Holly Gibney (from Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy and The outsider) must face her fears and possibly another outsider--this time on her own. In "Mr. Harrigan's Phone," an intergenerational friendship has a disturbing afterlife. "The Life of Chuck" explores, beautifully, how each of us contains multitudes. And in "Rat," a struggling writer must contend with the darker side of ambition. If these stories show King's range, they also prove that certain...

""Move over, Ove (in Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove)--there's a new curmudgeon to love."--Booklist (starred review). "Eleanor Oliphant is a truly original literary creation: funny, touching, and unpredictable. Her journey out of dark shadows is absolutely gripping."--Jojo Moyes, #1New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You. "Deft, compassionate and deeply moving -- Honeyman's debut will have you rooting for Eleanor with every turning page."...

When an eclectic group of pilgrims take turns telling tales while on the road to Canterbury Cathedral, the Miller is determined to tell the best story and win the free dinner. He regales his fellow pilgrims with the best tale he knows—a rude and raunchy tale that would be considered scandalous even by today's standards.

This special edition of "The Miller's Tale," one of the most memorable tales from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales,

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Presents a collection of poems by performance poet Sophia Thakur in which she explores what it means to be a woman in today's society through topics such as identity, relationships, self-love, and more.

"Breakfast with a Hangover Dinner for a Charming Stranger Tea for a Crochety Aunt Food for feasting, friends are for savoring, and the way to a man's heart is...irrelevant When her life falls apart on the eve of her 40th birthday, Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn. Cecily's tongue is as sharp as her mind, but she's fed up with pretty much everything. Having...

"Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty-nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to reengage with the world. With her support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting...

"People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget...

Oisín Mahoney is an American Army vet in his 70s who is asked to lead a group of young grand-nieces and grand-nephews on a walk through the hills of California?s Central Coast. Walking toward a setting sun, their destination is a place called The Museum of Rain, which may or may not still exist, and whose origin and meaning are elusive to all. In one of his most elegiac stories, Eggers gives us a beautiful testament to family, memory, and what we...

"On a rainy Sunday afternoon in January the recently widowed Mrs. Palfrey moves to the Claremont Hotel in South Kensington. "If it's not nice, I needn't stay," she promises herself, as she settles into this haven for the genteel and the decayed. "Three elderly widows and one old man who seemed to dislike female company and seldom got any other kind" serve for her fellow residents, and there is the staff, too, and they are one and all lonely. What...

On the graveyard shift at Oscar's Chicken and Fish, Stanley is retiring after 38 years and has to train his young replacement. The Boomer dropout who is leaving this career behind and the Milennial columnist who is making ends meet find ways to connect in the early hours of a quiet kitchen.