Political journalists Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi provide a colorful behind-the-scenes account of the 2020 presidential campaign.

Buzz Books 2021 presents passionate readers with an insider’s look at the buzziest books due out this spring season. Such major bestselling authors as Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Lisa Scottoline, and Tia Williams are featured, along with literary greats Leila Slimani and Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Pulitzer Prize-winner. Other sure-to-be popular titles are by Julie Murphy, of Dumplin’ fame, with her first adult novel; Marie Benedict’s book about J.P Morgan’s personal librarian; and Flynn Berry’s thriller about two sisters and the IRA. Buzz Books has had a particularly stellar track record with highlighting the most talented, exciting debut authors, and this edition is no exception. Amanda Dennis, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Carolyn Ferrell, Gabriela Garcia, are among the literary standouts, while Emma Stonex’s The Lamplighters, inspired by a true story, has already been optioned for film. Our nonfiction selections include two World War II stories, one by Boys in the Boat author Daniel James Brown and a second by Mari K. Elder. Jennifer Gunter, M.D. of The Vagina Bible renown, returns with her Menopause Manifesto. Kat Chow, Erin French, and Danielle Henderson have written three very different memoirs, about a Chinese-American family, a restaurateur, and an unconventional Black childhood, respectively. Finally, we present early looks at new work from up-and-coming young adult authors: Safia Elhillo (Home Is Not A Country), Graci Kim (The Last Fallen Star), and Alexandrea Weis (Have You Seen Me?). Be sure to look out for Buzz Books 2021: Fall/Winter, coming in May.

Cody and Nene have been best friends all their lives. But the Black Lives Matter movement will put their friendship to the test. Can they learn to hear each other out and mend their friendship?

What an intensely divisive election means for American politics The year 2020 was a tumultuous time in American politics. It brought a global pandemic, protests for racial justice, and a razor-thin presidential election outcome. It culminated in an attack on the U.S. Capitol that attempted to deny Joe Biden’s victory. The Bitter End explores the long-term trends and short-term shocks that shaped this dramatic year and what these changes could mean for the future. John Sides, Chris Tausanovitch, and Lynn Vavreck demonstrate that Trump’s presidency intensified the partisan politics of the previous decades and the identity politics of the 2016 election. Presidential elections have become calcified, with less chance of big swings in either party’s favor. Republicans remained loyal to Trump and kept the election close, despite Trump’s many scandals, a recession, and the pandemic. But in a narrowly divided electorate even small changes can have big consequences. The pandemic was a case in point: when Trump pushed to reopen the country even as infections mounted, support for Biden increased. The authors explain that, paradoxically, even as Biden’s win came at a time of heightened party loyalty, there remained room for shifts that shaped the election’s outcome. Ultimately, the events of 2020 showed that instead of the country coming together to face national challenges—the pandemic, George Floyd’s murder, and the Capitol riot—these challenges only reinforced divisions. Expertly chronicling the tensions of an election that came to an explosive finish, The Bitter End presents a detailed account of a year of crises and the dangerous direction in which the country is headed.

Combat misinformation, educate yourself, and start meaningful conversations with friends and family with the help of So, Let's Talk About It, from the creator of the @soyouwanttotalkabout account Jess Natale's now-famous Instagram platform grew out of the uncertainty of 2020, and over the course of a couple of months came to be synonymous with social media-based movements focused on accountability, social engagement, and separating facts from misinformation. As Covid-19 affected millions across the country, an administration crumbled at the hands of misinformation and widespread corruption, and a new President and historic Vice President sparked cautious hope throughout the country, Natale's followers continued to turn to the @soyouwanttotalkabout account for reliable information designed for the millennial consumer. And while the foundation for the account was inextricably linked to the timeliness of its creation, the need for fact-based, dependable information is perennial. Presented in the signature style of the Instagram account, So, Let's Talk About It addresses the essential questions and issues that define our country today, from electoral politics to the importance of unlearning, in clear, easily digestible and defensible tidbits that can help fuel personal activism, prepare the reader for a difficult conversation with family and friends, or serve as a jumping-off point for further research and understanding.

Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 194 countries and 14 territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.

The gripping inside story of the 2008 presidential election, by two of the best political reporters in the country. “It’s one of the best books on politics of any kind I’ve read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22.” —The Financial Times “It transports you to a parallel universe in which everything in the National Enquirer is true….More interesting is what we learn about the candidates themselves: their frailties, egos and almost super-human stamina.” —The Financial Times “I can’t put down this book!” —Stephen Colbert Game Change is the New York Times bestselling story of the 2008 presidential election, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the best political reporters in the country. In the spirit of Richard Ben Cramer’s What It Takes and Theodore H. White’s The Making of the President 1960, this classic campaign trail book tells the defining story of a new era in American politics, going deeper behind the scenes of the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin campaigns than any other account of the historic 2008 election.