This exploration of Canada’s health network is also part leadership manual, blending the personal reflections of the author with stories of his hands-on expertise. Those stories are taken from Rosenberg’s decades in medical practice, study, and executive positions. The book opens with the author’s career at a crossroads when he was let go as CEO of Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital as part of a restructuring of Quebec’s hospital system. Rosenberg eventually was rehired in an expanded position in the revamped system, where he has overseen its transformation into a value-based (as opposed to numbers-based) operation. The author provides real-world insights from someone who’s worked in the field, making heavy topics approachable even to readers not familiar with Canada’s health care infrastructure (or even medicine in general). Along the way, readers learn Rosenberg’s leadership philosophy: Do the right thing, take responsibility for it, stay curious, and never lose sight of the human stakes behind every decision. The book has a lot of drama—the author takes readers inside operating rooms and ERs, aboard shaky helicopters, and even to a remote Arctic medical post, offering hard-won wisdom about choosing paths forward (his time in the Arctic taught him “key leadership lessons about resourcefulness, adaptability, responsibility, and the importance of decisive action in critical situations”). Rosenberg points out that leaders lose when they rely only on strict rules and numbers, missing what works when teams band together around common purpose. The author does an excellent job of distilling complex subjects; he clearly explains value-based care, which is basically putting patient results above numbers. The material is clearly aimed at an audience steeped in medical knowledge, but lay readers will find it easy to follow. The questions he raises—who takes responsibility, how decisions are made under pressure, and what organizations owe the people they serve—are universal. Rosenberg’s book is a surprisingly readable examination of leadership in health care that eschews easy answers in favor of moral clarity.

Her firstborn daughter, Onyesonwu, a powerful witch—introduced in Who Fears Death (2010)—transformed the world and left it, while Najeeba herself has become more dangerous and powerful—the kponyungo, sorcerer of fire, wind, and dust. Her mission, to find and kill the awful spirit that terrorized her father’s family, remains unfinished. But where to begin? First, birth her miracle child. Warned about the dangers of this baby’s birth, she journeys deep into the desert. With only Dedan, the baby’s father, and their two mighty camels, she must find the Vah people, who live in a great sandstorm, to help her survive the birth. Though the temptation to live in the wind and sand with the community who saves her is strong, she must continue her mission. With an unlikely friend from the desert people, she finds a way forward. Najeeba will face off with the spirit, the Cleanser, and become the revenge her father sought. She will finish it once and for all, even if it ends her. This is a page-turning novella for all the mothers and daughters faced with impossible tasks who have the resolve to carry on anyway, a fable-like story about how to walk straight into the storm, face insurmountable challenges, and fight for freedom.

Margo and Matilda, the Halifax twins, have been turning heads and causing whispers since the day they debuted. There’s not a man in London who wouldn’t recognize their red hair, and Margo has enjoyed the company of several, but the twins are too notorious for anyone to court them conventionally. Margo starts to think they may have finally gone too far, though, when she thinks she discovers Matilda eloping to Gretna Green with the Marquess of Ashford. Panicked, she begs her straightlaced friend Henry Mortimer to help chase them down before it’s too late. As Henry has been in love with Margo for years, he agrees, and on the road together, sparks soon start to fly. It’s also not long before the twins run into each other and discover each has more going on than the other realized. This volume brings together two novellas previously available in digital editions, starting with Margo and Henry’s madcap adventure, followed by Matilda and Christian’s more intense relationship. Both stories move quickly, with little extraneous action but plenty of steamy encounters. Though the tales complement each other well, they each have their own dynamic and pacing. Matilda’s story is longer and explores mild BDSM elements, while Margo’s is faster and more of a romp. Ultimately, both twins face the same quandary, as they separately struggle with feeling they may have outgrown their reputations while being unsure what the next phase of their lives might look like. Vasti’s fans will be delighted with the addition of a new epilogue.

This visual essay book, featuring full-color photographs taken by National Geographic photojournalist Yüyan, documents conservation practices by Indigenous communities in nine different parts of the world: Alaska, Palau, Ecuador, Mongolia, Australia, Greenland, California, Alberta–Montana, and Vancouver Island. Each location corresponds with a specific conservation effort—such as the Iñupiats’ efforts to restore the bowhead whale population in Alaska or the Cofáns’ attempts to preserve the rainforest in Ecuador—and is addressed in an essay by one of a group of writers (including an activist, a politician, and a bestselling author) detailing the work being done. These brief essays introduce terms like “traditional ecological knowledge” (which is essentially “the fine-grained, practical understanding that comes from centuries of experience in a specific landscape”) and include quotes from the people directly involved in the conservation efforts. The majority of the book consists of Yüyan’s photographs, which reflect the experiences of those who tirelessly work to protect their corner of the Earth and celebrate the breathtaking places and animals that need protecting. The text brims with fascinating facts and insights, from the “lemony taste” of the green tree ants in Wujal Wujal, Queensland, to 500-year-old Siberian larch trees that show no signs of aging. Yüyan’s stunning photographs evoke the essences of his human and animal subjects with a sense of profound respect. Whether depicting a shaman with hands outstretched toward the sky, parents pushing baby strollers across sea ice, or spotted jellyfish dancing underwater, the photographs capture the wonder that exists in the natural world—if only we take a moment to stop and look. The perfectly balanced combination of photos and text makes for a breathtaking expression of awe for the beautiful planet we all call home.

Gren Moritz is the newly elected Chief Minister for the Nations of Rivennia, and the first from Varcega. Varcegians believe in tradition; they eat farmed meat and practice arranged marriages (Gren’s wife, Lorelei, was carefully chosen by his grandparents). Gren’s main platform is “protecting humanity from the rise of ultrahumanism,” but his initial bill may prove controversial—it proposes sterilization for anyone planning gene enhancement treatments, ensuring that unwanted mutations can’t spread. Gren’s not the only one in charge. Rivennia has a monarch, but the science-worshipping Human Order, with its Supreme Leader Igor Voychenko, appears to wield the real power. At a dinner Gren reluctantly attends, he’s introduced to the Liffdom Lodges, Voychenko’s amoral secret society. Gren’s pressured to play a game, wagering on the date of Queen Brynhilda’s death. His competitors are also newcomers: washed-up supermodel Primula Zhang, now the face of fast-fashion brand Skitto, and a low-level government resource analyst, Sam Rosendale. Sharing painful personal secrets, Primula and Sam closely bond. When the date Primula chose passes without the queen’s demise, Primula disappears, and Sam, with the chief minister’s help, attempts to expose the dangerous truth of where she went, and why. In a self-assured debut, Urencio creates an inventive, fascinating world. Lacunfort, the metropolis Gren and Lorelei inhabit in the Year 500, contains wonders; a screen overhead mimics a sky, with more layers of the city stacked on top—as surprised country-girl Lorelei notes, “like a pile of pancakes!” Bots are fully incorporated into the society, performing hospital work, extinguishing fires, even powdering Gren’s face before his talk-show appearance. For transportation, capsulas speed through vacuum pneuducts. The characters, major and minor, are as carefully crafted as the setting. Urencio has a particularly deft and empathetic touch with those often overlooked, whether they’re a marginalized trans man; or aging, like Gren’s hardworking, self-effacing assistant; or the frail queen, though a “living relic,” who also elicits respect. The queen’s advice to Gren is wise: “The single most important trait [for a politician] is detachment.”