Showing results by author "Various Various" in All Categories

Dive into the humorous world of John Colliers Tim Bobbin, a delightful comic dialogue that showcases his unique take on the 18th-century South Lancashire dialect. Join Tummus (Thomas) as he recounts a series of comical misadventures during a trip to Rochdale, all while following an errand for his master. First published in 1746, this engaging text evolved through subsequent editions, featuring an expanded narrative, a preface where Collier critiques publishers who pirated his works, and an enriched glossary. The reading presented here is from the final version of the 1862 edition, which ...

Dive into the boundless universe of science fiction, where the only limitations are those set by the authors imagination. This genre not only entertains but also inspires innovation and curiosity, often igniting a passion for the sciences in young minds. Explore social themes, envision future possibilities, and embark on riveting adventures that showcase the richness of the human experience. Join us as we celebrate the timeless tales that have shaped our understanding of the world and beyond. (Summary by A. Gramour)

Classic short stories told by candlelight. These stories are designed for you to enjoy while falling asleep. Here you'll find works by famous classic authors such as O. Henry, Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, George Orwell, The Brother's Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and so many more.

What Will Happen in 2012? Long before 2012 entered the public eye, a handful of pioneers dedicated themselves to studying the scientific, spiritual, and prophetic evidence that marks this year as a critical time in our planet’s history. On The Mystery of 2012, eight of these thought leaders...

THE POWER OF SCRIPTURE... THE BEAUTY OF MUSIC... A GIFT OF COMFORT, UNDERSTANDING AND JOY GOD'S COMFORT In times of illness, anxiety or sorrow, when hope is most elusive, the Bible stands as a beacon of eternal solace and strength. There is much to be learned about suffering -- its meaning and...

Here, in our 21st collection, are 10 One Act Plays for your enjoyment. There are two plays from the 1700s, Congreve's "Judgement of Paris" and Handel's "Esther"; the remaining plays come from the early 1900s, with the whole collection bookended by a pair of one act plays by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero. All short gems to make you laugh, cry, think, or all three. (NOTE: Floyd Dell died in 1969, so the play "A Long Time Ago" is not PD for readers in Europe and/or Australia, and other countries which observe copyright of author's death +70 years.) - Summary by ToddHW Cast lists: 1. A Seat in the Park ...

"There are few books which go with midnight, solitude, and a candle." H. M. Tomlinson's charming essay Bed-Books and Night-Lights is one of 15 reader-chosen recordings in vol. 108. Other easy listening pieces are My Neighbor and Myself and Animal Sketching. Social concerns are central to Composite Nation; A Study of Twentieth Century Success; Age and Eminence; The Case Against Socialism; and Speech to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island. Science is highlighted in Jethro Tull (Dry Farming); Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun's Rays; and Volcanic Eruption of Mount Tambora. ...

"It is a foolish thing to speak on every kind of work, for he that disputeth thy words shall put them unto proof." Proverbs of Fair Speech, by Ptah-hotep an Egyptian vizier, is one of 15 reader-chosen recordings in vol. 106. Other reflective selections are The Appearance of Good Angels; Latin School Prize Declamation; The Persecutions of Beauty; Instructions of Kegemni; The Teaching of Amen-Em-Apt; Rights of Aliens in the United States; and The Triton Fountain. Science-focused articles include The Influence of Temperature on a Mendelian Character; The Effects of Temperature Upon Growing Mice; ...

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 62 features several introspective essays: by T. S. Eliot (Tradition and Individual Talent), Stephen Leacock (The Decline of the Drama), Carlyle (The Sacredness of Work), and Jonathan Swift (A Meditation Upon a Broomstick). Life questions are further explored by theologians Agrippa von Nettesheim (The Vanity of Arts and Sciences) and Spurgeon (Effectual Calling, Sermon # 73), while spiritualist Andrew Jackson Davis presents his understanding of death and dying (The Portal of the Unknown). Public and...

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include the impact of World War I on human society and endeavor: In 1916, Woodrow Wilson declares that "real glory" comes from wartime "self-sacrifice," and Wilson's call is taken up by an American officer on the front ranks who writes that he could "not have wished a better way to die than for a righteous cause and one's country." Meanwhile, German industrialists experiment with textile fibers made from wood pulp and nettles, as cotton supplies are cut off, and an American sculptress, Anna Chapman...

"The democracy of the future will sicken of a chronic and mortal boredom," was Aldous Huxley's prophecy for the United States in 1923. You won't be bored listening to these 20 recordings, selected by their readers, with topics ranging from Leacock's humorous Manual of Education to Unamuno's Tragic Sense of Life. There's an artist's diary (Thomas Cole); an after-dinner speech (Mark Twain); reflections on Beauty by John Burroughs; Willa Cather and Christopher Morley on writing; and Leibniz on the Origin of Things. Political topics include the Power of Third Parties; the House of Commons; the ...

"Pneumatic tubes, instead of store wagons, will deliver packages and bundles." Store purchases by tube was one of John Watkins Jr's predictions for What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years, written in 1900. Man and womankind's achievements, and their failures, are central to many of the reader chosen nonfiction pieces in vol. 091 (Racial Geography, Airmail Pilots, The Skeleton in the Closet, On Noise, Progressive Party Platform, Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, Haroun Al-Raschid, Plea for Atheism, Cry of the Children, Address to Medical Students, The Brotherhood of the Kingdom, ...

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain independently chosen by the readers. Volume 60 features excerpts from two German philosophers, Christian von Wolff and Hegel, as well as British theologian Edward Stillingfleet. It contains essays on women as inventors (Matilda Joslyn Gage) , Uruguayan society (W. H. Hudson), political economy (Frederick Bastiat) pipe smoking (Sewell Ford) and personal dislikes (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.). Days to remember are chronicled in first hand accounts of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (James Stetson), and a 1830's hydrogen balloon ascension over ...

"Editors of some of the most sensational newspapers say they make a newspaper to suit the public... it must startle with incident and surprise, found or invented." Charles Dudley Warner's lament, from Literature and the Stage, written in 1889, is testimony to the constancy of human preoccupations. War, religious persecution, foreign travel and exploration, dreams and nightmares, even chicken eggs and mice are among the 15 reader chosen topics in volume 107. The volume also contains a timely injunction to Do It Now and a formula to find the day of the week for any given date. Summary by Sue ...

“Oh, mother, I would like to know everything.” “You can never know everything, my child, but you can learn many things from books.” According to children's book author James Baldwin (1841-1925), book reading was the key to success in life (Read and You Shall Know). Several vol. 083 selections tackle the thorny questions of how to foster open-mindedness, creativity, and compassion in the child and adult: (The Road to Success; Young People and Insurance; William Paley on Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy; Letter from Françoise d'Aubigné; Looking Ahead for Democracy (1919): ...

"Certitude is not the test of certainty." This pithy phrase is from Jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr's essay on Natural Law, one of twenty nonfiction pieces chosen by their readers for inclusion in volume 087. Selections from Pascal, Josiah Royce, and C.S. Peirce also delve philosophical themes. Builders, warriors, artists, and activists, the many faces of mankind, are illuminated in selections on Ferdinand De Lesseps, Stanislaus Koniecpolski, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, Frederic Edwin Church, the 14th century citizens of Liège, who vanquished Sir Radus' castle, and ...

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. A review of William Carlos Williams' "Kora in Hell" by Robert McAlmon is one of several selections devoted to literature and learning. Others are H. P. Lovecraft's "Literary Composition;" George Herbert Betts's "The Mind and Its Education;" William Wells Newell's "Michelangelo as Poet;" and Thoreau's "Wild Apples." Humor receives its due in "The Methods of Mr. Sellyer: A Book Store Study" (Stephen Leacock); "The Plumber" (Charles Dudley Warner); "The Yawn of the Computer Age" (NSA Cryptolog); and an unnamed boy's "Essay on Girls." Innovation...

Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include science and natural history--the donkey, forestry, grape vines, astronomy, historian Agnes Mary Clerke, and Greek botanist Theophrastus ; philosophy-- Nicholas of Cusa and Emmanuel Kant; Sommerset Maugham's reminiscences of Spain; Joseph Conrad's sea stories; an encounter with a long-ago companion who has contracted leprosy (Joe of Lahaina); working in the dead-letter office; a dinner the painter Benjamin Hayden hosted for Wordsworth, Keats, and Charles Lamb; a portrait of Margaret Fuller...

Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include ancient Greek thinkers--Parmenides, Demosthenes, Euclid; William Lloyd Garrison and the National Anti-Slavery Convention; 19th and 20th century philosophers, sociologists, theologians and essayists--Bertrand Russell, Walter Rauschenbusch, Kierkegaard, N.F.S. Brundtvig, Frederik Sibbern, Hans Lassen Martensen, Oscar Wilde; science and invention--sunspots, paper making, aviation; and the shipwreck adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the real Robinson Crusoe. (summary by Sue Anderson) Learning ...

"Of all effects of weather, snow makes the greatest change in animal economy in the countryside, and weeks often pass before the old order is restored." [English Animals in Snow.] Many of the reader-chosen selections in vol. 101 look at disruptions in the status quo. Weather features in A Drop of 4000 feet; Geographic Aspect of Culture; and Effects of Weather Upon Death Rate and Crime in India. The impact of disease is made clear in The History of Syphilis. The disruptive power of technology is shown in Thomas Edison, Greatest of Inventors. Societal and religious strife are examined in ...