William Wilson tells the tale of a man who travels around the world pursued by his ghostly double who tries to keep him from sin and vice. This stands out among Edgar Allen Poe's stories for the fact that it is less Gothic, less gruesome, and less melodramatic than most of his other work. You'll find a different kin…Read More »
I am not an interesting person by any means. You shall judge. I shall be forty-two my next birthday. That anniversary will occur on the first of May, 1873; and I am unmarried. I don't look quite the old maid I am, they tell me. They say I don't look five-and-thirty, and I am conscious, sitting before the glass, that…Read More »
Charlon, Ruler of the Bat People of Neptune, Puts Tremendous Obstacles in the Way of Three Spaceteers of Earth—and Jeopardizes the Destinies of Two Planets!
Ernest Hemingway's first new book of fiction, since the publication of A Farewell to Arms, contains fourteen stories of varying length. Some of them have appeared in magazines but the majority have not been published before. The characters and backgrounds are widely varied. “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is about an …Read More »
The adventures of Christopher Robin and his friends in which Pooh Bear uses a balloon to get honey, Piglet meets a Heffalump, and Eeyore has a birthday. These tales still speak to all of us with the freshness that distinguishes true storytelling.
Hugh Walpole’s Wintersmoon turns the romance novel on its head. Janet Grandison and Wildherne Poole marry for companionship and convenience. Love isn’t part of the arrangement. Janet wants to give her sister Rosalind a home; Wildherne wants an heir to his title and estate that the married woman he loves can’t give h…Read More »
In the fourth and final book in the She sequence, the beautiful and immortal Ayesha tells her tale of power, wisdom, love, and deception, in her own words. Arabian by birth, Ayesha's natural beauty was the cause in her father's kingdom of many wars and conflicts between jealous princes and suitors, leading to a ru…Read More »
Set against the religious struggles and civil wars of seventeenth century Scotland, John Buchan's gripping atmospheric tale in the spirit of Stevenson and Neil Munro. As a moderate presbyterian minister, young David Sempill disputes with the extremists of his faith, as all around, the defeated remnants of Montrose's…Read More »
Henty has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance, and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is deeply interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the volume.
This powerful novel, a "Polish Gone with the Wind", is set in the 17th century and follows the struggle of the kingdom of Poland to maintain its unity in the face of the Cossack-led peasant rebellion. It was initially serialized in several Polish newspapers, chapters appearing in weekly instalments. It gained enor…Read More »
In With the Allies, Davis says that this was not a war against the Germans, but a war against the military aristocracy of Germany. Harding speaks of the lack of knowledge in the United States about the war. He blames censorship and the lack of understanding of the massive scale of the war. Harding believes that Am…Read More »
Having achieved international fame with The Jungle Book, Captains Courageous, Kim, and his Just So Stories, in 1905 Kipling serialized a thrilling science fiction novella, With the Night Mail: A Story of 2000 A.D, in which the reader learns — while following the exploits of an intercontinental mail dirigible battlin…Read More »
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 tw…Read More »
A sequel to Lawrence's earlier novel The Rainbow, it continues the story of the Brangwen sisters in the coal-mining town of Beldover. Based in part on Lawrence's own stormy marriage to German aristocrat Frieda von Richthofen, the tale is charged with intense feelings an…Read More »
For Andersen, 1845 is heralded as a breakthrough year in which four different translations of his fairy tales were published. The Little Mermaid appeared in the periodical Bentley's Miscellany, and was shortly followed by this, a second volume entitled Wonderful Stories for Children (source: Wikipedia). Contents i…Read More »
The Wood Beyond the World is a splendid tale, told in a romantic style and written in a pseudo-archaic English. The plot is full of tension, and the descriptions of the Wood, the characters, and the rustic scenery are all exquisitely painted. Morris was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, and perh…Read More »
Sapper is not so good inking short stories as in a full-length novel; but he still shows many of his virtues. His style is conversational and easy, his plots are uninvolved, and everything goes with a swing. Of course, if the 'reader pulls himself up and begins to think whether the stories are life-like, he will fee…Read More »
Three generations of the Weagle family grow up in and work for boarding houses, inns and hotels. Focus is on two brothers, Myron and Ora, of the second generation. Poetic, ethereal Ora could not wait to escape hotel drudgery, though never too proud to ask plodding Myron for money.
The story of a young, recently widowed ex-Army major and architect, Hayden Chart. He strives mightily to find personal meaning in Florence. Beautiful fellow American Dr Olivia Lomond is a budding scholar who tempts him to make his mind grow in appreciation of art and history. But earthy, honest Roxanna Eldritch,home…Read More »
Bran Mak Morn, King of the Picts, vows revenge on the Roman governor Titus Sulla after witnessing the crucifixion of a fellow Pict. He seeks forbidden aid from the Worms of the Earth, a race of creatures who were once men but after generations of living underground have become monstrous and semi-reptilian. He secure…Read More »
Several hundred of Bierce's pet peeves. Bierce's list includes some distinctions still familiar today–the which-that rule, less vs. fewer, lie and lay – but it also abounds in now-forgotten shibboleths: Ovation, the critics of his time agreed, meant a Roman triumph, not a round of applause. Reliable was an ill-for…Read More »
From the creator of exciting, historically accurate fiction for young readers comes this tale of loyalty and courage in 11th-century Britain. Wulf and his best friend, Beorn, fight bravely for their Saxon king capturing castles, rescuing shipwrecked survivors, repelling Viking invaders, and fighting the Battle of Ha…Read More »
Perhaps the most haunting and tragic love story ever written, Wuthering Heights is the tale of Heathcliff, a brooding, troubled orphan, and his doomed love for Catherine Earnshaw. His desire for her leads him to madness, however, when Catherine is made to marry a wealthy lord, sending Heathcliff on a life-long quest…Read More »
Showcasing the talent of one of the greatest novelists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this collection gathers five of Edith Wharton’s short stories. Jealous husbands, spinsters who have wasted away their lives, and bored ladies infatuated with money and aspirations populate these stories that range from …Read More »
The Castle of Death shelters a poisoned garden, curated by a criminal mastermind and set atop a rocky Japanese island. Bond is shattered by the murder of his wife at the hands of Ernst Stavro Blofeld but M. gives him one last chance. To save his job, James Bond needs to infiltrate and destroy the Castle of Death in …Read More »
Slim is a boy whose astronomer father is visiting the country estate of an important industrialist. The industrialists son, Red, has found two strange animals, and he enlists Slim in a plan to turn the animals into a circus act. The astronomer, meanwhile, tells the industrialist that he has been in contact with spac…Read More »
Memorable short stories by a great American writer. "Coming, Aphrodite!" is an unforgettable novella of a young artist in New York and his relationship with a girl who hopes to become an opera star. "Paul's Case" reveals the frustration and pain of a lonely youth from the provinces who escapes to NYC for a brief, tr…Read More »
This novel tells the story of Zadig, a philosopher in ancient Babylonia. The author does not attempt any historical accuracy, and some of the problems Zadig faces are thinly disguised references to social and political problems of Voltaire's own day. The book is philosophical in nature, and presents human life as in…Read More »
Before Orlando, before The Highlander, before the Elves in Lord of the Rings, before any and all fictional immortals, there was Zanoni. Through magical alchemical elixirs and the mysterious rites of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, Zanoni has been gifted with immortal life; he chooses to sacrifice this gift for th…Read More »
Armand Gervase has it all. He is a famous artist, his paintings are hung in national galleries, and he is celebrated worldwide. His best-known painting, depicting an alluring Egyptian woman about to murder her lover, is known for its minute, historic detail, yet Armand has no experience with Egypt's ancient past…o…Read More »