Volume I contains fifty-four stories. Volume II, which is a continuation of Volume I, has forty-two stories. The stories are stand-alone stories; that is, they are independent from each other, so that these books can be read in any sequence the reader chooses. There is no particular reason why they should be read in the way the author sequenced them. The reader can select stories based on the time there is to read one or more stories. The books are designed for busy people who need to escape from the problems of work, family, or self-imposed rituals for governing activities of the day. Please read these stories to explore and enhance that which is not yet part of your day or evening accomplishments.

When anxiety-prone Rachel Granza learns that her growing sense of emptiness is affecting her relationship with her almost perfect boyfriend and that she’s jeopardizing any possibility of a marriage proposal, she knows she must pull herself out of her funk. But how? A dream apartment in New York City, a thriving psychotherapy practice, and her unique obsessions with topics like the Titanic don’t even make her feel grounded anymore. Red alert! Trying to find happiness and meaning again—in more than her beloved Italian food—she stumbles into a genealogy mission to discover childhood information about her idol, aka her grandpa, who died years ago. He never spoke about his Italian immigrant past and now she’s determined to find out the reason for his unusual secretiveness. Rachel’s ancestral roller coaster has roadblocks galore, but she needs the answers to her family’s hidden history. They’re her only hope to know more about her hero, salvage her relationship, and most importantly to save herself.

Money in Asia examines two chronic problems that faced early modern monetary economies in East, South, and Southeast Asia: The inability to provide sufficient amounts of small currencies to facilitate local economic transactions and to control currency depreciation. The studies in this volume analyze the social and economic consequences of small currency scarcity and devaluation on various Asian economies and show how various regimes tried to manage these ever-present challenges. They reveal that those regimes that dealt most successfully with these two issues were those with an integrated national approach to monetary policy. Contributors are: Peter Bernholz, Werner Burger, Cao Jin, Mark Elvin, Dennis O. Flynn, Roger Greatrex, Najaf Haider, Reinier H. Hesselink, Elisabeth Kaske, Man-houng Lin, Jane Kate Leonard, Christine Moll-Murata, Keiko Nagase-Reimer, Shan Kunqin, Shimada Ryūto, Ulrich Theobald, Hans Ulrich Vogel, and Willem Wolters

Professional investors are bombarded on a day to day basis with assertions about the role liquidity is playing and will play in determining prices in the financial markets. Few, if any, of the providers or recipients of such advice can truly claim to understand the well–springs of such liquidity and the transmission mechanisms through which it impacts asset prices. This groundbreaking new book explores the belief that at the core of liquidity there is a force which exerts individuals to effect a financial transaction when they would not otherwise do so. Understanding this force of compulsion is a key to understanding a financial market when it appears to be behaving irrationally. This book will enable new and seasoned investors to develop an understanding of the factors, so that costly mistakes can be avoided without the lesson of experience.

Are you a people watcher because you have interest in the world of persons around you and engaged in so many different activities? These thirty-three short stories capsulate many different orientations in people. Many diverse and interesting situations are zoomed forward so that we can be entertained and maybe laugh. When we laugh at the antics portrayed in these stories, we are laughing at ourselves.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE DESTINATION... Just when you thought their travels were slowing down, Elaina and friends dive headfirst into a slew of new adventures! On this leg of her journey, the ashen witch encounters the seldom-seen dark elves, bumps into a bizarre photographer, attempts to recover a little girl’s long-lost smile, and continues her never-ending quest to fill both her pockets and stomach while an exorcist endeavors to free her from the clutches of avarice. Meanwhile, the sisters Amnesia and Avelia explore a new city, and Saya runs into the last person she expected to see...

All that stands between ten-year-old Beatrice and an amazing life are five wishes…and she’s got a plan to make them all come true! A magical and heartfelt adventure about grief, hope, and the power of human connection. Beatrice Corwell has a crooked haircut, eight well-trained cats, and a plan: she’s turning herself into a Tin Man. Once her heart is made of metal, she’ll no longer miss her beloved dead grandma, her absent dad, or her recently moved-away best friend. While Beatrice awaits her transformation, she keeps vigil with a special doll and a handful of wishes she’s determined to make come true. With her encyclopedic knowledge, there must be a way to grant her heart’s deepest desires. When an unusual boy named Caleb moves to town and mentions his granny’s interest in magic, Beatrice decides to enlist their help. She quickly learns, however, that spells don’t always go as planned, and witches can’t be trusted. With the arrival of an unexpected visitor and a series of otherworldly messages, Beatrice’s plans begin to falter. Will her heart turn into metal? Will any of her wishes come true? The Wonderful Wishes of B. is the story of a smart, quirky girl learning what she wants and what she needs—and how, sometimes, the wishes we hold dearest are granted in the most unexpected ways.

Is there magic in your junk drawer or in the pieces of a broken china plate? In Conjuring the Commonplace, Laine Fuller and Cory Thomas Hutcheson answer with a resounding, “Yes!” and deftly show you how to incorporate that magic into your everyday. They also point to other hidden treasures in places in your home you may have never thought to look. As the hosts of the long-running podcast New World Witchery, Cory and Laine have shared the folklore and magic of North America and their own magical journeys with listeners. Conjuring the Commonplace continues that conversation, highlighting the folklore of the common objects and the practical ways they have each incorporated these small magics into their lives and how you might too. If you’ve ever questioned whether to toss out that bit of string from a sewing project or wondered what you should know before picking up that shiny penny on the sidewalk, this book is for you.