Creepy Tales of Unexplained Disappearances & Mysterious Deaths


Steph Young - 2017
    Everyone loves a mystery….right? In this book, we travel down some winding and twisting paths as the stories become stranger and ever more mysterious as we look into the most mysterious, baffling and cryptic of cases. We meet a range of the most intriguing characters, a whole host of the strangest of circumstances, and the most interesting clues that have been found along the way. Creepy Tales of Mysteries of the Unexplained; Mysterious Vanishings and Unexplained Disappearances, Missing People, and Unexplained deaths…….. Perhaps you can solve some of these cases…… Many have tried…….But can you find the answers? True Tales of the most baffling & cryptic Unexplained Vanishings & Mysterious Deaths & the cryptic clues left behind. Unexplained Vanishings & Mysterious Deaths; there are Creepy Mysteries of the Unexplained....by bestselling author Steph Young. Join me on my Podcast, "Creepy Mysteries of the Unexplained," The Masquerade Podcast with Steph Young, for more strange and unexplained cryptic cases, missing people, and unexplained mysteries.

Ninja Pug: Retrieving the Stolen Books


Amma Lee - 2017
    Jiro is Hanzo's only companion. They do everything and go everywhere together, but Jiro has a secret. Every morning when Hanzo trains using his ninja skills, Jiro watches him intently soaking in Hanzo’s every move and technique. When Hanzo is gone or asleep, Jiro practices everything he’s learned from Hanzo. The surprising twist is that Jiro is a dog, a small pug to be exact! Since Hanzo was the last of his family after losing his only son, Ichiro, in a car accident and his grandson, Ryoichi, who went missing shortly after, Jiro has made it his duty to become Hanzo’s successor! But Hanzo’s world seems to go downhill fast once their home is broken into and some important books were discovered missing. Not wanting the old man to suffer any more than he has, Jiro decides to find Hanzo’s missing books. Jiro teams up with Luna, a white poodle, and they embark on a mission to retrieve Hanzo’s books from the thieves. What the two small dogs were not expecting was that these books contain the power of the Hakumoto Clan. What is even more surprising is that the thieves happened to be highly talented and trained ninjas. Jiro’s life is instantly turned upside down as secrets are revealed and someone from Jiro’s past might have come back into his’ and Hanzo’s life. Follow Jiro and Luna on their journey in “Ninja pug: Retrieving the Stolen Books.”

Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River


Alice Albinia - 2008
    For millennia it has been worshipped as a god; for centuries used as a tool of imperial expansion; today it is the cement of Pakistans fractious union. Five thousand years ago, a string of sophisticated cities grew and traded on its banks. In the ruins of these elaborate metropolises, Sanskrit-speaking nomads explored the river, extolling its virtues in Indias most ancient text, the Rig-Veda. During the past two thousand years a series of invaders Alexander the Great, Afghan Sultans, the British Raj made conquering the Indus valley their quixotic mission. For the people of the river, meanwhile, the Indus valley became a nodal point on the Silk Road, a centre of Sufi pilgrimage and the birthplace of Sikhism. Empires of the Indus follows the river upstream and back in time, taking the reader on a voyage through two thousand miles of geography and more than five millennia of history redolent with contemporary importance.

Out of Breath


Julie Myerson - 2008
    And suddenly there's a strange boy at the bottom of Flynn's garden. Soon, she and her wayward brother Sam are walking out of the house in the middle of a hot summer's night and crossing four fields to find him again. But as well as the boy, Flynn and Sam find a whole gang of runaway kids. There's Diana, who's just had a baby. There's Mouse, who's only five and likes to set fire to things. And there is the boy himself, who stirs up feelings in Flynn that she's never felt before.But there's also someone else - the unspeakably malign and terrifying presence they're all running from. Escaping him, they stumble on an amazing and extraordinary house by a waterfall, a house which seems to offer safety and meets their every desire and need - or does it? The youngest character in the novel is one day old, and the oldest only seventeen. But the themes that lie at the heart of this ferociously original story are as adult, unsettling and universal as those of Julie Myerson's other novels.

Azadi


Arundhati Roy - 2020
    Ironically, it also became the chant of millions on the streets of India against the project of Hindu Nationalism.Even as Arundhati Roy began to ask what lay between these two calls for Freedom—a chasm or a bridge?—the streets fell silent. Not only in India, but all over the world. The coronavirus brought with it another, more terrible understanding of Azadi, making a nonsense of international borders, incarcerating whole populations, and bringing the modern world to a halt like nothing else ever could.In this series of electrifying essays, Arundhati Roy challenges us to reflect on the meaning of freedom in a world of growing authoritarianism.The essays include meditations on language, public as well as private, and on the role of fiction and alternative imaginations in these disturbing times.The pandemic, she says, is a portal between one world and another. For all the illness and devastation it has left in its wake, it is an invitation to the human race, an opportunity, to imagine another world.

Immeasurably More


Leah Atwood - 2016
     “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” – Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) Come to Me Free by Leah Atwood … Dani Trahan is solely focused on keeping her restaurant afloat, until tragedy strikes. Rob Jackson doesn’t do relationships, but Dani makes him want to believe again. Can they learn to rely on faith to move beyond friendship before it’s too late? If Only in My Dreams by Belle Calhoune … Self-made multimillionaire Brandon Donahue yearns for true love. Principled beauty Rose Maddock, Brandon’s secretary, doesn’t see much in Brandon to find endearing. When he moves his business and Rose to his hometown, will she see a side of him that has her rethinking her decision not to mix business with pleasure? A Reason to Run by Christina Coryell … Camdyn Taylor is a bestselling author, but she carefully guards that secret. Her chaotic personal life isn’t quite so easy to keep hidden, nor is her propensity to run when things aren’t perfect. Will a quest to retrace her ancestor’s footsteps, and a chance meeting with the charming Cole Parker, be enough to convince her to stop running? Love So Amazing by JoAnn Durgin … Dance instructor Ava Carlisle and pedicab owner Sawyer Mancini shed past heartaches to find the kind of love that happens only once in a lifetime. Months after meeting Ava, Sawyer discovers the two share an unfathomable bond. Will a cruel twist of fate tear them apart or is it somehow God’s perfect plan? Blue Columbine by Jennifer Rodewald … Andrew and Jamie have always been best friends – maybe more than friends – until addiction shatters everything. Caught between loyalty and fear, Jamie realizes she cannot be Andrew’s miracle and makes a decision that rips them apart. Can the hand of grace reach into their broken lives to bring redemption to all that has been lost? Saltwater Taffie by Janice Thompson … Taffie Carini enjoys working in her family’s candy store on the Atlantic City boardwalk, but she’s unsure about managing the store after her parents’ impending retirement. When repairman Ryan Antonelli makes a service call at Carini’s, he’s irresistibly drawn to more than just the candy. Can Ryan help Taffie save Carini’s Confections, and will they find sweet love together in the process?

Revolt


Qaisra Shahraz
    Evocative, family drama and love story, rich with contemporary issues, humour, tragedy and conflict. Think Pakistani Jane Austen!

The Golden Legend


Nadeem Aslam - 2017
    Her husband, Massud--a fellow architect--is caught in the cross fire and dies before she can confess her greatest secret to him. Now under threat from a powerful military intelligence officer, who demands that she pardon her husband's American killer, Nargis fears that the truth about her past will soon be exposed. For weeks someone has been broadcasting people's secrets from the minaret of the local mosque, and, in a country where even the accusation of blasphemy is a currency to be bartered, the mysterious broadcasts have struck fear in Christians and Muslims alike. When the loudspeakers reveal a forbidden romance between a Muslim cleric's daughter and Nargis's Christian neighbor, Nargis finds herself trapped in the center of the chaos tearing their community apart.

The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea


Bandi - 2014
    Set during the period of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s leadership, the seven stories that make up The Accusation give voice to people living under this most bizarre and horrifying of dictatorships. The characters of these compelling stories come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from a young mother living among the elite in Pyongyang whose son misbehaves during a political rally, to a former Communist war hero who is deeply disillusioned with the intrusion of the Party into everything he holds dear, to a husband and father who is denied a travel permit and sneaks onto a train in order to visit his critically ill mother. Written with deep emotion and writing talent, The Accusation is a vivid depiction of life in a closed-off one-party state, and also a hopeful testament to the humanity and rich internal life that persists even in such inhumane conditions.

Convenience Boy and Other Stories of Japan


Sujata Massey - 2011
    The title story, "The Convenience Boy," tests Japanese romantic rituals in an unexpectedly humorous way. "Junior High Samurai" sends Rei back to her teaching roots as she becomes entwined in a bullying incident. "The Deepest Blue" is a poignant exploration of the conflict between family love and ambition. This 50-page trilogy is a must for anyone who wants everything related to Rei Shimura.

Unaccustomed Earth


Jhumpa Lahiri - 2008
    But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations,” a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,” a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,” a trio of linked stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome. Unaccustomed Earth is rich with Jhumpa Lahiri’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.

Tori Amos: Lyrics


Tori Amos - 2001
    With over 100 songs, a Foreword by Tori herself, and original artwork by Herb Leonhard.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders


Daniyal Mueenuddin - 2009
    An aging feudal landlord's household staff, the villagers who depend on his favor, and a network of relations near and far who have sought their fortune in the cities confront the advantages and constraints of station, the dissolution of old ways, and the shock of change. Mueenuddin bares—at times humorously, at times tragically—the complexities of Pakistani class and culture and presents a vivid picture of a time and a place, of the old powers and the new, as the Pakistani feudal order is undermined and transformed.

The Buddha of Suburbia


Hanif Kureishi - 1990
    Life gets more interesting, however, when his father becomes the Buddha of Suburbia, beguiling a circle of would-be mystics. And when the Buddha falls in love with one of his disciples, the beautiful and brazen Eva, Karim is introduced to a world of renegade theater directors, punk rock stars, fancy parties, and all the sex a young man could desire. A love story for at least two generations, a high-spirited comedy of sexual manners and social turmoil, The Buddha of Suburbia is one of the most enchanting, provocative, and original books to appear in years.

Bombay Stories


Saadat Hasan Manto - 2012
    Bombay Stories is a collection of Manto’s work from his years in the city. Freshly arrived in 1930s Mumbai, Manto saw a city like no other—an exhilarating hub of license and liberty, and a city bursting with both creative energy and helpless despondency. It was to be Manto’s favourite city, and he was among the first to write the Bombay characters we are now familiar with from countless stories and films—prostitutes, pimps, lowlifes, writers, intellectuals, aspiring film actors, thugs, conmen and crooks. His hard-edged, moving stories remain, a hundred years after his birth, startling and provocative--in searching out those forgotten by humanity, Manto wrote about what it means to be human. Matt Reeck and Aftab Ahmad’s translations reach into the streets and capture in contemporary, idiomatic English the feeling that Urdu’s most celebrated short-story writer’s work stories provide in the original.