English Literature Great

Don't toss out the cake and candles just yet. Philip Roth, who, among other notable achievements, changed the way Americans laugh about masturbation, celebrates his birthday on March 19th. Check out: I Married a Communist and Operation Shylock.

After Josie got dumped by her ex through a note on the fridge, she hasn’t let herself get close to anyone. But when she meets Cameron at a Halloween party, who turns up in the same Ghostbusters costume as her, it’s virtually impossible to stay away. Cameron, a curly haired video-games designer with dazzling blue eyes, the sexiest dimples and the same encyclopedic knowledge of movies as Josie, seems too good to be true. And maybe he is.... Because there’s one teeny tiny problem as Josie falls madly in love.

Alistair knows the risks, but he must take the Ice Queen’s military and the gigante to Planet Phoenix. In order to defeat the Ascendant, Alexander de Finita, and put this nightmare behind him, it’ll take every asset he can bring together. There’s just one problem. The Commonwealth plans to strike first. If they control the star-gate at Phoenix, all is lost. Every choice he’s made has had consequences, but none as gave as Alistair’s next move. The Ascendant has the positional advantage. Should Alistair protect his pieces, make a sacrifice, or play a gambit?

The terror and purges of Stalin's Russia in the 1930s discouraged Soviet officials from leaving documentary records, let alone keeping personal diaries. A remarkable exception is the unique diary assiduously kept by Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to London between 1932 and 1943. This selection from Maisky's diary grippingly documents Britain's drift to war during the 1930s, appeasement in the Munich era, negotiations leading to the signature of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact....

In 12th century London, Magdalene la Bâtarde is the madam of the Old Priory Guesthouse in Southwark. She is not in the least bit sorry to learn that Bertrild, the unpleasant wife of Master Mainard, is dead. Bertrild was insulting to most people. She made threats, using terrible revelations as a weapon against those who would not bow down to her demanding ways.

Are vampires a bloodthirsty menace to mankind? Or simply misunderstood creatures struggling to survive? After hearing these six entertaining stories, you'll be able to decide for yourself. From the horrifying to the humorous, some of today's finest authors share stories about one of the oldest imagined evils, the vampire. From Tanith Lee's chilling story to Esther Friesner's comic tale of rival teens trying to best one another, these stories bring vampires to (un)life, in all their majesty and terror.

Every morning, seventeen-year-old Maria Anís Rosario takes the subway an hour from her boisterous and close-knit family in Queens to her private high school on the Upper East Side, where she struggles to fit in as one of the only Latina students - until Rocky welcomes her into this new life. White, rebellious, and ignored by her wealthy parents, Rocky uses her money toward one goal: to get away with anything. To Maria, it’s a dazzling privilege.

E. Phillips Oppenheim was a British writer known for his thriller novels. He is credited with writing over 100 novels including suspense, international intrigue, romance, parables, and comedies. His protagonists are known for their love of luxury, gourmet meals, and their enjoyment of criminal activities. The Great Secret a.k.a. The Secret was published in 1908. The plot involves an international conspiracy. The heroine is a beautiful American girl.

Beginning readers are introduced to the detective mystery genre in these chapter books. Perfect for the Common Core, kids can problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries!

The Great Tome series continues with The Great Tome of Cryptids and Legendary Creatures. This volume features over a dozen tales drawn from fantastic creatures found in folklore and urban legends.

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?

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.

Strange Tales of Scotland all deal with a particular aspect of Scottish mysteries. You'll learn of the ghost that appeared at the wedding of King Alexander II, and of monsters such as the Shellycoat and Water-horse that were thought to inhabit Scotland’s lochs...Finally, we have a look at the legend of the phantom armies of Scotland; soldiers who refuse to fade away even centuries after their wars have been fought, and their causes faded in history. Welcome to the Strange Tales of Scotland.

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.

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.