Other books that might interest you

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  Edith Wharton, Guy de...

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  In this volume we enjoy a favourite device of authors; the story is heading one way and suddenly twists in another direction entirely. In the pens of Ambrose Bierce, Nikolai Gogol, Saki and a host of others where you end up is the very question they propose.  
   
  01 - The Top 10 - The Twist - An Introduction 
  02 - Roman Fever by Edith Wharton 
  03 - The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant 
  04 - The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 
  05 - Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield 
  06 - The Gift of the Magi by O Henry 
  07 - Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin 
  08 - Man Size in Marble by Edith Nesbit 
  09 - An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce 
  10 - The Open Window by Saki 
  11 - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

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  To Avenge a Dead Glacier

  Shane Tivenan

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  Winner of the RTÉ Francis MacManus Short Story Prize and the John McGahern Award, Shane Tivenan is a remarkable new talent. This debut collection simmers with style, verve, tension and humour. Throughout the stories in To Avenge a Dead Glacier, Tivenan explores the lives of rural Irish outsiders. His characters are artists, sean-nós singers, members of the queer community, the gifted, the neurodivergent, the environmentally concerned, people with memory problems, the spiritual people, the non-human.
  In the title story, a man attends the funeral of a glacier in Iceland without fully knowing why he is there. In another, a midlands graffiti artist warns his townspeople through his throw-ups about the dangers of the way they are living, but neglects his own mind in the process. In 'Honey Brown', a ninety-two-year-old woman who suffers from Charles Bonnet syndrome tries to celebrate her birthday in a nursing home in Roscommon while fighting back the hallucinations brought on by her condition. In 'Resurrection of a Corncrake', a semi-retired plasterer is haunted by the silencing of the birds in his townland, a silencing which he knows he took part in.
  These are stories rich in the essential detail of human life, in the fraught exchanges that make up our every relationship, and very often of life lived beyond the confines of safety or simplicity.

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  A Return Engagement

  Stephanie Laurens

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  A Regency era novella from #1 New York Times–bestselling author Stephanie Laurens about a royal bridesmaid's second chance with the man she loved and lost.Everyone's eyes are on a royal couple, but there is more behind the scenes than they'll ever know.Lady Nell Daughtry is certain her sister will be a perfect princess, if only she gets the reluctant bride safely to the church to marry Prince Frederick of Lautenberg.But what she doesn't know is that, in the wedding party, she's been paired with her former fiancé, Robert Knightly . . . and now she'll be face-to-face with the man who walked away.

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  Valley of the Dogs Dark Stories

  James Musgrave

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  Dark Stories for Readers with Surreal, Realistic, and Deep Tastes 
  Silver Medal Winner of the 2021 Reader's Favorite International Contest for Best Adult Anthology 
  An Indie B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree, 2021 
  9.25 overall Evaluation at BookLife, Publishers Weekly 
  Hollywood and Broadway are icons of the American Dream. But what happens to those who feed off that dream? Just as drug cartels have many underlings, who must get paid along the journey to the addicts, so do the characters who need to be nourished by the luminaries who make up this star-studded world above us. James Musgrave's collection of eleven stories, in many ways, addresses the theme of "star power," but in a way that satirizes the stereotypical "Hollywood endings" in very unique and literary ways. This collection has a remedy for the past year's traumas caused by a worldwide pandemic. 
  Award-winning short fiction author, Jacob M. Appel says, "With the publication of Valley of the Dogs, Jim Musgrave joins the ranks of George Saunders, Steven Millhauser, and Kevin Brockmeier at the heart of the modern American short story's second great renaissance." 
  "If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." 
  ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

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  Benny and the Bright Blue Balloon

  Laurika

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  Benny and the Bright Blue Balloon is a heartwarming and playful children's picture book for ages 3–7 about friendship, adventure, and never giving up. Perfect for bedtime reading, classroom story-time, or early readers who love animals and gentle adventures, this sweet story will make children giggle, cheer, and feel cozy all at once. 
  Benny the bunny loves hopping through the meadow, exploring the flowers, and enjoying the sunshine. But one day, he spots something amazing — a bright, round, beautiful blue balloon floating across the sky. Benny knows right away he must follow it! 
  And so begins a fun-filled chase…The balloon drifts over flowers.It bobs past buzzing bees.It floats over streams, hills, and clover fields.Benny hops, splashes, giggles, and keeps going — even when the balloon slips out of reach. 
  Along the way, Benny meets friendly ducks, hears the buzz-buzz of bees, and learns to be patient and kind. At last, the balloon drifts down into a soft patch of clover, where Benny finally holds it close. But Benny soon discovers something even better than catching a balloon — finding a true friend. 
  ✨ Why children and parents will love this book:A charming animal adventure – Perfect for little ones who adore bunnies, balloons, and gentle outdoor fun.Friendship theme – Teaches kindness, perseverance, and the joy of new friends.Read-aloud magic – With fun sound effects (boing, splash, whoosh, buzz!), value its deal for interactive reading.Simple, rhythmic sentences – Great for early readers and perfect for bedtime.Beautiful pacing – Each page is short and easy to follow, keeping kids engaged.

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  White Trash & Recycled Nightmares

  Rebecca Rowland

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  A workaholic splits his time between home and hotel rooms until an anonymous cryptic message arrives, setting off a wrinkle in the time continuum and slowly shredding his sanity. Elsewhere, a woman's jealousy over her spouse's connection with their only child boils over, leading her to see monsters everywhere except the mirror. University fraternity brothers discover that a cruel prank has dire consequences but the full extent of their punishment is yet to come, while an intrepid hiker explores an abandoned Cold War facility hidden within a Massachusetts mountain only to realize that military secrets aren't the only things buried within. From witches, wendigos, and werecats to sirens, sadists, and serial killers, Rebecca Rowland serves readers a twenty-tale meal of cosmic, creature, and quiet horror in platters heaping with unsettling trepidation. In Rowland's long-awaited follow-up to The Horrors Hiding in Plain Sight, a lighted room provides no safe haven, and in the darkest corner of the basement waits a ravenous dread. The most sinister objects of fear are never truly discarded...just repurposed. Includes a foreword by Mary SanGiovanni.

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