In the novella Whole Lotta Love, a successful 29-year-old Sino-American entrepreneur named Xu Tang, a part-time heroin smuggler, is found murdered in Chicago‘s Chinatown, and her casual Mexican boyfriend, Jose Agave, is indicted for murdering her. Agave is freed unexpectedly when one of the jurors in his murder trial, a promiscuous legal secretary named Carlotta Jeffries, refuses to find him guilty and forces a hung jury. In the aftermath, the lives of Jose Agave and Carlotta Jeffries, now forever linked, are turned upside down when everyone around them mysteriously dies one by one.

Each of Lara Vapnyar's six stories invites us into a world where food and love intersect, along with the overlapping pleasures and frustrations of Vapnyar's uniquely captivating characters. Meet Nina, a recent arrival from Russia, for whom colorful vegetables represent her own fresh hopes and dreams . . . Luda and Milena, who battle over a widower in their English class with competing recipes for cheese puffs, spinach pies, and meatballs . . . and Sergey, who finds more comfort in the borscht made by a paid female companion than in her sexual ministrations. They all crave the taste and smell of home, wherever—and with whomever—that may turn out to be. A roundup of recipes are the final taste of this delicious collection.

TWO OCCULT TALES are now together in one volume: Respect for the Dead, set in Africa, and the gripping sequel, Sleight Return, set in witchy New England.

South Seas Cong is a lurid hodgepodge of seven previously published Pacific island taleshumorous, mystical, romantic, occult, tragic, transsexual, or death-defying, featuring sharks, centipedes, parasites, sacred cows, fortunetellers, prisoners, beatings, shootings, the devil, and the walking dead.

“Perfection in short story form, I am in love with every single word Bolu Babalola has written. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully.” —Candice Carty-Williams, international bestselling author of Queenie A vibrant collection of love stories from a debut author, retelling myths, folktales, and histories from around the world. A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart. In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places. With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres. Love in Color is a celebration of romance in all its many splendid forms. “Babalola’s writing shines”—New York Times Book Review

A companion book to The Chronicles of Prydain, this collection of short stories revisits beloved characters and reveals more about the history of the magical land of Prydain. Here, readers will find Dallben, destined to be an enchanter; Angharad, a princess of the House of Llyr; Kadwyr, the rascal crow; and Medwyn, the mystical protector of all animals. They'll learn the grim history of the sword of Dyrnwyn and even find out how Fflewddur Fflam came by his enchanted harp. How did Coll rescue Hen Wen when she disappeared at the hand of Arawn, Lord of the Land of Death? Find the answer to this question and many more, in The Foundling: And Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.