september new releases
Chinese Enough: Homestyle Recipes for Noodles, Dumplings, Stir-Fries, and More
by Kristina Cho
In an exploration of her own experience as a first-generation American, Kristina Cho, author of the award-winning baking book Mooncakes and Milk Bread, offers 100 recipes that blend the flavors of traditional Cantonese cooking with California ingredients and a midwestern sensibility.
In Chinese Enough, Cho turns to the savory side of cooking with recipes that are neither entirely Chinese nor entirely American, but Chinese enough. Here is an array of dishes to pair with rice, the cornerstone of Cantonese cuisine, including Triple Pepper Beef, Miso Pork Meatballs, and Seared Egg Tofu with Honey and Soy. Recipes like Smashed Ranch Cucumbers and Saucy Sesame Long Beans honor the Cantonese focus on vegetables. There's a chapter dedicated to the joy of noodles, with creative takes on traditional dishes, birthed anew in a California kitchen--from San Francisco Garlic Noodles to Creamy Tomato Udon. Plus, a chapter of Banquet-Worthy Dishes teaches the Chinese art of food as celebration, a step-by-step guide shows how to employ friends and family in the kitchen to make dumplings, and the fruit-focused dessert section acts as a lesson on finishing a meal with a small, sweet act of affection. Woven throughout, Cho's stories of her grandmother's Chinese garden situated in the middle of Cleveland and falling in love over dim sum are a warm tribute to the nuanced and personal ways in which one can discover and define their own culture.
10/7: 100 Human Stories
by Lee Yaron - Joshua Cohen
The definitive account of the 10/7 attacks through the stories of its victims and the communities they called home.
On October 7, 2023--the Sabbath and the final day of the holiday of Sukkot--the Gaza-based terror group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on the people of Israel. Crashing through the border, attacking from the sea and air, militants indiscriminately massacred civilians in what became one of the worst terror attacks in modern history, and the most lethal day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
A radically passionate work of investigative journalism and political critique by acclaimed Haaretz reporter Lee Yaron, 10/7 chronicles the massacre that ignited a war through the stories of more than 100 civilians. These stories are the products of extensive interviews with survivors, the bereaved, and first responders in Israel and beyond. The victims run the gamut from left-wing kibbutzniks and Burning Man-esque partiers to radical right-wingers, from Bedouins and Israeli Arabs to Thai and Nepalese guest workers, peace activists, elderly Holocaust survivors, refugees from Ukraine and Russia, pregnant women, and babies.
How the World Made the West: A 4,000 Year History
by Josephine Quinn
An award-winning Oxford history professor overturns the way the West thinks about itself, tracing its innovations and traditions to societies from all over the world and making the case that the West is, and always has been, truly global.
A FINANCIAL TIMES AND ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)
In How the World Made the West, Josephine Quinn poses perhaps the most significant challenge ever to the "civilizational thinking" regarding the origins of Western culture--that is, the idea that civilizations arose separately and distinctly from one another. Rather, she locates the roots of the modern West in everything from the law codes of Babylon, Assyrian irrigation, and the Phoenician art of sail to Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, and the metalworking riders of the Steppe, to name just a few examples.
The Ultimate Guide to Dollywood: Your Guide to the Best Rides, Restaurants, and Attractions at Dollywood
by Erin Browne
A must-have for Dolly Parton fans everywhere, this unofficial guide features 100 of the must-try restaurants, iconic rides and attractions, and important landmarks at Dollywood and its sister parks.
Dollywood is a unique and incredible theme park that's best known for its amusement park thrills, traditional Smoky Mountain inspiration, and, of course, insight into namesake and owner Dolly Parton. There's a lot to see and do--and it can be easy to miss out on all Dollywood and its nearby sister parks have to offer. The Ultimate Guide to Dollywood is your one-stop shop for all things Dollywood! You'll get insider advice on everything from the food to the rides and learn all the best tips and tricks to make the most of your visit.
-Want to try the world's fastest roller coaster? The Lightning Rod is not only the fastest...it's also the first wood launch coaster.
-Looking for an attraction that will really excite the biggest Dolly Parton fans? Check out Dolly's $750,000 tour bus that was her "home" for fifteen years of touring, parked right in the Adventures in Imagination section of Dollywood.
-Are you a history buff? The Dollywood Express, which takes visitors on a five-mile ride through the Great Smoky Mountains, actually played a key role in America's war effort during World War II.
-Searching for the inside scoop on all things Dollywood? Check out Red's Drive-In, where you'll be able to impress fellow visitors with the fun fact that this restaurant was named after Red's Café, where six-year-old Dolly ate her first hamburger.
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
by Elyse Graham
The untold story of the academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of the war
At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today's CIA, was quickly formed--and, in an effort to fill its ranks with experts, the OSS turned to academia for recruits. Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations and investigative work--and these surprising spies would go on to profoundly shape both the course of the war and our cultural institutions with their efforts.
In Book and Dagger, Elyse Graham draws on personal histories, letters, and declassified OSS files to tell the story of a small but connected group of humanities scholars turned spies. Among them are Joseph Curtiss, a literature professor who hunted down German spies and turned them into double agents; Sherman Kent, a smart-mouthed history professor who rose to become the head of analysis for all of Europe and Africa; and Adele Kibre, an archivist who was sent to Stockholm to secretly acquire documents for the OSS. These unforgettable characters would ultimately help lay the foundations of modern intelligence and transform American higher education when they returned after the war.
august new releases
The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country
by Rosie Schaap
From the acclaimed author of the "wonderfully funny and openhearted" (NPR) Drinking with Men comes a poignant, wrenching, and ultimately hopeful book--equal parts memoir and social history--that follows the author, after a series of tragic losses, to Northern Ireland, where she finds a path toward healing.
Rosie Schaap had a solid career as a journalist and a life that looked to others like nonstop fun: all drinking and dining and traveling to beautiful places--and getting paid to write about it. But under the surface she was reeling from the loss of her husband and her mother--who died just one year apart. Caring for them had claimed much of her daily life in her late thirties. Mourning them would take longer.
Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook
by Nini Nguyen - Sarah Zorn
A collection of contemporary, extra-special Vietnamese recipes, from beloved classics like Hanoi-Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and three variations of phở, to dishes with a New Orleans twist, like Southeast Asian Jambalaya and Sticky Fried Shrimp Bánh Mì--from Top Chef contestant and acclaimed chef Nini Nguyen
In Vietnamese culture, to be dac biet is to be special and luxurious, or, as chef and cooking instructor Nini Nguyen puts it, it means adding something a little extra, like salty caviar on top of squid-stuffed pork, a surprise note of ginger and lime in a dipping sauce, or sautéing shaking beef in farm-fresh butter for a creamy, delectable experience. Born and raised in New Orleans by Vietnamese immigrants, here Nini gives us recipes that fuse the best of Vietnamese and New Orleans cooking and clear directions on how to prepare and arrange them, making for a flavorful, unforgettable experience that proves that being a little extra is easy and just right.
*Charbroiled Oysters in Chili Butter * Viet-Cajun Seafood Boil * Phở with Everything * Crispy Fish Sauce-Caramel Chicken Wings * Broken Rice with Pork Chops and Eggs * Crispy Noodles Covered in a Saucy Stir-Fry * BBQ Pork Ribs Glazed with Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce *Coconut Crispy Rice Crepes * and many more
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
by Evan Friss
"It is a delight to wander through the bookstores of American history in this warm, generous book."
--Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author and owner of Books Are Magic
An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations
Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see the stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.
Watford Forever: How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other
by John Preston - Elton John
Nothing has brought English soccer more immediately into the American mainstream than Ted Lasso, which captivated the nation in thirty-four episodes over three seasons. But before there was Jason Sudeikis's lovable and, at first, hapless AFC Richmond, there was Watford Football Club, a team from the outskirts of London with barely enough fans to fill its stands--and which, in the mid-1970s, was languishing in 92nd place at the bottom of the last division of the English Football League. That is, until rock superstar Elton John--who, with his dad, had followed the team as a boy--bought the lowly franchise and, with legendary manager Graham Taylor, transformed the luckless football club into a top-seeded Premier League team. Inspiring, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking, Watford Forever recalls the improbably tender relationship between Elton John and Taylor, a straight-talking former fullback, who together beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a struggling community.
In France Profound: The Long History of a House, a Mountain Town, and a People
by T D Allman
From the National Book Award-longlisted author of Finding Florida, a sparkling, sweeping chronicle of the author's life and discoveries in an ancient town in "Deep France," from nearby prehistoric caves to medieval dynastic struggles to the colorful characters populating the area today
When T. D. Allman purchased an 800-year-old house in the mountain village of Lauzerte in southwestern France, he aimed to find refuge from the world's tumults. Instead, he found that humanity's most telling melodramas, from the paleolithic to the post-modern, were graven in its stones and visible from its windows.
Indeed, the history of France can be viewed from the perspective of Lauzerte and its surrounding area--just as Allman, from one window, can see Lauzerte unfold before him in the Place des Cornières, where he watches performances of the opera Tosca and each Saturday buys produce from "Fred, the Foie Gras Guy;" while from the other side facing the Pyrenees he surveys the fated landscape that generated many events giving birth to the modern world. The dynastic struggles of Eleanor of Aquitaine, he finds, led to Lauzerte's remarkably progressive charter issued in 1241, which even then enshrined human rights in its 51 articles.
July New Releases
Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age
by Kathleen Sheppard
The never-before-told story of the women Egyptologists who paved the way of exploration in Egypt and created the basis for Egyptology.
The history of Egyptology is often told as yet one more grand narrative of powerful men striving to seize the day and the precious artifacts for their competing homelands. But that is only half of the story. During the so-called Golden Age of Exploration, there were women working and exploring before Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. Before men even conceived of claiming the story for themselves, women were working in Egypt to lay the groundwork for all future exploration.
In Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age, Kathleen Sheppard brings the untold stories of these women back into this narrative. Sheppard begins with some of the earliest European women who ventured to Egypt as travelers: Amelia Edwards, Jenny Lane, and Marianne Brocklehurst. Their travelogues, diaries and maps chronicled a new world for the curious. In the vast desert, Maggie Benson, the first woman granted permission to excavate in Egypt, met Nettie Gourlay, the woman who became her lifelong companion. They battled issues of oppression and exclusion and, ultimately, are credited with excavating the Temple of Mut.
As each woman scored a success in the desert, she set up the women who came later for their own struggles and successes. Emma Andrews' success as a patron and archaeologist helped to pave the way for Margaret Murray to teach. Margaret's work in the university led to the artists Amice Calverley's and Myrtle Broome's ability to work on site at Abydos, creating brilliant reproductions of tomb art, and to Kate Bradbury's and Caroline Ransom's leadership in critical Egyptological institutions. Women in the Valley of the Kings upends the grand male narrative of Egyptian exploration and shows how a group of courageous women charted unknown territory and changed the field of Egyptology forever.
Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
by Rachel Kousser
"A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure." --Ilyon Woo
A riveting biography of Alexander the Great's final years, when the leader's insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy.
By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had reached the pinnacle of success. Or so it seemed. He had defeated the Persian ruler Darius III and seized the capital city of Persepolis. His exhausted and traumatized soldiers were ready to return home to Macedonia. Yet Alexander had other plans. He was determined to continue heading east to Afghanistan in search of his ultimate goal: to reach the end of the world.
Alexander's unrelenting desire to press on resulted in a perilous seven-year journey through the unknown eastern borderlands of the Persian empire that would test the great conqueror's physical and mental limits. He faced challenges from the natural world, moving through deadly monsoons and extreme temperatures; from a rotating cast of well-matched adversaries, who conspired against him at every turn; and even from his own men, who questioned his motives and distrusted the very beliefs on which Alexander built his empire. This incredible sweep of time, culminating with his death in 323 BC at the age of 32, would come to determine Alexander's legacy and shape the empire he left behind.
In Alexander at the End of the World, renowned classicist and art history professor Rachel Kousser vividly brings to life Alexander's labyrinthine, treacherous final years, weaving together a brilliant series of epic battles, stunning landscapes, and nearly insurmountable obstacles. Meticulously researched and grippingly written, Kousser's narrative is an unforgettable tale of daring and adventure, an inspiring portrait of grit and ambition, and a powerful meditation on the ability to learn from failure.
Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline (Original)
by Paul Cooper
"A treasure trove of myths and terror... Atmospheric as hell... Immersive."-The Times
Based on the podcast with over one hundred million downloads, Fall of Civilizations brilliantly explores how a range of ancient societies rose to power and sophistication, and how they tipped over into collapse.
Across the centuries, we journey from the great empires of Mesopotamia to those of Khmer and Vijayanagara in Asia and Songhai in West Africa; from Byzantium to the Maya, Inca and Aztecs of Central America; from Roman Britain to Rapa Nui. With meticulous research, breathtaking insight and dazzling, empathic storytelling, historian and novelist Paul Cooper evokes the majesty and jeopardy of these ancient civilizations, and asks what it might have felt like for a person alive at the time to witness the end of their world.
We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay: (Tips, Tales, Travels)
by Gary Janetti
A Town & Country Must-Read Book of Summer 2024!
"A delightful and sharp-witted tour through a lifetime's worth of travel exploits and misadventures. . . . Readers are bound to catch the travel bug." -- Publishers Weekly
In this hilarious and often touching collection, the New York Times bestselling author, television writer, and producer takes us with him on travels across the globe.
Gary Janetti has gained a devoted following, with a huge audience on social media, and two bestselling collections of essays under his belt. His new collection will prompt laughter but also delighted recognition as Janetti tackles the absurdity and glory of travel.
In We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay, he shares stories of his varied trips around the world. Tag along as he enjoys an unexpectedly transformative stay at a rigorous Italian spa where he and his husband go from deep grumpiness to exaltation. Take a ride on the Orient Express to Venice and discover a surprising side of London, including a hilarious dinner with actress Maggie Smith. And pull up a deck chair to watch the entertainment as Gary embarks on a family cruise on the Queen Mary 2.
Interspersed with recollections of his trips are personal meditations on dining alone as well as journeys to such diverse destinations as Mykonos, Australia, a Noma pop-up, and other glamorous spots. Gary is unabashedly frank about his very exacting travel needs, and delivers practical advice on all aspects of the traveler's life, from very precise packing instructions, suggestions on how to get upgrades, and restaurant and hotel recommendations in his favorite cities.
Aspirational, charmingly acerbic, and as diverting as the best vacation can be, delivering both laughs and moments of sharp recognition, Gary's funny collection is the perfect getaway companion, for both seasoned nomads and curious armchair travelers.
Woman of Interest: A Memoir
by Tracy O'Neill
MOST ANTICIPATED READ and MUST READ OF 2024: The Millions, LitHub, Esquire, BookRiot, Bustle, Vulture, Boston Globe, Brit & Co, Southern Living
A National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 honoree delivers her first work of nonfiction: a compulsively readable, genre-bending story of finding her missing birth mother and, along the way, learning the priceless power of self-knowledge.
In 2020, Tracy O'Neill began to rethink her ideas of comfort and safety. Just out of a ten-year relationship and thirtysomething, she was driven by an acute awareness that the mysterious mother she'd never met might be dying somewhere in South Korea.
After contacting a grizzled private investigator, O'Neill took his suggested homework to heart when he disappeared before the job was done, picking up the trail of clues and becoming her own hell-bent detective. Despite COVID-19, the promise of what she might discover--the possibility that her biological mother was her kind of outlaw, whose life could inspire her own--was too tempting.
Written like a mystery novel, Woman of Interest is a tale of self-discovery and fugitivity from convention that features a femme fatale of unique proportions, a former CIA operative with a criminal record, and a dogged investigator of radical connections outside the nuclear family. O'Neill gorgeously bends the detective genre to her own will as a writer, stepping out of the shadows of her own self-conception to illuminate the hopes of the woman of interest she is both chasing and becoming.