Random Loyalbooks.com Podcasts

Persuasion is the last completed novel by Jane Austen and it was published posthumously in 1818. Readers have often connected Persuasion with Northanger Abbey as the setting of both stories is in Bath, a highly fashionable health resort with which the author was well acquainted. Another interesting point to note is that the title of ‘Persuasion’ was probably not envisioned by Jane but by her brother or sister. Another theory is that her two siblings had a great role in choosing the title of the story. Persuasion opens with a brief spotlight on the Elliot family. The reader gets to know that the Elliots are a well-respected family who are landowners. Lady Elliot died a long time ago leaving behind her three daughters – Anne, Elizabeth & Mary (married). Due to mounting debts, Sir Walter decided to move to a house in Bath with far less comforts. They were lucky to find tenants for their home as Admiral & Mrs. Croft were well-mannered people from the Navy. Anne is very excited to see Mrs. Croft as she is the sister of the man whom she loves dearly. But to understand the situation we need to go back 8 years when he she was happy to be betrothed to Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer. However, Anne broke off the engagement when she was persuaded to think that the match was unworthy by the widow Lady Russell, her mother’s friend. Anne felt deep regret as a result of this decision and Wentworth too was bitter after seeing the unwanted interference of Lady Russell and the lack of fortitude on the part of Anne. Wentworth has now returned from the sea as a rich and successful captain and finds that Anne and her family are on the verge of a financial breakdown. He is also intrigued by the fact that his own sister is actually a tenant in the Elliot estate – Kellynch Hall. The tension of the story revolves around one pertinent question – will Wentworth be re-united in love? Readers of Persuasion will realize that even in her final work, Jane Austen has successfully managed to implement her skill for delicate observations on various social customs, love, marriage and the much touted English morals and manners. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, jane austen, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, persuasion, Psychology, romance

Written in 1910, this “cyclopedia” is full of information that was quite useful at the time. A hundred years later, its text is more humorous than practical — although some advice never goes out of style.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, Joseph Trienens, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing

Isabella Bird began travelling while in her early twenties to help alleviate illness that had plagued her since childhood. She was a single woman in her early forties when she made her treck through the Rocky Mountains. A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains details this fascinating account of her travels through a series of letters written to her sister, Henrietta. These letters are filled with beautiful, vivid descriptions of the scenery, the people she encountered, the way of life, and a mountain man named Jim Nugent, that was as rough as they come, but a complete gentleman with Ms. Bird. She has the distinction of being the first woman to become a member of the Royal Geographical Society in 1892.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, audio books, audiobook, Biography, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, History, Isabella L. Bird, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Memoirs, nature, Non-fiction, travel

Over twenty consecutive months, Charles Dickens enthralled readers with his monthly installments of the novel Bleak House, a complex and compelling portrayal of the English judicial system. Serialized in his own magazine, Household Words, between 1852 and 1853, the book is deemed to be his finest work and is his ninth novel. Using an innovative literary technique known as “free indirect discourse,” where the narrator himself speaks through the medium of one of his main characters, Dickens uses the heroine Esther Summerson and an unidentified narrator as the vehicle for his story. Esther Summerson is a young woman who is brought up under mysterious circumstances by several people, including an aunt who hates her, a Chancery lawyer and finally another lawyer John Jarndyce, a wealthy, extremely kind and compassionate man. After completing her education, she moves into the Jarndyce residence, appropriately named Bleak House, where two other wards of his also live. Secrets begin to tumble out of many cupboards as one of the wards, Richard Carstone, begins investigating a century old case, Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce. It concerns a complicated and huge inheritance case which has been going on for generations. In fact, the phrase “jarndyce and jarndyce” has entered the English language as a metaphor for interminable court proceedings. Almost all the major characters in the book are connected in some way to this case. There are plenty of wonderfully named, extremely memorable characters in the convoluted structure of plots and subplots, masterfully constructed by a writer working at his peak. Many of them are based on real people Dickens knew while the accounts of the legal system are based on his real-life experiences as a court clerk. The portraits of scheming lawyers like Mr. Tulkington and the merciless moneylender Grandfather Smallweed and an almost bewildering host of minor characters make Bleak House one of the most interesting and entertaining novels. Dickens’ magnum opus focuses extensively on the ills of the English judicial system, but it is also a brilliant detective story. Inspector Bucket, a police detective, is put in charge of the murder of Mr. Tulkington and this leads to the unraveling of a deep and secret plot. A mysterious note written by a dead man known only as “Nemo,” an aristocratic lady with secrets of her own, her suspicious husband, her disappearance and Esther’s romance with a country doctor are some of the elements that make up the sweeping panorama of Bleak House. Whether you’re reading it for the first time, or it’s an old favorite, Bleak House is indeed an invaluable addition to your bookshelf. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Bleak House, Charles Dickens, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, War stories

The delightfully eccentric Doctor Dolittle, rendered immortal on screen by the gifted Rex Harrison, has remained a firm favorite with generations of children ever since he made his debut in an earlier novel, The Story of Doctor Dolittle. In his second outing titledThe Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, the maverick physician takes on a new assistant, Tommy Stubbins. The story is structured as a first person account given by Tommy, who is now a very old man. The boy who was the son of the village cobbler first meets Doctor Dolittle when he takes a hurt squirrel to the doctor for treatment. Tommy and the doctor quickly become friends, and the boy soon learns how to communicate with animals in their own languages. The remarkable talking parrot, Polynesia and other amazing creatures from the previous book also appear in this sequel. The mysterious disappearance of a friend of the doctor’s called Luke the Hermit sets off a train of strange events. And Tommy finds himself accompanying the good doctor on an exciting, hazardous voyage to find Long Arrow, a native American and the son of Golden Arrow, who is reputed to be the greatest living naturalist in the world. The kind hearted, quirky, animal rights activist Doctor Dolittle dominates the plot. His enduring humanitarian approach to the world around him, his desire for peaceful coexistence among all and his concern for the environment make him a memorable and endearing character. This as much an adventure story as a strong appeal for compassion towards the innumerable species that share our planet with us. There are shipwrecks, South American and Mediterranean locations, underwater explorations where they discover a giant sea snail and wonderful descriptions of land and sea. Critics of Hugo Lofting’s work point out that there are several passages which are now politically incorrect. However, readers would do well to remember that these books were written more than a hundred years ago, when attitudes to colonization and race were quite different. In the dozen or so books featuring Doctor Dolittle, the author Hugo Lofting ensures that a wide variety of themes, locations and ideas are explored. The books were originally illustrated by the author himself, as he was a talented artist and naturalist himself.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

Tags: Adventure, animals, audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Hugh Lofting, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, travel

Of The Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche says in Ecce Homo: “If anyone should desire to obtain a rapid sketch of how everything before my time was standing on its head, he should begin reading me in this book. That which is called ‘Idols’ on the title-page is simply the old truth that has been believed in hitherto. In plain English, The Twilight of the Idols means that the old truth is on its last legs.” Certain it is that, for a rapid survey of the whole of Nietzsche’s doctrine, no book, save perhaps the section entitled “Of Old and New Tables” in Thus Spake Zarathustra, could be of more real value than The Twilight of the Idols. Here Nietzsche is quite at his best. He is ripe for the marvellous feat of the transvaluation of all values. Nowhere is his language – that marvellous weapon which in his hand became at once so supple and so murderous – more forcible and more condensed. Nowhere are his thoughts more profound. But all this does not by any means imply that this book is the easiest of Nietzsche’s works. On the contrary, I very much fear that unless the reader is well prepared, not only in Nietzscheism, but also in the habit of grappling with uncommon and elusive problems, a good deal of the contents of this work will tend rather to confuse than to enlighten him in regard to what Nietzsche actually wishes to make clear in these pages. (Excerpt from A. Ludovici’s Preface)

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Friedrich Nietzsche, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, The Twilight of the Idols or How to Philosophise with the Hammer

His family name is derived from a Greek craftsman who created the Labyrinth and designed wings for himself and his son to fly away from the island they were imprisoned in. But Stephen Dedalus, the young hero of James Joyce’s first novel, is a young man who rises above his baser instincts and seeks a life devoted to the arts. This quintessential coming of age novel describes the early life of Stephen Dedalus. It is set in Ireland during the nineteenth century which was a time of emerging Irish nationalism and conservative Catholicism. Highly autobiographical in nature, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man draws heavily on real events and characters from Joyce’s own life, though he adopts an ironical and often satirical tone. The book is also notable for its being the first one in which Joyce uses innovative “Stream of Consciousness” writing style. A Portrait… follows Stephen Dedalus from his babyhood into early adulthood. One of the most remarkable things about Joyce’s style is that the early chapters are expressed in child like language. For instance, the famous opening lines of the book are, “Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down the road….” These are lines from a story that Stephen’s father tells him as a baby. The final lines “Welcome, O Life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience…” Between these two lines lies the story of Stephen’s growth and development. He goes through phases of religious obsession, where he passionately follows his church’s teachings and is often racked by guilt and despair. However, as he attains manhood, his rational, adult faculties begin to emerge and he goes forth to meet life as a fully conscious, aware individual, enriched by all that has happened to him. Joyce explores the ideas of the over riding role of religion in the life of the Victorian Irish people, their extremism and their fanaticism. He also explores the role of the artist in society and their responsibilities. Finally, Joyce delves into the larger questions of Irish nationalism and their need for self government. A Portrait… is a book that young people should read for its passionate optimism and older people should read for the recollections it evokes of their own past. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, james joyce, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com

This book with two titles, Three Men and a Maid in the USA and The Girl on the Boat in the UK is a typical P.G. Wodehouse romantic comedy, involving, at various times: a disastrous talent quest, a lawyer with a revolver, a bulldog with a mind of his own and a suit of armour! The maid, or marriageable young woman, of the American title is red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina “Billie” Bennet. The three men are Bream Mortimer, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, Eustace Hignett, a poet of sensitive disposition who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and Sam Marlowe, Eustace’s would-be-dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together (hence the British title), along with an elephant-gun-wielding young woman called Jane Hubbard who is smitten with Eustace the poet. Typically Wodehousian romantic shenanigans ensue. Even Estace’s redoubtable mother (a Theosophist author and public speaker) fails to quell the excitement.

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, P. G. Wodehouse, romance, Three Men and a Maid

Originally featured as a five-part serial in All-Story Cavalier magazine in 1914 and later published in book form in 1916, The Beasts of Tarzan is the third book in the gripping Tarzan series. Shifting from London to the natural African scenery, the novel follows Tarzan as he finds himself in the wicked ploy of old enemies, which launches him into a mission to save his beloved wife and son, while also caring for his own welfare. Furthermore, he must go back to his previous life and reclaim his position as king of the jungle. The novel begins with the escape of Tarzan’s archenemy Nikolas Rokoff from prison, who is intent on getting his revenge. The events in the novel are set shortly after Tarzan has settled in to his new life as Lord Greystroke, a married man and father to baby Jack. Just when things seem to have stabilized, Tarzan once again is faced with unease, as his infant son is kidnapped by Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvich. Subsequently, Tarzan follows a trail supposedly leading to the whereabouts of his son, but instead it leads him straight into Rokoff’s trap. Accordingly, Tarzan finds himself imprisoned on a ship bound for the African east coast. At the same time, Jane suspects that Tarzan might be entering a trap and decides to go after her him. Needless to say, things do not go well for her either, as she too is imprisoned aboard the ship and caught up in Rokoff’s mischievous scheme of revenge. Upon reaching a deserted island, Rokoff abandons Tarzan on its shores, while telling him of his plans to leave infant Jack to be raised among cannibals as one of their own. Marooned, Tarzan must join forces with the animal inhabitants of the island in order to safely reunite his family and free them from the evil grasp of Rokoff. A riveting continuation of the audacious adventures of Tarzan, the novel effectively carries on Burroughs’ reputation as an imaginative novelist as he presents a refreshing take on the already well-known characters, as well as introducing a new set of characters. Additionally, he creates a distinctive plot by incorporating a vivid setting and applying evocative imagery. An action-packed installment, the piece promises satisfaction for any fan of the Tarzan series.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, animals, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Edgar Rice Burroughs, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Teen/Young adult, The Beasts of Tarzan

The title ‘Anthem’ is derived as an anthem to sense of self and self-governing thoughts. Anthem is a story of Equality 7-2521 who is a young man living in some unspecified future time and place. In this future era freedom and individual rights have been eradicated. The starring character of the novel is an inquisitive street cleaner. He lives in a society where people have lost their knowledge of individualism, to the extreme that people do not know words like ‘I’ or ‘mine’. All the people live and work for their livelihood in collective groups, along with the people with power, namely the ‘Councils’. There are many types of councils namely the Council of Vocations, Council of Scholars etc. The society is where all the terminology of individualism is completely restrained. They emphasize the principle that all are equal and should remain that way. Equality was an outstanding student during childhood and was very interested in learning. He wanted to become a scholar in the Council, but for his thought, he was punished by the Council which is responsible for assigning jobs to each individual. They punished him by assigning him the job of street sweeper. Equality had a thirst for knowledge that he secretly satisfy by sneaking into a tunnel every evening, where he was alone. He used the time to write, think and to perform some scientific experiments. Soon he falls in love with a woman named Liberty 5-3000. The book enumerates the quest for knowledge by this young man who struggles to find answers for many burning questions. These questions lead him to discover the mystery behind his society and the key to freedom. You’ll find the book hard to put down as it tackles the question of expressing love in a society that does not recognize it. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: anthem, audio books, audiobook, ayn rand, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Philosophy, Psychology, romance, science, science-fiction, travel

A delightful story supporting the notion of finding beauty in all aspects of life, Just David follows a young boy, who slowly transforms the lives of those around him, as he teaches them to embrace the smaller things in life. The classic presents an encouraging tale to look beyond the horizon and not allow the world to dictate one’s action. The story begins with the introduction of a charismatic ten-year old boy David, who together with his father lives in the serene and secluded mountains. Raised to find peace and joy in his natural surroundings, David is ignorant to life outside his idyllic home. Furthermore, he has his beloved violin to keep him company, which he plays in accordance to the tune of nature, while keeping to the modest teachings of his father, which includes appreciation for music. However, when David’s father is beset by illness and later dies as a result, the courageous young boy is thrust into a world quite different from his own, as he is taken into the care of Simeon Holly and his wife. The couple is surprised to learn that the young boy does not know his last name, his father’s name or whether he has any relatives. He introduces himself as “just David”. Initially, the couple is hesitant about taking the boy in, but they finally agree because he reminds them of their estranged son. Witnessing the reality of life far from the cultivated teachings of his father, including cynicism, cruelty, and suffering, David still remains true to his sensible ways. His only solace in life is his violin, which he plays as a means of expression. A truly admirable young boy, David is able to see the best in everyone and everything and leaves a trail of optimism wherever he goes. In addition, he inspires others to follow his footsteps and make the most out of life, as it is too short to squander on superfluous details which in turn bring misery. Nevertheless, an emotionally resonant piece that has withstood the hands of time, Just David will surely inspire both young and old readers to rethink their attitude towards life, while also discovering the true source of happiness. Needless to say, Porter successfully creates an epitome of goodness and innocence, as her classic novel leaves much to ponder over long after its conclusion.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Eleanor H. Porter, fiction, free audio books, Just David, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com

Mark Twain’s work on Joan of Arc is titled in full “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte.” De Conte is identified as Joan’s page and secretary. For those who’ve always wanted to “get behind” the Joan of Arc story and to better understand just what happened, Twain’s narrative makes the story personal and very accessible. The work is fictionally presented as a translation from the manuscript by Jean Francois Alden, or, in the words of the published book, “Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France.”It was originally published as a serialization in Harper’s Magazine beginning in 1895 and later published in book form in 1896. However the Harper’s editors decided to cut 12 chapters that describe much of Joan’s Great Trial, saying the chapters were not suitable for serialization since, “They will not bear mutilation or interruption, but must be read as a whole, as one reads a drama.” This recording contains the complete text! De Conte is a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc’s page Louis de Contes, and provides narrative unity to the story. He is presented as an individual who was with Joan during the three major phases of her life – as a youth in Domremy, as the commander of Charles’ army on military campaign, and as a defendant at the trial in Rouen. The book is presented as a translation by Alden of de Conte’s memoirs, written in his later years for the benefit of his descendants. Twain based his descriptions of Joan of Arc on his daughter, Susy Clemens, as he remembered her at the age of seventeen. Twain said, “I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none.” More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, History, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mark Twain, Memoirs, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, religion, Volumes 1 & 2, War stories

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

Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, the worshipers of false gods, or pagans, as we commonly call them, made an attempt to attribute this calamity to the Christian religion, and began to blaspheme the true God with even more than their wonted bitterness and acerbity. It was this which kindled my zeal for the house of God, and prompted me to undertake the defense of the city of God against the charges and misrepresentations of its assailants. This work was in my hands for several years, owing to the interruptions occasioned by many other affairs which had a prior claim on my attention, and which I could not defer.However, this great undertaking was at last completed in twenty-two books. Of these, the first five refute those who fancy that the polytheistic worship is necessary in order to secure worldly prosperity, and that all these overwhelming calamities have befallen us in consequence of its prohibition. In the following five books I address myself to those who admit that such calamities have at all times attended, and will at all times attend, the human race, and that they constantly recur in forms more or less disastrous, varying only in the scenes, occasions, and persons on whom they light, but, while admitting this, maintain that the worship of the gods is advantageous for the life to come. In these ten books, then, I refute these two opinions, which are as groundless as they are antagonistic to the Christian religion.But that no one might have occasion to say, that though I had refuted the tenets of other men, I had omitted to establish my own, I devote to this object the second part of this work, which comprises twelve books, although I have not scrupled, as occasion offered, either to advance my own opinions in the first ten books, or to demolish the arguments of my opponents in the last twelve. Of these twelve books, the first four contain an account of the origin of these two cities—the city of God, and the city of the world. The second four treat of their history or progress; the third and last four, of their deserved destinies. And so, though all these twenty-two books refer to both cities, yet I have named them after the better city, and called them The City of God.

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, religion, Saint Augustine of Hippo, The City of God

The Constitution has a total of 27 amendments. The first ten, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously. The following seventeen were ratified separately. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Bill of Rights & Amendments to the US Constitution, ebooks, Founding Fathers of the United States, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

Dracula tells the tale of a sinister Transylvanian aristocrat who seeks to retain his youth and strength by feeding off human blood. The author, Bram Stoker, a young Victorian theater professional, was probably inspired by the strange epidemic of vampirism that occurred in remote parts of Eastern Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. These stories were recounted by travelers who later arrived in England and other parts of Western Europe. Stoker initially meant the tale to be written as a play in which he wanted Sir Henry Irving, a leading Victorian actor, to play the role of the malevolent Count Dracula. However, as circumstances would have it, Irving never played the part and Stoker’s story finally took the form of a novel. The book, published in 1897, is constructed in a very interesting format. The story is told via a set of letters, diary entries, ship’s logs and newspaper reports. It begins with the journey of a young lawyer, Jonathan Harker, who is traveling to Transylvania on his legal firm’s business, to finalize the transfer of a property in England to an East European aristocrat, Count Dracula. Harker is initially charmed by the suave and debonair count’s hospitality, but gradually comes to realize Dracula’s malevolent intentions. The plot takes up the tale of various other people in the story – Harker’s fiancée Mina, her friend Lucy, a former suitor Dr Seward and his teacher, Professor Van Helsing. A host of other characters adds to the twists and turns in the narrative. Dracula represents the dawn of Gothic horror fiction in the contemporary era and its earliest reviews called it “blood-curdling” though it didn’t receive much commercial success. However, it really caught the public imagination with its American publication in 1899, and in the 20th century, when film and television versions began to appear. Today, Dracula-theme tours are one of the hottest attractions in countries like Romania in Eastern Europe and studies have uncovered the historical figures who actually existed behind the fictional character of the evil count. A great read for a dark and gloomy night. Just make sure your windows are tightly shut! More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Bram Stoker, dracula, ebooks, Epistolary fiction, fiction, free audio books, Horror/Ghost stories, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com

A young man from a poor, working-class background, passionate about education, who aspires to become a professor. His teacher, a respected role model who turns out to have feet of clay. An independent, free-spirited woman. Another who is scheming, selfish and flirtatious. Dominating their lives is the magnificent university town of Christminster. All these and a host of other colorful, memorable characters inhabit the pages of Thomas Hardy’s monumental fourteenth novel published in 1895. Thomas Hardy’s fame as a novelist rivals that of even Dickens in Victorian literature. Creator of unforgettable novels like Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d’Ubervilles, Under the Greenwood Tree and the Mayor of Casterbridge, his essential humanity and the depth that he brings to his characters are what sets him apart. A largely self-taught man, he went on to become a skilled architect and restorer of old buildings. His life-long love of languages, music, country-side life, languages and history emerges in most of his works. Jude the Obscure tells the story of a young orphan, Jude Fawley who is devoted to academics though his impoverished aunt (who rears him) wants him to start work as early as possible as a stone-mason. Jude’s inspirational teacher, Richard Phillotson, leaves the village for better pastures in the university at Christminster, leaving Jude to dream about a future career as a teacher. Instead, the travails of his working-class background begin to slowly consume him. He is deceived into marrying Arabella Donn, the come-hither daughter of the local butcher. After many trials and tribulations, Jude reaches Christminster, where a terrible disappointment awaits him. Jude’s meeting with his brilliant, free-thinking cousin Sue Bridehead is another turning point in his life. The novel scandalized Victorian readers when it first came out due to its revolutionary ideas about sexuality, women’s rights and the rise of the working class. Copies of the book were publicly burned in London and other cities. Thousands of people wrote to Hardy from all over the world, severely criticizing him/the novel which shocked him into abandoning fiction-writing till his death. He continued to publish poetry and drama and remained a successful writer. In 1912, a new edition was well-received by more modern readers and the book delights young and old even today. The universal themes of marriage, love, class-distinctions, education, women’s rights, religion and human migrations from their native homes to cities are brilliantly explored in Jude the Obscure, making it a must read classic.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Jude the Obscure, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, romance, Thomas Hardy

“The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg” is a piece of short fiction by Mark Twain. It first appeared in Harper’s Monthly in December 1899, and was subsequently published by Harper Collins in the collection The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories and Sketches (1900). This recording contains all the stories and sketches from the 1900 Harper Collins publication. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Kids & Family

Tags: and Other Stories, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mark Twain, Short stories, Teen/Young adult, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg