"Mumma, sometimes... I don't feel okay," Maya murmured, her tone tinged with sadness. "But when someone asks, I don't know what to say. All I manage to say is, 'I'm okay.' Is that how it is for everyone, or is it just me?" Ever had one of those days where your kid throws you a total curveball? Maya, my daughter, burst into my writing space armed with a list of 20 deep, soul-stirring questions. I'm talking about the real deal—love, distance, bouncing back from life's sucker punches, chasing those dreams, you name it. She was on a mission, let me tell you. But here's the kicker: why the sudden deep dive? Were there storm clouds brewing in her world that she hadn't let me in on? Wanna tag along on Maya's rollercoaster journey? It's more than just her story, trust me. Every conversation she had was like peeking into your own closet of untold tales and feelings. This ain't your typical read—it's a soul-searching expedition that stays with you long after you've closed the book. Come walk a mile in Maya's shoes and discover how her quest unwraps the whispers of your own soul, revealing the hidden stories we all carry.

Exploring the uncanny perception of depth in Tolkien's writing and world-building A Sense of Tales Untoldexamines the margins of J. R. R. Tolkien's work: the frames, edges, allusions, and borders between story and un-story and the spaces between vast ages and miniscule time periods. The untold tales that are simply implied or referenced in the text are essential to Tolkien's achievement in world-building, Peter Grybauskas argues, and counter the common but largely spurious image of Tolkien as a writer of bloated prose. Instead, A Sense of Tales Untold highlights Tolkien's restraint--his ability to check the pen to great effect. The book begins by identifying some of Tolkien's principal sources of inspiration and his contemporaries, then summarizes theories and practices of the literary impression of depth. The following chapters offer close readings of key untold tales in context, ranging from the shadowy legends at the margins of The Lord of the Rings to the nexus of tales concerning Túrin Turambar, the great tragic hero of the Elder Days. In his frequent retellings of the Túrin legend, Tolkien found a lifelong playground for experimentation with untold stories. "A story must be told or there'll be no story, yet it is the untold stories that are most moving," wrote Tolkien to his son during the composition of The Lord of the Rings, cutting straight to the heart of the tension between storytelling and world-building that animates his work. From the most straightforward form of an untold tale--an omission--to vast and tangled webs of allusions, Grybauskas highlights this tension. A Sense of Tales Untold engages with urgent questions about interpretation, adaptation, and authorial control, giving both general readers and specialists alike a fresh look at the source material of the ongoing "Tolkien phenomenon."

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic, beloved novel of two boy geniuses dreaming up superheroes in New York’s Golden Age of comics, now with special bonus material by the author “It's absolutely gosh-wow, super-colossal—smart, funny, and a continual pleasure to read.”—The Washington Post Book World One of The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • One of Entertainment Weekly’s 10 Best Books of the Decade • Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize A “towering, swash-buckling thrill of a book” (Newsweek), hailed as Chabon’s “magnum opus” (The New York Review of Books), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a triumph of originality, imagination, and storytelling, an exuberant, irresistible novel that begins in New York City in 1939. A young escape artist and budding magician named Joe Kavalier arrives on the doorstep of his cousin, Sammy Clay. While the long shadow of Hitler falls across Europe, America is happily in thrall to the Golden Age of comic books, and in a distant corner of Brooklyn, Sammy is looking for a way to cash in on the craze. He finds the ideal partner in the aloof, artistically gifted Joe, and together they embark on an adventure that takes them deep into the heart of Manhattan, and the heart of old-fashioned American ambition. From the shared fears, dreams, and desires of two teenage boys, they spin comic book tales of the heroic, fascist-fighting Escapist and the beautiful, mysterious Luna Moth, otherworldly mistress of the night. Climbing from the streets of Brooklyn to the top of the Empire State Building, Joe and Sammy carve out lives, and careers, as vivid as cyan and magenta ink. Spanning continents and eras, this superb book by one of America’s finest writers remains one of the defining novels of our modern American age. Winner of the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award and the New York Society Library Book Award

Retells and continues the stories, from a contemporary perspective, of such classic tales as "The Frog Prince, " "Snow White, " "Beauty and the Beast, " and "Sleeping Beauty."

In The House of Untold Stories, every page is a door, and every door leads to a new tale of heartbreak, triumph, horror, or imagination. Wander into an enchanted mansion of pocket universes and miniature tales, where each door leads to a micro-fiction story. With tales about anger thieves, a deadly pizza delivery service, haunted music boxes, and more, each room will take you on an unexpected journey.

"I wanted freedom, open air, and adventure. I found it on the sea." Alain Gerbault The Untold Tales of a Sailor at Sea invites you to look behind cruise ship doors and join in one woman's adventures during her life at sea. Lincee Tang decides to celebrate her milestone thirtieth birthday with a vacation cruise which ignites her desire to sail away to many ports of call proudly wearing the uniform in the Entertainment Department. Lincee's story of making memories at sea unveils the hidden truths and untold stories of the sailing crew who work hard to make passengers' ocean journeys enjoyable. Taking hold of her courage to lose sight of the shore, Lincee discovers hidden talents within, forges ahead with resilience in tough situations, and has her chance at romance and love. Discover how removing inhibitions and fear of the unknown can lead to a whole world of possibilities and adventures. Finding growth in unexpected social, emotional and spiritual avenues leads one to explore how it is possible to reach new horizons. "The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." Jacques Cousteau "They that go down to the ship, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep." Psalm 107: 23-24 "You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." Christopher Columbus

She was the most famous woman in the world. She died tragically, too young, in a terrible accident. The world mourned. Monica Ali, the beloved author of Brick Lane, explores the extraordinary question: what if she hadn't died? Lydia lives in a nondescript town somewhere in the American Midwest. She's a nice, normal woman - if strikingly beautiful. She lives a nice, normal life: her friends are normal, her job is normal, her hobbies are normal. Her friends and boyfriend adore her. But her past is shrouded in mystery. Who is Lydia? Where does she come from? And why is her English accent so posh? Lydia is a woman with secrets. Extraordinary secrets. She might even be the most famous woman on the planet... a woman whose death the world mourned by millions. Who is she? *~*~* Praise for Untold Story*~*~* 'A beautiful, gripping accomplishment, a treat for the heart and the head, and will be a joy to readers who believe in the possibility that a book can transform your basic sense of life' Andrew O'Hagan 'A terrific, clever, multi-layered and subtle book (and let's not forget - hugely entertaining)' Joanne Harris 'Haunting and intensely readable, this is something between a thriller and a ghost story' Lady Antonia Fraser 'A startlingly intelligent, perceptive and entertaining piece of fiction. It's quite brilliant' Henry Sutton, Daily Mirror 'Thoughtful, compassionate... a suspenseful and gripping read' Suzi Feay, Financial Times 'Ali's third-person princess is a very convincing and sympathetic figure... extremely skilfully done' Tibor Fischer, Observer