The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

L. Frank Baum

Every child knows about Santa Claus, the jolly man who brings gifts to all on Christmas. There are many stories that tell of his life, but the delightful version relayed in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is by far the most charming and original of all. Orphaned at an infant Claus is found and raised in the magical Forest of Burzee by a wood-nymph Necile, who convinces the great Ak to allow her to raise Claus for her own. As he grows older he meets his fellow humans, and sees the neglect of children. This sets him on the path to making toys and becoming the beloved Saint Nicholas we are familiar with today. Along the way we learn the origins of the Christmas tree and Christmas stockings and discover the stories behind many Christmas secrets, like why Santa slides down chimneys, how he picks his reindeer, and how he delivers all his toys in one night. Only L. Frank Baum, the man who created the wonderful land of Oz, could have told Santas tale in such rich and imaginative detail!

Война и мир (Wojna i pokój)

Lew Tołstoj

Самый известный во всем мире роман русского писателя Льва Толстого. Этот, поистине шедевр мировой литературы, из разряда вечных 2013 в нем раскрыты основные составляющие человеческого бытия: жизнь и смерть, любовь и измена, подвиг и малодушие, война и мир. В романе на примере хроники жизни нескольких семейств 2013 Болконских, Ростовых, Курагиных показана жизнь тех времен, где мир тесно соседствует с войной, где есть место как любви, так и предательству. Сцены мирной, семейной жизни сменяются картинами военных будней, имеющими значение для хода всей мировой истории. Но для Толстого они одинаково ценны, связаны в едином потоке времени. Каждый эпизод важен не только для развития сюжета, но и как одно из бесчисленных проявлений жизни, которую нас учит любить автор. Роман о великой русской душе, о русском укладе жизни, о вечных вопросах, которые приходится решать каждому человеку наедине с собой. Все жизненные перипетии героев, происходящие на фоне исторических событий, произошедших в начале 19 века с Россией, на фоне кровавых событий войны 1812 года, обретают емкий философский смысл.

Nowele i opowiadania

Stefan Żeromski

Nowele i opowiadania Stefan Żeromski podejmuje przede wszystkim tematykę społeczną, społeczno-obyczajową oraz kwestie związane z rozliczeniem walk niepodległościowych. Nowele Zmierzch i Zapomnienie podejmują na przykład tematykę doli chłopskiej. Siłaczka i Doktór Piotr przedstawiają rozterki i różnice światopoglądowe inteligentów w końcu XIX w. Rozdziobią nas kruki, wrony..., Echa leśne czy O żołnierzu tułaczu są próbą zmierzenia się z legendą powstania styczniowego, wojen napoleońskich i rewolucji francuskiej. W tomie znalazły się następujące utwory: Siłaczka, Doktór Piotr, Zmierzch, Zapomnienie, Rozdzióbią nas kruki, wrony..., Echa leśne, Oko za oko, W sidłach niedoli, Pomyłki, Złe spojrzenie, Pavoncello, Cokolwiek się zdarzy, Ananke, Złe przeczucie, Po Sedanie, Pokusa, Niedziela, Poganin, Do swego Boga, O żołnierzu tułaczu, Na pokładzie, Legenda o bracie leśnym, Cienie, Tabu i Wszystko i nic.

The Golden Beast

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) was the earliest writer of spy fiction as understood today, inventing the rogue male school of adventure thrillers and writing over 150 novels of all sorts. In The Golden Beast, a woman curses her lovers father, a baron, who had her gamekeeper father hanged. Years afterward, three of the barons descendants disappear in a manner that baffles Scotland Yard, appearing they were the victims of that ancient curse. Written in 1925, with a powerful Jewish family as the main characters, there are strong descriptions and anti-Semitic characterizations. The men are greedy, money obsessed, and unattractive. The women are beautiful, alluring, exotic, and immoral.

The Black Abbot

Edgar Wallace

Several employees on a noblemans estate show up at a former abbey, reputed to be haunted, to search for a hidden treasure. However, a mysterious hooded figure begins killing off those who may have figured out where the treasure is hidden. Who the Black Abbott is, what his purpose is and how he is connected with the mystery of the treasure these are the elements of the story. Theres a malevolent ghost, buried treasure, the elixir of life, a crooked lawyer, a tangled romance, a scheming young woman, another young woman facing a fate much worse than death, an atmosphere of breathless excitement and non-stop Edgar Wallace thrills.

Tajemnica wiecznego życia

Włodzimierz Bełcikowski

Powieść Tajemnica wiecznego życia Włodzimierza Bełcikowskiego utrzymana jest w stylistyce horroru. Opowiada o nadprzyrodzonych wydarzeniach, za którymi stoi William Talmes postać osobliwa, parapsycholog o nieoczekiwanych mocach. Wykorzystuje on swoje zdolności do pomocy ludziom w sytuacjach, w których wszystkie tradycyjne naukowe metody zawodzą.

Anne of Green Gables

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Eleven-year-old Anne Shirley is an orphan girl in need of a family and the novel follows her adventures over the next five years. She may be scrawny and freckled with red hair but shes also loving and bright with imagination, smart, dutiful and hardworking. When shes mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, elderly siblings who plan to adopt a young boy to help around their farm in Canadas Prince Edward Island, Anne faces the prospect of securing a home and a loving family if she can prove shes worth keeping. Time will demand adult choices at a critical moment, choices that will change her life and affect those around her. First published in 1908, Anne of Green Gables has spawned a slew of sequels and other related novels.

The Tragedy of a Week

E. Phillips Oppenheim

British author E. Phillips Oppenheim achieved worldwide fame with his thrilling novels and short stories concerning international espionage and intrigue, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. His novels and short stories have all the elements of blood-racing adventure and intrigue and are precursors of modern-day spy fictions. Readers of Mr. Oppenheims novels may always count on a story of absorbing interest, turning on a complicated plot, worked out with dexterous craftsmanship. The Tragedy of a Week is an entertaining tale with lots of unexpected turns and twists, published in 1984. If you havent discovered the joys of Oppenheims mysteries there is a good place to start.