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First published in 1894, this wonderful travelogue by a famed naturalist and conservationist still remains a book that delights and informs its readers. The Mountains of California by John Muir recounts the author’s exploration of the Yosemite Valley, Mount Whitney, the famed sequoia forests and King’s Canyon among other places of immense natural beauty. Written in his characteristic zestful style, with a deep understanding and respect for nature, the book is a treasure trove of geography, geology, botany, biology and sheer love of the magical planet we live in. His descriptions of the flora, fauna and magnificent scenery around him are amazing word pictures that bring this fabulous landscape to life for the reader. John Muir was of Scottish-American origin and one of the first environmentalists who believed in preserving nature above the claims of trade and commerce. He believed that we human beings must save the wilderness and habitat of others we share this earth with. Some of his writings have had a deep and lasting impact on modern ecological and environmental studies and he is today widely regarded as one of the patron saints of this branch of philosophy. His considerable body of work includes letters, essays, books, writings on Nature and conservation and also several important academic works. There are many monuments in America in his memory, including the famous John Muir hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the John Muir College, the Muir Woods National Park etc. His mission was to raise the consciousness of the ordinary person on the street so that they could recognize the importance of living in harmony with their environment and prevent them from sinking into complete materialism and disaster. In The Mountains of California, Muir recounts his visits to the Cascades Peaks – Mt St Helens and Mt Shasta. The original edition includes some wonderful illustrations of trees, glaciers, insects, plants and several maps of the Yosemite Valley. His intrepid mountaineering skills, the hardships he endured in this harsh and lonely landscape, punctuated only by crystal clear lakes and wonderful native species of plants and animals are described with great skill in the book. His early views on destruction of indigenous species and their transformation into orchards and pastures for domestic animals are well documented here. His lyrical descriptions of the Golden Gate through the Central Valley of California, the fathomless canyons and chasms, the valley where the California Gold Rush took place and above all the splendid stands of pine trees of different varieties make this book an interesting and delightful read for young and old readers alike.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, John Muir, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, nature, Non-fiction, The Mountains of California

The three charming stories contained in The Frog Prince and Other Tales include a less-known fairy-tale called Princess Belle-Etoile besides the title story and Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp. Published in 1874, the tales are re-told by the famous illustrator Walter Crane, who has also provided some of the most lovely illustrations in the book. The book makes an ideal gift and both parents and children will certainly enjoy it. It’s perfect for bedtime story-reading sessions and kids would love gazing at the beautiful Greek-style illustrations that are scattered throughout the book. The Frog Prince is a German fairy-tale, which was part of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales collection. It tells of a beautiful and spoiled young princess who is taught one of life’s most important lessons by a hideous frog. Princess Belle-Etoile was originally a French story written by Baroness d’Aulnoy who coined the term “fairy tale.” It tells of an exiled queen who brings up her three daughters in poverty. An old woman visits them one day and they show her great kindness and hospitality. She, being a fairy, rewards them with boons. The rest of the story follows the adventures of the three sisters. Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp is another old favorite featured here. Though the story is set in “an Eastern city” the illustrations seem to follow an Asian theme but are nevertheless very charming. Walter Crane was an art scholar and artist who had made a detailed study of many artistic traditions like the Japanese and European. His father was a well-known portrait painter. Walter himself was inspired by ancient artistic traditions and also worked diligently to bring art to the common masses. The Frog Prince and Other Tales is one of those delightful keepsake volumes that will certainly be treasured by generations in your family!

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Fairy tales, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, The Frog Prince and Other Stories, Walter Crane

The extraordinary child-adult Prince Myshkin, confined for several years in a Swiss sanatorium suffering from severe epilepsy, returns to Russia to claim his inheritance and to find a place in healthy human society.The teeming St Petersburg community he enters is far from receptive to an innocent like himself, despite some early successes and relentless pursuit by grotesque fortune-hunters. His naive gaucheries give rise to extreme reactions among his new acquaintance, ranging from anguished protectiveness to mockery and contempt.But even before reaching the city, during the memorable train journey that opens the novel, he has encountered the demonic Rogozhin, the son of a wealthy merchant – who is in thrall to the equally doomed Nastasia Filippovna: beautiful, capricious and destructively neurotic, she joins with the two weirdly contrasted men in a spiralling dance of death…

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Languages, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Idiot

A masterly mix of romance, drama, mystery, suspense, love and jealousy, The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux will haunt you long after you’ve turned the last page. Today the world knows it by Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s long running musical on stage and its 2004 film adaptation, and earlier from Lon Chaney’s screen portrayal of the dark intruder who roams the Paris Opera House. However, Gaston Leroux’s novel was first released as a serial in the French magazine, La Gaulois over four months in 1909-10. Gaston Leroux, himself led an extremely colorful life. Born into an immensely wealthy family, he had to abandon his early dreams of becoming a writer and began studying law. As a student, he inherited millions of francs on the death of his father and embarked on a debauched life which culminated in bankruptcy. Leroux then went to work as a journalist. He covered crime and theater and traveled extensively. He was almost forty when he took up writing as a full time profession. Detective fiction, plays, novels and tales of mystery were his forte. The Phantom of the Opera was translated from the original French by Alexander de Mattos. A tale of fatal obsession, it owes its inspiration to classic fairytales like The Beauty and The Beast, where physical ugliness leads a person to seek anonymity. Erik is a young man, tormented by his physical deformity. He runs away from home as a child and hides his hideous visage in the vast cellars of the Paris Opera House. As he grows, so does his knowledge of music. He falls in love with a young singer, Christine Daae, whom he lures into his lair with his angelic singing. This fatal attraction takes a tragic turn as Christine and her fiancé Raoul are caught in a web of horror and deceit. As a classic Gothic novel, The Phantom of the Opera is matchless in the atmosphere of mystery and evil that it evokes. However, it is also a story of human tragedy and the cruelty we practice on those who look different. The novel is structured in a very interesting way—it’s in the form of bits of information available from journal entries, police reports, interviews alternating with first person accounts. A great read for music lovers, mystery fans and Gothic romance enthusiasts!

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Gaston Leroux, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Phantom of the Opera

A Chief of Police hosts a dinner party for an American millionaire wishing to will his entire fortune to the Church of France. Jewels that have been stolen and recovered so many times that they’re known colloquially by thieves as The Flying Stars. A murder committed by an invisible man. These and many others are the mysteries that are presented to the lovable, bumbling, stumpy Man of God, Father Brown. The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton is a collection of eleven stories which marks the debut of this most unusual detective. Chesterton was a contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it is only natural that his fictional sleuth be compared with the most famous one in English literature, Sherlock Holmes. Unlike Holmes, Father Brown is a gentle, unassuming figure, who solves crimes through reasoning based on spiritualism and philosophic truths instead of scientific methods. The priest is also deeply compassionate and insightful as far as psychological aspects go. He truly delves into the minds of the people and comes up with results. Another big difference is that unlike Doyle, Chesterton was in fact a brilliant writer. His elegant, humorous prose, full of literary touches is very different from Conan Doyle’s bland and simple style. The Father Brown stories are characterized by wildly improbably crimes and plots! In The Secret Garden for instance, the walled garden is almost a parody of the traditional Agatha Christie like isolated country house murder, with no access to outsiders. Though the stories are all stand alone ones, there are some common threads that run through them, providing a tenuous connection. One of Chesterton’s most famous Father Brown stories, The Hammer of God, is contained in this volume. It is a story of unbridled lust and murder that is set in a peaceful village. Full of memorable characters like Mad Joe, the local dysfunctional vagabond, the lascivious Colonel Bohun in hot pursuit of the blacksmith’s beautiful wife and many others, this is one of Chesterton’s masterpieces, remarkable for its tight plot and interesting solution. Chesterton wrote a total of five volumes in the Father Brown series, and a total of some sixty stories concerning the Catholic priest with “an uncanny insight into human evil.” As a most unusual sleuth, Father Brown is sure to captivate readers of all ages and if you haven’t encountered him before, The Innocence of Father Brown could be the beginning of a great literary adventure for you!

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, G. K. Chesterton, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Innocence of Father Brown

An American Robinson Crusoe is a short version of the original story. An indolent, rebellious teen goes on a marine voyage against his parents’ wishes. The ship (and all of its crew) is lost in a storm, but Robinson makes it to a deserted island. He has no tools, no weapons, but he lives for over 28 years on the island. He befriends many animals on the island and after over 20 years living solo, he is joined by a young “savage” who becomes his constant companion. The transformation from the young, lazy teen to a self-sustaining, incredibly knowledgeable adult is one of the major themes in the story.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, An American Robinson Crusoe, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Samuel B. Allison, Teen/Young adult

Once regarded as a cult book in the 1960s by the Flower Power generation, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse remains even today a simple and fresh tale of a man’s spiritual quest. Penned by a deeply spiritual German author, Siddhartha explores multiple themes of enlightenment, thinking beyond set rules, love and humanity. Siddhartha is a young contemporary of the spiritual master Gautam Buddha who lived in India at some time during the 4th century BC. The story has striking parallels to Buddha’s own life story in which he abandons his wealth and status as the young prince of Kapilavastu, his wife and young son and his family to embark on a voyage of self discovery. Siddhartha in the book is the son of a respected Brahmin priest and leaves the comfort and security of his home to seek the meaning of life. His close friend, Govinda, joins him and the two wander as mendicants seeking alms and spiritual guidance. They meet Gautam Buddha and are drawn to his teachings, but whereas Govinda decides to dedicate his life to the spiritual order set up by Buddha, Siddhartha continues his sojourn as he feels he must arrive at enlightenment in his own way. He meets many people from whom he learns valuable lessons about life and death. A ferryman, Vasudeva, teaches him about the river and the flow of life. Kamala a beautiful courtesan teaches him about physical love and how it forms an important foundation of spirituality. Kamaswami, a shrewd businessman shares the secrets of materialism. Siddhartha absorbs important teachings from all these people. The final chapters of this slim volume trace his metaphysical transformation. Hermann Hesse published the novel Siddhartha in 1922. He was the son of a strict and uncompromising Lutheran missionary whose belief that humans are born evil and into sin was rejected by the young Hermann. Having been exposed very early in life to the religions of Asia, Hermann was deeply conflicted. He initially trained to join the church, but was expelled for his rebellious and disruptive behavior. He was schooled at home by tutors, joined various schools which he soon left and was prone to severe depression. He continued his studies on his own and got a job as a bookstore clerk in his hometown of Calw. Siddhartha is a book that adds dimension and depth to today’s modern world which is steeped in materialism and consumerism. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Hermann Hesse, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Siddhartha

One of the most controversial and censored books in English literature, Fanny Hill is regarded as the first original English prose pornography. Notorious for its vivid depiction of sexual exploits in all possible forms, the novel digs up the most thrilling erotic fantasies and pieces them together in a most seductive manner. Published in two installments in 1748 and 1749, the novel was attacked for its obscene content and was consequently banned and withdrawn from publication, due to disparaging moral values whilst promoting debauchery and sexual promiscuity. It is indisputably a tantalizing, erotic novel guaranteed to stir up the imagination and senses. The novel, which is written through the perspective of fifteen-year-old Fanny Hill, records details of her most intimate experiences. Following the death of her parents, Fanny decides to leave her home village in search of employment in the bustling city of London. In hopes of finding work as a maid, she encounters Mrs. Brown who hires the young girl. However, the job offering is not Fanny’s anticipated position as a maid, and instead realizes that Mrs. Brown is in fact a madam in charge of a brothel. Her intentions are quite clear as she plans to sell the young girl’s virginity to a wealthy client. During her stay with the madam, Fanny shares a bed with prostitute Phoebe Ayers, who introduces her to the world of carnal pleasure. After a near rape ordeal, she witnesses the sexual intercourse between Mrs. Brown and a large man of intriguing physical characteristics. Enticed by such a view, Fanny turns to self-pleasure as a means to subdue her sexual desire. It is not until she falls in love with a wealthy young man that she experiences sex for the first time, however, after her lover vanishes she discovers that love is not an element required for sexual pleasure. Consequently Fanny enters the enigmatic world of lust and sexual hunger, as she experiences pleasure in all its possible occurrences. An arousing piece of literature, Cleland uses many instances of euphemisms in the novel as a technique to express images, which in turn leaves the audience to the mercy of their imagination. A novel of exploration, experimentation and sexual freedom, Fanny Hill depicts the true nature of passion.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Erotica, Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, fiction, free audio books, John Cleland, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, romance

“The wrongdoing of one generation lives into the successive ones and… becomes a pure and uncontrollable mischief.” Hawthorne’s moral for “The House of the Seven Gables,” taken from the Preface, accurately presages his story. The full weight of the gloomy mansion of the title seems to sit on the fortunes of the Pyncheon family. An ancestor took advantage of the Salem witch trials to wrest away the land whereon the house would be raised… but the land’s owner, about to be executed as a wizard, cursed the Pyncheon family until such time as they should make restitution. Now, almost two centuries later, the family is in real distress. Hepzibah, an old maid and resident of the house, is forced by advanced poverty to open a shop in a part of the house. Her brother Clifford has just been released from prison after serving a thirty-year sentence for murder, and his mind struggles to maintain any kind of hold on reality. Cousin Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is making himself odious by threatening to have Clifford committed to an institution. And after all these years, the deed to a vast tract of land, that would settle great wealth on the family, is still missing. One bright ray of sunshine enters the house when cousin Phoebe arrives for an extended stay to allow unhappy matters in her end of the family to sort themselves out. While she lightens the lives of Hepzibah and Clifford, she also attracts the attention of a mysterious lodger named Holgrave, who has placed himself near the Pyncheon family for reasons that only come clear at the end of the story. The real crisis arrives when the Judge, who strongly resembles the Colonel Pyncheon who built the house so many years ago, steps up his demands on Hepzibah and Clifford and unwittingly triggers the curse.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

A young carpenter falls in love with the village beauty. She, however, has set her sights on a dashing army captain who’s the son of the wealthy local squire. Meanwhile, a beautiful and virtuous young woman preacher arrives in the village. What happens to these people and the strange twists and turns that their lives take are described in the rest of the book. Adam Bede was George Eliot’s first published novel. Published in 1859, the book has remained a firm favorite with readers and academicians alike and is still taught in many English literature courses all over the world. George Eliot was the pen name of well respected scholar, translator and journalist Mary Ann Evans. She adopted a male pseudonym so she could be viewed as a serious writer. Many Victorian women writers had to combat the prevailing notion that women novelists wrote only light hearted romances or Gothic tales. Eliot was largely a self taught person. Her father was the manager of a stately home in Warwickshire and it was here that Eliot had access to the extensive library. She was a voracious reader and taught herself the Classical languages, which she draws upon extensively in her work. In fact, only one of her seven novels can be set without using Greek typeface. Living on the estate also provided her a view of the immense contrast between the lives of the workers and the landowners. She began writing for a radical left-wing journal, The Westminster Review. One of her essays was titled “Silly Novels by Lady Novelists” in which she criticized the dramatic and over emotional writing style and plots of books written by women. Following this, she decided to disprove the theory that women were only capable of such work. A series of stories entitled Scenes of a Clerical Life was published under the pseudonym George Eliot in 1857. Adam Bede was her first complete novel. It met with immediate success and there was intense speculation about the real identity of its author. When impostors began to emerge, claiming authorship, Mary Ann Evans revealed herself to be the real person behind the name. Adam Bede is notable for its compassion and humane outlook on life. Charles Dickens praised it for its authentic representation of rural life. Though many critics have found the plot to be contrived and subject to frequent “meddling” by the author herself, the story remains interesting and engaging even today more than a hundred years after it was first published.

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Tags: Adam Bede, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, George Eliot, History, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, romance

The Articles of Confederation: On November 15th, 1777 The Articles of Confederation became the first constitution of the United States, though not yet ratified by the thirteen original colonies. Ratification of the Articles took place almost three and a half years later on March 1st, 1781. The purpose of the articles was to create a confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government; thus allowing state governments to wield most of the power. It wasn’t long before the need for a stronger federal government was realized which led to the Articles being replaced by the United States Constitution. The Articles of Confederation is the common term for The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The U.S. Constitution: The United States Constitution is the legal backbone of the United States of America and comprises the basic laws of the United States Federal Government. Delegates from twelve of the thirteen original colonies put the Constitution’s frame work together in May 1787 in Philadelphia. The Constitution defines the three branches of government and their jurisdictions; they are the Executive Branch (President/Vice President), Legislative Branch (Congress comprised of the Senate & House of Representatives), and the Judicial Branch (the Supreme Court). The need for three branches of government was to create a separation of powers so that not one person or group has full responsibilities, but that they’re spread out and each branch must refer to the other by a means of checks and balances. The Declaration of Independence: The Declaration of Independence is a document that is the epitome of freedom and liberty. It was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 as a list of grievances against the King of England, George III. The Declaration expresses the conviction of Americans in a philosophy of self-evident truths of what individual liberty and freedom should be. The Declaration was the beginning to separation from England and the catalyst for a birth of a nation. The Gettysburg Address: The Gettysburg Address is considered one of the greatest and most quoted speeches of a President throughout American history. President Abraham Lincoln gave his address on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19th, 1863. It was a few months after the battle at Gettysburg was over, the purpose of Lincoln being there was to consecrate a cemetery to the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. It is believed that Lincoln’s main goal of this opportunity was to fight for the United States as a united country and to express the equality of all under the law. (Summaries by Aldark)

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, U.S. Historical Documents, various

Polly Milton, a 14-year-old country girl, visits her friend Fanny Shaw and her wealthy family in the city for the first time. Poor Polly is overwhelmed by the splendor at the Shaws’ and their urbanized, fashionable lifestyles, fancy clothes and some other habits she considers weird and, mostly, unlikable. However, Polly’s warmth, support and kindness eventually win her the hearts of all the family members. Six years later, Polly comes back to the city to become a music teacher.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: An Old-Fashioned Girl, audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Literature, Louisa May Alcott, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Teen/Young adult

Light hearted, entertaining and amusing as it takes on contemporary American life would best describe The Wit and Humor of America by Marshall Pinckney Wilder whish is a compilation of humorous passages from various works of American literature. Ranging from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dinah’s Kitchen to Dislikes by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Little Orphint Annie by James Whitcomb Riley, The Auto Rubaiyat by Reginald Wright Kauffman, Garden Ethics by Charles Dudley Warner and Morris and the Honorable Tim by Myra Kelley and many more delightful pieces, the book is indeed a treasure trove of humor. Marshall P. Wilder was a talented actor and humorist who entertained late nineteenth century New York with his funny sketches and monologues. Today he would probably be called a “stand-up comedian.” On a trip to London in 1883, Wilder’s show was watched by the then Prince of Wales who later went on to become King Edward VII. The monarch was enchanted by the act and Wilder became an instant favorite of the English royal family. This was also the start of his international career. For the next few years, he toured the world with his show, which included a vaudeville act too. Wilder’s brand of humor was laced with pathos and optimism. He was the first celebrity who attained fame in spite of his disability. Wilder was born with achondroplasia or dwarfism and also kyphosis or curvature of the spine. However, his wit and humor allowed him to rise above his physical limitations and carve out a wonderful career for himself. He was gifted with boundless energy, humanism and always signed his letters, “Merrily Yours!” He became extremely wealthy, fell in love and married a beautiful woman with whom he had two children. He eventually died following the sudden death of his beloved wife two years earlier. Wilder also acted in twelve silent films between 1897 and 1912. Many of his shows were recorded on Edison cylinders which were a new invention at the time and this has ensured that we are able to enjoy Wilder’s humor today. The Wit and Humor of America contains poems, letters, articles, chapters from books, limericks, short sketches and plays. It was published in 1911. Some of the themes and jokes seem dated, and politically incorrect but the essential fun is undeniable and this book makes a nice read for the times when you have a couple of hours to spare.

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, The Wit and Humor of America

The Critique of Pure Reason, first published in 1781 with a second edition in 1787, has been called the most influential and important philosophical text of the modern age. Kant saw the Critique of Pure Reason as an attempt to bridge the gap between rationalism (there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience) and empiricism (sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge) and, in particular, to counter the radical empiricism of David Hume (our beliefs are purely the result of accumulated habits, developed in response to accumulated sense experiences). Using the methods of science, Kant demonstrates that though each mind may, indeed, create its own universe, those universes are guided by certain common laws, which are rationally discernable. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Immanuel Kant, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, The Critique of Pure Reason

Christmas Eve. Guests round a fireside begin telling each other ghost stories. One of them relates a true incident involving the governess of his little nephew and niece. Strange events begin to take place, involving the housekeeper, a stranger who prowls round the grounds, a mysterious woman dressed in black and an unknown misdemeanor committed by the little nephew. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James was published in 1893 and it remains one of the best-known and admired works of this great American writer. One of the factors that makes it so appealing is that the structure and ending are open to the reader’s interpretation. Over the years, many critics, readers and scholars have provided their own theories about the ending and all of them may be valid from a certain viewpoint. However, the real “horror” in this book is the nameless, ambiguous sense of evil that pervades the story and brings out all that is deeply frightening to us. Henry James came from a distinguished family. His father was a philosopher, while his brother William James was a famous developmental psychologist. His sister, Alice was also a writer, but is known mostly for the personal diaries she kept in the last years of her life. Though James was born in America, he considered England to be his spiritual home and constantly traveled between the two countries. His novels focus on the interaction between Europeans and Americans. He was also a brilliant literary critic and prolific letter writer. The Turn of the Screw was his second novel and in it he gives expression to his life long interest in ghost stories and Gothic themes. However, he avoided the conventional screaming/slashing type of horror and preferred to keep the fear factor extremely subtle and understated, which paradoxically increases the sense of horror! He seeks to invest the ordinary, everyday happenings of daily life with a sinister significance and this is what makes The Turn of the Screw so extraordinarily effective. Henry James’ elaborate and often roundabout way of describing events makes the unraveling of the mystery even more difficult. Hence, the reader has plenty of work to do in James’ novels and nothing is provided on a platter! James himself constantly revised the story and made several changes. Though these are minor in nature, they add to the complexity of the plot and give readers many more facets from which to try to find the right solution. The Turn of the Screw is certainly a great read if you enjoy mysteries and ghost stories.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Henry James, Horror/Ghost stories, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Turn of the Screw

To get away from city life periodically, New Yorker Roger Locke purchases an abandoned farm house in rural Connecticut, and with the assistance of his cousin Phillida and her beau Ethan Vere, he sets about fixing up the place. Immediately however, an unseen mysterious woman begins giving him warnings during nocturnal visits to leave the house at once. Soon he begins hearing strange ominous sounds emanating from the tiny lake at the back of the house coupled with a permeation of sickly odors. An evil presence then begins to visit him during the witching hours of the late night, challenging him to a battle of wits from which there can be only one victor. Is his mysterious female visitor there to help and encourage him to flee from the house, or is she working in tandem with The Thing From the Lake? A gripping, occasionally frightening tale, Ms. Ingram wastes no time in grabbing the reader into the story and manages to weave a tale that will leave the reader guessing at every turn of events.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Eleanor M. Ingram, fiction, free audio books, Horror/Ghost stories, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Thing from the Lake

Aristotle’s Poetics from the 4th century B.C. aims to give a short study of storytelling. It discusses things like unity of plot, reversal of situation, and character in the context of Greek tragedy, comedy and epic poetry. But it still applies today. It is especially popular with screenwriters as seen in many script gurus’ how-to books.

Categories: Arts, Music, Society & Culture

Tags: aristotle, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, music, Non-fiction, Philosophy, poetics, poetry

In his vital, illustrative and dynamic autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt let us into the life that formed one of the greatest and outspoken presidents in American history. Not only are we privy to the formation of his political ideals, but also to his love of the frontier and the great outdoors. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Biography, ebooks, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Memoirs, Non-fiction, Politics, Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography