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Showing 1 - 20 of 18346 items
By Hanna Pylväinen. 2023
FINALIST FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDAn epic love story in the vein of Cold Mountain and The Great Circle,…
about a young reindeer herder and a minister’s daughter in the nineteenth century Arctic Circle In 1851, at a remote village in the Scandinavian tundra, a Lutheran minister known as Mad Lasse tries in vain to convert the native Sámi reindeer herders to his faith. But when one of the most respected herders has a dramatic awakening and dedicates his life to the church, his impetuous son, Ivvár, is left to guard their diminishing herd alone. By chance, he meets Mad Lasse’s daughter Willa, and their blossoming infatuation grows into something that ultimately crosses borders—of cultures, of beliefs, and of political divides—as Willa follows the herders on their arduous annual migration north to the sea.Gorgeously written and sweeping in scope, Hanna Pylväinen's The End of Drum-Time immerses readers in a world lit by the northern lights, steeped in age-old rituals, and guided by passions that transcend place and time.By Debbi Michiko Florence. 2022
With more than 130,000 copies sold, this award-winning chapter-book series starring a spunky Japanese American heroine returns with four new…
standalone books set on a family vacation in Japan!Toothbrush? Check. Her special journal? Check! Eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi—flamingo fan, tree climber, and top-notch messmaker—can hardly wait for her family vacation to Japan, and by the time their plane finally touches down, she’s ready to dive into their new adventure. There are so many things to see in Tokyo: Ramen Street, which she learns is not a whole street made of ramen; old temples with fancy gates; and Tokyo Tower, where you can even spot Mount Fuji on a good day.But when they arrive, Jasmine finds herself unable to get away from her older sister Sophie’s crabby attitude. Plus there's so much about Japan she didn't know, and she seems to be getting in trouble right and left. Will Jasmine be able to cheer up her sister AND find her footing in a new country?With her trademark humor and warmth, Debbi Michiko Florence weaves family drama and a fun introduction of Japanese culture into this delightful next chapter in Jasmine's world.By Anuradha Roy. 2010
“This is why we read fiction at all” raves the Washington Post: Family life meets historical romance in this critically…
acclaimed, “gorgeous, sweeping novel” (Ms Magazine) about two people who find each other when abandoned by everyone else, marking the signal American debut of an award-winning writer who richly deserves her international acclaim.On the outskirts of a small town in Bengal, a family lives in solitude in their vast new house. Here, lives intertwine and unravel. A widower struggles with his love for an unmarried cousin. Bakul, a motherless daughter, runs wild with Mukunda, an orphan of unknown caste adopted by the family. Confined in a room at the top of the house, a matriarch goes slowly mad; her husband searches for its cause as he shapes and reshapes his garden. As Mukunda and Bakul grow, their intense closeness matures into something else, and Mukunda is banished to Calcutta. He prospers in the turbulent years after Partition, but his thoughts stay with his home, with Bakul, with all that he has lost—and he knows that he must return.By Suzanne Park. 2024
"With pitch-perfect humor, endearing insights and wonderfully relatable characters, One Last Word is a smart and breezy read about taking…
hold of the life you want and refusing to let go. An absolute delight." -Allison Winn Scotch, bestselling author of Take Two, Birdie Maxwell What would you say to your meddling parents, your ex-best friend, your toxic boss, or your high school crush if you didn't have to face the consequences? Sara Chae is the founder of One Last Word, an app that allows you to send a message to anyone you want after you pass. Safeguards are in place so the app will only send when you're definitely, absolutely, 100% dead, but when another Sara Chae dies and her obituary is posted online, Sara discovers that drafted messages she had drunkenly uploaded on one night have been released -one each to her emotionally charged mother, to her former best friend who ghosted her, and to her unrequited high school crush, Harry Shim. Still reeling from this disaster, Sara finds out she's been accepted into a venture capital mentorship program- and that the mentor she's been assigned to is none other than Harry, who's now a major VC superstar. With her life going from uncertain to chaotic overnight, Sara has to deal with the havoc that ensues and reopen wounds from the past to find a true path forward. A pitch-perfect homage for fans of Annabel Monaghan, Alisha Rai, and Jenny Han, One Last Word is an empowering, laugh-out-loud story about a woman who learns to speak up and fight for what she wants in life and loveBy Cecile Pin. 2023
This program includes a multicast narration. "Aoife Hinds, Ioanna Kimbook, and Ainsleigh Barber perform this stunning debut historical novel, which…
follows three orphaned Vietnamese refugees." - AudioFile Magazine "A deeply humane and genre-defying work of love and uncompromising hope."—Ocean Vuong A boldly imagined debut novel about three Vietnamese siblings who seek refuge in the UK, expanding into a luminous meditation on ancestry and love There are the goodbyes and then the fishing out of the bodies—everything in between is speculation. After the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh, and Minh begin a perilous journey to Hong Kong with the promise that their parents and younger siblings will soon follow. But when tragedy strikes, the three children are left orphaned, and sixteen-year-old Anh becomes the caretaker for her two younger brothers overnight. In the years that follow, Anh and her brothers resettle in the UK and confront their new identities as refugees, first in overcrowded camps and resettlement centers and then, later, in a modernizing London plagued by social inequality and raging anti-immigrant sentiment. Anh works in a clothing factory to pay their bills. Minh loiters about with fellow unemployed high school dropouts. Thanh, the youngest, plays soccer with his British friends after class. As they mature, each sibling reckons with survivor's guilt, unmoored by their parents' absence. With every choice they make, their paths diverge further, until it's unclear if love alone can keep them together. Told through lyrical narrative threads, historical research, voices from lost family, and notes by an unnamed narrator determined to chart their fate, Wandering Souls captures the lives of a family marked by war and loss yet relentless in the pursuit of a better future. With urgency and precision, it affirms that the most important stories are those we claim for ourselves, establishing Cecile Pin as a masterful new literary voiceBy Claire Jimenez. 2023
A powerful novel that's "hilarious, heartbreaking, and ass-kicking" (Jamie Ford) about a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island who discovers…
their long‑missing sister is potentially alive and cast on a reality TV show, and sets out to bring her home. Winner of the 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction · Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize · March Indie Next Pick · Belletrist, Phenomenal, Page & Pairing, and Readers Digest book club pick The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen‑year‑old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time? The years since Ruthy's disappearance haven't been easy on the Ramirez family. It's 2008, and their mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, Jessica juggles a newborn baby with her hospital job, and Nina, after four successful years at college, has returned home to medical school rejections and is forced to work in the mall folding tiny bedazzled thongs at the lingerie store. After seeing maybe‑Ruthy on their screen, Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to where the show is filmed in search of their long‑lost sister. When Dolores catches wind of their scheme, she insists on joining, along with her pot-stirring holy roller best friend, Irene. What follows is a family road trip and reckoning that will force the Ramirez women to finally face the past and look toward a future—with or without Ruthy in it. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a vivid family portrait, in all its shattered reality, exploring the familial bonds between women and cycles of generational violence, colonialism, race, and silence, replete with snark, resentment, tenderness, and, of course, love. A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Elle • USA Today • Today.com • Ms. Magazine • Good Housekeeping Bustle The Week • Goodreads Bookriot Pop Culturely SheReads Litreactor Electric Lit • The Mary Sue • People Español • Zibby Mag • Debutiful • Her Campus Best Books of March by Shondaland Ms. Magazine • Popsugar • Bookriot • Debutiful • Powell's Book Blog • TIME 100 must-read book of 2023 • Booklist Top 10 debut of 2023By Terah Shelton Harris. 2023
A compelling debut that glows with bittersweet heart and touching emotion, deeply interrogating questions of family, redemption, and unconditional love…
in the sweltering summer heat of Savannah, as two people discover what it means to truly forgive. It's been eight years since Sara Lancaster left her home in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years since her daughter, Alana, came into this world, following a terrifying sexual assault that left deep emotional wounds Sara would do anything to forget. But when Sara's father falls ill, she's forced to return home and face the ghosts of her past. While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is desperate to protect her curious, outgoing, genius daughter from the Wylers, the family of the man who assaulted her. Sara thinks she can succeed-her attacker is in prison, his identical twin brother, Jacob, left town years ago, and their mother are all unaware Alana exists. But she soon learns that Jacob has also just returned to Savannah to piece together the fragments of his once-great family. And when their two worlds collide-with the type of force Sara explores in her poetry and Jacob in his astrophysics-they are drawn together in unexpected waysBy Carys Davies. 2020
The Sunday Times (London) Novel of the Year &“Luminous…a writer to watch—and to savor.&” —Oprah Daily From the award-winning author…
of West and The Redemption of Galen Pike, a &“sublime&” (The Toronto Star) and propulsive novel that follows an Englishman seeking refuge in a remote hill town in India who gets caught in the crossfire of local tensions.In this &“jewel of a novel&” (The Observer), Hilary Byrd flees his demons and the dark undercurrents of contemporary life in England for a former British hill station in south India. Charmed by the foreignness of his new surroundings and by the familiarity of everything the British have left behind, he finds solace in life&’s simple pleasures, travelling by rickshaw around the small town with his driver Jamshed and staying in a mission house beside the local presbytery where, after a chance meeting, the Padre and his adoptive daughter Priscilla take Hilary under their wing. The Padre is concerned for Priscilla&’s future, and as Hilary&’s friendship with the young woman grows, he begins to wonder whether his purpose lies in this new relationship. But religious tensions are brewing and the mission house may not be the safe haven it seems. A &“skillful drama of well-meant misunderstandings and cultural divisions&” (The Wall Street Journal), The Mission House boldly and imaginatively explores postcolonial ideas in a world fractured between faith and nonbelief, young and old, imperial past and nationalistic present. Tenderly subversive and meticulously crafted, it is a deeply human story of the wonders and terrors of connection in a modern world.By Joanne Levy. 2021
★ “A heartfelt and expertly written tale of loss, family, and friendship that will have readers blinking back their tears…Beautiful…
and sincere.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review Evie Walman is not obsessed with death. She does think about it a lot, though, but only because her family runs a Jewish funeral home. At twelve, Evie already knows she’s going to be a funeral director when she grows up. So what if the kids at school call her “corpse girl” and say she smells like death? They’re just mean and don’t get how important it is to have someone take care of things when your world is falling apart. Evie loves dusting caskets, polishing pews, and vacuuming the chapel—and on funeral days, she dresses up and hands out tissues and offers her condolences to mourners. She doesn’t normally help her parents with the grieving families directly, until one day when they ask her to help with Oren, a boy who was in a horrific car accident that killed both his parents. Oren refuses to speak and Evie, who is nursing her own private grief, is determined to find a way to help him deal with his loss. Praise for previous books by Joanne Levy: “Levy's narrative is spot on.”—Booklist review for The Sun Will Come Out “The story gives voice to the experience of Jewish preteens; chronic illness and disability are also sensitively tackled in this complex tale about difference, acceptance, and self-confidence. A heartfelt tear-jerker about love, friendship, and courage.”—Kirkus Reviews review for The Sun Will Come Out “Uplifting, gentle…Exudes inter-generational warmth, family love, and friendship.”—Association of Jewish Libraries review for Fish Out of Water “Though brief, this text masterfully connects the toxic masculinity to its roots in deep misogyny, making Fish a hero people of all genders can stand up and cheer for. All readers will appreciate this book’s nuanced messaging around gender roles and trusting yourself.”—Kirkus Reviews, review for Fish Out of WaterBy Charlene Carr. 2024
A sweeping multi-generational story about motherhood, race and secrets in the lives of three women, perfect for readers of Brit…
Bennett’s The Vanishing Half and David Chariandy’s Brother When 24-year-old Kareela discovers she’s pregnant with a child she isn’t sure she wants, it amplifies her struggle to understand her place in the world as a woman who is half-Black and half-white, yet feels neither.Her mother, Evelyn, fled to Canada with her husband and their first-born child, Antony, during the politically charged Jamaican Exodus of the 1980s, only to realize they’d come to a place where Black men are viewed with suspicion—a constant and pernicious reality Evelyn watches her husband and son navigate daily.Years later, in the aftermath of Antony’s murder by the police, Evelyn’s mother-in-law, Violet, moves in, offering young Kareela a link to the Jamaican heritage she has never fully known. Despite Violet’s efforts to help them through their grief, the traumas they carry grow into a web of secrets that threatens the very family they all hold so dear.Back in the present, Kareela, prompted by fear and uncertainty about the new life she carries, must come to terms with the mysteries surrounding her family’s past and the need to make sense of both her identity and her future.Weaving the women’s stories across multiple timelines, We Rip the World Apart reveals the ways that simple choices, made in the heat of the moment and with the best of intentions, can have deeper repercussions than could ever have been imagined, especially when people remain silent.By Benjamin Alire Sáenz. 1995
"Sentimental and ferocious, upsetting and tender, firmly magic-realist yet utterly modern. . . Sáenz is a writer with greatness in him." —San…
Diego Union TribuneWith Carry Me Like Water, Benjamin Alire Sáenz unfolds a beautiful story about hope and forgiveness, unexpected reunions, an expanded definition of family, and, ultimately, what happens when the disparate worlds of pain and privilege collide.Diego, a deaf-mute, is barely surviving on the border in El Paso, Texas. Diego's sister, Helen, who lives with her husband in the posh suburbs of San Francisco, long ago abandoned both her brother and her El Paso roots. Helen's best friend, Lizzie, a nurse in an AIDS ward, begins to uncover her own buried past after a mystical encounter with a patient.This immensely moving novel confronts divisions of race, gender, and class, fusing together the stories of people who come to recognize one another from former lives they didn't know existed— or that they tried to forget.By Karen Brooks. 2018
From acclaimed author Karen Brooks comes this intriguing novel rich in historical detail and drama as it tells the unforgettable…
story of Queen Elizabeth's daring, ruthless spymaster and his female protégée.In Queen Elizabeth's England, where no one can be trusted and secrets are currency, one woman stands without fear. Mallory Bright is the only daughter of London's most ingenious locksmith. She has apprenticed with her father since childhood, and there is no lock too elaborate for her to crack. After scandal destroys her reputation, Mallory has returned to her father's home and lives almost as a recluse, ignoring the whispers and gossip of their neighbors. But Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster and a frequent client of Mallory's father, draws her into his world of danger and deception. For the locksmith's daughter is not only good at cracking locks, she also has a talent for codes, spycraft, and intrigue. With Mallory by Sir Francis’s side, no scheme in England or abroad is safe from discovery. But Mallory's loyalty wavers when she witnesses the brutal and bloody public execution of three Jesuit priests and realizes the human cost of her espionage. And later, when she discovers the identity of a Catholic spy and a conspiracy that threatens the kingdom, she is forced to choose between her country and her heart. Once Sir Francis's greatest asset, Mallory is fast becoming his worst threat—and there is only one way the Queen’s master spy deals with his enemies…By Yxta Maya Murray. 2005
There is a legend of the New World that has endured for centuries: the strange, tragic tale of a King,…
a Witch . . . and a blue gem of intoxicating beauty said to grant extraordinary power to whoever possesses it. Archaeologist Juana Sanchez, convinced that she's discovered the key to unlocking the mystery of the fabled Queen Jade, ventures into the Central American jungle alone—just ahead of the relentless pounding fury of Hurricane Mitch. When the terrible storm is over, Juana is gone, and an ancient, long-buried jade mine has been uncovered in the mountains of Guatemala, giving new hope to all obsessed seekers of the legendary stone. But it is a different obsession that plunges Juana's daughter—scholar and bookseller Lola Sanchez—into the remarkable adventure of a lifetime. For only by following the Queen Jade's perilous, cursed trail can Lola hope to find her vanished mother . . . if it isn't already too late.By Gioconda Belli. 2006
Manuel is a man of many talents; an art historian and professor, he is also an exquisite storyteller. When he…
meets 16-year-old Lucía on an outing from her boarding school, he offers to narrate a story of dire consequences—that of the Spanish Queen Juana of Castile and her legendary love for her husband, Philippe the Handsome.Promised to Prince Philippe the Handsome to solidify ties between the Flemish and Spanish crowns, Queen Juana immediately fell in love with her betrothed with all the abandon and passion of her fiery personality. Theirs was one of the most tumultuous love stories of all time. But Juana, who was also one of the most learned princesses of the Renaissance, was forced to pay a high price for being headstrong and daring to be herself. Those at court who could not fathom Juana as heir to the throne of the most important empire of its day conspired against her and began to question her sanity. Eventually she came to be known as Juana the Mad. But was she really insane, or just a victim of her impetuosity and unbridled passion?As the novel unfolds, Lucía and Manuel become enmeshed in a complex psychological web that seduces and incites them to relive Juana and Philippe's story, and eventually leads them to a mysterious manuscript that may hold the key to Juana's alleged madness.By Binnie Kirshenbaum. 2004
In Brooklyn, in the Age of Disco, Valentine Kessler -- a sweet Jewish girl who bears a remarkable resemblance to…
the Virgin Mary of Lourdes -- has an unerring gift for shattering the dreams and hopes of those who love her. Miriam, her long-suffering mother, betrayed and anguished by the husband she adores, seeks solace in daily games of mah-jongg with The Girls, a cross between a Greek Chorus and Brooklyn's rendition of the Three Wise Men, who dispense advice, predictions, and care in the form of poppy-seed cake and apple strudels. When her greatest fear for Valentine is realized, Miriam takes comfort in the thought that it couldn't get any worse. And then it does.Sagacious, sorrowful, and hilarious, An Almost Perfect Moment is a novel about mothers and daughters, star-crossed lovers, doctrines of the divine, and a colorful Jewish community that once defined Brooklyn.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.By Maureen Duffy. 2013
Wounds begins with two lovers in bed. Their lovemaking throughout the book forms a recurring lietmotif, a counterpoint to the…
examination of the spiritual death of the characters.In a South London environment of pub and fairground, home and work, the wounds of 20th century experience are evoked in prose which is both lyrical and precise. Kingy in her garden, ‘loved by the most handsome women in the world’; Maura the barmaid: ‘I prefer the little, thin men'; Glisten the Mayor: ‘It’ll be take-over time and too late’ — these and the many other characters illustrate the basic theme of the novel.A thrilling and breathtaking Viking saga of betrayal, bloodshed and brotherhood from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Lancelot, Giles…
Kristian. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell and Games of Thrones."Nobody writes this type of swaggering historical fiction better than Kristian" -- THE TIMES"A belter of a novel...perfect for fans of historical fiction and fantasy alike, from Cornwell to Abercrombie" -- BEN KANE"Combines gritty, brutal history with the lyrical essence of men as war...written with a panache that made the pages fly by. More!" -- ANTHONY RICHES"I love a good Viking romp and these are really good!" -- ***** Reader review"Giles Kristian certainly knows how to spin a yarn." -- ***** Reader review***********************************A VOW OF VENGEANCE MUST BE KEPT...Norway AD 785. Sigurd Haraldarson has proved himself a great warrior . . . and a dangerous enemy.And yet the oath-breaker King Gorm, who betrayed Sigurd's father, still lives. The sacred vow to avenge his family burns in Sigurd's veins, but he must be patient and bide his time as he knows that he and his band of warriors are not yet strong enough to confront the treacherous king. They need silver; they need more fighters to rally to the young Viking's banner; they need to win fame upon the battlefield.And so the fellowship venture to Sweden, to fight as mercenaries. And it is there - in the face of betrayal and bloodshed, on a journey that will take him all too close to the halls of Valhalla - that Sigurd's destiny will be forged...The Vikings return in this thrilling, thunderous sequel to Giles Kristian's bestselling God of Vengeance. Sigurd's adventures continue in Wing's of the Storm.A Viking saga of warmongering, honour and loyalty from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Lancelot, Giles Kristian. Perfect for…
fans of Bernard Cornwell and Games of Thrones."A fitting end to a trilogy that fans of Bernard Cornwell should devour" -- THE TIMES"The master storyteller...whose books throw the reader headlong into the Viking age." -- BEN KANE"This remains Viking writing at its best: thrilling in it truest sense, heart-rendering and, yes, glorious." -- MANDA SCOTT"Probably the best Viking saga I have ever read -- ***** Reader review "Wonderfully written and researched, the whole series makes the entire Nordic world come alive" -- ***** Reader review"This trilogy is gripping from start to finish" -- ***** Reader review*****************************************THE GODS MUST BE FAVOURED...Norway, AD 785. A wild place, a place of blood, a place where the gods hold sway . . .Sigurd Haraldarson and his oathsworn band are winning fame and reputation. But to confront his hated enemy - the oath-breaker and betrayer King Gorm - they must win riches too.When a daring raid goes wrong, Sigurd finds himself a prisoner of the powerful Jarl Guthrum. Bound like a slave, he is taken to the sacred temple at Ubsola to face the sacrificial knife.But here Sigurd discovers a potent relic: Gungnir, a great spear that would give him the power to assemble a host strong enough to challenge King Gorm, and avenge the betrayal of his father and the murder of his family.The roar of Odin and the wild hunt will be as nothing compared to Sigurd's rage, for he and his warriors will be borne on the wings of the storm . . .Wings of the Storm concludes the Viking saga, started in God of Vengeance and Winter's Fire.By Chan Koonchung. 2014
SEX, LIES, AND ROCKY ROADS …Life is simple for Champa. He has a good job as a chauffeur in his…
hometown of Lhasa, and if his Chinese boss Plum is a little domineering, well, he can understand that – she’s a serious art-collector after all. And he does get to drive her huge Toyota.When he starts to sleep with his boss as well as drive her around, life becomes a whole lot more complicated. But not in a bad way. Suddenly Champa’s sex life is beyond his wildest dreams.But then Plum brings home a Tara statue - a statue that shines with exquisite feminine beauty – and suddenly life is not simple at all, as Champa finds himself on the long road to Beijing in search of its inspiration …THE UNBEARABLE DREAMWORLD OF CHAMPA THE DRIVER is a rollicking road novel brim-ful of sensuality and danger. Underlying the optimism and humour of its hero is a darker picture of racism and rough justice in modern Beijing.By Urs Faes. 2018
Discover this beautiful winter gem of a novella that makes the perfect stocking filler this Christmas.'I may have been gone…
a long time, but I'm no stranger...' Manfred walks alone through a snowy valley, surrounded by his memories, on a pilgrimage of sorts to his childhood home. He's been estranged from his brother Sebastian for decades, ever since their bitter feud over the love of a woman and the inheritance of the family farm.Twelve Nights transports us to the wintry depths of Europe's Black Forest, through the stillness of the snow-covered hills, the dense woods, the cold and mist, in those dark, wild days between Christmas and Epiphany. These nights are a time of tradition and superstition, of tales told around the local innkeeper's table of marauding spirits, as tangible as the ghosts of Manfred's past. But the twelfth night, Epiphany, promises new beginnings, and a hope of reconciliation at last.Twelve Nights is a hymn to the winter landscape and the power of storytelling, a beautiful novella of the natural world and our place in it.