Showing results by narrator "James C. Moore" in All Categories

In the late Cretaceous period, about 80 million years ago, vast stretches of the North American continent were under water, between what is now the central Rocky Mountains and the eastern Appalachians, and extending south from the Canadian provinces to the Gulf of Mexico (as we know it today). We've all read about, and maybe even had in our hands, seashells and other fossils originally deposited on the shores and floor of that ancient inland sea.

Kenneth Grahame's 1898 children's story, "The Reluctant Dragon" (read here in its abridged version), is a lovely fable about a small boy's efforts to save the life of a large, lazy (self-professed), and droll blue-scaled dragon who prefers poetry to rampaging. Having taken up residence in a cave overlooking the beautiful English countryside, the dragon must contend with a challenge to fight none other than St. George, called by local villagers to slay the beast.

Lauded by Pat Conroy, author of The Lords of Discipline and many other best sellers, Virginia's Ring is a love letter to the Virginia Military Institute. The two main characters of Virginia's Ring share their experiences at the Virginia Military Institute and beyond with poignancy and grace. These experiences serve as a reminder of how precious people, places, and life can be.

When Red, a young boy living on a vast country estate owned by his father, a world-renowned industrialist, finds and captures two small and strange-looking animals, he hides them away in an old bird cage in the loft of his father's barn. He has dreams of making big bucks in a circus sideshow featuring the two unusual creatures.

Written first as a series of stories in the late 19th century and published later as the quintessential Western novel in the early years of the 20th century, The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister contains elements of breathtaking adventure, courage, grit, conflict, humor, and heartfelt emotions that continue to resonate in the 21st century.

It is summer, in the probably distant future, and Artie Lindstrom - the wizard behind a remotely-triggered jar lid opener that became the weapon that defeated the Martian invasion, a water desalinization machine that inadvertently produced gin, and a death ray gun that obliterated Venus during the Three-Day War - has sketched out plans for an anti-gravity machine not much bigger than a mini-fridge.

It is 1934. Red-headed Henry Cook, fresh out of Amherst and excited about working on his first book at an infamous writers' colony, arrives at the Vermont island retreat at the invitation of its owner, Thaddeus Hulbert, a boisterous, bellowing, bloviated curmudgeon, whose reputation as a novelist, columnist, and radio commentator has vaulted him to national prominence.

From Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address in 1861 to his brief remarks on the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, battlefield in 1863 to his Second Inaugural Address given in 1865, America's 16th president, in three key speeches, defined the course of the nation's entry into, through, and out of the Civil War. These three speeches tell the story of a nation's stubborn reluctance to face peacefully the challenge of slavery, disunion, and war among the states.

Riordan, a ruthless and wealthy hunter, needs one more kill to fill out his bucket list. He's faced down and brought home the wildest beasts on Earth, Venus, and even Neptune. But what he really craves is the hide of a Martian, and he'll pay any price, endure any obstacle, to hang that trophy on his wall.

In this 1909 young adult thriller penned by Stanley R. Matthews, originally featured in the serial magazine Brave and Bold Weekly, the Motor Boys unite once again to fight off the bad guys while showcasing the fabulous world of the early 20th century. From motorcars that speed along at a breathtaking 25 miles per hour to discussions about heavier-than-air flight to the stock tickers of Wall Street linked to a gold mine in Tucson, A Taxicab Tangle: The Mission of the Motor Boys is in many ways as fresh and innocent as it was more than a century ago.

The Beautiful and Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 novel, introduced Fitzgerald fans to 22-year-old Gloria Gilbert, a drop-dead gorgeous, selfish, gumdrop-addicted beauty from Kansas City, and 25-year-old Anthony Patch, a handsome, heir-to-a-fortune, careless, spoiled Harvard graduate and New York bon vivant. The novel opens in 1913, a time of flappers, jazz clubs, silent movies, and, for those who could afford it, a 24/7 world of parties, booze, and social extravagances.

When Ben Hewitt met Erik Gillard, he was amazed. Here was a real-life rebel living happily and comfortably in small-town Vermont on less than $10,000 per year. Gillard's no bum. He has a job, a girlfriend, good friends, and strong ties to the community. But how he lives his life - and why - launches Hewitt on a quest to understand the true role of money and mindless consumerism in our lives. By meeting and befriending people like Erik Gillard, Hewitt realized that their happiness was real. What was he - and the rest of a deeply unhappy population - missing?