Other books that might interest you

• 

  Of Withered Apples

  Philip K. Dick

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick is a hauntingly symbolic short story that blends dreamlike imagery with unsettling undercurrents of fate and desire. In this surreal tale, Dick draws readers into a world where ordinary objects—such as withered apples hanging on a tree—take on an ominous significance, suggesting temptation, decay, and the fragility of human will. Known for his explorations of altered reality and psychological tension, Dick uses this story to probe the boundaries between the real and the illusory, leaving readers questioning what lies beneath the surface of everyday life. Perfect for fans of speculative fiction, existential allegories, and classic mid-20th century science fiction.

  Show book

• 

  Watch With Me - and Six Other...

  Wendell Berry

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  This volume of six linked stories and the novella from which the book derives its title is set in Port William from 1908 to the Second World War. Here Wendell Berry introduces two of his more indelible and poignant characters, Ptolemy Proudfoot and his wife Miss Minnie, remarkable for the comic and affectionate range that—with the mastery of this consummate storyteller working at the height of his powers—here approaches the Shakespearean. 
   
   
   
  Tol Proudfoot is huge, outsized, in the tradition of the mythic. The three-hundred-pound farmer, personally imposing and unkempt, is also the most graceful of presences, reserved and gallant toward his tiny wife, the ninety-pound schoolteacher. 
   
   
   
  Their contrasts are humorous, of course, and recall the tall tales of rural Americana. In the novella Watch with Me, we are given a story of such depth, breadth, and importance it earns being listed as one of the most important short stories written in the American language during the twentieth century.

  Show book

• 

  Dies Irae - From their pens to...

  Kenneth Grahame

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Kenneth Grahame was born on 8th March 1859 in Edinburgh. 
  At age 5 his mother succumbed to puerperal fever.  His father, who had a drinking problem, now sent his 4 children to live with their grandmother at her large house in Cookham, Berkshire. Here the children lived in large open grounds next to the river.  These early experiences would in later years, be retold in his writing through a myriad of characters. 
  Grahame loved being a pupil at St Edward's School, Oxford and wanted to enroll at the university there but his guardian demurred on account of the cost. 
  Instead, a banking career was chosen for him, starting in 1879 at the Bank of England, where he rose steadily to the rank of its Secretary until retiring, with a pension, in 1908 due to ill health. 
  Alongside his commercial career Grahame had written and published various stories and essays in several periodicals. Some were anthologized as ‘Pagan Papers’ in 1893, and two years later ‘The Golden Age’ and later still ‘Dream Days’ and its masterpiece ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ became part of many home libraries.  His ability to view life through the lens of a young and curious child was superb, enabling the reader to easily identify with the character.   
  Grahame married Elspeth Thomson in 1899 and they had one child; Alastair, born semi-blind and plagued by health problems.  In a heart-rending tragedy he would later take his own life whilst attending Oxford University in 1920.   
  In 1908 Grahame reworked many of the bedtime stories he had fashioned for his son into the enduring favourite; ‘The Wind in the Willows’, describing the heart-warming adventures of Mr Toad and his friends.   
  Kenneth Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire, on 6th July 1932.

  Show book

• 

  Space Chase

  Harold Anderson, Tom Lyons

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Not everything they told you is true… 
  …because it was my job to ensure you never knew the whole truth. If the American people understood what really happened, the U.S. government feared life would have irrevocably changed for the worse. 
  In Space Chase, the premier installment of The Palmdale Files, former agent Harold Anderson reveals the true story behind a mysterious Lockheed U-2 "Dragon Lady" crash in the mountains of Nevada and the extreme efforts the U.S. government went through to hide what happened. Space Chase—also known as Event 21 Zeta—is the first in a series of forgotten and buried events the author once destroyed to protect the peace and security of the United States—events the government would rather hide forever. 
  Never heard of Palmdale? The author isn't surprised, and believes you never will outside of these short stories. The Palmdale Files share highlights from Harold Anderson's U.S. Air Force career, where he worked to defend the nation and the world from paranoid hysteria about unexplained phenomena and threats from above.

  Show book

• 

  Glad Ghosts

  D H Lawrence

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  ‘Glad Ghosts’ is another of Lawrence's supernatural stories, set in the archetypical country house. He doesn't attempt to explain the supernatural happenings which occur but uses them to extol his own ideas of the power of the sex drive and the triumph of life over death.

  Show book

• 

  Love Me Merrily - An Atheist...

  Alyssa Jarrett

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  They don’t believe in Christmas magic—until they make their own 
  Summer McKenzie hates the holidays. Maybe it’s because she’s an atheist who’s never had a reason for the season. Maybe it’s burnout from working at the second-best hotel in Yosemite National Park. Or maybe it’s because nothing has felt truly festive since she lost the love of her life in a climbing accident. 
  Still, even Scrooges have to do their jobs, and this year, Summer is determined to nab a promotion to sales director by throwing Granite Grove Lodge’s merriest masquerade yet. She’s not expecting anyone to get her out of her bah-humbug funk. She definitely isn’t expecting John Beecher. 
  With his punk-rock aesthetic and graphic designer’s eye, John’s talented at many tasks: creating seating charts, painting stunning landscapes, and helping out in a pinch. He’s also a fellow heathen who understands her grief in a way no one else has. As one party-planning catastrophe after another brings them closer, Summer starts to feel something she never thought she’d feel again: hope. 
  In the final days before Christmas, they fall for each other like a surprise Sierra Nevada snowstorm—hard, fast, and totally unplanned. Sweet, spicy, and full of heart, Love Me Merrily is a holiday novella for anyone who’s ever found joy in unexpected places and love on their own terms.

  Show book