A cinematic, razor-sharp novel following a backlot fixer’s daring investigation into the suspicious death of a closeted Black actor within the glamorous world of Hollywood, from the bestselling author of My Government Means to Kill MeXavier C. Barlow, one of Hollywood’s young Black stars taking the industry by storm in the late 1950s, is Skyline Studios’s ambitious attempt to rival Sidney Poitier's burgeoning success. His arrival into the industry is calculated, his charm is magnetic, and his seductive screen presence appeals to both audiences and celebrities across generations. But years later, after Xavier dies at the height of his fame, Aaron Touissant—Skyline’s designated backlot fixer who helps the studio’s stars stay as deep in the closet as humanly possible—is finally ready to expose the powerful culprits responsible for his untimely death. Written as part-confessional, part-cris de coeur from Aaron's panoramic lens, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood is a searing portrait of the movie industry as a manicured minefield and a compelling journey into the queer history of Los Angeles.

When love transcends the boundaries of time, memory, and even death itself. In the world of Reveria, broken dreams rise as trails of light across the night sky. A blacksmith's boy vanishes into rebellion. Two cosmic beings—one of Memory, one of Void—discover their forbidden love might reshape reality. The Constellation of Forgotten Things weaves together interconnected tales of love that defies impossible distances: between life and death, earth and sky, remembering and forgetting. Each story illuminates a different facet of love's power to endure—and its cost. This collection is both an act of remembrance and a celebration of the stories we tell to keep our beloveds alive, proving that some bonds transcend even the veil between worlds. Perfect for readers who love the lyricism of Madeline Miller and Alix E. Harrow, the emotional storytelling of Studio Ghibli films, and the mythic beauty of Ursula K. Le Guin's work. If you read for gorgeous language and deep feeling rather than fast plots—these stories will captivate you. Love that would change the constellations and the reality of existence.

An introverted history professor and a former romance cover model collaborate on a life-changing endeavor in a witty and swoonworthy novel about new beginnings in unexpected waters. When a sinkhole nearly swallows her whole, burned-out history professor Philippa Flynn takes it as a wake-up call. Leaving her carefully planned but unfulfilling life behind, she moves into an old seaside house she inherited from her grandmother, a bestselling author of swashbuckling romances. Philippa expects the clutter, disrepair, proximity to the family she deliberately moved away from, and reclusive writer she’ll be sharing the house with. She doesn’t expect that writer to also be the cover model who personified Iris Flynn’s bare-chested, cavalier-booted pirate king. While navigating their awkward cohabitation and searching for creative inspiration, the pair discovers the outlines for six more novels they could work on together. But Philippa’s used to facts, Dylan has writer’s block, and neither can craft a love scene while real sparks are flying. To write the story on the page, Philippa will have to embrace the one she’s living, even if it means swapping tenure for treasure maps and plans for pirate kings.

In 1903, a student at a military academy sent some of his verses to a well-known Austrian poet, requesting an assessment of their value. The older artist, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), replied to the novice in this series of letters—an amazing archive of remarkable insights into the ideas behind Rilke's greatest poetry. The ten letters reproduced here were written during an important stage in Rilke's artistic development, and they contain many of the themes that later appeared in his best works. The poet himself afterwards stated that his letters contained part of his creative genius, making this volume essential reading for scholars, poetry lovers, and anyone with an interest in Rilke, German poetry, or the creative impulse.

While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper literary meanings interwoven in these texts. How to Read Literature Like a Professor helps us to discover those hidden truths by looking at literature with the eyes—and the literary codes—of the ultimate professional reader: the college professor. What does it mean when a literary hero travels along a dusty road? When he hands a drink to his companion? When he's drenched in a sudden rain shower? Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, Thomas C. Foster provides us with a broad overview of literature—a world where a road leads to a quest, a shared meal may signify a communion, and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just a shower—and shows us how to make our reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.

In 1903, a student at a military academy sent some of his verses to a well-known Austrian poet, requesting an assessment of their value. The older artist, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), replied to the novice in this series of letters—an amazing archive of remarkable insights into the ideas behind Rilke's greatest poetry. The ten letters reproduced here were written during an important stage in Rilke's artistic development, and they contain many of the themes that later appeared in his best works. The poet himself afterwards stated that his letters contained part of his creative genius, making this volume essential reading for scholars, poetry lovers, and anyone with an interest in Rilke, German poetry, or the creative impulse.

From the bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook comes a heartfelt and rebellious novel in the vein of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.Nanette O'Hare has played the quintessential privileged star athlete and straight-A student for as long as she can remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The Bubblegum Reaper--a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within Nanette awakens. As the new and outspoken Nanette attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, she learns that rebellion can sometimes come at a high price...and with devastating consequences.

What if the artists we call “geniuses” weren't born extraordinary at all-but simply refused to stop creating when life made it nearly impossible? Ryan Pozzi invites readers to step closer, past the legends and into the real lives behind the masterpieces. Pozzi argues that the creators we've mythologized didn't succeed because of destiny or innate brilliance. They were shaped by rejection, fear, persecution, illness, grief, and the relentless pressure to keep going when the world told them to stop. Caravaggio on the run, Mary Shelley writing through devastating loss, Shostakovich composing under surveillance, Yayoi Kusama surviving erasure, Tchaikovsky rebuilding after collapse-their work endures not because they were divine, but because they were human. Drawing from years spent working with writers and performers, Pozzi writes with clarity and compassion about what a creative life truly requires: not perfection, but persistence and passion. Across six recurring creative pressures-refusal, containment, survival, exile, darkness, and reinvention-the narrative traces the emotional cost of making anything that lasts and offers a more grounded understanding of what artists actually fight through: comparison, doubt, burnout, and the long, uncertain road toward meaning. Whether you are a working creative, an arts-adjacent professional, or someone trying to build something in a world that doesn't always make space for you, this book offers an affirming, honest reminder: if you've ever felt too late, too flawed, or too far behind to begin, remember that what makes someone unforgettable isn't just what they created-it's what they survived to create it.

There are an infinite number of possible futures that lie ahead of us—like threads stretching out into the distance. Rob Hopkins, cofounder of the international Transition Network movement, invites us to travel to future worlds we would actually want to live in. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of daily life, climate activist and Transition Network cofounder Rob Hopkins responded the way a lot of people by starting a podcast. But it wasn’t any ordinary podcast. In each episode, Hopkins and his guests would “time travel” together to the year 2030—walking down imagined future streets, talking with imagined future neighbors, visiting imagined future local businesses. While Hopkins’s guests came from all walks of life—economists, politicians, bakers, comedians, novelists and more—they all shared a willingness to suspend their worries about the future long enough to mentally inhabit and then describe a world they were thrilled to be a part of. What Hopkins discovered was no less this simple exercise of visiting a positive future forced him to rethink the work he’d been doing as a climate activist for decades. How to Fall in Love with the Future is the result of that radical disruption—and Hopkins’s deep dive into the people and movements throughout history who have used visions of the future to inspire positive change on a large and dramatic scale. From the life and writings of musician Sun Ra and the history of Black utopian movements to the latest neuroscience on what goes on in our minds—and hearts—when we “time travel,” Hopkins brings essential new thinking to anyone overwhelmed with dread and anxiety for the future. He asks us to what would the world look like if we all got to work imagining—and then building—a world we were deeply in love with? “Rob Hopkins puts imagination back at the heart of future-dreaming, offering us an irresistible invitation to dream bigger and then make those dreams a reality.”—Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics

What if the artists we call “geniuses” weren't born extraordinary at all-but simply refused to stop creating when life made it nearly impossible? Ryan Pozzi invites readers to step closer, past the legends and into the real lives behind the masterpieces. Pozzi argues that the creators we've mythologized didn't succeed because of destiny or innate brilliance. They were shaped by rejection, fear, persecution, illness, grief, and the relentless pressure to keep going when the world told them to stop. Caravaggio on the run, Mary Shelley writing through devastating loss, Shostakovich composing under surveillance, Yayoi Kusama surviving erasure, Tchaikovsky rebuilding after collapse-their work endures not because they were divine, but because they were human. Drawing from years spent working with writers and performers, Pozzi writes with clarity and compassion about what a creative life truly requires: not perfection, but persistence and passion. Across six recurring creative pressures-refusal, containment, survival, exile, darkness, and reinvention-the narrative traces the emotional cost of making anything that lasts and offers a more grounded understanding of what artists actually fight through: comparison, doubt, burnout, and the long, uncertain road toward meaning. Whether you are a working creative, an arts-adjacent professional, or someone trying to build something in a world that doesn't always make space for you, this book offers an affirming, honest reminder: if you've ever felt too late, too flawed, or too far behind to begin, remember that what makes someone unforgettable isn't just what they created-it's what they survived to create it.