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War and Peace, Book 13: 1812
War and Peace is an epic novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published from 1865 to 1869 in Russki Vestnik, which tells the story of Russian society during the Napoleonic Era. It is usually described as one of Tolstoy’s two major masterpieces (the other being Anna Karenina) as well as one of the world’s greatest novels.
War and Peace offered a new kind of fiction, with a great many characters caught up in a plot that covered nothing less than the grand subjects indicated by the title, combined with the equally large topics of youth, age and marriage. While today it is considered a novel, it broke so many novelistic conventions of its day that many critics of Tolstoy’s time did not consider it as such. Tolstoy himself considered Anna Karenina (1878) to be his first attempt at a novel in the European sense.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (published 1876) is a very well-known and popular story concerning American youth. Mark Twain's lively tale of the scrapes and adventures of boyhood is set in St. Petersburg, Missouri, where Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn have the kinds of adventures many boys can imagine: racing bugs during class, impressing girls, especially Becky Thatcher, with fights and stunts in the schoolyard, getting lost in a cave, and playing pirates on the Mississippi River.
One of the most famous incidents in the book describes how Tom persuades his friends to do a boring, hateful chore for him: whitewashing (i.e., painting) a fence.
This was the first novel to be written on a typewriter.
Study in Scarlet, A (version 3)
A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes to his sidekick Doctor Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." Although Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories featuring Holmes, A Study in Scarlet is one of only four full-length novels in the original canon. The novel was followed by The Sign of Four, published in 1890. A Study in Scarlet was the first work of fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as an investigative tool.
Old Ireland
Volunteers bring you 11 recordings of Old Ireland by Walt Whitman. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for August 1st, 2010.
Adventures of Pinocchio, The
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi (here transl. by Carol della Chiesa). The first half was published in serial form between 1881 and 1883, and then completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio, an animated marionette, and his poor father, a woodcarver named Geppetto. It is considered a classic of children’s literature and has spawned many derivative works of art, such as Disney’s classic 1940 animated movie of the same name, and commonplace ideas, such as a liar’s long nose.
Andersen’s Fairy Tales
A collection of eighteen fairy tales - some popular, some lesser known - by famous Danish author H.C. Andersen.
Anne of the Island
This is the continuing story of Anne Shirley and the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series. In it Anne attends Redmond College where she is studying for her BA. She has many trials and tribulations along the way, including some romance. In Anne of the Island the reader is also introduced to many new characters, that in the true sense of Anne are also "kindred spirits".
Aesop's Fables, Volume 10 (Fables 226-250)
Dating back to the 6th century BC, Aesop's Fables tell universal truths through the use of simple allegories that are easily understood. Though almost nothing is known of Aesop himself, and some scholars question whether he existed at all, these stories stand as timeless classics known in almost every culture in the world. This is volume 10 of 12.
Second Variety-1
First published in Space Science Fiction May 1953. "The claws were bad enough in the first place—nasty, crawling little death-robots. But when they began to imitate their creators, it was time for the human race to make peace—if it could!" When future war becomes so horrific that humans turn to machines and computers to design ways to kill each other strange things may happen. And DO in this classic Philip K. Dick story!
Five Beloved Stories by O. Henry
O. Henry wrote over 600 short stories. Naturally I have my personal top 20 stories that just seem to stand out because of their form, writing style and ability to convey real personalities in a very few words. From these 20 I've chosen five that seem outstanding examples of the short story art form. Stories like The Gift of the Magi; The Cop and the Anthem; Man about Town; A Cosmopolite in a Cafe and Mammon and the Archer. So this is a collection of just five O.Henry stories that many people, including me, have loved and remembered over the years. And this time, thanks to LibriVox, I have the enormous pleasure of not just reading them to myself, but also the joy of reading them aloud! What fun, eh?
Science of Being Well, The
If you are seeking better health and ways to stay well…This book is for you! Wallace D. Wattles was an American author and a pioneer success new thought movement writer. His most famous work and first book is a book called The Science of Getting Rich in which he explains how to get rich. Additionally, In the Science of Getting Well, Wattles suggests the reader to think and ACT in a Certain Way. As with his first book, Wattles explains in simple concepts the keys to Getting Well. With faith and discipline, Wattles suggests you can stay well. Says Wattles “for those who want health, and who want a practical guide and handbook, not a philosophical treatise. It is an instructor in the use of the universal Principle of Life, and my effort has been to explain the way in so plain and simple a fashion that the reader, though he may have given no previous study to New Thought or metaphysics, may readily follow it to perfect health”.
Echo
Volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Echo by Christina Rossetti. This was the weekly poetry project for April 12th, 2009.
1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors
"1601," wrote Mark Twain, "is a supposititious conversation which takes place in Queen Elizabeth's closet in that year, between the Queen, Ben Jonson, Beaumont, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Duchess of Bilgewater, and one or two others ... If there is a decent word findable in it, it is because I overlooked it." 1601 depicts a highfalutin and earthy discussion between the Queen and her court about farting and a variety of sexual peccadillos, narrated disapprovingly and sanctimoniously by the Queen's Cup-Bearer, an eyewitness at "the Social Fireside."
Knights of Arthur, The
Sailors Sam Dunlap and Arthur check in to a New York hotel to await their mate Vern Engdahl when a girl shows up proposing to purchase Arthur. They need guys like Arthur to help run the city, and the fact that he fits in a small suitcase is even better. – The Knights of Arthur was first published in the January 1958 edition of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine.
Best Thing in the World, The
Volunteers bring you 16 recordings of The Best Thing in the World by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 28th, 2010.