Other books that might interest you

• 

  Heartwarming Stories Almost...

  Harsh Munjal

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  What happens when fiction borrows the warmth of reality? In this debut collection, Harsh Munjal brings together stories that celebrate life's tender moments. Each tale, inspired by real people and events, carries the authenticity of truth and the comfort of well-crafted fiction. Perfect for readers who believe in the magic of everyday life—and an ideal companion for your next flight, road trip, beach day, or as a delightful breather between bigger books. 
  While some of these stories might feel familiar to my newsletter readers, there's something special about holding them together in a book—a completely different experience from reading them piece by piece in your inbox. And by choosing this collection, you're not just getting stories; you're directly supporting an independent author's journey to bring more such tales to life.

  Show book

• 

  Poodle Stew - Puddles & Death

  Sean Andrews

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In Poodle Stew, eccentric private eye Hunter B. Phillips will take any job to keep the lights on. Except - Divorce snooping.  
  When a suburban oddball hires him for a bizarre errand, Hunter’s path crosses that of his old partner, homicide detective Lattish. 
  A young woman is found murdered in a blind alley, her body mutilated with no clear motive. As Lattish searches for answers, Hunter stumbles onto the scene and finds more than a crime — he finds the ghosts of his own past. 
  This darkly humorous, hard-boiled tale follows two weary men trying to make sense of death, friendship, and the city that never stops grinding them down. 
  Approx. 4,300 words – Unabridged

  Show book

• 

  A Pair of Silk Stockings - From...

  Kate Chopin

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Katherine O'Flaherty was born on the 8th February 1850 in St Louis, Missouri to parents of French and Irish descent. 
  At age 5, she was sent to the Sacred Heart Academy and, apart from a 2 year period at home when her father died, remained there until graduating in 1868.  Whilst there she began writing and became an avid reader of almost anything that crossed her path.   
  Kate married Oscar Chopin in 1870 and the couple moved to New Orleans, and later to the rural setting of Cloutierville, Louisiana to raise their 6 children.  
  In 1882 her husband died leaving her in a deep trench of debt.  Despite her best efforts to turn the businesses around they were sold, and she moved the family back to St Louis and the financial help of her mother.  Sadly, her mother died within the year.  Kate, now struggling with depression, pushed herself to write and gained a local reputation as a writer of short stories that captured the local color and vibrancy of her surroundings. 
  By the early 1890’s her short stories were published nationally.  With this widespread audience also came negative reviews, controversy, and cries of immorality as themes such as interracial relationships, the rights of women and other burning issues of the day were written about. 
  Despite the criticism, which unnerved her, she continued to write though in the main her works, around 100 short stories and two novels, were not attributed with any literary worth. 
  Kate Chopin died from a brain haemorrhage in St Louis Missouri on the 22nd of August 1904.  She was 54. 
  For much of the 20th Century her work was forgotten and out of print.  It was only in early 1970’s, with the rise of feminism and the call for a more just society that she was given the status her works had long described and shone a literary light at.  She is now safely revered as one of America’s great authors.

  Show book

• 

  A Dialogue Among Clever People -...

  Leo Tolstoy

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in the Russian province of Tula to a wealthy noble family. As a child, he had private tutors but he showed little interest in any formal education. When he went to the University of Kazan in 1843 to study oriental languages and law, he left without completing his courses.  Life now was relaxed and idle but with some writing also taking place.  Gambling debts forced an abrupt change of path and he joined the army to fight in the Crimean War.  He was commended for his bravery and promoted but was appalled at the brutality and loss of life.  He recorded these and other earlier experiences in his diaries which formed the basis of several of his works. 
  In 1852 ‘Childhood’ was published to immediate success and was followed by ‘Boyhood’ and ‘Youth’. 
  His experience in the army and the horrors he witnessed resulted in ‘The Cossacks’ in 1862 and the trilogy ‘Sevastopol Tales’. After the war he travelled around Europe, visiting London and Paris and meeting such luminaries as Victor Hugo and Charles Darwin.  
  It was now that Tolstoy began his masterpiece, ‘War and Peace’. Published in 1869 it was an epic work that changed literature. He quickly followed this with ‘Anna Karenina’.  
  These successes made Tolstoy rich and helped him accomplish many of his dreams but also brought problems as he grappled with his faith and the lot of the oppressed poor. These revolutionary views became so popular that the authorities now kept him under surveillance.  
  He led a life of asceticism and vegetarianism and put his socialist ideals into practice by establishing numerous schools for the poor and food programmes. He also believed in giving away his wealth, which caused much discord with his wife.  
  His writing continued to bring forth classics such as ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ and many brilliant and incisive short stories such as ‘How Much Land Does A Man Need’.  
  In 1901 Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Church and controversially deselected for the Nobel Prize for Literature. 
  Whilst undertaking a pilgrimage by train in October 1910 with his daughter Aleksandra he caught pneumonia in the nearby town of Astapovo.  Leo Tolstoy died on November 9th, 1910, he was 82.

  Show book

• 

  Tales From Edgar Allan Poe -...

  Edgar Allan Poe

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. Here is a fifth collection of some of his best stories: The Pit and The Pendulum, A Descent Into The Maelstrom, and Mesmeric Revelation.

  Show book

• 

  The Country of the Blind - And...

  H. G. Wells

  • 0
  • 1
  • 0

  Thirty-three science fiction and fantasy stories from the celebrated author of such classics as The War of the Worlds, The Times Machine, and The Invisible Man. Venture to strange worlds from the imagination of H. G. Wells with this collection of tales of science fiction and fantasy. Witness the darker side of humanity in “The Jilting of Jane” and “The Cone.” Learn what a man does when he faces fear itself in a haunted house in “The Red Room.” Travel to an Ecuadorian mountain community deprived of sight in “The Country of the Blind.” Find a curio inside an antique shop in London’s West End that allows you to see Mars in “The Crystal Egg.” Float down the Amazon on a Brazilian gunboat as a captain and his crew fight to save a village from terrifyingly evolved ants. These are just a few of the unusual journeys awaiting readers inside this compilation from one of the greatest science fiction writers in history.

  Show book