Calamity and Other Stories


Book Description

Twelve luminous stories alive with friendship and secrets introduce a remarkable writer. Daphne Kalotay’s characters confront regrets and unrealized hopes in tales tinged with gentle humor. A newly independent woman finds herself in bed with an ex-husband of long ago. A little girl gets a surprising glimpse into adulthood when she catches her mother in a moment of uninhibited pleasure. A thirteen-year-old boy contends with the unwanted attentions of a younger girl. And for two older women, a tie formed in their youth sustains them through varied twists of fate. These are dazzling intertwined tales of love, failure, and the comedy of human relationships.




The First Book of Calamity Leek


Book Description

Brilliantly inventive and original. This debut novel tells the story of Calamity Leek: a girl who has never been allowed beyond the garden wall, until now. Lying in her hospital bed, broken, burned and scared, Calamity still believes that Aunty loved her. For as long as she can remember, Calamity, along with her sixteen sisters, lived in a Garden behind the Wall of Safekeeping. Like it said in Aunty's Appendix on the first page of the Ps: 'Everything has a purpose', and they were being trained for a very special one. In the Ns the Appendix said, 'Nosiness leads to nonsense'. As Calamity sees it, this is what led to their Garden's downfall, because when the sisters started questioning what was outside the Wall, they started questioning what was happening inside it too. But doubt is contagious. Watching your world crumble is frightening. And people who are frightened can be dangerous.




Calamity Joe


Book Description

Reality has begun to show its age, have you noticed? Joe has. Calamity Joe is the pen name of the mysterious narrator in a new kind of poetry collection. Spending his days in a lab, talking to mice & microbes, he will soon be the last living member of his family. More and more life seems to hint at its syntax and Joe feels that he can just make out the page he inhabits. Drastic measures are called for, but for what? Poet Brendan Constantine hasnÆt crafted another “novel in verse, ” but a secret life revealed by poetry. Open it anywhere and be rewarded with poems that stand alone; read it from the beginning and discover the deeper context that ties every image together. As with his previous collections, Constantine employs countless approaches to poetry and no single style dominates. Looking through JoeÆs eyes we understand that life has no single story, that love is not a single feeling, and that consciousness may be an act of sheer will.




The Calamity


Book Description

I've made a mess of things again. Not that anybody is surprised. After I'm politely asked to withdraw from college for my antics, I return home to my family's cattle ranch. The sweeping views, the towering pine trees, and the whisper of the wind remind me I belong on this land. My heart is in the alpine air, my soul mixed into the soil. All I've ever wanted is to run the ranch alongside my oldest brother, but my family refuses to see me as anything but a walking disaster. If I'm going to show them what I'm capable of, I have to prove myself. Lucky for me, I'm a Hayden through and through. I'll dirty my hands in more ways than one. That includes the man who showed up in town again after all these years. Sawyer Bennett. I've heard the stories about his family, and they don't scare me. Our attraction is undeniable, and the best part? Sawyer looks at me with fresh eyes. When I'm with him, I get to be the woman I'm fighting to become. And I'm learning just how much I want to be that woman. But then I make the ultimate mistake: I utter the word perfect. I should've known better. There's nowhere to go but down after that. And down we go, until we hit rock bottom. Sawyer unearths a long-buried secret, and challenges everything my brothers and I grew up believing. Nobody is surprised I've brought disaster to our doorstep again, but it's not over. Because when it rains out on the ranch? It pours.




A Kitty Calamity


Book Description

The SIXth novel from the MacMillan Prize for Picture Book Illustration's winner Kate Pankhurst. The perfect book for 7-9 yr olds who love funny stories with quirky illustrations like DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, the DORK DIARIES and CLARICE BEAN. Mariella Mystery (That's me!) - totally amazing girl detective, aged nine and a bit. Able to solve the most mysterious mysteries and perplexing problems, even before breakfast. There's a catnapping epidemic in Puddleford! More moggies are going missing every day, and Mariella and the Mystery Girls are determined to discover what's going on. When trusty feline sidekick Watson becomes the latest pet to be lured away, the situation becomes truly desperate. Can Mariella uncover the truth... before it's too late?




Aether Spark


Book Description

When alchemists from the dregs of a luckless city unlock the mysteries of the Aether, their world becomes a bit more volatile as a mechanist seeks to steal their secret for himself. It's a fight to be recognized, but at what cost?Full of discovery, desperation, and disaster, Aether Spark shows just how destructive man's ambitions can be.




Vassal


Book Description

"The empty classroom Etienne had chosen for their incantation no longer resembled a quiet place of learning. He had shoved the desks against the walls, their legs standing rigid in the damp air like things newly dead and haphazardly piled out of his way. The floor was all but covered in a vast, perfectly circular rune chalked in intricate, swirling patterns. Candles in different stages of melting decay stood at regular intervals, casting flickering light onto stone walls... "Let's just get this over with," Alphonse murmured, holding her free hand out for the incantation." One Goddess. One mortal woman. An entire world at stake. Allee and Etienne have been friends since they first came to the Moxous school of Magics, but when they unwittingly release a terrible, ancient power, their bond will be tested in the journey toward fixing their mistakes. Delyth was raised to faithfully serve the Goddess Enyo at the temple where she was abandoned as a babe, so when the sword, Calamity, is thrust into her keeping, she faces the task of protecting the Goddess's Vassal with equanimity. Only, no amount of training could have prepared Delyth for the strain on her loyalties caused by the beautiful Vassal herself; under enough pressure, even the beliefs of a lifetime will bend. Love, friendship, and betrayal will all blossom on the path to Thlonandras in this first book of The Call of Calamity Series. What readers are saying: "I would definitely recommend this to a friend. This book was a must-read for any LGBT+ fantasy lover. The characters are complex, root-able, and at times infuriating (in the best way). The book dives into themes of religion, sexuality, and inner strength. If you are looking for a tender story between two women, in a world that allows you to escape our own, this book contains an epic journey and one hell of a love story!" -Lauren L. "I would describe it as an old world where Gods once walked the earth. Gods with personality, Gods with flaws just like the humans they rule over. A world where magic coexists with the people in it. A world where everything has a price." -Joseph S. "The conversations, thoughts, and emotions of the characters are the greatest strengths of this book. It never fails to meet expectations, nor does it ever fail to make sense. There is humor, wit, sorrow, angst, and so much else to enjoy." -Franz K.




The Calamity of Desire and Other Stories


Book Description

Told from the female gaze, these stories explore the intersection of history, ambition, heartbreak, and desire, with the work of art at the center of each narrative.




Stir In Stillness And Other Stories


Book Description

Most Of The Short Stories In This Collection Have Social Backdrop As Their Themes. Perhaps My Observant Eye Helped Me In Picking Up The Themes Which Revolve Around A Common Person Or An Ordinary Person. Almost All The Short Stories Deal With The Problems And Issues That Afflict Our Society These Days, Without Any Explicit Solutions.




The Lurking Fear and Other Stories


Book Description

Howard Lovecraft was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Despite the fact that he was virtually unknown before he died, today he is known as the most influential author in his genre. “The Lurking Fear and Other Stories” is a collection of wonderful short stories such as “The Lurking Fear,” “The Shunned House,” “The Colour.” These stories, full of mystery and fantastic creatures, have captured the minds of readers all over the world.