Special Collections

The Great American Read

Description: A new PBS series hosted by Meredith Viera that celebrates the power of reading, told through the America’s 100 best-loved novels (chosen by the public). The finale will end with a nationwide vote to choose America’s best-loved book. #general #adults


Showing 1 through 25 of 100 results

The Mind Invaders

by Dave Hunt

"We've been watching your development--we're here to help you take the next step. Open up. There's nothing to fear".

Discovering the CIA and Russian Intelligence's battle for psychic control, famed journalist Carla Bertelli plunges into a search for the truth behind the communications that becomes a desperate race against time.

Spine-tingling action follows an incredible breakthrough in mind research.

Date Added: 06/20/2018


Foundation

by Isaac Asimov

The first novel in Isaac Asimov&’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation seriesTHE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION • Nominated as one of America&’s best-loved novels by PBS&’s The Great American Read For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.  The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Siddhartha

by Hermann Hesse

This allegorical novel, set in sixth-century India around the time of the Buddha, follows a young man on his search for enlightenment. THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to guide the reader's own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Wuthering Heights

by Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë's only published novel, Wuthering Heights made its debut in 1847. Wuthering Heights is a tale of a passionate but jealous love affair between the mysterious Heathcliff and free-spirited Catherine Earnshaw. Far from a traditional romance, the novel does not shy away from portraying the destructiveness and resentment that can arise from love.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


White Teeth

by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith's dazzling debut caught critics grasping for comparisons and deciding on everyone from Charles Dickens to Salman Rushdie to John Irving and Martin Amis. But the truth is that Zadie Smith's voice is remarkably, fluently, and altogether wonderfully her own.

At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England's irrevocable transformation.

A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn't quite match her name (Jamaican for "no problem"). Samad's late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal's every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith.

Set against London's racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Where the Red Fern Grows

by Wilson Rawls

A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country.

Old Dan had the brawn.

Little Ann had the brains, and Billy had the will to make them into the finest hunting team in the valley.

Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too.

Where the Red Fern Grows is an exciting tale of love and adventure you'll never forget.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


The Complete Wheel of Time

by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The Wheel of Time®, Robert Jordan's internationally bestselling fantasy series, has captured the imaginations of millions of readers worldwide.

This ebook contains the full text of the fourteen books of The Wheel of Time, plus the prequel novel New Spring.By Robert Jordan
The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight
A Memory of Light

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Watchers

by Dean Koontz

From a top secret government laboratory come two genetically altered life forms. One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence. The other, a hybrid monster of a brutally violent nature. And both are on the loose...Bestselling author Dean Koontz presents his most terrifying, dramatic and moving novel: The explosive story of a man and a woman, caught in a relentless storm of mankind's darkest creation...

Date Added: 05/17/2018


War and Peace

by Leo Tolstoy

The Napoleonic era in Imperial Russia is seen through the eyes of the Bolkonsky, Rostov, Bezukhov, Kuragin, and Drubetskoy families in Leo Tolstoy's literary masterpiece.

As Napoleon's troops close in, talk of the impending invasion consumes Saint Petersburg society. As the city's aristocratic families declare their allegiances, they find their fortunes and futures profoundly impacted by their chosen alliances—be them to the conquering army or to the imperial family.

Be it mystery, romance, drama, comedy, politics, or history, great literature stands the test of time.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer

Fall in love with the addictive, suspenseful love story between a teenage girl and a vampire with the book that sparked a "literary phenomenon" and redefined romance for a generation (New York Times).Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn.Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger.Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.It's here! #1 bestselling author Stephenie Meyer makes a triumphant return to the world of Twilight with the highly anticipated companion, Midnight Sun: the iconic love story of Bella and Edward told from the vampire's point of view."People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there." -- Time"A literary phenomenon." -- The New York Times

Date Added: 05/17/2018


To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Harper Lee's Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep south--and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred, available now for the first time as an e-book.

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country.

A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father-a crusading local lawyer-risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


This Present Darkness

by Frank Peretti

The small town of Ashton is the unexpected setting for an epic clash between good and evil as a Christian preacher and a news reporter unearth a plot to take over their small community, and eventually the world.

Unseen supernatural forces are at play, as armies of angels and demons wage battle, with groups of Christians and New Agers influencing what they cannot see by the power of prayer.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

THINGS FALL APART tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a "strong man" of an Ibo village in Nigeria.

The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society.

The second story, which is as modern as the first is ancient, and which elevates the book to a tragic plane, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world through the arrival of aggressive, proselytizing European missionaries.

These twin dramas are perfectly harmonized, and they are modulated by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul.

THINGS FALL APART is the most illuminating and permanent monument we have to the modern African experience as seen from within.

[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 9-10 at http://www.corestandards.org.]

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

Janie is an independent African American woman who grows up with a grandmother who is determined to keep her from the sexual and racial violence of her own past.

Janie's first marriage is filled with hard labor, so she runs off with Joe, a handsome and wealthy storekeeper.

Joe becomes mayor of the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida, but Janie is still unfulfilled by her new relationship.

After Joe's death, she lives with another man who brings passion into her world, if not stability.

Soon tragedy strikes and Janie learns to face it head-on with optimism and strength.

[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 11-12 at http://www.corestandards.org.]

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Tales of the City

by Armistead Maupin

For more than three decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture-from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world.

The first of six novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Swan Song

by Robert McCammon

New York Times Bestseller: A young girl&’s visions offer the last hope in a postapocalyptic wasteland in this &“grand and disturbing adventure&” (Dean Koontz).A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick   Swan is a nine-year-old Kansas girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America.   In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho&’s Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors.   Swan&’s visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It&’s a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it&’s hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind.   A winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Swan Song has become a modern classic, called &“a chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end&” by John Saul and &“a long, satisfying look at hell and salvation&” by Publishers Weekly.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


The Sun Also Rises

by Ernest Hemingway

This new edition of The Sun Also Rises celebrates the art and craft of Hemingway's quintessential story of the Lost Generation--presented by the Hemingway family with illuminating supplementary material from the Hemingway Collection at the John F. Kennedy Library.

The Sun Also Rises is a classic example of Hemingway's spare but powerful writing style.

A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley.

The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates.

It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions.

First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises is "an absorbing, beautifully and tenderly absurd, heartbreaking narrative...a truly gripping story, told in lean, hard, athletic prose" (The New York Times).

This new Hemingway Library Edition celebrates Hemingway's classic novel with a personal foreword by Patrick Hemingway, the author's sole surviving son, and a new introduction by Sean Hemingway, grandson of the author.

Hemingway considered the extensive rewriting that he did to shape his first novel the most difficult job of his life.

Early drafts, deleted passages, and possible titles included in this new edition elucidate how the author achieved his first great literary masterpiece.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


The Stand

by Stephen King

Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting and eerily plausible as when it was first published.

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world's population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader.

Two emerge--Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious "Dark Man," who delights in chaos and violence.

As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them--and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


The Sirens of Titan

by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The Sirens of Titan is an outrageous romp through space, time, and morality. The richest, most depraved man on Earth, Malachi Constant, is offered a chance to take a space journey to distant worlds with a beautiful woman at his side. Of course there’s a catch to the invitation–and a prophetic vision about the purpose of human life that only Vonnegut has the courage to tell.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


The Shack

by William P. Young

Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.

Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.

A New York Times Bestseller

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Rebecca

by Daphne Du Maurier

A novel of mystery and passion, a dark psychological tale of secrets and betrayal, dead loves and an estate called Manderley that is as much a presence as the humans who inhabit it.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS.

Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A New York Times Bestseller

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters need husbands, according to their mother. When Mr. Bingley, a handsome, wealthy bachelor, moves in nearby and his equally suitable friends come for visits, Mrs. Bennet's hope soars.

Yet Elizabeth finds one of the friends, Mr. Darcy, arrogant and conceited, and her opinion of him worsens when she discovers he has thwarted the relationship between Mr. Bingley and her sister Jane.

Romance, heartbreak, and satire weave throughout the story to show the dangers of judging by first impressions and being too prideful to follow one's heart.

This is an unabridged version of Jane Austen's delightful comedy, which was first published in 1813 and has remained a popular English novel for more than 200 years.

Date Added: 05/17/2018


The Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett

A departure for the bestselling thriller writer, the historical epic stunned readers and critics alike with its ambitious scope and gripping humanity. Today, it stands as a testament to Follett’s unassailable command of the written word and to his universal appeal.

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother.

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.

#1 New York Times Bestseller

Oprah's Book Club Selection

Date Added: 05/17/2018


Pilgrim's Progress

by John Bunyan

Here is one of the most influential Christian allegorical stories ever written. In it we follow Christian on his journey to the Celestial City. The journey is fraught with peril and Christian must overcome many obstacles and temptations along the way. Powerful, inspirational, and thought provoking.

Date Added: 05/17/2018



Showing 1 through 25 of 100 results