English Literature Great

Andrew Haswell Green is dead, shot at the venerable age of eighty-three, when he thought life could hold no more surprises. The killing - on Park Avenue in broad daylight, on Friday the 13th - shook the city. Born to a struggling farmer, Green was a self-made man without whom there would be no Central Park, no Metropolitan Museum of Art, no Museum of Natural History, no New York Public Library. But Green had a secret, a life locked within him that now, in the hour of his death, may finally break free.

Earth’s life support systems are destabilizing and human civilization is spinning out of control, careening toward immanent self destruction. The complex and interconnected dangers imperiling modern humanity can only be understood and fixed by an advanced form of intelligence—much more advanced than that of homosapiens. That is why Brigitte Sophia, a genius mathematician and computer scientist, has dedicated her life to developing advanced Artificial Intelligence for her supercomputer, OTTO.

In the newest novel by beloved National Book Award finalist Lisa Graff, kids have turned the tables on their parents, and all the rules have been tossed out the window. But does Winnie have what it takes to hold her ground and keep everyone happy? This story, with a pitch-perfect middle grade voice and zany yet poignant situation, is perfect for fans of Sharon Creech, Louis Sachar, and Jack Gantos.

In What Matters in Jane Austen?, John Mullan shows that we can best appreciate Austen's brilliance by looking at the intriguing quirks and intricacies of her fiction. Asking and answering some very specific questions about what goes on in her novels, he reveals the inner workings of their greatness. In 20 short chapters, each of which explores a question prompted by Austen’s novels, Mullan illuminates the themes that matter most in her beloved fiction.

With the king of Garenland dead and the people eager for revenge, Otto and Wolfric turn their sights north to Garenland’s ancient enemy Straken. The Northern Army marches into enemy territory, while back in the capital, Otto rushes to train as many war wizards as he can. Outside forces refuse to leave them alone, and Otto is forced to deal with an ever-growing array of foes, unreliable allies, and an enemy that will do anything to see Garenland fall.

While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence.

Step aboard a ship adrift in the heart of an ominous sea, where the waves whisper secrets and the night holds chilling mysteries. In this gripping tale, listeners will accompany the ship's captain as he grapples with his own sanity and faces an otherworldly presence that defies comprehension.

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.

That was who I was. That was what I was, a tiny snake with great potential. The sole creation of the Great Core. It was just us—the great core and I—tucked away in our little corner of the world dungeon. Together, we hid from the bad things and the Coreless of the world outside, safe from the horrors that would consume us. Until one day, the Coreless found us. Until they tried to steal away my creator. Until with no other option, I swallowed the Great Core that had made me. Only after that, did I become what I was always meant to be.

In the rich turbulence of English history, one day stands magnificently apart: June 15, 1215, the day of the signing of the Magna Charta. On this day, the first blow for English freedom was struck and forever affected the Western world. Here is the story of three true men, Stephen Langton, Williams Marshall, and Hubert de Burgh, whose heroic deeds are set against those of the ever deceitful and crafty King John.

The suspenseful tale of two courageous kids and one inquisitive scientist who teamed up to stop an epidemic. Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a “mudlark”, he spends his days in the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. He’s being hunted by Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And he’s got a secret that costs him four precious shillings a week to keep safe. But even for Eel, things aren’t so bad until that fateful August day in 1854.

The dark forces of the Neo Hegemony strike, sweeping across the worlds of the Arcadian sector and crushing all in their path. One system stands against the onslaught, the Kingdom of New Avalon. But the men and women of their expeditionary forces are trapped behind enemy lines on a besieged planet. Their only hope? A last-ditch rescue mission led by Captain Hal Cutter and his battleship, Achilles. Beset on all sides by lethal enemy warships, he must lead a rag-tag fleet of naval and civilian vessels across Hegemony held space to save the beleaguered Kingdom soldiers.

The year is 1918, the war on the Western Front all but over. An ambitious officer, Lieutenant Henry D'Aulnay-Pradelle, sends two soldiers over the top and then surreptitiously shoots them in the back to incite his men to attack the German lines. When another of D'Aulnay-Pradelle's soldiers, Albert Maillard, reaches the bodies and discovers how they died, the lieutenant shoves him into a shell hole to silence him. Albert is rescued by fellow soldier, the artist Edouard Péricourt, who takes a bullet in the face.

Idealist, atheist, outcast, political radical and, of course, poet - Percy Bysshe Shelley was, in many ways, the epitome of the Romantic artist. His poetry was an outlet for his passionately held and highly unpopular beliefs, beliefs which resulted in social exclusion, exile, and possibly even his premature death at the age of 29. His work is a monument to his convictions and to the power of the human spirit, and today it is recognized as a key contribution to Romantic literature.

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

When words of love do not come to you on their own, then listen to these letters. Complete, actual love letters of great men like Lord Byron, John Keats, and Voltaire. Leaders like Henry VIII, George Washington, and Napoléon, who wrote to his beloved Joséphine, "I awake consumed with thoughts of you...." Artists like van Gogh, Mozart, and Beethoven, who famously penned, "Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved...."

Philip's adventures as the Devil's apprentice have changed him-in a good way. Although he misses his friends in Hell, he has made new friends in life. But when the future of the underworld is threatened once again, Philip's help is needed. Death's Die has been stolen and immortality is spreading across the globe. Philip throws himself into the search - and discovers a horrible truth about his own life along the way.

Machen's novella The Great God Pan is often cited as one of Lovecraft's most notable influences. In it, Dr. Raymond's ultimate goal is to devise a way to open the mind of man so that he may experience all the world has to offer. He calls this "seeing the great god Pan". After much study of the human mind, he devises an experiment that involves minor brain surgery. He performs this experiment on a young woman named Mary, but when she awakens she is terrified and mentally crippled.

In a national contest, readers voted and decided that the next I Survived topic will be the Great Chicago Fire, 1871! In the next book of the I Survived series, one boy will struggle to stay alive as the great city of Chicago burns.

Henry Farber, a well-meaning psychiatrist, is forced into hiding when the nation’s chief executive—a narcissistic autocrat in his disastrous second term—is found dead on the consulting room couch. From an isolated bungalow, Farber sets out to clear his name while offering an intimate view of a flawed populist leader.