O Pioneers! Willa Cather http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2104 urn:isbn:1406844357 en 1913 Novels Western The first of her renowned prairie novels--a story that expresses Cather's conviction that "the history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman." When Alexandra Bergson takes over the family farm after her father's death, she falls under the spell of the rich, forbidding Nebraska prairie. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+50 or in the USA (published before 1923). http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2104.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2104.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2104.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2104.mobi The Poison Belt Arthur Conan Doyle http://www.feedbooks.com/book/352 en 1913 Novels Science Fiction The Poison Belt was the second story, a novella, that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Professor Challenger. Written in 1913, roughly a year before the outbreak of World War I, much of it takes place--rather oddly, given that it follows The Lost World, a story set in the jungle--in a room in Challenger's house. This would be the last story written about Challenger until the 1920s, by which time Doyle's spiritualist beliefs had begun to affect his writing. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/352.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/352.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/352.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/352.mobi Little Dorrit Charles Dickens http://www.feedbooks.com/book/687 urn:isbn:037575914X en 1857 Novels Upon its publication in 1857, Little Dorrit immediately outsold any of Dickens’s previous books. The story of William Dorrit, imprisoned for debt in Marshalsea Prison, and his daughter and helpmate, Amy, or Little Dorrit, the novel charts the progress of the Dorrit family from poverty to riches. In his Introduction, David Gates argues that “intensity of imagination is the gift from which Dickens’s other great attributes derive: his eye and ear, his near-universal empathy, his ability to entertain both a sense of the ridiculous and a sense of ultimate significance.” http://www.feedbooks.com/book/687.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/687.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/687.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/687.mobi Quo Vadis Henryk Sienkiewicz http://www.feedbooks.com/book/350 urn:isbn:1934169064 en 1896 Novels History Romance Religion Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero, commonly known as Quo Vadis, is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Quo vadis is Latin for "Where are you going?" and alludes to a New Testament verse (John 13:36). The verse, in the King James Version, reads as follows, "Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards." Quo Vadis tells of a love that develops between a young Christian woman, Ligia (or Lygia), and Marcus Vinicius, a Roman patrician. It takes place in the city of Rome under the rule of emperor Nero around AD 64. Sienkiewicz studied the Roman Empire extensively prior to writing the novel, with the aim of getting historical details correct. As such, several historical figures appear in the book. As a whole, the novel carries a powerful pro-Christian message. Published in installments in three Polish dailies in 1895, it came out in book form in 1896 and has since been translated into more than 50 languages. This novel contributed to Sienkiewicz's Nobel Prize for literature in 1905. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/350.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/350.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/350.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/350.mobi The Jungle Upton Sinclair http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384 en 1906 Novels Politics The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and socialist journalist Upton Sinclair. It was written about the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the "have-nots", which is contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption on the part of the "haves". The sad state of turn-of-the-century labor is placed front and center for the American public to see, suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American "wage slavery". The novel is also an important example of the "muckraking" tradition begun by journalists such as Jacob Riis. Sinclair wanted to persuade his readers that the mainstream American political parties offered little means for progressive change. Upton Sinclair came to Chicago with the intent of writing The Jungle; he had been given a stipend by the socialist newspaper The Appeal to Reason. Upon his arrival in the lobby of the Chicago Transit House, a hotel near the stockyards, he was quoted as saying, "Hello! I'm Upton Sinclair, and I'm here to write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor Movement!" (Arthur, 43). He rented living quarters and immediately immersed himself in the city by walking its streets, talking to its people, and taking pictures. One Sunday afternoon, he worked his way into a group of Asian immigrants getting together for a wedding party – "Behold, there was the opening scene of my story, a gift from the gods". He was welcomed to the festivities and stayed until two o'clock in the morning. The novel was first published in serial form in 1906 by The Appeal to Reason. "After five rejections", its first edition as a novel was published by Doubleday, Page & Company on February 28, 1906, and it became an immediate bestseller. It has been in print ever since. Source: Wikipedia This work was published before 1923 and is in the public domain in the USA only. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.mobi The Black Arrow Robert Louis Stevenson http://www.feedbooks.com/book/166 urn:isbn:0684188775 en 1884 Novels Romance Adventure In fifteenth-century England, when his father's murderer is revealed to be his guardian, seventeen-year-old Richard Shelton joins the fellowship of the Black Arrow in avenging the death, rescuing the woman he loves, and participating in the struggle between the Yorks and Lancasters in the War of the Roses. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/166.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/166.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/166.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/166.mobi Armageddon 2419 AD Philip Francis Nowlan http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2684 urn:isbn:0441029396 en 1928 Novels Science Fiction In Armageddon - 2419 A.D., Buck, a victim of accidental suspended animation, awakens five hundred years later to discover America groaning under the tyranny of the villainous Han, ruling from the safety of their armored machine-cities. Falling in love with one of America's new warrior-women, Wilma Deering, Rogers soon become a central figure in using newly-developed scientific weapons - disintegrators, jumping belts, inertron, and paralysis rays - to revolt against the Han. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+50. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2684.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2684.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2684.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2684.mobi A Study in Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle http://www.feedbooks.com/book/57 urn:isbn:1840224118 en 1887 Novels Crime/Mystery A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was first published in 1887. It is the first story to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes, who would later become one of the most famous and iconic literary detective characters, with long-lasting interest and appeal. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes to his companion Doctor Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/57.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/57.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/57.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/57.mobi The Island of Dr. Moreau H. G. Wells http://www.feedbooks.com/book/33 urn:isbn:0553214322 en 1896 Novels Science Fiction Edward Prendick is shipwrecked in the Pacific. Rescued by Doctor Moreau's assistant he is taken to the doctor's island home where he discovers the doctor has been experimenting on the animal inhabitants of the island, creating bizarre proto-humans... This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+50 or in the USA (published before 1923). http://www.feedbooks.com/book/33.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/33.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/33.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/33.mobi Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë http://www.feedbooks.com/book/144 urn:isbn:1551111802 en 1847 Novels Romance Jane Eyre, the story of a young girl and her passage into adulthood, was an immediate commercial success at the time of its original publication in 1847. Its representation of the underside of domestic life and the hypocrisy behind religious enthusiasm drew both praise and bitter criticism, while Charlotte Brontë's striking expose of poor living conditions for children in charity schools as well as her poignant portrayal of the limitations faced by women who worked as governesses sparked great controversy and social debate. Jane Eyre, Brontë's best-known novel, remains an extraordinary coming-of-age narrative, and one of the great classics of literature. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/144.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/144.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/144.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/144.mobi Emma Jane Austen http://www.feedbooks.com/book/45 urn:isbn:0553212737 en 1816 Novels Romance Emma is a comic novel by Jane Austen, first published in December 1815, about the perils of misconstrued romance. The main character, Emma Woodhouse, is described in the opening paragraph as "handsome, clever, and rich" but is also rather spoiled. Prior to starting the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." http://www.feedbooks.com/book/45.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/45.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/45.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/45.mobi