"Hank lived by the credo, 'first listen, then design'." --Scott Bernstein, Founder and Chief Strategy + Innovation Officer, Center for Neighborhood Technology Hank Dittmar was a globally recognized urban planner, advocate, and policy advisor. He wrote extensively on a wide range of topics, including architectural criticism, community planning, and transportation policy over his long and storied career. In My Kind of City, Dittmar has organized his selected writings into ten sections with original introductions. His observations range on scale from local ("My Favorite Street: Seven Dials, Covent Garden, London") to national ("Post Truth Architecture in the Age of Trump") and global ("Architects are Critical to Adapting our Cities to Climate Change"). Andrés Duany writes of Hank in the book foreword, "He has continued to search for ways to engage place, community and history in order to avoid the tempting formalism of plans." The range of topics covered in My Kind of City reflects the breadth of Dittmar's experience in working for better cities for people. Common themes emerge in the engaging prose including Dittmar's belief that improving our cities should not be left to the "experts"; his appreciation for the beautiful and the messy; and his rare combination of deep expertise and modesty. As Lynn Richards, CEO of Congress for the New Urbanism expresses in the preface, "Hank's writing is smart without being elitist, witty and poetic, succinct and often surprising." My Kind of City captures a visionary planner's spirit, eye for beauty, and love for the places where we live.

New Yorker writer and author of The Library Book takes readers on a series of remarkable journeys in this uniquely witty, sophisticated, and far-flung travel book. In this irresistible collection of adventures far and near, Orlean conducts a tour of the world via its subcultures, from the heart of the African music scene in Paris to the World Taxidermy Championships in Springfield, Illinois—and even into her own apartment, where she imagines a very famous houseguest taking advantage of her hospitality. With Orlean as guide, lucky readers partake in all manner of armchair activity. They will climb Mt. Fuji and experience a hike most intrepid Japanese have never attempted; play ball with Cuba’s Little Leaguers, promising young athletes born in a country where baseball and politics are inextricably intertwined; trawl Icelandic waters with Keiko, everyone’s favorite whale as he tries to make it on his own; stay awhile in Midland, Texas, hometown of George W. Bush, a place where oil time is the only time that matters; explore the halls of a New York City school so troubled it’s known as “Horror High”; and stalk caged tigers in Jackson, New Jersey, a suburban town with one of the highest concentrations of tigers per square mile anywhere in the world. Vivid, humorous, unconventional, and incomparably entertaining, Susan Orlean’s writings for The New Yorker have delighted readers for over a decade. My Kind of Place is an inimitable treat by one of America’s premier literary journalists.

In the thrilling sequel to One for Our Baby, the Chicago mob is looking for Al Capone’s lost treasure—and former ace fighter pilot Joe Buonomo holds the key to finding it. When Joe Buonomo returned from World War II, he chose to settle in California rather than go back home to Chicago—and he didn’t plan on revisiting his old stomping grounds any time soon. But when Frank Sinatra asks you to fly him to the Windy City for a gig, you don’t refuse. And so, reluctantly, Joe finds himself strolling down memory lane and rekindling relationships with his estranged family. But where Joe goes, trouble tends to follow. Rumor has it that a man named Butch O’Hare was in charge of hiding Al Capone’s fortune, but Butch is long dead, and warring mob bosses seem to believe his old war buddy Joe knows more than he’s letting on. Joe is forced to join the ridiculous quest to find the gold, but the more the search of Chicago’s seedy underground drags on, the more Joe thinks the treasure might not be a myth after all—and he may be the only one who can uncover the truth. For fans of historical fiction, action, and noir, My Kind of Town is a hardboiled crime thriller that captures the beat of Chicago in the sixties, complete with gangsters, hot dogs, and bocce.

An atmospheric and intrigue-filled novel of dead gods, buried histories, and a mysterious, protean city--from one of America's most acclaimed young fantasy writers. The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.

This book is really a "best of," as chosen by the author himself. These are Carmer's favorite pieces, drawn from three decades of work. He mixes leisurely reminiscences with folklore, verse, and portraits of Upstate's diverse population. Geographically, they range from Niagara Falls to Montauk Point, and include pieces on the fate of Native Americans, ghost stories, tall stories, character sketches, a piece on the erosion of New York State's natural beauty, as well as poems and works of wit and humor.

Emma Luchessi may be a witch from Long Island but she is used to her life being quiet. Some may even say boring. She doesn't mind boring. Boring is safe. Calm. Peaceful. Like beige. One doesn't get into trouble with beige. But a wrong turn off a southern highway is about to turn Emma's beige life into everything but boring. Kyle Treharne's a good ol' boy with a sheriff's badge and a difficult population to manage. He wishes he had to worry about gangs and drugs and car-jackings. Instead, he has to worry about big cats fighting with wolves, bears fighting over honey, and hyenas fighting with everyone. And now, out of nowhere, he's got a human outsider riling up all the locals by asking too many questions. She's just so paranoid. And doesn't trust Kyle a lick. These city gals. They just don't know how to relax, do they? Of course, Kyle is a big cat. He knows how to relax and he'd be more than willing to help Emma learn how. He'd be willing to help Emma do all sorts of things if she'd just give him half a chance. But it turns out Emma coming to Smithville isn't a simple accident. She's been brought here and she's bringing change and danger right along with her. Lucky for Emma, Kyle and the rest of the town like a bit of danger... This story was previously available in the Sun, Sand, Sexanthology.

David Hicks (1929-98) is considered to be among the foremost interior designers of the 20th century. From the decoration of his own house in London in 1956 -- in powerful colors that heralded an end to the drab, postwar English look -- he set the pace for interior design both in Europe and America. David Hicks: Designer looks at the most vital period of his career, from 1958 to 1979.