The Blue Fairy BookAndrew Lang
It is almost impossible to envision what childhood would be like without the enchanting world of fairyland. Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, giants and dwarfs, monsters and magicians, fairies and ogres- these are the companions who thrill young boys and girls of all lands and all times, as Andrew Lang's... read more »
Helen of TroyAndrew Lang
In Greek mythology, Helen, better known as Helen of Sparta or Helen of Troy, was daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of king Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor, Polydeuces and Clytemnestra. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. Helen was described as having the face that launched a thousand ships... read more »
Joan of Arc - Volume 1Mark Twain
In 1429, a 17-year-old peasant girl receives a message from Heaven that she is to rescue France from its English oppressors. Within two years this most unlikely of heroines leads a ragtag army to victory, sees the king crowned, and dies at the stake, martyred by traitors. America's most famous storyteller, Mark... read more »
Grimms' Fairy TalesBrothers Grimm
Dwarves, giants, princesses, kings, fairies, and magicians ... all can be found in the enchanting fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Sixty-two of the Grimms' best stories are brought to life, from well-known favorites like "Rapunzel," "Red Riding Hood," "Rumpelstiltskin," and "Hansel and Grethel," to lesser-known... read more »
2 B R 0 2 BKurt Vonnegut
2BR02B is a science fiction short story by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in the pulp digest magazine Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1962. The title is pronounced "2 B R naught 2 B" and refers to the telephone number one dials to schedule an assisted suicide with the Federal Bureau of Termination. The... read more »
Napoleon the LittleVictor Hugo
Napoleon the Little was an influential political pamphlet by Victor Hugo which condemned the reign of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. Hugo lived in exile in Guernsey for most of Napoleon III's reign, and his criticism of the monarch was significant as he was one of the most prominent Frenchmen of the time, and... read more »
Ticket No. 9672Jules Verne
Ticket No. "9672" is a fascinating tale of two women who live in a Norway Inn. Dame Hansen is a foolish woman whose mistakes must be dealt with by her daughter Hulda. Coming to their aid is their brother Joel and the remarkable Sylvius Hogg, who helps them all after the young Hansens rescue him from the edge of the... read more »
The Woman in WhiteWilkie Collins
The woman in white first appears at night on a lonely heath near London and is next seen at a grave-side in Cumberland. Who is she? Where has she come from, and what is her history? She seems alone and friendless, frightened and confused. And it seems she knows a secret - a secret that could bring ruin and shame to... read more »
IvanhoeWalter Scott
In Ivanhoe, Scott fashioned an imperial myth of national cultural identity that has shaped the popular imagination ever since its first appearance at the end of 1819. With the secret return of King Richard and the disinherited Saxon knight Ivanhoe, Scott confronts his splendid and tumultuous romance, featuring the... read more »
RedgauntletWalter Scott
Set in 1765 in the fictitious third Jacobite rebellion, Redgauntlet tells of Darsie Latimer, a student of law who becomes embroiled in a plot to put Prince Charles Edward (aka, Bonnie Prince Charlie) on the British throne. He is kidnapped by his uncle, Redgauntlet, who is involved in a last, fictional attempt to... read more »
Brother JacobGeorge Eliot
Brother Jacob is Eliot's literary homage to Thackeray, a satirical modern fable that draws telling parallels between eating and reading. Revealing Eliot's deep engagement with the question of whether there are 'necessary truths' independent of our perception of them and the boundaries of art and the self. read more »
How Lisa Loved the KingGeorge Eliot
Written between the inception of Middlemarch and the completion, seven years later, of Daniel Deronda this book is a charming treatment of a subject taken from Boccaccio; a poem interesting by virtue of its graceful form. read more »
ArmadaleWilkie Collins
Can a dream foretell the future? That is one of the central questions of Armadale, one of Wilkie Collins’ lesser-known novels. But even though it is not as famous as The Woman in White or The Moonstone, it is still written with the psychological awareness and piercing character studies of the best of Collins’ work. read more »
The Law and the LadyWilkie Collins
Valeria Woodville's first act as a married woman is to sign her name in the marriage register incorrectly, and this slip is followed by the gradual disclosure of a series of secrets about her husband's earlier life, each of which leads on to another set of questions and enigmas. Her discoveries prompt her to defy... read more »
The Black RobeWilkie Collins
It may be that women have no positive appreciation of what is beautiful in form and colour--or it may be that they have no opinions of their own when the laws of fashion have spoken. This at least is certain, that not one of them in a thousand sees anything objectionable in the gloomy and hideous evening costume of... read more »
Psmith in the CityP. G. Wodehouse
Psmith in the City was originally released as a serial in The Captain magazine, between October 1908 and March 1909, under the title The New Fold. It continues the adventures of cricket-loving Mike Jackson and his immaculately-dressed friend Psmith, first encountered in Mike. Mike Jackson, cricketer and scion of a... read more »
The MoonstoneWilkie Collins
Stolen from the forehead of a Hindu idol, the dazzling gem known as "The Moonstone" resurfaces at a birthday party in an English country home--with an enigmatic trio of watchful Brahmins hot on its trail. Laced with superstitions, suspicion, humor, and romance, this mystery draws readers into a compelling tale with... read more »
No NameWilkie Collins
Condemned by Victorian critics as immoral, but regarded today as a novel of outstanding social insight, No Name shows William Wilkie Collins at the height of his literary powers. It is the story of two sisters, Magdalen and Norah, who discover after the deaths of their dearly beloved parents that their parents were... read more »
BeowulfAnonymous
The first true masterpiece of English literature, Beowulf depicts the thrilling adventures of a Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. A true pleasure to read, the work has influenced many important writers, including J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. Part history and part mythology, Beowulf... read more »
The Hunting of the SnarkLewis Carroll
"They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway share; They charmed it with smiles and soap". Ever since Lewis Carroll's nonsense epic appeared in 1876, readers have joined his ten-man Snark-hunting crew and pursued the search with... read more »
Dream DaysKenneth Grahame
This sequel to The Golden Age is an informative snapshot of the late Victorian era that captures the world of imagination inhabited by children. These stories are written with humor and wit as Grahame depicts a private, separate universe of five siblings whose concerns rarely overlap with the world of adults, whom... read more »
The PrinceNiccolò Machiavelli
When Lorenzo de' Medici seized control of the Florentine Republic in 1512, he summarily fired the Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria and set in motion a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. The person who held the aforementioned office with the tongue-twisting title was none other... read more »
Right Ho, JeevesP. G. Wodehouse
When Jeeves suggests dreamy, soulful Gussie Fink-Nottle don scarlet tights and false beard to win over soppy Madeline Bassett, Bertie Wooster doubts this is the way to get his friend hitched. Meanwhile, Bertie's eccentric Aunt Dahlia asks him to hand out prizes at the Market Snodsbury Grammar School, which he's sure... read more »
Les MisérablesVictor Hugo
One of the most widely read novels of all time, Les Misérables was the crowning literary achievement of Victor Hugo’s stunning career. Though he was considered the greatest French writer of his day, Hugo was forced to flee the country because of his opposition to Napoleon III. While in exile he completed Les... read more »
The Arabian Nights EntertainmentsAnonymous
The Sultan Schahriar's misguided resolution to shelter himself from the possible infidelities on his wives leads to an outbreak of barbarity in his kingdoms and a reign of terror in his court, stopped only by the resourceful Scheherazade. The tales with which Scheherazade nightly postpones the muderous intent of the... read more »
A Princess of MarsEdgar Rice Burroughs
A Princess of Mars is the first of eleven thrilling novels that comprise Edgar Rice Burroughs' most exciting saga, known as The Martian Series. It's the beginning of an incredible odyssey in which John Carter, a gentleman from Virginia and a Civil War veteran, unexpectedly finds himself on to the red planet, scene... read more »
The Master of BallantraeRobert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson’s brooding historical romance demonstrates his most abiding theme—the elemental struggle between good and evil—as it unfolds against a hauntingly beautiful Scottish landscape, amid the fierce loyalties and violent enmities that characterized Scottish history. When two brothers attempt to split their... read more »
Queer Little FolksHarriet Beecher Stowe
Once there was a nice young hen that we will call Mrs. Feathertop. She was a hen of most excellent family, being a direct descendant of the Bolton Grays, and as pretty a young fowl as you could wish to see of a summer's day. She was, moreover, as fortunately situated in life as it was possible for a hen to be. She... read more »
Something NewP. G. Wodehouse
Young neighbours and fellow-writers Ashe Marson and Joan Valentine, newly met and both in need of a change of direction, find themselves drawn down to Blandings, for various reasons attempting to retrieve a scarab belonging to an American millionaire, absent-mindedly purloined by Lord Emsworth. Once within the... read more »
A Tale of a TubJonathan Swift
A Tale of a Tub was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, composed between 1694 and 1697 and published in 1704. It is probably his most difficult satire, and possibly his most masterly. The Tale is a prose parody which is divided into sections of "digression" and a "tale" of three brothers, each... read more »