Venus in the Cloister is made up of five dialogues, all of them carried out between Sister Agnes and Sister Angelica. The entire story can be considered as a “whore dialogue” The dialogue begins when Sister Agnes is caught in the act of masturbating by the older and wiser nun Sister Angelica. She is embarrassed and taken aback while Sister Angelica appears to be quite unaffected by what she has just witnessed. Agnes: Ah Lud! Sister Angelica, for heaven’s Sake, do not come into our Cell; I am not visible at present. Ought you to surprise people in the condition I am in? I thought I had shut the door. Angelica: Be quiet, my dear, what is it gives thee this Alarm? The mighty Crime of seeing the shift thy self, or doing (something) somewhat more refreshing? Good friends ought to conceal nothing from one another. Sit down again upon the Mattress, I’ll go and shut the Door. What follows is an attempt by Sister Angelica to seduce the younger nun. Sister Agnes is discomfited to have been caught by the older nun and so she meekly protests against Sister Angelica’s sexual attempts. Agnes: Ah Lud! how you squeeze me in your Arms ; Don’t you see I am naked to my Smock? Ah! you have set me all on Fire. However Angelica knows that her seduction will remain incomplete if the younger nun’s philosophical thought process remains unchanged. So she promises Agnes teachings of a new kind of religion in which there is little room for self denial and more scope for “informed Judgment”. Angelica then proceeds to mentions Reverend Father Jesuit who helped open her mind to such new types of religious speculations and debate. The father talks of Religion in terms of two distinct bodies--&#34;one of which is purely celestial and supernatural, the other terrestrial and corruptible, which is only the invention of Men&#34;. The second body is termed as Policy which tends to destroy inner peace. Angelica decides to explore the different designs of the “Policy” in putting up such elaborate rules to be followed. The following speech on Policy given by Sister Angelica becomes essential in establishing the sex scenes that follow. Policy, which cannot suffer any Thing defective in the State, seeing the Increase of these Recluses, their Disorder and Irregularity, was obliged to make use of its Power ... It had a Mind to rid it self entirely of those Leaches, who through laziness and horrible sloath, would live on the Labour of poor People; but this Buckler of Religion with which they cover themselves, and the Judgment of the Vulgar, of which they had already made themselves Masters, gave Things another Turn; so that these Communities were not entirely unuseful to the Commonwealth. Policy, then looked upon these Houses so many Common-Sewers, into which it might disperse it self of its Superfluities; it makes use of them to ease Families, whom a great Number of Children would make poor and indigent, if there were not Places for them to retire to; and that their Retreat many be secure, without any Hopes of Return, it invented Vows, by which it pretends to bind us, and tye us indissolubly, to that State which we have embraced: It makes us even renounce the Rights which nature has given us, and separate us from the World in such Manner, that we make no part of it. What follows is a process of exploration of the sexual desires of both the nuns. While Angelica imparts her knowledge, Sister Agnes carefully acts the part of the younger nun who tries to escape seduction but fails in the attempt. Agnes submits to being in a sense of &#34;Confusion&#34; and she is embarrassed to let the older nun see her body. This also relates to the fact that Agnes has not completely accepted the religious and philosophical deliberations of the older nun. Gradually as she starts accepting the truth of her own body and sexuality she will finally be free from her old biases.

The Nun in her Smock

Dream Story is set in early-20th-century Vienna. The protagonist of the story is Fridolin, a successful 35-year-old doctor who lives with his wife Albertina (also translated as Albertine) and their young daughter. One night, Albertina confesses that the previous summer, while they were on vacation in Denmark, she had had a sexual fantasy about a young Danish military officer. Fridolin then admits that during that same vacation he had been attracted to a young girl on the beach. Later that night, Fridolin is called to the deathbed of an important patient. Finding the man dead, he is shocked when the man’s daughter, Marianne, professes her love to him. Restless, Fridolin leaves and begins to walk the streets. Although tempted, he refuses the offer of a young prostitute named Mizzi. He encounters his old friend Nachtigall, who tells Fridolin that he will be playing piano at a secret high-society sex orgy that night. Intrigued, Fridolin procures a mask and costume and follows Nachtigall to the party at a private residence. Fridolin is shocked to find several men in masks and costumes and naked women with only masks engaged in various sexual activities. When a young woman warns him to leave, Fridolin ignores her plea and is soon exposed as an interloper. The woman then announces to the gathering that she will sacrifice herself for Fridolin and he is allowed to leave. Upon his return home, Albertina awakens and describes a dream she has had: while making love to the Danish officer from her sexual fantasies, she had watched without sympathy as Fridolin was tortured and crucified before her eyes. Fridolin is outraged, as he believes that this proves his wife wants to betray him. He resolves to pursue his own sexual temptations. The next day, Fridolin learns that Nachtigall has been taken away by two mysterious men. He then goes to the costume shop to return his costume and discovers that the shop-owner is prostituting his teenage daughter to various men. He finds his way back to where the orgy had taken place the night before; before he can enter, he is handed a note addressed to him by name that warns him to not pursue the matter. Later, he visits Marianne, but she no longer expresses any interest in him. Fridolin searches for Mizzi, the prostitute, but is unable to find her. He reads that a young woman has been poisoned. Suspecting that she is the woman who sacrificed herself for him, he views the woman’s corpse in the morgue but cannot identify it. Fridolin returns home that night to find his wife asleep, with his mask from the previous night set on the pillow on his side of the bed. When she wakes, Fridolin confesses all of his activities. After listening quietly, Albertina comforts him. Fridolin says that it will never happen again but Albertine tells him not to look too far into the future, and the important thing is that they survived through their adventures. The story ends with them greeting the new day with their daughter.

Dream Story

The evil sorcerer Beelzebub Preposteror has contracted with His Excellency the Minister of Pitch Darkness to perform a certain number of evil deeds each year. This year, however, he did not meet the requirement, because the High Council of the Animals has sent the cat Maurizio as a spy, which forces Beelzebub to be more cautious. On New Year''s Eve he joins forces with the evil witch Tyrannia Vampirella, who has the same problem due to the raven Jakob who is spying on her. Together they try to brew the eponymous Notion Potion that will grant them all wishes, in order to fulfill their part of the contract before midnight. If they succeeded to brew the potion they wouldn''t even have to keep it secret from the animals, because due to the nature of the potion every wish they make will have the exact opposite effect - i.e. if they wish someone good health, he''ll become sick instead. The plot starts on New Year''s Eve at 5 pm and the chapters each represent one hour until midnight to illustrate the increasing time pressure that the characters are under. On the one hand, the sorcerers have to complete a five-meter-long recipe to brew the potion, while constantly getting in each other''s way. On the other, the cat and the raven must find a way to stop their evil plan while tackling their own problems, namely the obesity of the cat and the chronic diseases of the raven. Nevertheless, they devise a plan to exploit a weakness of the potion: when the potion has not been fully drunk up before the first ring of the bell at midnight, the potion won''t reverse the meaning of the wishes - as expected by the two sorcerers - but instead grants them as wished.

The Night of Wishes

The story begins in Neustadt, a (fictional) provincial German town which is the home to young schoolboy Emil Tischbein. His father is dead and his mother raises him alone working as a hairdresser. She sends Emil to Berlin with 120 marks (a hairdresser''s monthly salary then) to give to his grandmother and 20 marks for himself, sums that have taken some months to save from her modest earnings. On the way he is very careful not to lose the money and uses a needle to pin it to the lining of his jacket. On the train to Berlin, Emil meets a mysterious man who introduces himself as Max Grundeis. This man gives Emil mysterious chocolate and Emil falls asleep. When he wakes up, the money and Herr Grundeis are gone. Emil gets off the train in a different part of Berlin from where he intended. When he spots Herr Grundeis, he follows him. Emil dares not call the police since the local policeman in Neustadt had seen him paint the nose of a local monument red, so he feels that he is "a kind of criminal" himself. However, a local boy named Gustav offers to help. Gustav assembles 24 local children who call themselves "the detectives". After following Grundeis to a hotel and spying on him all night, Emil and the gang follow the thief to the bank. Emil gets his money back when Herr Grundeis tries to exchange the money for smaller bills. One of the boy detectives follows him into the bank and tells the bank teller that the money is stolen. Emil comes in and tries to tell the bank teller his story. He proves that the money was his by describing the holes left by the needle he used to pin the bills in the lining of his jacket. Herr Grundeis tries to run away, but Emil''s new friends cling onto him until a police officer, alerted by Emil''s cousin Pony Hütchen, arrives. Once arrested, Herr Grundeis is found out to be a member of a gang of bank robbers. Emil receives a reward of 1000 marks for capturing Herr Grundeis. After everything is straightened out, Emil''s grandmother says that the moral of the story is: "Never send cash – always use postal service."

Emil and the Detectives

Two lovers, Rex Hofman and Saskia Ehlvest, have traveled to France for a bicycling vacation. One night they have a minor argument but quickly make up, and Rex pulls over at a convenience store to refuel. He and Saskia bury coins to mark the spot, then she goes into the station to buy drinks and is never seen again. Eight years later he is still haunted by her disappearance. He is now in a relationship with another woman named Lieneke, who is both sympathetic to, and frustrated by, the hold that Saskia''s disappearance has over him. Despite her misgivings, however, they become engaged. It is at this point that the reader is introduced to Raymond Lemorne, the man responsible for whatever happened to Saskia. The novella reveals that Lemorne once saved a young girl from drowning; having proven to himself that he is capable of great goodness, Raymond then begins to wonder if he is capable of an act of pure evil. He then comes up with an idea to murder someone in the most horrible fashion he can imagine. The book follows his meticulous preparations, and his long months of trying to find a suitable victim. This section of the novella ends with him abducting Saskia, but we are still not told what happens to her, though the book does provide clues. At this point the narrative switches back to Rex. His obsession with discovering what happened to Saskia has grown to such an extreme that he has taken out a large loan to post advertisements in papers throughout France, hoping that someone might be able to provide him with information. His quest has also driven a wedge into his relationship with Lieneke. One night he is approached by Lemorne, who reveals that he is the one who abducted Saskia, and in a bizarre show of sympathy he offers to satisfy Rex''s determination to discover her ultimate fate, but only if Rex agrees to undergo the same ordeal that Saskia suffered. After a long discussion between the two men, Rex agrees to Lemorne''s proposal, and proceeds to drink a cup of coffee laced with a sedative. He awakens sometime later to find himself buried alive, and suffocates while imagining himself finally to be reunited with Saskia. In the epilogue it is revealed that several newspapers commented upon Rex''s mysterious disappearance and its eerie similarity to Saskia''s. Their fates are never discovered; it is as if they vanished from the face of the earth.

The Golden Egg

Crystal Brown has always been told that she is beautiful. She lives with her mother, Mrs. Brown, who is also beautiful, and her loving, but strict father. They live in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Crystal is at first elated when she lands a modeling contract with a fashion agency, because she likes to model and can possibly be famous. As the novel continues, Crystal realizes that the modeling business is not all it is cut out to be. Her friendship with her best friend, Pat, is suffering, her grades are slipping, and on top of all of that, Crystal feels her self-respect is at risk. She especially feels this way when her photographer, Jerry Goodwin, wants her to pose nude. Crystal starts to feel that the modeling business is just all about how she looks and not who she is. Soon, Crystal realizes she wants to quit. Her agent, Loretta, however, insists Crystal star in a movie that will ultimately boost her fame. Crystal refuses and after doing that and the death of a fellow model named Rowena, but later on Rowena try to kill herself. She cut herself and end up lying in the hospital. but then she gave up to live, so she died in the hospital, that makes Crystal quits. The novel ends by a man coming up to Crystal, who is shopping with Pat, giving her his card, and saying, "...Edward Abruzzi, Photographer...I think you could get into modeling...”

Crystal

After all the Olympian gods go missing, Sibyl has a premonition in which the sun god Apollo tells her to find "the talking pig". Sibyl then sets out looking for the talking pig, Gryllus. She finds him at Big Stavros''s Kebab bar where he is forced to entertain customers. Together they set off for the temple at Delphi. Apollo informs Sibyl that she and Gryllus must find a goatherd boy living on top of a mountain. Once Sibyl and Gryllus find the goatherd, (who turns out to be the god Zeus) they set off once more for Apollo''s temple at Delphi. It is there that Gryllus, the talking pig, must save the world from utter destruction. Additional: What the author had to say about his work: “I got the idea for The Pig Scrolls when I was rereading Homer''s Odyssey and found myself more interested in some of the non-heroic characters in the background. Working on the book gave me a chance to revisit a world I have always loved—that of ancient mythology and history. And, of course, in order to research the character of Gryllus fully, I was forced to eat a huge number of pies.” The Pig Scrolls is set in Ancient Greece, and is about a pig named Gryllus. Gryllus, who was once a member of captain Odesseus’ famous crew, was transformed into a pig by the enchantress Circe. Gryllus, enjoying his quiet life in the woods is soon captured by local hunters when they realize he can talk, and is soon “rescued” by a junior prophetess in training (Sibyl). Sibyl informs Gryllus of a premonition showing her the end of the world. Gryllus believes her to have lost a couple of marbles and escapes, so Sibyl kidnaps him. On their journey to the temple in Delphi, they encounter monsters, gods, a strange goatherd and a scientist who has invented the awesome Atomos Device. Gryllus comes to realize that the entire universe is in the trotters of one talking pig, himself...

The Pig Scrolls

Eyvind is a young Viking man who wishes to be a Wolfskin (a berserker warrior of Thor) like his brother. Somerled, a quiet boy of the same age, befriends Eyvind and binds him to loyalty with a blood oath. After becoming a Wolfskin, Eyvind voyages to the Isles of Light with Somerled, his brother Eirek, Somerled''s brother Ulf (the leader of the expedition) and many others. The Vikings quickly establish a peace treaty with the native island folk and build a settlement. Then Ulf is murdered sadistically, suspended by ropes from a cliff''s edge to die of exposure, leaving his position to Somerled- who immediately breaks the treaty. He sends out the Wolfskins to destroy the small army mustered by the natives in retaliation. Eyvind, seeing that the army is composed of the very young and the very old, suffers a breakdown brought on by the moral crisis. The native princess and priestess, Nessa, finds him and cares for him, healing his wounds and coldness of spirit. Alone in a hidden cave, with only an old priestess for company, the two young people fall in love. But Eyvind is soon faced with another crisis: he must face Somerled with newfound proof that the current ruler killed his own brother. In the Viking hall, Eyvind''s accusations are smothered with violence and he is imprisoned, despite the efforts of his few remaining friends to help him. Finally, Nessa creates and brings to the hall a harp made out of Ulf''s bones, with Ulf''s voice (magically restored) as the final voice of truth that cannot be ignored. Somerled is banished from the Isles, bound by an oath to Eyvind to live as long as possible, and Eyvind stays in the Isles.

Wolfskin

Renia and Josl Bensky grow up in the Polish town of Łódź, Poland. Shortly after their marriage, they are forced to move to the Ghetto of Łódź, and soon, they are deported to the concentration camp of Auschwitz. After the downfall of the Third Reich, they meet again, and their first daughter Lola is born in a DP camp in 1946. In 1948, The Benskys move to Melbourne and try to start a new life, far away from the horrible crimes they had to endure during the Holocaust. They find good friends among fellow Jewish Immigrants, and with this tight group of friends, they try to live as normal a life as possible. Josl and Renia both try to live with their past; in this mixture of trying to forget and to commemorate, they raise Lola to be an Australian girl. Lola knows she will never understand her parents completely since she will never experience what they had to live through. She has her own problems. She has overweight, weird boyfriends and a first husband whom she does not love. When she turns 19, Lola starts to write for a rock magazine and gets to travel around the world to interview the stars of her time. Apart from her job, she raises her children and tries to figure out her life. Finally, she marries the artist Garth and moves to New York.

Things Could Be Worse

Set in the late 18th century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200-year-long life of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and his rise from humble beginnings as an impoverished aristocrat in the countryside of France to the city of Paris to become a vain and arrogant vampire. After escaping his family and running off to Paris with his friend and confidante Nicolas de Lenfent (nicknamed Nicki by Lestat), Lestat is kidnapped and bitten by the rogue elder vampire Magnus, who orphans him on the night he is made. Later, his dying mother, Gabrielle, arrives to say goodbye to him. In order to save her, Lestat bites her, transforming her into his first companion. Lestat abandons Nicki for fear of causing him harm and shuns contact with his loved ones. He later turns Nicki into a vampire after Armand kidnaps him and they begin to grow apart because of Nicki''s sullenness; he later commits suicide by "going into the fire," from severe depression. Armand "shows" Lestat the history of how he was made by Marius. Compelled by the idea of Marius, Lestat leaves markings carved into rock in numerous places while traveling with Gabrielle, hoping that one day, Marius will see them and find Lestat. Whilst in Egypt, abandoned by Gabrielle, Lestat sleeps in the ground after being burned by the sun,and is recovered by Marius who takes him to his Mediterranean island. Then, Marius shares his past with him, and shows him Those Who Must Be Kept, Akasha and Enkil. Once Marius has given his warning to Lestat not to go see them again and leaves on a short outing, Lestat takes Nicolas''s old violin and plays for the King and Queen, awakening them. Akasha feeds from Lestat as Lestat feeds from her. Then, Enkil, furious as ever, nearly kills Lestat, who is saved by Marius, and sent away. The book ends on a cliffhanger after Lestat''s debut concert in San Francisco, and leads directly into the third volume, the Queen of the Damned.

The Vampire Lestat

Darkness and Light begins in the town of Solace at the time the companions decide to pursue rumors of war and embark on their own personal quests for five years. Sturm Brightblade and Kitiara Uth Matar both decide to go north to Solamnia to learn more about their families. Shortly after they leave Solace, they encounter a group of gnomes who are in the final stages of building a flying ship that has become mired in mud. The two companions decide that taking the flying ship to Solamnia would be much faster than on horseback or walking, so they assist the gnomes in hoisting the ship from the mud. The flying ship is a success—but too much of a success, as mechanical problems lead the ship up and up until it eventually touches back down on the red moon Lunitari. While on Lunitari fixing the ship, something unexplainable happens to the companions and the gnomes that they inherit magical powers -- the magic amplifies their natural talents. Kitiara becomes much stronger and Sturm is plagued with visions of his father and the downfall of Castle Brightblade. The ship is carried away in the night, and while searching for it they encounter a deranged king named Rapaldo who is worshiped (but also held captive) by the native Lunitarians, a semi-intelligent race that resemble trees. Rapaldo has gone mad after living on Lunitari for ten years after his sailing ship was propelled there by a waterspout. He plans to escape with the gnomes'' ship, leaving Sturm behind to be the new Lunitarian king. His treachery is uncovered and a battle ensues, in which Rapaldo kills the gnome Bellcrank, but is accidentally stabbed by Sturm''s dagger. Free of Rapaldo, Sturm, Kitiara, and the gnomes flee before the native Lunitarians can avenge the death of their king. They follow a strange trail to a valley where the brass dragon Cupelix is imprisoned inside a gigantic marble tower, as he is to guard the eggs of other dragons. Conversing with the dragon, Sturm learns of the birth of Draconians.The group also learn of the Micones, horse-sized ants created out of crystal to act as servants for the Dragon. Also, Kitiara forms an alliance with the dragon, that if she can free him, he''ll become Kitiara''s dragon partner. The gnomes attempt to set him free, but they continue to fail, until they think of vitriol. Using vitriol that they had on board, they destroy the marble tower and set the dragon free. After fixing up their ship, they head for home with the dragon. Unfortunately the air is too thin to support the dragon, so he is forced to remain on Lunitari. As they fly higher and higher, they spot the dead gnome walking again, a magical power in which nothing can die on Lunitari, but they can''t return to rescue him. The gnome then goes to live with the dragon. After weeks and weeks of butting heads over individual ideals on Lunitari, Kitiara and Sturm decide that they will go their separate ways and sever their ties of friendship. Sturm joins a group of cattle drivers, were he meets a young girl called Tervy, who is orphaned when Sturm shoots her only relative in a raid. She has no idea of modern technology, like the armour Sturm wears, and regularly calls him Ironskin. Sturm and the cattle drivers are then tricked into delivering their herd into the camp of Merinsaard, a dragonlord. He succeeds in stealing the cattle, and lock the group up. They escape when Sturm and Tervy knock the highlord out, imitate him and escape on his horse. Sturm returns to Castle Brightblade—now abandoned—and finds his father''s armor and sword. Shortly after this discovery, he discovers that the horse he stole was actually the highlord in disguise. They battle up to the ramparts, were Kitiara shoots the highlord through the neck. She later severs all links with Sturm in a letter, the gist of which is ''We''re even''.

Darkness and Light

During World War II, a cargo vessel (S.S. Cabinet Minister) is wrecked off a remote fictional Scottish island group &mdash; Great Todday and Little Todday &mdash; with fifty thousand cases of whisky aboard. Due to wartime rationing, the thirsty islanders had nearly run out of the "water of life" and see this as an unexpected godsend. They manage to salvage several hundred cases before the ship sinks. But it is not all clear sailing. They must thwart the efforts of the authorities to confiscate the liquor, particularly in the shape of misguided, pompous English Home Guard Captain Paul Waggett. A cat-and-mouse battle of wits ensues. Although the wreck and the escapades over the whisky are at the centre of the story, there is also a lot of background detail about life in the Outer Hebrides, including e.g. culture clashes between the Protestant island of Great Todday and the Roman Catholic island of Little Todday. (Mackenzie based the geography of these islands on Barra and Eriskay respectively, but in real life they are both Catholic islands). There are various sub-plots, e.g. two couples who are planning to get married. Mackenzie''s prose captures the various accents of the area and also includes much common Gaelic that was in use at the time. The book comes with a useful glossary of both the meaning and approximate pronunciation of the language.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Nun in her Smock

No Author Listed

Dream Story

By Arthur Schnitzler

The Night of Wishes

By Michael Ende

Emil and the Detectives

By Rod Smith

The Golden Egg

By Tim Krabbé

Crystal

By Walter Dean Myers

The Pig Scrolls

By Paul Shipton

Wolfskin

By Juliet Marillier

Things Could Be Worse

By Lily Brett

The Vampire Lestat

By Anne Rice

Darkness and Light

By Paul B. Thompson

Whisky Galore!

By Compton Mackenzie