But ambition quickly took wing. The house swelled to 225 rooms and became - until 2012 when it was topped by the home of a billionaire in Mumbai, India – the world’s largest residence ever built for a private citizen. Here’s the story of the house that Vanderbilt built - from the gardens by Frederick Law Olmsted to the John Singer Sargent portraits that adorn its walls.

    The poem started out as a simple observation of the snow in moonlight, and turned into a poem with more to offer. I'm offering it free to my readers. I've had it on my blog, where it's gotten much response, and wanted to give everyone another way to access it.

    But Mama has the cure: she throws her own 100% genuine screaming fit, Mama-style, and that teaches 'em!

    S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser at the top of his imaginative and storytelling powers. Here are the richly metaphorical, imagistically masterful, clear and accessible poems for which he has become widely known. Kooser writes for an audience of everyday readers and believes poets "need to write poetry that doesn't make people feel stupid." Each poem in Red Stilts strives to reveal the complex beauties of the ordinary, of the world that's right under our noses. Right under Kooser's nose is rural America, most specifically the Great Plains, with its isolated villages, struggling economy, hard-working people and multiple beauties that surpass everything wrecked, wrong, or in error.

    Follow in the footsteps of Buddha and modern-day pilgrims to the summit of Adam's Peak, wander the crumbling ruins and lost cities of the cultural triangle in the heart of the island or explore undiscovered beaches on the recently reopened east coast; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Sri Lanka and begin your journey now!Inside Lonely Planet's Sri Lanka Travel Guide:Colour maps and images throughoutHighlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interestsInsider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spotsEssential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, pricesHonest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks missCultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - tea, cuisine, wildlife, historyMore than 50 mapsCovers Colombo, Galle, South, West and East coasts, the hill country, Jaffna, the ancient cities and moreAuthors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Ryan Ver Berkmoes, Stuart Butler, Iain Stewart.About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

    A year in the wild turns a scrawny, runty collie pup into the pedigree beauty who wins ribbons and displays the loyalty expected of his line.

    The answer sent him into a web of treachery, of ancient secrets and forbidden knowledge, and entangled him in matters far beyond his understanding, until he found himself face to face with the gods of destruction and death.

    The Wild Things — based very loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control.

     ABOUT THE SHORT STORY’S PRICE: Hello, you lovely people. Odd to talk about money straight up, but I know that some of you might be thinking, £1.99 is a lot for a short story. Let me explain how it works. A rate of 20% VAT (Value Added Tax) applies to eBooks in the UK. This doesn’t apply to ‘real’ paper books. That means 33p of the £1.99 goes straight to the British government. Amazon takes around 2p to deliver the story to your Kindle, then takes another 48p as its cut. The remainder, £1.16, goes to me. That's not a great deal, I hope you agree. In these times of falling sales, and authors losing their contracts, and only one in seven traditionally published authors being able to write fulltime, stories like this are a vital way of YOU supporting the authors whose books you enjoy. So THANK YOU for your support! Think of it in terms of a pint of beer or a cup of coffee: they cost £2-4, depending on where you live. This story will give you more enjoyment (I think!) than either of those things, and last for a longer time, and cost you less money. This is only the second time I have self-published a short story. (Massive thanks here to Pete Simpson, who designed the cover for me!) It’s been an exciting project since the day I did the poll on Facebook, asking you lovely people which of my characters you wanted me to write about. Centurion Tullus won out, narrowly, and this is the result. The one hundred and something people who backed the Kickstarter campaign got to read this story almost 7 months ago, but now you can too. Enjoy the story, and please email me if you have any questions about it or anything else – ben@benkane.net Ben

    Tuesday started out like any other day – until my school became the target of a zombie attack! I tried to call my Dad, but he wouldn’t answer. So my school is about to be taken over by crazy zombies – but not if I can help it! This story is a funny adventure that is engaging for children, middle school students, and grown-ups.

    or does it?Daring Do is excited to learn of the Eternal Flower--a legendary enchanted bloom believed to grant immortality to the creature who drinks its sweet nectar. It is a rousing notion, but it has never actually been found!Curious about the possibility of such a plant existing, Daring Do visits the Equestrian Botanical Society, where she quickly learns that the roots of the legend reach deeper than she ever dreamed.And Daring Do isn't the only one digging.She sets out on her own quest across land and sea, racing against time to find the flower before the nectar touches the lips of another pony--or a monster who might have more sinister plans for it than she does.Will Daring Do follow the clues and find the secret to eternal life?

    His ability with the sand wedge and putter are legendary not only among fans but his peers as well, and it is his skill with those clubs that is primarily responsible for his winning 34 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including three major championships. In his first-ever instruction book, Mickelson explains in detail how to master every phase of the short game.Mickelson maintains that any golfer of average ability can become a deadly short-game player by approaching the subject with a blend of science (proper mechanics and setup) and art (imagination and feel). Mickelson does a fine job explaining both; combining the wisdom of his great teachers with his own fertile imagination, cultivated from 34 years of experimentation, trial and error.No golfer can afford to miss out on Mickelson′s secrets and tips.

    

     The true story of how mildly successful guitarist and New York Times writer Dan Crane relinquished his instrument and became Björn Türoque (pronounced "b-yorn too-RAWK"), the second greatest air guitarist in the nation. This exploration of the international air guitar sub-culture addresses the issue of dedicating oneself to an invisible art in order to achieve the ultimate goal of "airness"-that is, when air guitar transcends the "real" art that it imitates and becomes an art form in and of itself.

    From the author of Schopenhauer's Telescope comes a beautiful and haunting novel of vengeance, literature, love, isolation, and man's tenuous grasp on reason.