English Literature Great

Poppy's Place is up and running, but Isla is frustrated by the time it's taking to rehome the cats. Then, she has a purr-fect idea - they could host a cat adoption event on Valentine's Day, to match the perfect cat with the perfect owner. But just as the plans for the Great Cat-acular are coming together, disaster strikes - Poppy's Place is flooded! Can Isla come up with a plan to relocate their big event and save the day?

Originally published in 1938, Uncle Tom's Children, a collection of novellas, was the first book from Richard Wright, who would go on to win international renown for his powerful and visceral depiction of the Black experience. Set in the American Deep South, each of the powerful and devastating stories in Uncle Tom's Children concerns an aspect of the lives of Black people in the post-slavery era, exploring their resistance to white racism and oppression. The collection also includes a personal essay by Wright titled "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow."

In an elaborate house known as the Cloisters, Maud Wainwright rules supreme. The queen of society in the small town of Beverly, she has a table long enough to seat 100, and she keeps an iron grip on the guest list. Her right-hand woman is Pat Abbott, a local girl who is beautiful, innocent, and kind. Pat has no idea how cutthroat high society can be, but she's about to get a deadly first lesson.

In this book, Stefan Zweig traces 12 fateful events of world history in his unique artistic style: from the conquest of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople by the Turks, to the Battle of Waterloo to Sir Robert Falcon Scott's tragic South Pole expedition. The human character and sometimes simple fate are decisive historic factors that have led to dramatic and lasting changes in the past. Often short, coincidental and highly dramatic moments have the potential to change the future of mankind in a decisive manner – the so called "Great Moments of Humanity".

Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of an English peer, is forced to flee from Oxford for his part in the university riots of 1273. Inspired by Friar Bacon, he determines to travel to China. With his friend Tristam, he fights his way to the heart of the fabulous Mongol Empire and returns famous, to find that he must choose between the first love he thought lost and the exotic flower that he found in the East.

As Pip unravels the truth behind his own "great expectations" in his quest to become a gentleman, the mysteries of the past and the convolutions of fate through a series of thrilling adventures serve to steer him toward maturity and his most important discovery of all - the truth about himself.

After writing his first book, eleven-year-old Oliver is kind of a celebrity around school—no big deal. But when he gets caught in a cafeteria catastrophe, he quickly goes from being the "funny science kid" to one of the "Epic Barf Kids", the result of too much explosive cherry pie in the lunchroom. Oliver is desperate to restore his reputation—and winning the science fair sounds like the perfect way for everyone to forget about the whole barf thing. There's just one obstacle standing in his way: Ana Lía Quintero, who wins the science fair every year.

Butterbean knew she wasn't always a good dog. Still, she'd never considered herself a BAD dog—until the morning that her owner, Mrs. Food, fell in the hallway. Admittedly the tile was slipperier than usual, mostly because Butterbean had just thrown up on it. Now Butterbean and her fellow pets have to come up with a grand plan to support themselves in case Mrs. Food is unable to keep taking care of them. When they discover a mysterious man in their building who seems to have lots of loot, they plan a heist.

Fifty great classic short stories selected from the works of the best writers of the last century.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, in the Lake District. His Lyrical Ballads, written in collaboration with Coleridge, was published in 1798, and shortly afterwards he settled in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Inspired in his early manhood by the French Revolution, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary politics and in later life became decidedly conservative. He left a vast body of work, ranging from delicately simple lyrics to deeply meditative odes.

Sophisticated wit and intense emotion, religious fervor and erotic sensuality, delight in life’s pleasures and fascination with death, are all to be found in the paradoxical poetry of John Donne. One of the foremost metaphysical poets, Donne’s ingenious metaphors and inspired use of language has earned him affection and reverence in near equal measure to Shakespeare.

It is July, 67 AD. The brutal, 47-day siege of the rebel stronghold of Jotapata, in Galilee, has ended. The Roman armies of Vespasian destroyed the city and captured the leader of the resistance, Josephus ben Matthias. While being interrogated by the Roman commanding general, Josephus makes a bold prediction; Nero’s reign grows short and, in time, Vespasian himself will rise to become emperor. Intrigued, while also viewing the Jewish general as a great source of intelligence, Vespasian spares his life. He then unleashes a hell storm of fury upon the rest of Galilee and Judea itself.

Their extinction will be the beginning of ours.... All over the world, birds falling out of the sky cause countless traffic accidents. Reports of dead fish washing up follow. As the mysterious death of animals increases and a terrifying future unfolds, a family in a small Vermont town grapples with the inexplicable. With emergency phone lines tied up, Emily Mansfield, a science teacher, finds herself stranded miles from home with an injury and forced into a race against time when strangers kidnap her child for unknown reasons.

Jessie and Benny are participating in the Great Greenfield Bake-Off, a local baking competition for kids. But ingredients get mixed up during the competition, and then the power goes out. Is someone trying to put an end to the contest?

Listeners are loving this cozy mystery series with its two indomitable dog sleuths. Zack, Jillian and the corgis, Sherlock and Watson, are at it again in this delightful series that pulls you right in. Zack, Jillian, and the corgis find themselves in the midst of a new mystery with a Thanksgiving twist. Just as they are planning a big holiday dinner, there are no cranberries to be found in the shops. In cozy Pomme Valley and other nearby towns, someone is breaking in and stealing only the cranberries! What's up with that?

With lyrical prose and striking verse, beloved poet Nikita Gill (Fierce Fairytales, Wild Embers) uses the history of Ancient Greece and beyond to explore and share the stories of the mothers, warriors, creators, survivors, and destroyers who shook the world. In pieces that burn with empathy and admiration for these women, Gill unearths the power and glory of the very foundations of mythology and culture that have been too-often ignored or pushed aside. Gill's poetry and stories weave old and forgotten tales of might and love into an empowering collection.

Between their father leaving and their mother dying, neither Maggie nor Matt were ever affiliated with a pack. When a werewolf shaman shows up looking for Matt, Maggie suddenly has a glimpse into a world she never expected to see . . . as well as a chance to figure out what's going on with her powers.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo adored adventure. In November, 1930, she was thrilled to realize her dream of traveling to the United States to live in San Francisco, Detroit, and New York. Still, leaving her family and her country for the first time was monumental. Only 23 and newly married to the already world-famous 43-year-old Diego Rivera, she was at a crossroads in her life and this new place, one filled with magnificent beauty, horrific poverty, racial tension, anti-Semitism, ethnic diversity, bland Midwestern food, and a thriving music scene, pushed Frida in unexpected directions.

Lights! Camera! Action! The latest book in the Big Book Series takes us behind the curtain to uncover the stories that became some of the greatest films of the silver screen. Among these are Robert Louis Stevenson's horrifying tale that was later turned into the iconic movie The Body Snatcher, starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff; and "Cyclists' Raid", the short story that formed the basis for the legendary Brando film The Wild One.

Imogen Dacres is flying to Bermuda to investigate the mysterious death of her brother when the unthinkable happens. The plane crashes. She wakes up in hospital where she learns three things: One: everyone thinks she is the wealthy Isadora Van Harte. Two: no one else survived the crash. Three: some scary-looking men are outside looking for Imogen Dacres. Realizing they must be connected to her brother’s death, Imogen assumes Isadora Van Harte’s identity. Can she keep safe long enough to find out what happened to her brother?