Flashes

A brilliant detective thriller with a supernatural twist! Charley has visions . . .Flashes of things she can't explain. A girl in trouble. The sound of trains. She feels certain they are clues to a crime. But no one will believe her. Until she meets Tom, a young policeman on his first case: an accidental death on the railway tracks, not far from where Charley lives. Was it an accident, suicide . . . or murder? The attraction between Charley and Tom is instant, but can they work together to find out what really happened on the tracks before it happens again?

A respected physics professor and author breaks down the great debate over the Big Bang and the continuing quest to understand the fate of the universe. Today, the Big Bang is so entrenched in our understanding of the cosmos that to doubt it would seem crazy. But as Paul Halpern shows in Flashes of Creation, just decades ago its mere mention caused sparks to fly. At the center of the debate were Russian American physicist George Gamow and British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. Gamow insisted that a fiery explosion explained how the elements of the universe were created. Attacking the idea as half-baked, Hoyle countered that the universe was engaged in a never-ending process of creation. The battle was fierce. In the end, Gamow turned out to be right -- mostly -- and Hoyle, along with his many achievements, is remembered for giving the theory the silliest possible name: "The Big Bang." Halpern captures the brilliance of both thinkers and reminds us that even those proved wrong have much to teach us about boldness, imagination, and the universe itself.

New York Times Bestseller: This “landmark women’s novel” about female friendship and women’s lib is “something akin to Mary McCarthy’s The Group” (People). Diana Sargeant is a menopausal anthropology professor whose hot flashes often produce insights into life, love, and what it means to be a woman. Diana belongs to a generation of A-list females: well-educated jet-setters who overcame their fear of flying in the fifties, became leftist protestors in the sixties, and were glamorous seductresses on birth control in the seventies. But in the eighties, they’re middle-aged matrons who are afraid of their own mortality and must come to terms with the fact that even though they obtained everything they desired, they’re still unfulfilled. When Diana’s close friend Sukie Amram suffers a fatal brain hemorrhage, the professor rushes to Washington, DC, to mourn and commemorate the woman she so loved. There, she reunites with her lifelong pals: flashy magazine writer Joanne Ireland and divorced English teacher Elaine Cantor. The three soon discover Sukie’s journal, which details her battle with despair after her husband abandoned her for a younger lover. As they read through the details of Sukie’s postdivorce anguish, the friends revisit difficult moments in their own pasts and discover themselves anew. Called “a feminist version of The Big Chill” by the Washington Post, Hot Flashes is an irreverent, witty, and emotionally engaging novel about four intelligent, trailblazing women that provides a compelling, honest look at female fears and desire during the late twentieth century.

From Lewis Miller, the celebrated floral designer and "Flower Bandit" himself, an intimate and joyous behind-the-scenes look at his signature Flower Flashes as they introduced bright moments of natural beauty into the city when they were needed most. Before dawn one morning in October 2016, renowned New York-based floral designer Lewis Miller stealthily arranged hundreds of brightly colored dahlias, carnations, and mums into a psychedelic halo around the John Lennon memorial in Central Park. The spontaneous floral installation was Miller's gift to the city—an effort to spark joy during a difficult time. Nearly five years and more than ninety Flower Flashes later, these elaborate flower bombs—bursts of jubilant blooms in trash cans, over bus canopies, on construction sites and traffic medians—have brought moments of delight and wonder to countless New Yorkers and flower lovers everywhere, and earned Miller a following of dedicated fans and the nickname the "Flower Bandit." After New York City entered lockdown, Miller doubled down, creating Flower Flashes outside hospitals to express gratitude to frontline health workers and throughout the city to raise spirits. This gorgeous and poignant visual diary traces the phenomenon from the first, spontaneous Flower Flash to the even more profound installations of the pandemic through a kaleidoscopic collage of photos documenting the Flower Flashes, behind-the-scenes snapshots, Miller's inspiration material, fan contributions, and more.