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The Luck of the Dudley Grahams by Alice Calhoun Haines. Read in English by Colleen McMahon. The Luck of the Dudley Grahams is the story of the four Graham children and their recently widowed mother, trying to make ends meet by taking boarders into their somewhat eccentric home, as told by 17-year-old Elizabeth to her diary. She chronicles their struggles with the boarders, housekeeping on a very tight budget, and the adventures of her three younger siblings. If the category existed at the time, this would be more of young adult novel than a children's book, as Elizabeth has her moments of angst and worry about herself, her family, and their future. - Summary by Colleen McMahon

Murder at Bridge, by Anne Austin. Inhabitants of the small town of Hamilton joke that they are afraid of being the dummy when playing Bridge, for fear of being murdered. Meanwhile, Special Investigator Bonnie Dundee demands a re-enactment of the 'death hand' to try and find out why, and how, the victim was killed during a high society Bridge party. (Summary by Gesine)

Daughter of the Land by Gene Stratton-Porter. Read in English by Patience Charles; SaraHale; Maria de Fátima da Silva; Campbell Schelp A Daughter of the Land follows Kate Bates, one of sixteen children, as she takes the wings of morning to try for independence and the life she's been denied. She dreams of a husband, children, and a farm, yet her actions have far-reaching consequences. This is a story of love and forgiveness, a picture of the brokenness around us, and it shows how God can make all things work together for good and shed hope and light in the midst of the valley of the shadow. - Summary by Patience Charles

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, translated by Julius West. The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. The story presents themes of cultural futility — both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the futility of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects forces at work around the globe in that period. (Summary by Wikipedia)

The Metal Monster by Abraham Merritt. The Metal Monster is an Abraham Merritt fantasy novel. Dr. Goodwin is on a botanical expedition in the Himalayas. There he meets Dick Drake, the son of one of his old science acquaintances. They are witnesses of a strange aurora-like effect, but seemingly a deliberate one. As they go out to investigate, they meet Goodwin's old friends Martin and Ruth Ventnor, brother and sister scientists. The two are besieged by Persians as Darius III led when Alexander of Macedon conquered them more than two thousand years ago. The group is saved by a magnificent woman they get to know as Norhala. She commands the power of lightning and controls strange metal animate Things, living, metallic, geometric forms; an entire city of sentient cubes, globes and tetrahedrons, capable of joining together and forming colossal shapes, and wielding death rays and other armaments of destruction. They are led to a hidden valley occupied by what they name "The Metal Monster", a strange metal city occupied by the metal animate Things Norhala commands. This city is governed by what they call the Metal Emperor, assisted by the Keeper of the Cones. Ruth is slowly being converted by Norhala to become like her; her little sister. Martin, her brother, tries shooting the Metal Emperor, who retaliates with a ray blast, putting Martin in a comatose state. Closed in between the Metal Monster and the Persians, it falls to Goodwin and Drake to find a way to escape their predicament. (Wikipedia)

Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories by Mark Twain. Read by John Greenman. A collection of Twain short stories including: The Loves Of Alonzo Fitz Clarence And Rosannah Ethelton On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying About Magnanimous-Incident Literature The Grateful Poodle The Benevolent Author The Grateful Husband Punch, Brothers, Punch The Great Revolution In Pitcairn The Canvasser's Tale An Encounter With An Interviewer Paris Notes Legend Of Sagenfeld, In Germany Speech On The Babies Speech On The Weather Concerning The American Language Rogers (Summary from Project Gutenberg)

Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling. Read by Kara Shallenberg. The stories, first published in 1902, are fantastic accounts of how various natural phenomena came about. The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated with woodcuts by Kipling himself. Many of the stories are addressed to "Best Beloved" (they were first written for Kipling's eldest daughter, Josephine, who had died during an outbreak of influenza in 1899), and throughout they use a comically elevated style inspired by the formal speech of India, full of long and improbable-sounding words, some of them made up. As a result, it is a delight to read them aloud, and easy to memorise passages from them. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Roads of Destiny by O. Henry. Read in English by Scott Foster; Phil Schempf; CeeBeeVee This is another collection of O. Henry short stories. - Summary by Sid

The Merry Devil of Edmonton by William Shakespeare. Read in English. Tucker Brooke, author of The Shakespeare Apocrypha (available separately here at Librivox), notes that "The external evidence which has been collected to prove Shakespeare's authorship of The Merry Devil of Edmonton is of the most dubious kind" though it includes "the play's presence in the 'Shakespeare volume' of Charles the Second's library" Regardless of whether it is really Shakespeare, though, "Certainly the vitality of the scenes, the heartiness of the humour, and the unsurpassed delicacy in the portrayal of true love and true friendship, make The Merry Devil of Edmonton one of the most delightful of all the pseudo-Shakespearian plays to read and to re-read." - Summary by ToddHW

Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber. Read by J. M. Smallheer. Fanny Herself is the story of Fanny Brandeis, a young girl coming of age in the Midwest at the turn of the 20th century. It is generally considered to have been based on Ferber’s own experiences growing up in Appleton, Wisconsin. Regarded by many as the “greatest American woman novelist of her day,” Ferber would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize in a 1925 for her book So Big, and is also the author of Showboat and Cimarron, which along with other of her later works were successfully adapted for stage and screen. (summary by J. M. Smallheer)

"Patricia Brent, spinster", by Herbert Jenkins. Read by Anna Simon. A romantic comedy, written in 1918, but with a modern feel to it. Patricia Brent one day overhears two fellow-boarders pitying her because she "never has a nice young man to take her out". In a thoughtless moment of anger she announces that the following night she will be dining out with her fiance. When she arrives at the restaurant the next day, she finds some of the fellow-boarders there to watch her, so, rendered reckless by the thought of the humiliation of being found out, she goes up to a young man sitting alone at a table, and asks him to help her by "playing up". Countless complications and adventures ensue... (Summary by Anna Simon)

ROSE IN BLOOM, by LOUISA MAY ALCOTT. Read by Maria Therese. Opening several years after the close of "Eight Cousins", we find Rose coming home fresh from a voyage overseas, to find much changed about her. Now of a marriageable age and heiress to a fortune, Rose finds joy,sorrow, and finally love await her -- as the Rose is finally ready to bloom into a good, strong, sweet and true woman. This sequel to Eight Cousins was written by Louisa May Alcott, the author of many well beloved children's books including Little Women, An Old Fashioned Girl, Under the Lilacs and more. (Summary by Maria Therese)

Men of Iron, by Howard Pyle. Men of Iron by Howard Pyle is historical fiction that transports us back to the 1400’s, a time of knighthood and chivalry. Myles Falworth is eight years old when news comes they must flee their home. His blind father is accused of treason. We see Myles grow up, train as a knight, and with perseverance, clear his father of any wrong-doing and restore their family name. (Summary by Laura Caldwell)

Sweet Lavender by Arthur Wing Pinero. Read in English by a full cast. "Sweet Lavender" must be regarded as one of the most successful stage-plays of modern times, and there can be no question that it has proved so far the most popular of Mr. Pinero's works. Its representations may be counted by the thousand, and its popularity has extended over many latitudes. The reason of this is not far to seek: it proclaims itself in the gentle humanity and genial humour of the play. ... a sort of modern fairy tale." - Summary by Malcom C. Salaman, October 1893

Impressions of Theophrastus Such by George Eliot. Read in English by Josh Mitteldorf. Impressions of Theophrastus Such is a work of fiction by George Eliot, first published in 1879. It was Eliot's last published writing and her most experimental, taking the form of a series of literary essays by an imaginary minor scholar whose eccentric character is revealed through his work. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Life is a Dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. (Translated by Edward FitzGerald.) Read in English by a full cast. Of all Calderon's works, "Life is a Dream" may be regarded as the most universal in its theme. It seeks to teach a lesson that may be learned from the philosophers and religious thinkers of many ages—that the world of our senses is a mere shadow, and that the only reality is to be found in the invisible and eternal. The story which forms its basis is Oriental in origin, and in the form of the legend of "Barlaam and Josaphat" was familiar in all the literatures of the Middle Ages. Combined with this in the plot is the tale of Abou Hassan from the "Arabian Nights," the main situations in which are turned to farcical purposes in the Induction to the Shakespearean "Taming of the Shrew." But with Calderon the theme is lifted altogether out of the atmosphere of comedy, and is worked up with poetic sentiment and a touch of mysticism into a symbolic drama of profound and universal philosophical significance. - Summary by The Translator

The Night Operator by Frank L. Packard. Read in English by Delmar H Dolbier. A collection of ten railroad short stories: "And so these are the stories of the Hill Division and of the men who wrought upon it; the stories of those days when it was young and in the making; the stories of the days when Carleton, 'Royal' Carleton, was superintendent, when gruff, big-hearted, big-paunched Tommy Regan was master mechanic, when the grizzled, gray-streaked Harvey was division engineer, and little Doctor McTurk was the Company surgeon, and Riley was the trainmaster, and Spence was the chief despatcher; the stories of men who have done brave duty and come to honor and glory and their reward—and the stories of some who have gone into Division for the last time on orders from the Great Trainmaster, and who will never railroad any more." (Frank L. Packard)

Letters on an Elk Hunt, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Read by Lynne Carroll and Sherri Vance. This is a sequel to Letters of a Woman Homesteader in which Elinore Rupert (Pruitt) Stewart describes her arrival and early years on a Burntfork Wyoming ranch in 1909-1913. The letters are written to her elderly friend, Mrs. Coney, in Denver. In the present collection of letters, Elinore describes a lively excursion on horseback and wagon into the Wyoming wilderness during July-October 1914. Her traveling companions are her husband “Mr. Stewart,” their three oldest children, and kind-hearted, opinionated neighbor Mrs. O’Shaughnessy. Mr. Haynes (organizer of the hunt) and his friend, Mr. Struble (the cheerful big man of the party) lead the group, and are also joined by physician Dr. Teschall, “a moving-picture man” Mr. Harkrudder, Professor Glenholdt seeking “the tip-end bone of the tail of a brontosaurus” and his students (“two geological fellows” who “talk of nothing but strata and formation”). Also joining the group is Mr. Murry with his tiresome accordion. Although some hunting is accomplished on the trip, the overarching focus of Elinore’s letters is on descriptions of awe-inspiring Wyoming scenery and the interesting people she encounters. With her familiar wit and wisdom, Elinore also writes of tragedies and romances she observes during her trip -- that is, whenever Elinore’s effort to observe is not thwarted by “the good mon” Mr. Stewart. In one letter Elinore complains to Mrs. Coney that “Mr. Stewart is the queerest man: instead of letting me enjoy the tableau [the reunion of two long-lost lovers], he solemnly drove on, saying he would not want any one gawking at him if he were the happy man. Anyway, he couldn’t urge Chub [the horse] fast enough to prevent my seeing and hearing what I’ve told you.” By the time the adventurers are homeward bound with their supply of elk meat, Elinore is homesick for her youngest child, Junior, at home with his grandmother; Mrs. O’Shaughnessy has taken in two young orphans; and quiet, young Mr. Haynes complains good-naturedly about having to travel along with a rolling nursery. Elinore’s letters capture an interesting transition point in history. People traveled by horse and wagon, there were cowboys and cattle stampedes, and medical care was rustic. At the same time, automobiles and modern medicine, archeology and motion picture making were entering the scene and war was commencing in Europe. (Note to more sensitive readers: Elk hunting is described in Chapters 7 and 8.) (Summary by Lynne Carroll)

The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers. Containing many realistic details based on Childers's own sailing trips along the German North Sea coast, the book is the retelling of a yachting expedition in the early 20th century combined with an adventurous spy story. It was one of the early invasion novels which predicted war with Germany and called for British preparedness. The plot involves the uncovering of secret German preparations for an invasion of the United Kingdom. It is often called the first modern spy novel, and although others are as well, it was certainly very influential in the genre and for its time. The book enjoyed immense popularity in the years before World War I and was extremely influential. Winston Churchill later credited it as a major reason that the Admiralty decided to establish naval bases at Invergordon, the Firth of Forth and Scapa Flow. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott. Read by Elizabeth Klett. Fans of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women will remember that her heroine Jo wrote racy novels before turning her hand to more "serious" literature. Alcott, writing under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard, often did the same, and Behind a Mask (1866) is one of her sensation novels. It focuses on Jean Muir, who enters the home of the wealthy Coventry family as governess to their sixteen-year-old daughter. But is the beguiling Miss Muir all that she seems to be? (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett)

Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill. Eugene O'Neill's drama Anna Christie was first produced on Broadway in 1921 and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1922. It focuses on three main characters: Chris Christopherson, a Swedish captain of a coal barge and longtime seaman, his daughter Anna, who has grown up separated from her father on a Minnesota farm, and Mat Burke, an Irish stoker who works on steamships. At the beginning of the play Chris and Anna are reunited after fifteen years apart. Anna comes to live on her father's coal barge, but hides the secret of her past from him. When she meets Mat after an accident in the fog, they almost immediately fall in love - but Anna finds that forging a new future will not be easy. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

Ben Pepper by Margaret Sidney. Read in English by Rachel; Stacey Chambers; Lynne T; Kathleen Moore; Teresa Bauman; Christine Lehman; KHand; Rob Kaye; Twinkle; Linda Andrus This book is about Ben Pepper on some adventures! From The Five Little Peppers to Joel Pepper to now Ben Pepper, you'll know everything about the Pepper family. - Summary by Elijah Fisher

Henry Ford's Own Story, by Rose Wilder Lane. Read by Lee Ann Howlett. Rose Wilder Lane was a newspaper reporter, free-lance writer, political activist, and the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House" series of popular children's books. In this biography of Henry Ford, Ms. Lane worked directly with Ford to tell his story from his birth to his founding of the Ford Motor Company and his use of modern assembly lines to mass produce his cars.

Agatha Webb by Anna Katharine Green. A universally beloved woman has been murdered. But who would have the heart to kill Agatha Webb? Would her husband do it for money matters? Or would it be the cook, who died at about the same time? Or would it be the rich and well-connected Mr. Frederick, who ran away into the woods? Miss Page, a servant and the sweetheart of the same Mr. Frederick, wants to join the investigation, but is constantly prevented from doing so. (summary by Stav Nisser)

The Story of a Whim by Grace Livingston Hill. Read in English by LikeManyWaters A group of girls send gifts and letters to one whom they think to be a young woman like them. "Christie" is really a poor young bachelor tending his orange grove in sunny Florida. Through his correspondence with Hazel (who still thinks he's a girl) he becomes a Christian, and falls in love with her. What will happen when she takes a trip south to meet her dear pen-pal? - Summary by LikeManyWaters