dinner for one

'Sister Europe is so ambitious and ethically interested that it makes it clear that Zink is one of our most important contemporary writers.' Guardian As a Berlin night draws in around the pristine glass exterior of the Hotel Interconti, a ragtag group of friends, family, and potential lovers find themselves frustrated. By promise or threat, they have all gathered at a lavish celebration of an elderly author's venerable career. But dinner is delayed, the speeches are a drag and the gang - a young trans teen and her father; an ageing publisher and his flakey date; a dog, a troubled heiress and an Arab Prince - begin to feel the pinch of boredom, hunger and horniness. Together they will make their bid for freedom, and will soon embark on an exhilarating odyssey through the city's shadow and light. . . Sophisticated, sexy and exquisitely funny, Sister Europe is the remarkable new novel from one of the most singular, brilliant writers working today: a vivid tale of growing up, growing old and getting down. 'Nell Zink is a writer of extraordinary talent and range. Her work insistently raises the possibility that the world is larger and stranger than the world you think you know' Jonathan Franzen 'To stay out late in Zink's world, loitering, is a pleasure. Her voice is cool and fastidious, but she has a screwball quality - a comic sensibility rooted in pain.' New York Times 'An extraordinary talent... Zink is in the company of not only Jonathan Franzen, but also Donna Tartt, Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe' Daily Telegraph 'A novel that fizzes with repartee and off-kilter cleverness' Daily Mail

A New York Times Bestseller Now in paperback, the second edge-of-your-seat installment in the New York Times bestselling series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, called "stylistically mesmerizing" and "out-of-this-world-awesome" by reviewers.   Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.      The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues 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.      When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia and possibly the known universe is in their hands.      But relax. They've totally got this. They hope.      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.   Praise for Illuminae:   A New York Times Bestseller A PW Bestseller   Out-of-this-world awesome. Kirkus Reviews, Starred   Stylistically mesmerizing. Publishers Weekly, Starred   An arresting visual experience. Booklist, Starred   A game-changer. Shelf Awareness, Starred

This limited deluxe hardcover edition will feature stenciled edges, illustrated endpapers, and jacket effects— available for a limited time, so pre-order now! From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Asher comes a heartfelt, second-chance romance about two exes on a nonrefundable honeymoon that forces them to confront everything that went wrong between them…and if there’s anything left to save. Natalia Aguilar isn’t sure which mistake she regrets more: spending thousands of dollars on a honeymoon to celebrate a wedding that never happened or picking the nonrefundable option because it was a better deal. Now that she’s no longer engaged to Gabriel, she needs to choose between taking a financial hit or going on the trip despite the risk of running into her ex-fiancé for the first time since their breakup. It’s been over a year since their engagement was called off, and Gabriel Saint James is just starting to settle into his new life when he hears that Natalia is going on their honeymoon with another man. Rather than stay home, Gabriel decides his misery could use some company and crashes Natalia’s romantic getaway meant for two. Candlelit dinners, snorkeling excursions, and sunset hikes—whatever Natalia does, Gabriel is around to remind her that the man she fell in love with is still here…even if she wishes he wasn’t. During their trip, the two exes are forced to confront their feelings for one another and whether the past they’re still holding on to is worth sacrificing the future they always dreamed of sharing together. Tropes: • Second-chance romance • Forced proximity • Brother’s best friend • Slow burn • A man who yearns

The electrifying new thriller from Shari Lapena, author of the bestselling novel of the year, The Couple Next Door. 'Shari expertly traps you, confounds you and leaves you gasping at the end. More, please . . .' FIONA BARTON 'Tense. Unpredictable. Unputdownable. Shari's novels are domestic noir at its finest' SIMON KERNICK 'So many dizzying twists you'd better not drive after reading' LINWOOD BARCLAY 'Smart, twisty thriller . . . It's taut, intelligent and compelling' Heat ***** Why would you run scared from a happy home? You're waiting for your beloved husband to get home from work. You're making dinner, looking forward to hearing about his day. That's the last thing you remember. You wake up in hospital, with no idea how you got there. They tell you that you were in an accident; you lost control of your car whilst driving in a dangerous part of town. The police suspect you were up to no good. But your husband refuses to believe it. Your best friend isn't so sure. And even you don't know what to believe . . . ***** Praise for Shari Lapena: 'I thought the read-it-in-one-sitting thing was a cliche. Not any more.' LINWOOD BARCLAY 'Entirely compelling, utterly realistic. You will not see the twists coming.' Daily Mail 'Meticulously crafted and razor sharp.' HARLAN COBEN 'A twisty, utterly riveting tale.' TESS GERRITSEN 'Shari Lapena furnishes a clever array of motives and suspects. The tension is high and remains to the last, stunning page.' The Times ALSO OUT NOW the new Sunday Times bestseller from Shari Lapena: AN UNWANTED GUEST

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A young woman pretends to be someone she isn’t in this “spellbinding” (Vogue), “smoldering” (The Washington Post) novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls. “Under Cline’s command, every sentence as sharp as a scalpel, a woman toeing the line between welcome and unwelcome guest becomes a fully destabilizing force.”—The New York Times A BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK • VULTURE’S INAUGURAL "BEACH BOOK READS" BOOK CLUB PICK • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Glamour, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Slate, Time Out, Chicago Public Library, Electric Lit, Bookreporter “Alex drained her wineglass, then her water glass. The ocean looked calm, a black darker than the sky. A ripple of anxiety made her palms go damp. It seemed suddenly very tenuous to believe that anything would stay hidden, that she could successfully pass from one world to another.” Summer is coming to a close on the East End of Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome. A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she’s been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city. With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways, and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to Labor Day moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake. Taut, propulsive, and impossible to look away from, Emma Cline’s The Guest is a spellbinding literary achievement.

A very liberal contemporary couple-Angel, an urban Native science fiction writer, and Colleen, a "non-practising" Jewish intellectual who teaches Native literature-hosts a dinner party. The guests at this little "sitcom" soirée are couples that represent what by now have become the clichéd extremes of both societies: Angel's former radical Native activist buddies and Colleen's environmentally concerned vegetarian / veterinarian friends. The menu is, of course, the hosts' respectful attempt at shorthand for the irreconcilable cultural differences about to come to a head during the evening: moose roast and vegetarian lasagna. Like all of Drew Hayden Taylor's work, alterNatives manages to say things about "Whites and Indians" that one is not supposed to talk about-it digs up the carefully buried, raw and pulsing nerve-endings of the unspeakable and exposes them to the hot bright lights of the stage. That he does so with a humour that the politically correct among his audiences continue to miss entirely beneath the sound and fury of their own self-righteous indignation is a measure of his immense talent as a dramatist. In the end, the play is not about cultural differences at all, but instead constitutes a full frontal attack on the personal qualities the sitcom holds most dear and pushes hardest at its audiences: Taylor actually has the temerity to suggest that neither "attitude" nor "sincerity" are enough to address basic human issues, no matter which side of the cultural fence the characters are on. And that's hard for the pushers of what is considered a globally enlightened culture to take. Cast of 3 women and 3 men

An award-winning journalist tells the inspiring story of her unlikely midlife journey to master the daunting sport of obstacle course racing—a powerful, science-based account of the change possible at any age when we push limits. “This story of personal transformation is thrilling.”—Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Life in Five Senses In her midforties, Gwendolyn Bounds attended a dinner party where someone asked a little girl: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It struck Bounds: In middle age, no one asks you that anymore. So she put the question to herself. The answer set her on an unexpected five-year path of transformation from an unathletic office executive glued to her screens to an age-group medalist and world championship competitor in obstacle course racing—a demanding military-style sport requiring speed, endurance, mobility, and strength. In Not Too Late, Bounds explores how tackling something new and hard upended her expectations for middle age—while also helping her reconcile regrets of her youth. Her story takes us from playgrounds and gyms, where Bounds relearns childhood movements (swinging from monkey bars, climbing a rope); to far-flung Spartan Race courses, where she strives to master running in difficult terrain and to conquer challenges such as scaling tall walls, crawling under barbed wire, and carrying heavy loads of rocks up mountains. Bounds’s journey offers inspiration and a road map for anyone craving more out of life. Woven through Not Too Late are insights from scientists, longevity doctors, philosophers, elite athletes, and performance experts on how to reimagine our limits and who we think we are. Through Bounds’s story, as she changes her body and mindset, we learn about humans’ capacity to tap inner reserves, face fears, locate intrinsic motivation, and push boundaries at any life stage. Ultimately, one message prevails: When unleashing our full potential, age can be a secret weapon.

**AS SEEN ON SATURDAY KITCHEN* ' DELECTABLE ' Nigella Lawson ' A GEM ' Rukmini Iyer ' LOVELY RECIPES ' Georgina Hayden ' STUNNING AND INVENTIVE ' Ixta Belfrage 'A CRACKING BOOK ' Olly Smith ' DELIGHTFUL ' Marc Diacono ' EXTREMELY ACCOMPLISHED ' Jay Rayner (on MasterChef) 80 flavourful, vibrant recipes to brighten up your table this Spring. Fearlessly bringing together the best flavours and culinary strategies from around the world, Alexina Anatole will help you use bitter flavours in your cooking to improve the taste of everything you make, whether it's a savoury weeknight dinner or a sweet and decadent dessert - one flavour-balancing technique at a time. These 80 recipes take classic favourites to a new level and include moreish solutions for every meal, and include: Salmon Tacos with Grapefruit Avocado Roast Chicken with Beer Butter Onions Matcha Basque Cheesecake Aubergine with Whipped Feta Ancho Coffee Beef Short Ribs Negroni Pavlova Using ten star ingredients with recipes that demonstrate how to cook with each type of bitterness - from grapefruit and bitter oranges , bitter greens , tahini , beer , walnuts , cranberries , tea , coffee , cocoa, and liquorice - each dish will expand your repertoire and open the door to new worlds of deliciousness.

Calling all rom com lovers, this collection features four full-length standalone novels by New York Times bestselling author Kendall Ryan in one complete volume. Love Machine She says she needs some help ... in the bedroom. Come again? No, really come again. Sweet, nerdy, lovable Keaton. She's my best friend and has been for years. Sure she likes numbers and math, and thinks doing other people's taxes is fun. And I like ... none of that stuff. She's obsessed with her cat and reads novels I'll never understand, and yet we just click. There's no one I'd rather share breakfast burritos with or binge watch hours of Netflix. She's my person. And so when she takes off her glasses and asks me to help her improve her skills in the bedroom, I barely have to think about it. Of course I'll help her. There's no one better for the job. I've been there for her through everything, why should this be any different? Mr. Tonight Last night was the most embarrassing night of my life. I was that girl. You know, the highly intoxicated chick celebrating her thirtieth birthday with her two best friends-who are happily married. And the more I drank, the more I wanted to do something reckless to celebrate. By reckless, I mean the sexy and alluring man dressed in a business suit standing near the bar. You know his type-tall, dark, handsome. I was sure he was out of my league, but I'd had just enough alcohol that things like that no longer seemed to matter. I'm not fat, mind you, but you can tell I like french fries, so there's that. He took me home, and I enjoyed the hottest birthday sex of my life. Well, until it came to a screeching and rather unwelcome halt. There's nothing quite like being interrupted mid-ride with a little voice asking, "What are you doing to my daddy?" Baby Daddy We met in a trapped elevator. Emmett was on his way to work, sophisticated and handsome in his tailored suit and tie. I was on my way to the sperm bank. Awkward, right? At thirty-five, my life hadn't taken the path I thought it would and I was tired of waiting-I wanted a baby. And I was ready to take matters into my own hands to make it happen. After our ill-fated elevator encounter, Emmett insisted on taking me to dinner-he also insisted on something else-that I ditch my plan involving a turkey baster and let him do the job. He would be my baby daddy. He was a wealthy and powerful CEO with little interest in diapers or playdates. And since he didn't want kids, I'd be on my own once his bun was in my oven, free to go my own way. But once his baby was inside me, it was like a switch had been flipped... Screwed I have one rule: Don't shit where you eat. Several of the women in the condo complex I own would love some one-on-one playtime, and why wouldn't they? I'm young, fit, attractive, and loaded. Not to mention I'm packing a sizable bulge below the belt. It's a combination that drops panties on a regular basis. Yay, me, right? But my cock, troublemaker that he is, has been confined to my trousers by my business partner. A concession I agreed to, and one that's never been hard to enforce until Emery moves in across the hall.

Enchanting, tragic, and hilarious fairy tales for adults and children grace these pages. An initial glance might lead you to assume that these are satirical versions of classic Christmas ghost stories. However, beneath the humorous stories involving ghosts, repentant sinners, miracles, and good peasants who find well-deserved happiness, lies a psychological undercurrent that sharpens the sense of intrigue and plot movement. Often this is aided by the unrelenting social exposure of the authors who always understood how intangible the "bourgeois paradise" truly was. Even today, idyllic dreams of tolerance, equality, and the triumph of justice have failed to materialize. Perhaps that is why people continue to read these classic stories while the snow falls outside and the lights glow on the Christmas tree. Contents: Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol The Chimes G.K. Chesterton A Christmas Carol L.M. Montgomery The Red Room A Christmas Mistake A Christmas Inspiration The Josephs' Christmas Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket The Osbornes' Christmas Bertie's New Year Ida's New Year Cake The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road Clorinda's Gifts The Falsoms' Christmas Dinner The Unforgotten One Christmas at Red Butte Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner L. Frank Baum A Kidnapped Santa Claus Little Bun Rabbit Mark Twain A Letter from Santa Claus Louisa May Alcott A Merry Christmas Leo Tolstoy A Russian Christmas Party Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Christmas Bells The Three Kings Nikolay Gogol Christmas Eve William Dean Howells Christmas Everyday The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express Joseph Rudyard Kipling Christmas in India Elizabeth Harrison Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe John Milton On the Morning of Christ's Nativity Hans Christian Andersen The Fir Tree Selma Lagerlof The Holy Night Hans Christian Andersen The Little Match Girl Clement Moore The Night Before Christmas Henry van Dyke The Other Wise Man Beatrix Potter The Tailor of Gloucester Anton Chehov Vanka

How good's the big twist? You won't see it coming.-Entertainment Weekly Terrific...an unpredictable and unsettling familial drama that has drawn comparisons to the novels of Gillian Flynn and fellow Dubliner Tana French.-Kirkus Reviews When a couple's lost child resurfaces they are forced to embark on a journey into their shared past-one rife with dark secrets and lies Tangiers. Harry is preparing his wife's birthday dinner while she is still at work and their son, Dillon, is upstairs asleep in bed. Harry suddenly remembers that he's left Robin's gift at the café in town. It's only a five minute walk away and Dillon's so tricky to put down for the night, so Harry decides to run out on his own and fetch the present. Disaster strikes. An earthquake hits, buildings crumble, people scream and run. Harry fights his way through the crowd to his house, only to find it razed to the ground. Dillon is presumed dead, though his body is never found. Five years later, Harry and Robin have settled into a new kind of life after relocating to their native Dublin. Their grief will always be with them, but lately it feels as if they're ready for a new beginning. Harry's career as an artist is taking off and Robin has just realized that she's pregnant. But when Harry gets a glimpse of Dillon on the crowded streets of Dublin, the past comes rushing back at both of them. Has Dillon been alive all these years? Or was what Harry saw just a figment of his guilt-ridden imagination? With razor-sharp writing, Karen Perry's The Innocent Sleep delivers a fast-paced, ingeniously plotted thriller brimming with deception, doubt, and betrayal.

Jillian goes to the market to buy ingredients for soup...but winds up accidentally buying a huge Kindred warrior instead. Kalis wants to love and protect her, but he has a dark side--he turns into a huge, green Grizzly bear. Can Jillian get past her fear to accept his love and devotion? And can Kalis save her from her shady ex? Read Accidental Acquisition to find out! Milk--check. Eggs--check. Bread--check. One huge, muscular bodyguard who I now own exclusively...Wait! That wasn't on the list! Jillian Marks is an Executive Chef at a Kindred restaurant on the Mother Ship. Every Monday she goes to the Buy-All-Sell-All Market to get exotic, hard-to-find ingredients for her menu. But this time she's made an accidental purchase--one she didn't expect. While trying to buy soup ingredients for a special VIP dinner, she mistakenly buys a bodyslave as well--a huge, muscular Kindred warrior named Kalis, whom she now owns. And did we mention there are absolutely no returns, refunds, or exchanges? Kalis was captured and taken as a fighter in the Blood Circuit in his early twenties. Now, in his early fifties, he's used to serving a Mistress. And since he's been dreaming of Jillian for the past two years, all he wants to do is love and protect her. But he has another side--a darker side that comes to light when his new Mistress is threatened. Kalis is a B'varren Kindred who can turn, at will, into an enormous Ursus--a terrifying beast resembling a Grizzly bear. Once Jillian sees his beast come out, she really doesn't want anything to do with her accidental purchase. But Kalis slowly wins her over, proving that he's good in the kitchen and the bedroom...not just the Blood Circuit. But in order to bond her to him, he must let her tame the beast inside him--which Jillian does *not* want to do. It looks like a hopeless case of buyer's remorse when she gets lured down to Earth by her shady ex. Can Kalis get her out of the terrible trouble she finds herself in? And can Jillian ever accept and tame his beast? You'll have to read Accidental Acquisition to find out!

Love, Lies and Lemon Cake is a hilarious, bittersweet comedy about taking your life back before it's too late. Faye Dobson has lost her sparkle. Living on film star fantasies and vague memories of a marriage that once was, she can't help feeling that life is passing her by. She dreams of being whisked to Paris for dinner, making three wishes at the Trevi fountain and having sex under the stars. But the wrinkles are multiplying, her husband's passion is for plumbing, and the nearest she'll get to Rome is a take-away pizza. So when Faye meets Dan the gorgeous Australian surfer guy working in the local deli she can't help but wonder what it would be like to see the world. He is blonde, tanned, ten years younger and bakes the most amazing lemon cake. Unlike her husband Dan actually listens to Faye, his smile makes her feel fizzy inside, and when he smiles... Oh. My. God. But is Faye being silly? What would Dan see in someone like her? Even if he did have feelings for her, could she give up everything to be with him? What people are saying about Sue Watson… 'Laugh-out-loud funny, this book is exceptionally good.' Chick Lit Club 'a talented chick lit author with fresh and unique voice and going on my list of all time faves.' This Chick Reads 'Love, Lies and Lemon Cake is a deliciously hilarious book that will have you laughing out loud and rooting for the new Faye! From vajazzled lady parts to fake bake, orange self-tanners, Sue Watson's humour is brilliant and spot on! This is the perfect book for summer! Don't walk, but run out and get this book. You will be glad that you did!' Book Mama blog 'Sue's writing is witty and heartfelt in just the right amounts.' One More Page 'Sue has an absolutely amazing way of making you feel the emotions of her characters, and making you step into their shoes.' Kim the Bookworm

Clever, wise and achingly funny.' Cathy Kelly' You can have it all,' they said. 'Happy children, happy marriage, great career - no problem,' they said...Mother-of-one Saoirse is just about holding it all together - combining part time work with the school run, while her husband David gets to focus on his career. But when David loses his job, everything has to change. With no hesitation, Saoirse suggests she takes on the role of main breadwinner. After all, how hard can it be? And when a new client offers her a life-changing sum of money, Saoirse can look the other over-achieving Woodvale school-run mums in the eye with pride. But there's a problem with keeping too many balls in the air - eventually one is bound to drop. And when that happens - well, who knows what the consequences could be...Laugh-out-loud funny, achingly relatable, but with a heart of gold, and warmth running through every page. This is the perfect read for anyone who has way too many balls in the air! The novel may or may not have been inspired by real life... Praise for Emma Murray: 'If you've ever despaired of the school WhatsApp group, torn your hair out over what to cook for the kids' dinner, again, and wonder why your beloved still believes in the Laundry Fairy, The Juggle is for you. Emma Murray's clever, wise and achingly funny novel about life as a modern mum will make you grin with recognition - and not feel alone. It's not just you, then! There are lots of novels about Having It All but The Juggle combines wisdom, humour and utter warmth as Emma Murray's central character, Saoirse, does her best to keep all the balls in the air.... And guess what, she drops some.' Cathy Kelly 'Emma tells it how it is with real honesty, and it made me laugh out loud.' Janet Hoggarth 'Witty, fun, beautifully-written. Very highly recommended. Excited to see what comes next from Emma Murray.' Jessica Redland Time Out:'Compelling, Uplifting and so very relatable. The characters are superbly written, and I really hope we get to read more from Saoirse.' Readers loved Emma's first book 'I really related to the Saoirse, the main character in this book. I loved her humour, her insecurities, her strengths, her flaws and of course most importantly how she formed a fantastic friendship over a morning bottle of Prosecco.' 'Emma Murray has written a 5-star 'how-to' book on being part of the village ... 'it takes a village to raise a child' but it also takes that village to raise up a mom!' 'A fabulous read that had me hooked and also made me feel glad that my children were born prior to the arrival of Facebook and social media. But a refreshing read and one I would definitely recommend.

Welcome to the Love Hotel 🌞 Check in for a hilarious and spicy opposites attract summer romance set in a matchmaking hotel in Italy NEW FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR OLIVIA SPRING Perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez, Meghan Quinn and Sarah Adams! Tropes: Opposites attract Forbidden romance (staff and hotel guest) Banter to b*nging Forced proximity Grumpy sunshine Matchmaking Spicy !!!! Sparks Fly...but with the wrong guy? Sammie Gordon knows of The Love Hotel's infamous reputation for making happy ever afters a reality. So when she gets her coveted invite to the hotel's exclusive resort in Italy she's packed her bags before she's signed on the dotted line. What could be more perfect than sun, sea, culture and... her perfect match? Except Sammie doesn't get the immediate flutters of excitement when she meets her date. He may be perfect on paper, but their connection is more lukewarm than red hot passion! And when he leaves abruptly, Sammie is left alone in paradise. This is a disaster! But The Love Hotel always goes above and beyond for their guests. And so Love Alchemist Romeo steps into the breach to keep her company on all the planned dates and intimate dinners. In a professional capacity... obviously! When sparks fly instantly, Romeo knows he's in trouble. With a strict no-dating guests rule, Romeo has to try and keep things professional. But like magnets, Sammie and Romeo are drawn to each other. Their chemistry is forbidden and so they must, at all costs resist the temptation to cross the line... Praise for Olivia Spring: 'ADORE Olivia's pitch perfect romances - one of the few who can have me swooning over her male characters.' Bestselling author Kristen Bailey 'I was hooked from the first chapter. An absolute delight!' Bestselling author Laura Carter 'Through Olivia's wonderful writing style, I honestly felt as though I was there' Reader Review 'Well what can I say apart from this book is a rare gem. It has everything book lovers will adore' Reader Review 'Once you get hooked into the story you won't want to put it down.' Reader Review

2017 Audie Award Finalist for Audiobook of the Year The instant New York Times bestseller from the creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder shares how saying YES changed her life. As fun to read as Rhimes's TV series are to watch (Los Angeles Times). She's the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking and audacious shows on television today. Her iconic characters live boldly and speak their minds. So who would suspect that Shonda Rhimes is an introvert? That she hired a publicist so she could avoid public appearances? That she suffered panic attacks before media interviews? With three children at home and three hit television shows, it was easy for Shonda to say she was simply too busy. But in truth, she was also afraid. And then, over Thanksgiving dinner, her sister muttered something that was both a wake up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything. Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her. This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda's life before her Year of Yes?from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun?when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. Yes. ?Honest, raw, and revelatory? (The Washington Post), this wildly candid and compulsively readable book reveals how the mega talented Shonda Rhimes finally achieved badassery worthy of a Shondaland character. Best of all, she ?can help motivate even the most determined homebody to get out and try something new? (Chicago Tribune).

A moving multigenerational novel by the celebrated Palestinian American author of The Beauty of Your Face In the middle of dinner one evening, Intisar Jaber receives a phone call that will upend her quiet life in Chicago: her father is dying and she must go to Palestine to pay her final respects. But Intisar hasn't seen or heard from Hafez for nearly two decades, ever since he abandoned her and her mother to join the resistance. After a fateful mission, Hafez was thrown into the notorious Gahana Prison to serve a life sentence—permanently removed from her life. As soon as Intisar arrives in his village of Bayt al-Hawa, she discovers what it means to be a stranger in her ancestral land, the inheritance of loss, and the high price of freedom. Meanwhile, Hafez’s mother Sundus battles to save the home that she built with her husband from thieving hands. Will Intisar, her estranged granddaughter, help Sundus fight to reclaim it? Can they close the gaping distance between them before it’s too late? Powerfully etched in Sahar Mustafah’s honest and lyrical prose, The Slightest Green explores the place—and people—we call home and how far we will go to reach them.

'Jordan is a kind of Australian Marian Keyes, combining overdrive pace and throwaway humour with a razor intelligence and a deft, illuminating touch on darker subjects and themes . . . A sharp-eyed, engaging, endearing and ultimately optimistic story' Sydney Morning Herald 'Taps into the humour and pathos of ordinary life in a way that has you nodding with recognition . . . while at the same time laughing out loud' PIP WILLIAMS 'I just loved this very smart, very funny and at times moving novel' SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM One perfect life. One disastrous week . The brand-new novel from bestselling, acclaimed and beloved author Toni Jordan As the eldest child in a single-parent family, Kylie's always had more important things on her mind than smiling for random strangers. Controlling her job, her home, her romantic life and - most importantly - her family takes all her concentration. She's always succeeded, though, because that's just who Kylie is. When her fiercely independent mother breaks an ankle and needs help, it's up to Kylie, as usual, to fix things. She reluctantly packs her bags and moves in, but back in her childhood home, things start to unravel. Could it be that Kylie's carefully curated life is not so perfect after all? Prettier if She Smiled More will make you laugh and make you cry. Is it ever too late to start over? 'Hilarious . . . A funny take on menopause, caring for an ageing parent, perfectionism and midlife crises told with Toni's signature observational humour and wit on ordinary life' Woman's Day 'A magic mix of domestic drama, self-doubt, self-discovery and learning to laugh in the face of mayhem . . . A sensitive, amusing read' Adelaide Advertiser 'A funny and smart family drama' Weekend Australian 'Fabulous' Who Weekly 'Such a clever book . . . The author has used both quiet wry humour and laugh aloud moments to speak about the nature of family and of love . . . Prettier if She Smiled More is a life manual for us all' Living Arts Canberra 'Pitch perfect with just the right amount of humour . . . Jordan brings all her well-honed creative skills to the fore with this delightful tale' Good Reading Praise for Dinner with the Schnabels: 'I loved every page of this funny, warm, delightful novel!' LIANE MORIARTY 'Told with great humour and pathos. It is a tonic and a delight' PIP WILLIAMS 'A smart, funny novel about love, marriage and family' Weekend Australian 'A contemporary comic masterpiece. Practically every page boasts lines redolent of humour, wit and sarcasm that will make you snigger if not laugh out loud' ArtsHub

'Absorbing, sharply funny and thoroughly satisfying' - Daily Mail The US bestseller and Spotify Book of the Year Three adult sisters reunited at their childhood home must confront a shared tragedy in The Irish Goodbye - the devastatingly beautiful debut novel form Heather Aimee O'Neill. It's been years since the three Ryan sisters were all home together at their family's beloved house on Long Island. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by a tragic accident on their brother Topher's boat that drove him to suicide. Now, the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, but each carries a heavy secret. The eldest, Cait, is still holding guilt for the role no one knows she played in the boat accident, when she rekindles a flame with her high school crush, Topher's best friend. Middle sister, Alice, has been thrown a curveball threatening her career and, potentially, her marriage. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk to bring the woman she loves home to her devoutly Catholic mother. When Cait invites a guest to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves - and each other. 'With beautiful writing and a cast of memorable characters, this is another debut you won't be able to put down' - The Mirror 'A sparkling debut' - Jenny Jackson, author of Pineapple Street 'The family saga we all need' - Jessica Soffer, bestselling author of This Is a Love Story

A very liberal contemporary couple-Angel, an urban Native science fiction writer, and Colleen, a "non-practising" Jewish intellectual who teaches Native literature-hosts a dinner party. The guests at this little "sitcom" soirée are couples that represent what by now have become the clichéd extremes of both societies: Angel's former radical Native activist buddies and Colleen's environmentally concerned vegetarian / veterinarian friends. The menu is, of course, the hosts' respectful attempt at shorthand for the irreconcilable cultural differences about to come to a head during the evening: moose roast and vegetarian lasagna. Like all of Drew Hayden Taylor's work, alterNatives manages to say things about "Whites and Indians" that one is not supposed to talk about-it digs up the carefully buried, raw and pulsing nerve-endings of the unspeakable and exposes them to the hot bright lights of the stage. That he does so with a humour that the politically correct among his audiences continue to miss entirely beneath the sound and fury of their own self-righteous indignation is a measure of his immense talent as a dramatist. In the end, the play is not about cultural differences at all, but instead constitutes a full frontal attack on the personal qualities the sitcom holds most dear and pushes hardest at its audiences: Taylor actually has the temerity to suggest that neither "attitude" nor "sincerity" are enough to address basic human issues, no matter which side of the cultural fence the characters are on. And that's hard for the pushers of what is considered a globally enlightened culture to take. Cast of 3 women and 3 men

Two iconic dynasties—the Kennedys and the Windsors—whose glamour and ambition defined an era. ** For fans of FX’s new Ryan Murphy limited series Love Story. ** For nearly a century, two families an ocean apart have captured the world’s collective imagination: the British Windsors and the American Kennedys. Much ink has been spilled on their individual trysts, tragedies, and triumphs over the years, but no one has examined their powerful and intertwined legacies. Until now. In The Kennedys and the Windsors, acclaimed journalist Caroline Hallemann unearths the story of two iconic families whose lives, ambitions, and respective reigns have mirrored each other in surprising ways. Through rich archival research and fresh interviews from insiders on both sides of the Atlantic, Hallemann reveals how an upstart Irish Catholic family with little access into elite New England society came to host dinner parties for a King and Queen, and forge an eventual path to the White House. In the process, she draws out some startling parallels between the two families: the style icons Princess Diana and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (both tragically gone too soon), the frustrated “second sisters” Princess Margaret and Lee Radziwill, the scandal-plagued next generation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the man formerly known as Prince Andrew, and the current generation’s shared struggle to figure out what a monarchy (actual or imagined) means in the twenty-first century. From Queen Elizabeth’s coronation to President Kennedy’s historic London visit, from JFK Jr.’s shocking death to Prince Harry’s decisive break with his family, Hallemann traces the key moments in the lives of these two dynasties through a fresh and fascinating lens, showing how they have intersected over the generations in ways that not only shaped their images and legacies, but history itself.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A young woman pretends to be someone she isn’t in this “spellbinding” (Vogue), “smoldering” (The Washington Post) novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls. “Under Cline’s command, every sentence as sharp as a scalpel, a woman toeing the line between welcome and unwelcome guest becomes a fully destabilizing force.”—The New York Times A BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK VULTURE’S INAUGURAL "BEACH BOOK READS" BOOK CLUB PICK LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Glamour, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Slate, Time Out, Chicago Public Library, Electric Lit, Bookreporter “Alex drained her wineglass, then her water glass. The ocean looked calm, a black darker than the sky. A ripple of anxiety made her palms go damp. It seemed suddenly very tenuous to believe that anything would stay hidden, that she could successfully pass from one world to another.” Summer is coming to a close on the East End of Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome. A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she’s been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city. With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways, and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to Labor Day moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake. Taut, propulsive, and impossible to look away from, Emma Cline’s The Guest is a spellbinding literary achievement.

Sydney is the capital city in the state of New South Wales. Its charm provides visitors with a wealth of experiences from the nearby beautiful sandy beaches to its amazing architecture, including the famous Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the views from the Sydney Eye are truly amazing. High-quality wall calendar with 12 beautiful images. We care about the environment. We avoid overproduction and thus significant amounts of waste as we produce our calendars via print-on-demand in the markets we operate in. This means we can keep our transport routes short and ensure climate-conscious logistical processes. 14 Pages Consisting of 1 Cover | 12 Months | 1 Index Page | Cardboard Spine at the back This calendar was re-released this year with the same images and new dates. Illustrations: January: Darling Harbour February: Sydney Opera House from Parramatta River March: Sydney Showboats dinner cruise April: Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour May: Passenger ferries and Sydney Harbour Bridge June: Hyde Park from top of Sydney Eye July: Skyline from top of Sydney Eye August: Archibald fountain, Hyde Park September: Queenscliff passenger ferry October: View down Parramatta River November: Traditional Sail boat approaching Darling Harbour December: Sydney skyline QUALITY - High-quality photo calendar with 12 beautiful images on light-resistant paper, robust spiral binding with hanger. PERFECT GIFT - calendars for friends and family, for children, all ages and all occasions, from Christmas to birthdays and everything in between. LOTS OF CHOICE - Wall calendars in different sizes (DIN A4 and DIN A3), for any topic and personal taste, featuring photography, painting and illustrations. Sydney, one of Australia's largest cities, provides visitors with wide and varied experiences., author: Sue Burton

Katherine Center's The Bodyguard is "My perfect 10 of a book. As funny and sweet as all the very best nineties rom-coms, but with Center's signature heart-tugging depth. I wish I could erase it from my mind just to read it again for the first time. A shot of pure joy."-Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers She's got his back. Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she's an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker. He's got her heart. Jack Stapleton's a household name-captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid. They've got a secret. When Jack's mom gets sick, he goes home to the family's Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn't want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah-against her will and her better judgment-finds herself pretending to be Jack's girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, says no one will believe it. What could possibly go wrong? Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it's easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That's the hardest thing she's ever done. "Great rollicking fun! Prepare to laugh and swoon and grin your pants off."-Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author of The Heart Principle "Absolutely, unequivocally delightful!"-Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here

Sometimes the life you're meant to live comes together after everything falls apart. For years, Anna Capozzi followed the rules. She put family and career before love and dreams and never missed a Sunday dinner with her demanding Italian parents and her brother , Frank. When she shocks herself by walking off the job and away from her nursing career , Anna's life falls apart...which sets the real Anna free to come together, as she starts her own business and meets the man of her dreams . But before she can celebrate her new life, her father's growing forgetfulness leads to a devastating diagnosis. Once again, Anna's dreams are put on hold to put the family first , while Frank faces a turning point in a serious relationship complicated by a hidden past . When a long-buried family secret comes to light, Anna and Frank begin to question everything they thought they knew about their parents, their roots , and themselves. Bound by love, burdened by secrets, and shaped by tradition , Anna must find the strength to let go of the life she thought she wanted and embrace the one she's meant to live. When Goodbyes Begin is a heartfelt, multi-generational story about identity, sacrifice, and coming home.

"There was a pain in her chest, a numbness she could feel all down her left side to her fingertips. Behind the closed doors of the bedrooms, there were muffled voices, people dressing on a summer's evening, looking forward to nothing more than a good dinner, nothing that would rip their lives into two halves like a long, jagged seam." Set just before the First World War in London and Nottinghamshire, Ancestral Virgins (Part One) is Downton Abbey with a harder edge and a more shocking secret. Lady Celia Mapperley, young, innocent, and unmarried, is emerging from her protected childhood into a world that seems to hold no place for her. Her mother is pushing her to marry the rich industrialist George Ingham, but Celia is reluctant. Though she is told nothing but hints and whispers, she's both intrigued and repulsed by the mystery of what happens in the dark between a bride and her husband. Feeling ill at ease in every situation, from London's society balls to its suffrage meetings, she despairs of ever finding what will make her truly happy. When a new and wholly unexpected lover comes along, Celia learns the devastating power of desire and is thrust into a scandal so damning it could cost her everything she's ever known. Ancestral Virgins will appeal to fans of Sarah Waters and Kate Atkinson and to anyone enthralled by period dramas in film and television.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER Selected for CBS News New York's Book Club with Mary Calvi As seen on Good Morning America, The View, Good Day New York and featured on Katie Couric Media and Read with Jenna Open Book podcast PEOPLE: BEST NEW BOOKS An Elle Best Book of Summer 2025 USA Today Most Anticipated Read of Summer 2025 Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Book of Summer 2025 From the beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani, a “dazzling” storyteller (Washington Post), and a “comedy writer with a heart of gold” (NYT), comes a novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late. Jess Capodimonte Baratta is not living the life of her dreams. Not even close. In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, family comes first. Recently divorced from Bobby Bilancia, “the perfect husband," Jess moves into her parents’ basement to hide and heal. Jess is the overlooked daughter, who dutifully takes care of her parents, cooks Sunday dinner, and puts herself last. Despite her role as the family handmaiden, Jess is also a talented draftswoman in the marble business run by her dapper uncle Louie, who believes she can do anything (once she invests in a better wardrobe). When the Capodimonte and Baratta families endure an unexpected loss, the shock unearths long-buried secrets that will force Jess to question her loyalty to those she trusted. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess takes fate into her own hands and escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy. From the shadows of the majestic marble-capped mountains of Tuscany, to the glittering streets of Milan, and on the shores of enchanting Lake Como (the other one), Jess begins to carve a place in this new/old world. When she meets Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist who works in gold, she discovers her own skills are priceless. But as Jess uncovers the truth about her family history, it will change the course of her life and those she loves the most forever. In love and work, in art and soul, Jess will need every tool she has mastered to reinvent her life. Fed by the author’s cherished Italian roots comes a bighearted, hilarious novel of the moment: the story of one woman’s determination to live a creative life that matters, with enough room left over for love. With a one-way ticket to Italy, Jess is determined to write a new story on her own terms--this time, in stone.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A young woman pretends to be someone she isn’t in this “spellbinding” (Vogue), “smoldering” (The Washington Post) novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls. “Under Cline’s command, every sentence as sharp as a scalpel, a woman toeing the line between welcome and unwelcome guest becomes a fully destabilizing force.”—The New York Times A BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK VULTURE’S INAUGURAL "BEACH BOOK READS" BOOK CLUB PICK LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Glamour, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Slate, Time Out, Chicago Public Library, Electric Lit, Bookreporter “Alex drained her wineglass, then her water glass. The ocean looked calm, a black darker than the sky. A ripple of anxiety made her palms go damp. It seemed suddenly very tenuous to believe that anything would stay hidden, that she could successfully pass from one world to another.” Summer is coming to a close on the East End of Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome. A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she’s been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city. With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways, and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to Labor Day moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake. Taut, propulsive, and impossible to look away from, Emma Cline’s The Guest is a spellbinding literary achievement.

Issue Fifty-Nine of Kinfolk considers the meaning of “clean” as a ritual, a feeling and an instinct. If you’re starting to think about spring cleaning, you can read our longform essay, which examines how clean we really need to be; or else find solace in Dirty Habits, which turns its attention to the universal pockets of imperfection we all have—dead plants, missing mugs or a junk drawer. We chart the boom in public bathing culture among younger generations in Tokyo and ask five perfumers and an expert to identify what “clean” actually smells like. We also meet David Bronner, whose soap company has taken on a life of its own: a family business turned countercultural force. And while you may expect to see an issue full of “clean lines” and minimalist design, we instead speak to Leonard Koren, one of the world’s leading aesthetes, who has an entirely different proposition. Elsewhere, we meet Jessie Ware—the down-to-earth, bluntly funny British pop star who turned her mother’s weekly Friday night dinners for family and friends into a beloved podcast. Plus, our contributors spend time with a dry cleaner, a dermatologist and a saxophonist, ask whether culture is dead, and try to make sense of Theseus’ paradox. Since 2011, Kinfolk has set the standard for independent publishing in art, design, aesthetics, architecture, homes and interiors. Our quarterly lifestyle magazine is sold in over 100 countries, published in three languages and makes the perfect coffee table magazine or gift for a creative. Featuring inspiring photography, fashion and style, as well as examinations of slow living, Kinfolk is an art and design publication that seeks to promote quality of life and connect a community of creative thinkers.

From Dorothy L. Sayers, one of the Queens of Crime, comes the third addition to the Lord Peter Wimsey series, Unnatural Death. "The death was certainly sudden, unexpected, and to me mysterious," is what the letter from Dr. Paterson read. Lord Peter Wimsey and his friend, Chief Inspector Charles Parker, go on to discuss the associated case over dinner, unaware that they are being overheard by another. The bystander, Dr. Carr apologetically intrudes and asks to share a story with the two. Three years ago, an elderly patient he had been treating for cancer, Miss Agatha Dawson, dies suddenly. There was no evidence of foul play nor an obvious motive for murder, leaving the doctor suspicious but ultimately unable to find a sufficient cause. Immediately convinced that things are not all as they appear Lord Peter Wimsey takes the case. But with little clues and so much time passed, can the amateur slueth solve the mystery of an old woman's unnatural death? A fantastic addition to a beloved series, Dorothy L. Sayers' Unnatural Death (1927) is both a captivating mystery and compelling meditation on gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey himself. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.