These small masterpieces of the imagination are also an impassioned plea against the human exploitation of nature.

Dazzling blue beetles, furry moths, bold grasshoppers and shimmering dragonflies are the heroes of Barbara Frischmuth’s new short stories. Yet when we look more closely, we realise they are about more than just carefully observed insects: they are about the delicate symbioses between humans and nature, about rare hybrid beings, half girl and half beetle, about talking dragonflies and about what we can learn from the ingeniousness of grasshoppers. Written with affectionate humour, these stories reveal how profoundly human beings are a part of nature. As gardener and poet Barbara Frischmutch never tires of repeating: our only chance of survival is to develop a relationship with nature based on respect and mindfulness.

Death, wood and eternal life

Few things are as diverse as deadwood. So much more than the remnants of old trees on the forest floor, it comes in an array of forms, providing habitats for insects and other organisms. Dead roots under the water, wooden coffins buried beneath the ground in urban spaces – this close interplay of decay and new life is all around us. If we look closely, we can see how the once-extinct beaver is now paving the way for other species, like the endangered saproxylic beetle. Deadwood also teaches us to have a positive outlook for our coexistence with local biodiversity, showing that there have already been a number of improvements in the past hundred years. An exciting journey through the secret world of insects, fungi and other creatures that live in the deadwood in our forests, parks and gardens.

Writing with tremendous charm, Russo tells the story of two people in love, of a stolen block of parmesan cheese, and of romance in an uncertain age.

Masha and Iggy are in love, yet somehow they can’t quite connect: Iggy wants to be a filmmaker, but as yet he hasn’t managed to get into film school. Masha is lost in the labyrinth of online dating—and studying medicine in her spare time. A chance meeting brings the two together, but how does anybody fall in love these days? And how do you talk about it when you can talk about literally anything else, and when you’re aware of so many other types of relationship? Before Masha and Iggy become a couple, they must first travel to Italy with a dying woman, rob a church, swim naked in Lake —and learn that sometimes it’s best if you don’t say anything at all. And like all partners in crime, they pull off all sorts of madcap exploits before they face the hardest one of all: letting someone in …

Viktor Frankl’s long-time collaborator prompts readers to think more closely about answers to life’s most important questions.

What is it that really matters in life? Are there traces of meaning in my life that I can explore further? How can I make time for that? Are there other ways we can obtain a deeper understanding of ourselves? Or get answers to life’s big questions? This book addresses the big-ticket questions as well as everyday problems and issues of meaning in brief fragments. Meditative questions prompt an individual and creative approach to a broad range of themes in the search for life, fulfilment and meaning. These prompts encourage readers to think, to question, to draw connections with their own experiences, to consider their own answers— often leading to unexpected new paths, as well as old ones.

A legendary linguistic legacy – in a new, extended edition complete with foreword and new word-pictures to celebrate what would have been Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s 95th birthday.

One of the keys to Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s artistry was his ingenious talent for conveying musical content in verbal images. Author and choral singer Sabine M. Gruber – both a participant and an observer – kept a record of Harnoncourt’s rehearsal instructions in her notes for 30 years. Combining original quotes with essays, she sheds light on the personality of the man and artist, while exploring the essence of his musical and artistic process. A book full of humour, musical truth and essential wisdom.

Clemens Berger paints a wildly comical picture of our society in this touching tale of solidarity, struggle for survival and motherly love.

Babies need milk – from the breast or the bottle. This is where Clarissa begins with the “House of Liquid Gold”: women like Maya, a single mother who was previously making a living from casual jobs, express their surplus milk in a comfortable environment and take a share in the profits. Things are going well until the biggest manufacturer can no longer supply families with formula; then breast milk becomes a matter of life and death. When Maya takes the side of the desperate women and their hungry babies, she becomes a social media icon. Clemens Berger’s fast-paced satyr takes us on the rollercoaster of emotions Maya experiences on social media: she is celebrated, suffers backlash and receives offers of millions of euros, not to mention death threats – and she has to find her own way.

The ultimate questions in one book

Should we follow those who seek the truth, or those who say they have found it? Sven Michaelsen’s answer is clear: the key to whether we consider our lives successful or misspent is in asking ourselves and our neighbours the right questions. Opinions and claims aren’t what bring insights; the curvy question mark is what matters. Whether love or happiness, loneliness or shame, desire or fidelity: the art of living means adopting a different approach to the fraught space between contradictory answers, perceiving it as poetry of thought and the basis for smart choices. After 777 questions, we understand: unless we are willing to face ourselves, we will not find anyone else, either.

With a subtly humorous touch, Jana Volkmann tells a story of animals, humans and egalitarian forms of coexistence that are as self-evident as they are revolutionary.

Two women are on their way home in central Vienna one summer’s night when they happen upon a horse without a rider in a small alley. The slightly neglected animal trots along behind them until they reach their house in the suburbs, where it takes up residence in the garden. From this point on, the two women look after the latest addition to the household. What seems like a fairytale fantasy at first grows into an extraordinary novel about the coexistence between animals and humans, about animal rights and exploitation, self-determination and its limits. With elegance and wit, Jana Volkmann tells a highly topical story in which chicken factories are stormed and pigs gallop across the high street – a story in which every individual must decide for themselves how we, collectively, want to live in the future.

This is a novel of a young generation that wants to turn the united Europe into its playing field, only to find itself becoming a pawn in questionable political strategies.

Upon graduating, Hanna Fürst secures a highly competitive internship at the European External Office and is determined to make the most of the opportunity. Along with NGO activists Lej and Jakov, she is assigned to the “Future Working Group”, tasked with promoting the peaceful rapprochement of two warring neighbouring states on the margins of Europe. Amid the rapid pace of work, however, Hanna loses herself in the grey area between intrigue and networks. She succumbs to her fascination for the charismatic Lej, who seems to be the only one with any real plan. By refusing to get caught up in a war that has been happening since before they were born, the working group make an enemy not only of their institution but also the two nation states.

The new paradigm is that of regenerability.

We live in an age where we find ourselves confronted with seemingly insoluble problems, many of them stemming from humanity’s increasing alienation from nature and from ourselves. We cannot hold back this development with sustainability, factual knowledge and technological innovation alone. We are on the verge of a paradigm shift: regenerability. It is nature’s own processes and principles – from the tiniest cells to the biggest ecosystems – that serve as a model here. They are a testament to billions of years of evolution towards self-organised, resilient systems. Human beings, too, are a part of this process. Grassberger shows how a fundamental shift in values can regenerate human health, society and economics, allowing them to thrive long-term.