Gobseck

Honoré de Balzac

Originally published in 1830, here we have perhaps Balzacs best short work, named simply Gobseck. Gobseck is a marvelous sketch of a money-lender and miser in Paris during the early part of the nineteenth century who is a font of psychological insight when it comes to humankinds greed, vanity and other dark motives. His philosophy of never helping anyone because adversity is the greatest of all teachers was well known. He also believed that all the peoples of the world were really very much alike because money was the greatest common denominator. It gives us Gobsecks history through the eyes of Derville who later becomes the attorney for Colonel Chabert. Episodic in nature, the story moves rapidly, touching not only on Gobseck but on other characters of The Human Comedy, a collection of over 90 novels and stories in which Balzac attempts to depict all the myriad aspects of French society.

Those Other Days

E. Phillips Oppenheim

A collection of nineteen stories, by Edward Phillips Oppenheim, mostly from the 1890s and early 1900s, published in magazines, and collected in 1913. Ghost stories, bizarre adventures, strange appearances and disappearances, and improbable love are the themes of these very enjoyable stories by the master storyteller. Young men courting women, psychic phenomena, and humorous characters abound. Those Other Days stories are almost Victorian in their diction and flavor, with some of the fascination of the period for supernatural events. If you havent discovered the joys of Oppenheims stories, which are clearly written and literary there is a good place to start. Highly recommended!

The Kingdom of Earth

E. Phillips Oppenheim

John Peters is the dissolute Crown Prince of Bergeland. The nephew of the rapacious and immoral King. Grace Pellisier is an English American actress who meets a thoughtful, serious, hiker in the mountains of Switzerland. Bernhardt is the energetic Chief of the Secret Service, protecting the aging King, and constantly searching for The Watcher, the leader of the revolutionary republicans. Written during a period of intense anti-monarchy which saw the end of the Russian Tzar, Oppenheim is using the politics of Europe to imagine an alternative path to bloody revolution. And so on, and with the material of conspiracies, love and adventure the story is woven around the Prince with that peculiar polish in dialogue and fascinating coloring characteristic of the popular author.

The Tin Woodman of Oz

L. Frank Baum

The Tin Woodman, assisted by Woot the Wanderer, the Scarecrow of Oz, and Polychrome, the Rainbows Daughter are on an adventure searching for the pretty Munchkin girl that the Tin Woodman loved before the Old Witch of the East turned his body to tin, causing him to lose his heart. In a series of adventures sure to thrill Oz fans both old and new, these beloved friends face such challenges as a selfish giantess and a group of quarrelsome dragons all to fulfill a promise made long ago to a beautiful Munchkin girl. The Tin Woodman of Oz is the twelfth Land of Oz book written by L. Frank Baum and was originally published on May 13, 1918. This novel provides a backstory for the original novel The Wizard of Oz and reversed a trend of declining sales for the series, perhaps as a result of a desire for nostalgia amid the carnage of World War I. The book was dedicated to the authors grandson Frank Alden Baum.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

L. Frank Baum

Ojo the Unlucky, a Munchkin boy raised in isolation in the Blue Forest by his taciturn Unc Nunkie, finds himself setting out on a quest through the wider world of Oz in this seventh entry in L. Frank Baums series about that magical country. The reader accompanies Ojo, the Glass Cat and the Patchwork Girl on a journey to find five magic items in the wonderful Land of Oz to restore to life Ojos Uncle Nunkie and the Crooked Magicians wife, Margolotte, who turn to marble when the Magicians Elixir of Petrification accidentally falls upon them. On his journey, Ojo meets many strange creatures and interesting characters, some new, like the lovable block-headed Woozy, whose tail hairs are just one of the things Ojo needs to rescue Une Nunkie; the Hoppers and Horners and some familiar, like the Jack Pumpkinhead. As they travel to the Emerald City, home of the wise and powerful Ozma, they meet Dorothy, the kind and sensible girl from Kansas; the gallant Scarecrow; and, of course, Toto. But no one proves more loyal than the spirited Patchwork Girl, who, although she was brought to life as a servant, is determined to see the wide world for herself.

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard is a volume collecting 8 short stories about a courier and cavalryman in the personal service of Napoleon Bonaparte. The stories in The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard are all told in the first person by an aged Gerard looking back on his military endeavours in the early 1800s when there was no man prouder to serve the Emperor Napoleon. Etienne Gerard is a dashing, chivalrous, and stalwart French officer who becomes involved various suspenseful and often comical political intrigues. He battles outlaws, Englishmen and Cossacks and always maintains a his honor and his style. However, despite his ludicrous self-adoration, Gerard is a hugely likeable figure owing to the fact that he does display the commendable traits of loyalty and bravery that he cannot disguise.

By Order of the League

Fred M. White

Frederick Merrick White wrote a number of short stories, including By Order of the League. The story of the Order By the Order of the League begins with a cozy room, where there is a cozy atmosphere. Frederic Maxwell was an English art enthusiast, and, no doubt, if he had to earn his living with his brush, it would have caused some shock in the world. However, being born with a traditional silver spoon in his mouth, his flirtation with art never threatened to become serious.

Szatan i Judasz (Tom 8). Szatan i Judasz. U stóp puebla

Karol May

Szatan i Judasz. U stóp puebla to ósma część z 11-tomowego cyklu przygodowego autorstwa Karola Maya. Znani z innych serii bohaterowie przemierzają świat wzdłuż i wszerz są zawsze tam, gdzie coś się dzieje i gdzie potrzebna ich pomoc. Znakomicie radzą sobie w najtrudniejszych sytuacjach, dzięki czemu udaje im się ocalić wiele istnień. Nagrodą często bywają odnalezione skarby.

The Squeaker

Edgar Wallace

The Squeaker is a piece of early crime writing by author Edgar Wallace, first published in 1927. This novel is a traditional mystery, featuring some crooks and some policemen, a mysterious villain, a lovely girl and a plot with many twists. It is the thrilling story of a group of London jewel thieves and the company they keep. The title character is an omnipotent fence who has cornered the diamond-smuggling racket. The fence travels in polite society under the guise of a wealthy philanthropist. A Scotland Yard detective pretends to be an ex-convict in order to infiltrate the Squeakers gang and to track down the stolen gems. An entertaining tale of mystery and intrigue in Londons underworld, this volume constitutes a must-read for lovers of crime fiction.

Captain Nicholas

Hugh Walpole

Captain Nicolas is the authors most recognizable character. One for which its immediately clear whose story it is. Hugh Walpole tells the story of a family conflict. This is an ideal family, an example for everyone, but an evil and dissatisfied brother breaks into this idyll. The story is about an evil brother who is returning to visit his family, and about the destruction that he is reaping with his activity.

Peter Ruff

E. Phillips Oppenheim

With the police hot on his tail, Peter Ruff decides to turn from a life of crime to the more lucrative life of a private investigator. With his ties to the underworld and his skill at disguise, Peter is the perfect sleuth. Along with his trusted and beautiful assistant, Violet Brown, Mr. Ruff is brilliantly successful in his new career. As his reputation for solving crime grows, he is noticed and adopted as a leader by a large conglomerate of criminals who have chosen to turn their skills to good. Unfortunately, his success also gains the enmity of many people, including his former fiancées new husband and a notorious German spy. How he outwits these two men-and others-while satisfying his taste for adventure. Highly recommended for people who like to treat a mystery story as a solvable riddle!

Inside the Lines

Earl Derr Biggers, Robert Welles Ritchie

Inside the Lines is a drama that developed during the First World War. The story about a business woman who came to New York to visit her department store. She meets an officer in the British signal corps. He escorts her to Paris and advises to quickly complete his business and return to America before the start of the war. But our heroine does the opposite and is in difficult circumstances.

The Ear in the Wall

Arthur B. Reeve

The scientific detective known as the American Sherlock Holmes pursues a ruthless arch villain in this high-stakes suspense novel. The Exploits of Elaine is a collection of short stories about a beautiful young woman Elaine, whos father was murdered by the mysterious gang leader The Clutching Hand, and who is subsequently terrorized by him and his gang. Using the latest advances in forensic science, the professor Craig Kennedy and his loyal sidekick, newspaper reporter Walter Jameson, uncover the exotic and deadly scheme behind the murders. But when the Clutching Hand and his band of evildoers kidnap Elaine, Kennedy must shed his lab coat and leap into action before its too late.

Barcikowscy

Maria Rodziewiczówna

Niezwykła opowieść o walce o zachowanie polskości i wiary w zaborze rosyjskim. Dwaj bracia Barcikowscy stają wobec opresyjnego systemu. Wacław zostaje wysłany przez matkę i babkę na nauki do gimnazjum w Petersburgu. Po zakończeniu edukacji pnie się po szczeblach urzędniczej kariery, z piękną jak madonna z ikony Rosjanką u boku. Tymczasem drugi z braci, Filip nie tak zdolny, może też i nie tak bardzo kochany zostaje na gospodarstwie. Ale to on nie skala nazwiska, nie zaprzepaści wiary. Osiągnie prawdziwe szczęście, spokój duszy, miłość dzieci i żony oraz szacunek sąsiadów. I w ostatecznym rozrachunku, to on będzie zwycięzcą.

Son of the White Wolf

Robert E. Howard

Francis Xavier Gordon was a living legend in the Middle and Far East. The boars called him El Borac, Swift, the title earned by his awkward abilities with a gun, a knife and a sword. Now, the mighty El Borak must stretch its forces to prevent the Turkish uprising, protect the hermits from murders and stop the dangerous amir without allowing him to seize control over India.

Victor, de la Brigade mondaine

Maurice Leblanc

On affirmait ces jours-ci que le fameux cambrioleur Arsene Lupin, qui, apres quelques années de silence, fait beaucoup parler de lui actuellement, aurait été vu mercredi dernier dans une ville de lEst. Des insprcteurs ont été envoyés de Paris. Une fois de plus, il aurait échappé letreinte de la police. Victor, de la Brigade mondaine, considere Lupin comme lennemi personnel. Est-ce que le qentleman-cabrioleur peut affronter lattaque?