Other books that might interest you

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  The Blue Laboratory

  L T Meade

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  The name L T Meade, a pseudonym for Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith, rarely brings a sign of recognition. 
   
  Although she wrote mainly for young girls she also wrote across many genres including sensational, religious, historical, adventure and romances.  In all, her credits add up to over 300 titles. 
   
  Born in Brandon, County Cork in Ireland in 1844 she began her prolific career as a writer when she was a mere 17 years of age and was first published in 1872. 
   
  In 1879 she married Alfred Toulmin Smith and moved to London with him. 
   
  Meade also wrote many works with several male co-authors, edited a popular girl’s magazine ‘Atlanta’ and was a socially active feminist in the struggle for equal rights. 
    
  She died in 1914 at the age of 70. 
   
  In ‘The Blue Laboratory’, a young Governess working in St Petersburg discovers the horrifying secret of her scientist employer.  She has to do something. But what?

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  The Canterville Ghost

  Oscar Wilde

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  Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on the 16th October 1854 in Dublin, Ireland.  The son of Dublin intellectuals Oscar proved himself an outstanding classicist at Trinity College and then at Oxford.  
   
  Wilde then moved to London and its fashionable cultural and social circles.  With his biting wit, flamboyant dress, and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the most well-known personalities of his day. 
   
  His only novel, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ was published in 1890 and he then moved on to writing for the stage with ‘Salome’ in 1891.  His society comedies were enormous hits and turned him into one of the most successful writers of late Victorian London. 
   
  Whilst his masterpiece, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, was on stage in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, prosecuted for libel.  The trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency. He was convicted and imprisoned for two years hard labour. It was to break him. 
   
  On release he left for France. There he wrote his last work, ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ in 1898.  He died destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six sipping champagne a friend had brought with the line ‘Alas I am dying beyond my means’.

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  Art My Eye

  Gill Oliver

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  How does an Art Gallery attendant pass the time? A former employee of the Walker, in Liverpool, reminisces, and recalls what happened when they gave their imagination free rein. Honestly, hilarious.

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  Bear Creek Collection Volume 2

  Robert E. Howard

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  Breckinridge Elkins is the roughest, toughest, fastest-shootin', hardest-fightin' feller in the Bear Creek settlement, and probably in the entire Humbolt Mountains. As he travels further from home, he single-handedly takes on outlaws, settles (and starts) feuds and tries his hand at romancing the girls. He also discovers a lot of strange customs among other folks, such as building houses out of boards and wearing clothes that ain't buckskins. Set in Arizona during the late 1800's, this collection of stories is a great rollicking romp through the American frontier as seen through the eyes of one of the most enjoyable characters created in the history of tall tales. (Summary by RK Wilcox)

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  The Adventures of Sherlock...

  Arthur Conan Doyle

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  THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published on 14 October 1892, though the individual stories had been serialised in The Strand Magazine between June 1891 and July 1892. The stories are not in chronological order, and the only characters common to all twelve are Holmes and Dr. Watson. As with all but four of the Sherlock Holmes stories, those contained within The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are told by a first-person narrative from the point of view of Dr. Watson.In general, the stories in THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES identify, and try to correct, social injustices. Holmes is portrayed as offering a new, fairer sense of justice. The stories were well received, and boosted the subscriptions figures of The Strand Magazine, prompting Doyle to be able to demand more money for his next set of stories. The first story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia', includes the character of Irene Adler, who, despite being featured only within this one story by Doyle, is a prominent character in modern Sherlock Holmes adaptations, generally as a love interest for Holmes. Doyle included four of the twelve stories from this collection in his twelve favourite Sherlock Holmes stories, picking 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' as his overall favourite.

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  Pariah Planet

  Murray Leinster

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  When the blue plague appeared on the planet of Dara, fear struck nearby worlds.  The fear led to a hate that threatened the lives of millions and endangered the Galactic peace. But the Med Service ship Aesculapius 20 with Calhoun and Murgatroyd the Tormal aboard are on the job and have stumbled into the horrible mess caused by unreasoning hatred, quarantine, mass starvation and worse. Calhoun must use all his medical knowledge and significant skills to even understand the situation here in neglected Sector 12. Can he and Murgatroyd untangle this Gordian's knot and live to tell the tale? Maybe and maybe not. Listen and find out. (Summary by Phil Chenevert )

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