Jaroslav Ha?ek is known by readers around the world as the author of The Good Soldier ?vejk, one of the greatest comic novels of all time. Not all of his fans are aware of his six year anabasis in Russia, however, which began with his capture on the front lines of Galicia during the First World War. The Secret History of My Sojourn in Russia, translated by Charles S. Kraszewski, brings that fascinating period in Ha?ek's life to the attention of the English reader. Comprised of fifty-two short stories and other writings from Ha?ek's stay in Sovietising Russia, The Secret History collects the Bugulma stories, in which Ha?ek trains his satirical eye on the infant communist utopia, as well as non-fiction works by Ha?ek, who played a not insignificant role in the progress of the Soviet Revolution in Siberia, before his return to his native Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s. These include propagandistic pamphlets and newspaper articles, letters, and official scripts dating from his agitation as a communist operative among Austro-Hungarian citizens stranded in the Soviet Union, all of which provide a fascinating context for his good-humoured fiction, which rivals his great novel in rollicking fun. The Secret History of My Sojourn in Russia presents the reader with 52 of the most entertaining, and chilling, examples of his Russian period, containing both humorous fiction and deadly serious propaganda. Translation of this book was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

A young boy from the housing estates comes across a copse of old oaks to which he can escape, as to an oasis of calm. Although he may forget about it once he becomes an adult and “puts aside the things of childhood,” it will remain a locus of balance, decades later, for a single mother struggling with the difficulties of raising the child she loves. A husband, on the lip of an ugly divorce, drives across town in the middle of the night to rescue his wife, abandoned by her lover, and then — as she falls asleep in the car — takes the long way home, to prolong a moment such as he has not experienced in years. An elderly doctor, self-diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, makes use of the few precious moments of consciousness granted him each morning to pass on to his grandson what he has learned about life and living responsibly. Loss, and permanence, the ephemeral and the eternal, are common themes of Jan?Balabán’s collection of short stories?Maybe We’re Leaving, presented here in the English translation of Charles S. Kraszewski. With psychological insight that rivals the great novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, the twenty-one linked narratives that make up the collection present us with everyday people, with everyday problems — and teach us to love and respect the former, and bear the latter. Translation of this book was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Edited, translated, and introduced by Anatoly Kudryavitsky, this bilingual anthology presents Russian short poems of the last half-century. It showcases thirty poets from Russia, and displays a variety of works by authors who all come from different backgrounds. Some of them are well-known not only locally but also internationally due to festival appearances and translations into European languages; among them are Gennady Aigi, Gennady Alexeyev, Vladimir Aristov, Sergey Biryukov, Konstantin Kedrov, Igor Kholin, Viktor Krivulin, Vsevolod Nekrasov, Genrikh Sapgir, and Sergey Stratanovsky. The next Russian poetic generation also features prominently in the collection. Such poets as Tatyana Grauz, Dmitri Grigoriev, Alexander Makarov-Krotkov, Yuri Milorava, Asya Shneiderman and Alina Vitukhnovskaya are the ones Russians like to read today. This anthology shows Russia looking back at itself, and reveals the post-World-War Russian reality from the perspective of some of the best Russian creative minds. Here we find a poetry of dissent and of quiet observation, of fierce emotions, and of deep inner thoughts.

Long ago in Norroway there lived a lady who had three daughters. Now they were all pretty, and one night they fell a-talking of whom they meant to marry.

Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it.

Richard Larch is a young man with talent and ambition. He moves to London to make his way in life. He takes a clerk's position in a law office and in his spare time makes attempts at writing and falling in love.

About the end of the year 1639, a troop of horsemen arrived, towards midday, in a little village at the northern extremity of the province of Auvergne, from the direction of Paris. The country folk assembled at the noise, and found it to proceed from the provost of the mounted police and his men. The heat was excessive, the horses were bathed in sweat, the horsemen covered with dust, and the party seemed on its return from an important expedition. A man left the escort, and asked an old woman who was spinning at her door if there was not an inn in the place.

About the end of the reign of the Emperor Paul I—that is to say, towards the middle of the first year of the nineteenth century—just as four o'clock in the afternoon was sounding from the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, whose gilded vane overlooks the ramparts of the fortress, a crowd, composed of all sorts and conditions of people, began to gather in front of a house which belonged to General Count Tchermayloff, formerly military governor of a fair-sized town in the government of Pultava. The first spectators had been attracted by the preparations which they saw had been made in the middle of the courtyard for administering torture with the knout. One of the general's serfs, he who acted as barber, was to be the victim.

Die reiche Amerikanerin Virginia, dick und von ihrer Mutter dominiert, wird gezwungen, den verarmten Erben eines englischen Herzogtums zu heiraten. Noch an ihrem Hochzeitstag bricht sie unter der groβen Last zusammen, und braucht ein Jahr um sich bei ihrer Tante zu erholen – und schafft es, schlank und sch?n aus dem Leid hervorzugehen. In der Hoffnung, sich von ihrem verachteten Ehemann, den sie kaum kennt, scheiden zu lassen, reist sie inkognito nach England – nur um festzustellen, daβ auch er nicht derjenige ist, für den sie ihn h?lt.

Spanning three generations and stretching from the 1940s to the 1990s, the four distinct parts that make up Solar Plexus intertwine to tell the tale of a group of friends who grew-up around the same courtyard in Baku. Each section is told from a different perspective as the friends’ passions, deceits, rivalries and disappointments play out against the shifting turmoil of those decades: from the Great Patriotic War and Stalin’s Purges, to the industrial institutes and Russification of the ’50s and ’60s, through to the struggle for independence and violence of the early ’90s.

There lived one Yurine, a man of poor means even for those days. He loved saké wine, and scarcely ever spent a day without drinking some of it. Yurine lived near the place which is now called Sudzukawa, a little to the north of the river known as Fujikawa. On the day which followed Fuji San's appearance Yurine became ill, and was in consequence unable to drink his cup of saké. He became worse and worse, and, at last feeling that there could be no hope for him, decided to give himself the pleasure of drinking a cup before he died. Accordingly he called to himself his only son, Koyuri, a boy of fourteen years, and told him to go and fetch him a cup or two of the wine. Koyuri was sorely perplexed. He had no saké in the house, and there was not a single coin left wherewith to buy. This he did not like to tell his father, fearing that the unpleasant state of affairs might make him worse. So he took his gourd, and went wandering along the beach, wondering how he could get what his father wanted. While thus employed Koyuri heard a voice calling him by name. As he looked up towards the pines which fringed the beach, he saw a man and a woman sitting beneath an immense tree; their hair was a scarlet red, and so were their bodies…

A troubled girl. A cabal that believes her possessed by an avenging spirit. A detective who will stop at nothing to protect her. When PI Adam Park is retained to confirm the accuracy of a young heiress’s family tree, it sounds like the simple case he needs to break the monotony of life on an Aegean island. But it soon becomes clear that others wish to stake a claim to the girl’s fortune, and something as inconvenient as a private investigator will not stand in their way. As this group calls upon a shadowy killer known as the Pale Boy, Adam’s attention turns to the girl herself, learning her illness is viewed by some as “possession” by a spirit intent on righting wrongs from Porajmos, or “the Devouring”, the Romani genocide inflicted by Nazi Germany. And even those who profess to represent the girl may not hold her best interests at heart. Delving into a decades-old secret that people will murder to protect, Adam must fight smart and fight hard—against a seemingly supernatural mercenary, against people of unfathomable greed, and against his own darkening nature. For a gripping, sometimes violent, thriller with a historical mystery at its heart, download The Shadows of Empty Men today. ____________________________________ Adam Park novels are international mystery & crime thrillers that stand alone as one-off adventures, or can be read as a series charting one man’s evolution from a simple investigator to a true hard-boiled detective. This is the reading order so far: 1 The Dead and the Missing 2 A Desperate Paradise 3 The Shadows of Empty Men 4 Night at the George Washington Diner 5 Master the Flame 6 Under the Long White Cloud

Nabi Seth AS atau Nabi Syits AS atau Nabi Set AS adalah anak laki-laki dari Nabi Adam AS dan Hawa (Eve). Ia dilahirkan pada saat Adam berumur 130 tahun (Kejadian 5:3). Nabi Syits AS merupakan saudara muda dari Qabil dan Habil (Kain dan Habel). Menurut kitab Perjanjian Adam, mengisahkan bahwa Adam, ketika mengetahui bahwa ajalnya telah dekat, memanggil Set ke sisinya. Ia menyuruh Set kembali ke Taman Eden, masuk dan mengambil tiga benih dari buah Pohon Kehidupan. Adam kemudian meminta Seth kembali kepadanya dan menempatkan ketiga benih itu di mulutnya sebelum menguburkan jenazahnya. Nabi Seth AS melakukan apa yang diminta ayahnya dan pergi ke Taman Eden. Di gerbang taman itu berdirilah Penghulu Malaikat Mikail, yang menanyakan tujuan Set. Set memberitahukannya, dan Mikail mengizinkannya masuk, dan menunjukkan kepadanya pohon kehidupan itu. Set mengumpulkan tiga benih dari buah pohon itu dan kemudian kembali, melalui pintu gerbang, dan kembali ke ayahnya, yang saat ini telah meninggal. Ia menggali kuburan untuk Adam, dan menguburkannya, setelah menempatkan ketiga benih itu di mulutnya lalu menutup liang kuburnya. Dalam kitab Kejadian dari Kitab Suci Ibrani dan Alkitab, adalah salah satu anak (kemungkinan putra ketiga) dari Adam dan Hawa, dan merupakan adik laki-laki dari Kain dan Habel. Ia dilahirkan setelah Habel (Habil) dibunuh oleh Kain (Qabil). Nama Set disebut sepuluh kali dalam Alkitab, yaitu tujuh kali di kitab Kejadian, sekali di kitab Bilangan, Kitab 1 Tawarikh, dan Injil Lukas. Nabi Set AS bagi Nabi Adam AS adalah seorang anak yang "menurut rupa dan gambarnya". Set diberikan oleh Allah SWT sebagai pengganti Habel yang dibunuh. Ia mempunyai seorang anak yang bernama Enos pada usia 105 tahun dan hidup hingga mencapai usia 912 tahun. Melalui keturunan Set dilahirkanlah Nabi Nuh, Nabi Abraham, Nabi Daud, hingga akhirnya menurunkan Nabi Isa. Menurut kisah Islam, setelah kematian Habil, Adam sangatlah marah kepada Qabil. Kemudian Adam memiliki anak kembar kembali bernama Syits (Set/Seth) dan 'Azura. Syits memiliki arti "hadiah", karena Allah telah memberikan hadiah kepada Adam berupa seorang anak soleh, setelah kematian anaknya yang bernama Habil. Syits selain sebagai anak yang berbakti, ia diyakini sebagai seorang nabi dan rasulallah. Sebagai seorang nabi, Syits menerima perintah-perintah dari Allah yang ditulis dalam 50 suhuf/sahifah. Menurut keterangan Ibnu Abbas, ketika Nabi Syits AS dilahirkan, Nabi Adam AS? sudah berusia 930 tahun. Adam sengaja memilih Syits sebab anaknya yang satu ini memiliki kelebihan dari segi keilmuan, kecerdasan, ketakwaan dan kepatuhan dibandingkan dengan semua anaknya yang lain. Adam mengajarkan semua pengetahuan yang ia miliki kepada Syits. Ia mengajarkan bagaimana menyembah Allah dan beribadah yang lainnya. Setelah kematian Adam, Syits memimpin anak cucu Adam. Ia memimpin dengan peraturan dan hukum Allah, ia membawa persatuan diantara orang-orang disekitarnya. Wahab bin Munabbih mengatakan, ketika Nabi Adam AS wafat, Nabi Syits AS telah berusia 400 tahun. Syits telah diwasiati oleh Adam untuk memerangi saudaranya, Qabil. Dia pergi memerangi Qabil dan akhirnya perang itu pun berkecamuk. Itulah perang pertama yang terjadi antara anak-anak Adam di muka bumi. Dalam peperangan itu, Syits memperoleh kemenangan dan dia menawan Qabil. Nabi Syits AS kemudian memimpin anak cucu Adam dan ia memimpin dengan peraturan dan hukum Allah SWT, ia membawa persatuan dan perdamaian diantara orang-orang disekitarnya. Buku ini mengisahkan hikayat Nabi Syits AS (Seth AS) putra Nabi Adam AS bersumberkan dari Al-Quran & Al-Hadist.

Do Your Thoughts Really Create The World Around You?As a Man Thinketh is a literary essay and book by James Allen, published in 1903. It was described by Allen as "... [dealing] with the power of thought, and particularly with the use and application of thought to happy and beautiful issues. I have tried to make the book simple, so that all can easily grasp and follow its teaching, and put into practice the methods which it advises. It shows how, in his own thought—world, each man holds the key to every condition, good or bad, that enters into his life, and that, by working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts, he may remake his life, and transform his circumstances. The price of the book is only one shilling, and it can be carried in the pocket." It was also described by Allen as "A book that will help you to help yourself", "A pocket companion for thoughtful people", and "A book on the power and right application of thought."The title is influenced by a verse in the Bible from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 23, verse 7: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". The full passage, taken from the King James Version, is as follows:Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.While the passage suggests that one should consider the true motivations of a person who is being uncharacteristically generous before accepting his generosity, the title and content of Allen's work refer to the reader himself. (Wikipedia)Earl Nightingale and others have supported Allen's interpretation with numerous other quotes and popular writings, older and more recent. Obviously, your own thoughts and understanding will determine what you think Allen's words mean.About the Author:James Allen (28 November 1864 – 24 January 1912) was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of the self-help movement. His best known work, As a Man Thinketh, has been mass-produced since its publication in 1903. It has been a source of inspiration to motivational and self-help authors.In 1903 Allen published his third and most famous book As a Man Thinketh. Loosely based on the Biblical passage of Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," the small work eventually became read around the world and brought Allen posthumous fame as one of the pioneering figures of modern inspirational thought. The book's minor audience allowed Allen to quit his secretarial work and pursue his writing and editing career. In 1903, the Allen family retired to the town of Ilfracombe where Allen would spend the rest of his life. Continuing to publish the Epoch, Allen produced more than one book per year until his death in 1912. There he wrote for nine years, producing 19 works.

Long, long ago there lived a man called Sentaro. His surname meant "Millionaire," but although he was not so rich as all that, he was still very far removed from being poor. He had inherited a small fortune from his father and lived on this, spending his time carelessly, without any serious thoughts of work, till he was about thirty-two years of age.One day, without any reason whatsoever, the thought of death and sickness came to him. The idea of falling ill or dying made him very wretched."I should like to live," he said to himself, "till I am five or six hundred years old at least, free from all sickness. The ordinary span of a man's life is very short."He wondered whether it were possible, by living simply and frugally henceforth, to prolong his life as long as he wished.He knew there were many stories in ancient history of emperors who had lived a thousand years, and there was a Princess of Yamato, who, it was said, lived to the age of five hundred This was the latest story of a very long life record.

Sylvia Robson lives happily with her parents on a farm, and is passionately loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. When Kinraid goes back to his ship, he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin.

"You’re never too old for a great fairy tale." -?5-star reader's review.? A funny and quirky fantasy fairy tale for adults complete?with mystery, murder, romance!? The mystical green planet of Rendaz is home to devout goddess worshiper and university professor, middle-aged Beautimus Potamus—who also happens to be a hippo plagued by hot flashes and poor self-esteem. Beautimus forms an alliance with Samuel S. Goodwings, a younger womanizing, atheist praying mantis. When these two are together, life morphs from the mundane into the fantastic. Our unlikely duo solves mysteries, bring a murderer to justice, and even help end a war while experiencing their own trials, triumphs, and tragedies. Often with humor, their situations and adventures parody Earth culture. During their exploits, the two interact with a host of characters, including a pair of New Age flamingos, an A.D.H.D. afflicted trout, an orangutan detective, and a 310-year-old blue crane High Priestess. All of these creatures are more “human” in surprising ways than the citizens of the blue planet, Earth, we discover was once a Rendazian Colony. Beautimus Potamus’ tongue-in-cheek story is a magical fable-stew made with the ingredients of satire, drama, social commentary, and comedy, with jests, puns and wordplay sprinkled throughout. For good measure, a generous pinch of romantic flavoring is thrown into the pot. Readers' reviews:? "Truly a splendid and extraordinary story. It was refreshing to find something so original. Well written, vivid descriptions, great humor and delightful characters." "So often we limit our reading to books by Dan Brown, John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks or Michael Connelly and we [...] miss the gems by new writers that put their heart, soul and dreams on paper to let our imaginations go where theirs have. This is one of those gems." If you liked this book, you should check out Peggy's dystopian tale,?Chaco?as well!? About the author Peggy A. Wheeler is a writer of fantastical fiction. Her debut novel, THE RAVEN'S DAUGHTER is published by Dragon Moon Press in Canada. Peggy studied English and Creative Writing at the U.C.L.A., where she was the only undergraduate chosen to study with Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate of the United States. Peggy has led adult poetry and fiction writing critique groups and workshops in both Colorado and California. ?

These traditional reads are brimming with spirited characters and positive values--but with a little extra excitement and bite, so hold on to your hats! Written expressly for the middle grade struggling reader, the series does not contain strong language, edgy themes, or dysfunctional families. In fact, family is the main theme of these titles. And one particular Latino family is the focus with their uncanny knack for finding humor, hope, and colorful personalities--even in unusual circumstances. Written at the lowest reading levels, the 50-page story structure is straightforward and moves the reader through the text quickly and efficiently. The light snow got heavier. The road was slippery. Soon snow covered the ground. The car struggled to get up the hill. It got hard to see. Everything was white.

These traditional reads are brimming with spirited characters and positive values--but with a little extra excitement and bite, so hold on to your hats! Written expressly for the middle grade struggling reader, the series does not contain strong language, edgy themes, or dysfunctional families. In fact, family is the main theme of these titles. And one particular Latino family is the focus with their uncanny knack for finding humor, hope, and colorful personalities--even in unusual circumstances. Written at the lowest reading levels, the 50-page story structure is straightforward and moves the reader through the text quickly and efficiently. I know you're tired of the beach. This is just like being in the Heights. Only warmer. What do you want to do?

An exciting collection of stories from W.W. Jacobs, a London based novelist famous for his horror and travel stories. This volume includes some of his iconic work: The Monkey's Paw, The Lady of the Barge, Bill's Paper Chase, The Well, Cupboard Love, In the Library, Captain Rogers, A Tiger's Skin, A Mixed Proposal, An Adulteration Act, A Golden Venture, and Three at Table.

An exciting collection of stories from W.W. Jacobs, a London based novelist famous for his humour, horror and travel stories. This volume includes some of his iconic work: Deserted, Homeward Bound, Self-help, Sentence Deferred, Matrimonial Openings, Odd Man Out, The Toll-house, Peter's Pence, The Head of the Family, Prize Money, Double Dealing, Keeping Up Appearances.