29 Best books to read in your 40s

Your Turn is the career coach that today’s working women need to own their career ambition + motherhood path. There are more than fifteen million employed women with children under the age of eighteen in the United States who find themselves smack in the “Messy Middle,” where job opportunity and family responsibilities collide and decisions shift into high gear. And there are also millions of women on the sidelines, many there due to impossible corporate structures, who are looking to get back in.

Your Turn helps you move the career dial to where you need it now. Jennifer Gefsky, cofounder, and Stacey Delo, CEO, of Apres–the premier site for women returning to the workforce–offer advice and inspiration to help women make the best possible career decisions for themselves and their families: to get ahead of the questions and tackle them when they arise, from managing guilt and stress after maternity leave to setting expectations in a part-time position to talking with partners and managers about how to make full-time work better for you.

And for those who have decided to step away from the corporate world, whether it’s for one year or twenty, Gefsky and Delo show you how to stay current and how to pivot to something more meaningful when your old job doesn’t exist anymore or if you simply want a change. Your Turn provides a clear roadmap for how to navigate key work + life transition points.

Your Turn features stories and research from the members of Apres as well as insights from hundreds of companies that are making the transition work for their employees. With a unique insight into what kinds of work cultures and structures to look for, Gefsky and Delo also offer companies tangible steps to retain and cultivate female talent. Whether you’re struggling with the big question of whether to stay or quit, or looking to reenter the workforce after time away, this is the insider knowledge you need from people who have already taken the journey, as well as a step-by-step analysis to ensure you are making the right career decision for you.

It’s your turn to . . .

In Turbo Racers: Trailblazer, twelve-year-old Mace Blazer gets the chance to pilot a state-of-the-art vehicle that transforms at the touch of a button from race car to jet plane to single-person sub, in the biggest race in the world.

The roar of the crowd, the glow of the spotlight, the thrill of the race–Mace Blazer dreams of going TURBO.

TURBOnauts thrive on the thrum of trimorphers’s rocket engines as the vehicles morph from super-powered race cars to speeding jet aircrafts to torpedo-fast submarines, while they race full-throttle around every bend. And Mace believes he’s got what it takes to join their ranks–he only needs the chance to prove it.

So when a reclusive retired racer chooses Mace to try out to be part of the next generation of TURBOnauts, Mace knows that this is his moment to show what he can do. But the path to his big shot means facing down the best and the brightest from around the world. Mace will have to live more fearlessly, hone quicker reflexes, be revolutionary–but will it be enough?

Mace quickly realizes that everything he’s ever hoped for comes at a price. He’ll have to decide between what is right and what is easy. Every morph counts in the first book in this exhilarating new adventure series by the acclaimed author of The Islands at the End of the World, Austin Aslan.

This is the first title in a high-stakes middle-grade two-book series!

The Fast and the Furious meets Transformers in the second book of this high-stakes series about twelve-year-old Mace Blazer, who pilots state-of-the-art vehicles that transform seamlessly to race on the road, in the air, and even underwater.

Mace Blazer is the world’s hottest TURBOnaut. Compared to the other ‘nauts, he drives faster, dares harder, and pulls the craziest stunts. Since he won the Gauntlet Prix and revealed that he’s only twelve, the world has been screaming Mace’s name.

Now nothing–not even his friends and family–can hold Mace back from becoming the greatest racer of all time.

But when Mace suffers a nearly fatal accident while behind the wheel, he loses the nerve that made him the best. He’s done with driving fast. He’s done with TURBO. Until he finds out that his two best friends have mysteriously disappeared as part of a sinister plot that could destroy not just TURBO, but the world. Mace has no choice but to buckle back in, swallow his fears, and race to save the day.

In the thrilling sequel to TURBO Racers: Trailblazer, Mace will have to decide if he’s willing to risk everything to save the sport, and the people, that he loves. Every morph matters in this heart-pounding, exhilarating adventure series by acclaimed author Austin Aslan.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown delivers a riveting thriller where a conflict of conscience for a former football star and an ambitious state prosecutor swiftly intensifies into a fight for their lives.

Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rebecca Pratt, for some time–not since their volatile marriage imploded–so he’s shocked to receive a life-altering call about her. Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, and he–despite their divorce–has medical power-of-attorney. Zach is asked to make an impossible choice: keep her on life support or take her off of it. Buckling under the weight of the responsibility and the glare of public scrutiny, Zach ultimately walks away, letting Rebecca’s parents have the final say.

Four years later, Rebecca’s attacker, Eban–the scion of a wealthy family in Atlanta–gets an early release from prison. The ludicrous miscarriage of justice reeks of favoritism, and Kate Lennon, a brilliant state prosecutor, is determined to put him back behind bars. Rebecca’s parents have kept her alive all these years, but if her condition were to change–if she were to die–Eban could be retried on a new charge: murder.

It isn’t lost on Zach that in order for Eban to be charged with Rebecca’s murder, Zach must actually be the one to kill her. He rejects Kate’s legal standpoint but can’t resist their ill-timed attraction to each other. Eban, having realized the jeopardy he’s in, plots to make certain that neither Zach nor Kate lives to see the death of Rebecca–and the end of his freedom.

An award-winning, much-loved biologist turns his gaze on himself, using his long-distance running to illuminate the changes to a human body over a lifetime

Part memoir, part scientific investigation, Racing the Clock is the book biologist and natural historian Bernd Heinrich has been waiting his entire life to write. A dedicated and accomplished marathon (and ultra-marathon) runner who won his first marathon at age thirty-nine, Heinrich looks deeply at running, aging, and the body, exploring the unresolved relationship between metabolism, diet, exercise, and age.

Why do some bodies age differently than others? How much control do we have over that process and what effect, if any, does being active have? Bringing to bear research from his entire career and in the spirit of his classic Why We Run, Heinrich probes the questions of how we use energy and continue to adapt to our mutable surroundings and circumstances. Beyond that, he examines how our bodies change while we age but also how we can work with, if not overcome, many of these changes–and what all this tells us about evolution and the mechanisms of life, health, and happiness.

Racing the Clock offers fascinating and surprising conclusions, all while bringing the reader along on Heinrich’s compelling journey to what he says will be his final race–a fifty-kilometer race at age eighty.

Internationally renowned mind-body-spirit innovator and fitness and wellness expert Jennifer Kries offers a groundbreaking synthesis of the greatest wisdom traditions of the East–from QiGong to yoga–to help readers reboot energy reserves and unleash their potential.

Modern life is stressful and depleting. We all want more energy, but choosing among the variety of wellness practices can be overwhelming. Now, with Waking Energy, her life-changing wellness program, you don’t have to. Instead, Waking Energy features seven distinct practices that can either stand alone as their own complete rituals, or as parts of a whole, including: QiGong * Kundalini Yoga * Yin Yoga * Vinyasa Yoga * Five Tibetans * Pilates * Inner Smile * Healing Sounds * Meditation.

Combining the best of Western athleticism, Eastern philosophies, and ancient practices from the greatest wisdom traditions, Waking Energy invites you to develop a level of energy mastery that will empower, enliven, enlighten and engender true transformation in your health, spiritual richness, and longevity and:

• develop the body you’ve always dreamed of;
• liberate the hidden power of your mind;
• find the peace of mind you crave;
• unleash focus and concentration;
• master the tools to live your very best and longest life.

Each chapter focuses on one tradition, succinctly explaining the historical background of the practice; its philosophy; the relevant exercises and movement sequences (illustrated with photographs of Jennifer demonstrating the postures)–and includes a quick reference guide for daily practice. Jennifer also offers step-by-step advice for combining the techniques to truly transform your health, fitness, spiritual insight, and longevity.

With simplicity, clarity, and grace, Waking Energy shows you how to experience a joyful connection to yourself and tap into an astonishing reserve of power to create your healthiest, most vibrant self.

The star of HGTV’s Flip or Flop Christina Anstead partners with celebrity nutritionist Cara Clark to help women remodel their lives–in mind, body and spirit.

Christina Anstead, star of HGTV’s Flip or Flop and Christina on the Coast, is known for her boundless energy, positive attitude, and radiant looks. But what was hidden from fans of her popular television shows was a very real health crisis, including a diagnosis of autoimmune disease, infertility, and the emotional and physical exhaustion of going through a divorce with two young children–all in the public eye. The stress of managing it all wreaked even more havoc on her already strained body. It wasn’t until Christina met nutritionist Cara Clark that she discovered a path that allowed her to regain her health and heal in body and mind.

In The Wellness Remodel, Christina chronicles her health journey and shares what she’s learned about the importance of creating balance and prioritizing physical and mental self-care. Divided into three parts–“Gut Rehab” (food and nutrition); “Building a Strong Foundation” (exercise); and “The Rewire” (mindfulness)–the book will be an accessible guide to full-body wellness, offering simple strategies anyone can put into action for immediate results. Christina and Cara will also share their simple cooking strategies built for the real word of working parents and busy weeknights, including sixty of their favorite recipes, complete with easy-to-follow instructions.

Inspiring, informative, fun, and empowering, The Wellness Remodel will give readers everything they need to nourish the body, keep it strong, and help their spirit flourish.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

A breakout training and fitness audiobook by Hollywood trainer and former Navy SEAL, Duffy Gaver, featuring the tried and true workouts used by movie stars like Chris Pratt and Brad Pitt.

Former Marine sniper and ex-navy Seal, Duffy Gaver is the unsung hero of Hollywood. As a master trainer to the stars, he has transformed the bodies of actors such as Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johanson, Brad Pitt and many others. He is a Hero-Maker. Duffy is the owner of his own gym in Santa Monica. He gets the most out of his clients by making them rethink their lives. For Duffy, the fitness industry sells a myth: it’s all about the latest and greatest fads. Back in 1965, Larry Scott won the first Mr. Olympia. There was no Nike. No thermogenic products. No supplement industry. How did he do it then? With his will, his discipline, his desire. The things that big businesses can’t manufacture. The first four minute mile, the first iron man triathlon, and the first world’s strongest man all took place before 99% of today’s companies even existed. What does this prove? None of this stuff is necessary.

Inside Hero Maker, Duffy Gaver shares the knowledge and motivational sit-downs that get his stars to take hold of their own bodies. None of these stars bought their way to their impressive physiques; they earned it with old fashioned work and dedication. He will tell you what you need to do to look super heroic, and he will show you how you too can do this if you put yourself to the task. Inside, you will also find some of his game-changing workouts to help get you there.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Griffin

Move, Connect, Play is an audiobook detailing the core principles of AcroYoga, a practice that melds the spectacle of circus arts with the healing power of massage and the breathwork of yoga.

This program is read by the author.

Get ready to learn how to fly.

AcroYoga is a movement practice that combines the balance and connection of yoga with the fitness and intensity of acrobatics, as well as the holistic healing power of physical therapy. People come to it for all kinds of reasons–they may have chronic pain and are looking for a long-term solution to manage it, they may want to lose weight, gain muscle or increase their mobility, or maybe they just want to experience it with their friends or partners to deepen their relationships. Some even just want to have some fun together.

In Move, Connect, Play, founder of AcroYoga International Jason Nemer shares the core principles of AcroYoga for athletic performance and for life, as well as 10 key areas of training (strength, flexibility, technique, balance, breath, gravity, relationships, mental, emotional, and sustainability). He also offers specific exercises and routines for how to train safely and effectively in each area.

This is an audiobook that millions of AcroYogis around the world have long been waiting for, and one that is an essential listen for high-performance athletes, weekend health warriors, and spiritual seekers alike.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Essentials

One of the most dramatic periods in world history is the age of Europe’s discovery of the world from Columbus and da Gama in the late fifteenth century to the voyages of James Cook in the eighteenth century. The extent of the changes can be seen by comparing the pre-Columbian maps, which showed no knowledge of either the Americas or the Pacific, with those of 1800, which in terms of projection, scale, and content approximate today’s maps. In this course, the most important discovery voyages, the individual characteristics of their commanders, and the endurance of their crews will be described. Interspersed with accounts of individual voyages will be lectures that explain the more general and technical aspects of the voyages: improvements in ship design and navigation, constraints of wind and current, living conditions on board ship, and problems of health and discipline. Special attention will be paid to the controversies that developed from some of these voyages. By the end of the course, we will come to understand some of the reasons men went to sea, the perils they faced, and the successes achieved and failures experienced.

“Old maps lead you to strange and unexpected places, and none does so more ineluctably than the subject of this book: the giant, beguiling WaldseemUller world map of 1507.” So begins this remarkable story of the map that gave America its name. For millennia Europeans believed that the world consisted of three parts: Europe, Africa, and Asia. They drew the three continents in countless shapes and sizes on their maps, but occasionally they hinted at the existence of a “fourth part of the world,” a mysterious, inaccessible place, separated from the rest by a vast expanse of ocean. It was a land of myth-until 1507, that is, when Martin WaldseemUller and Matthias Ringmann, two obscure scholars working in the mountains of eastern France, made it real. Columbus had died the year before convinced that he had sailed to Asia, but WaldseemUller and Ringmann, after reading about the Atlantic discoveries of Columbus’s contemporary Amerigo Vespucci, came to a startling conclusion: Vespucci had reached the fourth part of the world. To celebrate his achievement, WaldseemUller and Ringmann printed a huge map, for the first time showing the New World surrounded by water and distinct from Asia, and in Vespucci’s honor they gave this New World a name: America. The Fourth Part of the World is the story behind that map, a thrilling saga of geographical and intellectual exploration, full of outsize thinkers and voyages. Taking a kaleidoscopic approach, Toby Lester traces the origins of our modern worldview. His narrative sweeps across continents and centuries, zeroing in on different portions of the map to reveal strands of ancient legend, Biblical prophecy, classical learning, medieval exploration, imperial ambitions, and more. In Lester’s telling the map comes alive: Marco Polo and the early Christian missionaries trek across Central Asia and China; Europe’s early humanists travel to monastic libraries to recover ancient texts; Portuguese merchants round up the first West African slaves; Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci make their epic voyages of discovery; and finally, vitally, Nicholas Copernicus makes an appearance, deducing from the new geography shown on the WaldseemUller map that the earth could not lie at the center of the cosmos. The map literally altered humanity’s worldview. One thousand copies of the map were printed, yet only one remains. Discovered accidentally in 1901 in the library of a German castle it was bought in 2003 for the unprecedented sum of $10 million by the Library of Congress, where it is now on permanent public display. Lavishly illustrated with rare maps and diagrams, The Fourth Part of the World is the story of that map: the dazzling story of the geographical and intellectual journeys that have helped us decipher our world.

2020 Audie Awards(r) WINNER – History/Biography

As the fiftieth anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the award winning historian and perennial New York Times bestselling author takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and America’s race to the moon.

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”–President John F. Kennedy

On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

Drawing on new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who were key to America’s success, Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as never before. American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giant leap possible, the technology that enabled us to propel men beyond earth’s orbit to the moon and return them safely, and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself fully to this audacious dream. Brinkley’s ensemble cast of New Frontier characters include rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn and space booster Lyndon Johnson.

A vivid and enthralling chronicle of one of the most thrilling, hopeful, and turbulent eras in the nation’s history, American Moonshot is an homage to scientific ingenuity, human curiosity, and the boundless American spirit.

Siblings Jenna and Jeremy have known for a long time that their parents don’t get along. They find out just how bad it is when they are pulled out of class and told their father just shot and killed their mother. Jenna was always her father’s favorite, while Jeremy was his mother’s. Now a painful silence has fallen between them. They have trouble agreeing on just about everything at a time when they need each other more than ever. Where are they going to live? Who is going to take care of them? Can they have a relationship with their imprisoned father? Author Julius Lester handles difficult topics with grace and sensitivity. His To Be a Slave was a Newbery Honor Book and a New York Times Book of the Year. Uncompromisingly honest, When Dad Killed Mom is sometimes painful, and perhaps Lester’s most moving novel. The emotional depth is enhanced by a skilled dual narration.

When the boys’ parents are called away by a family emergency, Doug and his older brother Gordon are left on their own in their Rocky Mountain campsite. The brothers are fighting, though, so it isn’t long before Gordon stomps away from the campsite, leaving Doug completely alone. When neither Gordon nor his parents return after three days, 12-year-old Doug fears the worst. He knows Gordon has gone to a high ridge in the Comanche Peak Wilderness-the Fear Place. Will Doug and a newfound friend-a cougar-find his brother, or will Doug’s terror of heights prevent a rescue? Newberry Medal-winning author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is the author of more than eighty children’s books. She drew on her own fear of heights to write The Fear Place, which is destined to become a children’s adventure classic. The combination of her award-winning, realistic writing style and Ed Sala’s well-paced narration is irresistible.

“For Clementine, spring is a really big deal. It’s the time for seeing her apple tree start to grow, for watching her friend Margaret go crazy with spring cleaning, and for going on the school trip to Plimoth Plantation. Clementine is ready for Ye Olden Times, but she isn’t so sure about surviving lunch there-the fourth graders have strict rules about no eating sounds. (What is snicking, anyway? ) If that wasn’t enough, Clementine also faces the challenges of learning Olive-language and surviving The Cloud on Bus 7. Hearing the pilgrim lady talk about why she made the long journey from England makes Clementine think about rules. Who makes them, and what do they mean to the people who have to live with them? Today Clementine has to decide which rules are made to be broken. “

Jonathan Friesen delivers a nuanced, critically acclaimed debut with this affecting tale of fathers and sons. High schooler Sam’s struggle with Tourette’s syndrome is made more difficult by Old Bill, his abusive stepfather who kicks Sam out of the home following graduation. When Sam meets a friend of his dead father, however, he begins a journey toward understanding that might also help him accept who he is. “The story is compelling . and the excitement of [Sam’s] journey [keeps] readers turning the pages to see what’s around the bend.”-School Library Journal

Jonathan Friesen delivers a nuanced, critically acclaimed debut with this affecting tale of fathers and sons. High schooler Sam’s struggle with Tourette’s syndrome is made more difficult by Old Bill, his abusive stepfather who kicks Sam out of the home following graduation. When Sam meets a friend of his dead father, however, he begins a journey toward understanding that might also help him accept who he is. “The story is compelling . and the excitement of [Sam’s] journey [keeps] readers turning the pages to see what’s around the bend.”-School Library Journal

In Anne of Green Gables, delightful, unpredictable Anne Shirley captured the hearts of girls around the world. Now this charming heroine returns in the further adventures of Anne of Avonlea.

Avonlea is the prettiest little town on Prince Edward Island, which is the prettiest island in all of Canada. Years ago, Anne came here as an orphan–a mischievous, talkative redhead with a shabby suitcase and a heart full of dreams.

Now, however, Anne is a young woman with new dreams. She has a job as the town’s schoolteacher, and as the school year passes, wonderful adventures await: reuniting two long-lost lovers, raising two orphans who tumble into her life, and
discovering the first flickering of love for a dear old friend.

Today L.M. Montgomery’s tales of Anne Shirley are beloved classics, with generations of fans everywhere.

Outlaw Princess of Sherwood is award-winning author Nancy Springer’s third delightful tale of Rowan Hood. Her popular adventure novels provide a fresh new vision of the medieval period. When Princess Ettarde refuses to marry the man her father, King Solon, has chosen for her, she flees to Sherwood Forest and joins Rowan Hood’s band of outlaws.

Charming, engaging, and surprisingly forthright, Michael Caine gives us his insider’s view of Hollywood and the story of his brilliant second act

When he was in his late fifties, Michael Caine believed his glamorous, rags-to-riches Hollywood career had come to an end. The scripts being sent his way were worse and worse. When one script really disappointed, he called the producer to complain about the part. The producer said, “No, no, we don’t want you for the lover, we want you for the father.” Salvation came in the unlikely form of his old friend Jack Nicholson, who convinced him to give acting one more shot. What followed was not only an incredible personal transformation but also one of the most radical comebacks in film history. Learning to accept his new role both on camera and in his own life, Caine went on to win his second Oscar, be knighted by the queen, and deliver some of his best performances to date. Now he shares the spectacular story of his life, from his humble upbringing in London’s poverty-stricken Elephant and Castle, his military service, touching marriage and family life, and lively adventures with friends, to legendary meetings with fellow stars, forays as a restaurateur, and hilarious off-screen encounters from his glittering five-decade career. Caine’s The Elephant to Hollywood brings his gift for storytelling and his insider’s view to a tale that is funny, warm, and deeply honest.

Actor Rob Lowe’s memoir presents a wryly funny and surprisingly moving account of an extraordinary life lived almost entirely in the public eye.

A teen idol at fifteen, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at twenty, and one of Hollywood’s top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences as a painfully misunderstood child actor in Ohio uprooted to the wild counterculture of mid-seventies Malibu, where he embarked on his unrelenting pursuit of a career in Hollywood.

The Outsiders placed Lowe at the birth of the modern youth movement in the entertainment industry. During his time on The West Wing, he witnessed the surreal nexus of show business and politics both on the set and in the actual White House. And in between are deft and humorous stories of the wild excesses that marked the eighties, leading to his quest for family and sobriety.

Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe’s Stories I Only Tell My Friends delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last twenty-five years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.

A full-speed-ahead oral history of the nearly two-decade making of the cultural phenomenon Mad Max: Fury Road–with more than 130 new interviews with key members of the cast and crew, including Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, and director George Miller, from the pop culture reporter for The New York Times, Kyle Buchanan.

It won six Oscars and has been hailed as the greatest action film ever, but it is a miracle Mad Max: Fury Road ever made it to the screen… or that anybody survived the production. The story of this modern classic spanned nearly two decades of wild obstacles as visionary director George Miller tried to mount one of the most difficult shoots in Hollywood history.

Production stalled several times, stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron clashed repeatedly in the brutal Namib Desert, and Miller’s crew engineered death-defying action scenes that were among the most dangerous ever committed to film. Even accomplished Hollywood figures are flummoxed by the accomplishment: As the director Steven Soderbergh has said, “I don’t understand how they’re not still shooting that film, and I don’t understand how hundreds of people aren’t dead.”

Kyle Buchanan takes readers through every step of that moviemaking experience in vivid detail, from Fury Road‘s unexpected origins through its outlandish casting process to the big-studio battles that nearly mutilated a masterpiece. But he takes the deepest dive in reporting the astonishing facts behind a shoot so unconventional that the film’s fantasy world began to bleed into the real lives of its cast and crew. As they fought and endured in a wasteland of their own, the only way forward was to have faith in their director’s mad vision. But how could Miller persevere when almost everything seemed to be stacked against him?

With hundreds of exclusive interviews and details about the making of Fury Road, readers will be left with one undeniable conclusion: There has never been a movie so drenched in sweat, so forged by fire, and so epic in scope.

Read by Fred Berman, Aspen Vincent, Dan Bittner, Derek Perkins, Eva Kaminsky, Fiona Hardingham, Gary Furlong, George Newbern, Ione Butler, Jason Culp, Jeff Gurner, Katherine Littrell, Leon Nixon, Lisa Flanagan, Malk Williams, Michael Crouch, Polly Lee, Ralph Lister, Robin Miles, Samuel Roukin, and Will M. Watt

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Although he’s only just graduated from high school, 18-year-old Dean Duffy thinks of himself as a has-been. Mired in an inexplicable and frustrating two-year batting slump, he helplessly watches as a once-promising baseball career fizzles when he strikes out to end his senior season. With his baseball career now seemingly over, Dean settles into a series of odd jobs as he tries to puzzle out his future. However, when a longtime mentor arranges a baseball scholarship to a private college, he is forced to make an adult decision for the first time in his life. A favorite of teachers and librarians across the nation, author Randy Powell has the uncanny ability to capture the attention of teenagers and parents alike. Narrator Jeff Woodman enlivens this absorbing story with the emotions and enthusiasms only Dean Duffy feels.

Newbery Medal winner Lynne Rae Perkins introduces Violet and Jobie, two house mice exiled to the wilderness, in an exceptional read for fans of Skunk and Badger, Nuts to You, and classic animal stories such as Stuart Little. This thrilling–and funny!–animal adventure explores themes of friendship, family, bravery, and the meaning of home.

Brother and sister mice Violet and Jobie live a cozy and comfortable life in a humans’ house, where food is plentiful and the television is good. In fact, Violet, tucked safely behind a book in the bookcase, loves to watch nature programs along with the young boy of the family. The boy’s mother, however, isn’t the biggest fan of mice.

When Violet and Jobie are caught in a trap, the young boy pleads with his mother to release them, and she agrees. Now Violet and Jobie find themselves in tall grasses, under tall trees, surrounded by all kinds of unfamiliar scents and sounds and creatures. In short, they find themselves in the wild. How will they survive?

This short novel is packed with action, humor, heart, friendship, and surprises. Award-winning author Lynne Rae Perkins’s Violet & Jobie in the Wild will resonate with listeners who love books about animals.

Praised by the Horn Book as “both quiet and exhilarating,” this novel by the acclaimed poet and National Book Award Finalist Naomi Shihab Nye follows Aref Al-Amri as he says goodbye to everything and everyone he loves in his hometown of Muscat, Oman, as his family prepares to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan. This book was awarded a 2015 Middle East Book Award, was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association, and includes extra material by the author.

Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Siddi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase, but he refuses. Finally, she calls Siddi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Siddi go on a series of adventures. They visit the camp of a thousand stars deep in the desert, they sleep on Siddi’s roof, they fish in the Gulf of Oman and dream about going to India, and they travel to the nature reserve to watch the sea turtles. At each stop, Siddi finds a small stone that he later slips into Aref’s suitcase–mementos of home.

Naomi Shihab Nye’s warmth, attention to detail, and belief in the power of empathy and connection shines from every page. Features black-and-white spot art and decorations by Betsy Peterschmidt.

Greatly expanding on his blockbuster 1421, distinguished historian Gavin Menzies uncovers the complete untold history of how mankind came to the Americas–offering new revelations and a radical rethinking of the accepted historical record in Who Discovered America?

The iconoclastic historian’s magnum opus, Who Discovered America? calls into question our understanding of how the American continents were settled, shedding new light on the well-known “discoveries” of European explorers, including Christopher Columbus. In Who Discovered America? he combines meticulous research and an adventurer’s spirit to reveal astounding new evidence of an ancient Asian seagoing tradition–most notably the Chinese–that dates as far back as 130,000 years ago.

Menzies offers a revolutionary new alternative to the “Beringia” theory of how humans crossed a land bridge connecting Asia and North America during the last Ice Age, and provides a wealth of staggering claims, that hold fascinating and astonishing implications for the history of mankind.

Gifted Hands reveals the remarkable journey of Dr. Ben Carson from an angry, struggling young boy with everything stacked against him to the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

As a boy, he did poorly in school and struggled with anger. If it were not for the persistence of his mother, a single parent who worked three jobs and pushed her sons to do their best, his story may have ended tragically.

Join Dr. Carson on his journey from a struggling inner-city student to the pinnacle of his career as a world-renowned neurosurgeon. A man of humility, decency, compassion, courage, and sensitivity, he now serves as a role model for everyone who wants to achieve their God-given potential.

As you learn more about Dr. Carson’s amazing story, you’ll be inspired to:

• Take charge of your own destiny
• Hone your God-given gifts
• Face adversity head on

Filled with fascinating stories, Gifted Hands will transport you into the operating room to witness surgeries that made headlines around the world, and into the private mind of a compassionate, God-fearing physician who lives to help others.

“A profound, graceful, and literary work of philosophy and economics, well tempered for our times, and yet timeless. . . . It will change the way you look at the food you put into your body. Which is to say, it can change who you are.” — Boston Globe

Barbara Kingsolver’s New York Times bestselling book describing her family’s adventure as they move to a farm in southern Appalachia and realign their lives with the local food chain

Hang on for the ride: With characteristic poetry and pluck, Kingsolver and her family sweep readers along on their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Their good-humored search yields surprising discoveries about turkey sex life and overly zealous zucchini plants, en route to a food culture that’s better for the neighborhood and also better on the table. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet. It’s a modern classic that will endure for years to come.