Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, becomes a thief for a band of dwarves and soon finds himself in the midst of a war with the evil goblins and wargs, and forced to make a decision between the call of duty and the pull of the simple life.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother's side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age, and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns about love for herself, and the kindness...

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by "The Knight's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, written around 1594 to 1596. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for...

A guide to reading and understanding William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" which includes the complete unabridged text, detailed explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters.

"Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment,...

A comic book adaptation of Shakespeare's play. In this classic story of murder, witchcraft, and revenge, Macbeth, driven by overwhelming ambition and an unscrupulous wife murders the King of Scotland and claims the throne for himself. He begins a violent reign of terror and execution in a desperate attempt to maintain his power. Haunted by ghosts and vexed by witches, he and his wife rapidly descend into the depths of madness and paranoia as the weight...

A play about the tempestuous courtship between Katharina and Petruchio, who sets out to calm Katharina's temper and gain her dowry.

Presents the unabridged text of Shakespeare's classic tragedy in which Othello, a Moorish general, is led by a jealous and evil ensign to believe his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful. Includes explanatory footnotes.

Presents the text of "The Merchant of Venice," in which a creditor demands a pound of flesh as payment for a debt, and a lover must choose among three caskets to win the hand of a wealthy lady, and includes introductory and textual notes, character lists and studies, a synopsis, teaching tools and suggestions, historical background, and biographical information about the Shakespeare.

"Stephanie Plum knows something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie's Bail Bonds to find longtime office manager Connie Rosolli hasn't shown up. Stephanie's worst fears are confirmed when she gets a call from Connie's abductor, who will only release her in exchange for a mysterious coin that a recently murdered man left as collateral for his bail. Unfortunately, this coin is nowhere to be found. Stephanie will require the help of her Grandma...