This domestic thriller is a “timely, page-turner of a novel” that examines the terrifying depths of our social media obsessions (Araminta Hall, author of Our Kind of Cruelty) You can't stop watching her. Violet Young is a hugely popular journalist-turned-mummy-influencer, with three children, a successful husband and a million subscribers on YouTube who tune in daily to watch her everyday life unfold. Until the day she's no longer there. But one day she disappears from the online world—her entire social media presence deleted overnight, with no explanation. Has she simply decided that baring her life to all online is no longer a good idea, or has something more sinister happened to Violet? But do you really know who Violet is? Her fans are obsessed with finding out the truth, but their search quickly reveals a web of lies, betrayal, and shocking consequences . . .

An intimate, impertinent, and incisive collection about race, progress, and hypocrisy from Jill Louise Busby, aka Jillisblack. Jill Louise Busby spent years in the nonprofit sector specializing in Diversity & Inclusion. She spoke at academic institutions, businesses, and detention centers on the topics of Race, Power, and Privilege and delivered over two-hundred workshops to nonprofit organizations all over the California Bay Area. In 2016, fed up with what passed as progressive in the Pacific Northwest, Busby uploaded a one-minute video about race, white institutions, and faux liberalism to Instagram. The video received millions of views across social platforms. As her pithy persona Jillisblack became an "it-voice" weighing in on all things race-based, Jill began to notice parallels between her performance of "diversity" in the white corporate world and her performance of "wokeness" for her followers. Both, she realized, were scripted. Unfollow Me is a memoir-in-essays about these scripts; it's about tokenism, micro-fame, and inhabiting spaces-real and virtual, black and white-where complicity is the price of entry. Busby's social commentary manages to be both wryly funny and achingly open-hearted as she recounts her shape-shifting moves among the subtle hierarchies of progressive communities. Unfollow Me is a sharply personal and self-questioning critique of white fragility (and other words for racism), respectability politics (and other words for shame), and all the places where fear masquerades as progress.

The activist and TED speaker Megan Phelps-Roper reveals her life growing up in the most hated family in America At the age of five, Megan Phelps-Roper began protesting homosexuality and other alleged vices alongside fellow members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Founded by her grandfather and consisting almost entirely of her extended family, the tiny group would gain worldwide notoriety for its pickets at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy. As Phelps-Roper grew up, she saw that church members were close companions and accomplished debaters, applying the logic of predestination and the language of the King James Bible to everyday life with aplomb—which, as the church’s Twitter spokeswoman, she learned to do with great skill. Soon, however, dialogue on Twitter caused her to begin doubting the church’s leaders and message: If humans were sinful and fallible, how could the church itself be so confident about its beliefs? As she digitally jousted with critics, she started to wonder if sometimes they had a point—and then she began exchanging messages with a man who would help change her life. A gripping memoir of escaping extremism and falling in love, Unfollow relates Phelps-Roper’s moral awakening, her departure from the church, and how she exchanged the absolutes she grew up with for new forms of warmth and community. Rich with suspense and thoughtful reflection, Phelps-Roper’s life story exposes the dangers of black-and-white thinking and the need for true humility in a time of angry polarization.

'An intriguing slow burner that reveals the dark side of social media' Heat 'A timely, page-turner of a novel' Araminta Hall 'Gripping, scarily realistic and unpredictable - brilliant!' Karen Hamilton 'A twisty tale' i news ********** You can't stop watching her. Violet Young is a hugely popular journalist-turned-mummy-influencer, with three children, a successful husband and a million subscribers on YouTube who tune in daily to watch her everyday life unfold. Until the day she's no longer there. But one day she disappears from the online world - her entire social media presence deleted overnight, with no explanation. Has she simply decided that baring her life to all online is no longer a good idea, or has something more sinister happened to Violet? But do you really know who Violet is? Her fans are obsessed with finding out the truth, but their search quickly reveals a web of lies, betrayal, and shocking consequences... ********** 'A total page-turner' 5* reader review 'I was completely captivated' 5* reader review 'Brilliantly addictive' 5* reader review 'Warning: once you start, you can't put it down' 5* reader review

After prolific growth on social media, Komal Kapoor is utilizing her perceptive understanding of romance in the digital age to present her first collection of poems. Unfollowing You tells a chronological tale of a modern love through a series of poems, prose, texts, screen grabs, and unsent letters. Exploring digital phenomena like swipe culture and technological realities, Kapoor’s words affirm experiences and sentiment echoed across many media platforms. Unfollowing You is separated into two parts: “Following You” details how the two protagonists fall in love and “Unfollowing You” shares their heartbreak. The realism of this collection will encourage readers to normalize growth and indulge in their feelings, even finding strength in them.

Part memoir, part testimonial, and part life guide, Stand by Your Truth mixes Rickey Smiley’s down-home humor with the values he learned from being raised by three generations of elders, steeped in the Baptist church, and mentored by some of the most celebrated comics in the entertainment industry today. “I’m very passionate about everything that I do and I don’t play any games. I just keep it honest. I don’t put on airs. That’s the only way you can be. If you tell one lie, you’ve got to tell another lie. I’m cool with who I am. What you see is what you get.” Stand-up comic. Single dad. Radio personality. TV star. Prankster. Producer. Community activist. Man of faith. Visit a church, comedy club, college campus, or barber shop, and you’ll find few people who aren’t familiar with, or fans of, Rickey Smiley. At least four million listeners in more than seventy markets tune in every weekday morning to hear him banter with his radio show crew, hilariously prank call an unsuspecting listener, and perform skits featuring his one-man cast of characters, including “Lil Darryl,” “Beauford,” and “Joe Willie.” But in between the rapid-fire jokes and celebrity dish are flashes of how Rickey views the world, from the challenges of raising children, to the importance of education, to the need to always stand by your own truth. After more than two decades in the spotlight, Rickey is finally ready to delve more deeply into the opinions he voices on the air, riffing on those issues that his listeners, viewers, and fans find most important. This collection of personal and powerful essays will speak to readers from all walks of life, and is sure to inspire you to Stand by Your Truth.

“A searing, chilling sliver of perfection . . . May well turn out to be the year’s best thriller.” —Charles Finch, The New York Times Book Review “This is simply one of the nastiest and most disturbing thrillers I’ve read in years. I loved it, right down to the utterly chilling final line.” —Gillian Flynn A spellbinding, darkly twisted novel about desire and obsession, and the complicated lines between truth and perception, Our Kind of Cruelty introduces Araminta Hall, a chilling new voice in psychological suspense. This is a love story. Mike’s love story. Mike Hayes fought his way out of a brutal childhood and into a quiet, if lonely, life before he met Verity Metcalf. V taught him about love, and in return, Mike has dedicated his life to making her happy. He’s found the perfect home, the perfect job; he’s sculpted himself into the physical ideal V has always wanted. He knows they’ll be blissfully happy together. It doesn’t matter that she hasn’t been returning his e-mails or phone calls. It doesn’t matter that she says she’s marrying Angus. It’s all just part of the secret game they used to play. If Mike watches V closely, he’ll see the signs. If he keeps track of her every move, he’ll know just when to come to her rescue . . .

Summary Java's much-awaited "Project Jigsaw" is finally here! Java 11 includes a built-in modularity framework, and The Java Module System is your guide to discovering it. In this new book, you'll learn how the module system improves reliability and maintainability, and how it can be used to reduce tight coupling of system components. Foreword by Kevlin Henney. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. You'll find registration instructions inside the print book. About the Technology Packaging code into neat, well-defined units makes it easier to deliver safe and reliable applications. The Java Platform Module System is a language standard for creating these units. With modules, you can closely control how JARs interact and easily identify any missing dependencies at startup. This shift in design is so fundamental that starting with Java 9, all core Java APIs are distributed as modules, and libraries, frameworks, and applications will benefit from doing the same. About the Book The Java Module System is your in-depth guide to creating and using Java modules. With detailed examples and easy-to-understand diagrams, you'll learn the anatomy of a modular Java application. Along the way, you'll master best practices for designing with modules, debugging your modular app, and deploying to production. What's inside The anatomy of a modular Java app Building modules from source to JAR Migrating to modular Java Decoupling dependencies and refining APIs Handling reflection and versioning Customizing runtime images Updated for Java 11 About the Reader Perfect for developers with some Java experience. About the Author Nicolai Parlog is a developer, author, speaker, and trainer. His home is codefx.org. Table of Contents PART 1 - Hello, modules First piece of the puzzle Anatomy of a modular application Defining modules and their properties Building modules from source to JAR Running and debugging modular applications PART 2 - Adapting real-world projects Compatibility challenges when moving to Java 9 or later Recurring challenges when running on Java 9 or later Incremental modularization of existing projects Migration and modularization strategies PART 3 - Advanced module system features Using services to decouple modules Refining dependencies and APIs Reflection in a modular world Module versions: What's possible and what's not Customizing runtime images with jlink Putting the pieces together

From the celebrated poet, speaker, and educator comes Welcome Home, a powerful blueprint for building a strong foundation of self-worth, belonging, and happiness. “A master class in self-actualization and compassion.”—Mari Andrew, New York Times bestselling author of Am I There Yet? The powerful metaphor of home provides a structure for you to customize your journey to personal transformation as Najwa Zebian shares her own experiences in building a home within herself, and shows you how to construct the following “rooms”: • Self-Love: Learn how to build an individualized self-care routine to reflect your daily needs. • Forgiveness: Learn how to allow yourself time, reflection, and space to accept and let go of painful events. • Compassion: Discover the three different types of compassion and learn how you can let people in while maintaining boundaries. • Clarity: Learn how to remove the walls you put up around your authentic self. • Surrender: Learn how to lower your defenses and give yourself space to feel and process your emotions. • The Dream Garden: Learn how to nurture your dreams and create an authentic, original path. With practical tools, poetry, and prompts for journaling and meditation to lead to self-understanding in each chapter, Zebian shows you how to build each room in your house. Written with her trademark power, candor, and warmth, Welcome Home is an answer to the pain we all experience when we don't feel at peace with ourselves.

If influencers have power over us, who are you allowing to influence you? In an online world obsessed with follows and likes, it’s important to consider what you’re really searching for. When you follow someone, it’s typically because you want to be like them or live like they do­–but who have you placed as your role models? In Who Are You Following? bestselling author and social media personality Sadie Robertson Huff dives deep into exploring who we are allowing to influence our daily thoughts and actions. With an excellent grasp of scriptural truths, using current research, surveys, and personal and biblical stories, Sadie draws on her own experience as a social media influencer and addresses topics such as how to go from being liked to being truly loved our true motives for fame being seen from the outside versus being known comparing ourselves to others questioning why did I post that?! how to respond to cancel culture wondering does God still love me? This book is perfect for young Christians wondering how they can live a vibrant, bold, and uncompromising life of faith in God by following the Messiah–the ultimate influencer. Discover the love, purpose, and fulfillment that is found only in Jesus.