Highlighting the serene Wyoming landscape and its rich heritage, Annie Proulx, author of "The shipping news, " chronicles living in the Cowboy State. 'Bird Cloud' is the name Proulx gave to the 640-acre land she fell in love with on her first visit. This work of nonfiction follows Proulx as she builds a house (essentially a library surrounded by bedrooms and a kitchen) from the ground up.

""Any story that starts will also end." As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores "what it means to be seen, to find someone...

Read about the life of the famous African-American author.

"A poignant and powerful new memoir-in-essays that tackles the big questions of life, death, and existential fear with humor and hope"-- A lifelong worrier, Philpott also learned to look on the bright side, too, believing that as long as she cared enough, she could keep her loved ones safe. In the aftermath of a crisis that darkened her signature sunny spirit, she wondered: How do any of us keep going when we can't know for sure what's coming next?...

"How much can you judge another woman's choices? What if that woman is your mother? Maya Lang grew up idolizing her brilliant mother, an accomplished psychologist who immigrated to the United States from India, completed her residency and earned an American medical degree--all while nurturing young children and keeping a traditional Indian home. Maya grew up with her mother's stories ringing in her ears, motivating her, encouraging her, offering solace...

A collection of stories that reveal Kinsey Millhone's origins -- and Grafton's past. The nine stories that open the book show how fully formed Kinsey was from the beginning. The thirteen stories in the second part, written in the decade following her mother's death, feature Kit Blue, a younger version of Grafton herself, and reflect her troubled family life and the author's journey from anger to understanding and forgiveness.

An intimate exploration of the life, craft, and legacy of one of the most revered and influential writers, an artist who continues to inspire fans and creatives to cultivate practices of deep attention, rigorous interrogation and beautiful style. Joan Didion was a writer's writer; not only a groundbreaking journalist, essayist, novelist and screenwriter, but a keen observer who honed her sights on life's telling details. Her insights continue to influence...

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes the fascinating story of America's national day of thanks and of the tenacious and inspiring Sarah Josepha Hale, a nineteenth-century woman who made establishing this holiday her life's mission-one brought to fruition by the wise support of Abraham Lincoln"-- From Ancient Rome through 21st-century America, bestselling author Denise Kiernan brings us...

"Mary Laura Philpott thought she'd cracked the code: Always be right, and you'll always be happy. But once she'd completed her life's to-do list (job, spouse, house, babies--check!), she found that instead of feeling content and successful, she felt anxious. Lost. Stuck in a daily grind of overflowing calendars, grueling small talk, and sprawling traffic. She'd done everything "right, " but she felt all wrong. What's the worse failure, she wondered:...

"A fresh, fierce, and timely meditation on data, pain, time, and the limited capacity of literature to comprehend life and death in a sensate and vulnerable body." --