Showing results by narrator "Mia Barron" in All Categories

Here are the greatest stories of one of the greatest writers working in any genre today. All ten of the stories gathered here are Hugo or Nebula award winners - some even have the distinction of winning both. With a new Introduction by the author and personal afterwords to each story, plus a special look at three of Willis' unique public speeches - this is unquestionably the collection of the season, an audiobook that every Connie Willis fan will treasure.

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a 19-year-old waitress as his passenger.

Returning from her late shift as a barmaid at a casino in Lake Tahoe, Misty Patterson struck her violently jealous husband in self-defense. She admits that—but did she kill him? She says she can't remember. Like so many times before, Misty blacked out and the rest of the evening is a blank. Now her husband has disappeared, leaving behind a trail of blood, and she's the number-one murder suspect with no one to turn to for help.

Gemma Smythe dedicated her life to the glory of battle. With her fellow War Monks, she worshipped the war gods, rained destruction on her enemies, and raised the dead when the fancy struck. Until her sister Keeley became the prophesied Blacksmith Queen, and Gemma broke faith with her order to journey to the Amichai Mountain and fight by Keeley's side. The Amichai warriors are an unruly, never-to-be-tamed lot, especially their leader-in-waiting, Quinn. But when the War Monks declare support for Gemma's ruthless sister Beatrix, the immaturity of her key ally's the least of her problems.

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: She's fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her.

Juniper Wiles once starred as a plucky teen detective in the popular TV show, Nora Constantine. When the series ended seven years ago, Juniper made a decision to leave LA and return home to Newford where she joined friends at the artists' collective, Bramleyhaugh, the center of which is her pal, beloved faerie artist Jilly Coppercorn.

College admissions season at Seattle's Elliott Bay Academy is marked by glowing acceptances from top-tier institutions and students as impressive as their parents are ambitious. But when Stanford alerts the school it's allotting only one spot to EBA for their incoming class, three mothers discover the competition is more cutthroat than they could have imagined.

Orla O’Connor hasn’t been to the isolated New England enclave of Hadley Island since she graduated from high school a decade ago. As a teenager, her best friend Alice disappeared from its shores without a trace—but with plenty of rumors. Now, Orla returns to her family’s beachfront home to clean it out before her parents sell it. The island and her best friend’s house next door, abandoned after her family left in grief, are stirring up memories she would like to avoid.

L.A. Woman is quintessential Babitz, the story of Sophie, a 20-something blonde Jim Morrison groupie gliding through a golden existence in L.A.; and Lola, a German immigrant who settles in Hollywood in the '20s to drive Pierce Arrows recklessly down Sunset Boulevard and who knows that Maybelline mascara cakes and that Rudolph Valentino is the essence of life. Sophie and Lola, like the many other women who move in and out of this electric saga, know that while L.A. is constantly changing, it is essentially eternal.

When Hope Bennett marries Carmela’s brother Leo she not only becomes a Fontana, but a Garden State Goddess—and not everyone is happy. Secrets will be revealed, decades-long rivalries will surface, and a sudden murder will lead to a reality reckoning no one is prepared for, least of all the show’s producer Eden who must race to catch a killer and save the most dramatic season of all time.

Controversial satellite-radio talk-show host Jordan Briggs has clawed her way to the top of the broadcast world. She doesn’t hold back, doesn’t spare feelings, and has no trouble sharing what’s on her mind. When a subdued man calls into the show and asks to play a game, she sees it as nothing more than a way to kick-start the morning. Against her producer’s advice, she agrees, and unwittingly opens a door to the past. What starts out as a game quickly turns deadly.

Meet Libby Weeks, author of the mega-bestselling fantasy series the Falling Children—written as “F. T. Goldhero” to maintain her privacy. With the final manuscript months overdue to her publisher and rabid fans around the world growing impatient, Libby is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Already suffering from crippling anxiety, Libby’s symptoms quickly accelerate. After she forgets her dog at the park one day—then almost discloses her identity to the journalist who finds him—Libby has to admit it: she needs help finishing the last book.

Firefly meets The Breakfast Club in this high-concept LGBTQ+ romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff and bestselling author Nina Croft.

Morning Pages is about what life throws at you when you’re trying to write. It is both a humorous exploration of the creative process and a relatable coming-of-age tale for the generation sandwiched between caring for their parents and caring for their kids.

Lydia Davis is one of our most original and influential writers, a storyteller celebrated for her emotional acuity, her formal inventiveness, and her ability to capture the mind in overdrive. She has been called "an American virtuoso of the short story form" ( Salon.com ) and "one of the quiet giants... of American fiction" ( Los Angeles Times Book Review ). This volume contains all her stories to date, from the acclaimed "Break It Down" (1986) to the 2007 National Book Award nominee "Varieties of Disturbance".

At 28, Casey Pendergast is not where she thought she’d be. Sure, she’s killing it at her high-paying advertising job, but when she thinks about the idealistic English major she used to be, she can’t help the nagging feeling that perhaps her best friend Susan is right–Casey is a sellout who’s traded her dreams for a high-rise condominium, expense account, and designer handbags.

A good protector is focused on one thing—duty. That's been my guiding mantra since I came to the hidden monster haven of Ever. My roles as protector and father come first. But I've got a secret—I'm desperately obsessed with the beautiful, kind, mischievous pixie who lives across the street. Miriam Saihem invaded my mind first, building a rock-solid friendship I've come to rely on. But my heart demands something more, someone to make it beat again. I don't want to have to choose between her or my child, responsibility or love. I'm selfish—I want them both.

The third book in Kat Richardson's best-selling Greywalker series, Underground features heroine Harper Blaine, walker of the shadowy line between the living and the dead. Seattle's homeless are turning up dead and mutilated, and zombies have been seen stalking the Underground. Harper sets out to find the source, and soon comes to realize she's tangling with an ancient evil.

On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: do not fly today. There are a few concerning elements to the calls. None of the mothers remember making them—and some of the mothers are dead.

After a death-defying injury sidelined him for two seasons, Brooks Attwood’s pro football comeback has hit a major snag. Naughty photos from a post-break-up bender have leaked, and they’re killing his chances with the Rebels—his old team, and the only one he wants to play on. As he trains with the hope of being signed before the first kickoff of the season, Brooks’s plans to keep a low profile are suddenly upended when his selfie with a fiery fan goes viral, and tabloids mistake them as the football world’s newest It couple.