Explorers search for a lost Mayan city-and love-in this lush romantic adventure. Recently sprung from a Nazi concentration camp, Swiss photojournalist Erika Boeshure lands in southern Mexico to cover a wilderness expedition led by Claus Boehm, a charismatic but washed-up archaeologist hunting for the legendary Mayan capital of Menche. Claus may be an alcoholic has-been, but the smitten Erika senses a thriving rain forest in his soul and finances his shoestring project out of her advance. A grueling, vividly-described trek ensues, as Claus, Erika and their Mexican mule-drivers cope with incessant rains, stinging gnats, dwindling food and a giant boa who beds down with Erika, trailed all the while by Claus's nasty rival Barnes, who thinks the rain forest would make a fine cattle ranch. Things turn weird when Claus and Erika encounter the Lacandon Indians, an aboriginal forest tribe considered bloodthirsty savages by settled Mexicans. The Lacandons do try to sacrifice Erika, but once that misunderstanding is cleared up they prove a peaceable people with an entrancing culture that draws no distinction between dreaming and waking reality. Fueled by sacred balché liquor, their dreams offer insights both ineffable (macaws signify approaching death) and practical (opossums signify approaching diarrhea) and provide Claus with invaluable clues to Menches location. The jungle breeds melodrama as well as mysticism: The Lacandon chief's son is carrying on an incestuous affair with his half-sister, and the erotic attraction between Erika and Claus develops in prose as ripe as a mushy tropical fruit. ("The bulging head of the flesh-flower slid deeper into the cave of her passion.") Like the setting, Cantwell's writing is sometimes overheated and humid, but he packs the story with intriguing ethnographic lore and paints an evocative portrait, by turns oppressive and ravishing, of the rain forest and its denizens. A blend of Carlos Castaneda, Indiana Jones, Under the Volcano and soft-core schmaltz that makes for a diverting read.-Kirkus Discoveries

At the height of World War II, Erika Boeshure, a photojournalist, flees Nazi Germany and goes to Mexico on assignment for a New York magazine. There, in a sleepy Mexican village on the edge of the jungle, she meets Claus Boehm, a Danish-born archaeologist who is struggling to restore a career shattered by alcoholism. Erika is inspired to write about Claus and his quest to find Menche, a legendary city of the ancient Maya. She talks him into letting her join his expedition. In the heart of the rain forest, the explorers run into a rival expedition that plans to exploit the rain forest. Finally, they meet the elusive Lacandon Indians, descendants of the ancient Maya who have retreated into the forest to escape the encroachments of Western civilization. The son of the chief joins their search for the lost city of the Gods in order to redeem his sins. For Erika, the perils of the quest stretch her courage and physical resources. Amidst the mounting dangers, she and Claus fall in love. They vow that should they survive the search for Menche, they will dedicate themselves to saving the endangered rain forest and the Lacandon Indians.

The Labyrinth of Love is a love story set amid the social and political upheavals of contemporary Mexico. The legend of the plumed serpent runs through the book, illuminating the theme of love and sacrifice and guiding the protagonist, Thomas Ryan, an aging American photographer, in his quest for love and artistic success. The hero's struggle takes place in the context of his relationship with Maria Lopez, a beautiful young Mexican woman. A central theme of the novel turns on the intrusiveness of the photographer in pursuit of his art. In two critical scenes, Ryan is forced to realize that he has exploited both his Mexican lover and a community of Mayan Indians for the sake of his career in the United States. The choice he ultimately makes transcends his ambition for fame and brings him to a surprisingly altered relationship with Maria.

One is bound to pay glowing tributes to the efforts of the author of this book Omololu Elegbe not only for the sublimity of style, but also, and more significantly, for a detailed, well-researched and painstaking analyses of events and situations, putting in context every assertion of fact. The tantalizing effect of the simplicity of style is such that a reader may likely get stuck reading from the first page till the end. The transcripts of speeches at the end of the book are an invaluable research material on the subject. Near perfect is the rendition that one easily forgets that the writer is not an American. The accounts of what transpired during the last election in America is presented in such a manner that makes the reader to leave with the impression that he or she is now seised of the intricacies of American politics.

The Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker and writer Alexi Pappas shares what she’s learned about confidence, self-reliance, mental health, embracing pain, and achieving your dreams. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE • “Heartbreaking and hilarious.”—Mindy Kaling • “A beautiful read.”—Ruth Reichl • “Essential guidance to anyone dreaming big dreams.”—Shalane Flanagan • “I couldn’t put it down.”—Adam Grant run like a bravey sleep like a baby dream like a crazy replace can’t with maybe When “Renaissance runner” (New York Times) Alexi Pappas—Olympic athlete, actress, filmmaker, and writer—was four years old, her mother died by suicide, drastically altering the course of Pappas’s life and setting her on a search for female role models. When her father signed his bereaved daughter up for sports teams as a way to keep her busy, female athletes became the first women Pappas looked up to, and her Olympic dream was born. At the same time, Pappas had big creative dreams, too: She wanted to make movies, write, and act. Despite setbacks and hardships, Pappas refused to pick just one lane. She put in a tremendous amount of hard work and wouldn’t let anything stand in her way until she achieved all of her dreams, however unrelated they may seem to outsiders. In a single year, 2016, she made her Olympic debut as a distance runner and wrote, directed, and starred in her first feature film. But great highs are often accompanied by deep lows; with joy comes sorrow. In Bravey, Pappas fearlessly and honestly shares her battle with post-Olympic depression and describes how she emerged on the other side as a thriving and self-actualized woman. Unflinching, exuberant, and always entertaining, Bravey showcases Pappas’s signature, charming voice as she reflects upon the touchstone moments in her life and the lessons that have powered her career as both an athlete and an artist—foremost among them, how to be brave. Pappas’s experiences reveal how we can all overcome hardship, befriend pain, celebrate victory, relish the loyalty found in teammates, and claim joy. In short: how every one of us can become a bravey.

The Perfect World exists in the far distant future and is ruled by an old man called the Grand Exterminator. In this heavily polluted world people wear oxygen masks and silver vinyl jump suits. Theyve never seen flowers or grass. Robots do their work and their thinking. Many laws exist, but the chief prohibition is against passion. Anyone who talks of love or acts on feelings of love or passion is exterminatedreduced in seconds to a few particles of dust. Jack Goddard, a young physicist, a disheveled guy who sports an unruly mop of curls, has committed the ultimate crime in the Perfect World: hes fallen in love. The object of his forbidden passion is a young redhead named Julia. The Grand Exterminator has learned of Jacks crime, and he sets out to destroy this threat to the existence of his Perfect World. Jacks punishment will be severe. But Jack acts decisively. He successfully activates a black hole and teleports to New York City, 2010, where he survives, thrives, and is happy. His quest for a genuinely perfect world is only beginning. The world hes landed in is not perfect eitherand besides, the Grand Exterminator has followed him here. Jack and his beloved Julia, who manages to find Jack, now have an alternative quest: to save their new world and fight the repulsive exterminator.

No one is more surprised than Philip Nason when an uprising occurs within the walls of a New York rehabilitation hospital. Moments after Phil, director of recreation, hears that a group of mostly paraplegic patients have staged a rebellion, he learns that the hospitals director is furious and thinks the patients were inspired by Phils current-events reading program. Now with his job in jeopardy, Phil is torn between his desire to empower his patients and pleasing hospital bureaucrats. After the rebel patients beg Phil to create an activity program to help them win the respect of hospital staff and improve their lives, he eventually complies. When Phil acts on a hunch and pops the end of a paint brush into young quadriplegic Clayton Thomass mouth, Clayton begins creating beautiful paintings inspired by the Bible. Phil, spurred by his artistic goals, begins developing a program to showcase the patients artwork. Now all he has to do is convince the hospitals reluctant administrators that unleashing their patients creativity is a good thing. In this inspiring story, hundreds of chronically ill patients realize the power of art while rising up against the stifling restrictions of institutional bureaucracywith help from their determined recreational director.

After moving from town to town, Philip Nason and his family finally settle in a working-class neighborhood in Detroit. Its the summer of 1937, shortly after Philip turns eleven. A lonely child, he inhabits a world of daydreams, filling notebooks with his cartoon fantasies. He discovers hes unable to compete in the rough-and-tumble games that are a boys rite of passage. Then Philip meets Jeremiah Caseybigger, older, stronger, better at games than everyone else, but somehow isolated by his exceptional abilities. In Philip, Casey finds a fellow dreamer and artist. Together, they try to make an animated movie, send cartoons to syndicates, and finally produce a neighborhood newspaper. As they attempt to join the ranks of Al Capp and other famous cartoonists, their aspirations conflict with the upheavals of sexual awakening, the pressures of working-class life, and the coming of World War II. The dreams of Philip survive, but those of his older friend and hero do not. My Friend Casey evokes a lost time and place and traces, along a darkening landscape, the path of what may have been the last surge of American optimism.

Max the mouse didnt mean to run away from home. He had a good gig with his owner, Melissa. He was well fed, and he liked riding on the little girls shoulder when she walked around the house. But Max was really curious to see what was on the other side of the fence in the backyard. Once over the fence, Max joins a group of endangered mice to found a new colony in a deserted field where mice are safe from the evil urban alley cats. But life, especially for mice, being what it is, the little group finds no peace in their private Eden. So Max cleverly rigs up a balloon for an escape to Mars. He deals with a pompous senator who helps create the hot air for their sails, a scholar mouse, a church mouse, and a love interest. Max and his little band of explorers discover that Mars is even more dangerous than Earth. For mice, that is. A science fiction book for young readers, Max the Mouse and the Secret of Mars delivers important messages about kindness, bravery, and the need to save the Earth through Maxs adventures.

The minister’s lovely young wife receives no love from him, but is subject to a life of servitude to his wishes. She enters upon a love affair with a fellow hospital therapist. Their love is very intense and leads to extraordinary consequences.