The story begins with a historical event — the 1672 lynching of the Dutch Grand Pensionary (roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister) Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis, by a wild mob of their own countrymen — considered by many as one of the most painful episodes in Dutch history, described by Dumas with a dramatic intensity. The main plot line, involving fictional characters, takes place in the following eighteen months; only gradually does the reader understand its connection with the killing of the de Witt brothers. The city of Haarlem, Netherlands has set a prize of 100,000 guilders to the person who can grow a black tulip, sparking competition between the country''s best gardeners to win the money, honour and fame. The young and bourgeois Cornelius van Baerle has almost succeeded, but is suddenly thrown into the Loevestein prison. There he meets the prison guard''s beautiful daughter Rosa, who will be his comfort and help, and at last his rescuer. The novel was originally published in three volumes in 1850 as La Tulipe Noire by Baudry (Paris).

The Black Tulip

When the book opens, G.H., a well-to-do resident of a Rio de Janeiro penthouse, is remembering what happened to her the previous day, when she decided to clean out the room of the maid who has just left her service. “Before I entered the room, what was I?” G.H. asks. “I was what others had always seen me be, and that was the way I knew myself.” In the maid’s room, G.H. expects chaos. Instead, to her shock, she finds a desert, “an entirely clean and vibrating room as in an insane asylum from which dangerous objects have been removed.” Only one thing disturbs the room''s perfect order: black carbon scratches on the dry white wall, outlines of a man, a woman, and a dog. Pondering the inscrutable drawing, she realizes that the black maid, whose name she has forgotten, and whose face she has trouble calling to mind, had hated her. Overwhelmed by anger, she opens the door to the wardrobe. Terrified by the cockroach she sees emerging, she slams the door shut, severing the cockroach in its center and sees the still-living animal''s entrails begin to ooze out. G.H. is appalled by the sight, but she is trapped in the room by the irresistible fascination of the dying insect. She wants to scream, but she knows it is already too late: "If I raised the alarm at being alive, voiceless and hard they would drag me away since they drag away those who depart the possible world, the exceptional being is dragged away, the screaming being.” Staring at the insect, her human personality begins to break down; finally, at the height of her mystic crisis, she famously takes the matter oozing from the cockroach—the fundamental, anonymous matter of the universe, which she shares with the roach—and puts it in her mouth.

The Passion According to G.H.

The novel centers around the protagonist Henry Chinaski. The start of the novel are his first memories. Then as the novel progresses we follow him all the way through school and into adulthood. We start in elementary school and he tells us his experiences. We learn that he has an abusive father, and a mother that lets it happen. He isn''t very good at sports, but he wants to be and he tries hard. Football is hard for him, but he likes the violence that comes with it. Baseball, the other playground sport, is the sport he is better at. He hits hard, but hardly ever hits. As we progress into grammar school the focus of Henry''s attention, and the other boys, is on sports, violence and girls, as it has been. Then going into high school his father, who pretends they are rich, makes Henry go to a private school where he fits in even less. However, he develops horrible acne, bad enough that he has to get painful treatments from the doctor. Then we follow him to college, and eventually his attempt to get a job.

Ham on Rye

The novel''s protagonist, Dexter Morgan, works for the Miami-Metro Police Department as a forensic blood spatter pattern analyst. In his spare time, Dexter is a serial killer who kills murderers, rapists and other undesirables he believes have escaped justice. Dexter''s murders are directed by an inner voice he refers to as the "Dark Passenger", who keeps prodding Dexter to kill something. Once he has done so, the voice is satisfied for a while, but always comes back. Flashbacks reveal that his foster father, a police detective named Harry Morgan, recognized early on that Dexter was a violent sociopath with an innate need to kill, and taught him how to kill people who have gotten away with murder as a way to channel his homicidal urges in a "positive" direction. Harry also taught the boy to be a careful, meticulous killer, to leave no clues, and to be absolutely sure his victims are guilty before killing them. Dexter calls these rules "the code of Harry." Dexter manages his double life reasonably well for years, but his idyll is disturbed when he becomes involved in the investigation of a series of killings of prostitutes. As the "Tamiami Slasher" rampages through the city, he begins sending messages to Dexter, who finds the series of terrifying crimes engrossing and fascinating. Meanwhile, his adoptive sister Deborah sees the case as her ticket out of the Vice unit and into Homicide. Dexter is torn between helping her catch the killer and a desire to sit back and admire the artistry and skill of a fellow killer''s work.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

In the third book of the Maximum Ride series, Max and her flock are faced with the task of saving the world from a massive company called Itex, and it''s leader known as the Director or Morgan Janssen. They plan on cutting the world''s population in half, and have already terminated a majority of their recombinant life forms. In this book, they replace Erasers (wolf/human hybrids that are sent to hunt the flock) with robotic ones called Flyboys. While Max really wants to stop Itex, Fang is trying to convince her to stop and go live life somewhere isolated where they wouldn''t have to fight. She lets him take him to go look for a place to stay, in which they spend the night in a cave and Fang gently kisses Max. But, while all of this is happening, the rest of the flock gets captured by Flyboys and put in a truck. They notice that Angel is no longer with them. When Max and Fang return from their trip, they see the tire tracks leading away from the hide out and attempt to find the flock. When they find the truck, though, they are captured too. Gazzy tells them that she is no longer a part of the flock and is helping Itex now. When they get back to the School, Jeb tries to convince them that everything they''ve ever experienced is just a dream and that it''s now time for them to be "retired" (lab-coat term for killed). Fang refuses to believe her. Ari, Jeb''s son and the flock''s worst enemy, suddenly becomes very nice to Max. He shows her that his expiration date has come up; this is a tattoo like patch that appears on the back of their necks to tell them that they are going to die soon. Right before the flock is retired, they find a way to escape. Angel was just pretending to be on Itex''s side, and uses this to her advantage. Max brings Ari with them, although most of the flock is very against it, and get really angry. They end up spending the night in a cabin, and Max and Fang get into a big feud about Ari being there. Fang decides to split up the flock. Max, Nudge, Ari, and Angel go their way while Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy go another way. Max''s flock heads to Europe to take down Itex from its roots, while Fang is trying to get her blog readers to help fight back in the US. Max and her gang get captured, though, so she emails Fang to get help for them in Germany. It''s revealed that Jeb is Max''s father,and Dr. Martinez is her mother. Fang''s blog readers take down Itex branches all over the world. This causes the Itex to fall apart. Meanwhile, Max and the gang are still trapped at the Itex Headquarters in Germany, where he is pitted against Omega.Omega is Itex''s most-successful experiment; She looks human, but she is really superhuman. During this battle, Ari''s expiration date kicks in, and he dies on the field. With Jeb''s help, Max eventually beats Omega. Thanks to a hand from kids around Germany coming to Fang''s aid, good overpowers evil. After the battle and a short trip to France, Fang and his part of the gang contact Max and the rest of the Flock and they reunite, swearing to always stick together.

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

The sequence details the various struggles for power on a world dominated by the Malazan Empire. It is notable for the use of high magic, and unusual plot structure.. Gardens of the Moon centres around the Imperial campaign to conquer the city of Darujhistan. The novel opens in the 96th year of the Malazan Empire, during the final year of the Emperor Kellanved. A young boy named Ganoes Paran witnesses the sacking of the Mouse Quarter of Malaz City. Paran wants to be a soldier when he grows older. Commander Whiskeyjack disapproves, as does Claw leader Surly (Laseen). Erikson skips seven years from the Prologue, during which time the Emperor and his ally, Dancer, have been assassinated and supplanted by his chief of the secret police. Empress Laseen now rules with the aid of the "Claw," a shadowy group of assassins whose function is to further her ambitions. The story opens several years into a series of wars by the Malazan Empire to conquer the continent of Genabackis. The Malazan 2nd Army under High Fist Dujek has been besieging the city of Pale, one of only two Free Cities left in the Malazans'' path in Genabackis, for several years. Pale is holding out thanks to an alliance with the powerful Anomander Rake, Lord of Moon''s Spawn (a floating fortress), leader of the non-human Tiste Andii. Pale finally falls when Rake withdraws his fortress following a fierce battle. Even then, the Empire suffers severe losses, including the near total destruction of a legendary infantry unit in its 2nd army, The Bridgeburners. Several characters speculate that someone higher up within the Empire may be engineering the elimination of various people who were loyal to the late Emperor. The Empire then turns its attention to the other remaining Free City, Darujhistan. The few dozen surviving members of the Bridgeburners, led by Sergeant Whiskeyjack, are sent to try and undermine the city from within. Once there they attempt fruitlessly to contact the city''s assassin''s guild, in the hope of hiring their betrayal. Adjunct Lorn, a high ranking representative of the Empress, is sent to uncover something in the hills east of Darujhistan, in the company of a Tlan Imass, a member of another species that once dominated the world before humans. Meanwhile Tattersail, one of the few mages to survive the Battle of Pale, and Captain Paran head toward the city to determine the reason for the increased involvement of several gods and other magical forces in the campaign. At the same time, Anomander Rake offers his alliance to the true rulers of Darujhistan, a secretive cabal of mages; while a group of con-artists and underworld figures within the city work to oppose members of the civic government who are considering capitulating to the Empire. The plots collide when Adjunct Lorn releases a Jaghut Tyrant, a massively powerful being from thousands of years ago, with the aim of either damaging Anomander Rake seriously or forcing him to withdraw from the city. A substantial subplot involves a young Bridgeburner recruit named Sorry, who is in fact possessed by The Rope, patron of assassins. When Paran and Rake negotiate his withdrawal from the war, she is freed and falls in with Crokus, a young Daru thief. As the novel ends Crokus, a Bridgeburner named Fiddler and the Bridgeburner assassin Kalam volunteer to take the former Sorry (now called Apsalar) back to her homeland of Itko Kan and they depart (their story continues in Deadhouse Gates). Meanwhile, Dujek and Whiskeyjack lead the 2nd Army into rebellion against Laseen''s increasingly monstrous rule. Now called Onearm''s Host, the 2nd Army calls for a truce with the Tiste Andii and the Crimson Guard, a mercenary army that has been working against the Empire. Dujek is also concerned about the declaration of Holy War called by the Pannion Seer, whose empire is advancing from the south-east of Genabackis. Darujhistan has evaded conquest by the Malazan Empire, for now, but may be in danger from this new threat. Elsewhere, it is confirmed that Seven Cities has begun a mass-uprising against the Empire. These and other plot developments are continued in the third novel, Memories of Ice.

Gardens of the Moon

Prologue: One Perfect Morning, With Jackals is set in Kenya. A son argues with his father whether it is possible to adopt European conveniences and customs and still be a true Kikuyu, the dominate native tribe. The father will be the mundumugu (witch doctor) for the new Kikuyu society on a terraformed planetoid named Kirinyaga. On the way to the spaceport, they detour to see a pair of jackals hiding behind a bush in an area that will become a nature preserve. In Kirinyaga, Koriba kills a newborn child because traditional beliefs dictate that it is a demon. He must then convince Maintenance, the people who maintain the environment and regulate the orbit of the planetoid Kirinyaga, not to interfere with their traditions, no matter how much they dislike them. For I Have Touched the Sky -- A girl finds a falcon with a broken wing and asks the mundumugu to heal it. "Once a bird has touched the sky," Koriba explains, "he can never be content to spend his days on the ground." She persists. In the course of doing chores in exchange for help treating the bird, she discovers Koriba’s computer and the knowledge it can share. This creates conflict with the role held by women in the traditional Kikuyu society. In Bwana, Koinnage, the paramount chief, hires a hunter to reduce the hyena population. The hunter’s idea of utopia differs radically from Koriba’s. The mundumugu must demonstrate that, although the Kikuyu are a farming society, they are not powerless against predators. In The Manamouki, a married couple immigrate to Kiringaya. Although they try to assimilate, they bring modern ideas that conflict with traditional Kikuyu culture. Can a utopia evolve? Song of a Dry River -- A grandmother refuses to be cared for in the traditional manner and sets up residence near the mundumugu, who lives apart from the village. The mundumugu threatens a drought unless she follows tradition. In The Lotus and the Spear, three young men have died in unusual circumstances. The mundumugu must find and overcome the cause. In A Little Knowledge, Koriba is training Ndemi as his successor. Eventually he begins to instruct him on the use of the computer. But, as in the Garden of Eden, knowledge is a dangerous thing. When the Old Gods Die -- "It is said that from the moment of birth, even of conception, every living thing has embarked upon an inevitable trajectory that culminates in its death... Yet this knowledge does not lessen the pain of death." For a man intent on maintaining the traditional ways, cultural change may not represent life but the death of the old gods. Epilogue: The Land of Nod -- Koriba returns to Kenya. There, the old ways don’t mesh well with modern city living. When he visits a cloned elephant that is to be killed in a few days'' time, Koriba realizes that they are both anachronisms, and that their fates are intertwined.

Kirinyaga

The novel describes a new weapon system being developed for the US military; the titular Solo. A robot, Solo is designed to replace human soldiers in battle. It is humanoid in shape, in order to allow it to use all the military vehicles and equipment human soldiers do. Solo is capable of feats of great speed, strength and endurance. Most importantly, Solo is governed by a neural network computer which is able to learn and think much as a human brain does. The robot''s designer recognises that this could potentially make Solo as unpredictable and difficult to control as any human is; the military therefore insist that Solo be told a carefully edited version of world history and politics in which the United States are in all cases the unambiguously "good guys" and winners of all conflicts - for example Solo is told that the US won a clear victory in the Vietnam War. Despite his indoctrination, Solo begins to display what his designers consider aberrant behaviour. He begins to question and occasionally refuse his orders. For example on one training session Solo is assigned to shoot a human target in a sniper mission. He is told that the mission and target are real, and that he is to genuinely kill the person. He point blank refuses to do so. More worryingly to his designers, Solo is not entirely forthcoming about his reasons for such hesitancy. On another training mission Solo is lost; he is discovered by a group of Nicaraguan villagers who although initially fearful of him, come to trust the robot and depend on his protection. The novel details Solo''s developing friendship with the villagers, whilst the US military attempts to recapture him.

Weapon

:... continued from Rider at the Gate. Fisher and Cloud escort the Goss children halfway up Rogers Peak to Evergreen village with Harper''s riderless nighthorse, Spook, in pursuit. Fisher tells the local riders about the fall of Tarmin village and the presence of Spook, but does not reveal the arrest of the Goss brothers nor the role Brionne played in Tarmin''s demise. Fisher is lodged in the rider camp, the unconscious Brionne with Darcey Schaffer, the village doctor, and Carlo and Randy with Van Mackey, the village blacksmith. The news of Tarmin''s fall is devastating to Evergreen because all its supplies come from there, but many of the villagers see the disaster as an opportunity to seize and occupy the vacant property in Tarmin village in the spring. One night Spook enters the ambient and disturbs the horses and riders in the rider camp. Fisher knows that Brionne has woken up and is <calling>. The next morning Ridley takes Fisher out the gates to find Spook, but when they are some distance from the village, Ridley points his rifle at Fisher and demands the truth. Fisher is relieved to be able to finally unburden himself and tells Ridley everything he knows. Earnest Rigs, a miner, arrives at the doctor''s house for treatment and sees and is entranced by Brionne. That night Schaffer and Brionne are awoken by a noise on the roof and a banging at the door. The next day, Schaffer finds blood splattered outside her house, and Rigs is missing. A crowd gathers, including the Goss boys and the village marshal. Carlo is accused of murdering Rigs and, scared that his arrest in Tarmin will become known, runs away. The marshal orders that Carlo be stopped, and a group of miners pursue him. When Carlo reaches the village gate, his only escape is out the village. Spook finds Carlo in the Wild and immediately adopts him. Fisher and Cloud begin searching for Carlo and see him riding Spook. Suspecting that Spook may have gone rogue, Fisher pursues them. When he catches up with them he sees a threatening shadow in the trees above them and shoots it. At the same time, Stuart and Chang, out looking for Fisher and the Goss children, find Fisher and Carlo. They search for the creature Fisher shot but find instead a large nest in which appear to be human bones. No creature of this size and ability had ever been encountered before, and they conclude that it must have come from the unexplored side of the mountain, probably attracted by the noise in the ambient from the swarm that overran Tarmin. Then the riders hear Evergreen''s bells calling for help, and set off for the village. At Evergreen, the breakthrough bells are ringing and the riders enter the village to investigate. They find the gate man ripped to shreds in his watch tower and track the intruder to the houses. When the riders hear Brionne <calling> they realise that she is controlling the beast. They go to Schaffer''s house where, through the door, they try to persuade the doctor to drug the girl. Inside Brionne opens the underground passage door to reveal a huge ape-like creature. It picks up Brionne and when Schaffer tries to intervene, it hurls the doctor against the wall, killing her. Like a rider and a nighthorse, Brionne and the beast connect. They climb to the roof and disappear over the wall. All the riders spend the rest of the winter in the rider camp and discuss their plans for the spring. Stuart reveals the presence of the gold in the crashed truck, and Fisher and Carlo agree to go to Anveney to request supplies from Cassivey to retrieve the gold. Stuart and Chang take on the responsibility of escorting villagers down to Tarmin. Of Brionne and the beast there is no sign, not even in the ambient. Clearly they have returned to the other side of the mountain.

Cloud''s Rider

The first part of the book explains ''how to find happiness at the expense of your co-workers'', including how to deal with superiors, meetings and co-workers and how to avoid work whilst having fun, an entire chapter is devoted to office pranks. The second part is an analysis of humour and how to write funny material. Scott also writes "The third part of the book is made entirely out of invisible pages. If the book seems heavier than it looks, that''s why." The book includes a response to Norman Solomon, who attempted to depict Scott Adams as a proponent of downsizing in his 1997 book, The Trouble with Dilbert. People who were offended by certain Dilbert strips are also addressed, Adams concluding that it is the ''proximity'' of sensitive subjects to negative concepts that causes "people who are angry for no good reason (nuts)" to take offence. The ''Final Postscript'' in the book is a page dedicated to his cat ''Freddie'', who died as the book was in its final stages. The last words in the book are "That [pet ownership], my friend, is joy".

The Joy of Work

;Dunyazadiad The Dunyazadiad is a retelling of the framing story of Scheherazade, the famed storyteller of the One Thousand and One Nights. The story is told from the point-of-view of Scheherazade''s younger sister Dunyazad. Its characterization as metafiction can be understood as a result of the use of several literary devices, most notably the introduction of the author as a character and his interaction with Scheherazade and Dunyazade. The author appears from the future and expresses his admiration for Scheherazade and the 1001 Nights as a work of fiction, of which Barth''s Scheherazade has no knowledge. Realizing that he has appeared to Scheherazade on the eve of her first encounter with Shahryar, and seeing her without a solution to her predicament, the author himself suggests the stratagem of using a chain of interrupted stories to forestall her execution, and offers to tell her a new story every day with which to regale the king the following evening. Taking the author for a genie, Scheherazade agrees. ;Perseid The second novella entitled Perseid follows the middle aged Greek hero Perseus in his struggle to obtain immortality. Told from Perseus'' point of view, the first part of the story revolves around the retelling of Perseus'' life history while the following part details his rise to, and eventual immortalization as a constellation of stars. ;Bellerophoniad The final novella, Bellerophoniad, chronicles the story of Bellerophon, yet another ancient Greek hero. While somewhat rooted in the myth as told by the Greek and Roman poets, Barth''s version of the story is not a direct retelling, but instead a re-imagining. Much like the Perseid, the Bellerophoniad surrounds a middle aged mythic hero who struggles with coming to terms with his past accomplishments and a desire to secure his future glory. It is, for the most part, told from the point of view of Bellerophon, with various interjections by unknown narrators, one of which is presumed to be the author Barth. Of the three novellas, it is by far the longest and&mdash;more so than in Dunyazadiad and Perseid&mdash;makes numerous references to the other novellas, further connecting common themes and events between the three.

Chimera

When Cammie returns to school, she and the other girls are frustrated because the East Wing is off-limits. Fumes from the chemistry lab have supposedly contaminated the area making the girls have to walk around the wing adding ten minutes to their walk back to their rooms. The next day on a CoveOps mission at the National Mall the class must get to the ruby slippers exhibit by five o''clock practicing counter-surveillance. Only one girl in the class succeeds in the mission. Cammie fails when Zach, whom Cammie believes to be a teenage boy, follows her from the elevator. After the failed mission fifteen boys, Zach being one of them, and their teacher Dr. Steve from the Blackthorne Institute, come to the Gallagher Academy and they take up residence in the East Wing. Cammie meets Josh again during an exercise in Roseville, VA and finds out that he is dating DeeDee. For Cammie the incident confirms her mother gave Josh the special memory wiping tea. During a CoveOps/Culture and Assimilation cumulative exam Cammie and Zach dance together. Cammie has a slight wardrobe malfunction and she tries to leave via a passageway where Zach is waiting. A Code Black occurs,meaning the school''s secret is in danger of being released,and Cammie gets blamed when Zach mysteriously disappears. Cammie, Liz, Bex, and Macey decide to investigate the Blackthorne boys, but the covert listening devices in the boys rooms, and the tracking systems/trackers in their shoes, don''t give them any information. Then Cammie goes on a study date with Zach. On a Saturday trip into Roseville, Cammie and Zach are walking around town together, and Zach tries to kiss Cammie while knowing that Josh and DeeDee were watching. Cammie suddenly becomes aware of this and seeing that she hurt Josh, doesn''t let Zach kiss her. On the same trip, the Gallagher girls have to come back early when Zach lies about seeing a trailer before. The girls arrive at the mansion to a massive security breach – a disk containing the information about all the alumni of the Gallagher Academy has been stolen. Using a secret passage, the girls get out of the mansion and follow trackers that Bex and Liz planted on the Blackthorne boys. Macey comes across them outside in a Gallagher Academy van she "commandeered" and they follow the tracking devices. They meet up with the boys outside an abandoned manufacturing plant owned by the school. Zach convinces Cammie that he and the boys are innocent and they team up to get the alumni disk back from Dr. Steve, who stole it. They succeed in stopping Dr Steve from getting away when Bex puts him in a choke hold, and it is revealed that the recovery of the disk was a test to see if the girls could accomplish the mission with the boys. At the end the Blackthorne boys have to leave and Zach kisses Cammie telling her "I always finish what I start" referring to the Saturday trip to Roseville.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Black Tulip

By Alexandre Dumas

The Passion According to G.H.

By Clarice Lispector

Ham on Rye

By Charles Bukowski

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

By Jeff Lindsay

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

By James Patterson

Gardens of the Moon

By Steven Erikson

Kirinyaga

No Author Listed

Weapon

By Robert Mason

Cloud's Rider

By C. J. Cherryh

The Joy of Work

No Author Listed

Chimera

By John Barth

Cross my heart and hope to spy

By Ally Carter