Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in All Categories

This is a lovely collection of children's tales collected and interpreted by Padraic Colum which he first published in 1916. It is very much like a continuous poem using some brilliant characters from many a traditional tale told around the hearth.

Mr Fortune Explains is HC Bailey's sixth collection of eight golden-age mysteries for the eclectic surgeon-detective Mr Reginald Fortune. Including a child kidnapped from a picnic; a milliner's assistant vanishing from home without a word to her friends; a strange visit, followed by a violent attack on Mr Fortune himself; a raid on a jeweler's shop, and the theft of a photograph; an ill-situated rock garden, and a haunted man; a rigidly saintly clergyman suspected of a trivial theft; a dead policeman and a broken bicycle lamp; and a curiously disturbing picture in the Paris salon.

The Odyssey has survived nearly three thousand years because it speaks to a simple, powerful truth: sometimes the hardest battle is not the war abroad, but the long, uncertain journey back home. In this modern prose retelling, Homer's epic is presented as a continuous story rather than as verse. The language is clear and contemporary, but the structure and major episodes of the original are faithfully preserved.

R. Austin Freeman presents eight cases for his ingenious Edwardian "scientific investigator", Dr. John Thorndyke, including: a classic locked-room murder mystery; a race to find a disappeared child; a dead woman discovered on a train; the story of the vengeful ghost of a murdered Chinese mandarin; and the enigmatic Moabite Cypher. As ever, Dr. Thorndyke meticulously collects the evidence of footprints, dust, hairs, and fibres, and even a single blue sequin, to unravel the mystery and see that justice is done.

A dead woman is discovered in the parlor of an empty luxury home in New York's famed Gramercy Park. Thus opens Anna Katharine Green's popular detective novel That Affair Next Door.

Edith (E.) Nesbit was a master at weaving imagination and real life into timeless fairy tales, with fantastic mythical creatures, princes and princesses, magic, and just the right touch of silliness. This is a collection of nine of her fairy tales with a common theme - Dragons! For children from five to 95, these stories are not to be taken seriously. Let your imagination run wild!

Sixteen-year-old Nancy Drew thoroughly enjoys helping her Dad, lawyer Carson Drew, with his cases. Her talent for following clues comes in handy when looking for a will hidden by the wealthy Josiah Crowley. Josiah told several relatives and friends—all in need of financial assistance—that they would be mentioned in his will. But after his death, the will bequeaths everything to his cousins, the Topham family. Nancy Drew knows the social-climbing Tophams and wonders why kindly Mr. Crowley would overlook his more needy relatives in favor of them. Surely, there must be another will!

Little Women, set in the 19th century follows the lives of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March as they live, learn, love, and grow as young pilgrims and blossom into fine little women. Based on the author's childhood, Little Women is one of the most beloved stories in American literature. It continues to touch listeners both young and old. Alcott takes you on a prolific journey which will make your heart swell, your soul laugh, and your heart ache as we experience the lives of the March sisters as they endure their lessons, scrapes, castles in the air, their romances, and more.

Tales of Troy and Greece by classicist and gifted storyteller Andrew Lang is an ideal introduction to the The Iliad and The Odyssey, recounting the Homeric legend of the wars between the Greeks and the Trojans. Paris, Achilles, the lovely Helen of Troy, Penelope, Hector, Ulysses, the Amazons, and the Wooden Horse all feature in this evocative introduction to one of the greatest legends ever told.

First published in 1869, Little Women is the story of four sisters growing up against the background of the American Civil War. Alcott wrote the book at the urging of the publisher, Thomas Niles, who was seeking a story about girls that would have popular appeal. Although it was commenced essentially as a children's book, it developed into something of a bildungsroman, which touches on more serious issues such as the difficulties faced by single-parent families, the death of a sibling, and fractured relationships.

A fifth collection of eight golden-age detective mysteries for H. C. Bailey's eclectic scientific detective Mr. Reginald Fortune. Including a stock market bubble and a sudden death; a wealthy businessman threatened by a mystery man; a mountaineering accident in the shadow of the Jungfrau; a curious archaeological discovery; a series of crimes in a quiet cathedral close; and two very different violent deaths, with an unexpected link.

By the end of the 21st century, a deep-state human-systems organization, the Psychotechnic Institute, has begun melding neuroscience and psychoanalytics to create the foundation for generations of more peaceful, more powerful, more "sensitive" human beings. In Poul Anderson's 1954 science-fiction thriller, The Sensitive Man, one such human, Simon Dalgetty, is on the trail of brutal men who kidnapped Michael Tighe, keeper of the keys to the Institute's secrets, and, thus, to the fate of world order.

Pangloss would have been right at home in a post-truth, social media world. You can imagine the tweets, “I was hanged and survived #soggyrope,” or, “#nosyphilisnochocolate.” Candide, written in 1759, was never more relevant than today. Blind obeisance and denial, barbarous villainy, greed, and rapacity, are all in a day’s toil for the young Candide. And this is in the best of all possible worlds!

The Travelling Ape is an award-winning book that explores what travelling the world taught him about life, humanity, and the geopolitical turmoil that so defines us. And how exploring the world changed him as a person, too. A journey infused with sharp insights and equally entertaining anecdotes of personal humiliation from when travel goes wrong.

On a whim and at the advice of a friendly Alley Cat, Elmer Elevator packs his knapsack and heads on a daring quest to rescue a baby dragon. Join Elmer as he treks through Wild Island on a rescue mission relying only on what he can find in his backpack! Will the Wild Animals he meets along the way bring him closer to the dragon?

In the roaring '20s, adventurous young Sonora Webster sees an exciting act that will change her life forever. Hooves pound as a horse gallops up the ramp of a 40-foot-tall tower. A girl in a sparkly swimsuit waits at the top, and at the last possible second, leaps on its back as they dive through the air, falling to a tank of water far below with thunderous applause. Sonora is hooked. From that moment on, she is determined to BE that girl, despite the danger, and endeavors to join the diving horse troupe. This memoir follows her exciting career and life on the road as a traveling performer.

Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery is best known for her series of coming-of-age novels featuring the feisty orphan, Anne Shirley. However, Montgomery was also a prolific producer of short stories, which are notable for their wholesome presentations of romance and family life. This collection includes 27 stories that were published between 1909 and 1922.

Beloved author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, from Anne of Green Gables fame builds on themes from the Anne books in this collection of 31 stories where young people break past limitations, old people rediscover joy, and love cannot be stopped even by death. Rejoin the gentle, courageous world of the Canadian Maritime Provinces in which Anne flourished in this heartwarming collection.

My best friend has held a grudge against his half-sister, Lauren, forever. It’s unjustified and ridiculous, but I have to take his side. Also ridiculous? How bad I have it for her. My Lauren radar goes off the second she steps in the building. Did I mention we work together and her dad’s the boss? Yeah, she’s so off-limits I might as well start running now and never come back. Except, her family is like family to me. So, I’ll do whatever it takes to stick around, even if she hates my guts.

The bustling city-state of Marchen borders the seats of the Three Queens, represented by the spindle, the slipper and the apple. But it’s been a hundred years since the rule of the Three Queens. The time of the godmothers has passed. If you want access to magic you either have to be one of the few who are born with it and live in hiding. Or extremely wealthy. Samara Dawa is a former assassin, stolen from her family and sold to the assassin’s guild when she was a child. When the opportunity to destroy the man who sold her comes up, she doesn’t hesitate.