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Pat Travis, a spacer renowned for his luck, is suddenly quite out of it. His job is to beat his competitors to sign newly-Contacted human races to commercial contracts... But what can he do when he finds he's on a planet that consults astrology for literally every major decision - and he has arrived on one of the worst-aspected days in history? Michael Shaara, later to write the Pulitzer-winning novel The Killer Angels, wrote this story for Fantastic Universe in 1956. (Summary by Mark F. Smith)...

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Science fiction

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Aliens have invaded the earth! Horrible one celled creatures disguised as normal human beings ! Well, at least that is what it seems to the author. Yes, The Eyes Have It is a whimsical story, making gentle fun of certain writing styles, but only a topflight science-fictionist like Philip Dick , we thought, could have written this story, in just this way. Tony and the Beetles takes place far in the future when Earth's enormous colonial empire is well established but the question is, how long can it last? 10 year old Tony grows up fast when history catches up with the human race. A sobering look at human history .. and our probable future. Two very different stories but both entertaining. (Summary by the magazine editor and Phil Chenevert)...

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Science fiction

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Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936) was an English author and poet, born in India, and best known today for his children’s books, including The Jungle Book, Just So Stories, and Puck of Pook’s Hill; his novel, Kim; his poems, including “Mandalay”, “Gunga Din”, and “If—”; and his many short stories, including “The Man Who Would Be King” and the collections Life’s Handicap, The Day’s Work, and Plain Tales from the Hills. He is regarded as a major “innovator in the art of the short story”; his children’s books are enduring classics of children’s literature; and his best work speaks to a versatile and luminous narrative gift. Dan and Una met Puck last summer, in Puck of Pook’s Hill. This summer, they meet him again - and several individuals from different periods in history, who, while generally not famous themselves, tell their tales of meeting Queen Elizabeth, Francis Drake, George Washington, and other well-known historical figures. Sadly, Dan and Una forget these encounters as soon as they are over, but the reader can enjoy them for years to come! (Sum...

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Children

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A classic Victorian novel and a historical novel rolled into one! Read about court and army life during the reign of Queen Anne - a story of Catholic - Protestant intrigue, and the party which aspired to the restoration of Bonny Prince Charlie. And, a good love story as well. (Summary by Karen Merline)...

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Historical Fiction

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Elia Peattie was an outspoken journalist and social activist who gave her attention to such areas as orphanages, charity hospitals, the Wounded Knee massacre, capital punishment, and the like. The Precipice is partially based on the life of her close friend Katherine Ostrander, a social work pioneer, and tells of the evolution of Kate Barrington after her college years and with it the evolution of society as a whole and women in particular in pre-World War I America. Friendship, romance, betrayal, searchings of the soul, dreams, and shattered hopes -- all the stuff of life -- bring Kate to full realization of her true self. (Introduction by Mary Schneider)...

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History

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Tom Jones is considered one of the first prose works describable as a novel. The novel is divided into 18 smaller books. Tom Jones is a foundling discovered on the property of a very kind, wealthy landowner, Squire Allworthy. Tom grows into a vigorous and lusty, yet honest and kind-hearted, youth. He develops affection for his neighbor's daughter, Sophia Western. On one hand, their love reflects the romantic comedy genre popular in 18th-century Britain. However, Tom's status as a bastard causes Sophia's father and Allworthy to oppose their love; this criticism of class friction in society acted as a biting social commentary. The inclusion of prostitution and sexual promiscuity in the plot was also original for its time, and also acted as the foundation for criticism of the book's lowness. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Historical Fiction

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The Swiss Family Robinson has delighted generations of readers with its exciting tale of a family which, though shipwrecked, displays “the right stuff” and builds a charming colony that later, they do not want to leave. Cut off from the comforts and companionship of other humans, they use a familiarity with natural history and biology to find the resources and build the tools to construct a canoe, weave cloth, irrigate a garden, and turn an immense hollow tree into a lofty house with a spiral staircase. They domesticate buffaloes, wild asses, and monkeys. They establish farms and plantations. And finally, they have a terrifying encounter with natives from a nearby island. Johann David Wyss, the author, did not live to complete his tale. Storytellers over the years have injected so many episodes into the various versions that probably none closely match the original. (Indeed, the Baroness de Montholieu expanded the book from two volumes into five when she translated it into French.) This effort was re-translated into English in 1849 by W.H.G. Kingston, abridging the edition severely. It follows the British sensibilities of the period...

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Adventure

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For the Term of his Natural Life, written by Marcus Clarke, was published in the Australian Journal between 1870 and 1872 (as His Natural Life), appearing as a novel in 1874. It is the best known novelisation of life as a convict in early Australian history. Described as a ripping yarn, and at times relying on seemingly implausible coincidences, the story follows the fortunes of Rufus Dawes, a young man transported for a murder which he did not commit. The harsh and inhumane treatment meted out to the convicts, some of whom were transported for relatively minor crimes, is clearly conveyed. The conditions experienced by the convicts are graphically described. The novel was based on research by the author as well as a visit to the penal settlement of Port Arthur, Tasmania. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Term_of_his_Natural_Life )...

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Historical Fiction

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Thomas Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 - May 27, 1867) explains the his work is an attempt tell the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference. Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of education. The Bulfinch version of myth, presents the myths in their literary versions, without unnecessary violence, sex, psychology or ethnographic information. The Bulfinch myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the American 19th century. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Myths/Legends

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Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 - May 27, 1867) explains the his work is an attempt tell the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference. Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of education. The Bulfinch version of myth presents the myths in their literary versions, without unnecessary violence, sex, psychology or ethnographic information. The Bulfinch myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the American 19th century. (Summary from Wikipedia) This is the third of Bulfinch's series of three mythologies. recordings of the first two books are at: /bulfinch-age-of-fable/ The Age of Fable /age-of-chivalry-by-bulfinch/ The Age of Chivalry...

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Myths/Legends

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Clarissa Harlowe, the tragic heroine of Clarissa, is a beautiful and virtuous young lady whose family has become very wealthy only in recent years and is now eager to become part of the aristocracy by acquiring estates and titles through advantageous pairings. Clarissa's relatives attempt to force her to marry a rich but heartless man (Roger Solmes) against her will and, more importantly, against her own sense of virtue. Desperate to remain free, she is tricked by a young gentleman of her acquaintance, Lovelace, into escaping with him. However, she refuses to marry him, longing — unusual for a girl in her time — to live by herself in peace....

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Epistolary fiction

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An Elizabethan era historical novel by Scotland's master of fiction, Sir Walter Scott. With a cast of historical and created characters, including the Queen herself, Scott presents the sad history and tragic consequences of the secretive marriage of young Amy Robsart and the Earl of Leicester. (Summary by SK)...

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Literature

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Big, fat, dumb, lazy, vain, headstrong and cheap, Jack Keefe is a journeyman pitcher with the Chicago White Sox in the rowdy days of the Deadball Era, circa 1915, ruled by the likes of Ty Cobb and John McGraw. In You Know Me Al, we follow Jack Keefe's life on-field and off, via the letters Jack writes to his old chum Al in his home town of Bedford, Indiana. Ring Lardner was a Chicago sportswriter who covered the White Sox, and he brought an insider's knowledge of clubhouse life together with his biting wit and gift for the vernacular to create a comic gem in You Know Me Al. The six Jack Keefe stories that compose this volume were originally written as individual magazine articles, but the epistolary format made it easy to collect them into a single running narrative covering Jack's first two years in the Big Leagues. It isn't necessary to know baseball history to enjoy the book, which is as much about Jack's troubles with girlfriends, wives and babies as it is about the Chicago White Sox. For the baseball fan, however, this glimpse into a bygone era adds an extra layer of fascination. In any case, Lardner's portrait of the professio...

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Epistolary fiction

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Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929), with its famous dictum, A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. The slim book Monday or Tuesday offers an excursion into Virginia Woolf's early excursions in stream of consciousness writing she was to become famous for; including her so-termed Moments of being, in a format of a collection of short stories mainly concerned with people's thoughts as well as psychology in general, the human and particularly female condition, and aesthetics which inspired and engaged her much of the time helping other writers to find publication through her and her husband Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press. (Summary from Wikipedia and LizMourant)...

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Short stories

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A story about the Irish, just before the onset of the famine of 1847, with all the color and dialogue of a man who lived it. (Summary by JCarson)

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Historical Fiction, History

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volunteers bring you 12 recordings of The Desert by Mathilde Blind. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for January 10th, 2010.

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Fiction, Nature, History, Myths/Legends, Poetry

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Canadian journalist William Jarvis' gently fictionalized work recounts many of the countless fascinating tales of the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon. (Introduction by Cathy Barratt)...

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Historical Fiction, History

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In this autobiographic novel, an aging man reflects on his past. We are witness to the relationships he has along the way, his mistakes, and finally- in the most unexpected and honorable way- the sudden developement of his belief in god. (Summary by Stav Nisser)...

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History, Biography

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A short, humorous biography of famous people from 5000 BC to 1914. -- S. McGaughey From the Introduction, The editor begs leave to inform the public that only persons who can produce proper evidence of their demise will be admitted to Who Was Who. Press Agent notices or complimentary comments are absolutely excluded, and those offering to pay for the insertion of names will be prosecuted. As persons become eligible they will be included without solicitation, while the pages will be expurgated of others should good luck warrant....

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Humor, Biography, History

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Norie's series of piloting and sailing directions was something of a staple in the chart-room of 19th century British (and other) merchant vessels. The description of landmarks and ports, as well as the rules and regulations provide another viewpoint to an earlier age. Please note that these piloting directions are rather completely out of date. They are given here for purposes of historical interest only, and should not be used for navigation purposes. (Summary by P Hirvonen)...

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Adventure, History, Instruction, Travel