Sweet Land

Read by Ellen Burstyn “Harper Lee’s wry humor is on ample display. . . . Each story illuminates Lee’s quintessential talents as the ‘balladeer of small-town culture’ and the chronicler of city life. . . . The Land of Sweet Forever reinforces Lee’s indelible voice, contributing a...

Bishop E.W. Jackson’s life story unites Americans around a shared legacy of freedom. As a great grandson of slaves, he believes that the promise of liberty has always belonged to all Americans. For some, only their heirs would be the full beneficiaries.

In Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies, food writer Rossi Anastopoulo cracks open our relationship to pie with wit and good humor. She traces the pies woven into our history, following the evolution of our country across centuries of innovation and change and examining how America’s relationship with this iconic dessert impacted culture across eras—and vice versa.

The settlement of North America was the beginning of a new era in human history. The oppressive laws, habits, and customs of the Old World no longer held such power over those who had made the treacherous journey across the Atlantic. No reigning monarch or dictatorial power ever stepped onto the ground of North America. Yet, despite this, the men and women of the 13 colonies of North America were still not free until they threw off the shackles of England's government and asserted their own rights.

A blacksmith with a quiet heart. A candy maker with big dreams. A matchmaking child who believes in miracles—and a town where danger hides behind friendly smiles. In Cedar Ridge, Montana, Emily Harper is known for two things: her sweet shop’s famous candy, and her steady determination to grow the family business. Love isn't on her radar—especially not with so much on her plate. But when a tumble off a ladder lands her in the arms of the town’s brooding blacksmith, everything changes. Thomas Benton never planned on falling again. As a widower raising a spirited six-year-old and ...

One of America’s premier writers, the bestselling author of Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, The Book of Daniel, and World’s Fair turns his astonishing narrative powers to the short story in five dazzling explorations of who we are as a people and how we live. Ranging over the American continent...

A secret alliance, A dangerous mission, A deadly enemy. Twelve-year-old Shem wants one thing—to become a warrior. But his father, Noah, is too busy building a giant ark to train him. The world mocks his family, and Shem is tired of feeling left out and embarrassed. He’s ready to trade his tools for a sword and show the Cobras, the toughest gang in the city, that he’s not just some weird kid with a crazy dad. When Shem makes a secret deal with the son of a family rival, he finally gets the training he’s always wanted. But something isn’t right.

Dominique Laxalt was 16 when he left the French Pyrenees for America. He became a sheepherder in the Nevada desert and nearby hills of the Sierra. Like all his fellow Basque immigrants, Dominique dreamed of someday returning to the land of his beginnings. Most Basques never made the journey back, but Dominique finally did return for a visit with family and friends. Sweet Promised Land is the story of that trip, told by his son Robert, who accompanied him to the pastoral mountain village of Tardets in France.

Andrea Zurita was a young woman, there seemed no reason for her sudden illness and death, but there were things that should be done and so the local Mirukus, shaman had come. A few words, prayers, the shaman was a transplanted Haitian: They understood most of what he said, but not everything. He had left and they had prepared her for burial. She was washed and dressed in a plain white cotton dress. The second day came and the family came to call, leaving their wishes where she lay in her grandmother's home. The third day came and the burial was coming. Cousins, men who worked in a ...

Stella Sparks has no time for love—not when her 30 Before 30 list is calling and her new job depends on reviving rockstar Rhys James’s image before he headlines Winter Lights Live. The trouble? Rhys isn’t interested in playing America’s perfect popstar anymore, especially when his label insists he sing the cheesy Christmas hit he’s grown to hate. And Stella, who once had his poster taped to her teenage bedroom wall, is no longer swooning—she’s determined to keep things professional.

This unique collection of American stories from the frozen tundra of Alaska to the lush green hills of Virginia; from the sweltering bayous of Louisiana to the windswept prairies of South Dakota is told in DeSpain's signature gentle style. Every reader will find something of interest - the stories range from practical tales of wisdom such as “Pulling the Rope” to silly and scary ones such as “The Haint that Roared” and “The Big, Smelly, Hairy Toe.” The stories' represent not only the geographic diversity of the United States but also offer a portrait of our nation's values, ...

The hand was mangled. It looked chewed, a finger missing, maybe an accident with a dog, his mind supplied. Accidents with dogs happened. He watched the little boy stumble along. The arm a grotesque parody of a real arm, swinging freely from its shoulder socket. Their eyes met a moment later, but it was already too late for the little boy. Roux had used his hands to prop his knees so he could stand. A second of standing had told him he could walk, and a single limping step had told him he could walk well enough. It had probably been the standing, his mind supplied now. His feet scraping on ...

Return to a World of Pure Wonder! 🦄✨ Elora's Dreamland Adventures: Book #2 is a brand-new collection of enchanting quests that will sweep readers back into a world brimming with starlight, sweet melodies, and shimmering magic. Join Elora, a courageous and curious little dreamer, and her inseparable best friend, Daisy the doll, as they once again journey beyond the clouds to the magnificent realm of Dreamland. Guided by their cheerful, glittering friend Sparkleboo, Elora and Daisy embark on twenty new whimsical quests to save the magic of the night. Twenty New Adventures Await: 🌟 ✯...

Brought to you by Penguin. *Narrated by Academy, Tony and Primetime Emmy Award winner Ellen Burstyn* From the beloved bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a posthumous collection of newly discovered writing, offering a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary mind behind To Kill a...

Social media comedian Heather Land uses her trademark sassy, laugh-out-loud humor to remind us of the many ways that real life can be really funny. Heather Land has something to say about almost everything in life—the unbelievable, inconceivable, and downright frustrating—and why she...

The scarcely populated town of Sweetland rests on the shore of a remote Canadian island. Its slow decline finally reaches a head when the mainland government offers each islander a generous resettlement package - the sole stipulation being that everyone must leave. Fierce and enigmatic Moses Sweetland, whose ancestors founded the village, is the only one to refuse. As he watches his neighbors abandon the island, he recalls the town's rugged history and its eccentric cast of characters.

My apartment had been a testament to my former life. Walls adorned with schematics and whiteboards filled with arcane symbols. Bookshelves overflowing with volumes on computer science, algorithms, and theoretical physics. The air had always smelled faintly of ozone and the metallic tang of new electronics. It was a space of intense focus, of dedicated intellectual pursuit. The idea of being truly alone, stripped of the constant, stimulating hum of technology and the implicit safety net of organized society, would have been utterly alien. I’d prided myself on my ability to navigate complex...

Sister Mary Francis spoke to the four young women under her care, “Each of you has been given a chance to change your life. It will be up to you to decide if what I am offering is something you are willing to do. You will have the opportunity to refuse this new life or to work together and become sisters in all ways in your new life. “Those of you who choose to become part of this family will be starting your new lives in the wilderness far away from here, away from everything and everyone in your past. You will assume new identities. A homestead claim has been bought and paid for with ...

He’d made mistakes...more than a few and probably didn’t deserve the second chance he’d been given. But he was going to do everything he could to prove himself worthy of it. Ray didn’t have a single doubt that a number of individuals were wondering where he’d disappeared to. With luck it would stay that way...but if it didn’t he probably wouldn’t be around to worry about it. Not even a week ago he’d arrived on the island with a windfall of money to his name but no where to go. Being given another chance was the last thing he expected when he arrived...or that it came from ...

She’s making a run toward hope, love, and family and she’s not letting go. Orphaned as a young girl, Ella longs for a life she’s only read about in books. To escape a desperate situation, she heads west as a mail-order bride, narrowing her choice of spouse to three brothers, a millwright, a businessman, and a horse trainer, all searching for a marriage of convenience which will provide the inheritance that will finance the family’s business venture in Oklahoma. Newspapers claim the unchartered territory is a land where streams flow with milk and the heavens rain down a supply of ...