Felicitas. A.D. 476

Felix Dahn

Felix Dahn (1834-1912) war ein deutscher Professor für Rechtswissenschaften, Schriftsteller und Historiker. Zwischen 1882 und 1901 ließ Dahn in 13 Bänden Kleine Romane aus der Völkerwanderung, zwischen 1890 und 1895 ebenfalls in mehreren Bänden eine etwa dreitausendseitige Autobiografie folgen. Felicitas ist eine Geschichte über deutsche Migranten.

The Shadow-Line. A Confession

Joseph Conrad

This book is about a young captain who is hastily given his first command of a ghost ship. Its about a first mate who will lose his mind to madness as the malaria sickness spreads without medicine. This book is about a calm sea with not a sigh of a wind to move the ship. The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad describes that demarcation line in the journey of life that divides the happy, bright, fantastic and irresponsible youth with the darker ages of manhood. Conrad goes on to delineate this vision as being beyond the charm and innocence of illusions. It isnt an elaborate story, but one that explores that moment, that shadow-line between youth and adulthood. It is a story about maturity, wisdom, experience. And, even though Conrad himself tells us this story is not about the supernatural, a curse and the first captain who died before Conrad took command, tells us otherwise.

The Beast in the Jungle

Henry James

At the reception in the rich manor there are not the first youth mister and also not a young lady anymore. Both belong to the same circle of birth, but the financial affairs of a man are in somewhat better condition. It all seems to him that he is meant for something great and terrible that will destroy his own life and the lives of loved ones like a sudden fit of madness or, yes, how many anything can be options. It is like seeing yourself as a thicket in which the beast is hiding for the time being.

Ranching for Sylvia

Harold Bindloss

George is a brave guy. The one for whom everyone experiences in this story. He does not think twice about doing the right thing. George takes and does. He did his best to cope with the difficulties in the open prairie. This is a story about a brave fight on a ranch and farm in the Canadian prairie.

The Relentless City

E.F. Benson

The Relentless City is a manners novel built around Lord Bertie Keynes, intending to inherit the title and pledged property of a young English widow. These two people decide they want to marry wealth, and that means marrying Americans. Bertie must marry money, and Sybil admires the American spirit. A novel about the American way of life, embodied by the millionaire and workaholic himself, a former railway porter, Lewis Palmer a man whose whole life is directed, with great concern, to making money.

The Tragedy of the Korosko

Arthur Conan Doyle

Ten tourists from England, Ireland, America and France, six men and four women are on a vacation trip down the Nile in 1895. Without warning they are captured by Islamic terrorists, and the possibility of rescue becomes more remote with each passing day. Their choice is a stark one: either convert to Islam and become slaves for the rest of their lives or die. In this story, the reader is swept out of the placid stream of existence and dashed against the horrible jagged facts of life. Written toward the end of the Victorian era and permeated with a sense of fear and uncertainty, this story calls into question the moral authority of Europes presence in the Arab peninsula and the cultural supremacy of British colonialism, all the while demonstrating Conan Doyles unparalleled ability as a storyteller.

Frank Merriwell at Yale

Burt L. Standish

Frank Merriwell is the perfect protagonist. He leads a healthy lifestyle, courageous and cheerful. Frank just radiates vital energy. Merriwell excelled at football, baseball, crew, and track at Yale while solving mysteries and righting wrongs. The book is written in a simple form, it is easy to read, thanks to all understandable slang.

The Blockade Runners

Jules Verne

The Civil War is tearing apart the North American United States. The Union Fleet blocked the Confederate seacoast, interrupting all sea trade, and European merchants suffer big losses from this. One of Glasgows trading houses is building a high-speed ship capable of breaking through the blockade and bringing unheard of profits. But on board the ship, not only those seeking benefits will set sail.