On StoriesC. S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis is widely known for his fiction, especially his stories of science fiction and fantasy, for which he was a pioneering author in an age of realistic fiction. He lays out his theories and philosophy on fiction over the course of nine essays, including this one, On Stories. Along with discussing his own... read more »
On the Banks of Plum CreekLaura Ingalls Wilder
The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as they leave the prairie and travel in their covered wagon to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Here they settle in a new home made of sod beside the banks of Plum Creek. Soon Pa builds a wonderful new little house with real glass windows and a hinged door. Laura and... read more »
On the BeachNevil Shute
After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and... read more »
On the RocksGeorge Bernard Shaw
The P.M. in On the Rocks did not win over anybody. The proletarians attacked and repudiated him at once; and the Conservatives, though quite approving of the items in his program which favored their private affairs, deserted him and followed their Die Hard leader the moment he called them to heel. As to militant... read more »
On the Trail of the Space PiratesCarey Rockwell
This, the third book in the Tom Corbett series by "Carey Rockwell" (whoever he was in real life) is, like all of the Tom Corbett books, something special. It's another tale of the three young men who serve in the Solar Guard as Space Cadets. And this tale of the cadets' adventures is a story you've got to love, too... read more »
Operation HaystackFrank Herbert
It's hard to ferret out a gang of fanatics; it would, obviously, be even harder to spot a genetic line of dedicated men. But the problem Orne had was one step tougher than that! Field Agent Lewis Orne must contend with genetic manipulation and dig deep into a complex political situation to untangle deep embedded... 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 »
O Pioneers!Willa Cather
"The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman," writes Willa Cather in O Pioneers! The country is America; the woman is Alexandra Bergson, a fiercely independent young Swedish immigrant girl who inherits her father’s farm in Nebraska. A model of emotional strength, courage, and resolve... read more »
OptimismHelen Keller
Optimism is an important essay whcih was written by American author and lecturer Helen Keller. Due to illness, Keller was left blind and deaf at a young age and spent a great deal of years lecturing on behalf of those with similar issues and and facing the same problems that she has. In optimism she writes about how... read more »
The Orange Fairy BookAndrew Lang
In this volume there are stories from the natives of Rhodesia, collected by Mr. Fairbridge, who speaks the native language, and one is brought by Mr. Cripps from another part of Africa, Uganda. Three tales from the Punjaub were collected and translated by Major Campbell. Various savage tales, which needed a good... read more »
Oregon and EldoradoThomas Bulfinch
A series of romantic adventures attaches to each of the Columbian and Amazon rivers. I indulge the hope, that young readers who have so favorably received my former attempts to amuse and instruct them, in my several works reviving the fabulous legends of remote ages, will find equally attractive these true... read more »
OrientationsW. Somerset Maugham
This collection of short stories is sure to please fans of the eminently talented British author W. Somerset Maugham. With details drawn from Maugham's first extended period of living abroad, the stories offer a unique glimpse into the early stages of the author's artistic development. read more »
Original Maupassant Short StoriesGuy de Maupassant
"I entered literary life as a meteor, and I shall leave it like a thunderbolt." These words of Maupassant to Jose Maria de Heredia on the occasion of a memorable meeting are, in spite of their morbid solemnity, not an inexact summing up of the brief career during which, for ten years, the writer, by turns undaunted... read more »
OrlandoVirginia Woolf
The thrill of reading Virginia Woolf’s Orlando is the feeling of looking into a whirlpool just as something utterly extraordinary materializes for the first time: an exhilarating hallucination of surreal and beautiful images that remain in memory long after you put the book down. Orlando has it all: life, death... read more »
OroonokoAphra Behn
When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction... read more »
OrthodoxyG. K. Chesterton
This book is meant to be a companion to "Heretics," and to put the positive side in addition to the negative. Many critics complained of the book called "Heretics" because it merely criticised current philosophies without offering any alternative philosophy. This book is an attempt to answer the challenge. It is... read more »
O. T.Hans Christian Andersen
An unexpected romance novel from the author of many famous children's stories, featuring the main character; Otto. read more »
OthelloWilliam Shakespeare
Shakespeare creates a powerful drama of a marriage that begins with fascination (between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona), with elopement, and with intense mutual devotion and that ends precipitately with jealous rage and violent deaths. He sets this story in the romantic world of the... read more »
Otto of the Silver HandHoward Pyle
Born into a family that is already engaged in a blood feud with another noble house, Otto is sent to live with monks, but is reclaimed at age 12 by his militant, but loving father. The gentle-natured boy is kidnapped and mutilated by the rival family. Pauline, his captors daughter helps him escape. His father allows... read more »
Our Mr. WrennSinclair Lewis
A little New York clerk, full of dreams of travel, goes to London on a cattle steamer, has experiences with bohemianisms of a sort and returns joyfully to New York to find his real romance. Told with a true understanding and humour. read more »
Our Mutual FriendCharles Dickens
Our Mutual Friend, Dickens' last complete novel, gives one of his most comprehensive and penetrating accounts of Victorian society. Its vision of a culture stifled by materialistic values emerges not just through its central narratives, but through its apparently incidental characters and scenes. The chief of its... read more »
The Outlaw of TornEdgar Rice Burroughs
The kidnapped prince is trained to fight, so he will someday kill his own father--the king. But the plan goes awry as the prince befriends an old monk who teaches him the rules of chivalry. A thrilling and unusual tale from the author of Tarzan. Newly designed and typeset for easy reading by Boomer Books. read more »
Out of AfricaIsak Dinesen
From the moment Karen Blixen arrived in Kenya in 1914 to manage a coffee plantation, her heart belonged to Africa. Drawn to the intense colours and ravishing landscapes, Karen Blixen spent her happiest years on the farm and her experiences and friendships with the people around her are vividly recalled in these... read more »
Out of the Silent PlanetC. S. Lewis
In the first novel of C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction trilogy, Dr Ransom, a Cambridge academic, is abducted and taken on a spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra, which he knows as Mars. His captors are plotting to plunder the planet's treasures and plan to offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the creatures who... read more »
Out of Time's AbyssEdgar Rice Burroughs
In Caprona, the land that time forgot, creatures from the world's savage past live on—dinosaurs, cavemen, and the last remnants of Bronze Age barbarians. But the claws and fangs and sharp-edged spears guard a terrible secret. Out of Time's Abyss is the story of a man who dares to uncover that secret. Crossing the... read more »
Out on the PampasG. A. Henty
This is a tale of young Englishmen who go out to the Argentine with their family. They have many adventures at the time of the Mexican - American War including a raid by the Pampas Indians in which their sister is abducted. They rescue the girl, make peace with the Indians, and return prosperously to England. read more »
The Oval PortraitEdgar Allan Poe
Our protagonist takes refuge in an abandoned castle and discovers a room with a series of paintings accompanied by a small book describing them. His attention is attracted by an oval portrait depicting a young woman of rare beauty. The book tells of the artist falling in love with the gir and marrying her. It was... read more »
OverclockedCory Doctorow
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to get bitten by a zombie? To live through a bioweapon attack? To have every aspect of your life governed by invisible ants? In Cory Doctorow’s collection of novellas, he wields his formidable experience in technology and computing to give us mindbending sci-fi tales that... read more »
Ozma of OzL. Frank Baum
Blown overboard while sailing with her uncle, Dorothy finds herself in the fairy realm of Ev. She sets out with her friends to rescue the Queen of Ev and her ten children, who have been imprisoned by the cruel Nome King. But even Ozma, the wise Ruler of Oz, is no match for the clever king, and it's up to Dorothy to... read more »
Pagan PapersKenneth Grahame
Years before he wrote The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame published a very different sort of book: Pagan Papers, a wry, witty, wide-ranging collection of eighteen irresistible essays. Strolling, loafing, smoking, collecting books and pondering, the author muses on the human condition. What to do about relatives... read more »