The Bad Muslim Discount

Following two families from Pakistan and Iraq in the 1990s to San Francisco in 2016, The Bad Muslim Discount is an inclusive, comic novel about Muslim immigrants finding their way in modern America. “Masood’s novel presents a stereoscopic, three-dimensional view of contemporary Muslim America: the way historical conflict in the Middle East lingers in individual lives, the way gossip travels in a close-knit immigrant community.” —The New York Times Book Review It is 1995, and Anvar Faris is a restless, rebellious, and sharp-tongued boy doing his best to grow up in Karachi, Pakistan. As fundamentalism takes root within the social order and the zealots next door attempt to make Islam great again, his family decides, not quite unanimously, to start life over in California. Ironically, Anvar's deeply devout mother and his model-Muslim brother adjust easily to life in America, while his fun-loving father can't find anyone he relates to. For his part, Anvar fully commits to being a bad Muslim. At the same time, thousands of miles away, Safwa, a young girl living in war-torn Baghdad with her grief-stricken, conservative father will find a very different and far more dangerous path to America. When Anvar and Safwa's worlds collide as two remarkable, strong-willed adults, their contradictory, intertwined fates will rock their community, and families, to their core. The Bad Muslim Discount is an irreverent, poignant, and often hysterically funny debut novel by an amazing new voice. With deep insight, warmth, and an irreverent sense of humor, Syed M. Masood examines universal questions of identity, faith (or lack thereof), and belonging through the lens of Muslim Americans.

She's All That goes desi in this hilarious, affecting, and sweetly romantic comedy by the author of More Than Just a Pretty Face. Arsalan has learned everything he knows from Nana, his 100-year-old great-grandfather. This includes the fact that when Nana dies, Arsalan will be completely alone in the world, except for his estranged and abusive father. So he turns to Beenish, the step-daughter of a prominent matchmaker, to find him a future life partner. Beenish's request in return? That Arsalan help her ruin her older sister's wedding with a spectacular dance she's been forbidden to perform. Despite knowing as little about dancing as he does about girls, Arsalan wades into Beenish's chaotic world to discover friends and family he never expected. And though Arsalan's old-school manners and Beenish's take-no-prisoners attitude clash every minute, they find themselves getting closer and closer - literally. All that's left to realize is that the thing they both really want is each other, if only they can get into step. Praise for MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE 'A deliciously entertaining rom-com' - Nandini Bajpai, author of A Match Made in Mehendi 'A laugh-out-loud yet heartwarming story about familial obligations, friendship, and love' - Sabina Khan, author of The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali 'Funny, open-hearted, and utterly charming... a spectacular debut' - Katie Henry, author of Heretics Anonymous 'Hilarious and teeming with heart... I am a forever fan' Erin Hahn, author of You'd Be Mine

A new provocative love story from the New York Times bestselling author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things. “The story of Zee and Gentry is the reason we read.” —Brunonia Barry Their journey will break them—or save them. A moving and complicated love story for our time, The Reckless Oath We Made redefines what it means to be heroic. Zee has never admitted to needing anybody. But she needs Gentry. Her tough exterior shelters a heart that’s loyal to the point of self-destruction, while autistic Gentry wears his heart on his sleeve, including his desire to protect Zee at all costs. When an abduction tears Zee’s family apart, she turns to Gentry—and sets in motion a journey and a love that will change their lives forever. “[A] mind-blowing book that has left me scrambling to pick up the pieces of my brain and my shattered heart . . . Prepare to have your mind and heart expanded to their limits.” —The Oklahoman

'A deliciously entertaining rom-com.' - Nandini Bajpai, author of A Match Made in Mehendi Danyal Jilani doesn't lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he's funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn't approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal's longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect. When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man, a school-wide academic championship, it's the perfect opportunity to show everyone he's smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her . . . the more he learns from her...the more he cooks for her . . . the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face. In this young adult debut full of depth and heart, author Syed M. Masood will have readers laughing, sighing, tearing up, and shouting 'YES!' at the top of their lungs. Perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Jenny Han. Praise for MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE 'A laugh-out-loud yet heartwarming story about familial obligations, friendship, and love. Syed M. Masood has created an unforgettable cast of characters with the utterly charming, hilarious, and most endearing Danyal Jilani at the center of it. A thoroughly enjoyable read and a great addition to any bookshelf.' - Sabina Khan, author of The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali 'Funny, open-hearted, and utterly charming, More Than Just a Pretty Face perfectly captures the joys of friendship and first love, as well as all the complexities of identity, faith, and family. This is a spectacular debut.' - Katie Henry, author of Heretics Anonymous 'Hilarious and teeming with heart, More Than Just a Pretty Face challenged me, wounded me, made me laugh, and made me love. Danyal has secured his place as a heroic protagonist for the ages who only wants the very best for those he loves. His friends and family are so lucky to have him, and readers will be lucky to have Syed M. Masood's debut. I am a forever fan.' Erin Hahn, author of You'd Be Mine

"How do you hold onto hope in a difficult time? In the small city of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are beginning to unravel. A woman loses the love of her life. A son struggles with addiction. A widow misses her late spouse. A husband betrays his wife. At the heart of these interlinking stories is one couple: Freddie and Greg Tyler. Greg has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a brutal form of cancer. He has never been dependent or weak, and wants to overcome this the way he has succeeded at everything else: through grit and determination. But can Greg fight his illness? How will Freddie and their daughter cope if he doesn't? How do the other residents of Wharton learn to live with loss and to find happiness again? A debut that pulls at the heartstrings and immerses readers in a community, A Little Hope broadcasts the joy and hope to be found in the everyday acts of loving, forgiving, and surviving"--

- A New York Times and USA Today bestseller - Book of the Month Club 2016 Book of the Year - Second Place Goodreads Best Fiction of 2016 A beautiful and provocative love story between two unlikely people and the hard-won relationship that elevates them above the Midwestern meth lab backdrop of their lives. As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold. By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world. A powerful novel you won’t soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love. 31 Books Bringing the Heat this Summer —Bustle Top Ten Hottest Reads of 2016 —New York Daily News Best Books of 2016 —St. Louis Post Dispatch

In eleven sharp, surprising stories, Neel Patel gives voice to our most deeply held stereotypes and then slowly undermines them. His characters, almost all of whom are first-generation Indian Americans, subvert our expectations that they will sit quietly by. We meet two brothers caught in an elaborate web of envy and loathing; a young gay man who becomes involved with an older man whose secret he could never guess; three women who almost gleefully throw off the pleasant agreeability society asks of them; and, in the final pair of linked stories, a young couple struggling against the devastating force of community gossip. If You See Me, Don't Say Hi examines the collisions of old world and new world, small town and big city, traditional beliefs (like arranged marriages) and modern rituals (like Facebook stalking). Ranging across the country, Patel's stories-empathetic, provocative, twisting, and wryly funny-introduce a bold new literary voice, one that feels timelier than ever.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK • An insightful and compulsively readable novel about a complicated friendship between two women who are at two very different stages in life, from the best-selling author of Maine and Saints for All Occasions. "Once again, Sullivan has shown herself to be one of the wisest and least pretentious chroniclers of modern life."—The Washington Post Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother, is struggling to adjust to life in a small town after nearly twenty years in New York City. Alone in the house with her infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms' Facebook group, her "influencer" sister's Instagram feed, and text messages with the best friend she never sees anymore. Enter Sam, a senior at the local women's college, whom Elisabeth hires to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she's always planned on and a romantic entanglement that threatens her ambition. She's worried about student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, they grow close. But when Sam finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Elisabeth's father-in-law, the true differences between the women's lives become starkly revealed and a betrayal has devastating consequences. A masterful exploration of motherhood, power dynamics, and privilege in its many forms, Friends and Strangers reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.