Random Loyal Books Podcasts

A fourteen year old homeless boy, Dick, tries to make an honest living in the streets of 1860s New York as a bootblack. He is determined to stay honorable, though he is tempted many times to easy pickings and a life of crime. When a regular customer is impressed by Dick’s integrity and invites him to his mansion, this marks a turning point in the life of the young street-smart teenager. Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr was first published in 1868. It represents a typical coming of age story in which a child attains the maturity of adulthood through circumstances in which important choices are made. It was the first in a six-series set written by the prolific American writer, best known for his stories of young boys who overcome poverty and social disadvantages to become assimilated in the great American middle class. Many of Alger’s stories follow a well-known theme and formula but were extremely well-received and popular among readers of a previous generation. Ragged Dick was an instant best-seller and achieved huge attention from old and young readers and critics alike. Alger went on to write more than a hundred novels, though his later works were more sensational and characterized by violence and murder, and not found very suitable for young readers. Horatio Alger was dismissed from service as a Unitarian minister under suspicious circumstances, though nothing was proven against him. He began working as a volunteer in New York’s slum areas, helping to provide assistance to young homeless people. Around this time, he started writing articles in journals and finally moved into novel writing. Ragged Dick first appeared in the journal Student and Schoolmate, a magazine for young boys and girls, as a 12-part serial and copies of the magazine sold out almost instantly. It caught the American imagination and skilfully portrayed the hard, coarse, brutal and unforgiving life of the New York slum as no other book had before. Genteel, educated readers had perhaps never encountered the situations depicted in Ragged Dick. This novelty was probably what accounted for the book’s success. It was later adapted to stage and as a musical opera called Shine! Besides novels, Alger wrote poetry, essays and articles for various magazines. His work in rehabilitation and assistance to the underprivileged kids of New York is well-known. He left several unfinished books which were completed according to his last will and testament by Edward Stratemeyer, the creator of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. An interesting read for young and old alike!

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Horatio Alger, jr, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Ragged Dick

More than two thousand years ago, the great Greek philosopher Socrates was condemned to death for making seditious comments against the city state of Athens. His followers and disciples were legion. Ranging from Xenophon, the mercenary warrior and historian of the Peloponnesian War to the scholarly Plato, Socrates was described as the conscience-keeper of the nation, or the “gadfly” who would not let the massive machinery of the state rest in complacence. The Apology of Socrates by Plato was thought to have been written following Socrates trial and death in 399 BC. It is one of many such accounts of this infamous trial. It is only through the Apology that we are today able to learn more about this most venerable Greek philosopher, Socrates, as he left very little written work himself. As a teacher and mentor to hundreds of young students, his thoughts and ideas were conveyed mostly through oral teachings. His method of teaching was though a series of dialogues with his students and he never lectured to them. One of his most famous quotes, “The unexamined life is not worth living…” forces us to introspect on our own motives and desires. In the Apology, Plato describes the trial in detail and also Socrates defense of his every word, deed and action. He describes how he was inspired to conduct his search for the truth by the Oracle at Delphi and the consequent discovery that there were no wise men in this city. He considered it his duty to awaken the conscience of those in power. Straddling the thin line between philosophy and literature, the Apology is a brilliant and thought-provoking work, which examines themes like freedom of speech that are still plaguing our consciences today. It also teaches us that knowledge and humility should go ever hand in hand. A deeply engrossing and inspiring work for every generation to read and ponder over.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Plato, The Apology of Socrates

Mary Mapes Dodge created an instant bestseller with “Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates.” She wanted the book to be partly a book of travels and partly a domestic story. It is a tale written for children that adults also find interesting and uplifting. Dodge writes as if she is sending a series of letters from Holland to children in America, and her you-are-there perspective is aided by a nice attention to detail and vivid imagery.The Brinkers are a poor but stoic family under a dark cloud – Raff, the man of the house, fell from the dikes while reinforcing them during a bad storm, and for ten years he has been in a vegetative state. With no steady income, the family’s lot is grinding poverty. Despite their unfortunate circumstances, Hans and Gretel are cheerful children, yet always attentive to the needs of their mother and their present-but-not-really-there father. Their social standing is very low, but they both attract firm friends, even among the gentry, for their honesty, industry, and good-heartedness.Then a glorious skating race is proposed for the town of Broek, with the prize a pair of silver skates for both the winning boy and girl. In the weeks leading up to the race, we follow the adventures of five of the local boys who are showing a visiting relative from England the sights of the Netherlands. Hans improbably meets the one man who might be able to heal his father, and somehow Hans finds a way to afford some skates so that he and Gretel can enter the race.This all leads up to a dramatic, moving, and entirely satisfactory conclusion. “Hans Brinker” hits a series of high notes and encourages children to cultivate and display their finer qualities. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Hans Brinker, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mary Mapes Dodge, Teen/Young adult

The Last of the Mohicans is an epic novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in January 1826.It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time, and helped establish Cooper as one of the first world-famous American writers.The story takes place in 1757 during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied themselves with Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the British, with unpredictable and often tragic results.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, History, James Fenimore Cooper, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Last Of The Mohicans, War stories

The first novel in her renowned series of detective fiction, Sayers introduces Lord Peter Wimsey, a bon vivant gentleman, whose hobby of playing detective is put to the test, as he is launched into his first official crime investigation. The mystery begins when the body of an unidentified man has been found in the bathtub of local architect Mr. Thipps. Adding to the peculiarity of the situation is the fact that the corpse is stark naked except for a pair of expensive pince-nez glasses. Due to the incriminating circumstances of the murder, the official investigator suspects Thipps to be the perpetrator of the bizarre murder. At the same time a well-known financier Sir Reuben Levy also goes missing, supposed to have disappeared from his very own bedroom. Wimsey hears the news about the body discovered in Thipps’ apartment after receiving a distressed call from his mother, who asks him to help solve the mystery and prove Thipps’ innocence. Consequently, Wimsey takes it upon himself to unravel the truth behind the mysteriously disposed corpse, whilst also investigating the disappearance of Levy. Investigators are also put up against quite the challenge, as they are presented with juxtaposing circumstances. Although apparent that the man found in the bath is not Levy, Wimsey insists the two cases are somehow related and continues to develop this theory. Escalating in brilliance with every turn of the page, the novel presents an enthralling mystery plot which prompts the audience to bring out their inner detective and work alongside Wimsey to piece together the events surrounding the two cases. Furthermore, Sayers offers a generous array of distinctive characters including the sophisticated Wimsey, his talented servant Bunter, and his witty mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver. A compelling whodunit, the novel marks the debut of the endearing gentleman detective Wimsey, and initiates the beginning of the many investigations dependent on his sleuthing expertise.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dorothy L. Sayers, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, Whose Body?

Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West in medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great work that can be called Classical. Consolation of Philosophy was written during Boethius’ one year imprisonment while awaiting trial, and eventual horrific execution, for the crime of treason by Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. Boethius was at the very heights of power in Rome and was brought down by treachery. It was from this experience he was inspired to write a philosophical book from prison reflecting on how a lord’s favor could change so quickly and why friends would turn against him. It has been described as ‘by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen.’ The Consolation of Philosophy stands, by its note of fatalism and its affinities with the Christian doctrine of humility, midway between the heathen philosophy of Seneca the Younger and the later Christian philosophy of consolation represented by Thomas Aquinas. – The book is heavily influenced by Plato and his dialogues (as was Boethius himself). More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, The Consolation of Philosophy

If you’ve watched and loved Winona Ryder playing the innocent May Welland in the 1993 film adaptation of Edith Wharton’s sweeping novel about class-consciousness in nineteenth century America, you will certainly enjoy reading the original. Though Martin Scorcese’s brilliant work was certainly true to the spirit of the original novel, no film can reproduce the charm of language and turn of phrase employed by one of America’s greatest writers. The Age of Innocence was Edith Wharton’s 12th novel and is located in familiar Wharton territory. The genteel snobbery of the upper classes with its underlying cruelty and heartless judgments passed on those who cross the line is wonderfully depicted in The Age of Innocence. The story opens at a glittering music concert, featuring the wonderful opera singer Christine Nilsson singing Faust at the Music Academy in New York. In the high-society club boxes, the leading lights of New York society train their opera glasses on the crowd, occasionally throwing a sniping remark or two. Newland Archer, a young, handsome, wealthy lawyer whose privileged background is matched only by that of his new fiancée, May Welland. As the self satisfied and complacent Archer surveys the crowd in the opera theater, he overhears two men gossiping about a lady who has just entered a nearby opera box. She is Ellen Olenska, the recent widow of a Polish count, who had shocked society a few years earlier by first marrying a complete outsider and then running away from him to live alone in various cities across Europe. For Archer, the issue is complicated by the fact that Ellen is his beloved May’s first cousin. What follows has a devastating impact on the lives of everyone who is connected with the cousins. The story traces the roots of social prejudices and is an absolutely frank and fearless look at the hypocrisy, double standards and betrayals that people indulge in, in the name of “good form.” The Age of Innocence is filled with memorable characters like the elderly gossip Sillerton Jackson, who is not just considered to be an authority on “families” but also possesses an indelible memory about every single scandal and mystery that has occurred in the claustrophobic Manhattan society of the day. The Age of Innocence won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921 and takes its title from a famous eighteenth century English painting by Joshua Reynolds. It was initially serialized in 1920 in the Pictorial Review magazine, but later compiled into a book and published in the following year. As a ruthless and bitter commentary on the social mores of the day, The Age of Innocence is certainly an insightful book to enjoy.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Edith Wharton, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Age of Innocence

Stories from 1896 to 1901. Lucy Maud Montgomery was born at Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island, Canada, on November 30, 1874. She achieved international fame in her lifetime, putting Prince Edward Island and Canada on the world literary map. Best known for her “Anne of Green Gables” books, she was also a prolific writer of short stories and poetry. She published some 500 short stories and poems and twenty novels before her death in 1942. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: 1896 to 1901, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, romance, Sea stories, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White tells the story of two half-sisters, Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe who were embroiled in the sinister plot of Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco to take over their family’s wealth. It’s considered to be one of the first “sensation novels” to be published. Like most novels that fall into this category, the protagonists here are pushed to their limits by the villains before they finally got the justice they deserved. The story begins with Walter Hartright helping a woman dressed in white who turned out to have escaped from a mental asylum. A day later, he travelled to Cumberland to be a drawing master to the half-sisters Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe. While he was in their house he discovered that the woman dressed in white whom he helped was also Laura’s sister. Walter and Laura eventually became very close to each other and had a relationship, but Laura was already set to marry Sir Percival Glyde. Marian advised Walter to forget his love for Laura and live their place, a painful advice which he followed. Laura eventually married Glyde and this is when things started to turn for the worse for the main characters in the novel. Glyde and his friend Count Fosco were masters of deception and they’d do everything they can to get the things they want. In the story, Glyde was already in financial difficulties when he married Laura who was from a rich family. In order to get her family’s riches he’s willing to resort to desperate means. Glyde is portrayed here as an archetypical villain which every reader of this book will surely hate. When it was first published in 1859, The Woman in White quickly became a best-seller because of its theme and storyline. More than a hundred years since its first publication, readers can still relate to its characters and empathize with the protagonists in the story. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: art, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Epistolary fiction, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, romance, The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins

The nineteenth century was marked by intense colonization by countries like Britain, France, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Initially, the pioneering efforts were made by men who battled unfamiliar terrain to create territories that they marked out as their own, while their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters kept the home and hearth in their native land. However, with travel becoming more common and family life assuming more importance, the women too began to travel to the four corners of the earth. There are many accounts by Victorian women of their travels to the colonies and these are valuable insights into the social history and fabric of the colonies. Many of these accounts were however, quite superficial and concentrated more on the scenery and landscape—two of the most important things that interested women of the period. A Lady’s Life on a Farm in Manitoba by Mrs. Cecil Hall was published in 1884. The book consists of a series of letters written by the author to her family in England and as she says in the preface, were never meant to be published. However, she later felt they provide useful tips for those intending to make the journey and settle in a far off land. Her brother had migrated to Manitoba in 1881. In 1882, Mrs. Hall and her sister traveled to Canada via New York and Chicago. En route, the letters describe their meeting with President Chester Allen, the newly appointed head of state who took over as President after the assassination of President James Garfield. In Chicago, the letters describe a city that’s limping back to normalcy after the Great Chicago Fire. Their journey by train across the vast plains of Canada, their arrival on the farm managed by her brother and two others who have purchased 13,000 acres and their experiences in the New World are chronicled in these letters. The sisters spend three months on the farm where they soon roll up their sleeves and pitch in, abandoning their fine lady’s ways! Cooking, cleaning, helping on the land, ruining their soft hands and learning a different way of life are well described. The ladies then move to Colorado, where they visit friends who are here to try their luck in gold mining. The book closes with a letter from their brother who updates them on the progress he and his friends have made on the Manitoba farm. As an account of the difficult and hostile conditions that pioneers faced in America and Canada, A Lady’s Life… is indeed an interesting and valuable work that modern day readers will certainly enjoy.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: A Lady's Life on a Farm in Manitoba, audio books, audiobook, Biography, ebooks, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mrs. Cecil Hall, Non-fiction, travel

Buddhism and Buddhists in China is an anthropological text describing Buddhism as practiced in China at the beginning of the 20th Century. Interestingly, it also compares and contrasts Buddhism with Christianity with respect to or in response to missionary work.

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Buddhism and Buddhists in China, ebooks, free audio books, History, Lewis Hodus, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, religion

If you’ve read and loved Alice in Wonderland, you wouldn’t want to miss reading about her further adventures, the strange and fantastical creatures she meets and the delightful style and word-play that made the first book so appealing. Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll is thematically much more structured and cleverly constructed as compared to the earlier Alice book but still retains its childhood elements of wonder, curiosity and imagination. Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a gifted mathematics professor at Oxford during the late 19th century. He suffered from lifelong shyness, a debilitating stammer and several physical deformities including partial deafness. Awkward and uncomfortable with adults, he bloomed in the company of children and had a special insight into their world. He portrays Alice as a well-mannered child, brought up in a privileged background. Based on a real little girl whose father was also at Oxford during the time Dodgson was there, Alice and her sisters formed the inspiration for these books which went on to be ranked among the best loved in children’s literature. Through the Looking-Glass takes Alice through the mirror hanging on her nursery wall into a realm beyond. Here she finds a mirror image of her own world, but with everything reversed. Books with printing that can only be read when held up to a mirror, animated chess-pieces, memorable characters from nursery-rhymes like Humpty Dumpty, The Lion and the Unicorn, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and a host of strange creatures with even stranger names like the Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch. The Red Queen, the White Queen and the White Knight are other characters who populate the looking-glass world. Poems like Jabberwocky explore the limits of language, while the Walrus and the Carpenter are simply hilarious. Chess forms the framework of the plot, the mirror-world is made up of squares which Alice moves through sequentially in pawn-like moves, symbolizing the dominance of fate in our lives. Funny poems and delightful turns of phrase that Lewis Carroll is justly famous for, continue to sparkle in this book too. The dream-like quality is retained in Through the Looking-Glass, with abrupt changes in location and characters. In the years that followed their publication, Lewis Carroll’s books have been intensely studied by literary critics, psychologists, mathematicians and chess enthusiasts. Yet despite all the analysis and study, Through the Looking-Glass remains a charming and innocent portrayal of childhood imagination and creativity. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, humor, Kids, Lewis Carroll, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Teen/Young adult, Through the Looking-Glass

Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 – April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories (no doubt assisted by her lawyer father). (Wikipedia)

Categories: Arts

Tags: Anna Katharine Green, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Initials Only, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY

He was a trusted aide of Henry VIII, but when he supposedly opposed the monarch’s second marriage, he was thrown into prison and executed for treason. More than two hundred years later, he was canonized as the patron saint of statesmen and politicians by the Catholic Church. Philosopher, writer, diplomat, lawyer, Renaissance man, avid gardener, humanist thinker and statesman are only some of the words used to describe him. A lifelong opponent of Protestantism who was rumored to have had heretics imprisoned, murdered and burned at the stake, Thomas More is even today an enigmatic figure. Published in Latin in 1516, Utopia is Sir Thomas More’s best known and most debated work. It begins as an apparently real account of one of More’s diplomatic missions on behalf of his king. Some of the characters mentioned in this section are contemporary historical figures. In the course of his sojourn on board a ship to Antwerp, he meets a man called Raphael Hythloday who he assumes is the ship’s captain. Hythloday, a much traveled raconteur is glad to share stories of his experiences in various exotic lands. He tells of his voyages with the famous Amerigo Vespucci and one of the strange countries he visited was the Island of Utopia. The book is divided into two parts. Sir Thomas describes in great detail the history, geography, demographics and politics of his fictional country. It is portrayed as the ideal state in all ways. A welfare state, it does not allow its citizens to own private property. Agriculture is the most highly respected job on the island and crime is almost nonexistent. Men and women do the same kind of work. They are trained in at least one trade. However, slavery does exist and is actively practiced in Utopia. Euthanasia is allowed and indeed welcomed by older people and priests are allowed to marry. Though divorce is permitted, premarital relationships are punished under the law. There is a community dining room where every citizen takes meals and travel within the island is permissible only by means of an internal passport. There are no lawyers in Utopia! Religions are many, but atheists are condemned. There are several such interesting aspects in the book. Such is Thomas More’s vision of the ideal state. Scholars have attempted to understand his motive behind writing the treatise. Ideas such as euthanasia, noncelibate priesthood, divorce etc seem to have been diametrically opposite to the teachings of the Catholic Church in which he believed so strongly. Paradoxical also is his condemnation of the law and lawyers, since he was a brilliant one himself. In spite of these contradictions Utopia remains one of the most humane and interesting fantasies and a great addition to your repertoire.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Philosophy, Politics, Sir Thomas More, Utopia

One of the first locked room mysteries, The Mystery of the Yellow Room focuses on a supposedly impossible crime which has been committed within a locked room. The novel was initially published in the French periodical L’illustration, and was later published as a book in 1908. It is the first of a series of novels featuring the famous fictional reporter Joseph Rouletabille. The mystery begins when Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter and amateur sleuth is sent to investigate a crime scene at the Château du Glandier, home to renowned chemist Joseph Stangerson. In the focus of the crime is none other than professor Stangerson’s daughter Mathilde. She has been viciously attacked and almost killed in her room, or as the title suggests – the yellow room. What makes the crime so bewildering is the fact that it took place in a room locked from the inside with no apparent exit for the perpetrator. As Miss Stangerson is found alone lying on the floor, the assailant seems to have left significant clues behind, including a bloody mutton bone, a bloody handprint on the wall, and some old boots. Accompanied by his friend and lawyer Sainclair, Rouletabille gains access to the crime scene and interrogates some suspicious characters. The official detective assigned to the case is Frederick Larson, who becomes somewhat of a friendly rival to Rouletabille, and suspects Miss Stangerson’s fiancé Robert Darzac to be involved in the crime. As the mystery unfolds, the darkest secrets and twisted nature of the characters are slowly revealed. A novel portraying the many facets of deception, hazardous ambition and foul play, The Mystery of the Yellow Room sets the benchmark for detective fiction. Furthermore, readers are intellectually challenged to follow the many clues left behind, pushing them into the role of detective in hope of unraveling the mystery. Nevertheless, intriguing and nail biting to the very end, Leroux has effectively masterminded a perplexing mystery, widely celebrated to this very day. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Gaston Leroux, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Mystery of the Yellow Room

A heady mix of thrills, mystery, atmosphere and memorable characters, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is a classic adventure story that has enthralled both young and old alike ever since it was first published in 1883. Right from the racy opening chapter where the young hero Jim Hawkins encounters a mysterious guest, Billy Bones, at the Admiral Benbow Inn run by his widowed mother, the tale carries the reader off on an edge-of-the-seat roller-coaster ride of non-stop action and drama. Set in 18th century England and told entirely from Jim Hawkins’ youthful perspective, the novel portrays how he is drawn unwittingly into the dark deeds of pirates and buccaneers on the English coast. The excitement begins when he discovers a cryptic treasure map in Billy Bones’ chest when the secretive Billy succumbs to a fatal heart attack. Jim takes the strange map to trusted elders in the village, Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey, who at once guess that the map marks the location of the lost treasure of an infamous pirate Captain Flint. They decide to immediately set sail in search of the fabled riches with Jim being invited to join them! What more could a young boy want! This is the prelude to a journey that will take young Jim and a band of intrepid seafarers half-way across the world. Traveling as part of the crew, in the guise of a ship’s cook, is a sinister yet admirable figure – Long John Silver. This one-legged, ruthless and avaricious man, whose shadowy past hides many a dark and evil secret, is one of the most colorful and remarkable characters in the story. Stevenson endows him with a host of unforgettable qualities – the most famous of which, is of course, the parrot strangely named “Captain Flint” who is constantly on Silver’s shoulder. His villainy gradually unfolds as the voyage progresses. The novel has retained its perennial charm for readers over the centuries and is perhaps one of the most adapted adventure stories on TV, film and stage. Recently, a video game has been created based on this eternally appealing tale. Intrigues, duels, escapades and Jim’s own transformation into a man, make this the ultimate thrills-spills-‘n’-chills fantasy. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sea stories, Treasure Island

As wealthy financier, Hugh Mainwaring dictates his last will and testament to his private secretary, it would be impossible for him to imagine the shocking chain of events that he is about to set into motion. This best-selling mystery novel was first published in 1901 and remains an entertaining mix of detective work, courtroom drama and family intrigue.

Categories: Arts

Tags: Anna Maynard Barbour, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, That Mainwaring Affair

If ever there was a story written based unabashedly on adventure and trouble, this is it. There are treasure hunts and murderers on the run in this book that will keep you spellbound. Tom and his half-brother, Sid, lived with their aunt, Polly. Tom was a boisterous young fellow who constantly found himself in rather awkward situations that landed him into trouble. These situations were however exceedingly hilarious. On one occasion, Tom dirtied his clothes in a fight and his punishment was to whitewash the fence the following day. He cunningly got his friends to not only beg to do the work for him but also to pay him for the privilege! Tom and his friend, Huckleberry Finn visited the graveyard one night and witnessed the murder of Dr. Robinson. In fear they ran away to an island but soon came back home when they learned that their parents thought they were dead. But what became of the murderer on the run? Tom Sawyer is a story told in such an engaging manner that you’ll want to read it all in one sitting. The characters are vibrant and alive and the language simple, fun and engaging. If you have the stomach for such a story full of humor and horror, this book will not disappoint. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, humor, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer