Books published by publisher Little Brown, New York

What makes everyday spaces work, how do they shape us, and what do they say about us? The spaces we live in - whether public areas, housing, offices, hospitals or cities - mediate community, creativity and our very identity, making us who we are. Using insights from environmental psychology, design, and architecture, The Shaping of Us reveals the often imperceptible ways in which our surroundings influence our behaviour. Wide-ranging and global examples cover the differences between personalities and nationalities, explore grassroots and mainstream efforts to build environments promoting well-being, and look ahead to what will become of us if we don't listen closely to what we know is good for us. You will learn whether you are a natural 'prospector' or 'refuge' in the office environment, what roundabouts and stoplights say about British and American culture, whether you are guilty of Nimbyism or being drawn to 'ruin porn', and how the half-house may be a common sight in the near future. The environments we inhabit define our identities - from the earliest moments of our evolution to the worlds we build around ourselves.

LOOK WHO'S PLAYING FIRST BASE Will Mike stand up to his teammates to defend his friend? When the Checkmates need a new first baseman, Mike Hagin's new friend, Yuri, seems like a logical choice. But when Yuri starts flubbing plays and the team's star player threatens to quit as a result, Mike is not sure Yuri is such a good choice after all-for a teammate or for a friend. It appears as if Mike will have to choose between his friendship with Yuri and his loyalty to the team-or is there another solution?

Once again Mrs. Coverlet is obliged to forsake her beloved Persevers -- this time for a most happy reason. Her recipe for Chocolate Stale Bread Delight gives her a first-round victory in a baking contest, and she has to go to New York to compete in the final Bake-Off. Malcolm and Molly and Toad Persever are not to be left alone again. Miss Eva Penalty will move right in with them. This plan, approved from necessity by Malcolm and Molly, is too much for Toad, who loathes the sticky spinster. Packing all six of his cats in a pillowcase, he leaves home. but Malcolm and Molly foil his run-away attempt, so he has to take, as he says, "other steps." Toad knows the time has come for him to resort to something he has saved fro just such an emergency -- his Do-It-Yourself Book of Practical Witchcraft. The manual includes, among many interesting chapters, one entitled "Hexes and Evil Eyes," and another called "How to Make Your Enemies Powerless." The results he obtains are really astounding.

A misanthropic matriarch leaves her eccentric family in crisis when she mysteriously disappears in this whip-smart and "divinely funny" novel that inspired the movie starring Cate Blanchett (New York Times). Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect; and to 15-year-old Bee, she is her best friend and, simply, Mom.Then Bernadette vanishes. It all began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle--and people in general--has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, and secret correspondence--creating a compulsively readable and surprisingly touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

#1 New York Times Bestseller With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country―and the world―has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief. This riveting and explosive account of Trump’s administration provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office, including: -- What President Trump’s staff really thinks of him -- What inspired Trump to claim he was wire-tapped by President Obama -- Why FBI director James Comey was really fired -- Why chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner couldn’t be in the same room -- Who is really directing the Trump administration’s

The fearsome foursome is back in the second installment of the New York Times bestselling series praised by Rick Riordan! The Mysterious Benedict Society is up against a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search--a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids' adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain. With only one week to find a captured Mr. Benedict, the gifted foursome faces their greatest challenge of all--a challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and will require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.

The haunting, romantic lesbian retelling of Cinderella and modern queer classic by award-winning author Malinda Lo--now with an introduction by Holly Black, a letter from the author, a Q&A, and more! In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash's capacity for love--and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love. Entrancing and empowering, Ash beautifully unfolds the connections between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.