What if Anton Chekhov, undisputed master of the short story, actually wrote a novel-and the manuscript  still existed? This tantalizing possibility drives The Summer Guest, a spellbinding narrative that draws together, across two centuries, the lives of three women through the discovery of a diary. During the long, hot summer of 1888, an extraordinary friendship blossoms between Anton Chekhov and Zinaida Lintvaryova, a young doctor. Recently blinded...

The authors guide your through the process, from collection through cooking and bottling. With a family tradition as syrup makers, the Andersons have first-hand knowledge of commercial production: cooking with evaporators, grading the syrup, building a sugarhouse, pricing, and marketing. They share all this and more in their beginner's guide to the rustic tradition of making syrup.

""You did nothing." Christine Steinmeyer thought the anonymous suicide note she found in her mailbox on Christmas Eve wasn't meant for her. But the man calling in to her radio show seems convinced otherwise. Bit by bit, strange things keep happening ... it's as if someone has taken control of her life. Everything holding Christine's life together crumbles until all that is left is an unimaginable nightmare. Martin Servaz is on leave in a clinic for...

Maria lives in a remote village in Burgundy, where she learns that she has a gift for communicating with nature. Hundreds of miles away in Italy, Clara discovers that she possesses a stunning musical genius and is sent from the countryside to Rome to develop her preternatural abilities. Barbery's The life of the elves tells the story of two children whose extraordinary talents will bring them into contact with magical worlds and malevolent forces....

"A humorous and touching story that pays tribute to creativity, beauty, the poetry of the everyday, and to the ingenuity and sardonic humor of cats. 'The Writer's Cats' tells the story of four felines, each with a very distinct personality. There's Ocha, the leader of the gang, a tough guy with a soft heart; there's bandy-legged, affectionate Mizu; There's the phlegmatic and refined Petrus, lover of flowers; and finally, there's pretty Kirin, narrator...