It is a riveting commentary on the way we live now by a spectacular prose artist.Ann Beattie published her first short story in The New Yorker in 1972. Twenty-eight years later, she received the 2000 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is, as the Washington Post Book World said, "one of our era's most vital masters of the short form." The eleven stories in her new work are peopled by characters coming to terms with the legacies of long-held family myths or confronting altered circumstances -- new frailty or sudden, unlikely success. Beattie's ear for language, her complex and subtle wit, and her profound compassion are unparalleled. From the elegiac story "The Famous Poet, Amid Bougainvillea," in which two men trade ruminations on illness, art, and servitude, to "The Big-Breasted Pilgrim," wherein a famous chef gets a series of bewildering phone calls from George Stephanopoulos, Perfect Recall comprises Beattie's strongest work in years. It is a riveting commentary on the way we live now by a spectacular prose artist.

    Now Sophia’s alone, and she can’t help but wonder. Will the magic be gone, or will this year’s love be even stronger? Brew a cup of tea, grab a Christmas cookie, and prepare for a treat. You won’t want to miss this one!

    After losing her husband and child in a traffic accident, she spends her evenings alone with a bottle of Stoli, eavesdropping on her feuding neighbors.Then one day, the strange man next door makes a startling offer - he will bring her daughter back from the dead. All she has to do is make a wish.

    But in the dark of night, she practices the magical arts that are forbidden to one of her kind, hoping to soon break the spell that holds her captive.But an evil is growing beyond the enchanted stone walls. Joelle will need much more than her own skills to escape it. Someone is coming for her. And when he arrives, he will change everything.This short ebook excerpted from Emissary (Book 1 in the Legends of the Realm series by Thomas Locke) gives you a magical glimpse into the Realm—and the people who will stop at nothing to save it.

    a secret so terrible that he must share it in order to find those who will help him protect the knowledge that will one day save humanity. He has chosen two brothers, both hermit monks, to join him in his quest. But time is short... and no man is ready to receive the news that Talus must now share with them both: That they are both already dead.THE KEEPER is the short story prequel to Forbidden, the first novel in The Books of Mortals series. First there was the Circle Trilogy. Now a new stunning epic begins.

    She’s so desperate for fun, she accepts a ticket to what she thinks is a rave. When she finds everyone at a mansion playing board games, she thinks she’s been had…until she doesn’t win and learns that Richard, her host, has very special consequences for losing. If only she hadn’t been too vain to wear glasses, she’d have read the rules in the foyer and have a clue about what the players expect her to do next. But with tall, dark, and sexy Richard in charge, Lauren can’t bring herself to leave before she learns exactly what he has in store for her.

    Will Malcolm Fletcher prove himself to be the remorseless, audacious killer the FBI have marked him as, or is he something far more complicated?

    Jones Dues Dale Peck Speckle Trout Ron Rash Sphinxes Timothy Crouse Grace Paula Fox Snowbound Liza Ward Tea Nancy Reisman Christie Caitlin Macy Refuge in London Ruth Prawer Jhabvala The Drowned Woman Frances De Pontes Peebles The Card Trick Tessa Hadley What You Pawn I Will Redeem Sherman Alexie

    With only girls in her family, and Heidi now married and living at Three Rivers Ranch, she feels a sense of duty and family loyalty. Which is honorable—if it wasn't for her boyfriend, cowboy Chase Carver. Chase is and always will be a cowboy at heart. He breaks up with nineteen-year-old Maggie at the request of her father, but he's miserable. He can only keep himself away for five months before returning to the store and the girl he loves. He believes that if he can prove to Maggie's father that he can provide a stable, secure life, that Chase and Maggie can be together again. So he sets out on a quest to find his own ranch. But with financial trouble and personal issues around every corner, both Maggie and Chase will have to rely on their faith to find their happily-ever-after.

     Trouble has you gasping beside the narrow road. This is your invitation back to the adventure. Some Christians leave their relationship with God in a sealed box like a collectible that will be worth something "someday." Not you. You wholeheartedly answered the call to follow Him into the great adventure. Then, something unexpected happened that left you gasping beside the narrow road. You thought you were following Jesus but now it feels as if all you re doing is running from a crazy man. Even knocked down, though, you seek the strength to continue the journey. This isn’t a book for the happily comfortable. This is a book for the restless Jesus lover, the longsuffering disciple, the openhearted believer. Be forewarned. The challenges inside are designed to unsettle you as well as provide practical suggestions for thriving on the narrow road even if trouble is your travel companion. Running from a Crazy Man (and Other Adventures Traveling with Jesus) is a siren call to the modern believer that the God-adventure can happen even when, like King David, you re running from a crazy man.

    The baby. The pageant. The parties. The worship. The afterglow. The story. These are the elements of almost every Christmas. In Finding Christmas, award-winning author James Calvin Schaap takes a look at each of these elements through seven stories that show how imperfect people can find joy and grace in an imperfect world.His eyes turn on an outgoing bus driver, a passionate mother, a daughter reluctant to return to church, and even his own assumed-mediocre performance at a Christmas pageant. Along the way, readers see how the amazing message of Christmas can be found in the oddest of places. This heartwarming read is both moving and magical and will help readers usher in a joyful Christmas season even amidst the howling winds of winter

    Whitleigh Haynes wrestles with the boundaries of her limited faith after an unexpected marriage proposal leaves her wondering what to say to longtime boyfriend, Collier Cromwell, now Army soldier, who’s asking her to leave everything she’s ever known, loved, and planned.

    . . Cambridge on the morning of a day in April, the year of Our Lord 1569.And Christopher Radcliff, Doctor of Civil Laws at Pembroke Hall and recruiter of clever young men to the service of the Earl of Leicester, is amongst a crowd of excited townsfolk and university scholars gathered on a field to watch a game of foot ball. It is to be played between the apprentices of the town and pupils of the colleges and it is hoped it will reconcile differences between town and gown. Bets are placed, wagers made. On the field long-standing animosities surface and violence breaks out but not before the college team is victorious, thanks to the skill of a Pembroke Hall man, John Groom.Later that day, Radcliff is summoned to the senior tutor’s rooms. It transpires that John Groom has been locked up on a serious charge of assault – he’d nearly caused a cobbler’s apprentice to drown. If found guilty, Groom would be expelled from college and face imprisonment. But Christopher smells a rat. He believes the charge to be the fabrication of someone with a serious grudge against the young man, and yet it does seem as if Groom is hiding something. Enlisting the help of his friend Edward Allington and his wife Katherine, Dr Radcliff knows the truth lies somewhere within the infamous den that is Slegge’s gaming house…

    Early in his career, he came up against the Soviet Union's deadliest agent three times, finally killing the man in a flooded tunnel beneath the ruins of a castle in Portugal.Years have passed. The Russian's brother, Kurshin, a Spetsnaz operator twenty-five years younger than McGarvey, vows revenge. He and McGarvey are both shadowmen--living between the real world, and the world of the deep cover spy and assassin. To get McGarvey's attention, Kurshin desecrates the grave of the American's wife. McGarvey pits himself against the Russian--the man of vast experience versus the bold young man who believes he is invincible. The mano a mano begins at Arlington Cemetery and moves across Europe, from the baccarat tables of Monte Carlo to the same the Portuguese castle where the Russian's brother was killed so many years ago. Only one shadowman will be left standing.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.