"If truth be told, and it always should, I was taken in by the view, as so many others, both before and since. For me, it wasn't the sea which proved my downfall, but a pair of eyes. Eyes, specifically, made to drown in." Imagine thinking you had the ideal life. The perfect partner, on whom you relied and trusted. An infant child, newly adopted. Then one day, you wake up, and the life you've been living has suddenly turned upside down. Everything thought true becomes suspect. And you learn, quite quickly, that you can never again trust the person sleeping beside you. If Kergan Edwards-Stout's life was a Lifetime movie, surely he would be played by Valerie Bertinelli, and his husband played by some charming hunk. But life is far more subtle than that. And even now, the truth is murkier, and even more disturbing. For Kergan, that email proved to be only the beginning. Like the wash of the waves, crashing onto the beach, you never know if the tumult will bring glittering riches, highlighted by the sun, or dark, murky residue of questionable origin.

The star of The Incredible Dr. Pol shares his amusing, and often poignant, tales from his four decades as a vet in rural Michigan. Dr. Jan Pol is not your typical veterinarian. Born and raised the Netherlands on a dairy farm, he is the star of Nat Geo Wild’s hit show The Incredible Dr. Pol and has been treating animals in rural Michigan since the 1970s. Dr. Pol’s more than 20,000 patients have ranged from white mice to 2600-pound horses and everything in between. From the time he was twelve years old and helped deliver a litter of piglets on his family’s farm to the incredible moments captured on his hit TV show, Dr. Pol has amassed a wealth of stories of what it’s like caring for this menagerie of animals. He shares his own story of growing up surrounded by animals, training to be a vet in the Netherlands, and moving to Michigan to open his first practice in a pre fab house. He has established himself as an empathetic yet no-nonsense vet who isn’t afraid to make the difficult decisions in order to do what’s best for his patients—and their hard-working owners. A sick pet can bring heartache, but a sick cow or horse could threaten the very livelihood of a farmer whose modest profits are dependent on healthy livestock. Reminiscent of the classic books of James Herriot, Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow is a charming, fascinating, and funny memoir that will delight animal lovers everywhere.

What is life all about? Is it how much education you can get, how great a job you can land, or how much property or money you can accumulate over a set number of years? In Never Turn Your Back on a Monkey, Dale Anschuetz gives the reader a refreshing and sometimes hilarious look at what is really important in life. Pastor Dale will learn that life is what you make of it; more importantly, he teaches that you should Never Turn Your Back on a Monkey.

The star of The Incredible Dr. Pol shares his amusing, and often poignant, tales from his four decades as a vet in rural Michigan. Dr. Jan Pol is not your typical veterinarian. Born and raised the Netherlands on a dairy farm, he is the star of Nat Geo Wild’s hit show The Incredible Dr. Pol and has been treating animals in rural Michigan since the 1970s. Dr. Pol’s more than 20,000 patients have ranged from white mice to 2600-pound horses and everything in between. From the time he was twelve years old and helped deliver a litter of piglets on his family’s farm to the incredible moments captured on his hit TV show, Dr. Pol has amassed a wealth of stories of what it’s like caring for this menagerie of animals. He shares his own story of growing up surrounded by animals, training to be a vet in the Netherlands, and moving to Michigan to open his first practice in a pre fab house. He has established himself as an empathetic yet no-nonsense vet who isn’t afraid to make the difficult decisions in order to do what’s best for his patients—and their hard-working owners. A sick pet can bring heartache, but a sick cow or horse could threaten the very livelihood of a farmer whose modest profits are dependent on healthy livestock. Reminiscent of the classic books of James Herriot, Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow is a charming, fascinating, and funny memoir that will delight animal lovers everywhere.

The 1980s saw spirited debate in China, as officials and the public pressed for economic and political liberalization. But after Tiananmen, the Communist Party erased the reform debate from memory. Julian Gewirtz shows how the leadership expunged alternative visions of China's future and set the stage for the policing of history under Xi Jinping.

For 26 years, Dr. David Perrin served as a country veterinarian in the rural (but never quiet) Creston valley of southern British Columbia. Don't Turn Your Back in the Barn is his engaging and entertaining firsthand account of his rookie year on the job in the early 1970s. Reminiscent of the beloved books of British veterinarian and writer James Herriot, Perrin's book is by turns heartbreaking and hysterical. In 22 stories, he relays his encounters with an eclectic group of two-legged clients and a roster of four-legged patients that range in size from a newborn kitten to a 1,500-pound pregnant heifer. Perrin's honest account of veterinary life includes his mistakes, successes, and frequent searches for answers to problems that most of us will thankfully never have to consider (for example, how does one discourage the advances of an amorous billy goat'). Passion, pathos, adventure, humor-Don't Turn Your Back in the Barn has it all.

Linwood Barclay meets Michael Farris Smith in this Georgia-set domestic thriller about family, vengeance, and atonement, from critically acclaimed Southern mystery novelist Christopher Swann. The bonds of family never truly let go. In fact, its grip only tightens the further you try to run: crushing and crippling. Ethan Faulkner is a precocious child with a brilliant but troublesome sister, a war vet for a father, and a weary mother trying to manage their family. One night a young woman rings their doorbell, desperate to hide from two men who are pursuing her, when one of the two barges in after her. The struggle leaves both of Ethan’s parents dead. Years later, Ethan has a successful teaching career and a budding relationship with a coworker. But he hasn’t quite followed through on his promise to his dying father—to take care of his sister. Susannah is not an easy person to keep tabs on, is a handful even when the tabs are kept, and quite frankly, Ethan wants her to suffer for preventing him from getting to his dad before he died all those years ago. It was a long time ago and Ethan tries to put all of it behind him. But that’s easier said than done. When news of a brutal murder breaks with evidence pointing to Ethan as the prime suspect, all the painful memories of his past come rushing to meet him. Lyrically conveyed with emotion and nuance, Never Turn Back is a powerful story about family, vengeance, and how some actions echo through the years with irreparable consequences.