The true adventures of David Fairchild, a turn-of-the-century food explorer who traveled the globe and introduced diverse crops like avocados, mangoes, seedless grapes—and thousands more—to the American plate.*“Fascinating.”—The New York Times Book Review •“Fast-paced adventure writing.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Richly descriptive.”—Kirkus • “A must-read for foodies.”*—HelloGigglesIn the nineteenth century, Ame...

"Once a bustling town of bakers and dreamers, Icing Sugar Town now slumbered under a blanket of moss and morning glories. Its centerpiece was the Marshmallow Clocktower, its face frozen at 3:14 (the time of the last human’s departure), its bell tower home to a family of squirrels who stored acorns in the clock’s gears. The town’s cottages, shaped like oversized cupcakes with frosting-colored roofs, leaned drunkenly against each other. Weeds grew through cracked stained-glass windows th...

From the national bestselling author of The Food Explorer, a fascinating and rollicking plunge into the story of the world’s most famous shipwreck, the RMS TitanicOn a frigid April night in 1912, the world’s largest—and soon most famous—ocean liner struck an iceberg and slipped beneath the waves. She had scarcely disappeared before her new journey began, a seemingly limitless odyssey through the world’s fixation with her every tragic detail. Plans...

Epic, emotionally charged, and rich with speculative depth, this tale weaves legacy, sacrifice, and the courage to thrive in imperfection into a spellbinding saga that soars above the ordinary.In Stitches in the Clouds, Leah Starfall battles to safeguard her airborne homeland, Sky City, from Shiver—a sinister, shadowy force that invades minds and taints magic. As chaos swirls through the floating spires, Leah confronts twin horrors: her brother’s harrowing...

In this collection of short stories, diverse characters, including an obese baker, an eczema sufferer, and a vegetable vendor, each find themselves mired in the quagmire of life. They endure mockery, illness, and expulsion, crushed by the weight of work and debt."Water droplets rolled down the curled veins of the leaves, pooling into tiny puddles at the bottom of the plastic basket. Among the wilted leaves, a few yellowed ones hung listlessly, like elderly soul...

In the whirlwind of modern life, Chinese mythological beings shed their divine aloofness. Whether adapting to human society or steadfastly clinging to their principles in the face of adversity, they redefine legend through the clash and fusion of worlds.The gluttonous Taotie, banished to Earth, becomes the star of a weight-loss reality show. After accidentally ingesting a satellite fragment, Taotie gains a profound understanding of the perils of excessive greed and...

Sexually arousing, liberating, and elegantly prosed, Shades of the Past is a novella that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.Sienna, who suffered from her abusive father, has recently traded the habitual southern summers for New York’s new edges. She met a wealthy venture capitalist, Grayson, and reunited with Ethan, who had suddenly disappeared from her life.Sienna and Grayson are both haunted by their pasts. Sex becomes their...

From the national bestselling author of The Food Explorer comes the untold story of Alice Hamilton, a trailblazing doctor and public health activist who took on the booming auto industry—and the deadly invention of leaded gasoline, which would poison millions of people across America.At noon on October 27, 1924, a factory worker was admitted to a hospital in New York City, suffering from hallucinations and convulsions. Before breakfast the next day, he was...

If there is laundry waiting at home, bills to pay, unread messages on your phone, and at least one problem that feels like it would be easier to solve with magic, this book is for you.Claire is trying to keep an ordinary life from falling apart. There is coffee to reheat, work to survive, friends to answer, and a world that keeps asking more of her than she has the energy to give. But beneath the routine, something is waking.The Whisper moves through the ci...

A shattered, battered and bruised Pilot Light collapses, trapped in a reed bed. He has just committed a truly terrible crime. His getaway vehicle, the canal boat, is moored up only a few meters away. Weak and bloodied having been wounded and suffering the after effects of a drug fuelled comedown Pilot Light drifts away having become stuck, he then loses consciousness.How he came to be in that predicament is then revealed to the reader through a succession of flash backs chronicling ...

In the 1890s, George Washington’s diary and other irreplaceable historical documents were stolen from the Library of Congress, launching an interstate chase by the Secret Service and a sensational trial, and changing the trajectory of America’s national library.It is 1896, and the Congressional Library in the Capitol is bursting at the seams with books and documents. Ainsworth Spofford, the longtime Librarian of Congress, is tirelessly advocating for a bigger, bett...

The book is an edgy romantic thriller that tells the story of Joan, a character inspired by a few of the amazing matriarchal figures I have known. Joan's life is a succession of disasters involving bereavement, illness and abuse. The little comfort she eventually finds is whilst reading the Rush Hour Crush segment in the daily newspaper, a concept thought up by an old school friend. Despite being desperately unlucky in love and life, Joan never gives up until her shocking relationship lead...