Barnes Noble: 2826 books

Muir looks back over his many years of visits to the Yosemite valley and his efforts to protect the pristine wilderness area, which resulted in the creation of the Yosemite National Park in 1890.  In addition to personal reminiscences, the book contains Muir's meticulously observed yet rapturously poetic descriptions of local flora and fauna.

Butler’s first book, published in 1863, is a lively compilation of letters that he sent to his family while working as a sheep farmer in New Zealand for several years. Financed and edited into book form by Butler’s father, it is a spirited account of Butler’s experiences on the frontier. This volume...

Readers of Hamlin Garland’s collection of short stories Main-Travelled Roads will also enjoy Prairie Folks, which Garland considered a companion volume, as the stories feature many of the same characters and continue to explore the harsh realities of farm life with its moments of exultation.

In Webb’s first (1916) novel, the poor Shropshire youths Stephen and Deb search for a mythical arrow said to bind couples together—if they can find it on a Palm Sunday. But another local legend, the ill-omened Devil’s Rock, broods over the countryside, promising evil. The deep psychological portrayal of Stephen and Deb is noteworthy.

The Girls is Edna Ferber’s first novel to depict multiple generations, a theme that would reemerge in much of her work. In the book, she tells the story of the Thrift women—a great aunt, a niece, and a grand niece—who live on Chicago’s South Side. Published in 1921, the book was written with Ferber’s characteristic flair for depicting determined women making their way in the world.

Richard Basset believes his cousin, Sir Charles, has stolen his inheritance. Reade describes insane asylums, the heartless upper class, and scandalously details a sexual relationship between Charles and Rhoda. A review in the London Times suggested to mothers that they should hide such a book from their daughters. Reade riposted with a long and impassioned letter defending his work.

In this collection of stories published in 1922, Moore returns to the theme of sexual repression he explored in The Celibates. In each chapter of the book, Moore examines a different character wrestling with sexuality in one way or another. Moore gives the greatest attention to the story of Hugh Monfert—a man who struggles for years to discern his sexuality.

This early novel by Tarkington (1903) tells the story of two men vying for the attentions of the same woman, Sylvia.  Mr. Sudgeberry, the narrator, is a loquacious pedant.   William Fentriss is a happy-go-lucky ne'er-do-well.  Comic sparks are struck as the two men seek to undermine each other in Sylvia's eyes.

Although written in 1879 and serialized in a local paper, The Duke of Stockbridge was not published in book form until 1900, when it was revised following Bellamy's death.  The Duke of Stockbridge is set in the past:  during Shay's Rebellion of 1786. It’s soft and romantic, but hidden inside the sentimentality are hints of Bellamy’s political ideas.    

A comedy in two acts, The Wolves and the Lamb tells the story of Horace Milliken, a wealthy widower and merchant, his family, and Miss Prior, his children’s governess.Thackeray approaches his characters with a thoughtfulness and keen eye for detail that permeates much of his writing, and brings this story to life.

The popular novelist and humorist gave a series of lectures on the Hanoverian monarchs. The Four Georges (1859) collects his talks on the first four of these monarchs, which were heard on his tours of the United States in 1852-53 and 1855-56.

George Brandon, an impoverished gentleman, scorns the family he lodges with, but decides to amuse himself by attempting to seduce the daughters, ultimately setting his sights on the youngest. His casual amusement, however, ends with the very real threat of a duel. Self-delusion, snobbery, and an obsession with money are the underlying themes in this engrossing tale.

Thackeray’s unfinished last novel (1864) promised to be one of the great novelist’s best. In this sprawling 18th-century romance, Denis strives to follow his uncle’s illustrious career in the British navy. But his grandfather, head of a band of smugglers, has other plans… soon embroiling Denis in a highway robbery.

A governess must hide her scandalous past as an actress in 1860’s Lovel, which Thackeray based on his 1854 play The Wolves and the Lamb. “The most overtly theatrical work we have from one of the 19th century’s most theatrical writers.”—Anne Layman Horn, Victorian Literature and Culture.