A Crystal Age
A Crystal Age is a utopian novel written by W. H. Hudson, first published in 1887. The book has been called a “significant S-F milestone” and has been noted for its anticipation of the “modern ecological mysticism” that would evolve a century later. (Summary by Wikipedia)
Confessions of a Convert
Robert Hugh Benson was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife Mary. Benson was was a prolific and popular writer during his time, and in 1903 he became a prominent convert to the Roman Catholic Church from Anglicanism . In 1904 he was ordained a Catholic priest. This book is his personal story of his journey to the Catholic faith, containing comparisons between Catholicism and the Anglican religion. (Summary by Maria Therese)
Confessions of a Book-Lover
“I am of the company of book men who read simply for the love of it,” confesses E. Walter Walters, in this gently written tome. Walters documents his habit of “book fishing–” seeking and finding quality volumes in the discount binds at his booksellers, and as a connoisseur of wine might match varieties with courses, he matches his books with the contexts in which he reads them–in the garden, in the bedroom, with friends. He also provides a list of his favorite authors (mostly 19th century United Kingdom) and favorite books, as well as favorite characters from the books he has read, not in a way to impose his choices on other readers, but to share his own personal experiences. (summary by Dr. P. Gould)
The Confessions (Pusey translation)
The Confessions outlines Augustine’s sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the following 1,000 years, through the Middle Ages. It is not a complete autobiography, as it was written in his early 40s, and he lived long afterwards, producing another important work (City of God). It does, nonetheless, provide an unbroken record of his development of thought and is the most complete record of any single person from the 4th and 5th centuries. It is a significant theological work, featuring spiritual meditations and insights. It begins: “GREAT art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and Thy wisdom infinite. And Thee would man praise; man, but a particle of Thy creation; man, that bears about him his mortality, the witness of his sin, the witness, that ]Thou, O God, resistest the proud: yet would man praise Thee; he, but a particle of Thy creation. Thou awakes us to delight in Thy praise; for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, unless it repose in Thee.? (Summary from Wikipedia and Book I, Chapter I.)
Confessions (Outler translation)
Confessions (Latin: Confessiones) is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by St. Augustine of Hippo, written between AD 397 and AD 398. Modern English translations of it are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of St. Augustine in order to distinguish the book from other books with similar titles, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions. (Summary by Wikipedia)
The Confession of a Child of the Century
In this autobiographic novel, an aging man reflects on his past. We are witness to the relationships he has along the way, his mistakes, and finally– in the most unexpected and honorable way– the sudden development of his belief in God. (Summary by Stav Nisser)
A Confession (Version 2)
Leo Tolstoy’s “A Confession,” written in 1882 shortly after a life-altering spiritual crisis, is a brutally sincere reflection on life, morality, and the nature of faith. Tolstoy describes in great detail the process by which he lost his faith in established Christian churches, the meaninglessness of wealth and fame, the agony of acute depression, and how he overcame misery and dread through personal study of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Along the way, he contrasts the artificial faith and arrogance of educated people with the genuine faith and humility of the Russian peasant. This work, and others of its ilk, were aggressively censored by the Tsarist regime and directly led to Tolstoy being excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church. Summary by Paul Rizik.
The Confession
Mary Roberts Rinehart is claimed to have invented the “Had I but known” mystery genre. When Agnes Blakiston rented the old parsonage at Miss Emily’s request she soon came to regret it. Was the house haunted? Did Miss Emily have a secret so terrible she would rather die than reveal it? To find the answers you will need to listen. (Summary by Annise)
The Conferences of John Cassian (Part I)
The Conferences were written by John Cassian at the request of Pope Leo. They document the conversations that Cassian had with the elders living in Scetis (the desert of Egypt), and about principles of the spiritual and ascetic life. The work would go on to be a classic for both the Western and Eastern monastic world, and would frequently be read at mealtimes. – Summary by ancientchristian
A Confederate Girl’s Diary
Sarah Morgan Dawson was a young woman of 20 living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when she began this diary. The American Civil War was raging. Though at first the conflict seemed far away, it would eventually be brought home to her in very personal terms. Her family’s loyalties were divided. Sarah’s father, though he disapproved of secession, declared for the South when Louisiana left the Union. Her eldest brother, who became the family patriarch when his father died in 1861, was for the Union, though he refused to take up arms against his fellow Southerners. The family owned slaves, some of whom are mentioned by name in this diary. Sarah was devoted to the Confederacy, and watched with sorrow and indignation its demise. Her diary, written from March 1862 to June 1865, discourses on topics as normal as household routines and romantic intrigues to those as unsettling as concern for her brothers who fought in the war. Largely self-taught, she describes in clear and inviting prose, fleeing Baton Rouge during a bombardment, suffering a painful spinal injury when adequate medical help was unavailable, the looting of her home by Northern soldiers, the humiliation of life under General Butler in New Orleans, and dealing with privations and displacement in a region torn by war. She was a child of her time and place. Her inability to see the cruelty and indignity of slavery grates harshly on the modern ear. Regardless of how one feels about the Lost Cause, however, Sarah’s diary provides a valuable historical perspective on life behind the lines of this bitter conflict. (Introduction by Christine Dufour)
The Conduct of Life
This is the best of Emerson’s later works, qualifying his earlier popular essays, series one and two, with the heavier hand of experience. The Conduct of Life ostensibly is a set of essays about how to live life, but also is an amalgam of what life taught Emerson. (Summary by Daniel Christopher June)
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels – St. Luke Vol. 2
?Expository Thoughts? divides the Gospels into sections of about twelve verses each, from which J. C. Ryle selects two or three prominent points to dwell on and bring to the reader?s attention. In Ryle?s day, there were many detailed commentaries and expositions on scripture. In writing these ?Expository Thoughts?, Ryle aimed to offer a resource to the laity for use in family prayers, as an aid to those who visit the sick and desire a proper book to read on such occasions, and for private devotions for those whose callings and engagements make it impossible for them to read large commentaries. This is the second of two volumes on St. Luke. As with the previous volumes on the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, Rev. Ryle offered this book ?with an earnest prayer, that it may tend to the promotion of pure and undefiled religion, help to extend the knowledge of Christ, and be a humble instrument in aid of the glorious work of converting and edifying immortal souls.? (Introduction by MaryAnn) Books in this series: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Matthew Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Mark Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 3
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels – St. Luke Vol. 1
?Expository Thoughts? divides the Gospels into sections of about twelve verses each, from which J. C. Ryle selects two or three prominent points to dwell on and bring to the reader?s attention. In Ryle?s day, there were many detailed commentaries and expositions on scripture. In writing these ?Expository Thoughts?, Ryle aimed to offer a resource to the laity for use in family prayers, as an aid to those who visit the sick and desire a proper book to read on such occasions, and for private devotions for those whose callings and engagements make it impossible for them to read large commentaries. This is the first of two volumes on St. Luke. As with the previous volumes on the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, Rev. Ryle offered this book ?with an earnest prayer, that it may tend to the promotion of pure and undefiled religion, help to extend the knowledge of Christ, and be a humble instrument in aid of the glorious work of converting and edifying immortal souls.? (Introduction by MaryAnn) Books in this series: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Matthew Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Mark Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 3
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels – St. John Vol. 3
The volume now in the reader’s hands completes a work which I began sixteen years ago, entitled “Expository Thoughts on the Gospels.” By the good hand of God that work is now finished. For this I desire to be deeply thankful. “Better the end of a thing than the beginning of it.” (Eccles. vii. 8.) I have now only to commend to my gracious God and Father this feeble attempt to explain a most glorious portion of His revealed Scripture. I do it with humble thankfulness, but with a sense of utter weakness before the power of His word, and of inability to sound the depth even of its simplest sentence. May he spare the hand which has been put forward to touch the ark! May He, for Christ’s sake, forgive all rashness, all perverseness, all uncharitableness, which may be found in this book! And may He sanctify it to the use of His Church: its truth, if any for teaching; its manifold defects for warning.” (From the Preface) Books in this series: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Matthew Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Mark Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 3
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels – St. John Vol. 2
The fourteen years which have “passed over” me since I first began writing on the Gospels, I humbly hope have not been thrown away. They have been to me years of many trials, and I may add of much work, much reading, much reflection, and not a little prayer. At the end of these fourteen years, I feel more than ever convinced that what are called “Evangelical” views of Christian truth are thoroughly Scriptural views, and will bear the test of any fair investigation. The longer I live the more firmly I am persuaded that no system of divinity is so entirely in harmony with the Bible, as the system which rightly or wrongly is called “Evangelical.” I now send forth this volume with an earnest prayer that God may bless it and make it useful. Ignorance of Scripture, I feel more than ever, is the curse of these latter days. Men read many books, and yet neglect “the one Book.” If I can help to make the Bible more plain and interesting to any man’s soul, I shall be abundantly content. (From the Preface) Books in this series: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Matthew Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Mark Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 3
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels – St. John Vol. 1
I send forth the volume now in the reader’s hands, with much diffidence, and a very deep sense of responsibility. It is a peculiarly serious undertaking to attempt a Commentary on the Gospel of St. John. This “Commentary” is so extensive that it occupies far more space than the “Expository Thoughts,” and is, I must honestly confess, the principal part of the work. To some it may appear far too long and full. But the circumstances of the times are mu justification. We live in a day of abounding vagueness and indistinctness on doctrinal subjects in religion. Now, if ever, it is the duty of all advocates of clear, well-defined, sharply-cut theology, to supply proof that their views are thoroughly borne out by Scripture. I have endeavoured to do so in this Commentary. I hold that the Gospel of St. John, rightly interpreted, is the best and simplest answer to those who profess to admire a vague and indistinct Christianity. (From the Preface) Books in this series: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Matthew Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Mark Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 1 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 2 Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John, Vol. 3
Expositions on the Book of Psalms Vol. 3 – Psalms 53-75
These sermons on the Psalms of the Holy Prophet and King David are as poetic as the Psalms themselves. They are well-suited for inspirational and devotional listening. – Summary by The Reader
Expositions on the Book of Psalms Vol. 2 – Psalms 37-52
These sermons on the Psalms of the Holy Prophet and King David are as poetic as the Psalms themselves. They are well-suited for inspirational and devotional listening. – Summary by The Reader
Expositions on the Book of Psalms Vol. 1
The Book of Psalms is commonly known as the Psalms or the Psalter, and is divided into five sections, each closing with a doxology. The title is derived from the Greek translation, ?????? (psalmoi) meaning “instrumental music” and, by extension, “the words accompanying the music”. Most if not all are thought be composed by King David. The Psalms have always been an integral part of the prayers of the Christian church and especially among monks, who would generally chant all psalms in a week-long cycle. There have been many commentaries on the Psalms, but none perhaps more famous and widely used than St. Augustine’s. This first volume covers the first section of Psalms (1 – 36). – Summary by ancientchristian
An Exposition upon the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary called Magnificat
Luther’s 1521 exposition of the Magnificat was written for John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (1503-1554), at that time a teenager. It was written in two parts, being interrupted by Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms. It is sermonic in form but written to be read rather than heard. – Summary by InTheDesert
Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed
Rev. James Dodds, D.D. was a noted religious writer, educated in Edinburgh, joining the Free Church, serving in Dunbar for most of his career. In this exposition, he writes primarily to a lay audience to make the fundamental beliefs of the Apostles’ Creed more accessible. Although he does not delve into the history of the development of the Creed, he draws from a wide body of reading, especially that of Martin Luther. – Summary by Larry Wilson
Explorers and Travellers
?Explorers and Travellers? is a collection of short biographies of some of America?s intrepid explorers. Adolphus W. Greely writes brief but very complete histories of men who risked life and fortune to discover more of our world. A thoroughly enjoyable work if you enjoy exploration and adventure. – summary by William Tomcho
An Explorer in the Air Service
Explorer Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu in 1911, as recounted in his book Inca Lands, now released on LibriVox at http://librivox.org/inca-lands-by-hiram-bingham/. In 1917, he became an aviator and organized the United States Schools of Military Aeronautics at eight universities to provide ground school training for aviation cadets, and then in Issoudun, France, Bingham commanded the primary Air Service flying school. He became a supporter of the Air Service in their post-war quest for independence from the Army and supported that effort, in part, with the publication of this book of his wartime experiences published in 1920 by Yale University Press. (Summary by Wikipedia and ToddHW)
The Explorer
An early novel by W. Somerset Maugham about conflicting feelings of self-integrity, filial love, romantic love. Lucy Allerton and Alec MacKenzie have to choose between grasping happiness that is their due and upholding a set of moral values that define themselves. – Summary by Lilith Branda
The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 07 – 02. February 1896
The National Geographic Magazine, an illustrated monthly, the February Number. It includes the following articles: * Venezuela: Her Government, People, and Boundary, by William E. Curtis * The Panama Canal Route, by Robert T. Hill * The Tehuantepec Ship Railway, by Elmer L. Corthell * The Present State of the Nicaragua Canal, by Gen. A. W. Greely * Explorations by the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1895, by W. J. McGee * The Valley of the Orinoco, by T. H. Gignilliat * Yucatan in 1895 along with geographic literature and notes.
Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 035
Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include how to swim, Navajo silversmithing, the sun, begonias and ferns, Martin Luther, U.S. Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, Captain Cook’s exploration of Botany Bay, General James Wolfe, and Moravian missionaries in Labrador. (summary by Sue Anderson)
The Exploits of Juve (version 2)
The second book in the Fant?mas series by the prolific authors Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre (they published 32 Fant?mas novels between 1911 and 1913.) Fant?mas broke the mold of the Gentlemen burglars like Raffles and Arsene Lupin. He killed without compunction. His anarchic ruthlessness, especially as portrayed by silent film pioneer Louis Feuillade, made Fant?mas the darling of the French avante garde, such as the artist Ren? Magritte and novelist Robert Desnos. (Summary by Alan Winterrowd)
The Exploits of Juve
Fant?mas was introduced a few years after Ars?ne Lupin, another well-known thief. But whereas Lupin draws the line at murder, Fant?mas has no such qualms and is shown as a sociopath who enjoys killing in a sadistic fashion. He is totally ruthless, gives no mercy, and is loyal to none, not even his own children. He is a master of disguise, always appearing under an assumed identity, often that of a person whom he has murdered. Fant?mas makes use of bizarre and improbable techniques in his crimes, such as plague-infested rats, giant snakes, and rooms that fill with sand. The Exploits of Juve chronicles some of Juve?s adventures in pursuit of this master criminal and ends with what may be Fantomas? revenge on the detective. (Introduction by Wikipedia and Don Jenkins)
The Exploits Of Elaine
The Exploits of Elaine It tells the story of a young woman named Elaine who, with the help of a detective, tries to find the man, known only as “The Clutching Hand”, who murdered her father. (Wikipedia)
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard
The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard’s most notable attribute is his vanity – he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, accomplished horseman and gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady. (Introduction from Wikipedia)