Publisher: Charles River Editors
One of Irelands most famous writers was James Joyce, a novelist and poet whos best known for his avant garde classic Ulysses, which was inspired by The Odyssey but written in a completely modern, stream of conscience way. Joyce was also acclaimed for his poetry, journalism, and novels like A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Six-year-old April is very sad. She dearly loves her silky black cat, Sheba, and its three newborn kittens. But April and her parents live in a small New York apartment where there is room for only one cat. Which one should she choose? Listeners of all ages will be delighted by the gentle solution to April's problem. A wonderful antidote to the sharp edges of everyday life, Clare Turlay Newberry's award-winning book is filled with tenderness, longing and joy. Narrator Barbara Caruso's warm tones convey all the spirit and love of this unforgettable tale. First published more than fifty years ago, April's Kittens has become a classic that has warmed the hearts of children and their parents for several generations. Through this unabridged audio production, it can be savored again and again, especially as a treasured bedtime story.Show book
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri on the 30th November 1835 and is far better known by his pen name of Mark Twain. An American writer and humorist of the first order he is perhaps best known for his novels ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and its sequel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ which are often described with that mythic line The Great American Novel. Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri which would later provide the backdrop to these great novels. Apprenticed to a printer he also became a typesetter and then a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi. Later, heading west with his brother Orion to make his fortune, he failed at gold mining and instead turned to journalism and thence his true calling as a writer of humorous stories where his wit and humor sparkled from every paragraph, his craft evident with every page and punctured target. A staunch supporter of copyright protections this helped him keep much of the wealth his writing created, though much money was also lost on investments that he pursued in his love for science and technology as well as investing in his own inventions. Twain was born during a visit by Halley’s comet, and he predicted that he would go out with it as well. He died the day after its subsequent return on 21st April 1910, at his house, Stormfield, located in Redding, Connecticut. Once again Twain finds a new way to reveal more about humanity. This time from the baby Eve and her diary As the first woman she has a very unique perspective and, of course, the author’s way with words.Show book
A stunning new talent in literary fiction, Nafissa Thompson-Spires grapples with black identity and the contemporary middle class in these compelling, boundary-pushing vignettes. Each captivating story plunges headfirst into the lives of new, utterly original characters. Some are darkly humorous—from two mothers exchanging snide remarks through notes in their kids' backpacks, to the young girl contemplating how best to notify her Facebook friends of her impending suicide—while others are devastatingly poignant—a new mother and funeral singer who is driven to madness with grief for the young black boys who have fallen victim to gun violence, or the teen who struggles between her upper middle class upbringing and her desire to fully connect with black culture. Thompson-Spires fearlessly shines a light on the simmering tensions and precariousness of black citizenship. Her stories are exquisitely rendered, satirical, and captivating in turn, engaging in the ongoing conversations about race and identity politics, as well as the vulnerability of the black body. Boldly resisting categorization and easy answers, Nafissa Thompson-Spires is an original and necessary voice in contemporary fiction.Show book
'Dry Gulch Outlaws':Link Bonner has already tracked and killed two of the Carp brothers who raped and murdered his young Pawnee bride. Then when he gets word of the whereabouts of the others, he leaves Emma Fitzgerald behind him in Fort Union and heads for Yuma. But Emma has tracked him down and now intends to march straight into his heart. Initially reluctant, he grows fond of her — but first he must finish what he started.Eventually only Spike Carp remains with his gang of cutthroat Mexican bandits, and Spike intends to repeat with Emma what he and his brothers did to Yana. Together, and against all the odds, Emma and Link must face the killers.'The Dark Trail to Nowhere':Lucas Santana is a freelance range detective working for both the US Marshals Service and the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the 1880s. A wanted man in some States, he takes great care where he rides and has a number of off-the-cuff — and is not too shy about lining his own pockets in order to finance his Wyoming Wildcat ranch.When a number of gold coins surface in South Texas, loot from a long ago three-quarters of a million dollar heist at the end of the Civil War, both Pinkerton and the US Marshals call on his services to find the source of that gold. The problem is, he is not the only one searching for it. Then when a fellow agent is murdered in cold blood, Santana's quest becomes personal, and he sets off on the long dark trail to nowhere....Show book
A book of profound and candid stories by one of America’s best novelistsTemporary Shelter is a collection of twenty expertly crafted short stories by Mary Gordon. The characters here are of diverse ages, classes, and nationalities, yet all are alike in their desperate need of safe harbor. A crippled girl must contend not only with disability, but also with her toxic mother and aunts, who block her on the path to maturity. Elsewhere, a woman afflicted by a fearful anxiety that has given her a “death in life” grapples with how not to pass the same curse on to her daughter.As in Gordon’s acclaimed novels, these stories dissect fraught relationships between men and women, from the shattering effects of divorce to marriages turned numb and cold. Skillfully and empathetically plumbing her characters’ depths, Gordon yields rare catharsis with Temporary Shelter.Show book
In his first new work of fiction since Field Notes (1994), Barry Lopez embraces fable, historical fiction, and contemporary social realism in these spellbinding stories, all informed by his deep spiritual connection to the natural world.Moving from fable and historical fiction to contemporary realism, this book of stories from Barry Lopez is erotic and wise, full of irresistible characters doing things they shouldn’t do for reasons that are mysterious and irreducible. These are the works of a master at the top of his form. As always, Lopez’s stories transcend his subjects, linking human culture and landscape, poetry and philosophy, emotion and the earth’s mysteries. Eight of the print edition’s thirteen stories are included here:Remembering OrchardsThe Letters of HeavenEmory Bear Hands’ BirdsMornings in QuarainLight Action in the CaribbeanThe Deaf GirlThe MappistStolen HorsesShow book
