Adult

The 10 stories in George Saunders’s latest collection demonstrate why he is considered a modern master of short fiction. From “Victory Lap,” the tale of an attempted abduction, to “The Semplica Girl Diaries,” in which families employ Asian women as live garden ornaments, Saunders’s gift for inventive plots and vivid detail, and his ability to home in on moments that quickly define character, have never been used to more stunning effect. Believe the hype.

Newland Archer is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, when May's cousin, Countess Olenska, is introduced into their circle. Her sorrowful eyes and her air of unapproachability attract the sensitive Newland and, almost against their will, a passionate bond develops. But Archer's life has no place for passion, and he finds himself drawn into a bitter conflict between love and duty.

When her father dies and she is left in the care of her conniving brother Laban, Rebekah knows her life has changed forever. Her hope for the future is restored when she falls in love with her cousin Isaac, and their relationship starts strong. But marital bliss cannot last forever, and the birth of their twin sons marks the beginning of years of misunderstanding, disagreement and betrayal.

Feisty wedding photographer Hannah McDermott is dealing with the ultimate Bridezilla. Still, she's trying desperately to impress Bella Neeley, Galveston Island's most sought-after wedding planner, so she can take the top spot in Bella's list of recommended photographers --- a spot currently occupied by her arch-rival, Drew Kincaid. What she doesn't count on, however, is falling head over heels for the competition.

Once, they were the happiest family under the sun, crabbing and fishing and painting on beautiful Edisto Island in South Carolina’s lowcountry. Then everything went wrong, and 20 years later the Bennett family is still in pieces. Then an emergency forces Julia back to Edisto to care for her three young half-siblings, and she grudgingly agrees to stay a week. But there’s something about Edisto that changes people.

Worldwide, women are the targets of prejudice, sex trafficking, abuse, and even gendercide. Lisa Bevere writes that these attacks say more about who women might be in the future than who they have been in the past. In GIRLS WITH SWORDS, she explains a spiritual enemy is seeking to disarm women on every level. It’s time that women become the heroes God created them to be and stand --- courageous, discerning, forgiving and wise.

There is much about heaven that we don't yet understand. And while thoughts on our final destiny may stir questions, they needn't stir our fears. In BEYOND HEAVEN'S DOOR, Max Lucado takes us on a journey from finding certainty in our destination to God's great promises of the hereafter. Open the door and catch a glimpse of the joy that awaits you in heaven --- and find hope for today in the process.

A dejected teenager discovers that the universe is communicating with him through talismanic objects left behind in a seagull’s nest. A massage therapist discovers she has the power to heal by manipulating the tattoos on a war veteran’s lower torso. Two vampires in a sun-drenched lemon grove try helplessly to slake their thirst for blood. And this only scratches the surface of what appears in Karen Russell’s new collection of stories.

In this first collection of short stories from bestselling author Jess Walter, the pieces range from comic tales of love to social satire and suspenseful crime fiction. Among them are "We Live in Water," in which a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared 30 years earlier, and the collection's final story, which transforms slyly from a portrait of Walter's hometown into a moving contemplation of our times.