Fan Mail

Told entirely through faxes, phone messages, memos, e-mail and tape transcripts, this pulse-pounding thriller brings the novel into the electronic age with a jolt. Eavesdrop on the tantalizing correspondence of a TV anchorwoman who is being stalked by a crazed fan known only as The Watcher.

A new collection of soccer writing by the bestselling author of Fever Pitch. After the phenomenal success of Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby tried to avoid writing about soccer, for fear that he'd be writing about it forever. But occasionally over the years he’s found it impossible to turn down a particularly enticing assignment or, in the case of the 2012-13 Premier League, just unable to resist writing about that most spectacular of seasons. Fortunately for those who love great writing about soccer, all these fugitive pieces are collected in Fan Mail. You can follow the fortunes, as Hornby did, of a hopelessly out-of-their-depth Cambridge United in the old Second Division, discover why Perry Groves was an unlikely hero among Arsenal fans, enjoy Hornby trying to explain the World Cup to Americans, and share with him the pain of watching his national team.

Christina gets her first big movie role but an obsessed fan is stalking her and writing threatening letters.

Agatha Award–winning and national bestselling author Daryl Wood Gerber returns with a dark new novel of suspense . . . An adoring fan and a string of murders: a demented show of love that leaves no one safe . . . Local celebrity news anchor Gloria Morning is used to receiving declarations of love and praise in her weekly fan letters, but when a Lake Tahoe doctor is murdered and she gets an anonymous note telling her it was done for her glory, her appreciation turns to panic. Unsure of where else to turn, she enlists the help of novice private investigator Aspen Adams. No sooner does Aspen begin digging into who sent the macabre note than another murder occurs, followed by another note, and she soon realizes she’s up against a ruthless and deranged killer. Working with scant clues and a puzzling array of potential suspects, Aspen is determined to unearth the elusive connection between the victims and her client. But as the body count grows and the murderer remains a mystery to both her and the police, Aspen discovers she’s gotten closer to the killer than she ever imagined, and now she must risk everything she holds dear to stop the killings, including her own life . . . Praise for the Suspense Novels of Daryl Wood Gerber: “This was a fast-paced action-packed drama that immediately grabbed my attention, quickly becoming a page-turner as I could not put this book down.” —Dru’s Book Musings on Desolate Shores “This completely entertaining thriller—with taut suspense, a timely plot, devastating secrets, and a touch of romance—will have you turning pages as fast as you can. Fans of Meg Gardiner and Melinda Leigh will devour this!” —Anthony, Agatha, and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan “Daryl Wood Gerber has proven again to be a gifted storyteller and one to watch in this genre. An absolute must-read!” —Escape with Dollycas “Desolate Shores is an intriguing romantic suspense with a deceased friend, a dangerous killer, shady suspects, a captivating cop, and killer clues . . .” —The Avid Reader Blog “Desolate Shores is an absolutely amazing start to a new suspense series! This book has everything I look for in a reading experience . . .” —ChewieTellsAll blog

Poetry. Italian &; Italian American Studies. It's been a while since baseball was truly the national pastime--long enough that Ken Burns had to remind us why it matters as much as the Civil War or jazz in understanding America--and perhaps that's why our impression of the game is more often drawn from movies rather than from the thing itself. Joey Nicoletti opens this book of poems in the form of Fan Mail to baseball players, by quoting perhaps the best-known contemporary tribute to baseball, James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams, intoning This field, this game: it's part of our past. For Nicoletti, that past is personal, and in the opening pages we meet his grandfather, a veteran of World War II, and are introduced to his large Italian-American family. There's another ubiquitous movie line about baseball that Nicoletti doesn't quote (because he doesn't need to), Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own declaring There's no crying in baseball. There's no crying in these poems either, because Nicoletti tells us I was raised / with tough love: // to hide my feelings / so that no one would use them / to hurt me. Reading these letters, we quickly realize that his admiration and affection for these players has less to do with how they played the game, and much more to do with how they helped Nicoletti to find his way in the world. Why / do I feel so connected / to someone I've never met? he asks of Dave Kingman, his baseball card in hand. One answer comes in a letter To Razor Shines, recalling how learning about ball players offered a window into a world away from the constant yelling, / screaming, kicking, and punching and became a hope / that I could make / a different reality / for myself; / that I could find / my own way / to be present / in the moment / without knowing / precisely how / things would work out. If baseball offered Nicoletti a way out, it also provides a connection back to his family and heritage, and there is deep love and respect in these pages, for instance in his letter To Pete Rose wherein he finds the player's batting record is almost / as spectacular / of an achievement / as my mother / teaching herself / and her parents / how to speak, read / and write English / as a first generation / Italian American, / in a chippy game /of cultural assimilation / where there was / no seventh inning stretch. Returning to that quote from Field of Dreams, this is a book to savor, whether or not you know or care about baseball, because It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. It reminds us of what it is to be human.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • From the renowned author of “The Lottery” and The Haunting of Hill House, a spectacular new volume of previously unpublished and uncollected stories, essays, and other writings. Features “Family Treasures,” nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Short Story Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American writers of the last hundred years. Since her death in 1965, her place in the landscape of twentieth-century fiction has grown only more exalted. As we approach the centenary of her birth comes this astonishing compilation of fifty-six pieces—more than forty of which have never been published before. Two of Jackson’s children co-edited this volume, culling through the vast archives of their mother’s papers at the Library of Congress, selecting only the very best for inclusion. Let Me Tell You brings together the deliciously eerie short stories Jackson is best known for, along with frank, inspiring lectures on writing; comic essays about her large, boisterous family; and whimsical drawings. Jackson’s landscape here is most frequently domestic: dinner parties and bridge, household budgets and homeward-bound commutes, children’s games and neighborly gossip. But this familiar setting is also her most subversive: She wields humor, terror, and the uncanny to explore the real challenges of marriage, parenting, and community—the pressure of social norms, the veins of distrust in love, the constant lack of time and space. For the first time, this collection showcases Shirley Jackson’s radically different modes of writing side by side. Together they show her to be a magnificent storyteller, a sharp, sly humorist, and a powerful feminist. This volume includes a Foreword by the celebrated literary critic and Jackson biographer Ruth Franklin. Praise for Let Me Tell You “Stunning.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Let us now—at last—celebrate dangerous women writers: how cheering to see justice done with [this collection of] Shirley Jackson’s heretofore unpublished works—uniquely unsettling stories and ruthlessly barbed essays on domestic life.”—Vanity Fair “Feels like an uncanny dollhouse: Everything perfectly rendered, but something deliciously not quite right.”—NPR “There are . . . times in reading [Jackson’s] accounts of desperate women in their thirties slowly going crazy that she seems an American Jean Rhys, other times when she rivals even Flannery O’Connor in her cool depictions of inhumanity and insidious cruelty, and still others when she matches Philip K. Dick at his most hallucinatory. At her best, though, she’s just incomparable.”—The Washington Post “Offers insights into the vagaries of [Jackson’s] mind, which was ruminant and generous, accommodating such diverse figures as Dr. Seuss and Samuel Richardson.”—The New York Times Book Review “The best pieces clutch your throat, gently at first, and then with growing strength. . . . The whole collection has a timelessness.”—The Boston Globe “[Jackson’s] writing, both fiction and nonfiction, has such enduring power—she brings out the darkness in life, the poltergeists shut into everyone’s basement, and offers them up, bringing wit and even joy to the examination.”—USA Today “The closest we can get to sitting down and having a conversation with . . . one of the most original voices of her generation.”—The Huffington Post

Nowhere will you find a more comprehensive, current, and detailed writing skills course designed specifically for writing children and teen books, written by a children's and young adult author who is in the field today. WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS: A CRASH COURSE is a ten-step course that relays all the nitty-gritty details of the business, beginning with how to evaluate your book idea all the way to pitching your book to editors and agents. Within each step, you'll find clear and specific information covering topics such as the children's book market, manuscript format, commonly made mistakes and editing tips to beef up your writing skills, finding the right literary agent or children's book publisher, and professional submission etiquette. This book will even tell you what kind of paper you should use and exactly how you should write your email or letter pitches to editors and agents. Bonus materials include templates for all of your submission needs as well as examples of real-life editorial letters sent to authors from editors today. You will get a complete inside peak to the children's and YA fiction writing market for those who want to write picture books, easy readers, chapter books, and middle grade or young adult/teen novels.

Who Would Win? is back with another exciting bind-up featuring five more books in this action-packed animal series! What if one dangerous animal had a fight with another? Who do you think would win? In this five-book bind-up of the popular Who Would Win? series, kids will learn about each animal's anatomy, behavior, and more. Then compare and contrast the battling pairs before finally discovering the winner! This nonfiction collection is full of facts, photos, and realistic illustrations, and it includes a range of mammals, sea creatures, insects, and dinosaurs to satisfy all kinds of animal fans, including Lion vs. Tiger, Hammerhead vs. Bull Shark, Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear, Hornet vs. Wasp, and Triceratops vs. Spinosaurus.So who do YOU think would win?