Alcott, Louisa May
Little Women (FIC ALC L)
One of the best loved books of all
time. Lovely Meg, talented Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy -- and the hard lessons
of poverty and of growing up in New England during the Civil War. Through their
dreams, plays, pranks, letters, illnesses, and courtships, readers of all ages
have become a part of this remarkable family and have felt the deep sadness when
Meg leaves the circle of sisters to be married at the end of Part I. Part II,
chronicles Meg's joys and mishaps as a young wife and mother, Jo's struggle to
become a writer, Beth's tragedy, and Amy's artistic pursuits and unexpected
romance. Based on Louisa May Alcott's childhood, this lively portrait of
nineteenth-century family life possesses a lasting vitality that has endeared it
to generations of readers.
Little Men (FIC ALC L)
Follows Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer as they try to make their home and school a happy, stimulating place.
Jo's Boys (FIC ALC L)
Beginning ten years after Little Men, Jo's Boys revisits
Plumfield, the New England school still presided over by Jo and her husband,
Professor Bhaer. Jo's boys -- including rebellious Dan, sailor Emil, and
promising musicain Nat -- are grown; Jo herself remains at the center of this
tale, holding her boys fast through shipwreck and storm, disappointment... and
even murder.
Austen, Jane
Emma
Having engineered the marriage of her companion, Emma turns her attention toward making a match for the
local vicar and her new protegee, Harriet Smith. Her one voice of reason and
restraint is Mr. Knightley, who has known her since she was a child and who
watches her behaviour with wry amusement as she presides over the small provincial world of Highbury.
But she will learn something about herself in the process.
Persuasion (FIC AUS U) (PB AUS U)
Anne and Captain Wentworth's passion is thwarted by a scheming
socialite. Eight years later, when Anne is considered an old maid and her
once-rich family is on the verge of bankruptcy, Wentworth returns. Will their
second chance at love be ruined by the social conventions that destroyed it
once? Or will the heart be persuaded by rules of its own?
Pride and Prejudice (PB AUS U)
Initially titled "First Impressions," this story describes the clash between
Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a
rich and aristocratic landowner. Mr. Darcy holds himself aloof with "pride" of rank
and fortune, and "prejudice" against Elizabeth's
inferior family; while Elizabeth is equally fired both
by the pride of self-respect and by prejudice against Darcy's snobbery.
The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and Darcy is a splendid
rendition of civilized sparring, flirtation and intrique.
Jane Austen's radiant wit and keen observation sparkle.
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen's first novel is the story of two
sisters attempting to find happiness in the tightly structured society of 18th
century England. Through their experiences with men and their relationship with
each other, they learn that neither sense or sensibility alone is enough, but
that one must strive for a balance of the two.
Bronte, Charlotte
Jane Eyre (FIC BRO U)
A lonely orphan learns to survive by relying
on her independence and intelligence. As a grown woman she obtains a position as
governess to the daughter of the mysterious Mr. Rochester. Just as she is about
to win the happiness with him that she has long deserved, a dark secret comes to
light.
Bronte, Emily
Wuthering Heights (FIC BRO U)
A classic tale of possessive and thwarted passion, one of the
forerunners of today's soap operas and romance novels. Brought together as children,
Catherine and Heathcliff quickly become attached to each other. As they grow older,
their companionship turns into obsession. Family, class, and fate work cruelly against
them, as do their own jealous and volatile natures, and much of their lives are
spent in revenge and frustration. Yet there is something magnificent about the
depth and intensity of their love.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Tarzan of the Apes (FIC BRO U)
The original jungle adventure. Born of noble stock to parents marooned
on the savage West African coast, the
young lord Greystoke is orphaned in his first year of life. Named Tarzan by the
great apes that raise him, he must learn the law of the jungle to survive. As he
matures, his strength and agility develop to match those of the beasts that he
is surrounded by, yet he realizes that he is different. He combines higher
intelligence, superhuman strength and his jungle training to become the
unconquerable Lord of the Jungle. But, when a group of civilized people invade
his paradise, his life is changed forever, for with them is Jane. Jane is the
first woman Tarzan has ever seen and he must have her as his own! How can this
uncivilized ape-man hope to win her? This is the first book in the Tarzan
series.
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (FIC CAR L)
A little girl falls down a rabbit hole and discovers
the Mad Hatter, the Ugly Duchess, the Mock Turtle, the Queen
of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat -- characters each more eccentric than the last, and
that could only have come from Lewis Carroll, the master of sublime nonsense. In
one of the most famous and fantastic novels of all time Carroll not only stirred our
imagination but revolutionized literature.
Through the Looking Glass (FIC CAR L)
By falling down a rabbit hole and stepping through a
mirror, Alice experiences unusual adventure with a variety of nonsensical
characters.
Cervantes, Miguel de
Don Quixote (FIC CER U)
Cervantes pokes fun at the human soul with his depiction of the adventures - or
misadventures - of this hopeful, wandering knight. With the company of his faithful squire and wise fool,
Sancho Panza, together they roam the world in an era where chivalry no longer
exist and the age of knights is gone.
Conrad, Joseph
Heart of Darkness (FIC CON U)
Marlow (the narrator) journeys up the Congo River on behalf of a Belgian trading company. Far upriver he encounters the
mysterious Kurtz, an ivory trader who exercises almost godlike sway over the inhabitants of
the region. Marlow is brought face to face with the corruption and despair that Conrad saw at the heart of human existence.
Lord Jim (FIC CON U)
Jim is a young and naive water-clerk aboard the Patna, a
cargo ship plying Asian waters. He also harbors romantic fantasies of adventure
and heroism--which are promptly scuttled one night when the ship collides with
an obstacle and begins to sink. Acting on impulse, Jim jumps overboard and lands
in a lifeboat, which happens to be bearing the unscrupulous captain and his
cohorts away from the disaster. The Patna, however, manages to stay
afloat. The foundering vessel is towed into port--and since the officers have
strategically vanished, Jim is left to stand trial for abandoning the ship and
its 800 passengers.
Crane, Stephen
The Red Badge of Courage (FIC CRA U)
Considered to be Crane's masterwork for its perceptive
depiction of warfare and of the psychological turmoil of a soldier during the
American Civil War. Henry Fleming is eager to demonstrate his patriotism in a
glorious battle, but when the slaughter starts, he is overwhelmed with fear and
flees the battlefield. Ironically, he receives his "red badge of
courage" when he is slightly wounded by being struck on the head by a
deserter. He witnesses a friend's gruesome death and becomes enraged at the
injustice of war. The courage of common soldiers and the agonies of death cure
him of his romantic notions. He returns to his regiment and continues to fight
on with true courage and without illusions.
Defoe, Daniel
Robinson Crusoe (FIC DEF U) (PB DEF U)
First published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe is the story of an English sailor who
finds himself marooned on a desert island after the rest of his shipmates drown
in a terrible wreck. He survives on the island for nearly three decades,
domesticating livestock, cultivating plants and constructing a modest home for
himself. But his solitary existence is threatened when he discovers - in one of
the most memorable moments in literature - another footprint in the sand.
Dickens, Charles
Oliver Twist (FIC DIC U) (PB DIC U)
One of Dickens's most popular novels. An orphan, who is
raised in a workhouse, runs away to London only to be captured by
thieves from whom he eventually escapes. This novel is a morality tale and a
detective story rolled into one and presents some of Dickens's darkest
characters: Bill Sikes, the murderer; Fagin, the master thief; and the leering
Artful Dodger.
David Copperfield (FIC DIC U)
Largely rooted in the author's own biography and written as
a first-person narrative, David Copperfield charts a young man's progress
through a difficult childhood in Victorian England to ultimate success as a
novelist, finding true love along the way. He survives the worst--
and the best--with inimitable style, his bafflement about life
turns to self-awareness and his unbridled young heart grows ever more
disciplined and true.
Great Expectations (FIC DIC U)
From the time he is seven years old until he is in his mid-thirties, Pip shows
us the important events in his life that shape who he became. Along the way, he
acquires a menagerie of different acquaintances and friends that influence him
in his decisions and goals for his life.
Doyle, Arthur Conan
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (PB DOY U)
He's rude, arrogant, cold, unfriendly, and easily bored. Nobody
minds because he is a genius at solving mysteries. But, to interest Holmes at
all, the case must be impossible. Like the mysteries of: The blackmail
scheme that might destroy a nation; The woman killed in a locked room - while
screaming about a "band;" The man who writes his wife - days after his murder;
The jewel in the goose, the seeds that grow death. . . Whether lost fiancés or
lost fortunes, sinister accidents or weird conspiracies, the unnatural or the
"supernatural" - the paths of mystery and murder lead to 221B Baker Street,
to loyal Dr. Watson and. . . to Holmes.
Dumas, Alexandre
The Count of Monte Cristo (FIC DUM U)
This enduringly popular tale of
love and revenge in the post-Napoleonic era follows Edmond Dantes as he prepares
to captain his own ship and marry his beloved Mercedes. But on his wedding day,
he is betrayed by spiteful enemies and arrested on trumped-up charges. Condemned
to lifelong imprisonment, he befriends Faria, a priest and fellow inmate with an
escape plan. When Faria dies, Edmond escapes alone. Free at last, and incredibly
wealthy, Edmond enters society posing as the Count of Monte Cristo to reclaim
his lost love and enact a terrible vengeance on his accusers.
The Three Musketeers (FIC DUM U)
The year is 1625. The young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris at the tender age of 18,
and almost immediately offends three musketeers, Porthos, Aramis, and Athos.
Instead of dueling, the four are attacked by five of the Cardinal's guards, and
the courage of the youth is made apparent during the battle. The four become
fast friends, and, when asked by D'Artagnan's landlord to find his missing wife,
embark upon an adventure that takes them across both France and England in order
to thwart the plans of the Cardinal Richelieu. Along the way, they encounter a
beautiful young spy, named simply Milady, who will stop at nothing to disgrace
Queen Anne of Austria before her husband, Louis XIII, and take her revenge upon
the four friends.
Eliot, George
Silas Marner (FIC ELI U) (PB ELI U)
The full title was Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe published in 1861.
The story's title character is a friendless
weaver who cares only for his cache of gold. He is ultimately redeemed through
his love for Eppie, an abandoned golden-haired baby girl, whom he discovers
shortly after he is robbed and rears as his own child.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
The Great Gatsby (PB FIT U)
Jay Gatsby has a passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet
five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville
beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby
serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom
Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth
by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing.
"Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more
famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island
Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits
for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic
inevitability of a Greek drama.
Hardy, Thomas
Far From the Madding Crowd (FIC HAR U) (PB HAR U)
Three rival suitors vye for the affections of the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene,
who has just inherited an estate. The men in her life are stout, whiskered yeoman Gabriel
Oak, an impoverished local farmer; neurotic, repressed squire
William Boldwood; and handsome rascal Sgt. Troy, who breaks women's hearts for a hobby.
Bathsheba is a free spirit in a society in which women's rights
are severely restricted.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel
The House of Seven Gables (PB HAW U)
The house carries two centuries of secrets and legends: legends of hauntings and
undying curses, secrets of madness and missing fortunes. Age and poverty has now
claimed the house and its residents - old, reclusive Miss Hepzibah; her strange,
troubled brother Clifford; and the mysterious young artist Holgrave. Then,
suddenly the house is transformed by the arrival of the Pyncheon's beautiful
young cousin, Phoebe. She brings life, laughter and love into the tiny world of
dusty, dark despair. But one rich, powerful, corrupt man - Judge Jaffrey
Pyncheon - covets the mansion's hidden secrets. And his plot to find them means
destroying all hope and happiness in the House of the Seven Gables.
The Scarlet Letter (FIC HAW U) (PB HAW U)
The story of a woman's open disgrace and a man's secret guilt. Scorned and rejected by her stern Puritan neighbors,
Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter forever. But her guilty partner hides
his identity and is admired by all who know him. Why does Hester refuse to reveal his name?
Hugo, Victor
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (FIC HUG U)
Set against the backdrop of medieval Paris, the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda is condemned as a witch by the
tormented archdeacon Claude Frollo. Quasimodo, the deformed
bell ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral, having fallen in love with the kindhearted
Esmeralda, tries to save her by hiding her in the cathedral’s tower. A
crowd of Parisian peasants, misunderstanding Quasimodo’s motives, attacks the
church in an attempt to liberate her.
Les Miserables (FIC HUG U)
Many of the characters are well-known: Valjean, the criminal trying to escape his
reputation; Javert, the police agent trailing him; the unfortunate Fantine and her
daughter, Cosette; the rascally Thénardier; and above all the splendid street urchin,
Gavroche. Among the unforgettable descriptions are those of the Paris sewers,
the battle of Waterloo and the fighting at the barricades during the July Revolution.
Kipling, Rudyard
Kim (FIC KIP U)
Kim is an orphan, living from hand to mouth in the
teeming streets of Lahore (in the British colony of India around 1900). One day he meets a man quite unlike anything in his
wide experience, a Tibetan lama on a quest. Kim's life suddenly acquires meaning
and purpose as he becomes the lama's guide and protector--his chela. Other
forces are at work as Kim is sucked into the intrigue of the Great Game and
travels the Grand Trunk Road with his lama. How Kim and the lama meet their respective destinies
on the road and in the mountains of India forms one of the most compelling adventure tales of all time.
Captains Courageous
Harvey Cheyne is the over-indulged son of a millionaire. When he falls overboard from
an ocean liner he is rescued by a Portuguese fisherman and, initially
against his will, joins the crew of the We're Here for a summer. Through the
medium of an exciting adventure story, Captain's Courageous (1897) deals with a
boy who, like Mowgli in The Jungle Book, is thrown into an entirely alien
environment.
The Jungle Book
Raised by wolves, young Mowgli is taught the law of the jungle by his animal
friends: old Baloo the wise brown bear, and Bagheera, the sleek, black
Panther.Slowly, Mowgli learns the language and ways of the jungle animals and
his childhood seems quite idyllic. But looming in the darkness of the jungle is
the cunning and sinister tiger, Shere Khan, who silently watches Mowgli,
awaiting his moment to pounce.
London, Jack
The Sea Wolf
Combining elements of naturalism and romantic
adventure, this story concerns Humphrey Van Weyden, a refined castaway who is put
to work on the motley schooner Ghost. The ship is run by brutal Wolf Larsen,
who, despite his intelligence and strength, is antisocial and self-destructive.
Hardened by his arduous experiences at sea, Humphrey develops strength of both
body and will, protecting another castaway, Maud Brewster, and facing down the
increasingly deranged Larsen.
Call of the Wild (FIC LON U)
The story of Buck, a courageous dog fighting for survival in the Alaskan wilderness,
is widely considered to be London's masterpiece. Sometimes wrongly considered simply
a children's novel, this epic vividly evokes the harsh and frozen Yukon during
the Gold Rush. As Buck is ripped from his pampered surroundings and shipped to
Alaska to be a sled dog, his primitive, wolflike nature begins to emerge. Savage
struggles and timeless bonds between man, dog, and wilderness are played to
their heartrending extremes, as Buck undertakes a mystic journey that transforms
him into the legendary "Ghost Dog" of the Klondike.
White Fang (FIC LON U)
Slowly and cautiously, Scott approaches White Fang. He knows that the
wolf-dog has been mistreated by human hands, and he is careful not to arouse the
animal's anger. At first, Scott's attempts to reach White Fang are met with
snarls and growls. But in time, he allows Scott to come close and even pat him.
And so the wild and savage wolf-dog learns the meaning of affection...
Orwell, George
Animal Farm (FIC ORW U)
Orwell Based this story on the events of the Russian Revolution that
lead to the communist state. A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals.
With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of
progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most
telling satiric fables ever penned--a razor-edged tale that
records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just
as terrible.
1984 (FIC ORW U)
"Newspeak", "doublethink", "thought police"--in 1984, George
Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words that
have since passed into our common vocabulary. Published in 1949 as a warning about
the menaces of totalitarianism, a chillingly credible "Negative Utopia" is portrayed.
In our deeply anxious world, the seeds of
unthinking conformity are everywhere in evidence; and Big Brother is always
looking for his chance.
Poe, Edgar Allan
Edgar Allen Poe wrote short stories. Reading a collection of his stories counts as
one book. The SMES library has two collections by Poe:
Tales of Mystery and Imagination (FIC POE U)
The Complete Edgar Allen Poe Tales (FIC POE U)
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Frankenstein (FIC SHE U)
Dr. Frankenstein is consumed by his desire to create a fully-grown living
creature. When he reaches his goal, he perceives his creation as a monster,
immediately regrets his work, and promptly abandons it. We hear the
poignant voice of the monster as he describes the spurning and physical attacks
he has endured because of his ugliness; his desolate pain and loneliness; how he
learns to love; how he finally finds and tries, unsuccessfully, to make peace
with his maker; how he learns to hate. A story within a story,
Frankenstein is a subtle and ironic prophecy that raises the question of
who exactly is the real monster in this story.
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Treasure Island (FIC STE U)
When Jim Hawkins picks up the oil skin packet from Captain Flint's
sea chest, he has no idea that here lies the key to untold wealth - a treasure
map. He sails on the Hispaniola as cabin boy, with the awesome Long John Silver
as ship's cook and the rest of the shifty crew, and embarks on an extraordinary
and dangerous quest to find the buried treasure.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (PB STE U)
Stark and skillfully woven, this fascinating novel explores the curious turnings
of human character through the strange case of Dr. Jekyll, a kindly scientist who by night takes
on his stunted evil self, Mr. Hyde. Anticipating modern psychology, JEKYLL AND HYDE is a brilliantly
original study of man's dual nature - as well as an immortal tale of suspense and terror.
The Black Arrow (FIC STE U)
A young Englishman, seeking to avenge the death of his father, becomes involved
in the band of the Black Arrow and the events of the War of the Roses.
Twain, Mark
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (FIC TWA U)
The setting is a small Mississippi River town in
the 1830s, and the characters are the grownups and the children of the town. The
book's nostalgic attitude and its wistful re-creation of pre-Civil War life are
humorously spiced by its main character, Tom Sawyer. Rather than the "model boy"
of Sunday-school stories, Tom is mischievous and
irresponsible but goodhearted. Although Thomas Bailey Aldrich's Story of a Bad
Boy was published seven years before it, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn changed
the course of American writing and gave the first deeply felt vision of boyhood
in juvenile literature.
Verne, Jules
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (FIC VER U) (PB VER U)
A huge sea monster has attacked and wrecked several ships from beneath the sea. Professor
Arronax bravely joins a mission to hunt down the beast. He goes aboard the Nautilus,
a secret submarine helmed by the mysterious Captain Nemo. When things start to go wrong,
Arronax finds there's no escape from the Nautilus, and he is now Captain Nemo's
captive - 20,000 leagues under the sea!
Around the World in Eighty Days (FIC VER L)
Lively narrative recounts the journey undertaken by sedentary London
gentleman Phileas Fogg and his valet, Passepartout, in order to win a wager with
Fogg's fellow club members. Pursued by Fix, a private detective who believes
Fogg to be a bank robber, the pair cross three continents and two oceans on
trains, steamers, an elephant, and a sail-sledge. Delays and death-defying
exploits abound.
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine (FIC WEL U) (PB WEL U)
The Time Machine conveys the Time Traveller into the far distant future
and an extraordinary world. There, stranded on a slowly dying Earth, he discovers two
bizarre races of beings, the effete Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks - a haunting
portrayal of Darwin's evolutionary theory carried to a terrible conclusion.
The Invisible Man (FIC WEL U) (PB WEL U)
The Invisible Man is the fascinating tale of a brash young scientist who,
experimenting with himself, becomes invisible and then criminally insane, trapped in
the terror of his own creation.
The War of the Worlds (PB WEL U)
They came from outer space - Mars, to be exact. With deadly heat-rays and
giant fighting machines they want to conquer Earth and keep humans as their slaves. Nothing
seems to stop them as the spread terror and death across the planet. It is the start of
the most important war in Earth's history. And Earth will never be the same.
Wharton, Edith
Ethan Frome (PB WHA U)
First published in 1911, the main characters are Ethan Frome, his wife Zenobia (called Zeena), and her
young cousin Mattie Silver. Frome and Zeena marry after she nurses his mother in
her last illness. Although Frome seems ambitious and intelligent, Zeena holds
him back. When her young cousin Mattie comes to stay on their New England farm,
Frome falls in love with her. But the social conventions of the day doom their
love and their hopes. The story forcefully conveys Wharton's thoughts on
society's unbending standards of loyalty.
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