Halloween is a monster's favorite time of year, but not every monster has someone to scare during the holiday—there are shy and lonely werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and boogeymen out there who need your support!
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact us at least three (3) working days before the scheduled event.
Photography/Film
Patron consent to be photographed or filmed at library-sponsored events is implied by virtue of their attendance at an event. If any adult, child, or adult on behalf of a child requests not to be photographed or filmed, that request will be honored.
Photographs and film taken by library representatives in library facilities or at library-sponsored events are used solely for library educational, promotional, and publicity purposes.
'Tis the season for the strange and spooky, and we want to hear your accounts of ghosts, cryptids, eerie events and haunted places!
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact us at least three (3) working days before the scheduled event.
Every October, we're excited to bring you our Annual Literary Pumpkin Pageant!
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact us at least three (3) working days before the scheduled event.
Photography/Film
Patron consent to be photographed or filmed at library-sponsored events is implied by virtue of their attendance at an event. If any adult, child, or adult on behalf of a child requests not to be photographed or filmed, that request will be honored.
Photographs and film taken by library representatives in library facilities or at library-sponsored events are used solely for library educational, promotional, and publicity purposes.
Find your center with co-yogis CJ and Allie! Take some time for yourself with our free yoga class, combining techniques for your body and mind. This is a gentle-flow fitness experience featuring mindfulness as well as exercise, perfect for those in search of meditation as well as physical wellbeing. Intended for ages 13+.
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact us at least three (3) working days before the scheduled event.
Join Miss Atlanta for magical stories and a special matching craft! Intended for ages 12 and under.
Disclaimer(s)
Accompanying Adults
This program is designed for children and accompanying adults. Please plan to attend and be engaged with your child for the duration. Dropoffs will not be permitted.
Local Author Forum
Your Rowan County Public Library is having a Local Author Forum! 8 local authors will be coming to talk about their books. This will be around table type program as each author will do a brief introduction.
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact us at least three (3) working days before the scheduled event.
Food Allergies
We cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.
Photography/Film
Patron consent to be photographed or filmed at library-sponsored events is implied by virtue of their attendance at an event. If any adult, child, or adult on behalf of a child requests not to be photographed or filmed, that request will be honored.
Photographs and film taken by library representatives in library facilities or at library-sponsored events are used solely for library educational, promotional, and publicity purposes.
Mor'Trans route one (1) visits us at 14 minutes after the hour, and route four (4) comes by at 10 minutes till the hour. Bus fare is just $1.00 per trip!
![A Mor'Trans bus at rest](/sites/default/files/2024-07/shuttle-bus%2Bwith%2Blight%2Bc.png)
Spooky Reading Season
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A Darker Shade of Noir
"In this haunting new collection, edited by Oates, 15 women writers explore the manifold horrors of living (and dying) in a patriarchal society . . . this collection may initially appeal to readers eager for tales filled with vampires and werewolves, influences from beyond the grave, and gore, guts, and ooze. They will not be disappointed. However, the stories not only bleed across the categorical boundaries they have been assigned, but also expand the scope of what is terrifying about the body--living or dead, human or nonhuman--in the first place . . . A bold collection of horror stories that flies in the face of both gender and genre conventions." --Kirkus Reviews
While the common belief is that "body horror" as a subgenre of horror fiction dates back to the 1970s, Joyce Carol Oates suggests that Medusa, the snake-haired gorgon in Greek mythology, is the "quintessential emblem of female body horror." In A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers, Oates has assembled a spectacular cast to explore this subgenre focusing on distortions to the human body in the most fascinating of ways.
"Should we know nothing of the female monsters of antiquity," Oates writes in her introduction to the volume, "still we would know that body horror in its myriad manifestations speaks most powerfully to women and girls. To be female is to inhabit a body that is by nature vulnerable to forcible invasion, susceptible to impregnation and repeated pregnancies, condemned to suffer childbirth, often in the past early deaths in childbirth and in the aftermath of childbirth."Featuring brand-new stories by: Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Raven Leilani, Aimee Bender, Lisa Lim, Cassandra Khaw, Elizabeth Hand, Valerie Martin, Sheila Kohler, Joanna Margaret, Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, and Yumi Dineen Shiroma.
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Dead Until Dark
Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana, but she keeps to herself and doesn't date much because of her "disability" to read minds. When she meets Bill, Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's the type of guy she's waited for all of her life, but he has a disability, too--he's a vampire with a bad reputation. When one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next. Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out. Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea. A new vampire mystery, in the vein of a lighter & more romantic Laurell Hamilton
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Frankenstein
This new edition of Shelley's classic novel presents the 1831 text along with five critical essays--newly commissioned or revised for a student audience--that read Frankenstein from five contemporary critical perspectives. Each critical essay is accompanied by a succinct introduction to the history, principles, and practice of the critical perspective, and a bibliography that promotes further exploration of that approach.
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Bird Box
Now a Netflix film starring Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar and John Malkovich!
Written with the narrative tension of The Road and the exquisite terror of classic Stephen King, Bird Box is a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat horror thriller, set in an apocalyptic near-future world—a masterpiece of suspense from the brilliantly imaginative Josh Malerman.
Something is out there . . .
Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.
Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now, that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?
Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motely group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside—and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?
Interweaving past and present, Josh Malerman’s breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.
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Mexican Gothic
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird.”—The Guardian
IN DEVELOPMENT AS A HULU ORIGINAL LIMITED SERIES PRODUCED BY KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS • WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, Tordotcom, Marie Claire, Vox, Mashable, Men’s Health, Library Journal, Book Riot, LibraryReads
An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes “a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror” (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico.
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.
“It’s as if a supernatural power compels us to turn the pages of the gripping Mexican Gothic.”—The Washington Post
“Mexican Gothic is the perfect summer horror read, and marks Moreno-Garcia with her hypnotic and engaging prose as one of the genre’s most exciting talents.”—Nerdist
“A period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush ’50s atmosphere.”—Entertainment Weekly -
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The New York Times best seller is now a major motion picture starring Lily James and Sam Riley, with Matt Smith, Charles Dance, and Lena Headey.
Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an audacious retelling of English literature’s most enduring novel. This expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem begins when a mysterious plague falls upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. It’s the perfect read for literature lovers, zombie fans, and anyone who loves a reanimated Austen. -
The Beast You Are
A haunting collection of short fiction from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club, A Head Full of Ghosts, and The Cabin at the End of the World.
Paul Tremblay has won widespread acclaim for illuminating the dark horrors of the mind in novels and stories that push the boundaries of storytelling itself. The fifteen pieces in this brilliant collection, The Beast You Are, are all monsters of a kind, ready to loudly (and lovingly) smash through your head and into your heart.
In "The Dead Thing," a middle-schooler struggles to deal with the aftermath of her parents' substance addictions and split. One day, her little brother claims he found a shoebox with "the dead thing" inside. He won't show it to her and he won't let the box out of his sight. In "The Last Conversation," a person wakes in a sterile, white room and begins to receive instructions via intercom from a woman named Anne. When they are finally allowed to leave the room to complete a task, what they find is as shocking as it is heartbreaking.
The title novella, "The Beast You Are," is a mini epic in which the destinies and secrets of a village, a dog, and a cat are intertwined with a giant monster that returns to wreak havoc every thirty years.
A masterpiece of literary horror and psychological suspense, The Beast You Are is a fearlessly imagined collection from one of the most electrifying and innovative writers working today.
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The September House
“Why run from a haunted house when you can stay and ignore the ghosts? Just when you thought you'd seen everything a haunted house novel could do, The September House comes along and delivers an eerie, darkly funny, and emotionally grounded book about the ghosts that haunt houses and marriages."– Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House
A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.
Margaret is not most people.
Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep. -
Emma in the Night
'A brilliant read' B A Paris
Two sisters go missing
Only one returns.Getting people to believe you is easy.
If you tell them what they want to hear.
When my sister and I disappeared three years ago,
they found Emma's car at the beach. Some people believed she had gone there to find a party or meet a friend who
never showed. They believed that she'd gone for a swim.
They believed that she'd drowned. Maybe by accident. Maybe a suicide.
Everyone believed Emma was dead.
As for me, well - now I'm back to tell our story.
You'll have to see if you believe it. -
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2019
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Lying Game comes Ruth Ware’s fourth novel, “her best yet” (Library Journal, starred review).
On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.
Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.
Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, this is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time. -
Fair Warning
The hero of The Poet and The Scarecrow is back in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Jack McEvoy, the journalist who never backs down, tracks a serial killer who has been operating completely under the radar--until now.
Veteran reporter Jack McEvoy has taken down killers before, but when a woman he had a one-night stand with is murdered in a particularly brutal way, McEvoy realizes he might be facing a criminal mind unlike any he's ever encountered.
Jack investigates--against the warnings of the police and his own editor--and makes a shocking discovery that connects the crime to other mysterious deaths across the country. Undetected by law enforcement, a vicious killer has been hunting women, using genetic data to select and stalk his targets.
Uncovering the murkiest corners of the dark web, Jack races to find and protect the last source who can lead him to his quarry. But the killer has already chosen his next target, and he's ready to strike.
Terrifying and unputdownable, Fair Warning shows once again why "Michael Connelly has earned his place in the pantheon of great crime fiction writers" (Chicago Sun-Times).
A Kirkus Best Book of 2020 -
Such Sharp Teeth
A young woman in need of a transformation finds herself in touch with the animal inside in this gripping, incisive USA Today bestselling novel from the author of Cackle and The Return.
Rory Morris isn’t thrilled to be moving back to her hometown, even if it is temporary. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant, estranged from the baby’s father, and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she’d put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into Ian, an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she’s attacked.
Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She’s unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver—and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She’s changing into someone else—something else, maybe even a monster. But does that mean she’s putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside of her the key to acceptance?
This darkly comedic love story is a brilliantly layered portrait of trauma, rage, and vulnerability. -
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret
Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. -
The Paris Apartment
*The brand new thriller from Lucy Foley - THE MIDNIGHT FEAST - is available to buy now*
*The No.1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller*
Discover the electric thriller from the No.1, million-copy bestseller, Lucy Foley
There was a murder here last night.
Who holds the key to the mystery of apartment three?
'Dazzling' The Times
'Up-all-night reading' Erin Kelly
'Gloriously twisty' Ruth Ware
'Combines edge-of-your-seat tension with out-and-out Parisian chic' Adele Parks
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In a beautiful old apartment block, deep in the backstreets of Paris, secrets are stirring behind every resident's door.
The lonely wife
The party animal
The curtain-twitcher
The secret lover
The watchful caretaker
The unwanted guest
One resident is missing. Only the killer holds the key to the mystery...
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What readers are saying about The Paris Apartment:
'One to devour entirely in one delicious sitting. Stupendous'
'Twisty and mysterious and surprising'
'Had me gripped right from the beginning'
'Has "book of the year" written all over it'
'A page-turner with an amazing setting'
'A fabulously tense and mysterious read!'
The Paris Apartment was a New York Times No.1 bestseller for w/e 06/03/2022
The Guest List was a Sunday Times No.1 bestseller for w/c 14/09/2022
The Guest List was the Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Crime & Mystery 2020 -
The Winter People
The New York Times bestselling author of Promise Not to Tell returns with a simmering literary thriller about ghostly secrets, dark choices, and the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters . . . sometimes too unbreakable.
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself. -
Rebecca
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The Halloween Tree
Make storytime a little spookier with fantasy master Ray Bradbury as he takes readers on a riveting trip though space and time to discover the true origins of Halloween.
Join the shadowy Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud as he takes eight trick-or-treaters on an unforgettable journey to find their missing friend, Pip. Travel through space and time, from the tombs of ancient Egypt to the gargoyles of Notre-Dame Cathedral, all the way to the cemeteries of Mexico on el Día de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Is Pip still alive? And if so, can his friends save him from a ghastly fate before it’s too late?
"If you want to know what Halloween is, or if you simply want an eerie adventure, take this mystery history trip. You couldn't ask for better than master fantasizer Ray Bradbury." --The Boston Globe -
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
This is a softcover reprint of Ideals 1991 edition of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Featured is the terrifying headless horseman, the gawky Ichabod Crane and the peerless Katerina. Illustrated with rich, surrealistic oil paintings, this adaptation is told in a humorous, narrative style--the perfect mix of fright and fun. Full-color throughout.
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Among the Living
From the New York Times bestseller and author of Netflix’s The Silence comes a terrifying horror novel set in a melting Arctic landscape. Something deadly has lain dormant for thousands of years, but now the permafrost is giving up its secrets…
"At once a thrilling novel and a call to action against climate change..." - New York Times
Estranged friends Dean and Bethan meet after five years apart when they are drawn to a network of caves on a remote Arctic island. Bethan and her friends are environmental activists, determined to protect the land. But Dean’s group's exploitation of rare earth minerals deep in the caves unleashes an horrific contagion that has rested frozen and undisturbed for many millennia. Fleeing the terrors emerging from the caves, Dean and Bethan and their rival teams undertake a perilous journey on foot across an unpredictable and volatile landscape. The ex-friends must learn to work together again if they’re to survive... and more importantly, stop the horror from spreading to the wider world.
A propulsive horror thriller––fast-moving, frightening, and shockingly relevant—this adventure will grip you until the final terrifying page. -
Don't Fear the Reaper
A Locus Award Finalist
December 12th, 2019, Jade returns to the rural lake town of Proofrock the same day as convicted Indigenous serial killer Dark Mill South escapes into town to complete his revenge killings, in this riveting sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones.
Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.
Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday.
Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.
Don’t Fear the Reaper is the page-turning sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones. -
Such a Pretty Smile
"A biting novel from an electrifying new voice, Kristi DeMeester's Such a Pretty Smile is a heart-stopping tour-de-force about powerful women, angry men, and all the ways in which girls fight against the forces that try to silence them. There's something out there that's killing. Known only as The Cur, he leaves no traces, save for the torn bodies of girls, on the verge of becoming women, who are known as trouble-makers; those who refuse to conform, to know their place. Girls who don't know when to shut up. 2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can't share with anyone. Not the school psychologist she's seeing. Not her father, who has a new wife, and a new baby. And not her mother-the infamous Caroline Sawyer, a unique artist whose eerie sculptures, made from bent twigs and crimped leaves, have made her a local celebrity. But soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice-until she is punished for using it. 2004: Caroline Sawyer hears dogs everywhere. Snarling, barking, teeth snapping that no one else seems to notice. At first, she blames the phantom sounds on her insomnia and her acute stress in caring for her ailing father. But then the delusions begin to take shape-both in her waking hours, and in the violent, visceral sculptures she creates while in a trance-like state. Her fiancâe is convinced she needs help. Her new psychiatrist waives her "problem" away with pills. But Caroline's past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that the men around her can't understand. As past demons become a present threat, both Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting, oppressive power to its malignant core. Brilliantly paced, unsettling to the bone, and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile is a powerful allegory for what it can mean to be a woman, and an untamed rallying cry for anyone ever told to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty"--
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A Slow Fire Burning
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Years ago someone lit a match...
Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She's seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous.
Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes doesn't mean Laura is a killer. Bitter experience has taught her how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Carla is reeling from the brutal murder of her nephew. She trusts no one and no thing: good people are capable of terrible deeds. But how far will she go to find peace?
Innocent or guilty, everyone is carrying damage. Some are damaged enough to kill.
Look what you started. -
Witches of the East
Freya, Ingrid and Joanna Beauchamp love their sleepy life in East Hampton. A new engagement, promotion at work, a happy home - its all going perfectly. And, to top it off, no one's come close to discovering the secret of what they can really do in hundreds of years.
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The Whisper Man
Get ready for the biggest thriller of 2019. If you leave a door half-open, soon you'll hear the whispers spoken ... Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start. But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys. Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as 'The Whisper Man'. Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle in to their new home. Except that now another young boy has gone missing. And then Jake begins acting strangely. He says he hears a whispering at his window ... The best crime novel of the decade Steve Cavanagh Terrifying and utterly heartbreaking Mark Billingham A dark, creepy, thriller with a huge amount of heart Stuart MacBride Deliciously creepy and kept me up long after I'd turned the last page Jenny Blackhurst.
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Practical Magic
The bestselling author of "Second Nature, Illumination Night" and "Turtle Moon" now offers her most fascinating and tantalizingly accomplished novel yet -- a winning tale that amply confirms Alice Hoffman's reputation not only as a genius of the vivid scene and unforgettable character but as one of America's most captivating storytellers.
When the beautiful and precocious sisters Sally and Gillian Owens are orphaned at a young age, they are taken to a small Massachusetts town to be raised by their eccentric aunts, who happen to dwell in the darkest, eeriest house in town. As they become more aware of their aunts' mysterious and sometimes frightening powers -- and as their own powers begin to surface -- the sisters grow determined to escape their strange upbringing by blending into "normal" society.
But both find that they cannot elude their magic-filled past. And when trouble strikes -- in the form of a menacing backyard ghost -- the sisters must not only reunite three generations of Owens women but embrace their magic as a gift -- and their key to a future of love and passion. Funny, haunting, and shamelessly romantic, "Practical Magic" is bewitching entertainment -- Alice Hoffman at her spectacular best. -
The Exorcist
This unstoppable publishing phenomenon was the inspiration behind one of the most successful horror movies of all time. A powerful presence has taken possession of the 12-year-old daughter of a film star. The ensuing battle between a doubt-ridden priest a
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The Terror
The bestselling novel, "a brilliant, massive combination of history and supernatural horror" (Stephen King), now a major TV series.
The men on board the HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. But what they don't expect is a monstrous predator lurking behind the Arctic ice. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a horrifying end, Captain Francis Crozier takes command, leading his surviving crewmen on a last desperate attempt to flee south across the ice.
But another winter is rapidly approaching, and with it, scurvy and starvation. Crozier and his men may find that there is no escaping the terror stalking them southward. And with the crushing cold and the fear of almost certain death at their backs, the most horrifying monster among them may be each other. -
The Wrong Family
From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Wives comes another twisted psychological thriller guaranteed to turn your world upside down.
The Wrong Family is your new obsession. It's full of twists you'll never see coming and you'll be breathless until the end. Trust me: you've never read anything like this. - No.1 New York Times bestselling author, Colleen Hoover
Have you ever been wrong about someone?
Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.
Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son - the perfect life. Only now that she's living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.
Still, she isn't one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel...
She shouldn't get involved.
She really shouldn't.
But this could be her chance to make a few things right.
Because if you thought Juno didn't have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.
From the wickedly dark mind of bestselling author Tarryn Fisher, The Wrong Family is a taut new thriller that's riddled with twists in all the right places.
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The Trespasser
The bestselling novel by Tana French, author of The Witch Elm, is "required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting" (The New York Times). She "inspires cultic devotion in readers" (The New Yorker) and is "the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years" (Washington Post).
"Atmospheric and unputdownable." --People
In bestselling Tana French's newest "tour de force" (The New York Times), being on the Murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she's there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she's getting close to the breaking point.
Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers' quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed to a shine, and dead in her catalogue-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There's nothing unusual about her--except that Antoinette's seen her somewhere before.
And that her death won't stay in its neat by-numbers box. Other detectives are trying to push Antoinette and Steve into arresting Aislinn's boyfriend, fast. There's a shadowy figure at the end of Antoinette's road. Aislinn's friend is hinting that she knew Aislinn was in danger. And everything they find out about Aislinn takes her further from the glossy, passive doll she seemed to be.
Antoinette knows the harassment has turned her paranoid, but she can't tell just how far gone she is. Is this case another step in the campaign to force her off the squad, or are there darker currents flowing beneath its polished surface?
LGBTQ History Month
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All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages
Take a journey through time and genres to discover stories where queer teens live, love, and shape the world around them.
Seventeen young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens.
From a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in war-torn 1870s Mexico featuring a transgender soldier...to two girls falling in love while mourning the death of Kurt Cobain...to forbidden love in a sixteenth-century Spanish convent...and an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, All Out tells a diverse range of stories across cultures, time periods, and identities, shedding light on an area of history often ignored or forgotten.
"Readers searching for positive, nuanced, and authentic queer representation--or just a darn good selection of stories--need look no further than this superb collection."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Featuring original stories from:
Malinda Lo
Mackenzi Lee
Robin Talley
Kody Keplinger
Elliot Wake
Anna-Marie McLemore
Shaun David Hutchinson
Dahlia Adler
Tess Sharpe
Kate Scelsa
Natalie C. Parker
Sara Farizan
Nilah Magruder
Tessa Gratton
Tehlor Kay Mejia
Alex Sanchez
Scott Tracey
Read the entire set of companion anthologies featuring queer teens in the past, present, and future!
All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages
Out Now: Queer We Go Again!
Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder (coming soon!) -
Queer
Activist-academic Meg John Barker and cartoonist Julia Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel. A kaleidoscope of characters from the diverse worlds of pop-culture, film, activism and academia guide us on a journey through the ideas, people and events that have shaped 'queer theory'.
From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer explores how we came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do; how these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged.
Along the way we look at key landmarks which shift our perspective of what's 'normal', such as Alfred Kinsey's view of sexuality as a spectrum between heterosexuality and homosexuality, Judith Butler's view of gendered behavior as a performance, the play Wicked, which reinterprets characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, or moments in Casino Royale when we're invited to view James Bond with the kind of desiring gaze usually directed at female bodies in mainstream media.
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Gay Poems for Red States
No one will protect you. Months after being named the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. announced his decision to leave the public school system. His career as a high school English teacher had spanned more than a decade but ended abruptly--another casualty of the cruel and dangerous anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination that is creeping back into the halls of government and the homes of Americans. At the beginning of Carver's career, an administrator warned him about discussing his otherwise openly gay identity at work: "No one will protect you, including me." A new administration allowed for more freedom, but the initial warning eventually rang true. School officials failed repeatedly to address harassment of students and of Carver himself, until he could no longer endure such a purposeful deterioration of human rights. While Carver's testimony before the House of Representatives brought much-needed attention to the need for protections for LGBTQ+ people in schools, the damage was done.
In Gay Poems for Red States, Carver counters the injustice of a persistent anti-LGBTQ+ movement by asserting that a life full of beauty and pride is possible for everyone. More than a collection of poetry, Carver's earnest and heartfelt verses are for those wishing to discover and understand the vastness of Appalachia, and for the LGBTQ+ Appalachians who long for a future--for a home--in an often unwelcoming place.
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The 2000s Made Me Gay
From The Onion and Reductress contributor, this collection of essays is a hilarious nostalgic trip through beloved 2000s media, interweaving cultural criticism and personal narrative to examine how a very straight decade forged a very queer woman
A Lambda Literary Award Finalist
"Honest, funny, smart, and illuminating.” —Anna Drezen, co-head writer of SNL
"If you came of age at the intersection of Mean Girls and The L Word: Read this book.” —Sarah Pappalardo, editor in chief and co-founder of Reductress
Today’s gay youth have dozens of queer peer heroes, both fictional and real, but former gay teenager Grace Perry did not have that luxury. Instead, she had to search for queerness in the (largely straight) teen cultural phenomena the aughts had to offer: in Lindsay Lohan’s fall from grace, Gossip Girl, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl,” country-era Taylor Swift, and Seth Cohen jumping on a coffee cart. And, for better or worse, these touch points shaped her adult identity. She came out on the other side like many millennials did: in her words, gay as hell.
Throw on your Von Dutch hats and join Grace on a journey back through the pop culture moments of the aughts, before the cataclysmic shift in LGBTQ representation and acceptance—a time not so long ago, which many seem to forget. -
Silas House
"Bestselling author, music journalist, playwright, and activist Silas House has focused nearly all of his work on Appalachia, its people, and its cultures. His acclaimed and diverse body of work includes the novels Clay's Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, The Coal Tattoo, Eli the Good, and Southernmost. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Studs Terkel praised his book Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal, coauthored with Jason Kyle Howard, as "oral history at its best." Well known for its lyrical style, diverse and sympathetic characters, and political engagement, House's work is overdue for deeper critical study. In this groundbreaking book, editor Sylvia Shurbutt brings together established and rising scholars to discuss the author and his writings through a critical lens. Various chapters address different aspects of House's fiction and nonfiction, including the ways in which he deconstructs regional stereotypes, how he explores issues of diversity, and how House-a musician himself-infuses his writing with music and musical motif's. The contributors also consider his environmental activism and his approach to LGBTQ issues. The collection concludes with a chapter by celebrated poet Maurice Manning exploring the lyricism that distinguishes House's work and a foreword by Denise Giardina. Featuring an interview with the author that further illuminates his philosophy and art, this timely volume offers an important critical appraisal of Silas House's oeuvre to date and illustrates why he is one of the most engaging voices in Appalachian and American literature today"--
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Stonewall Riots
In The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets, Gayle E. Pitman's "fresh storytelling brings emotion and depth to the history of a movement and the establishment that served as an epicenter for social change" (Publishers Weekly).
The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous, often violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBTQ+) community in reaction to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The Riots are attributed as the spark that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement.
The author describes American gay history leading up to the Riots, the Riots themselves, and the aftermath, and includes her interviews of people involved or witnesses, including a woman who was 10 at the time. Profusely illustrated, the book includes contemporary photos, newspaper clippings, and other period objects. A timely and necessary read, The Stonewall Riots helps readers to understand the history and legacy of the LGBTQ+ movement.
"With meaningful content delivered in an innovative format, The Stonewall Riots deserves to be required reading for people of all ages." --Shelf Awareness (Starred Review)
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Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution
Celebrate Pride every day with the very first picture book to tell of its historic and inspiring role in the gay civil rights movement, from the author of the acclaimed Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag.
A powerful and timeless true story that will allow young readers to discover the rich and dynamic history of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement--a movement that continues to this very day. In the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police in New York City. Though the inn had been raided before, that night would be different. It would be the night when empowered members of the LGBTQ+ community--in and around the Stonewall Inn--began to protest and demand their equal rights as citizens of the United States.
Movingly narrated by the Stonewall Inn itself, and featuring stirring and dynamic illustrations, Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution is an essential and empowering civil rights story that every child deserves to hear. -
Stonewall
The definitive account of the Stonewall Riots, the first gay rights march, and the LGBTQ activists at the center of the movement.
“Martin Duberman is a national treasure.”—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the typical compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and lesbian life.
In Stonewall, renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the full story of this pivotal moment in history. With riveting narrative skill, he re-creates those revolutionary, sweltering nights in vivid detail through the lives of six people who were drawn into the struggle for LGBTQ rights. Their stories combine to form an unforgettable portrait of the repression that led up to the riots, which culminates when they triumphantly participate in the first gay rights march of 1970, the roots of today's pride marches.
Fifty years after the riots, Stonewall remains a rare work that evokes with a human touch an event in history that still profoundly affects life today. -
People of Pride
"What do Frank Ocean, Sally Ride, George Takei, and Sharice Davids all have in common? They're all proud LGBTQ Americans! Featuring people from a variety of occupations and backgrounds, this collection of 25 short biographies demonstrates the diversity, accomplishments, and pride within the American LGBTQ community."--Amazon.
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Growing Up LGBTQ
Growing Up LGBTQ explores what life is like for adolescents in the LGBTQ community, including topics like coming out, bullying and discrimination in school, and mental health. It also examines the creation of community and found family for LGBTQ people. Features include a glossary, further readings, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
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The Stonewall Reader
For the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, an anthology chronicling the tumultuous fight for LGBTQ rights in the 1960s and the activists who spearheaded it, with a foreword by Edmund White.
Finalist for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction, presented by The Publishing Triangle
Tor.com, Best Books of 2019 (So Far)
Harper’s Bazaar, The 20 Best LGBTQ Books of 2019
The Advocate, The Best Queer(ish) Non-Fiction Tomes We Read in 2019
June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots. Most importantly the anthology spotlights both iconic activists who were pivotal in the movement, such as Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), as well as forgotten figures like Ernestine Eckstein, one of the few out, African American, lesbian activists in the 1960s. The anthology focuses on the events of 1969, the five years before, and the five years after. Jason Baumann, the NYPL coordinator of humanities and LGBTQ collections, has edited and introduced the volume to coincide with the NYPL exhibition he has curated on the Stonewall uprising and gay liberation movement of 1969. -
It Gets Better
Every story can change a life.
- Watch a video
Growing up isn't easy. Many young people face daily tormenting and bullying, making them feel like they have nowhere to turn. This is especially true for LGBT kids and teens who often hide their sexuality for fear of bullying. Without other openly gay adults and mentors in their lives, they can't imagine what their future may hold. In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted - even tortured - simply for being themselves.
After a number of tragic suicides by LGBT students who were bullied in school, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage uploaded a video to YouTube with his partner Terry Miller to inspire hope for LGBT youth facing harassment. Speaking openly about the bullying they suffered as teenagers, and how they both went on to lead rewarding adult lives, their video launched the It Gets Better Project YouTube channel and initiated a worldwide phenomenon. With over 6,000 videos posted and over 20 million views in the first three months alone, the world has embraced the opportunity to provide personal, honest and heartfelt support for LGBT youth everywhere.
It Gets Better is a collection of expanded essays and new material from celebrities, everyday people and teens who have posted videos of encouragement, as well as new contributors who have yet to post videos to the site. While many of these teens couldn't see a positive future for themselves, we can. We can show LGBT youth the levels of happiness, potential and positivity their lives will reach if they can just get through their teen years. By sharing these stories, It Gets Better reminds teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone - and it WILL get better. -
Queer Magic
Queer Magic and Mysticism in History and Today
Queer Magic provides nourishment for LGBTQ+ souls and their allies who are interested in learning about the significant presence and influence of queer folks throughout history. Explore fascinating insights into queer relationships and spiritual practices from different regions of the world. Learn about deities, heroes, and historical figures who embody the power of the queer spirit. Discover inspiring contributions from contemporary LGBT+ Pagans, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and others as they share personal stories of their experiences as well as spells, prayers, and meditations from their own practices. With practical suggestions and enlightening perspectives, this book is a unique resource for LGBT+ spiritual seekers who want to experience the sustaining energy and strength of the worldwide queer community.
Praise:
"Queer Magic asks us to unlearn what we've thought about the global past and instead substitutes an inclusive, more accurate world history, where queer identities are plenty."--ForeWord Reviews
"Tomás Prower takes us on a global journey, a quest to find queer magick across the world. Our stories are not confined to any one place, time, or religion, and this book is truly a diverse guide to understanding our often lost and forgotten myth and history. Certain to inspire LGBTQ+ magickal practitioners for years to come!"--Christopher Penczak, Gay Witchcraft
"In his latest work, Queer Magic, Tomás Prower takes us on a journey that spans both time and continents to examine the myths, magic, and spiritual lives of those who exist outside the culturally sanctioned heterosexual binary. Surprisingly detailed, Prower examines not only the practices of pre-modern native cultures, but also the effects of Christian colonialism and its devastating and history-robbing effects upon them. He demonstrates how those cultures' near-universal acceptance of queer sexual expression has been usurped, and he shines a light on how those traditions have found ways to survive--and even thrive--in spite of being the victims of revisionist history. With interesting bits of history and lore (I may never think of Dracula quite the same way again) combined with practical exercises to help us view sexual expression and gender outside of our common modern restrictions, this book should be considered essential reading for all LGBT+ practitioners of magic and spirituality. Highly recommended."--Storm Faerywolf, author of Betwixt and Between
"More often than not, people whose sexual identities, gender identities, social roles, affectional preferences, relationship styles, and so on are in the minority and tend to be erased or misrepresented in our culture. Queer Magic is a journey around the world and through the centuries to uncover some of these hidden stories. This book is not only history and mythology, it also contains vignettes, experiences, and practices from modern people from diverse backgrounds. One book cannot address everyone and everything, but Queer Magic is a heartfelt effort that will encourage you to continue the work of discovering these treasures of the spirit."--Ivo Dominguez Jr., author of The Keys to Perception
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Violence Against Queer People
Received a 2016 Stonewall Book Award - Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award Honor Book from the American Library Association
Selected as one of "The Best of the Best from the University Presses: Books You Should Know About" at the 2016 ALA Annual Conference
Violence against lesbians and gay men has increasingly captured media and scholarly attention. But these reports tend to focus on one segment of the LGBT community--white, middle class men--and largely ignore that part of the community that arguably suffers a larger share of the violence--racial minorities, the poor, and women. In Violence against Queer People, sociologist Doug Meyer offers the first investigation of anti-queer violence that focuses on the role played by race, class, and gender.
Drawing on interviews with forty-seven victims of violence, Meyer shows that LGBT people encounter significantly different forms of violence--and perceive that violence quite differently--based on their race, class, and gender. His research highlights the extent to which other forms of discrimination--including racism and sexism--shape LGBT people's experience of abuse. He reports, for instance, that lesbian and transgender women often described violent incidents in which a sexual or a misogynistic component was introduced, and that LGBT people of color sometimes weren't sure if anti-queer violence was based solely on their sexuality or whether racism or sexism had also played a role. Meyer observes that given the many differences in how anti-queer violence is experienced, the present media focus on white, middle-class victims greatly oversimplifies and distorts the nature of anti-queer violence. In fact, attempts to reduce anti-queer violence that ignore race, class, and gender run the risk of helping only the most privileged gay subjects.
Many feel that the struggle for gay rights has largely been accomplished and the tide of history has swung in favor of LGBT equality. Violence against Queer People, on the contrary, argues that the lives of many LGBT people--particularly the most vulnerable--have improved very little, if at all, over the past thirty years.
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LGBT Discrimination
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are frequently denied equal rights in America. LGBT people face discrimination as employees, students, adoptive parents, spouses, and consumers, and they have been targeted in violent hate crimes. LGBT Discrimination examines what this discrimination entails, how it is manifested, how widespread it is, how it affects real people, and efforts to address it.
From Our Friends at CoffeeTree Books
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The Skull
Caldecott Medalist and #1 New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Jon Klassen delivers a deliciously macabre treat for folktale fans.In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afra[Bokinfo].
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The Dangerous Ones
"A perfect mix of MAGIC, VAMPIRES, STAR-CROSSED LOVE, and writing as SHARP AND DEADLY a spear." - Nisha J. Tuli, author of Trial of the Sun Queen
THE THRILLING ROMANTASY FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LAUREN BLACKWOOD!
One vampire to kill. Another to love.
War doesn’t scare Jerusalem. She’s a Saint. Thanks to powerful demigod-style reflexes, endurance, and strength, she’s fearless. And she has one goal - revenge.
But she never expects to team up with the handsome, arrogant Alexei to accomplish it. He’s one of those Ancient Vampires. And ever since her family was enslaved and murdered by one, Jerusalem hates vampires.
But in the year they've been fighting alongside one another against the Confederate Army and the vampires who benefitted off slavery, Alexei’s never done anything but prove he’s on the Union’s side and hers. She may know the enemy better, hate the enemy more than anyone in her battalion, but so does he. And she’ll use that to her advantage. Because if she can get her revenge by helping Black people gain freedom and equality without having to steal it for themselves like she had to, then all the better.
Together, she and Alexei set out to change the course of the war, risking their hearts and themselves as they attempt to take down the vampire who destroyed everyone Jerusalem held dear. But for Jerusalem, it’s about more than love and justice.
It's about killing a god.
“A CHEEKY, ROMANTIC, and THRILLING revenge story." - Kirkus -
Not in Love
An Indie Next and a Hall of Fame LibraryReads Pick!
A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science—from New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who's off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps. -
All the Colours of the Dark
A BBC ''BETWEEN THE COVERS'' BOOK CLUB PICK
A MISSING PERSONS MYSTERY, A SERIAL KILLER THRILLER, AND AN EPIC LOVE STORY. WITH A UNIQUE TWIST ON EACH...
* * * * *
''Hits like a sledgehammer. An absolutely must-read novel'' GILLIAN FLYNN
''A wonderful book'' RICHARD OSMAN
''Impeccably crafted, deeply emotional, entirely shattering'' BONNIE GARMUS
''A brilliant work of art'' JODI PICOULT
''A book to lose yourself in - a huge achievement'' ALEX MICHAELIDES
''I''ve never read anything quite like it. This book will stay with you for a very long time'' LUCY FOLEY
''Kept me frantically turning the pages'' KRISTIN HANNAH
''An epic sweep ... Ambitious, powerful and moving, this is a tour de force.'' GUARDIAN
''It''s as good as everyone says. I have absolutely no doubt it''s the book of the year'' JENNIE GODFREY
* * * * *
Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph ''Patch'' Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.
But when she does: it will break her heart.
Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room - until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.
But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.
Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories - and charts an epic search to find her.
As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey - on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them - and set free the only boy she ever loved.
Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever...
* * * * *
''A luminous and heartbreaking book - a crime novel, yes, but vaster and more moving than anything I expected.''
OBSERVER
''The best thriller I''ve ever read ... a multi-layered masterpiece with impeccable plotting.'' i NEWS
''The instant classic ... A poignant, powerful and unforgettable love story.'' HEAT
''Breathtaking. I was gripped from the first page'' RUTH JONES
''Amazing. Haunting. Unforgettable'' PATRICIA CORNWELL
''A future modern classic ... Will stay with you long after you read the final page'' WOMAN & HOME
''A truly epic crime novel and love story. As beautiful as it is engrossing - with characters you''ll never forget'' WILL DEAN
''A cinematic masterpiece ... A future classic'' WOMAN''S WEEKLY
''Vast yet intimate, tense yet tender'' ERIN KELLY
''One of the most beautiful books I''ve ever read.'' PLATINUM
''Beautiful, wise, heartbreaking and profound'' STUART TURTON
''Epic in every sense of the word ... Some of the best characters I''ve ever passed my time with'' ABIGAIL DEAN
''A masterpiece, the sort of book that only comes along once in a decade'' ABIR MUKHERJEE
''A stunning, bewitching novel with unforgettable characters. Achingly beautiful ... A masterpiece'' ANDREA MARA
''A masterpiece that drew me in from the first page ... Mesmerising.'' PRIMA
''Astonishing ... Will capture the hearts of generations to come'' M. W. CRAVEN
''A heartbreaking work of genius'' IMRAN MAHMOOD
''A breathtaking literary thriller for fans of A Little Life'' RED
''Simply stunning ... Truly exceptional'' JOHN MARRS
''Vast, yearning, and luminous'' VASEEM KHAN
''A masterclass in storytelling'' MARI HANNAH
''The book to read in 2024'' JO SPAIN
''A once-in-a-generation classic ... Might just be the best book I''ve ever read'' ADAM SIMCOX
''A heartbreaking, life-affirming story of hope and loss ... Beg, borrow or steal a copy'' CHARLOTTE PHILBY
''A mystery wrapped in a love story that will break and then mend your heart'' HOLLY SEDDON
''One of the best books that I''ve ever read'' LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON
* * * * * -
The Wedding People
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick
A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.
In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us. -
Funny Story
FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR & GLOBAL TIK TOK SENSATION, EMILY HENRY
'One of my favourite authors' COLLEEN HOOVER, It Ends With Us
'Emily knows how to craft a love story like the all-time greats' TAYLOR JENKINS REID, Daisy Jones and The Six
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Daphne always loved the way Peter told their story.
That is until it became the prologue to his actual love story with his childhood bestie, Petra.
Which is how Daphne ends up rooming with her total opposite and the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra's ex, Miles.
As expected, it's not a match made in heaven - that is until one night, while tossing back tequilas, they form a plan.
And if it involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it's all just for show, of course, because there's no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé's new fiancée's ex . . . right?
A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author Emily Henry
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PRAISE FOR EMILY HENRY
'The master of witty repartee' Daily Mail
'I've loved every single one of her books more than the previous' Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis
'The book that you just know all the girls are going to be reading by the side of the pool this summer... ' The Mirror
'My newest automatic-buy author' Jodi Picoult, Wish You Were Here
'This book is an utter delight' Prima
'Emily Henry has become one of my favourite authors' Beth O'Leary, The Flatshare
'Emily Henry's books are a gift, the perfect balance between steamy and sweet' V. E Schwab, Gallant
'A joyful and cathartic romcom that is truly the funniest of stories' The Skinny
'Nobody does it quite like Emily Henry' Casey McQuiston, Red, White and Royal Blue
'The queen of rom-coms is back' Refinery29
'Our generation's answer to Nora Ephron' Sophie Cousens, This Time Next Year
'As a storyteller, Henry is in a class of her own' Elle Kennedy, The Deal
Emily Henry, No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller, May 2023 & No. 1 New York Times bestseller, June 2023 -
The Paradise Problem
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam 'West' Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There's just one catch. Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather's will, Liam won't see a penny until he's been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he's in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he's afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents - his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife. But in the presence of his family, Liam's fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
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The Rom-Commers
Featuring beautiful spray-painted edges with vibrant designed endpapers.
The New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center's next laugh out loud, feel good rom-com about writing your own story.
She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up.
Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script—it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true? -
North Woods
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
A WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—“a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic” (The Washington Post) from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.
“With the expansiveness and immersive feeling of two-time Booker Prize nominee David Mitchell’s fiction (Cloud Atlas), the wicked creepiness of Edgar Allan Poe, and Mason’s bone-deep knowledge of and appreciation for the natural world that’s on par with that of Thoreau, North Woods fires on all cylinders.”—San Francisco Chronicle
New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, The Boston Globe, NPR, Chicago Public Library, The Star Tribune, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, Real Simple, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Bookreporter
When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we’re gone? -
Sword Catcher
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Two outcasts find themselves caught in a web of dangerous magic and dark secrets that could change the world forever in the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.
“Everything I look for in fantasy.”—George R. R. Martin
A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill.
Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher—the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible.
Lin Caster is a physician from a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. But despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge.
After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the ruler of Castellane’s criminal underworld. But as long-kept secrets begin to unravel and forbidden attractions arise, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos? -
Champion of Fate
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake is back with an epic duology starter that follows a young woman training to join a fabled order as she attempts to lead a hero to his critical first victory. A must-read for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Victoria Aveyard.
Aristene are an order of mythical female warriors. Though heroes might be immortalized in legends, it's the Aristene who guide their paths to victory. They are the Heromakers.
Raised by the order after being orphaned, Reed grew up surrounded by her future sisters-in-arms and the incredible stories of their quests. She's been counting the days until her initiation, and now one final test stands in her way: shepherding her first hero to glory on the battlefield. Succeed, and her place in the order is secured. Fail, and she'll be cast out of the only home she's ever known.
But Reed didn't count on Hestion, her assigned hero, being both infuriating and intriguing. When their strategic alliance turns into something more, it forces Reed to question the cost of becoming an Aristene. As battle looms and fate hangs in the balance, Reed must make an impossible choice: her hero or her order.
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The Seven Year Slip
'This is a beautiful story 🥰 Such a poignant portrayal of love, loss and finding oneself' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Ashley Poston writes really beautiful love stories with just a sprinkling of magic. This story was sweet, funny, sad, charming, and lovely all in equal measure' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Ashley Poston knows how to write romance . . . if you're a true, soulmate-believing, kitchen slow dancing, and lover of romance with a bit of magical a realism, this is the one for you' Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate...only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
Six months ago, Clementine West had the worst day of her life. So, she came up with a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, take no risks. And it's been working.
That is until one day she finds a strange man standing in her kitchen. A man with kind eyes, a crooked smile, and a recipe for the perfect lemon meringue pie. The kind of man that, before everything, she could have fallen for . . .
He's perfect but for one thing: he lives in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact.
This should be impossible, but Clementine used to love impossible things. And maybe, just maybe, she will again. After all, love is never a matter of time - but a matter of timing.
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Praise for Ashley Poston
'Charming and deliciously romantic, THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP serves up a speculative twist on the idea that we might meet the right person at the wrong time' Catriona Silvey, author of Meet Me in Another Life
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The Fragile Threads of Power
A New York Times Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
September IndieNext Pick
A new door opens...
Once there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London.
After a desperate attempt to prevent corruption and ruin in the four Londons, there are only three:
● Grey London, thriving but barely able to remember its magical heritage
● Red London, ruled lately by the Maresh family, flourishing and powerful
● White London, left to brutality and decay
Now the worlds are going to collide anew—brought to a dangerous precipice by the discoveries of three remarkable magicians.
There's Kosika, the child queen of White London, who has nourished her city on blood and dreams—and whose growing devotion to both is leading her down a dangerous path.
Then there's Delilah Bard, born a thief in Grey London, who crossed the worlds to become a legend far from there. She's an infamous magician, a devious heroine, and a risk-taking rogue, all rolled into one unforgettable package. Having disappeared to seek new adventure, an old favor now calls Lila back to a dangerous port, to join some old friends who need more help than they realize.
Last there is Tes, a young runaway with an unusual and powerful ability, hiding out in Red London while trying to stay out of the limelight.
Tes is the only one who can keep all the worlds from unraveling—if she manages to stay alive first.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab comes a new adventure set in a beloved world—where old friends and foes alike are faced with a dangerous new threat.
PopSugar, This Year's Best New Fantasy
Paste Magazine, Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of Fall
The Washington Post, 10 Noteworthy Books for September
Goodreads, Readers’ Most Anticipated Books of Fall
Polygon, Best New SFF for the Fall
EW.com, Fall Book Must-Reads -
Godkiller
THE INSTANT NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'A wonderful, gritty, explosively violent, and beautifully realised debut'
DAILY MAIL
'GODKILLER will have you in its grasp from the first pages'
Samantha Shannon, bestselling author of PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE
You are not welcome here, godkiller
Kissen's family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.
Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.
Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning - something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it. -
The Fury
*** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE SILENT PATIENT ***
'Infinitely thrilling and delicately crafted, the plot keeps everyone guessing until the very end, with an unscrupulous villain to underline just how good it is. DO NOT MISS IT' Daily Mail
'Deliciously twisty and fiendishly clever. A highly enjoyable tale of subterfuge, secrets and murder' Observer
'My favourite Alex Michaelides yet - the undisputed master of the twist' Lucy Foley
'The king of all unreliable narrators, enough twists and turns to power two novels' David Baldacci
'You'll think you know where it's going and you couldn't be more wrong' Linwood Barclay
'A very special book and highly recommended' Janice Hallett
'A masterclass in suspense' Steve Cavanagh
'A glorious triumph - just brilliant' Stephen Fry
'The best novel yet from Alex Michaelides' Sophie Hannah
Even better than The Silent Patient... Alex Michaelides is a magician' JP Delaney
*****
'There were seven of us in all, trapped on the island.
One of us was a murderer . . .'
On a small private Greek island, former movie star Lana Farrar - an old friend - invites a select group of us to stay.
It'll be hot, sunny, perfect. A chance to relax and reconnect - and maybe for a few hidden truths to come out.
Because nothing on this island is quite what it seems.
Not Lana. Not her guests.
Certainly not the murderer - furiously plotting their crime . . .
But who am I?
My name is Elliot Chase, and I'm going to tell you a story unlike any you've ever heard.
BESTSELLING AUTHORS ARE ALREADY FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE FURY
'The Fury is a masterfully woven story of Shakespearean twists and Machiavellian turns. A Greek Tragedy in the guise of a postmodern thriller. Do not miss this one' Holly Jackson
'A classic, twisting, brilliant murder mystery. A wonderfully drawn cast of characters with a motive to kill for, in a location to die for, keep you guessing until the shocking finale. Clever, and fiendishly fun' Chris Whitaker
'A very sophisticated book which takes the format of a classic murder mystery and elevates it to something very devious and clever indeed. The narrator is fabulous - I was throughly gripped' Harriet Tyce
'Endlessly evolving, wildly entertaining, and like the very best fiction, impossible to pin down. Just when you think you have it cornered, it moves, impossibly and with stunning flourish, toward a devastating finale. The Talented Mr. Ripley for our time' Blake Crouch
'Alex Michaelides is the grand master of the modern mystery. The Fury reads like Hitchcock with a heart, or Agatha Christie running amok on a wind-whipped Greek island. The Fury will, quite literally, blow you away. Totally brilliant' Tony Parsons
'One of those rare books where really nothing is as it seems. As usual, Alex Michaelides does not disappoint' Ragnar Jonasson
'Glamorous, sinister, and endlessly surprising, The Fury reads like Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith took a Greek vacation together and decided to write a book while there. It's twisty, twisted entertainment' Riley Sager
The Fury, the instant New York Times bestseller, January 2024, and Sunday Times bestseller, February 2024