The following is the summary provided by Bertrand Russell in the preface of the book: "This book contains essays on such aspects of social questions as tend to be ignored in the clash of politics. It emphasizes the dangers of too much organization in the realm of thought and too much strenuousness in action. It explains why I cannot agree with either Communism or Fascism, and wherein I dissent from what both have in common. It maintains that the importance of knowledge consists not only in its direct practical utility but also in the fact that it promotes a widely contemplative habit of mind; on this ground, utility is to be found in much of the knowledge that is nowadays labelled ''useless.'' There is a discussion of the connection of architecture with various social questions, more particularly the welfare of young children and the position of women. "Passing further away from politics, the volume, after discussing the characteristics of Western civilization and the chances of the human race being vanquished by insects, concludes with a discussion of the nature of the soul. The general thesis which binds the essays together is that the world is suffering from intolerance and bigotry, and from the belief that vigorous action is admirable even when misguided; whereas what is needed in our very complex modern society is calm consideration, with readiness to call dogmas in question and freedom of mind to do justice to the most diverse points of view."

In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays

The Sea, the Sea is a tale of the strange obsessions that haunt a self-satisfied playwright and director as he begins to write his memoirs. Played out against a vividly rendered landscape and filled with allusions to myth and magic, Murdoch''s novel exposes the jumble of motivations that drive her characters - the human vanity, jealousy, and lack of compassion behind the disguises they present to the world. Charles Arrowby, its central figure, decides to withdraw from the world and dwell in seclusion in a house by the sea. While there, by an extraordinary coincidence he encounters his first love, Mary Hartley Fitch, whom he has not seen since his love affair with her as an adolescent. Although she is almost unrecognisable in old age, and totally outside his theatrical world, he becomes obsessed by her, idealizing his former relationship with her and attempting to persuade her to elope with him. His inability to recognise the egotism and selfishness of his own romantic ideals is at the heart of the novel. After the farcical and abortive kidnapping of Mrs. Fitch by Arrowby, he is left to mull over her rejection in an enjoyably self-obsessional and self-aggrandising manner over the space of several chapters. "How much, I see as I look back, I read into it all, reading my own dream text and not looking at the reality... Yes of course I was in love with my own youth... Who is one''s first love?"

The Sea, the Sea

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

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

15 year old Neil Miller is orphaned following a car accident and goes to live with his grandparents in Winchelsea, England. Neil suffers post traumatic stress from the car accident and stays detached from his peers despite their occasional attempts to involve him. News travels of a new disease, called the Calcutta Plague due to its origin, which accelerates the aging process in human beings. The plague is uniformly fatal, and although initially only affects those of already advanced years (claiming an old teacher at his school and both his grandparents,) it quickly progresses until it takes the life of a 2 year old girl that Neil finds and attempts to look after. During this time Neil notes that he has contracted the plague, but after a brief fever it leaves him unaffected. The death of the girl (and earlier her 4 year old brother) leaves Neil the sole survivor of Winchelsea, and after deciding that Winchelsea is becoming dangerous - due in part to packs of wild dogs - he leaves for London, taking first a manual Mini which he has difficulty driving, followed by an automatic Jaguar. Arriving in London he meets his first fellow survivor - the mentally unbalanced Clive, who although friendly towards Neil, during the night vandalizes his car to the point of destroying it, steals his mother''s ring that Neil had kept, and then abandons him in central London. After finding the body of another survivor who has committed suicide barely hours before Neil found him, he is again despondent, but finds evidence of other survivors which brings him into contact with Billie and Lucy. Billie is openly hostile towards Neil, and it is implied that she has suffered in some way either during the plague or directly after it, but Neil becomes friends with Lucy and starts a romantic relationship with her - much to Billie''s disgust. During this time Neil notes that the dogs have been supplanted by even more dangerous rats, and at least one big cat has escaped from a local zoo and although unseen is heard outside their flat. To this end Neil arms himself with a pistol and ammunition taken from a sporting goods shop. Billie and Neil continue to argue over an unspecified period of time, with Lucy gradually taking Neils side in arguments, until eventually during a foraging expedition Billie attempts to kill Neil by stabbing him in the back with a kitchen knife. The attack is shown to be premeditated as when Neil tries to defend himself with the gun he finds that it has been unloaded. Neil is injured, but overpowers Billie and returns to Lucy, where they lock Billie out and decide to move on to a previously discussed farmhouse. Billie arrives back at the house and pleads with both Lucy and Neil to let her back in, but they decide that they could never trust her again, and leave her outside. In the last paragraph of the book Neil abruptly changes his mind, feeling that he would never get over the guilt of leaving Billie to die, and with Lucy goes downstairs to open the door and let her back inside.

Empty World

As Ben Skywalker seeks to find proof that Jacen Solo had killed Ben''s mother, Mara, Darth Caedus seeks the Imperial Remnant''s help in combating the Galactic Alliance''s enemies in the galactic Confederation. While the Moff Council is attracted to Caedus''s bid for added power and territory, the Imperial Remnant''s leader, Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, is reluctant, as Caedus''s actions throughout the war against the Confederation have been horrendous. So Pellaeon contacts fellow Admiral Natasi Daala to help him counter Caedus should he do anything stupid. In response, Daala hires out Boba Fett and his Mandalorians to be on standby should Caedus make a stupid decision, as expected, when the Galactic Alliance and Imperial Remnant ally to defeat the rebels on Fondor. With Fett and his ilk is Jaina Solo, who is training with the Mandos in order to understand how to fight in an unorthodox, which can help her defeat her brother. Meanwhile, Caedus''s fellow Chief of State, Admiral Cha Niathal, is a traitor to Caedus, and is secretly allied to Luke Skywalker''s Jedi Coalition, for even she knows that Caedus''s actions have been too drastic in the war. When the Second Battle of Fondor commences, Caedus''s forces easily overwhelm the rebels to the point that the latter group surrenders. Nevertheless, Caedus makes his stupid move by pressing on the attack in order to make sure that the Fondorian rebels will never pose a threat to the Galactic Alliance ever again. As Pellaeon proceeds to turn on Caedus with Daala and her Mandalorian allies for backup, Caedus''s envoy to the Imperial Remnant, Tahiri Veila, threatens Pellaeon at blasterpoint to commit the Imperial forces to Caedus''s cause. Pellaeon refuses, and is shot to death for his betrayal. As a result, Daala''s forces attack Caedus''s fleet just as Niathal reveals her true colors and goes against Caedus. Despite this, a large majority of the Alliance fleet still somehow supports Caedus despite his actions, which leaves Niathal and her supporters to go into exile from the Sith Lord''s rule. Tahiri is rescued from the invading Mandalorians by Caedus himself, and both of them barely escape death as they return to Caedus''s remaining Alliance fleet. In the end, Caedus''s forces win as they get the Imperial forces on their side, now that they are ruled solely by the Moff Council in the aftermath of Grand Admiral Pellaeon''s death. Ben manages to corroborate enough evidence that points to Jacen being Mara''s killer. This becomes especially apparent when Ben''s ally in the Galactic Alliance Guard, Lon Shevu, gets Jacen to confess not only that he eliminated Mara, but also that he is the Sith Lord Darth Caedus. The revelation of the story had come to pass in the end.

Revelation

The book is set in and around the author''s home town of Concord, Massachusetts and in the realm of Nyeusigrube. The book centers around Risika who born in 1684 as Rachel Weatere, a God-fearing seventeen-year-old who lived with her father, half-sister, Lynette, and her twin brother, Alexander. Alexander lives in fear as he believes he is of the Devil as he is able to hear peoples thoughts and cause things to happen, including making fire rise up and down which causes an accident with their half-sister, who was burned by the fire. Aware of her twin brother''s powers and his dislike for them, Rachel tries to do her best to comfort him. One day, an unknown strangers appears at their home, who is later revealed as Aubrey, and gives Rachel a black rose, which pricks her finger drawing blood. That night, Rachel hears her twin creep past her room and she follows him to find him confronting two vampires, Ather and Aubrey, who had came to transform Rachel against her will into a vampire to get back at Alexander for interfering with Ather when she tried to feed on Lynette. In an attempt to stop Ather from harming her brother Rachel confronts her but Aubrey grabs her brother and drags him off, while exposing a knife. Rachel tries to go after them but Ather grabs her instead and begins her transformation. Three hundred years later, the now vampire Risika has a run-in with Aubrey after accidentally trespassing onto his territory in an attempt to feed, he leaves her another black rose and a note stating, "Stay in your place, Risika." Fearing Aubrey, but not letting it on, she burns the note and leaves it where Aubrey can find it, and does not visit the Bengal tiger which she has named Tora, in fear that Aubrey would use Tora to hurt her. Eventually Aubrey learns of Tora''s existence and in an attempt to get Risika to lay low, he kills the tiger. Wounded once more, Risika takes on the tiger''s strips in her hair and finds a note with the name "Rachel" written on it and covered with tears. Enraged and thinking the note a joke she calls out to whoever left the note but no one answers. She then takes off, transforming into a hawk, to confront Aubrey, and a fight breaks out between the two and Risika realizes she can defeat him and transforms herself into a Bengal tiger and pins Aubrey to the ground. In desperation and not wanting to die, Aubrey offers Risika his blood, which opens his mind to Risika. Accepting this, Risika transforms back to herself and takes Aubrey''s blood but before allowing him to leave she takes the knife he carries, which she had found out nearly 300 years ago contains magic from one of the witch''s clans, and slashes him in his collarbone, avenging the scar he had left on her not too long after she had been transformed and tells him to remember the events of that day and warns him that even though she has taken his blood it did not make up for the death of Tora or Alexander. After Aubrey leaves, Alexander reveals to Risika that he is still alive and that he was the one who had left her the note. Believing he could help his sister, Risika informs him that she is happy as she is and the story ends.

In the Forests of the Night

The story begins with the death of Orchid''s mother. The hatred between Empress Orchid and her son Tung Chih is also beginning to weaken, much to Orchid''s despair. In 2149, the Selection of Imperial begins for him is completed. The chosen Empress is a "cat-eyed, eighteen-year-old beauty" called Alute. Orchid''s preferred selection for Empress was the daughter of a provincial governor named Foo-cha. It was only due to Empress Nuharoo''s rank as the higher wife that Alute was chosen. The Selection of Imperial is followed by the suspicious death of Orchid''s close friend and eunuch An-te-hai. His death had a great emotional impact on Empress Orchid. Around one year later, tension begins to mount between Orchid and Alute. Orchid becomes irritated at Alute''s lack of co-operation, and is further annoyed with Alute''s rude attitude towards her. Her annoyance soon turns to happiness when Alute claims that she is pregnant with Tung Chih''s first child. Tung Chih''s illness worsens and in 1875 he dies with his mother beside him. Empress Orchid refuses to give up her power, as she believes that Alute only sees the "glamour and glory" of being an Empress. As well as this, she also believes that Alute has little experience with political and court matters - thus rendering her unsuitable for the role as Empress of China. Orchid also realises that Alute may have been mentally disturbed. Yet these possibilities had no effect on English journals describing Orchid as a violent character who contributed to the death of her son - whilst portraying Alute as the protagonist of the event. Many foreign reports and articles soon begin printing false reports of Orchid''s actions as ruler of China, suggesting that she is solely responsible for China''s decline due to her cruel regime. However, such stories are seemingly published only to justify further invasions of China. After the death of Tung Chih and Alute, Orchid adopts her sister Rong''s son Tsai-t''ien. Orchid then renames her nephew Guang-hsu upon his succession to the Dragon Throne. Initially, Orchid felt no motherly love for her nephew as she only adopted him to prevent his death at Rong''s hand. However, a mother-son bond eventually forms between the two. Shortly after the appointment of Guang-hsu as Orchid''s successor, her love Yung Lu announces that he is planning to marry and move away to faraway Sinkiang. Soon after Orchid realises that she is no longer at full health, she receives information that Empress Nuharoo has collapsed from illness. Nuharoo dies, and rumours suggest that Orchid i Everyone dies at the ending.

The Last Empress

Palmer LaRue grew up in a town called Waymer with a yearly tradition of letting pigeons out of a crate and shooting them with shotguns in order to raise money for the city''s playground. Ten-year-old boys learn how to pick up the wounded birds that have not yet died and then wring their necks to "put them out of their misery." Palmer refuses to take part in such a horrific ceremony. When pressured by his peers, Henry, Mutto, and Beans, Palmer convinces them that he is one of them so that he will be considered cool by his classmates. Palmer keeps a pigeon named Nipper as a pet while keeping the pigeon''s existence a secret. The day of the pigeon shooting comes and Palmer is nervous because he let his friend Dorothy release Nipper. It is then revealed that Nipper had been released near the railroad tracks, where people capture the pigeons and crate them for the shooting. The pigeons are released and Nipper is wounded. One of Palmer''s "friends" happens to be at the shooting, and he brings the pigeon back onto the field to be killed by the sharpshooter. Palmer carries Nipper off the field in the midst of gunfire. Palmer realizes how he might have changed this tradition when he hears a kid from the audience tell his father that he wants a pigeon for a pet.

Wringer

The story is set in several locations; the earlier chapters are set in the town of London, contemporaneous to the time of Barrie''s writing, and involving some time travel of a few years, and other fantasy elements, while remaining within the London setting. The middle chapters that later became Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens are set in London''s famous Kensington Gardens, introduced by the statement that "All perambulators lead to Kensington Gardens". The Kensington Gardens chapters include detailed descriptions of the features of the Gardens, along with fantasy names given to the locations by the story''s characters, especially after "Lock-Out Time", described by Barrie as the time at the end of the day when the park gates are closed to the public, and the fairies and other magical inhabitants of the park can move about more freely than during the daylight, when they must hide from ordinary people. The third section of the book, following the Kensington Gardens chapters, are again set generally in London, though there are some short returns to the Gardens that are not part of the Peter Pan stories. In a two-page diversion in chapter 24, Barrie brings the story to Patagonia, and a journey by ship returning to England at the "white cliffs of Albion".

The Little White Bird

An old friend of Albert Campion has written a successful book that has been turned into a hit musical comedy. Jimmy Sutane, an established actor and dancer is the star of the musical. But recently someone has it in for Sutane and has started playing harmless practical jokes that have caused the highly emotional Jimmy much trauma. Jimmy asks Campion to look into who the prankster may be. So Campion takes a trip to the Sutane household, where he unexpectedly finds more than he bargained for. Jimmy Sutane''s house is a strange mix of the theatrical and the snobbish. And into this mix comes Chloe Pye, an overdone and melodramatic has-been actress that no one seems to like. When she is accidentally run over by Jimmy Sutane in his car, no one seems upset and everyone is eager to call it an accident. But Campion is not so certain, and the more he investigates the less he desires to find out about the world of the Sutanes. Campion must deal with high strung entertainers and his own emotions as he tries to find out if a murder even happened, and who is still playing tricks on the star and his family. It turns out that Squire Mercer, a genius musician who lives with the Sutanes, was once married to Chloe Pye. She wanted to leave him for Jimmy Sutane, and he threatened never to divorce her. She told him that divorce wasn''t necessary since she was still married to someone else, thereby committing bigamy with Squire Mercer. Her return to the Sutane household was to get back into the good graces of Squire Mercer so that he would fall back in love with her and support her financially. Instead he gets annoyed and angry at her advances and kills her. Then he throws her off a bridge in front of Jimmy Sutane''s car so that the whole thing will look like an accident. Unfortunately Sutane''s understudy, who has been playing the pranks on Sutane because he wants to play the lead role in the hit show, witnessed the whole of Chloe''s "accident". When he is killed by one of Mercer''s old-time criminal associates, everything is discovered by the police. Unfortunately, Campion''s love for Sutane''s wife clouds his judgement so that he thinks Jimmy has actually murdered both Chloe and his understudy. It is only at the end that he discovers the truth for himself.

Dancers in Mourning

In the course of solving the mystery of an old man''s disappearing fortune, Nancy both starts and ends a family feud and reveals the identity of an orphan of unknown parentage. The second of three novels by ghostwriter Walter Karig, this story focuses on Nancy''s encounter with a 100-year-old man at "The Sign of the Twisted Candles," a roadside inn and restaurant. Nancy, Bess and George take afternoon tea there while waiting out a storm; Nancy''s roadster was blocked by a fallen tree. They encounter Asa Sidney, celebrating his 100th birthday, and the pathetic maid/waitress, Carol Wipple, mistreated by her adoptive parents, Frank and Emma Jemmit. Nancy discovers that Mr. Sidney is an elderly relative of Bess and George, and her willingness to communicate with him launches a family feud upon his death a few days later, and leaves her chumless, as the cousins refuse to associate with Nancy. Carol is named as the major benefactress, and Nancy must prove that Frank and Emma Jemmit have misappropriated property. Relatives of Mr. Sidney and his wife from the Sidney and Boonton families fight over the money. Nancy also must discover why Asa was interested in the young woman. While investigating, Nancy is reunited with her friends, and later, in the climax, is nearly killed when she is pushed while climbing a ladder against a tower window (illustrated as internal art in the original 1933 edition; this illustration and two others were dropped in 1936). Carol is discovered to be the great-niece of Asa Sidney, and thus owns the rights to a number of inventions awaiting patent from Sidney, in addition to securities. The family feud is resolved due to Nancy''s discoveries.

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

Tintin hears in the news that Bianca Castafiore, her maid Irma, pianist Igor Wagner, and Thomson and Thompson have been imprisoned in San Theodoros for allegedly attempting to overthrow the military dictatorship of General Tapioca, who has yet again deposed Tintin''s old friend, General Alcazar. Tintin, Calculus, and Haddock soon are accused themselves and, travelling to San Theodoros to clear their names (though Tintin at first refuses, only to change his mind and follow a couple of days later), find themselves caught in a trap laid by their old enemy, Colonel Sponsz, who has been sent by the Eastern Bloc nation of Borduria to assist Tapioca. Sponsz has concocted the conspiracy of which Tintin and his friends are accused in a plot to wreak revenge upon them for humiliating him in The Calculus Affair. Escaping, Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus join Alcazar and his small band of guerrillas, the Picaros, in the jungle near a village of the Arumbaya people. Meanwhile, in a show trial orchestrated by Sponsz, Castafiore is sentenced to life in prison and the Thompsons are ordered to be executed by a firing squad. All three show great contempt at the injustice of the proceedings. Tintin enlists Alcazar''s help in freeing his friends, but upon arrival at his jungle headquarters, finds that Alcazar''s men have become corrupt drunkards since Tapioca started dropping copious quantities of alcohol near their camp. Additionally, Alcazar is continually henpecked by his shrewish wife, Peggy, who nags him constantly about his failure to achieve a successful revolution. Fortunately, Calculus has invented a pill that makes alcohol disgusting to anyone who ingests it (which he proves to have tested on Haddock, much to the latter''s annoyance). Tintin offers to use the pill to cure the Picaros of their alcoholism if Alcazar agrees to refrain from killing Tapioca and his men. Alcazar reluctantly agrees. Moments after his men are cured, Jolyon Wagg arrives with his musical troupe the Jolly Follies, who intend to perform at the upcoming carnival in San Theodoros. Alcazar, with a little advice from Tintin, launches an assault on Tapioca''s palace during the carnival by ''borrowing'' the troupe''s costumes and sneaking his men into the capital. He topples Tapioca, but on Tintin''s urging, does not execute him, as is the tradition. Tapioca is instead forced to publicly surrender his powers to Alcazar, and is banished, while a disappointed Sponsz is sent back to Borduria. Meanwhile, Thomson and Thompson are due to be shot on the same day as the carnival. Although as naive as ever in their observations, the detectives show courage by refusing to be blindfolded. Tintin and Haddock reach the state prison in time to prevent the executions from occurring. Castafiore, her maid, and her pianist are also released, and Alcazar can finally give his wife the palace he has promised. With all matters resolved, Tintin and his friends leave. As they fly home, Tintin and Haddock express gratitude about being able to go home. The second-to-last panel shows a final, skeptical political message: as under Tapioca, the city slums are filled with wretched, starving people and patrolled by apathetic police. Nothing has changed, except the police uniforms and a Viva Tapioca sign that has been changed to read Viva Alcazar.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays

By Bertrand Russell

The Sea, the Sea

By Iris Murdoch

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

By Jeff Lindsay

Empty World

By Samuel Youd

Revelation

By Karen Traviss

In the Forests of the Night

By Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

The Last Empress

By Anchee Min

Wringer

By Jerry Spinelli

The Little White Bird

By J. M. Barrie

Dancers in Mourning

By Margery Allingham

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

By Carolyn Keene

Tintin and the Picaros

By Hergé