Raver Girl

A PopSugar Best New Books of 2021 Selection Weed inspires her. Acid shows her another dimension. Ecstasy releases her. Nitrous fills her with bliss. Cocaine makes her fabulous. Mushrooms make everything magical. Special K numbs her. Crystal meth makes her mean. Sixteen-year-old Samantha, raver extraordinaire, puts the “high” in high school. A ’90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl chronicles Samantha’s double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the ’60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she’s someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She’s a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She’s an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay.

Inside musky San Francisco warehouses in the middle of the night is where sixteen-year-old Samantha is her superstar self--anxiety-free, ultra-connected, on top of the world--but when the sun rises, the buzz fades, and it's back to the doldrums of high school circa 1996.

Resurrects the dramatic stories of eighteen women in the Hebrew Bible, illustated with masterpieces by Rubens, Breughel, Raphael, Tintoretto, and other artists--an ode to the resilience and beauty of our foremothers.--Adapted from back cover.

“A darkly suspenseful dive into friendship, fame, murder, and the thrilling power of rock music. I couldn’t put it down.” —Meg Gardiner, New York Times–bestselling author of the UNSUB series Gal, a talented musician, has returned to Boston to play a memorial for her late friend. But when she sees a particular face in the crowd, she freezes on stage. The next day, she learns that the man she saw has been beaten to death behind the venue—and her friend’s widower, Walter, is being charged in connection with his murder. When Walter refuses to defend himself, Gal wonders if he is guilty, and as memories of the past begin to flood back, she starts her own investigation. To uncover the truth, she must re-examine her own life, her perception of the past, and an industry with a dark underbelly. But what she discovers may prove hard to swallow . . . “In electric prose, Simon conjures the rock-and-roll world, its drink, drugs, and band-dynamics, and the twin seductresses of excess and success, as she makes a penetrating portrait of friendship.” —The Boston Globe “Lyrical, layered, and full of surprises. . . . A raw and emotional thriller with a heartbeat, about lost dreams and missing friends, regrets and buried memories, the final note reminding us that it’s never too late to start again.” —Lisa Unger, New York Times-bestselling author of Last Girl Ghosted and Confessions on the 7:45 “[This] devastatingly powerful mystery hits you like a punch in the heart.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times–bestselling author of Days of Wonder and Pictures of You “Compulsively readable. . . . Part murder mystery and part wistful history of a one-time rock star and her deeply buried secrets.” —Dave Zeltserman, Shamus Award–winning author of Small Crimes

The stories of the most amazing days and nights in the rave underground, as told by the ravers themselves! From "Electric Daisy Carnival" to Burning Man, THE RAVER STORIES PROJECT tells how electronic music has changed peoples lives in often memorable and profound ways. It pulls back the curtain on DJ culture, and the most important musical era since hip-hop! THE RAVER STORIES PROJECT is music, secrets and controversy, all rolled into one!

A bestselling, groundbreaking author investigates wives who thrive, sharing their uncensored strategies for staying married. America’s high divorce rate is well known. But little attention has been paid to the flip side: couples who creatively manage to build marriages that are lasting longer than we ever thought possible. What’s the secret? To find out, bestselling journalist Iris Krasnow interviewed more than two hundred wives whose marriages have survived for fifteen to seventy years. In raw, candid, sometimes titillating stories, Krasnow’s cast of wise women give voice to the truth about marriage and the importance of maintaining a strong sense of self apart from the relationship. Some spend summers separately from their partners. Some make time for wine with the girls. One septuagenarian has a recurring date with an old flame from high school. In every case, the marriage operates on many tracks, giving both spouses license to pursue the question “Who am I apart from my marriage?” Krasnow’s goal is to give women permission to create their own marriages at any age. Marital bliss is possible, she says, if each partner is blissful apart from the other. For anyone who wants to stay married and stay sane, this is the book to read!

The year was 2007, I had just turned 21, and I was struggling to find my place in a world that I didn't understand. I spent most of my life as an outcast because I refused to conform with the expectations of mainstream society, but that summer, everything changed when I went to a rave and discovered an underground culture where I was finally accepted, where there were people just like me. It was like stumbling down a rabbit hole into a magical land of peace, love, and freedom. It really did feel like there was some type of magic in the air back in those days, because my life changed so quickly. In just a few months, I went from a common hustler and a nervous wallflower to a major promoter who organized and supplied some of the most notorious underground events on the east coast.I found meaning in my life, and I even found love, but I also found a dark side, which would threaten everything I gained. I ended up in a unique position to witness some of the wildest things that this underworld has to offer, experiencing some very extreme highs and lows of my own along the way. Years later, I reflected on what I saw and what I learned during those crazy times, and now I am ready to tell my story.

"One brother will betray the others with such treachery that it will change the destiny of Miscia forever."The three princes hear this prophecy, and they will discover how far it will drive them to explore love, loyalty, and their own souls.The princes are bound by loyalty to each other and their kingdom. When conflict comes to their land, their ascension into power is darkened by betrayal.Oman, eldest and Anteria's promised king, leads his brothers on their journey through Arnith. Fasime, driven by passion, seeks a life of romance and adventure. Syah, born the ailing youngest brother of these two outgoing princes, endeavours to overcome his bleak destiny through pursuit of knowledge and magic... a quest that may reveal unknown power within his own soul.A tale woven with deception, war, sacrifice, and magic, BROTHER, BETRAYED takes readers to a troubled kingdom surrounded by barbarians, magical races, and forbidden boundaries.Reviews and comments:The excerpt drew me in and kept me interested. The writing is strong and very detailed. I can envision the scenes as if I am standing in them.Sara Raven I enjoyed the magical, royal setting, the lavishness of the setting, the dancing and revelry of your opening paragraph; and the emergence of the relationships among the brothers and their parents. Very intriguing. Well written, Danielle.EldeenI loved loved loved your writing! You are a great writer. Well, your novel held me hostage!!! Casey S Your writing is excellent! The descriptions and attention to detail is some of the best I've read (even among well-known authors). I felt immediately drawn into the world and I could visualize every scene and set as I was reading. The three brothers are very intriguing, and I sense there's going to be a lot more development with them, but I became immediately attached to them all right from the start. It grabbed me from among the other.

It’s the early 2000s. Lauren is fifteen, soft-spoken, and ashamed of her body. She’s a devout member of an evangelical church, but when her Bible-thumping parents forbid Lauren to bring evolution textbooks home, she opts to study at her schoolmate Mariah’s house. Mariah has dial-up internet, an absentee mom, and a Wiccan altar—the perfect setting for a study session and sleepover to remember. That evening, Mariah gives Lauren a makeover and the two melt into each other, in what becomes Lauren’s first queer encounter. Afterward, a potent blend of Christian guilt and internalized homophobia causes Lauren to question the experience. Author Jessica Campbell (XTC69) uses frankness and dark humor to articulate Lauren's burgeoning crisis of faith and sexuality. She captures teenage antics and banter with astute comedic style, simultaneously skewering bullies, a culture of slut-shaming, and the devastating impact of religious zealotry. Rave is an instant classic, a coming-of-age story about the secret spaces young women create and the wider social structures that fail them.

True love comes from the most forbidden places in this TikTok smash hit from New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas, now with bonus material! Jordan has nowhere else to go when her boyfriend offers to let her move in with him and his dad. Working a dead-end job, with her relationship sputtering, she jumps at the opportunity, expecting to help out around the house in exchange. What she doesn’t anticipate is for her heart to race every time Pike pulls into the driveway, or to burn when their eyes meet over the breakfast table. He’s kind and listens to her and protects her in a way no man ever has before. Her sister once told her there are no good men, and if you find one, he's probably unavailable. Only Pike isn't the unavailable one…she is. As the days go by, Pike’s finding it anything but simple to have his son’s girlfriend living in his house. He can’t stop thinking about her and holding his breath every time they cross paths. It feels like she’s becoming a part of him. Except he knows they’re not free to give in to this. How could they when he’s her boyfriend’s father?