The Point of ViewStanley G. Weinbaum
The, self-aclaimed "great", Haskel van Manderpootz has been "cheated" out of the coveted Morrell Award and unable to accept of life of modesty and in the discussion of varying points of view, van Manderpootz sets in motion his next great experiment. One of science fiction's classic duos – wacky inventor Professor... read more »
Wives and DaughtersElizabeth Gaskell
Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centres on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new step-sister enters Molly's quiet life – loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the... read more »
Murder at SchoolJames Hilton
Taking place in that most traditional and confounding of English settings, the public school. Colin Revell, impudent Oxonian and sometime sleuth, returns to his alma mater Oakington to puzzle over a schoolboy's "accidental" death. The accidents multiply in frequency and horror as Colin idly pokes about the Gothic... read more »
The Shunned HouseH. P. Lovecraft
For many years the protagonist and his uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, have nurtured a fascination with an old, abandoned house on Benefit Street. Dr. Whipple has made extensive records tracking the mysterious, yet apparently coincidental sickness and death of many who have lived in the house for over one hundred years... read more »
Politics and the English LanguageGeorge Orwell
Politics and the English Language is widely considered Orwell's most important essay on style. Style, for Orwell, was never simply a question of aesthetics; it was always inextricably linked to politics and to truth. 'All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and... read more »
The Charwoman's DaughterJames Stephens
A strange wistful story of sixteen-year-old Mary, the only child of her fiercely protective, widowed mother. Mary and her mother live in a one-room tenement flat that is home to the rituals of their bitter love. By day her mother cleans the houses of the Dublin rich, while Mary makes observations as she walks... read more »
Magepa the BuckH. Rider Haggard
To return to old Magepa. I had known him for many years. The first time we met was in the battle of the Tugela. I was fighting for the king's son, Umbelazi the Handsome, in the ranks of the Tulwana regiment--I mean to write all that story, for it should not be lost. Well, as I have told you before, the Tulwana were... read more »
WaxEthel Lina White
The residents of the British town of Riverpool are disturbed by a series of murders in the local waxworks museum. As tensions mount, local journalist Sonia Thompson determines to investigate - but when she spends the night alone at the museum, she soon finds horror stalking the exhibits. A classic crime thriller... read more »
Operation: Outer SpaceMurray Leinster
A terrifying darkness engulfed the sky while on the horizon a fire flood consumed the mountain! The ship swayed again. Flying creatures darted back and forth above the tree tops. Miles away, insensate violence reigned. Clouds of dust and smoke shot miles into the air, half a mountainside glowed white hot, and there... read more »
Cousin PhillisElizabeth Gaskell
A haunting, beautifully controlled novella, Cousin Phyllis is considered to be among Elizabeth Gaskell's finest short works. Lodging with a minister on the outskirts of London, Paul Manning is initially dismayed to discover that the uncle he must visit in the country is also a churchman. Yet far from the... read more »
Valley of DreamsStanley G. Weinbaum
'A pair of lunatics, you two,' observed Harrison. He squinted through the port at the gray gloom of the Mare Cimmerium. 'There comes the sun.' He paused. 'Listen, Dick--you and Leroy take the other auxiliary rocket and go out and salvage those films.' read more »
Time and Time AgainJames Hilton
A middle-aged British diplomat reminisces about his life from his college days at Cambridge through his early fifties. The protagonist, Charles Anderson, leads us through World War I, first love, and the progression of his diplomatic career. Tragedy during World War II almost ends his career. A continuous thread... read more »
The Wheel SpinsEthel Lina White
Iris Carr is a beautiful, young socialite on her way back home to England after vacationing in Europe. Feeling terribly alone and afraid, she finds comfort in the company of a strange woman she knows only as Miss Froy. But comfort soon turns to horror when Miss Froy mysteriously vanishes without a trace. Fearing... read more »
The Four LovesC. S. Lewis
We hear often that love is patient and kind, not envious or prideful. We hear that human love is a reflection of divine love. We hear that God is love. But how do we understand its work in our lives, its perils and rewards? Here, the incomparable C. S. Lewis examines human love in four forms: affection, the most... read more »
The Just Men Of CordovaEdgar Wallace
There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot redress. The three friends, Pioccart, Manfred and Gonsalez, may be enjoying the exotic, Spanish city of Cordova with its heat and Moorish influences, but they are still committed to employing their intellect and cunning to... read more »
The Dark OtherStanley G. Weinbaum
Pat is a beautiful young woman with many admirers. Nick is a young man with a secret. When his dark side interferes with their burgeoning love, things turn grim, and psychologist Carl Horker has to intervene. read more »
RuthElizabeth Gaskell
Ruth Hilton is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman, Henry Bellingham, who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. When she loses her job and home, he offers her comfort and shelter, only to cruelly desert her soon after. Nearly dead with grief and shame, Ruth is offered the chance of... read more »
She Faded into AirEthel Lina White
A millionaire family is intimidated by first abduction and death, and when their daughter is taken, at the same place, in the mysterious way, they are willing ransom victims. Good mechanics-timing make this an excellent suspense holder. read more »
To the Last ManZane Grey
This is the classic story of a deadly feud between cattlemen and sheepherders in the Tonto Basin of Arizona in the years years of the 1800s that gave substance to one of the legendary conflicts of the West. This romance is true to Grey's conception of the Pleasant Valley War and he bases it upon the setting he... read more »
The YearsVirginia Woolf
The novel traces the history of the genteel Pargiter family from the 1880s to the "present day" of the mid-1930s. Although spanning fifty years, the novel is not epic in scope, focusing instead on the small private details of the characters' lives. Except for the first, each section takes place on a single day of... read more »
Knight Without ArmourJames Hilton
Set in Russia, it is the story of Ainsely Fothergill, an Englishman who served as a British spy and was exiled to Siberia for eight years. The book reminds us that James Hilton was one of the best storytellers of our era, and that a good story never loses its appeal. read more »
The FortressHugh Walpole
It had been the wish of her whole life to flee from all the Herries, but Walter Herries had challenged her, and she had taken up the challenge'. Judith Paris, now middle aged returns to the Lakes to deal with the bitter feud between the two branches of the family. A feud culminating in the construction by one branch... read more »
The Spawn Of DagonHenry Kuttner
An eldritch, fearsome tale of the worship of the fish-god in the ancient world, and the prowess of a doughty swordsman in old Atlantis. Lycon and Elak embark on an adventure to kill the great wizard of Atlantis, but not all is what it seems! read more »
The Saving ClauseSapper
Sapper leads us into a very pleasant world in which the mighty, such as the Oliver Samuelsons, the vulgar nouveaux riches, are turned out of their newly acquired country seat through their terror of a faked ghost, and in which the humble--like Molly Delmont, the pretty little governess—-are exalted by the timely... read more »
The Daughter of TimeJosephine Tey
Voted greatest mystery novel of all time by the Crime Writers’ Association in 1990, Josephine Tey recreates one of history’s most famous—and vicious—crimes in her classic bestselling novel, a must read for connoisseurs of fiction. Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes... read more »
The Life of Charlotte BrontëElizabeth Gaskell
Gaskell was a friend of Charlotte Bronte, and, having been invited to write the official life, determined both to tell the truth and to honour her friend. She contacted those who had known Charlotte and travelled extensively in England and Belgium to gather material. She wrote from a vivid accumulation of letters... read more »
The New AdamStanley G. Weinbaum
The New Adam finds himself not in Eden, but in a crowded world of men and women who look like him but who cannot comprehend his powers or his unique mentality. Nature had placed Edmund Hall a rung higher on the ladder of evolution than the men around him. How could he live in a world populated by creatures as far... read more »
PerelandraC. S. Lewis
The second novel in Lewis's science fiction trilogy tells of Dr Ransom's voyage to the planet of Perelandra (Venus). Dr Ransom is sent by the Elida to Perelandra (Venus) to battle against evil incarnate and preserve a second Eden from the evil forces present in the possessed body of his enemy, Weston. Through these... read more »
Again the ThreeEdgar Wallace
Thrilling tales from the secret files of the world's most famous vigilantes. An honest workingman tries to intimidate his wife's blackmailer and winds up in prison. Only the organization known as the Four Just Men can save him--by taking the law into their own hands. A noted professor is found strangled to death in... read more »
Lost HorizonJames Hilton
While attempting to escape a civil war, four people are kidnapped and transported to the Tibetan mountains. After their plane crashes, they are found by a mysterious Chinese man. He leads them to a monastery hidden in "the valley of the blue moon" -- a land of mystery and matchless beauty where life is lived in... read more »