Nathan Hill‘s short fiction has appeared in many literary journals, including The Iowa Review, AGNI, The Gettysburg Review, and Fiction, where he was awarded the annual Fiction Prize. A native Iowan, he lives with his wife in Naples, Florida. The Nix is his first novel.  John Irving says, “The Nix is a mother-son psychodrama with ghosts and politics, but it’s also a tragicomedy about anger and sanctimony in America. . . .  Nathan Hill is a maestro.” 

 June 29, 2017, marks the 10th anniversary of the device that changed our world—the iPhone.  In the One Device, Brian Merchant dives into the secret history of the invention that changed everything-and became the most profitable product in the world.  The One Device is a roadmap for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything.

In his first major book in several years, the inspiring author of the classic A Path with Heart, Kornfield, invites us into a new awareness. Through his signature warmhearted, poignant, often funny stories, with their Aha moments and O. Henry-like outcomes, Jack shows how we get stuck and how we can free ourselves, wherever we are and whatever our circumstances. Renowned for his mindfulness practices and meditations, Jack provides these keys for opening gateways to immediate shifts in perspective and clarity of vision, allowing us to see how to change course, take action, or—when we shouldn’t act—just relax and trust.

Complex and surprising, Scott Turow’s new novel, Testimony, confirms once again why he is known as the master of the legal thriller, and how his work has found fans like John Grisham, who said “Scott is still the best lawyer-novelist,” Daniel Silva, who calls him, “The master of the courtroom drama,” and Steven King, who said “I came away feeling amazed and fulfilled, as we only do when we read novelists at the height of their powers.” Testimony is a page-turning legal thriller about an American prosecutor’s investigation of a refugee camp’s mystifying disappearance.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 50 years of friendship with Coach John Wooden — brought together by the game of basketball — formed one of the most enduring and meaningful relationships in sports history. Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Since retiring, he has been an actor, a basketball coach, columnist, and the author of several New York Times bestsellers. On the court, Abdul-Jabbar led UCLA to three national champions, and was named the Outstanding Player in the NCAA for each of those years. Wooden coached UCLA for 27 seasons and won more NCAA championships than any other coach in history. Off the court, they transcended their athletic achievements to gain even wider recognition and tremendous national respect. 

Colm Tóibín is the author of seven novels, including The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary, and Nora Webster, as well as two story collections. Three times shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Tóibín lives in Dublin and New York. He previously appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles to discuss James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room.

Ben Falcone is a film director, writer, and comedic actor. Being a Dad Is Weird: Lessons in Fatherhood from My Family to Yours is a funny and intimate look at fatherhood that combines stories about his own larger-than-life dad and how his experiences raising two daughters with his wife, Melissa McCarthy, are shaped by his own childhood.

Charmaine Craig is a faculty member in the Department of Creative Writing at UC Riverside, and the descendant of significant figures in Burma’s modern history. Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and most recently, Golden Age, Some Luck and Early Warning, the volumes of The Last Hundred Years trilogy.

A beautiful and poignant story of one family during the most violent and turbulent years of world history, Miss Burma is a powerful novel of love and war, colonialism and ethnicity, and the ties of blood. Based on the story of the author’s mother and grandparents, Miss Burma is a captivating portrait of how modern Burma came to be and of the ordinary people swept up in the struggle for self-determination and freedom.

Sherry Lansing has worked in the motion picture business for almost 30 years where she was involved in the production, marketing, and distribution of more than 200 films, including Academy Award winners Forrest Gump (1994), Braveheart (1995), and Titanic (1997). She earned a reputation as a trailblazer, a visionary leader, and a creative filmmaker.  In 1980, she became the first woman to head a major film studio when she was appointed President of 20th Century Fox.  Later, as an independent producer, Lansing was responsible for such successful films as Fatal Attraction, The Accused, School Ties, Indecent Proposal, and Black Rain.  Returning to the executive ranks in 1992, she was named Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures and began an unprecedented tenure that lasted more than 12 years (1992 – 2005).