Random Loyal Books Podcasts

Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science or technology. This is a reader-selected collection of short stories originally published between 1931 and 1963, that entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed. Summary by Cori Samuel, with Wikipedia input.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, science-fiction, Short Science Fiction Collection, Short stories, Teen/Young adult, various

Austen’s timeless romantic classic, follows the lives of the five Bennett sisters, who live in a time where an advantageous marriage and social status are considered a fundamental for any woman to stand a fair chance at life. Set at the turn of the 19th century, Pride and Prejudice catches a perfect glimpse not only of a time when women were socially and economically dependent solely on their marital status, but also as an age of enlightenment and witness of the French Revolution. This romantic novel with its hint of comic references begins with the famous quote “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” This famous quotation sets the story into motion as the eligible Mr. Bingley is introduced as he rides into town. The quote also draws in and to some extent reveals the content of the plot to come. Soon the news of the arrival of the well off Charles Bingley finds its way to the ears of the Bennett household. Having five unmarried daughters, the Bennetts are eager to match them up with suitable spouse candidates and see them prosperously married. After attending a ball, Mr. Bingley is instantly attracted to the oldest Bennett daughter Jane and it is fair to say that the feeling is mutual. Such cannot be said about his close friend Mr. Darcy who rudely refuses to dance with the second Bennett daughter Elizabeth. Consequently, Elizabeth’s first prejudice is born as she labels Mr. Darcy arrogant and obnoxious; however, she later learns never to judge a book by its cover and must swallow up her pride to achieve happiness. Pride and Prejudice witnesses the exciting courtships of the Bennett sisters and their suitors, as well as the not so joyful relationships of other characters. As the novel develops the relationships between the characters must outweigh the forces seeking to tear them apart. Experience the adventures of the Bennett sisters as they face the troublesome issues of manners, social class, family, and marriages in a male reliant society. A story not only portraying the unreliable nature of pride and prejudice, Austen’s classic also paints a vivid image of the past and the woman as a member of society.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, jane austen, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Pride and Prejudice

Tailored specially to make history more palatable and interesting to children, Our Island Story, by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, is a charmingly illustrated volume that promises hours of delight for parents as well as children. Beginning with the myths and legends about Albion, the author ensures that she captivates the child’s imagination from the very first page. Unlike today’s dry and non-committal history tomes that are prescribed in schools, Our Island Story is full of lyrical prose, literary allusions, heroic and tragic characters, the hunger for power and the glory of empire. There are strong elements of folklore, fairy tales, popular legends and a sense of the dramatic. It renders history full of the people who made Britain what it is today and gives modern readers a glimpse into what went into the creation of the once invincible British Empire. Our Island Story was first published in 1905. The period it covers begins with the Roman Occupation of Britain and ends with the Victorian Era. Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall utilizes a fascinating blend of fact and mythology to create a composite picture peopled by colorful characters, driven by ambition, honor, greed or lust to wield power over their fellow men. Wars and rebellions, assassinations and assignations, explorers and extremists, religion and romance are all wonderfully captured in this superbly constructed book. For young readers, Our Island Story presents what could be a mere succession of dry dates and titles in a memorable and engaging form. Older readers would find that the conversion of history into something that is vivid, dramatic and human makes them appreciate how present events have been shaped by the past. Our Island Story (originally titled Our Island Story: A History of England for Boys and Girls) was an instant best-seller when it first came out and has remained a popular choice for schools, libraries and individual readers. The author, Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall was a writer of children’s books and nothing much is known about her personal life. Some critics have pointed out that there are many historical inaccuracies in her writings and she often relied on unorthodox sources for her information. However, it cannot be denied that her writing style is extremely attractive, easy and gives the reader that much needed push to further research, which is what every good book should do. Children as young as nine would be able to read this book on their own, while younger ones would enjoy a read aloud with parents. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, History, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Our Island Story

The strands woven together in Gustave Flaubert’s famous, path breaking 1856 novel Madame Bovary include a provincial town in Normandy, France, a shy young doctor with an indifferent career and a lovely young woman who lives in a fantasy world based on the innumerable romantic novels she reads. Of course there is also the story of a dull marriage punctuated by passionate, adulterous love affairs. First published in serial form in a Parisian magazine and deemed to be the “perfect” novel, Flaubert’s debut was received by both readers and critics with acclaim and admiration. However, its bold theme, path breaking ideas of women’s rights and the condemnation of middleclass morality led to its being legally attacked by the Church and the government. This was in spite of the fact that the magazine’s editors had already done their own censoring of “offending passages.” Flaubert himself was shocked and the resulting very public trial in 1857 added to the book’s notoriety. The charges were dismissed and the book was seen by the judges as promoting morality and strengthening of family values instead. However, it remained controversial and was banned time and again by various upholders of “morality” till as recently as 1954. Madame Bovary marks a watershed in the development of the novel form. Flaubert’s revolutionary techniques like the use of “style indirect libre” where the environment itself responds to a person’s emotions, his use of realism and objectivity were all radically new literary devices. In the almost linear, simple plot, Charles Bovary is a truly “ordinary” man. A country doctor who marries a wife chosen by his mother, he then meets and falls in love with the beautiful, young Emma Roualt when he visits her father’s farm on a call. His wife, a much older woman, is jealous, but she soon dies. Charles and Emma marry and move to a larger town where Emma swiftly becomes disillusioned with her husband, their financial situation and social position, though she has attained motherhood by now. She embarks on a series of love affairs to satisfy her hankering after fame and fortune. Each of these affairs brings about her moral and psychological degradation, while she simultaneously plunges herself and her family into financial ruin. What follows is a vivid depiction of life and the human condition. For the discerning and sensitive reader, Flaubert’s brilliant portrait of the tragically flawed Emma Bovary, with her shallow, provincial preoccupations, her craving for love and money and the meaninglessness of bourgeois life in the countryside make this one of the finest works of literature.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Gustave Flaubert, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Madame Bovary, Non-fiction, romance, tragedy

In 1894, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) published two short collections of aphorisms: “A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated”, in the Saturday Review newspaper, and “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young”, in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon. By turns witty, intellectual, counter-intuitive and obtuse, the collections came to be seen by many as emblematic of Wilde’s style, and countless collections of Wildean aphorisms have since been published. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Kids & Family

Tags: Aphorisms, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, humor, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Oscar Wilde, satire, Teen/Young adult

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

Today, almost every layperson understands the concept of intelligence tests and can glibly discuss IQ scores. In fact, these have become so common in the popular imagination that magazines, websites and pop quizzes offer to assess your intelligence at the drop of a hat! In this scenario, it’s interesting to recall the very first person who proposed the concept of measurable intelligence. Alfred Binet was basically a clinical psychologist whose wide-ranging interests in learning difficulties faced by school children prompted him to undertake extensive studies in human cognition, psychology, learning and behavior. Though he initially trained to become a lawyer, he moved to medicine and then into a largely self-taught area of psychology, which arose from his keen interest in human beings. His work also further evolved into deeply philosophical and spiritual areas of life. The Mind and The Brain was published in 1907, a few years after Alfred Binet began working on his famous intelligence scale in collaboration with his assistant Theodore Simon. In 1899, Binet took up the task of studying the relationship between education, the child and human psychology by the French government. The country had taken huge steps in progressive ideas about education and made it compulsory for every child to attend school between the ages of six and fourteen. It was noticed that many children were unable to cope with the normal curriculum and Binet and his committee began to work on creating a special curriculum for them so that their special needs could be addressed. Tests and experiments were conducted and the first Binet-Simon scale for measuring intelligence was created in 1905. Given this background, The Mind and The Brain attempts to answer questions about the Mind or the internal world of the human being, and Matter or the external environment around us. How we view, experience, internalize and symbolize objects and other people is one of the fundamental ideas explored here. Binet attempts to define what is knowledge, what is knowable and how we classify objects in the external world. The only way we experience the external world is through our sensations, and these can be notoriously erroneous. Emotions, the consciousness, spiritualism, idealism and materialism and the modern theories associated with these are the subjects tackled by Alfred Binet. The philosophical nature of the book and the concepts expounded in it make it both an interesting and important book for any reader who seeks to know the relationship between the Self and the Other. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: Alfred Binet, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Psychology, The Mind and the Brain

The Getting of Wisdom tells the story of Laura Rambotham, a 12-year-old girl who is just starting at her boarding school. This is based on Henry Handel Richardson’s experiences of her own school, the Prebysterian Ladies College in central Melbourne. The story goes through her friends and enemies and all the life of a boarding school in early 20th century Australia, and all the subjects and learning too. Laura learns a lot but her education does not satisfy her, and her social life is thrown upon her as very different from her peers. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Henry Handel Richardson, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Teen/Young adult, The Getting of Wisdom

For the Irish historian John Bagnell Bury, history should be treated as a science and not a mere branch of literature. Many contemporary histories written in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were poetic and heroic in tone, blending fact and fiction, myths and legends. They sometimes relied on sources from Shakespeare and classical poets. For Bury, the facts of history may be legendary or romantic in nature, but they should be recounted in a scholarly and non-judgmental manner, without the accompanying emotions. His aim was simply to “tell history as it happened.” A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great was first published in 1900. It went on to become a standard text in many colleges and was used as a definitive guide to our understanding of the pre-Hellenistic kingdoms. Richly supplemented with maps and columnar notes, the book deals with its subject in an academic manner, but it is a work which is easily accessible to the ordinary reader as well. There are many interesting illustrations from antiquities in the British Museum and photographs of busts from various art galleries. There are 18 chapters, portraying the beginnings of Ancient Greece in the Heroic Age. The author is also concerned about how previous histories of Ancient Greece have largely ignored the Greek presence in Persia, Asia Minor, Italy and Sicily while emphasizing the Greek history of Sparta and Athens. Later chapters deal with Athenian democracy, Pericles and the Golden Age, the advance of the Persians, the Peloponnesian war and the decline of Athenian Greece, the rise of Thebes, the Syracusan empire, the rise of Macedonia and the final conquest of Persia and East Asia. There is also an interesting chapter on Aristotle and Alexander. Aristotle’s background and how he became Alexander’s teacher, the differing visions that tutor and pupil held about the ideal city-state and the ultimate influence that these ideas had on the development of Europe are discussed in the last chapter. Bury was a young genius who became a Fellow at Trinity College Dublin at the young age of 24 and a professor at Cambridge, where he taught both history and Greek, before he was forty. His interests included medieval studies and philology. His works cover a range of subjects including Greek and Byzantine history and the role of the Church and the Papacy in the 19th century. Though some of the information in this book may be a little dated following new studies, technological advances and discoveries uncovered by the latest research, it is extremely readable and interesting. A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great is a historical and interesting read. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, History, John B. Bury, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

For more than a century and a quarter, fans of detective fiction have enjoyed the doings of the iconic sleuth, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. In the company of his faithful companion, Dr Watson, Holmes has consistently delighted generations of readers. Created by a Scottish writer and physician, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this immortal private eye has solved cases for kings and commoners, lovely damsels and little old ladies, engineers and country squires and a legion of others who come to him in distress and perplexity. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 12 stories featuring the pipe-smoking, violin-playing eccentric central character. The collection first appeared in 1894 in serial form in The Strand Magazine and then was later compiled into a single volume. The stories featured here include such gems as The Silver Blaze which is about the disappearance of a famous race-horse. This story is memorable for its “curious incident of the dog in the night-time” remark by Holmes. Other riveting tales in the book include The Adventure of the Gloria Scott – a rare story narrated by Holmes himself. Also there is The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter where we finally get to meet a member of Holmes’ family, his brother Mycroft, who is reputed to have an even sharper brain than Sherlock’s. Additionally there is The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, with a spy-versus-spy plot. Then there is also The Adventure of the Yellow Face in which Holmes gets it all wrong, and a host of other compelling tales culminating in the story that shook the nation when it first came out – The Final Problem. In The Final Problem, Holmes meets his death at the hands of the evil criminal kingpin, Dr Moriarty. The two engage in a deathly duel at the edge of the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland and a broken-hearted Dr Watson returns to England, having lost his dearest friend forever. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of unique stories that showcase Holmes’ prodigious intellect, Victorian London, wonderful descriptions of rural landscapes and above all, gems of deductive wisdom. The stories are a fore-runner to many investigative methods that were adopted in police practice later. If you’ve never read a Holmes story before, this could be the start of a wonderful new literary adventure and if Holmes is an old favorite, these stories will only add to the appeal. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, Short stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Banned in the United States and United Kingdom throughout the 1920s, Ulysses turned conventional ideas of the novel inside out with its bold new form, style and theme. Deeply rooted in the Greek myth of the hero of the Trojan War, Joyce bases his novel on Ulysses or Odysseus, who is doomed to voyage for ten years before returning home to Ithaca. Joyce had been deeply influenced by the Iliad and the Odyssey, which he had read from Charles Lamb’s adaptations as a child. In fact, he considered him the epitome of the heroic ideal and constantly thought of giving the myth a new dimension in modern literature. However, the reader must be cautioned that it is not an easy book to read. It was also burdened by a strange and complicated publication history. Joyce’s original handwritten manuscript was typed by a number of less than competent typists who made a series of grammatical and spelling errors, leading to great confusion. It went through 18 different versions, each of which was full of more and more mistakes. Attempts to “correct” the text were being made as late as 2010 but the appeal of the book lies in its overall theme and in its rich symbolism. Ulysses is divided into 18 chapters, or episodes, each one referring to a Homeric character or episode in the Greek myth. Though Joyce did not originally title the chapters, he did refer to them by such names in private letters to his friends. He also gave them obscure titles from his researches in French translations of the Homeric sagas. Joyce himself understood the significance of his work. He is reputed to have remarked to the effect that he had stuffed the book with so many enigmas and puzzles that it would keep academicians buzzing for centuries! The names of each character are rooted in the deep symbolism and every episode sets the reader harking back to the Homeric myths. Apart from Greek legend, Joyce also used aspects of Celtic traditions of storytelling. Essentially, the plot deals with many ideas that have found echoes throughout human history. Paternity, the idea of the everyday hero, regret and personal conscience, the paradox of individual perspectives all conveyed through a plethora of symbols and motifs makes Ulysses a compelling if difficult read. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: art, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, james joyce, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Psychology, ulysses

Charles Spurgeon was a popular Baptist minister in London in mid-Victorian times; his ministry was highly influential and had a significant effect on many families in London and further afield. It was difficult to find a hall large enough to accommodate the crowd who wished to hear him. At times the Royal Surrey Gardens’ Music Hall was hired to accomodate the Sunday congregation; this could seat 10,000 but large numbers were unable to gain admittance. His world-wide heritage is very much with us today through the many chuches built, missionary work begun, children’s charity founded and theological colleges established as a result of his ministry. The sermons in this collection were preached buring May 1898 and published immediately at one penny (1d.) each. These were widely circulated and remain one of the all-time best-selling series of writings. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Charles Spurgeon, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, religion, Spurgeon's Sermons May 1858

Mr Robert Grell, millionaire and socialite, is found murdered in his study on a stormy evening. It’s up to Heldon Foyle, the detective, to unravel the mystery.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, Frank Froest, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Grell Mystery

This is the official report, published nearly 11 months after the first and only atomic bombings in history (to date), of a group of military physicians and engineers who accompanied the initial contingent of U.S. soldiers into the destroyed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The report presents a clinical description of the devastation, loss of life and continued suffering of the survivors that resulted from the world’s first and only atomic bombings. The appendix is an eyewitness account, contrasting vividly with the dispassionate sang-froid of the report itself, written by a German Jesuit priest who survived the blast at Hiroshima, and whose order assisted in rescue efforts following the catastrophic attack. This recording was completed on the 63rd anniversary of the events.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Manhattan District, Non-fiction, science, The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, US Army Corps of Engineers

The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. The first six of the poem’s twelve books tell the story of Aeneas’ wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem’s second half treats the Trojans’ ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. The poem was commissioned from Vergil by the Emperor Augustus to glorify Rome. Several critics think that the hero Aeneas’ abandonment of the Cartheginian Queen Dido, is meant as a statement of how Augustus’ enemy, Mark Anthony, should have behaved with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, Classics (antiquity), ebooks, free audio books, Languages, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Myths/Legends, poetry, Publius Vergilius Maro, The Aeneid

The foundations of modern skepticism and objective thinking are thought to be rooted in the philosophy of Rene Descartes, the French mathematician, philosopher and writer. This great sixteenth century thinker also gave us theories on mind-body dualism and the concept of ethics as the highest form of science. He is considered the Father of Modern Western Philosophy. His theories also led to the emancipation of humanity from the doctrine that the Church is the sole authority over Man and led to a more autonomous idea of the human condition. He also wrote extensively on subjects as diverse as music, the search for truth, geometry, discourse as a method of scientific investigation, philosophy, biology and psychology. He had a profound impact on the age he lived in and also on future generations. He was a teacher and counselor to several heads of state in Europe and guided them in their political and ethical actions. His most famous maxim, “I think, therefore I am” became the guiding principle of modern Western thought. Meditations on First Philosophy was first published in 1641. The original Latin title also had the subtitle: In Which the Existence of God and the Immortality of the Soul are Demonstrated. The treatise was translated into French in 1647. The work essentially consists of six separate meditations. In each one, Descartes abandons all belief in things that are not absolutely certain and then tries to replace these beliefs with those that are more certain. The book is designed as a series of meditations that took place over six days in his life, and in each one, he talks about “yesterday’s meditation.” It is important to remember that Rene Descartes was writing at a time of great scientific discoveries which were in conflict with the Church. Galileo’s fate was dreaded by all pioneering philosophers. Descartes’ Meditations follows a new yet cautious approach which would not be in direct confrontation with the powerful Catholic Church. In Meditations, Descartes seeks to go beyond Aristotle’s philosophy which dominated Western thinking till then. Here, the Greek philosopher posited that all knowledge comes via the senses, hence the outside world is but a mirror image of our inner thoughts. In the First Meditation, Descartes provides bizarre examples of our thoughts and questions whether we can assume that reality in any way resembles these. This forms the root of his skepticism and his ideas on the mind/body divide, the existence of God and human perception. Meditations on First Philosophy follows the tradition of St Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. For the modern reader, it is a thought-provoking and interesting read.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Meditations on First Philosophy, Non-fiction, Philosophy, René Descartes

An eerie supernatural story, The Monkey’s Paw follows the White family as they come to realize that nothing in life comes without a price or at the simple push of a button. First published in 1902, the short story powerfully suggests that one should not interfere with the course of nature, as cheating fate can result in unforeseen consequences that leave one with more than they bargained for. Set in England, the tale opens on a dark and stormy night inside Laburnam Villa, home to Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son Herbert. Unlike the gloomy weather outside, the atmosphere inside the house is quite the contrary, as Mr. White and his son are playing a game of chess, while Mrs. White is knitting by the warmth of the fireplace. Shortly after, they are visited by Sergeant-Major Morris, a family friend who has been serving in the British Army in India for a number of years. Recounting some of his exploits during his time in India, Morris decides to share with them a mystical object that is known to have an extraordinary power. Consequently, he takes out a mummified monkey’s paw from his pocket and begins to tell them the legend surrounding the mystical object. Although he reveals that the paw has the power to grant three wishes, he also emphasizes its drastic repercussions, as he tells them of the distressing effect the paw has brought both him and its previous possessors. In a moment of anguish, Morris throws the paw into the fire, but Mr. White quickly retrieves it and manages to convince Morris to sell it to him and show him how it works. Ignoring Morris’s stern warnings, the Whites are in for quite the surprise as they slowly begin to understand the effects of disrupting the course of destiny. Regarded as one of the greatest horror stories in history, The Monkey’s Paw is sure to send a shiver down one’s spine with its uncanny atmosphere, as it allows the audience to develop the supernatural elements in their minds, which in turn only strengthens and prolongs the psychological effect of the tale. Withstanding the test of time, the intense plot ultimately validates the story’s leading position in the horror genre and justifies its influence for various adaptations.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Horror/Ghost stories, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Monkey's Paw, W. W. Jacobs

Adventures of a Brownie follows the life of a brownie who lives in a family’s coal cellar and the adventures he gets into with the members of the household. (Written by Ancilla)

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventures of a Brownie as Told to My Child, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Miss Mulock