The Reluctant Dragon Kenneth Grahame http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3646 urn:isbn:0805008020 en 1898 Short Fiction Young Readers Fantasy The Reluctant Dragon is an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame (originally published as a chapter in his book Dream Days), which served as the key element to the 1941 feature film with the same name from Walt Disney Productions. The story has also been set to music as a children's operetta by John Rutter, with words by David Grant. The story takes place in the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire (where the author lived and where, according to legend, St George did fight a dragon). It is Grahame's most famous short story. It is arguably much more well-known than Dream Days itself or the related The Golden Age. It can be seen as a prototype to most modern stories in which the dragon is a sympathetic character rather than a threat. In Grahame's story, a young boy discovers an erudite, mushroom-loving dragon living in the Downs above his home. The two become friends, but soon afterwards the dragon is discovered by the townsfolk, who send for St George to rid them of it. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3646.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3646.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3646.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3646.mobi Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town Cory Doctorow http://www.feedbooks.com/book/260 urn:isbn:0765312808 en 2005 Novels Science Fiction Alan is a middle-aged entrepeneur in contemporary Toronto, who has devoted himself to fixing up a house in a bohemian neighborhood. This naturally brings him in contact with the house full of students and layabouts next door, including a young woman who, in a moment of stress, reveals to him that she has wings--wings, moreover, which grow back after each attempt to cut them off. Alan understands. He himself has a secret or two. His father is a mountain; his mother is a washing machine; and among his brothers are a set of Russian nesting dolls. Now two of the three nesting dolls, Edward and Frederick, are on his doorstep--well on their way to starvation, because their innermost member, George, has vanished. It appears that yet another brother, Davey, who Alan and his other siblings killed years ago, may have returned...bent on revenge. Under such circumstances it seems only reasonable for Alan to involve himself with a visionary scheme to blanket Toronto with free wireless Internet connectivity, a conspiracy spearheaded by a brilliant technopunk who builds miracles of hardware from parts scavenged from the city’s dumpsters. But Alan’s past won’t leave him alone--and Davey is only one of the powers gunning for him and all his friends. Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/260.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/260.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/260.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/260.mobi Star Maker William Olaf Stapledon http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2029 urn:isbn:0819566934 en 1937 Novels Science Fiction Widely regarded as one of the true classics of science fiction, Star Maker is a poetic and deeply philosophical work. The story details the mental journey of an unnamed narrator who is transported not only to other worlds but also other galaxies and parallel universes, until he eventually becomes part of the "cosmic mind." First published in 1937, Olaf Stapledon's descriptions of alien life are a political commentary on human life in the turbulent inter-war years. The book challenges preconceived notions of intelligence and awareness, and ultimately argues for a broadened perspective that would free us from culturally ingrained thought and our inevitable anthropomorphism. This is the first scholarly edition of a book that influenced such writers as C.S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke and which Jorge Luis Borges called "a prodigious novel." This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+50. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2029.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2029.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2029.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2029.mobi Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure John Cleland http://www.feedbooks.com/book/84 urn:isbn:1840224177 en 1749 Novels Sexuality Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, popularly known as Fanny Hill, is a novel by John Cleland. Written in 1748 while Cleland was in debtor's prison in London, it is considered the first modern "erotic novel" in English, and has become a byword for the battle of censorship of erotica. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/84.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/84.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/84.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/84.mobi The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain http://www.feedbooks.com/book/72 urn:isbn:0520235754 en 1876 Novels Adventure The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum South on the Mississippi River in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/72.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/72.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/72.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/72.mobi Blindsight Peter Watts http://www.feedbooks.com/book/976 urn:isbn:0765312182 en 2006 Novels Science Fiction Two months since sixty-five thousand alien objects clenched around the Earth like a luminous fist, screaming to the heavens as the atmosphere burned them to ash. Two months since that moment of brief, bright surveillance by agents unknown. Two months of silence, while a world holds its breath. Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route. So who do you send to force introductions on an intelligence with motives unknown, maybe unknowable? Who do you send to meet the alien when the alien doesn't want to meet? You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound, so compromised by grafts and splices he no longer feels his own flesh. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed, and the fainter one she'll do any good if she is. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there, a conduit through which the Dead Center might hope to understand the Bleeding Edge. You send them all to the edge of interstellar space, praying you can trust such freaks and retrofits with the fate of a world. You fear they may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find. But you'd give anything for that to be true, if you only knew what was waiting for them... Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/976.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/976.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/976.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/976.mobi Anthem Ayn Rand http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2837 urn:isbn:0452281253 en 1938 Novels Science Fiction Psychology Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, first published in 1938. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age as a result of the evils of irrationality and collectivism and the weaknesses of socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the word "I" has disappeared from the language). As is common in her work, Rand draws a clear distinction between the "socialist/communal" values of equality and brotherhood and the "productive/capitalist" values of achievement and individuality. Many of the novella's core themes, such as the struggle between individualism and collectivism, are echoed in Rand's later books, such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. However, the style of "Anthem" is unique among Rand's work, more narrative-centered and economical, lacking the intense didactic expressions of philosophical abstraction that occur in later works. It is probably her most accessible work. Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2837.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2837.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2837.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2837.mobi Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom Cory Doctorow http://www.feedbooks.com/book/194 urn:isbn:076530953X en 2003 Novels Science Fiction Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.Now, though, the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war.... Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/194.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/194.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/194.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/194.mobi The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Lyman Frank Baum http://www.feedbooks.com/book/197 urn:isbn:0688166776 en 1900 Novels Young Readers Fantasy Dorothy is a young girl who lives on a Kansas farm with her Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and little dog Toto. One day the farmhouse, with Dorothy inside, is caught up in a tornado and deposited in a field in the country of the Munchkins. The falling house kills the Wicked Witch of the East. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/197.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/197.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/197.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/197.mobi I, Robot Cory Doctorow http://www.feedbooks.com/book/337 urn:isbn:1560259817 en 2005 Short Fiction Science Fiction "I, Robot" is a science-fiction short story by Cory Doctorow published in 2005. The story is set in the type of police state needed to ensure that only one company is allowed to make robots, and only one type of robot is allowed. The story follows single Father detective Arturo Icaza de Arana-Goldberg while he tries to track down his missing teenage daughter. The detective is a bit of an outcast because his wife defected to Eurasia, a rival Superpower. Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/337.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/337.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/337.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/337.mobi The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas http://www.feedbooks.com/book/73 urn:isbn:037576030X en 1845 Novels Adventure The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered, along with The Three Musketeers, as Dumas' most popular work. It is also among the highest selling books of all time. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet. The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, forgiveness and death, and is told in the style of an adventure story. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/73.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/73.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/73.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/73.mobi The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain http://www.feedbooks.com/book/71 urn:isbn:0520228383 en 1885 Novels Young Readers Adventure Humor/Satire Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (often shortened to Huck Finn) is a novel written by American humorist Mark Twain. It is commonly used and accounted as one of the first Great American Novels. It is also one of the first major American novels written using Local Color Regionalism, or vernacular, told in the first person by the eponymous Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, best friend of Tom Sawyer and hero of three other Mark Twain books. The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. By satirizing Southern antebellum society that was already a quarter-century in the past by the time of publication, the book is an often scathing look at entrenched attitudes, particularly racism. The drifting journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on their raft may be one of the most enduring images of escape and freedom in all of American literature. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/71.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/71.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/71.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/71.mobi The Awakening & Other Short Stories Kate Chopin http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342 urn:isbn:0679783334 en 1899 Short Fiction Sexuality The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers with its forthright treatment of sex and suicide. Departing from literary convention, Kate Chopin failed to condemn her heroine's desire for an affair with the son of a Louisiana resort owner, whom she meets on vacation. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love, and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle- and upper-class life are the themes of this now-classic novel. As Kaye Gibbons points out in her Introduction, Chopin "was writing American realism before most Americans could bear to hear that they were living it." http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342.mobi Tao Te Ching Laozi http://www.feedbooks.com/book/215 urn:isbn:0679724346 en -600 Non-Fiction Philosophy Religion The Tao Te Ching is fundamental to the Taoist school of Chinese philosophy and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism and Neo-Confucianism. This ancient book is also central in Chinese religion, not only for Taoism but Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Taoist words and concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and even gardeners have used the Tao Te Ching as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, aided by hundreds of translations into Western languages. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/215.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/215.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/215.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/215.mobi Little Women Louisa May Alcott http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139 urn:isbn:0517214628 en 1868 Novels Little Women or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Written and published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, the novel follows the lives of four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March — and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The first part of the book was an immediate commercial and critical success and prompted the composition of the book's second part, also a huge success. Both parts were first published as a single volume in 1880. The book is an unquestioned American classic. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.mobi The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells http://www.feedbooks.com/book/35 urn:isbn:0812505158 en 1898 Novels Science Fiction War The War of the Worlds (1898), by H. G. Wells, is an early science fiction novel which describes an invasion of England by aliens from Mars. It is one of the earliest and best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth, and has influenced many others, as well as spawning several films, radio dramas, comic book adaptations, and a television series based on the story. The 1938 radio broadcast caused public outcry against the episode, as many listeners believed that an actual Martian invasion was in progress, a notable example of mass hysteria. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+50 or in the USA (published before 1923). http://www.feedbooks.com/book/35.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/35.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/35.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/35.mobi Dracula Bram Stoker http://www.feedbooks.com/book/88 urn:isbn:0743477367 en 1897 Novels Horror Gothic Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel, that is, told as a series of diary entries and letters. Literary critics have examined many themes in the novel, such as the role of women in Victorian culture, conventional and conservative sexuality, immigration, colonialism, postcolonialism and folklore. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical and film interpretations throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/88.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/88.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/88.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/88.mobi The Prophet Kahlil Gibran http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2843 urn:isbn:0394404289 en 1923 Poetry The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in English in 1923 by the Lebanese-American artist, philosopher and writer Khalil Gibran. In the book, the prophet Almustafa who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses many issues of life and the human condition. The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2843.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2843.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2843.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2843.mobi The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3645 urn:isbn:0451530144 en 1908 Novels Young Readers Fantasy The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3645.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3645.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3645.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3645.mobi