American Memory note: Bowles, editor of the The Republican (Springfield), was one of a party that traveled across the Continent in the summers of 1865 and 1866 to explore the Western United States. Several books resulted from the trips. The detailed subtitle of Bowles''s book shows clearly how at the time interests in natural and man-made wonders and in exploitable resources were combined. Bowles sees the railroads as the key that will unlock the region. In addition to his enthusiasm for the West, Bowles urges the preservation of Niagara Falls (probably influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted, whom he met in Yosemite Valley) and of regions of the Adirondacks and Maine (pp. 384-85). West, The--Description and travel--1860-1880. American Memory note: Bowles, editor of the The Republican (Springfield), was one of a party that traveled across the Continent in the summers of 1865 and 1866 to explore the Western United States. Several books resulted from the trips. The detailed subtitle of Bowles''s book shows clearly how at the time interests in natural and man-made wonders and in exploitable resources were combined. Bowles sees the railroads as the key that will unlock the region. In addition to his enthusiasm for the West, Bowles urges the preservation of Niagara Falls (probably influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted, whom he met in Yosemite Valley) and of regions of the Adirondacks and Maine (pp. 384-85).

Our New West. Records of Travel between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brookenham host an effete, rather corrupt social circle. They are the parents of worthless Harold and sweet but knowledgeable Nanda (age eighteen). Mr. Longdon attends one of their social functions and is amazed at how much Nanda resembles her grandmother, his long-ago love who married another man. Vanderbank, a young civil servant with little money, admires both Mrs. Brookenham (nicknamed "Mrs. Brook") and Nanda. Mrs. Brook seems to want an affair with "Van" but he appears more interested in Nanda. Mr. Longdon promises him a dowry if he marries Nanda. Mrs. Brook is instead trying to get her daughter married to Mitchy, a very rich but rather naive member of her social circle. But Nanda urges Mitchy to marry Aggie, the supposedly sheltered step-niece of one of Mrs. Brook''s friends (the Duchess). Mitchy follows the advice, then watches helplessly as Aggie kicks over the traces and starts playing around on him. Van constantly hesitates about proposing to Nanda. She finally tells him and Mitchy to be kind to her mother, then prepares to stay at Mr. Longdon''s country home as a kind of surrogate daughter.

The Awkward Age

The story follows the journey of a tribe called the Munrungs, across a world known as the Carpet. Its resemblance to carpets does not end there; instead of trees, the landscape is a forest of hairs, and is littered with large grains of dust and vegetation. The sky is only referred to as above and below the surface is underlay, riddled with caves, and ultimately the Floor. The Munrungs cross the carpet to find a new home after their village is destroyed by the powerful and mysterious natural force Fray. The origins of Fray are never explained in the book, but it is described in a way to suggest sweeping or vacuuming (some reviewers have suggested it represents human footfalls), and is referred to as sweeping on the back cover of the current UK edition. The tribe is led by Glurk, who is advised by Pismire, a philosopher and the tribal Shaman. Glurk''s younger brother Snibril, however, is the book''s protagonist, and is described by Pismire as having the kind of enquiring mind which is "dangerous". Snibril also has the unique ability to detect Fray a few minutes before it strikes - this ability manifests itself as an extremely painful migraine. The only source of metal on the carpet is mined from a dropped penny; wood is taken from discarded matchsticks, while the clairvoyant Wights obtain varnish by scraping it from a chair leg (the chair leg is known to the Carpet People as "Achairleg"). The story ends following an epic battle against the Mouls - a race of Fray-worshipping creatures. At this point Snibril makes the decision to leave the tribe and to explore the furthest reaches of the carpet.

The Carpet People

Sam Shotter, having failed to please his uncle John B. Pynsent in business, is sent to England to work for Lord Tilbury, who hopes to complete a business deal with Pynsent. Avoiding being trapped in Tilbury''s company, Sam opts to join his old pal "Hash" Todhunter, cook on a tramp steamer, for the trip over. On the way, he shows Hash a photo of a girl, found on a wall in a remote Canadian log cabin, whom he has fallen in love with. Arriving in England looking rather bedraggled after his trip, Sam finds Hash has borrowed all his cash to put on a dog. Fortunately, it is the night of the Wrykyn Old Boys'' dinner, and in town he runs into first Claude Bates, who, fearing Sam may be begging, flees, and later Willoughby Braddock, an old friend. Braddock is staying with Kay Derrick and her uncle Mr Wrenn while his house is decorated, and takes Sam back there, but wanders drunkenly off when they arrive; Sam is mistaken for a burglar by Lippett, the maid, and ends up sleeping in the empty house next door. During the night, Sam is disturbed by someone in the hallway with a torch. Next morning, the confusion having been sorted out, Lippett gives Sam breakfast. He sees a picture of Kay, the girl of his dreams, and finds her uncle also works for the Mammoth Publishing Company, as editor of "Pyke''s Home Companion". He visits Mr Cornelius, the local estate agent, and takes a lease on the empty house, "Mon Repos". He then sees Lord Tilbury, and gets himself employed on Mr Wrenn''s paper. Kay, having just quit her job with Claude Bates'' aunt after he kissed her, is visiting her uncle''s office when Sam arrives. Sam, overcome at having finally met her, kisses her also, upsetting her further. Lord Tilbury, worried by Sam''s odd behaviour, is warned by his sister Francie that there may be a girl involved, but is reassured to hear Mr Wrenn has no children. Sam hires Hash Toddhunter to be his cook, while "Chimp" Twist, "Soapy" and "Dolly" Molloy discuss the problem of recovering a large fortune stashed in Sam''s new home by an old friend, Edward Finglass, famed for robbing the New Asiatic Bank of two million dollars in bonds. They send in Molloy, posing as a former resident of the house wishing to buy it. The scheme fails, as Sam needs to stay near Kay, and makes Hash suspicious; he buys a large dog named Amy to protect the place. Sam''s wooing of Kay begins to bear fruit, and he takes her out to lunch one day, where Lord Tilbury sees them. Having rejected Percy Pilbeam as a helper, he visits Chimp Twist''s fake detective agency, and hires Twist to spy on Sam; he forces Sam to hire Twist as an odd job man, but Sam makes Twist remove his repulsive moustache. Hash and Claire become involved, but she is worried by his coolness (he is worried by her mother''s nose). Following advice in the "Home Companion", she tries to make him jealous by flirting with Twist, whom Hash chases off in a fury. The Molloys return to "Mon Repos" once more, tie up Hash and begin to search for the money, but Dolly is frightened off by Amy the dog, and Soapy, tired after fending off visitors, is caught napping by Sam, who takes away his trousers. Sam leaves him trapped while he releases Hash and takes him next door to be reunited with Claire. Heading back to his house, Sam meets Braddock, who informs him that Lord Tilbury is in there without his trousers. Sam provides him with some, but the deal between Tilbury and Sam''s uncle has fallen through, and Tilbury reveals his dislike of Sam and his opinion that Sam will never be anything better than a moocher. He and Sam part angrily. While Sam and Kay discuss a loving but poor future, Braddock spots Twist sneaking back into the house. He follows him and captures him in the act of pulling up some floorboards. Sam, believing the money cannot be in the house, lets Twist go, but when they hear from local historical expert Mr Cornelius that the two houses were once one, they realise that the money must be stashed in Kay''s house. Sam and Kay plan to marry and move to the country on the reward money.

Sam the Sudden

“The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” is narrated by nine-year-old Aram Garoghlanian, a member of an Armenian community living among the lush fruit orchards and vineyards of California. One morning Aram is awakened before dawn by his thirteen-year-old cousin Mourad, who is thought to be demented by everyone except Aram, and has a way with animals. Aram is astonished to see that Mourad is sitting on a beautiful white horse. Aram has always wanted to ride a horse, but his family is too poor to afford one. However, the Garoghlanian tribe is noted not only for its poverty but also for its honesty, so it is unthinkable that Mourad would have stolen the horse. So, Aram felt that his cousin couldn''t have stolen the horse. Aram was invited to ride on the horse with Mourad. The idea of Mourad stealing the horse drained away from Aram''s mind as he felt that it wouldn''t become stealing until they offer to sell the horse. They enjoyed their riding on the horse for a long time. Mourad''s crazy behavior was considered to be a natural descent from their uncle Khosrove, even though his father, Zorab, was a practical man. Uncle Khosrove was an enormous man who was always furious, impatient, and irritable. He would roar for everyone to stop talking and say It is no harm, pay no attention to it. In fact,one day, when his son came and told them that their house was on fire, Khosrove silenced him by roaring "Enough. It is no harm". After a long day of riding, Mourad wanted to ride alone on the horse. Aram had the same longing, but when he sat on the horse and kicked its muscles it reared and snorted and raced forward, dropping Aram off its back. That afternoon, an Assyrian farmer named John Byro -an Assyrian friend of the Garoghlanians- came to Aram''s house. He reported to Aram''s mother that his white horse which had been stolen a month ago was still missing. Hearing this, Aram concludes that Mourad must have had the horse for a long time. Khosrove, who was at Aram''s house when Byro came, shouted his dialogue "its no harm" to such an extent that Byro was forced to sprint out to avoid responding. Aram ran to Mourad to inform him of Byro''s arrival. Aram also pleads to Mourad to not return the horse until he could learn to ride. Mourad disagrees saying that Aram would take at least a year to learn, but promises he would keep it for six months at most. This becomes a routine. Mourad comes daily to pick Aram to ride, and Aram continuously falls off the horse''s back after every attempt. Two weeks later, they were going to take the horse back to its hiding place when they met Byro on the road. The farmer is extremely surprised. He recognizes his horse but refuses to believe that the boys had stolen it. He says "the horse is the twin of my horse" and "a suspicious man would believe his eyes instead of his heart". Thus the Garoghlanian''s fame of honesty saves them. The following day they return the horse before everyone (except the dogs) is awake. None of the dogs bark, since Mourad has "a way with dogs". Mourad gets extremely sentimental when he parts with the horse. The next day Byro arrives at Aram''s house to show the horse to Aram''s mother and report that "the horse is stronger and better tempered." The story ends with Khosrove shouting at Byro to "pay no attention to it".

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse

The story begins with a group of close friends from small town Madison, Wisconsin head to Clausen’s Pier to celebrate Memorial Day. Carrie Bell has been thinking, for a long time, of how her longtime relationship with fiancé Mike Mayer is wilting away. As everyone has noticed her withdrawal from Mike, Mike decides to win back her attention by taking a daring dive off of the pier into the shallow waters below. As a result of this dive, he breaks his neck and becomes paralyzed. While all of the friends do their best to help him adapt to the situation, Carrie finds herself under too much pressure to stay in the situation, and impulsively moves to New York. In New York, Carrie attempts to come to terms with who she is as a person. She faces the guilt of leaving behind her life and paraplegic fiancé. She finds herself in love with a new man, Killroy, who helps her find herself. Carrie, being exposed to the fast-paced and electric city life, finds her release in fashion. However, the guilt becomes too much for Carrie and she is drawn back to the Midwest. She finds that the bonds are still strong and that while New York was an escape for her, her life is truly in Madison. She returns to her hometown and makes strong efforts to rebuild her relationships not only with Mike, but with her friends, family, and herself.

The Dive From Clausen''s Pier

The story focuses on the Explorer, who is encountering the brutal machine for the first time. Everything about the machine and its purpose is told to him by the Officer, while the Soldier and the Condemned (who is unaware that he has been sentenced to die) placidly watch nearby. The Officer tells of the religious epiphany the executed experience in their last six hours in the machine. Eventually it becomes clear that the use of the machine, and its associated process of justice where the accused is always instantly found guilty and the law he has broken is inscribed on his body before ultimately killing him, has fallen out of favor with the current Commandant. The Officer is nostalgic regarding the torture machine and the values that were initially associated with it. As the last proponent of the machine, he strongly believes in its form of justice and the infallibility of the previous Commandant, who designed and built the device. In fact, the Officer carries its blueprints with him and is the only person who can properly decipher them; no one else is allowed to handle these documents. The Officer begs the Explorer to speak to the current Commandant on behalf of the machine''s continued use. He refuses to do so. He says he will not speak against it publicly, but he will give his opinion to the Commandant privately, and will leave before he can be called to give an official account. With this, the Officer frees the Condemned and sets up the machine for himself, with the words "Be Just" to be written on him. However, the machine malfunctions due to its advanced state of disrepair; instead of its usual elegant operation, it quickly stabs the Officer to death, denying him the mystical experience of the prisoners he executed. Accompanied by the Soldier and the Condemned, the Explorer makes his way to a tea house in which he is shown the grave of the old Commandant. Its stone is set so low that a table can easily be placed over it; the inscription states his followers'' belief that he will rise from the dead someday and take control of the colony once more. As the Explorer prepares to leave by boat, the Soldier and the Condemned try to board but are repelled by the Explorer himself.

In the Penal Colony

The tale begins with three feline siblings &ndash; Mittens, Tom Kitten, and Moppet &ndash; tumbling about the doorstep and playing in the dust. Their mother, Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit, expects "fine company" for tea so she fetches the children indoors to wash and dress them before her friends arrive. Tom is "very naughty" and scratches his mother while she grooms him. Tabitha dresses Moppet and Mittens in clean pinafores and tuckers, and Tom in "all sorts of elegant uncomfortable clothes" taken from a chest of drawers. Tom is fat and bursts several buttons, but his mother sews them back on again. Tabitha turns her kittens into the garden to keep them out of the way while she makes hot buttered toast for the party. She tells them to keep their frocks clean, then returns to her work. Moppet and Mittens soon have their pinafores smeared with grass stains. They climb upon the garden wall and lose some of their clothing in the ascent. Tom has a more difficult time gaining the top of the wall "breaking the ferns, and shedding buttons right and left". He is dishevelled when he reaches the top of the wall, and loses his hat, but his sisters try to pull him together. The rest of his buttons burst. Three Puddle-ducks come marching along the road &ndash; "pit pat paddle pat! pit pat waddle pat!" Jemima Puddle-duck and Rebeccah put on some of the dropped clothing. The kittens lose the rest of their clothing descending the wall. Moppet invites Mr. Drake Puddle-duck to help dress Tom. He picks up various articles of Tom''s clothing and "he put[s] them on himself!" The three ducks set off up the road just as Tabitha approaches and discovers her three children with no clothes on. She pulls them off the wall, "smacks" them, and takes them back to the house. "My friends will arrive in a minute, and you are not fit to be seen; I am affronted!" she says. Tabitha sends her kittens upstairs, and tells her guests the kittens are in bed with the measles. However, "the dignity and repose of the tea party" is disturbed by the "very extraordinary noises overhead" as the playful kittens romp in a bedroom. An illustration depicts the bedroom in complete disorder and Tom in his mother''s bonnet. The author interrupts to promise the reader she will make a larger book about Tom some day. In the last pages, the Puddle-ducks have lost the kittens'' clothing in a pond, and they have been looking for them ever since.

The Tale of Tom Kitten

Jessica is a tomboy, raised to be her father''s son to help out on the farm. Her older sister Meg is very much her mother''s daughter, and it is Meg''s and their mother''s mission for Meg to seduce Jack Thomas, the town''s wealthiest eligible bachelor. Jessica and her dad work each year shearing at Riverview station for the Thomases - the richest family in the district. In the shearing shed, Jessica becomes close friends with Jack Thomas and William D''arcy Simon. Jessica is teased by the other boys, predominanly for simply being female. Eventually she is attacked, with tar poured over her head and hair. Jack and Billy defend her, but William is stepped on by a horse, causing brain damage and earning him the name Billy Simple. Subsequently, Jessica and Jack''s relationship blossoms and they become Billy''s sole friends. Jack gets Billy a job working as a gardener for his rich family, but one day Billy kills Jack''s mother and two sisters, because of their constant taunting of him. Jessica takes him on the long journey to the nearest town with a courthouse, endangering herself. Jessica holds off the angry mob of farmers, to give Billy a fair trial. When they finally reach the courthouse, the farmers (including Jack) catch them. However, although Billy has murdered his mother and sisters, Jack holds off the mob and sweeps exhausted Jessica off her feet and carries her into the courthouse. Billy is later sentenced to death, but not without a fight from his lawyer, Richard Runche. It is discovered a few months later that Jessica is pregnant. Her parents suspect that she had intimate relations with Billy Simple on the way to town, although it turns out that she slept with Jack while in hospital for her own injuries travelling the long journey with Billy. She is locked up in a tin hut by her family, and her mum and sister come up with a scheme. Jack enlists for war, but not before being seduced by Meg as a "goodbye present." She pretends to be pregnant, forcing him to marry her, although he loves Jessica. Her mother tells the town that Jessica has gone crazy, so had to be isolated (during her pregnancy). They pretend that Meg is pregnant, and when Jessica gives birth, helped by an Aboriginal friend, they take her baby and pass it off as Meg''s. Jessica''s father tries to kill Jessica''s mother, his wife, because of how she tricked him and Jessica, but he has a heart attack. At the funeral, when they announce that Meg gave birth, Jessica breaks down, screaming that they stole her baby. She is put in a mental asylum, and makes friends with a Jewish man, Moishe Goldberg. She helps him to get better and when he is released, Moishe contacts Billy''s lawyer, Richard Runche who fights and frees Jessica. Meg and her mother agree to give her the land entitlement for their old property plus another 10 acres (40,000 m2) on the condition that she never approaches her son, Joey, or tries to get him back. Her Aboriginal friend, Mary''s (who helped her during her pregnancy) half-caste children are taken by the authorities, and Jessica, with the help of Runche and Moishe, gets them back in a court case to make history. Upon return to her house one afternoon, Jessica finds her dog has been bitten by a snake. She goes off to find the snakes and while Jessica is successful in killing one, its mate bites Jessica before being bludgeoned to death with her rifle. Knowing that death is near, she goes back to her hut and is found dead by Mary. Mary also finds a letter Jessica wrote to Jack, but never sent advising him of being pregnant with his child. *1998, Australia, Viking Australia ISBN 0-670-88351-4, Pub date 1 December 1998, hardcover *1999, Canada, ISBN 1-55278-088-0, Pub date 1 January 1999, hardcover *2000, United Kingdom, Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-14-027960-3, Pub date 27 July 2000, paperback

Jessica

CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to West Berlin East Germany in 1961, during the time leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall. Henri Tod is a German Jew who during WWII is sent to England to prevent his conscription into the army. After the war he returns to Germany and becomes Germany''s leading Freedom fighter. Henri Tod carries a burden of guilt because while in England he told someone of his sister who was still hiding on a farm in Germany. This information gets back to the Death Squads who kill the foster parents and send his sister, Clementa, to the death camps. His sister is rescued from Auschwitz at the last minute by the Soviet armies, but after the war becomes a pawn in an East Block effort to secure Tod''s capture. Thrown into this mix of lively characters is a curious East German couple that play crucial roles in the tableau. Of historical interest is their secret meeting place, a relic German railcar, that once belonged to Adolf Hitler. And, of course there''s Blackford Oakes. Oakes''s mission is to infiltrate the Bruderschaft (Tod''s organization) in an effort to learn of its intentions. All this occurs, of course, during the days leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall.

The Story of Henri Tod

The novel begins at the end of the story. The prologue leads you to know how Guinevere came to write the story of her and Arthur, and the Knights. Guinevere is in a convent when Lancelot comes to her telling her of Arthur''s death and deterioration of Britain. Lancelot tells her that he had a vision of Merlin telling him to go to her and ask her to write down the story of her life, and the life of Arthur. He says that is isn''t meant for the people of today, but a future generation of Britons. The novel then opens with Guinevere''s birth, and a prophecy that was told to her father the night she was born. Guinevere is to be a "white shadow" or gwenhwyfar. Guinevere spends her early years being adored and pampered by her father, a minor king in northern Britain. As he ages, he sends her away to her mother''s sister and her husband, who is king of a nearby land. Her aunt has one daughter near her age; Elaine. Elaine and Guinevere grow up together as best friends. Elaine is headstrong, stubborn, and always puts herself first, even before her older cousin. Elaine also adores the legend of Arthur, and then when Arthur takes his place at the throne of Britain, uniting the country and fighting the Saxons, Elaine becomes obsessed with him, believing herself to be his future bride, and meant for his unending love. When Arthur is chosen a bride, it is Guinevere, which complicates her relationship with Elaine, igniting fierce jealousy in the heart of Elaine. Lancelot is sent to retrieve Guinevere for Arthur and take her to "Camelot" for him. At their first meeting they fall passionately and helplessly in love. Though, here, Guinevere''s affair with Lancelot is celibate, although no less passionate, and at times much more realistic then other versions of the story. When Lancelot tells Arthur about his bride, Guinevere, Arthur realizes Lancelot''s love for her, but due to their great friendship, and his own love and trust in Guinevere, Arthur finds a way to accept it and move on. Years later, Elaine schemes to make Lancelot her husband, as revenge to Guinevere for taking Arthur from her. Though Lancelot does not love Elaine, he takes her for a bride and together they leave Camelot for his family''s lands in Gaul, to start a family. As time passes, it becomes clear Guinevere cannot become pregnant. In need of an heir, she and Arthur decide to recognize his bastard son Mordred, whom he had with his sister Morguase. They bring Mordred and his half-brothers to Camelot, to train to become Knights. Guinevere takes a special liking to Mordred, who dreams of a unified Britain. His dreams are the undoing of Arthur. Mordred meets with Saxon leaders in secret to make a peace treaty, as Arthur goes to fight the Saxons. Seeing his son betray him, and stay on the Saxon side leads him to failure and his own death, by Mordred''s hand. These are the events that have just taken place when we find Guinevere in the convent during the prologue.

Queen of Camelot

Paul Carpenter is the protagonist of the book. The book is summarized in the next book in the series Earth, Air, Fire, and Custard where Paul tells his uncle about what happened to him. So Paul told him all about it: how he''d got a job as a junior clerk with a firm called J. W. Wells & Co in the City, without knowing what it was they actually did; how it''d come as rather a shock to him when he found out that they were one of the top six firms of family and commercial magicians in the UK, specialising in the entertainment and media, mining and mineral resources, construction, dispute resolution, applied sorcery and pest-control sectors; how he''d almost immediately tried to resign, and how he''d found out a little while later that the reason why they wouldn''t let him was that his parents had financed their early retirement to Florida by selling him to the partners of JWW, who wanted him because the knack of doing magic ran in his family to such an extent that it was inevitable that he''d have it too; how he''d briefly found true love with Sophie, the other junior clerk, shortly before she was abducted by Contessa Judy di Castel Bianco, the firm''s entertainments and PR partner and hereditary Queen of the Fey, who permanently erased Sophie''s feelings for Paul from her mind; how he''d learned scrying for mineral deposits from Mr Tanner, who was half-goblin on his mother''s side, and heroism and dragonslaying from Ricky Wurmtoter, the pest-control partner, and a bit of applied sorcery from the younger Mr Wells (before the elder Mr Wells turned him into a photocopier); and how he''d just started learning spatio-temporal displacement theory with Theodorus Van Spee, former professor of classical witchcraft at the University of Leiden and inventor of the portable folding parking-space; oh, and how he''d died, twice (only the second time was an accident) and been put on deposit for a while in the firm''s account at the Bank of the Dead.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Our New West. Records of Travel between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean

No Author Listed

The Awkward Age

By Henry James

The Carpet People

By Terry Pratchett

Sam the Sudden

By P. G. Wodehouse

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse

No Author Listed

The Dive From Clausen's Pier

No Author Listed

In the Penal Colony

By Franz Kafka

The Tale of Tom Kitten

By Beatrix Potter

Jessica

By Bryce Courtenay

The Story of Henri Tod

By William F. Buckley, Jr.

Queen of Camelot

By Nancy McKenzie

In Your Dreams

No Author Listed