ODY New Books Collection

Who Knows You by Heart

"Part social thriller, part modern love story, Who Knows You by Heart is a sly, witty, and endlessly discussable tale of Big Tech, new money, relationships, race, and discovering what's real in an age of artificial intelligence."-- Provided by publisher

Midnight in Memphis

"1955, Memphis. Homicide detective Burdett Vance is trying to outrun his past, but working in the homicide division always ends up bringing in new waves of horror. Now an unknown killer is reaping retribution for decades of lynching by targeting the daughters of rich white families in Memphis. When Vance is assigned to the case, he's also put in charge of a new trainee, Officer Eustace Johnson. EustaceJohnson has been recently "promoted" and as one of the few Black men on the force this is the latest publicity stunt of the police department. Forced to work together, Vance and Johnson must catch the rampaging killer in a city roiling with racial injustice and a fight to control the crumbling local politics. Then Emmeline Bryce, Vance's old flame, becomes the killer's next target. With Emme's life on the line, Vance and Johnson must confront their deepest fears and darkest desires before the city ignites into chaos and the blissful vision of a better future disappears forever."-- Provided by publisher

Thirst Trap

"Harley, Râoise, and Maggie have been friends for ages. After meeting in primary school years ago, the women are still together, spending their nights on the sticky dancefloors of Belfast's grungiest pubs. Each woman is navigating her own tangle of entry-level jobs, messy romantic entanglements, and late nights, but they always find their way back to each other, and to the ramshackle house they share. And amidst the familiar chaos, the three are still grieving their fourth housemate, whose room remains untouched, their last big fight hanging heavily over their heads. The girls' house has witnessed the highs and lows of their roaring twenties--raucous parties, surprising (and sometimes regrettable) hook-ups, and hellish hangovers. But as they approach thirty, their home begins to crumble around them and the fault lines in their group become harder to ignore. In the wreckage, they must decide if their friendship will survive into a new decade--or if growing up sometimes means letting go."-- Provided by publisher

Television

"Who needed to leave? Who needed to find the right place for them or the right people? Not me. I would never write about Los Angeles for as long as I lived. A handsome, aging movie star lotteries off his mega-million-dollar salary to a member of the general viewing public before taking up with a much younger Instagram model. His unbeautiful, non-famous best friend (and sometimes lover) looks on impassively while recollecting their twenty-odd years of unlikely connection. And a young aspiring filmmaker struggles to write a viable script, longing for the perfect circumstances that would finally afford her the freedom to make great art. And isn't it the meek that shall inherit the earth? Television concerns itself with phenomenal luck and its various manifestations in contemporary life: disparities in wealth, beauty, talent, gender, and youth. Slyly humorous, with a profoundly modern style and nimble dialogue reminiscent of early Joan Didion, Lauren Rothery's debut novel is a staggering feat of literary impressionism--and a significant event for American fiction."-- Provided by publisher

Slow Poison

"Idi Amin's crimes on behalf of Black empowerment in Uganda made him a monster in the world's eyes. Yet Yoweri Museveni, Amin's far more brutal successor, has enjoyed decades of Western support in exchange for adopting neoliberal policies. An esteemed Ugandan scholar's firsthand report, Slow Poison uncovers revealing ironies of postcolonial history." -- Provided by publisher

The Slip

"Austin, Texas: It's the summer of 1998, and Nathaniel Rothstein has vanished without a trace. His uncle Bob Alexander, who was supposed to be looking after him for the summer, had long thought the boy a bit odd, but Nathaniel appeared to be maturing in his sixteenth year-taking up boxing at Terry Tucker's Boxing Gym and volunteering at the local assisted living center. Until he disappeared, Nathaniel had seemed happier, more confident-tanner, even. Across the city, Charles Rex, now going by simply "X," has been undergoing a teenage transformation of his own, trolling the phone sex hotline that his mother works day and night, seeking an outlet for everything that feels wrong about his body, looking for intimacy and acceptance in a culture that denies him both. As a surprising and unlikely romance blooms, X feels, for a moment, like he might have found the safety he's been searching for. But it's never that simple. More than a decade later, after Bob Alexander receives a shocking tip, he becomes determined to solve the mystery of his missing nephew. He'll need the help of the eclectic crew down at Terry Tucker's to put the pieces of this always-evolving story back together, including Alexis Cepeda, an up-and-coming lightweight fighter who crossed the US-Mexico border when he was only fourteen, carrying with him a now-errant driver's license bearing the wrong name and face. Bobbing and weaving across the ever-shifting canvas of a changing country, The Slip is an audacious, daring look at sex and race in America that builds to an unforgettable collision in the center of the ring."-- Provided by publisher

Seascraper

"Twenty-year-old Thomas Flett lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, Northern England, working his grandpa's trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the drizzly shore to scrape for shrimp, and spends the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and sea-scum, pining for his neighbor, Joan Wyeth, and playing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but this remains a private dream. Then a mysterious American arrives in town and enlists Thomas's help in finding a perfect location for his next movie. Though skeptical at first, Thomas learns to trust the stranger, Edgar, and, shaken from the drudgery of his days by the promise of Hollywood glamour, begins to see a different future for himself. But how much of what Edgar claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?"-- Provided by publisher

The Radical Fund

In 1922, a young idealist named Charles Garland rejected a million-dollar inheritance. In a world of shocking wealth disparities, shameless racism, and political repression, Garland opted instead to invest in a future where radical ideas -- like working-class power, free speech, and equality -- might flourish. Over the next two decades, the Garland Fund would nurture a new generation of wildly ambitious progressive projects. The men and women around the Fund were rich and poor, white and Black. They cooperated and bickered; they formed rivalries, fell in and out of love, and made mistakes. Yet shared beliefs linked them throughout. They believed that Amer­ican capitalism was broken. They believed that American democracy (if it had ever existed) stole from those who had the least. And they believed that American institutions needed to be radically remade for the modern age. By the time they spent the last of the Fund's resources, their outsider ideas had become mass movements battling to transform a nation. A luminous testament to the power of visionary organizations and a meditation on the vexed role of money in American life, The Radical Fund is a hopeful book for our anxious, angry age -- an empowering road map for how people with heretical ideas can bring about audacious change. -- Provided by publisher

The Price of Democracy

"Americans have always fought over the meaning of freedom and equality. What is not commonly recognized is that these battles, from the framing of the Constitution to the decades-long backlash to the civil rights movement, have largely revolved around one issue-taxes. In The Price of Democracy, Vanessa S. Williamson challenges the myth that Americans are instinctively anti-tax, revealing that fights over taxes have always been proxies for deeper conflicts over who is included in "We the People." Poorer people have repeatedly built movements that sought to tax all Americans to create a more equal and democratic nation. Wealthy people have responded by constraining the power to tax and stifling democracy through voting restrictions, gerrymandering, and violence. Yet as hard as anti-tax crusaders have fought to create an America that redistributes not from rich to poor, but from non-white people to rich white people, the battle rages on. The Price of Democracy uncovers how fights for fiscal fairness have defined American history, delivering a powerful message to the present: that taxes are the public's most powerful weapon in the fight for a real democracy."-- Provided by publisher

Peacemaker

"A new history of the turbulent 1960s told through the life of U Thant, the first UN secretary-general of color, whose decisions once shaped global war and peace. In the early 1960s, a peaceful world was an imaginable goal. The still-young United Nations was widely respected and regarded as humankind's best hope for resolving global conflicts. African and Asian nations, having recently won their freedom from colonial domination, sought dignity and influence on the world stage. At the helm of their international efforts was U Thant, a practicing Buddhist from a remote town in Burma who, as the UN's first non-Western secretary-general, became the Cold War era's preeminent ambassador of peace. From the moment of his predecessor's mysterious death in 1961, Thant faced a deluge of violent conflicts in Congo, Yemen, Cyprus, and Nigeria, as well as one between India and Pakistan, that threatened larger conflagrations. Crucially, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he played an indispensable role--virtually hidden until now--in defusing tensions and helping both superpowers find a way back from nuclear confrontation. For years Thant also challenged Washington over its war in Vietnam, identifying paths to peace that could have saved the lives of millions. Drawing on newly declassified documents, Thant's grandson, historian Thant Myint-U, gives a riveting account of how his grandfather's gentle yet willful disposition shaped his determination to avoid a third world war, give voice to the newly decolonized world, create a fairer international economy, and safeguard the environment. Rather than a vestige of an idealistic past, U Thant's fight for peace is central to a fresh understanding of our world today." -- Provided by publisher

One Man's
Freedom

"In 'One man's freedom,' Nicholas Buccola reveals the fascinating, untold story of how Barry Goldwater and Martin Luther King Jr. became powerful symbols of two opposing visions of American freedom. Through a gripping blend of biography and history, Buccola traces their parallel rise during the 1950s and 1960s--King leading a movement for racial and social justice, Goldwater championing individual liberty and limited government. Though they never met, their ideas collided in a fierce public debate over what 'freedom' should mean in America. Their clash shaped the nation's political divide then--and continues to echo through American politics today." -- Adapted from publisher's description

Ninette's
War

Ninette Dreyfus belonged to one of the most influential Jewish families in Paris -- second only to the Rothschilds --her parents' social circle ranging from Einstein to Colette. But all that privilege counted for nothing when the Nazis arrived; the family was high up on the list of Philippe Petain's targets. Inspired by diary entries and by conversations the author had with Ninette before she died, Ninette's War narrates the family's fall from grace alongside the creeping understanding of the Vichy government's collaboration with the Nazis. Through Ninette's eyes we witness how it all unfolded: from the anti-Semitism in the playground -- sometimes from her own teachers -- to Ninette's first crush under a false identity. Woven into the political backdrop of a nation turning inward on itself, this is the tale of a life once filled with riches becoming rootless, where friends were left behind and politicians legislated their own people out of existence -- and to their deaths -- culminating in what we now know as the Holocaust. -- Provided by publisher

Masters of the Game

"Sam Smith and Phil Jackson grew to know and respect each other in the late 1980s, when Smith was a Chicago Tribune sportswriter and Jackson was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls. Forty years later, the two remain close friends. In 2021, Smith helped the NBA arrive at a list of the seventy-five greatest players of all time in celebration of its seventy-fifth anniversary. Phil Jackson was asked to participate too, but he’s not a big fan of ranking greatness. They’ve been enjoying the argument ever since. In Masters of the Game, Smith and Jackson chop it up about the basketball life, the sport, and the genius and the shadow side of the all-time greats: Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Bill Russell, Wilt, Jerry West, Bird, LeBron, KD, Steph Curry, Bill Walton, and more. In a conversation full of high-grade analysis and high-grade gossip, we meet the stars of long-ago eras of basketball and see the mark race left on players and the business of the game—and we get a master class on character and the alchemy of a good team. And of course, inevitably, these two old heads get into the GOAT debate. There are so many huge characters here, and Smith and Jackson can hold their own with any of them. Their spirit—sharp, wise, irreverent, honest, respectful of the lore and legacy of the game but never pious—and the clash of their different perspectives combine to make this book a joyous ride, a short course in greatness open to all students." -- Amazon

Luigi

This work examines public reactions to the shooting of a healthcare executive by Luigi Mangione and explores the social, economic, and cultural factors that shaped widespread online commentary surrounding the event. Drawing on decades of research, the author analyzes themes of alienation, distrust of institutions, and anti-corporate sentiment, situating the incident within broader historical movements. The book considers how individuals and groups have expressed dissent, the influence of previous extremist figures, and the role of digital platforms in shaping responses to acts of violence.

Love, Sex, and Frankenstein

Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, 1816. The dark summer that birthed a monster. Eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley has fled London with her lover, Percy Shelley, and her sister, Claire. Tormented by Shelley's betrayals, haunted by the loss of their baby and suspicious of her sister's intentions, Mary seeks a refuge. But Lord Byron's villa, lying under ominous, ash-shrouded skies, feels more like a trap. When Byron suggests each guest write a supernatural tale, Mary is as drawn to the challenge as she is, unexpectedly, to Byron himself. And so an idea begins to form in her mind. It spills out of her in thick, black ink. A thing given life is before her. Day and night, it possesses her. Her heart, her desires. But is she in control, or is it?

A Love Story From the End of the World

"From the acclaimed author of Beasts of a Little Land and City of Night Birds, an exquisite, globetrotting story collection about humans in precarious balance with the natural world. Spanning multiple locales and epochs, and rendered in fine detail and vivid color, this transportive collection shows what it means to live as human inhabitants on our one miraculous planet. Lyrical, at times hilarious, and always heartfelt, each of these ten stories is a reflection of individual choice in the face of man-made apocalypse: in a near-future Seoul, where air pollution has become so fatal that the city has been encased in a translucent biodome, a civil engineer charged with its upkeep contemplates an arranged marriage. A painter, disenchanted with New York City, travels to the South of France and falls into a dalliance with an entrepreneur who claims to have invented a new color. And on an island where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, upon which other countries have relegated their waste to form a mountain of landfill, a local boy facing daily privation gets internet famous for his K-pop-inspired dances. With the clear-eyed reverence of Richard Powers and the sparkling sincerity of George Saunders, Juhea Kim's first story collection views our broken world-and broken hearts-from breathtaking heights. A Love Story from the End of the World delivers an impassioned reminder that we are human-but without nature, we are nothing at all." -- Provided by publisher

Lit

In a small town in the woods of northwest Wyoming, Kasey Cobb lives alone in a cabin, runs a drive-through coffee kiosk, and hangs out at the library, reading the classics. He's the least-likely guy to become the center of a culture clash... and death. Yet that's what happens when he strays past a book-bonfire, ignited by a pastor and his hapless followers, and inadvertently rescues a self-important (drunk) author from being burned with his obscure novel. From that moment on, Kasey's life becomes a whirlwind that sweeps up a laconic lawman, a pissed off grizzly bear, a relentless podcaster, a sensuous librarian obsessed with death, a fierce female rancher and, most troublesome of all, a devious murderer. And yet, amidst the chaos, Kasey chases another shot at a lasting love, even if it might kill him. -- Amazon

Listen

"A twisty, slow-burn mystery set in Paris and the Netherlands that has become a Dutch sensation."-- Provided by publisher

The Land in Winter

"December 1962: In a village deep in the English countryside, two neighboring couples begin the day. Local doctor Eric Parry commences his rounds in the village while his pregnant wife, Irene, wanders the rooms of their old house, mulling over the space that has grown between the two of them. On the farm nearby lives Irene's mirror image: witty but troubled Rita Simmons is also expecting. She spends her days trying on the idea of being a farmer's wife, but her head still swims with images of a raucous past that her husband, Bill, prefers to forget. When Rita and Irene meet across the bare field between their houses, a clock starts. There is still affection in both their homes; neither marriage has yet to be abandoned. But when the ordinary cold of December gives way--ushering in violent blizzards of the harshest winter in living memory--so do the secret resentments harbored in all four lives." -- Provided by publisher

I'm
Not Trying to Be Difficult

"Drew Nieporent has been a staple of the New York dining scene for decades, establishing a host of iconic restaurants like Nobu, Tribeca Grille, and Montrachet. But his career started from much more humble beginnings-the grill at the local McDonald's. A middle-class kid from New York's East Side, Drew spent his childhood tagging along with his father to help restaurants get their liquor license, igniting a lifelong obsession with food. His passion took him on a winding, continent-spanning journey, crossing paths with legendary chefs, iconic athletes, and movie stars as he grew into one of the most influential names in the culinary world. From waiting tables on a cruise ship to getting his first three-star review; from squabbling with Cornell professors to partnering with Robert De Niro; this is more than a story of one man's extraordinary life-it's a story of an evolving industry. As culinary trends come and go and relationships blossom and combust, Nieporent navigates it all with a simple yet powerful philosophy: Give the customer what they want. Told in Drew's unforgettable voice, "I'm Not Trying To Be Difficult" is a rollicking memoir that feels like sitting across the dinner table from someone who has seen it all-one of the last great restaurateurs." -- Provided by publisher