The Tale


Joseph Conrad - 1917
    Set onboard a ship during an unnamed war, the title story is a harrowing account of guilt and responsibility, showing Conrad at his most accomplished as a master of psychological penetration. Accompanying this is another study of the brutal turns of fortune visited on the unwary by war: 'The Warrior's Soul' takes place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and traces the interweaving relationship between a beautiful woman and the two men who love her. 'Prince Roman', meanwhile, is one of Conrad's earliest stories, and the only piece in his entire oeuvre that touches on his homeland, Poland. The collection concludes with 'The Black Mate', a witty and light-hearted illustration of life aboard ship." "Spanning Joseph Conrad's entire literary career, these four stories touch on some of his major interests - war, imperialism, life at sea - showing him at his most intimate and ambitious."

The Coffee House of Surat


Leo Tolstoy - 1893
    One day a learned Persian theologian visits this coffee-house. He is a man who has spent his life studying the nature of the Deity, and reading and writing books upon the subject. He has thought, read, and written so much about God, that he eventually lost his wits, became quite confused, and ceased even to believe in the existence of a God. The Shah, hearing of this, banished him from Persia.

Love in the Night (Greetings Book)


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925
    Features a full-color foil binding attractive enough to leave unwrapped, an inscribed removable bookmark, ribbon tie, and delicate full-color illustrations--all enhancing a classic and enduring short story.

Mortal Coils


Aldous Huxley - 1920
    The grandson of Thomas H, Huxley (Darwin's famous defender), he was born in England and educated at Eton and Oxford. He traveled widely in his youth and lived in Italy for a while in the 1920s. He began his literary career with poetry and critical essays, then turned to novels. Having been born just too late to participate in World War I, he was able, in his early works, such as CROME YELLOW (1921), ANTIC HAY (1923), THOSE BARREN LEAVES (1925), and POINT COUNTER POINT (1928), to perfectly capture a sense of purposeless aftermath which resonated strongly in British society at the time. A satirical strain already evident manifested itself spectacularly in BRAVE NEW WORLD (1932), after which much of his work began to show a fantastic or speculative cast, including AFTER MANY A SUMMER DIES THE SWAN (about immortality, 1939), TIMES MUST HAVE A STOP (1944), and APE AND ESSENCE (a dystopia, 1948). ISLAND, his last work, published in 1962, is a utopia. Late in life he developed an increasing disdain for Western society and an interest in Eastern mysticism and in the possibilities of psychedelic drugs, which he described in THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION (1954). MORTAL COILS is a short-story collection from Huxley's early period, including one of his most popular stories, "The Gioconda Smile."

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories


Oscar Wilde - 1891
    It includes Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, The Canterville Ghost, The Sphinx Without a Secret and The Model Millionaire.Written between 1887 and 1891, at the height of his creative powers, these stories confirm Oscar Wilde’s reputation as a master storyteller in their sense of fun, quick intelligence and witty dissection of Victorian society. They also reveal his compassion for the poor and downtrodden who were so readily ignored by that age.

The Dark Tower: And Other Stories


C.S. Lewis - 1977
    S. Lewis’s adult religious books, a repackaged edition of the revered author’s definitive collection of short fiction, which explores enduring spiritual and science fiction themes such as space, time, reality, fantasy, God, and the fate of humankind.From C.S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—comes a collection of his dazzling short fiction.This collection of futuristic fiction includes a breathtaking science fiction story written early in his career in which Cambridge intellectuals witness the breach of space-time through a chronoscope—a telescope that looks not just into another world, but into another time. As powerful, inventive, and profound as his theological and philosophical works, The Dark Tower reveals another side of Lewis’s creative mind and his longtime fascination with reality and spirituality. It is ideal reading for fans of J. R. R. Tolkien, Lewis’s longtime friend and colleague.

The Solid Objects


Virginia Woolf - 1992
    

The Way Up to Heaven and Other Stories


Roald Dahl - 1981
    

Strange Fiction


H.G. Wells - 2008
    Each piece of narration is invested with gristliness and wit. Talking Book World

Mrs Lirriper


Charles DickensHenry Spicer - 1863
    Recently widowed, Mrs. Lirriper devotes her energies to attending to the needs of her assorted lodgers; but when a newborn child is abandoned to her care, her responsibilities grow to new levels. She enlists longtime lodger, the Major, into the role of �guardian,” and the two develop an increasing affection for the boy. In an effort to entertain the growing lad, they relate the stories of their fellow lodgers, little knowing that they are about to embark on their own real-life tale of impending death, guilty secrets, and mysterious legacies. Charles Dickens is one of England’s most important literary figures. His works enjoyed enormous success in his day and are still regarded as among the most popular and widely read classics of all time.

Men Of Greywater Station


George R.R. Martin - 1976
    

And The Rock Cried Out


Ray Bradbury - 1953
    With American economic and military might eradicated, husband and wife become the unfortunate focus for years of subjugation and resentment.

The Christmas Hirelings


Mary Elizabeth Braddon - 1894
    This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Leaf by Niggle


J.R.R. Tolkien - 1945
    Niggle, the painter, is a kind hearted soul and goes out of his way to help his friends and neighbours but eventually finds that this prevents him from completing his masterpiece. He has a hard decision to make; when engrossed in his work, his neighbour asks him to fix his roof using his art supplies.

The Problem with Thor Bridge


Arthur Conan Doyle - 1922
    It soon emerges that Mr. Gibson's marriage had been unhappy- he treated his wife very badly. He had fallen in love with her when he met her in Brazil, but soon realised they had nothing in common. He became attracted to Miss Dunbar; since he could not marry her, he had attempted to please her in other ways- by trying to help people less fortunate than himself.Maria Gibson was found lying in a pool of blood on Thor Bridge with a bullet through the head and note from the governess, agreeing to a meeting at that location, in her hand. A recently discharged revolver with one shot fired is found in Miss Dunbar's wardrobe. Holmes agrees to look at the situation in spite of the damning evidence.From the outset, Holmes observes some rather odd things about the case. How could Miss Dunbar so coolly and rationally have planned and carried out the murder and then carelessly tossed the murder weapon into her wardrobe? What was the strange chip on the underside of the bridge's stone balustrade? Why was Mrs. Gibson clutching the note from Miss Dunbar when she died? If the murder weapon was one of a matched pair of pistols, why couldn't the other one be found in Mr. Gibson's collection?