Short Century

Carl Brooke, a scholar of ancient Near Eastern languages, now spends his twilight years chronicling the adventures of his youth as a leading member of the Agora Society, a society dedicated to the betterment of man. Fans of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot will enjoy Carl Brooke and his Agora Society in these five very different cases.

Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945. . . .

Bobby Conroy's made a lot of mistakes - the biggest, perhaps, when he let Harriet Rutherford slip away from him. And now the two of them � and Harriet's young son � are all extras on the set of Dawn of the Dead, and Bobby has the chance to see what could have been.

Five stories from influential women writers of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. New Zealand-born Katherine Mansfield settled in England where she wrote a series of short stories that are widely recognized as among the finest of the 20th century for their economy, clarity, sensitivity and effect. "The Garden Party" is one of her most famous, while "Daughters of the Late Colonel" shows a wonderful sense of wit.

Throughout a long career as a special and foreign correspondent for major Italian publications and the state-owned broadcaster RAI, Marco Lupis has been up close and personal with many of the people who have shaped the world as we know it. In this book, Lupis recalls the most important interviews of his career, not only with brave men and women who dedicated their lives to fighting injustice and abuse of power, but also with some of the biggest names of the modern era.

Arthur Roth is a lonely sixth-grader with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting the hell kicked out of him. It's hard to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town.

Movie star Mary Marvell consults with Hercule Poirot after receiving threatening letters that warn her to return her diamond, the famous "Western Star", to its rightful owner. But who does own the diamond, and is it even the genuine article?

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined - this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice. An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside?

A war hero on the run. A girl behind barbed wire. A love letter to hope in the darkest times. In 1944 California, Aiko Takeda writes letters to her childhood friend, Takeshi "Taki" Nakamura, a Nisei soldier serving with the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment in Europe. Through their letters, their bond deepens across oceans and gunfire. But when her letters suddenly stop, Taki fears the worst. Learning of the U.S. government's internment of Japanese Americans, Taki makes a life-altering decision: he deserts his unit and sets out on a perilous journey across continents and borders to find Aiko. ...

There's no end to the things that terrify Homer Feltz: tinfoil, fast food, his shopaholic Aunt Mandy. Only his father, manager of a disastrously bad major-league team, seems to understand him, and offers him any refuge from a world quickly becoming too big, too grown-up, and too crowded with everyday horrors for Homer to manage.

Though best known for his classic novel of Edwardian childhood The Go-Between, L. P. Hartley was also a master of supernatural and macabre fiction, the best of which is collected in The Travelling Grave and Other Stories. This volume demonstrates Hartley's versatility, ranging from traditional ghost stories like "Feet Foremost" and "The Cotillon" to the wonderfully black humor of the horror masterpieces "The Travelling Grave" and "The Killing Bottle". Originally published in 1948 and long out of print, this collection features 12 of Hartley's best tales.

Can love last for decades? Can it survive even after you haven’t seen the person for over fifty years? Find out in this romantic short story about a man and woman’s relationship that lasted for decades. This short interracial romance is only 2,200 words, but it is full of emotion and love. Note that there are racial slurs in the story. Enjoy.

This collection of classic horror tales is as remarkable for its literary value as for its scream factor. You'll hear stories by the masters of the genre, past and present.

In this engrossing account, Judith Herrin explains how scholars, lawyers, doctors, craftsmen, cosmologists and religious luminaries were drawn to Ravenna where they created a cultural and political capital that dominated northern Italy and the Adriatic. As she traces the lives of Ravenna's rulers, chroniclers and inhabitants, Herrin shows how the city became the meeting place of Greek, Latin, Christian and barbarian cultures and the pivot between East and West.

It's Christmas Eve, 1867. Abigail Caldwell anxiously awaits the return of her husband, Dr. David Caldwell, who left that morning to deliver a baby far from the outskirts of town. A snowstorm threatens his safety as he attempts to return home for his first family Christmas. "Christmastide" is a short story that follows the main characters of "The Healing Year". It can be read as a stand-alone story or in concert with the novel, set in Virginia after the Civil War.

With the talents on display the most difficult task is choosing only ten. Their virtuosity, their craft and ambition scare belie the difficulties that society places upon most women. Their words cannot be denied, their literary heritage is safe forever.

The 39 short stories in this book will blow you away. Starting with a ghost story by Rabindranath Tagore, Indias most famous writer, and ending with a fable by Kanishk Tharoor, a writer who has come of age in the 21st century, these literary masterpieces showcase the extraordinary range and diversity of our storytelling tradition.

Ireland is one hundred years old and to commemorate the centenary of Easter Rising 1916 Michelle Jackson has written a collection of short stories reflecting real women's lives through the decades. Starting in 1916, she takes different characters through the fifties and mass emigration, the troubles of the seventies and the decadence of the new millennium. This collection of eight short stories about Irish women is for any one with an interest in Ireland.

Unable to have children, spinster, Clementine Crowell, has immersed herself in the noble calling of placing street orphans in happy homes. After ten years riding the rails as an agent for the Gotham Foundling Asylum Society, Clementine is disheartened by evidence that many of the children she’s helped place are little more than slave labor. On a stopover in Nebraska, she’s pushed over the edge when farmers, Rollie Everhart and Boyd Hammond, get into a fistfight over who will get the older, stronger boy. Rollie came for an orphan boy to help him work his beleaguered farm. He needs help, ...

Winners. Losers. Lovers. There’s only one more football game, and it’s time to go big or go home. A district championship is in reach for the Creekridge Wildcats, but no one is thinking about football. The Creekridge Quarterback, Dan Spencer, tries to forget the passion of a former lover when a new female in his life bestows her affection on him. Two weeks after his car mysteriously caught on fire; Creekridge Halfback, Wayne Myers, discovers his step-mother is willing to forget her knowledge of the incident if Wayne is willing to accept an unusual offer for her silence. Across the ...