE OF THE LIGHT by Elizabeth George (Viking Books for Young Readers) Since his beloved grandfather’s stroke, Seth has been focused on getting Grand home again, before his aunt can take advantage of the situation to get her hands on Grand’s valuable real estate. Seth would also like to get his relationship with Prynne on solid ground. He loves her, but can he believe she has her drug use under control? Meanwhile, things are complicated for the other Whidbey Island friends. Derric has found Rejoice, the sister he left behind in Uganda, but no one – including Rejoice – knows she is his sister. Jenn is discovering feelings for her teammate Cynthia, feelings her born-again Christian mother would never find acceptable. And Becca, hiding under a false identity since her arrival on the island, is concealing the biggest secret of all. 88 INSTRUMENTS by Chris Barton, illustrated by Louis Thomas (Knopf Books for Young Readers) From New York Times bestselling author Chris Barton and new illustrator Louis Thomas comes a fun, rhythmic picture book about finding the music that is perfect for you! A boy who loves to make noise gets to pick only one instrument (at his parents urging) in a music store, but there is too much to choose from! There’s triangles and sousaphones! There’s guitars and harpsichords! Bagpipes and cellos and trombones! How can he find the one that is just right for him out of all those options?

knowing that I was surrounded by people who share my same passion for creativity, and of course the scent of a new book. Being a part of the Penguin Random House internship program has allowed me and the other interns to truly immerse ourselves in the publishing process. Thanks to the Brown Bag Lunches and networking events, we all feel more confident than ever to go out there and strive for our future careers. To show our gratitude, some of the interns have shared their experiences. Thank you for a fun and unforgettable internship, Penguin Random House employees. This summer was one for the books (pun-intended)! – Carolyn Garcia Name: Annette Lee                                       Department: Knopf  Art & Design What kind of projects did you work on? Mainly, designers would make a book cover and I would design the back cover, spine and flaps of books. It was challenging because I had to design everything based on the front cover, asking myself, “What would the designer have done?” Nevertheless, it was fun, and such a privilege. It is still so surreal to think my designs are going to be on actual books sold to the public!! That feeling will never get old. Additionally, I was in charge of the Instagram posts for knopfjackets. (It is our new instagram, go follow!!) What did you enjoy the most about this internship? I enjoyed the atmosphere and people the most. Everyone is so welcoming and nice the minute you enter the building. There is a very relaxed and cozy feeling that everyone radiates, and I love it. My many mentors were no exception of course, they were the nicest people ever! Always willing to help and see how I was doing. They were so patient and trusted me to do the projects, so I could learn from experience. It was a wonderful and positive environment, in which to grow. Favorite Memory: My favorite memory would have to be the time I went on a photo shoot. Two mentors and I went into a filming studio and had a photo shoot with books for our Instagram page. We brought so many books that filled a huge cart. People would learn what we were doing and get excited, giving us more and more things to photograph! The pictures came out amazing, and we still use them for the Instagram. Favorite book from the take-away shelf:                                                                                             DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch. It is a thriller about a man who travels across multi-universes. It really had me thinking about my life choices and how it affects me. Deep… Everyone go read it! What’s next for you? I will probably cry myself to sleep on the last day at Knopf, but I will return! I was hired as a part-time designer at another imprint here: Dutton. I start there soon, so I am excited to experience more at Penguin Random House. Name: Kristin Salazar                                 Department: International Finance What kind of projects did you work on? This summer, I researched various book publishing-business models and publishing companies.  I’ve also had the chance to look over Penguin Random House’s strategic business plan, which sets a baseline for the company’s financial status for the next few years. What did you enjoy the most about this internship? I loved the environment of people with diverse backgrounds and passions. Most of the students at my school are business majors, and although I can work with numbers, patterns, and financial data, I appreciate being constantly surrounded by people who are as passionate about creativity, stories, and ideas as I am.. Favorite Memory: During a lunch break with a few other interns in Central Park, we were stopped by New York Times journalists for a video interview because we were playing Pokémon Go. Favorite book from the take-away shelf: I was happy to stumble upon THE LOWLAND by Jhumpa Lahiri, who wrote my favorite short story collection, “Interpreter of Maladies”. What’s next for you? I’m heading to Boston to work for a Bentley University Multicultural orientation for incoming freshmen. After that, I’ll fly to Paris to begin my semester studying abroad in Rouen, France! Name: Tanner Garrity                                 Department: Puffin Editorial What kind of projects did you work on? Puffin is a Penguin Young Readers paperback imprint, so I got to do a little bit of everything. I read manuscripts and wrote reader’s reports, worked on interior and cover copy, wrote discussion questions, attended design and production meetings, helped improve the metadata for many books on our backlist, and (most importantly) helped clean the book room! My most difficult assignment, though, was coming up with taglines. Settling on five or six clever words to put on a book cover can take an entire afternoon. What did you enjoy the most about this internship? Easily the people. From the wonderful Dana Leydig, Editor at Puffin Books, to my fellow interns and endlessly patient coworkers, to Rob, who brushes his teeth at the same time as me in the bathroom, everyone was inviting, helpful and genuinely excited about my time here from day one. An industry full of employees really passionate about something as important as reading definitely attracts some of the best and wackiest people around. Favorite Memory: Tough to pick just one. The first few times I really felt like I was contributing in a big way to Puffin stand out: I wrote discussion questions for EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR and FISH IN A TREE; both are beautifully written novels and I really wanted to do them justice. Favorite book from the take-away shelf: DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD by Roald Dahl What’s next for you? I’m looking forward to what should be an exciting last year at Georgetown University, and then I’m hoping to get back into the publishing world for my career! I’m also working on a book in my spare time, so if that pans out, Igloo readers, you heard it here first. Name: Danielle Finnegan                       Department: Legal What kind of projects did you work on? I mainly assisted on the creation of a digital archive for the legal department. I helped collect and organize documents for this project, and added them to the online database. I also compared contracts and created a physical archive of past litigations. What did you enjoy the most about this internship? I’ve enjoyed learning about publishing from the Legal department and all the other departments that I was able to encounter. Working in publishing has been something I have wanted to do since I discovered, back in middle school, that it was an actual job. It’s been an amazing experience being here, and learning about the process (and of course all the free books). Favorite Memory: Having lunch in Central Park with the other interns that I have been lucky enough to meet and get to know. What’s next for you? Back to school at Rutgers in the fall for my final year. After that, I hope to be able to work full time in publishing. Name: Jazmin Lesane Department: Viking Publicity What kind of projects did you work on? During my time at Penguin Random House, my supervisors really challenged my intern experience and gave me the chance to explore every aspect of the publicity department. For my first project, I was able to conduct independent research and reach out to hundreds of book review bloggers. In addition, I was able to write and create pitches, galley letters, and press releases for amazing summer titles, like WHEN WATCHED and THE HIKE. Oh, and of course I did lots of mailings! What did you enjoy the most about this internship? While I enjoyed bonding with my colleagues and fellow interns during lunch breaks, what I enjoyed the most was the respect and responsibility I was given as an intern. My department really put a lot of value and purpose behind each of my projects, which made me feel as if I was truly a full-time member of the team. Working in such an inviting environment made working very enjoyable. Favorite Memory: My favorite memory was definitely when I got to meet Leopolinde Core, author of WHEN WATCHED, during an author’s event. Being able to see the mastermind behind a title I helped work on during the summer was incredible. Favorite book from the take-away shelf: Hands down DARK MATTER and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN! What’s next for you? After this internship, I will be returning back to Indiana to finish my last year at DePauw University, and will be completing my studies in Communications and French. After college, who knows, maybe I’ll be right back here!

Smith’s WRECK THIS JOURNAL, Tyler Knott Gregson’s CHASERS OF THE LIGHT: Poems From  the Typewriter Series, and Lisa Currie’s ME, YOU, US. Now at Penguin Books, she continues to work with Keri Smith, as well as publishing Johanna Basford’s coloring books, among other titles.  Meg’s editorial enthusiasm rings true in our Igloo interview with her. In your view, what accounts for the adult coloring book craze and what separates Johanna Basford from the adult coloring book artist pack? I think the adult coloring book crazy has taken hold for several reasons: (1) It’s a welcome respite from the world of computer screens. Coloring is a distinctly physical activity, and there’s something imminently relaxing about putting marker or colored pencil to paper, instead of spending time with screens. (2) It’s an inherently democratic hobby. All you need is a book and a coloring tool—you don’t need to spend a lot of money on supplies or time learning skills. (3) And I think it speaks to something a lot of us did when we were kids—weloved it then, so it makes sense we’d love it now, especially with the more intricate designs! I think New York Magazine dubbed Johanna the “Queen of Coloring” for a number of reasons. She was one of the first people out there to invite adults into the coloring book realm. She’s got a marvelous artistic vision—she’s so exceptionally talented at creating intricate work that inspires colorists. And she’s also extremely generous, both as a person and as a creator. She’s said a number of times that she just starts the masterpieces, and her fans finish them. I think that generosity shows in her art and resonates with all her fans.   Watch Joanna Basford’s “Magical Jungle – An Inky Expedition & Coloring Book” video:   How did you come to acquire and edit your first adult coloring book and how did the process compare with how you work with Johanna on her books? When I was at Perigee, I acquired my first two coloring books at roughly the same time: OUTSIDE THE LINES by Souris Hong, and COLOR ME GIRL CRUSH by Mel Elliott. Rather than the fact that they were coloring books, what drew me to both of these was the subject matter (street art and Ryan Gosling, respectively!) and the fact that they expanded notions of creativity. And then, luckily, they both really benefitted from the adult coloring book craze timing-wise. In the years since, the coloring book audience has become a lot more opinionated and sophisticated about what they want in a coloring book, so with Johanna’s titles, we’ve spent a lot of time with our amazing production team looking at paper weight, opacity, etc. When I worked on those first two books, I never imagined that several years down the line, I’d be spending as much time talking about the merits of white vs ivory paper as I do now. But we want to keep those colorists happy! In addition to adult coloring books, what are a couple of the upcoming titles you are editing that are of most interest and what do you hope will distinguish them in the consumer marketplace? I’m publishing a book called CARRY THIS BOOK from Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson this fall. It’s a marvelous illustrated book detailing the contents of real people’s and fictional characters’ bags. It’s one of the most wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful projects I’ve worked on since I started publishing, and I think readers will be really intrigued by this glimpse into the way Abbi’s mind and creative process work. Abbi’s a spectacularly creative and cool person, and it shows on the page. I’m also really excited about two other books I have coming out this fall: TREE OF TREASURES: A Life in Ornaments and THE WASP THAT BRAINWASHED THE CATERPILLAR. The former is a gift book that explores the way ornaments tell the stories of our lives, and the latter looks at all the strange animals that evolution has created, including the antechinus, whose males have so much sex during their three-week mating session that runaway testosterone levels make them bleed internally, go blind, and drop dead! I love that my list at Penguin has room for such a wide spectrum of books, and my hope is that readers will enjoy reading them as much as I loved editing them.

the promise of learning something new? If these feelings ring a bell, it's your lucky day. We have put together a sample curriculum for you, chock full of books about Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmatic, and more. So, let’s all go back to school! Class schedule: choose one from each period. Additional selections may be read for extra credit. Click here to view the entire curriculum on Edelweiss.   PERIOD ONE – MATH A TOUR OF THE CALCULUS by David Berlinsky THE CALL OF THE PRIMES: SURPRISING PATTERNS, PECULIAR PUZZLES, AND OTHER MARVELS OF MATHEMATICS by Owen O’Shea A DOUBTER’S ALMANAC by Ethan Canin   PERIOD TWO – ENGLISH THE DIALOGUES OF PLATO by Plato BEOWULF ON THE BEACH by Jack Murnighan THE DIVINE COMEDY by Dante Alighieri CHAUCER’S TALE: 1386 AND THE ROAD TO CANTERBURY by Paul Strohm FILTHY SHAKESPEARE: SHAKESPEARE’S MOST OUTRAGEOUS SEXUAL PUNS by Pauline Kiernan CHARLOTTE BRONTË by Claire Harman PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: A COLORING CLASSIC by Jane Austen and Chellie Carroll THE COMPLETE STORIES OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON by Robert Louis Stevenson   PERIOD THREE – SCIENCE: PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, BOTANY SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS by Carlo Rovelli INSTANT BIOLOGY by Boyce Rensenberger BOTANY OF DESIRE by Michael Pollan WOMEN IN SCIENCE: 50 FEARLESS PIONEERS WHO CHANGED THE WORLD by Rachel Ignotofsky LAB GIRL by Hope Jahren   PERIOD FOUR – GYM THE MOBILITY WORKOUT HANDBOOK by William Smith et al BORN TO RUN: A HIDDEN TRIBE, SUPERATHLETES, AND THE GREATEST RACE THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN by Christopher McDougall THE HIKE by Drew Magary   PERIOD FIVE – ART DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN by Betty Edwards COLOR: A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PALLETTE by Victoria Finlay LOOKING AT MINDFULNESS: 25 PAINTINGS TO CHANGE THE WAY YOU LIVE by Christopher Andre WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?: THE SURPRISING, SHOCKING, AND SOMETIMES STRANGE STORY OF 150 YEARS OF MODERN ART by Will Gompertz WAYS OF SEEING by John Berger   LUNCH – FREE PERIOD A SUPER UPSETTING COOKBOOK ABOUT SANDWICHES by William Wegman EFFORTLESS BENTO by Shufu-no-Tomo FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE by Fannie Flagg FOOD RULES: AN EATER’S MANIFESTO by Michael Pollan DELICIOUS! by Ruth Reichl KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST by J. Ryan Stradal   PERIOD SIX – GEOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD by DK EIGHTY DAYS: NELLIE BLY AND ELIZABETH BISLAND’S HISTORY-MAKING RACE AROUND THE WORLD by Matthew Goodman REFERENCE WORLD ATLAS by DK GEOGRAPHY: A VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA by DK   PERIOD SEVEN – SOCIOLOGY THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS by Thorstein Veblen BOOK OF PEOPLES OF THE WORLD: A GUIDE TO CULTURES by Wade Davis THE WORLD AS 100 PEOPLE: A VISUAL GUIDE TO 7 BILLION HUMANS by Aileen Lord THE SOCIOLOGY BOOK by DK   PERIOD EIGHT – AMERICAN HISTORY A IS FOR AMERICAN by Jill Lepore NAMES ON THE LAND by George R. Stewart VALIANT AMBITION: GEORGE WASHINGTON, BENEDICT ARNOLD, AND THE FATE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Nathaniel Philbrick 1491: NEW REVELATIONS OF THE AMERICAS BEFORE COLUMBUS by Charles C. Mann   PERIOD NINE – WORLD HISTORY A DISTANT MIRROR by Barbara Tuchman THE DISCOVERERS by Daniel Boorstin THE PENGUIN HISTORY OF THE WORLD by J. M. RobertsNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ALMANAC OF WORLD HISTORY, 3RD EDITION by Patricia S. Daniels and Stephen G. Hyslop HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 1,000 OBJECTS by DK A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING by Bill Bryson      

in from the very beginning, and kept me riveted until the very end. This is a big, sweeping, state-of-the-nation novel about a nation that lost its bearings. It’s a side of Ireland you don’t often see, and it’ll be hard to forget.” Lisa McInerney says, “I’m so pleased that THE GLORIOUS HERESIES has found such a great home Stateside with Tim Duggan Books and Penguin Random House; and I’m excited to find out what American readers think of an Ireland drastically different to the picture-postcard image we love to present to the world – an Ireland of irreverence, lively language and rebellious acts.” THE GLORIOUS HERESIES galleys distributed in NYC on St. Patrick’s Day THE GLORIOUS HERESIES was featured in The Wall Street Journal's summer preview, and coverage is forthcoming in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post,and O, the Oprah Magazine, among other outlets. The marketing campaign for THE GLORIOUS HERESIES kicked off in March on St. Patrick’s Day when galleys were distributed as part of a cross-promotion with The Irish Arts Center at locations across New York City. The early read campaign continued with an extensive pre-pub push for readers and early reviews on GoodReads and Amazon Vine. At on sale, the marketing campaign will consist of advertising on GoodReads (specifically targeted readers of past Baileys Women’s Prize winners like Lionel Shriver) as well as advertising and social media promotions on LitHub.com. The Irish Arts Center will also continue to promote the book. Here are excerpts from U.S. and international praise for Lisa McInerney and THE GLORIOUS HERESIES:

• “In the style of Colm Tóibín, there is great intensity to McInerney’s prose … This gritty, urban character study will be perfect for readers favoring strong blends of literary and crime fiction, overlaid with striking dark comedy.”  —Booklist

 

• “Biting … McInerney displays a clear knack for dramatic flourish and witty turns of phrase.”  —Publishers Weekly

 

• “The Glorious Heresies heralds the arrival of a glorious, foul-mouthed, fizzing new talent.” —The Sunday Times

 

• “A spectacular debut … Tough and tender, gothic and lyrical, it is a head-spinning, stomach-churning state-of-the-nation novel about a nation falling apart.”  —The Telegraph

FICTION THE GLORIOUS HERESIES by Lisa McInerney (Tim Duggan Books) THE GLORIOUS HERESIES is a searing debut novel about life on the fringes of Ireland’s post-crash society. When grandmother Maureen Phelan is surprised in her home by a stranger, she clubs the intruder with a Holy Stone. The consequences of this unplanned murder connect four misfits struggling against their meager circumstances. Ryan is a fifteen-year-old drug dealer desperate not to turn out like his alcoholic father, Tony, whose feud with his next-door neighbor threatens to ruin his family. Georgie is a sex worker who half-heartedly joins a born-again movement to escape her profession and drug habit. And Jimmy Phelan, the most fearsome gangster in the city and Maureen’s estranged son, finds that his mother’s bizarre attempts at redemption threaten his entire organization. THE GIRL BEFORE by Rena Olsen (Putnam) Clara Lawson is torn from her life in an instant. Without warning, her home is invaded by armed men, and she finds herself separated from her beloved husband and daughters. In chapters that alternate between past and present, the novel slowly unpeels the layers of Clara’s fractured life. We see her growing up, raised with her sisters by the stern Mama and Papa G, becoming a poised and educated young woman, falling desperately in love with the forbidden son of her adoptive parents. We see her now, sequestered in an institution, questioned by men and women who call her a different name—Diana—and who accuse her husband of unspeakable crimes. As recollections of her past collide with new revelations, Clara must question everything she thought she knew, to come to terms with the truth of her history. RESULTS MAY VARY by Bethany Chase (Ballantine Books) She never saw it coming. Without even a shiver of suspicion to warn her, art curator Caroline Hammond discovers that her husband is having an affair with a man—a revelation that forces her to question their entire history together, from their early days as high school sweethearts through their ten years as a happily married couple. In her now upside-down world, Caroline begins envisioning her life without the relationship that has defined it: the loneliness of being an “I” instead of a “we”; the rekindled yet tenuous closeness with her younger sister; and the unexpected—and potentially disastrous—attraction she can’t get off her mind. Caroline always thought she knew her own love story, but as her husband’s other secrets emerge, she must decide whether that story’s ending will mean forgiving the man she’s loved for half her life, or facing her future without him. WHEN WATCHED by Leopoldine Core (Penguin Books) A sly, provocative, and psychologically astute debut story collection from a 2015 Whiting Award winner. Refreshing, witty, and absolutely close to the heart, Core’s twenty stories, set in and around New York City, have an other-worldly quality along with a deep seriousness—even a moral seriousness. What we know of identity is smashed and in its place, true individuals emerge, each bristling with a unique sexuality, a belief-system all their own. Reminiscent of Jane Bowles, William Burroughs, and Colette, her writing glows with an authenticity that is intoxicating and rare. Dirty and squalid, poetic and pure, Core bravely tunnels straight to the center of human suffering and longing. GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT by Lily Brooks-Dalton (Random House) Augustine, a brilliant, aging astronomer, is consumed by the stars. For years he has lived in remote outposts, studying the sky for evidence of how the universe began. At his latest posting, in a research center in the Arctic, news of a catastrophic event arrives. At the same time, Mission Specialist Sullivan is aboard the Aether on its return flight from Jupiter. The astronauts are the first human beings to delve this deep into space, and Sully has made peace with the sacrifices required of her. So far the journey has been a success. But when Mission Control falls inexplicably silent, Sully and her crewmates are forced to wonder if they will ever get home. As Augustine and Sully each face an uncertain future against forbidding yet beautiful landscapes, their stories gradually intertwine in a profound and unexpected conclusion. NONFICTION MAGICAL JUNGLE by Johanna Basford (Penguin Books) Follow ink evangelist Johanna Basford down an inky trail through the Magical Jungle and discover a forgotten world of flora and fauna just waiting to be colored in this new coloring book for adults. Through intricate pen and ink illustrations, color-inners of all ages are invited to explore an exotic rainforest teeming with creatures large and small. Encounter speckled tree frogs and dainty hummingbirds, prowling tigers and playful monkeys. Let your imagination run wild in the leafy treetop canopy or find yourself drawn to the delicate world of sensational blossoms and tropical plants below. KNOWN AND STRANGE THINGS by Teju Cole (Random House Trade Paperbacks) With this collection of more than fifty pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today’s most powerful and original voices. On page after page, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, to Instagram and Barack Obama. Cole brings us new considerations of James Baldwin in the age of Black Lives Matter; the African American photographer Roy DeCarava, who, forced to shoot with film calibrated exclusively for white skin tones, found his way to a startling and true depiction of black subjects; and the White Savior Industrial Complex, the system by which African nations are sentimentally aided by an America “developed on pillage.” TEXTBOOK AMY KROUSE ROSENTHAL by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Dutton) In the ten years since the publication of her beloved, groundbreaking Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, #1 New York Times bestselling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal has been quietly tinkering away. Using her distinct blend of nonlinear narrative, wistful reflections, and insightful wit, she has created a modest but mighty new work. Not exactly a memoir, not just a collection of observations, TEXTBOOK AMY KROUSE ROSENTHAL is an exploration into the many ways we are connected on this planet and speaks to the awe, bewilderment, and poignancy of being alive. PATIENT H.M. by Luke Dittrich (Random House) In 1953, a twenty-seven-year-old factory worker named Henry Molaison—who suffered from severe epilepsy—received a radical new version of the then-common lobotomy, targeting the most mysterious structures in the brain. The operation failed to eliminate Henry’s seizures, but it did have an unintended effect: Henry was left profoundly amnesic, unable to create long-term memories. Over the next sixty years, Patient H.M., as Henry was known, became the most studied individual in the history of neuroscience, a human guinea pig who would teach us much of what we know about memory today. PATIENT H.M. combines the best of biography, memoir, and science journalism to create a haunting, endlessly fascinating story, one that reveals the wondrous and devastating things that can happen when hubris, ambition, and human imperfection collide. YOUNG READERS MY FRIEND MAGGIE by Hannah E. Harrison (Dial Books for Young Readers) MY FRIEND MAGGIE is a sweet and heart-tugging story about bullying, friendship, and fitting in, perfect for readers of STAND TALL, MOLLY LOU MELON. Paula and Maggie have been friends forever. Paula thinks Maggie is the best—until mean girl Veronica says otherwise. Suddenly, Paula starts to notice that Maggie is big and clumsy, and her clothes are sort of snuggish. Rather than sticking up for Maggie, Paula ignores her old friend and plays with Veronica instead. Luckily, when Veronica turns on Paula, Maggie’s true colors shine through. DR. FELL AND THE PLAYGROUND OF DOOM by David Neilsen (Crown Books for Young Readers) When the mysterious Dr. Fell moves into the abandoned house that had once been the neighborhood kids’ hangout, he immediately builds a playground to win them over. But as the ever-changing play space becomes bigger and more elaborate, the children and their parents fall deeper under the doctor’s spell. Only Jerry, Nancy, and Gail are immune to the lure of his extravagant wonderland. And they alone notice that when the injuries begin to pile up on the jungle gym, somehow Dr. Fell is able to heal each one with miraculous speed. Now the three children must find a way to uncover the doctor’s secret power without being captivated by his trickery. THE TROUBLE WITH TWINS by Kathryn Siebel (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Imagine two twin sisters, Arabella and Henrietta—nearly identical yet with nothing in common. They’re the best of friends, until one day they aren’t. Plain and quiet Henrietta has a secret plan to settle the score, and she does something outrageous and she can’t take it back. When the deed is discovered, Henrietta is quickly banished—sent to live with her eccentric great-aunt Priscilla on Chillington Lane, where black cats roam the dark rooms and tonight’s menu is fish-head stew! Suddenly life with pretty, popular Arabella doesn’t seem so awful. And, though she’s been grievously wronged, Arabella longs for her sister, too. So she hatches a plan of her own and embarks on an unexpected journey to reunite with her other half. 10 BUSY BROOMS by Carole Gerber, Illustrated by Michael Fleming (Doubleday Books for Young Readers) Celebrate Halloween with this bright and adventurous picture book! Fans of ROOM ON THE BROOM will want to fly the night sky with these ten little witches in this fun and festive Halloween counting book! Whether zooming past rattling skeletons, buzzing by pie-stealing mummies, or soaring over a werewolf with bad breath, readers will be cheering for this exciting group of witches and their high-flying Halloween adventures! Plus, play a game of I Spy and find the cat and owl on every page!

Ohio, more dark days followed and Barton plunged into suicidal depression. Therapy wasn’t working, the efforts of her psychiatrists and family members weren’t helping either. When Barton decided to adopt a Golden Retriever puppy named Bunker, things finally started to turn around and Barton began the path to recovery. DOG MEDICINE is at once a love story and an illustration of the healing power of animals. Barton transcends the difficult subject matter and provides hope that even troubled minds and hearts can be mended. Joining Barton for the reading will be New York Therapy Animals, the NYC affiliate of R.E.A.D.® Reading Education Assistance Dogs® children’s literacy program. Come meet Barton, some furry friends, and find out anything you’d like to know about therapy animals. This event is free and open to the public, please RSVP here.

In your view, what are some of the qualities that characterize the best summer reads? My perfect summer reads completely consume me – books that make me lose all track of time and physical space. (Of course, some exceptions are books about a place I’m visiting – say reading Naomi Jackson’s THE STAR SIDE OF BIRD HILL while on a beach in the Caribbean, where the reading experience is enhanced by taking in the sights and sounds she describes in the scenery and accents all around me.) My favorite summertime literary adventures trend toward the mysterious and are generally of a perfect length to pack in a suitcase and finish over the course of a long day (or weekend) of waterfront lounging. And given our current incredible sociopolitical landscape, some nonfiction works grappling with issues facing the nation and critical conversations about improving our world and interior lives also make my vacation shortlist. What books are on your current summer reading list and why were you attracted to them? My current summer reading list includes books my colleagues have been celebrating since launch and that I’m finally excited to read as they go on sale:  THE GIRLS by Emma Cline and WE ARE NOT SUCH THINGS  by Justine van der Leun. I’m also enjoying Colson Whitehead’s upcoming novel, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD – where the celebrated novelist brings his sharp wit and descriptive intensity to the slave plantations and swamps along the path toward freedom in nineteenth-century America. And I am still charged from reading THE FIRE THIS TIME: A New Generation Speaks on Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward and featuring some of my favorite essayists, including Kiese Laymon, Claudia Rankine, and Clint Smith. These powerful writers and thought leaders are pushing the conversation on race out of the ivory tower and think tanks to on-the-ground reckoning and action – an absolute must-read. What are two of your all-time favorite beach reads and why? One of my all-time favorite beach reads is Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler, where she transported me into worlds I imagine my ancestors once traveled–the rich jungles of Africa, the unforgiving colonial Americas–and beautifully rendered (using science fiction conceits) the magic and strength they held in their bones that allowed their descendants and their stories to survive. Another favorite? DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay – that crime drama and intense family story was better than watching a riveting episode of Law & Order while sitting (on the edge of my seat) outdoors. What are your favorite summer vacation destinations and summer traditions? My favorite summer traditions are watching fireworks with my mom (ice cream cones with sprinkles in our hands) and getting away to a tropical beach with my homegirls (sipping Red Stripes in Jamaica or mai tais in Maui).

FICTION BRIGHT, PRECIOUS DAYS by Jay McInerney (Knopf) Even decades after their arrival, Corrine and Russell Calloway still feel as if they’re living the dream that drew them to New York City in the first place: book parties or art openings, high-society events; jobs they care about; twin children whose birth was truly miraculous; a loft in TriBeCa and summers in the Hamptons. But all of this comes at a fiendish cost. Russell, an independent publisher, has superb cultural credentials yet minimal cash flow. Meanwhile, instead of chasing personal gain in this incredibly wealthy city, Corrine devotes herself to helping feed its hungry poor, and she and her husband soon discover they’re being priced out of the newly fashionable neighborhood they’ve called home for most of their adult lives. Then Corrine’s world is turned upside down when the man with whom she’d had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they could have imagined. THE SIXTH IDEA by P.J. Tracy (Putnam) The peaceful Christmas season in Minneapolis is shattered when two friends, Chuck Spencer and Wally Luntz, scheduled to meet in person for the first time, are murdered on the same night, two hours and several miles apart, dramatically concluding winter vacation for homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth. An hour north of Minneapolis, Lydia Ascher comes home to find two dead men in her basement. When Leo and Gino discover her connection to their current cases, they suspect that she is a target, too. Then, after more inexplicable events occur, the detectives dive sixty years into the past to search for answers—and straight to Grace MacBride’s Monkeewrench, a group of eccentric computer geniuses who devote their time and resources to helping the cops solve the unsolvable. What they find is an unimaginable horror—a dormant Armageddon that might be activated at any moment unless Grace and her can find a way to stop it. SWEET TOMORROWS by Debbie Macomber (Ballantine) Nine months ago, Mark Taylor abruptly left Cedar Cove on a perilous mission to right a wrong from his past. Though Mark finally confessed his love for her, innkeeper Jo Marie Rose is unsure if he’s ever coming back. Determined to move forward, she begins dating again, and finds companionship when she takes on a boarder who is starting a new chapter herself. Recovering from a twice-broken heart, Emily Gaffney, is staying at the inn while she looks for a home of her own. Having given up on marriage, Emily dreams of adopting children someday. She has her eye on one house in particular—with room for kids. Although Emily’s inquiries about the house are rudely rebuffed, her rocky start with the owner eventually blossoms into a friendship. But when the relationship verges on something more, Emily will have to rethink what she truly wants and the chances she’s willing to take. The inn seems to be working its magic again—Emily opening herself up to love, Jo Marie moving on—until Jo Marie receives shocking news. HARMONY by Carolyn Parkhurst (Pamela Dorman Books) How far will a mother go to save her family? The Hammond family is living in DC, where everything seems to be going just fine, until it becomes clear that the oldest daughter, Tilly, is developing abnormally–a mix of off-the-charts genius and social incompetence. Once Tilly–whose condition is deemed undiagnosable–is kicked out of the last school in the area, her mother Alexandra is out of ideas. The family turns to Camp Harmony and the wisdom of child behavior guru Scott Bean for a solution. But what they discover in the woods of New Hampshire will push them to the very limit. Told from the alternating perspectives of both Alexandra and her younger daughter Iris (the book’s Nick Carraway), this is a unputdownable story about the strength of love, the bonds of family, and how you survive the unthinkable. THE HIKE: A Novel by Drew Magary (Viking) When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike. Once he sets out into the woods behind his hotel, he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects. On a quest of epic, life-or-death proportions, Ben finds help comes in some of the most unexpected forms, including a profane crustacean and a variety of magical objects, tools, and potions. Desperate to return to his family, Ben is determined to track down the “Producer,” the creator of the world in which he is being held hostage and the only one who can free him from the path. At once bitingly funny and emotionally absorbing, Magary’s novel is a remarkably unique addition to the contemporary fantasy genre, one that draws as easily from the world of classic folk tales as it does from video games. NONFICTION AMERICAN HEIRESS by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday) From New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin, the definitive account of the kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in American history. The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents, AMERICAN HEIRESS thrillingly recounts the craziness of the times (there were an average of 1,500 terrorist bombings a year in the early 1970s). Toobin portrays the lunacy of the half-baked radicals of the SLA and the toxic mix of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst and re-creates her melodramatic trial. AMERICAN HEIRESS examines the life of a young woman who suffered an unimaginable trauma and then made the stunning decision to join her captors’ crusade. Or did she? I’M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU FROM ALL THIS by Nadja Spiegelman (Riverhead Books) For a long time, Nadja Spiegelman believed her mother was a fairy. More than her famous father, Maus creator Art Spiegelman, her mother—Françoise Mouly—exerted a force over reality that was both dazzling and daunting. As Nadja’s body changed and “began to whisper to the adults around me in a language I did not understand,” their relationship grew tense. Unwittingly, they were replaying a drama from her mother’s past, a drama Nadja sensed but had never been told. Then, after college, her mother suddenly opened up to her. Françoise recounted her turbulent adolescence caught between a volatile mother and a playboy father. The weight of the difficult stories she told her daughter shifted the balance between them. Nadja made moved to Paris determined to get to know the woman her mother had fled. Her grandmother’s memories contradicted her mother’s at nearly every turn, but beneath them lay a difficult history of her own. Nadja emerged with a deeper understanding of how each generation reshapes the past in order to forge ahead. Every reader will recognize herself and her family in this memoir, which helps us to see why sometimes those who love us best hurt us most. THE ACCIDENTAL LIFE by Terry McDonell (Knopf) You might not know Terry McDonell, but you certainly know his work. Among the magazines he has top-edited: Outside, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated. In this revealing memoir, McDonell talks about what really happens when editors and writers work with deadlines ticking (or drinks on the bar). His stories about the people and personalities he’s known are both heartbreaking and bitingly funny—playing “acid golf” with Hunter S. Thompson, practicing brinksmanship with David Carr and Steve Jobs, working the European fashion scene with Liz Tilberis, pitching TV pilots with Richard Price. Here, too, is an expert’s practical advice on how to recruit—and keep—high-profile talent; what makes a compelling lede; how to grow online traffic that translates into dollars; and how, in whatever format, on whatever platform, a good editor really works, and what it takes to write well. NAVIGATING LIFE by Margaux Bergen (Penguin Press) You learn a few useful things at school–the three Rs come in handy, and it’s good to know how to perform under pressure and wait your turn–but most of what matters, what makes you into a functioning human being, able to hold your own in conversation, find your path, know what to avoid in relationships and secure a meaningful job, no teacher will ever tell you. This diamond-sharp, gut-punchingly honest book of hard-earned wisdom is one mother’s effort to equip her daughter for survival in the real world. Wise, heartbreakingly funny, and resonantly true,NAVIGATING LIFE has invaluable lessons for students of life of all ages. It will challenge you to lead a more meaningful life and to tackle the bumps along the way with grace, grit, style, and ingenuity LAND OF ENCHANTMENT by Leigh Stein (Plume) When Leigh Stein received a call from an unknown number in July 2011, she let it go to voice mail, assuming it would be her ex-boyfriend Jason. Instead, the call was from his brother: Jason had been killed in a motorcycle accident. He was twenty-three years old. She had seen him alive just a few weeks earlier. Leigh first met Jason at an audition for a tragic play. He was nineteen and troubled and intensely magnetic, a dead ringer for James Dean. Within months, they had fallen in love and moved to New Mexico, the “Land of Enchantment,” a place neither of them had ever been. But what was supposed to be a romantic adventure quickly turned sinister, as Jason’s behavior went from playful and spontaneous to controlling and erratic, eventually escalating to violence. Now New Mexico was marked by isolation and the anxiety of how to leave a man she both loved and feared. Even once Leigh moved on to New York, throwing herself into her work, Jason and their time together haunted her. LAND OF ENCHANTMENT lyrically explores the complexity of why the person hurting you the most can be impossible to leave. POETRY COLLECTED POEMS by Marie Ponsot (Knopf) Marie Ponsot’s COLLECTED POEMS is the stunning lifework of the prizewinning poet, gathered in one volume: the world she has made of life’s fire for sixty years. The present celebratory volume covers nearly all of her published work, from True Minds (1956), which was number five in the famous City Lights Pocket Poets series, through the 2009 EASY, her most recent collection; it also includes some new work, written in the years since. Here is the lyrical joy, the full range of Ponsot’s gift for constructing the pleasures and pains of a riddle that the music and wit of her language solve just in the nick of time, in the “hand-span skill” that is the poem. In examining the powerful life of women, her poetry is as practical as it is profound. YOUNG READERS FIVE CHILDREN ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Kate Saunders (Delacorte Books for Young Readers) The sand fairy, also known as the Psammead, is merely a creature from stories Lamb and Edith have heard their older brothers and sisters tell . . . until he suddenly reappears. Lamb and Edith are pleased to have something to take their minds off the war, but this time the Psammead’s magic might have a serious purpose. Before their adventure ends, all will be changed, and the Lamb and Edith will have seen the Great War from every possible viewpoint—that of factory workers, soldiers and sailors, and nurses. But most of all, the war’s impact will be felt by those left behind, at the very heart of their family. THE BOYS IN THE BOAT (YOUNG READERS ADAPTATION) by Daniel James Brown (Puffin) The #1 New York Times bestseller freshly adapted for the next generation, now with brand new content including an author Q&A and never-before-seen photographs. Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant. With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler. At the center of the tale is Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, whose personal quest captures the spirit of his generation—the generation that would prove in the coming years that the Nazis could not prevail over American determination and optimism. A MOST MAGICAL GIRL by Karen Foxlee (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Annabel Grey is primed for a proper life as a young lady in Victorian England. But when her mother suddenly disappears, she’s put in the care of two eccentric aunts who thrust her into a decidedly un-ladylike life, full of potions and flying broomsticks and wizards who eat nothing but crackers. Magic, indeed! Who ever heard of such a thing? Before Annabel can assess the most ladylike way to respond to her current predicament, she is swept up in an urgent quest. Annabel is pitted against another young witch, Kitty, to rescue the sacred Moreover Wand from the dangerous underworld that exists beneath London. The two girls outsmart trolls, find passage through a wall of faerie bones, and narrowly escape a dragon, but it doesn’t take long for Annabel to see that the most dangerous part of her journey is her decision to trust this wild, magical girl. LEGO CITY: Build Your Own Adventure (DK Children’s Books) A book with bricks that inspires kids to build, play, and learn, LEGO CITY: Build Your Own Adventure combines more than 50 inspirational ideas for building with enthralling story starters from the world of LEGO City. Organized into five chapters structured around different environments from the city world, readers will use their builds to aid a sunken boat in the city’s marina and help control a forest fire in a nearby park. Model ideas will inspire readers of various ages and abilities, with an appropriate mix of easy, medium, and harder models. LEGO CITY: Build Your Own Adventure will get kids inspired to build and play out adventures of their own, and comes with bricks and instructions to build an exclusive LEGO City model to add to their collection. THE IMAGINATION BOX by Martyn Ford (Delacorte Press) What if everything you imagined could become real? It all starts when Professor Eisenstone, scientist and inventor, creates a box that’s supposed to turn whatever you imagine into reality. There’s only one problem: he can’t get it to work. Until Tim shows up. An orphan with an especially keen imagination, Tim brings to life Phil, an eloquent finger monkey with a dry sense of humor. Tim and Professor Eisenstone work in secret to make the box more powerful. But when Eisenstone is kidnapped along with his contraption, Tim, Phil, and the professor’s granddaughter, Dee, must find the criminals before they use the box to turn their imagined evil into something all too real. Creating a miniature monkey is all well and good. But in order to rescue his friend, Tim will have to face his darkest fears and unleash the true potential of his own mind.

The right opening line can make the hairs on the back of your head stand up. They are quoted, stitched into samplers, made into posters. Immortal. Just as bewitching though, is the right last line. If the opener entices us, and gives us a sense of the bounty to come, then the closer is the final thought that will linger, long after we close the book. Many are strong enough to make us turn right back to page one, then and there. Here are 20 of our favorite last lines in literature. We hope they beckon you as they do us. FEATURED TITLES   MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather “Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past.”   WHITE NOISE by Don Delillo “Everything we need that is not food or love is here in the tabloid racks. The tales of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. The miracle vitamins, the cures for cancer, the remedies for obesity. The cults of the famous and the dead.”   ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan “But now I must sleep.”   THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak “LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR. I am haunted by humans”   ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac “So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars will be out, and don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear? The evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of Dean Moriarty, I even think of Old Dean Moriarty the father we never found, I think of Dean Moriarty.”   A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan “A sound of clicking heels on the pavement punctured the quiet. Alex snapped open his eyes, and he and Bennie both turned-whirled, really, peering for Sasha in the ashy dark. But it was another girl, young and new to the city, fiddling with her keys.”   C by Tom McCarthy “The wake itself remains, etched out across the water’s surface; then it fades as well, although no one is there to see it go”   CANDIDE by Voltaire “’Excellently observed,’ answered Candide; ‘but we must cultivate our garden.’”   THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE by Haruki Murakami “In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment.”   IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER by Italo Calvino “And you say, ‘Just a moment, I’ve almost finished If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino.’”   THE END OF THE AFFAIR by Graham Greene “I wrote at the start that this was a record of hate, and walking there beside Henry towards the evening glass of beer, I found the one prayer that seemed to serve the winter mood: O God, You’ve done enough, You’ve robbed me of enough, I’m too tired and old to learn to love, leave me alone forever.”"I wrote at the start that this was a record of hate, and walking there beside Henry towards the evening glass of beer, I found the one prayer that seemed to serve the winter mood: O God, You’ve done enough, You’ve robbed me of enough, I’m too tired and old to learn to love, leave me alone forever.”   THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood “Are there any questions?”   THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin “There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air.   ULYSSES by James Joyce “I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another… then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.”   INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison “Who knows but on the lower frequencies, may I speak for you?”   PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie   “When Margaret grows up she will have a daughter, who is to be Peter’s mother in turn; and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless.”   LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov “I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.”   MIDDLEMARCH by George Eliot “But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”   THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain “But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before.”   TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf “Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.”   For more on these titles visit the collection: Favorite Last Lines

FEATURED TITLES   THE AMERICAN VICE PRESIDENCY: FROM IRRELEVANCE TO POWER by Jules Witcover This all-inclusive examination of the vice presidency throughout American history, by acclaimed political journalist and author Jules Witcover, chronicles each of the 47 vice presidents, including their personal biographies and their achievements—or lack thereof—during their vice presidential tenures.   WRITE IT WHEN I’M GONE: REMARKABLE OFF-THE-RECORD CONVERSATIONS WITH GERALD R. FORD by Thomas M. DeFrank In 1974, Newsweek correspondent Thomas M. DeFrank was interviewing Gerald Ford when the Vice President blurted out something astonishingly indiscreet. He then extracted a promise not to publish it. “Write it when I’m dead” Ford said, and thus began a thirty-two-year relationship.   DESTINY AND POWER: THE AMERICAN ODYSSEY OF GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH by Jon Meacham From Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham comes a brilliant biography of George H.W. Bush based on rigorous research, hours of private interviews with Bush, and exclusive access to his diaries   THE PASSAGE OF POWER: THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON by Robert A. Caro Winner of The National Book Critics Circle Award and The Los Angeles Times Book Prize among others, Caro’s unparalleled account of the battle between Johnson and John Kennedy for the 1960 presidential nomination, of the machinations behind Kennedy’s decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, and of Johnson’s powerlessness and humiliation in that role.   DAYS OF FIRE: BUSH AND CHENEY IN THE WHITE HOUSE by Peter Baker Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way.   THE ASSAULT ON REASON by Al Gore Nobel Peace Prize winner, bestselling author, activist, and former Vice President, Al Gore has become one of the most respected and influential public intellectuals in America today. In THE ASSAULT ON REASON he offers a visionary analysis of the degradation of our public sphere and its consequences for our democracy.   THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT by Edmund Morris Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time and described by the Chicago Tribune as “a classic,” THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time.   BEING NIXON: A MAN DIVIDED by Evan Thomas Beginning with Nixon’s painful and awkward stage debut, the narrative is fast-paced and colorful—not another heavy and ponderous presidential biography but a detailed, dramatic, and perceptive character study that carefully examines both the good and bad sides of Richard Nixon.   For more on these and related titles visit the edelweiss collection: Vice Presidents

THE SCHOOLDAYS OF JESUS by J.M. Coetzee (Viking, 2/17, in the U.S./ Harvill Secker, 10/16, in Canada) EILEEN by Otessa Moshfegh (Penguin Press) MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout (Random House; Random House Audio) Penguin Random House Canada also publishes these two semi-finalists: ALL THAT MAN IS by David Szalay (McClelland & Stewart) DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING by Madeleine Thien  (Knopf Canada) Penguin Random House UK imprints publish the following 2016 longlisters: SERIOUS SWEET by A.L. Kennedy (Jonathan Cape) HOT MILK by Deborah Levy (Hamish Hamilton) EILEEN by Otessa Moshfegh (Jonathan Cape) MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout (Viking UK) ALL THAT MAN IS by David Szalay (Jonathan Cape) Warm congratulations to all of our longlisted authors and their publishers. View the complete longlist  for the Man Booker Prize here. On September 13, the Man Booker shortlist of six books will be announced.  The 2016 prize winner will then be revealed on October 25 in London’s Guildhall at a black-tie dinner. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, is open to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the UK.  The rules of the prize were changed at the end of 2013 to embrace the English language “in all its vigor, its vitality, its versatility and its glory,” opening the competition up to writers beyond the UK and Commonwealth.

But it also has an enduring appeal for a simpler reason.  It’s a mystery. Why did an apolitical 19-year-old heiress with one of the most famous names in America do what she did?” Answers to that question were investigated relentlessly and numerous remarkable revelations can be found in AMERICAN HEIRESS. Bill Thomas, Senior Vice President, Publisher, Editor in Chief, Doubleday, edited the book, and says, “There are three essential skill sets for a narrative nonfiction writer:  Ferocious research and reporting chops; a clean, powerful prose style; and storytelling that propels the reader through the pages.  Jeffrey Toobin is the rare writer who is a master of all three skills, which are on vivid display in AMERICAN HEIRESS.  It was a very fun book to edit – several times I wrote in the margin “THIS IS INSANE!!!”  It’s a mind-boggling tale, packed with never-before-known details, and indelible characters.  The fact that the country seems to be echoing the insanity of the mid-1970s only adds to the resonance of the book.” Here is a sampling of the advance praise the book has generated: “[D]efinitive and nuanced … [Toobin's] thorough research, careful parsing of all the evidence, and superior prose make the book read like a summertime thriller.” Publishers Weekly, Starred review “Toobin … has written an outstandingly detailed and insightful account of the Hearst case and its impact.”  Booklist, Starred review “[A] detailed but swiftly moving account of the 1974 kidnapping that mesmerized the nation … [T]he author’s considerable legal knowledge propels the narrative … [A] a well-informed, engaging work from a highly capable author.” – Kirkus In the Wednesday (7/27) edition of The New York Times, Janet Maslin writes, “In an age of terrorism, the chronicle of how a sedate heiress named Patricia morphed into a gun-toting, invective-spouting revolutionary calling herself Tania holds a definite fascination.” Reviews of AMERICAN HEIRESS are also scheduled for upcoming editions of TIME Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, and USA Today., among other outlets. An original essay by Mr. Toobin will be featured in The Wall Street Journal. He is also the subject ofEntertainment Weekly’s “Books of My Life” column as well as The New York Times Book Review “By the Book” column.  His media appearances include spots on CBS This Morning;NPR’s Morning Edition and Fresh Air; C-Span’s Book TV, and Conan on TBS. Mr. Toobin’s book tour will take him throughout the US during the month of August, kicking off on Monday (8/1) in NYC at Barnes & Noble Union Square, with the event moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. A New Yorker staff writer and the senior legal analyst at CNN, Mr. Toobin is also the bestselling author of  THE NINE: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court and THE RUN OF HIS LIFE: The People v. O. J. Simpson, among other books.

During his presidential run, the Cat in the Hat will represent all that Dr. Seuss believed about children—that they have the intellect, imagination, and power to impact our world positively, while also having fun. The announcement of the Cat in the Hat for President campaign arrives with the release of a new book in The Cat in the Hat Learning Library, ONE VOTE, TWO VOTES, I VOTE, YOU VOTE, on sale Tuesday (7/26) from Random House Books for Young Readers. In the latest addition to this collection of nonfiction books for beginning readers, the Cat in the Hat uses simple rhyme to introduce early readers to the concept and practice of voting, with a focus on the American presidency. Readers learn the basic principles of democracy, how political parties are made, why Election Day is held in early November, and much, much more.

Choose a Cause and Cast Your Vote Beginning July 26!

  As the Kids’ Candidate, the Cat in the Hat will show kids that every vote counts, and every voice matters! Votes can be cast for the Cat in the Hat to work with one of his supporters and their selected cause. Each cause is linked to a related organization, and together Random House Children’s Books and Dr. Seuss Enterprises will make a $10,000 donation to the winning charity. Children can cast their vote for their preferred cause online by visiting CatInHat4Prez.com. Voting will run from July 26 through November 8, 2016, and the winning charity will be announced on December 1, 2016. The ballot includes the opportunity for kids to:

• Vote for Reading and Education to support First Book, with Dick and Sally from THE CAT IN THE HAT!

 

• Vote for Ocean Conservation to support Oceana, with Red Fish and Blue Fish from ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH!

 

• Vote for the Environment to support Conservation International, with the LORAX!

 

• Vote for Fighting Hunger to support Feed the Children, with Sam-I-Am! From GREEN EGGS AND HAM!

 

• Vote for Kindness for All to support Pacer, with Horton from HORTON HEARS A WHO!

  “Just as the Cat introduced children to the joy of reading—opening up for them a world of ideas—he is now introducing children to the concept of voting in a way that is both informative and fun, in ONE VOTE, TWO VOTES, I VOTE, YOU VOTE—and I know Dr. Seuss would be pleased to see children working with the Cat and his other characters to make positive changes in their world,” says Cathy Goldsmith, President & Publisher of Random House’s Beginner Books line and Dr. Seuss publishing program. For more information and to cast your vote, visit CatInHat4Prez.com.

one of the best books of 2015 by both Buzzfeed and Kirkus Reviews. The acclaimed first book in the trilogy introduced readers to a blend of science fiction and the elements of a psychological thriller. While pursuing a BA in physics at Cornell University and pondering the death of the universe, Higgins came up with the idea that ultimately inspired LIGHTLESS. In the trilogy’s second installment, SUPERNOVA, the story picks up where it left off in LIGHTLESS, further expanding on the suspenseful plot and unique characters as well as the relationship between technology and humanity. At the launch party, Higgins will read from SUPERNOVA, sign copies for guests, and will participate in an audience Q&A session.

  FEATURED TITLES   HOW TO RAISE THE PERFECT DOG: THROUGH PUPPYHOOD AND BEYOND by Cesar Millan, Melissa Jo Peltier From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer, the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. ZAK GEORGE’S DOG TRAINING REVOLUTION: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO RAISING THE PERFECT PET WITH LOVE by Zak George, Dina Roth Port Celebrity dog trainer, YouTube sensation, and Animal Planet star Zak George presents a next-generation guide that uses his infectiously energetic style to teach dog-lovers everything they need to know about raising and training their unique pup. DOG SONGS: POEMS by Mary Oliver A collection of new and favorite poems, celebrating the dogs that have enriched the poet’s world THE COMPLETE DOG BREED BOOK (DK) The ultimate dog breed resource book, The Complete Dog Breed Book has everything from dog grooming to dog training to caring for a dog to, yes, a breakdown of dog breeds for prospective breeders and prospective dog owners. BELOVED DOG by Maira Kalman In Beloved Dog, renowned artist and author Maira Kalman brings us the dogs in her life, as only she can, and the lessons they have for us all.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   THE BEST DAYS ARE DOG DAYS by Aaron Meshon From playtime to naptime, pup and his sis do everything together—which means that every day is a delight! MY LIFE IN DOG YEARS by Gary Paulsen, Ruth Wright Paulsen Gary Paulsen has owned dozens of unforgettable and amazing dogs. In each chapter he tells of one special dog, among them Cookie, the sled dog who saved his life; Snowball, the puppy he owned as a boy in the Philippines; Ike, his mysterious hunting companion; Dirk, the grim protector; and his true friend Josh, a brilliant border collie. THE PERFECT DOG by Kevin O’Malley Fans of The Pigeon Wants a Puppy and Charlie the Ranch Dog will fall in love with this vibrant picture book about one girl’s quest to find the perfect dog for her family.   For more information on these and related titles, visit the collection: Dog Days

In FOOD AND THE CITY, Ina Yalof takes us inside New York City’s bustling food world through the people that make it all happen. Chefs, street vendors, waiters, and restauranteurs all lend their voices to this behind-the-scenes look at the city’s unparalleled foodie culture. Having previously written about medicine, science, religion, and happiness, Yalof changed gears and dove into the stories of those who call the city’s food scene their home and discovered why they’ve dedicated their lives to the culinary industry. Each unique story sheds light on the hardship, passion, and determination required to bring the diverse food landscape to life and what it really takes to succeed. Every Sunday from 12 noon to 6:00 pm, Vendy Plaza brings together Vendy Award finalists and emerging food vendors to East Harlem’s La Marqueta. Vendy Plaza has everything you need for “Sunday funday,” with live music, a beer garden, and plenty of food to try. This Sunday, Brooklyn Brewery is making its way to Vendy Plaza with a pop-up featuring beer paired with dishes, food cooked with beer, and samples of rare Brooklyn offerings. The Vendy Plaza outdoor market series is free and open to the public.

does NASA not want us to see?” NASA responded that the station “regularly passes out of range,” which causes the video signal to disappear. To satisfy piqued interest in UFOs we have objects to identify ourselves… in the way of books! HEADLINE: NASA Responds to Viral ‘UFO’ Video (Voice of America)   FEATURED TITLES CHARIOTS OF THE GODS by Erich Von Daniken CHARIOTS OF THE GODS was immediately recognized as a work of monumental importance when it first introduced the theory that ancient Earth had established contact with aliens.   UFOS: GENERALS, PILOTS, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS GO ON THE RECORD by Leslie Kean With the support of former White House chief of staff John Podesta, investigative journalist Kean draws on her years of research to separate fact from fiction and to lift the veil on decades of U.S. government misinformation. Throughout, she presents irrefutable evidence that unknown flying objects—metallic, luminous, and seemingly able to maneuver in ways that defy the laws of physics—actually exist.   UFOS IN WARTIME: WHAT THEY DIDN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW by Mack Maloney Although often written off as myths, UFOs are found in Renaissance Art, on ancient coins, etched on cave walls-and even reported in the Bible. Even more surprising is when they are documented most: in times of war. These sightings are made by high ranking officials, soldiers, and news reporters. Why do these sightings spike so drastically during wartime? Could it be mistaken aircraft? Or is someone-or something- looking in on us?   LIFE AS WE DO NOT KNOW IT : THE NASA SEARCH FOR (AND SYNTHESIS OF) ALIEN LIFE by Peter Ward An engrossing and revelatory first look at the search for alien life—on Earth and beyond   DRAW 50 ALIENS: THE STEP-BY-STEP WAY TO DRAW UFOS, GALAXY GHOULS, MILKY WAY MARAUDERS, AND OTHER EXTRATERRESTRIAL CREATURES by Lee J. Ames, Ric Estrada Alien fever is running high – the Alien and Star Wars movies have made outer space fascinating to a whole new generation of children.  An ideal tool for young artists or the parent or teacher seeking to help a child master their artistic skills, DRAW 50 ALIENS includes creatures from every walk of the galaxy.   A MAN ON THE MOON: THE VOYAGES OF THE APOLLO ASTRONAUTS by Andrew Chaikin, Foreword by Tom Hanks This acclaimed portrait of heroism and ingenuity captures a watershed moment in human history. The astronauts themselves have called it the definitive account of their missions. On the night of July 20, 1969, our world changed forever when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Based on in-depth interviews with twenty-three of the twenty-four moon voyagers, as well as those who struggled to get the program moving, A MAN ON THE MOON conveys every aspect of the Apollo missions with breathtaking immediacy and stunning detail.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LITTLE KIDS FIRST BIG BOOK OF SPACE by Catherine D. Hughes, David A. Aguilar Ages 4 to 8 This beautiful book is the latest addition to the National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book series. These colorful pages will introduce young children to the wonders of space, with colorful illustrations by David Aguilar and simple text that is perfect for beginning readers or for reading aloud. The book will explain basic concepts of space, beginning with what is most familiar to kids and expanding out into universe.   ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE SECRET UFOS by Donald J. Sobol Ages 8 to 12 Everyone’s favorite kid sleuth is back to solve ten new confounding cases!   For more on these and related titles, visit the edelweiss collection: UFOS and SPACE MISSIONS

true has been finding out that everyone at Knopf—from Sonny Mehta to the frighteningly efficient team of assistants—are all as kind, brilliant, and passionate about books as I’d imagined.” This week’s Igloo Book Buzz title, THE HOPEFULS is a brilliantly funny novel about ambition and marriage, telling the story of a young wife who follows her husband and his political dreams to Washington, D.C., a city of idealism, gossip, and complicated friendships among the young aspiring elite. Here is a sampling of what book critics are writing about THE HOPEFULS: “A pleasure to read…Close has a light, precise touch about the way a young marriage works…. The Hopefuls offers a welcome mixture of humor and wisdom about the good people who run this country — or, for some reason, want to.” —The Washington Post “Ambition, political power and charisma take center stage in Close’s riveting page turner about two couples who meet in DC—and the toll one pair’s success takes on the other.” —Entertainment Weekly “Close lays the sacrifices and successes of a marriage bare, with razor-sharp prose and keen wit. Fans of Lianne Moriarty’s relatable heroines will adore fish-out-of-water Beth, while political junkies will appreciate an insider’s view of a small campaign. With themes reminiscent of The Marriage Plot and perfectly suited for this year’s political climate, The Hopefuls is unflinchingly honest and utterly compelling.” —Stephanie Turza, Booklist (STARRED review) THE HOPEFULS has also been reviewed in such outlets as Cosmopolitan, Vulture.com, Booklist, Refinery29, and Elle, with additional coverage confirmed in Glamour, Marie Claire, Us Weekly, Electric Literature, Salon, and on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show, with much more to come. Jennifer Close’s author tour includes upcoming events in Washington, DC (7/20), East Hampton, NY (7/21), Brooklyn (7/25), Darien, CT (7/26) and Winnetka, IL (7/28).

  FEATURED TITLES   THE BLUE GUITAR by John Banville From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of THE SEA, a new novel about artistic creation and the ways in which we learn to possess one another—and hold on to ourselves. Equally self-aggrandizing and self-deprecating, Oliver Otway Orme is a painter of some renown and a petty thief (who steals only for pleasure) who has never been caught—until now. THE PIANO TEACHER by Janice Y. K. Lee “A rare and exquisite story…Transports you out of time, out of place, into a world you can feel on your very skin.” —Elizabeth Gilbert The debut novel from the author of THE EXPATRIATES is a tale of love and betrayal set in war-torn Hong Kong, written in the sweeping tradition of THE ENGLISH PATIENT. THE PIANO MAKER by Kurt Palka The suspenseful, emotionally resonant, and utterly compelling story of what brings an enigmatic French woman to a small Canadian town in the 1930s, a woman who has found depths of strength in dark times and comes to discover sanctuary at last. TRUMPET by Jackie Kay In her starkly beautiful and wholly unexpected tale, Jackie Kay delves into the most intimate workings of the human heart and mind and offers a triumphant tale of loving deception and lasting devotion. The death of legendary jazz trumpeter Joss Moody exposes an extraordinary secret, one that enrages his adopted son, Colman, leading him to collude with a tabloid journalist. YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN by Dorothy Baker Dorothy Baker’s YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN is widely regarded as the first jazz novel, and it pulses with the music that defined an era. Baker took her inspiration from the artistry – though not the life – of legendary horn player Bix Beiderbecke, and the novel went on to be adapted into a successful movie starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, and Doris Day. CORELLI’S MANDOLIN by Louis de Bernieres Extravagant, inventive, emotionally sweeping, CORELLI’S MANDOLIN is the story of a timeless place that one day wakes up to find itself in the jaws of history. The place is the Greek island of Cephallonia, where gods once dabbled in the affairs of men and the local saint periodically rises from his sarcophagus to cure the mad. Then the tide of World War II rolls onto the island’s shores in the form of the conquering Italian army. THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO by Stephen Galloway A novel of great intensity and power, and inspired by a true story, THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO poignantly explores how war can change one’s definition of humanity, the effect of music on our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   THE BLAZER GIRLS: THE VANISHING VIOLIN by Michael D. Beil Ages 8 to 12 Bowstrings and betrayal, crushes and codes abound in this middle-grade mystery. “With wit, cunning, snappy dialogue and superior math skills, The Red Blazer Girls represent the best of girl-detectives while still feeling relatable and real. Nancy Drew would be right at home with this group.” – Huffington Post‘s 15 Greatest Kid Detectives List THE PIANO STARTS HERE: THE YOUNG ART TATUM written and illustrated by Robert A. Parker Ages 4 to 8 Regardless of whether they’ve heard of jazz or Art Tatum, young readers will appreciate how Parker uses simple, lyrical storytelling and colorful, energetic ink-and-wash illustrations to show the world as young Art Tatum might have seen it. TUBBY THE TUBA by Paul Tripp, Henry Cole  Ages 4 to 8 All day long, Tubby plays oompah, oompah with his orchestra, but what he really wants is to “dance with the pretty little tune.” A resourceful bullfrog shows Tubby that everyone has the right to play his own melody. When the recording of Tubby the Tuba was first released, more than 70 years ago, it met with instant success. Reimagined by Henry Cole, this stunning picture book comes complete with a CD of Tripp’s performance with full orchestration.   For more on these and other titles visit the edelweiss collection: Instrumental Titles

meaning behind Zambra’s words and that of storytelling altogether. The power of the Zambra’s execution has caught the attention of many media outlets and has landed the book on the summer reading lists of Elle, Huffington Post, Vox, BBC, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. The New Yorker calls Zambra “Latin America’s new literary star” and The New York Times Book Review stated that he is “The most talked-about writer to come out of Chile since Bolaño.” In MULTIPLE CHOICE, you’ll find stories of Chilean politics, family, education, and independent thinking that will awaken you to both the playfulness and gravity of Zambra’s work. Zambra is also the author of My Documents, a New York Times Book Review  Editor’s Choice as well as the novels Ways of Going Home, The Private Lives of Trees, and Bonsai. His other stories have appeared in publications such as the New Yorker, Vice, the Paris Review, and Harper’s and he is the recipient of several international awards.

and more than 30 parents and teachers beamed with pride while listening to their sons and daughters recite their own poetry as well as share their many illustrations and artwork that accompany the poems. With the active participation of P.S. 3 teachers Andrea Franks and Lindsay Tomao, along with Principal Lisa Siegman and Assistant Principal Regina Chiou, this poetry writing program took place over five classroom sessions and provided additional support to Penguin Random House’s existing P.S. 3 partnership with Read-Ahead and employee volunteer reading mentors.  The writing exercises were based on odes, places, sketches, haikus, rhymes and artwork, among other topics.  For example, after a discussion about color, each student chose a favorite color and wrote an ode dedicated to and in celebration of their chosen hue. As part of our mission to nurture the next generation of writers and readers, Penguin Random House supports this program through the Read-Ahead partnership – providing employees an opportunity to give back to the community in which they work. Penguin Random House has over 100 employee volunteer mentors and our partnership has evolved to include: author and illustrator visits, poetry workshops, a parent-teacher book club, book donations and various student-related events throughout the school year. To view this impressive poetry collection, click here.

                        FEATURED TITLES   THE GIRLS: A NOVEL by Emma Cline Girls, their vulnerability, strength, and desire to belong, are at the heart of this un-put-downable first novel set during the violent end of the 1960s in Northern California. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult. FREEDOM’S CHILD by Jax Miller A propulsive, raucous thriller about a woman named Freedom Oliver with a troubled past who breaks free of the witness-protection program in small-town Oregon in order to save her kidnapped daughter. RUIN FALLS by Jenny Milchman When Liz wakes up one morning in her hotel room to discover her two children Ally and Reid aren’t in their beds, her mind races, imagining a million worst-case scenarios, playing out her every nightmare. She discovers that the kids were taken, not by some anonymous monster in a ski mask but by her own husband… GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY, HOLLYWOOD, AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF by Lawrence Wright The basis for the HBO documentary. A National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists, Lawrence Wright uncovers the inner workings of the church. RAVEN: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE REV. JIM JONES AND HIS PEOPLE by Tim Reiterman, John Jacobs RAVEN provides the definitive history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown three decades ago. This PEN Award–winning work explores the ideals-gone-wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America.   FOR YOUNGER READERS   THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY by Stephanie Oakes Ages 14 And Up The cult known as the Community has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too. Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it’s clear that Minnow knows something—but she’s not talking. GATED by Amy Christine Parker Ages 14 and Up Lyla Hamilton is a loyal member of the Community. Her family was happy to be chosen by Pioneer to join such a lovely gated neighborhood. Here, life seems perfect. But after meeting Cody, an outsider boy, Lyla starts questioning Pioneer, her friends, her family–everything. And if there’s one thing not allowed in the Community, it’s doubt. IT WASN’T ALWAYS LIKE THIS by Joy Preble Ages 14 And Up In 1916, Emma O’Neill is frozen in time. After sampling an experimental polio vaccine brewed on a remote island off St. Augustine, Florida, she and her family stop aging—as do the Ryans, her family’s business partners. In a way, this suits Emma fine because she’s in love with Charlie Ryan. Being seventeen forever with him is a dream. But soon a group of religious fanatics, the Church of Light, takes note.   Looking for additional suggestions? Try our Cult-themed titles

buzz.  Ms. Banner, connected via live-streaming video from her home in Italy, and Random House EVP, Executive Editorial Director, Associate Publisher, Kate Medina, introduced by Jaci Updike, President of Sales, talked about how this sweeping saga became a book. “I’ll never forget my excitement,“ said Ms. Medina, “the minute I started reading the manuscript. It had all of these elements – romance, adultery, lust, family – and images that were truly beautiful.  It was ambitious for Kate to write about four generations, with such breadth and depth. And I started thinking, ‘Can we be in a relationship?  Can she be a good partner with Random House?’ We quickly decided, ‘Yes.’” Ms. Banner noted, “It is so important to have the right team around you.  It was a transformative discovery for me, upon reading the first memo from Kate.  Her notes showed me, ‘That’s the book this could be.’" “The editor has an inner metronome,” said Ms. Medina. “The story has to keep moving and I suggested ways in which that could be accomplished, to make sure there are no pauses.” Spanning four generations and nearly a century, through secrets and mysteries, trials and sacrifice, THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT  is a beautiful and haunting novel that follows the lives of the Esposito family and other islanders who live and love on Castellamare, an enchanting island off the coast of Italy. Ms. Banner, who was born in Cambridge in 1989 and began writing at the age of fourteen, previously published a trilogy of young adult novels. THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT is her debut adult novel and she revealed that months of research went into the creation of her fictional characters, scenarios and settings that live and breathe on the page. Fellow Random House author Sara Gruen offered this praise: “Catherine Banner’s latest is a masterful piece of storytelling, infused with the miraculous (both in stories and in everyday life) while maintaining the difficult balance between the explainable versus the inexplicable. Through the life of a single man—a man not noteworthy in the eyes of the world—and his family, Banner touches on such broad themes as community and the way global events play out in individual lives and larger society. And just as the broader themes affect the more personal ones, Banner’s style echoes the book’s content: THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT is captivating and beautifully rendered.” Here is a sampling of advance media buzz: “A luminous homage to the Italian tradition of storytelling … a lusty page-turner that weaves romance, rivalry and the intricacies of family expectations into one glorious tale. There are echoes of Italo Calvino in Banner's writing—echoes of admiration and love. Reading The House at the Edge of Night is like falling into a fantastical world where time stands still, yet change happens at an unimaginable pace.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “A fantastic chronicle … Banner deftly touches on weightier themes while weaving an enchanting narrative.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review “Ah, what fun. Don't miss it. [A] knockout adult debut … whisking us away to a world grounded in both reality and myth, filled with marvelously peculiar characters, plotted on a grand scale.”—Kirkus, Starred Review  

BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY is the first novel from Jessica Winter who is also the former culture editor of Time. Winter puts a sharp, satirical twist on workplace drama as well as the experiences of an early thirty-something navigating friendships, fertility, and marriage. Full of comedy, harsh insights, and tender moments, BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY brings a fresh, yet sarcastic perspective to the modern world in which we live. The book has already caught the attention of major media sources including Marie Claire and has been chosen as one of Elle Magazine’s 19 Summer Books That Everyone Will Be Talking About. Joining Winter in conversation is acclaimed journalist and author, Rebecca Traister. Aside from New York magazine, Traister has written for Elle, The New Republic, Salon, The New York Times and many more. Her first book Big Girls Don’t Cry, on the 2008 presidential election, women, and cultural feminism, was published in 2010 and went on to become a New York Times Notable Book. Her second book, All the Single Ladies was released in March of 2016 and investigates single women in the twenty-first century. All the Single Ladies is a New York Times bestseller and Traister has been praised for her in-depth research that sheds light on the lives of unmarried women in America and the historical context that led us to this current state.

The name MAKE ME A WORLD reflects Myers’s vision: to publish a selection of books that open up new worlds, possibilities, and pathways for young readers of all ages. Myers is focused on bringing voices of diverse thinkers and artists from all walks of life to his list—including filmmakers, musicians, playwrights, painters, writers, astronomers, architects, and more, and individuals who have redrawn the boundaries of their own lives and forged new paths. The imprint’s debut list will launch in 2018 with Child of the Universe by astronomer Ray Jayawardhana, a lyrical piece unfolding as a conversation in which a father shows how the entire universe has conspired over billions of years to bring his child into his life; Mama Mable’s All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza! by Annie Sieg, a picture book that tells the inspiring story of female musicians like the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, who played a critical role in the evolution of jazz after World War II; and Walk Toward the Rising Sun by Ger Duany, an inspirational memoir for young adults about a pivotal time in the life of a boy from South Sudan, who escapes dire and desperate circumstances, war and famine, through the gift of one constant friend. Barbara Marcus said, “I have long been an admirer of Christopher Myers’s way of thinking about literature and art, and believe that his talent and perspectives uniquely position him to launch an imprint focused on celebrating diversity of every kind, and the power of books to transform lives. We are eager to watch Chris develop his future lists, and for children, teens, and families to experience the stories that his authors and artists will tell.” Myers cites the influence of his father on the core mission of the new imprint: “I am excited to embark on this endeavor with Random House to launch MAKE ME A WORLD. Every day in the newspapers we see how much stories matter, the stories we tell each other and ourselves, and for too long many stories have been neglected, many storytellers ignored. Each of these untold stories represents a world that has been erased. My father built worlds for countless children in his stories. He wanted to make sure no child felt erased as he had, growing up poor and Black in Harlem in the 1940s, where brown, bright faces like his own were nowhere to be found in the pages of books. MAKE ME A WORLD will continue that work, recognizing storytellers from all walks of life that can build for contemporary children a sense that they too have the ability in their creative hands, in their hearts, to build their own worlds.”

Knopf has changed quite a bit (structurally, technologically, organizationally) but in the most important ways it has not—continuing to publish the highest quality of literary works while still keeping an eye focused on the commercial side of the business.”  Chip has had the opportunity to help with this process, designing first edition book covers for an astonishing range of writers, including Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Katherine Hepburn, Cormac McCarthy, Michael Crichton, Donna Tartt, Oliver Sacks, Elie Wiesel, Lawrence Wright, Vladimir Nabokov, Orhan Pamuk, Art Spiegelman, John Updike, Bret Easton Ellis, James Merrill, Robert Hughes, James Ellroy, Robert M. Gates and Haruki Murakami (and many, many more).      Chip is the recipient of the National Design Award for Communications and the Lifetime Achievement Medal from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the two highest honors for the field of graphic design. An author himself, Kidd to date has published two novels—The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners —as well as many books on design and the field of comics and graphic novels. He is presently at work on his second monograph of his work, Book Two, to be published in 2017 by Rizzoli. As part of our ongoing “Behind the Book Covers” Igloo Interview series, Chip offers a number of fascinating insights into his craft, his career and the evolution of book cover design.  What initially drew you to the world of book cover art design? At the very beginning (age 2-ish?), it was probably comic book covers, because my brother (two years older) had a lot of them and soon I did too. They speak a kind of visual language that you can “read” without actually being able to read them (yet). Soon after that my earliest memories of book covers that affected me visually (and emotionally) were all of Dr. Seuss, “Charlotte’s Web,” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” And of course the ‘Peanuts’ collections.     How would you describe the conceptual processes you follow when envisioning then creating book covers? I think the key word you use in your question is “conceptual.”  Certainly conceptual problem-solving is extremely important when it comes to book cover design, and I try to use that method as much as possible. It always starts with the text of the book. But there are so many other factors aside from that which affect a final design to be approved by all involved. Whatever it is you do, you have to please (in varying order): the author, the publisher, the marketing department(s), the sales force, potential book buyers for the accounts, the editor, and—hopefully—yourself. It can be a very tricky balancing act, and all of the books have different sets of circumstances and needs.     Which of your book cover design projects have been most challenging, and which covers are you most proud of creating and why? Having done this non-stop for close to thirty years-and-counting, I’m happy to say it gets harder and harder to answer this question. There are so many (something like 1,500 covers), I’ve been so fortunate to be at Knopf all this time. I’d say the tougher challenges are for the books whose subjects aren’t particularly visual. Last year I did a cover for Justice Stephen Breyer on how US Supreme Court decisions affect laws in the rest of the world. Now, that’s an incredibly important matter, but how do you decide what it looks like? In terms of covers I’m proud of, my goal is to be the most excited about whatever I’m currently working on. As I write this, I just did a cover for an up-coming collection of short stories by Haruki Murakami called Men Without Women (Spring 2017) that was tough to figure out, but thrilling when I finally did.      How has the evolution of digital technology impacted what you do as a book designer/art director and, gazing into the crystal ball, how do you envision the future of your craft? What digital technology has affected the most is the speed with which things can get done. And initially that had nothing to do with the internet/the web. We first got computers to design with in 1994, and while it took some getting used to (I am among the last generation of graphic designers to learn the craft by hand), once we did, everything changed. When I started at Knopf in 1986, just the process of specc’ing and setting typography for any given title took a full three days (yes, days). And if you were a novice and didn’t do it correctly (I speak from experience), then that added another two days. And that’s just for the lettering. Needless to say I can now do that in under two minutes, even if I’m not exactly sure what I want. I can remember at some point in the mid-90s our production manager said something like “Soon, you’ll just be giving me a disc and a print-out with the specs and that’s what the printer will use.” And I thought “Oh, like THAT’S going to happen.” And now even that seems like smoke signals, and so on. But in terms of the design problem-solving process, digital technology does not do that for you, never has, and never will. It just helps you get there faster. This is why the field of design will always need designers. Because the idea, the essence of it, has to come from YOU.   

World Wars to contemporary times, we present the following stories, characters and poems to sweep you away.   FEATURED TITLES A DREAM OF SUMMER: POEMS FOR THE SENSUOUS SEASON; Introduction by Mary Oliver, edited by Robert Atwan Illustrated throughout with pen-and-ink drawings, this volume focuses on the sensuality of summertime and the varieties of summer experience. It is a love letter to the sultry heat, crashing thunderstorms, endless days, and short, mild nights. Gathered here is work by illustrious poets of the past, among them William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, John Keats, and Alfred Lord Tennyson, as well as more contemporary artists like Louise Gluck, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marge Piercy, and Charles Simic. ONE HUNDRED SUMMERS by Beatriz Williams As the 1938 hurricane approaches Rhode Island, another storm brews in this novel from the author of THE SECRET LIFE OF VIOLET GRANT and A CERTAIN AGE. “It is what every beach book should aspire to be—smart and engrossing.”—Elin Hilderbrand CHRONICLE OF A LAST SUMMER: A NOVEL OF EGYPT by Yasmine El Rashidi A young Egyptian woman traces her personal and political coming of age in this poignant debut novel. Cairo, 1984. A blisteringly hot summer. A young girl in a sprawling family house. Her days pass quietly: listening to her mother’s phone conversations, looking at the Nile from a bedroom window, watching the three state-sanctioned TV stations with the volume off, daydreaming about other lives. Underlying this claustrophobic routine is mystery and loss. LOVE AND SUMMER: A NOVEL by William Trevor In spare, exquisite prose, master storyteller William Trevor presents a haunting love story about the choices of the heart, and the passions and frustrations of three lives during one long summer. SUMMER by Edith Wharton A tale of forbidden sexual passion and thwarted dreams played out against the lush, summer backdrop of the Massachusetts Berkshires Edith Wharton called SUMMER her ‘hot Ethan’. SUMMER CROSSING: A NOVEL by Truman Capote Thought to be lost for over 50 years, here is the first novel by one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Set in New York during the summer of 1945, this is the story of a young carefree socialite, Grady, who must make serious decisions about the romance she is dangerously pursuing and the effect it will have on everyone involved. SUMMER HOUSE WITH SWIMMING POOL: A NOVEL by Herman Koch An instant New York Times bestseller, the blistering, compulsively readable new novel from Herman Koch, author of THE DINNER. When a medical procedure goes horribly wrong and famous actor Ralph Meier winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser needs to come up with some answers. After all, reputation is everything in this business. THE GIRL FROM SUMMER HILL by Jude Deveraux The first novel of New York Times bestselling author Jude Deveraux’s breathtaking new series set in Summer Hill, a small town where love takes center stage against the backdrop of Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR: A NOVEL by Helen Simonson For lovers of Downton Abbey, a historical novel (1914) with the same wit, romance, and insight into the manners and morals of small town British life as her New York Times bestsellerMAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND.   FOR YOUNGER READERS WHAT ARE THE SUMMER OLYMPICS? by Gail Herman, Stephen Marchesi, Kevin McVeigh Run, swim, and race back in time to experience the Summer Olympics – from ancient Greece to modern-day super events. LAST SUMMER WITH MAIZON by Jacqueline Woodson From the National Book Award- winning author of BROWN GIRL DREAMING: Margaret loves her parents and hanging out with her best friend, Maizon. Then it happens, like a one-two punch, during the summer she turns eleven: first, Margaret’s father dies of a heart attack, and then Maizon is accepted at an expensive boarding school, far away from the city they call home. For the first time in her life, Margaret has to turn to someone who isn’t Maizon, who doesn’t know her heart and her dreams. . . . SUMMER BALL by Mike Lupica When you’re the smallest kid playing a big man’s game leading your travel team to the national championship may seem like a dream come true, but for Danny Walker, being at the top just means the competition tries that much harder to knock him off. For more on these and other summer titles visit the edelweiss collection: Summer 

Ms. Rosoff, National Book Award finalist and Printz Award winner, describes the inspiration behind the writing of JONATHAN UNLEASHED: “I woke up one morning with the line ‘Jonathan came home from work one day to find the dogs talking about him’ in my head. I knew instantly it was the next book, even though I didn’t know who Jonathan was, and why the dogs were talking about him. I thought, ‘I must write that line down,’ but also knew that I wouldn’t forget it. The process of writing a book is made up of a thousand micro-decisions, and I think one of them with this book was that the news was depressing me quite a lot, and I thought a comedy might cheer me up.” JONATHAN UNLEASHED is a romantic comedy that follows Jonathan Trefoil, a twenty-something New Yorker who feels stuck and helpless, and the two dogs, Dante, a border collie and Sissy, a spaniel, that inspire him to lead a different life. Film rights for the novel have been optioned by Qwerty Films, with Michael Kuhn as producer (Being John Malkovich, The Duchess, Florence Foster Jenkins) and Ms. Rosoff writing the screenplay.

This week also saw the publication of a fascinating, definitive cultural history of the United States Post Office with HOW THE POST OFFICE CREATED AMERICA by Winifred Gallagher. It’s an American story like no other and a perfect nonfiction complement to our featured novels inspired by postal work.   FEATURED TITLES HOW THE POST OFFICE CREATED AMERICA: A HISTORY by Winifred Gallagher The Post Office, Winifred Gallagher argues, has been not just a witness to but a foundational influence on much of the history of the United States of America, particularly for women and African-Americans, who participated in the nation’s formation via the Post Office in pivotal ways. How the Post Office Created America tells this story, tracing the role of a unique institution and its leaders, such as Benjamin Franklin, the Crown’s first postmaster general. KEEP ME POSTED by Lisa Beazley Cassie Sunday can’t seem to make her life work as a Manhattan wife and mom to twin toddlers, while her big-hearted sister Sid lives an ex-pat’s life of leisure in far-off Singapore. Since Sid doesn’t do social media, she challenges Cassie to reconnect through old-fashioned letters. THE POST-OFFICE GIRL by Stefan Zweig, Joel Rotenberg This unexpected and haunting foray into noir fiction (Wes Anderson cites the novel as an influence for his films) by one of the masters of the psychological novel introduces us to Christine, who looks after her ailing mother and toils in a provincial Austrian post office in the years just after the Great War. One afternoon, as she is dozing among the official forms and stamps, a telegraph arrives addressed to her… DEATH TAKES PRIORITY: A POSTMISTRESS MYSTERY by Jean Flowers First in a brand-new series that really delivers! Cassie Miller has traded in her tailored suits and high heels to become Postmaster in her hometown in the Berkshires. But when the body of an unidentified man is found, Cassie decides to track the killer—before another victim’s fate is sealed in the dead letter office. THE POSTMISTRESS by Sarah Blake In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn’t deliver it. Visit the edelweiss collection: Postal Lit

Think of this novel—the first in a trilogy—as a teenage Game of Thrones set in the Ottoman Empire, but without magic and dragons. It’s dark, sophisticated, and bloody, with murders, political intrigue, war, betrayals, violent uprisings, and romance. AND I DARKEN is a sweeping reimagining of history, all in the hands of a master storyteller. I hope readers fall as madly in love with Kiersten’s fictional history as I have.” Reviewers and fellow authors have been offering their own praise. Here is a sampling: “Full of sword fights, assassination plots, and palace intrigues, this novel is ambitious in scope and concept and reveals a fascinating, important, and somewhat obscure slice of history…the novel is breathtakingly good.” —School Library Journal “AND I DARKEN is a jewel of a book—a jewel embedded in the hilt of a blood-soaked sword. A brilliantly envisioned alternate history that is meticulously detailed but compulsively readable, this is a story I could not put down. I demand the sequel like Lada demands Wallachia!” —Beth Revis, author of the New York Times bestselling Across the Universe series “It’s a gritty, historically based fantasy and it’s not for the faint of heart.”—BuzzFeed “AND I DARKEN is Kiersten White at her absolute best. The epic story will thrill you, the Transylvanian setting will transport you, and the characters (especially the fierce, take-no-prisoners Lada) will capture your heart. Don’t miss it.” —Cynthia Hand, New York Times bestselling author of the Unearthly series Kiersten White reveals, “I spent so many of my teen years cultivating likeability: studying and mimicking and trying desperately to figure out how to be what everyone around me would most like. It took me years to shed that need, like a too-tight skin cracking and peeling around my sharpening edges. Writing Lada in AND I DARKEN felt like the final layer tearing away. So when I hear about ‘unlikeable narrators,’ I say, yes, please. Give me girls with teeth. Give me girls with ruthless ambition. Give me girls with rage and passion and dark, feral hearts. They don’t need me to like them—but oh, how I do.” Ms. White will be going on a group young adult author tour in the fall to six cities (San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver, New York, Raleigh, and Atlanta) with fellow YA authors Catherine Egan (JULIA VANISHES), Jessica Cluess ( A SHADOW BRIGHT AND BURNING), and Arwen Elys Dayton ( TRAVELER).

translation of Sandra Cisneros’s beloved La Casa en Mango Street (The House on Mango Street), while titles by Gabriel García Márquez, E. L. James, and Paulo Coelho have consistently claimed their spots over the past few years. On sale next week is the much anticipated paperback edition of El Amante Japonés (The Japanese Lover), by New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende. This is an exquisitely crafted love story and multi-generational epic that sweeps from San Francisco in the present day to Poland and the United States during the Second World War. Isabel Allende is internationally beloved by her fans and is by far one of the bestselling Spanish-language authors of the modern era.   FEATURED TITLES ADULTERIO (Adultery) by Paulo Coelho; translated by Pilar Obón Coelho has an enormous following in Spanish, and his books never fail to receive major attention from Spanish-language media. Adulterio debuted at #1 on Spanish language bestseller lists. CIEN AÑOS DE SOLEDAD (One Hundred Years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez Márquez’s masterpiece is the finest example of magical realism, and, as the book that sparked the Latin American boom, is one of most influential novels of the 20th Century. COMO AGUA PARA CHOCOLATE (Like Water for Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel This classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef. She shares special points of her favorite preparations throughout the story. CUANDO ERA PUERTORRIQUEÑA (When I Was Puerto Rican: A Memoir) by Esmeralda Santiago In this first volume of her much-praised, bestselling trilogy, Santiago brilliantly recreates the idyllic landscape and tumultuous family life of her earliest years and her tremendous journey from the barrio to Brooklyn, from translating for her mother at the welfare office to high honors at Harvard. LA SOMBRA DEL VIENTO (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon This is the first installment in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, a four-part series that immerses readers in a beautiful and haunting Barcelona and a world of books, mystery, fantasy and love. VIVIENDO by Adamari Lopez The telling and uplifting survival story of soap opera star Adamari López’s battle with cancer and a very public divorce. BAJO LA MISMA ESTRELLA (The Fault in Our Stars) by John Green; translated by Noemi Sobregues Arias A genuine and moving story about a 16-year-old girl and her relationship with a boy that, like her, is fighting terminal cancer. Green’s novel is an international phenomenon and basis for a feature film. RETA TU VIDA by José Fernandez Jose Fernandez, “Trainer to the Stars,” presents a new diet and exercise guide challenging readers to get in the best shape of their lives by challenging the way they eat and exercise. UN BUEN HIJO DE P… : UNA FÁBULA by Ismael Cala Ismael Cala’s inspirational premise guides readers through real-life scenarios to help them overcome obstacles in their everyday lives, and learn the skills necessary to be successful, fulfilled, and most importantly happy on a daily basis. Cala hosts and produces a news show on CNN en Español (often referred to as the Hispanic Larry King), Cala, as well as a radio show. LA CASA EN MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneros; translated by Elena Poniatowska THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero. Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.   Visit the collection: Top 25 Spanish Language Books

headquarters. The BMM (Bertelsmann Management Meeting) was last held in Gütersloh in 2012, when the merger between Penguin and Random House was still an idea. Being back there last week got me thinking about the amazing and unexpected ways that great stories find their beginning. We began with a strategic rationale for the merger based on what we called the Three I’s: Integration, International, and Innovation. Today, we have successfully completed the integration of the largest merger in publishing history, and internationally we’ve strengthened and expanded our key territories. Now we can fully focus on improving through innovation what we already do well. After the BMM, everyone from Penguin Random House in attendance gathered for breakout sessions, splitting into small groups to discuss and exchange ideas focused on our core strategic areas of innovation: Reader, Retail, and Author. As a child who grew up reading books from the Bertelsmann book clubs of the 1970s, I find it surreal that I now, together with all of you, have the great opportunity and responsibility of carrying forward the publishing legacy of Bertelsmann and of so many other historic houses. As my colleagues discussed the future of Penguin Random House just 150 meters from the small house where Carl Bertelsmann printed his first book, the connection between past and future was palpable. That afternoon, in our separate Penguin Random House session, the room hummed as new ideas and perspectives were shared and new relationships formed. You can’t overestimate what can be born out of a simple dialogue, and the possibilities are even greater when you consider the institutional knowledge and collective imagination that all of you have to share. Collaborating across our company, and working directly with one another, will be one of our greatest competitive advantages going forward. To that end, an impressive number of our colleagues were deservedly recognized at the BMM by Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe with the coveted Bertelsmann entrepreneur award for their outstanding 2015 achievements. I’d like to personally congratulate them again. As part of my presentation at BMM, we invited Paula Hawkins and her two editors, Sarah Adams and Sarah McGrath, onstage for an interview. Nearly a year and a half after the publication of The Girl on Train, and after having sold 11 million copies around the world, Paula said of her success: “No, I still can’t believe it.” Sarah Adams, who said yes to the book after reading only eight chapters, also admitted that she too couldn’t possibly have imagined the runaway success the book has enjoyed. But now, as Penguin Random House—with our combined talent, resources, and bestseller share—we’ve increased the likelihood that one of our books will achieve “unbelievable” success. Similarly, our completed integration means that we, as a company, can exceed our own high expectations. The necessity of collectively making thousands of decisions every day means that finding even the smallest of ways to become better at what we do can translate into continuous and large improvement across our company. As we move past the integration, I encourage us all to find the ways we can incrementally innovate: whether that’s simply experimenting with an idea, welcoming a new perspective, or just having a spontaneous conversation. I think we’ll surprise ourselves with what we may start. Click on the link to see how Penguin Random House is taking Bertelsmann’s publishing legacy into the future: PRH BMM Video Click on the link to see what an unbelievable ride The Girl on the Train has had: BMM The Girl on the Train Video For additional coverage of the Bertelsmann Management Meeting, visit BeNet

Chuck Klosterman is the author of nine books including Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and I Wear the Black Hat and he has written for several major publications including The New York Times, GQ, and ESPN among others. In his books and essays, Klosterman challenges readers to think in new ways about the facets of pop culture that he continually and humorously probes. In BUT WHAT IF WE’RE WRONG?, Klosterman visualizes how our current world will eventually be interpreted in the future. Klosterman’s thought-provoking concepts ask us how sure we are about our understanding of everything from gravity to time, music and more. Featuring interviews with the likes of such imaginative minds including Neil deGrasse Tyson, David Byrne, and George Saunders, Klosterman creates a forecast of the future and urges you to challenge your beliefs and consider what you can truly know for certain. Klosterman will discuss his new book with American journalist and Critic at Large for The New York Times, Wesley Morris. Morris is a former full-time writer for the website Grantland of which Klosterman was an original founder of. Morris won the annual Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for his 2011 work withThe Boston Globe. Tickets for this event include one copy of the hardcover edition BUT WHAT IF WE’RE WRONG? Doors open at 6:30 for check-in, at which time you can pick up your copy/copies of the book.

Lauren Groff, among others. So far, Junot Diaz is the more popular 3D head, with Anne Lamott a close second. Libraries Without Borders is doing incredible work bringing books, tutors, computers and more to the refugee camps in the Middle East and Europe to help Syrian refugees. Riverhead Books is committed to not only amplifying and celebrating unheard voices, but also doing what they can in the fight for global literacy and access to technology.  Go to this website for more details and to contribute by June 30: http://app.snapapp.com/Riverhead3D

Get yourself and the little ones in your life ready for Shark Week with some great reference books on these fascinating creatures, plus some fun reads to feed your sea-deep imagination.   FEATURED TITLES   BLUE MERIDIAN: THE SEARCH FOR THE GREAT WHITE SHARK by Peter Matthiessen On a trek that lasts 17 months and takes him from the Caribbean to the whaling grounds off South Africa, and across the Indian Ocean to the South Australian coast, National Book Award-winning author Matthiessen describes the awesome experience of swimming in open water among hundreds of sharks; the beauties of strange seas and landscapes; and the camaraderie, tension, humor, and frustrations that develop when people continually risking their lives dwell in close proximity day after day.   JAWS: A NOVEL by Peter Benchley Here is Peter Benchley’s classic suspense novel of shark versus man, which was made into the blockbuster Steven Spielberg movie. The Jaws phenomenon changed popular culture and continues to inspire a growing interest in sharks and the oceans today.   DEMON FISH: TRAVELS THROUGH THE HIDDEN WORLD OF SHARKS by Juliet Eilperin From Belize to South Africa, from Shanghai to Bimini, we see that sharks are still the object of an obsession that may eventually lead to their extinction. In this eye-opening adventure that spans the globe, environmental journalist Juliet Eilperin investigates the fascinating ways different individuals and cultures relate to the ocean’s top predator.   FOR YOUNG READERS   SHARK WARS by EJ Altbacker Since the dawn of time, prehistoric shark clans called Shivers have ruled over the earth’s oceans, fierce protectors of all who swim. For eons, the Big Blue has prospered under Shiver Law, and the delicate balance of sea life kept sacred. Until now.   SUPER SHARK ENCYCLOPEDIA (DK) SUPER SHARK ENCYCLOPEDIA uncovers the secrets of the oceans by exploring a remarkable array of 80 sharks and other sea creatures — from Barrel Shrimp to Blue Sharks, Starfish to Bat Fish, and Hammerhead Sharks to Sandtiger Sharks, plus surfing penguins, deep-sea monsters, rays, eels and more. Packed with jaw-dropping facts about animal behavior and anatomy, new x-ray artworks utilize cross-sections and strip layers away to show key anatomical features in detail. It showcases record-breaking animals, such as the deadliest p …   THE OCTONAUTS AND THE WHITETIP SHARK (Grosset & Dunlap) The Octonauts are out on the reef when a scary whitetip shark attacks the GUP-A! A tiny pilot fish offers to lend a fin, giving Barnacles a brilliant idea: Pilot fish get their food by eating gunk off of things, and whitetip sharks offer pilot fish protection in return for cleaning their teeth. Maybe all this whitetip shark needs is a friend. Octonauts, let’s do this!   For more on these and other shark titles visit the edelweiss collection: Shark Week 2016

To learn more visit: alz.org   FEATURED TITLES BEFORE I FORGET: LOVE, HOPE, HELP, AND ACCEPTANCE IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST ALZHEIMER’S by B. Smith, Dan Gasby, Michael Shnayerson Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 64 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer’s patient. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with Lessons Learned, their practical and helpful advice, readers travel with them as they learn to deal with Alzheimer’s day-to-day challenges.   MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF REMEMBERING EVERYTHING by Joshua Foer An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic, MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN recounts Joshua Foer’s yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top “mental athletes.   THE BRAIN’S WAY OF HEALING: REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES AND RECOVERIES FROM THE FRONTIERS OF NEUROPLASTICITY by Norman Doidge From the New York Times bestselling author of THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELF, the next generation of neuroplasticity’s miracles—how doctors and patients are awakening the brain’s ability to grow and change and heal, including cases of overcoming the symptoms of Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.   WHERE THE LIGHT GETS IN: LOSING MY MOTHER ONLY TO FIND HER AGAIN by Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Michael J. Fox After a Redbook piece that went viral and attracted media attention from Good Morning America and NPR, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, actress (Father of the Bride, Nashville) and wife of country megastar Brad Paisley, shares the story of her mother’s diagnosis of a rare form of dementia at the age of 61 and the effect it has had on their relationship.   THE HUMAN BRAIN BOOK by Rita Carter Combining the latest findings from neuroscience with new brain imaging techniques, as well as developments on infant brains, telepathy, and brain modification, this new edition of DK’s The Human Brain Book covers brain anatomy, function, and disorders in unprecedented detail.   THE THEFT OF MEMORY: LOSING MY FATHER, ONE DAY AT A TIME by Jonathan Kozol In the most personal book of his career, Kozol tells the story of his father’s life and work as a nationally noted specialist in disorders of the brain and his astonishing ability, at the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, to explain the causes of his sickness and then to narrate, step-by-step, his slow descent into dementia.   THE BRAINPOWER COOKBOOK: MORE THAN 200 RECIPES TO ENERGIZE YOUR THINKING, BOOST YOUR MOOD, AND SHARPEN YOUR MEMORY by Frank Lawlis, Maggie Greenwood-Robinson Brain-boosting recipes from the New York Times bestselling author and chief content adviser for the Dr. Phil show.   THE LONG GOODBYE by Patti Davis In THE LONG GOODBYE, Patti Davis describes losing her father to Alzheimer’s disease, saying goodbye in stages, helpless against the onslaught of a disease that steals what is most precious—a person’s memory. “Alzheimer’s,” she writes, “snips away at the threads, a slow unraveling, a steady retreat; as a witness all you can do is watch, cry, and whisper a soft stream of goodbyes.”   WHAT IF IT’S NOT ALZHEIMER’S?: A CAREGIVER’S GUIDE TO DEMENTIA by Gary Radin, Lisa Radin, Murray Grossman, MD EdD This book is the first and only comprehensive guide dealing with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), one of the largest groups of non-Alzheimer’s dementias. The contributors are either specialists in their fields or have exceptional hands-on experience with FTD sufferers.   FOR YOUNG READERS   NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS BRAIN GAMES: THE MIND-BLOWING SCIENCE OF YOUR AMAZING BRAIN by Jennifer Swanson, Hank Green; Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7 In this fascinating, interactive book—a companion to the National Geographic Channel hit show – kids explore the parts of the brain and how it all works.   DEATH BY TOILET PAPER by Donna Gephart; Ages 9-12 Fans of Louis Saachar will welcome the adventures of a contest-crazed seventh grader who uses his wits and way with words in hopes of winning a big cash prize to help his family.   For more information on these and related titles visit the edelweiss collection: Brain & Alzheimer’s Books

Videos with Penguin Random House Audio authors Justin Cronin, Terry McMillan, Delia Ephron, Jazz Jennings, Faith Salie, Jennifer Niven, David Levithan, Julie Berry, Julie Buxbaum and Jon Scieszka will be rolling out over the coming weeks (check out all the videos on the APA website: http://bit.ly/LoveAudiobooks). Chelsea Clinton’s PSA was revealed on Bustle.com on June 9 and focuses on how audiobooks support literacy (did you know more than 85% of what we learn is learned by listening?): Additional author videos will be revealed throughout the month and into the summer, supported by a robust online ad campaign. The APA is also inviting all audiobook listeners to join in, sharing why they #loveaudiobooks on social media and hosting a sweepstakes for a chance to win a year’s supply of audiobooks, a $250 American Express gift card and a pair of Bose SoundLink Bluetooth headphones. While the audiobook format is experiencing rapid growth, there are still many avid readers who haven’t tried listening—and summer is the perfect time of year to take audiobooks for a test drive on your next road trip, to catch up on reading during the school break with audiobooks, or simply listen while lounging by the pool. Please help our Penguin Random House Audio team spread the word about the campaign by sharing why you #loveaudiobooks on social media, or resharing one or more of the author videos.

Most students read or performed their owning winning pieces. In addition, this year six of our Penguin Random House colleagues served as actors and actresses for the young writers who were less comfortable onstage and opted to watch their pieces come to life from the audience. “As soon as I met Keitha (Third Place Poetry Winner), I became exceedingly nervous, hoping I could do her piece NO justice,” said Camile Dewing, Senior Copy Manager, Random House. “These students are full of depth and insight beyond their years—and blew me away with their words and performances. It really was an honor to be a part of this night. And I absolutely would do it again.” Leah Richardson, Assistant Manager, eBook Production, Random House agrees: "Volunteering as an actor in the creative writing awards was a really wonderful experience. It was a chance to see Penguin Random House rewarding extremely talented young writers. Their stories were personal and powerful and it was inspiring to spend time with such creative, intelligent young people from the city.” In recognition of the unique vision and voices of these New York City high school students, each submission to the competition was given individual consideration through a multi-level selection process. Entries were judged on their style, form and content. Among this year’s judges were Poets & Writers Magazine Publisher Elliot Figman; Penguin Young Readers Executive Editor Rob Valois; and Random House author Billy Collins. The winning high school seniors and their families, along with teachers and publishing industry guests were joined by Newbery Medalist and Wendy Lamb Books (an imprint of Random House Children’s Books) author Rebecca Stead (GOODBYE STRANGER); Crown Books’ Tara Clancy, author of the forthcoming memoir THE CLANCYS OF QUEENS; Graphic Novel Author Robert V. Conte; and Elissa Goldstein, English Teacher at Queens High School for Sciences at York College. Penguin Random House author Rebecca Stead was particularly moved: "I'm not exaggerating when I say I felt changed by the evening. Listening to these kids' words, and watching them perform with such amazing passion and self-possession, was a kind of wake-up call for me. I left thinking, 'I need to get my sons in that room next year.’ In fact, I want all kids to get in that room, to be reminded of the power of their own self-expression, to be reminded of their own ability to create. I felt as if those kids had learned to trust themselves.” For a full list of winners and judges as well as more details on the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards, click here.  

On October 27, 2016, children and adults will join forces for the world’s largest shared reading experience, known as Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. Since 2006, this 24-hour celebration has mobilized over 17 million people, and Jumpstart holds the world reading record for the most people reading the same book on the same day. This year’s official campaign book, THE BEAR ATE YOUR SANDWICH by Julia Sarcone-Roach (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers), will not only inspire adults to read with children but will also spur policymakers and organizations to take action towards transformative change in early education while putting books in the hands of more children across the country. “The mission of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record so perfectly aligns with our goal to instill a love of reading early in life and to get books into the hands of young learners,” said Random House Children’s Books President and Publisher, Barbara Marcus. “We could not be happier to be partnering with Jumpstart and look forward to sharing Julia Sarcone-Roach’s charming THE BEAR ATE YOUR SANDWICH with many young readers and families.” To learn more about Jumpstart, to register to read, and to order your exclusive copies of THE BEAR ATE YOUR SANDWICH, visit readfortherecord.org.

“Pat Conroy is a beloved Penguin Random House author,” said Jaci Updike, President, Sales, Penguin Random House, “and it is a privilege for us to honor his legacy in a manner that benefits new booksellers.  Pat deeply loved books and the men and women who sell them and would be made very happy and proud to have an opportunity to enhance their professional education.” These scholarships are designated specifically for booksellers who have never attended a SIBA Discovery Show, held in September, in keeping with the Penguin Random House’s fifteen-year tradition of supporting educational programming for booksellers at the event.  The scholarships will cover up to $1,000 of the winner’s travel, hotel, and meal expenses for the Discovery Show first-timers.  To be eligible, a bookseller must be a full-time employee of a SIBA-member bookstore, working at any level or capacity. Pat Conroy’s A LOW COUNTRY HEART: Reflections on a Writing Life, a new nonfiction collection of pieces spanning the author’s long literary career, has been announced for posthumous hardcover and eBook publication by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday on October 25, one day before what would have been Pat’s 71st birthday. To be considered for a Pat Conroy Scholarship, booksellers can self-nominate, or be nominated by other booksellers or sales reps. Owners and managers are strongly encouraged to nominate frontline booksellers who are interested in bookselling as a career. The deadline for nominations for the 2016 Pat Conroy Scholarships is July 15, 2016. Scholarship recipients will be announced on August 1.

  FEATURED DADS Ian in I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh Control is what Ian wants. And if he can’t have it, nobody can.   Victor in THE WINTER GIRL by Matt Marinovich A twisted man who rubbed off on his kids.   Heathcliff of WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte He married to spite his true love, and then takes it out on his sickly son.   Humbert Humbert in LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov This step-father only married his wife so he could get to her daughter.   Michael Henchard in THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE by Thomas Hardy What kind of man could sell his own child?   Titus from TITUS ANDRONICUS by William Shakespeare At least the previous character only sold his kid, Titus murdered his.   Jack Torrance in THE SHINING by Stephen King Again, what’s with trying to kill your kids?   Pap Finn in FINN by Jon Clinch As mean and violent as ever, here’s a touch of gruesome to add to the story of Huck Finn’s abusive father.   Lt. Col. Wilbur “Bull” Meecham in THE GREAT SANTINI by Pat Conroy Too bad he wasn’t as great a father as he was a pilot   Vito Corleone in THE GODFATHER by Mario Puzo Corleone posits “a man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” but this Mafioso places his children in danger which results in two of their deaths.   Pick a father from A GAME OF THRONES by George R. R. Martin Where to even begin?   DADS FOR YOUNG READERS Mr. Wormwood from Roald Dahl’s classic, MATILDA Repeatedly telling his daughter he wishes she were a boy is bad enough, but then he sabotaged her library books!   View additional bad dad reading suggestions in our Edelweiss collection: Literary Bad Dads

FEATURED TITLES CHOOSING HOPE: MOVING FORWARD FROM LIFE’S DARKEST HOURS by Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis, Robin Gaby Fisher On December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis saved the lives of fifteen six- and-seven-year-old students by piling them into a single-occupancy bathroom in her first-grade classroom. Choosing Hope is a memoir that bears witness to a tragedy that shall never be forgotten, but even more so it is a testament to a decision that we can all make to choose hope in order to conquer tragedy, even in our darkest hours.   THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE: BRAIN, MIND, AND BODY IN THE HEALING OF TRAUMA by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. One of the world’s leading experts on traumatic stress explains how trauma affects people, its underlying neurobiology, and the many new treatments that are making it possible for sufferers to move beyond trauma in order to reclaim their lives.   STITCHES: A HANDBOOK ON MEANING, HOPE AND REPAIR by Anne Lamott What do we do when life lurches out of balance? How can we reconnect to one other and to what’s sustaining, when evil and catastrophe seem inescapable? These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Lamott’s profound follow-up to her New York Times–bes …   EVERYBODY HELPS, EVERYBODY WINS: HOW ABSOLUTELY ANYONE CAN PITCH IN, HELP OUT, GIVE BACK, AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE by David T. Levinson Speaking to the reluctant volunteer in everyone, the director of one of the largest grassroots volunteer programs in the country, Big Sunday, shows how everyone can give back.   COMING OUT TO PLAY by Robbie Rogers and Eric MarcusIn In COMING OUT TO PLAY, Robbie takes readers on his incredible journey from terrified teenager to a trailblazing out and proud professional soccer player for the L.A. Galaxy, who has embraced his new identity as a role model and champion for those still struggling with the secrets that keep them from living their dreams.   THE ART OF COMFORTING: WHAT TO SAY AND DO FOR PEOPLE IN DISTRESS by Val Walker In this practical, step-by-step guide to what she calls “the art of comforting,” Val Walker draws on numerous interviews with “Master Comforters” to guide readers in gently and gracefully breaking through the walls that those who are suffering often erect around themselves.   GRACE: QUOTES & PASSAGES FOR HEART, MIND, AND SOUL by B. C. Aronson This treasury of quotes and passages on leading a centered, purposeful, and spiritual life offers the advice and observations of leaders from all walks of life. Included are Ghandi, Lao-Tzu, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and hundreds more.   DEAR MR. ROGERS, DOES IT EVER RAIN IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?: LETTERS TO MR. ROGERS by Fred Rogers In this collection of letters and replies, Mister Rogers encourages parents, grandparents, and teachers to cherish the questions and comments that come from their children. With sincerity and sensitivity, real-life issues are addressed in chapters arranged by theme—the world, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, feelings and fears, television, family relationships, and death.   INVISIBLE HEROES: SURVIVORS OF TRAUMA AND HOW THEY HEAL by Belleruth Naparstek, Robert C. Scaer Drawing on more than thirty years’ experience as a therapist, Belleruth Naparstek presents a clinically proven program for recovery using the potent tool of guided imagery – offering hope to the millions who are affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).   For more on these and related titles visit the edelweiss collection: Hope & Healing

When it comes to mystery writing, Steve Hamilton knows how to create award-winning novels time and time again. From the publication of his very first novel in 1998, Hamilton has taken home some of the most prestigious prizes in crime writing from the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award to the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award. Among his 12 previous novels are the 10 books that make up the Alex McKnight series, including two New York Times notable books. THE SECOND LIFE OF NICK MASON is the first in Hamilton’s new Nick Mason series that follows an unforgettable new hero, a man who will walk out of prison and into a harrowing double life that is anything but free. The thriller received several favorable reviews from the media as well as from fellow crime writers including Harlan Coben, Don Winslow and Stephen King. THE SECOND LIFE OF NICK MASON is set to be adapted for the big screen by screenwriter Richard Wenk (The Equalizer and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back). Joining Hamilton is a fellow Penguin Random House author who is also adept at crafting bestselling thrillers, Lee Child. Of his twenty New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, eleven of have reached the #1 position and all have been optioned for major motion pictures. His recent addition to the series, MAKE ME, was another #1 hit and was named of the best books of the year by Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and Suspense Magazine. The 21^st book in Child’s incredibly successful series, NIGHT SCHOOL, is due out this November from Delacorte Press.

deserve praise for simply being lucky enough to do work that I love, but I’m hugely grateful to have been selected for an OBE and will receive it humbly and on behalf of our amazing, worldwide coloring community. It’s an incredible honor and something that I think acknowledges more about the coloring community than it does any one individual within it –we’re part of a global movement that is making people healthier, happier and more creative.” Our warm congratulations to Ms. Basford on this high honor. Her books include LOST OCEAN (Penguin) and  LOST OCEAN: 36 POSTCARDS (Penguin) as well as the upcoming MAGICAL JUNGLE (on sale 8/9/16) and JOHANNA’S CHRISTMAS (on sale 10/25/16).

Studies show that in some low-income communities, there is only one book per 300 children, while in middle-income neighborhoods, there are thirteen books per child. NDBN works to meet the basic needs of all American children and families, by focusing on diaper need. The Penguin Young Readers donation promotes early literacy by providing families in the diaper bank communities with board books for their children. As part of the partnership with Too Small to Fail, those receiving books will be invited to pledge to join the “Talk, Read, Sing for Change” program, which encourages parents to do all three of those activities with their children daily. Too Small to Fail’s public awareness and action campaign raises awareness among parents and caregivers about the critical importance of talking, reading, and singing during everyday moments. The Clinton Foundation initiative provides parents with tools to engage in these language-rich interactions. In addition to the above commitments, leading diaper brand and NDBN’s founding sponsor, Huggies, will also partner to amplify this campaign on their social media platforms.

THE GIRLS is the story of Evie Boyd, a woman who is haunted by a summer during her teenage years in the 1960s – and the weeks, days, and moments that changed her life forever.  Emma Cline’s story is so powerful, as are her startlingly acute psychological portraits of girls and their families. I love her writing, her language. This is a novel I wanted to read fast because the story is so suspenseful, and slow so I could savor every word.” The media has joined Ms. Medina in praising Ms. Cline and her book, which was the #1 Indie Next Pick for June.   Here is a sampling: “Emma Cline’s THE GIRLS reimagine[s] the American novel for a new generation…Like Mary Gaitskill’s Veronica or Lorrie Moore’s Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, The Girls captures a defining friendship in its full humanity with a touch of rock-memoir, tell-it-like-it-really-was attitude.”—Vogue  “The most remarkable quality of this novel is Cline’s ability to articulate the anxieties of adolescence in language that’s gorgeously poetic without mangling the authenticity of a teenager’s consciousness. The adult’s melancholy reflection and the girl’s swelling impetuousness are flawlessly braided together…. [F]or a story that traffics in the lurid notoriety of the Manson murders, THE GIRLS is an extraordinary act of restraint. With the maturity of a writer twice her age, Cline has written a wise novel that’s never showy: a quiet, seething confession of yearning and terror…. [D]ebut novels like this are rare, indeed.”—Washington Post  “In her debut novel, THE GIRLS, Emma Cline explores the uncanny appeal of a religious cult for girls seeking refuge from moral uncertainty. Set in Northern California in the late 1960s, the narrative unfolds as an unhappy teenager, Evie, is sucked into a Charles Manson-like cult, seduced by the blissed-out, feral girls in the commune leader’s entourage…The novel has been lavishly praised by writers like Jennifer Egan, who called Ms. Cline “a thrilling new voice in American fiction,” and Richard Ford. With all the hype, Ms. Cline’s book, out June 14, seems to have a good shot at becoming the must-read novel of the summer.”—Alexandra Alter, The New York Times “This breathtaking novel — about a young woman entangled in a Mansonesque cult — is so accomplished that it’s hard to believe it’s a debut. Cline’s powerful characters linger long after the final page.”—Entertainment Weekly (Summer Must List) “[T]he debut novel that the publishing world can’t stop talking about. It’s a coming-of-age story, set in Northern California in the late 1960s, that involves a thoughtful teenage girl who drifts into a Charles Manson-like cult. This promises to be a perceptive page-turner, a volume to haunt summer’s warm nights.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times THE GIRLS has also drawn words of praise from established writers of note, including Lena Dunham and Richard Ford: “Emma Cline has an unparalleled eye for the intricacies of girlhood, turning the stuff of myth into something altogether more intimate. THE GIRLS destroys our ability to consider violence a foreign territory, and reminds us that behind so many of our culture’s fables exists a girl: unseen, unheard, angry. This book will break your heart and blow your mind.”—Lena Dunham ” THE GIRLS is a brilliant and intensely consuming novel—imposing not just for a writer so young, but for any writer, any time.”—Richard Ford Last month, Random House hosted a special in-house book club for 50 Penguin Random House employees from a wide representation of divisions and job roles. They met to enthusiastically discuss the book with their colleagues over snacks and California wine, in honor of the author’s home state. Emma greeted, chatted with guests, signed advance copies of THE GIRLS, and answered questions about the book in an open Q&A. Here Emma talks about her lifelong love of books and bookstores: “Books have always been essential for me. Growing up as one of seven children, everything was limited or shared. The only exception my parents made was for books—my hometown bookstore, Reader’s Books, was the one place I was allowed to pick out as many of something as I wanted. I still feel that sense of limitless magic in bookstores, and gratitude to the booksellers who are passionate about books and connecting with readers.” Major features are in Vogue and The New York Times.  Interviews have also appeared inRefinery29, Wired, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Tin House, with reviews in The New York Times Book Review,  The New Yorker, USA Today, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune,among other outlets.  There is also coverage in  O, The Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Good Housekeeping, Coastal Living, US Weekly, Paper, W, Town & Country, Redbook, Bust, AP, Slate, Buzzfeed…and the list goes on. Emma’s book launch event is Tuesday night (6/14) at BookCourt in Brooklyn. Her book tour will also make stops in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area before returning to for more events in New York City, including a Random House Open House (7/22).

Published in 2014, WE WERE LIARS became a bestseller, was nominated for several awards, and received many favorable reviews for its shock factor and sharp writing. It won the Goodreads Choice Award and was Amazon's #1 YA novel of 2014. Lockhart is also the author of the young adult novel FLY ON THE WALL and the Ruby Oliver Quartet series. Her novel DISREPUTABLE HISTORY was a Printz Award honor book, a finalist for the National Book Award, and the recipient of the Cybils Award for best young adult novel. Lockhart is among the hundreds of YA authors participating in Barnes & Noble’s B-Fest, a three-day event celebrating the best books for teens. Activities surrounding author appearances begin on Friday, June 10 and last through Sunday, June 12. B-Fest represents the biggest weekend of author events in B&N history and features trivia, giveaways, sweepstakes, games, and creative workshops.

FEATURED TITLES MOM edited by Dave Isay Featuring StoryCorps’ most revealing stories on the subject, MOM looks across a diversity of experience to offer an entirely original portrait of motherhood. In conversations between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings and friends, the life of the American mother unfolds POP by Curt Pires; Illustrated by Jason Copland As unique as it is entertaining, POP is a white-knuckled thrill ride through the marketing-mastered, technologically-tethered tragicomedy we call life. EVE by Elissa Elliott In this mesmerizing debut novel, Elissa Elliott blends biblical tradition with recorded history to put a powerful new twist on the story of creation’s first family. Here is Eve brought to life in a way religion and myth have never allowed–as a wife, a mother, and a woman. ADA, OR ARDOR by Vladimir Nabokov Published two weeks after his seventieth birthday, Ada, or Ardor is one of Nabokov’s greatest masterpieces. It tells a love story troubled by incest. But more: it is also at once a fairy tale, epic, philosophical treatise on the nature of time, parody of the history of the novel, and erotic catalogue. ADA, OR ARDOR is no less than the supreme work of an imagination at white heat. MADAM by Cari Lynn, Kellie Martin New Orleans, 1900. Mary Deubler makes a meager living as an “alley whore.” That all changes when bible-thumping Alderman Sidney Story forces the creation of a red-light district that’s mockingly dubbed “Storyville.” MADDADDAM by Margaret Atwood Bringing together characters from ORYX AND CRAKE and THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD, this thrilling conclusion to Margaret Atwood’s speculative fiction trilogy confirms the ultimate endurance of humanity, community, and love.   FOR YOUNG READERS TOOT by Kirsten Hall; Illustrated by Charlie Alder Toot is a little red train who wishes he were as big and strong and fast as the other trains in the railroad yard. Try as he might, he’s never able look as mighty, pull as much, or go as fast as all the others. But when there’s trouble on the track, Toot learns that sometimes being small and slow and steady is just what’s needed. HANNAH by Gloria Whelan, Leslie Bowman Nine-year-old Hannah would do almost anything to go to school with all the other children in town. But Hannah is blind, and her parents keep her at home, where she is safe. Then Lydia Robbin, a strong-willed teacher, comes to town and convinces Hannah’s parents to send her to school. At first Hannah is overjoyed. But she soon learns that there are many obstacles—and people—that stand in her way. Hannah will need tremendous courage to prove to her classmates, her parents, and herself that Miss Robbin was right to believe in her.   Visit the edelweiss collection: Palindrome Titles

Congratulations to Ms. McInerney, her publisher and everyone involved with this extraordinary work. A searing debut novel about life on the fringes of Ireland’s post-crash society, THE GLORIOUS HERESIES is biting, darkly funny, and presents an unforgettable vision of a city plagued by poverty and exploitation, where salvation still awaits in the most unexpected places. The chair of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction judges was Margaret Mountford. This year’s judging panel also consisted of former Everything But the Girl singer Tracey Thorn, Viking/Penguin novelist Elif Shafak, journalist Laurie Penny and BBC Breakfast presenter, Naga Munchetty.

Penguin Random House is the longstanding Publishing Sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park.

Leblox to create 3D heads of some of the imprint’s most iconic authors, such as Marlon James, Lauren Groff, Junot Diaz, and others. Anyone who makes a donation of $250 or more to Libraries Without Borders will receive a 3D head of the author of their choosing! All donations must be made by June 30.  Go to this website for more details: http://app.snapapp.com/Riverhead3D

Scribner, Random House, and the Wylie Agency.  Among the many award-winning, bestselling Penguin Press authors whose books Scott has edited are: Phil Klay, Krista Tippett, Dave Isay, Ottessa Moshfegh, Alan Greenspan, Bryan Burrough, Tony Judt, John Lewis Gaddis, Liaquat Ahamed, Niall Ferguson, Phil Jackson, Urban Meyer, Ian Buruma, Jordan Ellenberg, and Moby. A lot of musician memoirs have been ghost-written or cobbled together with co-authors, whereas PORCELAIN clearly was not. What was your initial impression of Moby’s “writing voice” and his ability to tell his life story in book form? We don’t publish very much in the way of so-called celebrity memoir, the product of a personage talking into a tape recorder and then having a journalist add water, and often many other ingredients, and bake.  We do, on the other hand, publish a fair number of so-called literary memoirs, memoirs where what you’re selling is the voice, the sensibility, the world, the storytelling power to bring readers deeply into the human drama and/or the human comedy in question.  It’s in those terms that we responded to the proposal for Moby’s memoir when it was first submitted by his agent Daniel Greenberg.  At that stage, it consisted of a number of stories from different points along the arc of the book.  It was clear he was a very fine, subtle writer: funny, very sharp about the different landscapes he was passing through.  Best of all he didn’t take himself too seriously but he was and is an honest romantic about music and the alt-culture that flourishes around it, including the sort of rebel angels who give their lives to it, of whom he is clearly one.  When you sense that someone really is a very good writer, someone whose writing on just about anything is a pleasure, well, you think, sign me up!  I’ll follow him anywhere. Moby uses a lot of first-person narrative that is woven together with reflections, recreated scenes and dialog.  How would you describe the editor/author process that resulted in the creation of this structure that worked so well?  Moby has an absolutely uncanny memory.  He remembers experiences with extraordinary sensory specificity.  Talk about having good film in the camera eye.  Scene by scene there was very little editorial work needed.  For me it was more about prodding him occasionally to step back and provide context and some interstitial material.  Also, Moby very sweetly wasn’t initially as sure as I was that readers would find the creative process of making his music fascinating and indeed essential to the book’s overall aims.  I think it was also simply that he was a little too close to it, not surprisingly: I remember him saying, when I pointed out to him that there was a relative dearth of stories about the making of the music itself, that his initial web site for his restaurant did not, his friends pointed out to him, have any pictures of the food! What is it about the nature of this memoir and some of the experiences Moby delves into that could appeal to a wide range of readers beyond his fan-base and also potentially turn some readers off? As he has said more eloquently than I could, he made a decision to be frank and unvarnished about the dark side of things – about anxieties, about sources of sadness and pain, about hideously dysfunctional coping mechanisms you might say.  This book contains detailed descriptions of what can only be called degenerate behavior.  Now, obviously, the easily offendable will be easily offended.  If you want to keep it on the light and breezy side, the shallow end of the pool as it were, please, stay away!   But for anyone who’s ever struggled honestly with their own demons, well, I’m biased, but I can’t imagine who wouldn’t be touched by this.  And inspired – ultimately it’s a story about a person who found a calling and persevered in it, despite a fairly amazing list of reasons it all shouldn’t have worked out.  I don’t think Moby ever tries to make himself look brave, in fact quite the opposite, and he certainly never uses the word, but “bravery” is one of the great echoing chords of PORCELAIN for me.

Breaking free of screen time to enjoy a hike, walk, swim or to fish, camp or birdwatch is rejuvenating and so important for children who are typically spending 5 to 7 hours on a screen daily. To inspire your outings, we’ve rounded up some adventurous and beautiful narrative nonfiction as well as books with kids in mind. Join these authors as they navigate America’s trails, rivers, waves and wilderness with humor and insight.   Learn more about National Great Outdoors Month events, including Governor and Capitol Campouts by visiting: Great Outdoors Month.   FEATURED TITLES   THE BEST OF OUTSIDE: THE FIRST 20 YEARS by Mark Bryant, Outside Magazine Editors, Thomas McGuane For years, Outside magazine has set the standard for original and engaging reports on travel, adventure, sports, and the environment. Along the way, many of America’s best journalists and storytellers – such as Jon Krakauer, Tim Cahill, E. Annie Proulx, Edward Abbey, Thomas McGuane, David Quammen, and Jane Smiley  - have made the magazine a venue for some of their most compelling work.   GOODBYE TO A RIVER: A NARRATIVE by John Graves In the 1950s, a series of dams was proposed along the Brazos River in north-central Texas. Graves therefore decided to visit that stretch of the river, which he had known intimately as a youth. Goodbye to a River is his account of that farewell canoe voyage.   BRAVING IT: A FATHER, A DAUGHTER, AND AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY INTO THE ALASKAN WILD by James Campbell The powerful and affirming story of a father’s journey with his teenage daughter to the far reaches of Alaska.   WILD: FROM LOST TO FOUND ON THE PACIFIC CREST TRAIL by Cheryl Strayed In the wake of her mother’s death, with no experience or training and driven only by blind will, Cheryl Strayed hiked more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—alone.   A WALK IN THE WOODS: REDISCOVERING AMERICA ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL by Bill Bryson Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. To a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.   TRESPASSING ACROSS AMERICA: ONE MAN’S EPIC, NEVER-DONE-BEFORE (AND SORT OF ILLEGAL) HIKE ACROSS THE HEARTLAND by Ken Ilgunas Told with sincerity, humor, and wit, Trespassing Across America is both a fascinating account of one man’s remarkable journey along the Keystone XL pipeline and a meditation on climate change, the beauty of the natural world, and the extremes to which we can push ourselves—both physically and mentally.   THE MAINE WOODS by Henry David Thoreau, Introduction by Edward Hoagland “Here was traveling of the old heroic kind over the unaltered face of nature.” -Henry David Thoreau Over a period of three years, Thoreau made three trips to the largely unexplored woods of Maine. He climbed mountains, paddled a canoe by moonlight, and dined on cedar beer, hemlock tea and moose lips.   LET THEM BE EATEN BY BEARS: A FEARLESS GUIDE TO TAKING OUR KIDS INTO THE GREAT OUTDOORS By Peter Brown Hoffmeister Based on the author’s acclaimed Integrated Outdoor Program, LET THEM BE EATEN BY BEARS is an inspiring guide to getting kids to enjoy and appreciate nature.   BARBARIAN DAYS: A SURFING LIFE by William Finnegan Winner of the Pulitzer Prize! BARBARIAN DAYS is a deeply-rendered self-portrait of a life-long surfer by the acclaimed New Yorker journalist. Surfing looks like a sport, but that’s only to outsiders. To initiates, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.     FOR YOUNG READERS   MAX GOES FISHING (Grosset & Dunlap) Ages 3 to 5 Ruby and the Bunny Scouts are going canoeing to get their canoeing badges. Meanwhile, Max is fishing with his toy duck. When Ruby’s canoe is accidentally let loose, Max saves the day by using his fishing pole to bring it back!   GREAT THINGS TO DO OUTSIDE (DK Publishing) Ages 5 to 9 Get kids away from the TV, unplug, and step into the great outdoors with GREAT THINGS TO DO OUTSIDE. Consisting of practical projects to do outside ranging from simple observation activities like bird watching, hunting for fossils, observing air power, and forecasting the weather, to more ambitious projects.   For more information on these and related titles visit: National Great Outdoors Month titles.  

optometrist and moving from her house, she finds herself on a wild journey that may or may not include a second chance at love. Georgia’s bravery reminds us that it’s never too late to become the person you want to be, and that taking chances, with your life and your heart, are always worthwhile.   Big-hearted, genuine, and very universal, I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU shows what can happen when you face your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to life, love, and the possibility of a new direction. It’s everything you’ve always loved about Terry McMillan. Here is a sampling of the high praise and advance buzz Terry McMillan’s new book has received: “Terry McMillan’s novels have always been about telling the uncensored truth about friends, family, lovers, and oneself.  Through addictively revealing conversations–including an instructive one about the sexual prowess of men who made the A list–McMillan’s narrator is the ideal running commentator on what smart women do to reach the pinnacle of success and what they must do to get the hell out before it’s too late. It’s a story about both reinvention and acceptance, told in McMillan’s quintessential voice, now even more expansive, prismatically perceptive, and laugh-aloud generous in how we talk about love and all its wonders.” – Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement   “One of my favorite authors since I read Waiting to Exhale in college, Terry McMillan has done it again with this one. Overflowing with her trademark heart and humor, I Almost Forgot About You will inspire you to live a little bigger. I wish Georgia weren’t fictional—I would find her and befriend her.” —Emily Giffin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of First Comes Love and Something Borrowed “Fans of McMillan will welcome this new addition to her oeuvre. Here is McMillan’s trademark style in full, feisty effect: strong, complicated female characters, energetic prose, and an entertaining, seductive narrative. A heartwarming story that reminds us of the pure joy of believing in love.” –Kirkus Reviews

A LOWCOUNTRY HEARTcollects some of Conroy's most charming pieces of short nonfiction, many of them addressed directly to his readers with his habitual greeting, "Hey Out There." Ranging across diverse subjects such as favorite recent reads, the challenge of motivating to exercise, and processing the loss of dearly-missed friends, Conroy's lighthearted and eminently memorable pieces offer a unique window into the life of a true titan of Southern writing. In addition, A LOWCOUNTRY HEART also includes some of Conroy's most beloved speeches and interviews, a touching letter to his grandson, and a beautiful introduction from his widow, the novelist Cassandra King. Finally, the collection turns to remembrances of "The Great Conroy," as he is lovingly titled by friends, including his eulogy. This moving tribute is sure to be a cherished keepsake for any true Conroy fan, and a lasting monument to one of the best-loved writers of contemporary American letters. Nan A. Talese’s note to the reader in A LOWCOUNTRY HEART says: “When Pat Conroy died, we all felt bereft. He had sent me less than 200 pages of his new novel, The Storms of Aquarius, about four male friends and teachers who came of age during the Vietnam War years, which he very much wanted to finish, but that was not to be. We are still searching his journals for more on this novel, and at some point we may have something to share with you. However, because we did not want his faithful readers to be without something from him we gathered together his various nonfiction pieces and we asked his wife,  writer Cassandra King, to contribute an introduction.” A LOWCOUNTRY HEART will be published the day before what would have been Conroy’s 71st birthday.  The author of eleven previous books, which, in addition to THE PRINCE OF TIDES and THE GREAT SANTINI, included THE WATER IS WIDE, BEACH MUSIC  and SOUTH OF BROAD. Mr. Conroy died on March 4, 2016.

Teen transgender rights advocate Jazz Jennings has been named the second Read Proud Listen Proud Author Ambassador. Jennings follows STONEWALL author Ann Bausum and narrator Tim Federle, who kicked off the awareness initiative last year. Jennings is a role model for fellow LGBTQ teens, speaking out for equality and acceptance via her groundbreaking TV series, I Am Jazz (the second season premieres on TLC June 8), TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, picture book I AM JAZZ, and memoir BEING JAZZ: MY LIFE AS A (TRANSGENDER) TEEN (on sale June 7). Time named Jennings one of the most influential teens of 2014 and 2015, and I Am Jazz was recently recognized alongside I Am Caitas Outstanding Reality Program at the 2016 GLAAD Media Awards. The redesigned site includes new features like an interview with Jazz in the recording studio, additional reading and listening recommendations (now including LGBTQ titles from Random House Children’s Books), and plenty of new content and resources from authors like Donna Gephardt, Jazz Jennings, Justin Sayre and C. Alexander London.  Buzz surrounding the site is continuing to grow, particularly from the YA blogger and library communities. In anticipation and celebration of the relaunch and Pride Month, the Listening Library team gave out 800 rainbow sunglasses and sponsored a rainbow tote beach read giveaway at BookCon (round two coming up at ALA Annual in Orlando), and with the help of TLC, will distribute hundreds more sunglasses at the DC & NYC Pride Parades this month. Please help spread the word by sharing the site URL using #readproudlistenproud!

in Publishers Weekly, showed audio is one of the fastest growing segments of publishing. So listen up and spread the word  about your favorites using #loveaudiobooks!   FEATURED TITLES ME BEFORE YOU: A NOVEL (Movie Tie-In) by Jojo Moyes; Narrated by a full cast Soon to be a major motion picture: US release June 3, 2016 ME BEFORE YOU brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heart-breaking romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?   ELIGIBLE: A MODERN RETELLING OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Curtis Sittenfeld; narrated by Cassandra Campbell This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home …   LILAC GIRLS: A NOVEL by Martha Hall Kelly; narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati and Kathrin Kana Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.   THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR: A NOVEL by Helen Simonson; narrated by Fiona Hardingham The bestselling author of MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND returns with a breathtaking novel of love on the eve of World War I that reaches far beyond the small English town in which it is set. “A novel to cure your Downton Abbey withdrawal.”—The Washington Post   THE WIDOW by Fiona Barton; narrated by Hannah Curtis, Nicholas Guy Smith An engrossing and thrilling debut novel of psychological suspense, for fans of novels such as GONE GIRL and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, from a major new talent.   WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi, narrated by Abraham Verghese, Sunil Malhotra For fans of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Anne Lamott, this inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?   THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBLING: ADVENTURES OF AN AMERICAN IN BRITAIN by Bill Bryson; narrated by Nathan Osgood A loving and hilarious—if occasionally spiky—valentine to Bill Bryson’s adopted country, Great Britain. Prepare for total joy and multiple episodes of unseemly laughter.   CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND: A NOVEL by Kevin Kwan narrated by Lydia Look A wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia’s most eligible bachelor, discovers her birthfather.   THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN: A NOVEL by Paula Hawkins; narrated by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey… The phenomenal debut thriller about a woman who becomes personally and emotionally entangled in a murder investigation because of what she witnesses on her daily commute. Blockbuster film is set to release on October 7, 2016.   THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE: A FLAVIA DE LUCE MYSTERY by Alan Bradley; narrated by Jane Entwistle It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak and a dying man lying in a cucumber patch.   FOR YOUNGER READERS SALT TO  THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys; narrated by Jorjeana Marie, Will Damron… For readers of BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY and ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, bestselling author Ruta Sepetys returns to WWII in this epic novel that shines a light on one of the war’s most devastating—yet unknown—tragedies.   ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman; Narrated by Jay Kristoff, Olivia Taylor Dudley, … This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.   AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir; narrated by Fiona Hardingham, Steve West Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, AN EMBER IN THE ASHES is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.   THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall; narrated by Julia Whelan Avery West’s newfound family is part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.   For more information on these and other popular audiobooks visit the collections: Listening Library Audio Bestsellers

(Vice President, Content Production, Penguin Random House Audio, and co-host of “This is the Author”). The panel was moderated by Michael Goldsmith, Publicity Manager, Doubleday, who kept things moving at a brisk pace, sparking many interesting insights. Pictured left to right: Pat Stango, Dan Zitt, Abbe Wright, Lindsay Jacobsen, Karen Dziekonski and Michael Goldsmith. Here are some highlights: Lindsay Jacobsen has produced 121 episodes of the author podcast Beaks & Geeks with her co-host Amy Brinker, garnering an international audience and thousands of downloads per month. Lindsay revealed that her favorite episode features Blue Rider Press author, Damien Echols, who was falsely convicted of three murders and spent nearly eighteen years on Death Row. Beaks & Geeks fosters candid conversations, and Mr. Echols shares gut-wrenching details about his unfathomable incarceration and poignant love letters to his wife, Lorri, in episode #22. Dan Zitt said, “We’ll do whatever it takes to sell audiobooks,” and the “This Is the Author” podcasts are presented in a way that draws in listeners to Penguin Random House Audio titles. Karen Dziekonski revealed, “We’ll spend three or four days immersed in the recording studio, working with our team, making sure all of the details for each production sound just right.” Among the recent episodes of “This Is the Author” are entertaining commentaries from such Penguin Random House authors as Moby (PORCELAIN), James Renner ( TRUE CRIME ADDICT), Andi Dorfman (IT’S NOT OKAY) and Rich Cohen (THE SUN & THE MOON & THE ROLLING STONES). Abbe Wright, Read It Forward‘s editor, produces and hosts Book Club Appetizer, featuring fifteen-minute “snack-able podcasts to kick off your book club meetings, or enhance your solo reading adventures.” The current “Appetizer” podcast of the moment: a Q&A with author Camille Perri on her new book  THE ASSISTANTS (G.P. Putnam’s Sons). Abbe said, “At ten minutes,  the interview is a ‘light lift’ for authors. And with one episode a month, I can coordinate timing with books’ release dates and have the next six months mapped out.” Pat Stango admitted that his podcast, “How to Watch Movies the Right Way,” “is not about books. But I tell people to watch the movies AND read the books.” And while he will discuss individual big and small films, he will also focus on a body of work, such as the Star Wars franchise, and presents fun features such as the “Summer Movie Fantasy Draft!” The event concluded with a lively audience Q&A.  

annual dinner event Tuesday night at the Pierre Hotel in New York, which raised more than $670,000 for the philanthropy’s many endeavors to support its network of non-profit service organizations. Pictured: The Brothers Applebaum: Stuart (l) and Irwyn with the Harry Scherman Service Award. Stuart’s brother Irwyn, former President & Publisher of Bantam Doubleday Dell, delivered heartfelt and amusing remarks in tribute to his brother, “Applebaum the Elder,” noting Stuart’s sagacity, creative prowess, and work ethic. Irwyn also related  that his brother was the embodiment of “Stu-dakah,” a variation on the traditional Jewish word,tzedakah, for generous acts of charity. Greeted by a warm and enthusiastic standing ovation as he took the stage, Stuart accepted his award with characteristic other-directedness and signature eloquence, noting that working at Penguin Random House is still his dream career: “For me, it’s all very simple: I love to work. And I love to work—full tilt, full time—at Penguin Random House. And I REALLY love to work with my Penguin Random House dear colleagues, who have turned out tonight in alarmingly large numbers. The stimulation, encouragement, and inspiration I receive every day from their publishing smarts—and their heart—galvanizes me nonstop.” Stuart dedicated the award to his father, an executive with UJA-FNY’s predecessor organization, Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, who inspired his belief in UJA-FNY’s mission and his dedication to giving back philanthropically through his Stuart S. Applebaum Giving Foundation. A tribute video starring his Penguin Random House colleagues offers further testimony to Stuart’s service, and his 52/24/7 commitment to being a great communicator about our company and champion of our publishers and our authors, helping them to reach the widest possible readership for their books. Scroll over the screen and click the start button to begin the video. UJA-Federation has presented its publishing division dinner for nearly 50 years to recognize professionals in the industry who demonstrate the highest levels of leadership and philanthropy, both at work and in the community. This year’s evening was hosted by realtor Ryan Serhant, star of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, New York television series.  Steve Potash, President and CEO of OverDrive, Inc., was also honored at the event. Our CEO Markus Dohle was honored at the dinner in 2014. Past recipients of the Harry Scherman Service Award include Random House Children’s Books’ Barbara Marcus.

The mountain represents the ultimate test of man vs. nature and many books have been written about it – including those about Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay who were the first climbers to reach the summit in 1953. Perhaps the most well-known book about climbing Mt. Everest is Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air”, but the author expressed regrets about the climb last year: “I wish I’d never gone,” he told HuffPost Live . “I suffered for years with (post-traumatic stress disorder), still suffer from what happened. I’m glad I wrote a book about it, but you know, if I could go back and relive my life, I never would have climbed Everest.” Headline: Body of climber who died on Everest finally retrieved (CBS)

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                  FEATURED TITLES: LEFT FOR DEAD: MY JOURNEY HOME FROM EVEREST by Beck Weathers, Stephen G. Michaud In 1996 Beck Weathers and a climbing team pushed toward the summit of Mount Everest. Then a storm exploded on the mountain, ripping the team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl for their lives. Tie-in to “Everest”, starring Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, and Robin Wright. THE CALL OF EVEREST: THE HISTORY, SCIENCE, AND FUTURE OF THE WORLD’S TALLEST PEAK by Conrad Anker, Thomas Hornbein, Bernadette McDonald, David Breashears Gripping and sumptuous, this is the definitive book on the history, mystique, and science of Mount Everest, including how climate change is impacting the world’s tallest mountain. DEAD LUCKY: LIFE AFTER DEATH ON MOUNT EVEREST by Lincoln Hall Lincoln Hall’s breathtaking account of surviving a night in Everest’s “death zone.” INTO THE SILENCE: THE GREAT WAR, MALLORY, AND THE CONQUEST OF EVEREST by Wade Davis The definitive story of the British adventurers who survived the trenches of World War I and went on to risk their lives climbing Mount Everest. EVEREST, REVISED AND UPDATED: MOUNTAIN WITHOUT MERCY by Broughton Coburn The terror and triumph of the May 1996 climbing season on Mount Everest will go down in infamy. Made famous by Jon Krakauer’s bestseller INTO THIN AIR and recounted in David Breashears’s gripping IMAX film, the story is relayed in National Geographic’s gripping volume, updated with brilliant new panoramic photography. INTO THIN AIR: A PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF THE MT. EVEREST DISASTER by Jon Krakauer A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that “suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.” He was wrong.   FOR YOUNG READERS: WHERE IS MOUNT EVEREST? by Nico Medina, John Hinderliter, David Groff - Ages 8 to 12 In this compelling narrative, Nico Medina guides readers through the mountain’s ancient beginnings, first human settlers, historic climbs, and the modern commercialization of mountain-climbing. TRIUMPH ON EVEREST: A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR EDMUND HILLARY by Broughton Coburn – Ages 10 and up This exciting photobiography celebrates the extraordinary life of the New Zealand farm boy who in May 1953 became the first person known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. With climbing partner Tenzing Norgay, the iron-willed Hillary crossed deadly icefalls, clawed his way up vertical walls, and persevered through gale-force winds until he finally stood at the top of the world.   For more information on these and related titles visit the Edelweiss collection:  Mount Everest Titles

Emma Straub is the author of the New York Times bestseller THE VACATIONERS and LAURA LAMONT’S LIFE IN PICTURES. THE VACATIONERS became a must-have beach read in 2015 and with its promising advance praise, Straub’s latest novel MODERN LOVERS is making its way on to the beach-ready book lists of summer, 2016. With reviews pouring in from Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Huffington Post, and many more, MODERN LOVERS looks to be another hit for Straub who packs wisdom and humor into this coming of age novel for adults. Set against a Brooklyn summer backdrop, the characters in MODERN LOVERS are friends and former college bandmates who learn what it means to finally grow up as their children reach maturity and the passions and secrets from their own youth follow them into their middle-age years. Joining Straub in conversation is Meg Wolitzer, author of the New York Times bestseller, THE INTERESTINGS. In her latest Riverhead book, Wolitzer, like Straub, explores the relationship between youth and middle-age along with the friendships, talents, and roles that grow and change through the years. Celebrated for her insight and ambition, Wolitzer garnered widespread praise for THE INTERESTINGS which joins her novel THE TEN-YEAR NAP in her catalog of highly regarded bestsellers. Visit barnesandnoble.com to add this event to your calendar.

(intelligent, self-doubting, cautious, discontented suburban wife and mother) are the kind of women, with a kind of opposites-attract friendship, we all know. But when Jane experiences a profound psychological and spiritual crisis, and Bonnie tumbles into an affair with Jane’s husband, their relationship enters an explosive and highly unconventional territory, with surprising and unexpectedly rich outcomes that neither of them ever could have predicted.  SHE POURED OUT HER HEART is a finely wrought, haunting story of female friendship and deception and an exploration of love’s wild and dramatic complexities. Jean Thompson tells us, “I set out to write a love story.  Then things got complicated.” Buzz around the book has been high, with brilliant early reviews:

• “With piercing empathy and incandescent humor, Thompson considers the riddles of sexual passion and love, self and change, loyalty and forgiveness, forging an engrossing novel of crackling insights and ambushing drama.” – Booklist (Starred review)

 

• “National Book Award finalist Thompson illustrates the sometimes-ugly complexities of women’s friendships in an account of a decades-long relationship between two very different women…Thompson’s many fans will…find moments of clarity and insight in this parallel character study.” – Publishers Weekly

 

• “Both Jane and Bonnie are well-crafted characters, reflecting Thompson’s consistent knack for capturing the emotional seas within seemingly conventional middle-class Midwesterners. (She’s also excellent at depicting children, so often an afterthought in such novels.)” – Kirkus Reviews

  SHE POURED OUT HER HEART was recently named one of Harper’s Bazaar’s best books of summer, and anticipation is building among online bloggers, reviewers, and Instagrammers (the cover is as irresistible as the read! https://www.instagram.com/p/BFReqSLl1tn/) Thompson appears this summer at Chicago’s Printer’s Row Festival, and SHE POURED OUT HER HEART is expected to be reviewed widely, from Cosmopolitan and InStyle to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and more.

the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” Our featured titles, by and about our military, honor the sacrifices made by these men and women in wars ranging from The Civil War to Iraq.   To learn more visit: Memorial Day (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs) FEATURED TITLES: THE MATHEWS MEN: SEVEN BROTHERS AND THE WAR AGAINST HITLER'S U-BOATS by William Geroux One of the last unheralded heroic stories of World War II: The U-Boat assault off the American coast against the Merchant Marines who were supplying the European war, and one community’s monumental contribution to that effort   LEGEND: THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF GREEN BERET SERGEANT ROY BENAVIDEZ'S HEROIC MISSION TO RESCUE A SPECIAL FORCES TEAM CAUGHT BEHIND ENEMY LINES by Eric Blehm Legend tells the heroic story of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, and Benavidez’s nearly suicidal rescue mission that saved eight lives and ultimately earned Benavidez a nomination for the Congressional Medal of Honor.   RED PLATOON: A TRUE STORY OF AMERICAN VALOR by Clinton Romesha Red Platoon is the riveting first-hand account of the Battle of Keating, told by Romesha, who spearheaded both the defense of the outpost and the counter-attack that drove the Taliban back beyond the wire, and received the Medal of Honor for his actions.   THE PACIFIC by Hugh Ambrose The New York Times bestselling official companion book to the Emmy(r) Award-winning HBO(r) miniseries. Between America’s retreat from China in late November 1941 and the moment General MacArthur’s airplane touched down on the Japanese mainland in August of 1945, five men connected by happenstance fought the key battles of the war against Japan.   VETERANS' VOICES: REMARKABLE STORIES OF HEROISM, SACRIFICE, AND HONOR by Robert H. Miller, Andrew Wakeford Through intimate photographs and poignant stories, this heart-rending book showcases the courage, heroics, and sacrifice of selected U.S. soldiers and veterans. This deeply moving, timely celebration of veterans highlights the heroes in our midst by bringing these brave men and women to life. Veterans Voices blends beauty and impact and gorgeous photographic displays with inspiring storytelling.   A HIGHER CALL: AN INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF COMBAT AND CHIVALRY IN THE WAR-TORN SKIES OF WORLD WAR II by Adam Makos, Larry Alexander December, 1943: A badly damaged American bomber struggles to fly over wartime Germany. At the controls is twenty-one-year-old Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown. Half his crew lay wounded or dead on this, their first mission. Suddenly, a Messerschmitt fighter pulls up on the bomber’s tail. The pilot is German ace Franz Stigler—and he can destroy the young American crew with the squeeze of a trigger... What happened next would defy imagination.   A FEW GOOD WOMEN: AMERICA'S MILITARY WOMEN FROM WORLD WAR I TO THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN by Evelyn M. Monahan, Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee In this riveting narrative history, women veterans from the world wars, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq tell their extraordinary stories. Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee spent fifteen years combing through archives, journals, histories, and news reports, and gathering thousands of eyewitness accounts, letters, and interviews for this unprecedented chronicle of America’s “few good women.”   FORTY-SEVEN DAYS: HOW PERSHING'S WARRIORS CAME OF AGE TO DEFEAT THE GERMAN ARMY IN WORLD WAR I by Mitchell Yockelson A definitive account of the U.S. First Army’s astonishing triumph in America’s bloodiest battle of the World War I. The Battle of the Muese-Argonne—the deadliest clash in American history. More than a million untested American soldiers went up against a better-trained and experienced German Army, costing over 26,000 deaths and nearly a hundred thousand wounded.   THE CIVIL WAR by Geoffrey C. Ward, Kenneth Burns The complete text of the bestselling narrative history of the Civil War--based on the celebrated PBS television series interweaves the author's narrative with the voices of the men and women who lived through the cataclysmic trial of our nationhood and also includes essays by our most distinguished historians of the era.   TOUGH AS THEY COME by Travis Mills and Marcus Brotherton; Foreword by Gary Sinise In this powerful combat memoir, retired paratrooper and quadruple amputee SSG Travis Mills describes how his faith and his mantra of “never give up—never quit” has helped him rebuild his life since Afghanistan.   For more information about these and related titles visit the collection:  Memorial Day 2016  

Readers can have their questions answered and discussed as Random House Children’s Books invites Dashner fans worldwide to participate in a discussion of one title in the series each month.  The reread will kick off on May 27 with THE MAZE RUNNER—fans can submit questions via the James Dashner Facebook page. Selected questions will then be discussed by the author and his editor, Krista Marino, in a series of live Google Hangouts during the last week of each month. The first Google Hangout with Dashner and Marino will happen the week of June 27. Specific details will be posted on the Facebook page and shared via social media.        Rereads of  THE SCORCH TRIALS begin on June 27, followed by  THE DEATH CURE on July 27, and  THE KILL ORDER on August 27. Questions can again be submitted via Facebook, and a book-club-style discussion will occur at the end of each month. The Google Hangout for THE KILL ORDER at the end of August will lead right into the publication of THE FEVER CODE on September 27. Bloggers are encouraged to take part in the binge read, and those participating will receive a number of signed Dashner books to give away. What better way to celebrate the start of summer than by revisiting a beloved series and introducing the books to new fans? Look for the first two chapters of THE FEVER CODE, recently revealed in the paperback edition of THE RULE OF THOUGHTS, to be discussed in the Maze Runner Google Hangout as well. Titles are available wherever books are sold. The series has sold over 14 million copies in all formats. To learn more about Dashner and his books, visit jamesdashner.com, follow @jamesdashner on Twitter, and find @dashnerjames on Instagram.

Mr. Miller to paint the Penguin book-themed paintings that were donated by Richard Berzine, a Penguin business partner pre-merger, to hang in company offices around the world. To read a Financial Times article about what sparked Mr. Miller’s sardonic artistic takes on Penguin book covers and the origination of this project, click here. Mr. Miller’s “Penguin Plays” painting was installed near Ms. McIntosh’s 4th floor office, with Mr. Makinson (right) and Mr. Berzine shown raising their glasses to the art. The “There’s No Business Like No Business!” painting was hung in the 375 Hudson ground floor lobby, with Ms. McIntosh, Mr. Makinson, Mr. Berzine and Penguin Young Readers President Jen Loja framing the canvas.   In celebration of this unique marriage of art and literature, a global social media event is unfolding as we herald the arrival and installation of these paintings at Penguin Random House locations worldwide with photos and messages on our Twitter and Facebook pages as well as our Penguin Random House websites. In addition to 375 Hudson Street in New York, Mr. Miller’s artwork is also being displayed in company offices in London, Toronto, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. We are encouraging everyone to share pictures of and comments about Penguin Random House’s Harland Miller painting installation using the hashtag #PenguinRandomArt.  

In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, a number of Penguin Random House imprints are publishing new editions of the Bard’s works as well as alternate takes on Shakespeare for young readers and those in need of a refresher. Here is a selection:            Signature, the site that is “making well-read sense of the world,” recently posted these interesting Shakespeare pieces: An Ode to Shakespeare from Kurt Vonnegut, The Art of Political Rebellion on Shakespeare’s Stage and An Illustrated Starter Guide to Phrases Coined by Shakespeare.

1.   Add our #Readathon2016 Badge to your Facebook profile picture today! 2.  Read Markus Dohle's latest blog post to Penguin Random Houseemployees to find out how he is celebrating National Readathon Day. 3.  Commit to support early childhood literacy by contributing to our Facebook Donate campaign. 4.  Get ready for the weekend with a post from Bustle, and catch up on stories from DBW here and here. 5.  Download our handy one-sheet with tips and ideas on how to host a Readathon Day party. 6.  Follow #Readathon2016 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 7.  Watch these authors talk about their best binge reads and get ready for your own. Happy Reading!

When the trailer for the film adaptation of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN debuted a few weeks ago, I was reminded of reading Paula Hawkins’s novel during the 2015 National Readathon Day, which was on January 24 last year. What an amazing ride we’ve had with that book—one that I know will only continue as more and more people learn about this thrilling story through the movie. Word of mouth is still the primary way that people get connected to potential new reads. Only now that “word” also gets delivered by tweets, Instagrams, and Facebook posts. The power of grassroots movements is inspiring, and social media has brought new and powerful ways to share and connect over common causes. Just look at last year’s Red Nose Day or the Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014. We also can’t underestimate the ability that we as Penguin Random House have to use our scale and reach for good. As a community of over 10,000 passionate colleagues, we have the potential to be more than a company. We can have an impact as a cultural institution—not just with the books we publish but through our efforts to nourish a passion for reading and to create lifelong readers. We are doing that with National Readathon Day, which is partnering this year with the American Library Association and harnessing the power of connections via Facebook, which lets users create custom National Readathon Day profile frames and make donations directly. You can spread the word about reading, and #Readathon2016, by updating your profile picture I hope that you will support and participate in National Readathon Day – it is another important way we can promote the power of books to connect and transform, all while making the communities where we work and live even better. In fact, many of us take advantage of our Service Days to volunteer in your communities, and last year alone we received tens of thousands of dollars in requests for donation matching—which I encourage you to make use of when you donate to Every Child Ready to Read in support of the Readathon, or any other causes you support. In addition to my excitement about #TBT, I have one more reason to be hashtag-happy: the start of shareable media with Igloo Share, which lets you share our stories with your world and give your friends, family, and followers a glimpse of our company from #InsidePenguinRandom. As we use our power to do good, some of our causes and stories—including this blog—will be available to share on social media. Start your sharing by letting the world know how you spend your National Readathon Day—and be sure to tag your own tweets, Instagrams, and Facebook posts with #Readathon2016. This coming Saturday, I’ll be celebrating the Readathon with my teenagers and discovering my next great read. I can’t wait to see the impact we’ll have with @PenguinRandomHouse, @ALALibrary, and all of us spreading the word together across social media and, of course, IRL. Happy #Readathon2016 and happy reading! Markus

Learn more about Asian Pacific Heritage Month by visiting the official website: asianpacificheritage.gov FEATURED TITLES Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng A haunting debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio, and what happens when their favorite daughter is found drowned at the bottom of a lake near their home. Re Jane by Patricia Park Journeying from Queens to Brooklyn to Seoul, and back, this is a fresh, contemporary retelling of Jane Eyre and a poignant Korean American debut. In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, an inspiring novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into a more Western world. Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang Now a hit series on ABC, this is the story of a Chinese-American kid trying to find himself ten thousand miles from his legacy and anchored only by his conflicted love for his family, hip hop culture, and his passion for food. China Dolls by Lisa See In 1938, three women from very different Asian backgrounds meet by chance, quickly becoming best friends. They are inseparable until a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor when secrets are exposed and betrayal changes everything. BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS Great Call of China by Cynthea Liu Chinese-born Cece was adopted by American parents. Eager to explore her roots, she jumps at the chance to attend the S.A.S.S. program in Xi’an, China. But when she arrives, she receives quite a culture shock. And the closer she comes to finding out about her birth parents, the more apprehensive she gets. Juniors by Kaui Hart Hemmings Part Hawaiian, part Mainlander, Lea Lane has lived in between all her life. But it isn’t until junior year that she learns how to do it on her own terms.   For more on these and related titles visit the collection: Asian Pacific American Heritage

In the US, the Delacorte Press imprint of Random House Children’s Books will release THE DA VINCI CODE (Young Adult Adaptation) in hardcover and eBook on September 13, 2016. In the UK, the Penguin imprint of Penguin Random House Children’s will release THE DA VINCI CODE (Abridged) in paperback and eBook on September 8, 2016. Beverly Horowitz, SVP & Publisher, Delacorte Press, and Shannon Cullen, Publishing Director, Penguin Random House Children’s UK are overseeing the editorial process. “My parents were educators, and so it’s no surprise that I have a fascination with history and research,” says Brown. “In fact, if I weren’t an author, I’m sure I would be a teacher myself. It is my sincere hope that this adaptation of THE DA VINCI CODE sparks in young adults the same thrill of discovery that I feel while exploring hidden history and the mysteries of the world we live in.” Since its publication in 2003, THE DA VINCI CODE has become a global publishing success story, selling 82 million copies worldwide. The young adult adaptations will have new cover designs and will introduce a new generation of readers to Dan Brown’s well-known characters, among them professor and famed symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptographer Sophie Neveu. Abridged in length while maintaining Brown’s original plot that was hailed by the New York Times as “blockbuster perfection,” readers will experience the thrilling, lightning-paced journey from Paris to London that reveals the unraveling of the greatest conspiracy of the past two thousand years. “It is incredibly exciting for us to bring THE DA VINCI CODE to our young adult market in the US, and to introduce young people to Dan Brown’s masterful storytelling, and his brilliant ability to bring history to life on the page,” says Marcus. “We are delighted to work with our colleagues here at Doubleday to further expand the reach of this special book, and build on its extraordinary success.” In the US, the Listening Library imprint of Penguin Random House will simultaneously publish an audiobook edition, available on CD and as a digital download. This fall also brings the movie release of Inferno, in theaters nationwide on October 28, 2016 and based on Brown’s novel published by Doubleday in 2013.

The book deal was announced by Tina Constable, Senior Vice President, WaterBrook. Alexander Field, Vice President, Publisher, WaterBrook, acquired world rights to the work in print and digital formats. Bruce Nygren, Senior Editor, and Andrew Stoddard, Editor, will serve as editors for the products in the deal. The very public highs and lows of Tebow’s college and professional football career have given him a unique perspective on what it means to maintain a sense of self when your dreams do not go as planned. With compelling honesty, Tebow writes about how others have tried to define him by his circumstances and how, through it all, he has used these opportunities to grow in the understanding that identity comes from God alone. “I am so excited about this book,” said Tebow. “I have the opportunity to share about some highs. But I also have the opportunity to share about some lows, and be vulnerable, and pull back the curtain a little bit. I will be able to give people a glimpse at what happens when you fall short. What happens when you don’t reach your dreams? What do you hold onto? Who do you hold onto?” Alex Field said, “Tim has such a profound and inspiring message for anyone who has faced any sort of disappointment in their lives—which is every one of us, Because of that, we’re thrilled to launch this new work with Tim this fall. He will share about how he faced everything in his career all while remaining anchored in God. We know this book is going to encourage many, many people!” Tebow is a two-time NCAA college football national champion and Heisman Trophy winner and was a first round NFL draft pick. In the three years since he departed from the NFL, Tebow has continued to have a prominent public profile.   In February 2016, The Tim Tebow Foundation, along with 200 churches across 48 states and in seven countries, hosted “A Night to Shine” giving 32,000 people with special needs and 70,000 volunteers an amazing prom night experience.  He is co-hosting the second season of the FOX program Home Freewith home renovation TV Star Mike Holmes (Holmes on Homes®), starting June 16, 2016. In addition, he is a college football analyst for the SEC Network, which launched in August 2014.

1)     Visit https://www.facebook.com/profilepicframes 2)    Select “causes” from the dropdown menu  3)    Click on the American Library Association logo You can also add from this post by clicking “Use Frame” when you roll over the image. Be sure to edit your post or add comment so your friends and followers know you are celebrating #Readathon2016 and supporting early childhood literacy. Suggested text: I am supporting early childhood literacy development by celebrating #Readathon2016 this Saturday, May 21! Join me and start now by updating your profile picture by visiting facebook.com/profilepicframes, selecting Causes in the dropdown menu, and clicking on the American Library Association. Don’t forget to post reading pictures to social on National Readathon Day this Saturday, May 21 and tag them #Readathon2016. Happy Reading!  

Since it was first published by in 2012, ME BEFORE YOU has sold over five million copies and has held top spots on New York Times bestseller lists. Most recently, ME BEFORE YOU was #1 on both the paperback trade fiction list and the mass market fiction list.  The unlikely, moving love story is soon to be a major motion picture set to be released nationwide on June 3, 2016 by Warner Bros., starring Emilia Clarke as Louisa Clark and Sam Claflin as Will Traynor. Moyes wrote the screenplay for the film along with Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (The Fault in Our Stars). The movie trailer has been picked up by several media outlets, perpetuating the anticipation of the upcoming film and spiking a new wave of interest in the book that originally captured readers’ hearts. In the novel, an ordinary girl names Louisa Clark takes a job with recently wheelchair-bound ex--Master of the Universe Will Traynor. Will is bossy and moody as he is unable to live his previously huge and adventurous life, but Lou is determined to show him that life is still worth living, even if it means breaking her own heart. Moyes is also the author of several other novels including AFTER YOU, the bestselling sequel to ME BEFORE YOU and she has won the Romantic Novelist’s Award twice. Seating for this event is limited and available on a first come, first served basis and books can be purchased after the signing.

In celebration of this unique marriage of art and literature, a global social media event is unfolding as we herald the arrival and installation of these paintings with photos and messages on our Twitter and Facebook pages as well as our Penguin Random House websites. Direct from Penguin Random House New Zealand—  Pictured at an Exhibition:  Sales Director Carrie Welch (left) and Publishing Director Debra Millar pose with the Harland Miller painting, SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME.  #PenguinRandomArt We are encouraging everyone to share pictures of and comments about Penguin Random House’s Harland Miller painting installation using the hashtag #PenguinRandomArt.

THE VEGETARIAN is the first novel by Ms. Han to be translated into English, and tells the story of Yeong-hye, a dutiful Korean wife who decided to give up meat to the surprise of all around her. Boyd Tonkin, chairman of the 2016 judging panel, said: "This compact, exquisite and disturbing book will linger long in the minds, and maybe the dreams, of its readers. Deborah Smith’s perfectly judged translation matches its uncanny blend of beauty and horror at every turn." This is the first year the Man Booker International Prize was awarded to a single book, with previous awards honoring an author's body of work. Prior winners include Penguin Random House authors Chinua Achebe (in 2007) and Alice Munro (in 2009).

Users will also be able to share their love of reading by updating their Facebook profile picture with a soon-to-be-released custom National Readathon Day profile picture frame, which will be available on the ALA and Penguin Random House Facebook pages. National Readathon Day is a fundraising and social media awareness campaign dedicated to promoting children’s literacy and reading at any age. Leading up to and during the Readathon, readers everywhere will share their love of reading on social media using the hashtag #Readathon2016, and raise funds for early childhood literacy through ALA’s Every Child Ready to Read initiative, helping programs in public libraries nationwide. The #Readathon2016 Facebook Donate campaign enhances and unifies these core goals, enabling any Facebook user to make a commitment to Readathon and the ALA with one click, and to join together with friends and fellow readers around a common cause. All readers are encouraged to join National Readathon Day by using the hashtag #Readathon2016, to visit ALA’s Facebook page to make a contribution, and to update their profile picture with the National Readathon profile picture frame. Libraries, bookstores, schools and other community gathering places across the country are planning Readathon events. Visitors to the National Readathon Day reading parties page will find ideas about how to host a party or locate the nearest National Readathon Day event. Visit www.readathonday.com for more information.

A lush novel of the senses—of taste and hunger, seeing and understanding, love and desire— SWEETBITTER is ultimately about the power of what remains after disillusionment, and the transformation and wisdom that come from our experiences, sweet and bitter.  Advance praise has ignited waves of pre-publication buzz.  A sampling: "Stephanie Danler arrives on the literary scene with a fully-fledged, original voice that’s wry, watchful and wise beyond its years – acutely attuned to the pleasures of the senses and to the desperate stratagems of self-invention among young urban seekers.  Sweetbitter is a stunning debut novel, one that seems destined to help define a generation.” —Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City and Bright, Precious Days, to be published by Knopf in August. "... rich in sensory descriptions, the kind of book that one doesn’t just read but devours.” —Time Out “Stephanie Danler’s prose—like the New York life her young heroine longs for—intoxicates the senses. A charming, harrowing debut.” —Jonathan Dee, author of The Privileges and A Thousand Pardons “A book that’ll stay glued to your hands as you race through the pages in one sitting.” —Elle  Peter Gethers, President, Random House Studios, and Senior Vice President, Editor at Large, was an early reader of the SWEETBITTER manuscript, and told The New York Times, “Within 10 pages, I was going, oh my God, this woman is an extraordinary talent. One doesn’t see a lot of first novels like this, or any novels like this … The way she writes about food, you can actually taste it.”  Mr. Gethers recommended the manuscript to Claudia Herr, Executive Story Editor, Random House Films, and Editor at Large, who acquired SWEETBITTER in a two-book-deal for Knopf in the fall of 2014. Ms. Danler, who holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School, comments, “When I’m chatting with people, and I mention that I wrote a book, they nod politely. Every time I tell them it’s coming out with Knopf, their eyes widen and they say, ‘Oh.’ First recognition, then interest and excitement. It’s a ridiculous thing, to call yourself a Knopf author, to look at the company you’re in, to know that the Borzoi will go on the spine of your book, making it instantly recognizable to those that love literature. Absolutely ridiculous. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.” SWEETBITTER and Ms. Danler have attracted an impressive range of media, including pieces in TimeOut, The Wall Street Journal and the current issue of Vogue,  a book excerpt in the May edition of Bon Appetit Magazine, with coverage in TIME, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Book Review, O Magazine, Marie Claire, People, Entertainment Weekly, DuJour, Parade, W, Nylon, Bustle, Brooklyn Magazine, and much more to come.    

Read It Forward’s mission is to guide readers toward a literary future with books that inform, entertain, and inspire through unique online experiences. Some features on the site include:

• Book Club Appetizer: a podcast hosted by Abbe Wright (Editor, Read It Forward) and Alana Buckbee (Sr. Manager, Community Development, Crown Publishing Group), recommended as an audio “kickoff” for book club meetings. Each episode focuses on a single title, beginning with plot discussion and thoughts on favorite characters, and culminating in an interview with the book’s author. Participating authors include such notables as Amber Brock (A FINE IMITATION, Crown), Anton DiSclafani (THE AFTER PARTY, Riverhead Books), Camille Perri (THE ASSISTANTS, G. P. Putnam’s Sons), Hannah Pittard (Listen to Me, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Nicola Yoon (THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR, Delacorte Press).

• The Book Apothecary: a web-based application that prescribes the perfect book to fit any mood (inspired by the Crown bestselling book THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP by Nina George).

• What We’re Reading: a weekly newsletter, which features curated picks from bestselling authors and the Read It Forward editorial team.

• #AskaLibrarian: the weekly Twitter recommendation hour, in partnership with Library Journal, Penguin Random House, and librarians across the country.

• BookBento: still life photography featuring new titles, as well as favorite backlist reads, that creates a browsable bookstore on Instagram.

  The all-star literary lineup slated for Read It Forward’s summer launch includes exclusive interviews with Matthew Desmond (EVICTED, Crown), Erik Larson (DEAD WAKE,Crown), Terry McMillan (I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU,Crown), Curtis Sittenfeld (ELIGIBLE, Random House); original content from Erica Jong (Fear of Dying, St. Martin’s Press) and Karin Slaughter (Pretty Girls, William Morrow); and curated bookshelves by Jennifer S. Brown (MODERN GIRLS, NAL) and Peter Clines (EX-ISLE, Broadway). “We have always been proud of the editorial content featured on Read It Forward, and now we have a more modern design to showcase our interviews, literary lifestyle essays, and reading recommendations,” says Kate Rados, Vice President, Community Development for the Crown Publishing Group. “Our readers are excited to learn about newly released and rediscovered gems, from literary and commercial fiction to memoir, historical fiction to crossover young adult. We’re able to make recommendations based on author affinity, category, mood, or impulse. While it’s not possible to be all things to all readers, we strive to deliver the best reads at the right time that align with a reader’s taste.” In conjunction with its relaunch, Read It Forward will be inviting bookstores to participate as promotional partners. For their pilot project, Tattered Cover and Northshire Bookstore are collaborating in a one-of-a-kind sweepstakes, where a grand-prize winner will receive a library of 50 books, hand-selected by the bookselling staff from both stores. The sweepstakes will be hosted on ReadItForward.com. Crown’s marketing plans for the relaunch include: a site-wide online adventure—called “The Great Reader’s Scavenger Hunt”—a series of sweepstakes promotions which awards 625 winners with a free book; owned media advertising through the Crown and Penguin Random House verticals; a special branded pouch mailing to bookish influencers; branded tote bags distributed at the 2016 BEA; social media advertising through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; and an email marketing program through LiveIntent. Click here to experience Read It Forward’s new features.

However, not all of this coverage has been helpful. Amid widespread confusion between distinct conditions, their causes and symptoms, and what their relation with violence and other anti-social behaviors might be, a vast number of sufferers still succumb to suicide or homelessness. Those who have the resources to cope still overwhelmingly prefer to stay in the closet, rather than face generalized prejudice and discrimination. The path to change will definitely involve further political action, but to get to that point much more education—and empathy—is necessary. This May we urge you to pick up a book and learn about the people who deal with mental illness daily, as sufferers or caretakers, and find out why they stand out, but more importantly, what makes them not that different from the rest of us. To learn more visit: Mental Health America FEATURED TITLES MY AGE OF ANXIETY by Scott Stossel From the editor of The Atlantic comes a riveting, revealing memoir of life with anxiety—and the history of the scientists, philosophers, artists, and writers who have worked to understand this condition. MARBLES by Ellen Forney Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between “crazy” and “creative” in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers. AN UNQUIET MIND by Kay Redfield Jamison Dr. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand. Here Jamison examines bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication. An Unquiet Mind is a memoir of enormous candor and wisdom—a deeply powerful book that has both transformed and saved lives. VOLUNTARY MADNESS by Norah Vincent Determined but uncertain about maintaining her own equilibrium, the author boldly committed herself to three different facilities-a big-city hospital, a private clinic in the Midwest, and finally an upscale retreat in the South. Voluntary Madness is the chronicle of Vincent’s journey through the world of the mentally ill as she struggles to find her own health and happiness. JUST LIKE SOMEONE WITHOUT MENTAL ILLNESS ONLY MORE SO by Mark Vonnegut, M.D. More than thirty years after the publication of his acclaimed memoir The Eden Express, Mark Vonnegut continues his story in this searingly funny, iconoclastic account of coping with mental illness, finding his calling, and learning that willpower isn’t nearly enough. THE PRICE OF SILENCE by Liza Long Powerful and shocking, The Price of Silence , which grew out of the author’s article “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother” after the Newtown shooting, looks at how society stigmatizes mental illness—including in children—and the devastating societal cost. In the wake of repeated acts of mass violence, Long points the way forward. FOR YOUNG READERS ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven Soon to be a motion picture starring Elle Fanning “At the heart – a big one – of “All the Bright Places” lies a charming love story about this unlikely and endearing pair of broken teenagers.” — New York Times Book Review For more on these and related titles visit the Edelweiss collection: Mental Health Awareness

What initially attracted you to the world of book publishing and the editor/publisher role in particular? Like most people in publishing, it was the love of books. I was an avid reader as a child and loved how reading transported me to new places and allowed me to understand how it felt to stand in someone else’s shoes. When I brought my résumé to Viking Penguin (as it was called back then), the job opening was in Children’s Editorial. I saw so many favorite books on the shelves when I walked into the offices—MADELINE, THE SNOWY DAY, PIPPI LONGSTOCKING, THE OUTSIDERS—that I knew I had arrived at my new home. From then on I wanted to work with authors and artists and help them make books forever. What have been some of your most rewarding achievements over the course of your career as a publisher? Right from the beginning I wanted to publish books that made kids feel good and that made all kinds of kids feel represented. One of my early books at Viking was a picture book called I LIKE ME! by Nancy Carlson, about a confident pig, and I adored its message. When I became the publisher of Putnam in the mid-1990s, I signed up Jacqueline Woodson because I loved her extraordinary, lyrical voice, and I was thrilled when so many of her books won major awards. Her most recent picture book with E. B. Lewis, EACH KINDNESS, won the Jane Addams Peace Prize and shows kids in such a stunning way that actions have consequences. Maira Kalman’s picture books have also been thrilling to publish, as her viewpoint is so unique and eye-opening. It’s exciting that I get to work on both picture books and novels that speak to so many kids and make a difference in their lives. When you started your own imprint, how did you envision what your emphasis would be as well as the breadth of your authors and character of your lists? From the start I planned to focus on diverse and distinctive voices and books that offered kids hope, because life can be so hard. Having Jacqueline Woodson’s stunning memoir,BROWN GIRL DREAMING, win the National Book Award and become a huge bestseller has been so gratifying to us both, as we’ve worked together for twenty years and it was a fabulous culmination of all the things we’ve dreamed about happening. When I published Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s first book, ONE FOR THE MURPHYS, about a foster child and everyday heroes, the word of mouth among kids was incredible and propelled the book onto state award lists all over the country. Lynda’s new book, FISH IN A TREE, is a bestseller that is being read in classrooms all over the world, and it’s a beautifully told story that reminds us not to judge people by their learning styles (“Great minds don’t think alike!”) and shows how a good teacher makes such a difference in a child’s life. What have been some of the most satisfying aspects of having your own imprint and what excites you most about its future? It is super-satisfying to work with people who amaze me with their talents. On the picture book side, I get to work with some industry greats like the inimitable Tomie dePaola, and to also discover new talent like Lori Nichols and Eliza Wheeler. And on the fiction side I am thrilled that I have lots more coming from Jacqueline Woodson and Lynda Mullaly Hunt. I also have novels from Brenda Woods, Aisha Saeed, and Padma Venkatraman—all who are powerful diverse voices. It is so rewarding when fabulous books reach readers and excite them and help expand their worldview, and it’s magical when a book becomes a child’s favorite. That’s what excites me about the future—more books and more stories to be told and the ability to connect with kids in such a meaningful way.

In this book, Ms. Klebold chronicles for the first time her journey as a mother over the past sixteen years, trying to come to terms with the incomprehensible following the tragic events of April 20, 1999, when her son Dylan and his friend Eric Harris walked into Columbine High School in Colorado, killed twelve students and a teacher, and wounded twenty-four others before taking their own lives. In coming forward after so many years of silence, Ms. Klebold writes with unflinching honesty, telling her story as faithfully as possible in order to share the insights and understanding she has gained in the terrible crucible of Columbine to help other families recognize signs that a child may need help. In this Three Questions for an Editor feature, Mr. Scholl opens a very personal window into the road to the publication of A MOTHER’S RECKONING. What was involved in the acquisition of this book and key decisions about how to tell and structure this heart-breaking, tragic story? I first heard of the book as the result of a lunch date with the agent, Laurie Bernstein, two years before the actual submission.  Sue Klebold’s story, and message, sounded so unique, and so important, that I followed up periodically to express continued interest.  Laurie gave me a heads up a week before she sent it out, and I alerted our publisher and the rest of our team that it was coming in, so that we would read and act quickly.  The proposal came in the Thursday evening of BEA; I was expected at a reunion party, but I never made it – I was glued to my desk and my computer.  The proposal, over 100 pages in length, was stunning — and pitch perfect in conveying Sue and her family’s experiences, and her ultimate message.   And we made a pre-emptive bid for the book by noon the next day. How would you describe the editor/author editorial process and what were some of the most challenging and rewarding points during the creation of A MOTHER’S RECKONING? Sue had been teamed with a wonderful writer for the book, Laura Tucker.  The proposal was so taut, so nuanced, and so well constructed that my real task as an editor with the manuscript was to ensure that we maintained the same high level of narrative pacing, detail, insight and candor that Sue and Laurie had originally achieved with the proposal.  We did a good deal of back and forth to tighten the narrative, and made a few key decisions about structure and order, as well as about the level of detail Sue included in the book about the events at Columbine High School that morning, so that readers unfamiliar with the details of the tragedy would have a clearer picture of exactly what took place – and what Dylan, Sue’s son, and Eric Harris, did. What do you and Ms. Klebold hope readers will derive most from reading and discussing this book? I think that for Sue, this book has been a mission.  She has spent every day of her life since the shootings trying to understand how the sweet young boy that she knew Dylan to be could have done what he did; why she was unable to see the signs beforehand;  what she might have done differently to prevent the tragedy.  The media wanted to paint Dylan as a monster.  But the truth, she knew, was in some ways even more disturbing.  He grew up in a loving, engaged home, had many friends, and although he was shy and perhaps spent too much  time on his computer, he came across as a normal teenager, a boy who had just gone to senior prom and had been accepted to his first choice college.    Her husband, Tom – they are now divorced – and her surviving son Bryon, were deeply opposed to her writing the book; it was just too painful a memory, and one I think they did not  want to live through again.  But Sue persevered because she felt that by telling her story, and the story of Dylan, she could  reach out to parents and kids who were suffering emotionally or psychologically, and at risk, and in doing so potentially prevent a future Columbine from taking place, or prevent a child from hurting himself or herself, or someone else.  Sue is donating the money she has received to charitable organizations, particularly those focused on mental health issues.

• Revenues increase 3.1 percent to €16.7 billion
• Operating EBITDA grows 2.7 percent to €2.37 billion
• Group profit affected by special items
• Investments continue at high level and hit €1.6 billion
• Advances in strategy implementation improve growth profile
• Merger of Penguin and Random House contributes to growth
• Education business as third pillar alongside media and services
• Medium-term target for Group profit at €1 billion

Revenues from Bertelsmann’s continuing operations grew by 3.1 percent, to €16.7 billion in 2014 (previous year: €16.2 billion). Key drivers were strategic transactions such as the merger of the Penguin and Random House trade book publishing groups, the full acquisition of the music rights company BMG, and the expansion of financial and e-commerce services at Arvato. The downscaling of businesses in structural decline in part offset this growth.

During the past fiscal year, Bertelsmann improved its operating EBITDA by 2.7 percent, to €2.37 billion, also the highest level since 2007 (previous year: €2.31 billion). In particular, the result reflects a record performance by Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, a strong list of bestsellers at Penguin Random House in the U.S. and U.K., and growth in the music rights business. The EBITDA margin was again high at 14.2 percent (previous year: 14.3 percent).

Group profit of €573 million was below the prior year’s level of €885 million. This was the result of downscaling the print and direct-marketing businesses, expenditures on profitimprovement measures, a value adjustment to the Hungarian television business, and the absence of special items which had boosted group profit the previous fiscal year.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, said: “2014 was a gratifying year for us. Our revenue is the highest it has been in seven years. The same goes for our operating result – it is one of the best in Bertelsmann’s history. The implementation of our strategy is paying off. We again made a number of major advances during the past year. We significantly increased our activities in high-growth areas, further expanded the globally unique diversity of our creative activities and services, and at the same time disposed of businesses in structural decline. This transformation over the past few years has significantly improved the company’s growth profile. Since 2012 alone, we have invested more than two billion euros in growth businesses. We will keep up this brisk pace and continue to invest in expanding existing businesses and building new ones in the years ahead. The contours of the ‘new Bertelsmann’ are already clearly visible – faster growing, more digital, and more international than before.”

By successfully implementing its strategy Bertelsmann increased the revenue contribution of high-growth businesses to 27 percent in 2014 (2011: 22 percent). In this three-year period, the revenue share of structurally declining businesses fell from 15 percent to below 10 percent. In the medium term, growth businesses are expected to make up around 40 percent of group revenues, businesses in structural decline about five percent.

Thomas Rabe emphasized that in 2014 and the first few months of the present year, Bertelsmann had taken big steps towards reaching all four of its strategic priorities – strengthening the core, digital transformation, expanding growth platforms, and forging ahead in growth regions.

For instance, the core businesses were strengthened by the expansion of RTL Group’s families of channels, as well as increasing distribution revenues from platform operators. At Penguin Random House, the world's largest trade book publishing group, the integration of the two companies has progressed faster than planned; the merger is already paying off on the creative and commercial fronts: Penguin Random House publishers achieved outstanding creative results on all continents. The publishing group rose to number one in the Latin American Spanish-language book market through the acquisition of Santillana’s Spanish- and Portuguese-language trade publishing businesses. Similarly, the complete takeover of Gruner + Jahr in 2014 was a strategic milestone. Bertelsmann will continue to develop Gruner + Jahr into a leading house of content by, among other initiatives, investing in the company’s transformation. Concurrently, Bertelsmann intensified the downscaling of businesses in structural decline: the Group sold businesses including Brown Printing in the U.S., the Italian printing operations and the calendar business, and decided to discontinue the German club business at the end of this year. In parallel, Bertelsmann launched a number of measures to improve the results of its core businesses, with a medium-term volume of about €500 million.

Bertelsmann also increased its footprint and reach in the digital world. RTL Group’s catchup services, its web productions and web channels, and its multi-channel networks together recorded 36.4 billion online video views in 2014, turning RTL Group into the world's fourthlargest provider of online video content. Penguin Random House last year expanded its e-book catalog to more than 100,000 titles, and sold over 100 million of its titles in electronic form worldwide. Gruner + Jahr expanded its portfolio of e-magazines, high-reach mobile sites and apps, and its digital advertising sales. Arvato achieved further growth as a service provider for IT, high-tech and e-commerce companies. Bertelsmann’s various companies and editorial platforms now reach about 750 million followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube via their social media channels.

An important milestone in the Group’s expansion of its growth platforms in 2014 was the acquisition of the online education provider Relias Learning, also Bertelsmann’s biggest purchase in the U.S. since the acquisition of Random House in 1998. Investments in California-based Alliant University and the educational services provider Synergis Education served to further expand the education business. In addition, RTL Group subsidiary Fremantle Media bought the majority of shares in TV production company 495 Productions; Arvato acquired the e-commerce service provider Netrada; and BMG, among a number of deals, purchased the music publishers Talpa and Union Square, and the music-rights catalogs Montana and Hal David.

Bertelsmann also expanded its business activities in growth regions. The company enlarged its content businesses, including Penguin Random House’s trade publishing operations in India, and its TV business in Asia. Here, RTL Group and CBS Studios International launched a second joint pay-TV channel. Also, BMG entered the market in China. In the course of last year, the Bertelsmann Asia Investments fund participated in eleven promising companies with predominantly digital business models – more than ever before in a single year – and significantly increased the value of its portfolio. Bertelsmann’s investments in China include the online shopping platform Mogujie and the leading online performance marketing company iClick. In India, Bertelsmann made investments in several businesses, including digital marketplace Pepperfry and education provider iNurture.

Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe said: “There is hardly another media company that is transforming as rapidly as we are. Our strong core businesses, numerous growth initiatives, and ongoing acquisitions will, step by step, increase our revenues to around 20 billion euros in the years ahead. Our education business and our activities in the growth regions of Brazil, China and India will each contribute one billion to this overall number.”

Business expansion again led to a high investment volume in 2014. Including financial debt assumed, Bertelsmann invested €1.6 billion (previous year: €2.0 billion), mainly in the acquisitions of Relias Learning, SpotXchange and StyleHaul, Santillana, and the Netrada group. There were also acquisitions of music catalogs and packages of film rights. Net financial debt rose to €1.69 billion (previous year: €681 million) due to the acquisition activities. The previous year’s value also included proceeds from the placement of RTL Group shares. The Group’s broader economic debt increased to €6.04 billion at December 31, 2014, partly due to higher provisions for pensions, after €4.22 billion in the previous year. Adjusted operating free cash flow amounted to €1.71 billion (previous year: €1.83 billion). Thomas Rabe added: “Bertelsmann is on an expansionist course – we have started this year off nicely. Given the ongoing transformation of our Group, we expect higher revenues and higher operating EBITDA in 2015. We want to significantly increase our Group profit to one billion euros in the medium term.”

Bertelsmann’s employees are participating in the successes achieved: For the past financial year, they will receive profit participation amounting to €85 million. In accordance with the terms governing the Bertelsmann 2001 profit participation certificate (ISIN DE0005229942), 15 percent on the nominal value will be paid out on May 6, 2015. The payout for the 1992 profit participation certificate (ISIN DE0005229900) will be 5.93 percent (previous year: 7.49 percent).

Other key financials:

Special items

Special items amounted to € -619 million compared to € -46 million the previous year, and are largely attributable to the strategic measures taken in 2014. The downscaling of business in structural decline resulted in restructuring expenses and value adjustments in Bertelsmann’s print, club and direct-marketing operations. The sale of Be Printers’ Italian print unit led to a disposal loss. Spendings on profit-improvement measures also resulted in higher special items. Furthermore, there was a write-down on RTL Group’s TV business in Hungary, where the national parliament had levied a new tax on advertising income.

Cash flow

In the reporting period, Bertelsmann generated net cash from operating activities of €1,523 million (previous year: €1,779 million). The Group’s long-term operating free cash flow adjusted for non-recurring items was €1,711 million (previous year: €1,826 million). The cash conversion rate was 97 percent (previous year: 104 percent), which puts it within the target corridor of 90 to 100 percent.

Total assets

Total assets increased to €21.5 billion as of December 31, 2014 (previous year: €21.4 billion). The increase is mainly attributable to acquisitions during the reporting period, as outlined above. Cash and cash equivalents were reduced to €1.3 billion (previous year: €2.7 billion); this is due mainly to the repayment of financial debt during the past business year. Equity stood at €8.4 billion (previous year: €8.8 billion). As a result, the equity ratio was down slightly at 38.9 percent (previous year: 40.9 percent).

Investments

Total investments including financial debt assumed were €1,601 million (previous year: €1,988 million). Due to the acquisitions of Relias Learning and Santillana, and of majority stakes in SpotXchange and StyleHaul, the purchase price payments for consolidated holdings were higher year on year, at €820 million (previous year: €501 million). Other investments involved mainly property, plant and equipment at Arvato, music catalogs at BMG, and film rights at RTL Group.

Employees

At the end of the financial year, Bertelsmann had 112,037 employees worldwide (previous year: 111,099). In 2014, there were 1,312 people (previous year: 1,304) serving in trainee positions in Bertelsmann companies in Germany.

Divisions

RTL Group

The leading European entertainment network reported near-stable revenues in financial year 2014, with operating profit up slightly year on year. RTL Group’s revenues decreased by 0.3 percent to €5.8 billion (previous year: €5.8 billion). A recovery in most European advertising markets was offset by lower revenues in France, at the production arm Fremantle Media and at UFA Sports. Operating EBITDA increased during the reporting period by 0.8 percent to €1.3 billion (previous year: €1.3 billion). Lower contributions to earnings from RTL Radio in France, RTL Hungary and Fremantle Media were more than compensated for by significant growth in the German television business. The EBITDA margin was 23.0 percent during the reporting period (previous year: 22.7 percent). RTL Group employed 11,768 people at year-end (December 31, 2013: 11,491 employees).

In 2014, with the exception of Belgium, European TV advertising markets recorded stable to positive development. Germany in particular recorded distinct growth, which benefited RTL Group as well. Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland once again posted record revenues and earnings. In addition to increasing advertising revenues, growing platform revenues also contributed to this. The flagship channel RTL Television remained the clear market leader in the main target group, but recorded lower ratings than last year against the background of public service broadcasters’ coverage of the major events of the Olympics and the soccer World Cup.

In France, Groupe M6 revenues were down from the previous year due to declining advertising revenues and the sale of the e-commerce retailer Mistergooddeal, which was only partially compensated for by the acquisition of the “Best of TV” home shopping service. Operating earnings rose slightly. With the increasing fragmentation of the broadcasting landscape, the flagship channel M6 recorded a slight decrease in audience ratings and advertising market share and responded with a programming offensive.

RTL Nederland achieved slightly higher revenues and stable operating EBITDA. Here, too, although the broadcast of the World Cup by public service broadcasters led to lower ratings, RTL Nederland was able to maintain its considerable lead.

Fremantle Media’s revenues and operating earnings declined, especially due to lower income from the “American Idol” format and the cancellation of the “X Factor US” format. The company increased its investment in the production of original web content.

RTL Group strengthened its core business in 2014 by launching new channels (RTL Kockica in Croatia, Geo TV in Germany and RTL CBS Extreme HD in Southeast Asia), and acquiring the production company 495 Productions in the United States. The group expanded its digital business, in particular with the acquisition of StyleHaul, the leading multichannel network (MCN) for fashion, beauty and lifestyle on YouTube. The acquisition of a majority stake in SpotXchange, a globally leading and fast-growing technology platform for programmatic online video advertising, enables RTL Group to offer innovative services in the field of online ad sales. RTL Group’s video-on-demand services, multichannel networks, mobile applications and websites generated 36.4 billion online video views in the reporting period (previous year: 16.8 billion), reflecting strong growth.

Following the introduction of a new tax on advertising revenue in Hungary, there were impairment losses of in total €95 million on TV activities there. Special items are not included in operating EBITDA.

Penguin Random House

The world’s leading trade book publisher, Penguin Random House, delivered a strong performance in its first full year after the merger. Revenues increased by 25.2 percent to €3.3 billion (previous year: €2.7 billion), primarily due to portfolio effects. Operating EBITDA rose by 24.5 percent to €452 million (previous year: €363 million), driven by numerous major bestsellers, especially in the field of children’s books, as well as tie-ins to popular movies and TV series and the outstanding performance of its US division. Significant progress was made with the company’s integration in 2014: organizational structures, processes and functions were merged or reshaped without negatively impacting operations. The EBITDA margin was 13.6 percent (previous year: 13.7 percent). At year-end the publishing group, whose shares – except for the German business, which is wholly owned by Bertelsmann – are 53 percent owned by Bertelsmann and 47 percent by Pearson, employed 12,812 people (December 31, 2013: 11,838 employees).

During the reporting period, Penguin Random House acquired the Spanish- and Portugueselanguage publishing activities of Santillana Ediciones Generales, including the Brazilian publisher Objetiva, establishing the group as the market leader in Spanish-speaking Latin America.

The year’s biggest seller was John Green’s young-adult novel “The Fault in Our Stars,” which sold more than 10 million copies in print and e-book formats worldwide. Total worldwide sales of book tie-ins inspired by the Disney movie “Frozen” exceeded 17 million copies during the period. Movie tie-ins for “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn, “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand and “The Lego Movie” and television tie-ins for “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R. R. Martin and “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon all sold millions of copies in multiple formats.

In the United States, Penguin Random House placed 502 print titles on the “New York Times” bestseller lists, 64 of them at number one. In addition to children’s and movie tie-in books, adult titles such as “Gray Mountain” by John Grisham, “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd, and “Make It Ahead” by Ina Garten were successful. Penguin Random House Canada publications also dominated the 2014 national bestseller lists. Penguin Random House UK experienced a solid year despite a difficult market environment: Its publishers placed 43 percent of the top ten titles on the “Sunday Times” bestseller lists. “Girl Online” by YouTube star Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, was Britain’s fastest-selling debut novel ever. Other successful titles included “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul” by Jeff Kinney.

Verlagsgruppe Random House in Germany recorded a stable year, placing 358 titles on the “Spiegel” bestseller lists. Top-selling titles were “Der Distelfink” by Donna Tartt and “Krähenmädchen” by Erik Axl Sund. The publishing group increased its e-book sales and audio downloads. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial was able to more than offset weaknesses in the difficult book market in Spain with strong sales in Latin America. Grupo’s leading bestsellers were “El juego de Ripper” by Isabel Allende and “El umbral de la eternidad” by Ken Follett.

Penguin Random House expanded its digital business in all markets; its e-book portfolio grew to more than 100,000 titles in the reporting period. In 2014, the group’s publishers sold more than 100 million e-books worldwide.

Penguin Random House authors won many of the world’s most prestigious literary awards in 2014, including the Pulitzer Prize for Dan Fagin with “Toms River” (nonfiction), and the Man Booker Prize for Richard Flanagan’s “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.”

Gruner + Jahr

Revenues at Gruner + Jahr declined in the 2014 financial year, primarily due to deliberate divestments and falling ad and circulation revenues. Revenue was down by 13.3 percent to €1.7 billion (previous year: €2.0 billion). Operating EBITDA dropped 14.0 percent to €166 million (previous year: €193 million). Excluding the sold printing operations, operating EBITDA was largely stable despite increased investment in the company’s transformation to digital. The EBITDA margin was 9.5 percent (previous year: 9.6 percent). G+J employed 8,168 people at year-end (December 31, 2013: 10,556 employees). In November 2014, Bertelsmann’s acquisition of the remaining 25.1 percent of shares in Gruner + Jahr made it a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA. At the end of December, Gruner + Jahr changed its legal form to become a GmbH & Co. KG.

Against a backdrop of significant declines in advertising revenues, slightly lower circulation revenues, and the sale of the specialized publisher G+J Entertainment Media, G+J Germany recorded a fall in revenues. Continued heavy investment in the expansion of digital activities also impacted operating earnings. In August 2014, Gruner + Jahr’s management initiated a comprehensive efficiency program to reduce costs in Germany by €75 million in the medium term, adjust corporate structures and drive the digital transformation forward. The print portfolio was expanded with the launch of two new magazines, “Salon” and “Manual.” G+J developed numerous new e-mags and digital applications for its titles and successfully expanded its digital business. G+J Media Sales maintained its high market share. The digital marketing agent EMS and performance marketer Ligatus grew dynamically. Gruner + Jahr strengthened its marketing expertise with the acquisition of Veeseo and Trnd. DPV was strategically realigned and moved closer to the G+J brands. At the same time, digital sales were intensively expanded.

In France, Prisma Media improved its leading position among the country’s major magazine publishers despite a decline in advertising and circulation revenues in a shrinking market. Revenues remained stable, but earnings were down. In the digital domain, Prisma Media recorded significant growth and made a considerable contribution to earnings. Its strong market position was expanded with a stake in the video marketer Advideum. In Austria, Verlagsgruppe News’ advertising and sales revenues remained under strong pressure during the reporting year. In June 2014, there was a change in leadership at the publishing group. G+J’s withdrawal from the Eastern European markets was completed with the sale of shareholdings in Adria Media Zagreb in Croatia.

In Spain, the business saw a slight recovery. Gruner + Jahr’s operations in the Netherlands were stable, while its businesses in China declined significantly against a backdrop of decreasing advertising revenues. G+J pulled out of India, due to a lack of strategic prospects, by selling all of its shares in Networkplay Media, Seventynine and Maxposure. Dresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus achieved slight organic increases in revenues and earnings by expanding its additional regional offerings. Motor Presse Stuttgart recorded a slight decline in revenues, but thanks to cost-cutting measures its earnings were higher. The company grew its digital activities.

During the reporting period, G+J sold Brown Printing in the United States as part of its transformation.

In 2014, as in past years, numerous G+J journalists and authors won awards for their work.

Arvato

The international technology services provider Arvato recorded rising revenues and a decline in operating result in the 2014 financial year. Revenues grew both through acquisitions and organically, increasing by a total of 6.2 percent to €4.7 billion (previous year: €4.4 billion). Due to start-up losses for new businesses and innovations and increasing pressure on the margins of some businesses, operating EBITDA declined by 3.3 percent to €384 million (previous year: €397 million). The EBITDA margin was 8.2 percent compared to 9.0 percent in the previous year. Arvato employed 70,653 people at year-end (December 31, 2013: 66,303).

At Arvato the financial year was marked by, among other things, the introduction of a new organizational structure designed to strengthen innovation, effectively increase the company’s growth momentum and promote global collaboration. The businesses have since been organized into Solution Groups and by country.

During the reporting period, Arvato registered significant revenue growth in the Supply Chain Management Solution Group in particular, where the company was successful with innovative e-commerce and SCM solutions for international customers in the Internet, hightech, healthcare and automobile sectors. The acquisition of the e-commerce service provider Netrada contributed significantly to this increase in revenues. The acquisition turned Arvato into the leading European provider of integrated e-commerce services in the fashion and lifestyle sectors.

In the Financial Solutions segment, Arvato further advanced the internationalization of its businesses and strengthened its position as one of the leading providers in the fast-growing business-information and financial-services market. In particular, the operations in northern Europe were expanded and gained market share. Arvato strengthened its services in the field of risk management solutions with the acquisition of the Dutch financial-services company AfterPay.

During the reporting period, revenues from the Customer Relationship Management Solution Group showed a positive development in Germany, UK, Spain and North America, were stable in China and declined in France. In Asia and Africa, Arvato established or expanded new offshore sites for providing customer-services solutions to international customers. The German service-center network was strengthened by the acquisition of several locations with more than 1,000 employees. In the UK, losses were incurred in connection with a new contract in the public sector.

Demand for IT solutions related to application development and systems integration continued unbroken in 2014. Accordingly, Arvato was further able to increase its revenues from IT solutions, gaining new major customers such as Rheinmetall and McKessen. This initially involved high set-up costs, which impacted earnings in this business segment. Arvato’s integrated print businesses remained stable overall. Storage media replication revenues declined as expected; in Spain, Arvato discontinued its replication operations at the beginning of the year.

In Europe, Arvato’s businesses showed varying performance. While revenue performance was good in Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Ireland and satisfactory in Spain, the UK and Poland, the service businesses in France were unable to match the previous year’s level. Revenues in the North American market declined due to portfolio adjustments. In key growth markets such as Turkey and India, the services businesses were expanded and new customers were acquired. In China, Arvato’s development was almost stable. Arvato won prestigious awards in various countries around the world for its bespoke and innovative customer solutions.

Be Printers

The gravure and international offset printing activities pooled in Bertelsmann’s Be Printers division recorded declining revenues and operating results in financial year 2014. Reasons included continuing overcapacity and the resulting price erosion in the European gravureprinting market, as well as the sale of business units. The technological shift toward more offset and digital printing and shrinking print runs in the magazine sector and printed advertising also impacted the revenues of the European businesses. The performance of Be Printers’ book-printing operations in the United States was stable. Be Printers’ revenues were down by 11.2 percent in 2014 to €1.0 billion (previous year: €1.1 billion). Operating EBITDA decreased by 30.4 percent to €64 million (previous year: €92 million). The EBITDA margin was 6.4 percent, after 8.2 percent in the previous year. Be Printers employed 4,108 people at year-end (December 31, 2013: 6,201 employees).

In 2014, Be Printers focused on boosting competitiveness with regard to quality and cost in order to maintain its position in declining markets. Closing the Prinovis printing plant in Itzehoe and focusing on the company’s geographic core markets contributed to this, as did expanding the product range – for example, the hybrid offer of gravure and offset at Prinovis. By making this investment at its Dresden location, Prinovis expanded the site’s product range toward offering small print runs, additional formats and shorter timelines. Production at Itzehoe was discontinued as planned on April 30, 2014. In Ahrensburg, the staff adopted a “Future Package” that safeguards employment and lowers costs. In the United States, Be Printers expanded its market access with innovative print products for the home entertainment, cosmetics, health and confectionery sectors. Be Printers sold its printing plants and calendar business in Italy as well as its shareholding in a Colombian printing plant.

During the reporting period, Be Printers renewed its contracts with major European customers such as the Otto Group, the media groups Klambt, Axel Springer and Funke and G+J España. Be Printers’ US printers secured the continued utilization of its capacity in book printing with the conclusion of a new five-year contract with the trade book publisher Penguin Random House.

Be Printers carried out a substantial write-down of Prinovis during the financial year. Special items are not included in operating EBITDA.

Corporate Investments/Corporate Center

The Corporate Investments division, which comprises all of Bertelsmann’s operational activities at Group level, reported lower revenues in 2014 but, at the same time, a strong increase in operating result. Revenues fell by 6.6 percent to €510 million (previous year: €546 million). Dynamic growth in the music-rights subsidiary BMG partly compensated for declines from the scheduled downscaling of the club and direct-marketing business. Operating EBITDA soared by 120 percent to €44 million (previous year: €20 million) thanks to BMG’s positive performance. The EBITDA margin was 8.6 percent after 3.7 percent in the previous year. At year-end, 3,908 employees worked for Corporate Investments (December 31, 2013: 4,146 employees).

In 2014 Bertelsmann made significant progress in developing the new education line of business. In November, the Group acquired the US company Relias Learning, a fastgrowing, leading e-learning provider in the healthcare sector. In addition, Bertelsmann acquired a minority stake in the US education provider Udacity. During the reporting period, the University Ventures I and II funds, in which Bertelsmann is the anchor investor, made further investments in high-growth companies in the education sector, including the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico and the innovative US startup Galvanize.

In 2014 the music-rights subsidiary BMG grew both organically and through the targeted acquisition of catalogs and companies, including the music publisher Talpa Music in the Netherlands, the labels Vagrant Records in the US and Infectious Music in the UK and the Skint/Loaded, Hal David and Montana music-rights catalogs, as well as the marketing specialist Union Square Music. BMG signed new contracts with well-known artists and bands, including the Beatsteaks, Kraftklub, Casper and BossHoss in Germany; Dave Stewart, The Strokes, The Smashing Pumpkins and Faith Evans in the US; and Simply Red, Simple Minds, Sigma, M.I.A. and the composer Wayne Hector in the UK. In Germany, BMG ended the year as the country’s most successful music publisher, with a cumulative 18 percent share of the singles charts. The company’s artists and writers won numerous Grammy and Echo Awards. At the beginning of 2014, BMG opened an office in Beijing.

During the reporting period, the Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) and Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) funds in China, Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) and the Corporate Center in Brazil expanded their investment portfolios to a total of 92 investments. BAI made new investments in 11 companies. New investments in India included online marketplaces for furniture and real estate. In Brazil, Bertelsmann invested in an education fund focused on technology. BDMI managed a successful exit with the sale of the multichannel network StyleHaul to RTL Group.

The club and direct-marketing businesses were further downscaled or closed during the reporting period. Bertelsmann announced the closure of Der Club Bertelsmann and all its remaining branches in Germany by the end of 2015. The successful Tolino e-reader, comarketed by Der Club, will be continued and developed further. In Spain, Bertelsmann’s remaining 50 percent share in Círculo de Lectores was sold to the former joint-venture partner Planeta. The sale of the club business in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to a Czech investor, agreed upon last year, was completed in March 2014. The Ukrainian club activities came under strong pressure against the background of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The direct-sales organization Inmediaone was discontinued on June 30, 2014.

The Corporate Center department, which is comprised of all of the Group’s Corporate Centers around the world, supported key transactions during the year. It also managed the systematic continuation of the multiyear “Operational Excellence” program, which aims to optimize business support processes in HR, finance/accounting, IT and procurement. The focus of its work also included the organization of a Management Meeting and a “Creativity Conference” with renowned artists and speakers in London. The Corporate Center supported the establishment of a new Board seat for HR-related matters focused on talent management and management development, to which Immanuel Hermreck was appointed at the turn of the year.

Bond draws upon her own experiences and the heartbreaking tales she’s heard through the years working with homeless and at-risk youth, to create the unforgettable story of Ruby Bell, a beautiful girl born from tragedy who suffers horrors and fights against her personal demons in Liberty Township, TX.

“Nothing comes close to the experience of reading this book. It’s a dark moving story, harrowing and heartbreaking, yet filled with moments of love pure and strong,” said Oprah Winfrey. “When I found out that Cynthia Bond is 53 years old and hasn’t written a book before, I couldn’t fathom it. RUBY is a vivid, searing novel that penetrates straight through the page and into the reader’s heart.”

Click here for a message from Oprah: http://www.oprah.com/obcvideo2015

RUBY was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and was chosen as an Indie Next Pick by independent booksellers throughout the U.S. when it was released in 2014. ”There are dreams that you keep hidden—secret hopes locked away. Learning that my novel had been chosen to be in Oprah’s Book Club burst open that door—I just wept. I worked for over ten years, writing, editing, rethinking, and creating what would become three books. RUBY is the first. Ms. Winfrey has changed the course of my life—as a writer, as a mom, as an advocate for children’s rights and I will be forever grateful,” said author Cynthia Bond.

In addition to being available in bookstores nationwide, special Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 digital editions of RUBY, with exclusive content including a reader’s guide and Winfrey’s notes on her favorite passages, will be available for Amazon Kindle, NOOK® by Barnes & Noble, on the iBookstore and everywhere e-books are sold.

Throughout February and March, readers can further engage online at the book club hub (oprah.com/bookclub) and through a variety of digital and social media platforms:

 

• Oprah.com will feature a reading guide as well as Winfrey’s personal thoughts about her favorite passages from the book.
• Readers will also have the opportunity to join the conversation via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. A stream of reader tweets (#OprahsBookClub) and Instagram photos from around the world will provide a snapshot of what participants are thinking, feeling and sharing as they read the book together.
• The official Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 group on Goodreads, one of the largest websites for book lovers with 30 million members, will feature content and encourage discussions about the new book club selection. (Goodreads.com/OprahsBookClub).

About Cynthia Bond

CYNTHIA BOND, a PEN Rosenthal Fellow, has taught writing to homeless and at-risk youth throughout Los Angeles for more than fifteen years. Her novel, RUBY, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and was chosen as an Indie Next Pick by independent booksellers throughout the U.S. O, The Oprah Magazine says, “Cynthia Bond proves to be a powerful literary force, a writer whose unflinching yet lyrical prose is reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s.” Bond attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, then moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She founded the Blackbird Writing Collective in 2011. At present, Bond teaches therapeutic writing at Paradigm Malibu Adolescent Treatment Center. A native of East Texas, she lives in Los Angeles with her daughter.

 

About Oprah’s Book Club 2.0

In June 2012, Oprah Winfrey reintroduced her popular book club as an interactive, multi-platform reading club that harnesses the power of social media, bringing passionate readers together to discuss inspiring stories. After being selected as the club’s inaugural book, Wild by Cheryl Strayed (Knopf) returned to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list and spent six consecutive weeks at #1. It was also made into a motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon. The club’s second pick, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, was on the New York Times Best Sellers list for 10 weeks. The third book selected, The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, made its debut at #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list and was Amazon’s bestselling book of 2014. RUBY by Cynthia Bond is the book club’s fourth selection.

About Harpo Films

Harpo Films, Inc. produces acclaimed feature films and scripted television programming. Recent features include the Academy Award nominated ”Selma” starring David Oyelowo and Golden Globe nominated ”The Hundred-Foot Journey” starring Helen Mirren.

About O, The Oprah Magazine

O, The Oprah Magazine (oprah.com/omagazine) encourages confident, intelligent women to reach for their dreams, express their individual style and live their best lives. With an emphasis on personal growth, the magazine informs and inspires, addressing every aspect of a woman’s life and deeply connecting with more than 15 million readers every month (MRI, 2011 Doublebase). In May 2012, O, The Oprah Magazine won the publishing industry’s highest honor, the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) award for General Excellence. O, The Oprah Magazine is available on Zinio, Barnes & Noble Nook, Amazon Kindle and Flipboard, and its namesake iPad app is available on the App store at www.itunes.com/appstore. Follow O, The Oprah Magazine on Twitter @O_Magazine.

O, The Oprah Magazine is a co-venture between Harpo Print, LLC and Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation, one of the nation’s largest diversified media and information companies. With 21 titles in the U.S., Hearst is the leading publisher of monthly magazines in terms of total paid circulation (AAM 1H 2014) and reaches 80 million adults (Fall 2014 MRI gfk).

About Hogarth

Hogarth is an imprint of The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Penguin Random House (http://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/) is the world’s most global trade book publisher. It was formed on July 1, 2013, upon the completion of an agreement between Bertelsmann and Pearson to merge their respective trade publishing companies, Random House and Penguin, with the parent companies owning 53% and 47%, respectively. Penguin Random House comprises the adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses of Penguin and Random House in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, and Penguin’s trade publishing activity in Asia and Brazil; DK worldwide; and Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial’s Spanish-language companies in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. Penguin Random House employs more than 10,000 people globally across almost 250 editorially and creatively independent imprints and publishing houses that collectively publish more than 15,000 new titles annually. Its publishing lists include more than 70 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors.

Read more about our ALA winners:

• Random House Children’s Books press release
• Penguin Books for Young Readers press release

 

BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen Books; Penguin Audio/Books on Tape) is awarded a Newbery Honor; the Coretta Scott King Author Award; and a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor.

THE NOISY PAINT BOX: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art by Barb Rosenstock, Illustrated by Mary GrandPré (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers) receives a Randolph Caldecott Honor.

I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN by Jandy Nelson (Dial Books for Young Readers) is the recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award.

GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE by Andrew Smith (Dutton Children’s Books, Penguin Audio) receives a Michael L. Printz Honor.

AND WE STAY by Jenny Hubbard (Delacorte Press, Listening Library) also receives a Michael L. Printz Honor.

FIREBIRD  by Misty Copeland, Illustrated by Christopher Myers (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers) is bestowed a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

HOW I DISCOVERED POETRY by Marilyn Nelson, Illustrated by Hadley Hooper (Dial Books for Young Reader) receives a Coretta Scott King Author Honor.

THE FAMILY ROMANOV: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade Books, Listening Library) receives a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, and is also a Finalist for the 2015 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

LITTLE ROJA RIDING HOOD by Susan Middleton Elya, Illustrated by Susan Guevara (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers) receives a Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor.

PORTRAITS OF HISPANIC AMERICAN HEROES by Juan Felipe Herrera, Illustrated by Raul Colon (Dial Books for Young Readers) receives a Pura Belpre Author Honor.

POPULAR: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen (Dutton Children’s Books, Penguin Audio) receives the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

Pat Mora, author of TOMÁS AND THE LIBRARY LADY and DOÑA FLOR (Knopf Books for Young Readers) receives the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award.

Alex Awards For best adult books that appeal to teen audiences

BINGO’S RUN by James A. Levine (Spiegel & Grau)

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng (Penguin Press)

THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir (Crown hc, Broadway Books tp)

And, on the Audio side:

THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE narrated by Jayne Entwistle, produced by Orli Moscowitz (Listening Library from the book by Julie Berry) received an Odyssey Honor.

GABI, A GIRL IN PIECES by Isabel Quintero, read by Kyla Garcia (Listening Library) is the William C. Morris Award winner.

THE SCAR BOYS by Len Valhos, read by Lincoln Hoppe (Listening Library) is a William C. Morris Award finalist.

THE PORT CHICAGO 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin, read by Dominic Hoffman (Listening Library) is a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults finalist.

WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST by Jason Reynolds and narrated by J.B. Adkins (Listening Library) has won the Coretta Scott King/John Septoe New Talent Author Award.

RUSA Listen List

STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel, read by Kirsten Potter (Random House Audio, Knopf)

THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd, read Jenna Lamia, Adepero Oduye, Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin Audio, Viking)

Fiction

THE BONE CLOCKS: A Novel by David Mitchell, (Random House)

THE CHILDREN ACT by Ian McEwan, (Nan A Talese/Doubleday)

THE CRANE WIFE by Patrick Ness, (Penguin Books, Penguin Audio)

THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH by Richard Flanagan, (Alfred A.  Knopf)

ON SUCH A FULL SEA by Chang-Rae Lee, (Riverhead, Penguin Audio)

STATION ELEVEN: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel, (Alfred A. Knopf)

TIGERMAN by Nick Harkaway, (Alfred A. Knopf)

Nonfiction

IN THE KINGDOM OF ICE by Hampton Sides, (Doubleday, Random House Audio)

JUST MERCY by Bryan Stephenson, (Spiegel & Grau, Random House Audio)

THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK by Kevin Birmingham, (Penguin Press, Penguin Audio)

THE SECRET HISTORY OF WONDER WOMAN by Jill Lepore, (Knopf, Random House Audio)

Poetry

GABRIEL: A Poem, by Edward Hirsch, (Knopf)

Also, RUBY by Cynthia Bond (Hogarth, Random House Audio) and  BOOK OF HOURS by Kevin Young (Knopf) are selected as a Fiction Honor Book and the Poetry winner respectively by the Black Caucus of ALA Literary Awards.

Consolidated revenues from continuing operations increased by almost seven percent to €7.8 billion euros, the highest level in seven years (H1 2013: €7.4 billion). This revenue growth was driven, in particular, by the strategic transactions of the past 18 months. They include the combination of Penguin and Random House, Arvato’s acquisition of the financial services company Gothia and the e-commerce service provider Netrada, and the acquisition of full ownership in the BMG music rights company. Operating EBITDA, which included startup losses for new businesses and negative foreign exchange effects, was €1,015 million, slightly above the high level of the previous year (H1 2013: €1,011 million). The German and Dutch TV operations, the book publishing business, the music rights business and some of Arvato’s service businesses all grew their results. Operating EBITDA was negatively impacted by the performance of structurally declining businesses, the magazine business, and the weak market situation in France, where the operating EBITDA of Bertelsmann’s businesses declined by €33 million year-on-year. The EBITDA margin was 12.9 percent (H1 2013: 13.7 percent). At €254 million, the Group’s first-half net income was below the high level of the previous year (H1 2013: €419 million), which was influenced by positive special items. Earnings during this reporting period were negatively impacted by an €88 million impairment on RTL Group’s TV activities in Hungary, where the parliament recently approved a special tax on advertising.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, said: “The first six months of 2014 went satisfactorily for Bertelsmann. The significant increase in revenues is a testament to the effectiveness of our strategy, and last year’s big investments are paying off. In the past few months, we have made significant progress in our four strategic directions: strengthening the core, digital transformation, expanding growth platforms, and our businesses in growth regions. We are well on our way to making Bertelsmann a faster-growing, more digital and more international company long-term. In the months and years ahead, we will focus on expanding our Education business, which will become a third mainstay of revenues alongside Media and Services.”

During the reporting period Bertelsmann made significant progress on all of the company’s strategic directions:

Strengthening the Core

In the past few months, Bertelsmann has systematically invested in strengthening its core businesses. For example, RTL Group expanded its family of channels in Germany, Croatia and South-East Asia; Penguin Random House acquired the Spanish- and Portuguese-language trade publisher Santillana Ediciones Generales. Meanwhile, structurally declining businesses were further downscaled or sold, as was the case with Brown Printing in the U.S.; Bertelsmann announced its plans to withdraw from the club business both in Germany and in Spain.

Digital Transformation

Bertelsmann significantly grew its digital businesses, organically and through acquisitions. For example, in the first half of 2014, RTL Group generated a total of 15.7 billion online video views – a year-on-year increase of 226 percent. In July, the group also secured a majority stake in SpotXchange, a marketer of online videos. Penguin Random House expanded its e-book portfolio to over 80,000 titles, extending its market leadership; Gruner + Jahr further strengthened its market position in digital marketing by acquiring the French online video marketer Advideum. Arvato continued to grow as a service provider for leading IT, high-tech, and e-commerce companies.

Expansion of growth platforms

During the reporting period, RTL Group acquired a majority stake in the TV production company 495 Productions. Arvato became a leading European service provider of e-commerce services to the fashion and lifestyle sector, following its acquisition of Netrada. BMG purchased the music publisher Talpa, as well as the Montana and Hal David rights catalogs. Bertelsmann also advanced the expansion of its education business as a strategic investor in the University Ventures II fund with a commitment to invest hundreds of millions.

Expansion in growth regions

Bertelsmann expanded in all of its three growth regions. The Bertelsmann Asia Investments fund increased its portfolio in China, achieving significant gains, for example, from its participation in Mushroom Street, a leading online shopping community for women. BMG entered the Chinese market. In India, Bertelsmann invested in the e-commerce platform Pepperfry, as well as in a digital fund. In addition, Bertelsmann teamed up with a Brazilian investment firm to found a new venture capital fund focusing on technologies in the Brazilian education sector.

Positive contributions during the reporting period came primarily from Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, which achieved record results, and from RTL Nederland. Meanwhile, RTL Group’s results in France were negatively impacted by a weak advertising market. Penguin Random House increased its revenues to nearly €1.5 billion following its combination making it the world's largest trade book publisher on 1 July 2013, and placed numerous titles prominently on the international bestseller lists. Gruner + Jahr continued its strategic transformation from traditional magazine publisher to creative house of content, but recorded lower revenues than in the same period last year due to the general downtrend in the magazine market, as well as portfolio adjustments. However, Gruner + Jahr’s revenues from digital activities increased in all countries. Growth drivers at Arvato included services for international customers in the Internet, high-tech, healthcare and automotive industries, and financial services. While revenues and operating EBITDA at Be Printers, the division that unites Bertelsmann’s gravure and international offset printers, declined due to the difficult market environment, revenues in the Corporate Investments division grew through business growth and the full consolidation of the music rights company BMG for the entire reporting period.

Judith Hartmann, Chief Financial Officer of Bertelsmann, added: “Bertelsmann is in excellent financial shape and operates at a high level of profitability. Our guidance for the full year is a significant increase in revenues and a stable operating EBITDA at a high level. Our net income will remain slightly below the previous year's strong level, reflecting the impairment of our Hungarian TV activities. We will continue to invest significantly in implementing our strategy, always bearing in mind our clear investment criteria.”

As of June 30, 2014, Bertelsmann had 111,761 employees worldwide (December 31, 2013: 111,099).

Divisions:

RTL Group

Highlights

• RTL Group launches three new TV channels: RTL Kockica in Croatia, Geo Television in Germany and RTL CBS Extreme HD in Southeast Asia.
• Fremantle Media buys 75 percent of shares in the reality-TV producer 495 Productions, expanding its presence in the US cable broadcasting market.
• Fremantle Media and Vice Media launch “Munchies,” a new multichannel platform for digital content related to food and nutrition.

The leading European entertainment network generated revenues of €2.7 billion in the first half of 2014 (H1 2013: €2.8 billion). This slight decline in revenues is primarily due to difficult market conditions in France and the decline in revenues at Fremantle Media. However, operations in the Netherlands in particular showed positive developments. RTL Group’s operating EBITDA totaled €612 million (H1 2013: €631 million) and was particularly affected by the marketrelated drop in earnings at Groupe M6 and RTL Radio in France, and by Fremantle Media. However, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland achieved record earnings and RTL Nederland was able to significantly increase operating profits. Due to the introduction of a new tax on advertising revenue by the Hungarian parliament, an impairment of €-88 million was made to the TV operations in Hungary. As a special item, this has no impact on RTL Group’s operating EBITDA. RTL Group was largely able to maintain its leading audience positions in its core territories, even though the soccer World Cup in June was broadcast by competitors. Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s audience share in its main target group was slightly down year on year to 29.2 percent (H1 2013: 31.2 percent). However, RTL Television was still the clear number one among 14- to 59-year-old audiences. RTL Nitro, the channel launched in 2012, almost doubled its audience share in the first half of 2014 to 1.5 percent (H1 2013: 0.8 percent). In France, the Groupe M6 family of channels registered a slight decrease in audience share. The new channel 6ter, launched in December 2012, developed positively. The audience share of the Dutch family of channels around RTL 4 was also slightly below the level of the first half of 2013. In the digital domain, RTL Group continued to show dynamic growth thanks to its online platforms, mobile applications and YouTube activities. 15.7 billion online video views were generated in the first six months of the year – a 226 percent increase compared to the first half of 2013. Online video advertising revenues also increased significantly during the reporting period.

Penguin Random House

Highlights

• John Green’s #1 bestselling “The Fault in Our Stars” sells more than 5.7 million copies published by Penguin Random House imprints, January–June.
• Penguin Random House’s publishing presence in Spain and Latin America greatly expands with the acquisition of Santillana Ediciones Generales’s trade publishers on July 1, 2014.
• Penguin Random House’s new corporate logo and brand-identity system, featuring the imprint logos, is introduced worldwide.

The world’s largest trade publishing group’s results for the first half of 2014 were driven by strong bestseller performances, especially from its children’s divisions worldwide. Achievement of key milestones for the integration of the Penguin and Random House businesses continues on track in all territories. Bertelsmann owns 53 percent of shares in Penguin Random House, which was established by merger on July 1, 2013; Pearson owns 47 percent. The group generated revenues of €1.5 billion in the reporting period, including the publishing businesses of Random House in Germany, which are fully owned by Bertelsmann, thus representing a 60 percent increase over Random House’s revenues in the first half of 2013 (€915 million). Operating EBITDA was €159 million (H1 2013: €131 million). In the United States, Penguin Random House placed 430 titles on the “New York Times” bestseller lists in the first six months of 2014. The half-year top-selling title was John Green’s young adult novel “The Fault in Our Stars,” which sold more than four million copies in print and e-book formats in North America. Other children’s and young adult books in high demand include the multimillion-copy-selling tie-ins with the movie “Frozen,” “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. Among the largest-selling adult titles were “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd, “Duty” by Robert Gates and the paperback editions of Dan Brown’s “Inferno” and “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. In the UK, Penguin Random House commanded 45 percent of the “Sunday Times” bestseller list. “The Fault in Our Stars” was also this division’s biggest seller, with Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck” a major success as well. At Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, positive results in the Latin American territories offset the impact of the ongoing challenging market conditions in Spain. In March, Penguin Random House reached an agreement to acquire the Spanish- and Portuguese-language trade publishing companies of Santillana Ediciones Generales, including the Brazilian publisher Objetiva. The transaction involving the Spanish-language businesses was completed on July 1, 2014. Verlagsgruppe Random House in Germany grew its sales of e-books and audiobooks, placing 231 titles on the “Der Spiegel” bestseller lists. Penguin Random House invested across its divisions in extending the reach of its digital content and expanding its digital marketing, as well as introducing new web verticals and apps. Several of the group’s authors won major literary awards, including Dan Fagin, who won the US Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for “Toms River.”

Gruner + Jahr

Highlights

• G+J strengthens its position in ad marketing by acquiring Veeseo and a stake in Trnd, becoming Europe’s biggest provider of content recommendations.
• In France, Prisma Media buys a stake in the country’s leading video marketer, Advideum, at the end of 2013, further enhancing its market position in digital marketing.
• G+J Germany celebrates the anniversary of the printed editions of “Brigitte” (60 years) and “Gala” (20 years), and expands its brands in digital to about 30 emags and more than 50 websites and apps.

In the first half of 2014, Gruner + Jahr continued its strategic transformation from a traditional magazine publisher to a creative house of content. Driven by the decline of the magazine business and portfolio adjustments, G+J’s revenues fell to €908 million during the reporting period (H1 2013: €1.0 billion). At the same time, Gruner + Jahr’s revenues from digital activities increased across all countries. As a result of the overall decline in revenues, operating EBITDA fell to €77 million (H1 2013: €108 million). At G+J Germany, the decline in the magazine business had a significant impact on revenues and earnings. G+J countered this decline with a product campaign based on the publisher’s leading brands such as “Brigitte” and “Gala” and with the launch of new titles (e.g., “Flow”) as well as numerous special issues. The company continued the expansion of its digital business. G+J strengthened its position in the advertising market through acquisitions such as Veeseo and Trnd. Overall, the international business showed a downturn. Activities in Austria and China generated revenues and earnings below the levels of the previous year. Meanwhile, despite weaker revenues, G+J Spain increased its earnings, thanks to structural measures taken in 2013. G+J France strengthened its position in digital marketing by acquiring France’s leading video marketer Advideum shortly before the end of 2013 and kept its revenues largely stable. Dresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus was able to slightly increase its revenues and earnings year on year and on a like-for-like basis.

Arvato

Highlights

• Arvato’s acquisition of Netrada turns it into one of the leading European providers of integrated e-commerce services.
• Arvato acquires five more service centers in Germany.
• Expansion of services businesses and successful new customer recruitment in Turkey, Poland and India.

The international services provider Arvato grew in the first half of 2014, both organically and through acquisitions, and increased its revenues in the reporting period by 5.5 percent to €2.2 billion (H1 2013: €2.1 billion). As a result of the revenue growth, operating EBITDA increased slightly to €162 million from €160 million in the same period last year; the earnings contributions of the acquisitions compensated for declines in earnings in individual businesses. During the reporting period, Arvato grew its revenues and earnings in areas including services for international customers in the Internet, high-tech, healthcare and automotive sectors. With the acquisition of Netrada, completed on February 1, 2014, Arvato became a leading European provider of e-commerce services, strengthening its position in the field of supply-chain management. The financial services business, which benefited from the takeover of Gothia Financial Group in the previous year, also contributed to Arvato’s growth. In contrast, revenues from storage media replication continued to decline, as expected. Arvato improved its position in key growth markets and industries in the first half of the year, expanding the services businesses in India, Turkey and Poland and acquiring new customers. Arvato also consolidated its leading position in the European market for customer relationship management by taking over five service centers.

Be Printers

Highlights

• Upcoming contract renewal with Penguin Random House increases volumes and boosts capacity utilization at Be Printers USA.
• Production of a major order for an Italian client on the occasion of the soccer World Cup.
• Adoption of a “Future Package” by the workforce safeguards jobs and significantly lowers costs at the Ahrensburg site.

The gravure printers and international offset printing plants, grouped into the Be Printers division, generated first-half revenues of €482 million in a market environment characterized by declining print runs and surplus capacity (H1 2013: €512 million). The division’s operating EBITDA decreased to €25 million (H1 2013: €29 million). In Germany and the UK, the gravure division Prinovis was able to secure printing contracts for several major magazine packages for several years. However, lower overall print volumes caused a slight decline in revenues and earnings at Prinovis. Production at the Itzehoe plant was terminated on April 30, 2014, as planned. In Ahrensburg, the workforce adopted a “Future Package.” Be Printers Americas agreed on a multiyear contract extension with Penguin Random House, which will increase capacity utilization at the company. Continued cost discipline served to enhance results. Due to macroeconomic developments in Italy and Spain, Be Printers Southern Europe recorded lower order volumes and further price declines.

Corporate Investments/Corporate Center

Highlights

• BMG continues its expansionist course by taking over the music rights companies and catalogs Talpa Music, Montana and Hal David and initiates its market entry in China.
• Education business is expanded through commitment to invest an amount in the hundreds of millions in a second University Ventures fund.
• Digital activities in the growth regions China, India and Brazil strengthened through fund participations and direct investments.

In the first half of 2014, Corporate Investments reported an increase in revenues to €254 million (H1 2013: €235 million) and operating EBITDA of €16 million (H1 2013: €-10 million). In particular, the growing business and full consolidation of the music rights company BMG for the entire half-year – BMG has been wholly owned by Bertelsmann since March 30, 2013 – had a positive effect. By contrast, the club and direct-marketing businesses declined as planned. BMG continued its growth course during the reporting period, acquiring the music rights companies or catalogs of Talpa Music, Montana and Hal David, with numerous classics in their portfolios. At the same time, BMG signed new contracts with several wellknown artists, including the Smashing Pumpkins, The Strokes, George Ezra and the Beatsteaks. The company was Germany’s most successful music publisher in the first half of 2014 – almost 21 percent of all singles in the German charts were from BMG. In addition, BMG entered the Chinese market. In the field of education, Bertelsmann continued to drive forward the preparations for the expansion of this business, and committed to investing a sum in the triple-digit millions in a second University Ventures fund. In Brazil, Bertelsmann teamed up with a partner to establish a fund for investments in the education sector at the beginning of the year. The BDMI digital investment fund with a focus on the United States, and BAI for investments in promising companies in China, acquired new shareholdings during the reporting period, including one in the IT recruiting platform Lagou.com. In India, investments were made in growth businesses including online marketplaces for furniture and real estate. Revenues and earnings from the club and direct-marketing businesses continued to diminish as planned. The sale of the businesses in Czech Republic and Slovakia was completed on March 31, 2014. In June, the decision was made to discontinue the German club business at the end of 2015. The sale of the 50 percent stake in Círculo de Lectores to the co-owner of Grupo Planeta went ahead and was completed on July 29, 2014. During the reporting period, the Corporate Center and the divisions together advanced the multiyear Operational Excellence program to optimize business support processes in the areas of HR, finance, IT and sourcing across the Group.

Overview of Figures (in € millions)

Figures of H1 2013 and as of December 31, 2013 are adjusted due to the first-time application of IFRS 11 “Joint Arrangements”.

* continuing operations

About Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann is an international media company whose core divisions encompass television (RTL Group), book publishing (Penguin Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), services (Arvato), and printing (Be Printers) in some 50 countries. In 2013, the company’s businesses, with their more than 111,000 employees, generated revenues of €16.4 billion. Bertelsmann stands for a combination of creativity and entrepreneurship that empowers the creation of first-rate media, communications, and service offerings to inspire people around the world and to provide innovative solutions for customers.

For further questions, please contact:

Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA Andreas Grafemeyer Senior Vice President Media Relations Phone: +49 – 52 41 / 80 24 66 [email protected]

Penguin Random House’s previously announced acquisition of Objetiva, Santillana’s trade-publishing business in Brazil, is expected to be completed later in the second half of the year.

Today’s news was announced by Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle and Santillana CEO Miguel Angel Cayuela.

The acquired company is being merged with Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, extending PRHGE's publishing business in the Iberian and the Latin American markets. The Group's growth potential in Latin America will be enhanced with Santillana's imprints in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay, alongside the longstanding PRGH publishing houses there. The imprints of Santillana will enable PRHGE to establish a publishing presence in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Central America.

Núria Cabutí Brull, will lead the newly expanded company, continuing as CEO of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. Armando Collazos, formally Global Director of Prisa Ediciones, will become Executive Advisor to Cabutí, and to the Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial management team.

The heart of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial will be its more than two dozen publishing imprints, each of which will retain its respective publishing identity and programs. Together, they will publish 1,500 titles a year, focusing on Spanish-language originals and Spanish translations of adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction, hardcovers, paperbacks, and e-books.

Markus Dohle said, “Exactly one year ago to this day we strengthened the breadth and diversity of our worldwide English-language publishing with the formation of Penguin Random House, and today, we celebrate the significant new opportunities for our international Spanish-language publishing with the completion of the acquisition that unites Santillana’s Ediciones Generales with Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. It is a dream combination, a partnership of two wonderful traditions that will be advantageous for everyone; above all, our authors, who will benefit from great publishing choices with all the distinctive, independent imprints of Grupo Editorial and Santillana, and readers, who will enjoy the widest range of outstanding adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction. Together, our company’s talented and dedicated publishing teams will foster a universal passion for books by championing and advancing the reading experience for our society.”

The trade-book imprints of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial will be Aguilar, Alamah, Alfaguara, Altea, Arena, Beascoa, Caballo de Troya, Cisne, Collins, Conecta, Debate, Debolsillo, Fantascy, Fontanar, Grijalbo, Literatura Random House, Lumen, Manderley, Montena, Nube de Tinta, Objectiva, Plaza & Janés, Punto de Lectura, RHFlash, Rosa dels Vents, Sudamericana, Suma de Letras, and Taurus.

Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial will boast an unrivalled roster of Spanish and international authors, including Nobel prize winners Alice Munro, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, José Saramago, J.M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, Doris Lessing, V.S. Naipaul, and Gunter Grass; Cervantes Award winners such as Juan Marsé, Jorge Edwards, Guillermo Cabrera Infante and Sergio Pitol; Spanish Literature Award winners Javier Cercas, Javier Marías, José María Merino and Luis Mateo Díez, and the current Prince of Asturias Award winners Juan Lavado "Quino" (Communication and Humanities) and John Banville (Literature). Spanish and international bestselling authors published by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial include Isabel Allende, Florencia Bonelli, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Joël Dicker, Umberto Eco, Albert Espinosa, Laura Esquivel, Ildefonso Falcones, Ken Follett, Carlos Fuentes, Elizabeth Gilbert, John Grisham, E L James, Stephenie Meyer, Kate Morton, Julia Navarro, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Paul Preston, Marcela Serrano, Hiromi Shinya and Manuel Vicent.

Núria Cabutí Brull said, “On this historic day for Spanish-language book publishing we celebrate uniting two great companies and their publishing programs to achieve a tremendous new level of creativity and potential for our authors, booksellers, colleagues, and readers. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial will put people first, and at the center of all our priorities and responsibilities. Our chief mission will be to publish books in traditional and emerging formats, so that we can best make available our authors’ fiction and nonfiction to the widest possible readership worldwide.”

With the closing of the deal, Cabutí announced the new senior management team for Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, which draws upon executives from both sides of the company:

At the corporate level, Miquel Illa will become Chief Financial Officer and Distribution Director. Marta Grau is appointed head of Human Resources and Publishing Services. Carlos Ciria, will oversee IT, as well as Organization and Processes. Carmen Ospina will lead Digital Strategy and New Businesses.

Patxi Beascoa will be PRHGE’s head of Sales & Marketing for Spain. He also will oversee the company’s operations in Portugal, which will be headed by Clara Capitão.

Javier López Llovet will continue as General Director for Argentina and Latin America, reporting to Núria Cabutí. He will be assisted by Augusto di Marco, who will be Special Sales and Export Director, as well as oversee the Group's activities in Peru, which will remain the responsibility of Mercedes Gonzalez Cuenca.

Also reporting directly to Javier López Llovet will be these general directors: Chile: Hernan Rosso; Colombia: Elena Gómez; Uruguay: Luis Sica; and Mexico: Roberto Banchik. Banchik will also oversee PRHGE's activities in the U.S., headed by Silvia Matute. The company will retain Santillana's U.S. publishing and sales office in Miami.

Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial publishing leadership appointments also were announced today by Cabutí, who said, “I am looking forward to the many great books we all will publish together.”

Claudio López Lamadrid will be Publisher for the Group, and for Literatura Random House.

Pilar Reyes will be Publisher for the Alfaguara and Taurus imprints.

Núria Tey, Publisher for Plaza & Janés, Grijalbo, Conecta, and Rosa dels vents, will also lead the Aguilar and Suma de Letras imprints, with their respective teams.

Juan Díaz, Publisher of Debate, Lumen, Reservoir Books, Debolsillo, and the children's books division, will also be responsible for Punto de Lectura, Alfaguara (children's and young readers books), Altea, and El País Aguilar.

Penguin Random House (http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/) is the world’s most global trade book publisher. It was formed on July 1, 2013, upon the completion of an agreement between Bertelsmann and Pearson to merge their respective trade publishing companies, Random House and Penguin, with the parent companies owning 53% and 47%, respectively. Penguin Random House comprises the adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses of Penguin and Random House in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, and Penguin’s trade publishing activity in Asia and Brazil; DK worldwide; and Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial’s Spanish-language companies in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. Penguin Random House employs more than 10,000 people globally across almost 250 editorially and creatively independent imprints and publishing houses that collectively publish more than 15,000 new titles annually. Its publishing lists include more than 70 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors.

The new corporate wordmark underscores the importance of the written word to the company’s culture and work and will most often be paired with one of Penguin Random House's 250 widely recognized and respected publishing divisions, imprints, and brands. The brand system, as this pairing design framework is called, is flexible and can be employed not just at the publishing level, but also territorially. The imprints and brand symbols also can continue to stand alone without the brand-system pairing – for example, on the spines of books.
The visual connection between the wordmark and each publishing symbol creates a mutually enhancing and reinforcing brand identity for both. On the one hand, it denotes the global scale and reach of Penguin Random House, and on the other, it showcases the individuality and creativity of the company’s diverse publishing portfolio. This unifying visual synthesis represents the singular ability of Penguin Random House to nurture a universal passion for reading by publishing the very best books for all ages and interests, and connecting them to the widest readership worldwide.

Markus Dohle, CEO, Penguin Random House, said: “Presenting our new Penguin Random House wordmark side by side with each of our publishing imprint and brand symbols powerfully communicates what makes our company so special:  our collective expertise and global scale coupled with our local publishing teams giving diverse and important voices a platform and audience. This fundamental understanding of our heritage and of the company we are building together for the future informs the design of the brand identity, and how we will visually represent who we are.”

Penguin Random House partnered with New York City-based design agency Pentagram to develop the company’s new brand identity, which replaces the interim logo introduced on July 1, 2013.

Perhaps fittingly, the 2014 Pulitzer winners were announced on the 75th publication anniversary of John Steinbeck’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH, one of the most beloved of our Pulitzer honorees. Click here to view all cross-company Pulitzer recipients, to which TOMS RIVER: A Story of Science and Salvation is proudly welcomed. Please join us in congratulating Dan Fagin, his editor Ryan Doherty, and our publishing colleagues on becoming the newest addition to this singular, glorious piece of Penguin Random House publishing History.

Penguin Random House’s Pulitzer recognition also extends internationally. This year’s Fiction award winner, THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt (Little Brown) is published by our sister publishers in two languages in multiple countries: as DER DISTELFINK in Germany by Verlagsgruppe Random House’s Goldmann (HC & E-Book) imprint, and as EL JILGUERO in Spain and Latin America by Grupo Editorial’s Lumen imprint (TP & E-Book).

In addition, Penguin Random House Canada distributes History Pulitzer winner, THE INTERNAL ENEMY: Slavery and War in Virginia by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton).

We are honored to support the success of our Pulitzer winners across our territories. Hearty congratulations to our authors and publishing colleagues.

The international media company Bertelsmann invested heavily in expanding its businesses in 2013, as the company increased its revenues, operating result and Group profit. Investments in implementing the Group’s strategy amounted to €2 billion, including financial debt assumed, up from €655 million in the previous year, and its largest sum since 2005. Group profit increased by 42 percent to €870 million. This is the highest Group profit since 2006, and is well above the latest expectations.

With transactions such as the merger of Penguin and Random House to create the world’s largest trade book publisher, the acquisition of full ownership in BMG and the acquisition of Gothia, the Arvato division’s biggest purchase to date, Bertelsmann made significant strides in implementing its strategy. These also include the realignment of key business units and stepped-up activity in growth regions. Further steps to advance all the strategic priorities are planned this year. The financial basis for this advancement was laid with last year’s placement of RTL Group shares. Bertelsmann has announced as a priority significant expansion of its education business over the next few months. The Group has also initiated the market entry of its BMG music rights subsidiary in China. Over the next few years, Bertelsmann will invest several billion euros in expanding existing and new businesses, and aims to make further acquisitions.

Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe said: “Bertelsmann delivered a gratifying business performance in 2013, and is acting from a position of strength. We have improved our growth profile through strategic decisions and have pushed forward the transformation to digital across all divisions. The diversity of our creative offerings and services is second to none. Also, our figures demonstrate our company’s economic capacity and solid financing. On this basis, in 2014 we will continue to work on making Bertelsmann a faster-growing, more digital, and more international company.” More specifically, he said, Bertelsmann will invest in growth areas such as education and music rights, as well as in the creative core of the company: “We want to gradually expand education into our third revenue mainstay, alongside media content and services. In music rights, the focus will be on further internationalization and strengthening the master rights business.”

Rabe emphasized that in 2013 and in the first few months of the current year, Bertelsmann has made significant progress on all four strategic priorities – strengthening the core, digital transformation, developing growth platforms and expanding in growth regions.

For example, the core businesses were particularly strengthened through the creation of the world’s leading trade book publisher, Penguin Random House, on July 1, 2013. RTL Group further expanded its families of channels. It also acquired TV production companies and, in Germany, much-sought broadcasting rights to the national soccer team’s qualifying matches for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Bertelsmann’s Gruner + Jahr and Arvato divisions realigned themselves: Gruner + Jahr now addresses its readers and users along defined Communities of Interest, and Arvato has reorganized itself into Solution Groups to strengthen coordination between countries and its key account management for major customers.

Bertelsmann also increased its footprint and reach in the digital world. In 2013, RTL Group reported a total of 16.8 billion online video views. Through its participation in multi-channel networks it became the third largest YouTube provider (excluding music videos). Penguin Random House grew its e-book offerings to more than 77,000 titles. Gruner + Jahr broadened its portfolio of e-magazines, high-reach mobile services and apps. Arvato achieved further growth as a service provider for leading IT, high-tech and e-commerce companies. Bertelsmann’s various companies and editorial teams now operate approximately 3,500 social media channels with a combined total of 300 million followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

An important milestone in the expansion of growth platforms was achieved in 2013 with the complete takeover of BMG. Five years after its exit from the traditional recorded-music business, Bertelsmann is again one of the leading players in the music industry. During the reporting period, BMG expanded with several catalog acquisitions and prominent artist signings, including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and the Backstreet Boys, followed by the acquisition of Talpa Music in the Netherlands at the beginning of 2014. In the education sector, an attractive portfolio of holdings has been built in the US and Europe via the “University Ventures Fund I” in which Bertelsmann is an anchor investor. Arvato enhanced its strengths in the fast-growing financial services sector by acquiring the Gothia Financial Group, which serves customers in 21 countries. Furthermore, with the acquisition of Netrada at the beginning of this year, Arvato became a leading European provider of integrated e-commerce services.

Bertelsmann also accelerated its business-building activities in growth regions. Together with CBS, RTL Group expanded into Southeast Asia for the first time. In the book publishing business Bertelsmann improved its position in China, India and South America through the merger of Penguin and Random House. In China, Arvato achieved further profitable growth with its service offerings. The Bertelsmann Asia Investments fund enlarged its portfolio and recorded a very positive performance. In Brazil, a step-by-step expansion of the business was initiated by investing in funds and innovative startups.

Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe: “We are on track to increase our revenue volume to around 20 billion euros by 2017 and gradually increasing our Group profit to over one billion euros. The various growth initiatives in our divisions and at corporate level, possible acquisitions, and the full consolidation of Penguin Random House, BMG and Gothia in the current year will contribute to this. At the same time, we are downscaling low-growth businesses such as replication, printing and direct-to-customer businesses.”

In 2013, positive contributions came primarily from the aforementioned portfolio expansions as well as from the German television business. During the reporting period, revenues increased by 1.8 percent to €16.4 billion (previous year €16.1 billion). Growth from the portfolio expansion was offset by normalized revenues in the book business, generally weak advertising markets in Europe, and the scaling back of structurally declining business. Organically, revenues decreased by 2.8 percent. Exchange rate effects amounted to -1.2 percent; portfolio and other effects added 5.8 percent.

The operating result increased in 2013 despite startup losses in building new businesses: Bertelsmann generated operating EBIT of €1.75 billion after €1.73 billion in the previous year. Return on sales was again in the double digit range at 10.7 percent (previous year: 10.8 percent). In particular, the result reflects a strong business performance by Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, thriving IT and SCM services at Arvato, and the strategic portfolio measures taken during the reporting period.

Against this backdrop, operating EBITDA from continuing operations rose to €2.3 billion (previous year: €2.2 billion). The full consolidation of BMG contributed to this increase. The EBITDA margin was 14.1 percent (previous year: 13.8 percent).

Thanks to lower expenditure on special items, Group profit improved by 42 percent during the reporting period to €870 million (previous year: €612 million) – the highest it has been since 2006.

The business expansion in 2013 led to the highest investments in eight years. Including financial debt assumed, Bertelsmann invested €2.0 billion (previous year: €655 million), mainly in the acquisitions of BMG and Gothia as well as for the purchase of various music catalogs and film rights. Thanks to the proceeds from the placement of RTL Group shares and a high level of operating cash flow, net financial debt was reduced to €636 million at year-end (previous year: €1,218 million). The Group’s broader economic debt was down to €4,178 million at December 31, 2013, after €4,773 million in the previous year. Adjusted operating free cash flow amounted to €1.8 billion (previous year: €1.9 billion).

Bertelsmann CFO Judith Hartmann added: “In financial year 2013 Bertelsmann demonstrated its high profitability, and the Group is in excellent financial shape. All the signs point to expansion and we have the resources available for it. The successful placement of RTL Group shares alone brought us proceeds of €1.5 billion. For 2014, Bertelsmann expects strong revenue growth, continued high profitability, and a positive development of Group profit.”

Bertelsmann employees are participating in the successes achieved: For the last financial year, they will receive profit participation amounting to €101 million (previous year: €92 million), the third-highest total in the company’s history to date.

In accordance with the terms governing the Bertelsmann 2001 profit participation certificate (ISIN DE0005229942), 15 percent on the nominal value will again be paid out on May 12, 2014. The pay-out for the 1992 profit participation certificate (ISIN DE0005229900) is 7.49 percent (previous year: 7.39 percent).

Other key financials:

Special items

Special items amounted to € -46 million compared to € -405 million in the previous year. The majority of the restructuring expenses relate to structurally declining businesses, notably the imminent closure of the Prinovis location in Itzehoe. They also include costs for the implementation of the new organizational structure of Gruner + Jahr and Arvato as well as integration costs in connection with the merger of Penguin and Random House. A re-measurement of the fair value of BMG after the takeover of the remaining BMG shares as well as a write-up on the carrying amount of the Atresmedia investment, had a positive impact.

 

Cash flow

In the reporting period, Bertelsmann generated net cash from operating activities of €1,785 million (previous year: €1,876 million). The Group’s long-term operating free cash flow adjusted for non-recurring items was €1,760 million (previous year: €1,861 million), and the cash conversion rate was 100 percent (previous year: 107 percent), which puts it within the target corridor of 90 to 100 percent.

Total assets

Total assets increased significantly to €21.4 billion as of December 31, 2013 (previous year: €18.9 billion). The increase is mainly attributable to the reduction in shares in RTL Group, the merger of Penguin and Random House, the acquisition of the remaining BMG shares and the purchase of Gothia. Cash and cash equivalents remained at the previous year’s high level (€2.7 billion). The income from the reduction in shares in RTL Group and the merger of Random House and Penguin increased the equity to €8.7 billion (previous year: €6.1 billion). As a result of this increase, the equity ratio increased from 32.2 percent in the previous year to 40.7 percent.

Investments

Total investments including financial debt assumed increased sharply to €1,988 million (previous year: €655 million). Most of it consisted of the purchase price payments for the acquisitions of BMG and Gothia, investments in property, plant and equipment at Arvato, and the acquisition of music catalogs at BMG and film rights at RTL Group.

Employees

At the end of the financial year, the Group had 111,763 employees worldwide (previous year: 104,286). The increase of 7,477 employees is attributable primarily to strategic portfolio expansions. In 2013, there were 1,304 people (previous year: 1,254) serving in trainee positions in Bertelsmann companies in Germany.

Divisions:

RTL Group

Although advertising markets across Europe were mostly in decline, Europe’s leading entertainment group RTL Group was able to significantly increase its profitability in financial year 2013. Revenues reached €5.9 billion after €6.0 billion in the previous year, representing a 1.9 percent decrease. This revenue development reflects robust core businesses despite negative currency effects and lower revenues for the production arm Fremantle Media. In operating EBIT, another record result by Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and the strong performance of the Dutch TV channels more than offset the impact of the negative development of advertising markets in many parts of Europe. The German TV advertising market singularly showed slight growth.

Operating EBIT increased by 6.8 percent to a new record level of €1.1 billion (previous year: €1.1 billion). This jumped the return on sales to 19.3 percent (previous year: 17.7 percent). Operating EBITDA increased slightly to €1.3 billion (previous year: €1.3 billion); this lifted the EBITDA margin to 22.6 percent (previous year: 20.9 percent). At year-end, RTL Group had 11,589 employees (December 31, 2012: 11,931). RTL Group succeeded in maintaining most of its leading positions in the audience markets. In France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia, RTL Group’s families of channels grew their share of the TV ad sales market.

 

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland increased both its revenues and earnings. The flagship broadcaster RTL Television remained the clear market leader in the main target group. The French Groupe M6 achieved lower revenues, partly because of the declining advertising market. Operating EBIT declined due to start-up losses for the new digital channel 6ter. Audience shares remained largely stable despite the market entry of new competitors. RTL Nederland grew its revenues and operating EBIT notwithstanding a shrinking advertising market, and scored higher viewer ratings.

The production arm Fremantle Media registered continued global interest in its major talent shows and invested in the development of new formats. Revenues fell mainly due to currency effects and because of the cancellation of formats in individual territories. Operating EBIT was slightly down year on year. In November, Fremantle Media acquired the Danish production company Miso Film, which specializes in series and TV movies.

In the growth market of Asia, RTL Group partnered with CBS Studios International to initiate the establishment of two new channels. The first channel, RTL CBS Entertainment HD, made its debut in 2013 in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. The launch of the second channel will follow in the spring of 2014. In Croatia, RTL Hrvatska established a new children’s channel, which went on air in January 2014 and has scored excellent ratings from the start.

RTL Group’s digital business also continued to be greatly expanded. The Group acquired a majority stake in BroadbandTV, one of the largest multichannel networks on YouTube, and also invested in the leading online video network for fashion and beauty StyleHaul, the German YouTube network Divimove, and the Dutch video-on-demand provider Videoload. The Group’s various online platforms and mobile applications recorded high growth rates.

RTL Group has been additionally listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since the end of April 2013. Bertelsmann reduced its holdings and has held 75.1 percent of the shares in the company.

Penguin Random House

For Random House, 2013 was the year of the historic merger of all its divisions outside Germany with Pearson’s trade publishing division Penguin Group. The formation of Penguin Random House was completed on July 1, and the multiyear integration of the two units is now underway. Bertelsmann holds 53 percent of the shares in the world’s largest trade book publisher, while Pearson holds 47 percent.

This year-end consolidated revenue of €2.7 billion for the combined company reflects a full year of Random House, including Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Random House, and a half-year of the Penguin Group. Total sales were 23.9 percent above Random House’s previous year’s revenue (€2.1 billion). Adjusted for currency and portfolio effects, revenues decreased compared with the record year 2012, which was dominated by the exceptional success of the “Fifty Shades” trilogy. Operating EBIT fell 4.9 percent from the high level of the previous year – partly due to depreciations in connection with the initial inclusion of intangible assets at Penguin – to €309 million (previous year: €325 million). Return on sales came to 11.6 percent (previous year: 15.2 percent). Operating EBITDA increased to €363 million (previous year: €352 million). As a result, the EBITDA margin was 13.7 percent (previous year: 16.4 percent). At the end of the year, Penguin Random House had 11,838 employees (December 31, 2012, Random House: 5,712).

 

Penguin Random House’s biggest new release was Dan Brown’s “Inferno,” selling almost six million copies in its English-language territories in seven months. Other megasellers included Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In,” “And The Mountains Echoed” by Khaled Hosseini, “The Fault In Our Stars” by John Green and John Grisham’s “Sycamore Row.” Demand for English-, German- and Spanish-language editions of the “Fifty Shades” trilogy by E L James continued to be strong with more than seven million print, digital and audiobook copies sold in 2013.

The US company placed 261 titles on the “New York Times” hardcover and paperback bestseller lists from July to December, 27 of them at number one. During the same period, Penguin Random House UK placed 14 number one titles on the bestseller lists of the “Sunday Times.” In Germany, Verlagsgruppe Random House attained major growth in its digital publishing business, achieving first-time double-digit percentage of overall sales revenues with e-books. The division’s biggest-selling title of the year was “Die Analphabetin, die rechnen konnte” by Jonas Jonasson. A solid business performance in Latin America and a strong portfolio of Spanish-language bestsellers offset the impact of the difficult economy in Spain, where the publishing unit has operated under the name Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial since November. In India and South Africa, Penguin Random House completed the purchase of their respective co-partners’ ownership stakes.

With new apps, the increasing integration of social media into book marketing and growing e-book downloads, Penguin Random House has advanced its leadership in the transformation to digital. During the reporting period, the Group sold more than 100 million e-books worldwide, and more than 77,000 titles are now internationally available in digital form.

Many Penguin Random House authors received prestigious literary awards in 2013, including Alice Munro, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Group’s authors also won four Pulitzer Prizes, a National Book Award in the United States, and for Verlagsgruppe Random House, the German Book Prize.

Gruner + Jahr

At Gruner + Jahr, the financial year was shaped by a personnel, organizational and strategic realignment to transform the existing printing and publishing company into a “house of content” with high-quality print and digital offerings for specific target groups. On the commercial side, Gruner + Jahr reported a significant fall in revenues and operating result during the reporting period; this was against a backdrop of declining ad sales revenues, the partial discontinuation of its business media along with other disposals, increased investment in the digital business and a decline in the international business. Revenues reached €2.1 billion after €2.2 billion in the previous year (-6.9 percent). Operating EBIT was down by 13.1 percent to €146 million (previous year: €168 million). Return on sales decreased to 7.1 percent (previous year: 7.6 percent). Operating EBITDA was €193 million against €213 million in the previous year, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 9.3 percent (previous year: 9.6 percent). At year-end, Gruner + Jahr employed 10,819 people (December 31, 2012: 11,585). Since April 2013, Gruner + Jahr has been jointly managed by Julia Jäkel (CEO), Stephan Schäfer and Oliver Radtke.

G+J Germany improved its results year on year. Sales revenues dipped in line with market conditions but adjusted for portfolio changes the advertising business developed positively, bucking the market trend. In Germany the business structures were fundamentally changed. With its realignment along eight Communities of Interest, G+J is resolutely focusing on the interests of its readers, users and customers. For instance, its strong position in the Living, Food and Family communities was expanded with investments in digital offers such as the Home and Furniture community Roomido, the online store for high-end foods Delinero and the online store for baby and children’s clothing Tausendkind. “Chefkoch” and “Flow” enhanced the print portfolio of the Food and Women communities with two innovative new titles. G+J Media Sales added market share in the ad sales market, and both G+J’s digital marketer EMS and the performance marketer Ligatus recorded continued dynamic growth.

Prisma Media’s magazine business in France declined due to difficult market conditions. The expansion of the digital business was successfully advanced, including through targeted acquisitions. For instance, the reporting period saw the acquisition of the two digital ad sales houses Mob Value and P Comme Performance.

Verlagsgruppe News in Austria declined, underperforming the market mainly in the ad sales business. In the reporting period, its activities in Southern Europe continued to be affected by difficult macroeconomic conditions. The company sold off its operations in Poland and parts of the operations in Southeastern Europe.

Gruner + Jahr’s activities in China reported declines due to a first-time reduction in the Chinese ad sales market. In the United States, the offset printing company Brown Printing saw a fall in revenues and earnings due to lower capacity utilization. The business of Dresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus was mostly stable.

During the reporting period, G+J journalists and authors won a variety of prestigious awards for their work; in Germany alone, they won more than any other publisher.

Arvato

The international service provider Arvato delivered a robust business performance in financial year 2013. Revenues remained stable at €4.4 billion (previous year: €4.4 billion). Operating EBIT remained stable at €244 million (previous year: €244 million). Return on sales thus remained at 5.5 percent (previous year: 5.5 percent). Operating EBITDA increased to €401 million (previous year: €391 million); this put the EBITDA margin at 9.1 percent (previous year: 8.8 percent). There was a management changeover at the top of Arvato: Achim Berg has led the group as Chief Executive Officer since April 2013. A new organizational structure arranges the businesses by Solution Groups and countries, and a central Key Account Management system was introduced for major international clients. At year-end, Arvato employed 66,410 people (December 31, 2012: 63,627).

During the reporting period Arvato registered significant growth mainly at IT Services and supply chain management solutions for international customers in the Internet, high-tech and consumer goods sectors, as well as in China. Arvato’s acquisition of Gothia Financial Group, completed in June 2013, advanced its internationalization and transformed it into the third-largest service provider in Europe in the rapidly growing market for business information and financial services.

Operating EBIT also reflects upfront costs for acquisitions and set-up costs for newly acquired customers in the supply chain management and e-commerce businesses. In the reporting period, the customer-relationship management business showed a positive development in Germany and Spain, and declined slightly in France. In South America, Asia and Africa, new offshore sites for customer communications solutions were established or expanded to increase competitiveness.

Arvato’s Print Services maintained its position in a difficult market environment. Revenues in Replication declined as expected. In Brazil and China, Arvato sold holdings in replication factories.

The development of Arvato’s businesses varied from region to region. For example, performance was satisfactory in the European core countries given the difficult economic situation. In the UK, a major new government services client, the Department for Transport, was acquired. The service activities in Spain saw profitable growth despite the economic crisis. Meanwhile, the services businesses in France were not quite able to maintain the previous year’s high levels. In the North American market, the portfolio of customers and locations was systematically culled to increase the profitability of the businesses. In Turkey, Arvato’s services businesses grew dynamically, and in China the company’s logistics network was expanded considerably yet again.

Arvato won prestigious awards in various countries around the world for its tailored customer solutions.

Be Printers

In 2013, Bertelsmann’s gravure and international offset printing activities, grouped into Be Printers, generated revenues of €1.1 billion in a difficult market environment, down 7.5 percent from the previous year (€1.2 billion). Operating EBIT declined by 29.3 percent to €41 million (previous year: €58 million), and return on sales thus amounted to 3.7 percent (previous year: 4.8 percent). Operating EBITDA decreased to €92 million (previous year: €115 million), resulting in an EBITDA margin of 8.2 percent (previous year: 9.5 percent). At year-end, Be Printers employed 6,201 people (December 31, 2012: 6,571).

Declining print runs characterized Be Printers’ printing operations in the reporting period, as did continuing price pressure and high excess capacity in the industry. The group responded with new offers as well as various programs to increase efficiency and lower costs.

Specifically, the gravure division Prinovis realized savings in personnel costs and materials purchasing. Provisions for restructuring costs were formed for the planned closure of the Itzehoe site in April 2014. As a special item, these are not shown under operating EBIT. The fire at a gravure printing press in Dresden led to restrictions on production; at the same time, Prinovis received a compensation payment from the machine’s property insurance. As a special item, this is also not shown under operating EBIT. In the UK, a major customer cut order volumes. Overall, revenues and earnings were down at Prinovis. During the reporting period, several of Prinovis’ print products and digital offers won industry awards for their high quality.

Be Printers’ Southern European printing companies did business in a difficult market environment that was further exacerbated by macroeconomic developments in Italy and Spain. The units recorded declining volumes. Management countered this with measures to increase sales and cut costs, for example, in the areas of procurement and IT. The merger of the Italian and German calendar businesses also improved productivity and competitiveness.

Be Printers Americas countered the declining market development and kept its earnings stable. Growing business with clients outside the publishing industry – such as communications services for companies in the health-care sector – cushioned the decline in revenues. In 2013, major existing customers renewed their contracts with Be Printers Americas.

Corporate Investments/Corporate Center

In 2013, Corporate Investments, which includes all of Bertelsmann’s other operating activities, recorded significantly increased revenue of €582 million (previous year: €471 million) and operating EBIT of €-40 million (previous year: €-38 million). Operating EBITDA was €10 million compared with €-29 million in the previous year; the EBITDA margin was 1.7 percent. The acquisition of full ownership of the BMG Music Rights subsidiary, completed in April 2013, helped to boost revenues. This was partly offset by declining revenues in the Club and Direct Marketing businesses. Operating EBIT reflects start-up losses, among other factors for business expansion in the education sector, and a decline in earnings in the Club business. At year-end, Corporate Investments had 4,342 employees (December 31, 2012: 4,289).

Jointly established by Bertelsmann and KKR, the music rights company BMG is once again fully owned by Bertelsmann since the end of March 2013 and grew strongly during the reporting period. BMG acquired several catalogs of song and master rights: Primary Wave, Sanctuary, Mute and Virgin/Famous. Numerous national and international artists signed new contracts including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and the Backstreet Boys. BMG expanded its presence in all major music markets, including opening a branch in Canada.

In the reporting period, Bertelsmann invested in developing its new line of business: education. The University Ventures Fund, jointly established with other investors, expanded its international portfolio of holdings. Bertelsmann also made direct investments to increase its stake in Synergis Education, a service provider that supports academic institutions in establishing accredited online degree programs, and in the innovative US online education provider University Now.

The Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) and Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) funds expanded their portfolios. For instance, BDMI joined RTL Group in investing in the online video network StyleHaul, which brought its holdings to a total of 49 at year-end. BAI acquired five new holdings – including providers of mobile payment services, car purchasing and cloud computing – and divested from three companies, realizing high capital gains in the process. The remaining portfolio, consisting of 20 holdings, developed very well. In India, two direct investments were made, including in the real estate portal indiaproperty.com. In Brazil, investments were also made in two online media start-ups.

Revenues in the Club business declined as planned in 2013. The operational business of the direct marketing company Inmediaone will be gradually phased out by mid-2014. The dismantling of the German Club continued with store closures, and the businesses in the Czech Republic and Slovakia were sold to a strategic investor.

The Corporate Center department, which comprises all of the Group’s Corporate Centers around the world, controlled and supported several large transactions in 2013, including the merger of Penguin and Random House into Penguin Random House, the world’s leading trade book publishing group, and the incremental placement of RTL Group shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Its work during the year also focused on the organization of a Management Meeting and “State of the Art Forum” in Silicon Valley, as well as the global employee survey. In the first half of 2013, the Bertelsmann Executive Board launched the Operational Excellence program, which is designed to monitor processes and structures in the financial, HR, IT and procurement departments across the Group. The program will support Group strategy by modernizing structures, improving efficiency and creating uniform standards of quality. It will be implemented in several stages over a period of up to five years.

 

Overview of figures (in € millions)

The comparative figures for the previous period have been adjusted.

About Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann is an international media company whose core divisions encompass television (RTL Group), book publishing (Penguin Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), services (Arvato), and printing (Be Printers) in some 50 countries. In 2013, the company’s businesses, with their more than 111,000 employees, generated revenues of €16.4 billion. Bertelsmann stands for a combination of creativity and entrepreneurship that empowers the creation of first-rate media, communications, and service offerings to inspire people around the world and to provide innovative solutions for customers.

For further questions, please contact:

Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA Andreas Grafemeyer Senior Vice President Media Relations Phone: +49 – 52 41 / 80 24 66 [email protected]