Asian Short Stories

Looking to step up your Japanese before that big trip next year? Are you getting prepared for an interview with a recruiter in Tokyo? Maybe you’re tired of reading the subtitles on the latest anime! No language is easy to learn without practicing - even if you know all of the rules and have watched the videos - you’ll still have trouble. Diving into interesting material (such as stories) can be the difference between mastering a language and never leaving the basic level.

In a quiet suburb of New Delhi, two next-door neighbors develop a friendship: one, a young woman engaged to be married, and the other, Nadine: a woman in her 60s living with her second husband. We follow these two women through their phone calls and visits together, diving deeper into Nadine's storied past: With her larger-than-life personality and proclivity to defy society's conventions, her insight weighs heavily on her young friend, about to face a major turning point of her own.

Short Stories in Korean for Intermediate Learners has been written especially for students from low-intermediate to intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to B1-B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when listening.

THIS IS A SHORT STORY It's 2004 and Bill Jedburgh, formerly with the Royal Hong Kong Police but now a gun for hire, is visiting the island of Bohol to assassinate a prominent politician who is coming to visit. But then he is offered a Trifecta, three jobs all rolled into one. Will he be able to pull it off or will the Reliable Man's reputation be tarnished?

THIS IS A SHORT STORY It's 2009 and Bill Jedburgh, formerly of the Royal Hong Kong Police but now a gun for hire, is asked to find a young Danish man who has gone missing in China. When the Reliable Man meets one of his old contacts across the border it appears this might be more than a missing person investigation. In the end somebody will have to pay.

Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth, Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with the complexities of race, sexuality, friendship, and family.

From Middle Eastern storyteller, Hussin Alkheder, comes a collection of short stories influenced by the four major cities he’s lived in: Damascus, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Shanghai. These four grand ladies have played important roles in his life journey. In the Four Ladies, we find three stories based in Damascus, the cradle of history: Hand Made Crutches makes us feel the suffering of a mother with four daughters and a disabled son; The Green Bus gives a glimpse of Damascus both before and after the war; Love in the Time of Corona portrays the way some Middle Eastern deal with the virus....

A grieving mother makes a spreadsheet of everyone she’s lost. Elsewhere, a professor develops a troubled intimacy with her hairdresser. And every year, a restless woman receives an email from a strange man twice her age and several states away. In Yiyun Li’s stories, people strive for an ordinary existence until doing so becomes unsustainable, until the surface cracks and the grand mysterious forces—death, violence, estrangement—come to light. And even everyday life is laden with meaning, studded with indelible details.

THIS IS A SHORT STORY It's 2003 and Bill Jedburgh, formerly of the Royal Hong Kong Police, is on a scuba diving holiday in Phuket, Thailand with his American buddy Ed Cleveland. After enjoying the nightlife for a few days they head out on a live-aboard to the Mergui Archipelago. But this dive trip is not going to end well.

To begin with Roderick Pang was dead. Dead as a door-nail. Bill Jedburgh meets three Ghosts and has to decide what the future might hold for him. His sniper rifles range from the Lee Enfield Enforcer with the Parker-Hale sight, across the Heckler & Koch PSG1 with the Brugget & Thomet optics and finally he gets to use the Barrett M82 with a Leupold sight. You might very well say: Bah, humbug!

THIS IS A SHORT STORY It's 1999 and Bill Jedburgh, formerly with the Royal Hong Kong Police but now a gun for hire, has flown up to Shanghai to sort out a tricky problem involving computers. At first it's a bit confusing but eventually Jedburgh gets his man. There are also four women involved but that's the least you expect when it comes to the Reliable Man.

THIS IS A SHORT STORY It's 1999 and Bill Jedburgh, formerly of the Royal Hong Kong Police but now a gun for hire, visits Kuala Lumpur to untangle a complication in his love life. A chance encounter in the Hard Rock Cafe leads to an unexpected assignment and a slew of dead bodies.

It's Christmas 1999 and the Reliable Man has taken time off from his usual work to spend the holidays with his buddy Ed Cleveland in Los Angeles. But before they get a chance to hit the hot nightspots there is another party going down at the airport ...

THIS IS A SHORT STORY It's 2006 and Bill Jedburgh, formerly of the Royal Hong Kong Police but now a gun for hire, is having dinner by himself in Patpong, Bangkok, when a young lady comes along and makes him an indecent proposal. Will the Reliable Man decline the invitation or will he rise to the occasion?

Bill Jedburgh, formerly of the Royal Hong Kong Police but now a gun for hire, is tasked by Brigadier Wee of Singapore's Security & Intelligence Division to work with a man known as the Hairy Filipino. It should have been a simple assassination but, as often happens in life, the best laid plans of mice and spooks go oft awry.

Get ready for a spine-tingling adventure with "AMBW Halloween Nights," a delightful collection of short stories that celebrate the enchanting love between Asian men and Black women during the most bewitching season of the year! Each tale is packed with chills, thrills, and a dash of romance that will have you on the edge of your seat. Join our diverse cast of characters as they navigate haunted houses, mysterious creatures, and magical encounters that defy the ordinary. Whether it’s a spooky date night that turns into a romantic escapade or an unexpected twist that brings them closer, ...

John LeBrock is the greatest MMA fighter on Earth. He takes on all opponents and destroys them with ease. He is rich, good-looking, and oozes charisma. He wants for nothing, and life is good. John will soon find out that a seemingly perfect life can change in the blink of an eye. The MMA world champion will be given the opportunity to travel through a cosmic doorway that leads to the other side of the universe to a strange but beautiful world called Azura.

From the bustling streets of America to the quiet mountain towns in rural China, this captivating collection of short stories spans continents and cultures, weaving a tapestry of universal human experiences. Each tale offers a unique glimpse into lives shaped by love, betrayal, and the search for identity. These stories, by turns humorous and poignant, explore the intricate threads that connect us all—the joy of friendship, the pain of betrayal, the challenges of coming of age, and the bittersweet realities of leaving one's homeland. With its rich diversity of settings and emotions, this ...

We’re constantly trying to improve and master new skills, and the Japanese language is no exception. A skill that can help open important doors in business and tourism, knowing Japanese will lead you towards a huge number of opportunities in life that will be worth every second dedicated to your studies.

★A spine-chilling techno-thriller novella. For those who like their minds bent.★ Five went up the mountains. None returned. And it wasn’t the cold or the climb that killed them. At fifteen thousand feet, an army rescue operation finds buried underneath snow dunes five trekkers, dead in their campsite. One of the dead is Indian movie star Kirti Pandit. Another is her boyfriend, and the rest are her entourage. No one can say how they died. It could’ve been due to intense cold, perhaps the sudden snowstorm, or merely altitude sickness. Only, their symptoms were unusual. The snowfall ...