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Children's and Household Tales (German: Kinder- und Hausmärchen) is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales (German: Grimms Märchen). ( Summary by Wikipedia )...

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Children, Fairy tales, Fiction, Fantasy, Teen/Young adult

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“Security”, tells the story of a compartmentalized government physicist ordered by secret police to complete experiments aimed at developing a new weapon. He is brought to a hidden space station and put in charge of the project but there are many questions. In a world of spies watching spies it’s sometimes hard to know what’s patriotic. -- Poul Anderson was a Golden Age Science Fiction and Fantasy author. “Security” first appeared in the magazine “Space Science Fiction” in February of 1953 (Summary by Gregg Margarite)...

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Science fiction

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Excerpt: Towards the middle of the month of May, in the year 1660, at nine o?clock in the morning, when the sun, already high in the heavens, was fast absorbing the dew from the ramparts of the castle of Blois a little cavalcade, composed of three men and two pages, re-entered the city by the bridge, without producing any other effect upon the passengers of the quay beyond a first movement of the hand to the head, as a salute, and a second movement of the tongue to express, in the purest French then spoken in France: ?There is Monsieur returning from hunting.? And that was all....

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Preface: In which it is proved that, notwithstanding their names? ending in os and is, the heroes of the story which we are about to have the honor to relate to our readers have nothing mythological about them....

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Excerpt: Prefatory Note: The execution of this version of the Iliad has been entrusted to the three Translators in the following three parts: Each Translator is therefore responsible for his own portion; but the whole has been revised by all three Translators, and the rendering of passages or phrases recurring in more than one portion has been determined after deliberation in common. Even in these, however, a certain elasticity has been deemed desirable....

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The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo ) is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered, along with The Three Musketeers , as Dumas's most popular work. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is primarily concerned with themes of justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness, and is told in the style of an adventure story. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Romance, Adventure

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This version of the classic tale of the three bears has a heroine named Golden Hair. The jolly bears, instead of chasing her away from their home, come to live with her at Grandmother's house. The recording can be enjoyed by itself, or you can read along with the Library of Congress facsimile version from the International Children’s Digital Library: http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/LinkToBook?bookid=denthre_00150032〈=English Here....

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Children, Animals, Fairy tales

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This is a short novel published in 1895 and based vaguely on the battle of Chancellorsville of the American Civil War. Unlike other works on the subject, Crane's novel does not concentrate on the big picture or the glory of war but on the psychology of one of its soldiers....

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Historical Fiction, War stories

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Excerpt: Chapter 1. My father?s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip....

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The Adventures of Reddy Fox is another in the series of children’s stories by conservationist Thornton W. Burgess. In this story, Reddy and Granny Fox must outsmart Farmer Brown’s Boy who is out to get Reddy for stealing his pet chicken. Along the way, Reddy encounters many of the citizens of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest and with him we learn little lessons about life such as: the perils of being a show off; the importance of using all of one’s senses; that it is a fine thing to show sympathy and kindness to others – even our enemies; and that the value of a grandmother’s wisdom is inestimable. We also learn that after you’ve stolen a boy’s pet chicken and he is coming your way with a gun, a shovel and a hound dog, it may be time to beat a hasty retreat. (Summary by John Lieder)...

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Children, Animals

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Introduction: ?For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost; and is found.? He was lost by the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps. He was officially dead as a result of official misinformation....

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Little Women is the classic story of The March family, which consists of Mr. and Mrs. March and their four girls--Practical, yet fashion conscious Meg, who longs for the nice things they used to have. Rambunctious, book worm, Jo, who wants to become a writer and wishes she were born a boy. Shy and quiet, home-loving Beth, who loves to play the piano and play with her kitties. Finally, the youngest, artistic Amy, who longs for an aristocratic nose! The story takes place during the American Civil War, and begins with Mr. March away from home as a chaplain to the Union army, while his wife and daughters remain at home to work and wait for his safe return. This book follows their joys and sorrows and scrapes along the path to the girl's becoming grown up little women. Many of the scrapes they get into include Laurie--their harum scarum next door neighbor, who becomes their adopted brother. The two families, The March's and the Laurence's strike up a lasting friendship, despite their differences in material belongings. (Summary by Mary Anderson)...

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Children, Teen/Young adult

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The Adventures of Paddy Beaver is another in the long list of children’s books by the conservationist, Thornton W. Burgess. In this book, the industrious and clever Paddy Beaver, a newcomer to the Green Forest, has encounters with Sammy Jay, Jerry Muskrat, Ol’ Man Coyote and other inhabitants of the Green Forest. Along the way, we learn how Paddy builds his dam and his house, and how he stores his food. We also learn little lessons about life, such as the importance of planning before doing, caring for Nature, trusting others, the benefits of working together and how wonderful it is to have a job one can sink one’s teeth into. (Summary by John Lieder.)...

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Children, Animals, Nature

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“THE FARTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE; Being the Second and Last Part OF HIS LIFE, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia. (Summary by D. Leeson)...

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Children, Adventure, Travel

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All mythology and/or Hawthorne lovers unite! Here is a delightful collection of charming stories from Greek Mythology. This collection features some very popular characters like our beloved Jason, Ulysses, King Pluto and Theseus (and of course, our favorite, Mr. Minotaur, too). Written in Hawthorne's interesting and beautiful style, these stories will be a great delight to read AND listen to. (Summary by Neeru Iyer)...

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Myths/Legends, Children

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The Land That Time Forgot is a science fiction novel, the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Caspak trilogy. His working title for the story was The Lost U-Boat. Starting out as a harrowing wartime sea adventure, the story ultimately develops into that of a fantastical lost world. (Adapted from Wikipedia.)...

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Adventure, Science fiction, Sea stories

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The Lost World is a 1912 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle concerning an expedition to a plateau (native name is Tepuyes) in South America (Venezuela) where prehistoric animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survive. The character of Professor Challenger was introduced in this book. Interestingly, for a seminal work of dinosaur-related fiction, the reptiles only occupy a small portion of the narrative. Much more time is devoted to a war between early human hominids and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures....

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Adventure, Mystery, Short stories

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Excerpt: Two Poets by Honore de Balzac, translated by Ellen Marriage.

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Excerpt: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant by U.S. Grant.

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This classic children's book by Rudyard Kipling tells the story of Mowgli, a young boy raised by wolves: his escapades and adventures with his dear friends Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, his capture by the Monkey-People, his attempt at reintegration into human society, and his ultimate triumph over the lame tiger Shere Khan. The account of Mowgli's adventures is followed by several short stories, including the tales of the brave white seal, Kotick, and the tenacious mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Packed with adventure and Jungle Law wisdom, this book has pervaded popular culture as the basis of many film and stage adaptations, including the popular Disney movie, and through its adoption as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts....

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Children, Animals, Adventure

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Andrew Lang's Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Coloured Fairy Books constitute a twelve-book series of fairy tale collections. Although Andrew Lang did not collect the stories himself from the oral tradition, the extent of his sources, who had collected them originally (with the notable exception of Madame d'Aulnoy), made them an immensely influential collection, especially as he used foreign-language sources, giving many of these tales their first appearance in English. As acknowledged in the prefaces, although Lang himself made most of the selections, his wife and other translators did a large portion of the translating and telling of the actual stories. The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession—literary criticism; fiction; poems; books and articles on anthropology, mythology, history, and travel ... he is best recognized for the works he did not write.[1] Many of the books were illustrated by Henry J. Ford, Lancelot Speed, and G. P. Jacomb-Hood also contributed some illustrations....

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Fairy tales, Children, Fiction

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The Brothers Karamazov (Russian: Братья Карамазовы) is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, and is generally considered the culmination of his life's work. The book portrays a parricide in which each of a murdered man's sons share a varying degree of complicity. The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel that explores deep into the ethical debates of God, free will, and morality. It is a spiritual drama of moral struggles concerning faith, doubt, reason, and modern Russia. Since its publication, it has been acclaimed all over the world by thinkers as diverse as Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and Pope Benedict XVI as one of the supreme achievements in literature....

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Literature, Psychology, Philosophy

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Excerpt: There was once a time when New England groaned under the actual pressure of heavier wrongs than those threatened ones which brought on the Revolution. James II, the bigoted successor of Charles the Voluptuous, had annulled the charters of all the colonies, and sent a harsh and unprincipled soldier to take away our liberties and endanger our religion. The administration of Sir Edmund Andros lacked scarcely a single characteristic of tyranny: a Governor and Council, holding office from the King, and wholly independent of the country; laws made and taxes levied without concurrence of the people immediate or by their representatives; the rights of private citizens violated, and the titles of all landed property declared void; the voice of complaint stifled by restrictions on the press; and, finally, disaffection overawed by the first band of mercenary troops that ever marched on our free soil. For two years our ancestors were kept in sullen submission by that filial love which had invariably secured their allegiance to the mother country, whether its head chanced to be a Parliament, Protector, or Popish Monarch. Till these evil...

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Contents THE GRAY CHAMPION....................................................................................................... 4 THE WEDDING KNELL ..................................................................................................... 11 THE MINISTER?S BLACK VEIL A PARABLE1 ................................................................. 19 THE MAYPOLE OF MERRY MOUNT ................................................................................ 32 THE GENTLE BOY ............................................................................................................ 43 MR. HIGGINBOTHAM?S CATASTROPHE......................................................................... 72 WAKEFIELD ...................................................................................................................... 84 THE GREAT CARBUNCLE1 ............................................................................................. 92 DAVID SWAN................................................................................................................... 105 THE HOLLOW OF THE THREE HILLS......................................

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Excerpt: A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: ?Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That?s all right!? He could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood, unless it was the mocking-bird that hung on the other side of the door, whistling his fluty notes out upon the breeze with maddening persistence....

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Contents THE AWAKENING........................................................................3 Beyond the Bayou.........................................................................86 Ma?ame Pelagie.............................................................................90 Desiree?s Baby...............................................................................95 A Respectable Woman..................................................................99 The Kiss.......................................................................................101 A Pair of Silk Stockings..............................................................103 The Locket..................................................................................106 A Reflection.................................................................................110...

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Excerpt: Notes on Life and Letters by Joseph Conrad.

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Contents AUTHOR?S NOTE ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 PART I?LETTERS ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 BOOKS?1905 ............................................................................................................................................................. 8 HENRY JAMES?AN APPRECIATION?1905 ......................................................................................................... 15 ALPHONSE DAUDET?1898 .................................................................................................................................... 22 ANATOLE FRANCE?1904 ....................................................................................................................................... 32 STEPHEN CRANE?A NOTE WITHOUT DATES?1919 ......................................................................................... 46 TALES OF THE SEA?1898 .....................