Purgatorian Manual

About the book: Why should we pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory? Theologians assert that those who bestow mercy upon the suffering souls, shall themselves find great relief and assistance in Purgatory; they consider active charity towards the holy souls a mark of predestination to eternal happiness.

This beautiful pocket sized prayerbook is only 3" x 5" and less than 1/2 inch thick, yet it contains almost 300 pages of wonderful prayers. 

Purgatorian Manual contains every prayer, meditation, novena, and Mass for the Holy souls that you could imagine. It is a treasure for those who love the Holy Souls and wish to pray TO and FOR our dearly departed. 

Purgatorian Manual was the official Manual of the Purgatorian Society promoted under the auspices of the Redemptorists. 

This edition was published during the second world war in 1941 and was extremely popular among Catholic Americans during the war years.

The Freedom Of Obedience: Carthusian Novice Conferences by A Carthusian

About the book: Obedience is the submission of the person to the will of God, the fulfilment of a commandment whose value and meaning we cannot always see. This obedience is the fruit of faith that clings to God for himself and submits to every word of God, thus entering into the pattern which he weaves in the history of the world.

For many of us today, obedience is an unusual, even alien, notion. What can we learn from the members of the Carthusian order, for whom the vow of obedience, alongside poverty and chastity, is the most fundamental importance?  

Carthusian spirituality teaches that obedience is not a contradiction of liberty. Rather, it is the way of love and of true freedom. 

This fourth volume of the Carthusian Novice Conferences series (1998) illuminates the truth behind this paradox giving fascinating insights into how the vow of obedience is realised and lived out. The essence of liberty, we learn, is not the power to choose between good and evil, but simply to do good.

These spiritual reflections by a Carthusian novice master for those training for the life of silent love in the cloister show that in the obedience born of love, one responds to the all encompassing, deeply intimate and sustaining love of God.

The Freedom Of Obedience: Carthusian Novice Conferences is translated from the French by an Anglican Solitary. 

For My Sister Nicole (Biography, True Crime) by Denise Brown

About the book: From Denise Brown - older sister of Nicole Brown Simpson - comes a vital, trauma-informed book that illuminates intimate partner violence and the systems that enable it.

“We’re hearing so many stories now about domestic violence…The statistics are staggering. Denise Brown has been in search of some new things that might actually help save women’s lives.” - Diane Sawyer

About one in three women in the US experience domestic violence, and many incidents are never reported. Drawing on decades of work with domestic violence shelters and the aftermath of her sister’s death, Denise blends memoir and biography with passages from Nicole’s journals, centering the voices and lived experiences of survivors.

Denise teaches practical, evidence-based ways to recognize warning signs - because abusers often hide behind charm, wealth, or charisma - and explains how friends, family, and communities can respond safely and effectively. 

Compassionate and urgent, For My Sister Nicole: Love Shouldn't Hurt, What To Know About Domestic Violence (2026) is both a necessary survivor narrative and a call to action, helping readers to better understand what happened to Nicole and learn how to recognize and support other people in danger.

For My Sister Nicole: Love Shouldn't Hurt, What To Know About Domestic Violence is a Publishers Weekly Pick for Fall 2026 Fiction and Nonfiction Preview: Memoirs & Biographies.

About the author: Denise Brown was raised in a close-knit family in Orange County, California, and became known worldwide after the brutal 1994 murder of her sister Nicole Brown Simpson. Denise testified in front of the US Senate Appropriations Committee for increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act; President Biden and Senator Hatch cited her as “having done more for the issue of domestic violence than any other individual.” After three decades of advocacy, she is a sought-after speaker and educator on this critical public health issue.

In Light Of All Darkness (True Crime) by Kim Cross

About the book: Paced like a thriller and full of insider information on the history and science of Crime Scene Investigation, In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America's Child embeds readers in one of the most famous true-crime stories of our generation - the kidnapping of Polly Klaas - a case as pivotal in the history of the FBI as the Unabomber or Oklahoma City bombing.

On 1 October 1993, a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped at knifepoint from her bedroom in Petaluma, California, during a sleepover with two friends, while her mother slept soundly in the room next door. This rarest of all kidnappings - a stranger abduction from the home - triggered one of the largest manhunts in FBI history.  

Many Americans remember Polly's face, which appeared on the national news every night, on the cover of People magazine, and on more than 8 million flyers distributed as far as China. The emotional gravity of Polly’s story touched every agent, police officer, and forensic technician who worked on her case. Many of these investigators have never shared their stories - until now.

New York Times bestselling author Kim Cross has written the first comprehensive account of what happened on that fateful night in October, as well as how the case forever transformed the Bureau’s approach to solving crimes. With unprecedented access to files, crime scene photos, a videotaped murder confession, and inside sources, In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America's Child (2023) follows the investigators who pieced together the evidence that led to the arrest and conviction of the kidnapper - and made the victim a household name and a girl who will never be forgotten. 

About the author: Kim Cross is a New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and historian known for meticulously reported narrative nonfiction. Her stories have been recognized in “Best of” lists by the New York Times, the Columbia Journalism Review, The Sunday Longread, Longform, Apple News Audio, and Best American Sports Writing. She lives in Boise, Idaho.

Bibliothèque Intérieure

I Believe In Love by Jean du Coeur de Jesus d'Elbée

About the book: This spiritual classic has long been beloved by Catholics for its wondrous distillation of the teaching of St Thérèse of Lisieux into a reader-friendly set of meditations. It is perfect as a personal retreat when you have only a few moments to spare each day - and for spiritual reading anytime and anywhere. 

Father Jean C J d'Elbée, a French priest deeply imbued with St Thérèse's spirit, brings you St.Thérèse's teachings on God's love and the confidence in Him that it should inspire in your soul; humility, peace, and fraternal charity; the apostolate; the Cross; and what it means truly to abandon yourself to Divine Providence. I Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat based on the Teaching of St Thérèse of Lisieux (1974) has helped countless souls embark on the way to the Father. It will help you focus on Him throughout each day, rest in Him amid your troubles, and live joyfully with Him at every moment!

You will learn:

a) How you can (and must) have confidence in God, not in spite of your sufferings, but because of them!

b) The secret that makes sense of the pain and trouble in your life no matter how great

c) One thing you must cherish in your soul, or you'll never learn to love as Jesus loves

d) God's love for you personally: are you really aware of its reality in every moment of your life?

e) How you can see it at work

f) The spiritual goldmine that is at your fingertips now if you know where to find it

g) What you must do before you speak about the Faith, or your words will be useless

h) Crosses: why you can't avoid them and why you should love the ones God sends you

i) How to deal with failures, reversals, and difficult moments of all kinds without losing your spiritual or emotional equilibrium

j) The Fall of Adam and Eve: how even it shows God's abiding love for every soul

k) The sin that destroys countless souls since few know how to recognize and fight it

l) Do you wish you had the love of God that the saints have but are discouraged by your weaknesses?Why you should take heart

m) Are you drawing on all the treasures of the Eucharist and the saints? How you can be sure

n) The comforting reason why our Lord at times chooses not to deliver you from trials

o) Much more that will show you how to live in the glorious love of God at each moment!

I Believe in Love was first published in French in 1969 under the title Croire à l'amour.

About the author: Fr Jean C J d'Elbee was a French priest who, in his book, I Believe in Love, beautifully conveys the spirit of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and her message of joyful confidence and total abandonment to the Heart of Jesus.

Definition: Chaophile

St Francis Of Assisi by Bret Thomas OFS

About the book: All Christians know his name. Few truly know the man.

Francis of Assisi was not even five feet tall. He was not well educated. And yet he is the one saint commonly recognized as Alter Christus, the “other Christ.” Francis is not just any saint - he is a saint for everyone, whatever your place or position in life. 

But do we really know him?

Who was this man at his core? 

What was it that thrust this little man from a little town to the heights of sanctity, into a place of high honour among the celestial court?

In this riveting biography, author Bret Thoman accomplishes what few biographers have. He pierces the inner life of Francis, revealing his deepest passions, his unquenchable love for poverty, and his unshakable grip on the core of the Gospel. The life of Francis, so often festooned with spectacle and miracle, is in reality the story of a soul yearning for God in every moment and glimpsing His presence in all creation.

If you want to see the hidden life of the greatest saint, if you want to hear his thoughts, if you want to feel the fervour that blazed within his soul, you must read St Francis of Assisi: Passion, Poverty, and the Man who Transformed the Catholic Church (2016). 

About the author: Bret Thoman, OFS, has been a member of the Secular Franciscan Order (Third Order of St Francis) since 2003. He has an MA in Italian from Middlebury College, a BA from the University of Georgia in foreign languages, and a certificate in Franciscan Studies. Bret has written and published three books and translated twelve books from Italian to English.

While working as an interpreter for CNN, he translated the papal conclave and announced the election of Pope Francis live. But his main activity is organizing pilgrimages for St Francis Pilgrimages, the company he founded in 2004. He is also an FAA-licensed pilot and has logged more than 3500 hours of flight time.

Bret is partial to Latin, Gregorian chant, and incense, and he spends his free time reading classics, hiking, or biking anywhere not on asphalt. He currently lives in Loreto, Italy, with his wife and two children.

The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson

About the book: The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A True Story (2019) tells the true story of one of the most sensational murder trials in American history. 

When Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally hacked to death in Fall River, Massachusetts, in August 1892, the arrest of the couple’s younger daughter Lizzie turned the case into international news and her trial into a spectacle unparalleled in American history. Reporters flocked to the scene. Well-known columnists took up conspicuous seats in the courtroom. The defendant was relentlessly scrutinized for signs of guilt or innocence. Everyone - rich and poor, suffragists and social conservatives, legal scholars and laypeople - had an opinion about Lizzie Borden’s guilt or innocence. 

Was she a cold-blooded murderess or an unjustly persecuted lady? 

Did she or didn’t she?

The popular fascination with the Borden murders and its central enigmatic character has endured for more than one hundred years. Immortalized in rhyme, told and retold in every conceivable genre, the murders have secured a place in the American pantheon of mythic horror, but one typically wrenched from its historical moment. 

In contrast, Cara Robertson explores the stories Lizzie Borden’s culture wanted and expected to hear and how those stories influenced the debate inside and outside of the courtroom. Based on transcripts of the Borden legal proceedings, contemporary newspaper accounts, unpublished local accounts, and recently unearthed letters from Lizzie herself, The Trial of Lizzie Borden offers a window onto America in the Gilded Age, showcasing its most deeply held convictions and its most troubling social anxieties.

About the author: Cara Robertson began researching the Borden case as a Harvard undergraduate in 1990. She holds a PhD from Oxford University and a JD from Stanford Law School. She clerked at the Supreme Court of the United States, served as a legal adviser to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague, and has written for various publications. Her scholarship has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Humanities Center, of which she is a Trustee. The Trial of Lizzie Borden is her first book.

Holding Lightning by Emily Lordi

About the book: She was The Voice, and then she was a tragedy. Or so the story goes. 

Since her death in 2012, the life of Whitney Houston has been shaped by the popular imagination into a simplistic tale of angelic rise and pitiable fall. But as Emily Lordi argues in this magisterial new biography, such an assumption fails to convey just how hard Whitney worked to become herself, to share her gifts at the height of her powers and to passionately resist her own end.

In Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston (2026), Lordi reveals the dedication Houston applied to everything she did, from her encyclopaedic knowledge of music to the groundbreaking networks of Black creators that she worked so hard to create and uplift. This book fundamentally reappraises Houston’s life and art, shifting our perspective so we can finally see Whitney in all her real, imperfect, fallible, resilient humanity.

About the author: Emily Lordi is a writer, cultural critic, and professor of English at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of three books on Black literature and popular music, a writer-at-large for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and a contributor to NewYorker.com, The Washington Post, and others. She lives in Nashville, TN.

Empire of Orgasm by Ellen Huet

About the book: Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (2025) is a cautionary tale of sex and salvation for the wellness generation: how orgasmic meditation turned into a cult.

OneTaste hoped orgasm would change the world. Emerging in the midst of the late-aughts for-profit wellness boom, the company was unwavering in its faith in orgasmic meditation, or OM, a fifteen-minute practice involving a woman being clitorally stimulated by a clothed, usually male partner. Nicole Daedone, the group’s magnetic and cunning founder, envisioned a world where OM was as widespread as yoga. But Daedone’s vision came at a price: behind the militant loyalty she inspired and the millions of dollars in sales was what former members describe as a cult of manipulation, abuse, and coercion driven by a relentless quest for control. 

And by the time the FBI showed up at her door in 2023 with an indictment alleging that she had conspired to commit forced labor, even Daedone herself was no longer safe.

Building on the viral Bloomberg article that exposed the dark sides of OneTaste and of Daedone, Ellen Huet’s Empire of Orgasm tells how a boundary-pushing wellness program became a cult that, according to dozens of witnesses, ruthlessly exploited its members. Huet, the undeniable authority on the group, reveals how, in demanding absolute fealty to Daedone on the path to enlightenment and healing, OneTaste pushed its followers past their limits - sexually, emotionally, financially - and left the lives of many in shambles. 

The story culminates in Daedone’s conviction in June 2025 after a five-week criminal trial.

A riveting saga and a nuanced exploration of the mechanics of manipulation, Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult is an extraordinary account of wellness gone wrong.

About the author: Ellen Huet is an investigative journalist who covers technology and Silicon Valley for Bloomberg News. She writes award-winning features for Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, has hosted two seasons of the podcast Foundering, and holds a particular interest in writing about strange and complex subcultures. Previously, she was a staff writer at Forbes and a crime reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sometimes Well Written, Mostly Predictable

Grok Translation: Bookstores overflow with books, and yet very few inspire the desire to be read to the end. You open a novel, read three pages, and already something slips away. Not the interest, but the necessity.

It’s as if the book, scarcely begun, no longer has any reason to hold us back. It’s not the story that falls short. It’s that force which, in certain books, forbids us from setting them down.

Too many novels today seek merely to please us. They are sometimes very well written, but everything already feels predetermined, predictable. They validate us, or they spare us.

Great books, on the other hand, do not seek to seduce us. They impose their rhythm, their ideas, a presence that compels us. We continue reading them not because it’s enjoyable, but because something has begun to stir within us that refuses to stop.

Perhaps that is why so many contemporary novels slip from our hands. They have a reason to exist on a bookstore table, but not the one to survive within us.

Murder In The Dollhouse (True Crime) by Rich Cohen

About the book: Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story (2025) is a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jennifer Dulos and the aftershocks that rattled a wealthy suburb.

Rich Cohen’s Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story is the chilling, unputdownable story of Jennifer Dulos, a beautiful, rich suburban mother who dropped her kids off at the New Canaan Country School one morning on 24 May 2019 and vanished. 

Her body has never been found.

Dulos was in the midst of an ugly divorce - one of the most contentious in Connecticut state history. The couple, a beautiful, highly connected pair, met at Brown University, had five children, and led what appeared to be a charmed life. 

In the wake of her disappearance, Dulos’s husband and his girlfriend were arrested. He killed himself on the day he was supposed to report to court; she was tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. 

A gripping story of status, wealth, love, and hate, Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story peers beneath the sparkling veneer of propriety that surrounded the Duloses to uncover the origins and motivations of a crime that has become a national obsession.

About the author: Rich Cohen is the New York Times-bestselling author of Tough Jews, Monsters, Sweet and Low, The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones, The Chicago Cubs, and The Last Pirate of New York, and, with Jerry Weintraub, When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead. He is the cocreator of the HBO series Vinyl, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and a writer at large for Air Mail. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications. Cohen has won the Great Lakes Book Award, the Chicago Public Library’s 21st Century Award, and the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. He lives in Connecticut.

"Even Sin Has Become Fashionable," said the Saint

Freedom Under Grace by Pope Leo XIV

About the book: In his first book of original, never-before-seen writings, Pope Leo XIV offers readers around the world a window into the spiritual foundation that would lead him to the papacy - in his own words before his election.

Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost had never published a book. But shortly after his election to the papacy, Leo chose these previously unpublished texts to become his first published collection of writings: Freedom Under Grace: Reflections On The Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me. This wide-ranging book captures the heart of his spirituality, forged by the conviction that “man is not defined by what he possesses or what he knows, but rather by what he loves.”

This collection comes from Prevost’s time overseeing the Order of Saint Augustine, distilling his understanding of the Christian life today for individuals, local communities and churches, and the whole Catholic Church. 

Drawing on the rich tradition of Saint Augustine, Prevost advances an inspiring vision rooted in community and solidarity, commitment to social justice for the poor and marginalized, and the confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ is what the world most desperately needs to face today’s challenges.

For anyone looking to Pope Leo for wisdom and pastoral guidance, Freedom Under Grace: Reflections On The Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me (2026) is essential reading, delivering profound spiritual depth, penetrating theological insight, and unwavering moral courage.

About the author: Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was born on the South Side of Chicago in 1955, the son of a school superintendent and a librarian. After studying mathematics at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Prevost made solemn vows in the Order of Saint Augustine and was ordained as a priest in Rome in 1982. He became a missionary in Peru in 1985. Prevost served as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013, was consecrated bishop in 2014, and made a cardinal in 2023. On May 8, 2025, he was elected to the papacy, becoming the first-ever American pope.

What's A Snow Leopard To You? by Chen-Fu Hsu

About the book: What's A Snow Leopard To You? is a captivating fusion of travelogue, fiction, and cultural meditation that journeys deep into the heart of Tibet.

Chen-Fu Hsu’s debut novel begins with a young Taiwanese naturalist on an arduous quest for the elusive snow leopard, weaving in excerpts from translated entries from a left behind diary of a fictional Japanese monk, which bears witness to the seismic transformations of Tibet across the decades under Chinese rule.

Following his deeply spiritual connection to Tibet, the protagonist sets off on multiple journeys to the region, describing in brilliant detail the vast beauty of the Tibetan plateau and the wildlife that has existed since time immemorial. 

However, on his third visit to the region, he is harassed at every turn by the Chinese police who confiscate his belongings, including his books, eventually forcing him to leave for Taiwan. One book overlooked by the Chinese police is the long-lost diary of Udagawa Ekai, a Zen monk who traveled to Lhasa in the postwar years. The diary tells the monk's story up until his death as a recluse, and paints a picture of a Tibet that has a diverse and deeply religious culture that has fought against invaders on multiple fronts. 

Hsu laces excerpts from Ekai’s diary within his narrative, tracing the changes sparked from the horrors of the Chinese military annexation in the 1950s through the Cultural Revolution and into the contemporary age of forced economic development. 

Through encounters with the people of Tibet and their stories, What's a Snow Leopard to You? spans the divide between an intimate portrait of a land in flux and a philosophical inquiry into humanity’s fraught yet enduring bond with nature. This richly layered work braids history with myth, environmentalism with art, and creates a single story of change in one of the world’s most sparsely inhabited regions.

What's a Snow Leopard to You? is the winner of the 2021 Taiwan Literature Award and will be on released on 22 September 2026.

Chen-Fu Hsu will attend three events at the Taipei Cultural Center in New York including one with Brooklyn Book Festival where he will share his creative process and personal experiences. All three events are free but RSVP is required. Please check the prospective websites for more information. 

About the author: Chen-Fu Hsu ( 徐振輔) was born in Taipei in 1994. He holds a BS in Entomology and an MA in Geography from National Taiwan University. His works have been selected four times in the Chiu Ko Publishing Annual Prose Selection and won several awards such as Taipei Literature Annuity. While having no ambitions in photography, he dreams of photographing snow leopards, narwhals, birds of paradise, and other creatures that some believe are myths. Serving as a Canon lecturer, he has held a solo exhibition of Wildlife Photography titled “Wings over and over, and light covers light. ” What’s a Snow Leopard to You? is his debut novel that has already won many literary awards in Taiwan.

About the translators: Howard Goldblatt translates fiction from China and Taiwan, including novels by Nobel laureate Mo Yan, five of whose works are published by Arcade (The Garlic Ballads; The Republic of Wine; Big Breasts and Wide Hips; Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out; Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh). He has also translated works by Chiang-Sheng Kuo (The Piano Tuner) and Liu Zhenyun (I Did Not Kill My Husband; The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon; Remembering 1942, all with Sylvia Li-chun Lin and published by Arcade). 

Sylvia Li-chun Lin, a former teacher and scholar of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and culture, is a full-time translator and seasonal gardener. She and Howard Goldblatt live in Lafayette, Colorado, with their sometimes surprising cat, Domino.

Rating: 5/5

Justice For The Forgotten Families Of 9/11 by Tom McMillan

About the book: Twenty-five years after 9/11, the families of the victims are still waiting for justice.

The president of the United States said in a dramatic speech at the White House that the families of those killed on September 11, 2001, "should have to wait no longer" and that "we have a duty to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice." But that was not Joe Biden in 2022, or Donald Trump in 2017, or even Barack Obama in 2012 - it was George W Bush in 2006.

While most of America has moved on through four presidential administrations while images of those devastating attacks fade from memory, the families of 9/11 are still waiting for some kind of accountability.

Since that devastating day, there has not been one conviction of anyone involved in planning or facilitating the attacks. Five “high value detainees” with direct connections to the plot have been at Guantanamo for years, but all they’ve had are preliminary hearings and delays. Part of the challenge is that many of their confessions were obtained under torture at CIA “black sites” overseas between 2002–2006.

Moreover, there has been no true assessment of Saudi complicity, even though 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, and it is clear that several Saudi operatives in the US assisted some of the hijackers when they got here. Did they do so officially? Under orders? That is still undetermined, but there is a mountain of circumstantial evidence. The families are so exasperated that they have filed a lawsuit against the kingdom.

Justice for the Forgotten Families of 9/11 (2026) is about the quest for justice by the families of the victims a quarter-century after the worst terrorist attack in US history.

About the author: Tom McMillan, a retired sports PR executive and lifelong student of history, has served on the board of trustees of Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center, the board of directors of Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial, the board of directors of the Antietam Institute, and the marketing committee of the Gettysburg Foundation. McMillan has written four books on U.S. history—ranging from the Battle of Gettysburg to September 11th to the Star-Spangled Banner - and regularly gives book talks throughout the Northeast and Midwest.

After graduating with a journalism degree from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA, McMillan worked for forty-three years in media and communications, including ten years as a sportswriter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and twenty-five years as VP/Communications for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (his name is on the 2009 Stanley Cup, and he has three championship rings). Tom and his wife, Colleen, reside in Pittsburgh and Gettysburg, PA. They also volunteer as ambassadors at Antietam National Battlefield.

I Will Follow You Anywhere by John Feal

About the book: Twenty-five years after the attacks that shook the nation, discover the untold story of an American hero who proved that one person can turn trauma into heroic action - from the wounded construction worker who became a relentless champion of the 9/11 responders.

On 11 September 2001, John Feal rushed to Ground Zero to assist with the recovery and cleanup in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. 96 hours later, his destiny was forged by steel when an 8,000-pound beam crushed his left foot. As he adjusted to a partial amputation and went broke paying medical bills, he watched his fellow responders suffer and die from cancer and other ailments caused by the dust in the air they were told was safe to breathe.

Forgotten by a broken healthcare system and lawmakers who had promised to #NeverForget, Feal knew it was time to fight.

Now, in I Will Follow You Anywhere: The True Story of the 9/11 Responders Who Took On Congress (2026), he shares his “recipe” for getting things done. Accompanied by stories from his fellow responders in their own words, Feal lays out his rogue approach to the ground game of representative government, empowering readers in all walks of life to take on the system and win.

While working to get the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and healthcare bill passed, Feal caught the attention of comedian Jon Stewart, who joined the cause and became a valuable ally and dear friend. In 2019, Stewart’s testimony before Congress went viral, placing a much-needed spotlight on the frustration and grief of those long abandoned by their government - and the bill was finally signed into law. In the years since, Feal, Stewart, and his team have championed the PACT Act for veterans exposed to burn pits and lent their expertise to other worthy causes.

John is now a “hired gun” for activists fighting to get legislation passed. With I Will Follow You Anywhere: The True Story of the 9/11 Responders Who Took On Congress, he shares his hard-won wisdom and expert strategies that will enable underdogs everywhere to stand up against a mighty system.

About the author: John Feal is a native New Yorker and Army veteran who worked as a demolition supervisor at Ground Zero until a disabling injury five days into the cleanup. He lobbied Congress to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, which he fought to defend and expand in 2015 and 2019 with the help of dozens of his fellow 9/11 responders, post-9/11 illness survivors, and comedian Jon Stewart. He has since gone on to pass 19 pieces of legislation and is working on number 20.

Through the FealGood Foundation, he continues to advocate for the health needs of first responders nationwide. His appearance on Fox News with Jon Stewart has gone viral. John has spoken at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, Princeton University, and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. His story has been covered by Vanity Fair, NPR, The Daily Beast, The Wall Street Journal, and all major news networks, and in two documentaries.

John is a Pat Tilman Foundation honoree, a recipient of the New York State Liberty Award and the New York State Medal of Honor for Civilians, the founder and chairman of the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park, and a kidney donor.

About the contributor: Charles Daly is the coauthor of Make Peace or Die: A Life of Service, Leadership, and Nightmares, which has been featured on Jocko Podcast. He has worked as a developmental editor on bestselling military memoirs, including From Lawyer to Warrior and Civil: Life After the Foreign Legion. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, We Are the Mighty, Kokatat, and Thought Catalog. Charlie lives in a cottage on the west coast of Ireland with his wife, a Swiss crime novelist; their baby boy; and a black cat. He serves as a maritime first responder on his local lifeboat.

Saint Elizabeth of The Trinity: The Complete Works, Volume 3

About the book: Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880–1906) became a Discalced Carmelite nun in Dijon, France, at the age of twenty-one and died five years later. Her spirituality is marked by attentiveness to the indwelling Trinity and her call to become a “praise of glory” for God. The writings gathered in this final volume reflect the mature Carmelite spirit found in the first two volumes while introducing us to the young Elizabeth as that maturity takes shape.

This third and final volume of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity: The Complete Works brings together, for the first time in English, four collections of the saint’s writings:

The Diary, written when Elizabeth was eighteen and nineteen, records her prayer, sacrifices, vocational struggles, apostolic desires, and reflections on sermons and spiritual counsel with candour and immediacy;

The Intimate Notes, dating from before and after her entrance to Carmel, open into the inmost depths of her prayer and include such treasured writings as “To be a bride” and “O my God, Trinity whom I adore,” the latter included in the Catechism of the Catholic Church;

The Letters of Her Youth offer vivid snapshots of daily life, revealing Elizabeth’s warmth, humour, gift for friendship, delight in music, travel, and nature, and unwavering response to God’s call;

The Poems, composed from 1894 to 1906, serve as Elizabeth’s spiritual diary in verse: expressions of longing, suffering, joy, gratitude, and an ever-deepening desire for union with the Trinity.

Taken together, these texts form a portrait of an exuberant young woman as her loves are gradually gathered into a wholehearted love of Christ. Each collection is introduced and critically annotated by Elizabeth’s biographer and editor, Father Conrad De Meester, OCD. Based on the expanded and revised 2023 French critical edition, this volume includes three texts discovered after the earlier French editions, as well as five indexes covering all three volumes of the Complete Works. Read alongside the first two volumes - or encountered on its own - this concluding volume allows readers to follow the formation of a saint from within, as the spirited “Sabeth” Catez becomes Elizabeth of the Trinity.

Saint Elizabeth of The Trinity: The Complete Works, Volume 3: Diary – Intimate Notes – Letters of Her Youth – Poems is translated from the French by Gillian Leslie, OCD.

Saint Elizabeth of The Trinity: The Complete Works, Volume 3: Diary – Intimate Notes – Letters of Her Youth – Poems is now available for preorder only. Preorders are expected to ship by 12 October 2026.

Early Mornings At The Laksa Cafe by Janet Tay

About the book: Early Mornings at the Laksa Cafe is a mouthwatering and uplifting story about honouring tradition and finding your own way in life, set in family-run restaurants between Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Every morning before sunrise, Lim Ah Hock opens the shutters of his small kitchen on Carpenter Street, lights an incense stick and prepares the best laksa soup in all of Kuching. 

According to Lim family legend, the laksa’s secret ingredient – their ancestral broth – was gifted to them by a deity, who promised the family prosperity as long as the broth is passed down through the generations.

But Ah Hock is aging, and the broth’s quality is fading. His only son, Wei Ming, has no interest in the family business, having spent eight years in Hong Kong trying to prove himself as a chef. 

Now, he is struggling with gambling debts, embroiled in a love triangle, and the restaurant he has been left to run has lost its Global Restaurants Guild star.

Invited home to Malaysia for his father's 60th birthday, Wei Ming sees a chance to escape his troubles. But when old conflicts resurface and a local businessman threatens to destroy the family legacy, father and son are forced to ask themselves what truly matters.

Early Mornings at the Laksa Cafe (2026) is a Straits Times bestseller.

About the author: Janet Tay is a Tin House Winter Workshop alum whose short stories have appeared in various journals and collections including New Writing Dundee 4, Short Story America Anthology, Vol 1 and Black and Whites and Other New Stories from Malaysia. She has also written journalistic pieces on literature, food and parenting for various magazines and websites. The first act of her full-length play, Reunion, was longlisted for The Windsor Fringe Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing. She lives in Kuala Lumpur with her husband and son.

Rating: 4/5