Showing titles in Classics

Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This unabridged guide to the literature of the spirit surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications - everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.

Albert Einstein described Relativity as a "popular explosion" of his famous theory. Written in 1916, it introduced the lay audience to the remarkable perspective which had overturned theoretical physics. Einstein's genius was to express this perspective in understandable terms.

Swann's Way is the first novel of Marcel Proust's seven-volume magnum opus In Search of Lost Time. After elaborate reminiscences about his childhood with relatives in rural Combray and in urban Paris, Proust's narrator recalls a story regarding Charles Swann, a major figure in his Combray childhood....

Jasper Fforde's delightfully zany Thursday Next series shows no signs of slowing down with its seventh entry, The Woman Who Died a Lot. Despite being semihappily semi-retired from SpecOps, Thursday accepts the head librarian position at the Swindon library. But soon threats from a supreme Deity, a mnemonomorph, and the nefarious Goliath corporation press Thursday back into active duty.

Anthony Trollope's classic novel centers on Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity whose charitable income far exceeds the purpose for which it was intended. On discovering this, young John Bold turns his reforming zeal toward exposing what he regards as an abuse of privilege, despite the fact that he is in love with Mr. Harding's daughter, Eleanor.

London is Lydia Crow’s city so when a man is found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge, she takes it personally. Even when it seems as if the Silver Family might be involved, Lydia refuses to back down. The Silver Family, who run the finest law firm in London, have a gift for persuasion. In the 'Bad Old Days' it was said they could make a man jump off a roof by convincing him he could fly. But that's all in the past...isn’t it?

Their Eyes Were Watching God, an American classic, is the luminous and haunting novel about Janie Crawford, a Southern Black woman in the 1930s, whose journey from a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance has inspired writers and readers for close to 70 years.

At the age of 12, Joel Knox is summoned to meet the father who abandoned him at birth. But when Joel arrives at the decaying mansion in Skully's Landing, his father is nowhere in sight. What he finds instead is a sullen stepmother who delights in killing birds; an uncle with the face - and heart - of a debauched child; and a fearsome little girl named Idabel who may offer him the closest thing he has ever known to love.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was first published in 1813. The story follows Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, moral rightness, education and marriage in her aristocratic society of early 19th century England. Elizabeth is the second eldest of five daughters of a country gentleman living in the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, not far from London.

Haunting, harrowing, and downright horrifying, this classic collection from the modern master of the fantastic features: "The Small Assassin": a fine, healthy baby boy was the new mother's dream come true - or her nightmare.... "The Emissary": the faithful dog was the sick boy's only connection with the world outside - and beyond.... "The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone": a most remarkable case of murder - the deceased was delighted! And more!

H.G. Wells' visionary novel is credited with creating the science fiction genre because of its tantalizing glimpses into our distant future. Wells presents the exciting diary of the Time Traveler, whose machine crash-lands in the year 802,701. He encounters lush landscapes and a small, highly civilized group of people known as the Eloi, who live in blissful peace. The Traveler attempts to go back in time to share their secrets with his troubled society, but his machine disappears when the sun sets - and the fearsome Morlocks arrive to attack the cowering Eloi.

One corpse. Several bizarre looking attackers. Some very strange magical powers. And a severe bout of amnesia. Madrona is not having a great week. It's going to be okay, though. All she has to do is find out who she really is, protect a soap star from being attacked by a stalker, and work out why so many people seem so afraid of her. Because surely she's a good person. Right?

Elnora Comstock lives with her widowed mother at the edge of Limberlost Swamp. Her mother is harsh and critical of her daughter, but Elnora is a loving girl who befriends all creatures. She is especially drawn to the beautiful moths that flutter through the trees in Limberlost. Although Elnora longs to go to high school, she has no money to pay for tuition and books. When her cruel mother refuses to help, all seems lost, until Elnora learns she can sell the rare insects she collects. Still, her journey through high school and college will be full of challenges - and surprises.

A collection of poems written by the revered American poet, essayist, and journalist. Included are selections from this most famous work, Leaves of Grass, as well as Drum Taps and Songs of Parting.

A young woman accepts a position as nanny to the young daughter of a handsome, wealthy, and mysterious Chinese businessman - only to discover her new employer is really a god...and every foul demon in creation is out to destroy him! With a premise like that, fantasy aficionados and die-hard action lovers alike will no doubt be expecting something exceptional - and Australian author Kylie Chan delivers big time.

Dragons are extinct in the wild, but the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park is home to about two hundred of the world's remaining creatures. Until Jake discovers a dying dragon that has given birth - and one of the babies is still alive.

It's the classic adventure of a madman: the "renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha". He attacks windmills, believes a peasant girl to be a lady, and fancies that he is a knight-errant, dedicated to righting wrongs and rescuing damsels in distress.

Gregory Maguire proves himself to be “one of contemporary fiction’s most assured myth-makers” (Kirkus Reviews) with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, his ingenious and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella fairy tale. Perhaps best known for his dark and breathtaking Oz series The Wicked Years—including the novel Wicked, which inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical—Maguire is a master at upending the ordinary to help us see the familiar in a brilliant new light.

Hailed as Charlotte Brontë’s “finest novel” by Virginia Woolf, Villette is the timeless semi-autobiographical tale of Lucy Snowe. Left with no family and no money, Lucy goes against her own timid nature and travels to the small city of Villette, France, where she becomes a school teacher in Madame Beck’s school for girls. During her stay, she falls in love—twice—and discovers an independent, inner strength rarely seen in women of her time.

Two sisters, haunted by more than their past... Just weeks after discovering each other’s existence, Jess and Hannah Ballard arrive at Fairhaven Hall, where they will learn the clandestine ways of the Durupinen, an ancient sect of women who control the Gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. Though they are considered outcasts by most of their classmates, Jess and Hannah are determined to learn what they can to fulfill their responsibility to the many ghosts that haunt them. But danger, it seems, has followed them as closely as a shadow to their new home.