Secrets of the Octopus

Bestselling author Amy Tan, celebrated for The Joy Luck Club, invites you into her world of birding and natural wonder in The Backyard Bird Chronicles. Amidst the turmoil of 2016, Tan sought refuge in the simple beauty of her backyard, discovering solace in the visiting birds. What began as a quest for peace blossomed into a profound connection with nature, transforming her perspective and offering a window into the intricate lives of these creatures.

With wit, charm, and stunning original sketches, Tan chronicles her journey through daily observations and thoughtful reflections, revealing the hidden beauty that surrounds us. Featuring a foreword by David Allen Sibley, this inspiring book is more than just a guide to birds; it's a testament to the power of nature to heal, connect, and inspire hope in a chaotic world.

Venture into the astonishing hidden world of plants with Zoë Schlanger's The Light Eaters, a groundbreaking exploration of plant intelligence that will forever change how you perceive the natural world. Journey across the globe and into the latest botanical research as Schlanger unveils the extraordinary abilities of plants: their capacity to communicate, recognize family, adapt to their surroundings, and even trick animals.

More than just survivalists, plants possess a parallel form of intelligence that challenges our very notions of consciousness. What can we learn from these beings that thrive by adapting, consuming, and accommodating? And what is our responsibility to them, now that we're beginning to understand the true depth of their capabilities?

The Light Eaters invites you to reconsider the intricate ecosystems we inhabit and our place within them, asking: We need plants to survive, but what, if anything, do they need from us? Prepare to be mesmerized, challenged, and ultimately transformed by the drama of green life revealed in this eye-opening work of popular science.

The world around us is alive with sensations we can barely imagine. In An Immense World, Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong throws open the doors to the sensory experiences of other creatures, revealing the hidden dimensions that shape their realities.

Prepare to be astonished as you explore the scent-scapes of dogs, the electric fields sensed by fish, and the magnetic maps navigated by turtles. Discover that a crocodile's skin is as sensitive as a lover's touch, and that even simple scallops possess complex vision.

With humor, rigor, and a contagious sense of wonder, Yong invites us to journey beyond our human limitations, to truly see and feel the world through other eyes. An Immense World is not just a voyage to strange lands, but a profound exploration of the boundless possibilities of perception.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK From the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits. “Thrilling . . . heartbreaking . . . uplifting . . . the fast-paced, emotionally charged story of one ambitious young woman, finding both her voice and her passion.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women “NASA? Space missions? The ’80s? This is a collection of all the things I love.”—Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary and The Martian Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space. Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane. As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant. Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting listeners to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love—this time among the stars.