"Built on her ... Modern Love column, 'When a Couch is More Than a Couch' (9/23/2016), a ... memoir of living meaningfully with 'death in the room' by the 38-year-old great-great-great granddaughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson--mother to two young boys, wife of 16 years--after her terminal cancer diagnosis"--

Carlos de Leon has led an ideal life under his father's care in Spain. Every day with his father, Shane Leoppard, is like an adventure. That is, until, Shane succumbs to an assassin's bullet and dies in his son's arms. Twelve-year-old Carlos is left all alone in the world, with only his father's teachings to keep him safe. But that might be all he needs. Shane taught him how to be deliberative, stealthy, and, most importantly, lethal. Carlos thinks he needs all these skills to survive the road ahead. His path will be a dark one as he swears vengeance on those responsible for his father's death. Retribution will take him from the Roma community of France to the American Ozarks, and back, in this daring thriller. Will Carlos find revenge or redemption in his quest to avenge his father? Cold War plots combine with supernatural encounters in this heart-pounding adventure. Author and pastor Nikolas Larum provides a unique look at espionage from a spiritual perspective. The gypsy spy will have to confront his demons to save the world from war and not lose his soul.

The acclaimed author of Carved in Sand—a veteran investigative journalist who endured persistent back pain for decades—delivers the definitive book on the subject: an essential examination of all facets of the back pain industry, exploring what works, what doesn't, what may cause harm, and how to get on the road to recovery. In her effort to manage her chronic back pain, investigative reporter Cathryn Jakobson Ramin spent years and a small fortune on a panoply of treatments. But her discomfort only intensified, leaving her feeling frustrated and perplexed. As she searched for better solutions, she exposed a much bigger problem. Costing roughly $100 billion a year, spine medicine—often ineffective and sometimes harmful —exemplified the worst aspects of the U.S. health care system. The result of six years of intensive investigation, Crooked offers a startling look at the poorly identified risks of spine medicine, and provides practical advice and solutions. Ramin interviewed scores of spine surgeons, pain management doctors, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, exercise physiologists, physical therapists, chiropractors, specialized bodywork practitioners. She met with many patients whose pain and desperation led them to make life-altering decisions, and with others who triumphed over their limitations. The result is a brilliant and comprehensive book that is not only important but essential to millions of back pain sufferers, and all types of health care professionals. Ramin shatters assumptions about surgery, chiropractic methods, physical therapy, spinal injections and painkillers, and addresses evidence-based rehabilitation options—showing, in detail, how to avoid therapeutic dead ends, while saving money, time, and considerable anguish. With Crooked, she reveals what it takes to outwit the back pain industry and get on the road to recovery.

It used to be that “stuff” made you cool. That is so twentieth century. Jeff Yeager, the man dubbed The Ultimate Cheapskate by Matt Lauer on Today, offers a completely fresh take on personal finance, teaching us how to enjoy life more by spending less. He will show you how to buy less stuff, retire young, and live financially free, while you make a positive difference in people’s lives and save the planet along the way. The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches lays out the practices and principles that have made cheap the new cool. Live within your means at thirty and stay there. The Ultimate Cheapskate was living well on what he earned at thirty, so when he made more money, he saved every penny. Now he is “selfishly” employed, doing work he loves and helping others. Do for yourself what you could have others do for you. Cheapskates are die-hard do-it-yourselfers. It’s all about having the right tools, and The Ultimate Cheapskate will get you started. Pinch the dollars and the pennies will pinch themselves. It’s not the $3 cup of coffee; it’s the big-ticket decisions that determine whether you’ll be financially free. So buy a house, not a castle. The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches promises a quality of life you cannot buy, a sense of satisfaction you cannot fake, and an appreciation for others and for the planet that gives life value. Open your road map and prepare to discover the true joys of financial freedom.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Night Watch: the reputation-making debut short story collection that paved the way for a new generation of writers. • “Brilliant … Phillips is a virtuoso.” —The Chicago Tribune Jayne Anne Phillips's reputation-making debut collection paved the way for a new generation of writers. Raved about by reviewers and embraced by the likes of Raymond Carver, Frank Conroy, Annie Dillard, and Nadine Gordimer, Black Tickets now stands as a classic. With an uncanny ability to depict the lives of men and women who rarely register in our literature, Phillips writes stories that lay bare their suffering and joy. Here are the abused and the abandoned, the violent and the passive, the impoverished and the disenfranchised who populate the small towns and rural byways of the country. A patron of the arts reserves his fondest feeling for the one man who wants it least. A stripper, the daughter of a witch, escapes from poverty into another kind of violence. A young girl during the Depression is caught between the love of her crazy father and the no less powerful love of her sorrowful mother. These are great American stories that have earned a privileged place in our literature.