What to read next is every book lover's greatest dilemma. Nancy Pearl comes to the rescue with this wide-ranging and fun guide to the best reading new and old. Pearl, who inspired legions of litterateurs with "What If All (name the city) Read the Same Book," has devised reading lists that cater to every mood, occasion, and personality. These annotated lists cover such topics as mother-daughter relationships, science for nonscientists, mysteries of all stripes, African-American fiction from a female point of view, must-reads for kids, books on bicycling, "chick-lit," and many more. Pearl's enthusiasm and taste shine throughout.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY ~ THE NEW YORK TIMES With a Foreword by Susan Orlean, twenty-three of today's living literary legends, including Donna Tartt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Andrew Sean Greer, Laila Lalami, and Michael Chabon, reveal the books that made them think, brought them joy, and changed their lives in this intimate, moving, and insightful collection from "American's Librarian" and recipient of the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award for Outstanding Service Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager that celebrates the power of literature and reading to connect us all. Before Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Jonathan Lethem became revered authors, they were readers. In this ebullient book, America’s favorite librarian Nancy Pearl and noted-playwright Jeff Schwager interview a diverse range of America's most notable and influential writers about the books that shaped them and inspired them to leave their own literary mark. Illustrated with beautiful line drawings, The Writer’s Library is a revelatory exploration of the studies, libraries, and bookstores of today’s favorite authors—the creative artists whose imagination and sublime talent make America's literary scene the wonderful, dynamic world it is. A love letter to books and a celebration of wordsmiths, The Writer’s Library is a treasure for anyone who has been moved by the written word. The authors in The Writer’s Library are: Russell Banks TC Boyle Michael Chabon Susan Choi Jennifer Egan Dave Eggers Louise Erdrich Richard Ford Laurie Frankel Andrew Sean Greer Jane Hirshfield Siri Hustvedt Charles Johnson Laila Lalami Jonathan Lethem Donna Tartt Madeline Miller Viet Thanh Nguyen Luis Alberto Urrea Vendela Vida Ayelet Waldman Maaza Mengiste Amor Towles

In this memoir, Jason Schmidt tells the story of growing up with an abusive father, who contracted HIV and ultimately died of AIDS when Jason was a teenager.

A New York Times Best Seller! A New York Times Notable Book! A unique and sweeping debut novel of an American female combat photographer in the Vietnam War, as she captures the wrenching chaos and finds herself torn between the love of two men. On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photojournalist, must take leave of a war she is addicted to and a devastated country she has come to love. Linh, the Vietnamese man who loves her, must grapple with his own conflicted loyalties of heart and homeland. As they race to leave, they play out a drama of devotion and betrayal that spins them back through twelve war-torn years, beginning in the splendor of Angkor Wat, with their mentor, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow, once Helen's infuriating love and fiercest competitor, and Linh's secret keeper, boss and truest friend. Tatjana Soli paints a searing portrait of an American woman's struggle and triumph in Vietnam, a stirring canvas contrasting the wrenching horror of war and the treacherous narcotic of obsession with the redemptive power of love. Readers will be transfixed by this stunning novel of passion, duty and ambition among the ruins of war.

Philosophers have mused over them, poets have written about them and musicians have sung about them. Love, desire and passion will at some point touch everyonea??s life - yet they are little understood and some of the oldest mysteries of mankind. Why do people fall in love and what is love anyway? What makes people attractive? How do these emotions tie in with our physiology and how we have evolved? Lust and Love: Is it more than Chemistry? provides answers to some of these questions through the eyes of science. It takes a light hearted and entertaining approach in explaining the current scientific knowledge of why people are attracted to each other, from the first moments of meeting to how emotions change in a long lasting partnership. The book covers research from the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, physics and medicine while using the love story of a fictional couple to take the reader on a journey through science. Additional topics on the a??tools of attractiona?? including the history of the lipstick, the development of perfumes and aphrodisiacs provide an absorbing insight into the subject. Medical treatments and conditions including contraception, erectile dysfunction and the climacteric phenomenon are also discussed. This engaging and unusual book is ideal for anyone interested in the science behind love, desire and passion.

Alpha girl Harper is used to getting what she wants, and that means Adam, Beth's all-American boytoy. Blond, boring Beth, who Kane, the charming playah, secretly wants too. Miranda thinks Kane is out of her league, but she wants him all the same. And then there's the new girl. Kaia. Who only wants trouble -- and he's definitely on his way. Want to know more? Commit