Book picks similar to
The King Who Made Paper Flowers: A Novel by Terry Kay
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Between the Levees
Jonathan Olivier - 2016
Though with his parents deceased since he was a boy, and with no way of uncovering who they were, finding a sense of family is more than a daunting task-it seems impossible. Until he goes to Louisiana's Cajun country, with hopes of finding a man who perhaps knew them. After enduring blistering heat, torment from mosquitoes, venturing into eerie, backwater swamps, and fending off alligators, snakes, and a few sinister locals, Sam finds what he had sought all of his life. He's also given a second chance, one to leave behind a pained past that he would rather forget. But finding what he wants most means that he'll eventually have to lose it.
One Sunday
Carrie Gerlach Cecil - 2013
She has captured a career as an editor of a tabloid magazine, launched her own website full of Hollywood gossip, and even clawed her way into a second-hand pair of Prada shoes. She has also finally landed a husband—no small feat, as it required getting pregnant with his baby.But when Alice becomes pregnant and experiences health problems, her world is turned upside down. To save her life and the life of her unborn child, she must leave Los Angeles and the stress of her bicoastal career, exchanging the late-night parties of sunny California for the suburbs of Nashville. With a weak smile and an even weaker heart, she soon finds herself living with a husband she barely knows, ensconced in a gated community brimming with perky, plastic, pony-tailed housewives. And then, at the gentle urging of a new friend, she agrees to attend church one Sunday afternoon.What begins as an experiment beyond her comfort zone sparks something much bigger, as Alice begins to look deep within herself only to find insecurity, fear, and loneliness. One Sunday charts an endearing character’s journey from moral ambiguity through madness, tears, laughter, and heartbreak to a connection with the only One who can help heal her.
Soul Catcher
Michael C. White - 2007
Rosetta is a runaway slave who bears the scars, inside and out, of a life of servitude to a cruel and unforgiving master. Her flight is fueled by a passion and determination only a mother could feel, and she would rather die than let anyone drag her back to hell. In a dark, volatile time prior to the Civil War, fate has bound the hunted and hunter on a remarkable odyssey from Virginia to Boston and back again—an extraordinary test of character and will, mercy and compassion, that will change them both forever.
Georgia Under Water: Stories
Heather Sellers - 2001
These are miraculous stories of survival, perhaps even forgiveness. To some of us Georgia's life would be unthinkable. Sellers makes us believe it is well worth living. "Heather Sellers writes delicious, dangerous prose. She starts you twenty-three floors up in condo squalor, nips across for dysfunction in Disney country, threatens incest in Hotlanta, and comes to grief on the Gulf. The dead-credible life of Georgia Jackson-ineffably sweet, thoroughly in love with her own luscious body, half in love with her lush of a father-skids at the edge of the surreal. Her story had me laughing through the lump in my throat. An original. A knockout debut."-Janet Burroway
Selected Short Stories
Roald Dahl - 2012
Whether fictionalizing his dramatic exploits as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II or concocting the ingeniously plotted fables that were dramatized on television as Tales of the Unexpected, Dahl was brilliant at provoking in his readers the overwhelming desire to know what happens next—and at satisfying that desire in ways that feel both surprising and inevitable.In this collection:-A Fine Son-Death of an Old Man-Parson’s Pleasure-Poison-The Hitch-Hiker-The Wish-Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat-Dip in the Pool-The Landlady-Skin-Lamb to the Slaughter-Man from the South-The Way Up to Heavan-The Umbrella Man-Taste-The Swan-William and MaryFilled with devilish plot twists, his tales display a tantalizing blend of macabre humor and the absurdly grotesque. Dahl’s creations amuse and shock us in equal measure, gleefully reminding us of what might lurk beneath the surface of the ordinary.
Glory Road
Lauren K. Denton - 2019
She lives contentedly with her fiery mother and her quiet, headstrong daughter. But the unexpected arrival of two men on Glory Road make her question if she's really happy with the status quo. Handsome, wealthy Sumner Tate asks her to arrange flowers for his daughter's wedding, and Jessie finds herself drawn to his continued attention. And Ben Bradley, her lingering what-could-have-been from high school days who's known her better than anyone and whom she hasn't seen in years, moves back to the red dirt road. Jessie finds her heart being pulled in directions she never expected.Meanwhile, Jessie's fourteen-year-old daughter, Evan, is approaching the start of high school and trying to navigate a new world of identity and emotions--particularly as they relate to the cute new guy who's moved in just down the road. At the same time, Jessie's mother, Gus, increasingly finds herself forgetful and faces a potentially frightening future.As all three women navigate the uncertain paths of their hearts and futures, one summer promises to bring change--whether they're ready for it or not.
The Gift
Anita Stansfield - 2005
— The Gift is a modern LDS Christmas classic that will warm the hearts of all who read it, and help keep Christ as the vital part of this miraculous season.
The Sign for Drowning
Rachel Stolzman - 2008
In the life she constructs as a barrier against the emotional wreckage of her family tragedy, Anna settles comfortably into a career as a teacher of deaf children. But a challenge arrives—in the form of a young girl. Adrea’s disarming vulnerability and obvious need for love offer Anna the possibility of reconnecting with the world around her—if she has the courage to open her heart. In this debut novel, Rachel Stolzman has crafted a moving and poetic witness to love’s power to transcend grief, pain, and the constraints of human language. The Sign for Drowning is a poignant story of loss and the unexpected occasions of grace that enable us to heal from it and grow beyond it.
Maranatha Road
Heather Bell Adams - 2017
The last person she wants to see is Tinley Greene, who shows up claiming she’s pregnant with Mark’s baby.Sadie knows Tinley must be lying because Mark was engaged and never would have betrayed his fiancée. So she refuses to help, and she doesn’t breathe a word about it to anybody. But in a small, southern town like Garnet, nothing stays secret for long.Once Sadie starts piecing together what happened to Mark, she discovers she was wrong about Tinley. And when her husband is rushed to the hospital, Sadie must hurry to undo her mistake before he runs out of time to meet their grandchild.
Youth In Revolt (Trilogy Compilation): Youth In Revolt, Youth In Bondage, And Youth In Exile
C.D. Payne - 2008
Youth in Revolt is the three-volume journal of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming fourteen-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt. Youth in RevoltAs his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, the gulag of the public schools, a competitive Type-A father, murderous canines (in triplicate), and an inconvenient hair trigger on his erectile response--all while vying ardently for the affections of the beauteous Sheeni Saunders, teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad. Youth in BondageNick Twisp is living in a wasteland with his stingy father while the female object of his fantasies is away at school. But when the FBI picks up his trail, Nick must rely on his tough alter ego, Francois Dillinger. Youth in ExileHe didn't intend to burn half of Berkeley to the ground or create a media frenzy or enroll in high school dressed as a woman. However, he did, and it was just part of Nick Twisp's quest for sex and independence. He's smart, he's horny, he's resourceful, and he's on the loose.
The Pandora Prescription
James Sheridan - 2007
He is sucked into a silent war which hinges on an incriminating data file. Finding it is Travis’s only hope for surviving a deadly chase across America. But to find its location, Travis must discover the link between the biggest medical cover-up in history and the greatest assassination conspiracy of the twentieth century. The key lies within a secret underground of doctors sworn to an ancient oath.When the solution is the problem, which side will you be on?
Littlejohn
Howard Owen - 1992
Painstakingly honest, Littlejohn is "a character as fully rounded in his quirks and imperfections, in his quiet determination and bravery, as any in recent fiction."--Washington Post. National reading tour.
Karma
Sabrina A. Eubanks - 2006
It is love at first sight as the two fall head over heels for each other, despite the influence of Justine's jealous friend, Simone. While Simone tempts Lucas with her raw sexuality, he struggles to keep his old ways in the past. Lucas and his partner, Noah, accept a dangerous undercover assignment that will topple the empire of the notorious drug lord, Nine. Can Lucas and Noah survive this dangerous bust? Will Lucas revert to his player ways with Simone's constant temptation? It's a race between love and lust, and what goes around definitely comes around as KARMA takes its toll.
Overnight To Innsbruck
Denyse Woods - 2002
As they each tell their separate stories of fear, confusion and loss, they try to unravel the truth of what happened - and confront the bitter possibility that one of them may be lying.As their train hurtles through a long sleepless night, a third passenger eavesdrops on their conversation, mesmerized by a complex dialogue that probes into the very nature of truth and personal identity. A story of love and doubt, Overnight to Innsbruck is charged throughout with tantalizing puzzles and all the tension of a first-class psychological thriller - and marks the debut of a remarkably fresh and original voice in Irish literature. DENYSE WOODS was born in Boston, USA, in 1958. She has travelled extensively, living in the USA, Belgium, Australia, Italy, Iraq and England, before returning to settle in Ireland in 1987. She obtained a BA in Arabic and English in 1981, and subsequently worked as a translator for PARC Management Services in Iraq, where she shared a terrace with Saddam Hussein. In 1988 she won the Irish Times Short Story Competition. She now lives in County Cork with her husband and two daughters.
The Tall Pine Polka / Your Oasis on Flame Lake
Lorna Landvik - 2005
For each craves a change in her life: Devera desires a break from her humdrum marital routine; BiDi longs to reconnect with her distant fourteen-year-old daughter (the only girl on the high school hockey team), not to mention jump-start a sex drive stuck in neutral. So when Devera’s husband decides to fulfill his longtime dream of opening a nightclub in his basement, Your Oasis on Flame Lake arrives not a moment too soon. Nothing fancy, it’s just a BYOB joint where you can hang out, sing, dance, tell jokes, and be yourself. But then an unexpected crisis throws both families into chaos, forcing them all to take stock of their lives—and learn the power of forgiveness.