When licensed cosmetologist turned publisher's rep Kathy Patrick lost her job due to industry cutbacks, she wasn't deterred. One year later, she opened Beauty and the Book, the world's only combination beauty salon/bookstore. Soon after, she founded The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas -- a reading group that dared to ask the question, "Does a book club have to be snobby to be serious?" The idea spread like wildfire. Now there are about 70 chapters nationwide. The overriding rule -- aside from wearing the club's official tiara, hot pink, and leopard print outfits -- is that the groups must have fun. The club's mission: To get America reading. THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARA-WEARING, BOOK- SHARING GUIDE TO LIFE celebrates female friendship, sisterhood, and the transformative power of reading. It includes life principles and motivational anecdotes, hilarious and heart-warming stories of friendships among the Queens, and stories from Kathy about the books that have inspired her throughout her life, complete with personalized suggested book lists.

When Kathy L. Patrick lost her job as a publisher's rep, she took that lemon and made margaritas. She opened Beauty and the Book, the world's only combination beauty salon/bookstore. Soon after that whirlwind success, Kathy founded the Pulpwood Queens of East Texas, a book club that became a nationwide phenomenon almost overnight. She set out to change the world, one reader at a time.

“River Jordan’s Saints in Limbo is a compelling story of the mysteries of existence and, specially, the mysteries of the human heart.” –Ron Rash, author of Serena and Chemistry and Other Stories “I lose myself in River’s writing–transported to a different time and place– and in this case, to one that makes the ordinary mystical and magical. I give it FIVE diamonds in the Pulpwood Queen’s TIARA!” –Kathy L. Patrick, founder of the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs and author of The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life Ever since her husband Joe died, Velma True’s world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her home outside Echo, Florida. When a mysterious stranger appears at her door on her birthday and presents Velma with a special gift, she is rattled by the object’s ability to take her into her memories–a place where Joe still lives, her son Rudy is still young, unaffected by the world’s hardness, and the beginning is closer than the end. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma wonders if it’s possible to be unmoored from the past’s deep roots and find a reason to hope again. Praise for River Jordan “[River Jordan’s] literary spice rack has everything you need to put together a good book.” –Rick Bragg, author of All Over but the Shoutin’ and Ava’s Man “River Jordan writes so beautifully.” –Joshilyn Jackson, author of Gods in Alabama and The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Vince Spinnato invites readers to join him on the roller-coaster retelling of his batsh*t-crazy life, from the lowest lows to the highest highs, culminating in his rise to fame crafting beauty products for scores of Hollywood's glitziest celebrities, and hundreds of cosmetic treatment and healthcare companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and well-known brands. His revealing memoir shares not only the entertaining stories of life in glamorous Hollywood, loves lost, and the scramble to "make it," but also the touching journey to self-acceptance. Hilarious, outrageous, and totally engaging, My Pursuit of Beauty will have you howling with laughter and contemplating your own life goals.

Attempting to escape his abusive father and generations of cyclical poverty, young Jonah Hargrove joins the mysterious River—a teenage girl carrying thousands of dollars in stolen meth—and embarks on a southern gothic odyssey through the East Texas river bottoms. They are pursued by local drug kingpin John Curtis and his murderous enforcer, Dakota Cade, with whom River was romantically involved. But Cade and Curtis have their own enemies, as their relationship with the cartel controlling their meth supply begins to sour. Keeping tabs on everyone is the Thin Man, a silent assassin who values consequence over mercy. Each person is keeping secrets from the others—deadly secrets that will be exposed in savage fashion as their final paths collide and all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God. With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into a sinister and sanguinary world, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.

A fun & uplifting women’s guide to embracing happiness at middle age and beyond. Queen of Your Own Life is a philosophy, a decision, and an invitation to happiness for women who have made the tough but rewarding journey to the midpoint in their lives. Kathy Kinney (best known as Mimi on The Drew Carey Show) and Cindy Ratzlaff (marketing genius behind the launch of The South Beach Diet) have been best friends for more than thirty years, and have helped each other navigate the ups and downs of their lives with humor and grace. In this entertaining and inspiring book, they share the tried-and-true techniques they call “the seven best gifts a woman can give herself.” They reveal how they learned to value themselves just the way they are—women in full bloom, sensual, vibrant, wise and more beautiful than ever—and they’ll show you how you can, too. With these seven gifts you’ll discover how to: • Claim your beauty and feel your power • Clean your mental closet and find your queen voice • Admire yourself for who you’ve become • Build deep, fulfilling friendships with other women • Establish firm boundaries that will strengthen all your relationships • Learn the simple trick to finally being happy • Place the crown firmly on your head With humor, comfort and inspiration, Queen of Your Own Life offers easy step-by-step actions to blast away at the societal tall tale that young is beautiful and old is just old. If you’ve been feeling that the best part of your life may be behind you, then this book will prove to you just how untrue that is, and that the door to being happy is not only never closed, but just waiting for you to fling it open. Remember, you don’t have to be twenty to have your whole life ahead of you. Now is the time to become Queen of Your Own Life!

2021 WINNER, AMERICAN FICTION AWARD A 2021 Georgia Author of the Year Award Finalist Award-Winning Finalist, Women's Fiction, 2021 International Book Awards Award-Winning Finalist, Multicultural Fiction, 2021 International Book Awards Featured in Travel + Leisure’s "20 Most-anticipated Books for Fall” “20 Classic and New Books About Feminism That Will Get You Thinking and Talking” ―Parade “A moving and polished novel that highlights Rao’s literary promise.” ―Kirkus Reviews “Rao’s resonant novel is an ode to the value of personal dignity and the importance of being true to oneself that carries on long after the final chapter.” ―Newsweek magazine “Purple Lotus is the Atlanta novel you need to be reading this year… Tara is probably one of the strongest characters you’ll find in Southern fiction.” —ArtsATL “I’d recommend it to people who are fans of the expansive storytelling of Tayari Jones... and then to anyone who wants to add to their bookshelf of growing Atlanta literature.” —PANK Magazine” ” “The dazzling tale of an Indian-American woman finding her way through the labyrinth of tradition to self-awareness in the modern world. The writer employs an energetic prose style interspersed with melodic passages to make the writing itself a hybrid. Set in particular times and places, Purple Lotus nonetheless appeals to readers everywhere, especially women, to claim the full measure of their human rights. A vivid and resplendent novel for our time.” ―Elaine Neil Orr, critically acclaimed author of Swimming Between Worlds Tara moves to the American South three years after her arranged marriage to tech executive Sanjay. Ignored and lonely, Tara finds herself regressing back to childhood memories that have scarred her for life. When she was eight, her parents had left her behind with her aging grandparents and a schizophrenic uncle in Mangalore, while taking her baby brother with them to make a new life for the family in Dubai. Tara’s memories of abandonment and isolation mirror her present life of loneliness and escalating abuse at the hands of her husband. She accepts the help of kind-hearted American strangers to fight Sanjay, only to be pressured by her patriarchal family to make peace with her circumstances. Then, in a moment of truth, she discovers the importance of self-worth—a revelation that gives her the courage to break free, gently rebuild her life, and even risk being shunned by her community when she marries her childhood love, Cyrus Saldanha. Life with Cyrus is beautiful, until old fears come knocking. Ultimately, Tara must face these fears to save her relationship with Cyrus—and to confront the victim-shaming society she was raised within. Intimate and deeply moving, Purple Lotus is the story of one woman’s ascension from the dark depths of desolation toward the light of freedom.

Market Street Madam tells the story of Annie Ryan, a woman who is running a second-rate brothel in 1890s Denver with an eye toward expansion. By chance she encounters Lydia Chambers, a society woman suffering from a laudanum habit and a bad marriage, who owns a prized property on the infamous Market Street. Annie's fortunes at the brothel turn on her niece Pearl, a pretty young girl swept up in Denver's underworld of jealousy, booze, and vice--until murder stalks the good-time girls and puts everyone's future in doubt. A rollicking tale of blurred lines, flowing booze, played-out miners and upstairs girls, Market Street Madam delivers a compelling look at the intrigues of the Wild West, where women were enterprising and justice could be had . . . for a price.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic of true crime, set in a most beguiling Southern city—now in a 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword by the author “Elegant and wicked . . . might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime.”—The New York Times Book Review Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. In this sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative, John Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case. It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman’s Card Club; the turbulent young gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the “soul of pampered self-absorption”; the uproariously funny drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young people dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch When Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly sixty years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty-first-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those managing her money? Dedman has collaborated with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world. Huguette was the daughter of self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, nearly as rich as Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder of Las Vegas. She grew up in the largest house in New York City, a remarkable dwelling with 121 rooms for a family of four. She owned paintings by Degas and Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique dolls. But wanting more than treasures, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts for friends and strangers alike, to quietly pursuing her own work as an artist, and to guarding the privacy she valued above all else. The Clark family story spans nearly all of American history in three generations, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from backdoor politics in Washington to a distress call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The same Huguette who was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11 held a ticket nine decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the Titanic. Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette’s copper fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms. Praise for Empty Mansions “An amazing story of profligate wealth . . . an outsized tale of rags-to-riches prosperity.”—The New York Times “An evocative and rollicking read, part social history, part hothouse mystery, part grand guignol.”—The Daily Beast “Fascinating . . . [a] haunting true-life tale.”—People “One of those incredible stories that you didn’t even know existed. It filled a void.”—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show “Thrilling . . . deliciously scandalous.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)