Adults

The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down

Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took over two years for scientists to finally agree that the Covid pandemic was caused by an airborne virus.

In Air-Borne, award-winning New York Times columnist and author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. We travel to the tops of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air, and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments. We meet the long-forgotten pioneers of aerobiology including William and Mildred Wells, who tried for decades to warn the world about airborne infections, only to die in obscurity.

Air-Borne chronicles the dark side of aerobiology with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of airborne biological weapons designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. Air-Borne also leaves readers looking at the world with new eyes—as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind.

Weaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on Covid and other threats to global health, Air-Borne surprises us on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.

The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

Book Three of the Emily Wilde Series

Don’t miss any of Heather Fawcett’s charming Emily Wilde series:
EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES • EMILY WILDE’S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS • EMILY WILDE’S COMPENDIUM OF LOST TALES

In a compelling blend of personal narrative and in-depth reporting, New York magazine senior writer Sarah Jones exposes the harsh reality of America’s racial and income inequality and the devastating impact of the pandemic on our nation’s most vulnerable people.

In the tradition of Matthew Desmond’s Evicted and Andrea Elliot’s Invisible Child, Disposable is a poignant exploration of America’s underclass, left vulnerable by systemic racism and capitalism. Here, Sarah Jones delves into the lives of the essential workers, seniors, and people with disabilities who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19—not due to their age or profession, but because of the systemic inequality and poverty that left them exposed.

The pandemic served as a stark revelation of the true state of America, a country where the dream of prosperity is a distant mirage for millions. Jones argues that the pandemic didn’t create these dynamics, but rather revealed the existing social mobility issues and wealth gap that have long plagued the nation. Behind the staggering death toll are stories of lives lost, injustices suffered, and institutions that failed to protect their people.

Jones brings these stories to the forefront, transforming the abstract concept of the pandemic into a deeply personal and political phenomenon. She argues that America has abandoned a sacrificial underclass of millions but insists that another future is possible. By addressing the pervasive issues of racial justice and public policy, Jones calls for a future where no one is seen as disposable again.

Giving all the “Little Women” the stories they deserve at last, this imaginative historical novel and companion to the much-loved classic draws Meg, Beth, and Amy March from behind the shadow of Jo – Louisa May Alcott’s alter-ego and the “author” of Little Women – as vibrant and unforgettable characters grappling with societal strictures, queer love, motherhood, chronic illness, artistic ambition, and more.

A riveting reimagining for readers of March by Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Miller’s Caroline and Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.

I’m sure you believe you know their story from reading that other book, which told you an inspiring tale about four sisters. It told you a story, but did it tell you the story?

Four sisters, each as different as can be. Through the eyes and words of Jo, their characters and destinies became known to millions. Meg, pretty and conventional. Jo, stubborn, tomboyish, and ambitious. Beth, shy and good-natured, a mortal angel readily accepting her fate. And Amy, elegant, frivolous, and shallow. But Jo, for all her insight, could not always know what was in her sisters’ thoughts, or in their hearts.

With Jo away in New York to pursue her literary ambitions, Meg, Beth, and Amy follow their own paths. Meg, newly married with young twins, struggles to find the contentment that Marmee assured her would come with domesticity. Unhappy and unfulfilled, she turns to her garden, finding there not just a hobby but a calling that will allow her to help other women in turn.

Beth knows her time is limited. Still, part of her longs to break out of her suffocating cocoon at home, however briefly. A new acquaintance turns into something more, offering unexpected, quiet joy.

Amy, traveling in Europe while she pursues her goal of becoming an artist, is keenly aware of the expectation that she will save the family by marrying well. Through the course of her journey, she discovers how she can remain true to herself, true to her art, and true to the love that was always meant to be.

Purposefully leaving Jo off the page, authors Liz Parker, Ally Malinenko, and Linda Epstein draw inspiration from Alcott’s real-life sisters, giving the other March women room to reveal themselves through conversations, private correspondence, and intimate moments—coming alive in ways that might surprise even daring, unconventional Jo.

An unforgettable and heartrending love story that will break your heart and piece it back together.

Kareem Rosser and Lee Lee Jones were young, beautiful, and deeply in love. Their love was a real-world romance that felt like a fairy tale: Kareem was raised in the Bottom—one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Philadelphia—while Lee Lee was raised in the wealth of the Pennsylvania suburbs. They met and fell in love in the world of horses: Kareem, a nationally ranked polo player and Lee Lee, a legacy equestrian. The world was at their feet, a lifetime of joy and adventure ahead of them. But their love story is interrupted by a devastating accident, which almost costs Lee Lee her life, and destroys every plan and dream that Lee Lee and Kareem had made together.

In the months and years that follow, while Lee Lee struggles to heal, Kareem is crippled by ambiguous grief, for the woman that he loves and for the future he imagined for them both. He feels buried alive. In the space between debilitating grief and bursts of anxiety, he’s forced to finally face his demons: his tumultuous childhood, his latent mental health issues, the murders of his older brother and his best friend, and a life constantly lived in the grip of panic and fear.

Honest and captivating, When You’re Ready is a narrative that honors love in all its forms: first love, parental love, renewed love, and, most importantly, self-love. With notes on unresolved loss and second chances, it’s a story that will grab you by the heartstrings and uplift your soul.

After the murder of her best friend, a librarian's search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.

Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared.

Thirty years before, Hana was someone else: Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia--until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family before her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend--the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head.

Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price, leaving her eight-year-old grandson in Hana's care. To protect the child without revealing her secret, Hana must again become the Night Mora--and hope she can find the killer before the past comes for them, too. 
 

The first African American Rockette charts her journey to one of the world's most celebrated dance troupes in this gripping memoir that, for the first time, goes behind the velvet curtains at Radio City's legendary holiday show.

"Smashing through glass windows and paving the way for others requires a special blend of bravery and perseverance. Being a pioneer involves breaking down stubborn barriers, challenging closed-minded people and navigating through instances of racism and prejudice. This journey often included facing ongoing resistance from individuals who were unwilling to embrace change. It's believing in your dream--that you can be and do whatever it is that you love."--Jennifer Jones

The Radio City Rockettes are as American as baseball, hot dogs, and the Fourth of July. Their legendary synchronized leg kicks, precise lines, and megawatt smiles have charmed audiences for a century. But there is a hidden side to this illustrious national institution. When the Rockettes began in 1925, Black people were not allowed to dance on stage with white people. However, during the Civil Rights Movement, dance history changed significantly when Black and white dancers were permitted to perform together, marking a moment of progress and inclusivity in the world of dance and entertainment. Even so, as late as the early 1980s, Rockette director Violet Holmes said having "one or two Black girls in the line would definitely distract."

In 1987 the 63-year color barrier at Radio City was finally broken by one brave and tenacious woman. When she arrived, Jennifer Jones was met with pushback--a fierce resistance she details in this intimate and inspiring memoir. After overcoming seemingly impossible odds to join the line of The Rockettes, a PR director summoned the Black dancer to her hotel room and announced, "You're old news, nobody cares about you, your story or anything about you. You're just lucky to be here."

Those words would haunt this shy, insecure biracial woman, who had always felt like an outsider.

Like Gelsey Kirkland's iconic Dancing on My Grave, Becoming Spectacular allows us to walk in Jones' tap shoes--beautiful and glittering, yet painful and binding. Bringing into focus the wounded life of a trailblazer, this searing memoir is also a triumphant celebration of a spirit who refused to be counted out.

An astounding multigenerational saga, Red Clay chronicles the interwoven lives of an enslaved Black family and their white owners as the Civil War ends and Reconstruction begins.

In 1943, when a frail old white woman shows up in Red Clay, Alabama, at the home of a Black former slave--on the morning following his funeral--his family hardly knows what to expect after she utters the words "... a lifetime ago, my family owned yours." Adelaide Parker has a story to tell--one of ambition, betrayal, violence, and redemption--that shaped both the fate of her family and that of the late Felix H. Parker.

But there are gaps in her knowledge, and she's come to Red Clay seeking answers from a family with whom she shares a name and a history that neither knows in full. In an epic saga that takes us from Red Clay to Paris, to the Côte d'Azur and New Orleans, human frailties are pushed to their limits as secrets are exposed and the line between good and evil becomes ever more difficult to discern. Red Clay is a tale that deftly lays bare the ugliness of slavery, the uncertainty of the final months of the Civil War, the optimism of Reconstruction, and the pain and frustration of Jim Crow.

With a vivid sense of place and a cast of memorable characters, Charles B. Fancher draws upon his own family history to weave a riveting tale of triumph over adversity, set against a backdrop of societal change and racial animus that reverberates in contemporary America. Through seasons of joy and unspeakable pain, Fancher delivers rich moments as allies become enemies, and enemies--to their great surprise--find new respect for each other.

Book discussion questions are available here: https: //s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.blackstoneaudio.com/docs/Red_Clay_Discussion_Guide.pdf

From the author of the bestselling Kobe Bryant biography The Rise comes the legend of the most powerful shot in basketball: the slam dunk.

The evolution of basketball, and much of the social and cultural change in America, can be traced through one powerful act on the court: the slam dunk. The dunk's history is the story of a sport and a country changed by the most dominant act in basketball, and it makes Magic in the Air a rollicking and insightful piece of narrative history and a surefire classic of sports literature.

When basketball was the province of white men, the dunk acted as a revolutionary agent, a tool for players like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to transform the sport into a Black man’s game. The dunk has since been an expression of Black culture amid the righteous upheaval of the civil-rights movement, of the threat that Black people were considered to be to the establishment. It was banned from college basketball for nearly a decade—an attempt to squash the individual expression and athleticism that characterized the sport in America’s cities and on its playgrounds. The dunk nevertheless bubbled up to basketball’s highest levels. From Julius Erving to Michael Jordan to the high flyers of the 21st century, the dunk has been a key mechanism for growing the NBA into a global goliath.

Drawing on deep reporting and dozens of interviews with players, coaches, and other hoops experts, Magic in the Air brings to life the tale of the dunk while balancing sharp socio-racial history and commentary with a romp through American sports and culture. There's never been a basketball book quite like it.

A surprise homecoming tests the bonds of sisterhood as a hidden past comes to light . . .

Disgraced eldest sister Claire Summers has been living in exile as companion to a stern great-aunt in Scotland. About to lose her place and longing to be reconciled with her estranged family, Claire sees an advertisement from someone looking for a "respectable female partner" in a Sidmouth boarding house. Is it a sign? She answers the ad, hoping she has not made another reckless mistake. When she meets the handsome, secretive proprietor, she wonders what he's hiding and if he's any more trustworthy than the nobleman who betrayed her years ago. Claire is drawn to him even though she fears he will reject her when he discovers her genteel façade hides a less-than-respectable past.

Meanwhile, the Summers family learns their great-aunt has died and Claire has disappeared without a word. The sisters rally together to find their lost sibling, but will their unexpected reunion heal old wounds and rekindle their bonds . . . or deepen the divide?

Return to the captivating Devonshire coast as the Summers sisters navigate romance, second chances, and the enduring strength of sisterhood in the face of adversity.