Showing results by narrator "Sara Nichols" in All Categories

Few families in history can boast of the incredible literary achievements of the Brontë sisters - Anne, Emily and Charlotte - who penned three of the most beloved novels ever written: Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Charlotte's "Jane Eyre." Collected here are all three of these classic novels, plus a pair of essays penned by Charlotte fiercely defending her sister's books and drawing attention to the literary misogyny of the time, which forced the sisters to publish their novels under male pseudonyms.

The Prairie Trilogy is a series of three novels centered around life in the Midwest during the late 19th/early 20th centuries by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather. First, in "O Pioneers!," we meet Alexandra Bergson, who inherits the family farm after her father dies and leaves her to care for her three siblings. While many immigrant families are giving up their farms and moving back to the city (or to their home countries), Alexandra decides to try to tough it out on the prairie.

Pooh and all of his friends are here: Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo, and Christopher Robin. As they explore the Hundred Acre Wood, they have all sorts of adventures: tracking the Heffalump, visiting with Rabbit (and getting stuck in a very tight place), dressing up as a little black rain cloud to get honey from the bees, and even going on an "expotition" to the North Pole!

Predating Bram Stoker's "Dracula" by twenty-five years, Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" is one of the earliest examples of vampire fiction; a Gothic novella narrated by a young girl who becomes a victim of the title character, a female vampire with whom she also kindles a romance.

In this tale, Holmes and his faithful companion Dr. John Watson are told of a curse which haunts the wealthy Dartmoor family of Sir Charles Baskerville. This centuries-old curse manifests itself as a gigantic and ferocious hound that is said to prowl the moors adjacent to the Baskerville estate. When Sir Charles drops dead of fright just outside the moor and the footprints of an enormous hound are discovered nearby, the cry goes out for Holmes to come to Dartmoor and solve the mystery.

Mrs. Dalloway was the breakthrough novel by Virginia Woolf that solidified her reputation as one of the most important writers of her era. Written in a new, free-wheeling style for the time, the book details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a British socialite in post-First World War England. The book takes place in a single day, and describes the eponymous lead character as she prepares for and hosts a party. Looping backwards and forwards in time, the listener is given a glimpse into the mind of Mrs. Dalloway, and several of her guests.

William Strunk, Jr., a professor of English literature at Cornell University, penned The Elements of Style in 1918 as a guide for his students in the proper use of grammar and composition.

In this story, we are introduced to the Bennet family: Mr. and Mrs. Bennet...and their five daughters, each of whom (according to Mrs. Bennet) must find rich husbands as soon as possible. When Mr. Bingley - a wealthy bachelor - takes up residence in a nearby estate, the Bennets kindle hopes that he might be a good match for their eldest, Jane. Invited to a party at Bingley's estate, they are introduced to Mr. Bingley, his two sisters and his close friend Mr. Darcy, whose aloof and off-putting manner hides his secret interest in the Bennet's second oldest daughter, Elizabeth.

Collected here are three of Dorothy Parker's earliest works: two collections of poetry—Enough Rope and Sunset Gun as well as her short, hilarious collection of stories recounting all of the men she managed to avoid marrying named (appropriately) Men I'm Not Married To.

"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" is Anne Brontë's wildly successful and best-known novel. Written in 1848 under the pseudonym "Acton Bell" (each of the Brontë sisters wrote under pen names), it proved to be the most popular book written by the three sisters during their lifetimes. It tells the story of Helen Graham, a young woman who is courted by and marries the spoiled and self-involved Arthur Huntingdon, a charming suitor but a disastrous and cruel husband.

Presented here are four of the most popular children's books of all time, produced with music and sound effects to enhance the experience: Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit, and Lewis Carroll's The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

"Emma" is the fourth book by celebrated British author Jane Austen and the final book to be published during her lifetime. The story concerns Emma Woodhouse, a precocious young lady who fancies herself a matchmaker and thus intrudes upon the love lives of her friends and relations to find them suitable mates. When she attempts to cement the romance between her cousin Harriet (a girl of modest means) and a wealthy suitor, Emma is admonished by her brother-in-law, Mr. Knightley, for her meddling and a series of romantic entanglements soon ensues.

Pooh and all of his friends are here: Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo, and Christopher Robin. In this volume, a new character is introduced as the bouncy, lovable Tigger finds his way into the Hundred Acre Wood, where he quickly joins up with Pooh and his friends!

From the alkali plains of Utah to the battlefields of colonial India and then back to the confines of 221B Baker Street in London, the stories in this collection are among the favorites of Sherlockians the world over. In this volume, we are introduced to the world's greatest unofficial consulting detective—Sherlock Holmes—and his trusty companion and chronicler Doctor Watson, who set off on various adventures; from the moment of their first meeting in A Study in Scarlet to the mystery of the Great Agra Treasure in The Sign of the Four.

Here is Hugh Lofting's classic tale of the English doctor who learns how to speak to his non-human patients—dogs, cats, rhinos, and monkeys alike—as he travels from England to the jungles of Africa and back again. Doctor Dolittle's entourage of animal friends, including Polynesia the parrot, Gub-Gub the pig, Jip the dog, and Dab-Dab the duck, journey with the doctor and team up to help him out of one scrape after another.

Universally acknowledged as one of the most popular and brilliant books ever written, "Jane Eyre" is Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece, often listed with Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" as among the finest romance novels ever published. The story follows the hardscrabble life of its eponymous lead character, Jane Eyre, who is orphaned at a young age and forced to live under the rule of her heartless Aunt Reed and her equally cruel children.

Presented here is Volume III of our Feminist Literary Classics series, featuring three of the most important feminist novels ever written: Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf, O Pioneers! by Willa Cather and So Big by Edna Ferber. The first book in this collection is Orlando: A Biography, a groundbreaking English novel by Virginia Woolf that explores English history, gender roles and sexual politics in a way few books have before or since.

Every great hero has an origin story and for the legendary Sherlock Holmes, it was A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 novel which introduced the world's leading (and only) consulting detective to the reading public. Though not an immediate sensation (the novel was received with moderate acclaim), it has gone on to become one of the most revered detective novels in history and its protagonists—Dr. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes—are easily the most recognized and celebrated crime fighting duo in all of literature.

Anne's once-wealthy father - widowed for fourteen years - has fallen into financial ruin and the family is forced to rent their estate and move to more modest accommodations. What's more, the family that moves in to the house is that of Captain Wentworth, who Anne rejected as a suitor years before due to his lack of prospects but who has now risen in the military ranks to become wealthy and prosperous.

Presented here are three of the six novels written by the legendary British author Jane Austen, each a beloved and cherished masterpiece of Regency-era literature. In Volume I, we present Austen's timeless classics "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park" and "Persuasion." Though the books only received modest attention and few reviews at the time of their first release ("Persuasion" was, in fact, published posthumously), all of these books have gone on to become best-sellers are now considered to be among the finest examples of 19th century literature.