Catalog Search Results
1) Persuasion
Author
Language
English
Description
Austen's last novel is the crowning achievement of her matchless career. Her heroine, Anne Elliot, a woman of integrity, breeding and great depth of emotion, stands in stark contrast to the brutality and hypocrisy of Regency England. Includes a new Introduction by Margaret Drabble, famed novelist and editor of The Oxford Companion to the English Language.
2) Emma
Author
Language
English
Description
As daughter of the richest, most important man in the small provincial village of Highbury, Emma Woodhouse is firmly convinced that it is her right--perhaps even her "duty"--To arrange the lives of others. Considered by most critics to be Austen's most technically brilliant achievement, "Emma" sparkles with ironic insights into self-deception, self-discovery, and the interplay of love and power.
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
A young man's quest for eternal youth and beauty ends in scandal, depravity and death. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The picture of Dorian Gray was a...
4) Anthem
Author
Language
English
Description
A futuristic science fiction novella where man is in a dark age because of earlier socialistic values, technology is carefully planned and rarely allowed to advance, and individualism has almost ceased to exist.
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Looking for adventure and a new life, Ishmael, the story's narrator, decides to find work on a whaling boat. On arriving at the Massachusetts harbour to begin his search, the only bed available is already half occupied by a "cannibal" named Queequeg. Although Queequeg has limited English, a friendship forms and the two men sign up for work together aboard the Pequod under the infamous Captain Ahab.
Author
Language
English
Description
Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and...
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English
Appears on these lists
Adventure Books for Kids
Fun Family Read-Alouds for 2nd Grade and Older
Middle School Battle of the Books - 2022-23
Mysteries for Kids
Fun Family Read-Alouds for 2nd Grade and Older
Middle School Battle of the Books - 2022-23
Mysteries for Kids
Description
When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run "from" somewhere, she wants to run "to" somewhere -- to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along. Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find...
Author
Language
English
Description
The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of master mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most accomplished stories. Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson confront one of their most difficult cases ever: is there truly a curse on the old Baskerville estate? Is there truly a ghostly beast lurking on the dark, eerie moors? A masterful concoction of plot and mood, this story is guaranteed to give you the shivers.
Author
Language
English
Description
Dostoevsky studies the psychological impact upon Raskolvikoc, a desperate and impoverished student, when he murders a despicable pawnbroker. He transgresses moral law, thinking he ultimately benefits humanity. Crime and Punishment takes the reader on a journey into the darkest recesses on the criminal and depraved mind, and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil and who cannot escape his own conscience.
13) Brave new world
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Aldous Huxley's tour de force, Brave New World is a darkly satiric vision of a "utopian" future--where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying entertainment.
14) Robinson Crusoe
Author
Language
English
Description
During one of his several adventurous voyages in the 1600s, an Englishman becomes the sole survivor of a shipwreck and lives for nearly thirty years on a deserted island. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story.
15) Kidnapped
Author
Language
English
Description
In 1751 in Scotland, cheated out of his inheritance by a greedy uncle who has him kidnapped and put on a ship to the Carolinas, seventeen-year-old David Balfour escapes to the Highlands with the help of the Jacobite Alan Breck Stewart and there encounters further danger and intrigue as he attempts to clear his name and regain his property.
16) Ethan Frome
Author
Language
English
Description
A struggling young farmer, Ethan Frome labors under the weight of a miserable marriage. His wife, Zeena, is cold, self-absorbed, and ailing. Zeena invites her cousin Mattie to come live at their farm and do the housework. Soon after her arrival, she and Ethan fall in love. Should they run away together, abandoning Zeena and the farm? The situation soon forces them to take action.
17) Two degrees
Author
Language
English
Description
California: Akira Kristiansen is driving through the mountains with her mom when a wildfire sparks-- and in just moments, Akira and her family have to evacuate. But which way is safe with fire all around them? Churchill, Manitoba: Owen Mackenzie is running a tour for travelers who have come to see the polar bears. When Owen and his friend George see a bear too close for comfort, they end up in a fight for their lives. Miami: everyone's saying this...
18) Mansfield Park
Author
Language
English
Description
Mansfield Park is a study of three families-the Bertrams, the Crawfords, and the Prices-with the isolated figure of the heroine, Fanny Price, at its center. Fanny's quiet passivity, her steadfast loyalty and love for the son of the family who regard her as the poor relation, and who have taken her under their roof, are not appreciated until they are tried against the brilliant and witty Mary and Henry Crawford, the unfortunate consequences of whose...
19) Northanger Abbey
Author
Language
English
Description
Charmingly imperfect Catherine Morland is invited to Northanger Abbey, the home of new friends. Hearing exaggerated reports of her wealth, the head of household General Tilney encourages a marriage between his son Henry and Catherine. Before matters can be settled, Catherine must learn to distinguish between books and real life, false friends and true.
20) The jungle book
Author
Language
English
Description
When Mowgli is discovered in the jungle by wolves, they bring him up as one of their own. However, the jungle is not always easy for a man-cub and Mowgli must learn its secrets from Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther and Kaa the python, especially if he is to avoid the Monkey-People and the evil tiger, Shere Khan.