Modern Short Stories

A short, strange story for every week of the year—about the systems we live inside and rarely question. This book is a collection of 52 observational stories, each one capturing a small, familiar moment that quietly shapes how modern life works: the email thread that never ends, the approval that’s never stated, the shortcut that becomes mandatory, the default no one questions, the ending that never quite arrives. Nothing dramatic happens in these stories. And yet, something always shifts. Each piece stands alone, written in a calm, precise, almost documentary style—examining meetings...

A selection of the best and most representative contemporary American short fiction from 1970 to 2020, including such authors as Ursula K. LeGuin, Toni Cade Bambara, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sandra Cisneros, and Ted Chiang, hand-selected by celebrated editor and anthologist John Freeman. IN THE PAST fifty...

Are you bored with bedtime stories about princes and princesses, gnomes, wizards, and dragons? Do you want something more realistic, closer to our time? Do you also need bedtime stories to make sense, teach a moral lesson, and raise interesting topics? Everything you need is here! A Collection of Fantastic Short Bedtime Stories for kids contains 10 five-minute fantasy stories that you can read aloud to your child before going to bed. No princesses here–these stories are about space, other planets, aliens, artificial intelligence, robots, cloning, portals, and modern technologies. There ...

A Collection of Short Tales is an anthology of unique stories that will capture one's imagination. Characters that you might cheer or jeer for are woven into these stories. Maybe... just maybe you will get lost within a tale and emerge a new person. Or maybe... just maybe you will have a good laugh. Either way dive into this compilation of distinctive stories and have fun.

Mysterious, funny, insightful, and heartbreaking, these are tales of expatriates and exiles, wise children and straying saints. They compose a secret history, both intimate and panoramic, of modern times, and offer a kaleidoscopic impression of the world within a world that is Paris.

The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by a diverse and exciting array of writers, including Wendell Berry, Alice Hoffman, Dave Eggers, Ling Ma, Lori Ostlund, and Anthony Marra. Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's...

Rediscover the magic and menace of Grimms Fairy Tales in a fresh edition crafted for today’s readers. This Adapted for Modern Readers version keeps the original plots, moods, and morals intact while refining archaic phrasing, cleaning up inconsistent punctuation, and presenting clear, contemporary typography. Enjoy smooth, consistent formatting on every device, lightly clarified language that never talks down to you, and a reading experience that lets the stories shine without distraction. Rooted in the oral traditions of nineteenth-century Europe, these timeless tales explore justice, ...

Discover a modern way to learn Latin American Spanish through short stories designed for today's world. If you are tired of outdated textbooks and stiff dialogues, this audiobook offers a fresh approach for learners who want real results. Inside Learn Spanish with 27 Modern Short Stories for Beginners & Intermediates, you will hear 27 contemporary stories filled with natural conversation, everyday vocabulary, and situations that feel current and relatable.

The Hunt Collected Short Fiction 2011-2024 The crew of a whaling ship find something truly horrific lurking in the ocean depths. An old man decides it's time to fight back against the pile that has ruined his life. Two brothers find their way back from death so they can keep killing each other. A group of friends find their past catching up with them on a disturbing new tv game show. A loner improves his life heeding the advice of an unwanted arachnid house guest. A man bitterly regrets his decision to go ahead with a fox hunt after protestors warn him not to. 25 of the best short stories ...

The Big Book of Scary Stories 2 is a massive collection of horror short stories built for readers who want fast, brutal chills with zero filler. Open to any page and you’re dropped straight into a fresh nightmare - the kind that starts with a normal moment (a ferry ride home, a hospital corridor, a quiet street) and then tilts sideways into something wrong. This volume delivers creepy tales, ghost stories, and supernatural horror with a sharp edge of modern dread — the feeling that the world is still the world… but something is watching from just outside the light. You’ll find ...

With this, his first collection of stories, Raymond Carver breathed new life into the American short story and instantly became both the recognized master of the form and one of our best-loved fiction writers. Carver shows us the humor and tragedy that dwell in the hearts of ordinary people; his stories are the classics of our time.

After the loss of her mother, a woman returns to the San Fernando Valley only to uncover a haunting secret about her childhood friend. A visiting professor at a charming but strange California liberal arts college must face her past in order to protect her son. A sister, lost in the woods, confronts the dangerous truth about her brother, her stepmother, and herself. Rose's dog Wolfie has died, and three seductive women offer to help return him to her. But only if she will pay the price.

From mystery and crime to romance and tragedy, in this collection you will discover award-winning writing that effortlessly spans genre and style. Witness the excess and luxury of 1920s America in The Great Gatsby, experience profound meditations on death in The Bridge of San Luis Rey, as well as Poirot's very first murder case in The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Step back into Baker Street with a Sherlock Holmes who feels as sharp and readable as if he were written today. This refreshed edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes presents Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tales in clean, contemporary typography and carefully clarified language, preserving every twist, deduction, and dry joke. Archaic phrasing and cluttered layouts have been gently updated, making Holmes’s brilliance and Watson’s narration instantly accessible for modern readers and new fans alike. Set against the fog-bound streets and drawing rooms of Victorian London, these stories...

The Ultimate Modern Classics Collection: Volume One is the first instalment in our classics collection focusing on the most important and iconic novels, stories, and poems of the 20th century. Featuring 22 essential modern classics from Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Hesse, Agatha Christie, Virigna Woolf, and many more, and read by a cast of incredible narrators including David Rintoul, Robert G. Slade, Karen Cass, Nathan Osgood, amongst others, this is an essential addition to your library.

Paul Auster's signature work, The New York Trilogy, consists of three interlocking novels: City of Glass, Ghosts, and The Locked Room - haunting and mysterious tales that move at the breathless pace of a thriller.

What if Sleeping Beauty was never waiting for the prince? What if she was simply waiting to remember that she could wake herself? Award-winning author Mollie Mathews has written a luminous modern reimagining of Sleeping Beauty for every woman who has ever waited for someone else to change before allowing herself to be happy. As Aurora returns to an abandoned novel and rediscovers the astonishing pleasure of her own company, an ancient fairy tale begins rewriting itself inside her. Awakened Beauty is a lyrical, life-affirming story about boundaries, creativity, aging, love, freedom and the ...

Featured in the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots Bestselling author Ken Liu selects his multiple award-winning stories for a groundbreaking collection—including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume. With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu...

Like the creation myths they supersede, the revelations of science are seared into our collective imagination through storytelling. From Archimedes' bath to Newton's apple, vivid accounts of scientific discovery help us understand the principles behind each theory, and add to the larger narrative of how the universe works, and how we came to be here. This anthology draws out and distils science's love of narrative from a wide range of scientific disciplines, weaving theory into very human stories.

More than 24 hours of Druids, dragons, demigods, and danger fill this modern Arthurian epic omnibus set! Legacies are forged through sacrifice.