Book picks similar to
Exploring English by Augustine Martin


short-stories
fiction
compilations
exquisite-writing

Zumbar


Prakash Narayan Sant - 2003
    The book is a last in its series started from Vanvas.

Hostages


Oisín Fagan - 2016
    My heart is broken and my failure is total.A bomb is born, lives and dies in a rural secondary school; Ireland becomes a dumping ground for corpses; one family’s genealogy begins in tragedy in 1574 and ends in something far worse in 2111; a strange tribal matriarchy on the banks of the River Boyne is threatened with extermination.Over the course of these stories, the world breaks down in an endless cycle of hunger, desperation, violence and domination, and we find a humanity left tender, collapsed, and full of a beautiful, primeval innocence.Fagan’s raw blend of verve, humour, imagination and warmth surges through these pages, revealing a world rendered both hopeful and disturbing, human and other, that is at once familiar and extraordinary.

The Endless Fall and Other Weird Fictions


Jeffrey Thomas - 2017
    I envy those of you making your first acquaintance with this author.” – From the introduction by Matthew Carpenter Respected as one of today’s leading figures of weird fiction for his striking imagination, versatility, and deeply emotional stories, Jeffrey Thomas here offers up fourteen searing tales. Included are the haunting and surreal "Ghosts in Amber," in which a man is compelled to visit a mysterious derelict factory that harbors chilling secrets; "Jar of Mist," which focuses on a father who, in seeking to understand his daughter’s suicide, encounters a dream-like other realm; "Those Above," which imagines an alternate Victorian society controlled by vast monstrous entities from beyond; and the title novelette "The Endless Fall," which concerns an astronaut who crash-lands on an unknown forested world where time seems to work in an alien way, and where he finds he is unfortunately not alone. “With brutal elegance and chilling subtlety, Thomas pulls his readers into his dark visions immediately from every opening line.” – Paul Di Filippo, in ASIMOV’S “Jeffrey Thomas’ imagination is as twisted as it is relentless.” – F. Paul Wilson “In time he will, in this reviewer’s opinion, be listed alongside King, Barker, Koontz, and McCammon.” – Brian Keene

How Shall I Know You?: A Short Story


Hilary Mantel - 2014
    She had a face of feral sweetness, its color yellow; her eyes were long and dark, her mouth a taut bow, her nostrils upturned as if she were scenting the wind."In "How Shall I Know You?," a melancholic and ailing writer reluctantly travels east of London to give a lecture before a literary society. Mr. Simister, the organization's secretary, lures the world-weary novelist turned biographer with promises of a modest stipend and lodging at a charming bed-and-breakfast for her trouble. Nevertheless, on that rainy day she meets Mr. Simister at the train station, she wonders why she ever agreed to come in the first place. Driving past steel-shuttered windows and Day-Glo banners, Mr. Simister takes the writer to her hotel for the evening, which turns out to be crumbling and isolated rather than picturesque. As she crosses the threshold into the dank stench of Eccles House she is faced with the feral porter, Louise, and suffers through an evening that may be more than she bargained for.From Hilary Mantel's brilliant and darkly comic collection of contemporary stories, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, comes a tale told with her distinctive blend of subversive wit and gimlet-eyed characterization. "How Shall I Know You?" showcases the extraordinary genius of Hilary Mantel, called one of our "greatest living novelists" (NPR).

The Empty Family: Stories


Colm Tóibín - 2010
    In the breathtaking long story “The Street,” Tóibín imagines a relationship between Pakistani workers in Barcelona—a taboo affair in a community ruled by obedience and silence. In “Two Women,” an eminent and taciturn Irish set designer takes a job in her homeland, and must confront emotions she has long repressed. “Silence” is a brilliant historical set piece about Lady Gregory, who tells the writer Henry James a confessional story at a dinner party.Silence --The empty family --Two women --One minus one --The pearl fishers --Barcelona, 1975 --The new Spain --The colour of shadows --The street

Ramona and Her Friends: Beezus and Ramona / Ramona and her Mother / Henry and Ribsy / Henry and Beezus


Beverly Cleary - 1980
    This four book set includes: Beezus and Ramona, Ramona and her Mother, Henry and Ribsy, and Henry and Beezus.

Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages


Harold Bloom - 2001
    As television, video games, and the Internet threaten to distract young people from the solitary pleasures of reading, Bloom presents a volume that will amuse, challenge, and beguile readers with its myriad voices and subjects. Here are old favorites by beloved writers of children's literature, as well as exciting rediscoveries and wonderful works penned by writers better known for their adult classics, such as Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy, Edith Wharton, and Walt Whitman. Encompassing the natural world and the supernatural; childhood, romance, and death; pets, wild animals, and goblins; mystery, adventure, and humor; the selections reflect the passion and erudition of our most revered literary critic. Arranged by season, Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages is a must-have anthology, sure to delight readers young and old for years to come.

The Letter Promised


Kevin Wignall - 2013
    Returning to the Paris hotel where he spent his honeymoon six years earlier, he decides to take what seems like the only way out - suicide. But a chance encounter with a Russian in a similar predicament leaves Nick with an unlikely obligation to fulfil, one that will take him to Italy, and offer him a chance at something like redemption. www.kevinwignall.com

Cornbread (Kindle Single)


Sean Hammer - 2012
    Told in the odd and unforgettable voice of its protagonist, "Cornbread" is the tale of a matricidal Arkansas woman bringing about the final days of her marriage. At turns darkly comical and deeply tragic, it's a story that lingers long after it's finished, like the smell of fresh baked cornbread or discharged gunpowder...

Headless


Benjamin Weissman - 2004
    . . an alphabet soup of -delight in language. Eat up."—Alice Sebold"Brilliant. Wildly inventive, profane, and hilarious."—Bret Easton EllisThe author of the acclaimed cult classic Dear Dead Person ("refreshing, nauseating, hilarious"—Kirkus) returns with this long-awaited collection of brilliantly written and outrageously imaginative short stories.Benjamin Weissman is the author of Dear Dead Person (High Risk/Serpent’s Tail, 1995). He is a contributing editor to Bomb Magazine and writes regularly for the contemporary art magazines Parkett and Artforum. A painter and a professor at Art Center College of Design and Otis College of the Arts, he now lives in Los Angeles.

The Secret Son


Jennifer Burke - 2013
    There he is stunned to discover that his father’s will disinherits his family and leaves everything – including the family home – to a secret son, Andrew Shaw.The news fills the Shaw family with hope. Twenty-year-old Andrew is in desperate need of a kidney transplant, and for him the inheritance may mean the difference between life and death. However, the lives of Andrew, his devoted older sister Tors and young brother Jack are disrupted when their mother insists they move from their home in Kerry to Wicklow to stake their claim under the will. There they live in a tiny bungalow on the sea front, while the Murtaghs take steps to contest the will.Gradually, both Seán Murtagh and Tors Shaw recognise the need to seek some middle ground but that seems impossible, such is the hostility between the families and the burning resentment that exists between the mothers.Andrew Shaw’s focus, however, is not on the question of the inheritance. There is something else he needs from the Murtaghs . . . something only they can give him . . .The Secret Son is a poignant and thought-provoking story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Articles on Enid Blyton Series, Including: The Famous Five (Series), the Secret Seven, Malory Towers, the Faraway Tree, St. Clare's (Series), the Five Find-Outers, the Adventure Series, the Wishing Chair (Series), the Circus Series


Hephaestus Books - 2011
    Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Enid Blyton series.

The Dogs of Detroit


Brad Felver - 2018
    The 14 stories of The Dogs of Detroit each focus on grief and its many strange permutations. This grief alternately devolves into violence, silence, solitude, and utter isolation. In some cases, grief drives the stories as a strong, reactionary force, and yet in other stories, that grief evolves quietly over long stretches of time. Many of the stories also use grief as a prism to explore the beguiling bonds within families. The stories span a variety of geographies, both urban and rural, often considering collisions between the two.

The Red Sky At Night


Jo Thomas - 2015
    A sparkling short story from the bestselling author of The Oyster Catcher, available exclusively in ebook.

Tales Around the Jack O'Lantern III: A Mary O'Reilly Short Story


Terri Reid - 2016
    Join the O'Reilly family once again as they meet around the Jack O'Lantern on Halloween night and share ghost stories that will make you shiver and have you looking over your shoulder to see if there is "a little something extra" wandering through your home tonight.