In 2006 won Mark Rutte de lijsttrekkersstrijd van de VVD maar nét van Rita Verdonk. In de partij bleven er daarna zoveel twijfels over hem dat hij in 2009 bijna door het hoofdbestuur naar huis werd gestuurd en in 2010 ook niet de officiële premierskandidaat mocht zijn van de VVD. Tien jaar later lijkt zijn positie onaantastbaar, en niet alleen in de VVD. In Mark Rutte laat NRC-journalist Petra de Koning zien wat hem maakte tot wie hij is, hoe zijn manier van denken en doen zich ontwikkelde. En misschien ook wel vooral al die jaren hetzelfde bleef. Hoe kan het dat iemand die bekend kwam te staan als politicus-zonder-opvattingen, die met rechts en links regeerde, een rij van verkiezingsbeloften verbrak en grote politieke inschattingsfouten maakte, volgens opinieonderzoek in 2020 wordt gezien als de beste naoorlogse minister-president van Nederland? Mark Rutte gaat over een politiek leider die als scholier en student al op zoek was naar een rol voor zichzelf in de geschiedenis. Het is het verhaal dat mensen van dichtbij met hem meemaakten, op school en thuis, in de JOVD, op het Binnenhof, in Europa. En ook het verhaal dat voor een deel werd bedacht door campagnestrategen en andere VVD’ers die zich bleven afvragen of Rutte wel echt wist en snapte wat zijn eigen kiezers het allerbelangrijkste vonden. Mark Rutte laat een politicus zien die extreem kwaad kan zijn als hij de controle verliest. Die vertrouwelingen kwijtraakte en dus ook leegte om zich heen creëerde. Maar die ook elke zondag koffie dronk met de bejaarde moeder van een vriend, die in zijn appartement boven hem woonde en niet moeilijk deed toen er door het plafond heen stroop uit haar keuken op zijn Italiaanse pakken was gekomen. En haar voorstel weigerde om meer te gaan betalen aan huur. ‘Wat moet ik met dat geld?’

In this wildly funny and heartwarming office comedy, an admin worker accidentally gains access to her colleagues’ private emails and DMs and decides to use this intel to save her job—a laugh-till-you-cry debut novel you’ll be eager to share with your entire list of contacts, perfect for fans of Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text colour to white so no one can see. That is, until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions. When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss’s favour, convince HR she’s Supershops material and beat out the competition. But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworker’s private worlds and secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, who she definitely cannot have feelings for. Soon she will need to decide if she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if it means coming clean to her colleagues. Crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and relatable observations, I Hope This Finds You Well is a fresh and surprisingly tender comedy about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens. This sparkling debut novel will open your heart to the everyday eccentricities of work culture and the undeniable human connection that comes with it.

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.” They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful. A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story. Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a “far more interesting” man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company’s system has him listed as dead. And the company can’t fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living. As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live. Thurber Prize-winner and NYTimes bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.” They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful. A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.

Der Bruch mit bürgerlichen Wertvorstellungen ließ diesen Klassiker bereits zu Goethes Lebzeiten zum Bestseller avancieren: Goethes Werther ist das Schlüsselwerk des Sturm und Drang und gilt als der schönste Liebesroman der deutschen Literatur. Das Drama um Albert, Lotte und den jungen Werther berührt auch heute noch tief in seiner Anmut und Melancholie.