The schools in Ramona Quimby''s neighborhood have been reorganized, and now she gets to ride the bus to Cedarhurst Primary, where she and her fellow third graders will be the biggest kids in the school. Ramona is happy about the changes until a boy on the bus steals her new eraser, but she rises to the challenge and ends up deciding the "Yard Ape" may not be so bad, after all. The best part of being in third grade is Sustained Silent Reading. Ramona loves getting time to read in school every day. The worst part is that she isn''t sure if her teacher, Mrs. Whaley, likes her. When Ramona cracks a hard boiled egg on her head at lunch- and finds out her mother forgot to boil it- she ends up in the secretary''s office with a head full of raw egg, where she overhears Mrs. Whaley describe her as a show-off and a nuisance. Even Yard Ape can''t make her feel better about that. Things get worse when she throws up in class and her mother has to leave work to take her home. Then there''s the problem of spoiled Willa Jean. Every day after school Howie goes outside to ride bikes with his friends, and Ramona is forced to play baby games with her. Beezus can always say she''s busy doing homework, but that doesn''t work for Ramona. Clearly, though, she is growing up, as she uses her creativity to find ways to help her family by getting along.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

The tale relates the story of two sisters, daughters of an Anglican vicar, who return from overseas to a drab, lifeless vicarage in the post-First World War East Midlands. Their mother has run off, a scandal that is not talked about by the family. Their new home is dominated by a blind and selfish grandmother along with her mean spirited, poisonous daughter. The two girls, Yvette and Lucille, risk being suffocated by the life they now lead at the Vicarage. They try their utmost every day to bring colour and fun into their lives. Out on a trip with some friends one Sunday afternoon, Yvette encounters a Gypsy and his family and this meeting reinforces her disenchantment with the oppressive domesticity of the vicarage. It also awakens in her a sexual curiosity she has not felt before, despite having admirers. She also befriends a married Jewish woman who has left her husband and is living with her paramour. When her father finds out about this friendship, he threatens her with "the asylum" and Yvette realizes that at his heart her father, too, is mean spirited and shallow. At the end of the novel, Yvette is rescued during a surprise flood that washes through the home and drowns the grandmother. The rescuer who breathes life and warmth back into the virginal Yvette is the free-spirited Gypsy, whose name is finally revealed in the last line of the novel.

The Virgin and the Gypsy

Enderby is a dyspeptic British poet, 56 years old, and The Clockwork Testament is an account of his last day alive. The day in question is a cold one in February. He spends it in New York City, where for the past several months he''s been working as a visiting professor of English literature and composing a long poem about St. Augustine and Pelagius. Enderby''s present situation arose from a chance encounter with an American film producer in Tangiers, where he owns a bar. Publican Enderby served the man a Scotch and pitched him an idea for a new film&mdash;an adaptation of Gerard Manley Hopkins''s famously obscure poem "The Wreck of the Deutschland". The producer, intrigued, asked for a script, which Enderby duly composed. The eventual film bears little resemblance to this script or to Hopkins''s poem; however, his name is prominently credited, and the film, and Enderby, are now famous. This unwanted public recognition has led to an invitation to teach English at the University of Manhattan for a year. Also, since the film has controversial elements&mdash;including, for some reason, a lurid rape scene with Nazis and nuns&mdash;the reclusive, little-read poet has been receiving a barrage of ranting phone calls from angry citizens who are eager to denounce "his" film. Invariably, these callers (and other critics) have never read the original poem; indeed, they don''t even know it exists. Enderby suffers three heart attacks over the course of the day, and succumbs to a fourth some time after midnight. Between attacks, he goes about his business: he happily works on his Pelagian poem; eats dyspeptic American food and smokes White Owl cigars; refuses an offer of sex from a female poetry student who wants him to give her an A; struggles through two lectures; appears on a smarmy talk show; and draws a sword he carries hidden in his cane to defend a middle-aged housewife from a gang of thugs on the subway. Everywhere&mdash;even on the subway&mdash;he encounters incomprehension and, usually, disapproval. When he finally gets home, however, a woman he''s never seen before drops by and pulls a gun on him; she has come to tell him she''s read and re-read all his poetry, and is now going to murder him for writing it. First, however, she orders him to strip naked and urinate all over his collected works. Enderby strips, but since he has an erection he cannot obey the rest of her command. The scene ends, apparently, in a sexual encounter. Enderby dies later that night.

The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby''s End

Ulf is a young werewolf who lives at Farraway Hall, where he and hundreds of other endangered beasts are protected by the RSPCB (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts). When Professor Farraway, the founder of the RSPCB, died, he left his fortune and estate to the society. His son, Baron Marackai, believed he deserved the contents of his father''s will and he''s made it his life''s ambition to take revenge on the RSPCB. A man named Inspector Black shows up at Farraway hall claiming to be investigating the murder of a baby dragon. He believes that the culprit shot the baby dragon in order to lure the mother dragon into a trap. The killer was planning to erect a Ring of Horrors where two endangered beasts battled to the death before a crowd of spectators. But Ulf sees through Inspector Black''s facade. Ulf believes he has too much information about the dragon killer''s intentions to for an innocent investigator. Inspector Black has his hand in these dirty dealings, and it''s up to Ulf to prove it.

Werewolf versus Dragon

An intelligent young misfit, Kevin Senecal, leaves Earth to escape various troubles, including a teen gang vendetta which the authorities will not act to stop, and bureaucratic interference in his studies for an engineering degree, in a culture where environmentalists and zero-growth advocates hold sway. He enlists with the Hansen Corporation, a huge conglomerate which has re-located to the Moon, and is now involved in asteroid mining. He is to go to the asteroid Ceres. The journey involves laser launch from Earth to orbit, and a long voyage on a ship using the NERVA nuclear rocket technology. During the journey, all the passengers have to be involved in maintaining the shipboard environment, which includes algae to generate oxygen from photosynthesis. Kevin falls in love with a mystery woman called Ellen MacMillan. Between them they deal with the consequences of sabotage of the ship by persons unknown, and find a way to effect the rendezvous at Ceres after the ship''s computer is sabotaged. They use the expertise of Jacob Norsedal, a prototypical computer hacker who is also a top-notch mathematician and physicist. At Ceres Ellen reveals herself to be an agent for Hansen investigating the mining work, which is plagued with irregularities. In particular, a new element called Arthurium is being mined on Ceres. This is a stable transuranic element of the kind predicted during the 1970s based on the theory of an Island of stability for elements of atomic number 114, 120 and 126. Being super-heavy, these elements sink into the cores of planets and are not accessible, but may be found in asteroids. In the story, the arthurium is a possible catalyst for hydrogen fusion and is vital to both the economy of Earth and the future of spaceflight. Rival corporations and mineral interests on Earth want to steal the arthurium or stop its production. Anti-technology politicians would like to shut down all space industry and dedicate the money to the Welfare State. Ellen is actually Glenda Hansen-Mackenzie, daughter of Aeneas Mackenzie and Laurie Jo Hansen, owner of the Hansen Corporation. She can foil the plots if she can access the Ceres computer system. However, she, Kevin and Jacob are marooned on one of Ceres'' small satellites by the enemy agents. They improvise a steam-jet rocket which lets them land back on Ceres and bring an end to the intrigue.

Exiles to Glory

A young boy, Hareta, and his friends are trying to find Dialga. Hareta was allowed to live in the woods with Pokémon, which helps him bond with newly captured Pokémon. In book one, Hareta meets Mitsumi, Professor Rowan''s helper, and a boy named Jun. Professor Rowan gives Hareta his first Pokémon, a Piplup. In this book, Hareta wins the Coal Badge and meets Team Galactic for the first time. He bites one of Team Galactic''s Members as well. Hareta catches a Shinx as well. In book two, Hareta enters his first contest. Later, Mitsumi enters and nearly wins. Hareta then meets Team Galactic again in Celestic Town. Hareta picks a fight with Cyrus, and Cyrus tries to get Hareta to join him. After losing to Cyrus, Hareta lays afloat, only to be rescued by Byron. Hareta challenges Byron and loses. Hareta is then instructed to go to Iron Island to train. There, Hareta meets Riley who gives him an egg. Riley and Hareta then have to beat Team Galactic yet again and Hareta''s egg hatches in Riolu. Hareta trains for a month then comes out with an Onix, a Geodude, and a Zubat. Book three contains a large fight between Team Galactic and Hareta over the Legendary Azelf. Hareta once again, with help from all the Gym leaders, defeats Team Galactic. He wins by having Azelf power him with willpower. In book four, Hareta meets gym leader Candice. Hareta wins the battle and capture the legendary Pokémon Regigigas. Then Bryon, Hareta, and other gym leaders try to attack Galactic head quarters, but all except Bryon and Hareta went in to jail. Hareta realized that his best friend Mitsumi joined team Galactic. Hareta fights her and the end of the battle continues in book five. in the end Hareta defeats Mitsumi and goes on to face Cryus but at that time Cryus has collected all three legendary Pokémon and is starting to make the red chain the only object to call Dialga and control him.

Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure!

The book opens with Captain Jack Aubrey and his lieutenants Pullings and Mowett aboard , waiting for Jack''s friend, and the ship''s surgeon, Stephen Maturin to embark. Stephen is late because his wife, Diana, had thrown a party. He drives to the coast to meet his ship, but the carriage, driven by his friend Jagiello, has an accident. Finally Stephen arrives in time and they set sail for the Mediterranean. Worcester joins the blockade off Toulon under the command of Admiral Thornton. The ship soon settles into the blockade routine, with some of the crew improvising a choir and the midshipmen''s berth acting out Hamlet. Jack''s relationship with his aristocratic third lieutenant Somers deteriorates during the long blockade, culminating in a confrontation when a drunken Somers causes the ship to miss stays. Somers is transferred to another ship. In the meantime Stephen befriends Mr Martin, an impoverished parson and fellow bird lover, before he joins . Stephen, after consulting with Admiral Thornton, is set ashore in Spain and spends his time there setting up a meeting with French royalists. While Admiral Thornton is in Malta, Admiral Harte, Thornton''s second-in-command, sends Jack and William Babbington, the latter commanding the brig HMS Dryad, to take presents to the Pasha of Barka and deliver a new envoy, Mr Consul Hamilton. Upon discovering two French ships in Medina (now part of the city of Tunis), Jack and Babbington both enter the port, hoping to fight the French. However, as the port is a neutral location, the French are required to fire first and this they refuse to do. Despite tempting the French several times, the British have to leave and Jack''s reputation as a fighting captain is dented. Upon returning to the fleet Jack is summoned by Admiral Thornton and severely reprimanded, stating it was the British intention to have Dryad captured so that the British could have sent a squadron to oppose the Bey. Admiral Harte claims that he had explained this, but Jack had asked him write his orders which stated that ''scrupulous respect will be paid to the laws of neutrality'' so is in the clear. Worcester is ordered to Mahon to pick up Stephen. At Mahon Jack runs into his old lover Mercedes at the Crown, but before he can do anything Stephen enters and tells him he must set sail immediately. The crew, thinking that Jack is after a prize, are excited but eventually realize it is not to be: their mission is a more covert one in which they will land Stephen in France. Stephen is to meet with the royalists in a duck blind in an uninhabited coastal marsh. But the plan goes awry as another British agent has set up a meeting in the same area. The two groups stumble into each other and, in the confusion, exchange sporadic fire. While Stephen is hiding in the sand dunes waiting for Worcesters launch, he captures the other British agent, the same Professor Graham that Worcester brought to Mahon earlier in the book. Upon returning to the fleet Stephen hands him over to the Captain of the Fleet to act as his Turkish translator. During a strong storm the French fleet leaves port, hoping to evade the British and enter the Atlantic. The British fleet gives chase, and although they catch them, the wind changes direction and the French men-of-war return to Toulon. The fastest British ships attempt to cut off their rear and Worcester exchanges a few shots with the slowest ship - the 80-gun Robuste - before giving up the chase. Admiral Thornton is too worn down by disappointment to continue and leaves the station. Admiral Harte, overcome by the political complexity of his temporary position as Commander-in-Chief, appoints Jack and his officers to command - Worcester having been sent to Gibraltar for repairs and Captain Lambert, Surprises former commander, and his first lieutenant having been killed by the same cannon ball. Also, in a show of false goodwill, he allows Jack to hand-pick his crew. Harte then sends Surprise and Babbington’s Dryad on a mission to the Ionian Sea to put one of three Turkish Beys in control of Kutali and remove the French from Marga. After talking to all three claimants to the city Jack promises British support to Sciahan Bey, the present occupier of the island. The crew spends several days rigging out their cables to bring the expected cannons up to the city''s citadel. However, Mustapha, one of the claimants that Jack didn’t back, rebels against the Ottomans and captures the British transport ships. Professor Graham returns from a mission into Turkey and hastily informs Jack about what has happened. Aubrey immediately sets sail and overtakes Mustapha’s two ships - the 32-gun Torgud with two thirty-six pounders on board, and the 20-gun Kitabi. After a long engagement Surprises crew board and take the Kitabi and Torgud, leaving the Torgud sinking and the Kitabi a prisoner. Lieutenant Pullings is injured but Mowett informs Jack that he has survived.

The Ionian Mission

Ten years ago, 21-year-old Charles MacKenzie, Jr. ("Mack") walked out of his apartment without a word and has never been seen again. He does, however, call his mother annually on Mother''s Day to assure her of his health and safety, then hangs up, leaving her frantic questions unanswered. Even his father''s death in the 9/11 attacks didn''t bring him home or break the pattern of his calls. Now, Carolyn MacKenzie has decided the only way to move on with her own life is to find closure and bring an end to the mystery of her brother''s disappearance. This year when Mack makes his regular Mother''s Day call, she declares her intention to track him down, no matter what. The following day, Monsignor Devon Mackenzie receives a scrap note reading: Uncle Devon, tell Carolyn she must not look for me. Despite the disapproval and angry reactions of loved ones, Carolyn persists in a search that plunges her into a world of unexpected danger and winding questions. What secret does the superintendents of Mack''s former apartment have to hide? What do his old roommates know about his disappearance? Is he somehow connected to the girls who have themselves gone missing in the past ten years? Could he possibly be responsible for the brutal murder of his drama teacher and for what purpose? Carolyn''s persistence for the truth leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret they cannot allow her to reveal.

Where Are You Now?

The story opens with the funeral of Kilty Larkin, father of Tomas and grandfather of Conor. Amidst the ancient Irish Catholic mourning process, Conor has a vision of the town storyteller who tells Conor of the history of the Fenians, a rebel group from the early 19th century. This stirs the fire of rebellion in the now 12 year old Conor Larkin, and sets him onto the path for freedom for his Irish people. Soon after this, Seamus O''Neill, Conor''s best friend, began school in town under a Protestant named Mr. Ingram. Conor, needed at home, helped his father in the fields, until he became an apprentice at a black smith shop. As the years passed the boys became friends with Mr. Ingram, who taught them of the power of books and the history of their Irish forefathers. Seamus goes to college in Dublin, and Conor heads to Derry, in the province of Ulster. Here he moves into Bogside and witnesses the extent of the disaster that has befallen the Irish people. Bogside is in tatters and in a state of despair that has stricken them since before the potato famine in 1845 and 1852. Held down by the Protestant reign in Derry''s labor unions, the Catholics are dying slowly without hope. It is here in Derry where Conor discovers other like-minded Irish tired of the oppression of the Catholics by the British and Protestants. This small group, with the support of the few Irish politicians, will become the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the roots of Sinn Féin, and the whisper of freedom throughout Ireland.

Trinity

Mma Ramotswe is not impressed with Mr. J.L.B Matekoni''s maid who has been sleeping in his bed with other men and not feeding him properly. The maid, sensing that the forthcoming marriage will involve her dismissal, attempts to plant a gun on Mma Ramotswe in order to have her jailed, but the maid''s plan is foiled and it is she who ends up behind bars. She also investigates a butcher''s wife who is suspected of an affair, and discovers that the woman''s son has - unknown to her husband - been fathered by another man who is paying for his private education. The resolution of this case highlights differences between the methods and moralities of Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. Mma Makutsi has expressed her yearning to do detective rather than administrative work, and Mma Ramotswe promotes her to assistant detective (although also retaining her secretarial role). The solution of the paternity case proves to be the first test of Mma Makutsi''s detective and diplomatic skills. Mr J. L. B. Matekoni is maneuvered into offering a home to Motholeli and Puso, two orphaned children with a tragic past. He worries that this may affect his engagement to Mma Ramotswe, but she accepts the children and they both see potential in them, particularly in the girl, Motholeli, who uses a wheelchair but displays a real aptitude and interest in the work of the garage. A family unit begins to emerge. sv:Giraffens tårar

Tears Of The Giraffe

Chapter 1: Black Dragon Pool Ping is living on the top of Tai Shan mountain trying to raise Kai, the stinking baby dragon. Chapter 2: A Bowl, A Bucket and A Ladle Ping learns that Kai can learn to shape-change and turns into firstly a soup ladle. They are living happily until one day, their goat is found with its throat slit. Hua is also found to be back on a red phoenix''s back. Ping and Kai flee but they run into the necromancer. After Hua uses his newfound powers to hold off the necromancer while Ping and Kai escape. Ping, Kai and Hua are later captured by guards and taken to Liu Che, Emperor of China, and Ping''s ''friend'' who drops all charges against them. Ping stays in the palace and meets Princess Yangxin and the two become friends, and the Princess begins to teach Ping how to read and write, since she is unable to do so already. Ping eventually convinces the Emperor to search for any other Dragon Keepers, she hopes to find her family. She, Kai and Dong Fang Suo (Fatso as Kai had begun to call him) go to a village in search of the next Dragon Keeper. But they do not find Ping''s family, instead Jun is taken to be instructed as a Dragonkeeper, Ping becomes jealous when Kai seems to prefer Jun over her. Dong Fang Suo attempts to kill by Liu Che''s orders Ping but she survives and returns to the palace for Kai. However the Necromancer is there, bleeding Kai. They duel and Ping, without Kai, escapes to warn the Emperor who reveals he is in league with the Necromancer. She is stripped of her position as Imperial Dragonkeeper and taken off to be sacrificed. During the sacrifice, Dong Fang Suo (who later says it was the Emperor who told him to kill Ping), Jun, Hua and Kai come to her aid and they defeat the necromancer though Dong Fang Suo is sadly killed. While Jun takes his body away, Ping and Kai (Ping had let Hua go free with other rats) escape with Princess Yangxin, with the final destination of the Kunlun Mountains in sight. But Princess Yangxin asks them to come to the Duke''s with her, and the two agree. Kai is nearly two by now. Ping is actually the dragon keeper and Jun is a fake.

Garden of the Purple Dragon

"The world Berlin author Lutz Rathenow depicts is the colorless, flat, thuddingly dull DDR — the German Democratic Republic, as it called itself, or Communist East Germany, as we knew it: a sub-Soviet, sub-standard, bureaucratic parody of a society (1949-1990). And he depicts it very well, only not from the outside, with detailed descriptions, historical costumes and polemical plots, but rather from the inside, dropping in on the mind of one or another of its characters. Here is the little man starved of human contact and longing for romance (''The Girl in Finland''), the timid bureaucrat standing in front of an office door and wondering how to knock (''Mr. Breugel), the writer facing the blank page and fearing both to write and not to write (''The Blank Page''). Here, in other words, is Angst, paralysis, a funnel of doubt and indecision. Out of it comes murderous resentment (''Professor Dr. Mitzenleim''), mocking defiance (''Reasons for Refusing to Make a Statement''), ironic futility (''Meditations on Peace''). People who are emotionally starved, anxious and futile develop a perverse sense of humor (''The Phone Call''); they find grim little pleasures in their living death (''Obituary''). "Rathenow''s works crystallize not only a past, but also a present and recurring assault on the mind. The government, the political party, the church, the organization, the television program, the newspaper, the company, the office, the boss all want you to think the same way, their way, whatever the country and whatever the time. And if you do, this is what results: reduced capacity, distorted thought, fragmented language, inverted feelings, a sense of unreality, a drabness unto death. The Fantastic Ordinary World of Lutz Rathenow draws this lesson and thus the pleasure out of the painful republic. ~ From the Introduction by Karl Kvitko

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

By Beverly Cleary

The Virgin and the Gypsy

By D. H. Lawrence

The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby's End

By Anthony Burgess

Werewolf versus Dragon

By Matthew Morgan

Exiles to Glory

No Author Listed

Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure!

No Author Listed

The Ionian Mission

By Patrick O''Brian

Where Are You Now?

By Mary Higgins Clark

Trinity

By Leon Uris

Tears Of The Giraffe

By Alexander McCall Smith

Garden of the Purple Dragon

By Carole Wilkinson

The Fantastic Ordinary World of Lutz Rathenow: Poems, Plays & Stories

No Author Listed