Following the lives of four sisters on a journey out of adolescence, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women explores the difficulties associated with gender roles in a Post-Civil War America. "I read Little Women every time I break up with a guy. I've been turning to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy for heartbreak solace since I was 13 and found out the guy I liked was interested in someone else. I'd go home and cry to my sisters, and then I'd read Louisa May Alcott. There's some profound comfort in that book for me – Jo becomes a writer and finds her heart in a most unexpected place. Above all, we learn what Jo has always known: No matter who the guy is or how great he is, no one loves you like your sisters." - Shonda Rhimes "When I read Alcott, I knew that these girls she was talking about were all white. But they were nice girls and I understood them. I felt like I was almost there with them in their living room and their kitchen." - Maya Angelou

This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors last names A Royal Prisoner [Marcel Allain] The Thames Valley Catastrophe [Grant Allen] Mr Standfast [John Buchan] The Three Hostages [John Buchan] Greenmantle [John Buchan] The Island of Sheep [John Buchan] The Thirty-Nine Steps [John Buchan] The Efficiency Expert [Edgar Rice Burroughs] The Man Who Was Thursday: a Nightmare [Gilbert Keith Chesterton] The Riddle of the Sands [Erskine Childers] The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins] The Rome Express [Arthur Griffiths] Lysbeth [Henry Rider Haggard] Desperate Remedies [Thomas Hardy] Rupert of Hentzau [Anthony Hope] The Prisoner of Zenda [Anthony Hope] The Apartment Next Door [William Andrew Johnston] The Film of Fear [Frederic Arnold Kummer] The Green God [Frederic Arnold Kummer] The Czar's Spy [William Le Queux] The Pit: A Story of Chicago [Frank Norris] The Double Traitor [Edward Phillips Oppenheim] The Evil Shepherd [Edward Phillips Oppenheim] The Kingdom of the Blind [Edward Phillips Oppenheim] The After House [Mary Roberts Rinehart] The International Spy [Allen Upward] The Bandbox [Louis Joseph Vance] Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace] The River of Death: A Tale of London In Peril [Fred Merrick White] The Dust of Death: The Story of the Great Plague of the Twentieth Century [Fred Merrick White]

Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense.The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife's chiropodistexpressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features. His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell, G. K. Chesterton and Tom Wolfe—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters. The Charles Dickens Collection features: A Tale of Two Cities Barnaby Rudge Bleak House David Copperfield Dombey and Son Great Expectations Hard Times Little Dorrit Martin Chuzzlewit Oliver Twist Our Mutual Friend and The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scottish born author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A brilliant London-based detective, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of deductive reasoning (somewhat mistakenly - see inductive reasoning) and astute observation to solve difficult cases. He is arguably the most famous fictional detective

Think and Grow Rich is a motivational personal development and self-help book written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by a suggestion from Scottish-American businessman Andrew Carnegie. While the title implies that this book deals only with how to get rich, the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help people succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want

The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, is a gothic ghost story novella written by Henry James.Due to its original content, the novella became a favourite text of academics who subscribe to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive. Many critics have tried to determine the exact nature of the evil hinted at by the story. However, others have argued that the true brilliance of the novella comes with its ability to create an intimate confusion and suspense for the reader.

Contents: The Son of the Wolf The God of his Fathers & Other Stories A Daughter of the Snows The Call of the Wild The Sea Wolf The Faith of Men & Other Stories The Game Tales of the Fish Patrol Moon-Face & Other Stories White Fang Before Adam Love of Life & Other Stories The Road The Iron Heel Martin Eden Burning Daylight Lost Face Adventure The Abysmal Brute South Sea Tales When God Laughs & Other Stories The Scarlet Plague The House of Pride A Son of the Sun The Valley of the Moon The Night-Born The Mutiny of the Elsinore The Strength of the Strong The Star Rover The Little Lady of the Big House The Turtles of Tasman Jerry of the Islands Michael, Brother of Jerry Hearts of Three The Red One On the Makaloa Mat Children of the Frost Dutch Courage and Other Stories

Buck, a sturdy crossbreed canine (half St. Bernard, half Shepard), is a dog born to luxury and raised in a sheltered Californian home. But then he is kidnapped and sold to be a sled dog in the harsh and frozen Yukon Territory. Passed from master to master, Buck embarks on an extraordinary journey, proving his unbreakable spirit... First published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike. No other popular writer of his time did any better writing than you will find in "The Call of the Wild". —H. L. Mencken. Few men have more convincingly examined the connection between the creative powers of the individual writer and the unconscious drive to breed and to survive, found in the natural world… London is in and committed to his creations to a degree very nearly unparalleled in the composition of fiction. —James Dickey

Contents : Treasure Island The Jungle Book Gulliver's Travels White Fang The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood This set includes five tales of extraordinary heroism, marvelous intrigue, and exceptional courage that have inspired and amazed people for generations. Gulliver's Travels is Jonathan Swift's comic tale of an Englishman who journeys to four fantastical and exotic lands filled with unforgettable characters, from the pint-size Lilliputians to the giant Brobdingnagians. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood takes us to Sherwood Forest, where the brigand and his band of "merry men" rob from the rich to give to the poor - to the consternation of the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Jungle Book transports readers into a wondrous world where danger lurks behind every drooping vine and the law of the jungle is the key to survival. Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island follows young Jim Hawkins as he learns the ways of the buccaneer from a group of seafaring miscreants, including the nefarious peg leg, Long John Silver. White Fang by Jack London recreates the forbidding world of the Yukon Gold Rush, where a wild dog must endure violence, hardship, and bitter cold on his journey from savagery to civilization.

The Tao Te Ching is fundamental to the Taoist school of Chinese philosophy and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism and Neo-Confucianism. This ancient book is also central in Chinese religion, not only for Taoism but Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Taoist words and concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and even gardeners have used the Tao Te Ching as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, aided by hundreds of translations into Western languages.