Christmas Day is now just ten days away, prompting me to reconsider just how much time I have to do all my holiday shopping. I mean, even if I had the money to buy thoughtful presents, everything’s pretty much coming from Target at this point. If only there were a cost-effective, homemade gift I couldContinue reading

Today we have the story “House Tour” from Lee Smith‘s most recent collection, Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger. In this brilliant gem of a story, a woman is completely unaware that her house is part of a Christmas House Tour. Smith was inspired by a similar experience, when she became an inadvertent participant inContinue reading

Today we have the story “House Tour” from Lee Smith‘s most recent collection, Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger. In this brilliant gem of a story, a woman is completely unaware that her house is part of a Christmas House Tour. Smith was inspired by a similar experience, when she became an inadvertent participant inContinue reading

On the Second Day of Merry Christmas Week we’re giving you a short story by Larry Brown. “Merry Christmas, Scotty” is about that holiday you spend alone–for this guy, that means a tent pitched in a motel parking lot (don’t worry, he has a TV), the ardent pursuit of eggnog, and the inevitability of ChristmasContinue reading

Now in Paperback! Here’s a memorable tale of two unlikely heroes: the lively, beautiful Flora and her husband, the brooding, studious Simon—two immigrants, both sent to America by their families to find a better life. An improbable match, they meet in New York City and fall in love. Simon—inventor of the jigsaw puzzle—eventually makes hisContinue reading

Every family has a ghost. There’s the aunt we don’t talk about, the cousin who disappeared, and where DID your sister get her flaming red hair, anyway? The need to know where we come from, combined with the sneaking suspicion that there is a secret hidden in grandma’s attic after all, makes Suzanne Berne‘s newContinue reading