An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly hilarious debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams? Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian—and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track—Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand). A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The most unsettling part? You’ll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief. Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.

Learn how to enhance your lessons with a collection of fun interactive games for teaching English in any context. The activities outlined inside this book have been adapted from popular board games, TV game shows, and party games for all ages. • Easily integrate core language skills in all of your classes — either online or in the classroom. • The flexible format allows you to customize your lessons to focus on specific skills, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. • Every activity includes real teaching examples that you can modify to match your teaching style and your students’ language abilities. • Using a communicative approach, students participate in the activities during class while practicing English with their classmates. • Adding game-based methods like this in your lessons will naturally increase students’ motivation, participation, and communication using the target language. • These ESL activities will save you hours of preparation so that you can devote more time to helping your students achieve their learning goals. “The creative games and activities outlined in this book are a must for any second language teaching professional!” — Craig Hoffman , Teacher and Writer in Japan “This is a must-have volume that helps teachers make ESL fun. Chock-full of useful games and overflowing with fantastic resources, I’ll be adding this to my library and using it in my classroom regularly.” — Shon Rand , Taught in the UAE, Russia, China, and the USA “As they say in teaching, have a plan, and then have a plan B! Games and activities like those in Paul’s book will help to make sure you’re prepared to keep your class engaged and having fun. Thank you for putting this together and supporting the ESL teaching community!” — Brett Isis , CEO of Teaching Nomad (teachingnomad.com) “As an educator who loves making learning fun for students, and admittedly, myself too, I know fun when I see it, and Paul’s games are just that! With his new book, you’ll have ideas for days to get your students excited to demonstrate what they’ve learned.” — Taiwanda Bason , Taught in the USA, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Peru, and China “Learners learn best when they are having fun. By using these activities to gamify your lessons, students will be more excited to participate in class. These games will help capture your students’ interests and motivate them to be more engaged and inspired to learn!” — Lindsey Clifford , Taught in South Korea “Games like these are a great way to keep students engaged in the lessons. Even the most disinterested students enjoy a little competition and it can be a good way to energize a class on a slow afternoon.” — Gayle Aggiss , Taught in China, Vietnam, and Online “Paul Young has come up with a bumper book of ESL games — a compendium of 50 activities that will become a useful tool in any teacher’s arsenal to keep their students engaged with learning English as a second language.” — Dr. Rob Burton , Teaching in China “What I love about this book is that it contains many of the classic ESL games that are essential for any newbie teacher as well as some original ideas for even the most experienced of teachers which I am excited to try.” — Georgie Snape , CELTA-certified ESL trainer and owner of Teacher’s Friend (teach-vietnam.com) “These fun and creative games encourage learners to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in the classroom or online. They encourage active learning which is crucial for ESL learners and makes learning fun, engaging, and memorable.” — Kirstie Woodward , Taught in Thailand, Vietnam, the UK, and Online

Wayne Wright's foundational text artfully bridges a major gap in the literature by making cutting edge research and policy analysis accessible to teacher educators and leaders. This impressive work offers pragmatic insights for the daily challenges that educators face in meeting the language acquisition and academic needs of English language learners. The book successfully links macro debates to the actual decision making power that educators have within their local domains of authority. This is truly an outstanding and empowering foundational work that will be appreciated by students, practitioners, and scholars. Terrence G. Wiley, Arizona State University From the broad socio-political perspectives to promising classroom practices, this book addresses all the key aspects of education needed to understand, plan, and carry out engaging learning for bilingual students. Reader-friendly, this book is a must for all educators. Maria Estela Brisk, Boston College Wayne Wright's deep respect for educational practitioners and his passion for English language learners' right to a fair and full education are evident in every word he writes. Wright's book and companion website offer a vision and pathway toward fostering dynamic learning communities---across schools, teacher education programs, and communities---to improve education for ELLs. Nancy Hornberger, University of Pennsylvania

My friend is missing. When he disappeared, he’d been working on a magazine about the paranormal—his first real job as an editor. With almost no budget, he’d resorted to digging through back issues and unused research material, looking for inspiration. As he did, a terrifying truth began to emerge about a certain place in the Kinki region. I have collected the relevant articles, interviews, and other materials in this book. And once you have understood everything, I would like to ask for your cooperation. I hope you will get in touch.

Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…. “One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter.” —Thoreau

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common. Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra. Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak. Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them? But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

All strays are welcome here.From Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Heather Fawcett comes a healing and heart-warming fantasy with magic shops, rescue cats and a second chance at love.Agnes Aubert is very fond of making lists. These lists kept her afloat when she lost her husband two years ago. And now, as the founder of a cat rescue charity, her meticulous organization skills feel like the only thing standing between her beloved cats - His Majesty, Banshee and sweet elderly Thoreau, to name a few - and utter disaster.But when Agnes is forced to move the charity, she soon discovers that her new shop is being used as a front; right under her feet is the lair of the decidedly disorganised - not to mention self-absorbed and infuriatingly handsome - Havelock Renard.Havelock is everything Agnes doesn't want in her chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers he's more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue, perhaps even romance. After all, second chances aren't just for rescue cats. . . Praise for the Emily Wilde 'Forget dark give me instead this kind of winter-sunshined, sharp-tongued and footnoted academia, full of field trips and grumpy romance' Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light'Enchanting in every sense of the word. . . This book is real magic' H. G. Parry, author of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep'A book so vividly, endlessly enchanting, so crisply assured, so rich and complete and wise and far-reaching in its worldbuilding that you'll walk away half ensorcelled, sure Fawcett found Emily Wilde's journal in some sea-stained trunk' Melissa Albert'The ideal book to curl up with on a chilly winter's evening. . . this book is an absolute delight.' Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy'A charmingly whimsical delight. . . Five dazzling, gladdening stars' India Holton, author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels'I enjoyed every word of this gorgeously written fairy tale featuring a grumpy heroine and an utterly charming love interest' Isabel Ibañez, author of Woven In Moonlight

One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo. Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall. When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time. Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.