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Long-Lasting Impressions:
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1) Ulysses by James Joyce
FICTION A day in 1904 in the lives of Dubliner Leopold Bloom and a cast of characters. Bursting with Celtic lyricism and vulgarity, and experimental techniques from interior monologues to wordplay and earthy humor. * Loosely based on The Odyssey. 2) The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco FICTION | Children’s Nursery magic is strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old, wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand it. How toys and people become real through the wisdom and experience of love. 3) The Beautiful and the Dammed by F. Scott Fitzgerald FICTION | Satire, Social Commentary The reckless marriage of Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete Anthony and his beautiful wife, Gloria, sways under the influence of alcohol and avarice as they await the inheritance of his grandfather's fortune. A devastating look at the nouveau riche and New York nightlife. 4) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald FICTION | Satire, Social Commentary In 1860 Benjamin Button is born an old man and mysteriously begins aging backward. Fitzgerald's sharp social insight is embodied in a strange and haunting story. 5) The Diamond As Big As The Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald FICTION | Satire, Social Commentary Novella A playful yet sinister fairy tale that fuses fantasies about wealth and its extremes with a more somber understanding of what underpins it. Fitzgerald’s hallucinatory tribute to the American West and its promises. 6) Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini FICTION | Adventure, Romance An Irish physician and soldier in 1680's England wrongly convicted of treason escapes slavery in the Caribbean and becomes the most feared pirate on the Spanish Main. But all the glory of his adventures cannot help him, for the woman he loves cannot love a thief and pirate. 7) The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot POETRY | Modernism This allusive pilgrimage of spiritual and psychological torment and redemption exerted a revolutionary influence on Eliot's contemporaries, summoning a potent new poetic language. 8) Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis FICTION | Satire, Social Commentary Critiques the vacuity and materialism of middle-class America and the social pressure toward conformity. * The author's second Nobel Prize nomination, but amid controversy he didn't win until 1926 for "Arrowsmith," which he declined, until 1930. 9) The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle #2 by Hugh Lofting FICTION | Children’s The maverick physician’s humanitarianism, desire for peaceful coexistence and concern for the environment are evident while he and his new assistant Tommy come across shipwrecks, South American and Mediterranean locations, and a giant sea snail while searching for Doolittle's friend. 10) The Man Who Knew Too Much by C. K. Chesterton FICTION | Mystery, Short Stories The activities of Horne Fisher and his friend Harold March in eight witty tales that portray upper-crust society in pre-World War I England. Although Horne's keen mind and powerful deductive gifts make him a natural sleuth, his inquiries develop moral complications. 11) Letter From An Unknown Woman by Stefan Zweig FICTION | Psychological, Short Story A famous author receives a letter on his 41st birthday. The sender is earnest, even piteous: about a life lived in service to an unannounced, unnoticed love. Expertly paced, laced with empathy and psychological detail. 12) A Short History of the World by H. G. Wells NONFICTION | History The evolution of life and development of the human race, from Earth’s origins to the end of World War I. Reflects on the Neolithic era, rise of Judaism, Golden Age of Athens, life of Christ, rise of Islam, discovery of America and the Industrial Revolution. 13) Emily Post's Etiquette by Peggy Post NONFICTION | Social/How To Thousands of tips on correspondence, wedding planning, party giving and conduct in every public or private setting. “The technique of human conduct under all circumstances in life.” 14) The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill FICTION | Drama The social impact of industrialization portrayed in Yank, a laborer, whose search for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich undergoes a crisis, followed by a mental and physical breakdown, when the daughter of a rich steel industrialist refers to him as a "filthy beast.” 15) Tales of Terror and Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle FICTION | Mystery Even without Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle’s tales - which include some neglected masterworks - contain thrills and excitement. Each begins in a quietly factual way, making the crescendo of fear and puzzlement that ensues all the more dramatic as each new circumstance is revealed. 16) Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes by Beatrix Potter POETRY | Children’s Compilation of traditional nursery rhymes such as "Goosey Goosey Gander," "This Little Piggy" and "Three Blind Mice" was Potter's second book of illustrated rhymes. 17) The Mystery of the Hidden Room by Marion Harvey FICTION | Mystery When the husband of his former lover is found dead and she is convicted of murder, found at the scene, gun in hand, the stage is set for Carlton Davies to locate the right detective, and for a series of twists, turns and surprises. 18) Blacky the Crow by Thornton W. Burgess FICTION | Children’s Filled with gentle humor and important lessons about nature and wildlife, the tale of sharp-eyed Blacky, who devises a plan to snatch two delicious-looking eggs from a nest belonging to Hooty the Owl and Mrs. Hooty. 19) The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair #15 by Laura Lee Hope FICTION | Children’s Outmoded escapades of the Bobbsey family’s twins Nan and Bert, age 12, and Flossie and Freddie, age 6. In this story, the younger twins mistakenly go up in a balloon and land on an island, then are chased into a cabin by a bear. *The 75-year, 72-book series was penned by writers under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope, starting in 1904. 20) Before the Party by W. Somerset Maugham FICTION | Contemporary (1920’s), Short Story A respectable British family tries to maintain appearances after the death in Borneo of their daughter Millicent's alcoholic colonial administrator husband. She returns home. Did husband die of a fever, as she claims, or if his throat was cut, was it suicide or homicide? 21) The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy FICTION | Historical Chronicles the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle-class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London in the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. * Winner of the 1930 Nobel Prize 22) One of Ours by Willa Cather FICTION | Contemporary (1920’s) The making of an American soldier. An idealist without ideals to cling to, Claude has access to his family's fortune but refuses to settle. He is alienated from his parents and rejected by his missionary wife, and only finds meaning when his country enters the Great War. * Winner of the 1923 Pulitzer Prize 23) The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie FICTION | Mystery In love and broke, Tommy and Tuppence launch Young Adventurers Ltd., "willing to do anything, go anywhere." In their first assignment, Tuppence poses as American Jane Finn on an all-expense-paid trip to Paris. But it comes with a bribe to keep quiet, a threat to her life, her employer has vanished and the real Jane has been missing for five years. 24) Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard NONFICTION | Autobiography, Biography, Memoir Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole is recounted in stirring detail by the author, the youngest of Scott's team and one of three to survive the notorious Winter Journey. Draws on his firsthand experiences and the diaries of his compatriots. 25) Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein NONFICTION | Academic Einstein's popular writings, from his earliest days as a theoretical physicist to his death in 1955. Covers relativity, nuclear war or peace, and religion and science, human rights, economics and government. 26) The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim FICTION | Contemporary (1920’s) Four women, all dissatisfied with their everyday lives, find each other — and the medieval Italian castle of their dreams — through a classified ad. Their month in Portofino reintroduces them to their true natures and to joy, a transformation that may or may not be transmittable. * Inspired a film, a play, and a tourism craze to Portofino. 27) The Enormous Room by E. E. Cummings NONFICTION | Autobiography, Biography, Memoir The poet’s energetic recounting of his military service in World War I when a comedy of errors leads to his arrest and imprisonment for treason. 28) Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton FICTION | Romance Nick and Susy devise a shrewd bargain: they'll marry and spend a year sponging off their wealthy friends, honeymooning in their mansions and villas. If either meets someone who can advance them socially, they're free to dissolve the marriage. Their plan unfolds in a comedy of errors. 29) My Life and Work by Henry Ford NONFICTION | Autobiography, Biography, Memoir The rise and success of the American entrepreneur and businessman. Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company will forever be identified with early 20th century American industrialism, showing Ford's innovations on business and their direct impact on the American economy. 30) The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne FICTION | Mystery While visiting a comfortable residence in the English countryside, amateur detective Anthony Gillingham and friend Bill Beverley investigate their host's disappearance and its connection with a mysterious shooting. Witty dialogue, deft plotting, and an intriguing cast of characters. *Pooh Bear’s creator also wrote for adults — including this droll whodunit. |