Book picks similar to
Baptisms & Dogs: Stories by Brian L. Tucker
short-stories
wasnt-what-i-expected-in-a-good-way
short-story-anthologies
southern-fiction
Too Late to Call Texas
Trent Zelazny - 2012
Or the dead guy. Or the steamer trunk. Or the rag doll. If only he hadn’t found any of these things, everything might have been okay. But he had found them. All of them. Now Carson Halliday is on the run, trying his damnedest to keep one step ahead of a dangerous gang of outlaws and mad men. A run leading him from town to town in the dry wasteland of the southern New Mexico desert, over dark hills and dangerous plains, through shantytowns and city streets, and, most frightening of all, into the mysterious depths of the human heart."One of the best of the new breed of writers." —Joe R. Lansdale"A powerful and good writer." —Neil Gaiman"Trent Zelazny is the best hard-boiled noir writer of this generation!" —Sarah L. Covert, Editor of She Never Slept
Unplayable Lies
Dan Jenkins - 2015
Half of the essays are brand new, the others are all reworked and rewritten, based on pieces that were originally published in Golf Digest. Often biting, usually cranky, always hilarious and surprising—this is Dan Jenkins at his best, writing about the sport he loves the most. "I've always wanted to do something for the golfer who has everything. I thought about a suede golf cart, or maybe a pair of cashmere Footjoys. Then I settled on writing this book." So begins Dan Jenkins's latest—and funniest—collection of golf essays. The book consists of thirty-eight essays, all of them, as Dan says in the first essay, are "literally throbbing with opinion." In this book Dan delves into the greatest rounds of golf he's ever seen; the funniest things said on a golf course; the rivalries on tour and in the press box; the game's most magical moments—and its most absurd. Unplayable Lies is an ode to the game Jenkins loves. But it is Dan Jenkins, so nothing—even the game of golf—can escape his wrath, his critical eye, or his acerbic pen. The best way to describe it is to turn the book over to Mr. Jenkins: In "Titanic and I"—probably the most hilarious and surprising essay in the book, telling true stories of Titanic Thompson: gambler, golf hustler, accused murderer, legendary storyteller—Dan explains how Titanic would win a wager by saying he could knock a bird off a telephone wire: "Titanic would drop a ball on the ground and take out his four-wood, waggle it, and pretend to aim at the bird on the wire. When some sucker would bet him he couldn't do it, Ti would pull out a gun he carried and shoot the bird off the wire." In "The Greatest Rounds": "Show me a man who doesn't know what Arnold did in the last round of the '60 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, and I'll show you a soccer fan in Paraguay." This is a perfect follow up to His Ownself. It even has an Introduction by Sally Jenkins, one of the country's top sportswriters and Dan's own darling daughter.
Unhappy Endings
Chris Philbrook - 2015
With stories by;Chris PhilbrookAlan MacRaffenJoe TremblayJ.C. FiskeAnd more…
The Fargenstropple Case (Terrence Morgan Mysteries #1)
Lia London - 2012
He was wrong. This time stolen family jewels, an enigmatic debutante and radio-controlled ferrets make the case a real mystery. Full of witty dialogue, slapstick humor, and plot twists, THE FARGENSTROPPLE CASE is sure to amuse and intrigue you.
Your Body Is Changing
Jack Pendarvis - 2007
In the title novella a fundamentalist teenager must single-handedly confront the challenges of a spiritual quest involving secular humanists, an apocalyptic folk artist, and his own misguided hormones. The other stories deal poignantly with among other things a young millionaire pretending to be a detective, the good folks who invented the diarrhea-inducing chewing gum, and a tollbooth operator who becomes an impromptu drug mule. Underlying each comedic gem and neurotic twist is an intelligence and empathy rarely found in modern satire. Your Body Is Changing will invite you in with its zany humor and indict you with its moving truths.
Young Donald
Michael Bennett - 2020
Now, limbs terminally akimbo, Teddy’s body lies in a pool of blood in Jessup Quadrangle. And at the center of the investigation at the prestigious New Jersey Military Academy is young Donald.Surely blame for Teddy’s accidental death should not rest with him, Donald reasons. But how? Can people be convinced that Teddy took his own life? Can suspicion be cast on Stanley Wong, the Academy’s only Asian cadet? And with Teddy gone, who can Donald enlist to help him avoid blame?From New York real-estate moguls to Hong Kong triad bosses, Donald’s web of lies soon spins further than he could have ever imagined.
Best Books of 2013: Reader's Guide
Amazon Books - 2013
This free Kindle book features interviews, essays, excerpts, and other fun extras about the year’s top 20 titles: Donna Tartt talks about her eating habits while writing The Goldfinch; Khaled Hosseini’s publicist discusses what it’s like to be on a national tour with him; David Finkel discusses the emotional impact following the 2-16 infantry battalion in Thank You for Your Service; and much more.
Down Aisle Ten
Daniel Friedland - 2012
The first sufferer is Harold Greensmeyer, who contracts USAC while at the supermarket. He is soon confined to a mental hospital, where he encounters a cast of curious characters – the compulsive psychiatrist who tries to treat him, a woman convinced that she and Harold are fated to marry, and a befuddled cop who believes Harold is a mystic. When USAC spreads and the hospital is quarantined, they escape together in search of answers, love, and a cure.
The Study of Anglophysics
Scott Alexander - 2014
Michael Adwell. They discover this world does not run on the same physics as our own.
A Play On Words
Deric Longden - 1999
The theme is the experience of Longden watching LOST FOR WORDS become a TV drama along with a collection of observations of life at home and abroad.
Malaika
Van Heerling - 2010
Not sure if it was the scent of coffee lackadaisically meandering across the Serengeti that brought us to our serendipitous moment (do big cats drink coffee?), or if it was that she had told me she'd be here soon. I generally don't have conversations with animals- other than the human kind. I suppose if the dialogue occurs while dreaming you aren't crazy, right? As far as how I came about to live just inside Kenya at the Tanzanian border overlooking the Serengeti, well, that is another lifetime dappled with hurt and a lost love elsewhere in the world- I won't bore you with the details. I wanted to get as far away from that pain as I could. The 'geti is about as distant as I could travel. Funny, no matter how far one travels the past is just a moment, just a thought away. I will not taint this story with that past. This is a story of a more recent past, of a friendship- the most important friendship I've ever had. I live east of a village. I am the only white man for probably twenty miles or more. I suppose there could be a few around or many in town but I haven't seen any. This life can be hard to adapt to, especially when one is accustomed to the rote American life of excess for its own sake. Pressure. That is part of the reason why I left. No, this is a lie. It's not why I left, but I promised I wouldn't scar this story with my American past. There may be a trace of it betrayed here and there but I will do my best to check such impulses. Where was I, oh yes- life is slower here; not in a dimwitted way, but in a take-a-deep-breath-and-live kind of way. Speaking of breaths, I promised that I wouldn't start smoking again. But that was in my old life. I made a lot of promises then, this is now. I don't smoke processed cigarettes- Western market contraband. No, my good friend Abasi is a tobacco farmer. Did I say he is a good friend; he's a great friend, genuine, forthright and not afraid to smack the hell out of you when you need it, or deserve it. More often than not I am the latter. Who would have known I'd have to travel half way around the world to find a friend that wasn't a sycophant. One of his virtues is that he doesn't know the meaning of the word. I teach Absko, his son, English in exchange for fresh tobacco, among other things. Truth told I'd do it for free. He knows this. Sometimes I work the fields with him. Wielding a machete and tying bundles is unbearably taxing at times but I try not to let it show on my face- though everyone knows, I'm not fooling anyone. One could say I'm paying for my deep-seated American complacency I suppose. I must make one point very clear: I am not "anti-American-way." Far from it. This is, like I said, just a different way of life. It is nothing here to slaughter your own food or dig your own latrine, or hear of children starving to death, despite Doctors Without Borders. Unsheltered is what I'm saying. Far from texting and Ipods. I will one day go back. Maybe.
Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories
Amy Cross - 2016
A girl keeps hold of her mother's necklace, as bloodied hands try to tear it from her grasp... A gun jams, even as its intended victim begs the universe to let her die... Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Amy Cross. Some of the stories take place in seemingly ordinary towns, whose inhabitants soon discover something truly shocking lurking beneath the veneer of peace and calm. Others show glimpses of vast, barbaric worlds where deadly forces gather to toy with humanity. All the stories in this collection peel back the face of a nightmare, revealing the horror that awaits. And in every one of the stories, some kind of monster lurks... Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories contains the new stories Perfect Little Monsters, I Hate You, Meat, Fifty Fifty and Stay Up Late, as well as a revised version of the previously-released story The Scream. This book contains scenes of violence, as well as strong language.
Doubletakes: Pairs of Contemporary Short Stories
T. Coraghessan Boyle - 2003
Coraghessan Boyle, DOUBLETAKES: PAIRS OF CONTEMPORARY SHORT STORIES gives readers the opportunity to enjoy the works of today's literary lights through close reading and analysis.
How to Rule the World
Tibor Fischer - 2018
A city robbing and killing people since 50BC.The Vizz: an industry in crisis. Baxter Stone, a film maker and television veteran, a lifelong Londoner (who thinks he sees better than others) is having problems in the postbrain, crumbling capital. Swindled by an insurance company, he's in in debt; a Lamborghini is blocking his drive and MI6 is blocking his mobile reception. He hopes to turn it round and get the documentary series that will get him the Big Money. But what do you do if history is your sworn enemy and the whole world conspires against you? Is there any way, you could, for a moment, rule the world justly?Darkly comic, How to Rule The World follows Baxter's battle for truth, justice and classy colour grading as it takes him from the pass of Thermopylae, to the peacocking serial killers of Medieval France, and the war in Syria. A trip from the Garden of Eden to Armageddon, plus reggae.Demonstrating Fischer's inimitable talent for eviscerating social satire, How to the Rule the World is a magnificently funny read to stand alongside his best loved works, the Man Booker shortlisted Under the Frog, The Thought Gang and Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid, all of which Corsair will publish in e-book next year.
Knitting Up a Murder (Yarn Genie Mysteries Book #1)
Celeste Bennett - 2015
On the run, she sheds her rich identity and navigates life without servants or money. When she chooses undercover FBI agent Frank Bachman's car to hide in, she begins the wildest journey of her life. When her husband is found murdered by her knitting needle, Imogene enlists Frank's help to find the true killer and recover her stolen money. Imogene and Frank must sidestep their growing attraction in order to unwind the web of deceit that surrounds her. As the truth unravels, Imogene learns the truth about her life, her marriage and why more than one person wants her dead.