Round the Bend follows the life of Tom Cutter, an Englishman who becomes a pilot and settles in the Middle East after World War II. Tom starts an air freight business and becomes fascinated by the spiritual beliefs of the local Muslim population, which leads him to start his own religion called "The Way." Through his travels and teachings, Tom attracts a group of devoted followers and becomes a spiritual leader. However, his unconventional beliefs and practices lead to conflict with some of the more traditional religious and political authorities in the region. Despite the challenges he faces, Tom remains committed to his beliefs and the pursuit of a more peaceful and harmonious world. The novel explores themes of religion, spirituality, cultural differences, and the clash between tradition and modernity.

Kate Song is tired of running from her past. Ever since her near-death experience, she sees details in photographs other people can't. At first, she saw it as a gift, but she's no longer sure if it's a blessing or a curse. She wants to forget about being the Miracle Girl-the lone survivor of the explosion that killed everyone she loved. With hope for a new beginning and anonymity, Kate accepts a job as a photographer for the daily newspaper in the rural town of Bend, PA. Her first assignment thrusts her into the mysterious disappearance of three women and the discovery of a clandestine women's compound. Uneasy and uncertain who to trust, Kate turns to Seth Abrams, the paper's reporter. Seth's one desire is to capture the big story that will catapult him to journalistic stardom. Bend's cult-like doings provide the perfect opportunity-until Kate, the new photographer, scoops him. When Kate reveals her secret to him along with her fears about the town, he must choose to help her or use her-and her gift, as his stepping stone to fame. Will Kate and Seth team up to protect the people of Bend? Or will Kate fall victim to Bend's darker side?

In the small coastal town of Hubbard, Oregon, your man may let you down, your boss may let you down, life may let you down . . . but your best friend never will. Welcome to Hubbard, where Petie Coolbaugh and Rose Bundy have been best friends since childhood. Now in their early thirties, both are grappling to come to terms with their age and station in life. As they struggle to make ends meet and provide for their children and the good-hearted but unreliable men in their lives, they take jobs cooking for a brand-new upscale restaurant, Souperior's Cafe, starting from scratch every morning to produce gallons of fresh soup from local recipes. The proprietors of the cafe, Nadine and Gordon, are fraternal twins from Los Angeles with adjustments of their own to make, but Rose’s warmth and the quality of the women’s soups quickly make them indispensable despite Petie’s abrupt manner and prickly ways. The strains of daily life are never far, however, and the past takes its toll on the women. Petie’s childhood as the daughter of the town drunk—a subject she won't talk about—keeps her at a distance from even her best friend, until an unexpected romance threatens to crack her tough exterior. And despite Rose's loving personality, the only man in her life is a loner fisherman who spends only a few months of the year in town. In this fishing village, friends are for life and love comes in the most unexpected ways. As the novel draws together lovers, husbands, employers, friends, and family, each woman finds possibilities for love and even grace that she had never imagined.

A hiking and exploring guidebook to the areas that surround Bend, Oregon. Features hikes, hot springs, canyons, caves, waterfalls, lakes, and lavalands.

Born on the eve of China’s Cultural Revolution, Ping Fu was separated from her family at the age of eight. She grew up fighting hunger and humiliation and shielding her younger sister from the teenagers in Mao’s Red Guard. At twenty-five, she found her way to the United States; her only resources were $80 and a few phrases of English. Yet Ping persevered, and the hard-won lessons of her childhood guided her to success in her new homeland. Aided by her well-honed survival instincts, a few good friends, and the kindness of strangers, she grew into someone she never thought she’d be—a strong, independent, entrepreneurial leader. “She tells her story with intelligence, verve and a candor that is often heart-rending.” —The Wall Street Journal “This well-written tale of courage, compassion, and undaunted curiosity reveals the life of a genuine hero.” —Booklist (starred review) “Her success at the American Dream is a real triumph.” —The New York Post

Lorraine Tyler is the only queer person in Bend, Minnesota. Or at least that's what it feels like when the local church preaches so sternly against homosexuality. Which is why she's fighting so hard to win the McGerber scholarship--her ticket out of Bend--even though her biggest competition is her twin sister, Becky. And even though she's got no real hope--not with the scholarship's morality clause and that one time she kissed the preacher's daughter. Everything changes when a new girl comes to town. Charity is mysterious, passionate, and--to Lorraine's delighted surprise--queer too. Now Lorraine may have a chance at freedom and real love. But then Becky disappears, and Lorraine uncovers an old, painful secret that could tear the family apart. They need each other more than ever now, and somehow it's Lorraine--the sinner, the black sheep--who holds the power to bring them together. But only if she herself can learn to bend.

“Bacharach has a great comic voice— shrewd, deadpan, and dirty—and The Bend of the World fears no weirdness.”—Sam Lipsyte “Mighty strange doings” mark the Pittsburgh of Jacob Bacharach’s audacious and hilarious debut novel, a town where “yeti, UFOs, rumors of orgiastic rites, intimations of the Mayan apocalypse and ‘psycho-temporal distortions’ add that extra zing to the bustling night life” (James Wolcott). On the edge of thirty, and comfortably adrift in life, Peter Morrison finds his personal and professional life taking a turn for the weird as his attempts to transition into adulthood are thwarted by conspiracies both real and imagined. In this madcap coming-of-age novel, where no one quite comes of age, Bacharach brings an “immensely entertaining” and “Vonnegut-like sensibility” (Library Journal ) to the “aptly surreal satire” (Dan Chaon) of hipsters, corporations, and American life in the adolescent years of the twenty-first century. “A disarming, intelligent and seriously funny debut,” The Bend of the World “marks the arrival of Jacob Bacharach as a writer to watch” (Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).