Chicago, 1916. Doreen O’Dare is fourteen years old when she hops a Hollywood-bound train with her beloved Irish grandmother. Within a decade, her trademark bob and insouciant charm make her the preeminent movie flapper of the Jazz Age. But her success story masks one of relentless ambition, tragedy, and the secrets of a dangerous marriage.

The protagonist of Percival Everett's puckish new novel is a brilliant professor of mathematics who goes by Wala Kitu. (Wala, he explains, means "nothing" in Tagalog, and Kitu is Swahili for "nothing.") He is an expert on nothing. That is to say, he is an expert, and his area of study is nothing, and he does nothing about it.

Emma is a guinea pig with an identity crisis. The neglected pet of a Tolkien-obsessed boy who really wanted a dog, Emma escapes her cage to the wild spaces of Florida, certain she is either a dragon or a German Shepherd. A chance meeting with a mottled duck and an iguana allies this unlikely trio on a quest for self-discovery. Along the way, they seek counsel from true friends, fair-weather friends, wise creatures, cruel creatures, well-intentioned strangers, an offbeat shaman, and a strange artist.

Although the female movement is interwoven into our social world and people preach “girl power,” brand experience expert Katie Mares has seen that this mindset hasn’t penetrated business branding or the experience businesses provide to women. Very few businesses focus on elevating “interaction” so that a brand experience includes a personal connection with the consumer and addresses their genuine interests and needs. CustomHer Experience sends the clear message that true power comes when businesses focus on providing a brand and consumer experience that women can’t live without.

When ten-year-old Juliette’s father tragically dies, she is left alone with her mentally disturbed mother. As Juliette comes of age in London during the sixties while struggling to support her mother, she finds a job at London’s Playboy Club as a casino bunny. The adventurous Juliette is soon running with a crowd of famous musicians and actors, many of whom become her lifelong friends. Inevitably, Juliette’s mother renders them homeless, and they leave London with no money for an unknown life in Istanbul, where Juliette eventually runs to Beirut to work as a nightclub singer.