Storytelling Fiction

A creative writer's shelf should hold at least three essential books: a dictionary, a style guide, and Writing Fiction. Janet Burroway's best-selling classic is the most widely used creative writing text in America, and for more than three decades, it has helped hundreds of thousands of students learn the craft.

For more than 25 years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to listen without laughing.

Heads Will Roll is an Audible Original from Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon and her cocreator/costar (and real-life sister) Emily Lynne. Produced by Broadway Video, this is not an audiobook - it’s a 10-episode, star-studded audio comedy that features performances from Meryl Streep, Tim Gunn, Peter Dinklage, Queer Eye’s Fab Five, and so many more. Please note: This content is not for kids.

If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris's cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you're getting with Calypso. You'd be wrong. When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And it's as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself. With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation - and dark humor - toward middle age and mortality.

All children mythologize their birth... So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's beloved collection of stories, long famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale. The enigmatic Winter has always kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she summons a biographer to tell the truth about her extraordinary life: Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth remains an ever-present pain.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes Mystery in the Sand, Mystery Behind the Wall, and Bus Station Mystery. In Mystery in the Sand, the Alden family is spending sunny days at the shore and summer nights in the mobile home right on the beach! One morning, Benny finds a gold necklace in the sand, and a search for its owner begins a trail of clues that leads to Tower House, the strange old mansion nearby. What will the Boxcar Children find there?

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Canoe Trip Mystery, The Mystery of the Hidden Beach, and The Mystery of the Missing Cat.

The Boxcar Children: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are orphans. Can they find a home where they can stay together as a family? Surprise Island: The Aldens spend the summer on their own private island. There they meet a new friend with an amazing secret! The Yellow House Mystery: Years ago, a man vanished from the yellow house on Surprise Island. Why? The Aldens have found a clue to the mystery!

Before they were the Boxcar Children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden lived with their parents on Fair Meadow Farm. Although times are hard, the Aldens are happy—“the best family of all,” Mama likes to say. One day, a blizzard hits the countryside, and a traveling family needs shelter. The Aldens take them in, and the strangers soon become friends. But things never stay the same at the farm, and the spring and summer bring events that will forever change their lives.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Mystery of the Lost Village, The Mystery of the Purple Pool, and The Ghost Ship Mystery.

This volume includes: The Animal Shelter Mystery, The Old Motel Mystery, and The Mystery of the Hidden Painting. In The Mystery of the Hidden Painting, the Aldens find a mysterious painting hidden in the attic. The children learn that it is a portrait of their grandmother, whom they never knew, wearing the necklace Grandfather gave her when they were married. The necklace disappeared on their first anniversary - and was never found. Can the Boxcar Children track down a necklace missing for so many years?

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Mystery Girl, The Mystery Cruise, and The Disappearing Friend Mystery. In The Mystery Girl, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are working in a general store to help out a friend of Aunt Jane’s. It seems to the children that the young girl who works in the store is behaving very strangely. She seems nervous and won’t answer any questions about her past. Then a strange man comes to the store asking about her. What secret is the mystery girl hiding?

Demonstrating once again why he is one of Canada's most loved jokesters, Black masterfully captures the laughter that often bursts out of the seams of everyday life. From an unexpected drag race to a Google search for a picture of the illusive "Arthur the Meek", you just never know when a regular day is going to turn into comedic genius. Black provides uproarious insight into uses a matador might have for a teacup, mango, or simply some paper towel....

In this spellbinding blend of memoir and insight, best-selling author Chuck Palahniuk shares stories and generous advice on what makes writing powerful and what makes for powerful writing. With advice grounded in years of careful study and a keenly observed life, Palahniuk combines practical advice and concrete examples from beloved classics, his own books, and a "kitchen-table MFA" culled from an evolving circle of beloved authors and artists, with anecdotes, postcards from the road, and much more.

Three complete stories in one collection! This volume includes The Mystery at the Alamo, The Outer Space Mystery, and The Soccer Mystery.

America's most hilarious sportsman returns with this collection of insights about youth, the great outdoors, and the philosophy of fileting fish. When best-selling author Patrick McManus looks at a subject, you're sure to come away with an outrageously new perspective.

This volume includes: Benny Uncovers a Mystery, The Haunted Cabin Mystery, and The Deserted Library Mystery. In The Haunted Cabin Mystery, the Aldens are going with grandfather to visit his friend, old Cap Lambert, a retired riverboat pilot who lives in a cabin in the woods. To get there, the Boxcar Children take a wonderful trip down the Mississippi in a paddlewheel boat. But when they arrive at Cap Lambert’s cabin, they find some mysterious things are going on. Spooky phone calls, eerie flickering lights, strange dark figures. Is the cabin haunted?

Approached by an ecumenical society representing many faiths, from Judeo-Christians to fellow members of First Nations, Harold R. Johnson agreed to host a group who wanted to hear him speak about the power of storytelling. This book is the outcome of that gathering. In The Power of Story, Johnson explains the role of storytelling in every aspect of human life, from personal identity to history and the social contracts that structure our societies, and illustrates how we can direct its potential to re-create and reform not only our own lives, but the life we share.

One warm night four children stood in front of a bakery. No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are orphans. Can they find a home where they can stay together as a family?

Mystery Ranch: The Aldens visit their mysterious Aunt Jane at her run-down ranch and make a surprising discovery! Mike's Mystery: A nearby house burns down while the Boxcar Children are staying with their Aunt Jane - and their friend Mike is blamed for starting the fire! Blue Bay Mystery: The Aldens are excited to visit a deserted South Seas island. But soon they discover clues that they are not alone. Is someone on the island watching them?