Category Archives: English

The House Without a Key

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(first published 1925)

by Earl Derr Biggers (1884 – 1933)
Language: English

The original text of this recording is in the Public Domain in countries where copyright expires 70 years or less after the author’s death, but is still protected by copyright in the USA and some other countries. Please check the copyright law of your country before downloading.
The recording is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.

The novel deals with the murder of a former member of Boston society who has lived in Hawaiʻi for a number of years. The main character is the victim’s nephew, a straitlaced young Bostonian bond trader, who came to the islands to try to convince his aunt Minerva, whose vacation has extended many months, to return to Boston. The nephew, John Quincy Winterslip, soon falls under the spell of the islands himself, meets an attractive young woman, breaks his engagement to his straitlaced Bostonian fiancee Agatha, and decides after the murder is solved to move to San Francisco. In the interval, he is introduced to many levels of Hawaiian society and is of some assistance to Detective Charlie Chan in solving the mystery. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Total running time: 8:55:35 – Read in English by ashleighjane

01 – Kona Weather – 0:29:00
02 – The High Hat – 0:11:30
03 – Midnight on Russian Hill – 0:26:51
04 – A Friend of Tim’s – 0:19:48
05 – The Blood of the Winterslip’s – 0:17:13
06 – Beyond the Bamboo Curtain – 0:13:05
07 – Enter Charlie Chan – 0:24:57
08 – Steamer Day – 0:22:27
09 – At the Reef and Palm – 0:24:08
10 – A Newspaper Ripper in Anger – 0:26:14
11 – The Tree of Jewels – 0:33:17
12 – Tom Brade the Blackbirder – 0:22:55
13 – The Luggage in Room Nineteen – 0:22:03
14 – What Kaohla Carried – 0:24:19
15 – The Man From India – 0:30:49
16 – The Return of Captain Cope – 0:24:25
17 – Nightlife in Honolulu – 0:18:00
18 – A Cable From the Mainland – 0:23:43
19 – “Good-by, Pete!” – 0:32:26
20 – The Story of Lau Ho – 0:22:04
21 – The Stone Wall Crumbles – 0:25:57
22 – The Light Streams Through – 0:29:46
23 – Moonlight at the Crossroads – 0:10:38

In addition to the reader, this audio book was produced by:
Dedicated Proof-Listener: Rapunzelina
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Nadine Eckert-Boulet

Catalogued May 24, 2012

Supernatural Horror in Literature

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(first published 1927)

H.P. Lovecraft (1890 – 1937)
Language: English

The original text of this recording is in the Public Domain in countries where copyright expires 70 years or less after the author’s death, but is still protected by copyright in the USA and some other countries. Please check the copyright law of your country before downloading.
The recording is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.

“Supernatural Horror in Literature” is a long essay surveying the field of horror fiction. It was written between November 1925 and May 1927 and revised in 1933-1934. The author follows the development of the weird fiction genre, starting from Antiquity until the first decades of the 20th century and concludes by in-depth description of four writers whom he considers “Modern Masters” (Summary by Piotr Nater and Wikipedia)

Total running time: 3:10:05 – Read in English by Piotr Nater

01 – Introduction – 0:09:48
02 – The Dawn of the Horror Tale – 0:10:11
03 – The Early Gothic Novel – 0:14:00
04 – The Apex of Gothic Romance – 0:11:44
05 – The Aftermath of Gothic Fiction – 0:18:15
06 – Spectral Literature on the Continent – 0:13:59
07 – Edgar Allan Poe – 0:16:15
08 – The Weird Tradition in America – 0:31:34
09 – The Weird Tradition in the British Isles – 0:22:23
10 – The Modern Masters 1 – 0:23:12
11 – The Modern Masters 2 – 0:19:04

In addition to the reader, this audio book was produced by:
Dedicated Proof-Listener, Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Hokuspokus

Catalogued 16. May 2012

The Island of Sheep

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(first published 1936)

by John Buchan (1875 – 1940)
Language: English

The original text of this recording is in the Public Domain in countries where copyright expires 70 years or less after the author’s death, but is still protected by copyright in the USA and some other countries. Please check the copyright law of your country before downloading.
The recording is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.

This is the last of Buchan’s ‘Richard Hannay’ novels. It’s cast of Characters, in addition to Hannay himself, includes from earlier novels, Sandy Clanroyden and the villain D’Invraville. Buchan also introduces a merchant banker ‘Lombard’ and Hannay’s son Peter John. The action takes place in England, Scotland and the ‘Norland’ Islands, (presumably the Faroes) where a neurotic Norland millionaire who has a claim on Hannay’s protection and owns an island is under attack.
Even the Buchan Society (http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk) concede that this is not one of his best novels ‘occasionally charming and amusing, but no more’ but it is a perfectly good read and those who like Buchan’s style will enjoy having the series properly rounded off.
The title was previously used by Buchan for a political novel, never reprinted and now very rare. (Summary by AJM)

Total running time: 8:35:04 – Read in English by Andy Minter (1935 – 2017)

01 – Lost Gods – 0:16:15
02 – Hanham Flats – 0:31:34
03 – The Tablet of Jade – 0:24:51
04 – Haraldsen – 0:48:41
05 – Haraldsen’s Son – 0:32:10
06 – Sundry Doings at Fosse – 0:38:32
07 – Lord Clanroyden Intervenes – 0:30:13
08 – Sanctuary – 0:38:31
09 – Lochinvar – 0:38:04
10 – The Dog Samr – 0:25:50
11 – We Shift Our Base – 0:31:57
12 – Hulda’s Folk – 0:43:02
13 – Marine Biology – 0:34:31
14 – The Way of the Pink-Foot – 0:30:58
15 – Transformation by Fire – 0:44:27
16 – The Riddle of the Tablet – 0:15:17

In addition to the reader, this audio book was produced by:
Dedicated Proof-Listener: Diana Majlinger
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Hokuspokus

Catalogued 26. April 2012

The Prophet

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(first published 1923)

by Khalil Gibran (1883 – 1931)

Language: English

The Prophet is the best known work of Khalil Gibran, also known as Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese American poet and artist.

The poetic prose of The Prophet has delighted readers for generations, and the book became particularly popular in the 1960s. Al-Mustafa the prophet, who has lived abroad for many years, is about to board a ship home when he is stopped by a group of people with whom he discusses many aspects of life and the human condition, including love, children, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge and death. (Summary by Ruth Golding and Wikipedia)  Continue reading →