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NAMED A BEST BOOK of the YEAR by O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE, REFINERY 29, and KIRKUS REVIEWS SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE A “wondrous,” (O, The Oprah Magazine) “scathingly funny” (Entertainment Weekly) debut from Whiting Award winner Jen Beagin about a cleaning lady named Mona and her quest for self-acceptance and belonging after her relationship with a loveable junkie goes awry. Jen Beagin’s funny, moving, fearless debut novel introduces an unforgettable character, Mona—almost twenty-four, emotionally adrift, and cleaning houses to get by. Handing out clean needles to drug addicts, she falls for a recipient she calls Mr. Disgusting, who proceeds to break her heart in unimaginable ways. Seeking a kind of healing, she decamps to Taos, New Mexico, for a fresh start, where she finds a community of seekers and cast-offs, all of whom have one or two things to teach her—the pajama-wearing, blissed-out New Agers, the slightly creepy client with peculiar tastes in controlled substances, the psychic who might really be psychic. But always lurking just beneath the surface are her memories of growing up in a chaotic, destructive family from which she’s trying to disentangle herself, and the larger legacy of the past she left behind. The story of Mona’s quest for self-acceptance in this working class American world is at once hilarious and wonderfully strange, true to life and boldly human, and introduces a stunning, one-of-a-kind new voice in American fiction.

From the Whiting Award–winning author of Pretend I’m Dead and one of the most exhilarating new voices in fiction, a “thoroughly delightfully, surprisingly profound” (Entertainment Weekly) one-of-a-kind novel about a cleaning lady named Mona and her struggles to move forward in life. Soon to be an FX television show starring Lola Kirke. Mona is twenty-six and cleans houses for a living in Taos, New Mexico. She moved there mostly because of a bad boyfriend—a junkie named Mr. Disgusting, long story—and her efforts to restart her life since haven’t exactly gone as planned. For one thing, she’s got another bad boyfriend. This one she calls Dark, and he happens to be married to one of Mona’s clients. He also might be a little unstable. Dark and his wife aren’t the only complicated clients on Mona’s roster, either. There’s also the Hungarian artist couple who—with her addiction to painkillers and his lingering stares—reminds Mona of troubling aspects of her childhood, and some of the underlying reasons her life had to be restarted in the first place. As she tries to get over the heartache of her affair and the older pains of her youth, Mona winds up on an eccentric, moving journey of self-discovery that takes her back to her beginnings where she attempts to unlock the key to having a sense of home in the future. The only problems are Dark and her past. Neither is so easy to get rid of. Jen Beagin’s Vacuum in the Dark is an unforgettable, astonishing read, “by turns nutty and forlorn…Brash, deadpan, and achingly troubled” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Beagin is “a wonderfully funny writer who also happens to tackle serious subjects” (NPR).

I'm a twenty-two-year-old virgin. Tonight that changes. I thought my first time had to be magical. The perfect date. The perfect place. The perfect guy. I thought I wanted to be in love. But now, I'm desperate. I'll take any guy as long as he's decent looking and treats me well, at least for the night. Turns out Mr. Perfect isn't so hard to find. He's hot, dreamy, and filthy rich. And he wants me. Sex with him is going to be better than I ever imagined. He's going to ruin me for all other guys. I know that it is just for one night, but it doesn't matter. I'm happy to get my perfect night. One night isn't enough, for either of us. Because Mr. Perfect just fake proposed to me. And he wants this proposal to last a lot longer than one night. Will you pretend to be my wife? This is a standalone contemporary romance.

Symbolic Play: The Development of Social Understanding describes the development of symbolic play from infancy through the preschool years. This text is divided into 12 chapters that focus on make-believe as an activity within which young children spontaneously represent and practice their understanding of the social world. The first chapter introduces the development of event schemata produced in symbolic play, about children's management of the playframe, and about the development of subjunctive, or "what if" thought. The next chapters are devoted to the development of joint pretending, specifically the use if shared scripts in the organization of make-believe play and the subtleties of metacommunication. These chapters also emphasize the supporting role of the mother in early collaborative make-believe. These topics are followed by discussions of the child's growing ability to represent the internal states of the inanimate figures whose doing can vicariously enacts. The remaining chapters focus on social interaction through symbolic play with dolls, toy animals, object props, and language. This book will prove useful to psychologists and researchers in the fields of human development, society, and family.

In John McWhorter s Defining Creole anthology of 2005, his collected articles conveyed the following theme: His hypothesis that creole languages are definable not just in the sociohistorical sense, but in the grammatical sense. His publications since the 1990s have argued that all languages of the world that lack a certain three traits together are creoles (i.e. born as pidgins a few hundred years ago and fleshed out into real languages). He also argued that in light of their pidgin birth, such languages are less grammatically complex than others, as the result of their recent birth as pidgins. These two claims have been highly controversial among creolists as well as other linguists. In this volume, Linguistic Simplicityand Complexity, McWhorter gathers articles he has written since then, in the wake of responses from a wide range of creolists and linguists. These articles represent a considerable divergence in direction from his earlier work."

In Beyond Blonde, Sophie’s world has exploded. Papa has left to try and get sober, and her first love, Luke, has left to marry the mother of his baby. Mama is functioning on auto-pilot, and even Sophie’s refuge in basketball is threatened, since the new assistant coach, David Wayne, seems to hate the sight of her. Life is further complicated by her sixteen-year-old body betraying her at every turn. Into this confusing breach step Sophie’s brilliant Blondes and the ever-audacious Aunties, helping her to battle back with heart and humour.

Say I'm Dead is the true story of family secrets, separation, courage, and trans-formation through five generations of interracial relationships. Fearful of prison time—or lynching—for violating Indiana's antimiscegenation laws in the 1940s, E. Dolores Johnson's black father and white mother fled Indianapolis to secretly marry in Buffalo, New York. When Johnson was born, social norms and her government-issued birth certificate said she was Negro, nullifying her mother's white blood in her identity. Later, as a Harvard-educated business executive feeling too far from her black roots, she searched her father's black genealogy. But in the process, Johnson suddenly realized that her mother's whole white family was—and always had been—missing. When she began to pry, her mother's 36-year-old secret spilled out. Her mother had simply vanished from Indiana, evading an FBI and police search that had ended with the conclusion that she had been the victim of foul play.

Three seemingly ordinary girls, studying together in the same ordinary high school. All have their own reasons to summon Trevor Saunders after his car goes over a cliff. Aliya brings the mystical seances of Syria. Gillian contributes the voodoo arts from her native Trinidad. Miya shares the secret magic of ancient Japan. Will they be able use their powers to bring him back one more time? Should they?

A sensational YA science fiction debut from an exciting new British author! Just because she's confined to the planet, doesn't mean she can't reach for the stars. 2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. Eighteen-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can't travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She's an "ape," a "throwback," but this is one ape girl who won't give in. Jarra makes up a fake military background for herself and joins a class of norms who are on Earth for a year of practical history studies excavating the dangerous ruins of the old cities. She wants to see their faces when they find out they've been fooled into thinking an ape girl was a norm. She isn't expecting to make friends with the enemy, to risk her life to save norms, or to fall in love. From the Hardcover edition.

Liverpool, 1976: Martha is lost. She’s been lost since she was a baby, abandoned in a suitcase on the train from Paris. Ever since, she’s waited in lost property for someone to claim her. It’s been sixteen years, but she’s still hopeful. Meanwhile, there are lost property mysteries to solve: a suitcase that may have belonged to the Beatles, a stuffed monkey that keeps appearing. But there is one mystery Martha has never been able to solve – and now time is running out. If Martha can’t discover who she really is, she will lose everything...

"Visola, please. Instead of launching thousands of nuclear warheads, will you just cry and let me hold you?" "No, thanks. I like my original plan better." Visola has been stricken by the death of a loved one. She will stop at nothing to get revenge on the people responsible--and their entire country. She commits herself wholly to her mission, forsaking her husband, children, friends, and home. Vachlan is tormented by her absence, and sets out to try his best to find her and convince her to come home and stop her obsessive and destructive behavior. Aazuria sets out on a rescue mission to retrieve her husband's missing brother and find out more about the mysterious man called Leviathan. However, what she discovers might be more than she can possibly handle. Aazuria must push aside her complicated relationship with her husband in order to focus on protecting her country and her loved ones. At the bottom of the earth, Varia and Glais are living in peaceful solitude, far removed from all the troubles and terrors of modern society. However, they will both soon find out that being around people and civilization does have its benefits, and they are not quite as grown up as they thought...

Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets. Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. Before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel's text is the first clue--starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel's death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth.

This dazzling debut collection from a Seattle native features stories evocatively set along the Northwest coast, stories of quiet but astonishing lives. Here are ferry workers, carpenters, park rangers, living alongside crab factories, cranberry bogs, the misty ocean. Here are people puzzled by the processes of growing up, leaving home, parenting, aging. Here are people who realize there are second chances, that from illness can come hope, that from family can come a greater sense of self. Psychologically complex and glowing with warmth, these rich stories recall Tobias Wolff and Raymond Carver. A MARINER PAPERBACK ORIGINAL.

Constance Ledbelly, an associate professor, dreams she has entered two of Shakespeare's plays and altered them by saving the lives of Juliet and Desdemona

Family bonds are at stake in the first Pelican Bay billionaire spin-off from USA TODAY Bestselling author Megan Matthews. We’ve all heard the story. Rich jerk pays a hot chick to be his fake fiancé, and they fall madly in love. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time. When my cousin offered $2 million to a family friend, Mari Chambers, I thought he’d lost his mind. Then I met her. Mari… she hasn’t been in America in two years due to drama in San Francisco. Turns out she’s been in Guatemala helping disadvantaged families. But her project needs more funding, and my cousin’s offer is the payday she desperately requires. The kicker is I want to be—need to be—her knight in shining armor. Mari’s about to find out my cousin isn’t the only rich Kensington. The name Oliver Kensington isn’t synonymous with money, but that doesn’t mean my bank account is lacking. Rather than pursue the almighty dollar in America, I’m working on helping others in a big way. But first, I have to help myself. What will my cousin do if I steal his fake fiancé right out from under him?

This collection - the second of a three-volume study - examines the roots of the artistic, literary and cultural renaissance of Sufism from the 12th to the 15th centuries. It includes essays on Rumi's poetry and imagery; Sufi music and the idea of ecstacy; sainthood and Neoplatonism; comparative metaphysics and literature; and unity of religion theory in Sufi philosophy.

THE MAN IN THE MASK He wore a mask. He touched me like he could read my mind, like he knew my deepest, darkest fantasies. He demanded complete surrender. I gave him everything. I still don’t know his name. I only know he has a secret capable of destroying me. TORN IN TWO The masked man revealed himself to me. Now I have two weeks to decide. Two weeks until he shatters my heart into tiny pieces. Because he was not alone in his desire to claim me. There was another. Another who touched me. Gave me pleasure. Demanded surrender. Now both demand I choose between them. I would rather be torn in two. REDEEMED BY LOVE I never knew love could be like this. Two lovers. Intense. Passionate. Demanding. I have made my choice. The only thing I can do now is hope. Hope the men I love can accept it. Hope to be redeemed. Hope this obsession doesn’t destroy all three of us.

For fans of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, comedian and Emmy Award–winning writer Sara Schaefer’s hilariously honest memoir follows Sara’s trip through the Grand Canyon with her sister that causes her to reflect on her childhood and the scandal that changed her family forever. When Sara Schaefer is in first grade, her father warns her to always tell the truth because one lie leads to another and soon you will find yourself in a hole you can’t escape. A few years later, the Schaefer family is completely upended when it’s revealed that their grand life is based on a lie. Her parents become pariahs in their upper middle class community and go from non-religious people to devout church members. The idea of good and evil as binary, opposed forces is drilled into Sara and it becomes the perfect framework on which to build her anxiety and increasingly-obsessive thoughts. The year she turns forty, Sara decides to take each member of her family on a one-on-one vacation culminating with a whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon with her younger sister. The only problem is she’s terrified of rafting. Along the way, she grapples with unresolved grief over the death of her mother and the family scandal that changed the trajectory of her life. Heartfelt, candid, and witty, Grand is a story about family, identity, and struggling to make something of yourself. Sara deconstructs her struggles with anxiety and depression, what it means to be a good person, and the radically discordant stories we tell ourselves and share with the world.