World Literature

When Lily was eleven years old, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family, never to be seen or heard from again. Now a new mother herself, Lily becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Swee Hua. She recalls the spring of 1987, growing up in a small British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families; Lily’s previously stateless father wanted to blend seamlessly into Canadian life, while her mother longed to return to Brunei. Eventually, an old family friend provides a clue that sends Lily to Southeast Asia to find out the truth.

In 1923, journalist and budding fiction writer Ernest Hemingway penned 18 original short stories and published them in the magazine The Little Review with the help of his friend Ezra Pound. Hemingway would later add to this collection and re-publish the stories in 1925 under the same title and—after adding an additional story—would again republish the entire volume in 1930, again as in our time (all in lower case). This collection of short stories would mark one of the most auspicious and earth-shattering debuts by an author in literary history.

This is about a boy who was crippled at the early age of seven and started out with a troubled life. A concerned judge had him protected by the court, then he was sent to a boarding school, and later to a distant college. He met a medical student and fell in love, but was called back to Murfreesboro by Judge Chamberlin to inherit the remarkable Vinson Plantation. He became a compassionate person who believed he was given a premonition by the Lord to prepare for a great impending battle. With the friendship of his servant Eli, they prepared the plantation for the inevitable war.

Mira’s body lies lifeless in her designer recliner, an empty pill bottle on the floor beside her. Her frozen eyes are no longer able to see the Seattle city lights sparkling below, and her lungs no longer able to breathe the fresh Puget Sound air. Joined by the spirit of Jakob, who departed his body lying dead on the bloody battlefield of Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, their spirits hover together near the ceiling of her downtown high-rise.

An immense achievement, comprising a decades-long career, of new and collected poetry from one of Canada’s most honored and significant poets. 

So many stories begin the same way: With a prophecy. A chosen one. And the inevitable quest to slay a villain, save the kingdom, and fulfill a grand destiny. But this is not that kind of story. It does begin with a prophecy: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom. And that prophecy did anoint a hero, Jian, raised since birth in luxury and splendor, and celebrated before he has won a single battle. 

As the creator and CEO of the popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, matchmaker Dara Rabinowitz knows the formula for lasting love—at least, for everyone else. When it comes to her own love life, she’s been idling indefinitely. Until her beloved bubbe shares Dara’s checklist for “The Perfect Jewish Husband” on national television and charming news anchor Chris Steadfast proposes they turn Dara’s search into must-see TV. 

In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying, and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers. But these sister's lives—and the lives of their people—are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. They are forced to adopt Confucian teachings, secure marriages, and pay ever‑increasing taxes. 

A one-in-ten-billion natural disaster devastates Chicago. A Jewish comedian, his most devoted fan, and the city’s mayor must struggle to move forward while the world—quite literally—caves beneath their feet. With this polyphonic tale of Chicago-style politics and political correctness, stand-up comedy and Jewish identity, celebrity, drugs, and animal psychology, Levin has constructed a monument to laughter, love, art, and resilience in an age of spectacular loss.

Delhi, 1946. Fourteen-year-old Alma is soon to be married despite her parents’ fear that she is far too young. But times are perilous in India, where the country’s long-awaited independence from the British empire heralds a new era of hope—and danger. In its wake, political unrest ripples across the subcontinent, marked by violent confrontations between Hindus and Muslims. The conflict threatens to unravel the rich tapestry of Delhi—a city where different cultures, religions, and traditions have co-existed for centuries. 

A parable that teaches the listener to reconsider preconceived notions or ideas before running with them.

Dorothy Parker - social commentator, political reformer, and legendary wit - has enjoyed a special place in American culture for almost a century, and Enough Rope is an early example of Parker's unique and wry commentary on modern life.  It is presented here in its original and unabridged format.

Orphaned at age ten by a violent home invasion, Susannah Faulkner grew up wild, her stubbornness the only thing harder than her heart. Since then, she’s used her skills to put a boot in the faces of those who deserve it. Then she gets word her brother Ethan needs her help, so she returns home to Atlanta. But in the airport, she finds her Uncle Gavin suffering a heart attack. Before he is rushed to the hospital, Gavin whispers a single word to Suzie: peaches. She’s determined to uncover the meaning behind the cryptic message, but Ethan is also deep in trouble. 

Growing up with a kind but alcoholic father and a suspicious, passive-aggressive mother, the Bernal sisters each developed their own way of coping: Dulcina had her art and drugs and alcohol, Claudia plunged into her studies and fled to Princeton, and Maritza watched one Disney movie after another in between devouring romance novels. Now all grown up, the sisters are reunited at last for Maritza’s dream wedding. With all three Bernal sisters back in their East L.A. home, each begins to take steps to come to terms with each other, their parents, and secrets from their shared past.

A lone soldier wearing a German uniform stumbles into a British military camp in the North African desert with an incredible story to tell. He is the only survivor of an undercover operation meant to infiltrate a Nazi base, trading on the soldiers’ perfect fluency in German. However, this man is not British-born but instead a German Jew seeking revenge for the deaths of his family back home in Berlin.