With an introduction by Walter Lowenfels.

    As in her acclaimed novels The Siege and A Spell of Winter, world-class storyteller Helen Dunmore shows us with subtlety and humor precisely who her characters are and why we should care for them. In each taut, agile tale, they grow to surprise, concern, and move us as they negotiate situations that are often both mundane and bizarre: a cafeteria cook confronts her Polish pen pal in a meeting that is unexpectedly intense; a divorced mother gains insight from a parking meter; a boastful writer is put in his place in spectacular fashion; and in a chilling future, conception is ruthlessly controlled by the government. In several stories a soulful, curious woman named Ulli takes up residence in the reader's imagination -- stumbling across a strangely magnetic collector of religious icons, contemplating a youthful pregnancy, and remembering a troubled lover. In Ice Cream, Dunmore reveals both her poet's ear for the concise and piercing potentialities of language and the novelist's ambition of scope, proving her status as "a master of the shorter form" (The Sunday Telegraph). "Spellbinding ... She captures a moment in time and leaves us reeling at the echoes." -- Michael McLoughlin, The Irish News "Cool, elegant, and beautifully controlled, the stories collected in Ice Cream display Dunmore's virtuosity of language." -- Pamela Norris, The Independent on Sunday "All the senses are vibrantly alive in these stories." -- Katie Owen, The Sunday Telegraph

    They fall in love, Carolyn becomes pregnant, and they request to exit the facility.... Josh squeezed through the little gap between the…

    But he was so much more, a comic Garrison Keillor-like figure whose unique voice transcended the airwaves and affected a whole generation of nostalgic Americans.The Ferrari in the Bedroom is Shepherd's wry, affectionate look at the hang-ups and delusions of Americans in the 1970s. From his sardonic assessment of fads such as the nostalgia craze ("Thinking that the old days were good is a terrible sickness. Everything was just as bad then as it is now.") to a modest proposal for the foundation of S.P.L.A.T. (The Society for the Prevention of the Leaving of Animal Turds), Jean Shepherd provides a generous measure of his special brand of wise and warm humor as an antidote for some of America's more ridiculous obsessions.

    might be the difference between getting hired or actually set on fireAs a professional thief, Esmé Bellerose’s daylong job interview was going well: She’d come through most of it with only a black eye, bloody lip, broken wrist, a few cracked ribs, and talon marks from a ruby-throated dragon—but at least she wasn’t missing any pieces. And if she could only survive until the five o’clock hour, she’d land the job that was every mystic thief’s dream: employment at SPL Inc.But the head of SPL, Elric Ostergaard, has other plans, and he’s put one additional task on Esmé’s job application, which must be completed before he’ll hire her. Namely, Elric wants the famed Fabergé egg, created for the last tsarina but stolen away by Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin. The magically infused egg has lifesaving properties, and it’s worth a king’s ransom.For Esmé, accepting the task is easy; finding the egg after Grigori has been brutally murdered while also being forced to mentor a bullheaded mystic detective in the middle of a family squabble is the trickier part. And things just seem to get more complicated from there. But Esmé has little choice. Either she brings Elric the egg or she’ll end up as dragon kibble.

    Damaged. Scarred. And Vengeful. Retaliation consumes her heart. Night and day, all she can think about is exacting her retribution for Colin’s death, the boy she once loved. Her guilt and resentment fuel her choices to hunt. Fate has other plans. The Wild Hunt is underway, and Ashor Clave has one job, collect as many human souls as possible in a single night. Not such a bad gig for the son of a powerful demon, that is until he runs into unexpected trouble—a small but feisty package. Chaos reigns. When love mixes with vengeance, Lexi knows she is teetering on a dangerous thread. Ashor is the very thing she swore to kill, but then why is her heart getting in the way of what she vowed to do? Welcome to season two of the bestselling Divisa series, an adventure full of forbidden romance, nail biting suspense, and unexpected twists! If you're a fan of Cassandra Clare or Sarah J Mass, welcome to an exciting new world with memorable characters!

    This is where he meets his first Human, and begins his long journey to becoming the most famous dingo in the world. He will never see his mountain home again, or his family. But it is his destiny to save alpine dingoes from extinction, and he dreams of a time when all cubs like him can live in the wild in safety, instead of facing poison and bullets and hatred. A children's literary classic in-the-making from one of Australia's most-loved authors.

    chart hit. The band followed it with 40 further albums of consistently challenging, distinctive and innovative music. Drawing on hours of new interviews, and encouraged by Crimson supremo Robert Fripp, the author traces the band’s turbulent history year by year, track by track.

    The story “Knock Knock” is about a boy who grows up with his dad always telling these horrible jokes.

    Barnes with a forward by Louis Untermeyer HC/DJ New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1945

    Written during the same period as The Glass Bead Game, these poems reflect the book's mysticism and help to illuminate Hesse's physical and metaphysical search for a "sublime alchemy" that would go beyond all images

    This short story is taken from one of Steinbeck's early works, "The Pastures of Heaven."

    His first order of business is securing the help of literary antiquities expert Samantha Tremain. She’s considered one of the foremost authorities on erotic literature in the galaxy, a veritable bounty of carnal knowledge that Rick intends to enjoy to the fullest. Now two people who couldn’t be more different race across the star system on a daring quest for untold riches. Together, success is within their grasp...if they can just get past the hands-on research.

    She cannot know the tragedy that has befallen their home at Sudeley, or the secrets that her father, the Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour, is hiding.Lost in grief, he entrusts baby Mary to the care of Elizabeth Aglionby, one of Katharine's closest companions. But Elizabeth knows that the Lord Admiral has enemies in high places - and that he stands on the edge of a ruinous fall from grace.And, if the worst should happen, what will become of his infant daughter?

    . .Cyprus, 1955 – a war is raging and four Greek brothers are growing up to the familiar sounds of exploding bombs and sniper fire. Determined to avenge the death of his elder brother and to win the heart of his beloved Praxi, young Loukis joins a cell of schoolboy terrorists operating in the mountains. But when his cohorts blow themselves up in a freak accident, he returns home in shock, yearning for the warm embrace of his family - and of his sweetheart.But his adored Praxi is now married to someone else, and playing at her feet is a young toddler. . . Utterly compelling, infinitely absorbing, Aphrodite’s War is an epic tale of an island at war with itself. Its warm-hearted, compassionate picture of the Encomidou family shows how, even with your people’s future at stake, there is nothing so indomitable as the human heart.