The fifth novel in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, Anne's House of Dreams follows protagonist Anne Shirley during a challenging but rewarding period of transition in her life, as she and childhood sweetheart Gilbert Blythe settle into the rhythms of married life.
The fifth novel in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, Anne's House of Dreams follows protagonist Anne Shirley during a challenging but rewarding period of…
A Journey to the Center of the Earth follows a man, his nephew and their guide down an Icelandic volcano into the center of the earth. There they encounter an ancient landscape filled with prehistoric animals and natural dangers. There is some discussion as to whether Verne really believed that such things might be found in the center, or whether he shared the alternate view, expressed by another character in the novel, that it was not so.
A Journey to the Center of the Earth follows a man, his nephew and their guide down an Icelandic volcano into the center of the earth. There they encounter an ancient landscape…
Are you the type who loves nothing more than curling up with a book of ghost stories? If so, be sure to add A Thin Ghost and Others to your must-read list. A gem from the golden age of Gothic horror, these spine-tingling tales will satisfy your craving for ghoulishly top-notch fiction.
Are you the type who loves nothing more than curling up with a book of ghost stories? If so, be sure to add A Thin Ghost and Others to your must-read list. A gem from the golden…
Two short stories from the American Civil War by Ambrose Bierce. The first story is about a brave soldier who follows orders and risks his life without question. The second is about a soldier who falls asleep on guard duty. A mistake punishable by death in Civil War times.
Two short stories from the American Civil War by Ambrose Bierce. The first story is about a brave soldier who follows orders and risks his life without question. The second is…
King Solomon's Mines is a popular novel by the Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party. It is the first English adventure novel set in Africa, and is considered to be the genesis of the Lost World literary genre. Allan Quatermain, an adventurer and white hunter based in Durban, in what is now South Africa, is approached by aristocrat Sir Henry Curtis and his friend Captain Good, seeking his help finding Sir Henry's brother, who was last seen travelling north into the unexplored interior on a quest for the fabled King Solomon's Mines. Quatermain has a mysterious map purporting to lead to the mines, but had never taken it seriously. However, he agrees to lead an expedition in return for a share of the treasure, or a stipend for his son if he is killed along the way. He has little hope they will return alive, but reasons that he has already outlived most people in his profession, so dying in this manner at least ensures that his son will be provided for. They also take along a mysterious native, Umbopa, who seems more regal, handsome and well-spoken than most porters of his class, but who is very anxious to join the party.
King Solomon's Mines is a popular novel by the Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of…
One of the most unforgettable characters from the golden era of science fiction, Johnny Mayhem is a shapeshifter who can assume the guise of any person. In the pulse-pounding short story A Place in the Sun, Mayhem is ordered to save a spacecraft that is on a direct collision course with the Sun. Will he be able to pull off this Herculean task before it's too late? Stephen Marlowe (August 7, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, died February 22, 2008 (aged 79), in Williamsburg, Virginia) was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Goya, Christopher Columbus, Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe. He is best known for his detective character Chester Drum, whom he created in the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night. Lesser also wrote under the pseudonyms Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway, Stephen Wilder and Ellery Queen. Lesser attended the College of William & Mary, earning his degree in philosophy, marrying Leigh Lang shortly after graduating. The couple divorced in 1962. He was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988 for The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America. He lived with his second wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia.
One of the most unforgettable characters from the golden era of science fiction, Johnny Mayhem is a shapeshifter who can assume the guise of any person. In the pulse-pounding…
Dickens tells the history of England in stories, from ancient times to Queen Victoria. Entertaining not only for children! Dickens dedicated the book to "My own dear children, whom I hope it may help, bye and bye, to read with interest larger and better books on the same subject". The history covered the period between 50 BC and 1689, ending with a chapter summarizing events from then until the accession of Queen Victoria.
Dickens tells the history of England in stories, from ancient times to Queen Victoria. Entertaining not only for children! Dickens dedicated the book to "My own dear children,…
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled A Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Some early editions are titled A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur.
In the book, a Yankee engineer from Connecticut is accidentally transported back in time to the court of King Arthur, where he fools the inhabitants of that time into thinking that he is a magician, and soon uses his knowledge of modern technology to become a «magician» in earnest, stunning the English of the Early Middle Ages with such feats as demolitions, fireworks, and the shoring up of a holy well. He attempts to modernize the past, but in the end he is unable to prevent the death of Arthur and an interdict against him by the Catholic Church of the time, which grows fearful of his power.
Twain wrote the book as a burlesque of Romantic notions of chivalry after being inspired by a dream in which he was a knight himself, severely inconvenienced by the weight and cumbersome nature of his armor.
Twain first conceived of the idea behind A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court in December 1884 and worked on it between 1885 and 1889. It was first published in England by Chatto & Windus under the title A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur in December 1889. Writer and critic William Dean Howells called it Twain's best work and «an object-lesson in democracy».
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled A Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Some early…
Somewhere in London a madman was at large. And then one night there came a knock at the door of a quiet lodging house in the Marylebone Road. . . . This novel, based on the Jack the Ripper murders, was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. Marie Belloc Lowndes (5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), was a prolific English novelist. Active from 1898 until her death, she had a literary reputation for combining exciting incidents with psychological interest. Three of her works were adapted for the screen: The Lodger (1913 novel; numerous film adaptations), Letty Lynton (1931 novel; 1932 film adaptation), and The Story of Ivy (1927 novel; 1947 film adaptation). Additionally, The Lodger was adapted as a 1940 radio drama and 1960 opera.
Somewhere in London a madman was at large. And then one night there came a knock at the door of a quiet lodging house in the Marylebone Road. . . . This novel, based on the Jack…
For one, I have never been one of those who apologize for my frank and never-ending delight in mystery stories. Their mazes have led me unwearied through miles of printed pages, and if only the problem has been worth while, and its pursuit has led along surprising ways, past shuddery thickets and over fearsome bridges, my soul has returned to sober affairs refreshed and content. In a word, here is a remarkable volume which shows us how the wheels go round, not by dogmatic statement, but by an amazing breadth and variety of citation and quotation, showing not only what great mystery writers have thought of their art, but illustrating by apposite examples how they secured their effects.
For one, I have never been one of those who apologize for my frank and never-ending delight in mystery stories. Their mazes have led me unwearied through miles of printed pages,…
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by English author Rudyard Kipling. The stories are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. A principal character is the boy or «man-cub» Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. Other characters include Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear. The book has been adapted many times for film and other media. The tales in the book (as well as those in The Second Jungle Book, which followed in 1895 and includes five further stories about Mowgli) are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to teach moral lessons. The verses of «The Law of the Jungle», for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families, and communities. Kipling put in them nearly everything he knew or «heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle». Other readers have interpreted the work as allegories of the politics and society of the time. A letter written and signed by Rudyard Kipling in 1895 was put up for auction in 2013 by Andrusier. In this letter, Kipling confesses to borrowing ideas and stories in the Jungle Book: «I am afraid that all that code in its outlines has been manufactured to meet 'the necessities of the case': though a little of it is bodily taken from (Southern) Esquimaux rules for the division of spoils,» Kipling wrote in the letter. «In fact, it is extremely possible that I have helped myself promiscuously but at present cannot remember from whose stories I have stolen.» The book is arranged with a story in each chapter. Each story is followed by a poem that serves as an epigram.
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by English author Rudyard Kipling. The stories are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. A principal…
Metropolis is a novel by the German writer Thea von Harbou. The story is set in 2026 in a technologically advanced city, which is sustained by the existence of an underground society of labourers. The son of one of the city's founders falls in love with a girl from the underground society, as the two societies begin to clash due to the lack of a unifying force.
The novel was the basis for Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis. The novel was serialised in the magazine Illustriertes Blatt in 1925, accompanied by screenshots from the upcoming film adaptation. It was published in book form in 1926 by August Scherl. An English translation was published in 1927.
Michael Joseph of The Bookman wrote about the novel: "It is a remarkable piece of work, skilfully reproducing the atmosphere one has come to associate with the most ambitious German film productions. Suggestive in many respects of the dramatic work of Karel Capek and of the earlier fantastic romances of H. G. Wells, in treatment it is an interesting example of expressionist literature. ... Metropolis is one of the most powerful novels I have read and one which may capture a large public both in America and England if it does not prove too bewildering to the plain reader."
Metropolis is a novel by the German writer Thea von Harbou. The story is set in 2026 in a technologically advanced city, which is sustained by the existence of an underground…
A Child's History of England is a book by Charles Dickens. Dickens also published the work in book form in three volumes: the first volume on December 20, 1851; the second, December 25, 1852; and the third, December 24, 1853. Although the volumes were published in December, each was postdated the following year. They bore the titles: Volume I. - England from the Ancient Times, to the Death of King John (1852) Volume II. - England from the Reign of Henry the Third, to the Reign of Richard the Third (1853) Volume III. - England from the Reign of Henry the Seventh to the Revolution of 1688 (1854) Dickens dedicated the book to "My own dear children, whom I hope it may help, bye and bye, to read with interest larger and better books on the same subject". The history covered the period between 50 BC and 1689, ending with a chapter summarising events from then until the accession of Queen Victoria. A Child's History was included in the curricula of British School children well into the 20th century, with successive editions published from 1851 to World War II.
A Child's History of England is a book by Charles Dickens. Dickens also published the work in book form in three volumes: the first volume on December 20, 1851; the second,…
A Study in Scarlet is a detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Written in 1886, the story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become two of the most famous characters in popular fiction. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes, an amateur detective, to his friend and chronicler Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his «study in scarlet»: «There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.» The story, and its main characters, attracted little public interest when it first appeared. Only 11 complete copies of the magazine in which the story first appeared, Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887, are known to exist now and they have considerable value. Although Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories featuring Holmes, A Study in Scarlet is one of only four full-length novels in the original canon. The novel was followed by The Sign of the Four, published in 1890. A Study in Scarlet was the first work of detective fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as an investigative tool. Part I leads with a heading which establishes the role of Dr. Watson as narrator and sets up the narrative stand-point that the work to follow is not fiction, but fact: «Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, MD, Late of the Army Medical Department.»
A Study in Scarlet is a detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Written in 1886, the story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would…
A Study in Scarlet is a detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become two of the most famous characters in popular fiction. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes, an amateur detective, to his friend and chronicler Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." The story, and its main characters, attracted little public interest when it first appeared. Only 11 complete copies of the magazine in which the story first appeared, Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887, are known to exist now and they have considerable value. Although Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories featuring Holmes, A Study in Scarlet is one of only four full-length novels in the original canon. The novel was followed by The Sign of the Four, published in 1890. A Study in Scarlet was the first work of detective fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as an investigative tool.
A Study in Scarlet is a detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become two of the…
Out of funds, Ralph Leslie jumps at the chance to sign aboard a luxurious yacht as steward of the After House. It was easy sailing until one summer night, when the dream voyage became a nightmare. Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876 – September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1922. Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase «The butler did it» from her novel The Door (1930), although the novel does not use the exact phrase. Rinehart is also considered to have invented the «Had-I-But-Known» school of mystery writing, with the publication of The Circular Staircase (1908). She also created a costumed super-criminal called «the Bat», cited by Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his «Batman».
Out of funds, Ralph Leslie jumps at the chance to sign aboard a luxurious yacht as steward of the After House. It was easy sailing until one summer night, when the dream voyage…
The Body Snatchers is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). First published in the Pall Mall Christmas "Extra" in December 1884, its characters were based on criminals in the employ of real-life surgeon Robert Knox (1791–1862) around the time of the notorious Burke and Hare murders (1828). A group of friends share a few drinks, when an eminent doctor, Wolfe Macfarlane, enters. One of the friends, Fettes, recognizes the name and angrily confronts the new arrival. Although his friends all find this behaviour suspicious, none of them can understand what might lie behind it. It transpires that Macfarlane and Fettes had attended medical school together, under the famous professor of anatomy, Robert Knox. Their duties included taking receipt of bodies for dissection, and paying the pair of shifty and suspicious men who supplied them. On one occasion, Fettes identifies a body as that of a woman he knew, and is convinced she has been murdered. But Macfarlane talks him out of reporting the incident, lest they are both implicated in the crime. Later, Fettes meets Macfarlane at a tavern, along with a man named Gray, who treats Macfarlane in a rude manner. The following night, Macfarlane brings Gray's body along as a dissection sample. Although Fettes is now certain that his friend has committed murder, Macfarlane again convinces him to keep his silence, persuading him that if he is not courageous enough to perform such manly deeds as these, he will end up as just another victim. The two men make sure the body is comprehensively dissected, destroying any forensic evidence. Fettes and Macfarlane continue their work, without being implicated in any crime. However, when a shortage of bodies leaves their mentor in need, they are sent to a country churchyard to exhume a recently buried woman. As they are driving back with the body seated between them, they begin to feel nervous and stop to take a better look.
The Body Snatchers is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). First published in the Pall Mall Christmas "Extra" in December 1884, its characters…
Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels. The novel is a satire of the Gothic novels popular at the time of its first writing in 1798-99. The heroine, Catherine, thinks life is like a Gothic novel, but her real experiences bring her down to earth as an ordinary young woman. Austen died in July 1817. Her brother Henry renamed the novel and arranged for publication of Northanger Abbey in late December 1817 (1818 given on the title page), as the first two volumes of a four-volume set, the other two volumes being the more recently completed Austen novel, Persuasion, with a preface for the first time publicly identifying Jane Austen as the author of all her novels. Neither novel was published under the working title Jane Austen used. Aside from first being published together, the two novels are not linked, and later editions were published as separate novels. The novel is more explicitly comic than her other works and contains many literary allusions that her parents and siblings would have enjoyed, as a family entertainment.a piece of lighthearted parody to be read aloud by the fireside. The novel names many of the Gothic novels of that time and includes direct commentary by Austen on the value of novels, which were not valued as much as nonfiction or historical fiction. As almost all her letters were burned after her death, later scholars appreciate this insight into Austen's views.
Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels. The novel is a satire of the Gothic novels popular at the time of its first writing in 1798-99. The heroine, Catherine,…
Mansfield Park is the third published novel by Jane Austen. The novel tells the story of Fanny Price starting when her overburdened family sends her at age 10 to live in the household of her wealthy aunt and uncle, through to her marriage. The novel was first published by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any critical attention when it was initially published; the first particular notice was in 1821, in a positive review of each of the published novels by Jane Austen. The critical reception from the late 20th century onward has been controversial. Paula Byrne, writing in the 21st century, found this to be one of Austen's best novels, and called it pioneering for being about meritocracy. However, Mansfield Park is perhaps Austen's most controversial novel due to its brief mention of the British slave trade, and the fact that Fanny's uncle and benefactor, Sir Thomas, owns a plantation in the West Indies. Some critics characterize Thomas's trip to Antigua as nothing more than an excuse for his long absence. The late Edward Said criticized the novel for failing to clearly criticize Sir Thomas's profiteering in the West Indies. Two notable film versions of the novel were released: Frances O'Connor starring in the lead role in the 1999 version co-starring Jonny Lee Miller and followed by Billie Piper starring in the 2007 version for ITV1 co-starring Blake Ritson.
Mansfield Park is the third published novel by Jane Austen. The novel tells the story of Fanny Price starting when her overburdened family sends her at age 10 to live in the…
American Fairy Tales is the title of a collection of twelve fantasy stories by L. Frank Baum, published in 1901 by the George M. Hill Company, the firm that issued The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the previous year. The twelve stories were published in this order in the first edition. "The Box of Robbers." "The Glass Dog." "The Queen of Quok." "The Girl Who Owned a Bear." "The Enchanted Types." "The Laughing Hippopotamus." "The Magic Bon Bons." "The Capture of Father Time." "The Wonderful Pump." "The Dummy That Lived." "The King of the Polar Bears." "The Mandarin and the Butterfly." The stories, as critics have noted, lack the high-fantasy aspect of the best of Baum's work, in Oz or out. With ironic or nonsensical morals attached to their ends, their tone is more satirical, glib, and tongue-in-cheek than is usual in children's stories; the serialization in newspapers for adult readers was appropriate for the materials. "The Magic Bon Bons" was the most popular of the tales, judging by number of reprints. Two of the stories, "The Enchanted Types" and "The Dummy That Lived," employ knooks and ryls, the fairies that Baum would use in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus the next year, 1902. "The Dummy That Lived" depends upon the idea of a department-store mannequin brought to life, an early expression of an idea that would be re-used by many later writers in television and films.
American Fairy Tales is the title of a collection of twelve fantasy stories by L. Frank Baum, published in 1901 by the George M. Hill Company, the firm that issued The Wonderful…
