Publisher: arslan
Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
The Man in the Iron Mask tells a story based on historic facts. In 1661, King Louis XIV of France had his minister of finances - Nicolas Fouquet - arrested for embezzlement. Also in that year, Louis successfully wooed a young handmaiden named Louise, which caused some stir. In this novel, Dumas gives us the secret history behind these facts, and it is no surprise that the story involves his famous Four Musketeers. More specifically, Aramis becomes privy to the fact that Louis has a twin brother languishing in the Bastille, and he attempts to switch the two. The novel details his fascinating and rather intricate plot to pull this off, as well as how the other Musketeers fit into the plan. The first couple of pages concern mainly the aforementioned historic events, and its a bit of reading before you get to the meat of the action. This book is highly recommended - it will become part of your life, the way some good books can. If you love literature, if you love stories of complex intrigue, and especially if you love the Four Musketeers, you HAVE to listen to this audio-book at least once in your life! An Author's Republic audio production.Show book
Certain Personal Matters is an 1897 collection of essays selected by H. G. Wells from among the many short essays and ephemeral pieces he had written since 1893. The book consists of thirty-nine pieces ranging from about eight hundred to two thousand words in length.The essays in Certain Personal Matters rely on stock characters that Wells developed in his early days as a writer. This vein was inspired by his reading of When a Man's Single, an 1888 novel by J.M. Barrie, in which a character explains that saleable articles can be devised from everyday things like pipes, umbrellas, and flower pots. According to biographer David C. Smith, one character is "probably based on his father (and perhaps partly on his older brothers), another based on his mother apparently (although the character is always referred to as an 'aunt', which may be somewhat symbolic), and a third character, 'Euphemia'. This last is usually thought to be a portrait of Jane Wells, though the figure may have some traits of Isabel (Wells's cousin and first wife) as well."Show book
An Experiment in Luxury is the book end of all this as a young man visits his rich friend and his millionaire family. It is a conventional scene in which the young man's friend, son of the household, encourages him to speak only conventionally to his mother or he will get on her bad side. We see her preoccupied with her worries and the husband/millionaire taking his mind off of it all by playing with a kitten. They have their dinners, along with arguments between the friend and his sisters, providing some entertainment at the table, and the story grinds to an end. This is best listened to along with its book end, An Experiment in Luxury, to get the full force of it all.Show book
In a fit of drunken bitterness a young hay trusser, Michael Henchard, sells his wife Susan to Mr Newson, a sailor, at a country fair. The transaction also includes their daughter Elizabeth Jane. When sober the next day, he regrets his action but looks for them in vain and is eventually told they may have emigrated. Eighteen years later Henchard is the Mayor of Casterbridge and the people of the town believe him to be a widower. In recent times he has had an affair with a young woman in Jersey, Lucetta, while travelling there on business. She inherits a fortune and comes to Casterbridge to persuade Henchard to make ‘an honest woman’ of her. However, Susan, having lost her husband at sea, returns with the now grown Elizabeth Jane. The Mayor, wishing to atone for his crime of years before, remarries her. To complicate matters further a young ambitious Scot, Donald Farfrae, has settled in the town at Henchards instigation. Despite their rapidly worsening business relationship Donald initially casts a glad eye at Elizabeth Jane but then falls in love with Lucetta. What follows will destroy Henchard and cause all the main protagonists an immeasurable amount of emotional pain as betrayal, death and fate play their part in a tale full of suspense.Show book
Charlie D is back doing his late-night radio call-in show. It's Halloween—The Day of the Dead. Not a day filled with good memories for Charlie, but the show must go on. His studio guest this evening is Dr. Robin Harris, an arrogant and ambitious "expert in the arts of dying and grieving," who also seems to be auditioning for her own radio talk show. Charlie and Dr. Harris do not hit it off. Things go from bad to worse when the doctor's ex-lover, Gabe, goes on air to announce that he's about to end his life. Dr. Harris is entirely unsympathetic until she learns that Gabe also has her daughter Kali and plans to poison her too. It will take all of Charlie D's on-air skills to save both Gabe and Kali.Show book
When a mysterious sailor enters his fathers inn looking for lodgings and rum, young Jack Hawkins finds himself involved in a high seas adventure full of pirates, maroons, distant islands and treasure. But just who is the one legged man that the sailors were so afraid of? This widely loved classic by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1883, is one of the most dramatised in literature and is credited with forming much of the public perception of pirates and adventures on the high seas. Narrated by Michael WardShow book
