Showing results by narrator "Shen Li" in All Categories

Aidan Thomas is a hard-working family man and a somewhat beloved figure in the small upstate New York town where he lives. He’s the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. But Aidan has a dark secret he’s been keeping from everyone in town and those closest to him. He’s a kidnapper and serial killer. Aidan has murdered eight women and there’s a ninth he has earmarked for death: Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed, fearing for her life.

Daughters are the Ang family’s curse. In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen.

A thousand years ago, the mortal realms of Kalemnar were separated from the land of the Fae by a dark, poisonous mist that takes lives with all the cruelty of the sharpest blade. Lyrinn Martel has been told all her life that the Fae deserted their lands long ago, leaving them to decay and ruin. Rumors still swirl to this day that the Immortals were malevolent creatures, bent on destroying the realms of humans, and that their departure was a welcome blessing.

Brought down by the trauma of recent events, Ashen Spencer resolves to step up the fight against her enemies in the Directorate. With the help of an unlikely friend, she infiltrates the Palace Grounds to steal a priceless object...only to find something even more valuable.

When Ashen heads east to New York City to find Finn's brother, she finds herself confronted by an entirely new set of problems. The city is a war zone overshadowed by the Behemoth, the largest arcology in existence. Few are allowed entry and those who go in never leave. She soon discovers that the power in New York is held entirely by one young man. Known only as the Bishop, he's mysterious, unnervingly handsome, and smooth-voiced. His allure is undeniable, despite his tendency toward cruelty. Who is the Bishop really? What exactly goes on inside the Behemoth?

The notion that everyone wants sex—and that we all have to have it—is false. It’s intertwined with our ideas about capitalism, race, gender, and queerness. And it impacts the most marginalized among us. For asexual folks, it means that ace and A-spec identity is often defined by a queerness that’s not queer enough, seen through a lens of perceived lack: lack of pleasure, connection, joy, maturity, and even humanity. In this exploration of what it means to be Black and asexual in America today, Sherronda J. Brown offers new perspectives on asexuality.

Six months after having been hit by a power surge that nearly obliterated her memory, Delilah Harlow is still picking up the pieces. Her once diamond-sharp mind has become shaky and unreliable, and bristly, self-sufficient Delilah is forced to rely on friends, family, and her raven familiar for help. In an effort to reclaim her wits and former independence, she casts a dangerous blood spell meant to harness power with healing capacities.

When it comes to love and art, Rooney Gao believes in signs. Most of all, she believes in the Chinese legend that everyone is tied to their one true love by the red string of fate. And that belief has inspired her career as an artist, as well as the large art installations she makes with (obviously) red string. That is until artist’s block strikes and Rooney begins to question everything. But then fate leads her to the perfect guy.

Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has.

After barely escaping with her life, Ashen finds her way home to the Arc thanks to the help of an old friend. After a long absence, Ash isn’t sure what she’s about to find. The Bishop’s deception and cruelty have turned her world upside down. As she fights an impossible uphill battle, she must confront betrayal, lies, and heartbreaking loss that will either lead to her vindication or her ultimate downfall....

On her 17th birthday, Ashen Spencer is blindfolded and escorted to the massive, mysterious building known as the Arc to begin her year of training and testing in hopes that she can earn the Cure - a powerful drug given only to those deemed worthy to survive beyond their 18th birthday. Ashen has a chance to rise up from her former life of squalor and be granted a place in society, if the Panel - the mysterious group of powerful men and women in charge of the Arc - deems her year a success.

Leaving behind the people she loves most in the world, Ashen sets off into the wilderness in hopes of finding the elusive group of rebels know as the "Consortium". But, when she finds herself among strangers in the former ski town locals have named the "Bastille", secrets begin to reveal themselves, friendships prove as fragile as glass, and Ashen begins to understand just how powerful her enemy really is. When her brother, Kel, goes missing, Ashen is forced to return to the place she despises...where she's faced with a cruel and brutal choice that will break her heart.

Jane is unhappy. A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house—a life—she's never really wanted. There's only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane's best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford.

Planets in our solar system have so many cool facts about them that scientists have made very complicated to understand. This book has taken some of the most amazing facts and repackaged them in a way that makes it easy for kids to understand. From the most basic facts right through to some of the most amazing and not well know ones, this book covers everything a child would love to know.

Taken captive by a Fae whose cruelty is legendary throughout the realms of Kalemnar, Lyrinn must find a way to escape and get back to the High Lord she loves. But when she finds herself a prisoner in a distant realm, she quickly discovers that not all is as it seems. Torn between two lands and two lives, she learns of the Elar—an Immortal imbued with lethal powers whose shadow casts an ominous threat on all the realms of the world.

For Gemma's whole life, it has always been her and her mom against the world. As far as she knew, all her grandparents—and thus her ties to Taiwanese culture—were dead. Until one day when a mysterious man shows up at her door with two shocking things: the news that her grandfather has just recently passed, and the first clue to a treasure hunt that Gemma hopes will lead to her inheritance. There's just one major problem: to complete the hunt, she has to go to her grandfather's home in Taiwan. And the only way Gemma can get there is by asking her ex and biggest high-school rival for help.

Phoenny Fang plans to have the best summer ever. She’s returning to Summertime Chinese Culture, Wellness, and Enrichment Experience (SCCWEE for short and “Squee” to campers in the know), and this year she’s a senior camper. That means she; her best friend, Lyrica Chu; and her whole Squad will have the most influence. It almost doesn’t matter that her brother is a CIT (counselor-in-training) and that her mom and auntie are the camp directors. Time spent at Squee is sacred, glorious, and free.

When Leta’s sister Lyrinn disappeared after the Blood Trials, there was only one thing for Leta to do: seek solace in the arms of Prince Corym, the most powerful mortal in Kalemnar. For months, she’s been living in the palace and reveling in a life of wealth and luxury. The prince wants to marry Leta. The king approves. On the surface, life is almost perfect. So why, all of a sudden, does Leta want more than anything to flee the palace?

If Grace is being honest, she knows her choices skate past questionable and probably into destructive. But her heart is broken and the guy who broke it—her ex Josh—keeps hinting at a reunion. So when her best friends, Tiff and Camille, suggest they take a girls trip to help her get over her heartache, Grace doesn’t hesitate to recommend Cancún. She just doesn’t mention that Josh also happens to be there.

Therapy fails sex workers. Despite the wide range of sex work—from street-based to OnlyFans—clinicians too often focus on what they think sex workers need, instead of building trust, developing rapport, and really doing the work to understand the unique stressors that make quality mental health care essential for sex worker communities. Sex-positive therapists Theo Burnes and Jamila Dawson break down everything that mental health providers need to know to work effectively with sex workers, while dispeling the tired, pervasive myths that continue to impact treatment today.