The events in Poon A Novel happened from 1880 to 1889, when an Ilocano family abandoned their beloved barrio in order to overcome the challenges to their survival in southern Pangasinan in the Philippines, and also to flee from the cruelty they received from the Spaniards. One of the principal characters of the novel is Istak, a Filipino from the Ilocano stock who was fluent in Spanish and Latin, a talent he inherited from the teachings of an old parish priest in Cabugao. He was an acolyte aspiring to become a priest. He was also knowledgeable in the arts of traditional medicine. The only hindrance to his goal of becoming a full-pledged priest was his racial origins. He lived in a period in Philippine history when it a possible Filipino uprising against the Spanish government was about to erupt, a time after the execution of three mestizos, namely Mariano Gómez, José Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (or the Gomburza, an acronym for the three) at Bagumbayan (now known as Rizal Park) in February, 1872. There were signs that a revolution will happen, despite of the lack of unity among the inhabitants of the Philippines islands at the time. Another approaching occurrence was the help the Filipinos would be receiving from the Americans in finally removing the governing Spaniards from the archipelago after three hundred yearsThe novel recreates the societal struggles in which the characters of Po-on were situated in, which includes the protagonist Istak ''s personal search for life''s meaning and for the true face of his beliefs at principles. Throughout this personal journey, he was accompanied by a dignity that is his aloneIstak was assigned the task of delivering a message to General Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine revolutionaries, but died at the hands of American soldiers, on his way to delivering the message.

Po-on

La Peau de chagrin consists of three sections: "Le Talisman" ("The Talisman"), "La Femme sans cœur" ("The Woman without a Heart"), and "L''Agonie" ("The Agony"). The first edition contained a Preface and a "Moralité", which were excised from subsequent versions. A two-page Epilogue appears at the end of the final section. "Le Talisman" begins with the plot of "Le Dernier Napoléon": A young man named Raphaël de Valentin wagers his last coin and loses, then proceeds to the river Seine to drown himself. On the way, however, he decides to enter an unusual shop and finds it filled with curiosities from around the world. The elderly shopkeeper leads him to a piece of shagreen hanging on the wall. It is inscribed with "Oriental" writing; the old man calls it "Sanskrit", but it is imprecise Arabic. The skin promises to fulfill any wish of its owner, shrinking slightly upon the fulfillment of each desire. The shopkeeper is willing to let Valentin take it without charge, but urges him not to accept the offer. Valentin waves away the shopkeeper''s warnings and takes the skin, wishing for a royal banquet, filled with wine, women, and friends. He is immediately met by acquaintances who invite him to such an event; they spend hours eating, drinking, and talking. Part two, "La Femme sans cœur", is narrated as a flashback from Valentin''s point of view. He complains to his friend Émile about his early days as a scholar, living in poverty with an elderly landlord and her daughter Pauline, while trying fruitlessly to win the heart of a beautiful but aloof woman named Foedora. Along the way he is tutored by an older man named Eugène de Rastignac, who encourages him to immerse himself in the world of high society. Benefiting from the kindness of his landladies, Valentin maneuvers his way into Foedora''s circle of friends. Unable to win her affection, however, he becomes the miserable and destitute man found at the start of "Le Talisman". "L''Agonie" begins several years after the feast of parts one and two. Valentin, having used the talisman to secure a large income, finds both the skin and his health dwindling. The situation causes him to panic, horrified that further desires will hasten the end of his life. He organizes his home to avoid the possibility of wishing for anything: his servant, Jonathan, arranges food, clothing, and visitors with precise regularity. Events beyond his control cause him to wish for various things, however, and the skin continues to recede. Desperate, the sickly Valentin tries to find some way of stretching the skin, and takes a trip to the spa town of Aix-les-Bains in the hope of recovering his vitality. With the skin no larger than a periwinkle leaf, he is visited by Pauline in his room; she expresses her love for him. When she learns the truth about the shagreen and her role in Raphaël''s demise, she is horrified. Raphaël cannot control his desire for her and she rushes into an adjoining room to escape him and so save his life. He pounds on the door and declares both his love and his desire to die in her arms. She, meanwhile, is trying to kill herself to free him from his desire. He breaks down the door, they consummate their love in a fiery moment of passion, and he dies.

La Peau de chagrin

In 1857, after their attempts to smuggle contraband goods land them with a heavy fine from the British Customs, Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his crew of Manx sailors are forced to offer their ship for charter. The vessel is quickly hired by a party of Englishmen headed by an eccentric Vicar, the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson, who believes that the Garden of Eden is located in Tasmania and wants to mount an expedition there to find it. However, unbeknownst to the clergyman, one of his fellow travellers has an entirely different reason for journeying to the island. Dr Thomas Potter is a renowned surgeon who is developing a thesis on the races of man and hopes to find some interesting specimens there. Running parallel with this story, but starting some 30 or so years earlier, are the recollections of Peevay, one of Tasmania''s natives, who describes the devastating impact the white settlers had on his people, and the aborigines'' struggle to adapt to the cultural changes which were forced on them. Many of the chapters alternate between the two different time periods, but when the Manx ship eventually docks in Tasmania, both strands of the story are brought together for the book''s conclusion.

English Passengers

The Colorado National Guard is called in to investigate a strange epidemic at ADX Florence. Its officers struggle to contain the disease before it overruns the United States, and search for a mysterious woman who may be vital to the solution. The novel begins with a mysterious woman in California being bitten on the street by a random man who walks up to her. She runs into the nearest establishment, an oxygen bar and proceeds to get high while waiting for the police to show up. The police arrive and take her to he hospital where a zombie outbreak is occurring. Although restrained, she manages to convince a nurse to let her go, a nurse who is then consumed by zombies. While this is occurring, we are also introduced to two additional characters, Captain Bannerman Clark and Dick Walters. Captain Bannerman Clark is in the Colorado Army National Guard and is the Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection Officer in Charge, making him the always ready first man on the scene of any major disaster, trained to get the best intelligence on the situation and report to others who will take over. He is called away from enjoying a steak dinner alone to investigate an outbreak of what is believed to be a biological weapon at a prison in Colorado which spread from the prisoners to the guards, causing them to become perceived cannibals. The warden of the prison had travelled to California and had succumbed to the biological agent there, biting and infecting a young woman. Clark then goes to California to assess the damage. Dick Walters is travelling in the rural areas of Colorado to check on an outbreak of an infectious agent in sheep. When he arrives at the farm, the woman he is there to visit greets him with a gun and surmises quickly he is not, "One of them." She takes him to an abandoned mine shaft where several zombies are trapped, zombies which ate her husband and young son. The pair spend the night on the roof of her cabin, waiting for the walkers to come. Clark and the woman meet for the first time when she walks out of the hospital he arrives at, a hospital besieged by zombies. She is thought to be one of them and is to be executed in front of him when she disappears, removing her own aura. The girls then decides, after seeing a vision of a man, to head east towards Colorado. She is picked up by two delinquents along the way and runs amok with them for a bit, seeing a disturbing scene in a small town where the village kills a zombie. They eventually bunker down for the night in a small, abandoned inn. The woman, calling herself Nilla after Nilla Wafers, is approached for sex by the man of the group, but he runs when he sees she is covered in mold. She runs into the forrest nearby and kills a bear when attacked, turning the bear into one of the undead. The next morning the trio depart. Clark is determined to find Nilla after seeing her disappear, but his superiors force him to go to Washington to meet with and work for a civilian. The civilian likes Clark and intends on using him to figure all this out. Clark returns to Colorado to work on the cause of the disease and later transfers to Las Vegas for a short time as the West Coast is eventually overrun by zombies. Dick and his companion eventually come off the roof and go exploring in the night. The woman is attacked atop a hill and he runs, tripping on a rock and falling down the hill. He has a concussion and is attacked, first by the woman''s dead sheep, slaughtered to control the disease and then the woman herself. When he is reanimated without arms, this time as a ghoul, a lifeless zombie without intelligence, he is drawn towards the source, an area nearby which exudes life force. He is eventually recruited by a voice coming from the source to go on a mission. The voice guides him along the way. Nilla and her two friends leave the inn and go on, eventually stopping by a truck with two men in the back. The man goes and checks on the two and is bitten when it is revealed it is a zombie feasting on a corpse. The zombie is Dick and he is then tasked with following Nilla after she is abandoned by the woman and her dying boyfriend. Nilla continues on, psychically drawn to a house where she is met by a handicapped man who tells her she is the only one who can stop the source.

Monster Nation

The novel concerns the adventures of Leon of Atrax, a Thessalian cavalry commander who has been tasked by Alexander the Great to bring an elephant captured from the Indian ruler Porus, to Athens as a present for Alexander''s old tutor, Aristotle. Leading a motley crew that includes an Indian elephantarch to care for the creature, a Persian warrior, a Syrian sutler and a Greek philosopher, Leon sets out to cross the whole of the ancient known world from the Indus River to Athens. The journey is long and adventurous, involving frequent skirmishes with bandits, unruly noblemen, Macedonian commanders with ideas of their own about who''s in charge, and a runaway Persian noblewoman. It doesn''t help that the goal of the whole enterprise is essentially a malicious prank concocted by Alexander on his former teacher: he gifts Aristotle with the elephant but no funds for its upkeep, while sending the funds (but no elephant) to the savant''s arch-rival Xenocrates. The story is founded on the fact that Aristotle''s writings include an apparently eye-witness description of an Indian elephant, though the circumstances under which he might have come into contact with such an animal are unknown.

An Elephant for Aristotle

While spending Spring Break on the moon, Titus and his thrill-seeking friends meet Violet Durn, who is unlike any of them. While at a club, a man from an anti-feed organization hacks their feeds. When they wake up in a hospital, their feeds are unavailable: partially deactivated while under repair. Mostly, this is the teenagers'' first experience of life without the influence of the feed. During their recovery, Violet and Titus begin a romantic relationship. Eventually, their feeds are repaired and they return to Earth. However, Violet''s feed is not totally fixed. One day, Violet reveals her plan of resisting the feed to Titus. She plans to show interest in a wide and random assortment of products to prevent the corporations that control her feed from developing a reliable consumer profile. The two go to the mall and create wild consumer profiles. Later, Violet realizes that someone, most likely the Coalition of Pity, has been accessing her personal information through her dreams. She calls FeedTech customer service, but receives no help. Later, Violet tells Titus that her feed is severely malfunctioning, and she may die. Due to her deteriorating feed, various parts of Violet''s body are shutting down. Throughout the novel, there is also a presence of lesions appearing on the characters'' bodies. At first it is something they hide, but eventually the lesions turn into a trend. At School™, Titus notices that Calista has a large artificial lesion cut onto her neck. At a party, Quendy shows up with small artificial lesions over most of her body. Violet is disgusted and determines that everyone has become the feed. After this, she collapses and is taken to the hospital. As a side effect of the malfunction, Violet loses memories of the year before she got the feed installed. To avoid losing more memories, she makes large records of things she can remember. She sends them to Titus, but he deletes them. Violet''s body parts continue shutting down. She and her father cannot afford repairs, so they petition FeedTech for assistance. While Titus is in mal with his friends, Violet calls and becomes angry with him. He is unaware of the environmental disaster that happened that morning in Mexico. Some sort of toxic waste has engulfed a number of villages. The Global Alliance is prepared to go to war with the United States. Titus drives to Violet''s house. He falls asleep shortly after arriving due to the after effects of the mal. While he sleeps, Violet shares her bad news with Titus in the form of a dream: FeedTech has decided not to help Violet because of her strange customer profile. This is caused by her resistance of the feed. That weekend, Violet comes to Titus'' house to ask him to go to the mountains. He is reluctant at first, but ultimately agrees. They begin fighting and break up. On the way home, Violet''s arm stops working and when she arrives home her leg fails. Titus drives away. The next day, Violet apologizes to Titus via feed, but Titus does not answer. Titus receives a message from Violet''s father saying that Violet wanted Titus to know when it was "all over." He informs him that the time has come. Titus goes to Violet''s house, where she lies in a coma. Her father blames Titus and shows him memories of parts of her body and brain shutting down, the pain she experienced. He then tells Titus to be with the eloi. Titus asks what that means, but Mr. Durn refuses to answer, telling him to look it up. They fight, and Titus goes home. In an act of grief, he sits on his floor naked and orders the same pair of jeans continuously until he is entirely out of credit. Two days later, Titus goes to visit Violet again. He tells her any stories he can find in the information available through his feed. Finally, he tells her the story of their relationship in the form of a movie trailer. The book ends with Violet dying and the feed saying "Everything Must Go."

Feed

The children of Wetchik are ready to board the starship Basilica and embark on their journey from the planet Harmony back to the origin of humanity: Earth. However, the rivalry between Nafai and Elemak promises the journey will be anything but peaceful. Each faction already has hidden plans to prematurely awaken from the long hibernation, to have the upper hand when the landing occurs. The children become pawns in their parents'' power struggle - valuable potential adults that can strengthen each faction. But the Oversoul is ultimately in control, having uploaded a copy of itself into Basilica''s central computer, so that it can monitor the ship at all times. After landing on Earth, the fragile peace wrought onboard is merely a mask for the turmoils of passions that boil beneath. Not only do the colonists have to deal with the split, there are also the mysteriously symbiotic alien races that have evolved on Earth since humanity''s departure. The quest to understand the Angels (giant bats) and the Diggers (giant rats) that were foreshadowed in the dreams is not an easy one. The focus throughout the course of this novel begins to drift away from the original generation of characters in order to delineate the passage of time. The factions that developed among the original generation have now spread to their children, through no fault of the children themselves. Nafai finds himself and his "Nafari" living and working primarily amongst the angel people, whereas the "Elemaki" associate much more closely with the diggers. It is this dissociation that eventually breaks nearly all the bonds—literally, for Hushidh and Cheveya—between Nafai and his older brother, Elemak. As Elemak''s rage and hatred for Nafai grow, he ingrains such feelings into his family and the digger people, laying the foundation for war. After the death of Volemak the Nafari migrate northwards away from the landing site to found a new nation.

Earthfall

Orosa-Nakpil Malate is a gay themed story that revolves around a University of the Philippines, Manila Intarmed freshman by the name of John David “Dave” de Jesus who looked for fun but found love and life in the liberated world of Orosa-Nakpil streets in Malate, Manila. Dana, his Intarmed classmate and his best friend, served as his “fairy godmother” while he goes on his sexcapades in Malate. She kept him strong at and stayed at his side during his toughest times at school and in love and turned him from an innocent rural gay into an outgoing urban gay hottie. In Orosa-Nakpil, Malate, he met not only the men who spent steamy nights with him in the dark room on the second floor of Barn bar, but also the men who changed his life forever. The complexity of the story started from a high school rivalry between Dave and Michael that turned into a bitter revenge against the former. He fell in love with a guy, who turned out to be part of the big plan against him and broke his heart - big time. Another guy, who he thought he could trust, destroyed his dignity in the dark premises of a campus comfort room and was framed as the sinner - the unfaithful cock sucker. Then he met Ross, the guy who made him fall in love like he never did. He never felt more special. But then, a painful event took them apart. Ross gave him a stethoscope before he bid goodbye. Dave then, slowly and surely but not completely, moved on and became successful in his studies. He graduated with flying colors and became a doctor. Then an unexpected encounter presented shocking revelations to Dave that made everything clear to him. Why he was raped, why Ross left, why a hundred crumpled fliers containing libelous information flew towards Dave at the Barn bar 6 years ago, why Ross did something Dave never thought he could. He knew why - he knew that it was because of revenge, HIV-AIDS, and Ross’ incomparable love for Dave. Orosa-Nakpil Malate, is a story of love, hate and hope; of family, friendship and rivalry, sending great awareness about HIV-AIDS, how brutal and merciless but life-changing it is, and most especially, how to prevent yourself from being infected.

Orosa-Nakpil, Malate

The introduction starts the book in the setting of a small picnic of a human and his dog. The human is apparently telling the reader to not venture into the Withering Wood, a forest of trees rumored to have legendary creatures such as "hairy trolls, nasty gnomes, and scary pixies and fairies." The book then changes setting into inside the forest, where we see a small monster named Dennis and his mother, showing that Dennis was very polite for a young monster. It describes Dennis''s fear of humans, which leads to the next part of the book. Dennis screams and shouts he will not go to bed. The mother, surprised at this sudden fear of bed, asks why. Dennis explains that he is afraid of humans. He says humans will "creep under my monster bed while I''m asleep." Dennis''s mother is not convinced of her son''s story and tries to persuade Dennis to fall asleep. She gives Dennis his teddy bear and also says she will not turn off the light. She begins to kiss Dennis, but Dennis reacts and bites her on the nose. Dennis''s mother then promises her son that the humans won''t get him. She then readies him for bed. However, Dennis concludes he will sleep under his bed so the humans will not be able to find him. As Dennis falls asleep, a young boy skips school and ventures into the Withering Wood to hide (presumably from his parents). He walks deep into the woods so that he comes upon Dennis''s and his mother''s cave. Not knowing where he is, he walks into the cave for rest. He then decides to sleep. He finds Dennis''s bedroom and decides to sleep on the bed. He changes into his night clothes and begins to fall asleep. However, the boy was afraid of monsters. With the absence of his mother, he checks under the bed himself, and to his surprise, he finds Dennis. Both Dennis and the young boy run away. The book then explains not to misbehave and how it would feel if Dennis''s mother would tell the reader if humans were not real.

The Monster Bed

The central character in Crusader is 15-year-old Roberta Ritter, who lives in south Florida with her widowed father. Roberta is an aspiring journalist, but works after school and on the weekends at Arcane, the virtual-reality arcade run by her father and uncle. Roberta is not content with her life so far; her father barely seems to notice her, instead spending much of his free time with his new girlfriend, Suzie. Roberta doesn''t approve of the games offered in Arcane, which are all filled with over-the-top violence and racial overtones, nor does she like having to deal with the arcade''s often unsavory clientele. Roberta deals with coming of age problems, criticized by her cousin''s popular friend Nikki for her disinterest in make-up and never having menstruated. She also is forced to come to terms with finding many of the people around her to be motivated by self-interest and the deaths of both an elderly friend and her mother. Roberta takes it upon herself, with the occasional help of some friends and her high school journalism teacher, to investigate a series of incidents at the mall where Arcane is located. These incidents range from hate crimes perpetrated against vendors, to rumors that the mall developers are planning to have the mall demolished. She also begins to dig into the facts surrounding her mothers murder. Roberta likes the idea of mud-raking as a way of unveiling hidden injustice, but also becomes disillusioned with both her teacher and the local news station after witnessing the inability to pursue real journalism.

Crusader

According to The Oxford Companion to English Literature (1967), : "the plot is founded on a story told to George Eliot by her aunt Elizabeth Evans, a Methodist preacher, and the original of Dinah Morris of the novel, of a confession of child-murder, made to her by a girl in prison." The story''s plot follows four characters'' rural lives in the fictional community of Hayslope&mdash;a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. The novel revolves around a love "rectangle" between beautiful but self-absorbed Hetty Sorrel, Captain Arthur Donnithorne, the young squire who seduces her, Adam Bede, her unacknowledged suitor, and Dinah Morris, Hetty''s cousin, a fervent, virtuous and beautiful Methodist lay preacher. (The real village where Adam Bede was set is Ellastone on the Staffordshire / Derbyshire border, a few miles from Uttoxeter and Ashbourne, and near to Alton Towers. Eliot''s father lived in the village as a carpenter in a substantial house now known as Adam Bede''s Cottage). Adam is a local carpenter much admired for his integrity and intelligence, in love with Hetty. She is attracted to Arthur, the charming local squire''s grandson and heir, and falls in love with him. When Adam interrupts a tryst between them, Adam and Arthur fight. Arthur agrees to give up Hetty and leaves Hayslope to return to his militia. After he leaves, Hetty Sorrel agrees to marry Adam but shortly before their marriage, discovers she is pregnant.In desperation, she leaves in search of Arthur. She cannot find him; unwilling to return to the village on account of the shame and ostracism she would have to endure, she delivers her baby with the assistance of a friendly woman she encounters. Later, the child is killed when she abandons it in a field. Not being able to bear the child''s cries she tries to come back but she is too late when she finds out that it dies of exposure. Hetty is caught and tried for child murder. She is found guilty and sentenced to hang. Dinah enters the prison and pledges to stay with Hetty until the end. Her compassion brings about Hetty''s contrite confession. When Arthur Donnithorne, on leave from the militia for his grandfather''s funeral, hears of her impending execution, he races to the court and has the sentence commuted to transportation. Ultimately, Adam and Dinah, who gradually become aware of their mutual love, marry and live peacefully with his family.

Adam Bede

Myra and her husband Oswald return to their fictional hometown of Parthia, Illinois, to visit their relatives. Nellie and Aunt Lydia then leave to spend the Christmas holiday in New York City with them. They live on Madison Square. They dine with Ewan Gray, a friend who has an infatuation with another actress, Esther Sinclair. Oswald receives silver-buttons for his shirt from an old Western acquaintance, and asks Lydia to pretend she gave them to him to thwart his wife''s jealousy. Later Myra and Nellie go to the opera; in a loge they spot an erstwhile friend of Myra''s, which makes her sad. Later they take a hansom around a park and chance upon a rich acquaintance of Myra''s, which leads her to be scornful over her own poverty. They spend Christmas dinner with friends of the Henshawes - both artists and people of privilege. Later they spend New Year''s Eve with artists again. A few days later Nellie witnesses the Henshawes argue; the husband takes her out to lunch. Soon after, she and her aunt are to return to Illinois. On the train, they are joined by Myra, who has argued with her husband again and is going to visit a friend in Pittsburg for a change of scenery. Ten years later, Nellie moved into a shabby flat in a little town on the west coast, and bumps into the Henshawes. Myra is now bedridden and Oswald works full-time; their upstairs neighbours are atrociously noisy, regardless Myra''s illness. Nellie takes to visiting her at tea-time; she also takes her out by the sea. Myra expresses her regrets over her husband. (If she had not married him, her great-uncle would have bequeathed her his fortune. Instead, she eloped and he gave it away to the church.) Oswald takes to having lunch with a young woman Once, Nellie asks her why she is so harsh on her husband, and Myra dismisses her. Shortly after, her condition gets worse. She dismisses everyone and runs away; she is found dead by the seaside the following day. Her husband expresses no remorse about his wife; he loved her despite her difficult conduct. After her death he moves to Alaska and later Nellie hears about his death.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Po-on

By F. Sionil José

La Peau de chagrin

By Honoré de Balzac

English Passengers

By Matthew Kneale

Monster Nation

By David Wellington

An Elephant for Aristotle

By L. Sprague de Camp

Feed

By Matthew Tobin Anderson

Earthfall

By Orson Scott Card

Orosa-Nakpil, Malate

By Louie Mar Gangcuangco

The Monster Bed

By Jeanne Willis

Crusader

By Edward Bloor

Adam Bede

By George Eliot

My Mortal Enemy

By Willa Cather