A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • The first major biography of one of our most influential judges—an activist lawyer who became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary—that provides an eye-opening account of the twin struggles for gender equality and civil rights in the 20th Century. • “Timely and essential."—The Washington Post “A must-read for anyone who dares to believe that equal justice under the law is possible and is in search of a model for how to make it a reality.” —Anita Hill With the US Supreme Court confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, “it makes sense to revisit the life and work of another Black woman who profoundly shaped the law: Constance Baker Motley” (CNN). Born to an aspirational blue-collar family during the Great Depression, Constance Baker Motley was expected to find herself a good career as a hair dresser. Instead, she became the first black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court, the first of ten she would eventually argue. The only black woman member in the legal team at the NAACP's Inc. Fund at the time, she defended Martin Luther King in Birmingham, helped to argue in Brown vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in vanquishing Jim Crow laws throughout the South. She was the first black woman elected to the state Senate in New York, the first woman elected Manhattan Borough President, and the first black woman appointed to the federal judiciary. Civil Rights Queen captures the story of a remarkable American life, a figure who remade law and inspired the imaginations of African Americans across the country. Burnished with an extraordinary wealth of research, award-winning, esteemed Civil Rights and legal historian and dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Tomiko Brown-Nagin brings Motley to life in these pages. Brown-Nagin compels us to ponder some of our most timeless and urgent questions--how do the historically marginalized access the corridors of power? What is the price of the ticket? How does access to power shape individuals committed to social justice? In Civil Rights Queen, she dramatically fills out the picture of some of the most profound judicial and societal change made in twentieth-century America.

When freedom is brutally withheld, the people have no choice but to rise up, in this post-apocalyptic science fiction sequel to The Rebellion’s Last Traitor Overthrowing the tyrannical Tathadann government should have been cause for celebration. But as Eitan City announces its independence, soldiers from the northern province of Vårgmannskjør storm the ceremony and annex the city. The cruelties of the Tathadann soon pale beside their new rulers' atrocities. Henraek finds himself resettled in the north, in a city where the people seem happy and well… until its labor camps and enslaved spirits come to light. The rebellion must begin anew, in Eitan City and throughout Vårgmannskjør, and now the stakes are higher than ever. File Under: Science Fiction

In a dystopian world ravaged by war and environmental collapse, one man fights history to discover the truth about his wife and child. After decades of war, the brutal Tathadann Party restored order toshattered Eitan City by outlawing the past and rewriting history. Memory is a commodity – bought and sold, and experienced like a drug. Henraek works as a Tathadann memory thief, draining citizens’ memories. Everything changes when Henraek harvests a memory of his own wife’s death, in the hidden rebellion that once tore apart their city. Now he will do whatever it takes to learn the truth – even ifit means burning Eitan City to the ground. File Under: Science Fiction [ Memory Thieves | Collaborators | Brothers In War | City on Fire ]

Bestselling author of The Same Sweet Girls and The Sunday Wife returns with the story of a controversial divorce therapist whose innovative methods have helped heal many shattered lives . . . but not her own.

Set in the magical world of Renthia, The Queen of Blood is Sarah Beth Durst’s ambitious entry into adult epic fantasy. With the danger of Peter Brett’s The Warded Man, heart of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and lyricism of Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, this is the first chapter in a series destined to be a classic. Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . . But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. But queens are still just human, and no matter how strong or good, the threat of danger always looms. With the position so precarious, young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, is under no illusions as to her claim to the throne, but simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness—a journey that will test their courage and trust, and force them to stand against both enemies and friends to save their land . . . before it’s bathed in blood.

Filled with political intrigue, violent magic, and malevolent spirits, the mesmerizing second book in Sarah Beth Durst’s Queens of Renthia epic fantasy trilogy that started with the award-winning The Queen of Blood. Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . . And those spirits want to kill you. It’s the first lesson that every Renthian learns. Not long ago, Daleina used her strength and skill to survive those spirits and assume the royal throne. Since then, the new queen has kept the peace and protected the humans of her land. But now for all her power, she is hiding a terrible secret: she is dying. And if she leaves the world before a new heir is ready, the spirits that inhabit her beloved realm will run wild, destroying her cities and slaughtering her people. Naelin is one such person, and she couldn’t be further removed from the Queen—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her world is her two children, her husband, and the remote village tucked deep in the forest that is her home, and that’s all she needs. But when Ven, the Queens champion, passes through the village, Naelin’s ambitious husband proudly tells him of his wife’s ability to control spirits—magic that Naelin fervently denies. She knows that if the truth of her abilities is known, it will bring only death and separation from those she loves. But Ven has a single task: to find the best possible candidate to protect the people of Aratay. He did it once when he discovered Daleina, and he’s certain he’s done it again. Yet for all his appeals to duty, Naelin is a mother, and she knows her duty is to her children first and foremost. Only as the Queen’s power begins to wane and the spirits become emboldened—even as ominous rumors trickle down from the north—does she realize that the best way to keep her son and daughter safe is to risk everything. Sarah Beth Durst established a place of dark wonder in The Queen of Blood, and now the stakes are even higher as the threat to the Queen and her people grows both from within and beyond the borders of Aratay in this riveting second novel of the Queens of Renthia series.

In the forward to his book, Queen of Militants, Father Neubert describes this drama between the forces of heaven and the forces of hell as they work through the machinations of those persons caught in their grip. He writes to the Church Militant, those of us on earth who belong to Christ:Your task may appear desperately difficult. Your enemies are more numerous than you; they have at their command inexhaustible resources; they are organized with a cleverness that one is almost tempted to call satanic.It is of prime importance, then, that you do not "beat the air," that your every step and your every move contribute to victory. And it is necessary that this victory be as complete as possible, for it concerns the cause of Christ and of His Church; it involves the temporal and eternal welfare of numberless souls.So, how can this battle be waged, and how can the militant organize his steps so that each contributes to victory? Father Neubert gives the answer. He gives us a playbook, a strategy to follow, which has everything to do with the Queen of Militants, the Blessed Virgin Mary. As a teacher guides a student through a process of development and discovery, so too, does Father Neubert lead his reader to the key principles of heaven's strategy to win the war through Mary's maternal beatitude and intercession. He instructs us in the life of a militant, how Mary forms and develops the militant for the struggle, of what the combat consists, and finally the prayers and devotional practices that are the fuel for victory. Gems of spiritual insight and wisdom follow one after the other in a path that leads to triumph.While the historic context of Queen of Militants is particular to the tensions and struggles of the mid 20th Century, the content of the book is as relevant today as it was then.