My father is a good man with one vice: he loves to gamble and he got himself deep in debt to the mob. Now they sent a man to collect, but we have no money left to give. So what does that man demand for payback? Me. My life becomes currency in my father’s mistakes, collateral damage in a world where debts are paid in flesh and blood rather than cash. 💔
Leia will be mine—my wife, my love, and the mother of my child. So what if I had to go through unconventional means to get her? I come from a broken home, and for a long time now, the mob has been my family. But finding her was a miracle, and now that I have her, I’ll be able to forge a family of my own. What started as collection on a debt has become something far more complicated. 🔥
This is a story of two people caught in impossible circumstances—her, forced to pay for her father’s gambling debts with her freedom; him, a mob enforcer who sees in her a chance at redemption and the family he’s always craved. Between the violence of his world and the desperation of hers, something unexpected begins to grow. Can love bloom when it begins with coercion? Can a man from the mob world offer her the life she deserves? 💕
What makes this intense: Father’s gambling debts to mob leave daughter as collateral, enforcer demanding her as payment for debts, unconventional beginning leading to complicated feelings, mob family dynamics, and dark romance exploring whether love can grow from coercion into something real and redemptive.
“Why can’t a man learn to speak the language of the beasts?” John Dolittle, MD, is a respected physician in the quiet town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh—until his growing collection of pets frightens away his human patients. Armed with the secret knowledge passed down by his wise parrot Polynesia, the Doctor learns to speak the languages of the animal kingdom. From the smallest mouse to the largest elephant, Dolittle becomes the world’s first “animal doctor.” 🦜
A Legacy of Compassion: Hugh Lofting famously began writing these stories in letters to his children from the trenches of World War I. Seeking an alternative to the violence he witnessed, he created a hero whose greatest weapons are empathy, linguistics, and deep respect for all living things. The Doctor’s house becomes a sanctuary where the “Animal Family”—including Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the pig, and Dab-Dab the duck—live in harmony. 🐕
The Grand Adventure: When a dire message arrives about an epidemic among the monkeys in Africa, the Doctor sets sail on a perilous journey that introduces him to the rarest creatures on Earth, including the two-headed Pushmi-pullyu. The voyage is a masterclass in early 20th-century adventure, from escaping the King of the Jolliginki to crossing the Precipice of the Barbary Coast. Lofting blends high-seas drama with gentle humor, celebrating the idea that the “wild” world is not a place to be conquered, but a community to be understood. 🌍
What makes this timeless: Classic children’s literature from WWI trenches, physician who learns to speak animal languages, “Animal Family” living in harmony, African voyage to save monkeys from epidemic, two-headed Pushmi-pullyu and other fantastical creatures, and hero whose weapons are empathy and respect rather than violence.
For the Shwartz family, survival was the only option. Their will to live, and a bit of luck, kept the family safe during the Holocaust, bringing them across Eastern Europe all the way to Israel. In 1937, the Shwartz family lived a calm life in their small Polish village of Butla. Fifteen-year-old Rachel liked to sing and go out dancing at a local nightclub, while her older brother David was busy running a farm and raising a family with his wife Hinda. But all that changed when the war reached their doorstep. ✡️
First, the Russians came and kicked them out of their house. Then, the Nazis came to cart them off to concentration camps. But the Shwartz family resisted. David decided that no matter what, his family would not be taken captive. Instead, he snuck his family out of their village, through a large forest, and into Hungary—a place that was supposed to be safe. But that safety didn’t last long. Again the Shwartz family found themselves on the run, escaping prison, Nazis, and bombings. 🕊️
This is a testament to one family’s refusal to surrender to genocide, a story of quick thinking, courage, and the fierce determination to stay together against impossible odds. From Poland through Hungary and beyond, the Shwartz family’s journey across war-torn Eastern Europe demonstrates that sometimes survival itself is an act of resistance. Their odyssey—fleeing through forests, hiding from soldiers, narrowly escaping capture time and again—is a powerful reminder of both the horrors of the Holocaust and the indomitable human spirit. 🌟
What makes this essential: True Holocaust survival story of Polish Jewish family, fifteen-year-old Rachel and brother David refusing to be captured, dangerous journey from Poland through Hungary across Eastern Europe, escaping Russians, Nazis, prisons, and bombings, and testament to family’s will to survive and stay together against genocidal persecution.
Soft Launch: A Coming-of-Adulthood Novel
When Sam walked herself down the aisle at age twenty-two, she never imagined wanting more than the life she had in that moment. Seven years later, with the ink still drying on both her law degree and her divorce papers, she arrives in Manhattan ready to start adulthood over and chase her dreams of becoming an entertainment lawyer, determined to prove to herself that upending her life was worth it. This is starting over at twenty-nine—exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. ⚖️
As Sam navigates the high-pressure world of Big Law—heady and demanding, full of magnetic and powerful people—she finds an unexpected ally in her charming, supportive officemate Charlie. But just as he begins to tear down the walls Sam has built around herself, she lands her first big client: a “Poker Princess” facing federal charges for running high-stakes games for Hollywood’s elite. Suddenly Sam discovers just how high-stakes “fake it till you make it” can be when you’ve given up everything to become someone new. 🎰
Between grueling work hours, navigating office politics, building a case that could make or break her career, and figuring out whether she’s ready to risk her heart again, Sam must decide who she wants to be in this new chapter. The life she left behind keeps pulling at her, but Manhattan is teaching her that reinvention isn’t about erasing the past—it’s about integrating it into who you’re becoming. 🗽
What makes this resonant: Starting over in Manhattan at twenty-nine post-divorce, high-pressure Big Law world, entertainment lawyer defending “Poker Princess” in federal case, office romance with charming colleague, and the messy reality of reinventing yourself while “fake it till you make it” becomes all too real.
On the morning of January 7, 2025, national MS NOW reporter Jacob Soboroff received a text from his brother within minutes of a blaze engulfing the hillside behind his home: “Big Palisades fire. We are evacuating. Really bad.” An attached photo showed a huge black plume rising from behind the house—an umbrella of smoke towering over everything they owned. Soboroff rushed to the bureau chief’s office and said, “I should go. I grew up in the Palisades.” 🔥
Soon he was on the front line of the blaze—his first live report of what would turn out to be weeks covering unimaginable destruction from both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in Altadena. In the days to come, Soboroff appeared across NBC News networks as Los Angeles burned, met with displaced residents and workers, and pressed Governor Gavin Newsom in a Meet the Press interview. But no story Soboroff has covered—the trauma of family separation at the border, displacement from the war in Ukraine, the collapse of order in Haiti—could have prepared him for reporting live as the hallmarks of his childhood were engulfed in flames around him. 📺
This is firsthand journalism from inside the disaster, a reporter watching his hometown burn to the ground while covering the story for a nation. Soboroff weaves personal narrative with investigative reporting to explore what these fires mean for America’s climate future, how communities respond when everything they know is consumed by flames, and what it takes to rebuild when the new normal includes catastrophic wildfire seasons. 🌎
What makes this urgent: MS NOW national reporter covering hometown’s destruction, January 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires firsthand account, journalist balancing personal tragedy with professional duty, pressing Governor Newsom during crisis, and exploration of America’s new age of climate disasters through the lens of Los Angeles burning.
Hey, Bestie! Start loving yourself radically with the 4-step SASS Method that literally anyone can do—from social media star Misha Brown, known as @yourbestiemisha to millions. You deserve happiness. You deserve hope. And you deserve a sassy best friend who can help you learn not to settle for less. It’s time to start loving yourself radically, and Misha is here to guide you along your journey of self-discovery, accountability, and most importantly, self-love. ✨
With his no-nonsense but always loving approach, Misha shares stories from his own life, encounters with others, and the wisdom gleaned from them to help you release the patterns, relationships, and beliefs that have kept you from stepping into your full fabulousness. With equal parts hilarity and heart, Misha’s S.A.S.S. Method to glowing up your life consists of Self-reflection to push away what’s been holding you back, Affirmations to reshape the way you speak to and about yourself, Standing your ground by setting boundaries and stopping apologizing, and Sculpting the life you want by taking bold steps toward your own happily ever after. 💖
This is radical self-love with accountability, delivered by someone who genuinely wants you to thrive. Misha’s approach is refreshingly direct—he’ll call you out when you’re settling for less than you deserve, celebrate your wins like they’re his own, and remind you that you’re worthy of the life you dream about. Whether you’re recovering from heartbreak, escaping toxic patterns, or simply ready to level up, this guide gives you the tools to become your own bestie. 🌟
What makes this transformative: From social media star @yourbestiemisha with millions of followers, practical 4-step SASS Method anyone can follow, no-nonsense but loving approach to radical self-love, stories from Misha’s own journey, and actionable steps to release toxic patterns and build the life you deserve.