“A debut story collection of the rarest kind ... you wish that every single entry could be an entire novel." —Entertainment Weekly Fresh, intimate stories of women’s lives from an extraordinary new literary voice, laying bare the unexpected beauty and irony in contemporary life A college freshman, traveling home, strikesup an odd, ephemeral friendship with the couple next to her on the plane. A mother prepares for her son’s wedding, her own life unraveling as his comes together. A long-lost stepbrother’s visit to New York prompts a family’s reckoning with its old taboos. A wife considers the secrets her marriage once contained. An office worker, exhausted by the ambitions of the men around her, emerges into a gridlocked city one afternoon to make a decision. In these eleven powerful stories, thrilling desire and melancholic yearning animate women’s lives, from the brink of adulthood to the labyrinthine path between twenty and thirty, to middle age, when certain possibilities quietly elapse. Tender, lucid, and piercingly funny, Objects of Desire is a collection pulsing with subtle drama, rich with unforgettable scenes, and alive with moments of recognition each more startling than the last—a spellbinding debut that announces a major talent.

An enthralling novel about love, loss, secrets, friendship, and the healing power of literature, by the bestselling author of The Knitting Circle. Ava’s twenty-five-year marriage has fallen apart, and her two grown children are pursuing their own lives outside of the country. Ava joins a book group, not only for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The group’s goal throughout the year is for each member to present the book that matters most to them. Ava rediscovers a mysterious book from her childhood—one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of her sister and mother. Alternating with Ava’s story is that of her troubled daughter Maggie, who, living in Paris, descends into a destructive relationship with an older man. Ava’s mission to find that book and its enigmatic author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers her and Maggie the chance to remake their lives.

Nanci Griffith (1953–2021) remains, despite her untimely death, a “living, breathing, ever-present entity and inspiration.” According to author Brian T. Atkinson, reflections on Griffith’s omnipresent influence often cause people to shift “from past tense to present tense in mid-sentence.” She remains one of the most well-loved of Texas’ singer-songwriters with hits still popular today, such as “Gulf Coast Highway,” “Trouble in the Fields,” and “Love at the Five and Dime.” Atkinson has interviewed a host of songwriters and other artists from across the spectrum: from Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, and Robert Earl Keen to Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz, “American Pie” songwriter Don McLean, and the London Symphony Orchestra’s Tom Norris. Gathering the recollections of those who performed with, listened to, and were impacted by the artistry of Nanci Griffith, Atkinson balances these with his own comments and reflections on Griffith’s legacy—including the demons she wrestled with that ultimately overcame her. Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith promises to be, as one reviewer has described it, “an indispensable source for anyone wanting to learn more about all things Nanci.” This book adds deep value to our understanding of the life and work of a vital Texas artist.

Arranged in sixteen musical categories, provides entries for twenty thousand releases from four thousand artists, and includes a history of each musical genre.

In his day, perhaps no one in baseball was better known than Irish-born Timothy Paul "Ted" Sullivan. For 50 years, America's sportswriters sang his praises, genuflected to his genius and bought his blarney by the barrel. Damon Runyon dubbed him "The Celebrated Carpetbagger of Baseball." Cunning, fast-talking, witty and sober, Sullivan was the game's first player agent, a groundbreaking scout who pulled future Hall of Famers from the bushes, an author, a playwright and a baseball evangelist who promoted the game across five continents. He coined the term "fan" and was among the first to suggest the designated hitter--because pitchers were "a lot of whippoorwill swingers." But he was also a convert to the Jim Crow attitudes of his day--black ballplayers were unimaginable to him. Unearthing thousands of contemporaneous newspaper accounts, this first exhaustive biography of "Hustlin'" Ted Sullivan recounts the life and career of one of the greatest hucksters in the history of the game.

Winner of Best Literary Food Writing (in English) category at the World Cookbook Fair, this is a lively journey discovering Ireland's food, people and music. If Peta hadn't known of her Irish ancestry, her love of potatoes would have betrayed it. Peta always connects with a place through its food, and in visiting the country of her forebears she set herself a difficult task. But it didn't take long for Peta to find the world-class restaurants hidden up windy cobbled streets, to savour the delights of grand country cooking, high-quality primary produce and seafood from sleepy fishing villages. She dances her way between such traditional fare as Guinness, barmbrack and black puddings and refined fusion dishes of roasted tomato and goat cheese charlotte with lentils and basil oil and cured wild salmon topped off with slugs of fine Irish whiskey. In this wonderful account of travelling through Ireland, Peta searches for its gastronomic heartland, introduces her intriguing relatives, discovers her love of music is intricately intertwined with Irish social life and eating habits, and spins tales both traditional and true.