A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful, witty, and wildly imaginative ode to magical girl manga. Twenty-nine, depressed, and drowning in credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic, a millennial woman decides to end her troubles by jumping off Seoul’s Mapo Bridge. But her suicide attempt is interrupted by a girl dressed all in white—her guardian angel. Ah Roa is a clairvoyant magical girl on a mission to find the greatest magical girl of all time. And our protagonist just may be that special someone. But the young woman’s initial excitement turns to frustration when she learns being a magical girl in real life is much different than how it’s portrayed in stories. It isn’t just destiny—it’s work. Magical girls go to job fairs, join trade unions, attend classes. And for this magical girl there are no special powers and no great perks, and despite being magical, she still battles with low self-esteem. Her magic wand . . . is a credit card—which she must use to defeat a terrifying threat that isn’t a monster or an intergalactic war. It’s global climate change. Because magical girls need to think about sustainability, too. Park Seolyeon reimagines classic fantasy tropes in a novel that explores real-world challenges that are both deeply personal and universal: the search for meaning and the desire to do good in a world that feels like it’s ending. A fun, fast-paced, and enchanting narrative that sparkles thanks to award-nominated translator Anton Hur, A Magical Girl Retires reminds us that we are all magical girls—that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight can be anyone's game. Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur.

A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful, witty, and wildly imaginative ode to magical girl manga. Twenty-nine, depressed, and drowning in credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic, a millennial woman decides to end her troubles by jumping off Seoul’s Mapo Bridge. But her suicide attempt is interrupted by a girl dressed all in white—her guardian angel. Ah Roa is a clairvoyant magical girl on a mission to find the greatest magical girl of all time. And our protagonist just may be that special someone. But the young woman’s initial excitement turns to frustration when she learns being a magical girl in real life is much different than how it’s portrayed in stories. It isn’t just destiny—it’s work. Magical girls go to job fairs, join trade unions, attend classes. And for this magical girl there are no special powers and no great perks, and despite being magical, she still battles with low self-esteem. Her magic wand . . . is a credit card—which she must use to defeat a terrifying threat that isn’t a monster or an intergalactic war. It’s global climate change. Because magical girls need to think about sustainability, too. Park Seolyeon reimagines classic fantasy tropes in a novel that explores real-world challenges that are both deeply personal and universal: the search for meaning and the desire to do good in a world that feels like it’s ending. A fun, fast-paced, and enchanting narrative that sparkles thanks to award-nominated translator Anton Hur, A Magical Girl Retires reminds us that we are all magical girls—that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight can be anyone's game. Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur.

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story, and translated by Polly Barton. There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine. Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back. Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought? Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan

Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café. It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about. As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

To prove herself as a great chef, a young woman sets up a restaurant as the sole human in a city full of monsters.Brianna Jakobsson has big cooking dreams, and when her ailing restaurateur father poses a challenge to his only daughter and fifteen sons, she seizes the opportunity. She’s going to have the best restaurant around and earn the family empire. Thing is, the only place she can afford to set up shop is in Monster City. Her menu is full of weird delicacies, her kitchen is run by a half-bird harpy, and her dining room is filled with skeleton businessmen. Add on the nefarious Madame Cron, some highly competitive siblings and Brianna’s plate is literally . . . full.Brave Chef Brianna from writer Sam Sykes (Munchkin) and artist Selina Espiritu explores one woman’s incredible journey to realize her dreams in the unlikeliest of places. Welcome to Monster City!  

Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening. Then, disaster! Visa issues. The brothers close up shop, and fast. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their bread. She must keep it alive, they tell her—feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it. Lois is no baker, but she could use a roommate, even if it is a needy colony of microorganisms. Soon, not only is she eating her own homemade bread, she’s providing loaves daily to the General Dexterity cafeteria. The company chef urges her to take her product to the farmer’s market, and a whole new world opens up. When Lois comes before the jury that decides who sells what at Bay Area markets, she encounters a close-knit club with no appetite for new members. But then, an alternative emerges: a secret market that aims to fuse food and technology. But who are these people, exactly?

Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The number one bestseller in Mexico and America for almost two years, and subsequently a bestseller around the world, Like Water For Chocolate is a romantic, poignant tale, touched with moments of magic, graphic earthiness, bittersweet wit - and recipes. A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation, Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her, so that Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.

Magical baker Lillie Dean just can't catch a break. She was halfway to repaying the intimidating Mr. Globe when her oven breaks, forcing her to work alongside Mr. Globe's handsome son, Julian. The very son he warned her to stay away from, or he'll call due her debt. But when Mr. Globe's properties are destroyed by strange, giant mushrooms that spring up from nowhere, Lillie hopes solving the mystery might get her on his good side again. Yet the town of Silverkeep still has its secrets, and finding the scoundrel responsible for these freaky fungi proves more difficult than keeping her eyes off Julian. A Smidgen of Chaos is the fourth book in the Pobyd Perfections Bakery series, a cozy fantasy mystery by award-winning author S. Usher Evans.

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house. There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

Magical baker Lillie Dean just can't catch a break. She was halfway to repaying the intimidating Mr. Globe when her oven breaks, forcing her to work alongside Mr. Globe's handsome son, Julian. The very son he warned her to stay away from, or he'll call due her debt. But when Mr. Globe's properties are destroyed by strange, giant mushrooms that spring up from nowhere, Lillie hopes solving the mystery might get her on his good side again. Yet the town of Silverkeep still has its secrets, and finding the scoundrel responsible for these freaky fungi proves more difficult than keeping her eyes off Julian. A Smidgen of Chaos is the fourth book in the Pobyd Perfections Bakery series, a cozy fantasy mystery by award-winning author S. Usher Evans.

Written using tarot cards , this book is a case study in desire and a yearning for living in the present. A young woman explores love and obsession’s ties to devotion . Looking for the holy in acts of existence such as friendship, decorative tiles, and nectarines, she treads the line between deciphering the universe’s signs and longing for forbidden fruits. One summer, she runs into him. After a whirlwind of emotions and bump-ins, she finally confronts the him that lives within her. The day of the holy is made so when she can worship herself. Both electric and mundane, Kim Rashidi's fictional debut explores the concept of imagined possibilities through a magical antique shop. Writing lyrically and with inspiration from tarot cards, Rashidi weaves the grander narrative of each Major Arcana card into the story. What would it look like to be in the middle of The Lovers, The Tower, The Moon? Only Alive on Sundays explores how it feels to live in a constant haze of romance—through love and heartbreak.

The Wisdom of Pooh. Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl. Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.

  Romance de estreia de Oscar Nakasato e vencedor do prêmio Jabuti, Nihonjin — que significa "japonês" — é uma saga familiar contada a partir da vida de Hideo Inabata, um imigrante orgulhoso da própria nacionalidade que, como tantos conterrâneos, aporta no Brasil no início do século 20 para trabalhar nas lavouras de café do interior de São Paulo. Imbuído da sagrada missão de levar recursos ao seu país natal, conforme orientação do imperador aos seus súditos, Hideo logo se defronta com mais dificuldades do que imaginava, e as expectativas dos primeiros dias no navio logo se transformam diante do trabalho árduo e dos choques culturais na nova terra. Ele, no entanto, não cede às resiste à morte da primeira esposa, Kimie, e rejeita as influências da cultura local apresentadas pelos filhos nikkei Haruo e Sumie com a inflexibilidade do que considera ser a honra de um autêntico nihonjin. Narrada pelo neto de Hideo, Noboru, essa saga lança luz sobre o amor, a união, as distâncias e as diferenças de três gerações de uma comunidade que há mais de cem anos vem se emaranhando a outras para tecer juntas os fios da história brasileira. Da vida dura na lavoura ao comércio no bairro da Liberdade, em São Paulo, da hospitalidade de um país que se abriu para imigrantes às perseguições sofridas por este mesmo país durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, Nihonjin retrata os dilemas no seio da comunidade nipônica, e vai além ao destrinchar o que há de mais universal na dor humana de ver os próprios sonhos se esvaírem.   Quando foi publicado pela primeira vez, em 2011, o romance logo conquistou a crítica, angariando os prêmios Benvirá (2011), Nikkei — Bunkyo de São Paulo (2011) e Jabuti (2012) na categoria romance. Depois de ser adaptado para a animação Meu avô é um Nihonjin (2024), o livro volta em nova edição para reencantar leitores com a jornada da família Inabata, e, como afirma Leonardo Sakamoto no texto de "Nihonjin é um espelho, talvez desconfortável. Porque, no final, todos estamos tentando responder à mesma quem somos nós nesta imensa lavoura chamada Brasil?".

Laura is a nurse in a paediatric unit. On long, quiet shifts, she and her colleagues, clad in their different shades of blue, care for sick babies, handling their exquisitely frangible bodies, carefully calibrating the mysterious machines that keep them alive. Laura may be burned out. Her hands have been raw from washing as long as she can remember. When she sleeps, she dreams of water; when she wakes, she finds herself lying next to a man who doesn't love her any more. And there is a strange figure dancing in the corner of her vision, always just beyond her reach. Dark yet luminous, sensual yet chilling, ringing with strange music and laced with dread, Rest and Be Thankful is an unforgettable novel that confirms Emma Glass as a visionary new voice.

SMALL ANGELS updates the classic ghost story for the 21st century: a wedding in a Suffolk village sees the woods begin to stir with an unsеttling magic, and forces a troubled family´s secrets out into the open. ´A twisting gothic tale of darkness, intrigue, heartbreak and revenge... gorgeously atmospheric and gripping!´ Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE When Chloe turns the key to Small Angels, the church nestled at the edge of Mockbeggar Woods where she is to be married, she is braced for cobwebs and dust. What she doesn´t expect are the villagers´ concerned faces, her fiance´s remoteness, or the nagging voice in her head that whispers to her of fears she didn´t even know she had. Something in the woods is beginning to stir, to creep closer to the sleeping houses. Something that should have been banished long ago. Whatever it is, it´s getting stronger, and pretending it´s not there won´t keep the wedding, or the village - or Chloe - safe.

A Kind of Spark tells the story of 11-year old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown. Addie knows there’s more to the story of these ‘witches’, just like there is more to hers. Can Addie challenge how the people in her town see her, and her autism, and make herself heard?

In a debut historical novel about the Great Migration a boy discovers Chicago's postwar South Side and the poetry of Langston Hughes. When 11-year-old Langston's mother dies in 1946, he and his father leave rural Alabama for Chicago's brown belt as a part of what came to be known as the Great Migration. It's lonely in the small apartment with just the two of them, and at school Langston is bullied. But his new home has one fantastic thing. Unlike the whites-only library in Alabama, the local public library welcomes everyone. There, hiding out after school, Langston discovers another Langston, a poet whom he learns inspired his mother enough to name her only son after him.

Two young sisters are taken from their home and family. Powerless to change their fortunes, they are separated, and each put into different foster homes. Yet over the years, the bond between them grows. As they each make their way in a society that is, at times, indifferent, hostile, and violent, one embraces her Métis identity, while the other tries to leave it behind. In the end, out of tragedy, comes an unexpected legacy of triumph and reclamation.