An invitation to readers from every walk of life to rediscover the impractical splendors of a life of learning In an overloaded, superficial, technological world, in which almost everything and everybody is judged by its usefulness, where can we turn for escape, lasting pleasure, contemplation, or connection to others? While many forms of leisure meet these needs, Zena Hitz writes, few experiences are so fulfilling as the inner life, whether that of a bookworm, an amateur astronomer, a birdwatcher, or someone who takes a deep interest in one of countless other subjects. Drawing on inspiring examples, from Socrates and Augustine to Malcolm X and Elena Ferrante, and from films to Hitz's own experiences as someone who walked away from elite university life in search of greater fulfillment, Lost in Thought is a passionate and timely reminder that a rich life is a life rich in thought. Today, when even the humanities are often defended only for their economic or political usefulness, Hitz says our intellectual lives are valuable not despite but because of their practical uselessness. And while anyone can have an intellectual life, she encourages academics in particular to get back in touch with the desire to learn for its own sake, and calls on universities to return to the person-to-person transmission of the habits of mind and heart that bring out the best in us. Reminding us of who we once were and who we might become, Lost in Thought is a moving account of why renewing our inner lives is fundamental to preserving our humanity.

The words "For Lila, forever" adorned the front of the envelope in blue ink, the handwriting all too familiar. But it didn't matter what it said. I didn't have the heart to open it.We couldn't be together. Not after everything ...Leaving Rose Crossing, Maine was one of the most painful moments of my life-or at least it was until the day I came face-to-face with Thayer Ainsworth again. After a decade of searching, he's found me, and he wants to know why I quit my housemaid job and left his family's island estate without so much as a goodbye. But I'm bound by a devastating secret much bigger than the two of us, and telling him the truth has consequences.Looking into the eyes of the only man I've ever loved, I tell him the only thing I'm allowed to: never contact me again. And when he's gone, I sit down and finally open his letter. Only it isn't a letter at all. And it changes everything.

From the author of When Audrey Met Alice comes a sweeping middle grade novel about a city girl forced to spend her summer in North Carolina, where she becomes involved in a centuries-old mystery, turning her once boring vacation into an adventure she never could have imagined. Nell Dare expected to spend her summer vacation hanging out with her friends in New York City. That is, until her botanist mom dragged her all the way to Roanoke Island for a research trip. To make matters worse, her father suddenly and mysteriously leaves town, leaving no explanation or clues as to where he went—or why. While Nell misses the city—and her dad—a ton, it doesn’t take long for her to become enthralled with the mysteries of Roanoke and its lost colony. And when Nell meets Ambrose, a quirky historical reenactor, they start exploring for clues as to what really happened to the lost colonists. As Nell and Ambrose’s discoveries of tantalizing evidence mount, mysterious things begin to happen. And someone—or something—is keeping watch over their quest for answers. It looks like Nell will get the adventurous summer she was hoping for, and she will discover secrets not only about Roanoke, but about herself.

Journey into lands long lost with the Greater Portland Scribists. Delve into an Egyptian pyramid in a peculiar location. See what a Viking boy does when handed the executioner's ax. Find out why sometimes it's too late to learn from your mistakes. Watch a bookbinder as he achieves his dreams. See a civilization vanish through the eyes of a young girl. Scribings Vol 2: Lost Civilizations features eight exciting stories that will take you on a trip through time and space and even through the fabric of reality itself. Scribings Vol 2 features stories from trusted veterans Richard Veysey, Cynthia Ravinski, and Jamie Alan Belanger; as well as stories from new members Christopher L. Weston and Timothy Lynch.

Winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier, Shari Lapena, and Michelle Richmond comes a new thriller from the bestselling author of The Lake of Dead Languages—a twisty, harrowing story set at a prestigious prep school in which one woman’s carefully hidden past might destroy her future. Tess has worked hard to keep her past buried, where it belongs. Now she’s the wife to a respected professor at an elite boarding school, where she also teaches. Her seventeen-year-old son, Rudy, whose dark moods and complicated behavior she’s long worried about, seems to be thriving: he has a lead role in the school play and a smart and ambitious girlfriend. Tess tries not to think about the mistakes she made eighteen years ago, and mostly, she succeeds. And then one more morning she gets a text at 2:50 AM: it’s Rudy, asking for help. When Tess picks him up she finds him drenched and shivering, with a dark stain on his sweatshirt. Four hours later, Tess gets a phone call from the Haywood school headmistress: Lila Zeller, Rudy’s girlfriend, has been found dead on the beach, not far from where Tess found Rudy just hours before. As the investigation into Lila’s death escalates, Tess finds her family attacked on all sides. What first seemed like a tragic accidental death is turning into something far more sinister, and not only is Tess’s son a suspect but her husband is a person of interest too. But Lila’s death isn’t the first blemish on Haywood’s record, and the more Tess learns about Haywood’s fabled history, the more she realizes that not all skeletons will stay safely locked in the closet.

Part of the bestselling saga about childhood friends following different paths by “one of the great novelists of our time” (The New York Times). In the third book in the New York Times–bestselling Neapolitan quartet that inspired the HBO series My Brilliant Friend, Elena and Lila have grown into womanhood. Lila married at sixteen and has a young son; she has left her husband and the comforts her marriage brought and now works as a common laborer. Elena has left the neighborhood, earned her college degree, and published a successful novel, all of which has opened the doors to a world of learned interlocutors and richly furnished salons. Both women are pushing against the walls of a prison that would have seen them living a life of misery, ignorance, and submission. They are afloat on the great sea of opportunities that opened up for women during the 1970s. And yet, they are still very much bound to each other in a book that “shows off Ferrante’s strong storytelling ability and will leave readers eager for the final volume of the series” (Library Journal). “One of modern fiction’s richest portraits of a friendship.” —NPR

From a suburb somewhere in Paris comes this poignant, erotic and witty insight into Chimo's encounter with Lila, a girl given over to romance and beauty where one would least expect to find such things.

Will Lila's dreams reshape her world, or will darkness consume them all? Lila is the spirited daughter of the Raider leader. Raised to follow in her father's footsteps, Lila dreams of transforming their plundering ways into something noble. Her vision? To unite the Raiders as Dragon Mercenaries, riding majestic creatures to defend merchant fleets and navies. When fate brings Lila face to face with the unruly dragon she is destined to bond with, an unlikely duo is formed. Together, they discover that their intertwined futures are just the beginning of a grander tale. A distressing message arrives from the West Witches, urging Lila and her newfound friend, the unseasoned magician Danu, to embark on a perilous mission to the Ise of Sebol. There, they must uncover the looming threat that jeopardizes the Western Isles. As evil sweeps through the land, Lila realizes that aid may come from an unexpected source—the dragon riders of Torvald, sworn enemies of the Raiders. Determined to save her friends, Lila sets forth on a treacherous journey into hostile territory, seeking allies against the darkness threatening to consume them all. Only by embracing her destined leadership can Lila hope to prevail. Immerse yourself in the mesmerizing Sea Dragons Trilogy: Books 1 -3, including Dragon Raider, Dragon Crown,and Dragon Prophecy. Join Lila on an extraordinary fantasy adventure where she dares to dream of a brighter future for her people.

Humans are running out of time. The universe is turning against them, the unknown will soon destroy its slaves. Will the angels find those who are pure before time runs out?

"Here's a new kind of sleuth with an ecological bent and an unlikely sidekick, a sometimes tense, sometimes funny murder mystery with a touch of romance." — P.B. Parris, author of Waltzing in the Attic and His Arms are Full of Broken Things Callahan Banks returns to her beloved Timicau Island near Charleston, South Carolina, to settle her mother's estate. Her grief is compounded by Pepper Dade's plans to develop the island and destroy the only home she's ever known. When the body of a bikini-clad blonde washes up on the beach, Callahan is pulled into a web of intrigue that has her questioning all she thought she knew about her own life. Struggling to resist her attraction to Pepper, Callahan suspects he may be involved in the death of the blonde. She ignores her misgivings until nine-year-old, freckle-faced Harry Applegate, her sidekick, disappears. Now Callahan must muster all her skills as a naturalist and tracker to find the little boy before it's too late.