It's like the start of a bad joke: a Master of Tomes, his apprentice, and ninety world-saving records get lost at sea.Mei Li really wishes the joke wasn't her life. For two years she's been stranded in a remote village with no knowledge of where her master is or what's going on in the world. What she does know is one: she refuses to be sacrificed to the "god" the villagers think live on the mountain, two: she fully plans on negotiating with said "god" (who, luckily for her, turns out to be a dragon more than happy to rescue her). Her relief over being rescued is short lived when she learns that her master is still lost, along with the tomes detailing how to reseal and fix all the upcoming problems for the next decade. And at least four world disasters are due to be prevented in the next two months. To make matters worse, the Tomes Masters are the only people in the world who carry the knowledge of how to reseal the pesky problems like five-thousand-year-old sleeping demons and disintegrating harbor walls. With her master gone, everyone is looking to Mei Li for answers she doesn't have, but still has to procure. Her options are to solve the disasters-with high potential for the world ending-or somehow find Master and the missing tomes.Right now, Mei Li wants to go back in time and punch her six-year-old self for being an idiot. Being able to read books all day is not worth the stress of dealing with ancient, evil things on a regular basis.

Instant National Bestseller Shortlisted for the 2023 Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award "Witty, literary and very funny." —Minneapolis Star Tribune Welcome to Sotheran’s, one of the oldest bookshops in the world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards, unlabeled keys, poisoned books, and some things that aren’t even books, presided over by one deeply eccentric apprentice. Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd (est. 1761) to apply for a job. Allured by the smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap, Darkshire was soon unteetering stacks of first editions and placating the store’s resident ghost (the late Mr. Sotheran, hit by a tram). A novice in this ancient, potentially haunted establishment, Darkshire describes Sotheran’s brushes with history (Dickens, the Titanic), its joyous disorganization, and the unspoken rules of its gleefully old-fashioned staff, whose mere glance may cause the computer to burst into flames. As Darkshire gains confidence and experience, he shares trivia about ancient editions and explores the strange space that books occupy in our lives—where old books often have strong sentimental value, but rarely a commercial one. By turns unhinged and earnest, Once Upon a Tome is the colorful story of life in one of the world’s oldest bookshops and a love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, where to be uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment.

Mei's checklist for the next year is simple. On the surface, at least. Travel into the past to get the necessary instructions - check. Travel back into the present to defeat Odom, Zaffi, and Kovel Below - check. Actually defeat Odom, Zaffi, and Kovel Below - well...that's a work in progress. Mei Li and her team of experts have no time to catch their breath before the next wave of magical problems hit them. Saving the world will take stamina, patience, magic, and time. And a little help from dragons. And by a little, she means a lot. Mei Li is ready for the world-ending disasters to be over, please and thank you.

Now in paperback, a romantic love story by the great Brazilian writer Lóri, a primary school teacher, is isolated and nervous, comfortable with children but unable to connect to adults. When she meets Ulisses, a professor of philosophy, an opportunity opens: a chance to escape the shipwreck of introspection and embrace the love, including the sexual love, of a man. Her attempt, as Sheila Heti writes in her afterword, is not only “to love and to be loved,” but also “to be worthy of life itself.” Published in 1968, An Apprenticeship is Clarice Lispector’s attempt to reinvent herself following the exhausting effort of her metaphysical masterpiece The Passion According to G. H. Here, in this unconventional love story, she explores the ways in which people try to bridge the gaps between them, and the result, unusual in her work, surprised many readers and became a bestseller. Some appreciated its accessibility; others denounced it as sexist or superficial. To both admirers and critics, the olympian Clarice gave a typically elliptical answer: “I humanized myself,” she said. “The book reflects that.”

Here is the book Merlin could have given a young Arthur . . . if only it had existed. Out of the millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide, there are tens of thousands who want to really do the magical things J.K. Rowling writes about. But would-be wizards must rely on information passed down from wizard elders. Is there a Hogwarts anywhere in the real world? A real Albus Dumbledore? Where is the book these aspiring wizards need? Luckily for all those fans, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, today’s foremost genuine wizard, has written the essential handbook. What’s more, he has gathered some of the greatest names in Wicca—including Ellen Evert Hopman, Raymond Buckland, Raven Grimassi, Patricia Telesco, Jesse Wolf Hardin, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, and many more into a modern-day “Grey Council” to publish for the first time everything an aspiring wizard needs to know. Lurking within the pages of Grimoire for the Apperntice Wizard are: Biographies of famous wizards of history and legend Detailed descriptions of magickal tools and regalia (with full instructions for making them) Rites and rituals for special occasions A bestiary of mythical creatures The Laws of Magick Myths and stories of gods and heroes Lore and legends of the stars and constellations Instruction for performing amazing illusions, special effects, and many other wonders of the magical multiverse Praise forGrimoire for the Apprentice Wizard “I can’t think of a better, more qualified person to write a Handbook for Apprentice Wizards. Oberon is a Wizard.” —Raymond Bucklland, author of Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft “Oberon is not only extremely learned in the magickal arts but he communicates that knowledge with wit and charm.” —Fiona Horne, author of Witch: A Magickal Journey and star of Mad, Mad, Mad House

It's not easy being loyal and obedient when your master is a power hungry psychopath. Sometimes it's not even worth trying.