Top liste : Classics and poetry

Laura lives an isolated life with her father, alone in a castle in the Austrian wilderness. When the mysterious Carmilla, a strange and beautiful lady, arrives in the night, no one suspects the supernatural occurrences that follow. But still more unsuspected is the tempestuous romance that blooms between the two young women, and Carmilla’s nightmarish secret.

Written 26 years before Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, ‘Carmilla’ is the original vampire novel. Sheridan Le Fanu combines a chilling Gothic atmosphere with horrifying episodes, boldly exploring the sexual desires of his heroines, and establishing the image of the female vampire. ‘Carmilla’ is an essential read for all fans of gothic novels and vampires, from Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’ to Netflix’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish Gothic writer of short stories and novels. One of the central names amidst the ghost-story writers of the 19th century, Le Fanu’s influence cannot be underestimated. Inspiring the likes of Bram Stoker, Le Fanu laid the basis for the Victorian Horror genre by combining realism with deeper psychological elements. His most important works include ‘Uncle Silas’, ‘Carmilla’, ‘The House by the Churchyard’, and his short story collection ‘In a Glass Darkly’.

This brand-new unabridged audio book of , the second part of J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic adventure, , is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.The Two TowersThe Lord of the Rings

The company of the Ring is torn asunder. Frodo and Sam continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin – alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.

This continues the classic tale begun in , which reaches its awesome climax in .The Fellowship of the RingThe Return of the King

Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays.

A delightfully comic tale of mistaken identities revolves around the physical likeness between Sebastian and his twin sister Viola, each of whom, when separated after a shipwreck, believes the other to be dead. Filled with superb comedy, this entertaining masterpiece remains one of Shakespeare's most popular and performed comedies.

Part of the original Harvard Classics compendium series • One of TIME's 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time

Crime and Punishment tells the story of Rodion Raskolnikov, an ex-student who plans to murder a pawnbroker to test his theory of personality. Having accomplished the deed, Raskolnikov struggles with mental anguish while trying to both avoid the consequences and hide his guilt from his friends and family.

Dostoevsky’s original idea for the novel centered on the Marmeladov family and the impact of alcoholism in Russia, but inspired by a double murder in France he decided to rework it around the new character of Raskolnikov. The novel was first serialized in The Russian Messenger over the course of 1866, where it was an instant success. It was published in a single volume in 1867.

This new and unabridged audiobook edition is based on Constance Garnett’s 1914 translation.

dear inner child is a poignant collection of poetry and prose that delves into the profound exploration of healing the wounds carried by the inner child. Through evocative verse and heartfelt prose, this book offers a glimpse into the resilience of the human spirit and the power of self-discovery and healing. Ultimately, dear inner child is an ode to resilience, transformation, and the triumph of the human spirit. It serves as a beacon of hope, encouraging readers to embark on their own healing journey, acknowledging their inner child, and emerging stronger, wiser, and more compassionate. Through poetry, this book invites individuals to confront their pain, find solace in their words, and discover the strength to heal the wounds of their past.

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.

After the death of her parents, Mary Lennox is sent to live in the remote Yorkshire countryside with her rarely seen uncle. With no one to play with, she resents the landscape and the gloomy house. But then she discovers a key, which unlocks the hidden door to a secret garden…

Academy Award Winner Glenda Jackson captures the magic of the story that has been adored by adults and children alike for generations.

A brand-new recording of the classic work, narrated by Holliday Grainger, star of The Borgias and The Capture.

On a trip to the South of France, a shy young woman falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.

Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the other woman. An international bestseller, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.

'Rebecca is a masterpiece' GUARDIAN

'Excellent entertainment . . . du Maurier created a scale by which modern women can measure their feelings' STEPHEN KING

**DREAM COUNT, the searing new bestselling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is out now!**

THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION ‘WINNER OF WINNERS’

One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'

‘A literary masterpiece’

DAILY MAIL

‘An immense achievement’

OBSERVER

In 1960s Nigeria, three lives intersect. Ugwu works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic lover, the lecturer. And Richard, a shy Englishman, is in thrall to Olanna’s enigmatic twin sister. Amongst the horror of Nigeria’s civil war, loyalties are tested as they are pulled apart and thrown together in ways none of them imagined.

Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece is a novel about race, class and the end of colonialism – and the ways in which love can complicate everything.

‘A gorgeous, pitiless account of love, violence and betrayal’

TIME

‘Vividly written, thrumming with life … a remarkable novel’ JOYCE CAROL OATES

‘Adichie entwines love and politics to a degree rarely achieved by novelists’ ELLE

2007 Audie Award Finalist for Solo Narration—Male

*Winner of the Pulitzer Prize*

“A beautiful tale, awash in the seasalt and sweat, bait and beer of the Havana coast. It tells a fundamental human truth: in a volatile world, from our first breath to our last wish, through triumphs and pitfalls both trivial and profound, what sustains us, ultimately, is hope.” —The Guardian

The last of his novels Ernest Hemingway saw published, The Old Man and the Sea has proved itself to be one of the most enduring works of American fiction. The story of a down-on-his-luck Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream—has been cherished by generations of readers.

Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of adversity and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic. First published in 1952, this hugely popular tale confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

This audiobook is a collection of 100 thought provoking quotes that will motivate you to change your life!

It contains quotes from the most popular personalities around the world.

- These quotes will help:

- In increasing your motivation

- In making your life 10x better

- Changing the way you live

“The Bean Trees is the work of a visionary. . . . It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling.” — Los Angeles Times

A bestseller that has come to be regarded as an American classic, The Bean Trees is the novel that launched Barbara Kingsolver’s remarkable literary career.

It is the charming, engrossing tale of rural Kentucky native Taylor Greer, who only wants to get away from her roots and avoid getting pregnant. She succeeds, but inherits a three-year-old Native American girl named Turtle along the way, and together, from Oklahoma to Arizona, half-Cherokee Taylor and her charge search for a new life in the West. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in seemingly empty places.

Here is one of the greatest English comic novels read by incontrovertible king of English comic audiobook readers – Martin Jarvis. Three men, worried about their health and in search of different experiences, set off ‘up the river’ in a boat. Jerome’s delightful novel, dating from 1900, paints a vivid picture of innocent fun.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Grammy Award–nominated, platinum-selling musician Halsey is heralded as one of the most compelling voices of their generation. In I Would Leave Me If I Could, they reveal never-before-seen poetry of longing, love, and the nuances of bipolar disorder.

In this debut collection, Halsey bares their soul. Bringing the same artistry found in their lyrics, Halsey’s poems delve into the highs and lows of doomed relationships, family ties, sexuality, and mental illness. More hand grenades than confessions, these autobiographical poems explore and dismantle conventional notions of what it means to be a feminist in search of power.

Masterful as it is raw, passionate, and profound, I Would Leave Me If I Could signals the arrival of an essential voice.

Book cover painting, American Woman, by the author.

Rupi Kaur presents an all-new performance of milk and honey, her #1 New York Times bestselling collection of poetry and prose about survival, the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. This new production was recorded in 2021 along with the first-ever recordings of her #1 bestsellers the sun and her flowers and home body, all of them performed by Rupi Kaur.

The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes listeners through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them—because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

'One of the greatest Japanese writers... his work explores the destructive power of erotic obsessions' Guardian

'Outstanding... rich and mysterious' New York Times Book Review

A new selection and translation of short stories by a hugely prominent classic Japanese writer, filled with eroticism and fantasy

The rich and mysterious short stories of Jun'ichiro Tanizaki pulse with a restless eroticism. Visiting a kingdom ruled by a weak-willed duke, the sage Confucius finds himself drawn into a battle of wills. A naïve servant boy is compelled down a path of vice and sin by his master's daughter. A young prince finds himself enraptured by his newest possession: a beguiling, enchanting mermaid.

These three stories, two of which are here translated for the first time by Bryan Karetnyk, capture the essence of Tanizaki's shorter writings. Drawing on tales from both Japanese and Chinese mythology, combined with poignant psychological realism, Tanizaki reveals and revels in the paper-thin line between the sublime and the depraved.

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

According to Orwell, the fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union, he believed, had become a brutal dictatorship built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror. In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin ("un conte satirique contre Staline"), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946), wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole".

The fourth in the series of the classic fantasy tales – The Chronicles of Narnia. A complete and unabridged edition of this enduringly popular children’s book.

“Look sharp!” shouted Edmund. “All catch hands and keep together. This is magic – I can tell by the feeling. Quick!”

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sitting on a station platform when they sense the magic beginning again. Suddenly they are pulled back to the land of Narnia.

Evil King Miraz and his army can only mean trouble for Narnia, and Prince Caspian, his nephew and the rightful heir to the throne, fears for his safety and the future of his country. He blows the Great Horn in desperation, summoning Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy to help with his difficult task – that of saving Narnia before its freedom is lost forever.

Diana Gabaldon’s magnificent historical saga, begun with Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, continues with this New York Times bestseller. Set in the intriguing Scotland of 200 years ago, the third installment in the romantic adventures of Jamie and Claire is as compelling as the first.

Now that Claire knows Jamie survived the slaughter at Culloden, she is faced with the most difficult decision of her life. She aches to travel back through time again to find the love of her life, but, in order to do that, she must leave their daughter behind. It has been 20 years since she and

Jamie were forced to separate. Can she risk everything, maybe even her life, on a gamble that their love has withstood the long, rigorous test of time?

When a retired police inspector suddenly drops dead in a train carriage arriving at Charing Cross station, young London barrister Hetherwick finds himself the key witness to the murder.

Thrust into the centre of this terrifying mystery, Hetherwick must unveil the disturbing truths of the case and locate the nefarious culprit.

Fans of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ will be enthralled by this 20th century crime classic, a gripping tale of mystery and suspense that will have them on the edge of their seats till the very end.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863 – 1935), better known as J.S Fletcher, was a prolific English journalist and author of over 230 books. Raised as the son of a clergyman in West Yorkshire, Fletcher would go on to become a creative powerhouse of crime fiction during ‘The Golden Age of Detective Fiction’.

Best remembered for his crime novels featuring Private Investigator Ronald Camberwell, Fletcher was considered a contemporary of Sir Arthur Doyle of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ fame.

Any fans craving classic crime after watching ‘Knives Out’ or Robert Downey Jr’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ simply must read some of J.S. Fletcher’s fantastic work.