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Generative AI with LangChain: Build production ready LLM applications and advanced agents using Python and LangGraph
by Ben Auffarth Leonid KuliginBeyond foundational LangChain documentation and LangGraph interfaces, learn enterprise patterns, key design pattern to build AI agents, battle-tested strategies, and proven architectures used in production. Ideal for Python developers building generative AI at scale. Key FeaturesGet to grips with building AI agents with LangGraphLearn about enterprise-grade testing, observability, and LLM evaluation frameworksCover RAG implementation with cutting-edge retrieval strategies and new reliability techniquesPurchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBookBook DescriptionThis revised edition builds a foundation in agentic AI, LLM fundamentals, LangChain, & LangGraph for developers at all levels. Fully updated to cover the latest in LangChain and production LLM applications, it captures the evolving ecosystem and enterprise deployment landscape. New coverage includes multi-agent architectures, LangGraph interfaces, robust RAG techniques with hybrid search, re-rankers, and advanced fact-checking mechanisms, plus enterprise-grade testing frameworks. It provides coverage of key design patterns behind agentic systems, practical implementations of multi-agent systems for complex tasks. Explore cutting-edge agent strategies such as Tree of Thought, multi-agent orchestration, detailed error handling, and structured output generation. Coverage dedicated to evaluation, testing, and production deployment reflect the maturing LLM application landscape. Design secure, compliant AI systems with built-in production safeguards, responsible development practices, and a perspective on future research directions.The enhanced RAG coverage features techniques like hybrid search, re-rankers, and fact-checking mechanisms. Whether upgrading existing LLM applications or building new enterprise-scale solutions, by the end of the book, you will have updated knowledge on the practical patterns needed for production successWhat you will learnDesign and implement refined multi-agent systems using LangGraph Enterprise-grade testing and evaluation frameworks for LLM applications Deploy production-ready observability and monitoring solutions Build RAG systems with hybrid search and re-ranking capabilities Implement agents for software development and data analysis Work with latest LLMs and providers Google Gemini, Anthropic and Mistral, DeepSeek, and OpenAI o3-miniOptimize cost and performance across different deployment typesDesign secure, compliant AI systems with current best practicesWho this book is forThe book is for developers, researchers, and anyone interested in learning more about LangChain and LangGraph, wanting to build production-ready LLM applications. This book emphasizes on enterprise deployment patterns, making it especially valuable for teams implementing LLM solutions at scale. While the first edition focused on individual developers, this version also caters to engineering teams and decision-makers implementing enterprise-wide LLM strategies. Basic knowledge of Python is a prerequisite, while prior exposure to machine learning will help you follow along more easily.
Expert Data Modeling with Power BI, Second Edition: Enrich and optimize your data models to get the best out of Power BI for reporting and business needs
by Soheil BakhshiTake your Power BI reports to the next level by learning various data modeling techniques and leveraging the latest features of Power BI effectively Get With Your Book: PDF Copy, AI Assistant, and Next-Gen Reader FreeKey FeaturesGet an understanding of data modeling techniques using Power BI with this up-to-date guideLearn how to define the relationships between data sets to extract valuable insightsExplore best practices for data preparation and modeling and build optimal data models to solve a wide variety of real-world business challengesBook DescriptionThis book is a comprehensive guide to understanding the ins and outs of data modeling and how to create full-fledged data models using Power BI confidently. In this new, fully updated edition, you'll learn how to connect data from multiple sources, understand data, define and manage relationships between data, and shape data models to gain deep and detailed insights about your organization. As you advance through the chapters, the book will demonstrate how to prepare efficient data models in the Power Query Editor and use simpler DAX code with new data modeling features. You'll explore how to use the various data modeling and navigation techniques and perform custom calculations using the modeling features with the help of real-world examples. Finally, you'll learn how to use some new and advanced modeling features to enhance your data models to carry out a wide variety of complex tasks. Additionally, you'll learn valuable best practices and explore common data modeling complications and the solutions to supercharge the process of creating a data model in Power BI and build better-performing data models. By the end of this Power BI book, you'll have gained the skills you need to structure data coming from multiple sources in different ways to create optimized data models that support high-performing reports and data analytics.What you will learnImplement virtual tables and time intelligence functionalities in DAX to build a powerful modelIdentify Dimension and Fact tables and implement them in Power Query EditorDeal with advanced data preparation scenarios while building Star SchemaDiscover different hierarchies and their common pitfallsUnderstand complex data models and how to decrease the level of model complexity with different approachesLearn advanced data modeling techniques such as calculation groups, aggregations, incremental refresh, RLS/OLS, and moreGet well-versed with datamarts and dataflows in PowerBIWho this book is forThis MS Power BI book is for BI users, data analysts, and analysis developers who want to become well-versed with data modeling techniques to make the most of Power BI. Basic working knowledge of Power BI and the Star Schema functionality are required to help you to understand the concepts covered in this book.
The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches
by Bernie MachenA selection of speeches from UF's 11th president Bernie Machen, offering insights on public higher education and its challenges and changes "Write your own story. Find the strength, whatever your hardships, to tell the powerful story within each of you. Write the best stories you can for your families, your communities, and your country. Live the biographies everyone will read."—Remarks to Palm Beach County’s most accomplished graduating seniors at the Scholastic Achievement Foundation of Palm Beach County"We injure our humanity in discriminating against others, and we deny ourselves the richness of experience on this earth. We cannot be the nation we want to be, or the university we want to be, without everyone participating in equal measure."—Remarks at a reception for Federal Judge Stephan P. Mickle, the first black student to earn an undergraduate degree from UF"Science is far from perfect, but it’s all we have. When you shine a light on scientists and their work, revealing both the strengths and the flaws, you beat back the darkness and denial that offer no future."—Remarks to the National Association of Science WritersThe modern university is a beacon for students, a home for scholars, a hub of culture in the community, an engine of discovery, an economic force—a place of many purposes, all facing change or reinvention. This selection of speeches from University of Florida's 11th president Bernie Machen, with executive speechwriter Aaron Hoover, offers insights on public higher education and its challenges from the helm of one of the largest land-grant universities in the country.The Purposes of the University sheds light on many upheavals within academia. Machen defended against legislative pressures and criticism of the liberal arts and sciences, cemented the university's bonds with donors as public funding crumbled, worked to maintain student diversity post-affirmative action, sought to define innovation as a central mission, led a major turn toward sustainability, and forged new educational models online and on campus. The speeches in this volume also highlight milestones and key moments at UF, from the expansion of the campus to mediation of town-gown relations to the launch of research projects all over the world. They offer candid portraits of the life and people of the university and its hometown of Gainesville, celebrating iconic figures like Gatorade inventor Robert Cade and campus personalities such as UF's longest-serving employee, Betty Jones. And they include reflections on university life: tributes to the first black students, the history of the marching band, the trees of the historic campus, and the legacy of student veterans who enrolled after returning from the nation's wars.Perhaps the most traditional public role for university presidents is to encourage and help students. In his speeches—at commencements, convocations, and other events across the state—Machen aimed to inspire and to celebrate young people and their passion. On topics both weighty and whimsical, his perspective combines openness to change with full faith in the university and its many purposes.
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
by Norman DoidgeWhat is neuroplasticity? Is it possible to change your brain? Norman Doidge’s inspiring guide to the new brain science explains all of this and more. An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable, and proving that it is, in fact, possible to change your brain. Psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity, its healing powers, and the people whose lives they’ve transformed—people whose mental limitations, brain damage or brain trauma were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.
Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco
by John BaranskiSan Francisco has always had an affordable housing problem. Starting in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake and ending with the dot-com boom, Housing the City by the Bay considers the history of one proposed answer to the city's ongoing housing crisis: public housing. John Baranski follows the ebbs and flows of San Francisco's public housing program: the Progressive Era and New Deal reforms that led to the creation of the San Francisco Housing Authority in 1938, conflicts over urban renewal and desegregation, and the federal and local efforts to privatize government housing at the turn of the twenty-first century. This history of public housing sheds light on changing attitudes towards liberalism, the welfare state, and the economic and civil rights attached to citizenship. Baranski details the ways San Francisco residents turned to the public housing program to build class-based political movements in a multi-racial city and introduces us to the individuals—community activists, politicians, reformers, and city employees—who were continually forced to seek new strategies to achieve their aims as the winds of federal legislation shifted. Ultimately, Housing the City by the Bay advances the idea that public housing remains a vital part of the social and political landscape, intimately connected to the struggle for economic rights in urban America.
To Sin No More: Franciscans and Conversion in the Hispanic World, 1683-1830
by David Rex GalindoFor 300 years, Franciscans were at the forefront of the spread of Catholicism in the New World. In the late seventeenth century, Franciscans developed a far-reaching, systematic missionary program in Spain and the Americas. After founding the first college of propaganda fide in the Mexican city of Querétaro, the Franciscan Order established six additional colleges in New Spain, ten in South America, and twelve in Spain. From these colleges Franciscans proselytized Indians in frontier territories as well as Catholics in rural and urban areas in eighteenth-century Spain and Spanish America. To Sin No More is the first book to study these colleges, their missionaries, and their multifaceted, sweeping missionary programs. By focusing on the recruitment of non-Catholics to Catholicism as well as the deepening of religious fervor among Catholics, David Rex Galindo shows how the Franciscan colleges expanded and shaped popular Catholicism in the eighteenth-century Spanish Atlantic world. This book explores the motivations driving Franciscan friars, their lives inside the colleges, their training, and their ministry among Catholics, an often-overlooked duty that paralleled missionary deployments. Rex Galindo argues that Franciscan missionaries aimed to reform or "reawaken" Catholic parishioners just as much as they sought to convert non-Christian Indians.
Polostan: Volume One of Bomb Light (Bomb Light #1)
by Neal StephensonFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Termination Shock and Cryptonomicon, the first installment in a monumental new series—an expansive historical epic of intrigue and international espionage, presaging the dawn of the Atomic Age.The first installment in Neal Stephenson’s Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora. She spends her early years in Russia but then grows up as a teenager in Montana, before being drawn into gunrunning and revolution in the streets of Washington, D.C., during the depths of the Great Depression. When a surprising revelation about her past puts her in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities, Dawn returns to Russia, where she is groomed as a spy by the organization that later becomes the KGB.Set against the turbulent decades of the early twentieth century, Polostan is an inventive, richly detailed, and deeply entertaining historical epic, and the start of a captivating new series from Neal Stephenson.
Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House
by Jonathan Allen Amie ParnesINSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER"Brutal." —Huffington Post"Scathing." —New York Post"[D]epicts Biden's decline in vivid detail." —Politico“So many revelations.” —Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe"Bombshell." —Jesse Watters, host of FOX’s Jesse Watters PrimetimeThe authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller Shattered provide a revelatory, inside look at the Biden, Harris, and Trump camps during the 2024 battle for the White House, arguably the most consequential contest in American history.The ride was so wild that it forced a sitting president to drop his re-election bid, a once and future president to survive felony convictions and a would-be assassin’s bullet, and a vice president, unexpectedly thrust into the arena, to mount an unprecedented 107-day campaign to lead the free world. Fight is the backstage story of bloodsport politics in its rawest form—the clawing, backstabbing, and rabble-rousing that drove Donald Trump into the White House and Democrats into the wilderness. At every turn, the combatants went for the jugular, whether they were facing down rivals in the other party or their own. Bestselling authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes give readers their first graphic view of the characters, their motivations, and their innermost thoughts as they battled to claim the ultimate prize and define a political era. Based on real-time interviews with more than 150 insiders—from the Trump, Harris, and Biden inner circles, as well as party leaders and operatives—Fight delivers the vivid and stunning tale of an election unlike any other.In the end, Trump overcame voters’ concerns about his personal flaws by tapping into a deep vein of dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. At the same time, Democrats struggled to connect with an electorate that felt gaslit by Biden’s insistence that he had delivered economic prosperity—and his pledge to be a “bridge” president. He tore his party asunder, leaving destroyed personal relationships in his wake, as he clung to power. And when he gave it up, he kneecapped Harris by demanding unprecedented loyalty from her.As Allen and Parnes have done in the #1 New York Times bestseller Shattered and Lucky, they provide readers with a skeleton key to the rooms where it all happened, revealing a story more shocking than previously reported.
No Exit: A Novel
by Taylor AdamsSoon to be a Hulu original film: a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller about a determined young woman who struggles to save a kidnapped child while trapped in a blizzard—and who must unmask and outwit a deviously twisted psychopath before it’s too late.A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.But who can she trust?With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.
The Cider House Rules
by John IrvingAn American classic first published in 1985 by William Morrow and adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, The Cider House Rules is among John Irving's most beloved novels. Set in rural Maine in the first half of the twentieth century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch—saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud's, ether addict and abortionist. It is also the story of Dr. Larch's favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.“A novel as good as one could hope to find from any author, anywhere, anytime. Engrossing, moving, thoroughly satisfying.” —Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22
Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians
by Eugene H. PetersonEugene Peterson’s vibrant, unforgettable exploration of one of the most memorable—and controversial—figures in Scripture: King David. The David story is the most extensively narrated single story in the Bible, and the Old Testaments reveals him both at his best and his worst. He is known as a shepherd, a psalmist, a fugitive, a war hero, a murderer, and a king whose legacy is marked by victories and moral failings alike. Peterson’s multi-dimensional portrait of this “man after God’s own heart” studies David’s humanity and examines his key relationships such as those with Saul, Goliath, Jonathan, Bathsheba, and Absolom. Uncompromisingly honest and remarkably insightful, Leap Over a Wall offers the hope that every event in David’s life was a confrontation with God, just as our every experience can hold divine encounter. A vision brought to life by one of the world’s most respected and influential theologians, the author of The Pastor, The Jesus Way, Practice Resurrection, and The Message, Leap Over a Wall is a unique opportunity to reconnect with David, a man simultaneously admirable, soulful, and dark, and one of the most complex and vital characters of the greatest story ever written. Ideal for personal devotional use, Bible study, or small group study.
Stealing Dad
by Sofka Zinovieff'Funny, sad and beautifully written' Telegraph'I was completely absorbed from the beginning' Mary Portas'A brilliant depiction of a complex sprawling family with a charismatic lovable rogue at its centre. It is both tragic and funny, but ultimately heartwarming' Lily DunnWhat do you do when you're not allowed to attend your father's funeral? This is the question facing Alekos's far-flung children from many marriages when the successful, if controversial, Greek sculptor dies in London. His last wife and now widow is determined that they stay away, but for the first time, all the sisters and brothers meet up and plan to take matters into their own hands.Wonderfully written and sharply funny, Stealing Dad tells the unlikely story of a dysfunctional family coming together in tragic yet hilarious ways, from acclaimed author of Putney, Sofka Zinovieff.
Captain de Havilland's Moth: Tales of High Adventure from the Golden Age of Aviation
by Alexander NormanA nostalgic celebration of the golden age of aviation - and the iconic DH60 Moth in its centenary year'Vivid and entertaining' TLS'A wonderfully affecting, highly entertaining, at times elegiac account of a legendary aircraft' JOHN NICHOL'A joy... Alexander Norman brings to life a golden era in aviation history in such a vivid and entertaining way' ROWLAND WHITEThe most iconic of all light aircraft, the DH60 Moth was the brain-child of Geoffrey de Havilland, visionary son of an angry and disappointed Victorian clergyman. A successful designer of military aircraft, Geoffrey dreamed of doing for aircraft what Ford had done for cars. The emergence of his Moth in February 1925 marked the beginning of an important but neglected episode in British social history - the craze for flying which gripped a war-weary world for more than a decade. The most successful aircraft of its era, the Moth was the one in which people had the greatest adventures. And it was the Moth which showed that flying was safe, practical and, potentially, open to all. True, many early Mothists were uber-privileged. The Prince of Wales had one, as did his brother, the Duke of Gloucester. Beryl Markham, who had affairs with both, learned to fly in a Moth. But Laura Ingalls, who did 980 successive loops in hers, Aspy Engineer, the Indian schoolboy who won the Aga Khan Trophy in his and Amy Johnson, the typist from Hull who flew hers to Australia showed that, to be a pilot, you didn't need to be a superhero or super wealthy. Just a little mad, perhaps. Captain de Havilland's Moth brings to life a golden age in aviation and an astonishing cast of characters whose courage, determination and epic eccentricity is shown in the light of what it is actually like to fly these remarkable aeroplanes.
Sum of Us: A History of the UK in Data
by Georgina SturgeWhat has data ever done for us?Georgina Sturge, House of Commons Library statistician and author of the critically acclaimed Bad Data, explores the rich history of the times the UK has counted itself - from the revolutionary first census of 1801 to modern worries over technological surveillance.Condensing a whole society into numbers brought hidden problems to light: mapping cholera deaths in Soho led researchers to a single deadly water pump; Florence Nightingale stunned the Victorian establishment with her diagrams showing disease was the soldier's hidden enemy; and the discovery that industries like firework-making were almost entirely staffed by women helped improve workers' rights.The census also reveals the people left out of the nation's story. Records reveal the remarkable presence of escaped American slaves living in nineteenth century Leeds, and that by 1901 there were 600 professional Italian cooks in the UK. More recent data has acknowledged religion, ethnicity, and LGBT identity for the first time. Sturge also tracks those who have resisted the state's attempts at tabulation - people burning survey forms, stripping naked in protest and, in the case of 500 Suffragettes, avoiding the 1911 census by skating all night round Aldwych roller rink.Full of fascinating social detail, Sum of Us draws out the human stories captured in the vast tangle of data the UK has collected over two centuries. It provides a vital snapshot not of who we imagine ourselves to be - but who we really are.
Young Bloods (The Wellington and Napoleon Quartet #1)
by Simon ScarrowYOUNG BLOODS is the first gripping novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Wellington and Napoleon quartet. Perfect for fans of Robert Harris.Arthur Wesley (the future Duke of Wellington) was born and bred to be a leader. With a firm belief that the nation must be led by a king, the red-coated British officer heads for battle against the French Republic, to restore the fallen monarchy.Napoleon Bonaparte joins the French military on the eve of the Revolution. He believes leadership is won by merit, not by noble birth. When anarchy explodes in Paris he's thrust into the revolutionary army poised to march against Britain.As two mighty Empires embark on a bloody duel, Wesley and Bonaparte prepare to face a sworn enemy, unaware that the fate of Europe will one day lie in their hands...
Far from Eutopia: How Europe is failing – and Britain could do better
by Ross ClarkIn 2020, after three and a half years of bitter negotiations, Britain left the European Union. For some it was a day of freedom, for others a tragedy which would leave Britain isolated and poorer. Vote Brexit, the Remain campaign warned us, and it would be an act of self-harm. The economy would collapse, sending prices and unemployment soaring. Meanwhile, in contrast to xenophobic, inward-looking Britain, the EU would soar ahead without us.But is that really what has happened? Ross Clark reveals just how badly the EU is doing - and how in many ways Britain is doing better. Since Brexit, for example, the UK economy has grown faster than Germany's. In spite of inflation which followed the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, Britain has the lowest food prices in Europe. The air is cleaner than in many countries. Despite recent events surveys suggest there is less racism and xenophobia in Britain than in almost any other European country.For years, European economies have been far more sluggish than those of other developed countries. In the absence of economic growth and with high migration, European societies are strained. The far right is advancing and public disillusionment with the EU growing quickly. While Britain shares many of Europe's problems to a greater or less extent, this hard-hitting polemic argues that it now has the means to disentangle itself from the EU's draw strings set off on a more prosperous path.
Beliefism: How to stop hating the people we disagree with
by Paul Dolan'Brilliant, wise, humane, scientific, and kind. Beliefism is exactly what the doctor ordered - and it could change the world' Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University"Repeated throughout is the fine principle that whatever position you wish to argue on an issue, you must be honest about what bad effects, as well as good, will follow." Steven Poole, The TimesBeliefism (noun): Discrimination against people who disagree with us Do you avoid people who are strongly against immigration? Or strongly for trans rights? Against abortion? For drug legalisation? We might like to think that we're tolerant, but many of us struggle to engage with people whose opinions differ strongly from our own-even if they might have something useful to contribute to the debate. That means we're falling victim to what behavioural scientist Professor Paul Dolan defines as Beliefism: discrimination against those with different beliefs to us.Drawing on the evidence from across the social sciences, Dolan shows how easy it is for us to divide ourselves into opposing camps - and how harmful that can be. Using the central metaphor of the duck-rabbit illusion-where the same image can be viewed as one animal or the other-the book shows that looking at an issue from only one perspective can lead to bad decisions and unnecessary conflict. The world would be a better place if there was less beliefism and Dolan shows how more tolerance is only possible "by design". We need to embed less beliefism into our organisations and lives and he provides a checklist called EMBRACE to help us do that.Combining curiosity, irreverence and warmth, Beliefism is a definitive behavioural science take by a leader in his field. Whether it's among friends, at university or at work, being less beliefist will make you a better partner or parent, and a more effective buddy or boss.
Edith's Story: The true story of how one young girl escaped the Holocaust (Virago Modern Classics #822)
by Edith VelmansTHE EXTRAORDINARY TRUE STORY OF HOW ONE YOUNG GIRL ESCAPED THE HOLOCAUST'It holds you with the same intensity as The Diary of Anne Frank and leaves you heart-broken, illuminated, and amazed at the capacity for courage' GUARDIAN***'I never realised that there could be such suffering in the world, and that anyone could live through it' - from Edith's diary, 1st July 1945After Germany occupied the Netherlands in 1940, fourteen-year-old Edith was still filling her diary with carefree stories of school, parties and boys. But her entries soon record a darkening world. By 1942, as the Nazis escalated their persecution of the Jewish population, Edith began a bitter struggle to survive.Hidden in plain sight but a courageous Christian family, with a German officer billeted in the next room, Edith faced the horrors of war under constant threat of discovery and betrayal. Weaving together Edith's diaries with letters smuggled between family members and her own memories, this extraordinary memoir of 'the Anne Frank who lived' is a profoundly moving account of grief, loss, courage - and one girl's remarkable belief in humanity in the face of despair.WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ESTHER FREUD 'One of the best and most moving memoirs I have ever read' RUTH RENDELL'It's impossible to get through this inspiring and great-hearted volume dry-eyed' WASHINGTON POST'Both memoir and meditation, it is moving and wise . . . neither sanguine nor sentimental about the Holocaust and man's capacity for evil' LINDA HOLT, INDEPENDENT'Truly moving . . . leaving one with great hope in humanity' THE TIMESA VIRAGO MODERN CLASSIC
In the Rhododendrons: A Memoir with Appearances by Virginia Woolf
by Heather Christle'IN THE RHODODENDRONS is vital consolation, amidst the amidst. It's a triumph, an instant classic. Christle has become one of our art's most urgent living practitioners' Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!When Heather Christle realises that she, her mother, and Virginia Woolf share a traumatic history, she begins to rewrite and intertwine each of their stories, in search of a more hopeful narrative and a future she can live with.When Heather Christle realises that she, her mother, and Virginia Woolf share a traumatic history, she begins to rewrite and intertwine each of their stories, in search of a more hopeful narrative and a future she can live with.On a recent visit to London's Kew Gardens, Christle's mother revealed details of a painful story from her past that took place there, under circumstances that strangely paralleled Heather's own sexual assault during a visit to London as a teenager.Her private, British mother's revelation - a rare burst of vulnerability in their strained relationship - propels Christle down a deep and destabilising rabbit hole of investigation, as she both reads and wanders the streets of her mother's past, peeling back the layers of family mythologies, England's sanctioned historical narratives, and her own buried memories. Over the course of several trips to London, with and without her mother, she visits her family's 'birthday hill' in Kew Gardens, the now-public homes of the Bloomsbury set, the archives of the British Library, and the backyard garden where Woolf wrote her final sentence. All the while, she finds that Woolf and her writings not only constantly seem to connect and overlap with her mother's story, but also that the author becomes a kind of vital intermediary: a sometimes confidante, sometimes mentor, sometimes distancing lens through which Christle can safely observe her mother and their experiences.Wide-ranging and prismatic, the fruit of an insatiably curious, delightfully brilliant mind, In the Rhododendrons is part memoir, part biography of Virginia Woolf, part reckoning with the things we cannot change and the ways we can completely transform, if we dare. This utterly original book will stir readers into new ways of seeing their own lives.
This Ends in Embers (So Let Them Burn)
by Kamilah ColePerfect for fans of Raybearer and Fourth Wing, this astonishing sequel to the bestselling novel So Let Them Burn doesn't hold back. After all, there are no easy endings in war-especially when sisters are forced to fight on opposite sides.Faron Vincent was once the saint of San Irie. Now, she's done the unthinkable: betrayed her country. Alone, disgraced, and kidnapped, Faron is forced to help Iya grow his bloody empire. With her soul bonded to a ruthless killer, Faron has become an enemy to her people... and she fears they might be right.Elara Vincent-the new Empyrean-must undo the damage her sister has caused. San Irie has been brought back to the brink of war as Iya proclaims no nation will be safe from his brutal invasion. But how can Elara save her sister, her best friend, her country, and her world when she's already cracking under the pressure?This heart-pounding conclusion to the Divine Traitors duology pushes these unforgettable heroines to their breaking point and beyond. Because when the lines between hero and villain are blurred, deadly sacrifices must be made.
Invisible Helix: A new Detective Galileo from the author of the bestselling The Devotion of Suspect X (Detective Galileo Series)
by Keigo Higashino'The Japanese Stieg Larsson' The TimesDetective Galileo, Keigo Higashino's best loved character from The Devotion of Suspect X, returns in a case where hidden history, and impossible crime, are linked by nearly invisible threads in surprising ways. The body of a young man is found floating in Tokyo Bay. But his death was no accident-Ryota Uetsuji was shot. He'd been reported missing the week before by his live-in girlfriend Sonoka Shimauchi, but when detectives from the Homicide Squad go to interview her, she is nowhere to be found. She's taken time off from work, clothes and effects are missing from the apartment she shared. And when the detectives learn that she was the victim of domestic abuse, they presume that she was the killer. But her alibi is airtight-she was hours away in Kyoto when Ryota disappeared, forcing Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi to restart their investigation. But if Sonoko didn't kill her abusive lover, then who did? A thin thread of association leads them to their old consultant, brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa, known in the department as "Detective Galileo." With Sonoko still missing, the detectives investigate other threads of association-an eccentric artist, who was Sonoko's mother figure after her own single mother passed; and an older woman who is the owner of a hostess club. And how is Sonoko continuing to stay one step ahead of the police searching for her? It's up to Galileo to find the nearly hidden threads of history and coincidence that connect the people around the bloody murder- which, surprisingly, connect to his own traumatic past-to unravel not merely the facts of the crime but the helix that ties them all together.
(Un)kind: How 'Be Kind' Entrenches Sexism
by Victoria Smith'Victoria Smith is a brilliant writer who every feminist should read' Sharron Davies'This brilliant book shows how demands for compassion and generosity can be a mask for sexist ideology' Susanna RustinA brilliantly witty and insightful analysis of how kindness culture is used against women. Using the #JustBeKind trend of the 2020s as a starting point, (Un)kind explores how traditional beliefs about women's 'kind' nature have been repackaged for an age that remains dependent - socially, politically, economically - on female self-sacrifice while finding the concept outdated and essentialist. Looking at the various guises under which kindness culture is sold to women and girls - from play to self-help, social justice activism to empowerment - Victoria Smith argues that the pressure on women and girls has not decreased, but instead been incorporated into the 'work' of feminism. (Un)kind analyses the way in which this phenomenon ultimately distorts relationships, harming not just those coerced into performing 'kindness work' but the supposed recipients of their services.Kindness culture supports the backlash against feminism while claiming to represent feminism's - and women's - true nature. It is, at heart, unkind.'Erudite, blisteringly smart and profoundly compassionate... A must-read for anyone hungry to understand the origins and dangers of contemporary exhortations to women to #BeKind, and for everyone who wants to live a feminist life' Dr Rachel HewittPRAISE FOR HAGS'The greatest joy of Hags is its lively erudition . . . eloquent, clever and devastating' The Times 'A book that could not be more necessary' Observer 'Brilliantly witty, engaging and insightful' Scotsman
The Outcast Mage: an unmissable epic fantasy debut packed with adventure, magic and dragonfire (Book One of the Shattered Lands)
by Annabel Campbell'Truly enchanting' Trudi CanavanThe Outcast Mage is an unmissable epic fantasy debut, packed with adventure, mystery and dragonfire, where a young mage's struggle to master her magical powers could spell disaster for an entire continentIn the glass city of Amoria, magic is everything. And Naila, student at the city's academy, is running out of time to prove she can control hers. If she fails, she'll be forced into exile . . . or consumed by her own power.When a tragic incident threatens her place at the Academy, Naila is saved by Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage. Haelius risks his reputation to help her to harness her abilities, but he has many enemies who desire him - and Naila - to fail. Trapped in the deadly schemes of Amoria's elite, Naila must discover the truth of her powers, or watch Amoria descend into civil war.For there is danger brewing on the wind, and greater forces at work across the wider world. Forces who could use her powers for good . . . or destroy everything she's ever known.'The Outcast Mage is a spectacular debut, full of heart and magic, with complex, courageous characters and a blossoming underdog you cannot help but cheer on. Campbell is a shining new talent in fantasy' Cameron Johnston'Disaster wizards galore, rich political intrigue, and a hint of dragonfire, The Outcast Mage reminds me why I love epic fantasy so much. If you like Trudi Canavan and Garth Nix, you're going to adore this' Georgia Summers 'With stakes as high as the glittering glass towers of Amoria, The Outcast Mage is a strong, pathos-filled start to an epic new fantasy series. Fans of political maneuvering, powerful magic and found family will find much to love' Julie Leong'Annabel Campbell has created a rich fantasy, textured with complex politics and mysteries upon mysteries' Joma WestThe Outcast Mage is a shining joy of a book. In a deft twist on epic fantasy, Campbell spins a captivating world out of glass and sand, and populates it with people who are brave and flawed and truly human' Lorraine Wilson
Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice
by Steve CrawshawLONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 MOORE PRIZE IN HUMAN RIGHTS WRITING'Prosecuting The Powerful isn't just compelling and very moving, it has all the force of a well-crafted thriller. I literally couldn't stop reading it,' John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor'A compelling account of a revolutionary moment in history,' Philippe Sands, The Spectator 'Powerful, timely and moving,' Baroness Helena Kennedy KC'A tour de force,' Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 News'Absolutely brilliant,' Nick CohenGuardian Book of the DayCould we ever see Vladimir Putin in the dock for his crimes? What about a Western ally like Benjamin Netanyahu? Putting a country's leader on trial once seemed unimaginable. But as Steve Crawshaw describes in Prosecuting the Powerful - a blend of powerful eyewitness reporting and gripping history - the possibilities of justice have been transformed.Crawshaw includes recent stories from the front lines of justice in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine and at The Hague, as well as his earlier encounters with war criminals like Slobodan Milošević. He tells the stories of those who have demanded protection for civilians and accountability for war criminals - from the Swiss businessman who is the reason why we have the Geneva Conventions today and the prosecutors at Nuremberg to the Syrian police photographer who helped put one of Bashar al-Assad's torturers behind bars. He also follows the extraordinary unfolding story of two of the world's most powerful and well-connected leaders currently under indictment at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. From Gaza to Bucha and beyond, survivors seek justice for the crimes committed against them. But for that to happen, governments must finally abandon their double standards and have the courage to support prosecutions of those who commit atrocities, whether opponents or allies. For all the current darkness, this is a historic opportunity. The scales of justice can and must be balanced. Now is the moment.
Fish Tales (Virago Modern Classics #824)
by Nettie JonesTHE DAZZLING LOST CLASSIC*A Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2025**A Cosmopolitan Best Book for April 2025**A New York Times Book Review Most-Anticipated Book of the Spring**A Time Best Book of the Month*Acquired by Toni Morrison, championed by Gayl Jones, and almost forgotten for forty years, FISH TALES is a fierce, fearless modern classic for our own fragmented times.***'Candid, fast and alive' RAVEN LEILANI'Fast, fearless, so full of life it practically vibrates in your hands' JUSTIN TORRES'Wondrous and outrageous, real and incandescent and alive' BRYAN WASHINGTONLewis Jones is a party girl on the edge. Bankrolled by her husband Woody and accompanied by her fellow hedonist Kitty Kat, a hustler who knows all the best spots, Lewis bounces between the demimonde of 70s New York and affluent Black Detroit in a fractured haze of lovers, cocaine parties and champagne baths. But her wild pursuit of freedom is upended when she meets the handsome, erudite, cruel Brook - the only man who won't allow her to take control.A kaleidoscopic swirl of sex and exploitation, selfhood and self-destruction, this lost classic is an unnervingly contemporary depiction of the collision between identity, freedom and female desire - perfect for fans of In the Cut, Oreo, Luster and I'm a Fan.'Fish Tales will certainly dazzle you, and it might even scandalize you, but it never tells a lie' ANGELA FLOURNOY'A novel of desire, pleasure, drugs and sex . . . We'll all be better for it having been rediscovered' LITERARY HUB'Nettie Jones's voice is astonishing. It leaps off the page like a panther . . . Unlike anything I've ever read' New York Times Book Review'A cult classic . . . [A] sharp, fast-paced look at the highs and lows of the human heart' The Atlantic