Turns out that the common scenerio, seen in innumerable mysteries, draumas, and sitcoms, in which two characters look very much alike... and are soon mistaken for each other was present in one of the very first mysteries: Woman in White. Nice enough book but no great shakes. Two stars. Rereading Pickwick Papers next.

As expected, this was excellent as far as the writing is concerned. It is placed in an historical context which spoils it a bit. Like most media (books, movies, whatever) that are "based on a true story" it is a bit weak in the sequence of events (the truth-- it turns out--is generally pretty boring).  Also far too many crazy/long Italian names are introduced. However, I did enjoy it and could possible listen to it again if, and when, I break both my legs.

Next--- "The Lady in White" Wilkie Collins

Two thumbs down. I finished it but only because I have a neurosis about completion. As I feared it is on the order of "The Count of Monte Christo." I wonder how these two books remain popular.. probably a "tween" level book at best. Generally these old classics can be counted on for an interesting style if nothing else but not in this case.

Next "Romola", George Eliot. I have much better expectations....

Just finished this audiobook. It's a good example of a book that is probably more enjoyable as a recording since "the voice" adds considerable interest. It is well constructed and has understated descriptions in general but very nicely developed characters and outlandish plot twists. Two thumbs up... but watch out for the diamond saw.

Just finished listening (16 hours)to this audiobook. A chief enjoyment of Hardy's books (and Jane Austin, Bronte, et al) are the little verbal asides and tangential comments on the human condition that are interwoven. Hardy's books were considered pretty racy/edgy in their day. It is his first book and not as well done as his later ones but still worth listening to if you have a long car drive or long hikes. Seems like most of his books involve the town of Casterbridge in one way or the other. This one was classified as a "novel of ingenuity"-- which would now be called a mystery.

I listened to these three in sucession. Pretty good in a pulp fiction, made for TV type way. Not great writing and could have been edited better. I am thinking that since the author kicked the bucket shortly after turning these in to the editor that they may not have had the full treatment.

It is quite evident from these books that the Swede's drink a lot of coffee.. a whole lot.. and usually with sandwiches.

Just finished listening to this book. I chose it on impulse based on a brief book review I saw somewhere. Despite all the rave reviews, I would not recommend it. It deals with a mildly dystopian world, rather disconcertingly set in modern times. I won't give away the details but it has a rather glaring plot hole that is never addressed or alluded to, that pretty much drowns the otherwise mildly interesting story. It reminds me of "flowers in the attic" a equally misguided book choice that was maddening because the characters seem to have no engagement with the predicament... they just drift along saying "dear me." Same thing in this one.

Best Books of 2008, in which our critics name their top picks for the year. We'll add new lists throughout the holiday season.

NPR picks the year's best books, including fiction, history, cooking, graphic novels and memoirs.

IN THIS SERIES

Maureen Corrigan's Best Books Of 2008

December 17, 2008 · You know you have a terrific book in your hands when you encounter language or elegantly presented research that startles you into fresh awareness; you know it when the atmosphere of a novel doesn't leave you for days, or years.

Best Superhero Graphic Novels Of 2008

December 16, 2008 · Don't let the capes and external underwear fool you; no longer escapist entertainment, superhero comics capture the timbre of the times as no pollster can. And this year, the mood is dark.

Best Collections Of Literary Letters 2008

December 15, 2008 · Dear reader, sitting down with a collection of letters — or a vivid reflection on them — affords a singularly intimate encounter with a writer, so please give a look to these exercises in mail bonding.

Give A Book (And Yourself) This Holiday Season

December 12, 2008 · If reading a story is — as John Gardner said — like falling into a vivid and continuous waking dream, then is giving a book like giving someone a dream? Reviewer Alan Cheuse puzzles over the perfect books for your loved ones this year.

Alan Cheuse's Top Fiction Picks For 2008

November 20, 2008 · Reading shouldn't be work; it should be pleasure, even as it teaches us something about ourselves, or about the world of history and time.

Booksellers' Picks For Your Holiday Lists

December 11, 2008 · Small-town America may or may not be the heart of the country, but it sure is at the heart of many of the books suggested by the independent booksellers this year.

Top Five Crime And Mystery Novels Of 2008

November 18, 2008 · To swipe the immortal lines uttered by Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, a great mystery should take "the lid off life and let [you] look at the works." Maureen Corrigan's picks for the top five crime novels of the year do just that.

Best Books For A Transformative New Year

December 8, 2008 · This holiday season, as we stand at the brink of a new administration, there's a thrill of history in the air. These books will help anyone, whatever his or her politics, understand what the nation has come though to reach this moment.

Best Foreign Fiction Of 2008

December 1, 2008 · Works of humor, wisdom, supreme originality and stunning ambition top Jessa Crispin's foreign fiction list. Engage the global conversation with these five novels from five countries.

Best Graphic Novels Of 2008

December 4, 2008 · No longer only for kids, geeks, nerds and aging baby boomers longing for a second childhood, graphic novels are showing themselves a medium of startling breadth and grace. Don't call them a genre anymore; cutting-edge graphic novels exist for everyone.

Best Political And Current Affairs Books Of 2008

November 26, 2008 · The events of 2008 raised a raft of controversies to national consciousness. These powerful books wrap the issues in compelling narratives — and provide the perspective of history.

Migration And Memory: Top Five 2008 Books

December 3, 2008 · Nothing bridges the gap between here and there, then and now like a story. These powerful, personal books examine the exile's life and celebrate lost cities of memory.

The Big Pictures: Best Gift Books 2008

November 24, 2008 · The season of giving makes us think big, and that means picture books — from coffee-table extravaganzas to smaller stuff that's big on surprise and ambition.

The 10 Best Cookbooks Of 2008

November 23, 2008 · If there's any unforeseen upside of the economic crisis, it's this: People are cooking again. This year's collection of cookbooks promises surprisingly delicious weeknight dinners that don't dirty every pot you own, made from ordinary ingredients.

Listen To The 2008 National Book Award Winners

November 25, 2008 · A novel about a notorious Florida outlaw and a history of Thomas Jefferson's hidden slave family were among the winners at the 59th annual awards.

The former is a bit shocking at times but he makes some convincing arguments that will make you rethink some assumptions. The latter draws a line between liberty and democracy and explores the distinction and what happens if you have democracy without guarantees of liberty, with a poor or uneducated populace, etc.

Top 100 EBooks yesterday

Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our database of real readers'
favourite books (over 32,000 and growing) to suggest what you could read next.
(You can register on the results page and build your own favourites list)
 

This Web site is dedicated to the short story and to those interested in reading light prose.

Fewer and fewer people these days read short stories. This is unfortunate--so few will ever experience the joy that reading such fine work can give. The goal of this site is to give a nice cross section of short stories in the hope that these short stories will excite these people into rediscovering this excellent source of entertainment.

Happy reading!


An Affair of State--Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)
Afterward--Edith Wharton (1862-1937)
The Ambitious Guest--Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Araby--James Joyce (1883-1941)

The Baron of Grogzwig--Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Bellflower--Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)
The Bet--Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904)
Beware of the Dog--Roald Dahl (1916-1990)
Beyond the Wall--Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
The Black Cat--Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
A Blackjack Bargainer--O. Henry (1862-1910)
The Boarded Window--Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
The Burial of the Guns--Thomas Nelson Page (1853-1922)
A Burlesque Biography--Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Critical reactions

In spite of its sales success, Mission Earth was lambasted by critics, receiving many negative reviews. It is frequently cited within science fiction circles as one of the worst science fiction novels of all time. The influential Encyclopedia of Science Fiction comments on the series as "one of the great embarrassments of modern science fiction." More forgiving literary critics usually cite Battlefield Earth as Hubbard's best work of the later years of his life. (i.e. better than Mission Earth, his only other later work).

The New York Times review of the first volume, The Invaders' Plan, describes it as "... a paralyzingly slow-moving adventure enlivened by interludes of kinky sex, sendups of effeminate homosexuals and a disregard of conventional grammar so global as to suggest a satire on the possibility of communication through language."[1]

In L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, a survey of Hubbard's literary career, Marco Frenschkowski of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz described the Mission Earth series:[2]

In 1991, the town of Dalton, Georgia attempted to remove the Mission Earth books from its public library, citing what was described as "repeated passages involving chronic masochism, child abuse, homosexuality, necromancy, bloody murder, and other things that are anti-social, perverted, and anti-everything." The attempt was unsuccessful, though this placed the Mission Earth series into the category of banned books that have been challenged in the United States. [2]

[edit] Sales controversy

The Mission Earth books were a major sales success, particularly the earlier volumes in the series, with all individual volumes reaching the New York Times bestseller list. The extent to which this reflects actual popularity is strongly questioned.

Best seller lists are based on books ordered by stores, not on books actually sold to customers, which is how books can premiere at number 1 on lists, as the books are ordered before they are released. This method had been demonstrated decades before by radio personality Jean Shepherd who got the wholly imaginary book I, Libertine onto the best-seller lists with the help of his radio audience (and created such demand that a novel was eventually written to match the details of Shepherd's hoax and published.) Scientologists ordered dozens of copies of Hubbard's books at every store in their area, and the resulting orders drove the books up the charts. The books were never claimed, so in the years following their publication, unprecedented quantities of remaindered Mission Earth books were delivered to second-hand and discount bookstores.

A large number of booksellers, publishing executives, and former Scientologists state that, as with other Hubbard books, the Church of Scientology engaged in a massive book-buying campaign, similar to the campaign to promote Battlefield Earth, so as to deliberately inflate sales of the series in order to promote it as a best-selling literary work. Stories of the books being sent to stores with another store's price tags circulated in the science fiction fan community [3].

In a two-year span, Hubbard logged 14 consecutive books on the New York Times list. Adam Clymer, a New York Times executive, said that, while the books have been sold in sufficient numbers to justify their bestseller status, "we don't know to whom they were sold." He said the newspaper uncovered no instances in which vast quantities of books were being sold to single individuals.

About the Lists | 100 Best Novels | 100 Best Nonfiction | Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List

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Five Best
Nobel-winning scientist Eric Kandel chooses unforgettable works on memory
By Eric Kandel

1. Ficciones By Jorge Luis Borges; 2. Memories Are Made of This By Rusiko Bourtchouladze; 3. Memory and Brain By Larry R. Squire; 4. The Seven Sins Of Memory By Daniel L. Schacter; 5. Memory From A to Z By Yadin Dudai

This was a very interesting, and at times quite discouraging book. The book itself is narrative and doesn't spend much time analyzing what is going on. Basically the reader is left to make their own conclusions. -Nick

Q: At this point, what hope is there of achieving democracy in Iraq, or even of stabilizing the country? How?and for how long?should the Coalition be involved?
A: The best hope of stabilizing Iraq lies with the Iraqi politicians, who are much cannier and more flexible than we acknowledge, and of course have a much better understanding of the limits and possibilities of local politics than any foreigner has. Shia and Sunni Arabs in Iraq have a strong sense of Iraqi national identity that they can use to avoid civil war. The Coalition?s continued presence in Iraq deters politicians from making the necessary compromises with their opponents, since they rely on us to bail them out. Despite our best intentions, the Coalition often interferes in politics because we do not approve of a candidate?s human rights record or attitude toward us. We invaded talking about democracy; we should, therefore, respect the results of elections, empower local politicians, and allow them to make compromises. This will probably create an Iraq that is more Islamist, less humane, and less progressive than the Coalition would like, but it is the best chance we have. I don?t believe that our presence is improving the situation. There is very little that the Coalition is achieving or is able to achieve in Iraq?and we need to empower Iraqi politicians to discover the solutions that we have failed to find.