The novel begins with the phrase, "In the beginning was the myth. God, in his search for self-expression, invested the souls of Hindus, Greeks, and Germans with poetic shapes and continues to invest each child''s soul with poetry every day." The novel is purely poetical, and its protagonist in time aspires to become a poet who invests the lives of men with reality in its most beautiful of forms. Peter Camenzind easily reminds one of Hesse''s other protagonists, i.e. Siddhartha, Goldmund, and Harry Haller. Like them, he suffers deeply and undergoes many intellectual, physical, and spiritual journeys. In the course of his many journeys, he will come to experience the diverse landscapes of Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland, as well as the wide range of emotions that humans exhibit at different stages in their lives. In a later stage of his life, he will embody the ideal of St. Francis as he cares for a cripple. Peter Camenzind, as a youth, leaves his mountain village with a great ambition to experience the world and to become one of its denizens. Having experienced the loss of his mother at an early age, and with a desire to leave behind a callous father, he heads to university. As he progresses through his studies, he meets and falls in love with the painter, Erminia Aglietti and becomes a close friend to a young pianist named Richard. Greatly saddened because of the latter''s death, he takes up wandering to soak up the diverse experiences of life. Ever faced with the vicissitudes of life, he continually takes up alcohol as a means to confront the harshness and inexplicable strangeness of life. He also meets and falls in love with Elizabeth, even though she will later marry another man. However, his journey through Italy changes him in many respects and enhances his ability to love life and see beauty within all things. It is only when he becomes friends with Boppi, an invalid, does he truly experience what it means to love other human beings. In time, he comes to see a wonderful reflection of humanity in its most noble of forms in Boppi, and the two forge an indelible friendship. After Boppi dies, Peter Camenzind returns to his village and takes care of his aging father, even as he plans out the completion of his life''s great work.

Peter Camenzind

John Rolfe VI is an infantry captain who comes back from World War II with a war wound and few prospects, but in 1946 a radio he is rewiring malfunctions and creates a gateway to a parallel universe. This universe is one in which Alexander the Great lived a full lifespan, creating an empire that stretched from Spain to India. In this world, the Macedonian Empire proved so strong and durable that it redirected the barbarian migrations of the Goths, Vandals, and others eastward towards China and the rest of the Far East. As a result, what remains of China is a hodgepodge of Indo-European dominated states, the Americas remain undiscovered by the Old World, and technology has barely progressed to a medieval level. Deciding to take advantage of the untapped resources that await in this different California, Rolfe gathers members of his infantry company to help him explore and develop this new world. Over the next 60 years, he builds a new nation, which he calls the Commonwealth of New Virginia. In 2009, two California fish and game officers (Tom Christiansen and Roy Tully) are trying to solve the mystery of how large numbers of pelts from endangered species are showing up. They finally deduce the secret of the gate to the parallel world, but before they can make the secret known to their superiors, they are kidnapped and permanently transported to New Virginia by Rolfe''s granddaughter, Gate Security Agent Adrienne Rolfe (with whom Christiansen had been falling in love). Once the two rangers get over their resentment of being forcibly and permanently removed from their lives and world, and being brought to this new world, Adrienne enlists them to help sabotage a coming coup in New Virginia. Giovanni Colletta, head of the second most powerful family, and son of a sleazy and amoral war buddy of Rolfe''s, has resented the elder Rolfe''s control, and he and some allies are planning to take over by force and violence, with the intention of imposing an authoritarian regime. The rangers decide that Rolfe and his allies are the lesser of two evils, and decide to help Adrienne in her effort to prevent the coup. The group discovers that Colletta is arming post-Aztec and post-Mayan Indians to build a couple of battalions of soldiers (something very illegal under Commonwealth law) in an attempt to capture the Gate, holding the Commonwealth hostage. Colletta duly strikes, giving the other families the grounds to oppose him militarily. The revolt is put down, but at a price: the radio device and the Gateway are destroyed, and with it, the connection to our world. What little talent the Commonwealth has in physics works feverishly to re-establish the Gate. They are successful, but when they look through the new gate, they do not see FirstSide (New Virginia slang for Rolfe''s home Earth) Oakland, but instead a snarling saber-toothed cat and a dead giant sloth.

Conquistador

Elsha is a teenager living in a bleak, cold future where world-wide cloud cover has permanently blocked out the sun. Humans have split into two classes - the Chosen and the Quelled, of which Elsha is the latter. The Quelled are doomed to spend their lives in servitude to the Chosen, mining "firestones" - the only means of warmth on the planet. The Firelord is the leader of the Chosen, said to be a great and powerful man. A rebellious girl, Elsha causes trouble for herself - even going so far as being considered for execution - until she is met by a Chosen man named Amasai, Steward of the Firelord, and given the highest position available to a woman - Handmaiden to the Firelord. On her journeys with the Firelord, Elsha meets Teraj, later revealed to be the Firelord''s son, with whom Elsha forms a romantic relationship. Elsha uses her unlikely position to fight the stigma and oppression of her people, eventually inheriting the title for herself after the Firelord''s unexpected death and changing the course of the planet''s history for the better. It is implied Elsha marries Teraj. *Out of Print*

Winter of Fire

The underlying premise Harris takes is one of utilitarianism. He states: "Questions about Morality are questions about happiness and suffering." Harris addresses his arguments to members of the conservative Christian Right in America. In answer to their appeal to the Bible on questions of morality, he points to selected items from the Old Testament Mosaic law, (death for adultery, homosexuality, disobedience to parents etc.), and contrasts this with, for example, the complete non-violence of Jainism. Harris argues that the reliance on dogma can create a false morality, which is divorced from the reality of human suffering and the efforts to alleviate it; thus religious objections stand in the way of condom use, stem cell research, abortion, and the use of a new vaccine for the human papilloma virus. Harris also addresses the problem of evil—the difficulty in believing in a good God who allows disasters like Hurricane Katrina—and the conflict between religion and science. A 2005 Gallup poll suggested that 53% of Americans are creationists, so Harris spends some time arguing for evolution and against the notion of Intelligent Design. Harris considers the variety of religions in the world, citing a religious basis for many ethnic and inter-communal conflicts. Contrary to those who advocate religious tolerance, mutual respect, and interfaith dialogue, Harris contends that such values only make it more difficult to criticize faith-based extremism. While holding that spiritual experiences can be valuable and life-affirming—he expends considerable space in The End of Faith in arguing that they are necessary—Harris rejects their link to religious beliefs. He argues that religion may have served some useful purpose for humanity in the past, but that it is now the greatest impediment to building a &#34;global civilization.&#34;

Letter to a Christian Nation

Sumitha meets Seb, who is in a band called Paper Turkey. Although they both like each other, they do not officially date. Sumitha dances to Paper Turkey''s music in Stomping Ground, but her father sees it and forbids her to see Seb again. Sumitha lies to her father in order to go to a music festival where Paper Turkey are playing in a competition, but the band is drunk and do not win. Sumitha''s father wants to arrange a marriage for her, and his friend Sajjed comes to visit, along with his son Asim and wife Chhobi. Asim objects to having an arranged marriage, which gains him Sumitha''s admiration. Laura wants to break up with Jon because she has met Simon Stagg, but she does not know how to tell him. On New Year''s Ever, she leaves her celebrations with Jon to see Simon, upsetting Jon who still loves her. Laura is hurt and upset to learn that Simon is gay, and she eventually gets back together with Jon. Chelsea has difficulty writing a sociology essay about unemployment, but after her mother is fired she writes an excellent essay and decides to study harder in the future. Bex returns to Leehampton, because her brother, Ricky, is a victim of violence at school. Chelsea helps him. Jemma is angry, because her dad wants to move to Scotland. She also argues with her father because he objects to her starring in a commercial. Jemma attends casting anyway, but walks out after she realises that the commercial suggests that only slim people are valuable. Jon''s dad wants to move to Cornwall, because he is tired of his work. Jon argues with him, and then feel guilty after his father has a heart attack, even though it happened while his father was jogging.

Does Anyone Ever Listen?

RAF Culverton, East Anglia, during the Second World War. Alec Whistler, a Spitfire pilot discovers a green crystal in the wreckage left by a bomb which destroyed the RAF base''s Mess, killing his fiance... As a reward for his actions in The Three Doctors the Third Doctor has had his knowledge of the TARDIS''s dematerialisation codes returned to him by the Time Lords. The Doctor has left Earth and is helping the rebels on the planet Xanthos. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Brigadier has received a call from his old friend Wing Commander Alec Whistler. Culverton Aerodrome has closed and been purchased by the mysterious Legion International, led by the sinister Bliss. Black-shirted troops guard the base and have begun to terrorise the local residents, and people have begun to disappear. Investigating the base with the young Noah Bishop, Whistler is captured by Legion. Noah escapes, but is injured by a huge worm-like creature living in the marsh behind the aerodrome. Escaping from Xanthos, the Doctor returns to UNIT HQ, realising this is the closest thing he has to home at the moment, though clearly unwilling to acknowledge this either to himself, Jo or the Brigadier. The Brigadier sends the Doctor and Jo to Culverton to investigate. Arriving in Culverton, the Doctor and Jo are met by Whistler''s housekeeper, Mrs. Toovey. While the Doctor investigates the base, Jo stays at Whistler''s house, where she is attacked by a Legion trooper who is searching for the green crystal which Whistler has had since the War and which he regards as his lucky charm. Fortunately, Mrs. Toovey has concealed it in Whistler''s restored Spitfire in a lead box, masking its energy signature from Bliss''s sensors. The kidnapped villagers begin to reappear, but acting curiously, and all grinning inanely. They are all carrying the embryos of the alien race the Gaderene in their mouths and are being controlled by the embryos. The village fete is opened by Scotland Yard''s Inspector Le Maitre (the Master in disguise) During the fete the remaining villagers are given embryos leaving the village a ghost town. The Master has worked with the Gaderene to allow their invasion of Earth and despite Bliss''s betrayal, still aims to help the invasion as he wishes to see mankind wiped out. Threatening Noah''s life, the Master extorts the crystal from the Doctor. The crystal is the ninth and final key which will allow the Gaderene to cross over from their dying world to the Earth. Meanwhile, Whistler has escaped from his captors. As the Gaderene ready their invasion force, the UNIT troops storm the airbase with the Doctor assisting in the borrowed Spitfire. The UNIT troops pin down the giant worm (Bliss''s brother, whose genetic make-up was damaged in the crossing from the Gaderene homeworld) while the Doctor and the Master fight in the midst of the dimensional transference beam. The Master kills Bliss with his Tissue Compression Eliminator and is caught in the beam as it collapses, destroyed by Whistler''s crashing Spitfire. The Gaderene are all destroyed and the Master seemingly destroyed with them. Whistler survives, having ejected from the plane just in time and is reunited with his friend the Brigadier. The villagers with the implanted embryos are released and the embryos all die. The Doctor walks away, head bowed, expressing regret about the destruction.

Last of the Gaderene

Michael Strogoff, a 30-year-old native of Omsk, is a courier for Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The Tartar Khan, Feofar, incites a rebellion and separates the Russian Far East from the mainland, severing telegraph lines. Rebels encircle Irkutsk, where the local governor, brother of the Tsar, is making a last stand. Strogoff is sent to Irkutsk to warn the governor about the traitor Ivan Ogareff. Ogareff, a former colonel, was once demoted and exiled and now seeks revenge against the royal family. He intends to destroy Irkutsk by setting fire to the huge oil storage tanks on the banks of the Angara River. On his way to Irkutsk, Strogoff meets Nadia Fedor, daughter of an exiled political prisoner, Basil Fedor, who has been granted permission to join her father at his exile in Irkutsk, the English war correspondent Harry Blount of the Daily Telegraph and Alcide Jolivet, a Frenchman reporting for his ''cousin Madeleine''. Blount and Jolivet tend to follow the same route as Michael, separating and meeting again all the way through Siberia. He is supposed to travel under a false identity, but he is discovered by the Tartars when he meets his mother in their home city of Omsk. Michael, his mother and Nadia are eventually taken prisoner by the Tartar forces. Ivan Ogareff alleges that Michael is a spy. After opening the Koran at random, Feofar decides that Michael will be blinded as punishment in the Tartar fashion, with a hot blade. For several chapters the reader is led to believe that Michael was indeed blinded, but it transpires in fact that he was saved from this fate (his tears at his mother evaporated and saved his corneas) and was only pretending. Eventually, Michael and Nadia escape, and travel to Irkutsk with a friendly peasant. They are delayed by fire and the frozen river. However, they eventually reach Irkutsk, and warn the Tsar''s brother in time of Ivan Ogareff. Nadia''s father, who has been appointed commander of a suicide battalion, and later pardoned, joins them and Michael and Nadia are married.

Michael Strogoff

The story is told by Peter Aaron about the victim, Benjamin Sachs, his best friend whom he first meets as a fellow writer in a Greenwich Village bar in 1975. Peter decides to try to piece together the story of Ben''s other life after agents from the F.B.I. approach him in the course of their investigation. Of their friendship, Peter acknowledges Ben’s lost years of suffering and painful inner state, saying — In 15 years, Sachs travelled from one end of himself to the other, and by the time he came to that last place, I doubt he even knew who he was anymore. So much distance had been covered by then, it wouldn''t have been possible for him to remember where he had begun. The two first meet as struggling novelists, Peter with the “wheeling” mind and the provocative Ben with his perfect marriage to the beautiful Fanny. Both have a wish to “say something”, to make a difference in the real world. Privately, Ben himself is full of doubts and his marriage is showing cracks, when one night at a drunken party by freakish chance, he tumbles from a fourth-floor fire escape, nearly losing his life. The fall is both actual and metaphorical. For days afterward he refuses to speak and on recovery he is strangely remote. Within a week of turning 41, Ben expresses a desire to end the life he has lived until then. Feeling that his life has been a waste, he declares he wants everything to change, and serving himself with an all-or-nothing ultimatum, decides he must take control or fail. In evincing this change, he leaves Fanny, moves to a cabin in Vermont where he begins to work on a book – then vanishes. There is no further contact with Fanny and one final meeting with Peter where he confesses all. His cabin and its contents is deserted, his manuscript, titled Leviathan, lies abandoned. Peter pieces together Ben’s life after disappearing which involves the photographic artist Maria and her closest friend Lillian. Lillian&#39;s husband and Vietnam War veteran is Reed who becomes Ben’s alter ego after a violent random encounter that sends Ben in a radically new direction.

Leviathan

The novel follows the life of a young boy growing up in Calcutta and later on in Delhi and London. His family – the Datta Chaudharis - and the Prices in London are linked by the friendship between their respective patriarchs – Justice Dattachaudhari and Lionel Tresawsen. The narrator adores Tridib because of his tremendous knowledge and his perspective of the incidents and places. Tha''mma thinks that Tridib is type of person who seems ''determined to waste his life in idle self-indulgence'', one who refuses to use his family connections to establish a career. Unlike his grandmother, the narrator loves listening to Tridib. For the narrator, Tridib''s lore is very different from the collection of facts and figures. The narrator is sexually attracted to Ila but his feelings are passive. He never expresses his feelings to her afraid to lose the relationship that exists between them. However one day he involuntarily shows his feelings when she was changing clothes in front of him being unaware of his feelings. She feels sorry for him. Tha''mma does not like Ila. ''Why do you always speak for that whore'' - She doesn''t like her grandson to support her. Tha''mma has a dreadful past and wants to reunite her family and goes to Dhaka to bring back her uncle. Tridib is in love with May and sacrificed his life to rescue her from mobs in the communal riots of 1963-64 in Dhaka.

The Shadow Lines

Professor William Race is a young linguist, working for NYU. One day, he is approached by a retired Col. Frank Nash, a physicist from the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to translate a manuscript written in ancient Latin. Initially, Race is reluctant because Nash only describes what is required from him on the most vaguest terms and does not appear to be interested in the alternatives Race gives him. Race is relectant to join even when he hears that his brother, Marty, was the one who suggested his name. What clinches it, is that when Nash mentions the names of the civilians who are going to be on the trip, one of the names turns out to be Race''s college sweetheart, Lauren, who left him many years ago. In a sudden impulse to see what she has done with herself, Race agrees to join the team. Nash assigns Van Lewen, a Sergent in the Green Berets, as Race''s bodyguard and they move to the airport to fly to Peru. En route, Nash provides Race with photocopied pages of what turns out to be a copy of the Santiago Manuscript, which describes the adventures of Alberto Santiago a Spanish missionary in Peru whilst also holding the key to the final resting place of a legendary Incan idol, allegedly made of thyrium-261, an element that, when combined with the mass destruction weapon the Supernova, would destroy a third of the Earth''s mass throwing it off from the orbit and effectively killing the planet. The team lands in Peru with mission leader Frank Nash, physicist Troy Copeland, archaeologist Gaby Lopez, anthropologist Walter Chambers, five Green Berets, his personal bodyguard, and his college sweetheart. But when the manuscript leads the team to an ancient Incan temple, the hunt becomes a fight for survival when their raid of the temple is taken over by hostile German terrorists. And the situation becomes even worse for Race and the team when an army of giant "rapa" cats, hellbent on ripping throats, snapping spines and mauling anyone who comes near them. Can Race lead the team to the idol, or is he leading them into disaster, and violent death?

Temple

Bethany Cole is living a normal life until her parents, Walter and Hillary, load her into their car at midnight and drive her hours away from their home. They reach Sanderfield, Illinois, where Bethany is introduced to her aunt Myrlie Wilkers, whom Bethany had never met before. When Bethany''s dad talks to Myrlie, Bethany overhears her father say "She doesn''t know anything about Elizabeth." Bethany realizes that her parents are abandoning her without an explanation, but she begrudgingly settles in. Myrlie shows Bethany the way to a room for her grandchildren that has never been used. Myrlie then takes Bethany back downstairs, where she correctly guesses all of Bethany''s favorite foods. The next day, Bethany tells Myrlie that she is a swimmer, so Myrlie takes her to the YMCA to swim. While they are there, one of Myrlie''s friends notices Bethany and mentions that she thought Bethany was Elizabeth. This is enough to spark Bethany''s interest in Elizabeth.Bethany really wants to know about Elizabeth. When she and Myrlie come back to the house, Bethany retreats upstairs to change into her clothes. When she comes back downstairs, she overhears Myrlie on the phone asking for permission from Walter to allow her to tell Bethany who Elizabeth was. When Bethany storms into the kitchen and confronts her, Myrlie says that she promised Walter that she would not tell, although she very much wants to. The next day, Walter calls early in the morning. When Bethany asks who Elizabeth was, he asks her to put Myrlie on the phone. When Myrlie finishes talking with Walter, she tells Bethany that Elizabeth was her sister who died in a tragic car crash. Hillary was driving the car and felt responsible for the crash. Joss, Myrlie''s daughter and formerly Elizabeth''s best friend, comes to talk to Bethany. At first, Joss mistakes Bethany for Elizabeth, noting their extreme resemblance. After a long talk about Elizabeth, they watch old videos of Joss and Elizabeth as children. When Bethany sees Elizabeth, she realizes that they are identical, except for a small scar under Elizabeths left eye. When the three of them play cards, Joss accidentally calls Bethany "Elizabeth". The next day, Myrlie receives a package with four forged birth certificates from different states and ten thousand dollars cash. A note accompanying it explains Walter and Hillary''s reasons for leaving Bethany with Myrlie. Soon after, Hillary calls, asking for Elizabeth. Bethany grabs the phone and tries to reassure her mother while Joss attempts to trace the call. Hillary tells Bethany, thinking she is the dead Elizabeth, that if they save some of her cells, they can make a clone of her, so Bethany realizes that she is Elizabeth''s clone, which is why she likes all the same things and looks exactly like her. Her parents even raised her in a similar environment with the same toys to try to replicate their first daughter. Over the next few days, Bethany encounters a mysterious man. First, he offers to give her a ride home after she trips and falls, injuring herself. Bethany is panicked that he knows her name, but Joss comes to find her. Later, the same mysterious man, this time identified as "Dalton," comes to Myrlie''s house on Halloween and asks for Walter. A strange car also drives by the house several times. A few days later, Joss, Myrlie, and Bethany later go to the County Fair, where they see Bethany''s parents. Wondering at their presence, they soon become aware that Dalton is at the fair too. It is revealed that Dalton Van Dyne gave Bethany''s father money to create a clone of him self because he felt a clone would be the only person who would love him. Instead of creating that clone, Walter created a clone of Elizabeth, believing that while Van Dyne would have another chance, Elizabeth wouldn''t have one. When Bethany realizes this, she tells him, but the entire town hears it as well. In the epilogue, Bethany is thirteen and living in Sanderfield. She explains to the reader that her parents made four embryos cloned from Elizabeth and implanted three of them into three surrogates and one into Hillary. The babies of the surrogates died very soon after birth, but Bethany, her mother''s baby, survived. The book ends with the family planting a ginkgo in honor of Bethany next to the trees that were planted for Elizabeth and Joss, then they eat pie.

Double Identity

The book is a compilation of 10 short stories from various authors taking place in the fictional world of Krynn: 1. "A Good Knight''s Tale" by Harold Bakst. Told by a Knight of Solamnia, this is a tale that of a selfish father, Aron, who is overprotective over his daughter, Petal, which ultimately leads to a broken heart. 2. "A Painter''s Vision" by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel. When a passionate artist Seron dies in an accidental fire, his widow Kyra, finds the strength to carry on his memory through a painting. Kyra carries on a strange relationship with a dragon named Tosch, who had befriended her husband before he died. 3. "Hunting Destiny" by Nick O''Donohoe. This is the tale of the undead who haunt Darken Wood, in another of Donohoe''s interpretation of an event that took place in the novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. 4. "Hide and Go Seek" by Nancy Varian Berberick. Starts with a captive boy named Keli who is captured by a man named Tigo and a goblin named Staag. No sooner is Tasslehoff Burrfoot captured. They are later rescued by The Companions. 5. "By the Measure" by Richard A. Knaak. 6. "The Exiles" by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook. It is the story of Sturm Brightblade''s childhood as he and his mother are captured by a ship with guards from an island called Kernaffi. 7. "Heart of Goldmoon" by Laura Hickman and Kate Novak. 8. "Raistlin''s Daughter" by Margaret Weis and Dezra Despain. The mysterious tale of the legend of a daughter fathered by the mage, Raistlin Majere. This tale is also reprinted in the novel, The Second Generation. 9. "Silver and Steel" by Kevin Randle. 10. "From the Yearning for War and the War''s Ending" by Michael Williams.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Peter Camenzind

By Hermann Hesse

Conquistador

By S. M. Stirling

Winter of Fire

No Author Listed

Letter to a Christian Nation

By Sam Harris

Does Anyone Ever Listen?

No Author Listed

Last of the Gaderene

By Mark Gatiss

Michael Strogoff

By Jules Verne

Leviathan

By Paul Auster

The Shadow Lines

By Amitav Ghosh

Temple

By Matthew Reilly

Double Identity

By Margaret Haddix

Love and War

By Margaret Weis