The ​Murders in the Rue Morgue

Edgar Allan Poe - Spirits ​of the Dead
A ​unique one volume collection of all Poe's best tales and poems. Full of variety, entries include The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, The Purloined Letter - three classic detective stories - plus The Raven, one of his greatest poems. A wonderful selection of tales and poems that are representative of every genre written by Poe, from the macabre and horrifying to the humorous and purely descriptive.

Edgar Allan Poe - Selected ​Tales
Since ​their first publication in the 1830s and 1840s, Edgar Allan Poe's extraordinary Gothic tales have established themselves as classics of horror fiction and have also created many of the conventions which still dominate the genre of detective fiction. As well as being highly enjoyable, Poe's tales are works of very real intellectual exploration. Attentive to the historical and political dimensions of these very American tales, this new selection places the most popular - 'The Fall of the House of Usher', 'The Masque of the Red Death', 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' and 'The Purloined Letter' - alongside less well-known travel narratives, metaphysical essays and political satires.

Jessica Fellowes - The ​World of Downton Abbey
The ​official companion to series 1 and 2. Downton Abbey portrays a world of elegance and decadence, a world of duty and obedience and a world of romance and rivalry: this companion book, full of rich historical detail, takes fans deeper into that period than ever before. Step inside one of the most beautiful houses in Britain, past Carson the butler at the front door and into the grand hallway. Catch a glimpse of the family having drinks in the drawing room before dinner, dressed in their evening finery, whilst Lord Grantham finishes writing a letter in his study. Then climb the grand sweeping staircase to the maze of rooms upstairs and peak through Lady Mary's open door to see Anna, her maid, tidying scent bottles and jewellery on the ornate dressing table. Follow Anna down the servants' stairs and into the kitchens to watch Mrs Patmore frantically preparing dinner. Mrs Hughes keeps a watchful eye from her study and the world of Downton comes alive before you. Experience the inner workings of the downstairs life and be dazzled by the glamour of upstairs life with profiles of all the major characters, interviews with the actors, behind the scenes insights and in-depth information on costumes and props.

William Golding - Lord ​of the Flies
Synopsis The ​story that never grows old... Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse,Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic. And now readers can own it in a beautifully designed hardcover edition worthy of its stature. This Christmas' meaningful gift, the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Lord of the Flies is the volume that every fan of this classic book will have to own.

Colin Brake - Doctor ​Who: Judgement of the Judoon
Elvis ​the King Spaceport has grown into the sprawling city-state of New Memphis - an urban jungle, where organized crime is rife. But the launch of the new Terminal 13 hasn't been as smooth as expected. And things are about to get worse When the Doctor arrives, he finds the whole terminal locked down The notorious Invisible Assassin is at work again, and the Judoon troopers sent to catch him will stop at nothing to complete their mission. With the assassin loose on the mean streets of New Memphis, the Doctor is forced into a strange alliance. Together with teenage private-eye Nikki and a ruthless Judoon Commander, the Doctor soon discovers that things are even more complicated - and dangerous - than he first thought

Herman Melville - Bartleby, ​the Scrivener
By ​the American novelist, essayist and poet, widely esteemed as one of the most important figures in American literature and best remembered today for his masterpiece Moby-Dick (1851). His short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" (1853) is among his most important pieces, and has been considered a precursor to Existentialist and Absurdist literature. It tells the story of a quiet, hardworking legal copyist who works in an office in the Wall Street area of New York City. One day Bartleby declines the assignment his employer gives him with the inscrutable "I would prefer not." The utterance of this remark sets off a confounding set of actions and behavior, making the unsettling character of Bartleby one of Melville's most enigmatic and unforgettable creations. _"I prefer not to," he respectfully and slowly said, and mildly disappeared._ Academics hail it as the beginning of modernism, but to readers around the world—even those daunted by Moby-Dick—Bartleby the Scrivener is simply one of the most absorbing and moving novellas ever. Set in the mid-19th century on New York City’s Wall Street, it was also, perhaps, Herman Melville's most prescient story: what if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce finally just said, "I would prefer not to"? The tale is one of the final works of fiction published by Melville before, slipping into despair over the continuing critical dismissal of his work after Moby-Dick, he abandoned publishing fiction. The work is presented here exactly as it was originally published in Putnam's magazine—to, sadly, critical disdain.

Amy Tan - The ​Kitchen God's Wife
Pearl ​Louie Brandt has a terrible secret which she tries desperately to keep from her mother, Winne Louie. And Winnie has long kept her own secrets - about her past and the confusing circumstances of Pearl's birth. Fate intervenes in the form of Helen Kwong, Winnie's so-called sister-in-law, who believes she is dying and must unburden herself of all falsehoods before she flies off to heaven. But, unfortunately, the truth comes in many guises, depending on who is telling the tale! Thus begins a story that takes us back to Shanghai in the 1920s, through World War II, and the harrowing events that led to Winnie's arrival in America in 1949. The story is one of innocence and its loss, tragedy and survival and, most of all, the enduring qualities of hope, love and friendship.

José Saramago - The ​Cave
Cipriano ​Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marçal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops, apartments, and offices to which Cipriano delivers his pots and jugs every month. On one such trip, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds, and Cipriano and Marta set to work-until the order is cancelled and the three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their apartment, Cipriano and Marçal investigate, and what they find transforms the family's life. Filled with the depth, humor, and the extraordinary philosophical richness that marks each of Saramago's novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.

James Joyce - Stephen ​Hero (angol)
Stephen ​Hero is the original draft of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which was thrown into the fire by Joyce after a domestic argument. His sister Eileen rescued most of it and the fragment was later bought for the Library of Harvard University. The draft is extremely valuable to all readers, especially students of James Joyce. It differs considerably from the final published version, and includes characters and incidents which were later cut for the sake of compression. The edition published was carefully edited with footnotes and prepared for press by Dr Theodore Spencer in such a way as to show Joyce's queries, deletions and alternative ideas, but in this country it was printed during wartime and a few literal errors of transcription passed unnoticed. The text has now been carefully collated and the mistakes corrected. After the war a further fragment of the original manuscript came to light, and was added to this edition with an explanatory note and a foreword. Stephen Hero is a remarkable literary work in its own right as well as being an important insight into the workings of Joyce's mind, for it not only throws light on the great artist's development as a writer but also presents a wonderfuly convincing transcript of life.

Paul Auster - In ​the Country of Last Things
Here ​is the story of Anna Blume, a woman who has come to an unnamed city in search of her brother. Her notebook recounts her quest in this cruel modern landscape, and through her anguished narrative, Auster presents a frightening vision of the future.

Frédéric Mistral - The ​Memoirs of Frédéric Mistral
Frederic ​Mistral was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904- and he gave the prize money to a folklore museum he had founded in Arles. Two years later at age 27 he published MEMOIRS - which was a recollection of the life of ordinary country people in his early years, filled with delightful tales, folksongs and poetry. This illustrated edition includes the original texts of Provencal songs and verse with the author, Professor George Wickes, English versions printed 'en face'.

Michael Palin - Hemingway's ​Chair
Martin ​Sproale is an assistant postmaster obsessed with Ernest Hemingway. Martin lives in a small English village, where he studies his hero and putters about harmlessly--until an ambitious outsider, Nick Marshall, is appointed postmaster instead of Martin. Slick and self-assured, Nick steals Martin's girlfriend and decides to modernize the friendly local office by firing dedicated but elderly employees and privatizing the business. Suddenly, gentle Martin is faced with a choice: meedly accept defeat as he always has, or fight for what he believes in, as his hero, Hemingway, would. Filled with Michael Palin's trademark wit and good humor, this novel is for anyone who has ever dreamed of triumphing over the technocrats and backstabbers of the world. Hilarious, touching, and ultimately inspirational, _Hemingway's Chair_ will make readers stand up and cheer.

Mindy Kaling - Is ​Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Mindy ​Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly! In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

William Golding - Rites ​of Passage
In ​the cabin of an ancient, stinking warship bound for Australia, a man writes a journal to entertain his godfather back in England. With wit and disdain he records mounting tensions on board, as an obsequious clergyman attracts the animosity of the tyrannical captain and surly crew.

Edna O'Brien - James ​Joyce
One ​of Ireland's greatest contemporary writers turns her attention to one of the country's greatest novelists from the past. Edna O'Brien depicts James Joyce as a man hammered by Church, State and family, yet from such adversities he wrote works "to bestir the hearts of men and angels". The journey begins with Joyce the arrogant youth, his lofty courtship of Nora Barnacle, their hectic sexuality, children, wanderings, debt and profligacy, and Joyce's obsession with the city of Dublin, which he would re-render through his words. Nor does Edna O'Brien spare us the anger and isolation of Joyce's later years, when he felt that the world had turned its back on him, and she asks how could it be otherwise for a man who knew that conflict is the source of all creation.

Meat Loaf - David Dalton - To ​Hell and Back: an Autobiography
Meat ​Loaf's bizarre and spectacular life story is scarcely credible. After surviving an abusive childhood, during which he was almost murdered by his alcoholic father, he starred in one of the biggest stage and film musicals ever, then went on to record the third best-selling album of all time. To Hell and Back is the story of a man who ran away from a cruel home life at 17 and starred in the legendary Rocky Horror Picture Show before turning to rock-'n'roll. His first album, Bat Out Of Hell, was considered so uncommercial by his first record label that they dropped him - only for it to go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide. He then spent the Eighties on the skids, with a severe drink and drugs problem and mounting money problems leading him to a nervous breakdown, before making a triumphant comeback with 1993's album Bat Out Of Hell II and colossal hit single 'I'd Do Anything For Love'. This is an extraordinary story and a classic rock autobiography.

David Storey - Saville ​(angol)
Set ​in South Yorkshire, against the background of war, this is the story of Colin's struggle to come to terms with his family - his mercurial, ambitious father, his deep-feeling, long-suffering mother - and to escape the stifling heritage of the raw mining community into which he was born. This book won the 1976 Booker Prize.

Stephen Davis - Walk ​This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith
Hang ​on, it's a hell of a ride! From the band that lived by the motto "Anything worth doing was worth overdoing" -- Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, and Joey Kramer -- comes a quarter century of rock godhood: the life, the music, the truth, the hell, the lost years, and the raunchy, unsafe sex. And, of course, the drugs. But after crashing in a suffocating cloud of cocaine, crystal meth, and heroin, Aerosmith rose up from the ashes to become clean and sober -- and reclaim their rightful title as World Champion Rockers. Learn how they did it in a book that is pure Aerosmith unbound: where they came from, what they are now, and what they will always be -- a great American band.

Tennessee Williams - The ​Glass Menagerie
Set ​in St. Louis during the Depression of the 1930s, this work is a personal account of the author's family and its gradual disintegration as it succumbed to external and internal pressures. It provides the author's favoured text along with a selection of notes and commentary.

Paul Auster - Mr. ​Vertigo (angol)
Paul ​Auster's dazzling, picaresque novel is the story of one Walter Claireborne Rawley, renowned nationwide as "Walt the Wonder Boy." It is the late 1920's, the era of Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, and Al Capone, and Walt is a Saint Louis orphan rescued frm the streets by the mysterious Hungarian Master Yehudi, who teaches Walt to walk on air. The vaudeville act that results from Walt's marvelous new abiltiy takes them across a vast and vibrant country, where they meet and fall prey to sinners, thieves, and villains, from the Kansas Ku Klux Klan to the Chicago mob. Walt's rise to fame and fortune mirrors America's own coming of age, and his resilience, like that of the nation, is challenged over and over again. Mr. Vertigo is a bravura celebration of a raucous age, an ambitious and enduringly brilliant tale of trial and triumph.