Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.

Translated from the Japanese bestseller, this charming and magical novel, inspired by the myth of cats returning favors to those who care for them, reminds us that it’s never too late to follow our stars. In Japan cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It’s also run by talking cats. While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes, coffees, and teas, the cats also consult them on their star charts, offer cryptic wisdom, and let them know where their lives have veered off course—because every person who visits the shop has been feeling more than a little lost. And for a down-on-her-luck screenwriter, a romantically stuck movie director, a hopeful hairstylist, and a technologically challenged website designer, the feline guides will set them back on their fated paths. After all, there is a reason the shop appeared to each of them…

Eleanore of Avignon is the story of a woman who is unwilling to bend to the limitations her society places upon her when she becomes the unlikely apprentice to the pope’s physician at the most challenging and dangerous moment in medieval European history. Provence, 1347. Eleanore (Elea) Blanchet is a midwife and budding herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she knows all too well from her late mother’s fate, she must be careful to stay within her station. So, she quietly accepts her role tending to the pregnant women in her home city of Avignon; spending time with her father and beloved twin sister, Margot; and escaping to the surrounding woods to forage for herbs when she can. At the very least, she is determined to preserve the little freedom she does have by staying unwed—unlike Margot, who is about to marry a man with painful connections to their mother’s death. Then, in a chance encounter, Elea meets Guy de Chauliac, “Guigo,” the enigmatic personal physician to the powerful Pope Clement, who, against all odds, agrees to take her on as his apprentice. Under his tutelage, a whole new world opens to Elea—a world of status, wealth, and fascinating medical cases—but just as she starts to settle into her new position, the much-feared plague hits Europe, making Elea and Guigo's work more urgent than ever. And as if that weren’t enough, the disgraced Queen Joanna of Naples arrives in Avignon to stand trial for her husband’s murder—and she is pregnant and in need of a midwife, a role only Elea can fill. As the Black Death spreads like wildfire, leaving half the city dead in its wake—and as the queen's childbirth approaches—Elea finds herself battling what seems to be an unwinnable war. All the while, the people of Avignon are becoming more and more desperate for a scapegoat, and a group of religious heretics launch a witch hunt, one that could cost her everything.

For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, What You Are Looking for Is In the Library, and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop comes an enchanting novel that will linger in your heart long after the last page is turned. As the last petal falls, the final page is turned… Welcome to The Cherry Blossom Bookshop, a haven for book lovers that only appears during the fleeting cherry blossom season. Nestled amidst the bloom of delicate petals, you’ll find a sanctuary for those burdened by regrets and past sorrows. Here, Sakura, the mysterious young owner, and her wise calico cat, Kobako, patiently await the arrival of souls in need of solace and healing. Told over four seasons, each visitor to the bookshop holds a book that bridges their past and present, guiding them towards understanding and acceptance. Within the antique charm of the shop and the soothing aroma of freshly brewed coffee, Sakura and Kobako help their guests confront their lingering sadness through the power of stories, enabling them to move forward with renewed hope.

An elegant, razor-sharp debut about women's ambitions and appetites—and the truth about having it all. Outside of a childhood nickname she can't shake, Piglet's rather pleased with how her life's turned out. An up-and-coming cookbook editor at a London publishing house, she's got lovely, loyal friends and a handsome fiancé, Kit, whose rarefied family she actually, most of the time, likes, despite their upper-class eccentricities. One of the many, many things Kit loves about Piglet is the delicious, unfathomably elaborate meals she's always cooking. But when Kit confesses a horrible betrayal two weeks before they're set to be married, Piglet finds herself suddenly… hungry. The couple decides to move forward with the wedding as planned, but as it nears, and Piglet balances family expectations, pressure at work, and her quest to make the perfect cake, she finds herself increasingly unsettled, behaving in ways even she can't explain. Torn between a life she's always wanted and the ravenousness that comes with not getting what you know you deserve, Piglet is, by the day of her wedding, undone, but also ready to look beyond the lies we sometimes tell ourselves to get by. A stylish, uncommonly clever novel about the things we want and the things we think we want, Piglet is both an examination of women's sometimes complicated relationship with food and a celebration of the messes life sometimes makes for us.

IN THE LAND OF PORTALCRAFT, EVERY STEP IS DANGEROUS. AND THE MASTER MAP IS POWER. Willow Erifson’s best friend jumped off a cliff one day and dared her to follow. Trying to save him, she did…only to end up a world or two over. A world where the residents joke, “Where did the time go? Down a portal again?” Because this entire land is littered with portals, mostly unmapped and unseen. Trust does not exist here. Not since one race killed off another. Since the master mapmaker vanished with the greatest map ever made. And since the people split between two opposing sources of power: reason and chaos. Willow doesn’t understand. No one back home on her island believed life existed beyond their borders—except her shadowy friend. Who simply showed up one day, his memory lost. From the start, everyone else hated Zephyr’s presence: commanding, brilliant, and proud. But Willow—wild and carefree, hiding her strange powers from a powerless community—adored him. Until the day he led her into this physical and political hellscape. Now if Willow takes one wrong step before she finds Zephyr—to wring his lying soul for answers—she may never see home again. ___________________________________________ Welcome to a land ravaged by portals. Sorcery. Deception. And painful bonds that draw fated pairs together into unmapped peril.

This new edition offers a variety of clearly written and readily accessible articles from the Smithsonian’s highly acclaimed, award-winning publication AnthroNotes . Some of the world's leading anthropologists explore fundamental questions humans ask about themselves as individuals, as societies, and as a species. The articles reveal the richness and breadth of anthropology, covering not only the fundamental subjects but also the changing perspectives of anthropologists over the 150-year history of their field. Illustrated with original cartoons by anthropoligst Robert L. Humphrey, Anthropology Explored opens up to lay readers, teachers, and students a discipline as varied and fascinating as the cultures it observes.