The words of Kahlil Gibran give his book The Prophet a broad range of inspiration and philosophy. They provide exceptional insight into human desires and understanding. The vivid observations are vibrant with feeling and acceptance of life’s many questions and hopes. One review saluted the story as being untouched by the harshness of life. Gibran’s other two books, The Forerunner and The Madman, are of deep assistance in the same manner.

Here is a meeting with George and Marion Kerby, a couple of free-wheeling ghosts, who meet up with respectable banker Cosmo Topper. This was noted by the New York Times, claiming:“Thorne Smith created the modern American ghost story, ghosts with style and wit; ghosts that haunt us still.”Others pointed out, “Smith was a master of urbane wit and sophisticated repartee.”The overall mood has a touch of silliness, but it provides lighthearted reading and listen...

Back in 1900 author L. Frank Baum says he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to please children of his time. He called it a modernized fairy tale, totally unlike older stories often filled with blood-curdling events. He left out the heartaches and nightmares. He pointed out that youngsters have long had a love of fantastic stories, but times change and they look forward more to entertainment that still has the wonderment and joy of time gone by. His fantastic creation of “Oz” provides exactl...

It would be easy to call it a case of naïveté on the part of Richard Hannay, but there was much more to the story. He had just returned to London after living in Rhodesia so he wasn’t fully versed in the intrigue going on in England. That wasn’t much of a reason for Hannay allowing a man he met to live in his flat. However, that’s what he did, even though Franklin Scudder claimed to be a spy with involvement in an anarchist plot to assassinate the Greek premier. Hannay got into a major pro...

This is a whodunit that neatly fits into the history of detective fiction. It features artist Philip Trent as he unexpectedly becomes an amateur detective. Some of his carefully collected information often proved erroneous. It begins when a wealthy American plutocrat, Bigsbee Manderson, uses his finances in an attempt to establish rules controlling society. When Manderson is found murdered on the grounds of his country house in England, Trent is hired as a reporter by a press association t...

The sublime beauty of Hawaii nearly a century ago is captured in this first book featuring the fictional Honolulu police detective, Charlie Chan. Author Biggers was staying at a hotel on Waikiki Beach in the 1920s when he was inspired to write the book. The Chan role at first was relatively minor, and he didn’t say anything until several chapters had gone by. However, the concept caught on when the literary public wanted more of him. That prompted five subsequent books as the character bec...

Veteran broadcaster John Rayburn here combines philosophy, poetry, inspiration, motivation, and touches of humor to provide comfort, cheer, and encouragement. This audiobook is an opportunity to collect your thoughts and set aside a few moments for contemplation in a busy, busy world.

A subtitle of this book is “The Lost World Under the Sea,” and it’s somewhat based on the famed legend of Atlantis. That was an ancient city or continent that was supposedly inundated by the sea. Whether it actually existed has been a question that has lasted for thousands of years. Greek philosopher Plato wrote about it around 360 BC, so even his possible information was second-hand. Tsunamis (sea storms) have existed for centuries and if there really was an Atlantis, any survivors may ha...

This covers the great, near-great, and never-were in a wide range of athletic endeavors. Naturally, all major sports are included: Football, Baseball, Basketball, with many notes about Golf, Boxing, Horse racing, Auto racing, Tennis, Track, Bowling, Hockey, renowned broadcasters, and an overall mixture of such sports as Wrestling, Pool, Marbles, Archery, Cricket, even Horseshoe pitching. It’s all here! Written and narrated with exceptional knowledge and humor.

Throughout the stories here is information on how places, cities, and states got their names. However, questions arise because Native American tribes of the day didn’t yet have a written alphabet, and none of those came along until Sequoyah invented one in 1821, one that was actually more of a syllabary with symbols that stood for consonant/vowel sequences and could make words, basically just a writing system.One such word example is Tsa-La-Gi in Oklahoma, a recreated Cherokee sett...

This book is an example of Alternative History. That, in essence, is asking what the future could be like.It suggests the US could have become a Dominion of America. Call this standard history with a twist, or even mythology in part. It is certainly historical material, told in fictional fashion. The basis of the concept can help broaden your personal historical imagination by emphasizing an unorthodox perspective. The key to any such literary approach centers around a point of div...

This is a kind of history, or at least remembrances. It’s primarily personal but overall takes a look at the way things were many, many decades ago. Details may get a little out of whack from a chronological order now and then, but the gist of the way things in some desperate personal and national times will be fairly well put in place. It begins a trifle before the outset of the 1929 stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. Then, it points to the difficulties, financial and ot...