'I wake up and I have to make the right choice,' he said. Master-stylist Ben Marcus returns with a wonder-cabinet of brain-rearranging stories. From the horrifyingly strange to the deeply touching, each story is a literary masterclass unlikely to leave the reader unchanged. From parent/child relationships thrown agonisingly off kilter, to intensely moving scenarios of dependence and emotional crisis; from left-alone bodies to new scientific frontiers, Ben Marcus is the great chronicler of the contemporary uncanny and the peculiar future. Piece by piece, he takes us apart.

San Francisco, home of cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge—and its quintessential cool gray fog. As a resident of the Silicon Valley, Karl the Fog naturally uses Twitter and Instagram accounts to document his comings and goings and the beauty of the city he loves (except for when it's sunny). Amassing roughly half a million followers across social platforms, Karl the Fog's witty takes on San Francisco paired with beautiful, evocative photography have earned him celebrity status in the Bay Area and beyond. In this, Karl's very first book, he details his family's history and shares more than 50 scenic selfies along with brand-new, entertaining appreciations of the city, lifting his veil of mist-ery and celebrating San Francisco as only he can.

"The searing strokes of this book remind me of the infinitude inside every life." --Leslie Jamison Paris Review Staff Pick, one of Chicago Tribune's 25 Hot Books of Summer, and one of The A.V. Club's 15 Most Anticipated Books of 2019 A stark, elegiac account of unexpected pleasures and the progress of seasons Fifteen years ago, Kathryn Scanlan found a stranger’s five-year diary at an estate auction in a small town in Illinois. The owner of the diary was eighty-six years old when she began recording the details of her life in the small book, a gift from her daughter and son-in-law. The diary was falling apart—water-stained and illegible in places—but magnetic to Scanlan nonetheless. After reading and rereading the diary, studying and dissecting it, for the next fifteen years she played with the sentences that caught her attention, cutting, editing, arranging, and rearranging them into the composition that became Aug 9—Fog (she chose the title from a note that was tucked into the diary). “Sure grand out,” the diarist writes. “That puzzle a humdinger,” she says, followed by, “A letter from Lloyd saying John died the 16th.” An entire state of mourning reveals itself in “2 canned hams.” The result of Scanlan’s collaging is an utterly compelling, deeply moving meditation on life and death. In Aug 9—Fog, Scanlan’s spare, minimalist approach has a maximal emotional effect, remaining with the reader long after the book ends. It is an unclassifiable work from a visionary young writer and artist—a singular portrait of a life revealed by revision and restraint.

Ben Marcus returns with a collection of timely dystopian visions of alienation in a modern world. Here a hapless, corporate drone finds love after being disfigured from testing his employer’s newest nutrition supplement; a father starts to suspect that his son’s precocity has turned sinister; and two architects in a failing marriage must consider the ethics of artificially inciting emotion as they construct a memorial to a terrorist attack. It’s these characters and others that over the course of thirteen short stories showcase Marcus’s compassion, imagination, and mordant humor. Never has existential catastrophe been so much fun.

A small village on the rocky coast of Maine one day finds itself shrouded in thick fog. The shivering villagers do not listen to the advice of a small girl and instead turn to the ageless baker, butcher, and candle maker for thier help in riding them of the fog. Only after the three have had no success in getting rid of the fog do the villagers listen to the little girl. This story underscores the importance of community and the joys of finding answers in the most unlikely places and forms.

A clever and whimsical environmental fable about a bird who is a human-watcher from a dynamic author-illustrator duo. Warble is a small yellow warbler who lives on the beautiful island of Icyland, where he pursues his hobby of human watching. But on a warm day, a deep fog rolls in and obscures his view. The rest of the birds don't seem to notice the fog or the other changes Warble observes on the island. The more the fog is ignored, the more it spreads. When a Red-hooded Spectacled Female (Juvenile) appears, Warble discovers that he's not the only one who notices the fog. Will they be able to find others who can see it too? And is the fog here to stay? Kyo Maclear's witty story, brought to life with the delicate, misty artwork of Kenard Pak, is a poignant yet humorous reminder of the importance of environmental awareness.

A bold new short story collection from one of the most exhilarating and innovative writers of our time. The stories in Leaving the Sea take place in a world which is a distortion of our own, where strange illnesses strike at random and where people disappear without a trace. Ben Marcus has created a labyrinth populated by disturbed, weary men; from the frustrated creative writing teacher to the advocate of self-inhumation; from Paul, whose return home leads him further into his isolation, or Mather, whose child is sick, to an unnamed narrator who spends his lonely evenings calculating the probabilities of his mother's imminent demise. Dark, funny and utterly unique, Leaving the Sea showcases a writer at the height of his powers.

Few know the story of the Japanese invasion of Alaska during World War II--until now. GHOSTS IN THE FOG is the first narrative nonfiction book for young adults to tell the riveting story of how the Japanese invaded and occupied the Aleutian Islands in Alaska during World War II. This fascinating little-known piece of American history is told from the point of view of the American civilians who were captured and taken prisoner, along with the American and Japanese soldiers who fought in one of the bloodiest battles of hand-to-hand combat during the war. Complete with more than 80 photographs throughout and first person accounts of this extraordinary event, GHOSTS IN THE FOG is sure to become a must-read for anyone interested in World War II and a perfect tie-in for the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Is stress preventing you from enjoying your daily life? Do you find that you’re becoming more distracted or forgetful? Are "the blues" sapping your spirits? Or do you simply feel not quite like yourself? If you want to reclaim you focus, memory, and joy, you’re not alone. There are millions of people fighting against the epidemic of brain fog that’s sweeping the nation. The good news: It’s not an irreparable condition; rather it’s a side effect of modern-day living. Many of the foods we eat and the habits we have do not support our brains. We no longer get what we need in order to produce essential brain chemicals that keep us energized, calm, focused, optimistic, and inspired. And even worse, our choices could lead to long-term problems, like dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and anxiety. Sadly, if you look at the way most of us live, it seems almost as though we’ve chosen a lifestyle deliberately intended to undermine our brain chemistry and our health. Fortunately, there is a solution. The Brain Fog Fix is an easy-to-follow three-week program designed to help naturally restore three of your brain’s most crucial hormones: serotonin, dopamine, and cortisol. Rebalancing these chemicals will in turn enable the rest of your brain’s chemistry to reach optimal levels. Each week of the program focuses on a different element of your life: • In week 1, you’ll improve your mood by modifying your diet and using cognitive strategies to overcome pitfall thought patterns. • In week 2, you’ll increase your energy by focusing on sleep, exercise, and memory-boosting games. • In week 3, you’ll enhance your spirit through practices that help you connect to something larger than yourself and enable you to rediscover your joy in life. By the end of this simple program, you’ll be thinking more clearly, remembering more accurately, learning more quickly, and unleashing the floodgates of your creativity. And you’ll simply feel better – for now and in the long term.

Joel Ross debuts a thrilling adventure series in which living in the sky is the new reality and a few determined slum kids just might become heroes. This Texas Bluebonnet selection—a fantasy filled with daring and hope and a wonderfully imaginative world—is perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull. Once the Fog started rising, the earth was covered with a deadly white mist until nothing remained but the mountaintops. Now humanity clings to its highest peaks, called the Rooftop, where the wealthy Five Families rule over the lower slopes and floating junkyards. Thirteen-year-old Chess and his friends Hazel, Bea, and Swedish sail their rickety air raft over the deadly Fog, scavenging the ruins for anything they can sell to survive. But now survival isn't enough. They must risk everything to get to the miraculous city of Port Oro, the only place where their beloved Mrs. E can be cured of fogsickness. Yet the ruthless Lord Kodoc is hot on their trail, for Chess has a precious secret, one that Kodoc is desperate to use against him. Now Chess will face any danger to protect his friends, even if it means confronting what he fears the most.