The Family Gift


Cathy Kelly - 2019
    I loved it' Marian KeyesTreat yourself to the heartwarming, hilarious new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Cathy Kelly!Freya Abalone has a big, messy, wonderful family, a fantastic career, and a new house.But that's on the outside.On the inside, she's got Mildred - the name she's given to that nagging inner critic who tells us all we're not good enough.And now Freya's beloved blended family is under threat. Dan's first wife Elisa, the glamorous, manipulative woman who happily abandoned her daughter to Freya and Dan's care and left the country, has elbowed her way back into their lives. But Freya knows that when life gives you lemons, you throw them right back. Can Freya put her family - and herself - back together? Find out in Cathy Kelly's warmest, wisest and funniest book yet... *** Everyone loves The Family Gift: 'The perfect comfort read for a cold autumn afternoon' Jo Finney, Good HousekeepingCathy Kelly shines an insightful light on female insecurity and, through Freya's journey, shows the healing power of self-belief and family support.' Woman & Home 'Heartwarming' Sunday Express 'Must-read' Daily Express

Beauty and the Beast


Bayard Taylor - 1872
    "You've got to get the girl to fall in love with you!"The Beast's only chance to break the spell is for him to fall in love with Belle and earn her love in return.

Phantom Noise


Brian Turner - 2010
    These prophetic, osmotic poems wage a daily battle for normalcy, seeking structure in the quotidian while grappling with the absence of forgetting.

Frances Collection


Russell Hoban - 1989
    RepackageRunning time: 45 minutesUnabridged with music

The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance, and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom


Terry Burant - 2004
    This expanded collection of writings and reflections offers practical guidance on how to navigate the school system, form rewarding relationships with colleagues, and connect in meaningful ways with students and families from all cultures and backgrounds.

Early Poems


W.B. Yeats - 1993
    Mythic themes as well as many other topics are masterfully explored in this rich selection of 134 lyrics chiefly selected from six volumes of verse published between 1889 and 1914. Among the poems included are "The Stolen Child" and "Down by the Salley Gardens" (Crossways, 1889); "To the Rose upon the Rood of Time," "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," "When You Are Old," and "To Ireland in the Coming Times" (The Rose, 1893); "The Song of Wandering Aengus" and "A Poet to His Beloved" (The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899); "The Song of Red Hanrahan" (In the Seven Woods, 1903); "No Second Troy" and "The Fascination of What's Difficult" (The Green Helmet and Other Poems, 1910); "To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing" and "To a Shade" (Responsibilities, 1914); and many more. This representative selection offers readers a splendid sampling of the distinctive Yeatsian voice — romantic, yearning, full of the magic and mysticism Yeats imbibed as a boy in the West of Ireland, later counterbalanced by an anguished realism grounded in the poet's nationalistic and political sympathies.

Fellow-Townsmen


Thomas Hardy - 1880
    Barnet and Downe are old and good friends in the Wessex town of Port Bredy—yet fate has treated them differently. Barnet, a prosperous man, has been unlucky in love and now lives with the consequences of a judicious but loveless marriage. Downe, a poor solicitor, is radiantly happy, with a doting wife and adoring children. A chance meeting one night causes them to reflect on their disparate lots in life and sets in motion a chain of events that will change their lives forever. Both a meticulous record of English provincial customs and a melancholic reflection on the brevity of human happiness, this short work displays all the artistry of Hardy’s major fiction. Thomas Hardy is one of Britain’s greatest authors; among his most famous works are Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure.

Holding My Breath


Sidura Ludwig - 2007
    Her mother, Goldie, the oldest sister, harbors a desire for social status that only results in a tacit disappointment, that nothing, not even her daughter, can assuage. Carrie, the middle one, possesses a gentle nature that masks a tragic countenance. The youngest, Sarah, still a teenager, stands poised to take on the world.While Beth seeks out the nurturing comfort of Carrie, who keeps Uncle Phil’s memory alive and bestows upon Beth his love of the stars and planets, it is the rebellious spirit of Sarah that most entices the girl. As Beth matures into a young woman, the combination of her aunts’ influences pits the old world of her mother’s strictures against a new one of exploration and escape. This internal conflict will force Beth to make a difficult choice.With a voice as distinct as it is compelling, Holding My Breath celebrates the bonds of family and its reassuring traditions as it affirms the uniqueness of the individual on uncharted paths.

The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn


Greg Matthews - 1983
    Along with the faithful Jim, Huck lights out for the territory, joining the 1849 Gold Rush and encountering on the trail a cast of characters as wily, scabrous, and entertaining as those in Twain's original.In this sequel Huck and Jim are a little older and a good deal wiser than they were originally. It is refreshing to see them holding their own in a world of grown-up nonsense and bullying, and it is especially gratifying to follow Jim as he slowly and painfully creates a newer, freer self.

Talma Gordon


Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins - 2013
    Her short story 'Talma Gordon,' published in 1900, is often cited as the first African-American mystery story.

Feathertop


Nathaniel Hawthorne - 1998
    He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials who never repented of his actions. Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne" in order to hide this relation. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828; he later tried to suppress it, feeling it was not equal to the standard of his later work. He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, and was survived by his wife and their three children. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce.

The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights


James Knowles - 1860
    The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful and imaginative 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain). However, some Welsh and Breton tales and poems relating the story of Arthur date from earlier than this work; in these works, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn. How much of Geoffrey's Historia (completed in 1138) was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Although the themes, events and characters of the Arthurian legend varied widely from text to text, and there is no one canonical version, Geoffrey's version of events often served as the starting point for later stories. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. In fact, many elements and incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story appear in Geoffrey's Historia, including Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, the wizard Merlin, the sword Excalibur, Arthur's birth at Tintagel, his final battle against Mordred at Camlann and final rest in Avalon. The 12th-century French writer Chretien de Troyes, who added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the story, began the genre of Arthurian romance that became a significant strand of medieval literature. In these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a major resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the legend lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics and other media. The Sir James Knowles version of King Arthur is considered as the most accurate and well known original story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Harold: The Last of the Saxon Kings


Edward Bulwer-Lytton - 1848
    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution


Michael Rubin - 2005
    In the process they made computer history.

Alice Through the Looking Glass


James Reaney - 1994
    The play opened July 10, 1994 at the Avon Theatre.This edition also contains illustrations by Sir John Tenniel as they appeared in the original (1872) Macmillan edition of Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there.When Alice passes through into the Looking Glass World, she suddenly finds herself in a bizarre and chaotic chess game that leads her on an unforgettable adventure. She encounters a dizzying array of extraordinary characters that include talking flowers, Kings and Queens, Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Humpty Dumpty himself. This brand new stage adaptation by one of Canada's most beloved authors and playwrights was a feature production of the 1994 Stratford Festival season. In addition to the text of the play, James Reaney provides the reader with background information and notes as well as useful suggestions for those wishing to stage their own production of Lewis Carroll's classic tale.