Showing results by narrator "B.J. Harrison" in All Categories

Emma Woodhouse has it all - beauty, brains, breeding, and bucks. She considers it her highest achievement to have successfully played matchmaker for her governess, seeing her happily settled nearby. But when chooses Harriet Smith as her next matchmaking target, she unwittingly builds a house of cards for Harriet and herself. In one of Jane Austen’s most beloved novels, Emma explores the vagaries of class, the foibles of matchmaking, and the merits of true character.

The world as we know it is gone. The ice caps have melted and shifted south, devastating the northern territories and eradicating major cities such as New York and London, which are now underwater and frozen. Humans died off during an epidemic prior to the ice disaster, and many more died during the floods at the start of this new ice age. These events have forced vampires out of hiding. In order to ensure that their food source wouldn't completely die off, the vampires have sequestered the remaining humans into farms and taken control of all that remains of civilization.

After many days at sea, Edward Prendick is picked up by a schooner transporting exotic animals to an undisclosed location. On this secret island he is forced to disembark, catching faint glimpses of creatures born from nightmares.

Mother and Father are called away suddenly, because Grandma is “failin’ fast”. This leaves the oldest Bassett girls, Tillie and Prue, to oversee the cooking of the Thanksgiving feast. Soon all eight children pitch in, though the subtleties of plum pudding and stuffed turkey are completely unknown to them. The result is a whole bunch of old-fashioned fun in the comfortably familiar Louisa May Alcott tradition.

Epic in scope and magically textured, Howard’s The People of the Black Circle is one of the most accomplished tales of Conan the Cimmerian. Conan drives us to magnificent mountain heights and subtle secret passes in order to foil a nefarious plot of the Black Seers of Yimsha.

Ahab is the captain of a whaling ship named the Pequod. His great obsession with the giant whale, Moby Dick, makes him embark on a dangerous voyage. Some years before, the captain lost his leg because of the whale and now Ahab’s main desire is to take his revenge on the whale by killing it. He is so obsessed, that Ahab is ready to sacrifice everything he has, including the Pequod and all the members of his crew, and even his own life.

On a cool night, an ill-formed man darkens the doorway of Mrs. Boxer. Her trepidation turns to instant joy when she discovers it to be her long-lost husband, who has been lost at sea for the past three years. But the supposed Mr. Boxer has a suspicious mother-in-law. And when she secretly connives with an ancient fortune-teller, new discoveries show that Mr. Boxer isn't the man he proclaims himself to be.

"The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu" is the first book in the Fu-Manchu series, about the notorious evil mastermind. In the crime fiction world, Fu-Manchu stands on equal grounds with Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis. Rohmer created an archetypal villain who is very much a product of his times, and a reflection of the social and political conditions. Fu-Manchu’s plans are always attacked and challenged by Detective Nayland Smith, who gives his all to defeat the mad doctor.

Francis Thurston finds an old collection of letters and articles from his late uncle. They contain detailed descriptions of the so called Cthulhu cult, which Francis gets more and more interested in. He begins to understand his uncle’s fear and dread but he decides to continue his investigation. Will he keep be able to keep his sanity or will the Cthulhu cult come calling on him? B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

Tom Sawyer is an orphaned boy who lives together with his kindhearted aunt Polly. Although his poor aunt takes good care of him, Tom grows up to be rebellious who comes up with a new plan for troublemaking every day. He steals snacks, comes home late, lies to his friends, tricks them into giving him various things and each time he manages to get away with it. But when he falls in love with a girl and tries to win her heart, he gets into even bigger trouble.

Anthony Trollope was a British writer of the Victorian period. He was very prolific, writing 47 novels, 42 short stories and five travel books. He is primarily known for his “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series of novels, including the books “The Warden” and “Barchester Towers”. It is held that his satiric novel, “The Way We Live Now” is his masterpiece.

Man against nature, Leiningen against ants. Leiningen, an owner of a plantation, gets one day warned that an army of ants is approaching his fields and that it would be smartest to leave. Leiningen is however not going to give up on his land without a fight. The ants arrive and a long and exhausting battle follows. The technology and the power of the human brain are on Leiningen’s side. However the ants have a numerical superiority.

Rachel Innes is a rich lady who has been taking care of her niece and nephew since their father died. The three of them decide to rent a house in the country and although everything seems to be alright in the beginning, strange events soon begin to occur. Her niece disappears then reappears a few days later. There is a murder they are involved in. They hear strange noises. Things fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. Will Rachel solve the mysteries and how will their summer end? Find out in "The Circular Staircase". B. J.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," also known as "Alice in Wonderland," is a story loved by adults and children alike throughout the world. Alice is a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole, only to find herself in a whole new world filled with speaking cats, smoking caterpillars and mad tea parties. This 19th-century novel by Lewis Carroll from has seen countless adaptations on the screen, stage and radio. The Oscar-nominated Disney animation Alice in Wonderland from 1951 is one of its most iconic film adaptations.

"Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" allows readers to return to the wondrous world of Alice. A sequel to Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," this novel sees Alice visiting a fantastical world once again, this time through a mirror. What she finds on the other side defies logic and turns the world as she knows it upside down.

How will Click and Irish survive being marooned on a pirate’s asteroid with only a single gun and a news reel camera to defend themselves?

The attempt at murder failed. Risking everything to keep young David Balfour from his just inheritance, his wicked uncle has him kidnapped - comdemning his nephew to seven long years of slavery in the Carolinas. However, on the way, David runs into one of the greatest characters in English Literature: Alan Breck Stuart. These two heroes band together, and before he knows it, David finds himself embroiled in political intrigues that chase him across the wild Scottish Highlands.

DJ Parker, billionaire developer of a proprietary artificial intelligence program, is on the cusp of cracking the miracle code that can usher in a new age of human progress. Amazingly, the technology is ancient, held by a group of beings that have been around for 50 million years: cetacea - species of aquatic mammals including killer whales. But Parker quickly learns he has dangerous enemies including a Russian conglomerate tied to the Kremlin which is seeking the research for its own nefarious purposes....

In the 20th century, free people faced a number of mortal threats, ranging from despotism, fascism, and communism to the looming menace of global terrorism. While the struggle against some of these overt dangers continues, some insidious new threats seem to have slipped past our intellectual defenses. These often unchallenged threats are quietly eroding our hard-won freedoms and, in some cases, are widely accepted as beneficial. In New Threats to Freedom, editor and author Adam Bellow has assembled an all-star lineup of innovative thinkers to challenge these insidious new threats.

Kay and Gerda discover the legend of the fearsome Snow Queen who lives in the great black cloud in the heavens. But once the Snow Queen visits their town in disguise and carries off Kay, Gerda begins a timeless quest. This book was the inspiration for Disney’s Frozen.