After a decade and a half spent in Chicago, where she worked as a freelance writer and served as a founding contributing editor of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, Jennifer Adams moved to New York to be closer to The Strand. She is at work on a variety of projects, including a zombie novel for middle-grades readers. She blogs sporadically at Jen-Adams.com. She lives in Astoria, New York, and is the mother of two boys.

THE BOOKS THEY GAVE ME

Jen Adams

Meg Adams is a cartoonist and illustrator. She studied digital arts at the University of Oregon and graduated with degrees in digital arts, comics & cartoon studies, and business. Meg built her comic empire as a side business during her time as an undergraduate and was able to transition to working as a full-time comic artist upon graduation. She began sharing her comics online in 2014 and now posts her comics to various social media sites under the username ArtbyMoga.

WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS? An ArtbyMoga Collection

Meg Adams

Allison Adato is the editor of special editions for People and Entertainment Weekly, as well as a recovering politics editor and pre-shutdown theater critic. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times Magazine, the New York Times, LIFE, and other national outlets. She lives in New York City.

SMART CHEFS STAY SLIM: Lessons in Eating and Living from America's Best Chefs, Foreword by Art Smith

Allison Adato

Travis M. Andrews is a features writer for the Washington Post. He joinedThe Postin 2016 as a reporter for Morning Mix. Previously he was an associate travel and culture editor for Southern Living and a contributing pop culture reporter for Mashable and The Week. He has also written for Time, Esquire, GQ, andThe Atlantic, among others.

BECAUSE HE’S JEFF GOLDBLUM: The Movies, Memes, and Meaning of Hollywood's Most Enigmatic Actor

Travis M. Andrews

Janine Annett is a New York-based writer, and my work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, the Wall Street Journal, Real Simple, Parents, Good Housekeeping, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and many other places.

I AM "WHY DO I NEED VENMO" YEARS OLD

Janine Annett

Curtis Armstrong was born in Michigan in 1953. He divided his early years between Detroit―a town apparently so nerdy that the word “nerd” was coined there in 1949―and Geneva, Switzerland, which by comparison, wasn’t nerdy at all. Following a childhood spent mainly between the covers of books, Armstrong discovered the theatre.

He studied at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rochester, Michigan, which led to a forty-plus year acting career that shows no signs of slowing. After eight years of stage work in New York and around the country, Armstrong was cast in his first film, Risky Business, starring Tom Cruise. It was the beginning of a string of classic comedy films and television shows, including Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, TV’s Moonlighting and, most significantly, Revenge of the Nerds, in which he played the iconic role of Booger.

Since then Armstrong, a nerd icon himself has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows including, recently, Supernatural and New Girl. He co-created and co-hosted the hit comedy-reality show King of the Nerds, which brought his nerd narrative full circle. He is married to writer Elaine Aronson, and has one daughter, Lily.

REVENGE OF THE NERD

Curtis Armstrong

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong worked at Entertainment Weekly for a decade and has written for many publications, including BBC Culture, the New York Times Book Review, Vice, New York magazine, and Billboard. She also speaks about pop culture history and creativity.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Saul Austerlitz is a freelance writer whose work has been published in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Spin, Rolling Stone, Paste, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Slate, and The New Republic, among others. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in film studies (2001), and he received a master's degree in cinema studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

KIND OF A BIG DEAL: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the 21st Century

Saul Austerlitz

John Austin graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial/Product Design and was immediately recruited by Hasbro toys. He was a respected senior toy designer in the Boy's Research and Development Department for five years, during which time he created and shipped more than 200 items under some of Hasbro's biggest brands; Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Tween Electronics, and more. He has also personally pitched and presented a few of his projects to Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, EA Sports and Industrial Light and Magic. Trained in 3D computer modeling, illustration, and product sketching, he brings many of these skills when creating his books and ancillary products.

MINIWEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare

John Austin

Michael Azerrad is an American author, music journalist, editor, and musician. A graduate of Columbia University, he has written for publications such as Spin, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. Azerrad's 1993 biography COME AS YOU ARE: The Story of Nirvana was named by Q as one of the fifty greatest rock books ever written. His 2001 book OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE, a collection of profiles on prominent indie rock bands, received similar critical acclaim.

ROCK CRITIC LAW

Michael Azerrad

Dr. Neal D. Barnard, FACC,is a faculty member of the George Washington University School of Medicine and President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Dr. Barnard is editor-in-chief of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, a nutrition textbook given to all second-year medical students in the U.S. He is also editor of Good Medicine, a magazine with a circulation of 150,000. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes, The Get Healthy Go Vegan Cookbook, Power Foods for the Brain, The 21-Day Weight-Loss Kickstart, and most recently The Vegan Starter Kit, among many others.

THE POWER FOODS DIET

Neal Barnard

Barbara Diane Barry is a freelance artist and art teacher in New York City. Under the educational outreach program at Symphony Space, she teaches in public school art residencies throughout the five boroughs and gives tours in the city's finest museums. She is also the creator of "Art for Self-Discovery," a studio art program for adults and children devoted to nurturing the creator inside. Her unique art programs have been used by such clients as Lucent Technologies, Barnes & Noble, The NY Chapter of the American Society of Training and Development, and the Center for the Arts Education in New York. She lives in New York.

PAINTING YOUR WAY OUT OF A CORNER: The Art of Getting Unstuck

Barbara Diane Barry

Susan Baur, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with graduate degrees from Harvard University and Boston College. She has written six other books, The Edge of an Unfamiliar World: A History of Oceanography; On Almost Any Wind: The Saga of the Oceanographic Research Vessel Atlantis; Hypochondria; Woeful Imaginations; The Dinosaur Man and Other Tales from the Back Ward; Confiding: A psychotherapist and Her Patients Search for Stories to Live By; and The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in Psychotherapy. She lives in North Falmouth, Massachusetts.

THE DINOSAUR MAN

Susan Baur

Eytan Bayme earned his bachelor’s degree in English from McGill University, and his writing has been featured in College Humor and the Wassaic Art Project. Originally from New York City, he now lives in London.

HIGH HOLIDAY PORN: A Memoir

Eytan Bayme

Barbara Becker has dedicated more than twenty-five years to partnering with human-rights advocates around the world in pursuit of peace and interreligious understanding. She has worked with the United Nations, Human Rights First, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, and has participated in a delegation of Zen Peacemakers and Lakota elders in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota. She is an ordained interfaith minister and has sat with hundreds of people at the end of their lives. She lives in New York City with her interfaith family.

"In Heartwood, Barbara Becker inspires us to follow our curiosity into a world that is both universal and a source of our uniqueness. And what could be better than that?"―Gloria Steinem, bestselling author and activist

“Death fascinates and repels us. Barbara Becker has written a gorgeous book about it, and her writing will draw in everyone who is willing to approach the most serious topic we all must face. Becker gives the reader empathic access to some of life’s peak moments, along with insights into life’s biggest questions."-Jonathan Haidt, Professor, NYU-Stern School of Business, author of The Righteous Mind

"Heartwood is a luminous book...Within the first few pages I knew I could trust Barbara Becker to navigate the holy land of death and grief and take me with her...I have rarely read a book that left me feeling so fundamentally blessed. Highly recommended."―Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and Wild Mercy

“Both tear-jerking and joyful, Heartwood reveals how an intimate conversation with loss can bring forth the ‘forever’ possible through love. Across time zones, generations, and cultural divides.”―Sarah Bowen, author of Spiritual Rebel: A Positively Addictive Guide to Finding Deeper Perspective and Higher Purpose

"A powerful and exquisite book on being with dying and learning from loss that is written from the marrow of real experience and as well from the heart. It is a courageous exploration of grief, death, and release. This is a book that uplifts, instructs, inspires, and guides." -Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center

“Heartwood is wise and moving without a wasted word.Becker’s luminous meditation on death and life is a gift to us all."―Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps

“Heartwood is a gem.”―Dr. Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, author of forthcomingThe Power of Women: Learning from Resilience to Heal Our World

"Becker takes us on a poignant journey through her life in Heartwood. She shows us the threads connecting herself to ones who passed and with each tug on a thread we learn more about love and loss, life and death. Precious stories that have the power to move your heart, this book is a true gift.―Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Love and Real Change

“Becker debuts with a stirring chronicle of the events, moments, and stories that led to her reconciliation with mortality…Becker’s eloquence is a salve for confronting a difficult topic…This will be a comfort for anyone contemplating their own mortality, or those in search of advice for others.”―Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"A graceful meditation on divine deliverance...Once firmly entrenched in our “death-shy” contemporary culture, the author is now a reassuring advocate for peace and interreligious understanding, and she views dying as an opportunity to seek enlightenment and give thanks, regardless of one’s preferred spiritual path." -Kirkus

"A resource filled with wisdom and one that readers will find themselves returning to often in both good times and bad."- Shelf Awareness

"An affecting and informative memoir about the lessons we can glean from life as well as death."- Library Journal

HEARTWOOD

Barbara Becker

Amy Julia Becker is an award-winning writer and speaker on personal, spiritual, and social healing. She is the author of four books and hosts the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast.


A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv), Becker holds a bi-vocational license with the Evangelical Covenant Church. She lives with her husband and their three children in western Connecticut.

TO BE MADE WELL: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope

Amy Julia Becker

Mark Blake is an author and editor, whose work has been published in books, magazines and newspapers since 1989. A former Assistant Editor of Q magazine and long-time contributor to the UK’s biggest-selling music monthly Mojo, he has also written for Classic Rock, The Times, Rolling Stone and Billboard.

Bring It On Home, his 2018 biography of Led Zeppelin’s notorious manager Peter Grant, was listed as a Music Book Of The Year in The Times, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph and as one of the Best Books Of 2018 by The Observer. His first biography, the best-selling Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd, was published in 2007, updated in 2013 and 2017, and awarded the Guardian’s Paperback Of The Week.

Blake’s Queen biography, Is This The Real Life, was published in 2010, and described by Q as “the definitive text on a Brit-rock institution”. His 2014 book, Pretend You’re In A War: The Who And The Sixties, was praised by the Sunday Telegraph for “giving new reasons to appreciate the angst and theory behind The Who’s music.”

Blake has also edited and contributed to titles about Freddie Mercury, Keith Richards and Punk, and worked on official projects for Queen, The Who, the Jimi Hendrix estate and Pink Floyd, including 2017’s Their Mortal Remains exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. In summer 2017, he helped launch Planet Rock magazine on behalf of the UK’s award-winning rock radio station, and is a contributing editor to the title. He lives just outside London with his wife and son.

BRING IT ON HOME

Mark Blake

Amy Bloch, M.D., has been practicing child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry for 23 years. She received her pre-Emily education from Dartmouth, Yale University School of Medicine, and New York-Cornell Hospital. The mother of four children, Amy lives in suburban New York, where she spends an inordinate amount of time as her children’s chauffeur and Sherpa.

THE POWER OF HEART

Amy Bloch

Molly Bloom is an American entrepreneur, speaker, and author of the 2014 memoir Molly's Game. She had trained for years to become an Olympic skier but was injured while trying to qualify for the Olympics. For several years, Molly organized one of the largest high-stakes poker games in the country. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

MOLLY'S GAME: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

Molly Bloom

Rebecca Boyle is a contributing editor atScientific American, a contributing writer for Quanta andThe Atlantic, and a frequent contributor at theNew York Times, Atlas Obscura, Popular Science,Smithsonian Air & Space, and many other publications. She is a member of the group science blog, The Last Word on Nothing. Boyle was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is the recipient of numerous writing awards throughout her career. Her work has been anthologized multiple times in The Best American Science & Nature Writing. 

Rebecca Boyle

Anthony Bozza is a New York City native author and journalist who has penned multiple New York Times and international bestselling books. His career began as a staff writer for Rolling Stone magazine where he wrote the first national cover story on rapper Eminem in 1999. His first book, Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem (2003), the definitive story of the rapper's rise to fame, was a runaway bestseller in the US and UK and was published in fourteen foreign languages. He has co-written bestsellers with Slash of Guns n' Roses, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue, Raekwon The Chef from The Wu-Tang Clan, and three books with comedian Artie Lange including the number one New York Times bestseller Too Fat to Fish. Bozza has also written the autobiographies of Wyclef Jean, INXS, Tracy Morgan and Mick Fleetwood, Why AC/DC Matters, a biography of the Australian rock band, as well as a follow up to his Eminem biography titled Not Afraid: The Evolution of Eminem. He also wrote and edited the New York Times bestseller Jeter Unfiltered, chronicling the famed Yankee captain's final season. He lives in Brooklyn.

Bozza Collage

Anthony Bozza

Peter Brannen is an award-winning science journalist and contributing writer at The Atlantic. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Wired, and The Guardian among other publications. Brannen was a 2024 visiting scholar at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and is an affiliate at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

THE ENDS OF THE WORLD: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions

Peter Brannen

Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood are two of the UK's foremost music writers. A contributor to Rolling Stone, Classic Rock, Q, and Metal Hammer magazines, Brannigan is the author of the acclaimed This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl, while Winwood has written for Rolling Stone, the Guardian, Mojo, Kerrang!, NME, and the BBC. Both reside in London.

INTO THE BLACK: The Inside Story of Metallica (1991-2014)

Paul Brannigan

Anna Broadway has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Atlantic (online), Christianity Today, the Journal of the History of Sexuality, and other publications. She is the author of Solo Planet: How Singles Help the Church Recover Our Calling and Sexless in the City: A Memoir of Reluctant Chastity, and has contributed to the books Venus and Virtue, Disquiet Time, Talking Taboo, and Faith at the Edge. She holds an MA in religious studies from Arizona State University.

SOLO PLANET

Anna Broadway

Harriet Brown is the author of Shadow Daughter, Body of Truth, and Brave Girl Eating. She has edited two anthologies and has written for the New York Times Magazine, O Magazine, Psychology Today, Prevention, and many other publications. She is a professor of magazine journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

SHADOW DAUGHTER

Harriet Brown

Rex Brown is most famous as the longtime bassist for the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling band Pantera. Since the 1990 release of Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell", Rex Brown has had a hand in multiple gold, platinum, and #1 records. He has shared the stage with the likes of Kiss, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath. In 2002, Rex joined Down for the release of Down II, and subsequent U.S. tours including headlining the second stage of Ozzfest. In 2006 he recorded DOWN III, which was preceded by a tour with Heaven & Hell and Megadeth. Currently Rex is a member of the band Kill Devil Hill. After finishing a successful tour, he is currently in the studio working on their next record.

OFFICIAL TRUTH, 101 PROOF: The Inside Story of Pantera

Rex Brown

Leslie Bruce is a #1 New York times bestselling coauthor and an award-winning entertainment and lifestyle journalist. She previously worked as an editor at Us Weekly magazine and a senior writer at The Hollywood Reporter. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, her daughter and two very needy rescue doodles.

YOU ARE A F*CKING AWESOME MOM

Leslie Bruce

Dr. Thema Bryant is a clinical psychologist and president-elect of the American Psychological Association. She is also a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University and an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Thema earned her doctorate from Duke University and completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. With more than twenty years of experience in trauma recovery, she has appeared as a mental health expert on television, radio, and in print media. Dr. Thema raises awareness about mental health issues onThe Homecoming Podcastand her social media platforms. 

Dr. Thema Bryant

Tom Bryant is a music journalist who has written for Kerrang!, Q, and MOJO magazines and the Guardian newspaper, during the course of which he has had an absinthe-fueled sleepover at Marilyn Manson's house, been attacked by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bass player, and been accused of starting a riot with The Prodigy. Not the Life It Seems is his first book. He lives in England.

NOT THE LIFE IT SEEMS: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance

Tom Bryant

David Buckmaster is an expert on pay who has led corporate compensation teams at Wildlife Studios, Nike, Starbucks, and Yum! Brands, and worked with business leaders on pay projects all over the world. Buckmaster was named to the global shortlist of the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Bracken Bower Prize for emerging business writers. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Buckmaster now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and daughter.

FAIR PAY: How to Get a Raise, Close the Wage Gap, and Build Stronger Businesses

David Buckmaster

Anika Burgess is a photojournalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and Atlas Obscura. She works regularly with The New York Times, including with their Book team and with Past Tense, their archival storytelling team.

Anika Burgess

Louise Callaghan is the Middle East Correspondent for the Sunday Times (UK), one of the youngest ever hired by the paper. She has had long-form pieces published in The Sunday Times Magazine, Vogue, and the Times Literary Supplement. She won the Marie Colvin Award for British Journalism, New Journalist of the Year at the 2016 British Press Awards, Young Journalist of the Year at the 2017 British Journalism Awards, and made Forbes‘ 30 under 30 in media 2018 list. Father of Lions is her first book.

FATHER OF LIONS

Louise Callaghan

Al Cambronne is freelance writer and photographer whose work has appeared in Meatpaper, Sierra, Blade, and Cooking Wild, among others. He is the coauthor of the perennial seller Gut It. Cut It. Cook It. (Krause, 2009). He is well connected with leaders among the nature, outdoors, conservation, and foodie crowd. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, he and his wife live in northern Wisconsin.

DEERLAND: America's Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness

Al Cambronne

Andrew Carroll is the editor of several New York Times bestsellers, including War Letters, Letters of A Nation, and Behind the Lines. War Letters inspired the critically acclaimed PBS documentary of the same name, and the audio version of the book was nominated for a Grammy in the “Spoken Word” category.

Andrew also edited, on a pro bono basis, Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families. The book inspired the film “Operation Homecoming,” which was nominated for an Oscar and won an Emmy for best documentary.

In 1998, Andrew founded the Legacy Project, an all-volunteer initiative that honors veterans and active-duty troops by preserving their wartime correspondence. Andrew has traveled to all fifty states and more than forty countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan, and he has collected, to date, an estimated 100,000 previously unpublished letters (and emails) from every war in U.S. history. The Legacy Project is now the Center for American War Letters and is based at Chapman University.

In 2001, Andrew revived the “Armed Services Editions” (ASEs), which are pocket-sized editions of bestselling books given to servicemen and women during World War II. Andrew began working with major publishers in 2000 to reissue them, and he has distributed 500,000 free ASEs to U.S. troops around the world, including thousands of books he personally handed out in Baghdad and Kabul.

Andrew has been profiled on NBC’s Nightly News, CNN, FOX News, PBS, The History Channel, NPR, CBS Sunday Morning, the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Nightline, and he was featured as a “Person of the Week” on ABC’s World News Tonight. Andrew has also been a contributing editor to numerous publications, including the New Yorker and TIME (cover story), and his op-eds and articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Details, US Airways Magazine, and National Geographic, and he is a regular columnist for American History magazine. Many of the aforementioned publications have also profiled Andrew’s efforts, including National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and virtually every major local newspaper across the country.

Andrew has received, among other accolades, the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Medal of Honor; The Order of Saint Maurice, bestowed by the National Infantryman’s Association; The Free Spirit Award, presented by the Freedom Forum; and the Chairman’s Medal from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest award given by the chairman of the NEA.

Andrew lives in Washington, D.C., and Orange, California, where he is the director of the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University.

Chapman Faculty

WAR LETTERS

Andrew Carroll

June Casagrande is a writer and journalist whose weekly grammar/humor column, "A Word, Please," appears in community newspapers in California, Florida, and Texas. She is a former staff writer and editor for the Los Angeles Times' community news division and has written articles for other regional and national publications. She also writes scripts for television trailers. Casagrande was born in New York City, grew up in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg/Tampa area and now lives in Pasadena, California.

THE JOY OF SYNTAX: A Simple Guide to All the Grammar You Know You Should Know

June Casagrande

Tovar Cerulli works for Metropolitan Group, where he assists clients in environmental conservation, public health, and other sectors. He has consulted, spoken, and led seminars for dozens of wildlife agencies, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions, and has been interviewed by diverse media, from NRA News to Sierra Club Radio, Gaiam TV, Swedish TV, BBC, CBC, and NPR. Tovar serves on the board of Orion-The Hunter’s Institute and was a founding board member of the New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. He was honored to be an Aldo and Estella Leopold Resident for 2015. His essays and articles have appeared in Outdoor America, Aeon, High Country News, Utne Reader, Northern Woodlands, and many other places.

THE MINDFUL CARNIVORE: A Vegetarian's Hunt for Sustenance

Tovar Cerulli

Daniel A. Chamovitz  Ph.D. was elected President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in August 2018 after serving as Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel-Aviv University since 2014 and assumed the presidency on January 1, 2019. Prof. Chamovitz, a native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, studied at both Columbia University in NYC and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained a PhD in genetics. From 1993 to 1996, he carried out postdoctoral research at Yale University before accepting a faculty position at Tel Aviv University. As a member of Tel Aviv University's academic faculty, he received the prestigious Alon Fellowship for outstanding young researchers from the Council for Higher Education. Prof. Chamovitz is an internationally recognized activist promoting plant sciences and their contribution to feeding the growing world population and is on the editorial board of several important scientific journals.  ​

WHAT A PLANT KNOWS: A Field Guide to the Senses

Daniel Chamovitz, Ph.D.

Curtis Chang is a theologian and consulting faculty member of Duke Divinity School and a senior fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the host ofGood Faith, a leading podcast that helps Christians make sense of the wider world. His ministry, speaking, and writing are fueled by a passion to help Christians recognize the surprising authority and relevance of Jesus for parts of life that are often left to the secular world.

Curtis Chang

Ayesha S. Chaudhry is the Canada Research Chair in Religion, Law and Social Justice and Associate Professor of Islamic studies and Gender studies at the University of British Columbia. An American-Canadian, she was elected as a Member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada in 2019, and was named a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellow in 2018. She had held fellowships at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Study at UBC and at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She is the author of The Colour of God (Oneworld, 2021) and Domestic Violence and the Islamic Tradition: Ethics, Law, and the Muslim Discourse on Gender (Oxford University Press, 2014). Dr. Chaudhry’s research focuses on Islamic law and theology.

THE COLOUR OF GOD

Ayesha Siddiqua Chaudhry

Gemma Clarke is a British sports journalist based in the US. She has written about soccer for the Guardian, the Observer, the Times (UK), the Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard. She was writer and editor of the League Leader and the first female publications editor for a Premier League soccer club. She wrote minute-by-minute reports on the FIFA Men's World Cup for the Guardian online, as well as reporting on the Women's European Championships and the Men's Blind World Cup. She worked as a production assistant at Sky Sports News and as a stringer for the sports news agency Hayters Teamwork.

SOCCERWOMEN: The Icons, Rebels, Stars, and Trailblazers Who Transformed the Beautiful Game

Gemma Clarke

Neil Cohn’s academic book Who Understands Comics was nominated for an Eisner Award. He is the co-creator of the melting face emoji which was featured everywhere from the New York Times to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He is a cognitive scientist internationally recognized for his pioneering research on the relationship of visual communication and language. He received his doctorate in cognitive psychology at Tufts University. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Cognition and Communication at Tilburg University in The Netherlands. Dr. Cohn is the author of more than 70 academic papers, 4 academic books, and 2 graphic novels. A regular speaker at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Dr. Cohn has consulted about visual communication for companies including Microsoft, Google, Snapchat, and Archie Comics.

Personal Website

SPEAKING IN PICTURES

Dr. Neil Cohn

Georgie Collinson is an Anxiety Mindset Coach, hypnotherapist, and nutritionist and naturopath. As a recovering perfectionist and proud high-achiever, Georgie was once the prime example of high-functioning anxiety. Searching for answers, she finally discovered a lasting breakthrough for herself and her clients with a holistic mind-body approach that considers anxiety and stress from the thoughts you think, the food you eat, your gut health and your hormones to your lifestyle. This developed into The Anxiety Reset Method, and the successful online Anxiety Reset Program. Georgie is known for her vulnerable, honest and down-to-earth way of speaking about mental health.  She lives in Australia and works remotely online, coaching clients around the world.


THE ANXIETY RESET METHOD: Master Your Anxious Mind in 12 Weeks

Georgie Collinson

Lauren Conrad is best known for starring in the MTV hit series The Hills. She is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including the L.A. CANDY series, and LAUREN CONRAD STYLE, a fashion and beauty guide. She began her fashion career in spring 2008 with the debut of the Lauren Conrad Collection. In 2009 she launched LC Lauren Conrad, exclusively for Kohl's and the line has since expanded to shoes, accessories and sunglasses. Her newest clothing line is paper crown. She has been featured on the covers of Elle, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Seventeen, Shape, and Entertainment Weekly, among others. She lives in Los Angeles.

CELEBRATE

Lauren Conrad

Brenda Cooper is an Emmy Award–winning fashion stylist, costume designer, color expert, and inspirational image coach.

“Brenda’s capsule wardrobe system is a lifesaver. I will never look at my clothes the same way again!”—Fran Drescher, star and co-creator of The Nanny

“Brenda Cooper has style, flair, and humor, and she is an incredible teacher and mentor, urging me to try new ideas. She says that style is simple and with the right guidance you can feel really good about yourself, and, yes, because of her, I do have style.”—Jamie Lee Curtis

“Brenda is simply an original. Listen to her! Heed her advice!”—Rita Moreno

“Brenda didn’t just change my clothes. She changed my life.”—Chonda Pierce

THE SILHOUETTE SOLUTION

Brenda Cooper

Lisa Cron is a story coach and speaker who currently advises writers, nonprofits, educators, and journalists on the art and craft of story. She has previously worked as a literary agent, a television producer, and a story consultant for Warner Brothers and The William Morris Agency, among others. Cron has also served on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts MFA program in Visual Narrative, and since 2006 has taught in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

STORY OR DIE: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life

Lisa Cron

Lee Crutchley is an artist and author from a small town in England. After graduating with qualifications in graphic design, visual communication and typography, he worked for several years as an in-house graphic designer. Crutchley has worked on projects for clients such as Penguin Random House, Little, Brown and Company, Total Film Magazine, and the rock band Say Anything. His work has received praise and features from Tumblr, Computer Arts Magazine, LetterCult, Pikaland, Flavorwire, Laughing Squid, The Daily What, and many more. 

NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING: The 10 Secrets All Artists Should Know

Lee Crutchley

Andrea Debbink is an editor and writer who specializes in immersive nonfiction storytelling—from historical biographies to contemporary topics like environmental stewardship, natural history, and food science. As a former American Girl magazine editor, she also has a knack for creating fun and whimsical content for young readers like DIYs and crafts, seasonal recipes, and STEM projects. When she's not writing or reading, she's exploring the outdoors with her kayak and camera.

"Making key points while moving steadily toward the conclusion, the book's rhymed couplets vary in tone from lyrical visions to plainspoken truths. The same tones resonate through Wong’s graceful illustrations, which contrast smoggy, overcrowded cityscapes with peaceful scenes of rivers winding through idyllic landscapes filled with sunlight, warmth, and life. A captivating, persuasive picture book."—Booklist (starred)

"A gentle reminder that we haven’t been good to our natural home, but it’s not too late to make amends."—Kirkus Reviews

The stark contrast of winter woods lends a foreboding atmosphere to this fairytale-like story about fear and courage. Sylvie had always been fearless, until she caught a glimpse of a wolf in the woods. Sylvie is afraid that no one will believe her and is mocked when she does share; her fear slowly consumes her, depicted as a black, wolfish shape that grows and swirls around her. With help from her aunt, Sylvie faces the wolf and her fear—and finds them both transformed."—Foreword Reviews (starred)

Praise for THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: CREATURES

“Hooks readers from the beginning...A treasure trove of animals, familiar as well as not so well-known, and the scientists and activists who help them survive and thrive.”—School Library Journal (starred)

“Animals are always a hot topic for kids, and this STEAM offering for middle-graders is sure to please.”—Booklist

“Filled with history and facts about creatures that are beautifully expressed and explained.”—Beary Into Books

“A wonderful book packed with amazing information!”—The Momma Spot

“A must have for families looking to make a difference in the world...Get ready to be blown away with the awe inspiring illustrations that fill the pages of this environmental stewardship handbook, while gaining practical tools and skills.”—Inspired by Savannah

Praise for THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: HABITATS

PureWow Happy Kid Award Winner 2021 for Best 8+ Book

“This gorgeous book features beautifully detailed illustrations, facts, stories and tips on making your own biome and helping to protect the environment.... A practical guide for young climate activists and junior conservationists.”—CNNUnderscored

“Beautifully illustrated….An entertaining and educational book for environmentally conscious nature lovers that will inspire action.”—Booklist

“Well-designed and smartly organized...providing inspiration that proves that all types of people can enjoy and protect nature.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This accessible guide offers a good balance of detailed information with engaging activities and calls to action....A strong choice to inspire young changemakers for our planet.”—School Library Journal

“Hopeful, even as it leaves no stone unturned on the path to mitigating grave ecological issues like climate change, deforestation and overfishing...The result leaves readers — whether middle grade or middle-aged — informed, inspired and, most importantly, empowered.”—Madison Magazine

“For the quieter kid, or perhaps for an Earth-minded child who may need to stay indoors for part of the summer...With more facts, less adventure, this book offers ecology-based biographies, activities to do indoors, fun facts, places to visit, and information about our world.”—Terri Schlichenmeyer

FLOWER FINDING: Delight in the Splendor of Wild Blooms

Andrea Debbink

KJ Dell’Antonia is a novelist and former journalist and editor at to the New York Times, where she covered the personal and policy aspects of family for many years.

She grew up in Texas and Kansas and attended Kansas State University, then spent her twenties locked in a struggle to marry her upbringing with the mysterious ways of Manhattan and East Coast culture and reconcile career choices that included practicing law at Cravath, Swaine and Moore and the New York County District Attorney's office with her childhood desire to be Anne of Green Gables, only with more publishing success. During the first internet boom, she became the worst Vice President of Business Development ever at an otherwise successful start-up.

Her subsequent layoff proved the perfect excuse to finally pursue journalism, and a move to a small town in New Hampshire didn’t stop her from eventually taking over the New York Times’ Motherlode blog. Her first book, How to Be a Happier Parent, developed as a result of her work there, but her heart was always in fiction. Her memories of the two chicken restaurants in the Kansas towns where her parents grew up sparked the creation of Chicken Mimi’s and Chicken Frannie’s, the two restaurants at the center of The Chicken Sisters, and the story grew from there. Her second novel,  In Her Boots, is about the gap between the adults we think we have become, the child our mother will always see and our horrible fear that our mother is right—a story that grew from the complex relationship that every author has with the successful self we portray on the outside and the doubting voices that will always hammer away inside of our heads.

KJ lives in New Hampshire with her husband, four children and assorted horses, chickens, dogs and cats. She is the co-host of the #AmWriting Podcast and is hard at work on her third novel.

“Heart-warming and complicated and uplifting. I couldn’t put it down. Even though I usually prefer books with supernatural goats that eat people.”—Jenny Lawson, author of Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things and Broken (In the Best Possible Way)

“Funny, heartfelt and un-put-downable,In Her Bootsis the perfect read and Rhett/Maggie is the exact heroine we all want to be—Strong, vulnerable and totally relatable. Going home shouldn't be this tough or this entertaining.”—Susan Mallery, author of The Stepsisters

“Witty, charming, and utterly unputdownable,In Her Bootsis the perfect reminder that living life on our own terms might just be what it’s all about. Once again, KJ Dell’ Antonia has knocked it out of the park with a story that will work its way right into readers’ hearts.”—Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of Under the Southern Sky

“What can be better than a book that surprises and delights you on every page and yet at the same time speaks so clearly to the familiar joys—and challenges—of friendship, family, and self-discovery?...You’ll gobble this one up and then push it on your best friend—and she’ll love you for it!”—Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch

“In Her Bootsis such a charming, funny, original story that I wished it were a blanket I could wrap myself in. Rhett is a unique heroine, the likes of which I haven't come across in contemporary fiction before, and I felt like I was tagging along with a close friend as I went along on her journey. KJ Dell'Antonia is a fabulous writer andIn Her Bootsis expertly plotted and full of the perfect little details that make a book sing.”—Elyssa Friedland, author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel

“Both peppy and heartfelt,In Her Bootsis a tender page-turning romp about running from both your past and your truth, only to discover that, just like real-life, you can only run for so long before it’s time to turn back home.”—Allison Winn Scotch, author of Cleo Mcdougal Regrets Nothing

“Full of quirky twists and heartfelt humor,In HerBoots is a wildly entertaining page turner about forging your own path and finding your way home again.”—Virginia Kantra, author of Meg & Jo

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

A January 2021 Country Living Front Porch Book Club Pick

"A charming, hilarious, feel-good story about the kind of bonds & rivalries only sisters can share. Also, a great present for your sister for the holidays!!"—Reese Witherspoon

“The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia is a delightful look at sibling relationships and the unbreakable and bonds of family.”—Real Simple

“The Chicken Sisters is a pitch-perfect book with which to begin the New Year, when the spirit of starting anew and putting aside baggage (no matter how many centuries old it may be!), is exactly what we need. Well, that and a plate of fried chicken, of course.” —Country Living

“If you prefer your family secrets served with a side of fried chicken, we highly recommend The Chicken Sisters…[a] funny, heartfelt book…”—Hello Giggles

“A charming first novel about family, regrets, and second chances. Dell’Antonia deftly deals with issues of mental illness, marriage troubles, and dreams deferred, all the while telling a funny satire of reality TV. An utter delight from start to finish.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Mae and Amanda are spirited characters, and their foibles are told with care and humor. Recommended for Food Network and HGTV watchers, this first novel is plucky, heartwarming, and a welcome distraction from the news of the day.”—Library Journal 

“Be warned: you’ll crave fried chicken throughout.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Dell’Antonia writes convincingly and sympathetically about complicated family relationships, giving Mae and Amanda each relatable flaws. The Food Wars scenes are a fun peek behind the curtain of the reality TV world, and the small-town warmth of Merinac is comfortingly quirky. A charming and satisfying story about family bonds that will make meat eaters everywhere crave fried chicken.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Nobody knows the humor and pathos of complicated family relationships better than K.J. Dell’Antonia, which is why this story about sisters and fried chicken and reality TV is such a satisfying read. It’s like the comfort-food of novels: warm, memorable, and wholly original. I loved it."—Laura Zigman, author of Separation Anxiety


PLAYING THE WITCH CARD

KJ Dell’Antonia

Dan DiClerico is an award-winning journalist, a memoirist and biographer who specializes in motivational, inspirational, and business books, as well as wellness, sports and lifestyle. His recent co-authored titles include Future You (HarperCollins/HarperOne, 2021), written with the world’s leading futurist, Brian David Johnson, about harnessing the proven process of futurecasting to empower readers to realize their best selves by breaking through the fear of uncertainty; and Leap of Faith (Simon & Schuster, 2021), a combination memoir and relationship guide told in the alternating voices of Lauren and Cameron Hamilton, breakout stars of the hit Netflix dating show, Love is Blind. Dan is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Book To Come

Dan DiClerico

Peter Doggett has been writing about rock music and interviewing rock stars for more than thirty years. He is the author of You Never Give Me Your Money, the definitive story of the Beatles’ break-up and its aftermath, chosen as one of the Best 10 Books of the year by the LA Times. His other books include his panoramic history of popular music, Electric Shock; The Man Who Sold the World; There’s a Riot Going On; and Are You Ready for the Country.

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

Peter Doggett

Kimberlee D’Ardenne, PhD, earned her doctorate in chemistry and neuroscience from Princeton University. She worked as a neuroscience researcher for close to a decade and published work in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Journal of Neuroscience. Her writing has twice been recognized by the Best Shortform Science Writing project, which is supported by the National Association of Science Writers.

MIND TRICKS: Shortcuts the Brain Uses to Make Decisions, and How to Override Them

Kimberlee D’Ardenne

Six years ago, with a "big idea" and a $2000 tax refund, Stacey Edgar founded Global Girlfriend as a way to provide economic security for women in need and as a fun way for U.S. women to help their girlfriends around the globe through fair trade fashion. With no business plan and no passport, she set out to change the world for women in poverty and learned that they were plenty capable of changing their own world when given what we all crave: opportunities. Global Girlfriend has been featured in several national magazines and newspapers including O Magazine, Redbook, Seventeen, In Style, and more. Edgar has been honored by the Microsoft Corporation as a recipient of the company's Start Something Amazing Awards, the Denver Business Journal as a 2007 40 Under 40 Business Leader, and chosen by Organic Style Magazine as one of their 2005 Women with Organic Style.

GLOBAL GIRLFRIENDS: How One Mom Made It Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide

Stacey Edgar

Yaffa Eliach (1935-2016) was a pioneering scholar in Holocaust studies and the founder of the first Center for Holocaust Documentation and Research in the United States. She introduced new concepts in Holocaust documentation, both written and visual, and  received many honors and awards for her work. Her book There Once Was a World is an internationally bestselling classic and a National Book Award Finalist.

HASIDIC TALES OF THE HOLOCAUST

Yaffa Eliach (Estate of)

Audrey Elledge is the SparkNotes Editor at the Barnes & Noble headquarters. Hailing from the South, she is a graduate of Baylor University and Vanderbilt University, and now lives in New York City where she co-leads the Church of the City New York Creative Team. Audrey is a former winner of the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Virginia Beall Poetry Prize, and has been published in Fathom Mag. You can find her on Twitter @AudreyMae17.

Audrey Elledge

Andreas Elpidorou is a professor of philosophy at the University of Louisville. His piece about boredom, “The Quiet Alarm” appeared in Aeon in July 2015, and sparked worldwide attention. He has been featured in Nature, Fast Company, Business Insider, Psychology Today, and more. He holds a BS in physics from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in philosophy from Boston University. He was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship (2002-6), a Leventis Foundation scholarship (2009-11), and an Earhart Foundation fellowship (2012-13). He was a visiting scholar in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and a junior visiting fellow at Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Austria.

PROPELLED: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead Us to the Good Life

Andreas Elpidorou, PhD

Freda Epum is a Nigerian American writer and artist. She is the author of two chapbooks, Input/Output and Entryways into memories that might assemble me, which won the Iron Horse Literary Review Chapbook Competition. She is the cocreator of the Black American Tree Project, an interactive workshop about the legacies of slavery in American society. Epum’s work has been published in The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Vol 1. Brooklyn, Entropy, Bending Genres, and others. She received her MFA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her work has been supported by Lambda Literary, the Tin House Workshop, VONA, the Ragdale Foundation, the Anderson Center at Tower View, and the Jordan-Goodman Prize. Originally from Tucson, she now lives in Cincinnati.

"A touching and unconventional portrait ... Epum effectively transports readers inside her mind and offers bracing, funny testimony that will feel familiar to those who’ve struggled with their own anxiety and depression."—Publishers Weekly

"This book celebrates a resilient woman’s hard-won understanding of the meaning of home in a racist world determined to annihilate her spirit. A unique memoir about the struggle to find wholeness in a white supremacist society."—Kirkus Reviews

"Skillfully crafted...Epum successfully describes her pain with emotion and humor...This well-written and engaging memoir is recommended for readers wishing to better understand the experience of mental illness or anyone who can relate to Epum’s search for belonging."—Library Journal

“[A]n impressive, and incisive exploration of connection, diaspora, mental health, and the search for home in a fractured world….Epum hooks the reader from the opening pages…Epum’s memoir brilliantly captures the nuances and emotional complexities of mental illness, while illuminating the unflinching realities and impact of othering….This memoir is a powerful call for acceptance, not only of the truths and traumas we carry but also of the judgments that cloud our vision of those who walk a different path.”—Britta Stromeyer, Bending Genres

“The Gloomy Girl Variety Show has everything I could ever want in a book. Dazzling, darkly funny, and fiercely incisive, Freda Epum takes center stage to deliver her profound insights on mental health, diaspora, belonging, and her search for home in a fragmented world. A masterful showman, Epum invites readers in with an honesty and heartfelt vulnerability that lingers long after the final word. These essays blew me away. I love The Gloomy Girl Variety Show, and you will too.”—Edgar Gomez, author of High-Risk Homosexual: A Memoir

“Reckoning with identity, illness, and in-betweenness, Freda Epum’s voice comes through these pages like a flame: crackling with insight, wryly humorous even as it sears, and impossible to look away from. This hybrid marvel of a book is not just a variety show but a magic show—you will be transformed.”—Erica Berry, author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear

“The Gloomy Girl Variety Show is a one-of-a-kind, thought-provoking tour of contemporary American life. Knitting vignettes to poetry and photography, this memoir urges us to reconsider how we think and talk about mental health, pop culture, and Black women’s lives. Whether chronicling ‘How to Be a Terrible No-Good African Daughter’ or testifying on ‘Why (I Choose to Remember),’ Freda Epum writes with tenderness and great wit. She is a vibrant new voice for our times.”—Daisy Hernández, author of The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease

“In the luminous, formally inventive memoir The Gloomy Girl Variety Show, Freda Epum interrogates ideas of home and safety as a Black woman with mental illness. Epum’s genius is her ability to weave lyric fragments, cultural and political criticism, and her own photographs and art into an incisive, cohesive constellation. This work, like her journey, is ‘both festering and healing.’ I have been waiting for a book like this all my life.”—Jami Nakamura Lin, author of The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir

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