Daniel Mulligan is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm. Daniel has never fit in-not at home in Philadelphia with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates looked down on him. Now, Daniel's relieved to have a job at a small college in Holiday, Northern Michigan, but he's a city boy through and through, and it's clear that this small town is one more place he won't fit in. Rex Vale clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his muscular body, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his shyness and imposing size have kept him from connecting with people. When the two men meet, their chemistry is explosive, but Rex fears Daniel will be another in a long line of people to leave him, and Daniel has learned that letting anyone in can be a fatal weakness. Just as they begin to break down the walls keeping them apart, Daniel is called home to Philadelphia, where he discovers a secret that changes the way he understands everything.

There’s no such thing as the middle of nowhere. Everywhere is the middle of somewhere for some living being. That was Suzanne Stryk’s mantra as she journeyed through her home state on a mission to re-create Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia. The founding father’s work surveys the region’s natural history and, as one might expect from a philosopher-statesman living more than 230 years ago, is fact packed and formally written. The Middle of Somewhere takes a different approach—to interpret Virginia land and life from a contemporary perspective and an artist’s point of view. Stryk kayaks pristine swamps in river country, wanders the galleries of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, hikes rocky trails crisscrossing the Appalachians, and strolls the dusty streets of old coal towns. In these sacred spaces she encounters frogs, millipedes, ravens, dragonflies, sparrows, turtles, and many other species that claim a particular place as home. Weaving in historical anecdotes and personal memories, Stryk relates her encounters with all of these beings in their “somewheres.” The creatures in their habitats and the people she meets are characters in the book, a tapestry of essays, lush sketches, and ephemera. Stryk’s multimedia collages, composed of dead bugs, tourist pamphlets, road maps, pressed leaves, rusty farm equipment, animal bones, and handwritten directions, all artistically arranged over USGS topographic maps, bring the narrative to life. Stryk’s personal reflections and conversational tone make readers feel as if they are traveling across Virginia with a friend, one who is at times funny and at other times deeply reflective. As we accompany her, she challenges us to travel slowly, tread lightly, and look closely at each somewhere that defines a place.

VERONICA SPARKS IS hitting the road and she is going to shake the dust of her little town off her shoes and see the world! Well, someday. For now, she’s hitting the road in an RV with her cantankerous grandfather and her hyperactive little brother. Ronnie’s grandfather is a wind prospector, and they are heading across Kansas in search of a good stiff breeze. Okay, so it’s not the trip of her dreams. But with her newly affirmatized attitude, Ronnie figures that traveling somewhere is better than traveling nowhere. That is, until her little brother manages to disappear into thin air. On one weird, windy, wild ride across the prairie, Ronnie discovers that there are some things you just can’t plan for or seize control of—but that sometimes a little chaos is just what a girl needs.

A troubled, young widow hikes from Yosemite Valley deep into the wilderness on the John Muir Trail to elude her shameful past in this emotionally gripping story from the author of House Broken. With her thirtieth birthday looming, Liz Kroft is heading for the hills—literally. Her emotional baggage weighs her down more than her backpack, but a three-week trek promises the solitude she craves—at least until her boyfriend, Dante, decides to tag along. His broad moral streak makes the prospect of confessing her sins more difficult, but as much as she fears his judgment, she fears losing him more. Maybe. They set off together alone under blue skies, but it’s not long before storms threaten and two strange brothers appear along the trail. Amid the jagged, towering peaks, Liz must decide whether to admit her mistakes and confront her fears, or face the trail, the brothers and her future alone.

Filled with warmth and humor, Somewhere in the Middle captures the simple joy found in ordinary moments and in the people we share our lives with, shedding new light on what it truly means to find the place where you belong.

"Q: What did you do exactly? A: First, in May 2015, and then again in November 2017, we invited a selection of graphic designers to Otl Aicher's 'Institut für analoge Studien' in Rotis, near Leutkirch im Allgäu. Over two days these designers were interviewed in a myriad of ways by graphic design students from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, whose assignment it was to learn to ask, and design, questions. Q: Who did you invite? A: Marietta Eugster and Manuel Krebs (Norm) from Switzerland, Wayne Daly and Veronica Ditting from the UK, Elisabeth Klement & Laura Pappa and Vinca Kruk (Metahaven) from the Netherlands, Monika Maus from Germany, Boy Vereeken from Belgium, Vier 5 from France and Honza Zamojski from Poland. Q: How did it go? A: Weeeeelllll."-- Summary on spine.

The only thing in Colin Mulligan's life that makes sense is taking cars apart and putting them back together. In the auto shop where he works with his father and brothers, he tries to get through the day without having a panic attack or flying into a rage. Drinking helps. So does running and lifting weights until he can hardly stand. But none of it can change the fact that he's gay, a secret he has kept from everyone. Rafael Guerrera has found ways to live with the past he's ashamed of. He's dedicated his life to social justice work and to helping youth who, like him, had very little growing up. He has no time for love. Hell, he barely has time for himself. Somehow, everything about miserable, self-destructive Colin cries out to him. But down that path lie the troubles Rafe has worked so hard to leave behind. And as their relationship intensifies, Rafe and Colin are forced to dredge up secrets that both men would prefer stay buried.