Christina McDowell was born Christina Prousalis. She had to change her name to be legally extricated from the trail of chaos her father, Tom Prousalis, left in the wake of his arrest and subsequent imprisonment as one of the guilty players sucked into the collateral fallout of Jordan Belfort (the "Wolf of Wall Street"). Christina worshipped her father and the seemingly perfect life they lived...a life she finds out was built on lies. Christina's family, as is typically the case, had no idea what was going on. Nineteen-year-old Christina drove her father to jail while her mother dissolved in denial. Since then, Christina's life has been decimated. As her family floundered in rehab, depression, homelessness, and loss, Christina succumbed to the grip of alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity before finding catharsis in the most unlikely of places. From the bucolic affluence of suburban Washington, DC, to the A-list clubs and seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, this provocative memoir unflinchingly describes the harsh realities of a fall from grace.

Thirty-six-year-old Gabriella Stevens is living a quiet and content fairy tale as a devoted housewife to Simon—just as her traditional Filipino mother has always told her to do—when, after sixteen years of marriage and twenty years together, he tells he wants a divorce. Simon has been Gabby’s everything since they were kids; without him, her world implodes. But as she navigates her way through the wreckage of the marriage she thought would last forever, she becomes determined to make a life on her own. With New York City as her backdrop, Gabby—single for the first time since she was a teenager—goes back to school, gets her first real job, and faces unfamiliar reality with determination. Gabby’s life takes another turn when she falls in love with her mysterious but utterly beautiful creative writing professor, Colt. Being with Colt is exhilarating for her—something new, something exciting and beyond understanding. He is almost seven years her junior, and a literary genius. But he is also battling demons of his own: a tragic past that may have made him incapable of love. Is Gabby destined for another heartbreak—or will her connection with Colt be what unbreaks her?

Be ambitious; find everlasting love; look after your health ... There are countless stories about how we ought to live our lives. These narratives can make our lives easier, and they might sometimes make us happier too. But they can also trap us and those around us. In Happy Ever After, bestselling happiness expert Professor Paul Dolan draws on a wealth of evidence to bust the common myths about our sources of happiness and shows that there can be many unexpected paths to lasting happiness. Some of these might involve not going into higher education, choosing not to marry, rewarding acts rooted in self-interest and caring a little less about living forever. By freeing ourselves from the myth of the perfect life, we might each find a life worth living.

The official prequel novel of the epic film After Earth, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Jaden Smith and Will Smith After their exodus from Earth, the last humans settled a remote planet, Nova Prime. When an alien force known as the Skrel descended from the skies, the United Ranger Corps, an elite defense unit, valiantly resisted. Centuries passed without an attack, and many colonists believed that, with other security measures in place, the resources devoted to maintaining their military strength would be better spent elsewhere. Little did they know that trouble was coming to Nova Prime—and it had a taste for blood. The latest in a long line of decorated warriors, Conner Raige is one of the Rangers’ most promising young cadets, although his brash confidence and tendency to act on instinct have earned him as many skeptics as admirers. Conner’s ancestors were on the front lines of humanity’s victory against the Skrel. But when a deadly ground war breaks out, Conner’s up against an entirely different beast—because, this time, the Skrel have brought a secret weapon: ferocious killing machines designed to eliminate humanity from Nova Prime . . . and the universe. BONUS: Includes the first three novellas of Ghost Stories, the thrilling eBook original prequel series!

"Like Rebecca Makkai's The Great Believers, author-activist Malloy's newest novel is a heartrending portrayal of the realities of healing.” —Oprah Daily, Best LGBTQ Books of 2021 Acclaimed author Brian Malloy brings insight, humor, and the authenticity of his own experiences as a member of the AIDS generation to this universal story of love and loss set in New York City and Minneapolis at the peak of the AIDS crisis. Published on the 40th anniversary of the disease’s first reported cases, After Francesco is both a tribute to a generation lost to the pandemic as well as a powerful and universal exploration of heartbreak, recovery and how love can defy grief. The year is 1988 and 28-year-old Kevin Doyle is bone-tired of attending funerals. It’s been two years since his partner Francesco died from AIDS, an epidemic ravaging New York City and going largely ignored by the government, leaving those effected to suffer in silence, feeling unjustifiable shame and guilt on top of their loss. Some people might insist that Francesco and the other friends he’s lost to the disease are in a better place, but Kevin definitely isn’t. Half-alive, he spends his days at a mind-numbing job and nights with the ghost of Francesco, drunk and drowning in memories of a man who was too young to die. When Kevin hits an all-time low, he realizes it’s time to move back home to Minnesota and figure out how to start living again—without Francesco. With the help of a surviving partners support group and friends both old and new, Kevin slowly starts to do just that. But an unthinkable family betrayal, and the news that his best friend is fighting for his life in New York, will force a reckoning and a defining choice. "This novel is fresh, well-observed, often funny, sometimes angry, and always real. I can't think of another novel about the AIDS years that captures that difficult, messy, intense age more accurately or movingly." —Christopher Bram, author of Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America "In this highly recommended novel, the pain and rage felt by Kevin and those in the trenches with him is palpable and uncomfortable and real. So too is the love and warmth of spirit they manage to nurture in order to survive." —Library Journal(Starred Review)

Experience the vast tapestry of After Earth in a novelization unlike any other: a thousand-year saga featuring original content from the mind of Peter David, the veteran sci-fi author who helped develop the richly imagined universe. This is the complete, never-before-seen chronicle of the extraordinary family that’s been across the universe and back—from humanity’s last days on Earth through the events of the epic film! RAIGE RUNS IN THE FAMILY General Cypher Raige of the United Ranger Corps is only the latest in a long line of heroes. For a thousand years, ever since the globe was engulfed by environmental apocalypse, the Raiges have been instrumental in humanity’s survival. They led the way as the survivors abandoned Earth, settled an uninhabitable planet called Nova Prime, withstood an onslaught from a mysterious alien force, and carved out a new home in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Now Cypher has returned to his family after an extended tour of duty. For his thirteen-year-old son, Kitai, tagging along with his famous father is the adventure of a lifetime—and a chance to salvage their relationship. But when an asteroid collides with their craft, they make a crash landing that leaves Cypher seriously—perhaps fatally—wounded. Kitai Raige has always wanted to prove that he has what it takes to live up to his illustrious name. Now, all too soon, he gets his chance. With his father’s life on the line, Kitai must venture out into the strange, hostile terrain of a new world that seems eerily familiar: Earth.

Four lives brought together in a deadly moment prove that being in the wrong place at the worst time can lead to life's biggest adventures and most important relationships As Roseann Sdoia waited to watch her friend cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013, she had no idea her life was about to change-that in a matter of minutes she would look up from the sidewalk, burned and deaf, staring at her detached foot, screaming for help amid the smoke and blood. In the chaos of the minutes that followed, three people would enter Roseann's life and change it forever. The first was Shores Salter, a college student who, when the bomb went off, instinctively ran into the smoke while his friends ran away. He found Roseann lying on the sidewalk and, using a belt as a tourniquet, literally saved her life that day. Then, Boston police officer Shana Cottone arrived on the scene and began screaming desperately at passing ambulances, all full, before finally commandeering an empty paddy wagon. Just then a giant appeared, in the form of Boston firefighter Mike Materia, who carefully lifted her into the fetid paddy wagon. He climbed in and held her burned hand all the way to the hospital. Since that day, he hasn't left her side, and today they are planning their life together. Perfect Strangers is about recovery, about choosing joy and human connection over anger and resentment, and most of all, it's about an unlikely but enduring friendship that grew out of the tragedy of Boston's worst day.