BOOK OF THE DAY

About Something in the Water: Reese’s Book Club

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK WITH MORE THAN A MILLION COPIES SOLD

“A psychological thriller that captivated me from page one. What unfolds makes for a wild, page-turning ride! It’s the perfect beach read!”—Reese Witherspoon

A shocking discovery on a honeymoon in paradise changes the lives of a picture-perfect couple in this taut psychological thriller from the author of Mr. Nobody and The Disappearing Act.

“Steadman keeps the suspense ratcheted up.”—The New York Times

ITW THRILLER AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY GLAMOUR AND NEWSWEEK

If you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you?

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. . . .

Could the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares?

Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. . . .

Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?

Wonder no longer. Catherine Steadman’s enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel. With piercing insight and fascinating twists, Something in the Water challenges the reader to confront the hopes we desperately cling to, the ideals we’re tempted to abandon, and the perfect lies we tell ourselves.

BOOK OF THE DAY

'A thrilling, immersive and beautifully written historical novel that will resonate long after the last page is turned. Highly recommended' MARIUS GABRIEL

'Taut, compelling and beautifully written – I loved it!’ DAISY WOOD

'I seldom give books of this type five stars, but this one fully deserves it for bringing something new and refreshing to the genre.' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A moving, page-turning story about a little-known chapter of World War II. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Anna Stuart.

1940. As Soviet forces storm Lithuania, Zofia and her brother Jacek must flee to survive.

A lifeline appears when Japanese consul Sugihara offers them visas on one condition: they must deliver a parcel to Tokyo. Inside lies intelligence on Nazi atrocities, evidence so explosive that Nazi and Soviet agents will stop at nothing to possess it.

Pursued across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Express, Zofia faces danger at every turn, racing to expose the truth as Japan edges closer to allying with the Nazis. With the fate of countless lives hanging in the balance, can she complete her mission before time runs out?

Readers love Last Train to Freedom:

'Tense and thought-provoking' CATHERINE LAW

'A fascinating and original read' CATHERINE HOKIN

'Real history in the raw, heart-pounding drama, bone-chilling danger, intrigue, romance, and characters to love and fear…Last Train to Freedom has it all. Don’t miss the ride!' LANCASHIRE POST

'This is the kind of book that keeps you up until the middle of the night, or that you fall asleep reading, because you just can’t put it down… One of the best books I have read this year.' Reader review

'An epic journey across the Siberian wilderness that will keep you guessing until the end. Readers interested in the less well known events of World War II will find this book captivating and unforgettable' Reader review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Ms Swift is a talented writer… Captivating and compulsive reading' Reader review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'What a fantastic read this was' Reader review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Another stunning achievement in historical fiction from Deborah Swift' Reader review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Grips you from the beginning and does not let go until the end' Reader review⭐

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A “detailed, often gritty, picture of a fragile world” (The Wall Street Journal) that tells the history of the Sahara from prehistory to the present, showing how Saharans have navigated scarcity, conquest, and the relentless challenges of the desert environment

What comes to mind when we think about the Sahara? Rippling sand dunes, sun-blasted expanses, camel drivers and their caravans perhaps. Or famine, climate change, civil war, desperate migrants stuck in a hostile environment. The Sahara stretches across 3.2 million square miles, hosting several million inhabitants and a corresponding variety of languages, cultures, and livelihoods. But beyond ready-made images of exoticism and squalor, we know surprisingly little about its history and the people who call it home.   

Shifting Sands is about that other Sahara, not the empty wasteland of the romantic imagination but the vast and highly differentiated space in which Saharan peoples and, increasingly, new arrivals from other parts of Africa live, work, and move. It takes us from the ancient Roman Empire through the bloody colonial era to the geopolitics of the present, questioning easy clichés and exposing fascinating truths along the way. From the geology of the region to the religions, languages, and cultural and political forces that shape and fracture it, this landmark book tells the compelling story of a place that sits at the heart of our world, and whose future holds implications for us all.

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In this sweeping epic of the northernmost American frontier, James A. Michener guides us through Alaska’s fierce terrain and history, from the long-forgotten past to the bustling present. As his characters struggle for survival, Michener weaves together the exciting high points of Alaska’s story: its brutal origins; the American acquisition; the gold rush; the tremendous growth and exploitation of the salmon industry; the arduous construction of the Alcan Highway, undertaken to defend the territory during World War II. A spellbinding portrait of a human community fighting to establish its place in the world, Alaska traces a bold and majestic saga of the enduring spirit of a land and its people.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from James A. Michener's Hawaii.
 
Praise for Alaska
 
“Few will escape the allure of the land and people [Michener] describes. . . . Alaska takes the reader on a journey through one of the bleakest, richest, most foreboding, and highly inviting territories in our Republic, if not the world. . . . The characters that Michener creates are bigger than life.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review
 
“Always the master of exhaustive historical research, Michener tracks the settling of Alaska [in] vividly detailed scenes and well-developed characters.”—Boston Herald
 
“Michener is still, sentence for sentence, writing’s fastest attention grabber.”—The New York Times

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The remarkable new work of fiction from the Booker Prize-winning author of Last Orders, Waterland and Mothering Sunday

'His archly modulated, precise prose, reminiscent at times of his friend Kazuo Ishiguro’s, has lost none of its power ... immensely readable late-career Swift from start to finish, Twelve Post-War Tales is a marvel of the storyteller's art.' Financial Times

‘There can surely be no better contemporary writer to take on history’s circularities that Graham Swift. … “Growing up in the 1950s there was all the evidence of war.” Swift has said. This beautiful cluster of stories shows how vital it remains in recollection.’ Observer

‘The characters in this collection share their thoughts and memories with the reader as though with a close friend, and the warmth of their confidences balances against their sadness. We feel we’ve been in the trenches with them, even when a story has gone no farther than the living room.’ Wall Street Journal

‘[A] subtle, empathic collection written with tenderness and gentle humour’, Sydney Morning Herald

‘[S]ome of Graham Swift’s finest stories. … A clever, subtle and satisfying collection’, NZ Listener

'A brilliant, illuminating collection of short fiction, perhaps the author's best’, Kirkus

'Humane, deceptively simple and utterly compelling, this might well be Swift's best book.' Daunt Books 

'These stories, depth charges of love, anguish, resentment, each in their way relating to the effects of WW2, are so good. Swift at his best – and he’s on top form here – has the humanity and wry humour of William Trevor’, Patrick Gale

'Quite wonderful. Such grace and clarity - I'm filled with admiration', Philip Pullman

In the aftermath of the Second World War Private Joseph Caan, a young Jewish soldier stationed in Germany, seeks the truth about lost family members; in the 1960s a father focuses on his daughter’s wedding even as the Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of disaster; in 2001, while planes fly into the Twin Towers, a maid working for US Embassy staff in London wonders if her birth on the day of the Kennedy assassination shaped her life; and at the height of a pandemic lockdown, Dr. Cole, a retired specialist in respiratory disease, returns to work and recalls a formative childhood encounter with illness and much more. These are just a few of the challenged characters we meet in Graham Swift’s Twelve Post-war Tales.

 

Tender, humane, funny and moving, Swift’s latest work of fiction displays his quietly commanding ability to set the personal and the ordinary against the harsh sweep of history. It is an outstanding achievement, confirming his status as one of the great and subtlest voices of our age.

  Praise for Swift's most recent novel, Here We Are   

'A magical piece of writing: the work of a novelist on scintillating form.' Guardian 

 

‘Here We Are smuggles within the pages of a seemingly commonplace tale depths of emotion and narrative complexity that take the breath away.’ Observer 

 

‘The book’s power comes precisely from the fact that it performs its magic in front of your eyes, leaving nowhere to hide . . . you wonder how he does it.’ Financial Times 

 

‘With a wizardry of his own, Swift conjures up an about-to-disappear little world and turns it into something of wider resonance.’ Sunday Times 

 

'Swift has no equal in evoking the atmosphere of an era while probing human psychology with irony and tenderness.' L’Express, France 

 

‘Swift doesn’t write, he whispers’, Corriere della Sera, Italy

 

 “In a dozen pages Swift can embrace a whole life”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany

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Named A Most Anticipated Book by: LitHub * Vulture * Time * A PW 2022 Holiday Gift Pick 

One of: Time's "100 Must-Read Books of 2022" * NPR's 2022 "Books We Love" Vulture's "10 Best Books of 2022"

A Goodreads Readers Choice Award Semifinalist

From acclaimed poet Franny Choi comes a poetry collection for the ends of worlds—past, present, and future. Choi’s third book features poems about historical and impending apocalypses, alongside musings on our responsibilities to each other and visions for our collective survival.

Many have called our time dystopian. But The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On reminds us that apocalypse has already come in myriad ways for marginalized peoples.

With lyric and tonal dexterity, these poems spin backwards and forwards in time--from Korean comfort women during World War II, to the precipice of climate crisis, to children wandering a museum in the future. These poems explore narrative distances and queer linearity, investigating on microscopic scales before soaring towards the universal. As she wrestles with the daily griefs and distances of this apocalyptic world, Choi also imagines what togetherness--between Black and Asian and other marginalized communities, between living organisms, between children of calamity and conquest--could look like. Bringing together Choi's signature speculative imagination with even greater musicality than her previous work, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On ultimately charts new paths toward hope in the aftermaths, and visions for our collective survival

BOOK OF THE DAY

With captivating storytelling and cutting-edge science, neuroscientist Daniel Yon explores the power and the perils of the brain's internal models, offering a provocative look at the hidden forces shaping our thoughts, beliefs, and even our sanity. Prepare to question everything you thought you knew' Daniel Z. Lieberman, author of The Molecule of More

'This book will profoundly change the way you consider your own mind' Lewis Dartnell, bestselling author of The Knowledge, Origins and Being Human

'You will not a find a more up-to-date or more compelling account of how a mind emerges from the brain' Chris Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London

'An engaging, informative, and genuinely entertaining guide to the many weird ways in which our brains create the world we live in' Dean Burnett, author of The Idiot Brain

How does your brain decide what it’s seeing, from the physical world to other people? For decades, scientists have tried to understand how our brains work, not realising that the answer lies much closer to home than it seems.

The latest research in neuroscience and psychology suggests that the brain is doing the same thing that the scientists are: using past experiences to build theories of how the world works, and using these models to predict and make sense of it. Through this process, your brain constructs the reality that you live in.

In this book Daniel Yon takes the research one step further, uncovering how your brain colours your perception of the world, the judgements you make about other people and the beliefs you form about yourself. With transformative applications for how we engage with other communities and approach mental illness, A Trick of The Mind will revolutionise the way you think.

BOOK OF THE DAY

One of the most significant global events in the last forty years has been the rise of China— economically, technologically, politically, and militarily. The question on people's minds for decades has been whether China will replace the United States as a superpower in the near future. But for China, this power must be comprehensive — having strong economic and militant forces are only two pieces of the puzzle. China must also possess soft power, such as attractive ideologies, values, and culture.

China as Number One? explores China's soft powers through the eyes of Chinese citizens. Utilizing data from the World Values Survey, the contributors to this collection analyze the potential soft power of a rising China by examining its residents' social values. A comprehensive study of changes and continuities in the political and social values of Chinese citizens, the book examines findings in the context of evolutionary modernization theory and cross-national comparison.

BOOK OF THE DAY

2019 National Jewish Book Award Finalist"[A] fascinating biography . . . a masterly portrait of a titanic yet unfulfilled man . . . this is a gripping study of power, and the loneliness of power." ―The Economist As the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion long ago secured his reputation as a leading figure of the twentieth century. Determined from an early age to create a Jewish state, he thereupon took control of the Zionist movement, declared Israel’s independence, and navigated his country through wars, controversies and remarkable achievements. And yet Ben-Gurion remains an enigma―he could be driven and imperious, or quizzical and confounding. In this definitive biography, Israel’s leading journalist-historian Tom Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around the man. Segev’s probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion’s relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion’s secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel’s independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional “nutty moments”―from UFO sightings to plans for Israel to acquire territory in South America. Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance, and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers.The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state “at any cost”―at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev’s Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill―a twentieth-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a complex and contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.

BOOK OF THE DAY

An epic, extraordinary account of scientific rivalry and obsession in the quest to survey all of life on Earth—a competition “with continued repercussions for Western views of race. [This] vivid double biography is a passionate corrective” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice).

“[A] vibrant scientific saga . . . at once important, outrageous, enlightening, entertaining, enduring, and still evolving.”—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude

FINALIST FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster’s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France’s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many could fit on Noah’s Ark?

Both fell far short of their goal, but in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, the future of the Earth, and humanity itself. Linnaeus gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate, and Homo sapiens, but he also denied that species change and he promulgated racist pseudoscience. Buffon formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, warned of global climate change, and argued passionately against prejudice. The clash of their conflicting worldviews continued well after their deaths, as their successors contended for dominance in the emerging science that came to be called biology.

In Every Living Thing, Jason Roberts weaves a sweeping, unforgettable narrative spell, exploring the intertwined lives and legacies of Linnaeus and Buffon—as well as the groundbreaking, often fatal adventures of their acolytes—to trace an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.

BOOK OF THE DAY

The Titans of the Twentieth Century addresses an age-old question: what is the impact of individuals on history? The first half of the twentieth century offered political leaders enormous scope for changing the world. This book consists of essays about eight who, for better and for worse, did just that.

Woodrow Wilson had a vision for a cooperative world order that failed after the First World War but gained in influence after the Second.

Vladimir Ilich Lenin founded the totalitarian communist political system that controlled a large part of the planet for much of the twentieth century.

Adolf Hitler started history's worst war and presided over history's worst atrocity, the Holocaust.

Winston Churchill provided inspiring leadership to Great Britain, which made it possible to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.

Franklin D. Roosevelt steered the United States through the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Mohandas Gandhi led the movement, and developed the philosophy of non-violence, that ended British rule in South Asia, paving the way for the end of empires throughout Asia and Africa.

David Ben-Gurion led the miraculous restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land.

Mao Zedong, imposed totalitarian communist rule on China and became history's most egregious mass murderer.

Individually, each chapter offers fresh and often surprising portraits of the twentieth century's titans. Collectively, the essays present a vivid and revealing portrait of a turbulent half-century that shaped the world of today.

BOOK OF THE DAY

*The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism* is a 2007 book by Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein. In the book, Klein argues that neoliberal economic policies promoted by Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics have risen to global prominence because of a deliberate strategy she calls "disaster capitalism". In this strategy, political actors exploit the chaos of natural disasters, wars, and other crises to push through unpopular policies such as deregulation and privatization. This economic "shock therapy" favors corporate interests while disadvantaging and disenfranchising citizens when they are too distracted and overwhelmed to respond or resist effectively. The book challenges the narrative that free market capitalist policies have been welcomed by the inhabitants of regions where they have been implemented, and it argues that several man-made events, including the Iraq War, were intentionally undertaken with the goal of pushing through these unpopular policies in their wake.

Some reviewers claimed the book oversimplifies political phenomena, while others lauded it as a compelling and important work. The book served as the main source of a 2009 documentary feature film with the same title directed by Michael Winterbottom2009 book by Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein. In the book, Klein argues that neoliberal economic policies promoted by Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics have risen to global prominence because of a deliberate strategy she calls "disaster capitalism". In this strategy, political actors exploit the chaos of natural disasters, wars, and other crises to push through unpopular policies such as deregulation and privatization. This economic "shock therapy" favors corporate interests while disadvantaging and disenfranchising citizens when they are too distracted and overwhelmed to respond or resist effectively. The book challenges the narrative that free market capitalist policies have been welcomed by the inhabitants of regions where they have been implemented, and it argues that several man-made events, including the Iraq War, were intentionally undertaken with the goal of pushing through these unpopular policies in their wake.

Some reviewers claimed the book oversimplifies political phenomena, while others lauded it as a compelling and important work. The book served as the main source of a 2009 documentary feature film with the same title directed by Michael Winterbottom.

*Grateful thanks to WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA*

BOOK OF THE DAY

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
“Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick,
as heard on Fresh Air

This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.
 
In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.

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BOOK OF THE DAY

*Book overview*

The true story of United States Marine Private First Class Combat Medic Desmond Doss who saved over 75 men on Hacksaw Ridge during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. A story of principle, heroism and bravery only a very few men can bring out in the face of true war.

Now a movie:

BOOK OF THE DAY

Book overview

There are around 6000 people in the world today who owe their lives to Nicholas Winton. This book explores the influences on his character as well as the historical events he was caught up in. Taken from his historical letters and writings, Winton's own words are introduced to convey the atmosphere of many of his diverse experiences.

Movie based on this book:

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*Book overview*

2022 Reprint of the 1926 Edition. Includes numerous illustrations. Exact facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. The Universal One is Walter Russell's first expression of his new Cosmology explaining the Mind-centered electric universe. Though he would revise his theory somewhat over the years, this is the first and basic description of his new Cosmology. Lavishing illustrated, it sets out his views on God, the Universe, matter and Man's place in the world as he searches for a path to god. In this 1926 historic volume, Walter Russell first reveals the possibility of transmutation of the elements. This illustrated treatise is Russell's scientific explanation of God's ways and processes in the construction of the Universe and provides a guide for illuminating Man's proper way of living during the long journey to the Light of God.

Contents: Part I: Creation; The Life Principle; Mind, The One Universal Substance; Thinking Mind; The Process of Thinking; Thinking Registered in Matter; Concerning Appearances; The Sex Principle; Sex Opposites of Light; The Reproductive Principle; Energy Transmission; A Finite Universe; A Dimensionless Universe; Concerning Dimension; The Formula of Locked Potentials; Universal Oneness; Omnipresence; Omnipotence; Omniscience.

Part II: Dynamics of Mind & Light Units of Matter; Electricity and Magnetism; New Concepts of Electricity and Magnetism; Electricity; The Elements of Matter; The Octave Cycle of the Elements of Matter; The Instability and the Illusion of Stability of Matter; The Universal Pulse; Concerning Energy; Electro-Magnetic Pressure; Attraction and Repulsion; Gravitation and Radiation; Expressions of Gravitation and Radiation - Universal Direction; Universal Mathematics & Ratios; Charging & Discharging Poles; The Wave; Time; Temperature; Color; Universal Mechanics; Rotation; Revolution; Crystallization; Plane and Ecliptic; Ionization; Valence; Tone; Conclusion; New Laws and Principles