Great Literature

It’s the New Year in Thailand! Songkran is Fa’s favorite holiday. She loves the traditions—and the food!—that go along with it. Each year she hopes to play a special role in one of her family’s cultural ceremonies. Will this be her year?

This bird race explains why flamingos have long legs, pelicans have pouches, and vultures are bald.

Published in 1915 and set in the 1890s, The Song of the Lark tells the story of Thea Kronberg, a gifted young singer who blazes her way into the world’s greatest opera houses. Thea’s arduous journey begins in Moonstone, Colorado, a burgeoning Western town, where she is one of seven children. Following an artistic awakening at an Arizona canyon, she eventually finds fame as an acclaimed opera singer, performing in Germany and at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

It’s a beautiful summers day in Pontypandy, and there is going to be a big picnic on the beach, with a sandcastle competition. Everyone is invited, but Elvis must stay at the fire station with Radar the dalmatian in case there is an emergency. On the beach, Norman is annoyed that young Lily keeps following him everywhere while he’s trying to concentrate on building the biggest sandcastle, but when the tide starts to rise and Lily goes missing the beachgoers must call on Elvis and Radar to help them find her.

In this adventurous tale of historical fiction, Edward Whymper's struggle to scale the Matterhorn results in triumph and loss, and inspires courage in a young blind friend. As an old man, Emile Favre tells how this famous mountain climber's quest led him to dream beyond his small village in Italy.

Sophisticated wit and intense emotion, religious fervor and erotic sensuality, delight in life’s pleasures and fascination with death, are all to be found in the paradoxical poetry of John Donne. One of the foremost metaphysical poets, Donne’s ingenious metaphors and inspired use of language has earned him affection and reverence in near equal measure to Shakespeare.

Humor and heart collide when two fake dates accidentally ruin a wedding and must play matchmaker to fix it, perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Tessa Bailey.

Archeologist Chuck Bender witnesses a mysterious death while conducting a survey at Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park. But when local law enforcement declare the the death an accident, Chuck will stop at nothing to find the truth.

In 1926, Henry Beston spent two weeks in a two-room cottage on the sand dunes of Cape Cod. He had not intended to stay longer, but, as he later wrote, "I lingered on, and as the year lengthened into autumn, the beauty and mystery of this earth and outer sea so possessed and held me that I could not go."

When words of love do not come to you on their own, then listen to these letters. Complete, actual love letters of great men like Lord Byron, John Keats, and Voltaire. Leaders like Henry VIII, George Washington, and Napoléon, who wrote to his beloved Joséphine, "I awake consumed with thoughts of you...." Artists like van Gogh, Mozart, and Beethoven, who famously penned, "Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved...."

Life in her traditional Mennonite community is peaceful, if a little dull, for 12-year-old Beth who dreams of being an artist. She goes to school, helps with the cooking and cleaning at home, and works with her parents at the local farmer’s market. One Saturday, however, excitement shows up in the form of a determined lawyer from New York City who insists she needs a family cookie recipe to win a multi-million-dollar lawsuit.

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.

Kenneth Rose was one of the most astute observers of the establishment for over 70 years. The wry and amusing journals of the royal biographer and historian made objective observation a sculpted craft. His impeccable social placement located him within the beating heart of the national elite for decades. He was capable of writing substantial history, such as his priceless material on the abdication crisis from conversations with both the Duke of Windsor and the Queen Mother.

While trying to protect and recruit more players and civilians from another settlement, Mason has fallen into a mortal dungeon—The Great Devourer's Lair. It wasn't meant to be found so soon. It was designed for a later stage in the game when players would have more power. But what secrets might the dungeon hold? If Mason and his new player friend Carl can survive it, just how powerful could it make them? There's only one way to find out....

One of the most violent conflicts in the history of civilization, World War I has been strangely forgotten in American culture. It has become a ghostly war fought in a haze of memory, often seen merely as a distant preamble to World War II. In The Long Shadow critically-acclaimed historian David Reynolds seeks to broaden our vision by assessing the impact of the Great War across the twentieth century. He shows how events in that turbulent century—particularly World War II, the Cold War, and the collapse of Communism—shaped and reshaped attitudes to 1914–18.

A fascinating collection of some of the great - but less well known - fairy tales of all time.

In the second memoir of her Crosswicks Journals, Madeleine L'Engle chronicles a season of extremes. Four generations of family have gathered at Crosswicks, her Connecticut farmhouse, to care for L'Engle's ninety-year-old mother. As summer days fade to sleepless nights, her mother's health rapidly declines and her once astute mind slips into senility. With poignant honesty, L'Engle describes the gifts and graces, as well as the painful emotional cost, of caring for the one who once cared for you.

Prize-winning historian and biographer, Carolly Erickson has created an eminently readable biography that recognizes the humanity of Great Catherine—Empress of Russia—with her majesty and immense capability. Dispelling some of the myths surrounding her voracious sexual appetite, the biographer portrays Catherine as a lonely woman far ahead of her time—achieving greatness in an era when women were executed on a husband’s whim.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes Monkey Trouble, The Zombie Project, and The Great Turkey Heist.

Decadent dessert designer Summer Lyndon is celebrated around the world for sharing her creations with the wealthy and celebrity sets. So she is intrigued when Blake Cocharan—a respected chef renowned for his cordon bleu—taps her to spend the summer in the restaurant of his luxury Philadelphia hotel to give his menu a makeover. Taking a break from her travels will be just as challenging at developing delectable cuisines, but Summer never expected working so closely with Blake would mean losing her heart to him.