If Mary Roach wrote a book about drinking, this would be that book. It’s a clever blend of science and immersive journalism that will answer every nerdy question you’ve ever had about booze, from how yeast turn sugar into alcohol to what cures a hangover. Adam Rogers debunks a lot of myths and has a great time doing it.

Named a Best Science Book of 2014 by Amazon, Wired, the Guardian, and NBC Winner of the 2014 Gourmand Award for Best Spirits Book in the United States Finalist for the 2015 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Lively . . . [Rogerss] descriptions of the science behind familiar drinks exert a seductive pull. New York Times Humans have been perfecting alcohol production for ten thousand years, but scientists are just starting to distill the chemical reactions behind the perfect buzz. In a spirited tour across continents and cultures, Adam Rogers takes us from bourbon country to the worlds top gene-sequencing labs, introducing us to the bars, barflies, and evolving science at the heart of boozy technology. He chases the physics, biology, chemistry, and metallurgy that produce alcohol, and the psychology and neurobiology that make us want it. If youve ever wondered how your drink arrived in your glass, or what it will do to you, Proof makes an unparalleled drinking companion. Rogerss book has much the same effect as a good drink. You get a warm sensation, you want to engage with the wider world, and you feel smarter than you probably are. Above all, it makes you understand how deeply human it is to take a drink. Wall Street Journal

A strange little avant-garde novel by the wife of Paul Bowles, re-released this year with a new introduction by Claire Messud. This is a bizarre book—think of it as a piece of modernist art made out of words—and the language is so extraordinary that I got to the last page and immediately started reading it again.

Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

You know those dull passages in biographies that are merely recitations of names and dates and facts that no one cares about? This book doesn’t have any of those. Seriously, I wish Paul Collins could write all the biographies from now on. This lively, enlightening narrative is packed with the kind of quirky details and oddball anecdotes that Collins is known for—and he’s a meticulous researcher, so you know he’s got his facts straight. Start here and read everything else he’s written.

Describes the personal and professional life of the master of the horror genre behind The Raven, including a discussion of his rocky relationship with his wealthy adoptive father and his time spent working as an editor and reviewer. 15,000 first printing.