You've Told Me Before
Sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, and always compelling, the stories in this collection explore the many manifestations of being Jewish in a modern and largely secular world. Jennifer Anne Moses creates characters, mostly American, who are struggling with love, relationships, faith, tradition, and most of all family and the ties that bind. A professor of Jewish literature buys a lake house in the Adirondacks with the aim of enjoying it with her husband, dogs, and grown sons, only to discover that her new neighbor is a sexist, dog-hating, and deeply antisemitic bully. The editor of a magazine devoted to lost languages resents the popularity of a younger, less sophisticated novelist, who happens to have been her student. A young woman tries to find her way after her fianc矇 calls off the wedding. With the contradictions, yearnings, imperfections, and longing for grace that beset all of us, these characters reach their own epiphanies--with results that are by turns breathtaking and heartbreaking.
A Place in the World
Winner of the 2025 Drue Heinz Literature Prize The eleven stories in A Place in the World are character-driven portrayals depicting various lives transformed by random events or twists of fate. A young woman living on the coast of Maine confronts her painful past when her little brother comes to visit after being released from rehab; a hopeless gay hustler, in for the long con, instead finds himself falling in love while vacationing in Denmark; a failed New York City actor afraid of commitment goes on a comic rant and embraces an epiphany while cat-sitting for a friend. In separate, first-person narratives, a struggling husband and wife take turns describing the impact of a scandalous crisis on their marriage; a settled suburban dad arrives at a beach house for the weekend, only to realize he robbed one of the other houseguests thirty-four years earlier. In this poignant, engaging collection, Gaythwaite offers compassion and surprising optimism while celebrating astonishing resilience in the face of life's persistent challenges.
A Desert Between Two Seas
Set in the crumbling Spanish missions of nineteenth-century Baja California, this mythic novel in linked stories follows two grief-stricken people as haunted as the desolate chapels around them: a priest who caused the drowning of a native boy by compelling him to fish for pearls, and a deaf woman trying to outrun her murderous reputation as a pistolera. Though the stories span landscapes, villages, characters, and decades, the heart of the novel is Baja California itself--a stark land of cactus and creosote, of russet canyons and splintered wastes of rock--where people living in the shadow of ruined missions seek redemption on an inhospitable peninsula forsaken even by its priests.
A History of Existing Life
"The language in Shelagh Powers Johnson's debut collection strikes the rare and perfect balance between understated and surprising. The characters in these stories span time periods and geographic location but are united by Johnson's astute observation of brutality and heartbreak- but also the beauty and redemption-of the every day." -Amanda Parrish Morgan, author of Stroller, named one of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2022"A History of Existing Life is filled with lush, dark, haunting, and intricate prose and piercing observations. Old lovers briefly reunite. A woman's paintings transform into a living dreamscape. Everyone reckons with their past. Johnson's exquisite stories probe into the inner workings of relationships, of parents who love and who betray and disappoint. Let this collection surprise and envelop you." -Lauren D. Woods, author of The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe, winner of the Autumn House Press 2024 Fiction Prize
Short Stories
The genre and style of Derryl G. Berry's "Short Stories" is quite varied. Some are straightforward, first- or third- persons POV. Some are off-the-wall perspectives and musings. Some are "circular" in that they begin and end pretty much at the same point, e.g., "Let's Act Normal." Many of Derryl's short stories began as an idea that came to him while hiking and were fleshed out later, e.g., "Five Shots," and "The Empty Hook." Others were triggered by a passing comment, e.g., "Who in the World Is Jimmy Kent?" A few have a touch of biographical near reality. Others are plain fantasy, e.g., "Misspelled" and "Kong Is Dead." A few are retellings of biblical stories. Others, Derryl doesn't know from where the ideas came.
The Butterfly Effect and Other Short Stories
These twenty short stories, set in Ireland, Britain, France, and America, offer eloquent glimpses into joy, frustration, and pain. They explore the many layers of human experience, capturing our flaws, desires, and vulnerabilities with striking clarity. Each story is crafted with precision, emotional depth, and poetic insight. The characters reveal behaviours that range from generous to mean-spirited, reflecting the full spectrum of what it means to be human. This collection shows how often our hopes are derailed by cruel twists of fate. Life, as these stories reveal, can be filled with irony and unexpected outcomes.
Read My Shorts
From the winner of the 2025 Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival Flash Fiction Competition (Western Australia) comes an eclectic collection of stories that explore the strange, tender, and often darkly funny aspects of everyday lives.In Read My Shorts, Pete Mitchell, author of Darwin's Wake, offers sharply observed glimpses into the lives of the lost, the hopeful, the disillusioned and the quietly defiant. A timid accountant finds love at a heavy metal concert, mates mull over their simple lives and a future society struggles to exist without plastics. Each story captures a moment where perspectives shift with intriguing consequences.With wit, compassion, and a flair for the unexpected, these stories reflect the beauty and absurdity of being human. Whether you're in the mood to laugh, cringe, or quietly nod in recognition, Read My Shorts will leave you thinking.'A captivating collection of short stories that will take you on a wild ride through the human experience. I laughed and cried from the first page.'
Martha's Daughter
Martha's Daughter is the brilliant and influential author David Haynes's first short story collection and the first time that Haynes's stories have ever been assembled in one volume. Steeped in everyday gossip and lives, this collection ranges from the magically real life of a city's crumbling superhero to a rundown motel whose long-term guests are lucky to call home. In the titular novella the first hours are chronicled after Cynthia finds out her mother has died. What we learn is that Cynthia is a woman who has been bullied by her mother's overbearing opinions, her disdain for difference, her respectability politics, and her outdated beliefs about how men and women should relate to one another. Martha's death is less a catalyst for Cynthia's grief than an opportunity to free herself of a burden too long endured. The sixth in McSweeney's Of the Diaspora series, Martha's Daughter is another record in David's oeuvre, of the people and places he's been recording since the beginning of his career, some thirty years ago. With its full-circle connection to Haynes's previous novels, Martha's Daughter is guaranteed to enthrall longtime fans and new readers alike.
The Great Mormon Cricket Fly-Fishing Festival and Other Western Stories
The Beauty and the Hell of It & Other Stories
A woman comes face to face with her rapist at his engagement party. A teen reluctantly celebrating the first Christmas after her mother's death gets caught cutting her wrists by a stranger. A student hands in a box of Kraft Dinner as her final assignment, and a bipolar art teacher grieves her divorce by online shopping. The Beauty and the Hell of It & Other Stories is a collection of stories about women (and one man) who quietly resist and the resulting moments of transition, acceptance, and vindication. Whether they wrestle with grief, growth, trauma, or all three, these characters don't give in to expectations about who or how they should be. These stories will appeal to readers who enjoyed the pivotal moments of ordinary life in Sophie Stocking's Walking Leonard and Other Stories and those who want a slice of contemporary womanhood served up with dark humour as offered in Meghan Bell's Erase and Rewind.
Someone Saved My Life Tonight - A Justice Security Short Story
They're called the "grunts" - the uniformed officers of Justice Security. They don't have the cushy, highly publicized jobs held by the plainclothes members of the company - they're the people that appear in the background every day at banks, office buildings, and retail establishments, providing a secure environment for customers and workers.Gus Brazzle is one of those grunts. His assignment is a store that deals in used books, music, and movies. Gus has become quite close to the employees of the store, and thinks of them as his family. He's even been nicknamed "Sugar Bear" by the five-year-old daughter of one of the store's employees.But, when a disgruntled customer decides to take revenge for a perceived slight, things turn deadly. Gus has a choice to make...but will he make it in time? Find out in this short story inspired by the classic Elton John song, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"!
Something to Look Forward to
A tapestry of joyful and startling interconnected stories that celebrate how people from all across America cope with adversity and unexpected changes in a confusing world--from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Fannie Flagg once said that what the world needs now is a good laugh. And that is what she gives us in these warmhearted, always surprising stories about people who are finding clever ways to deal with the curveballs life sometimes throws at us. Velma in Kansas, a loving great-grandmother, struggles to bridge generational gaps with her family. We cheer for Helen, in Ithaca, New York, who takes an audacious course of action when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. In Bent Fork, Wyoming; in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; in Tucson, Arizona; and in towns and cities all across America, people figure out inventive ways to overcome obstacles to happiness. And in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Special Agent Frawley is studying the mysteries of being human from an original perspective. With her imagination, humor, and great understanding of the human heart, Fannie Flagg holds a mirror up to the foibles, ingenuity, and imagination of people, inspiring us to laugh at the sometimes eccentric, sometimes brilliant ways people cope with, and ultimately prevail over, the challenges of modern life.
The Plan of Chicago
An Irish painting contractor in a changing neighborhood struggles with the complications of befriending a Black worker. The edgy enclave he fled haunts a South Side exile, upending his life. A boy who helps his father fake accidents for insurance claims reaches a turning point. A woman from a rough patch of South Shore remembers her first girlfriend. And a Census taker learns empathy as she counts people. Their lives weave through colorful, gritty streets in The Plan of Chicago, Barry Pearce's absorbing debut of heartbreaking division, unexpected intersections, and dim but possible dreams.
For Your Eyes Only
A STUNNING COLLECTION OF STORIES THAT SENDS BOND TO BERMUDA, THE BAHAMAS, AND BEYOND "From a View to a Kill" whisks Bond to the French countryside where he must go undercover to expose a deadly secret-intelligence plot, and in "For Your Eyes Only," 007 is absorbed into a private vendetta of M's, blurring the lines between the personal and professional. In "Quantum of Solace," Bond attends a dinner party in the Bahamas and learns how passion can soon twist into cruelty, while "Risico" forces the secret agent to fight for the lesser of two evils in a smuggling war set amid the Mediterranean. Finally, "The Hildebrand Rarity" lands 007 in an old-fashioned murder mystery at sea, where even he has a secret to keep. A collection of both classic intrigue and intrepid self-examination, For Your Eyes Only packs full, vibrant worlds into five classic tales.
Tales from Ichirouganaim
Tales from Ichirouganaim is a collection of superbly crafted short stories steeped in the essence of Barbados. These tales of universal appeal give us deep insight into the paradoxical Barbadian character. The stories are sometimes delightfully humorous, sometimes tinged with sadness and, tragedy, but always with a redemptive note. Enjoy!
Tartini's Rest
"Without Contraries is no progression." - William BlakeBertram and Eustace are brothers. Bertram is extroverted, practical, a celebrity and a social success. Eustace is introverted, scholarly and shyly oblique. They understand neither themselves nor one another. Instead, they tell one another stories.Only two people see through their defences: their cousin Mimi, a retired violinist who lives in 'Tartini's Rest', and Kariba, a literary genius from Africa, Bertram's nemesis and Eustace's fraternal friend...
The Ocean Is Everyone's But It Is Not Yours
The sixth short novella or long short story in Dave Eggers's The Forgetters series. Aurora Mahoney runs one of three whale-watching businesses on the Monterey coast. It's a life of great beauty, wonder and camaraderie, but after one of her fellow captains retires, a new, and decidedly different, sort of captain takes his place. What had been a simple and charmed life is clouded by a sinister, and yet aloof, new force on the waterfront. This is a page-turning examination of what makes a paradise, and how easily one human can destroy it.
Champagne and Sour Grapes
Marriage: bliss or blitz? Champagne and Sour Grapes is a collection of short stories sharing the lows and highs, sorrows and joys, sobs and guffaws of holy and holey matrimony. Sometimes poignant, often hilarious, Buslik's tales hit close to home, spouse-wise. We're sure to recognize something of our giddy selves or screaming-bloody-murder neighbors in these face-smooching and head-biting gems. So pour yourself a flute of Dom P. or paper cup of dimestore boxed wine, relax in your leather lounger or rickety chaise lounge in front of your fireplace or ice-fishing hole, and have a bubbly and briny time knowing you're not alone.
