Victory. An Island Tale

Joseph Conrad

This is an exciting, atmospheric work that works on several levels: partly a story of tropical adventures, partly a melodramatic novel, partly a psychological thriller, partly a criticism of the empire. Axel Heist lives on an island in present-day Indonesia with a Chinese aide Wang. Heist visits a nearby island when a womens group plays in a hotel owned by Mr. Schomberg. Schomberg tries to impose himself sexually on one of the band members, Alma, later named Lena. She runs with Heist back to his island and they become lovers

The Mystery of the Sycamore

Carolyn Wells

Another thrilling mystery by author Carolyn Wells. Instead of prison time, former governor, Samuel Appleby, sentences his former rival, Daniel Wheeler to imprisonment on his homestead with a very strange addendum. He then endeavors to convince Mr. Wheeler to endorse his sons candidacy for governor with a promise of commuting his sentence. In the meantime, Samuel Appleby is murdered in Wheelers study, with a bullet through his heart. With not enough clues to proceed in their investigation, the local authorities call in master sleuth Fleming Stone and his sidekick Terence McGuire or Fibsy as hes more commonly known. The discovery of the identity of the murderer has many twists and turns filled with love, devotion, gumshoe dialog, and weird circumstances that will delight the reader in a most unusual way.

Bones of the River

Edgar Wallace

Edgar Wallace was one of the most popular and prolific authors of his era. For his series set in the highly evocative world of West Africa he created two of his most beloved and enduring characters, Colonial Administrator Sanders and his eccentric companion Lieutenant Tibbetts, known to all as Bones. It is a time when the worlds most powerful nations are vying for colonial honor, a time of trading steamers and tribal chiefs. In the mysterious African territories administered by Commissioner Sanders, Bones persistently manages to create his own unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.

The Marvellous Land of Oz

L. Frank Baum

The sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, set shortly after the events in the first book. A fantastical tale of endless imagination, The Marvelous Land of Oz follows the adventures of a young boy named Tip, who, for as long as he can remember has been under the guardianship of a witch named Mombi in the Land of Oz. When Tips prank, in creating a pumpkin-headed man to frighten Mombi backfires, and he is threatened with the terrible fate of being made into a statue as punishment, the young boy runs away and heads for the Emerald City, taking the now living Jack Pumpkinhead with him. Here he meets with our old friends the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as some new friends like the Wooden Sawhorse, the Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug, and the amazing Gump. They thwart the wicked plans of the evil witch Mombi and overcome the rebellion of General Jinjur and her army of young women. This story is as exciting and endearing today as it was when first published more than 80 years ago.

Twixt Land & Sea Tales

Joseph Conrad

There are collected 3 stories. One of the stories has a distinctly ironic accent. In Smile of Fortune, the young captain landed his ship on a tropical island. He is met by a trader named Jacobus, whom he regards as luck. Then he falls in love with the girl Jacobus. By luck, the captain arrives on another island, where there is hunger, and he can sell potatoes.

The Power of Darkness. A Drama in Five Acts

Leo Tolstoy

The very concept of The Power of Darkness for Tolstoy corresponds to the Gospel, where darkness is identified with the concept of hell and death, and light with hope and paradise. The Power of Darkness expresses not only religious, but also philosophical ideas of the great Russian writer. Darkness is the moral blindness of people who commit a crime in order to satisfy the most base motives. The power of The Power of Darkness for Tolstoy is the tragedy of hopelessness, a heavy chain of sins that entangle a person. But The Power of Darkness is also the path to moral regeneration through repentance.

Some Christmas Stories

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens work is ranked among the finest writing in the Western canon, and the author specialized in seasonal stories to warm the hearts of his adoring fans during the holiday season. Dickenss relationship with Christmas extends far beyond the success of A Christmas Carol, with five short Christmas books and countless slighter stories on a festive theme. In all of them he uses Christmas as a time to wake up the dozing conscience of the prosperous urban middle classes. This collection of Christmas-themed tales are an entertaining read during the holidays or any time you need a quick pick-me-up. In this volume you will find the following entertaining holiday tales: The Christmas Tree, What Christmas is as We Grow Older, The Poor Relations Story, The Childs Story, The Schoolboys Story, Nobodys Story. Elegantly written, in pure Dickensian style, these short stories evoke the magic of Christmas and its true meaning.

The Veiled Man. Being an Account of the Risks and Adventures of Sidi Ahamadou, Sheikh of the Azjar Marauders of the Great Sahara

William Le Queux

I am a Veiled Man. Openly, I confess myself a vagabond and a brigand. Living here, in the heart of the Great Desert, six moons march from Algiers, and a thousand miles beyond the French outposts, theft is, with my nomadic tribe, their natural industrya branch of education, in fact. We augment the meagreness of our herds by extorting ransoms from some of our neighbours, and completely despoiling others. Mention of the name of Ahamadou causes the face of the traveller on any of the caravan routes between the Atlas mountains and Lake Tsâd to pale beneath its bronze, for as sheikh of the most powerful piratical tribe in the Sahara, I have earned an unenviable notoriety as leader of The Breath of the Wind, while the Arabs themselves have bestowed upon my people three epithets which epitomise their psychology: Thieves, Hyenas, and Abandoned of Allah.