I The shepherd is with his dog on Crescent Bay. II Stanley Burnell goes for a swim early morning, and Jonathan Trout is there; the two men wanted to be the first in the water, and Jonathan expresses sympathy for Stanley. III Aunt Beryl tells Kezia not to play with her food. Stanley leaves for work, to the women''s relief. IV Out in the countryside, Kezia helps Lottie with the stile to Isabel''s disapproval. The Samuel Josephs children are said to be rowdy and they don''t play with them any more. Then they come upon Rags and Pip, and the latter shows them a ''nemeral'' he has found in the sand. V At the beach, Aunt Beryl joins Mrs Kember, of whom Mrs Fairfield disapproves. Beryl gets changed in front of her friend. VI Linda is alone in the bungalow. She thinks back of when she was living in Tasmania with her parents, of how her father said they would go down a river in China, of how her father agreed on her marrying Stanley whom she loves for being soft underneath the veneer. Her baby boy comes along and she says she feels no motherly love for him; he keeps on smiling, then plays with his toes. VII After a description of the seashore, Mrs Fairfield and Kezia are taking an afternoon nap in the bungalow. The grandmother is thinking of Uncle William, one of her sons who died of sunstroke while working as a miner; Kezia asks her if she is sad, then attempts to make the grandmother promise never to die. VIII Alice visits Mrs Stubbs in town; the latter shows her photographs, then talks about how her husband died of dropsy, and adds that ''freedom is best''. IX Kezia, Lottie and Isabel are playing a card game similar to ''snap'' with Pips and Rag in the washhouse. Uncle Jonathan turns up to take the boys home. X Before picking up the boys, Uncle Jonathan meets Linda in the garden. She is charmed by him. He confesses to loathing his job but believes he lacks the willpower to change his life. XI Stanley comes back and apologises profusely for not saying goodbye to Linda in the morning. He has bought gloves for himself. XII Aunt Beryl is worried about being single and growing old alone; Harry Kember turns up and asks her for a walk; at first she goes along with him, but repudiates his advances when his intentions become clear. XIII A brief description of the bay.

At The Bay

Jenny Jeffers, a sixteen year old girl, takes a babysitting job for a child named Donny. While babysitting, she gets menacing phone calls from someone and finds a threatening note in her backpack. She soon figures out that Donny''s father, Mr. Hagen, was the one making those calls after finding a stash of newspaper clippings in his closet. Apparently, Donny had a sister when he was younger, but she died in an accident when a previous babysitter wasn''t paying attention to her. After Chuck, Jenny''s love interest, comes over while she is babysitting, Mr. Hagen catches them kissing and becomes angry, having told Jenny never to invite over friends while she was babysitting, explaining how his daughter had died due to neglect. Mr. Hagen then offers Jenny a ride home, but she soon finds out that he is actually taking her out to a rock quarry that had been deserted for years. When they get out of the car, Mr. Hagen forces her to move to the edge of the quarry right beside a deep pit. He tries to push her, but he misses and falls to his inevitable death.

The Babysitter

The Awakening takes place directly after the events in The Summoning. Chloe has been recaptured by The Edison Group, a team of supernatural scientists responsible for manipulating her DNA, therefore enhancing her necromantic abilities. While there, she discovers that she, and other supernaturals are experimental subjects who were genetically modified at birth. Chloe and Tori (a witch) lead the Edison Group to a factory where they were supposed to meet Derek and Simon. Chloe and Tori escape with help from liz after struggling with Tori''s mother, Diane (also a witch), but not before Diane hits Chloe''s aunt Lauren with a seemingly fatal spell. The two girls run and hide. Chloe reads a letter her Aunt Lauren gave her which explains that she only ever wanted to help young supernaturals but it wasn''t until her own niece was in danger that she realized how dangerous the Edison Group was. The next day, they meet up with Derek and Simon at the factory. The five of them decide to find Kit Bae, Simon and Derek''s father, who will be able to help them all. On the bus to New York City, Chloe is woken by Derek who tells her that he feels another change coming on. She offers to go with him and asks Tori to tell Simon that if they don''t make it back to the bus, they will meet up in New York City. They catch a bus heading to New York City where they find Tori and Simon, but their father''s friend Andrew is missing. Suspecting that Andrew has been captured, they decide to leave in the morning. Before dawn, the Edison Group attacks them. While hiding, Chloe hears a voice that sounds like her Aunt Lauren''s, guiding her to safety. She realizes with some panic that she wouldn''t hear Lauren unless she was dead and wonders if The Edison Group has killed her Aunt. Chloe and Simon are approached by a man that Simon recognizes as Andrew Carson, the man they''ve been looking for. Andrew helps them to safety and Derek arrives with Tori. They all escape in a van and Andrew tells them that he''s taking them to a safe house for supernaturals where they can rest up and eventually help take down The Edison Group.

The Awakening

Potter declared the tale her next favourite to The Tailor of Gloucester, but the tale is not popular among modern children, perhaps because they have difficulty following the complications involving the pies and because they have no experience with old-fashioned ovens and fireplaces. The pictures however are some of the most beautiful Potter ever created, especially the profusions of flowers in the doorways and garden plots. The colours in the illustrations are not the muted browns and greens the reader expects in a Potter illustration, nor are they the contrasting colours such as the muted reds and blues Potter uses occasionally to give her illustrations a splash of colour. Instead, the colours are bright oranges, violets, and yellows seldom seen in her other books. Even Ribby''s lilac dress and Duchess''s black mane illustrate Potter''s concern for colour in this book. Potter''s own three-door oven, her hearthrug, her indoor plants, her coronation teapot, and her water pump are minutely detailed with more colour than in other productions. The large format of the original edition, the captions accompanying the full page colour illustrations, and the occasional lack of coordination between picture and text all display Potter''s delight in the pictures, sometimes at the expense of the text. "Once upon a time", Ribby, a "Pussy-cat" invites a little dog called Duchess to tea with plans to serve her "something so very very nice" baked in a pie dish with a pink rim. Ribby promises Duchess she shall have the entree entirely to herself. Duchess accepts the invitation but hopes she will not be served mouse. "I really couldn''t, couldn''t eat mouse pie. And I shall have to eat it, because it is a party." Duchess has prepared a ham and veal pie in a pink-rimmed dish (just like Ribby''s dish), and would much rather eat her own pie. "It is all ready to put into the oven," she says, "Such a lovely pie-crust; and I put in a little tin patty-pan to hold up the crust." She reads the invitation again and realises she will have the opportunity to switch the pies when Ribby leaves on an errand. Ribby has two ovens, one above the other, and she puts her mouse pie in the lower oven. She tidies the house, sets the table, and leaves to buy tea, marmalade, and sugar. Duchess meantime has left home with her ham and veal pie in a basket, passes Ribby on the street, and hurries on to Ribby''s house. She puts her pie into the upper oven, and searches quickly for the mouse pie (which she does not find because she neglects to look in the lower oven). She slips out the back door as Ribby returns. At the appointed hour, Duchess appears at Ribby''s door and the party begins. Distracted for a moment, Duchess does not see which oven Ribby opens to remove the pie. Duchess eats greedily, believing she is eating her ham and veal pie. She wonders what has happened to the patty-pan she put in her pie, and, not finding it under the crust, is convinced she has swallowed it. She sets up a howl; Ribby is perplexed and annoyed but leaves to find Dr. Maggoty. Duchess is left alone before Ribby''s fire, and discovers her ham and veal pie in the oven. "Then I must have been eating MOUSE! ... No wonder I feel ill," she muses. Knowing she cannot adequately explain her ham and veal pie to Ribby, she puts it outside the back door intending to sneak back and carry it home after she leaves for home. Ribby and Dr. Maggoty arrive and, after much fuss, Duchess takes her leave, only to find that the magpie (who has left by the back door) and a couple of jackdaws have eaten her ham and veal pie. Ribby later finds the remains of the pie dish and the patty-pan outside the back door and declares, "Well I never did! ... Next time I want to give a party – I will invite Cousin Tabitha Twitchit!"

The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan

Greatheart Silver, the thirty-year-old first mate on Acme Zeppelin 8, is the sole survivor of an attack by the Mad Fokker, an air pirate and World War I veteran who was mothballed by the United States government because it could not undo his mental conditioning. Bendt Micawber (the CEO of Acme Corporation and the descendant of Mr. Micawber from David Copperfield) cites his survival as dereliction of duty. Receiving a plastic prosthetic leg as well as his pension as compensation, Greatheart is fired from Acme. During his recovery, Greatheart''s fiancee breaks up with him and his Sioux grandmother sends his a birdcage with two ravens inside. He names them Huginn and Muninn after the Norse god Odin''s all-seeing ravens. Using his skills with computers to alter his records and receive a glowing reference from Micawber, Greatheart is soon employed by the Phoenix branch of Acme Security-Southwest. Under the tutelage of Fenwick Phwombly (who describes himself, though is never identified, as the Shadow), Greatheart journeys to the town of Shootout, where many aging villains have gathered for a last great crime. However, they are stopped by a group of aging heroes including Phwombly in an action similar to the gunfight at the OK Corral. Two years later, Greatheart (named for the character in Pilgrim''s Progress) is disguised as an employee of Acme W-W Cleaners and narrowly avoids averting a kidnapping. The victim of the terrorist group turns out to be Micawber''s estranged daughter, Jill Micawber, who went under an assumed name so she would not be associated with her ruthless father. Greatheart traces the kidnappers, despite the efforts of Micawber to trail him, to the Fokker D-LXIX Press building, specializers in erotica owned by Acme Zeppelin. Using a DRECC computer, executive Rade Starling can transform any printed work into a sensually appealing one (e.g. Glinda of Oz becomes The Secret Life of Glinda of Oz, or The Good Witch Goes Bad) and after knocking Greatheart out reveals his plan, with a microchip embedded in the books'' front covers, to overwhelm readers'' emotions and make them euphoric and suggestible. With the help of Jill, a previous acquaintance of his from UCLA, Greatheart enables Starling''s project to overwhelm him and his associates. Since the project was conducted on Acme-owned property, Greatheart has sufficient blackmail on Micawber to prevent his harassing him again. With Jill''s leverage, Greatheart marries her and (with Micawber''s grudging blessing) becomes captain of Acme Zeppelin 49. On a trans-Pacific journey to Minerva with a cargo of iridium and platinum, another group of kidnappers attempts to abduct Jill and encounters a Brittany separatist group on board. When gunshots go off and penetrate the airbag as well as short out the computers on the bridge, the groups must work together to reach land.

Greatheart Silver

The protagonist is Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) William "Bill" Martin, a longtime CIA agent who was appointed DCI by Democratic President Esker Scott Anderson. Anderson, as Vice President, succeeded William Curry, who was killed in a crash of Air Force One in the early 1960s. Martin''s friendship with Anderson dates from the 1950s, when he was a lower-level agent and Anderson held a great deal of power as Senate Majority Leader. As Deputy CIA Director, Martin was responsible for planning an undercover invasion of the Dominican Republic by emmigres trained and supported by the U.S. However, President Curry, worried about negative repercussions from the invasion, ordered the murder of a priest who led the rebel movement, in order to ensure the invasion''s failure. CIA Inspector General, Major-General Antonio Primula, wrote a report blaming Martin, then-DCI Horace McFall and, in part, President Curry for the invasion''s failure, and recommending the firing of McFall and Martin. After Curry''s death, Anderson appointed Martin as DCI and promised to keep the Primula report secret, in return for Martin''s loyalty. Anderson becomes seriously ill during his elected term and declines to run for a second, leaving his Vice President Ed Gilley as the Democratic nominee. Despite Martin''s hard work behind the scenes to help elect Gilley, he is defeated by Republican Richard Monckton. Martin sees Monkton, a longtime political enemy of Curry and Anderson, as a threat to himself and the CIA. But Martin retains his position, due mainly to the support of support of Monckton''s National Security Advisor Carl Tessler, a former foreign affairs aide to Governor Thomas J. Forville. Despite his relatively weak position in the new administration, Martin discovers illegal practices of Monkton administration operatives, and uses this knowledge to make a deal with Monkton: he must destroy the Primula Report and assign Martin as ambassador to Jamaica in exchange for Martin''s silence on Monkton''s illegal activity. Despite Martin''s efforts, Monkton''s activities are revealed by an investigative reporter, initiating the fall of his administration.

The Company

The novel is set in a distant future when humans are part of an interstellar civilization called the ConSentiency composed of many species. One, the Taprisiots, provide instant mind-to-mind communication between two sentient minds anywhere in the universe, and the Caleban provide jump-doors which allow instantaneous travel between any two points in the universe. This is the glue that holds the far-flung ConSentiency together. Unfortunately, one consequence of jump-door technology is the possibility that large numbers of unsuspecting sentients can be diverted to destinations unknown for nefarious purposes. A government saboteur attempts to expose one such plot. Jorj X. McKie is a Saboteur Extraordinary, one of the principals of the Bureau of Sabotage, and the only human admitted to practice law before the Gowachin bar as a legum (lawyer). While meditating in a park in BuSab headquarters McKie is mentally contacted by the Caleban Fannie Mae, a female member of a species of unparalleled power from another dimension whose visible manifestation in this universe is the star Thyone in the Pleiades cluster Generations ago, a secret, unauthorized experiment by the Gowachins was carried out with the help of a contract with the Calebans. They isolated the planet Dosadi behind an impenetrable barrier called "The God Wall". On the planet were placed humans and Gowachin, with an odd mix of modern and old technology. The planet itself is massively poisonous except for a narrow valley, containing the city "Chu", into which nearly 89 million humans and Gowachin are crowded under terrible conditions. It is ruled by a dictator, many other forms of government having been tried previously, but without the ability to remove such things as the DemoPol, a computer system used to manipulate populaces without their consent or knowledge. The culture of ordinary day to day power in Dosadi is very violent. Among other tools, addictive psychotropes are used for handling power among hierarchies in organisations. Senior Liator Keila Jedrik starts a war that will change Dosadi forever. Jorj travels to Dosadi and escapes with Keila after engaging in ego sharing. This gives them the ability to swap bodies and thus by using a hole in the contract sealing Dosadi they can escape via jump gate. Once free, by legal manoeuvring the Dosadi population is unleashed upon the ConSentiency for good or ill, whilst the people who set the project in motion try to deal with the consequences, having sent McKie there hoping a solution more in their interest could be found.

The Dosadi Experiment

The book is divided into four stages of the main character''s life. Mauricio is the son of Marysol, the last woman in line, and he is trying to make sense of all the women in the story he is related to: Maria, the matriarch; Magdalena, the daughter; Marysol, the granddaughter. It starts when his mother is dying in the hospital bed, which begins his recollections of his mother''s life and his upbringing: the death of his grandmother when he is a small boy which leads to his mother''s decision to tell of her upbringing in Civil War torn Spain; early teens when he begins to search for his "traveler" father which leads him through a maze like path of his mother''s deceit; late teens, where he discovers his progeny and his mother''s real reason for hating men and wanting him to respect women above all else; ending back in the hospital bed as his mother expires and what it all means to be her son. The ending ends the discussion of Heritage, originally started in the opening scene by him. The book itself is anachronistically written to make the stories and their transition feel like a labyrinth of these women''s struggles. Placing the reader in the same level as the Mauricio character, who learns and discovers as he grows up.

Labyrinth of Struggle

Daja and Frostpine are staying with some friends of Frostpine''s. While they are staying there, Daja realized that the two eldest daughters of the family (the twins Niamara (Nia) and Jorality (Jory) possess ambient magic. She devises a testing mirror to determine the aspect of their magics. Nia is discovered to possess Carpentry magic and Jory to possess Cooking. Since Daja has no skill in either of those areas, she entrusts the twins to local mages. Her only responsibility is in teaching them to meditate. Since the twins are complete opposites in personality, this proves to be a challenging task. Meanwhile, Daja makes friends with a local firefighter, Ben Ladradun. He is trying to form an organized fire brigade from the villagers, but it isn''t working. Daja and Ben suspect that many if not all of the recent fires were set on purpose. As Ben searches to discover the "fire-bug", Daja works tirelessly to make Ben a pair of living metal gloves to protect him from burning. Daja ends up saving many people from burning buildings as the amount of fires increases. In the end it is revealed that Ben is the "fire-bug" and Daja captures him and gives him to the authorities; who end up burning him to death. Ben set fires because the only time he got respect was when he was a victim of the flames or when he was fighting them. His emotionally and physically abusive mother created his twisted way of thinking.

Cold Fire

Mma Ramotswe is asked to investigate a cook who is being blackmailed, and a doctor whose nurse believes he is doing something illegal. She discovers the identity of the blackmailer, who is a newspaper agony aunt abusing the confidences of her correspondents, and forces her to stop. The doctor is selling generic drugs at the full cost to his patients, and she causes him to be reported. During the investigation she becomes more aware of her excess weight and its health risks and even tries to diet, but decides the most important thing is to be herself and happy. Mr Polopetsi, the new employee, is happy in his work but still struggles with poverty and hostility from relatives due to his spell in prison. He wants to help Mma Ramotswe, his mentor, with detective work, and when superstitious fears disturb staff at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve, it is he who discovers the cause: an injured ground-hornbill, believed to bring ill luck. He removes it, but it dies, and he fears he has lost Mma Ramotswe''s trust, but is relieved and grateful when she shows faith in him after all. Mma Makutsi fears her engagement to Phuti Radiphuti is over after a misunderstanding about feminism, but all is explained and, in the process, Mr J.L.B.Matekoni gains a comfortable new chair which will make him happy too. She begins to appreciate how her fortunes will change with her marriage, and indulges her passion for impractical shoes with a new blue pair, even though they do not fit very well.

Blue Shoes and Happiness

Set after Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness but before Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Day of the Dragon is the story of how a human Mage, Rhonin ventures into the last remaining Orc-controlled lands in Khaz Modan by the order of Krasus. Krasus is actually a red dragon named Korialstrasz, yet is disguised as a human mage of Dalaran during the earlier chapters of the book. He is loyal to his captured queen, Alexstrasza, Queen of the Red dragon flight and one of the five great Aspects. By using the "Demon Soul", Nekros Skullcrusher, leader of the orcs in Khaz Modan, is able to hold Alexstrasza and her consorts, such as Tyranastrasz, against their will and use their offspring as pawns against the other races of Azeroth. Whilst Korialstrasz sought help from the other Aspects, Nozdormu, Malygos and Ysera, Deathwing helped Rhonin get into the Orc Fortress in order to convince Nekros Skullcrusher that there was an imminent Alliance attack on Grim Batol. Deathwing''s real motivation was that he wanted the eggs so he could replenish his flight, not to free the Red Dragonqueen. Believing a great army to be on its way, Nekros had the eggs transported elsewhere, placing them in the open where Deathwing wanted them. However, as Deathwing was stealing the eggs, he was confronted by a dying Tyranastrasz. Despite initial problems, Korialstrasz managed to gain the aid of the other three Great Aspects in his task to free Alexstrasza. With the help of Rhonin, Vereesa Windrunner, Falstad Dragonreaver (Falstad Wildhammer), and a number of dwarven resistance fighters, the group managed to destroy the "Demon Soul" forever. By doing so, they free Alexstrasza, who swallows Nekros Skullcrusher in one gulp, aiding in the defeat of the orcs in the area. Ironically, Deathwing helped with the release of Alexstrasza, yet was not concerned due to the fact that the "Demon Soul" has drained the other Aspects powers. However, with the destruction of the "Demon Soul" the powers were returned to the four Aspects and Deathwing was last seen fleeing from three angry Aspects at the time as Alexstrasza went to Korialstrasz. The storyline also covers Deathwing''s plot to throw the mortal kingdoms into disarray by posing as Lord Prestor, using his draconic powers to manipulate the rulers of the human kingdoms into making him king of Alterac, then planning to marry into the Lordaeron royal family to become its heir. However, with his defeat at the hands of the other four Dragon Aspects, Lord Prestor is never seen again.

Warcraft: Day of the Dragon

In 1975, Daniel Eakins, a young college student, is visited by his Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim offers to increase Daniel''s monthly allowance for living expenses as long as Daniel promises to keep a diary. Shortly after, Uncle Jim dies, and Daniel inherits a ''Timebelt'' from him that allows the wearer to travel through time. Daniel quickly learns how to use the Timebelt and makes a few short jumps into his own future. He meets an alternate version of himself, who accompanies him to a race-track where the pair make a fortune betting on horse-racing. The following day, Daniel realises that it is his turn to guide his younger self through the previous day at the races; through this and other events the time-travelling Daniel learns more about the belt, about the nature of the ''timestream'', and about his personal identity. Daniel develops an interest in history, and uses the Timebelt to experience many of the significant events of world history and to view the future. He also changes the past to give himself a vast financial empire. At the same time, he begins to understand more of his own character, becoming less introverted and more confident in having a companion (either his past or future self) whom he is able to completely understand and relate to. No longer limited to living in a linear stretch of time, he sets about trying to change the world to fit his own desires, and having more and more strange experiences with his alternate selves. His activities result in a series of time paradoxes, which are explained by the existence of multiple universes and multiple histories: the Timebelt does not actually move the user around a single timeline, but to a new alternate reality which is the result of all the changes that Daniel has previously made to that reality. Daniel repeatedly encounters alternate versions of himself, ultimately having sex with himself and beginning a relationship with himself. He learns that the changes he has made to his timeline have erased all traces of his childhood and early life. Finding himself lonely and hoping to correct the situation, he jumps backwards in time, where he meets a female version of himself called Diane. He begins a relationship with Diane. Diane soon becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son. Shortly after, Daniel and Diane separate, and Daniel raises his son in 1950s America. As Daniel ages, he becomes more obsessed with returning to the relationship he had with Diane, and then with the thought of his own inevitable death. He spends much of his time at a house party set in 1999, enjoying the company of dozens of versions of himself at different ages. Daniel eventually realises that he has now become his Uncle Jim and that his son is actually the young future version of himself who will go on to inherit the Timebelt, and that his life has ''come full circle''. He makes preparations for after his death to ensure that the young Daniel experiences the same events that he did when he was the same age. The book ends with the young Daniel, who has read the now-complete diary, having to decide whether he will use the Timebelt.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

At The Bay

By Katherine Mansfield

The Babysitter

By R. L. Stine

The Awakening

By Kelley Armstrong

The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan

By Beatrix Potter

Greatheart Silver

By Philip José Farmer

The Company

No Author Listed

The Dosadi Experiment

By Frank Herbert

Labyrinth of Struggle

No Author Listed

Cold Fire

By Tamora Pierce

Blue Shoes and Happiness

By Alexander McCall Smith

Warcraft: Day of the Dragon

By Richard A. Knaak

The Man Who Folded Himself

By David Gerrold