The Impressive Jewels Book Club is more than a literary discussion group. The woman share their inner most secrets, thoughts and desires about their favorite subject, “Men.” The fact of how to get one, keep one, and how to get over one and then their thoughts about the book of the month. Estelle Marie Fountanie, a real estate executive, has been told she’s too mean to get a man. She has quite a few awakening moments, after experiencing the perils of internet dating, but she finally meets “The Man.” During a book club meeting one rainy afternoon she tells the girls she’ll bring back some sunshine from Jamaica. “This story is witty and full of life. The characters represent a sense of realism as their relationship of sisterhood and support evolve for each other.” Cassis A. Levy, Contributing Author “Violets, Inspirational Poems by Women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.”

Readers of short fiction will enjoy the multitude of voices in this anthology.

Winner of the 1999 Drue Heinz Literature PrizeSelected by Charles JohnsonThese nine stories are teeming with people on the margins, where destitute New Yorkers and determined immigrants are as much at the mercy of social services, media attention, opportunistic politicians, and "quality-of-life" campaigns as they are prey to grinding poverty, dangerous streets, and their own haunting memories. Delving into Lucy Honig's fiction, one is willingly drawn into an intimacy with these resilient, but flawed characters—among them, a woman who cleans a beauty salon, a high school kid who's lost a parent, a runaway Cambodian bride, an actress, and a homeless woman. Crossing paths, these difficult characters often misunderstand and sometimes demean each other, yet they also redeem and rescue one other in odd and unexpected ways. In The Truly Needy, Lucy Honig has created a heartbreaking, imaginative world that is the American urban landscape.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE “A must-read about modern Britain and womanhood . . . An impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves . . . Her style is passionate, razor-sharp, brimming with energy and humor. There is never a single moment of dullness in this book and the pace does not allow you to turn away from its momentum.” —Booker Prize Judges Bernardine Evaristo is the winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and the first black woman to receive this highest literary honor in the English language. Girl, Woman, Other is a magnificent portrayal of the intersections of identity and a moving and hopeful story of an interconnected group of Black British women that paints a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain and looks back to the legacy of Britain’s colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean. The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work often explores her Black lesbian identity; her old friend Shirley is a teacher, jaded after decades of work in London’s funding-deprived schools; Carole, one of Shirley’s former students, is a successful investment banker; Carole’s mother Bummi works as a cleaner and worries about her daughter’s lack of rootedness despite her obvious achievements. From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class. Sparklingly witty and filled with emotion, centering voices we often see othered, and written in an innovative fast-moving form that borrows technique from poetry, Girl, Woman, Other is a polyphonic and richly textured social novel that shows a side of Britain we rarely see, one that reminds us of all that connects us to our neighbors, even in times when we are encouraged to be split apart.

Above a disused bar, in a dilapidated Parisian hotel that houses an assortment of indigent, marginalized lost souls, one of the inhabitants, a mysterious, reclusive holy man, is the subject of much speculation from some of his fellow occupants and respectful reverence from others. As the tale unfolds, the dynamics of this precarious microcosm are laid bare, in a powerful portrayal of those society has forgotten.Written when the author of Cain's Book was at the height of his creative powers and enjoying an increasing reputation in avant-garde literary circles, 'The Holy Man' is here presented with 'A Being of Distances', 'Peter Pierce' and 'A Meeting', stories which similarly tackle themes of loneliness and disenfranchisement.

Loosely based on the author’s real life story, this is a provocative, titillating, and intelligent novel about a strong, independent woman (Elizabeth) who, following a divorce, decides that the modern paradigm of love needs a revolution. Given that infidelity is rampant and that 40% of first marriages end in divorce, she decides that trying to get all of her needs fulfilled by a single man just doesn’t work in today’s world. What she needs is 3 men –one for conversation, one for sex, and one handyman to do work around her house. What follows is a riveting, sexy, saucy tale about her search for 3 men willing to play those roles. Set in Copenhagen, Elizabeth advertises on a dating website—and men reply to her by the droves. Over the course of a year, Elizabeth experiments with her new model of love and sex, dating many men, and discovering how she often can’t decide which role they will play—but nor can the men. Most guys reply to her that they are her “perfect” sex partner, and a few offer to be her conversational partner (with sex) or her handyman (with sex). One promising date turns out to be like a B&D character from 50 Shades of Grey, another guy pretends to be a successful entrepreneur, while another is an army General who secretly wears dresses. Elizabeth finally meets someone who intrigues her beyond all others—a unique man of intellect and savoir-vivre. He invites her into a “secret society” of men who adore and worship women. He neither wants to own her or control her—exactly what Elizabeth is looking for. He might be a “3 in 1.” It turns out that 2 other men in her life are friends of his. When all 3 men meet Elizabeth one night for a special dinner in a castle, Elizabeth gets to experience 3 men all at once in a way she never imagined. But that night gives Elizabeth a new impetus to reconsider her model of love. When another man courts her, she comes to realize that, perhaps, romance between 1 man and 1 woman is not entirely an outmoded idea. It may actually be the true way that men and women can love, though she remains convinced that women need to be equal partners in a relationship and question the romantic stereotypes of love they are lulled into believing. Modern love and sex still need a revolution.

A collection of twenty classic short stories by Isaac Asimov, author of the Foundation series, featuring the definitive version of “Nightfall” From one of history’s most influential writers of science fiction comes this collection of twenty short works of fiction, arranged in order of publication from 1941 to 1967. Compiled by Asimov himself, who prefaced each story with an introduction, it begins with “Nightfall,” the tale of a world with eternal sun that is suddenly plunged into total darkness and utter madness. “Nightfall,” published when the author was only twenty-one, was arguably his breakout work, making such an impression that, almost thirty years later, the Science Fiction Writers of America voted it the best science-fiction short story ever written The other stories in the collection span far and wide: A dedicated scientist who whips up his own love potion. Machines that learn to think for themselves—and direct their thoughts to overturning the establishment. The discovery that Earthlings are being destroyed by a mysterious kind of psychological virus. A day when walking outdoors becomes a sign of psychosis. And many more.