Protagonists in the other stories range from a teenage girl to an old woman with the theme of family and love and unseen possibilities in the Christmas season.This collection contains six stories of mysticism, hope and charm, a Christmas gift to readers.

    Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Each story radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion. Among the Missing lingers in the mind through its subtle grace and power of language.

    But his military instincts told him she was in trouble.The deep kind that gets you six feet under.Elle was running from someone; and come hell or high-water Ryder was going to figure out exactly who and why.She was stubborn and beautiful, and he would use every Callaghan Security employee to find answers to questions she flat out refused to answer:Why she slept with a gun under her pillow.Why she dressed like she was on her way to a funeral in winter.Why she had more scars than men he'd fought with in Iraq.Ryder knew women. They came freely and easily for him. Yet the one woman he wants --for more than one night-- doesn't want anything to do with him.How do you save a woman who won't let you in?What if she doesn't want to be saved at all?The Ugly Roses Trilogy #2One crooked MayorHis fianceA few good men and a slut named Claudia.He lied.Ryder didn't help me.He broke my f*cking heart.I'm at a crossroad and no matter which way I turn, I'm f*cked.Ryder or retribution?This life of mine isn't a fairy tale.I know I can't have both.The Ugly Roses Trilogy #3A shady police forceOne unborn childInmate number 67413What you believe you know is all a lie.Trapped in a cage, the harsh bite of concrete under my knees is a cruel reminder of my past.Surrendering is not an option, and retribution may not be the answer.This is a reckoning."My life has an expiration date, Ryder. And it's not like yours that includes wrinkles, grey hair and grandchildren."The Ugly Roses Trilogy is recommended +18 Due to mature content.

    Her longtime friend—the sinfully handsome Michael Sebastien—agrees to help her try and fulfill her deepest desire. But if he’s just as new to this as she is, why is he so good at taking control? And will Christine come to realize that maybe Michael might just be her perfect match?

    Carol Shields' first novels, "Small Ceremonies" and "The Box Garden," each told from the viewpoint of a sister, published as one.

    She has lived with partner Ed for fifteen years and is proud of all they’ve achieved. They go out into the world separately: Ed with one eye on the future in the world of finance; Anita with one foot the past, a curator at Hampton Court Palace. This is the life she has chosen - choices that weren’t open to her mother’s generation - her dream job, equal partnership, freedom from the monotony of parenthood, living mortgage-free in a quirky old house she adores. The future seems knowable and secure.But then Anita finds herself standing in the middle of the road watching her home and everything inside it burn to the ground. Before she can come to terms with the magnitude of her loss, hairline cracks begin to appear in her perfect relationship. And returning to her childhood home in search of comfort, she stumbles upon the secret that her mother has kept hidden, a taboo so unspeakable it can only be written about.The reflection in the mirror may look the same. But everything has changed.Authentic and heartbreaking, Davis’s intoxicating new novel is an exploration of identity, not as a fixed point, but as something fragile, shape-shifting and transient

    Dawkins reveals the idiosyncrasies, tedium, and desperation of long-term incarceration—he describes men who struggle to keep their souls alive despite the challenges they face. In “A Human Number,” a man spends his days collect-calling strangers just to hear the sounds of the outside world. In “573543,” an inmate recalls his descent into addiction as his prison softball team gears up for an annual tournament against another unit. In “Leche Quemada,” an inmate is released and finds freedom more complex and baffling then he expected. Dawkins’s stories are funny and sad, filled with unforgettable detail—the barter system based on calligraphy-ink tattoos, handmade cards, and cigarettes; a single dandelion smuggled in from the rec yard; candy made from powdered milk, water, sugar, and hot sauce. His characters are nuanced and sympathetic, despite their obvious flaws. The Graybar Hotel tells moving, human stories about men enduring impossible circumstances. Dawkins takes readers beyond the cells into characters’ pasts and memories and desires, into the unusual bonds that form during incarceration and the strained relationships with family members on the outside. He’s an extraordinary writer with a knack for metaphor, and this is a powerful compilation of stories that gives voice to the experience of perhaps the most overlooked members of our society.

    "Another""What It Means When a Crowd in a Faraway Nation Takes a Soldier Representing Your Own Nation, Shoots Him, Drags Him from His Vehicle and Then Mutilates Him in the Dust""The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water""On Wanting to Have Three Walls Up Before She Gets Home""Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance""She Waits, Seething, Blooming""Quiet""Your Mother and I""Naveed""Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone""About the Man Who Began Flying After Meeting Her""Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly""After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned"From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Full of tenderness and compassion, this dazzling collection celebrates our humanity in all its pettiness and glory.

    With this brilliantly inventive collection, Ali Smith joins the campaign to save our public libraries and celebrate their true place in our culture and history.

     Jackson Walker hasn't had the best family life. Growing up in the foster system in Australia, it wasn’t until he met his college football coach that he understood what a normal family looked like. When he gets the call that Coach has passed away, he returns to California for the funeral and to find a place to honor the man. Hailey Montgomery threw herself into real estate soon after breaking up with her boyfriend nearly five years ago. She’s been working to build a name for herself and when the chance to make partner at her firm becomes available, she jumps at the chance. But the only way to achieve that distinction is to find a commercial property for the guy she’s nicknamed ‘Golden Boy’ from all the stories her father told about him. As spending time together brings them closer, the trust between them is called into question. Can they work through what’s happened in their individual pasts to create a relationship that will last?

    This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive con men, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.In "Thief," an aluminum worker turns unlikely detective to solve the mystery of which of his kids is stealing from the family vacation fund. In "We Live in Water," a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared thirty years earlier. In "Anything Helps," a homeless man has to "go to cardboard" to raise enough money to buy his son the new Harry Potter book. In "Virgo," a local newspaper editor tries to get back at his superstitious ex-girlfriend by screwing with her horoscope. Also included are the stories "Don't Eat Cat" and "Statistical Abstract of My Hometown, Spokane, Washington," both of which achieved a cult following after publication online.

    Some stories are funny, some poetic, some vulgar, and some are a little disturbing. Each story has been lovingly crafted to amuse and entertain you in six words.Six Word Wonder is a social media sensation, with over 10,000 followers on Instagram @sixwordwonderNow, for the first time, Doug brings his best tiny stories together in one collection. Unlocking the cage, she stepped out.Cupid. Tomorrow, aim for his head.Home alone, but toilet just flushed.Baby loves whining. Mother loves wine.…reader. I’m a very gifted mind…I poured two glasses… then remembered.Take a moment out of your hectic schedule to enjoy a Six Word Wonder.

    Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. In "Redeployment", a soldier who has had to shoot dogs because they were eating human corpses must learn what it is like to return to domestic life in suburbia, surrounded by people "who have no idea where Fallujah is, where three members of your platoon died." In "After Action Report", a Lance Corporal seeks expiation for a killing he didn't commit, in order that his best friend will be unburdened. A Morturary Affairs Marine tells about his experiences collecting remains - of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers both. A chaplain sees his understanding of Christianity, and his ability to provide solace through religion, tested by the actions of a ferocious Colonel. And in the darkly comic "Money as a Weapons System", a young Foreign Service Officer is given the absurd task of helping Iraqis improve their lives by teaching them to play baseball. These stories reveal the intricate combination of monotony, bureaucracy, comradeship and violence that make up a soldier's daily life at war, and the isolation, remorse, and despair that can accompany a soldier's homecoming. Redeployment is poised to become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: one of extremes and one of loss. Written with a hard-eyed realism and stunning emotional depth, this work marks Phil Klay as one of the most talented new voices of his generation.

    CherryI’m sick of being the good girl and never getting what I want, especially when what I want more than anything is Carter.I know I’m not exactly his type but he’s my best friend’s brother and I’m just asking for one little favor – all he has to do is help me with my little virginity problem and move on.All I have to do is find the courage to ask him and cross my fingers he’ll say yes.CarterShe’s my best friend’s curvy little sister and she’s just asked me to take her V-card.There’s no way I can say yes but there’s no way in hell I’m letting someone else take it either.If I’m doing this I’m all in, I just need to convince her I’m worth more than a one-off, because I’m certainly not risking losing my buddy for a one-night stand.Untappable is fast sexy, brother's best friend romance featuring a shy heiress and a hot brewer.