Publisher: Passerino
"A Society for the Reformation of Poker Players" is a short story by Robert Barr. Robert Barr (16 September 1849 – 21 October 1912) was a Scottish-Canadian short story writer and novelist, born in Glasgow, Scotland.
Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and other books. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first Americans to make a lucrative career exclusively from writing. Here are four of his best stories: The Whale Tooth, To Build A Fire, The House of Pride, The House of Mapuhi.Show book
In one of his most energetic and enjoyable novels, Dickens tells the life story of David Copperfield, from his birth in Suffolk, through the various struggles of his childhood, to his successful career as a novelist. The early scenes are particularly masterful, depicting the world as seen from the perspective of a fatherless small boy, whose idyllic life with his mother is ruined when his mother marries again, this time to a domineering and cruel man. The novel is partly modeled on Dickens’s own experiences, but that is not to say that it is in any way a direct autobiography. Indeed, one of the great joys of the book lies in its outlandish cast of characters, which includes the glamorous Steerforth, the cheerful, verbose Mr. Micawber, the villainous Uriah Heep, and David’s eccentric aunt, Betsey Trotwood. Dickens described it as his ‘ favorite child’ among his novels.Show book
Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 - April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. The title character, orphan Anne Shirley, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following.Margaret's Patient: Margaret paused a moment at the gate and looked back at the quaint old house under its snowy firs with a thrill of proprietary affection. It was her home; for the first time in her life she had a real home, and the long, weary years of poorly paid drudgery were all behind her.Show book
The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 stories starring the fictional detective. The story is set in 1888. The Sign of the Four has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, India, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents the detective's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in the preceding novel, A Study in Scarlet (1887). It also introduces Doctor Watson's future wife, Mary Morstan.
Show book
My Antonia tells of the wholesome friendship and affection between a boy and girl and the shared childhood bonds that tie them together. At the end of the 19th century, fourteen-year-old Ántonia Shimerda has realized the immigrant's dream. She has just arrived in rural Nebraska with her Bohemian (Czech) family at the same time as ten-year-old Jim Burden, an orphan sent to live with his grandparents. While Jim's family is prosperous and steady, the Shimerdas quickly find themselves mired in poverty and struggle to make ends meet. But they live near to each other (by pioneer standards), and the two youngsters become close. Reminiscing about his dearest childhood friend, Ántonia is a personification of Jim's free-spirited bygone days spent chasing rabbits and prairie dogs. Ántonia's warmth belongs to the land and the people who love her. For Jim, Ántonia is home.Show book
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published on 14 October 1892; the individual stories had been serialised in The Strand Magazine between July 1891 and June 1892. The stories are not in chronological order, and the only characters common to all twelve are Holmes and Dr. Watson. The stories are related in first-person narrative from Watson's point of view.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.Content: I. A Scandal in Bohemia / II. The Red-Headed League / III. A Case of Identity / IV. The Boscombe Valley Mystery / V. The Five Orange Pips / VI. The Man with the Twisted Lip / VII. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle / VIII. The Adventure of the Speckled Band / IX. The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb / X. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor / XI. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet / XII. The Adventure of the Copper BeechesShow book
