2021 LODESTAR AWARD for BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance. But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…

A pining hearth-witch. A grieving siren. A Christmas invitation that changes everything.Trent has a crush on the siren who runs the Aquatic Horticultural Emporium. With his melodic voice, striking blue skin, and those very intriguing tentacles, Malachi features in all of Trent’s late-night fantasies. But what chance does a nervous virgin who constantly blushes have with the older siren? Still, Trent has to try.But Malachi has no inkling that Trent is trying to catch his attention. He can’t imagine that this sweet young man would be interested in him. After all, Malachi is reserved, gloomy, and deep in his grief for his lost mate. Then Trent suggests a purely physical relationship. Malachi surprises himself and says yes.As snow falls and hot chocolate flows, something tender flickers into life between them. Trent brightens Malachi’s dark and lonely world. But can the siren open his heart again? Or will they both spend this Christmas alone?A Siren Song for Christmas is an MM cosy fantasy romance with plenty of spice. It features Christmas vibes, a family of hearth witch bakers, a touch-starved siren, a pining virgin, an age gap, very inappropriate use of tentacles, a pet frog, and an HEA. Whilst this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.

When Lissa Yellow Bird was released from prison in 2009, she found her home, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, transformed by the Bakken oil boom. In her absence, the landscape had been altered beyond recognition, her tribal government swayed by corporate interests, and her community burdened by a surge in violence and addiction. Three years later, when Lissa learned that a young white oil worker, Kristopher "KC" Clarke, had disappeared from his reservation worksite, she became particularly concerned. No one knew where Clarke had gone, and few people were actively looking for him. Yellow Bird traces Lissa's steps as she obsessively hunts for clues to Clarke's disappearance. She navigates two worlds--that of her own tribe, changed by its newfound wealth, and that of the non-Native oilmen, down on their luck, who have come to find work on the heels of the economic recession. Her pursuit of Clarke is also a pursuit of redemption, as Lissa atones for her own crimes and reckons with generations of trauma.

"Water Mirror Echo is a remarkable story of a man, the traditions and communities that created him, and the new worlds he made possible. Like Bruce Lee himself, Jeff Chang is blessed with the vision to see things we do not yet see, thinking and writing with a restless, chasm-crossing, almost prophetic ambition." — Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Stay A Memoir "This book is as celebratory as it is incisive, as it is, at times, heartbreaking. A massive achievement." — Hanif Abdurraqib, National Book Award-winning author of There’s Always This Year and A Little Devil in America A cultural biography, both sweeping and intimate, of the legend Bruce Lee, set against the extraordinary, untold story of the rise of Asian America—from the author of the award-winning classic Can’t Stop Won’t Stop and one of the finest culture observers of our era. More than a half-century after his passing, Bruce Lee is as towering a figure to people around the world as ever. On his path to becoming a global icon, he popularized martial arts in the West, became a bridge to people and cultures from the East, and just as he was set to conquer Hollywood once and for all, he died of cerebral edema at age thirty-two. It’s no wonder that Bruce Lee’s legend has only bloomed in the decades since. Yet, in so many ways, the legend has eclipsed the man. Forgotten is the stark reality of the baby boy born in segregated San Francisco, who spent his youth in war-ravaged, fight-crazy Hong Kong. Forgotten is the curious teenager who found his way back to America, where he embraced West Coast counterculture and meshed it with the Asian worldviews and philosophies that reared him. Forgotten is the man whose very presence broke barriers and helped shape the idea of what being an Asian in America is, at the very dawn of Asian America. Water Mirror Echo—a title inspired by Bruce Lee’s own way of moving, being and responding to the world—is a page-turning and powerful reminder. At the helm is Jeff Chang, the award-winning author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, whose writing on culture, politics, the arts and music have made him one of the most acclaimed and distinctive voices of our time. In his hands, Bruce Lee’s story brims with authenticity. Now, based on in-depth interviews with Lee’s closest intimates, thousands of newly available personal documents, and featuring dozens of gorgeous photographs from the family’s archive, Chang achieves the nearly impossible. He reveals the man behind the enduring iconography and stirringly shows Lee’s growing fame ushering in something that’s turned out to be even more the creation of Asian America.

A dark contemporary fantasy featuring witchcraft, tarot, death, and a bit of romance that's perfect for fans of Immortal Dark and Cinderella Is Dead. On an ordinary Monday morning, eighteen-year-old Mikaela Broussard receives the shock of her life. During a customer’s tarot reading at her family’s occult shop, she turns over the Death card and envisions the beautiful stranger stabbing her in the heart. In order to determine why the girl, Joelle, wants to kill her, she’ll have to keep her close. But the more time Mikaela spends with her soon-to-be murderer, the more irresistible she finds her. As if imminent death isn’t worrisome enough, witches are turning up with their magic stolen. And it’s clear some very dark magic is at work. Mikaela, as the next Witch Queen of her coven, is tasked with figuring out who’s behind the horrific acts—a mystery that will put her and her power to the test. Death Card is a dark, pacy, and romantic fantasy about one witch’s journey to find the strength to fight for herself, her future, and her beloved community.

For fans of Nghi Vo, P. Djèlí Clark, and Alix E. Harrow: a new stand-alone set in the world of the critically acclaimed Murder and Magic series during Prohibition. The Improvisers is the tale of Velma, a barnstorming pilot and former magic bootlegger, who pursues dangerous enchanted items and a mystery that crosses the US and cuts through time—right to the heart of her family’s past and present. Velma Frye is many things. A pilot, a former bootlegger, a well-seasoned traveler, a jazz pianist…and a wielder of celestial magic. She’s also a member of the mystical Rhodes family as well as an investigator for arcane oddities for a magic rights organization, dealing with both simple and complicated cases. And when a pocket watch instigates a magical brawl after one of her flight shows, things become very complicated. In 1930s America, enchanted items are highly valuable, especially in the waning days of the magical Prohibition. As Velma digs deeper, she discovers the watch is part of a collection of dangerous artifacts manipulating people across the country—and in some cases, leading to their deaths. Something about all this is tickling Velma’s memories, and the more she discovers, the more these seemingly isolated incidents feel as if they’re building to something apocalyptic. Connecting the dots isn’t easy, though, and further complicating her work is journalist Dillon Harris. He hounds her steps, and while not actively sabotaging her investigation, he also clearly knows more than he lets on. Whether it’s his presence that she finds so vexing or his easygoing charm, that’s a mystery she isn’t interested in solving. Because someone is out there seeding cursed objects with the intent on wreaking havoc, and Velma will have to use every trick in her tool kit, including some well-placed magical improvisation, to win the day. Focusing on a new generation of the Rhodes family, The Improvisers brims with charming magic, intriguing mystery, and high-flying adventure seeking new heights.

From the internationally bestselling author of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop comes a warm and reflective collection of essays inviting us to reflect on our relationship with reading. Why do we read? What is it that we hope to take away from the intimate, personal experience of reading for pleasure? Rarely do we ask these profound, expansive questions of ourselves and of our relationship to the joy of reading. In each of the essays in Every Day I Read, Hwang Bo-reum contemplates what living a life immersed in reading means. She goes beyond the usual questions of what to read and how often, exploring the relationship between reading and writing, when to turn to a bestseller vs. browse the corners of a bookstore, the value of reading outside of your favorite genre, falling in love with book characters, and more. Every Day I Read provides many quiet moments for introspection and reflection, encouraging book-lovers to explore what reading means to each of us. While this is a book about books, at its heart is an attitude to life, one outside capitalism and climbing the corporate ladder. Lifelong and new readers will take away something from it, including a treasure trove of book recommendations blended seamlessly within.

Amid fossils, yarrow, and cattle, two men are about to discover a love bigger than the Wyoming sky. When Nate Pearson left heartache behind in the big city, he never looked back, he couldn’t bear to. Suffering and loss propelled him westward, but once he laid eyes on the Tetons, he knew he’d found a place where he could hide and heal. For over twenty years, the Blue Ice Ranch has been his refuge and his salvation. Working under the pale blue sky, he’s been able to keep the pain buried. Then one day while digging a cattle watering system, Nate and his hands unearth a mound of dinosaur bones that will change his life forever. Once news of the discovery reaches the local university, paleontology professor Bishop Haney arrives with several undergrads to spend the summer excavating and cataloging the find. At first, Nate is unimpressed with the laid-back, surfer dude with the ocean blue eyes. But as the two opposites get to know each other, Nate discovers Bishop might be the balm his aching soul needs.

Percival dies hating Leo. He is reborn wanting only him.Leo despises Lord Percival Everflame the moment the phoenix walks into his bakery. Well … almost the moment. At first, the hearth witch baker is too busy staring at the stunning phoenix. Then Percival speaks and reveals what an arrogant prick he is.The hatred is completely mutual. As far as Percival is concerned, Leo might be an attractive witch, but his rudeness and disrespect for his betters makes him utterly intolerable. Still, Percival keeps returning to the bakery. For the pies, of course.Then Percival is attacked. He dies, is reborn … and forgets everything.Leo finds him in an alley. Naked and confused, this new Percival has no memory of Leo or their previous animosity. He just knows he trusts Leo and needs to stay close to the witch. Unable to turn Percival away, Leo brings him home and is shocked at how sweet the reborn phoenix is.While sparks fly between them, questions lurk in the shadows. What or who killed Percival? And will it turn Percival and Leo’s budding relationship to ash?A Phoenix Reborn at Christmas is an MM cosy fantasy romance with plenty of spice. It features Christmas vibes, a family of hearth witch bakers, memory loss, riding on a phoenix, a raven familiar, and a guaranteed HEA.Whilst this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.