In 1949, four Chinese women--drawn together by the shadow of their past--begin meeting in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks and "say" stories. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club--and forge a relationship that binds them for more than three decades. In 1949, four Chinese women--drawn together by the shadow of their past--begin meeting in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks and "say" stories. They call their gathering...

"Set in 1960s California, this blockbuster debut is the hilarious, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is constantly derailed by the idea that a woman's place is in the home, only to find herself starring as the host of America's most beloved TV cooking show. Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the...

Traces the rewards and pitfalls of a Chinese mother's exercise in extreme parenting, describing the exacting standards applied to grades, music lessons, and avoidance of Western cultural practices.

The Palmer sisters couldn't be more different. Karen, the eldest, is the responsible one the one who got the grades, married the perfect guy, and has two wonderful, high-achieving children. Cassie is the rebellious one, who got pregnant right after high school and married the wrong man, despite her family's misgivings. And Nicole is a free, creative spirit, who's always been indulged and pampered as the baby of the family who could do no wrong. These...

Delightfully smart and heartbreakingly poignant, Allison Pearson’s smash debut novel has exploded onto bestseller lists as “The national anthem for working mothers.” Hedge-fund manager, wife, and mother of two, Kate Reddy manages to juggle nine currencies in five time zones and keep in step with the Teletubbies. But when she finds herself awake at 1:37 a.m. in a panic over the need to produce a homemade pie for her daughter’s...

Taking chances is part of life, but when you bet your future against the odds, it's a high-risk game. Kate Madison's stylish resale shop has been a big SoHo success, supporting her and her four kids since her husband's untimely death. Now they are grown and ready to forge lives of their own. And they all choose to play against the odds, to their mother's dismay. Isabelle, a dedicated attorney, is in line to make partner at her Wall Street firm when...

"The people of Cedar Cove know how to celebrate Christmas. Like Grace and Olivia and everyone else, Beth Morehouse expects this Christmas to be one of her best. Her small Christmas tree farm is prospering, her daughters and her dogs are happy and well, and her new relationship with local vet Ted Reynolds is showing plenty of romantic promise. But-- someone recently left a basket filled with puppies on her doorstep, puppies she's determined to place...

Her Character Has Been Shaped and Tempered by Both Adversity and Triumph... If Virginia could have chosen to accept or discard all the changes that came her way, she gladly would have let most of them pass right by herself and her family. She loved her life--living on the farm with her beloved Jonathan and their children, not far from her parents and her grandparents. But a change that is tearing at her heart is the gradual but steady physical decline...

Melanie Starks and her seventeen-year-old son, Charlie, have been running one con job or another for as long as she can remember. Worried about Charlie, though, Melanie is ready to start over. Then her brother, Jared, reappears in her life.

Released on a technicality, Jared Barnett is just out of prison and feeling more invincible than ever. He has the perfect plan to rob a local Nebraska bank, but he needs Melanie's and Charlie's help.

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"Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she'd rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found...