Published at the height of the Dreyfus Affair, Mirbeau’s novel is a loosely assembled reworking of texts composed at different eras, featuring different styles, and showcasing different characters. Beginning with material stemming from articles on the ''Law of Murder'' discussed in the "Frontispice" ("The Manuscript"), the novel continues with a farcical critique of French politics as seen in "En Mission" : a French politicians'' aide is sent on a pseudo-scientific expedition to China, while his presence at home would be compromising ("The Mission"). Then it moves on to an account of a visit to a Cantonese prison by a narrator accompanied by the sadist/hysteric Clara, who delights in witnessing flayings, crucifixions and numerous tortures, all done in beautifully laid out and groomed gardens, and explaining the beauty of torture to her companion. Finally she attains hysterical orgasm and passes out in exhaustion, only to begin again a few days later ("Le Jardin des supplices", "The Garden").

The Torture Garden

The book is largely based on Kiyosaki''s upbringing and education in Hawaii. The book highlights the different attitudes to money work and life of two men (His rich dad and his poor dad), and how they in turn influenced key decisions in Kiyosaki''s life. Among some of the book''s topics are: * Robert Kyosaki''s personal story * The difference between assets and liabilities * What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not * Your house is not an asset, unless you use it to produce revenue * The value of financial intelligence and financial literacy * That corporations spend first, then pay taxes, while individuals must pay taxes first * That corporations are artificial entities that anyone can use, but the poor usually do not know how * The importance of investing and entrepreneurship Kiyosaki advocated Dr. Buckminster Fuller''s views on wealth, that wealth is measured by the number of days the income from your assets can sustain you, and financial independence is achieved when your monthly income from assets exceeds your monthly expenses.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

Farmer Boy is based on the childhood of husband, Almanzo Wilder, who grew up in the 1860s near the town of Malone in upstate New York. The book covers one year in Almanzo''s life, beginning just before his ninth birthday, and describes in detail the endless chores involved in running the Wilder family farm. Young as he is, Almanzo rises before 5 a.m. every day to milk several cows and feed stock. In the growing season, he plants and tends crops; in winter, he hauls logs, helps fill the ice house, trains a team of young oxen, and sometimes—when his father can spare him—goes to school. The novel includes stories of Almanzo''s brother Royal and his sisters Eliza Jane and Alice. While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State, where he and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to dinner most days-no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.

Farmer Boy

A young medieval scholar named Rosalind Hawkins (Rose for short), is left penniless after her father''s death. A professor and mentor from the college she attended tells Rose that he received a letter from a railroad tycoon named Jason Cameron, looking for a governess for his two children. Rose, fitting all the qualifications and having no other options, accepts the job and travels by train to his manor outside San Francisco. But when she arrives at the secluded country home of Jason Cameron, her new employer, she finds that he has no wife or children, and the only person she ever sees is his secretary, Paul du Mond, to whom she takes an instant dislike. Rose learns that Cameron has hired her to translate ancient texts to him, as a mysteriously referred-to accident has rendered him unable to conduct his research. Therefore, she is to spend her nights reading archaic and magical texts to Cameron through a speaking tube. After several days, Rose begins to realize that the large mansion is well taken care of, though she sees no servants other than Paul. After reading a book on magic, she becomes suspicious, as well as a little afraid. She confronts Jason and discovers that he is an Elemental Master of Fire and the house is tended by fire-spirits called salamanders. After a visit to San Francisco, Rose is called into Jason''s room by a salamander. There she discovers Jason''s secret, that he is half man, half wolf, due to a botched lycanthropy spell. Rose is horrified at first, but she overcomes her initial fear and becomes accustomed to her employer''s appearance. Jason begins to depend more heavily on Rose, and less on Paul du Mond. The reader learns that Paul is Jason''s apprentice in magick. As Jason grows closer to Rose, a rift grows between Jason and Paul, leading Paul to become dangerously jealous of Rose. Rose learns that her own Magical nature is that of Air and, after becoming Jason''s apprentice, calls up an air-elemental sylph. Unbeknownst to each other, they begin to fall in love. Meanwhile, Paul allies himself with another fire master, Simon Beltaire, who is evil and Jason''s nemesis. Beltaire and Paul both subscribe to dark magic, often using violence or drugs or both in order to enhance their natural magickal abilities. Beltaire is also seen using young immigrant women, forced into sexual slavery, as his victims. Paul attempts to kidnap Rose for a spell. However, she fights back and Jason kills Paul in a violent rage. Jason quickly sends Rose away, fearing that the wolf nature is superseding his humanity. In confusion, Rose flees to San Francisco. But rather than going back to Chicago, Rose remains in San Francisco to think over her situation and seek the advice of a local Earth Master, Master Pao. Simon Beltaire unsuccessfully attempts to persuade Rose to help him against Jason. Shortly afterwards, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 occurs. Beltaire tries to force Rose''s cooperation but Jason intervenes. The two Fire Masters engage in battle, and Jason''s salamanders are vastly outnumbered by Beltaire''s forces. Rose asks the sylphs to help Jason and the two Elements combined manage to defeat Beltaire. Two Chinese elemental masters, Master Ho and Master Pao, friends of Jason, help Rose and Jason back to Jason''s home. Master Ho, the air master, and also an ordained minister, marries Rose and Jason.

The Fire Rose

Tom Llewyllyn and Somerset Lloyd-James (the latter by mistake) have been engaged to write the script of a movie version of The Odyssey, to be shot on Corfu. After some wrangling they ask Fielding Gray to help, since he is a man with knowledge of Greek and the classics in general. The shooting has many comic turns since the movie team wants to do a sexy story while the foundation supplying the money demands something more radical that will substantially alter the story. Left-wing actress Sasha Grimes, who is to be the foundation''s "watcher" during the shoot, suggests, for example, that Odysseus give away his land to the poor. Gray works hard to keep the original story and even starts a sexual relationship with Grimes to be able to control her better. Max de Freville and his friend Lyki are also engaged in the movie and make visits during the shooting. They also bring Angela Tuck, suffering from terrible obesity in later years. When Angela, in a deal with Fielding, watches him having sex with Sasha, she has a heart attack and dies. Fielding, thinking about old age, is trying to blackmail producer Foxy Galahead for £50,000 to continue to keep Sasha Grimes under control. Galahead, Max, Lyki and director Jules frame Fielding and he is arrested by Earle Restarick during a trip to Zurich. Restarick and his thugs keeps Fielding prisoner in Athens and since the film team told them another story Restarick believes that Gray once again is digging in the things told in The Judas Boy. Restarick threatens to turn Fielding into a junkie to make him confess. Galahead throws a Christmas party for a number of guests, among them Lord Canteloupe, Somerset Lloyd-James and Captain Detterling. When Galahead brags to actress Elena about how he framed Fielding, she tells the three Englishmen at the party, and they decide to rescue Fielding. Canteloupe, infuriated by the thought that an Englishman be kept prisoner in a country of no importance (like Greece), bursts into the villa where Fielding is (officially) being nursed after a "mental breakdown" and takes him home to England. When Fielding arrives home Harriet is not there. At peace, he begins on a number of new commissions given him by Gregory Stern. sv:Come Like Shadows

Come Like Shadows

It is 1803 and Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army is closing on the retreating Mahrattas in western India. Marching with the British is Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made into an officer and wishing he had stayed a sergeant. Spurned by his new regiment, he is sent to the army’s baggage train and there finds corruption, romance, treason and enemies old and new. Sergeant Hakeswill wants Sharpe dead, and Hakeswill has powerful friends while Sharpe has only an orphaned Arab boy as his ally. And waiting with the cornered Mahrattas is another enemy, the renegade Englishman, William Dodd, who does not envisage defeat, but only a glorious triumph. For the Mahrattas have taken refuge in Gawilghur, the greatest stronghold of India, perched high on its cliffs above the Deccan Plain. Who rules in Gawilghur, it is said, rules India, and Dodd knows that the fortress is impregnable. There, behind its double walls, in the towering twin forts, Sharpe must face his enemies in what will prove to be Wellesley’s last battle on Indian soil.

Sharpe''s Fortress

The memoir starts with Archuleta describing his childhood in Florida with his family and eventually moving to Utah. He introduced his readers to his family members, including how his mother, Lupe, was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and enjoyed dancing and singing with her sisters when she was younger. Archuleta reveals that music has been a huge influence in his family for generations and that his father, Jeff, is a jazz trumpet player and that he has been a musical influence on him because he taught him the concepts of improvisation. Archuleta also described the impact the musical Les Misérables had on him and also the influence of the first season of American Idol. He described his experiences in the Utah Talent Show, Jenny Jones'' Show, and Star Search, for which he won the title of Junior Vocal Champion. The vocal cord paralysis Archuleta suffered at a young age was described in detail, including how he felt and what the experience has done for him and taught him. He then continues to describe his decisions and various events leading up to his audition and participation on the seventh season of American Idol. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Archuleta writes about how his faith encouraged him, influenced him, kept him grounded and helped him stay optimistic throughout his challenges. Archuleta showed love for his fans by writing how much he appreciates their support and provided his top 3 fan encounters. Inspiring others to also follow their dreams and make a difference, Archuleta concludes his memoir with "And remember, even when you can''t sing, you can always plant a tree".

Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance

The Drenai King is dead - murdered by a ruthless assassin. Enemy troops swarm into Drenai lands. Their orders are simple - kill every man, woman and child. But there is hope. Stalked by men who act like beasts and beasts that walk like men, the warrior Waylander must journey into the shadow-haunted lands of the Nadir to find the legendary Armour of Bronze. With this he can turn the tide. But can he be trusted? For he is Waylander the Slayer. He is the traitor who killed the King. For the last twenty years the farmer, Dakeyras, who tragically lost his wife and children has been travelling the world as the assassin Waylander the Slayer. Consumed by anger and guilt, on his journey for revenge against his families murderers, he has become a soulless killer who will kill anyone for money. However, his assassination of the Drenai king and the events that follow help Waylander to reclaim his humanity and makes him the perfect anti-hero. The book starts with the main character Waylander (Dakeyras) saving the Source priest Dardalion from torture and certain death inflicted by a band of 5 thieves. After rescuing the young priest he travels with him, though Waylander is used to traveling alone - as he has done for the past 20 years. Waylander ruthlessness wash off on the priest, and vice versa with Dardalion''s goodness. Soon Waylander becomes a man of conscience, though he loses none of his deadly skill. Soon Waylander is being accompanied by a good-looking young woman Danyal, as well as three small children. He subsequently embarks on a journey to bring back the Armor of Bronze, a symbol, and a rallying point for the Drenai. Along the way he encounters fellow assassin, the giant Durmast. At first Durmast attempts to kill Waylander but they soon become allies. And allies are what Waylander needs, because amongst the people trying to kill him are the renowned assassin, Cadoras the Chaos Blade, a group of werewolves, and a band of supernaturally enhanced knights. de:Waylander fr:Waylander pl:Waylander

Waylander

The book tells the story of Henry Warren, a City of London financier and head of his firm, Warren Sons and Mortimer. Amid the Depression, Warren continues to make money through hard work floating loans and stock issues—but at a price. Although only in his early forties, he is starting to have health problems—and his wife is having an affair with another man. They separate, and divorce proceedings begin. One night, out of desperation, and telling no one, he orders his chauffeur to drive him to the North of England, as he wants to go on a hiking tour to clear his head and gain some perspective. His chauffeur sets him down many hours north of London. The chauffeur''s death in a road accident while making his way back to London means that there is no one who knows where Warren is. Warren soon suffers severe intestinal pain and is taken to a hospital in the fictional Northumberland town of Sharples. The loss of his wallet deprives Warren of any evidence of his identity, and everyone assumes he is one of the many who are on the road, unemployed because of the Depression. Once he regains consciousness, he encourages this misconception. Sharples, once a prosperous town, is so entirely bound up with the shipyard that was its major employer that when the shipyard failed, so did the town. Unemployment is very high, and few shops remain open, the entire town living on the dole. The hospital is still open, however, and Warren is operated on successfully. While recovering he learns of the town''s plight, as he starts becoming attracted to the Hospital''s Almoner, Alice MacMahon - a law graduate who never practised but who is fiercely loyal to her town. He continues the pose of being indigent, and watches as others die through listlessness and lack of strength. Eventually his convalescence is complete and he is discharged. By this time, he has managed to have money and cheque forms sent to him, and he gives a major gift to the hospital, keeping it quiet. Warren now wants to help the town, both out of affection for Alice and out of belief that something must be done - and as head of his firm he is uniquely able to do so. He quietly buys the shipyard for a song with his own money, but knows of no legitimate way of securing that first order to start the shipyard going again. He sees no other way but to indulge in shady dealings (before this, his name was a byword for honesty). Warren goes to the Balkan nation of Laevatia and begins bribing officials for control of the oil concession—once the concession is secured, the corporation which will result will need tankers to transport the oil. Thanks to the help of a courtesan, a dishonest card dealer, and other colourful characters, he is successful. The new corporation which Warren floats on the London stock market orders the tankers from the shipyard, which Warren also floats on the stock market. To make the float a success he states in its prospectus that the yard will make a profit, although he knows full well, and a letter he has received from the yard''s manager reports, that the opposite will be true. This falsification of a prospectus was and is a serious criminal offence - as Warren well knows. The shipyard slowly starts up again, and thus far Warren''s plan works well. But when there is a revolution in Laevatia, the house of cards that Warren has built starts to collapse. Questions are asked around the Exchange, the damning letter comes to light, and Warren is arrested. The only way to keep the shipyard out of it is for Warren to take the responsibility entirely on himself. He does, and is sent to prison, where he serves two years and three months. He is completely unrepentant. Meanwhile, his love for Alice only awaits his release before they can be married. As a prisoner, without responsibility, he begins to recover his health and gain perspective on his life. As his good name in the City is ruined, and as he can never return to his former work, he thinks about what to do with the remainder of his life (what he decides is not made clear). He will still be a wealthy man, and still has energy. Upon his release, he travels up to Sharples, telling no one of his coming. There is no resemblance between the bustling, prosperous town he now sees, and the derelict one he remembers. He walks to the shipyard, now busy with rearmament work, and sees a three foot square bronze plaque at the gate. It shows the head and shoulders of a man, in profile, and the words "HENRY WARREN/1934/HE GAVE US WORK". He is much affected. He is recognized, and the entire town, including Alice, hurries to the shipyard to greet him.http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/info_33362.asp

Ruined City

Like Nesbit''s Railway Children, the story begins when a group of children move from London to the countryside of Kent. While playing in a gravel pit, the five children—Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb—uncover a rather grumpy, ugly and occasionally malevolent sand-fairy known as the Psammead, who has the ability to grant wishes. However, the Psammead has been buried for so long, he is no longer able to grant individual wishes. Instead, he persuades the children to take one wish per day, to share amongst the lot of them, with the caveat that the wishes will turn to stone at sundown. This, apparently, used to be the rule in the Stone Age, when all children wished for was food, the bones of which would then become fossils. However, when the children''s first wish—to be "as beautiful as the day"—ends at sundown, it simply vanishes, leading the Psammead to observe that some wishes are too fanciful to be changed to stone. All the wishes go comically wrong. When the children wish to be beautiful, the servants don''t recognize them and shut them out of the house. When they wish to be rich, they find themselves with a gravel-pit full of gold spade guineas that no shop will accept as it is no longer in circulation, so they can''t buy anything. A wish for wings seems to be going well, but at sunset the children find themselves stuck atop a church bell tower with no way down, getting them into trouble with the church gamekeeper who must take them home (though this wish has the happy side-effect of introducing the gamekeeper to the children''s housemaid, who later marries him). After being bullied by the baker''s boy, Robert wishes that he was bigger, whereupon he becomes eleven feet tall and the children show him at a traveling fair for coins. They also wish themselves into a castle, only to learn it''s being besieged, while a wish to meet real Red Indians ends with the children nearly being scalped. Even the children''s infant brother, the Lamb, is the victim of two wishes gone awry. In one, the children become annoyed with tending for their brother and wish that someone else wanted him—leading to a situation where everyone wants the baby, and the children must fend off kidnappers and Gypsies. Later, they wish the baby would grow up faster, causing him to grow all at once into a selfish, smug young man who promptly leaves them all behind. Finally, the children accidentally wish they could give a wealthy woman''s jewellery to their mother, causing all the jewellery to appear in their home. When it seems that the gamekeeper—who is now their friend—will be blamed for robbery, the children must beg the Psammead for a complex series of wishes to set things right. It agrees, on the condition that they will never ask it for another wish. Only Anthea, who has grown close to It, makes sure that the final wish is that they will meet It again. The Psammead assures them that this wish will be granted.

Five Children and It

The Diamond Girls is about 4 girls (later 5) called Martine, Jude, Rochelle and Dixie. Their mother, Sue, is heavily pregnant with her 5th child and believes it is a boy since she reads tarot cards and peers into a crystal ball. They live in a 3-bedroom apartment in the North Block in Bletchworth which was their best flat ever. Sue decides to move to a proper house on the Planet Estate. Judging the pictures, Sue and the kids think it''s a great house but when they arrive, it''s the opposite. As they move, they hire Dixie''s dad''s friend Bruce to help move the furniture. However, the day they move in, Sue goes into labour. Bruce and Martine go with Sue to the hospital and the others are left alone. Dixie then explores the garden and meets a shy girl called Mary who has been abused by her mother. When the girls need candles, they go to Mary''s house and Dixie hears Mary''s mother slapping her. Sue comes home a day later with Sundance, a baby boy. However, when Dixie changes Sundance''s nappy, she sees that Sundance is a girl. She keeps this secret to herself and confronts Sue about him. Sue begs Dixie to keep it a secret so she does. Meanwhile, Rochelle gets a boyfriend who is quite a few years older than her. Jude then learns kung fu from Bruce and Martine, unable to cope with the house and moving, runs back to her boyfriend after Sue finding out that Martine''s pregnant.When Dixie is playing with Mary, Mary tells Dixie that her mother threw her teddy out. Dixie offers to lend her toy budgie for the night but then regrets it. Dixie later goes to Mary''s house to get him back and ends up getting badly injured when Mary jumps out of the window, after Dixie told her to jump off the garden wall. Martine comes back after breaking up with her boyfriend because his mother and him kept badmouthing the Diamonds, despite her pregnancy. After Dixie woke up in hospital with both legs broken, she saw lots of people with a sickly scent, and is informed that Mary''s mother is getting help and Mary is staying with other relatives. Sue then tells everyone that Sundance is a girl, not a boy.

The Diamond Girls

Will Carden, the novel''s protagonist, is fifteen years old at the start of the story. His family has "come down" in the world: though his late father had once owned a steel mill, Will and his mother and siblings now survive by growing vegetables on a two-acre plot of land. Will is popular with the local children, especially with the five Williams siblings who live in the big house in the town of Bingham. Of the five, Mary Louise is the beauty; her twelve-year-old sister Annabel is plain in comparison, with red hair and freckles and a "pug nose." Their father owns the steel mill that succeeded the Carden mill as the town''s leading employer; their mother, the snobbish Mrs. Williams, wounds Will by telling her children to avoid the lowly "vegetable boy." Will, however, is a lad of fine character; he is encouraged by the local physician, Dr. Meigs, who joins the Carden family in a mushroom-growing business that relieves their poverty. Will saves Annabel''s life when she falls through a frozen pond while ice-skating. Annabel and Will grow close as Annabel blossoms into young womanhood; Meigs encourages her steel-magnate father to acknowledge and encourage the boy. Meigs and Williams also become suspicious of Ezra Jordan, the man who manages Williams''s mill and boards with the Cardens. Jordan was crucial in the Carden family''s history; the doctor and steel-man realize that all knowledge of the death of Will''s father has filtered through Jordan. Upon investigation, they learn that Jordan has cheated both Williams and the Cardens, by appropriating a valuable steel-making process developed by the elder Carden. It turns out that Mr. Carden is alive and well in Britain, where he has made his fortune. Jordan has worked a double fraud: he deceived the Cardens in Bingham into believing that their husband and father had died in a shipwreck &mdash; and he also tricked Carden in England into thinking that his family had perished in an epidemic. Jordan maintained his lodging with the family precisely to intercept any possible communications that would reveal his nefarious scheme. Once all of the facts are revealed, the Carden family is united in prosperity once more. Will and Annabel look forward to marriage and the prospect of a happy union. ---- Annabel was included in the sixth and final issue of the annual Oz-story Magazine in 2000, with the illustrations of both Hall and Nuyttens.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Torture Garden

By Octave Mirbeau

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

By Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

Farmer Boy

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Fire Rose

By Mercedes Lackey

Come Like Shadows

No Author Listed

Sharpe's Fortress

By Bernard Cornwell

Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance

No Author Listed

Waylander

By David Gemmell

Ruined City

By Nevil Shute

Five Children and It

By E. Nesbit

The Diamond Girls

No Author Listed

Annabel

By L. Frank Baum