Short Classics

As a legendary writer who has left a lasting and profound impact on Irish literature and culture at large, James Joyce pioneered a daring and influential transformation in writing, drawing on a unique style and new ways of writing which have cemented him as a world-famous author. Now, this brilliant collection compiles three of his most famous works for the modern listener, capturing all the wit and charm of Joyce’s original books all those years ago.

The original stories featuring A. J. Cronin's much-loved Scottish country doctor. Dr Finlay's Casebook brings together Adventures of a Black Bag and Dr Finlay of Tannochbrae, A. J. Cronin's two hugely popular collections. Set in and around the fictional Scottish town of Levenford and village of Tannochbrae during the interwar years, the stories found here are heartwarming, funny and touching, full of fascinating characters and unforgettable encounters.

A gripping gothic page-turner told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating voice. In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles.

In a remote part of 19th-century Afghanistan, two British adventurers pursue their ambition to rule an empire. Using betrayal, threats, and guns, they win the respect of a primitive tribe and become worshipped as gods until one day they draw blood, and the game is up. "The Man Who Would Be King" is an action-packed tale about the pitfalls of colonialism and the temptations and evils of power.

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.

This Children’s Short Story Collection contains many short stories great for kids of all ages.

Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, and literary critic. His 12 collections of fairy tales are known as Andrew Lang's Coloured Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors. The third in the series, the Green Fairy Book, contains tales from around the world, from Grimm (“The White Snake” and “Spindle, Shuttle, and Needle”), France de Caylus, Fenelon, Kletke, and D'Aulnoy. The stories include "The Crystal Coffin", "The Three Snake-Leaves", "The Riddle", "Jack My Hedgehog", "The Golden Lads", and many more.

Aesop's Fables are stories based on analogies and caricatures featuring mostly animals. These stories got the collective name Aesop’s Fables from the person who collected the stories. Aesop, popularly believed to have been a Phrygian slave, collected his fables sometime around the sixth century BC. Whatever his real story may be, the fables he collected feature valuable lessons.

For The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outside the genre. This historical tour of one of our most popular literary categories includes stories never before reprinted, features rebellious early “lady detectives," and spotlights former stars of the crime field—Austrian novelist Auguste Groner and prolific American Geraldine Bonner among them.

'The Library Window' is a ghost story. A young girl, visiting her aunt in Scotland, finds herself increasingly intrigued by a mysterious window in the house opposite her own favourite window, where she sits to read. There seems to be a local mystery about the window, including a dispute about whether there is even a window there at all. Increasingly this doubt seems odd to the girl as the days go by, as she can see into the room opposite and make out furniture and objects there. Then one day she sees someone in that room....

An enthralling collection of creepy and mysterious stories. From classic detective stories to spine-tingling horror and scary ghost stories, these tales will make your flesh crawl.... 1. 'A Ghost Story' by Mark Twain. 2. 'The Silver Mask' by Hugh Walpole. 3. 'The Cactus' by O. Henry. 4. 'Dead of Night' by W. F. Harvey. 5. 'The Terrible Old Man' by H. P. Lovecraft. 6. 'Rattle of Bones' by Robert E. Howard. 7. 'The Last Leaf' by O. Henry. 8. 'The Magnet' by Barry Pain. 9. 'Pickman’s Model' by H. P. Lovecraft.

¿Cómo influirán los robots en la vida de la humanidad? ¿Qué papel desempeñarán en un futuro más o menos lejano estos extraños mecanismos creados por el hombre casi a su imagen y semejanza? Isaac Asimov nos brinda aquí unas narraciones que, sin lugar a dudas, moverán a reflexión.

As far as children are concerned, a REAL WITCH is easily the most dangerous of all the living creatures on Earth. This edition of The Witches, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, is perfect for Dahl fans old and new. So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found throughout the book and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers.

Here are 11 short stories and one novella by Anton Chekhov, one of the finest masters of what is acknowledged as a difficult genre. There is the richly comic "Oh! The Public" about a hassled ticket inspector, a wry look at morals and manners in "The Chorus Girl", and the melancholic tale of a cab driver in "Misery".

This collection represents the best of Alcott's adult oeuvre. The stories in this volume display dramatic intensity and thrilling, suspenseful plots that show Alcott to be a complex and passionate writer. Listeners will discover within this maelstrom of murder, deceit, obsessive desire, treachery, duplicity, and betrayal that love and honor can still conquer all.

Life has the capacity of great moments and attainment, of lives well lived, fulfilling for ourselves and for those we touch. But for others life is arduous. There is no spark to ignite the curiosity, to explore and achieve a stability and a growth to their lives. Indeed their lives, in their own eyes, become almost meaningless, their sense of themselves subsumed under a myriad of problems, whether real or imagined. Seismic events in a life might crush them; the loss of a loved one for instance. Coping is difficult, support hard to find and isolation abounds.

Set in Southwest England in the late 1800s, Sense and Sensibility follows the lives of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. When inheritance money from their father does not fall their way, the sisters and their mother must move in with distant relatives. Settling in at Barton Park, the Dashwood sisters discover a new life filled with new acquaintances and different suitors. From these new encounters, their lives are forever changed through a series of love, romance, and heartbreaks.

This Nathaniel Hawthorne Collection includes Nathaniel Hawthorne's most notable works: The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, and The Birthmark. Get your copy today!

Originally published in 1922 and translated by Takashi Kojima, this classic short story was the inspiration for Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film Rashomon, about the murder of a samurai. Told from the perspective of multiple witnesses.

You are probably familiar with the popularized versions of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but have you ever heard the original, unabridged stories by Washington Irving? The skillfully written and colorful original tales have much more meaning and depth. In Rip Van Winkle Irving makes a profound social comment about the changes then happening in America.