Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment is the penetrating study of a man who commits murder, convinced of the murder's justice, but suffering mentally nonetheless. It was first published in 1866 in twelve monthly installments of The Russian Messenger, a prestigous publication and an outlet for Tolstoy and Turgenev.

Persuasion

by Jane Austen

Austen's last novel is the crowning achievement of her matchless career. Her heroine, Anne Elliot, a woman of integrity, breeding and great depth of emotion, stands in stark contrast to the brutality and hypocrisy of Regency England. Includes a new Introduction by Margaret Drabble, famed novelist and editor of The Oxford Companion to the English Language.

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Meryl Streep, George Winston, Kimberly Kass, David Eastman, Patricia A. Pingry, Margery Williams Bianco, Rose Reed, Florence Graham, Marty Noble, M. Donker-Willenborg, N. Janssen

Nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it. "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to... (more)

Out of Africa

by Isak Dinesen

In this book, the author of Seven Gothic Tales gives a true account of her life on her plantation in Kenya. She tells with classic simplicity of the ways of the country and the natives: of the beauty of the Ngong Hills and coffee trees in blossom: of her guests, from the Prince of Wales to Knudsen, the old charcoal burner, who visited her: of primitive festivals: of big game that were her near neighbors--lions,... (more)

The Good Earth

by Pearl S. Buck

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP A poignant tale about the life and labors of a Chinese farmer during the sweeping reign of the country¹s last emperor. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:  A concise introduction that gives readers important background information  A chronology of the author's life and work  A timeline of significant events that... (more)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

by James Joyce

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man portrays Stephen Dedalus's Dublin childhood and youth, providing an oblique self-portrait of the young James Joyce. At its center are questions of origin and source, authority and authorship, and the relationship of an artist to his family, culture, and race. Exuberantly inventive, this coming-of-age story is a tour de force of style and technique.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

by Walter M. Miller

Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future. In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in... (more)

The Sun Also Rises

by Ernest Hemingway

The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his 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... (more)

The Shining

by Stephen King

Terrible events occur at an isolated hotel in the off season, when a small boy with psychic powers struggles to hold his own against the forces of evil that are driving his father insane. Reissue.

Coma

by Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, ROBIN COOK, ROBIN COOK, Robin Cook, Robin Cook

Still considered one of the best of the genre, Coma propelled Robin Cook to the top of his field and earned him a reputation as the "master of the medical thriller" ( New York Times ). Now readers have another chance to discover this classic masterwork of nightmarish possibility.

The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever

The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever

by John Feinstein

When a fight broke out between the Houston Rockets and the L.A. Lakers one night in 1977, All-Star Rudy Tomjanovich raced to break it up. Unfortunately for Rudy, he ran into Kermit Washington, a good player with a great reputation, and one of the most ferocious punches ever seen in sports. The punch dislodged Tomjanovich's skull, and he was never the same player after. Now he's head coach for the Rockets and... (more)

Dubliners

by James Joyce

The publication of James Joyce's Dubliners in 1914 was the result of ten years battling with publishers, resisting their demands to remove swear words, real place names and much else. Although only twenty-four when he signed his first publishing contract for the book, Joyce already knew its worth: to alter it in any way would "retard the course of civilization in Ireland." Joyce's aim was to tell the truth-- to... (more)

Trinity

by Leon Uris

From the acclaimed author who enthralled the world with Exodus, Battle Cry, QB VII, Topaz, and other beloved classics of twentieth-century fiction comes a sweeping and powerful epic adventure that captures the "terrible beauty" of Ireland during its long and bloody struggle for freedom. It is the electrifying story of an idealistic young Catholic rebel and the valiant and beautiful Protestant girl who defied her... (more)

Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

by Judy Blume

Margaret Simon, almost twelve, has just moved from New York City to the suburbs, and she’s anxious to fit in with her new friends. When she’s asked to join a secret club she jumps at the chance. But when the girls start talking about boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret starts to wonder if she’s normal. There are some things about growing up that are hard for her to talk about, even with her... (more)

Funeral Games (Vintage)

by Mary Renault

“Renault’s best historical novel yet.... Every detail has solid historical testimony to support it.”– New York Review of Books After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C .his only direct heirs were two unborn sons and a simpleton half-brother. Every long-simmering faction exploded into the vacuum of power. Wives, distant relatives, and generals all vied for the loyalty of the increasingly undisciplined Macedonian army.... (more)

The Big Sleep

by Raymond Chandler

When a dying millionaire hires Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in. "Chandler <writes> like a slumming angel and invest<s> the sun-blinded streets of Los Angelos with a romantic presence." --Ross... (more)

Harper Hall Trilogy: Book 1

Dragonsong

by Anne McCaffrey

Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, opens a new life for her.

The Chancellor manuscript

by Robert Ludlum

DID J. EDGAR DIE A NATURAL DEATH? . . . OR WAS HE MURDERED? Inver Brass--a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals who see a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover's unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files. They decide to do away with him--quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety. Until best-selling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto information that makes his... (more)

Geroge Smiley: Book 6

The Honourable Schoolboy

by John Le Carre

John le Carré's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge and have earned him -- and his hero, British Secret Service agent George Smiley -- unprecedented worldwide acclaim. In this classic masterwork, le Carré expands upon his extraordinary vision of a secret world as George Smiley goes on the attack. In the... (more)

The Amityville Horror

by Jay Anson

Chapter One December 18, 1975 George and Kathy Lutz moved into 112 Ocean Avenue on December 18. Twenty-eight days later, they fled in terror. George Lee Lutz, 28, of Deer Park, Long Island, had a pretty good idea of land and home values. The owner of a land surveying company, William H. Parry, Inc., he proudly let everyone know that the business was a third-generation operation: his grandfather's, his... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: 1977

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

by Jane Austen

by Meryl Streep, George Winston, Kimberly Kass, David Eastman, Patricia A. Pingry, Margery Williams Bianco, Rose Reed, Florence Graham, Marty Noble, M. Donker-Willenborg, N. Janssen

by Isak Dinesen

by Pearl S. Buck

by James Joyce

by Walter M. Miller

by Ernest Hemingway

by Stephen King

by Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, Robin Cook, ROBIN COOK, ROBIN COOK, Robin Cook, Robin Cook

by John Feinstein

by James Joyce

by Leon Uris

by Judy Blume

by Mary Renault

by Raymond Chandler

by Anne McCaffrey

by Robert Ludlum

by John Le Carre

by Jay Anson