This is a collection of fairy tales. The first story is a Christmas story in verse, and of course the Christmas holidays are the best time for fairy tales, but the other stories in this volume are fairy tales that can be enjoyed year-round. This volume contains classics like the story of Cinderella and the Beauty and the Beast, but also stories you may not expect, like the story of Robinson Crusoe and the story of Robin Hood. - Summary by Carolin

This book describes a five day national pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Lourdes, where miracle cures are hoped for. The central character is a priest, Pierre, whose faith is faltering. He is accompanying his childhood sweetheart who has been stricken with paralysis and whose faith is strong. In the background of the great irony of this relationship, there are numerous sub-plots, some tragic, some whimsical, involving a large number of characters, set in the midst of organised chaos in the pilgrimage site. Through Pierre's mental and spiritual experiences Zola explores the role of religious faith in a society coming to terms with science and reason. - Summary by Peter Tucker

volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Christmas Carol by Sara Teasdale. This was the Christmas Weekly Poetry project for December 23, 2018. ------ This Christmas Poem is taken from Helen of Troy, and Other Poems by Sara Teasdale. - Summary by David Lawrence

Two short stories by Pansy. In "What She Said and What She Meant," Mrs. Marks detests gossip and avoids it as much as she can. But what she does say is vague and suggestive. It is taken, added to, and passed on by others, so that it is no longer what she meant, and threatens to ruin people's reputations and lives in the process. In "People Who Haven't Time and Can't Afford It," Mrs. Leymon is awakened to the needs of the abject poor in her town and works out how to help them. But will she find anyone able and willing to give of their time and money to help her with the scheme?

Saint Edmund Campion, S.J., was an English Catholic Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry to the persecuted Catholics of Elizabethan England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. Campion was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and canonised in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

This is a volume of poetry by newspaperman-poet Harry Lee Marriner, published in 1910. Many of the poems are on the joyous days then, reflecting on childhood and the simpler times, with a measure of nostalgia and pathos, which the author uses to advantage for his poetry. - Summary by Carolin

This is a volume of poetry by American author Frances Cook Steen, published in 1922. These poems reflect with clarity on the preceding decade, including the war and all the other personal and historical events which Ms Steen lived through and witnessed. - Summary by Carolin

This is a collection of stories in verse for children. Published in 1866 by an author only known by the initials F.F., these poems teach children the virtues, their duties, and what happens to ill-behaving little boys and girls. - Summary by Carolin

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for an author to dissolve the bands which have connected him with his publishers, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that he should declare the causes which impel him to the separation." So begins the alleged author's introduction to this work, which chronicles the conflict between a female author and her publisher. This conflict really did happen, although the details in this book are fictitious. For more information about the actual situation, see the author's Wikipedia article.

The Library of Romance is a series of books concerning the romance of scientific facts, be it biology, chemistry, history, or politics. This volume is one of history, concerning an account of the known facts of piracy, starting with the Vikings, and arching in history and geography toward an account of piracy in Chinese waters at around the time of publication of this volume . - Summary by Carolin

William S. Nelson, D.D., was appointed as a missionary to Syria by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, USA in 1888. In this short works, as the title suggests, he gives glimpses into his life as a missionary against the background of Syrian culture.

Fourteen stories of the strange by the Anglican then Roman Catholic priest, Robert Hugh Benson . The form of the book is of stories told by a gathering of Roman Catholic clergy. Benson wrote prolifically in many genres. His horror and ghost fiction are collected in The Light Invisible and A Mirror of Shalott - Summary by David Wales

Tales of Folklore are often of special interest. Anything may happen to ordinary mortals in the world painted by folklore. But it becomes even more interesting when you dive into folklore of places away from your own culture. This volume is a collection of ancient Japanese tales. We hear of ordinary mortals interacting with the spirit world, sometimes to their benefit, sometimes to their doom, we hear of love and hate, and of war and peace. Some of the stories will be entirely new to most readers, some of them will be uncannily familiar. - Summary by Carolin

According to the website www.stagebeauty.net, this is the 5th longest running play ever, with over 1200 original performances. Like Charley's Aunt , this also is a farce. An insurance investigator, a possible fraudulent injury claim, a lost necklace, an aged aunt with a more than passing resemblance to someone else, and of course, that Little Bit of Fluff - all conspire to cause great confusion. - Summary by ToddHW Cast list: JOHN AYERS: Tomas Peter BERTRAM TULLY, His friend: Campbell Schelp NIXON TRIPPETT, Inspector of Claims for the Motor ’Bus Company: Chuck Williamson DR...

volunteers bring you 19 recordings of Blood Road by Katharine Lee Bates. This was the New Year's Weekly Poetry project for December 30. 2018. ------ Katharine Lee Bates was an American writer, poet, professor, and social activist. Although she was a renowned author and professor during her lifetime, today she is primarily remembered as the author of the words to the anthem "America the Beautiful". For 25 years, she lived with her long-time friend and companion, Katharine Coman. This poem taken from 'America the beautiful and other poems' 1911. - Summary by Wikipedia

Hurlbut's Life of Christ For Young and Old is a detailed, chronological presentation of the life of Christ, relying heavily on quoted portions of Scripture/ Rev. Hurlbut makes the gospel story accessible for the reader as each episode and teaching is presented as natural dialog. The Life of Christ is a worthy companion to his larger multi-volume Story of the Bible. These are true classics of Christian literature. - Summary by Larry Wilson

"The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle having been ratified ... and peace being assured ... Louis XIV resolved to give a festival in his favorite gardens of Versailles. Moliere's comedy, George Dandin, formed the chief entertainment." The plot: A wife comes home rather late, finds the door shut, and threatens to kill herself if her husband does not let her in. She pretends to do so; the good man rushes out quite terrified; the wife, meanwhile, sneaks in, and he is in his turn locked out. Add in her idiot parents and this should be the usual madcap fun...

A disparate assemblage of lingual mastery spanning genres and prowess with an eye toward style in favor of capitulation. Tocsin was translated by W. H. Lowe Maldoror was translated by John Rodker Gridale was translated by F. S. Flint .

The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, typically delivered annually. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This album contains recordings of addresses from Ulysses S. Grant. - Summary by Wikipedia

The Prophet is an inspirational book of 28 lyrical prose essays on life, love, children, religion, work, and more, - written in English by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf, and is Gibran's best known work. The Prophet has been translated into over 40 different languages and has never been out of print.

On 26 November 1922, after eight years of work in the Valley of the Kings, archeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen, a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty . Different than all the tombs hitherto excavated, this was the first to be virtually undisturbed, and Carters words on a first look inside "Wonderful things!" have gone down in history. Excavating the tomb in full took eight years, and most of the 5,398 items that were found there are now on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with the exception of the mummy of Tut-Ankh-Amen that remained where it had been laid to rest...

"The Morning Dawn, Bar Harbor, Maine: a Very Comprehensive Poem Illustrating and Describing the Scenic Beauty of the United States; Lafayette National Park, the Queen of Resorts" , is the complete title of this charming little book about Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. Lafayette National Park was designated by the U.S. Congress in 1919 and was the first National Park in the Eastern United States. It was renamed to Acadia National Park in 1929. - Summary by Nemo

Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 63 features essays on a variety of topics: the emotion of the multitude in drama , audience , corpulence and diet , charity , the forgotten man , murder , suicide , free masonry , the poetic principle , and the evils of slavery . Excerpts from Kierkegaard explore his philosophy. Biographical sketches include Calamity Jane, Joseph Glidden, Lucy Bakewell Audubon, and J. M. W. Turner, while Joseph Conrad speaks to his own life in A Familiar Preface. Rounding out the volume is a fascinating 1674 meet-up with a miraculous sea-monster . Summary by Sue Anderson

John Kenlon became a New York City firefighter in 1887, and was appointed Fire Chief in 1911. In 1913, he wrote this authoritative book surveying the history of fire-fighting from ancient Rome to 20th-century New York. The first part of the book explores the evolution of fire-fighting techniques in various countries and the development of equipment and organization, and describes several famous historical fires and how they were fought. The remainder of the book discusses in greater detail some particular types of fires confronting an urban fire department in 1913, such as hotel, theater, factory, hospital, and school fires, sea port fires, and skyscraper fires...

Elizabeth Siddal was a British poet, artist and model. Her poems were not published in a single volume in her lifetime; this collection brings together fifteen of her verses on themes such as loss and relationships. Summary by Newgatenovelist

In 1827 Thomas Southwood-Smith published The Use of the Dead to the Living, a pamphlet which argued that the current system of burial in the United Kingdom was a wasteful use of bodies that could otherwise be used for dissection by the medical profession. "If, by any appropriation of the dead, I can promote the happiness of the living, then it is my duty to conquer the reluctance I may feel to such a disposition of the dead, however well-founded or strong that reluctance may be". Southwood-Smith's lobbying helped lead to the 1832 Anatomy Act, the legislation which allowed the state to seize unclaimed corpses from workhouses and sell them to surgical schools...

The young Niel Herbert idolizes Marian Forrester, the beautiful and charismatic wife of a pioneering railroad magnate. After discovering Mrs Forrester’s affair with another man, Herbert loses faith in her and all he thought she represented. Content warning for one use of the N-word. - Summary by Rob Marland

A series of stories by Rosa Nouchette Carey who was a popular English novelist, whose works reflected the wholesome values of her time. They often contained the grit and realism of the day. Carey often wrote about the domestic fiction of the period, which she was presumed to have had personal acquaintance with such as - families making do on small means, coming to terms with bereavement and new responsibilities, moving into a new neighbourhood or a different house and allegiances, frictions and jealousies among members of a large family. - Summary by Lynda Marie Neilson

For Chesterton, Francis of Assisi is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since...

While visiting their friend, Florence, at her home in Mexico, Jo Ann and Peggy noticed a barred window which has no opening into any of the rooms of an ancient adobe house. Curious to find out what it is, the girls tried to investigate but no one seems eager to help them. Undaunted, the girls made plans to get there only to encounter dangers and find a thrilling discovery. - Summary by Mary Escano

A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up your spine, the stench of human flesh, and the occasional touch of wonder. You may also feel more jumpy tonight than usual.

The Roots of the Mountains was the second in a projected series of three historical novels set in a pre-medieval Germanic world . It follows the themes of House of the Wolfings, which was published in the same year, into a later generation. A loose alliance of Dalesmen, Woodlanders and Shepherds who have lived in peace around the valley of Burgdale for so long that they barely remember war, find their peace disturbed by the Sons of the Wolf and the invading Dusky Men. Morris’s exploration of the social and economic organization of this fictional pre-medieval world reflects his socialism; the figure of the Dusky Men reflects the racial politics of his times...

The Roosevelt–Rondon Scientific Expedition was the famous survey that took place in 1913-14 to follow the path of the Rio da Dúvida in the Amazon basin. The expedition was jointly led by Theodore Roosevelt, the former President of the United States, and Colonel Cândido Rondon, the Brazilian military engineer known for his explorations of the Western Amazon Basin and his lifelong support of Brazilian indigenous populations. Almost from the start, the expedition was fraught with problems: diseases...

Combining beast fable with natural history, this is a highly engaging and informative account of some of the prehistoric mammals that once roamed across North America. Each short story tells us something about a different era of natural history, from the Eocene to the Pleistocene era. Entertaining and easy to understand stories, featuring early ancestors of squirrels, horses, camels, tapirs, elephants, and even manatees, will appeal to people of all ages.

The Premier has decided that being married would be good for his image. He asks his stenographer for advice: Good. Just jot me down a precis of the points made by your fifteen admirers when proposing - the points that specially appealed to you. I'm afraid, sir, that what most appealed to me could not be expressed in words. In fact, it wasn't words. But no, sir. The subject is too sacred.... ...But you could tell me how they began. The opening address, eh? How did they lead up? Most of 'em just kissed me, sir...

Norby is requested to guarantee a bank loan for Wangen and he obliges, signing the loan document in the presence of a witness. Some time later the witness dies. Years after that Wangen defaults on the loan, requiring Norby to pay the balance, but Norby declares his signature on the document to be a forgery. The profound effects of this lie on Wangen, Norby, their wives, families and community form the basis of this brilliant Norwegian novel, presented here in a first-rate English translation.

This is a short booklet on science fact commissioned by the U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration . It tells the story of the origins of nuclear physics in terms understandable to an audience with minimal technical background. What were the steps through history - the discoveries that built upon one another - from alchemy to chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and quantum mechanics, that led to our understanding and harnessing nuclear energy? Asimov was a great writer of both science fact and fiction who wrote or edited more than 500 books, published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.

volunteers bring you 23 recordings of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for January 6, 2019. ------ The meanings of this poignant poem--which entered the Public Domain in January 2019 and is being added to the Collection ASAP--range from appreciation of a simple New Hampshire snowstorm scene to reflections on death. Whose house is in the village? What promises need keeping? The poem can be interpreted on many different levels. Quoting...

volunteers bring you 15 recordings of A Snow Storm by T.F. Young. This was the Weekly Poetry project for January 6, 2019. ------ Pedantic critics may find fault with my modest productions, and perhaps justly, in regard to grammatical construction, and mechanical arrangement, but I shall be satisfied, if the public discern a vein of true poetry glittering here and there through what I have just written. The public are the final judges of compositions of this sort, and not the writer himself, or his personal friends...

Described by author Liza Daly as a "strange masterpiece of outsider art," Arqtiq is a bizarre, borderline hallucinatory work of feminist utopian fiction. Equal parts sci-fi adventure, philosophical tract, and pro-Symmesian pamphlet, Anna Adolph’s strange, self-published novella centers its narrative around an aviator who, along with a ragtag group of family and friends, charts an expedition to the North Pole in a retro-futuristic airship of her own invention. There, Anna and her crew travel into the hollow earth, encounter a race of telepathic giants, and uncover secrets about God and the universe...

1812 is the year and Portugal the location for this adventure. The characters for the most part are British officers. Lord Strathern sends for his daughter Lady Mabel Stewart presently in Scotland to join him in Elvas where he has stationed his brigade for the winter. The debonair Colonel l'Lisle is the hero of our story. The author provides a vivid look into the landscape, history and people of this era and often touches on liturgy...sometimes controversial among the characters. Very informative it is more travelogue than romance however. Enjoy!!

"Angels of the Battlefield: A History of the Labors of the Catholic Sisterhoods in the Late Civil War" chronicles the compassionate services of these dedicated women during the bitter and bloody U.S. Civil War. These accounts also offer some important historical details, giving some important insights into the people and events of the war. This is the Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. - Summary by Larry Wilson

Two shorter stories in one book. In "Miss Priscilla Hunter," the church has been carrying debt for years. It's an embarrassment, and it is hindering them from doing necessary work. They've tried to chip away at it in the past with festivals and fundraisers, but it seems like it will never go away. Miss Hunter, a poor seamstress, finally takes matters into her own hands and works to KILL that debt once and for all! In "My Daughter Susan," we tag along with Susan in what is apparently a typical day for her, seeing how she works for others and her Lord, within the context of temperance.

Tarzan's amazing ability to establish kinship with some of the most dangerous animals in the jungle serves him well in this exciting story of his adventures with the Golden Lion, Jad-bal-ja, when the great and lordly animal becomes his ally and protector. Tarzan learns from the High Priestess, La, of a country north of Opar which is held in dread by the Oparians. It is peopled by a strange race of gorilla-men with the intelligence of humans and the strength of gorillas. From time to time they attack Opar, carrying off prisoners for use as slaves in the jewel-studded Temple where they worship a great black-maned lion...

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind.

In this memoir, Meriel Buchanan links the history of Russia to powerful, lingering memories of her years living there. She was the daughter of the man who turned out to be the last British ambassador to Imperial Russia. As a young adult, in her role as the ambassador’s daughter, she had regular access to the court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, providing her with unusual experiences and impressions. She describes first hand the sights, sounds, and some of the activities she remembers from this elevated and sheltered vantage point. The family left Russia in 1918, and the author’s memories are filled with nostalgia and longing for the Russia she experienced. - Summary by Jan M.

The Doves' Nest and Other Stories is a collection of complete stories and fragments by the writer Katherine Mansfield. The book was published several months after the Kiwi author's death. - Summary by Rob Marland

In "Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius", posthumous work by the author of The Prince, Machiavelli discusses the useful lessons that could be learnt from the past for the present. As the title mentions, the subject of the work is the first ten books of Livy's Ab urbe condita, which cover the expansion of Rome from the legendary monarchy of Romulus to the end of the Third Samnite War . The whole work contains three books, with 142 numbered chapters - perhaps not a coincidence, since Livy's history also contained 142 books. In the second book, the author discusses decisions made by the Roman people pertaining to the increase of its empire. - Summary by Leni

The Natural History of Pliny the Elder is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire. The full work consists of 37 books, covering more than 20.000 topics ranging from astronomy and mathematics to botany and precious stones. The book became a model for later encyclopaedias and gives a fascinating overview of the state of scientific knowledge almost 2000 years ago. This version of the Natural History has been adapted for a younger audience. This first volume contains Book I and Book II out of a total of 9 books.

A world that actively seeks to kill the colonists. Not a pleasant place. The hordes of ferocious animals all come with deadly poison and a will to kill as many humans as possible. Even the plants have teeth and claws and toxins dripping from every surface. They fly, crawl and run for the chance to sink something terrible into a human arm or leg. Oh, and did I mention the 2G gravity? Pyrrus is it's name. The settlers there were supermen... twice as strong as ordinary men and with instantaneous reflexes...

The Romance of Excavation: A Record of the Amazing Discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Troy, Crete, etc., with Twenty-Nine Illustrations, From the Foreword: "In the following pages I have sought to reveal some of the romance of excavation, to tell the fascinating story of the men who have gone out into the desert places and dug up long-lost cities and the fabled treasure of ancient kings."

The Elements of Theology was written by the Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus and translated by Thomas Taylor who named his youngest son Thomas Proclus Taylor. This book consists of 211 propositions, each followed by a proof, beginning from the existence of the One and ending with the descent of individual souls into the material world. Saint Thomas Aquinas recognized that the Liber de Causis , which had been attributed to Aristotle, was actually a summary of the Elements of Theology, likely written by an Arabic interpreter. - Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Geoffrey Edwards

Fanny relates the experiences of a 19th century missionary as she and her young husband proselytize throughout Europe in search of converts to the new Mormon faith. Her religious zeal is sorely tested upon receipt of news from America revealing that their religion has adopted the practice of polygamy as the means to exaltation. The couple is summoned to Utah only to find themselves firmly ensconced in Brigham Young's inner circle and called upon to practice plural marriage or risk a fall from family, friends, and faith. - Summary by Spiffycat

This is a collection of twelve original and entertaining little romances. Literature is an important anchor that helps us understand society in the American Gilded Age in the late ninteenth century, and these stories allow us to understand the marriage market of the time. - Summary by Carolin"Miss Ticknor, well known as one of the most promising of the younger school of American writers, has never done better work than in the majority of these clever stories, written in a delightful comedy vein." - The Publisher

While detective work always makes for exciting stories, the circumstances under which the detective works play a huge role in the thrill. The stories in this collection follow detectives as they unravel mysteries in times of war, where danger awaits them at every turn. - Summary by Carolin

Going abroad for a holiday or business is always exciting, but we can only imagine how exciting it would have been in 1900 to board a steamer from the United States and take a tour through Europe. Luckily Robert Luce gives advice in this book about how to get around, where to stay, what to see, and generally how to make the journey a success. - Summary by Carolin

This is the 11th in the original series of books about the Bobbseys -- two sets of twins in one family, solving mysteries and having adventures. Bert and Nan are 12, Flossie and Freddie are six. There is a father who works, a mother who stays home, a cook, a handyman, and an assortment of animals. - Summary by Nan Dodge

Maybe--tomorrow, by Jay Little published in 1952* based in the confusing latter part of his teenage years, tells the story of the introverted and forlorn Gaylord LeClarie coming to terms with the world around him and who he is. Gaylord must navigate everything from sex, his own sexuality and his own gender identity. friendship, Love and self-acceptance in a sometimes hostile world... - Summary by Curt Troutwine

A book of short stories by Eden Phillpotts, all involving something of the supernatural. - Summary by Ann Boulais

Theophrastus was an ancient Greek philosopher, successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic School. He wrote on many topics: biology, geology, physics, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, logic – and more. His book Characters… contains thirty brief, vigorous, and trenchant outlines of moral types, which form a most valuable picture of the life of his time, and in fact of human nature in general. They are the first recorded attempt at systematic character writing. “Apart from slight variations of local coloring and institutions, the descriptions of the old Greek philosopher might apply almost as well to the present inhabitants of London or Boston as to the Athenians of 300 B...