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Jill had money, Jill was engaged to be married to Sir Derek Underhill. Suddenly Jill becomes penniless, and she is no longer engaged. With a smile, in which there is just a tinge of recklessness, she refuses to be beaten and turns to face the world. Instead she went to New York and became a member of the chorus of The Rose of America, and Mr. Wodehouse is enabled to lift the curtain of the musical comedy world.There is laughter and drama in _Jill the Reckless_, and the action never flags from the moment that Freddie Rooke confesses that he has had a hectic night, down to the point where Wally says briefly Let 'em, which is page 313. The heroine here, Jill Mariner, is a young woman from the lower end of the upper class. We follow her through financial disaster, a broken engagement, an awkward stay with some grasping relatives, employment as a chorus girl, and of course, the finding of true love. Other characters include wealthy Drone Freddie Rooke and writer Wally Mason, her childhood friends; her financially inept uncle Major Christopher Selby; her fiancée at the beginning of the book, the M.P Derek Underhill, and his domineering mo...

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Fiction

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What unseen force may have brought young Jan Thoreau and his music from out of the barren lands into the remote camp of Lac Bain, forever changing the lives of those few who lived there? What brought him to the home of John and Melisse Cummins as the latter lay on her death bed? Moreover, what was the great sorrow and overpowering sadness which permeated the life of the young man in the months and years following his arrival, and by what means was he to struggle with The Honor of the Big Snows ? (Summary by Roger Melin)...

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Fiction, Romance

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The Lady of the Camellias (French: La Dame aux camélias) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, that was subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Theatre de Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. An instant success, Giuseppe Verdi immediately set about to put the story to music. His work became the 1853 opera La Traviata with the female protagonist Marguerite Gautier renamed Violetta Valéry. In the English-speaking world, The Lady of the Camellias became known as Camille and sixteen versions have been performed at Broadway theatres alone. The lady of the camellias is Marguerite Gautier, who is based on Marie Duplessis, the real life lover of author Dumas, fils. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Fiction, Romance

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Trilby, published in 1894, fits into the gothic horror genre which was undergoing a revival during the Fin de siècle and is one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle period after Bram Stoker's Dracula. The story of the poor artist's model Trilby O'Ferrall, transformed into a diva under the spell of the evil musical genius Svengali, created a sensation. Soap, songs, dances, toothpaste, and Trilby, Florida were all named for the heroine, and a variety of soft felt hat with an indented crown (worn in the London stage production of a dramatization of the novel) came to be called a trilby.

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Fiction, Horror/Ghost stories

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May Wedderburn is a quiet provincial girl, living in small and seemingly boring Skernford. Underneath the dull exterior, there is mystery, suspicion and fear in this little town, surrounding the austere local wealthy landowner who is very interested in marrying poor May. It looks as though she will have to marry him whether she likes it or not until an unsuspected alliance is formed between her and a respected old lady. They both escape to Germany where music and excitement await them....

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Romance, Fiction, Music

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This is the fourth of Burrough's Tarzan novels. Alexis Paulvitch, a henchman of Tarzan's now-deceased enemy, Nikolas Rokoff, survived his encounter with Tarzan in the third novel and wants to even the score. (adapted from Wikipedia)...

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Adventure

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Final book in the Chautauqua Girls series. The four original girls return to Chautauqua on the 25 year anniversary of the trip that changed their lives forever. They have with them some children that could use the lessons they themselves learned there. (Introduction by TriciaG) Music for the hymn in Chapters 9 & 26 is titled Chautauqua by William, F. Sherman, 1877. Music for the children's song in Chapter 19 is adapted from Love Lifted Me by Howard E. Smith, 1912. The scan of the book at Archive.org contains photos of various scenes and people of Chautauqua....

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Fiction, Religion

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Dorothy and Toto set out to help the Shaggy Man (who really is quite shaggy) and end up lost, following a strange road. Along the way they meet Button Bright, a little boy who is not really very bright at all, The Rainbow's Daughter, the Fox King and many other curious creatures including the deadly Scoodlers who want to make soup of them and the Musicker who can't stop making music. But the adventurers make their way to the Deadly Desert and cross it in a novel way to reach the Land of Oz. Santa Clause is a surprise guest at Ozma's Birthday Party along with many Queens, kings and and a wonderful time is had by all. Including Toto! [description by Phil Chenevert]...

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Fiction, Children, Fantasy

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The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from many countries — Lithuania, various parts of Africa, Germany, France, Greece, and other regions of the world. They have been translated and adapted by Mrs. Dent, Mrs. Lang, Miss Eleanor Sellar, Miss Blackley, and Miss Hang. 'The Three Sons of Hali' is from the last century 'Cabinet des Fees,' a very large collection. The French author may have had some Oriental original before him in parts; at all events he copied the Eastern method of putting tale within tale, like the Eastern balls of carved ivory. The stories, as usual, illustrate the method of popular fiction. A certain number of incidents are shaken into many varying combinations, like the fragments of coloured glass in the kaleidoscope. Probably the possible combinations, like possible musical combinations, are not unlimited in number, but children may be less sensitive in the matter of fairies than Mr. John Stuart Mill was as regards music. (Summary from the preface)...

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Fairy tales, Fiction

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The Mikado is the ninth of the 14 Gilbert and Sullivan musical collaborations. It opened in 1885, had the second longest run for any work of musical theatre of the time, and remains the most frequently performed Gilbert and Sullivan. It was adapted as a children's book by W. S. Gilbert entitled The Story of The Mikado, which was Gilbert's last literary work (and published posthumously). It is a retelling of The Mikado, with various changes to simplify language or make it more suitable for children. This is that children's book. No singing or any of Sullivan's music, just Gilbert's witty words laid out - by him - in prose and poetry with amusing asides. The Forward mentions some illustrations by Alice B. Woodward in the hardcopy, and they are lovely. They can be seen by following the e-text link to the actual scanned book if you wish. (Summary by Wikipedia and ToddHW)...

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Children, Fiction

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Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was an English comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success for more than seventy years. Best known today for the Jeeves and Blanding Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. (excerpts from Wikipedia)...

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Comedy

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H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. This is not that opera. It was adapted as a children's book by W. S. Gilbert entitled The Story of HMS Pinafore, or The Pinafore Picture Book, and includes some lovely illustrations by Alice B. Woodward that can be seen by following the archive.org link to the actual scanned book if you wish. No singing or any of Sullivan's music, just Gilbert's witty words laid out - by him - in prose and poetry with amusing asides. (Summary by Wikipedia and ToddHW)...

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Children, Fiction

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Rameau's Nephew, or the Second Satire (French: Le Neveu de Rameau ou La Satire seconde) is an imaginary philosophical conversation written by Denis Diderot, probably between 1761 and 1772. It was first published in 1805 in German translation by Goethe, but the French manuscript used has subsequently disappeared. The German version was translated back into French by de Saur and Saint-Geniès and published in 1821. The first published version based on French manuscript appeared in 1823 in the Brière edition of Diderot's works. Modern editions are based on the complete manuscript in Diderot’s own hand found by Georges Monval, the librarian at the Comédie-Française, in 1890 while buying music scores from a second-hand bookshop in Paris.[1] Monval published his edition of the manuscript in 1891. Subsequently, the manuscript was bought by the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. It is unclear why Diderot never had it published in his time. Given the satirical tone of the work, it has been suggested that the author prudently refrained from giving offence....

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Satire, Fiction

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Christine Daae was brought up in the Paris Opera house. Her musician father suddenly dies, telling her he will send her an angel of music to look after her. She grows up and discovers that she is hearing a voice, telling her and teaching her to sing. She believes he is the angel of music but he is known in the Opera House simply as The Phantom. Although she is fascinated and drawn towards the phantom, she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, The Vicomte de Chagny - or Raoul - but the Phantom won't take this lightly... (Summary by Ralph Snelson)...

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Fiction, Mystery

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A rich and complex Gothic-Romance centring on the murky deeds of an ancient family. It is a wonderfully atmospheric piece that combines narrative, poetry, song, and descriptive writing to great effect. The character of Dick Turpin that we know today - the dashing highwaymen and unmatched horseman - can be said to stem directly from this novel, as the most famous part of the book (often published on its own in the past), Turpin's Ride To York, is devoted to him. Although seemingly little known to a modern audience, Ainsworth's 'Rookwood' gave the world the image of the highwayman with which we are all so familiar. (Summary by paulc)...

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Adventure

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Oliver Twist is an 1838 novel by Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial. Like most of Dickens' work, the book is used to call the public's attention to various contemporary social evils, including the workhouse, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. The novel is full of sarcasm and dark humour, even as it treats its serious subject, revealing the hypocrisies of the time. It has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and the basis for a highly successful British musical, Oliver!. (Summary from wikipedia)...

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Historical Fiction

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26 of Uncle Remus's stories put into verse and song. With the exception of the Tar Baby story, they were all new to this publication of 1904 and cover a variety of humorous subjects from Adan and Eve (De Appile Tree) to Brer Rabbit's Gigglin' Place. There are also genuine Camp Meeting Songs and a Corn Shuckin' Song. (Summary by Phil Chenevert)...

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Children

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Love and Freindship [sic] is a juvenile story by Jane Austen, dated 1790, when Austen was 14 years old. Love and Freindship (the misspelling is one of many in the story) is clearly a parody of romantic novels Austen read as a child. This is clear even from the subtitle, Deceived in Freindship and Betrayed in Love, which neatly undercuts the title. Written in epistolary form, it resembles a fairy tale as much as anything else, featuring wild coincidences and turns of fortune, but Austen is determined to lampoon the conventions of romantic stories, right down to the utter failure of romantic fainting spells, which always turn out dreadfully for the female characters. In this story one can see the development of Austen's sharp wit and disdain for romantic sensibility, so characteristic of her later novels. Summary revised from Wikipedia by Cori Samuel. Music from Schubert's Fantasy in C Major , at http://www.musopen.com/view.php?type=piece&id=141 musopen.org ....

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Epistolary fiction, Humor, Satire, Romance, Teen/Young adult

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Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776 – 1822), better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. Hoffmann's stories were very influential during the 19th century, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement. He is the subject and hero of Jacques Offenbach's famous but fictional opera The Tales of Hoffmann, and the author of the novelette The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the famous ballet The Nutcracker is based. The ballet Coppelia is based on two other stories that Hoffmann wrote. Also Schumann's Kreisleriana is based on one of Hoffmann's characters. Master Flea was published in 1822....

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Fantasy

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Published in 1914, this novel tells the story of Harmony Wells, an innocent and beautiful American in Austria to study violin. Harmony has talent and she dreams of a career in music. After her friends run out of money and return to the States, Harmony stays on in hopes of earning enough money to continue her lessons. Along the way, she meets Peter Byrne, an American doctor in Vienna following his dream to study surgery. Peter is already watching over an orphan boy in a local hospital and now he takes it upon himself to protect young Harmony from the unsavory side of life in the big city. With life pressing in, Peter and Harmony each must decide how much to sacrifice for the sake of their dreams - and for each other. (Summary by MaryAnn)...

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Literature

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David and his father set out from their idyllic mountain home to go to meet family, but enroute, David's father, who is sick dies, and David is left stranded in a little farming town. No one can read his father's handwriting, and David doesn't know his last name. A stern farmer and his wife take David in, and learn more from him than they realize! David, who counts only the sunny hours of his life, soon touches all the people's lives he meets in his new life with his beautiful violin music and sunny disposition. Written by Mary Anderson...

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Children

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This book includes the classic alphabet, Sing-A-Song Of Sixpence, The Frog Who Would A Wooing go, The Three LIttle Pigs, Puss In Boot, and The Ugly Duckling. Fun for all ages! (Summary by Sam Stinson)...

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Children

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volunteers bring you 17 recordings of The Fiddler of Dooney by William Butler Yeats. This was the Weekly Poetry project for December 4th 2011 William Butler Yeats was a notable Irish poet and playwright. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. The Fiddler of Dooney first appeared in Yeats' 1899 book of poetry 'The Wind Among the Reeds`. (Summary by Lucy Perry)...

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Fiction, Humor, Music, Religion, Poetry

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This poem tells a story that begins in 1823 - just after the Leavenworth campaign against the Arikara Indians - and follows an expedition of Major Andrew Henry during a series of arduous journeys over the Trans-Missouri region. The poem focuses upon the relationship between two trappers - Hugh Glass and Jamie - who, after fighting and hunting together, consequently develop a close friendship. The poem revolves around the betrayal of Hugh by Jamie: who leaves Hugh alone as good as dead to die by the Missouri. But Hugh lives - and recovers against all odds, pushing on with murderous intent to track down the ex-friend who left him helpless and expiring. The final canto describes the moving denouement: Hugh and Jamie both are forced to recognize their own weaknesses, and then come to terms with the implications of their individual realizations. (Introduction by Godsend)...

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Fiction, Poetry

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Padre Ignacio has been the pastor of California mission Santa Ysabel del Mar for twenty years. In 1855 a stranger rides into the mission bringing news and a spiritual crisis. It's really more of a novella than a novel. (Summary by David Wales)...

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Historical Fiction, Music, Religion, Westerns

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This is a collection of ten short, entertaining, informative picture-book biographies of famous composers. Each book tells about the childhood and great achievements of a composer, and includes a short musical example. Here are links to the online texts so you can read along and look at the pictures: Bach: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34568 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34568 Mozart: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34582 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34582 Beethoven: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34737 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34737 Haydn: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34550 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34550 Schubert: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35070 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35070 Handel: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35157 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35157 Chopin: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35013 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35013 Verdi: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35158 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35158 Wagner: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35128 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35128 Grieg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35097 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35097 (Summary...

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Biography, Children, Fiction, Music, Teen/Young adult

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THE STORY OF PETER PAN RETOLD FROM THE FAIRY PLAY BY SIR J.M. BARRIE BY DANIEL O'CONNOR. Basically, Daniel O'Connor took the story from the original play, with the approval of Barrie, and shortened it into a book with music and beautiful illustrations. This shorter book was published before Barrie wrote the longer novel Peter and Wendy using the same plot and characters. (Summary from the fly leaf and Phil Chenevert)...

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Children, Fantasy, Fairy tales

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This is a jolly little book about a little boy, a dog, a train and a house. But not an ordinary train, oh no, and not an ordinary house either! And there are songs, too. The Preface is short, dull and only for the grown-ups. (Summary by Ruth Golding)...

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Children, Fantasy, Music

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The Lost Stradivarius (1895), by J. Meade Falkner, is a short novel of ghosts and the evil that can be invested in an object, in this case an extremely fine Stradivarius violin. After finding the violin of the title in a hidden compartment in his college rooms, the protagonist, a wealthy young heir, becomes increasingly secretive as well as obsessed by a particular piece of music, which seems to have the power to call up the ghost of its previous owner. Roaming from England to Italy, the story involves family love, lordly depravity, and the tragedy of obsession...

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Mystery, Horror/Ghost stories

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This is a collection of 14 songs chosen from Walter Crane's The Baby's Opera and The Baby's Bouquet containing classic nursery rhymes from England, France, and Germany. The songs are sung by 's very own Carol Stripling....

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Children, Music

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H. G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds in 1898, when there was much speculation about life on the planet Mars. The book is considered to be one of the first science fiction novels. In the story, an English gentleman narrates the events of a violent and fast paced Martian invasion. The frightening images of people fleeing from gigantic tripod machines and the prospect of life under Martian rule have served as a bottomless well of inspiration for popular culture. The novel has served as a template for many derivative or inspired works, including comics, countless books, a tv series, several films, a bestselling musical, and the famous Orson Wells broadcast. Overall, The War of the Worlds has become an early milestone in and inspiration for the invasion genre. The novel demonstrates Wells' typical pessimistic outlook on human nature and offers a good deal of critisism on society and people's ignorance and vanity. The War of the Worlds can be read as an indictment of European colonial actions around the globe at that time - with which the injustice of the Martian invasion can be compared. Wells has since been credited with predicting q...

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Science fiction

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Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero; a courteous, pious and swashbuckling outlaw of the mediæval era who, in modern versions of the legend, is famous for robbing the rich to feed the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. He operates with his seven score (140 strong) group of fellow outlawed yeomen – named the Merry Men. He and his band are usually associated with Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. The Victorian era generated its own distinct versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were often adapted for children, most notably in Howard Pyle's Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. These versions firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor.(Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Children, Adventure, Teen/Young adult, Historical Fiction

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Eugene Oneguine is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes (so-called superfluous men). It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832. The first complete edition was published in 1833, and the currently accepted version is based on the 1837 publication. Almost the entire work is made up of 389 stanzas of iambic tetrameter with the unusual rhyme scheme AbAbCCddEffEgg, where the uppercase letters represent feminine rhymes while the lowercase letters represent masculine rhymes. This form has come to be known as the Onegin stanza or the Pushkin sonnet. The rhythm, innovative rhyme scheme, the natural tone and diction, and the economical transparency of presentation all demonstrate the virtuosity which has been instrumental in proclaiming Pushkin as the undisputed master of Russian poetry. The story is told by a narrator (a lightly fictionalized version of Pushkin's public image), whose tone is educated, worldly, and intimate. The narrator digresses at times, usually to expand on aspects of this social and intellectual world. This allows for a ...

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Poetry, Fiction, Literature, Romance

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Polly Milton, a 14-year-old country girl, visits her friend Fanny Shaw and her wealthy family in the city for the first time. Poor Polly is overwhelmed by the splendor at the Shaws' and their urbanized, fashionable lifestyles, fancy clothes and some other habits she considers weird and, mostly, unlikable. However, Polly's warmth, support and kindness eventually win her the hearts of all the family members. Six years later, Polly comes back to the city to become a music teacher. (Summary from wikipedia)...

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Children, Teen/Young adult, Fiction

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The tale of Sweeney Todd has had many incarnations, most famously the stage and movie musical by Stephen Sondheim. But it all started in 1846 with a serialized telling of the story titled “The String of Pearls” in the weekly magazine “The People's Periodical and Family Library”. Called by some a romance, by others a horror story, it is one of the earliest murder mysteries. In “The String of Pearls”, Sweeney Todd is less sympathetic than in some of his later incarnations – a perfect villain, totally self-seeking with no redeeming qualities. How the deeds of Todd are uncovered and how he is brought to justice make a most intriguing tale, but one probably not suited for the very young and certainly not for the squeamish. (Summary by John Lieder)....

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Mystery, Horror/Ghost stories

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Although written from a child's perspective, this is not a kids book but a series of funny, poignant, and sometimes disturbing stories about life in a late 19th-century Russian-Jewish village -- the world of my grandparents. Sholem Rabinovich (1859-1916) was born in Pereiaslav, Ukraine and later immigrated to New York. His short stories about Tevye and his daughters were freely adapted into the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Rabinovich's will contained the following injunction: Let my name be recalled with laughter or not at all. His translator, Hannah Berman, was Irish of Lithuanian descent. Some of these stories may be too intense for younger children. (summary by Adrian Praetzellis)...

Excerpt Details
Short stories, Religion, Historical Fiction

Description Details
Master storyteller Padraic Colum's rich, musical voice captures all the magic and majesty of the Norse sagas in his retellings of the adventures of the gods and goddesses who lived in the Northern paradise of Asgard before the dawn of history. Here are the matchless tales of All-Father Odin, who crosses the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard and sacrifices his right eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom; of Thor, whose mighty hammer defends Asgard; of Loki, whose mischievous cunning leads him to treachery against the gods; of giants, dragons, dwarfs and Valkyries; and of the terrible last battle that destroyed their world. (Summary from Project Gutenberg)...

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Myths/Legends, Children

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A Christmas tale of John Brown's ghastly family (suburban snobs), Captain Bonaventure de Camp and his equally awful brood (a dubious crew), and poor Soavo Spohf, organist of St. Stiff the Martyr, gifted in musical ability but not blessed in looks or love. No-one could call this a great work of literature, but it definitely raises a few chuckles and it also offers a fascinating glimpse into Christmas festivities and social mores in well-to-do households in the mid-19th century. (Introduction by Ruth Golding)...

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Humor, Holiday, History

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A Study in Scarlet, a short novel published in 1887, was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story. At the beginning of the book, Dr. Watson meets the detective for the first time and we ride along with them to the scene of a murder. The crime baffles the Scotland Yard detectives, but of course Holmes solves it easily. In the second half of the story, the scene shifts to Utah as we learn the murderer's history. The action returns to London in the last two chapters. In his first adventure, Holmes demonstrates many of the traits for which he later became well known: meticulous study of a crime scene, brilliant deductive reasoning, aptitude for chemistry and music, and the somewhat annoying habit of withholding crucial facts from Watson (and consequently the reader) until the conclusion of the case. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)...

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Mystery, Adventure, Teen/Young adult

Description Details
Many readers will already be familiar with Uncle Remus’ favorite animal characters – Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox among them – and some of the popular tales concerning them. (To this day, “tar baby” as an expression for a particularly sticky situation that is almost impossible to solve, has passed into the English language and common use.) Even people who have never read any of these tales will know exactly why you don’t throw a rabbit into a briar patch, mainly because Walt Disney produced his first movie ever to use professional actors with animation, called “Song of the South”, based on the Uncle Remus tales. Joel Chandler Harris, a newsman in Georgia, grew up listening to folktales told by the local black population. Later, he published his version of these tales in a series of stories printed in the “Atlanta Constitution.” The tales of, and by, Harris’ chief character Uncle Remus, an old black man scrabbling to make his living in the post-Civil War South, were extremely popular and widely read. Harris’ use of innovative spelling to give the reader a sense of the black dialect was considered novel. While this is not a book that wi...

Excerpt Details
Children, Animals, Short stories