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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES&’S NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF…
2024A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2024PEOPLE MAGAZINE&’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEARONE OF NPR&’S &“BOOKS WE LOVE&” 2024ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE&’S &“100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024&”&“Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt&’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.&” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR&“This expertly paced thriller …has the kineticism of a well-crafted miniseries.&” —The New YorkerWhen a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collideEarly morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn&’t just any thirteen-year-old: she&’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region&’s residents. And this isn&’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara&’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore&’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore&’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A &“visionary&” (The Guardian) exploration of freedom—what it is, how it&’s been misunderstood, and why…
it&’s our only chance for survival—by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of On Tyranny&“[Snyder&’s] deep political and philosophical examination of how to . . . create and sustain freedom provides a hopeful view for the future.&”—Los Angeles TimesTimothy Snyder has been called &“the leading interpreter of our dark times.&” As a historian, he has given us startling reinterpretations of political collapse and mass killing. As a public intellectual, he has turned that knowledge toward counsel and prediction, working against authoritarianism here and abroad. His book On Tyranny has inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom. Now, in this tour de force of political philosophy, he helps us see exactly what we&’re fighting for.Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means—and this is leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state power: We think we're free if we can do and say as we please, and protect ourselves from government overreach. But true freedom isn&’t so much freedom from as freedom to—the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.On Freedom takes us on a thrilling intellectual journey. Drawing on the work of philosophers and political dissidents, conversations with contemporary thinkers, and his own experiences coming of age in a time of American exceptionalism, Snyder identifies the practices and attitudes—the habits of mind—that will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish. We come to appreciate the importance of traditions (championed by the right) but also the role of institutions (the purview of the left). Intimate yet ambitious, this book helps forge a new consensus rooted in a politics of abundance, generosity, and grace.
The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2024 • TIME’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 • New York Magazine’s 10…
Best Books of the Year • Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction of 2024 • Smithsonian’s 10 Best Science Books of the Year • A Best Book of the Year: Boston Globe, Scientific American, New York Public Library, Christian Science Monitor, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly • An Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of the YearLonglisted for the National Book Critics Circle Nonfiction Prize • Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History “A masterpiece of science writing.” –Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass “Mesmerizing, world-expanding, and achingly beautiful.” –Ed Yong, author of An Immense World “Rich, vital, and full of surprises. Read it!” –Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth Extinction Award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the plant kingdom, “destabilizing not just how we see the green things of the world but also our place in the hierarchy of beings, and maybe the notion of that hierarchy itself.” (The New Yorker) It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents. The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close. What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is. We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE NEW…
YORKER, THE ATLANTIC, NPR • The powerful and moving memoir of a fearless political opposition leader who paid the ultimate price for his beliefs. "Patriot is by turns funny, fiery, reflective and tragic, laced with Navalny&’s trademark wry humor and idealism....a gutting personal account from a husband and father facing the reality that he will never be with his family again."—The New York Times"Honest"—The Washington Post • "Shocking"—The Atlantic • "Uplifting." —Vanity Fair"A testament to resilience" —Associated Press • "Will be seen as a historic text."—The EconomistAlexei Navalny began writing Patriot shortly after his near-fatal poisoning in 2020. It is the full story of his life: his youth, his call to activism, his marriage and family, his commitment to challenging a world super-power determined to silence him, and his total conviction that change cannot be resisted—and will come. In vivid, page-turning detail, including never-before-seen correspondence from prison, Navalny recounts, among other things, his political career, the many attempts on his life, and the lives of the people closest to him, and the relentless campaign he and his team waged against an increasingly dictatorial regime. Written with the passion, wit, candor, and bravery for which he was justly acclaimed, Patriot is Navalny&’s final letter to the world: a moving account of his last years spent in the most brutal prison on earth; a reminder of why the principles of individual freedom matter so deeply; and a rousing call to continue the work for which he sacrificed his life.&“This book is a testament not only to Alexei&’s life, but to his unwavering commitment to the fight against dictatorship—a fight he gave everything for, including his life. Through its pages, readers will come to know the man I loved deeply—a man of profound integrity and unyielding courage. Sharing his story will not only honor his memory but also inspire others to stand up for what is right and to never lose sight of the values that truly matter." —Yulia Navalnaya