Agate Publishing

Educational resources for Crown can be found here.

A comprehensive, first-of-its-kind book about Chicago’s residential architecture and the stories that shaped it. This is an entertaining and precisely illustrated story of Chicago homes from the city’s earliest days through the Second World War, revealing everything about what makes a home a Chicago home. 

A city famous for its architecture—and for arguing with New Yorkers about who built it first and best—now has a definitive guide to the unique housing types and styles that have inspired so much devotion. This book is for curious Chicagoans and visitors alike—anyone who’s ever wondered how to spot a Foursquare or where to find Italianate homes from before the Great Chicago Fire.

Why are Chicago’s lots so narrow? How many Chicagoans built homes from a kit? What exactly is a “greystone”? The authors combine their decades of experience in historic preservation and illustration to create an evergreen resource that Chicagoans and visitors will turn to for answers to these and other questions about the city’s neighborhoods and the homes its citizens live in, visit, and admire. 

When famine, drought, and malnutrition plagued their communities, these farmers tried something revolutionary—and managed to nourish their families and their land in the process.

Farmers in some of the world’s oldest agricultural areas—Africa’s Great Rift Valley, India’s Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Highlands of Central America, and the Great Plains of the U.S.—were toiling year after year, only to find that modern industrial agriculture was turning on itself. The very practices that they were using to grow food yesterday were making it more difficult to grow food today. Pesticides used to protect their crops were killing off beneficial biodiversity. Monocropping was depleting the soil of necessary nutrients. And deforestation was making the land hotter and drier. Industrial agriculture’s effects on our climate and environment were multiplying and worsening, until the very families growing the world’s food were starving.

But some of these farmers took a gamble and changed their practices to work with nature rather than bending nature to their will. They terraced the land to catch more rainwater and prevent soil runoff; they planted a diverse range of vegetables that would balance the nutrients in the soil; they replaced commercial fertilizers with organic matter from their own farms; they planted more trees and drought-resistant grains; and, perhaps most importantly, they taught their communities by example that these regenerative farming methods paid off—both in nourishing their families and in bringing their land back to life.

Award-winning author and journalist Roger Thurow has traveled to Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, India, Guatemala, Peru, and the United States to share their stories, highlighting the conflicts inherent in our most important human endeavor: feeding the world using the methods of industrial agriculture is stripping the land of its ability to feed future generations. But, as Thurow points out, these farmers are starting a new kind of revolution, nourishing both humans and the land, and following their lead could help us solve one of the great crises of our time.

Set in mid-60s Harlem and Alabama, two families grapple with the promise and brutality of the civil rights era in the American South, reckoning with family secrets, unresolved trauma, and the heavy question of what justice demands.

The free-standing successor and next novel by the author of the critically acclaimed The Last Thing You Surrender, Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s 54 Miles launches forward twenty years to the fateful weeks of March 1965—from the infamous “Bloody Sunday” march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on the 7th to the triumphant entry into Montgomery on the 25th that climaxed the voting rights campaign—and the families who find themselves confronting the past amid another flashpoint in American history.

Young Adam, who has been raised in Harlem by his white father, George, and Black mother, Thelma, goes back to his parents’ home state of Alabama to participate in the voting rights campaign, only to be brutalized in the Bloody Sunday melee. He is still recovering from this when he is struck a heavy emotional blow, learning for the first time—and in the cruelest way imaginable—of a family secret that sends him spiraling and plunging further into danger. To save him, and any hope for their relationship, Thelma is drawn back, for the first time in twenty years, to the South she both hates and fears, and to a reckoning that may result in an incalculable loss.

Meanwhile, Thelma’s brother Luther is also spiraling, but in a different way. Forty-two years after his parents were lynched before his eyes, and twenty years after the man who led the lynch mob walked out of court a free man, Luther has just made a shocking discovery. He‘s found the murderer, Floyd Bitters, helpless and enfeebled in a rest home—unable to move or even to speak. The old man is literally at Luther’s mercy. And Luther, who has never overcome this trauma that defined his life, is suddenly forced to relive it all again as he grapples with the awful question of what justice now demands.

An immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and culture reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock.

Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally adept at raising them for food. Yet most people rarely interact with chickens or know much about them. In Under the Henfluence, culture reporter Tove Danovich explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds who stole her heart the moment her first box of chicks arrived at the post office.

From a hatchery in Iowa to a chicken show in Ohio to a rooster rescue in Minnesota, Danovich interviews the people breeding, training, healing, and, most importantly, adoring chickens. With more than 26 billion chickens living on industrial farms around the world, they’re easy to dismiss as just another dinner ingredient. Yet Danovich’s reporting reveals the hidden cleverness, quiet sweetness, and irresistible personalities of these birds, as well as the complex human-chicken relationship that has evolved over centuries. This glimpse into the lives of backyard chickens doesn’t just help us to understand chickens better—it also casts light back on ourselves and what we’ve ignored throughout the explosive growth of industrial agriculture. Woven with delightful and sometimes heartbreaking anecdotes from Danovich’s own henhouse, Under the Henfluence proves that chickens are so much more than what they bring to the table.

A poignant, revelatory memoir from acclaimed novelist and actor Denise Nicholas that offers an episodic exploration of her multifaceted life, delving intimately into themes of artistic self-invention, race, and grief. 

Long before writing her acclaimed novel Freshwater Road, or her career as a path-breaking TV and film star, Denise Nicholas was a middle-class Black girl growing up in 1950s Detroit, struggling to decipher her family’s profound secrets. She loved Detroit’s vibrant culture despite the harsh realities of its racial segregation, which deeply influenced her perspective on identity. In her early twenties, she dropped out of the University of Michigan to tour the Deep South with the Free Southern Theater at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a path that ultimately ignited her lifelong commitment to social justice and activism. A few short years later she would launch from stage work to meteoric national fame as a series lead on the groundbreaking ABC-TV show Room 222, a role that earned her three consecutive Golden Globe nominations.

With eloquence, vulnerability, and resolve, Nicholas mines her six-decade journey through TV and film stardom, the complexities of her three marriages, and her reconstituting her creative life to become a celebrated novelist, reflecting on the personal, professional, and societal pressures that buffeted her throughout. Constructed of episodic reflections from both personal and professional high points and low points of her life, Nicholas navigates the intersections of love and identity, exploring how her experiences in Hollywood shaped her understanding of success, intimacy, and commitment. Her narrative is rich with anecdotes from her career in Hollywood, as an actor and, later, a successful screenwriter for television and eventually a novelist, providing a backdrop to the struggles and achievements that marked her path. She outspokenly discusses the challenges she faced as a trailblazing actress of color, shedding light on the systemic barriers and biases within the entertainment industry. 

But at the deepest level, this memoir is a heartfelt exploration of grief, as Nicholas recounts the profound losses—including the unsolved, targeted slaying of her sister, the telling of which occupies the center of her story—that have shaped her.  Her reflections on mourning and resilience paint a vivid, moving portrait of how to journey through healing to new dimensions of self-discovery. Through her powerful, stylish, and evocative storytelling, Nicholas not only chronicles her own remarkable life but also provides a resonant narrative of what it means to live, work, and succeed as a Black woman in America over the past half-century.

Economic anxiety and loss of trust in civic institutions are driving more and more people to political extremes. How did we get here, and how do we get our economic policies back on track before the democracies of the world derail?

From former Belgian minister of finance and bestselling author Johan Van Overtveldt comes a new analysis of the economic forces that have driven us to the brink of a democratic breakdown. The Icarus Curse offers a stark assessment of the current state of Western democracies, once celebrated as the pinnacle of political and economic success. With the demise of the Soviet Union and China's emergence onto the world stage, the Western model faced no viable challengers. However, three decades later, Western democracies find themselves under siege both externally and internally. Russia, Iran, and especially China openly challenge the liberal Western order, while internally, citizens increasingly question the democratic and free market system, leading to polarization and social unrest. The political elite in most Western democracies flew too close to the sun, and now they’re crashing.

In The Icarus Curse, Van Overtveldt argues that decades of Keynesian-inspired policies have led to policy exhaustion, with politicians fueling unrealistic expectations and accumulating debt. Despite central bankers' efforts to mitigate crises, the current policy model is unsustainable, leaving little room for significant change. Yet, there is hope for redemption: Van Overtveldt reviews the ideas of Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, and Paul Volcker to put forward ideas to redesign policies for a brighter economic future. 

The essential history of bread baking and sourdough’s rise to a global phenomenon.

Sourdough bread fueled the labor that built the Egyptian pyramids. The Roman Empire distributed free sourdough loaves to its citizens to maintain political stability. More recently, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, sourdough bread baking became a global phenomenon as people contended with being confined to their homes and sought distractions from their fear, uncertainty, and grief. In Sourdough Culture, environmental science professor Eric Pallant shows how throughout history, sourdough bread baking has always been about survival.

Sourdough Culture presents the history and rudimentary science of sourdough bread baking from its discovery more than six thousand years ago to its still-recent displacement by the innovation of dough-mixing machines and fast-acting yeast. Pallant traces the tradition of sourdough across continents, from its origins in the Middle East’s Fertile Crescent to Europe and then around the world. Pallant also explains how sourdough fed some of history’s most significant figures, such as Plato, Pliny the Elder, Louis Pasteur, Marie Antoinette, Martin Luther, and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and introduces the lesser-known—but equally important—individuals who relied on sourdough bread for sustenance: ancient Roman bakers, medieval housewives, Gold Rush miners, and the many, many others who have produced daily sourdough bread in anonymity.

Each chapter of Sourdough Culture is accompanied by a selection from Pallant’s own favorite recipes, which span millennia and traverse continents, and highlight an array of approaches, traditions, and methods to sourdough bread baking. Sourdough Culture is a rich, informative, and engaging read, especially for bakers—whether skilled or just beginners. More importantly, it tells the important and dynamic story of the bread that has fed the world.

An updated and expanded edition of the bestselling Holiday Cookies, featuring additional recipes from the last decade of contest winners.

For nearly four decades, the Chicago Tribune has run its annual Holiday Cookie Contest, asking readers to submit recipes that are both unique and meaningful to them. Each recipe is accompanied by a brief description or story explaining why the cookie is special to the reader and their family. The Chicago Tribune's award-winning food writers and editors carefully consider these essays, select the finalists, and then publish winning recipes.

Holiday Cookies, 2nd Edition is an updated and expanded collection of the best holiday cookies as curated from nearly four decades worth of reader submissions, including 28 new recipes from the winners in 2014 to 2022. These delicious recipes represent an eclectic mix of traditional and modern recipes from diverse cultural backgrounds and skill levels, such as Tropical Nuevo Latino Cookies, Dorie's Dark and Stormies, and Grandma Grump's Peanut Butter Drizzles.

Complete with full-color photography and helpful baking tips, this gorgeous compilation brings the warmth and expertise of a cross-generational baking community home for the holidays. From cookie classics to twists on old standards, Holiday Cookies provides the home baker with a plethora of possibilities for any holiday party.

An introduction to oysters and their place in our culture and food system—including a quick global history, an account of the current state of oyster farming, and a glimpse of the promising environmental solutions oyster farming offers in this age of food challenges and climate change.

The oyster is one of Earth’s oldest animals, and fossil records show humans have enjoyed them for hundreds of thousands of years. But like so many other creatures, wild oysters were driven to near extinction by overconsumption and pollution. The Clean Water Act passed in 1972 marked a turning point for water quality, and decades later, we’re witnessing a renaissance in oyster culture as the rise of aquaculture (ocean farming) attempts to supply a growing demand for oysters that increases exponentially year after year.

Internationally renowned oyster farmer Dan Martino guides readers through this fascinating history before presenting a detailed breakdown of the current state of the oyster industry as only an insider can describe it. He discusses husbandry, nursery, and farm techniques; the practical side of working with local government to set up a farm; tips for selling into the market; and what qualities make for the perfect oyster. He details the various global styles of farming and the species of oysters farmed, explaining how they differ in size, texture, shape, and taste—characteristics referred to as “merroir,” to parallel the way “terroir” illuminates how the origin of place affects taste in wine.

The oyster has never been more relevant as we look to the future and the many challenges presented by climate change and a growing population. Martino explores how the current land-based food production system risks collapse as it tries to keep up with growing demand, and oyster farming, which uses no land and minimal freshwater input, is a natural alternative to more resource-intensive food sources. Oysters are also exceptionally good at capturing carbon, making them a necessary element in the quest for climate change solutions.

The Oyster Book is an exploration of the past, present, and future of humanity’s relationship with the oyster, highlighting how humans can learn from our mistakes and harness the oyster’s potential for a more sustainable future.

From nurses and teachers to wildland firefighters and funeral directors—an intimate, honest, and illuminating collection of interviews that reveal what it’s like to work in America at this historic and volatile moment in time. 

Author Mark Larson sits down with more than one hundred workers from across the socioeconomic spectrum as they share their experiences with work and what it has meant in their lives—the good, the bad, the mundane, and the profound. Doulas, firefighters, chefs, hairstylists, executives, actors, stay-at-home parents, and so many more talk about what they do all day and how it aligns (or doesn't) with what they want to be doing with their lives. The pandemic, the ensuing “Great Resignation,” and the current reckonings with racial justice are among the forces that are now upending and reshaping our longstanding relationships with work. Larson’s interviews display how these forces collide in the lives of average Americans as they tell their own stories with passion, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.

Working in the 21st Century asks why we show up—or don’t—to the jobs we’ve chosen, and how the upheaval of the past few years has changed how we perceive the work we do. It will be released to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Studs Terkel's 1974 classic Working.

For millions of Americans, the COVID shock has brought retirement saving to an abrupt halt—now it’s time to get back on track. 

Even before the pandemic, a large share of households by Americans over age 50 faced the threat that their living standards would decline sharply in retirement. In the wake of COVID-19, these numbers will surely worsen. In Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track, finance writer and regular New York Times retirement contributor Mark Miller offers practical strategies for Americans to improve their retirement prospects.

If you’re nearing retirement age and worry you haven’t saved enough, Retirement Reboot will walk you through the core decisions to make now to improve your retirement outcomes—even if retirement is just a few years away. You’ll learn how to make a plan, think through the timing of retirement, optimize Social Security, navigate Medicare, build savings, and tap home equity. You’ll also explore ongoing strategies, such as careful budgeting, generating income from work even after retirement, planning for long-term care, and leveraging special assistance aimed at low-income workers. If you have low savings, or none at all, Miller’s simple steps can help you make the most of your remaining working years and reboot the retirement you always imagined.

A fascinating and eye-opening chronicle of the global history of oyster farming, the current state of the industry, and the possibilities of investing in oyster farming as a solution to food and climate challenges from veteran oyster farmer Dan Martino.

The oyster is one of Earth’s oldest animals, and fossil records show humans have enjoyed them for hundreds of thousands of years. But like so many other creatures, wild oysters were driven to near extinction by overconsumption and pollution. The Clean Water Act passed in 1972 marked a turning point for water quality, and decades later, we’re witnessing a renaissance in oyster culture as the rise of aquaculture (ocean farming) attempts to supply a growing demand for oysters that increases exponentially year after year.

Internationally renowned oyster farmer Dan Martino guides readers through this fascinating history before presenting a detailed breakdown of the current state of the oyster industry as only an insider can describe it. He discusses husbandry, nursery, and farm techniques; the practical side of working with local government to set up a farm; tips for selling into the market; and what qualities make for the perfect oyster. He details the various global styles of farming and the species of oysters farmed, explaining how they differ in size, texture, shape, and taste—characteristics referred to as “merroir,” to parallel the way “terroir” illuminates how the origin of place affects taste in wine.

The oyster has never been more relevant as we look to the future and the many challenges presented by climate change and a growing population. Martino explores how the current land-based food production system risks collapse as it tries to keep up with growing demand, and oyster farming, which uses no land and minimal freshwater input, is a natural alternative to more resource-intensive food sources. Oysters are also exceptionally good at capturing carbon, making them a necessary element in the quest for climate change solutions.

The Oyster Book is an exploration of the past, present, and future of humanity’s relationship with the oyster, highlighting how humans can learn from our mistakes and harness the oyster’s potential for a more sustainable future.

A visionary leader in clean and renewable energy tells his incredible personal story and outlines a smart and sane way forward for meeting the world’s growing energy needs.

Michael Polsky is one of the most important figures in American clean energy—here, he tells the remarkable story of his rise from a penniless young Soviet émigré to leadership in this essential industry. 

Only a decade ago, many thought that demand for electricity in America might never rise again. Today, AI, cryptocurrency, and electrification are fueling the largest surge in electricity demand in fifty years. Polsky has spent the past four decades building power plants, but even he never expected to see this kind of surge in demand. Most of the companies driving it want electricity produced by clean, sustainable renewable sources, mainly wind and solar power. 

His journey in clean energy is America’s journey too. Inexhaustible intertwines his personal story—an immigrant who arrived in America from the Soviet Union with $500 in his pocket and a few phrases of broken English who, twenty-five years later, founded a multibillion dollar independent energy company—with the story of America’s energy evolution from coal and oil to wind and solar power.

Polsky’s career evolved from working on oil- and coal-powered plants, to generating power from nuclear and natural gas, to renewable energy. It was a natural progression that helped him form a distinct vision of the future, which guided him to what would be the next best way to develop projects and produce electricity. The United States is heading in the same direction, for a simple reason: not because we have all become environmental activists, but because renewable-energy technology just makes sense. It has the potential to create unlimited amounts of energy, and a low-cost, highly efficient, and reliable power system.

Polsky’s company, Invenergy, is now the biggest privately owned clean-energy business in the US. He was forward-thinking enough to have built a business with a focus on renewable energy. But the challenge Polsky sees for America is that we don’t have enough installed renewable-power generation, hooked up to the grid and ready to supply. Because demand for electricity is so unprecedented, the source of the energy is becoming somewhat secondary to the need itself. We’re burning more fossil fuels than ever before, reopening mothballed nuclear power stations, and betting on experimental technology.

We are entering an era of an “all of the above” approach to generating electricity, driven by the surge in demand and the realization that neither fossil fuels nor renewables alone can meet all our needs. As Polsky sees it, the danger is that our immediate appetites could blind us to the consequences of using all forms of energy: making climate change worse, slowing the energy transition, and the potentially disastrous results of a nuclear accident.

Polsky is far from a green warrior or an ecological activist. As a student in his native Kyiv, Ukraine, he was trained in the 1970s to design power plants that burned heavy oil or coal. When he emigrated to the United States in 1976, he worked on nuclear power plants, then on gas-powered plants, and then on power plants that burned coal, oil, and natural gas. The first company he started worked on coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants; his second company developed facilities that burned natural gas, tires, and wood.

Today, Polsky and Invenergy are in the renewable-energy business because it is an unprecedented industrial and financial opportunity, offering the chance to create unlimited amounts of energy efficiently, reliably, and at a low cost. It is highly scalable. It is the future toward which technology is taking us. Our choice is not whether or not to switch to renewable energy, but if we will grasp this opportunity or have it forced upon us by crises. As Polsky sees it, there is a smart and forward-looking way to the future, and this book charts what the smart way looks like, and urges us to seize the opportunity it offers.

The owner of the legendary Hoosier Mama Pie Company turns breakfast into an art form with this go-to guide for baking scones, muffins, and other morning favorites.

In the fifteen years since Paula Haney started Hoosier Mama Pie Company, it has become both a local favorite and national destination, widely regarded as one of the top pie shops in the country. But not everyone wants pie for breakfast, and after opening an Evanston location that opened at 6:30 a.m., Haney and her team began to dream up new sweet and savory bakes for the perfect morning. 

With the same focus on local produce and fresh, seasonal ingredients that made her pies a Chicago institution, and the same warmth and easygoing style of The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie, Haney again invites home bakers into her kitchen—this time with a collection of budget-friendly recipes that largely go from idea to eating in under an hour. This book is meant to be kept on the kitchen counter with a dusting of flour between its pages. It’s a working manual with practical tips and techniques along with base recipes that can handle endless variations, encouraging readers to discover their own favorite combinations.

Whether it’s browned butter banana-Nutella quick bread, scones packed with maple and bacon or strawberries and basil, tender Danishes with cream cheese and fruit, or biscuit sandwiches with all the fixings, these delicious, approachable recipes will make everyday breakfast feel like a special occasion—all before the coffee’s even brewed. 

The untold stories behind Chicago's globally celebrated culinary scene—from revolutionary chefs to kitchen disasters to public uproars to Michelin stars, told by the cooks, servers, restaurateurs, critics, dreamers, and rebels who built America's most fearless food city.

Whether serious destination diners, weekend visitors, or fans of The Bear, everyone knows Chicago has long outgrown its mid-twentieth-century reputation as a steak-and-potatoes town. The last fifty years have seen it explode into world prominence as one of America’s best places to eat—and ground zero of some of America’s greatest cooking. When Michelin first started awarding stars in the United States, they selected Chicago as one of the first cities so recognized. But the story of this ascendency—and of nationally famed chefs like Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz, Stephanie Izard, and many others—has never been fully revealed in all its messy, dramatic, high-energy glory.

The Chicago Way traces Chicago’s growth as a dining capital over the past fifty-plus years through an oral history made up of the voices of those who led, drove, and otherwise took part in that transformation. Readers will learn how the city’s diners (and millions of happily sated visitors) grew to love new and more adventurous ways of eating, from hot dogs with foie gras to molecular gastronomy. These first-person accounts show how restaurants played a key role in transforming the city’s culture, creating hot new neighborhoods—before sometimes getting priced out of them—and driving economic growth not just downtown, but increasingly into its kaleidoscopically diverse neighborhoods. 

This is a dynamic plunge into the chaos and glory of the restaurant world, charged with the unfiltered voices of the men and women who helped make Chicago’s food culture what it is today. Focusing on real estate, finance, and economics as well as food and creativity, these insider accounts together tell a powerful story about the essential influence of Chicago chefs and restaurants on contemporary American cuisine that will appeal to everyone interested in food, restaurants, and dining.

James Beard Award–winning Michael Gebert has written for decades about hundreds of Chicago food figures from every background, and in The Chicago Way, he includes contributions from national celebrities such as Top Chef winners Stephanie Izard and Joe Flamm, Alinea chef Grant Achatz, and Michelin-starred chef and author Lane Regan, among many other notables. His vast network and deep knowledge are reflected in the scores of both famed and unsung food professionals included here, arrayed into a narrative mosaic that reveals the stories behind the story of Chicago’s greatest, most important, and most memorable places to eat food.

"Linda-Marie Barrett offers a generous, intelligent, and deeply loving guide to building spaces where real people can gather for real conversation about real topics. Drawing upon her experience as a bookseller and her own story of how bringing women together into literary salons elevated her own life from anxiety and disconnection to vibrancy and joy, Barrett has written more than a simple how-to book here; she has delivered a call to reclaim the joy of presence, dialogue, and the transformative power of story." —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

A practical and personal exploration of the transformative power of salons–in many cases, a next-level evolution of a book club—with hosting advice tailored for different goals, budgets, and personalities. 

Salons are enjoying a renaissance worldwide. More structured than a hangout or casual dinner party, and oftentimes an evolution of a successful book club, salons can spark lively discussions and help develop a joyful, intentional community. Blending focused and informed advice with heartfelt reflection, book industry professional Linda-Marie Barrett shares her experience hosting salons at her home—the lessons learned as well as the life-changing connections she discovered—and guides readers through the whats, whys, and hows of creating their own salons.
Learn how to cultivate deep conversations and authentic connection using Barrett’s clear guidelines and real-life examples, including helpful suggestions for handling even challenging scenarios. Readers will also hear directly from members of Linda-Marie’s Black Swan Salon, who share their perspectives along with advice for how to build a better salon. As a bonus, this book includes 14 salon starter kits, each on a different theme, to help readers host with confidence.

Get inside the head of Steve Jobs: inventor, visionary, business mogul, and one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the world.

Drawn from more than three decades of media coverage, this tribute serves up the best, most thought-provoking insights ever spoken by Steve Jobs: more than 200 quotations that are essential reading for everyone who seeks innovative solutions and inspirations applicable to their business, regardless of size.

Jobs, who passed away on October 5, 2011, at the age of 56, cofounded Apple in 1976. He stepped down from that role in August 2011, bringing an end to one of the greatest, most transformative business careers in history. Over the years, Jobs gave countless interviews to the media, explaining what he called “the vision thing”—his unmatched ability to envision, and successfully bring to the marketplace, consumer products that people find simply irresistible.

Jobs made an indelible mark in multiple industries, and played an enormous role in creating others. Consider how Jobs and Apple shaped the following fields: personal computers (laptop and desktop), apps (for multiple electronic devices), computer animation (Pixar), music (iTunes), telecommunications (iPhone), personal digital devices (iPod), books (iBook), and tablets (iPad). Jobs was the greatest business visionary of our era.

Steve Jobs: In His Own Words is the perfect gift or reference item for everyone interested in this great American original.

From nurses and teachers to wildland firefighters and funeral directors—an intimate, honest, and illuminating collection of interviews that reveal what it’s like to work in America at this historic and volatile moment in time. 

Author Mark Larson sits down with more than one hundred workers from across the socioeconomic spectrum as they share their experiences with work and what it has meant in their lives—the good, the bad, the mundane, and the profound. Doulas, firefighters, chefs, hairstylists, executives, actors, stay-at-home parents, and so many more talk about what they do all day and how it aligns (or doesn't) with what they want to be doing with their lives. The pandemic, the ensuing “Great Resignation,” and the current reckonings with racial justice are among the forces that are now upending and reshaping our longstanding relationships with work. Larson’s interviews display how these forces collide in the lives of average Americans as they tell their own stories with passion, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.

Working in the 21st Century asks why we show up—or don’t—to the jobs we’ve chosen, and how the upheaval of the past few years has changed how we perceive the work we do. It will be released to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Studs Terkel's 1974 classic Working.

An updated and expanded collection of more than 350 quotes from Taylor Swift, pop culture icon and one of the bestselling musicians of all time. Part of the In Their Own Words series.

This collection of quotes, curated from Swift’s numerous public statements—interviews, op-eds, social media posts, and more—has been updated to include Swift’s thoughts on all her latest record-breaking achievements: new music, new ventures, and an iconic tour. It’s a comprehensive picture of her meteoric rise to the top, her ever-savvy business sense, and her increasingly vocalized perspective on the music world and beyond.

Swift’s catchy, chart-topping songs have propelled her to become one of the bestselling musicians of all time. In the nearly two decades she’s been making music, she has amassed enough power to buck the norms of an industry notorious for controlling the images of its often very young female artists. Through an unprecedented record deal she has championed the rights of artists to earn fair royalties, and through social media she has inspired tens of thousands of fans to register to vote. She has also earned the status of feminist icon due to her vocal stance against gender inequality in the music industry and her empowerment of young women through her music and public actions.

Since the release of the first edition of Taylor Swift: In Her Own Words in 2019, Swift’s achievements have continued to soar. She has released four more critically acclaimed albums that broke streaming records and won multiple Grammy Awards. In 2023, she embarked on the historic Eras Tour, which shattered records for the highest-grossing tour in history and culminated in a movie that became the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

Swift’s activism and business acumen have earned her spots on both Forbes’s Most Powerful Women and Time’s 100 Most Influential People lists. Now, for the first time, you can find her latest, most inspirational, thought-provoking quotes in one place.

Discover the power of relationship-building to enhance your leadership, boost your team’s well-being, and drive organizational success.

In today’s dynamic business environment, the success of any organization is deeply rooted in the quality of its internal relationships. In The Relationship-Driven Leader, psychologist and organizational behavior expert Dr. Karen Bridbord offers a revolutionary guide to career success and advancement, regardless of your industry, your company’s size, or your role. This groundbreaking book sheds light on how nurturing strong work relationships can lead to unmatched productivity and greater overall wellness throughout the organization and among its staff. Through compelling research and insightful case studies, Bridbord reveals the detrimental impact dysfunctional relationships can have on both personal and business achievements, and how to come back from “relationship system failure.” By rethinking workplace relationships, you can foster deeper connections within your team, resulting in enhanced cohesion and well-being for all members.

The Relationship-Driven Leader explores the profound influence of everyday interactions on team experience and team performance. Bridbord emphasizes the importance of “micro-moments” in leadership to spark significant improvements. This book empowers you to take the first step toward becoming the leader everyone aspires to work with by enhancing your leadership skills, boosting workplace productivity, and mastering innovative conflict-management techniques. By focusing on well-being through relationship-building, you can create a healthier, more engaged, and more productive team. 

Elevate your home cooking with more than 100 recipes that feature the vibrant fusion of Creole flavors and California freshness from a renowned personal chef.

Chef Ryan Rondeno, who has dazzled the palates of celebrities with his innovative and mouthwatering creations, seamlessly blends the vibrant flavors of Creole cuisine with the fresh ethos of California cooking in My Creole-Cali Kitchen. Each recipe is meticulously crafted to be both intriguing, flavorful,, and accessible, allowing home cooks to recreate elevated dishes that burst with flavor and creativity. With dishes like tempura squash blossoms, crawfish enchiladas, and duck confit with whipped ricotta and pickled peaches, Rondeno brings his signature style to every page, ensuring that each dish is not only delicious but also visually stunning. And for those with a sweet tooth, there are celebration-worthy desserts like brown butter banana bread with pistachio praline and buttermilk ice cream, and—of course—beignets.

Rondeno, who has cooked for A-list stars, shares his culinary secrets and expert tips, making even the most sophisticated recipes easy to follow. The cookbook features step-by-step instructions, beautiful photographs, and clever twists on Southern favorites. Whether you're a seasoned home cook or a beginner looking to impress your guests, My Creole-Cali Kitchen offers a treasure trove of recipes that are sure to level-up your cooking game while remaining approachable and fun. Indulge in the best of both worlds with this delightful fusion that promises to bring excitement and flair to your kitchen.

In this new edition of her bestselling guide, internationally recognized sports nutritionist Monique Ryan explains the latest cutting-edge research on essential topics for endurance athletes such as how to fuel workouts, savvy race preparation, effective recovery, smart weight loss, and safe supplements.

Unlock your athletic potential with Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, the ultimate guide to fueling your performance in running, cycling, triathlon, and swimming. In this newly updated fourth edition, Monique Ryan, a renowned nutritionist with more than 30 years of experience advising elite athletes and pro sports teams, demystifies high-performance nutrition, offering clear and practical advice based on the latest research and real-world expertise.

Ryan addresses the fundamental questions of endurance sports nutrition for everyone, from accomplished competitors to total beginners: what to eat and drink, how much, and when. From training to racing, recovery to weight management, she provides tailored strategies to optimize your performance and achieve your goals. Drawing on rigorous scientific studies, Ryan dispels common myths surrounding supplements and ergogenic aids while providing a balanced perspective on practices like fat loading and glycogen-depleted workouts.

Recognizing that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition, Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes delves into the specific dietary needs of runners, cyclists, triathletes, and swimmers, highlighting the nuances that can give you a competitive edge. Whether you're tackling a sprint or a marathon, a criterium or a mountain bike race, Ryan offers tailored nutrition plans to suit your event's demands.

In addition to practical advice, this comprehensive guide includes valuable reference material such as a glycemic index, a glossary of essential vitamins and minerals, and a comparison of sports nutrition products. With Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, you'll discover how smart nutrition can elevate your performance, whether you're aiming for a personal best or embarking on your first endurance challenge.

A collection of more than 300 quotes from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: pro wrestling phenom, actor, businessman, and cultural icon, providing a unique look into the mind of one of the most recognizable and influential figures of our era. Part of the In Their Own Words series.

This collection of quotes has been curated from Dwayne Johnson’s numerous public statements—interviews, social media posts, television appearances, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of his legacy as one of the world’s most recognizable and influential celebrities. The quotes in this collection touch on football, wrestling, Hollywood, building a business, heritage, activism, and more. 

Johnson, a third-generation wrestler, rose to prominence in the late 1990s as one of the most electrifying and charismatic performers in the history of professional wrestling. Debuting in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) as Rocky Maivia, he quickly gained attention for his athleticism, microphone skills, and larger-than-life persona. Embracing the moniker "The Rock," he became a cornerstone of the Attitude Era, and his unparalleled ability to connect with audiences propelled him to multiple WWE Championships. His catchphrases and signature moves became iconic in wrestling lore and garnered mainstream attention beyond the world of wrestling as well. 

After achieving superstardom in the ring, Johnson transitioned to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of the highest-paid actors in the world and starring in blockbuster films including The Mummy and Jumanji, as well as appearing in DC Comics franchise films and voicing Maui in the Disney hit Moana, a nod to his Samoan heritage that he proudly touts as central to his identity. Beyond acting, he has built a business empire that spans multiple enterprises, including a production company, a premium tequila brand, sportswear, and a digital content platform.

Johnson’s entrepreneurial spirit and versatility beyond his entertainment career earned him a nod as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2019. Now, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: In His Own Words offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most captivating and beloved personas.

An in-depth look at the history of the Chicago Bulls franchise, featuring profiles, photography, box scores, and more from the archives of the Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago Bulls, one of the NBA’s most storied and valuable franchises, have been building their highly decorated legacy for six decades. To this day, the Bulls are one of the most popular teams the world over. Six championships and the eternal legacy of Michael Jordan—the greatest player of all time—will do that, and Bulls fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Chicago Tribune Book of the Chicago Bulls, 2nd Edition is a decade-by-decade look at the pride of Chicago’s West Side, updated since its original publication in 2016 to include the last several years of history. Curated by the Chicago Tribune sports department, this book documents every era in the team’s history through the newspaper’s original reporting, in-depth analysis, interviews, and archival photos. Comprehensive timelines, rankings of top players by position, and profiles on key coaches, Hall of Famers, and MVPs provide an entertaining, blow-by-blow look at the team’s greatest successes and most dramatic moments.

A beautiful collector's item, The Chicago Tribune Book of the Chicago Bulls is a tour through basketball history produced by the award-winning journalists who have been documenting their home team since the beginning.

Nearly twenty years after it first became a bestselling how-to guide for eager new cooks and seasoned preservers alike, Artisanal Preserves is back with an updated edition, providing the latest guidelines for cooking and canning delicious jams, jellies, marmalades, and more.

For those new to the craft, chef Madelaine Bullwinkel includes a primer on the history and basic process of preserving. Experienced canners will appreciate exciting flavor combinations—such as Lime Zucchini Marmalade and Blackberry Ginger Preserves—as well as no-sugar jams and forty recipes for breads, muffins, and desserts that make good use of your new jams and jellies. Bullwinkel explains all the latest techniques for canning and sealing and has eliminated commercial pectin from all recipes, resulting in all-natural preserves sealed according to current USDA standards. 

Since the book’s original publication in 2005, the popularity of home preserving has continued to rise along with renewed interest in other old-fashioned craft cooking hobbies, such as brewing beer, pickling produce, and making sourdough starters.

Bullwinkel’s thorough teaching style and time-saving techniques make the preserving process surprisingly simple. Artisanal Preserves is the go-to primer for making elegant, delicious fruit preserves at home.

Get inside the head of one of the most influential musicians of our time, a pop music phenomenon turned titan of industry and cultural icon: Taylor Swift.

This collection of quotes has been carefully curated from Swift’s numerous public statements—interviews, op-eds, social media posts, and more, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. It’s a comprehensive picture of her meteoric rise to the top, her ever-savvy business sense, and her increasingly outspoken perspective on the music world and beyond. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7–12 about Taylor Swift’s ideas.

Swift’s catchy, chart-topping songs have propelled her to become one of the bestselling musicians of all time. But in the nearly 20 years she’s been making music, she has also amassed enough power to buck the norms of an industry notorious for controlling the images of its often very young female artists.

Her latest, unprecedented record deal gives her ownership of all her master records, the ability to dictate the terms of her albums’ streaming releases in order to maximize her profits, and a requirement that her label share proceeds from the sale of its stake in Spotify with its musicians. She has championed the rights of artists to earn fair royalties, and more recently, she has inspired tens of thousands of fans to register to vote.

Swift’s achievements have earned her spots on both Forbes’s Most Powerful Women and Time’s 100 Most Influential People lists. Now, for the first time, young readers find her most inspirational, thought-provoking quotes in one place.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

Get inside the head of LeBron James: basketball star, activist, philanthropist, and one of the most influential athletes in the world.

This collection of quotes has been curated from LeBron James’s numerous public statements—interviews, social media posts, television appearances, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of his legacy as one of the world’s most recognizable and influential athletes, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. The quotes in the collection touch on sports, community, life lessons, opportunity, equality, justice, and more. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7–12 about LeBron James's ideas.

LeBron James’s meteoric rise to basketball fame started when he was just a teenager, being billed by Sports Illustrated as “The Chosen One” while he was still playing for his high school team in Akron, Ohio. He became the top overall selection for the 2003 NBA draft and signed an unprecedented $90 million endorsement deal with Nike before he ever played a professional game. James spent the first seven years of his career playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he would establish himself as a premier player in the league before going on to play for the Miami Heat and the L.A. Lakers. His unmatched athleticism and drive have led to multiple NBA championships, MVP awards, Olympic gold medals, and more points scored than anyone else in the history of professional basketball. Off the court, he has spoken up for racial equality, founded a school for at-risk children in his hometown, launched multiple media companies, and even tried his hand at acting.

Since emerging on the global stage, James has become a source of inspiration for people all over the world. Now, LeBron James: In His Own Words Young Reader Edition offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most influential athletes by collecting over 100 of his most insightful quotes to create a comprehensive picture of LeBron James and his legacy for young readers everywhere.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

From National Book Award–nominee Iliana Regan, a new memoir of her life and heritage as a forager, spanning her ancestry in Eastern Europe, her childhood in rural Indiana, and her new life set in the remote forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Fieldwork explores how Regan’s complex gender identity informs her acclaimed work as a chef and her profound experience of the natural world.

Not long after Iliana Regan’s celebrated debut, Burn the Place, became the first food-related title in four decades to become a National Book Award nominee in 2019, her career as a Michelin star–winning chef took a sharp turn north. Long based in Chicago, she and her new wife, Anna, decided to create a culinary destination, the Milkweed Inn, located in Michigan’s remote Upper Peninsula, where much of the food served to their guests would be foraged by Regan herself in the surrounding forest and nearby river. Part fresh challenge, part escape, Regan’s move to the forest was also a return to her rural roots, in an effort to deepen the intimate connection to nature and the land that she’d long expressed as a chef, but experienced most intensely growing up.

On her family’s farm in rural Indiana, Regan was the beloved youngest in a family with three much older sisters. From a very early age, her relationship with her mother and father was shaped by her childhood identification as a boy. Her father treated her like the son he never had, and together they foraged for mushrooms, berries, herbs, and other wild food in the surrounding countryside—especially her grandfather’s nearby farm, where they also fished in its pond and young Iliana explored the accumulated family treasures stored in its dusty barn. Her father would share stories of his own grandmother, Busia, who’d helped run a family inn while growing up in eastern Europe, from which she imported her own wild legends of her native forests, before settling in Gary, Indiana, and opening Jennie’s Café, a restaurant that fed generations of local steelworkers. He also shared with Iliana a steady supply of sharp knives and—as she got older—guns.

Iliana’s mother had family stories as well—not only of her own years marrying young, raising headstrong girls, and cooking at Jennie’s, but also of her father, Wayne, who spent much of his boyhood hunting with the men of his family in the frozen reaches of rural Canada. The stories from this side of Regan’s family are darker, riven with alcoholism and domestic strife too often expressed in the harm, physical and otherwise, perpetrated by men—harm men do to women and families, and harm men do to the entire landscapes they occupy.

As Regan explores the ancient landscape of Michigan’s boreal forest, her stories of the land, its creatures, and its dazzling profusion of plant and vegetable life are interspersed with her and Anna’s efforts to make a home and a business of an inn that’s suddenly, as of their first full season there in 2020, empty of guests due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She discovers where the wild blueberry bushes bear tiny fruit, where to gather wood sorrel, and where and when the land’s different mushroom species appear—even as surrounding parcels of land are suddenly and violently decimated by logging crews that obliterate plant life and drive away the area’s birds. Along the way she struggles not only with the threat of COVID, but also with her personal and familial legacies of addiction, violence, fear, and obsession—all while she tries to conceive a child that she and her immune-compromised wife hope to raise in their new home.

With Burn the Place, Regan announced herself as a writer whose extravagant, unconventional talents matched her abilities as a lauded chef. In Fieldwork, she digs even deeper to express the meaning and beauty we seek in the landscapes, and stories, that reveal the forces which inform, shape, and nurture our lives.

An inspiring collection of pithy, easy-to-recall one-liners and quotable short passages from historic and contemporary thought leaders throughout the African Diaspora. 

Famous Black Quotations, first published in 1986, has long been the go-to resource for the eloquent words of Black history makers. In this new, expanded edition, Famous Black Quotations for the Twenty-First Century, editor Janet Cheatham Bell includes the words of people who have come to prominence in recent decades, such as Barack and Michelle Obama, Alicia Garza, John Legend, Colin Kaepernick, Kamala Harris, and Nikole Hannah-Jones. Bestselling author Bell has curated more than five hundred quotes along with dates, sources, and biographical information of the people quoted. This guide to significant events in the experiences of people of African descent can be used to educate and inspire. Much has changed in the past few decades as Black Americans speak out to demand fair treatment and equal opportunity, and Famous Black Quotations for the Twenty-First Century has been updated and repackaged to inspire a new generation.

Get inside the head of Michelle Obama: author, lawyer, humanitarian, and the trailblazing first Black woman to serve as First Lady of the United States.

This collection of quotes has been carefully curated from Michelle Obama’s numerous public statements—interviews, books, social media posts, television appearances, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of her legacy as one of America’s most recognizable and influential women, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. The quotes in the collection touch on education, friendship and community, life lessons, America, the role of First Lady, making change, inequality and injustice, and more. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7-12 about Michelle Obama's ideas.

Michelle Obama has been challenging others’ expectations since she was a young woman growing up on Chicago’s South Side. When a high school counselor told her, “I’m not sure you’re Princeton material,” Obama graduated as the salutatorian and went off to Princeton anyway. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Obama spent several years as an attorney at a prestigious Chicago law firm before committing her efforts to public service and community outreach. When her husband, Barack Obama, was elected president in 2008, she began a new chapter of her life as the first Black woman to serve as First Lady of the United States of America. While always conscious of the unique pressures and difficulties of her role, Obama made it her mission to present her authentic self to the American people. Her pride in and openness about the aspects of her identity that made her unusual among First Ladies—including her race, working-class upbringing, career path, and educational achievement—made her a figure beloved by the general public.

Since emerging on the global stage, Obama has become a source of inspiration for young people all over the world, largely due to her engaging authenticity and candor. Now, Michelle Obama: In Her Own Words offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most influential women by collecting 200 of her most insightful quotes. Meticulously curated from interviews, speeches, statements, and other sources, Michelle Obama: In Her Own Words creates a comprehensive picture of Michelle Obama, her wisdom, and her legacy.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

Get inside the head of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, history’s second woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice.

This collection of quotes has been curated from Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s numerous public statements—interviews, court opinions, oral arguments from her time as a lawyer, speeches, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of her legacy and her impact on American history, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. The quotes in the collection touch on equality, the law, feminism, the United States justice system, education, and more. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7-12 about Ginsburg's ideas.

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg earned respect and admiration over the course of her remarkable lifetime, during which she broke barriers and set her sights on the highest levels of achievement at every turn. Beginning with her graduation from Cornell as the highest-ranking woman in her class, and then her enrollment in Harvard Law School in 1956, where she was one of only nine women in a class of 500, she steadily moved up the ranks of the American legal system until she was appointed as the second woman in history to join the Supreme Court in 1993.

During her time on the Supreme Court, she became known for her fiery dissents, her fundamental work toward equality and fair treatment, and her eloquent thought-leadership. Even after her death in 2020, she serves as an inspiration to all and a role model for women everywhere.

Now, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: In Her Own Words offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most influential women by collecting 200 of Ginsburg’s most insightful quotes. Meticulously curated from interviews, speeches, court opinions, dissents, and other sources, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: In Her Own Words creates a comprehensive picture of Ginsburg, her wisdom, and her legacy.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

The Food Allergy Baking Book is a one-stop guide to delicious, everyday baked goods free of dairy, eggs, and nuts—the most common food allergens. 

The Food Allergy Baking Book offers more than 90 timeless, foolproof recipes that are easy to prepare, even for kitchen novices. It is an invaluable resource for home bakers (and their families) who love sweets and treats. 

These recipes are more than delicious enough to be enjoyed by everyone who craves great baked treats, whether they have food allergies or not, but they fill a particular need for families who find baking at home to be the smartest and safest option to avoid exposure to allergens. All the traditional baking favorites are included, with chapters devoted to the best and tastiest muffins and quick breads, cookies and bars, and all manner of cakes, pies, crisps, and cobblers. The book also provides practical advice about dealing with classroom and birthday parties, as well as easy ingredient substitution ideas. 

The Food Allergy Baking Book is the go-to guide for food-allergy conscious bakers everywhere.

Community journalism has long been a part of the lifeblood of America, but never have the stakes been so high for the people behind it. 

In Beacons in the Darkness, award-winning journalist Dave Hoekstra interviews the people trying to keep the lights on at community newspapers across the country amid buyouts, declining revenues, fake news, and a pandemic. This book is not another account of the death of local journalism—but rather a celebration of the community ties, perseverance, and empathy that’s demonstrated in community newsrooms from Hillsboro, Illinois, to Charleston, South Carolina, to Marfa, Texas. 

Hoekstra recounts the sometimes-scandalous but always-industrious stories of the families who built these newspapers and passed them down through generations. Modern publishers and owners describe in their own words their struggles and experiments to stay alive in the digital age, not just for their businesses and their families but also for the communities they serve and the neighbors whose stories they tell in their reporting. Beacons in the Darkness provides an intimate view inside the organizations that still publish photos of the local bowling league and the outlandishly large mushrooms on the edge of town, leaving you with a rekindled fondness for your own community paper—and a renewed appreciation of what we all stand to lose without one.

Delicious, authentic Indian fare that’s quicker and easier than ever, with measurements for any sized Instant Pot.

Taking full advantage of the ease and convenience of the Instant Pot, bestselling cookbook author Anupy Singla has developed 70 Indian favorites you can make in minutes. Singla experimented with every size of Instant Pot to ensure that home cooks would get the full, delicious flavor in every recipe, every time. These no-guesswork recipes are simpler than their traditional counterparts and healthier than restaurant favorites, as they don’t require extra oil and fat. The “Indian Spices 101” chapter introduces readers to the mainstay spices of an Indian kitchen, as well as how to store, prepare, and combine them in different ways. Among these 70 recipes are all the classics—specialties like dal, palak paneer, and aloo gobi, as well as dishes like butter chicken, keema, and much more. And Singla’s clear, detailed instructions walk even the most timid cook through the process of using an electric pressure cooker. The result is a terrific introduction to healthful, flavorful Indian food made using the simplicity and convenience of the Instant Pot.