Showing results by narrator "Nancy Wu"

It's been less than two months since her mother was murdered, and already Insighter Leah Nazir is embroiled in more drama. While delighted that her relationship with Archer is being taken to the next level, this is not how she wanted to meet his family. An unexpected call from Naya, Archer's cousin and another Insighter, draws the couple to Brewster, Massachusetts, to investigate Naya's father's decades-old murder - by Archer's father no less! But every step of the way, Leah and Archer face new roadblocks from unpredictable quarters.

Critically acclaimed author Gish Jen is a National Book Critics Circle Award nominee and the person John Updike proclaimed as the young novelist most likely to become his successor. In The Love Wife, Jen poignantly explores the explosive dynamics of a mixed-race modern family.

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding is a heart-wrenching debut novel of family, forgiveness, and the exquisite pain of love. When Amaterasu Takahashi opens the door of her Philadelphia home to a badly scarred man claiming to be her grandson, she doesn't believe him. Her grandson and her daughter, Yuko, perished nearly 40 years ago during the bombing of Nagasaki. But the man carries with him a collection of sealed private letters that open a box of family secrets Ama had sworn to leave behind when she fled Japan.

Weaving wonderful observation with quick wit and striking insight, Some Fun is a timely and provocative inventory of the state of family in America -- and proof of why Nelson is one of the most important writers at work today.

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans. At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China. aidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties. Street-smart and practical, she's content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress - until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.

It’s the day before the big ballet recital, and Nancy Drew and her best friends, Bess and George, are very excited. But suddenly, the tape with the dance music on it is missing! Everyone in the class thinks Bess took it, but Nancy knows better. It’s up to her to find the culprit and the tape before it’s too late.

The 19th addition of this annual anthology exhibits a collection of short fiction from award-winning Southern authors and rising stars including Edward P. Jones and Silas House. Each story’s derivation is explained in an illuminating note from the author following the rich and entertaining tales.

Female Trouble features 13 wise, funny, and startlingly perceptive stories about the vagaries and revelations of womanhood. Named by The New Yorker as one of the 20 best writers of her generation, Antonya Nelson explores the broad notion of family from myriad angles in Female Trouble.

Wife-wanted ads are always risky business, but Millie Virginia never imagined she'd survive the perilous trip across the Great Plains to find her intended husband in a pine box. Was he killed in an accident? Or murdered for his gold mine? Stuck in the mining town of Idaho Springs, Colorado territory, without friends or means, Millie is beleaguered by undesirable suitors and threatened by an unknown assailant. Her troubles escalate when the brother of her dead fiancé, Dominic Drouillard, unexpectedly turns up.

Based on exhaustive research and set in the Chinese cradle of civilization, the Yellow River basin, Forgotten Tales of China is a sweeping saga of survival, sacrifice, indomitable perseverance, bravery, and betrayal. Starting 40,000 years ago with cave dwellers who communicated almost solely through sign language, this epic novel transports listeners through the millennium, culminating in China's Bronze Age, 1,600 BC, during the reign of a mad degenerate Xia king.

Pages magazine says this collection represents “the absolute best in short literary fiction.” This installment exhibits a fresh batch of immensely talented writers, all of whom exemplify the level of accomplishment that has kept this acclaimed series running strong since 1985. Comprising 20 stories, this rich and varied collection features everything from a fresh take on the classic Southern gothic to a velvet-smooth work of erotic suspense.

Better Than Homemade is food biographer Carolyn Wyman’s freewheeling and entertaining cultural history of the innovative packaged foods that changed the way we eat. It highlights the fascinating stories behind the food inventions; the histories behind the brands and icons that have become synonymous with them; the jingles that have made them such a large part of our popular culture; and the recipes that have tutored generations of homemakers and comfort-food master chefs.

Soy Sauce for Beginners reveals the triumphs and sacrifices that shape one woman’s search for a place to call home, and the unexpected art and tradition behind the brewing of a much-used but unsung condiment. The result is a foodie love story that will give listeners a hearty appreciation for family loyalty and fresh starts.

Right now, even as Western economies struggle, Asia is experiencing an unprecedented war for talent. Organizations are competing ever more aggressively to find the right people, motivate them, and retain their highest performers. There's only one route to success in today's Asian talent wars: innovation. In this book, one of IBMs top Asia-Pacific managers identifies powerful talent-management innovations that are working in Asia right now for dozens of the region's most forward-looking enterprises.

Zhu Xiao-Mei was three years old when she saw her first piano. Soon after, the child began to play, developing quickly into a prodigy who immersed herself in the work of such classical masters as Bach and Brahms. Her astonishing proficiency earned her a spot at the Beijing Conservatory at the tender age of 11, where she began laying the foundation for a promising career as a concert pianist. But in 1966, with the onset of the Cultural Revolution, life as she knew it ended abruptly.

Mina Hamilton's parents want her dead. (Or undead to be precise.) They're vampires, and like it or not, Mina must decide whether to become a vampire herself. But Mina's more interested in hanging out with best friend Serena and trying to catch the eye of the too-hot-for-high-school Nathan Able than in the vampire training classes she's being forced to take. How's a girl supposed to find the perfect prom date and pass third-year French when her mom and dad are breathing down her neck - literally?

Many believe that those who are destined to be together are connected by an invisible red thread. If that is so, the fates of Chai and Josi are weaved together and tied with a knot that cannot be broken. Chai has been the self-appointed protector of her best friend, Josi, since their toddler days. Their lives are as far from extravagant as can be imagined - but they don’t need material things to be content.

Running is so not her thing, but she has to finish what her boyfriend started - before he died. Annie feels guilt that she's still alive and blames herself for his death; she has to do this to honor him. Plus training gives her something to do, it's a distraction. So is Jeremiah Brown. He's an adrenaline junky who runs marathons backwards. He flirts with Annie on the trails and it makes Annie feel alive and happy and guilty all at the same time.

Leah Nazir is an Insighter. Reincarnation is her business. But while her clients' pasts are a mess, Leah's is nothing short of tragedy. She's been murdered. A lot. If left to that bitch destiny, it'll happen again. Leah wants to know who's been following her through time - and who's been stalking her in the present.

Helen Moran is 32 years old, single, childless, college educated, and partially employed as a guardian of troubled young people in New York. She is accepting a furniture delivery in her shared studio apartment when her uncle calls to break the news: Helen's adoptive brother is dead. According to the Internet, there are six possible reasons why her brother might have killed himself. But Helen knows better: she knows that six reasons is only shorthand for "the abyss".