NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 BY THE NEW YORKER, THE GUARDIAN, and KIRKUS REVIEWS

An award-winning investigative journalist takes a deep dive into the global waste crisis, exposing the hidden world that enables our modern economy--and finds out the dirty truth behind a simple question: what really happens to what we throw away?

In Wasteland, journalist Oliver Franklin-Wallis takes us on a shocking journey inside the waste industry--the secretive multi-billion dollar world that underpins the modern economy, quietly profiting from what we leave behind. In India, he meets the waste-pickers on the front line of the plastic crisis. In the UK, he journeys down sewers to confront our oldest--and newest--waste crisis, and comes face-to-face with nuclear waste. In Ghana, he follows the after-life of our technology and explores the global export network that results in goodwill donations clogging African landfills. From an incinerator to an Oklahoma ghost-town, Franklin-Wallis travels in search of the people and companies that really handle waste--and on the way, meets the innovators and campaigners pushing for a cleaner and less wasteful future. 

With this mesmerizing, thought-provoking, and occasionally terrifying investigation, Oliver Franklin-Wallis tells a new story of humanity based on what we leave behind, and along the way, he shares a blueprint for building a healthier, more sustainable world--before we're all buried in trash.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “visionary” (The Guardian) exploration of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival—by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of On Tyranny

“[Snyder’s] deep political and philosophical examination of how to . . . create and sustain freedom provides a hopeful view for the future.”—Los Angeles Times

LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD

Timothy Snyder has been called “the leading interpreter of our dark times.” As a historian, he has given us startling reinterpretations of political collapse and mass killing. As a public intellectual, he has turned that knowledge toward counsel and prediction, working against authoritarianism here and abroad. His book On Tyranny has inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom. Now, in this tour de force of political philosophy, he helps us see exactly what we’re fighting for.

Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means—and this is leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state power: We think we're free if we can do and say as we please, and protect ourselves from government overreach. But true freedom isn’t so much freedom from as freedom to—the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.

On Freedom takes us on a thrilling intellectual journey. Drawing on the work of philosophers and political dissidents, conversations with contemporary thinkers, and his own experiences coming of age in a time of American exceptionalism, Snyder identifies the practices and attitudes—the habits of mind—that will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish. We come to appreciate the importance of traditions (championed by the right) but also the role of institutions (the purview of the left). Intimate yet ambitious, this book helps forge a new consensus rooted in a politics of abundance, generosity, and grace.

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK * From New Yorker staff writer and author of The Longing for Less Kyle Chayka comes a timely history and investigation of a world ruled by algorithms, which determine the shape of culture itself.

"[Filterworld] is about how algorithms changed culture...[Chayka asks] what is taste? What is a sense of aesthetics? And what happens to it when it collides with the homogenizing digital reality in which we now live."--Ezra Klein

From trendy restaurants to city grids, to TikTok and Netflix feeds the world round, algorithmic recommendations dictate our experiences and choices. The algorithm is present in the familiar neon signs and exposed brick of Internet cafes, be it in Nairobi or Portland, and the skeletal, modern furniture of Airbnbs in cities big and small. Over the last decade, this network of mathematically determined decisions has taken over, almost unnoticed--informing the songs we listen to, the friends with whom we stay in touch--as we've grown increasingly accustomed to our insipid new normal.

This ever-tightening web woven by algorithms is called "Filterworld." Kyle Chayka shows us how online and offline spaces alike have been engineered for seamless consumption, becoming a source of pervasive anxiety in the process. Users of technology have been forced to contend with data-driven equations that try to anticipate their desires--and often get them wrong. What results is a state of docility that allows tech companies to curtail human experiences--human lives--for profit. But to have our tastes, behaviors, and emotions governed by computers, while convenient, does nothing short of call the very notion of free will into question.

In Filterworld, Chayka traces this creeping, machine-guided curation as it infiltrates the furthest reaches of our digital, physical, and psychological spaces. With algorithms increasingly influencing not just what culture we consume, but what culture is produced, urgent questions arise: What happens when shareability supersedes messiness, innovation, and creativity--the qualities that make us human? What does it mean to make a choice when the options have been so carefully arranged for us? Is personal freedom possible on the Internet?

To the last question, Filterworld argues yes--but to escape Filterworld, and even transcend it, we must first understand it.

 

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

The urgent, revelatory story of how a school board win for the conservative right in one Texas suburb inspired a Christian nationalist campaign now threatening to undermine public education in America--from an NBC investigative reporter and co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize finalist Southlake podcast.

Award-winning journalist Mike Hixenbaugh delivers the immersive and eye-opening story of Southlake, Texas, a district that seemed to offer everything parents would want for their children--small classes, dedicated teachers, financial resources, a track record of academic success, and school spirit in abundance. All this, until a series of racist incidents became public, a plan to promote inclusiveness was proposed in response--and a coordinated, well-funded conservative backlash erupted, lighting the fire of a national movement on the verge of changing the face of public schools across the country.

They Came for the Schools pulls back the curtain on the powerful forces driving this crusade to ban books, rewrite curricula, limit rights for minority and LGBTQ students--and, most importantly, to win what Hixenbaugh's deeply informed reporting convinces is the holy grail among those seeking to impose biblical values on American society: school privatization, one school board and one legal battle at a time.

They Came for the Schools delivers an essential take on Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, as they demean public schools and teachers and boost the Christian right's vision. Hixenbaugh brings to light fascinating connections between this political and cultural moment and past fundamentalist campaigns to censor classroom lessons. Finally, They Came for the Schools traces the rise of a new resistance movement led by a diverse coalition of student activists, fed-up educators, and parents who are beginning to win select battles of their own: a blueprint, they hope, for gaining inclusive and civil schools for all.

In this just-surreal enough take on the "school genre" of manga, a group of friends grapple with all sorts of unexpected situations in their daily lives as high schoolers.

The gags, jokes, puns, and haiku keep this series off-kilter even as the cast grow and change. Check it out and meet the new ordinary.

The secret history of the invention that changed everything-and became the most profitable product in the world.
NATIONAL BESTSELLERShortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award
One of the Best Business Books of 2016 - CNBC, Bloomberg, 1-800-CEO-Read
"The One Device is a tour de force, with a fast-paced edge and heaps of analytical insight." -Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk
"A stunning book. You will never look at your iPhone the same way again." -Dan Lyons, New York Times bestselling author of Disrupted
Odds are that as you read this, an iPhone is within reach. But before Steve Jobs introduced us to "the one device," as he called it, a cell phone was merely what you used to make calls on the go.
How did the iPhone transform our world and turn Apple into the most valuable company ever? Veteran technology journalist Brian Merchant reveals the inside story you won't hear from Cupertino-based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors, and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone's creation.
This deep dive takes you from inside One Infinite Loop to 19th century France to WWII America, from the driest place on earth to a Kenyan pit of toxic e-waste, and even deep inside Shenzhen's notorious "suicide factories." It's a firsthand look at how the cutting-edge tech that makes the world work-touch screens, motion trackers, and even AI-made their way into our pockets.
The One Device is a roadmap for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and the creator and host of the popular podcast, The Happy Writer, comes the ultimate guide to writing with less stress and more JOY.

If you aren’t suffering, you aren’t creating. Right? 

Wrong! 

Writing can and should be joyful, fulfilling... even fun! Applicable to writers in all genres and disciplines—from screenwriters to novelists, journalists to picture book authors, aspiring to many-times published—The Happy Writer is a heartfelt and optimistic guide that will show you the way to a happier writing journey.

Part craft guide, part writing coach, and part cheerleader, this book offers useful advice on a slew of common writing and publishing ailments, such as how to end procrastination, how to build a social media platform that reflects your personality, how to get your imagination to overflow with new ideas, how to listen to your intuition when receiving a critique on your work, how to overcome impostor syndrome, what to do when you’re stuck in the query trenches, and so much more.

No matter where a writer might be on their creative journey, Meyer encourages them to tap into their own personal sources of joy and to celebrate every milestone, all while confronting challenges (writer’s block! rejection! burnout!) with a reservoir of resources for every temperament, budget, and career.

Known in writers’ circles as a generous mentor, Meyer shares stories from her own writing path to help every writer discover the ultimate joys of living their best writing life.

It has Hikaru's face. It has Hikaru's voice. It even has Hikaru's memories. But whatever came down from the mountains six months ago isn't Yoshiki's best friend. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. Carrying on at school and hanging out as if nothing has changed--as if Hikaru isn't gone--would be crazy...but when it looks so very like Hikaru...and acts so very like Hikaru...

It's never too early to make your money work for you! Discover how with this teen guide to financial health.

You don't have to work on Wall Street to know that money is important. Learn to handle it responsibly with this teen guide to money skills that makes managing money more fun! It dives into the essentials of saving, investing, and more, with tips on getting the most out of everything you earn. Before you know it, you'll be throwing around terms like dividend and liquidity like a finance professional.
 

• Be smart with money—Learn how to set financial goals, create a budget, and recognize the difference between good debt and bad debt so you can make calculated decisions with your money.
• What's up with the stock market?— Get an overview of how the stock market works and explore all the different ways you can invest your money and assess your risk tolerance.
• Plan for the future—This advice is meant especially for teens, with pointers for landing a summer job, starting a savings plan, and preparing for the years ahead!

Invest in your financial success with Money for Adulting.

Just because you’re cursed doesn’t mean you’re not special.

Gwendolyn, the youngest of the king’s three daughters, is living proof that princesses don’t always have it all. She isn’t like a typical fairy-tale princess, or other princesses in the Pastel Kingdom. Gwendolyn, with her big heart and love of baking, isn’t particularly attractive. Unlike her sisters who have woodland creatures do their hair and makeup, or have flowers blossom wherever they sleep, Gwendolyn is a bit . . . different.

When her father proposes marriage for her and her sisters to make an alliance with the Plaid Kingdom, it breaks Gwendolyn’s heart to hear that Prince Frederick thinks she’s “really ugly.” Overwhelmed and ashamed, she runs away into the forest and encounters the twisted world of the Cursed Princess Club, where her life will never be the same.

The Cursed Princess Club are a ragtag band of outcasts, misfits and cursed princesses who have created an incredible friendship circle. It is among these friends where Gwendolyn learns to embrace her uniqueness and find her people.

In this third book of the series, collecting episodes 62-77 of the hit WEBTOON series, Gwen sits for her portrait painting, we realize Frederick is more complicated than we thought as his feelings for Gwen evolve, and we meet the mysterious Whitney of the Monochrome Kingdom, who is more than meets the eye!.

This volume includes 4 bonus shorts with irreverent retellings of classic fairytales!

Bonus 1 - Maria and Blaine in . . . Little Red Riding Hood
Bonus 2 - Lorena and Lance in . . . Jack and the Beanstalk
Bonus 3 - Gwendolyn and Frederick in . . . Hansel and Gretel
Bonus 4 - Frederick’s Favorite Story (The Man in the Hole and the Angel)