Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
This is one of the great romance novels of all time! A friendless young woman is on her own when she meets a dark, dangerous lover with a terrible secret — and he offers her forbidden love. And because of Bronte's skill in portraying Jane's character, intelligence, and courage, it becomes more than a romance — it is a memorable experience that stays with the reader forever.
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Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams
Illinois native Jane Addams was the daughter of a prosperous Quaker businessman. The founder of Hull House, she worked tirelessly for social reform and was involved in the passage of many early labor laws, including the abolition of child labor, the establishiment of juvenile court law, tenement house regulation, an eight-hour working day for women, factory inspection, and workmen's compensation. She was a tireless worker for social justice, who upheld the rights of immigrants, Blacks, labor, and numerous women's and children's causes. In 1931, she received the Nobel Prize in recognition of her pioneering social work.
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Merton of the Movies by H. L. Wilson
This humorous twist on the old Cinderella tale is not exactly "Pretty Woman," but it is a story of romance and rescue nevertheless. Merton's dreams come true — after an odd fashion — but by the end of the story he is a sadder and wiser man. "Merton of the Movies" has been parodied a hundred times or more, but it still has the power to charm the reader (who is sure to get the joke far earlier than poor Merton does). It's a true classic ... in its own way.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
In this eerie story, a young man's transgressions and crimes are reflected not in his own face, but in the face of a portrait painted by a man who deeply admires him. Only the painted smile shows his growing cruelty and dissipation. Hiding his dissolute life behind unmarred good looks he falls more and more deeply into heartless self-indulgence until at last ...
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The Sayings of Confucious Translated by James Legge
The most famous person in the whole long history of China was not a king, not a warrior, and not a rich man; neither was he a religious leader. He was largely self-educated, and he never realized his own greatest ambitions. He taught not merely the rich and the great, but even the poorest and humblest, accepting any student who was earnest and intelligent. Yet the ethical philosophy Confucious developed has persisted for almost 2,500 years.
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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The novel, produced in 1902, closely resembles events in Joseph Conrad's own trip up the Congo River when he was a young man. It describes the narrator's journey to the interior of Africa and his terrible fascination with an evil man who has dominated the natives in the area. One of his most famous books, this darkly pessimistic story was used as a model by director Francis Ford Coppola for his epic film, Apocalypse Now.
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Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Born in 1856, in a slave hut and into utmost poverty, Booker Taliaferro Washington received little schooling as a child. As a young man, at the end of the Civil War, he worked as a janitor to defray the expenses of his education and soon became President of his own university. A brilliant speaker and thinker, Washington was a champion of education and self-sufficiency. He impressed senators and presidents, educators and businessmen, and in his middle years and later life he was honored and sought after throughout the U.S.
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Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Mrs. Marie L. McLaughlin
The Siouans (Sioux tribes) were one of the largest of the Amerind groups in what is now the United States, second only to the Algonquin in population. Their territories were mainly west of the Mississippi River, but tribes of the Sioux Nation also lived east of the Appalachian mountains in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Mississippi. No single set of traits distinguishes the tribes, as their behavior and customs varied with their living conditions and their location.
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The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Baum called himself "The Royal Historian of Oz," and so he was — but his rulers were the generations of children and adults who have loved his wonderful stories of Oz for over hundred years! now! So here they are: Ozma and Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and all the other marvelous creatures that inhabit the wondrous land of Oz!
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