Domain Books

As with the first book by Stephen Calder, this book doesn't follow the TV series canon precisely, but it's still an engaging story that's hard to put down. I highly recommend it to Bonanza fans.

Johnson's view of language and a dictionary is definitely worth the time to read. His entertaning use of English and curmudgeonly attitude make this all worthwhile, even if he is occasionly mistaken in some detail.

This short collection is guaranteed to make you feel eerie in those cold, dark nights when you stayed home alone to read. But then again how else to savor these stories? Here is a pointer. Get your hands on a copy of this book sometime around mid-day Friday. Blow off your friends for the night and go straight home. Wait until the daylight is just a memory and then sit with this book on your favorite old chair, preferably near a window, and delve into it with only the nightstand light on. Take time reading each page, relish each word, don't pay attention to the creepy scratching on you window, or the squeaking in the other rooms, it's all just in your mind. Whether you'll remember about the serial murders in the book, or the ghostly apparitions- it won't matter. What'll matter is how you experience reading about them...give it a try, be brave...

-by Simon Cleveland

Kutler's book provides a very interesting look at the Charles River Bridge case, a monumental period in American Law that at once signaled the development of modern corporate law and showed the beginnings of modernity in American jurisprudence. Kutler takes a thorough look at not only the legal but also the social aspects of the case, without being overly dry or scholarly.

The Little Known Favorite: The Prophecy
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"Hear of how drought was replaced by storm. Hear of how revolt grew in the heart of the land, and of how a new king came to Egypt in secret and in silence, bringing new spirit to the struggle against the Hai. Hear of how darkness came to the lands of Egypt, just before the healing rays of dawn." This dramatic quote captures the spirit of The Prophecy by Peter Danielson, a fast paced and intriguing novel sure to interest those with a sense of adventure and heroism. Danielson uses many aspects of the book to build a complex and captivating story, and is sure to keep the reader interested the whole way through.
The book, as its title suggests, is based on a prophecy that the Egyptian king's exiled son will come back to rule Egypt. His son does in fact return, and begins to battle his father's army with the men of a neighboring country. Most of the book is devoted to tracing the movements of Kamose, the king's ostracized son, but many sub plots also occur throughout the novel, introducing a wide variety of characters. Many love stories also weave their way through the book, and action sequences are very common throughout the story. These aspects are all perfectly intertwined to make it flow and always stay interesting, but these alone don't make the book what it is. The author also uses many aspects of literature to make it exciting.
One such aspect is the setting of the book, which takes place in Egypt around 1,000 BC. The book is historical fiction, which adds to the realistic feel of the book. The setting is described in detail, describing huge underground rivers in the middle of the desert and the slow curves of the Nile as if he had just been there and captured every aspect of it. He describes a small desert oasis as "a deep hole full of greenery that the delta would be proud of." By using such descriptive details, Danielson is able to put the reader in ancient Egypt.
The author also uses characterization to develop the story, describing the people so well that one feels they just met them. In describing the main character, Danielson directly characterizes him as a very formidable man. He's described as being "heavier than he looked, and the muscled body under the chilled skin was hard and compact." Danielson characterizes one of the many antagonists as "hard eyed, cold hearted," showing with minimal words the kind of person he is. These are just a few of the many descriptions of the characters, but it is not hard to see why the author's descriptive characterization plays a big part in the story.
The plot, one of the most important aspects of the story, shows the complexity of the book. It has many sub plots, including a few love stories, which adds to the appeal of this novel and makes it a great example of a book for different kinds of people. Action fans will love all of the battle sections, from one-on-one combat to battles between thousands of soldiers. Romantics will revel in the numerous love sub plots, and people just looking for a well-written book will find exactly what they're looking for.
On top of all this, the author's writing style is impeccable. Danielson uses lots of dialogue throughout the book, and uses it to characterize the people and describe the events all the way through the story. Even though the dialogue isn't exactly realistic, Danielson does a great job of using it to keep the book flowing. He also varies his sentence structure and uses words that vividly portray the events and daily life of the ancient Egyptians. His use of characterization and his style in general make this book a first class read.
"Hear... of the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy." This quote says it all. Read it! Read of the fulfillment of the prophecy, and be captivated by the unique style and setup of the book. It's a top-notch novel that deserves a chance, and with all the different types of events going on, there's something there for everybody!

Before introducing you to Queechy, let me introduce you to its author, one of my absolute favorites, Susan Warner (pseudonym Elizabeth Wetherell). She was the sister of Anna Warner, who wrote the infamous hymn "Jesus Loves Me." That hymn originally appeared as a poem in one of Susan's books, eventually gaining worldwide fame. Susan's first novel, The Wide, Wide World, was published in 1850 and was one of the most popular early American novels. Queechy was Miss Warner's second novel, and one of her longest.

Queechy is a deeply satisfying read, for one who is willing to absorb a long and detailed story instead of a whirlwind novel. It is the story of Fleda Ringaan, a young orphan who is faced with a string of joys and sorrows as she comes of age. It is a love story, but one that is much more subtly - and thus more richly - told than what we are used to today. The storytelling is intricate, full of deeply felt emotion, powerful imagery, and wry humor. Warner had an Austen-like insight into the quirks of human nature, and this often makes its way into the story as well. It is undeniably an example of "sentimental" literature, and it moves slowly and focuses on characters and dialogue rather than events.

Christianity is the hallmark of the book. As one who enjoys reading contemporary Christian fiction and seeing how authors integrate faith with their storytelling, I find Warner's approach stirring, ennobling, and beautiful. Faith and religion are explicit, but not forced. They are such essential aspects of the story that they cannot help but make themselves plain. And they are moving, insightful, and built on Warner's excellent theology and tender love for the Lord.

A surface reading of Queechy's heroine may lead one to believe she is only a precursor of the dubiously well-behaved Elsie Dinsmore (who is still dear to my heart in spite of her perfections). But a deeper understanding of the text reveals a heroine who is flawed, and who is resting on grace alone for her forgiveness. The purity of remaining "unspotted from the world," which is mentioned so often in the book, is not sinlessness, but innocence of knowledge and intention about the morally bankrupt ways of culture. This is the spotlessness which Fleda's friends desire for her.

A certain sense of class superiority also pervades the story. Without an understanding of nineteenth-century culture, a modern reader may be confused or put off by this. Yet taking into account the feelings and ideas of the day, in both English and American culture, the Christian characters in the novel make significant efforts toward understanding how they fit into society and how they can interact with those who are not their equals in station, intelligence, or education. Some of their ideas are outdated now, but if understood properly, they do not detract from the story's strength.

Yet another aspect that may concern modern readers is the serious nature of the novel. I can imagine it being labeled melodramatic and melancholy. Ironically, this serious tone is mentioned many times in the story itself - the contrast between the ways of the lighthearted, cheerful world, and the very sobering and serious life that Fleda is living. There are so many lessons to be learned from Queechy about what joy really looks like.

This novel is full of passages that I want to frame on my wall. It is full of Christ's beauty and goodness, full of the knowledge that He is everything and the world and all its pleasures are passing away, full of the knowledge that life is only brightened by the wonder of His love, and that suffering is worthwhile when one is doing what is right. Rather than investing your time in reading yet another Jane Austen novel, try picking up Queechy, and immersing yourself in the timelessness of a story of grace and hope.

An adventure story of nine year old Polly and one of her many personas. Written in a time before political correctness, it may still be good reading for pre-adolescent children. Although some of the words are more advanced than I would think appropriate, this book would make a decent work for an early reader or as a bedtime story, short enough for one session but involved enough for children that have graduated beyond Hop On Pop and Go Dog Go, yet are not quite ready for lengthier stories like Dr. Doolittle and Stewart Little. P-)

I wouldn't have liked this book as much if I didn't live in Kayenta. It is the author's description of Red Lake, Kayenta, and Tsegi among others that makes this book so interesting. My Doctor told me about it, I bought it and have been passing it around to other people in town. Sorry Amazon. Sometimes the story drags a bit but that is Zane Grey. Sometimes his treatement of the Navajo is a bit stereotyped. Come to the four corners, stay awhile. Hike among the canyons and mesas. Get to know the people. Than read the book. You'll get much more out of it. There's an isolated cliff dwelling out here (somewhere near Tsegi Canyon, no more hints) where Zane Grey carved his name into the sandstone. He writes a pretty good description of the area and its people.

For his 37th work of fiction, H. Rider Haggard, the so-called "father of the lost-race novel" and an expert at writing historical adventure tales as well, decided to go back to the Dark Ages. "Red Eve," which Haggard wrote in a six-month period from 1908-1909, was ultimately published in 1911, and turns out to be yet another winner from this wonderful storyteller. In it, we meet Hugh de Cressi, a merchant's son who is in love with "Red Eve" Clavering, a high-born cousin of his, in the year 1346. Eve is in love with him, too, but is being wooed by the traitorous knight Sir Edmund Acour. When Acour realizes that he can't win the affections of his intended in the traditional manner, he slips her a love philtre and weds her while she is doped up. It will now take an act of papal intervention to annul this marriage, and before that can happen, Hugh and his squire, the death-faced Gray Dick, get called by King Edward III to perform many acts of service. Thus, they travel around Europe and, like a pair of medieval Forrest Gumps, are witness to some of the key historical events of the 14th century. They are present at the Battle of Crecy, arrive in Venice just in time for the great earthquake of 1347, witness firsthand the ravages of the Black Death, and go to the papal city of Avignon to seek an audience with Pope Clement. But this isn't just an historical adventure novel. Haggard loved injecting otherworldly fantasy elements into even his most realistic fictions, and in "Red Eve," the plague, and death itself, are personified in a character named Murgh, who we first meet in Cathay and later in Venice, just as the Black Death commences. A quite imposing personage, Murgh delivers some very interesting disquisitions on the nature of death and dying, which could be boiled down to the Blue Oyster Cult mantra "don't fear the reaper." But "Red Eve" features some other very interesting characters as well, most notably Gray Dick, another in a long line of fascinating Haggardian sidekicks, this one having almost supernatural abilities with the longbow; and Sir Andrew Arnold, Hugh's godfather and one of the original Knights Templar, deadly with a blade and yet almost saintlike in demeanor. Besides the historical tableaux that Haggard leads us through, we are also treated to an archery contest, a jousting match, numerous duels to the death, some tender love scenes and at least two huge battles. Haggard has been accused (unfairly, I feel) of occasional anti-Semitic references in his works (most notably the characterization of Jacob Meyer in "The Spirit of Bambatse"), but in "Red Eve," not only are the Jews of Avignon shown in an heroic light, but Gray Dick delivers some telling commentary on the foolishness of holding all Jews to blame for a crime that was committed over a thousand years ago that brought about "the salvation of mankind." "Red Eve" is not a perfect book--some words are spoken that weren't in use in 1346; "angel coins" are seen trading hands, although they didn't come into being until 1465--but it is still a remarkably entertaining page turner. Those readers seeking a red-blooded historical adventure with a dash of the otherworldly thrown in will not find a book much better than this one. And the Hodder & Stoughton edition that I just read, dating back at least 80 years or so, has several full-color plates that only add to the pleasure.

I had a free version of this eBook for the Kindle but it had issues with the Table of Contents (making several hundred locations a link in the TOC as far as I could tell - but making it very difficult to know where to start reading and made me concerned about potential other problems with that version) so I decided I would spring for an official Amazon Kindle Version. There were three versions available, one version coupled with a second book called The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux. This "Public Domain" version of just the Red House Mystery and a more expensive digireads version. Since I already had a copy of Mystery of the Yellow Room I went with the digireads higher priced version.

Shortly after beginning to read the digireads version of this book I notice that many places in the book where characters were speaking that there were no quotation marks. In some places this made reading the book very difficult, trying to determine who was speaking or if it was the writer describing something.

I thought perhaps A.A. Milne actually might not have employed quotation marks when he wrote this book but having read several of his other books I did not think this would be the case just because this was a Mystery book.

So I bought this cheaper "Public Domain" Kindle version since there was no sample available and ta-dah the quote marks were there.

There is no Table of Contents in that version though. But I decided I could live without the TOC but not without the quote marks so kept this version and am about 1/3 of the way through it.

The writing is typical Milne style and I am really enjoying the "locked room" mystery written early last century and need to go back to find out whodidit.