The author of the critically admired, award-winning A Replacement Life turns to a different kind of story—an evocative, nuanced portrait of marriage and family, a woman reckoning with what she’s given up to make both work, and the universal question of how we reconcile who we are and whom the world wants us to be. Maya Shulman and Alex Rubin met in 1992, when she was a Ukrainian exchange student with “a devil in [her] head” about becoming a chef instead of a medical worker, and he the coddled son of Russian immigrants wanting to toe the water of a less predictable life. Twenty years later, Maya Rubin is a medical worker in suburban New Jersey, and Alex his father’s second in the family business. The great dislocation of their lives is their eight-year-old son Max—adopted from two teenagers in Montana despite Alex’s view that “adopted children are second-class.” At once a salvation and a mystery to his parents—with whom Max’s biological mother left the child with the cryptic exhortation “don’t let my baby do rodeo”—Max suddenly turns feral, consorting with wild animals, eating grass, and running away to sit face down in a river. Searching for answers, Maya convinces Alex to embark on a cross-country trip to Montana to track down Max’s birth parents—the first drive west of New Jersey of their American lives. But it’s Maya who’s illuminated by the journey, her own erstwhile wildness summoned for a reckoning by the unsparing landscape, with seismic consequences for herself and her family. Don’t Let My Baby Do Rodeo is a novel about the mystery of inheritance and what exactly it means to belong.

Most armadillos are happy scratching sand and eating, but Bo longs for adventure. And adventure Bo gets, the day Harmony Jean breaks in her brand-new chili-pepper-red cowboy boots by the banks of Can Creek. Peering out across the creek bed, Bo is sure he's spotted a rip-roarin', rootin'-tootin', shiny red armadillo! Bo's off and running after his new friend--right down to the Curly H Rodeo. There Bo gets to do all the things he's dreamed of doing: he rides a bronc, eats red-hot chili peppers, and even tries the two-step. Bo is ready to follow his pal off into the sunset, but he is about to discover his new friend is no ordinary armadillo. Jan Brett turns her considerable storytelling talents toward the Texas countryside in this warm and funny story of an armadillo on his own. Luckily, Ma Armadillo and her boys are searching for Bo in the borders to bring him back home.

The acclaimed author of A Replacement Life shifts between heartbreak and humor in this gorgeously told recipe-filled memoir. A story of family, immigration, and love—and an epic meal—Savage Feast explores the challenges of navigating two cultures from an unusual angle. A revealing personal story and family memoir told through meals and recipes, Savage Feast begins with Boris’s childhood in Soviet Belarus, where good food was often worth more than money. He describes the unlikely dish that brought his parents together and how years of Holocaust hunger left his grandmother so obsessed with bread that she always kept five loaves on hand. She was the stove magician and Boris’ grandfather the master black marketer who supplied her, evading at least one firing squad on the way. These spoils kept Boris’ family—Jews who lived under threat of discrimination and violence—provided-for and protected. Despite its abundance, food becomes even more important in America, which Boris’ family reaches after an emigration through Vienna and Rome filled with marvel, despair, and bratwurst. How to remain connected to one’s roots while shedding their trauma? The ambrosial cooking of Oksana, Boris’s grandfather’s Ukrainian home aide, begins to show him the way. His quest takes him to a farm in the Hudson River Valley, the kitchen of a Russian restaurant on the Lower East Side, a Native American reservation in South Dakota, and back to Oksana’s kitchen in Brooklyn. His relationships with women—troubled, he realizes, for reasons that go back many generations—unfold concurrently, finally bringing him, after many misadventures, to an American soulmate. Savage Feast is Boris’ tribute to food, that secret passage to an intimate conversation about identity, belonging, family, displacement, and love.

Winner of the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award Winner of the American Library Association's Sophie Brody Medal Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award A singularly talented writer makes his literary debut with this provocative, soulful, and sometimes hilarious story of a failed journalist asked to do the unthinkable: Forge Holocaust-restitution claims for old Russian Jews in Brooklyn, New York. Yevgeny Gelman, grandfather of Slava Gelman, “didn’t suffer in the exact way” he needs to have suffered to qualify for the restitution the German government has been paying out to Holocaust survivors. But suffer he has—as a Jew in the war; as a second-class citizen in the USSR; as an immigrant to America. So? Isn’t his grandson a “writer”? High-minded Slava wants to put all this immigrant scraping behind him. Only the American Dream is not panning out for him—Century, the legendary magazine where he works as a researcher, wants nothing greater from him. Slava wants to be a correct, blameless American—but he wants to be a lionized writer even more. Slava’s turn as the Forger of South Brooklyn teaches him that not every fact is the truth, and not every lie a falsehood. It takes more than law-abiding to become an American; it takes the same self-reinvention in which his people excel. Intoxicated and unmoored by his inventions, Slava risks exposure. Cornered, he commits an irrevocable act that finally grants him a sense of home in America, but not before collecting a price from his family. A Replacement Life is a dark, moving, and beautifully written novel about family, honor, and justice.

Out of nowhere, Walker Cody swoops in and saves Paula Olsen's toddler son from a dog bite. Before she can properly thank him, the handsome Iraq War veteran fades into the crowd. Walker's in training to retake his World Champion Bulldogger title. The practice rides are bruising, but still don't knock thoughts of a certain beautiful young widow and her little boy out of his head. And Paula's shocked to realize she has a bad case of Pervasive Walkeritis. Survivors' guilt and ghosts from their pasts stand between them. Walker's need to prove himself on the rodeo circuit runs deeper than bragging rights. But can Paula risk her healing heart on a troubled man who deliberately puts himself in danger?

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Brown sends readers on a wild ride in this enemies to lovers romance between a rugged rodeo cowboy and a fierce competitor who thinks it's time for a woman to take the crown. Gemma O'Donnell was incensed when she wasn't the first woman to win the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Championship Association) buckle for bronc riding. This year, she heads out on the PRCA ProRodeo Tour burning to be the second. First stop is Cody, Wyoming where her stiffest competition is Trace Coleman, who already has a jump on her. A tall, dark-haired cowboy with a sexy grin and a swagger, he doesn't really give a damn about the trophy belt buckle—he wants the purse to buy a ranch he has his eye on. He damn sure doesn't have time for a sassy bit of Irish baggage who can evidently ride anything with four legs and make anything with two legs want to take her to bed. Gemma wins a few; Trace wins a few. In the end they both qualify for the final cut in Las Vegas. But when it comes down to the wire, only one can win the bronc-riding competition and take home one helluva prize. But in this competition, it just might be loser takes all...

A young Native American raised in the forest is suddenly thrust into the modern world, in this novel by the author of The Dog Who Came to Stay. Thomas Black Bull’s parents forsook the life of a modern reservation and took to ancient paths in the woods, teaching their young son the stories and customs of his ancestors. But Tom’s life changes forever when he loses his father in a tragic accident and his mother dies shortly afterward. When Tom is discovered alone in the forest with only a bear cub as a companion, life becomes difficult. Soon, well-meaning teachers endeavor to reform him, a rodeo attempts to turn him into an act, and nearly everyone he meets tries to take control of his life. Powerful and timeless, When the Legends Die is a captivating story of one boy learning to live in harmony with both civilization and wilderness.

Our eighth Buzz Books edition evokes all the excitement of Winter Institute with substantial pre-publication excerpts from 40 adult titles. Young adult excerpts from spring/summer titles can be found in a separate volume. Enjoy access to the newest voices the publishing industry is broadcasting for the upcoming season as you discover breakout books from established authors, sparkling debuts from soon-to-become literary stars, and fascinating memoirs and inspirational nonfiction. Familiar names include Louise Erdrich, Chris Cleave, Tracy Chevalier, Joe Hill, and Emma Straub, along with L.S. Hilton’s Maestra, already stirring buzz from Hollywood to London and back again as one of the year’s big new thriller discoveries. Major debuts by Michener Center Fellow Flynn Berry, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Danny Johnson, Paul Krueger, Joe Okonkwo, Phaedra Patrick, and H.P. Wood are among our dozen new authors. Rounding out this generous sampler are books from well-known nonfiction writers, including Nathaniel Philbrick’s Valiant Ambition, and Chuck Klosterman’s But What If We’re Wrong?—as well as books that will have people talking, such as Lindy West’s Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman and Vishen Lakhiani’s The Code of the Extraordinary Mind. From publishing itself, we offer literary manager Kemper Donovan’s LA-based debut novel and new memoirs from Tin House editor Rob Spillman (All Tomorrow’s Parties), literary agent Betsy Lerner (The Bridge Ladies). As always, there’s also a great preview from Publishers Lunch of more than 100 additional, noteworthy spring/summer books to have on your radar. Start reading books right now that are sure to show up on bestseller lists, win awards, and be chosen by booksellers as top picks. Then invite your reading friends and book groups to download their own free copy of the ebook from any major ebookstore or at buzz.publishersmarketplace.com. And for the best in children’s literature, be sure to look for Buzz Books 2016: Young Adult Spring/Summer, also available now.

The seventh edition of Buzz Books is a treasure-trove of substantial excerpts from dozens of the most highly-touted books to be published this fall/winter. Our “digital convention” features such major authors as Geraldine Brooks, Lauren Groff, Alice Hoffman, Janice Lee, Ron Rash, and Adriana Trigiani. We showcase debut novelists you’ve already heard of—Sloane Crosley, Jesse Eisenberg, and Amy Stewart—and anticipated new voices such as Virginia Baily (Early One Morning) and Claire Vaye Watkins (Gold, Fame, Citrus). Our nonfiction selections range from Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir to revelations on aging by Dick Van Dyke; new work from New York Times bestselling authors Jane McGonigal and Eric Weiner; and a memoir by Dan Marshall that will be featured at this year’s Book Expo America convention on the Editors Buzz panel: Home is Burning. Many of our Buzz Books authors also will be in attendance at BEA. We’ve grouped titles into sections for fiction, debut fiction, and nonfiction titles. If these great samples aren’t enough to fill your fall reading lists, we start with an extensive report on the entire fall/winter publishing season, with over 100 notable forthcoming books in all that you will find covered and promoted in the months ahead. Start reading some of the best future books right now, and invite your friends and book groups to download their own free copy of the ebook from any major ebookstore or at buzz.publishersmarketplace.com. And for the best in children’s literature, be sure to look for Buzz Books 2015: Young Adult Fall/Winter (9780990835363), also available now.

“Hilarious. . . . To understand Russia, read A Terrible Country.” —Time "This artful and autumnal novel, published in high summer, is a gift to those who wish to receive it." —Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Hilarious, heartbreaking . . . A Terrible Country may be one of the best books you'll read this year." —Ann Levin, Associated Press A New York Times Editors' Choice Named a Best Book of 2018 by Bookforum, Nylon, Esquire, and Vulture A literary triumph about Russia, family, love, and loyalty—from a founding editor of n+1 and the author of Raising Raffi When Andrei Kaplan’s older brother Dima insists that Andrei return to Moscow to care for their ailing grandmother, Andrei must take stock of his life in New York. His girlfriend has stopped returning his text messages. His dissertation adviser is dubious about his job prospects. It’s the summer of 2008, and his bank account is running dangerously low. Perhaps a few months in Moscow are just what he needs. So Andrei sublets his room in Brooklyn, packs up his hockey stuff, and moves into the apartment that Stalin himself had given his grandmother, a woman who has outlived her husband and most of her friends. She survived the dark days of communism and witnessed Russia’s violent capitalist transformation, during which she lost her beloved dacha. She welcomes Andrei into her home, even if she can’t always remember who he is. Andrei learns to navigate Putin’s Moscow, still the city of his birth, but with more expensive coffee. He looks after his elderly—but surprisingly sharp!—grandmother, finds a place to play hockey, a café to send emails, and eventually some friends, including a beautiful young activist named Yulia. Over the course of the year, his grandmother’s health declines and his feelings of dislocation from both Russia and America deepen. Andrei knows he must reckon with his future and make choices that will determine his life and fate. When he becomes entangled with a group of leftists, Andrei’s politics and his allegiances are tested, and he is forced to come to terms with the Russian society he was born into and the American one he has enjoyed since he was a kid. A wise, sensitive novel about Russia, exile, family, love, history and fate, A Terrible County asks what you owe the place you were born, and what it owes you. Writing with grace and humor, Keith Gessen gives us a brilliant and mature novel that is sure to mark him as one of the most talented novelists of his generation.