Short Classics

Young Claribel was a girl taught goodness by her parents and lived a happy life, especially when she went to school. Claribel loved her teacher, a kindly woman who taught her students the importance of honesty above all else. Her teacher taught them of the Beautiful City where the Good and Honest children would go one day, and Claribel wanted nothing more. One day in class, whilst working on her math, she became bored and distracted and began to draw a lily that she saw out the classroom window.

When several employees of the bank are arrested for corruption, the merchant Avdeyev doesn't give the ordeal much thought, figuring the men going to jail deserve it. His opinion changes however when he returns home to find his wife and son very upset - his house had just been searched by officials in connection to the bank corruption. Avdeyev had signed papers for the bankers without knowing what they were and so had essentially signed his life away by his carelessness.

Three men, Mihailo the porter, Nikandr the fish merchant, and Stepan the coachman, sit around a table in the coach-house playing a game of "kings" with Stepan's eight-year old grandson, Alyoshka. While each card player competitively tries to win the coveted position of "king" in the game, a more serious atmosphere casts a sad shadow over the estate in which the coach-house is situated. The man of the house, for whom the porter and coachman work, has attempted suicide, and he lies in the estate house struggling somewhere between life and death.

Mysterious blackouts left Kira with precious few memories of events in her life, never mind those worth sharing. Somewhere in those blank spots she acquired skills - skills she was hard pressed to explain. But those skills got her a job as the new navigator for the Rented Mule, a transport ship that plied the Rim Systems at the very edge of human civilization.

A spine-tingling selection of detective stories including contributions from Edgar Wallace, Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton.

A sparkling collection of short stories by leading female authors including “Miss Brill” by Katharine Mansfield, “The Lifted Veil” by George Eliot and “A Venetian Night's Entertainment” by Edith Wharton.

In the third romance anthology of The Quill Collective series, 16 celebrated Austenesque authors write the untold histories of Austen’s heroines, brave adventuresses, shy maidens, talkative spinsters, and naughty matrons. Rational Creatures is a collection of humorous, poignant, and engaging short stories set in Georgian England that complement and pay homage to Austen’s great works and great ladies who were, perhaps, the first feminists in an era that was not quite ready for feminism.

In Our Time contains several early Hemingway classics, including the famous Nick Adams stories "Indian Camp", "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife", "The Three Day Blow", and "The Battler", and introduces listeners to the hallmarks of the Hemingway style: a lean, tough prose, enlivened by an ear for the colloquial and an eye for the realistic that suggests, through the simplest of statements, a sense of moral value and a clarity of heart.

Centering on the picaresque realism of Nikolai Gogol’s (1809-1852) mid-19th-century visions of the extraordinary in everyday life, this collection mines the ambiance and mind of pre-Revolutionary Russia. These seven stories take us from the Miracle Mile of St. Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt, and a summer night in a Ukrainian village, to the fantastical psychological geographies of fathers, sons, and madmen. Augmenting Gogol’s visions are two disturbing tales by the foremost storyteller of Russia’s “Silver Age”.

The best and most revered works of famed poet and author, Edgar Allen Poe.

Prepare to be dazzled with stories of witches, wizards and magical folk. From spells and enchantments to potions and wishes, there's magic and wonder brewing in this bumper collection by Enid Blyton. These traditional tales are ideal for both younger and older listeners. Each story stands alone and is the perfect length for listening to at bedtime or in the classroom.

A dazzling selection of 30 short stories from the world's best loved storyteller. Get ready for snowball fights and sleigh rides in this collection of 30 classic short stories from Enid Blyton, celebrating the magic and excitement of winter. These fun, entertaining stories are ideal for newly confident listeners and are the perfect length for listening to at bedtime or in the classroom. Enid Blyton remains one of Britain's favourite children's authors, and her bumper short-story collections are perfect for introducing her to the latest generation of listeners.

An elderly couple living in Victorian London struggle against despair as their small resources dwindle. When an eccentric and mysterious gentleman answers their advertisement for a lodger, they celebrate. But as women begin dying at the hands of "The Avenger", they start to suspect something too horrific for words.

Por un instante, los dos trenes circularon paralelos. En ese preciso momento, Elspeth McGillicuddy presenció un asesinato. Desde su vagón vio con impotencia como en el otro tren un hombre agarraba sin piedad el cuello de una mujer hasta estrangularla. Después el tren se alejó. No había sospechosos ni testimonios. Tampoco había cadáver. ¿Quién, salvo Jane Marple, se tomaría en serio esta historia?

Here is an essential Unamuno collection, offering a full-length novel, Abel Sanchez, and two remarkable stories, "The Madness of Doctor Montarco" and "San Manuel Bueno, Martyr".

A man treks through the frigid Yukon with his dog. When night falls, the temperature drops to negative 75, and they struggle to keep warm.

William Shakespeare is arguably the most pivotal and widely read figure in the history of English literature. This comprehensive collection highlights some of the bard’s best works, adapted to be more easily digestible for children. Featured within are some of the bard’s most famous and compelling works, including: The Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and many more.

Chinese literature offers the most satisfying glimpse into the mysterious and beautiful civilization of China of any of the means at our disposal. But we discover in its pages the same human conditions which color our own cultures today. Love, revenge, betrayal, honor...they all bring our humanity into sharper focus, cutting through the confusion of nationality and time to draw us closer together with a celebration of our own similarities.

Members of the 'Old Coast-Guard' are sent to put down pirates in the Straits of Malacca. A young boy, named Tempest, finds himself often criticized for being a coward by the crew, but he proves his mates wrong during the thick of battle. Tempest allows the crew to defeat the pirates in the Red Stockade due to his bravery and willingness to sacrifice.

Young Zaya was very sad and lonely when her mother died, but she eventually found solace in the company of birds, who proved to be her only friends. When Zaya sees the form of the Giant-Plague, she immediately tries to warn her the people in her city about what is coming, but almost everyone disregards her as crazy. The only who doesn't is a kind old man, Knoal, who believes Zaya and joins her cause of trying to warn about the Giant. Zaya's birds help protect her and Knoal from the Giant, but they can't stay safe forever.