UK - England

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

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In the twentieth-century literature of the supernatural, the single most important book, in the opinion of most scholars and enthusiasts, is Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by M.R. James.

First printed in 1904, it is the landmark book that established the modern horror story. It has been reprinted more times than any other book in this field, and it contains several of the best ghost stories in the English language.

The antiquary here is M. R. James, Provost of Eton, one of the most formidable scholars that England has ever produced, who has drawn upon an unmatched knowledge of the hidden byways of the past to form a series of inimitable stories.

“These are stories meant to be read aloud at night, preferably by candlelight, when the shadows in the corners of our rooms could be hiding horrors. M. R. James has a well-deserved reputation for terrifying his readers. Most of his ghosts are only sketchily described, often only seen in brief glimpses, out of the corners of our eyes, yet the stories are more terrifying than any ‘slasher’-type horror movies. No one has ever told a better ghost story.” —Classic Mysteries

(A special thank you to book club member, Christine Jensen for the suggestion.)

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Hallowe'en Party

At a Hallowe’en party, Joyce – a hostile thirteen-year-old – boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.

That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the ‘evil presence’. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer. And was it even true that she once witnessed a murder? Unmasking a murderer isn't going to be easy for Hercule Poirot—there isn't a soul in Woodleigh who believes this little storyteller was even murdered.

Hallowe'en Party is the 36th book in the Poirot series of detective novels, however, they do not need to be read in order.

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages.

(A special thank you to book club member, Julie Griffin for the suggestion.)

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

"'Compulsively readable. ... Simon Armitage has given us an energetic, free-flowing, high-spirited version.' —Edward Hirsch, New York Times Book Review

One of the earliest great stories of English literature after BeowulfSir Gawain is the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts King Arthur's Round Table festivities one Yuletide, challenging the knights to a wager. Simon Armitrage, one of Britain's leading poets, has produced an inventive and groundbreaking translation that helps liberate Gawain from academia."

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All Creatures Great and Small

Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.

Generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are some are lighthearted and fun, some are heart-wrenchingly difficult, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest farms to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.

“This warm, joyous and often hilarious first-person chronicle of a young animal doctor . . . shines with love of life. All Creatures Great and Small may well be the happiest book of the year.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Absolutely super, a rarity, magnificently written, insightful, unforgettable.” —Houston Chronicle

“One of the funniest and most likeable books around.” —The Atlantic Monthly

“Refreshingly original . . . as close to a novel as a chronicle of memoirs could be . . . hilarious, touching, athletic and warming.” —Los Angeles Times

“What the world needs now, and does every so often, is a warm, G-rated, down-home, unadrenalized prize of a book that sneaks onto the bestseller lists . . . James Herriot's memoirs qualify admirably.” —Time

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Beowulf

"Beowulf is to English what the Odyssey is to Greek literature. Beowulf is also the oldest example of vernacular literature of any substance in the whole of Western Europe. Since its rediscovery and the appearance of the first printed editions in the middle of the last century, this moving and dramatic epic has attracted considerable scholarly attention, and Dr Swanton is able to draw on this wealth of scholarship to present a considered and balanced introduction to the poem. Explanatory notes, drawing on archaeological sources, expand the poet's more esoteric allusions and offer background information on contemporary manners and customs. A prose translation faces the text, which should be invaluable to both students and the general reader."

Note: We recommend this particular translation which is considered the best.

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Through the Looking Glass

"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one can't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'

The 1872 sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland finds Carroll's inquisitive heroine in a fantastic land where everything is reversed. Alice encounters talking flowers, madcap kings and queens, and becomes a pawn in a bizarre chess game involving Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and other amusing nursery-rhyme characters."

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