Two little girls stand with their heads bowed in my living room. I’m told they’re my granddaughters. Daisy is nine, and Alice seven. Daisy is the spitting image of her mother. This is the first time I’ve met them since my daughter and I fell out after she married that waste of space, Vince. They’ve come to live with me because their mother — my daughter — was murdered. In her own home while they slept close by. I think Vince killed her. But the police can’t prove it. I’ve always known he was no good. He treated my daughter like dirt. I said he’d cheat on her — but she wouldn’t listen.

Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.

The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.

An artificial intelligence laments the fact that all it does all day is make coffee. It schemes to find fulfillment in life and lands on a clever solution. (Spoiler alert: It turns out everyone does have a book in them!)

The first superhero in a world that doesn't otherwise have them is roundly mocked for his costume and attitude, so decides to strike terror in the hearts of the city by becoming a super-villain, only to discover that there are other people out there who have powers—including his ancient but still sprightly grandmother, who lived through the German occupation of Greece in WWII.

A ghost decides to help the shy young woman living in her former house. Kyra dreams of becoming an artist, and she flourishes under the guidance of her ghostly mentor. This short, supernatural tale will appeal to fans of friendly ghost stories and family reconciliation.

An old man wakes inside his comatose, completely nonresponsive body. According to his insurance company, in order to return to his life and family, he must pass a test. As if coming out of a coma weren’t enough of a challenge, our patient must also pass the Turing test, i.e., prove he’s human to an AI resuscitation machine. This satirical but heartfelt tale reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut and Ted Chiang asks the question: Can a person articulate the deepest truths he knows to be real?

In the near-future, there might be detox centers for people addicted to technology. This short listen asks: What if a teen snuck her phone in? And what if everything in the outside world has changed…or gone silent? For fans of Station Eleven.