Showing results by narrator "Amanda Friday" in All Categories

Why does the Twilight saga continue to inspire both passionate fandom and heated critique? In Why We Love (and Hate) Twilight, Sarah Elizabeth Gallagher unpacks the cultural obsession with Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and the supernatural love story that redefined YA literature and pop culture forever.

What does it mean to be "just good people?" That is how the two couples—one British and one American—in this story are described. But what happens when you look deeper, peeling back the layers of politeness and civility? It is a tale of love, of disappointment, of miscommunication, and missed opportunities.

Marilla "Rilla" Blythe, the youngest daughter of Gilbert and Anne Blythe, is nearly 15 when the First World War begins making news. Seemingly overnight, the men of the town are being called up to enlist. Rilla, who had long yearned for adulthood, finds new responsibilities as the war wages on.

Persuasion has certain similarities with Emma, another late novel by Jane Austen. In both stories, the heroine is a young woman who lives with her widowed father, and who has an enduring attachment to her eventual spouse from the opening of the action. Persuasion also incorporates certain elements common to Austen's earlier novels, such as characters from the military, visits to Bath and calculating and cynical suitors. In the end, Anne Elliot successfully combats the destructive vanity of her father and the machinations of her villainous cousin William.

The so-called "Bad Quarto" of Shakespeare's Hamlet is the first known version of this world-famous tragedy. Published in 1603, this text is significantly shorter, has some divergent character names, and contains different renditions of some of the play's most famous lines. Some scholars believe that the Bad Quarto is a pirated edition, written down by one or more of the company actors, while others think that it is Shakespeare's first attempt that he later revised and expanded.

Scorned by her 17th century New England Puritan village, Hester Prynne struggles to raise her precocious daughter, Pearl, who is the result of an affair and whose father is unknown. Despite being forced to wear a scarlet letter A as a brand for her adultery, Hester tries to live a life of repentance and dignity. Pearl's father comes forward as he is struggling under the weight of his own shame and sin.

In this moody Russian drama, Ivanov is a melancholic impoverished landowner whose wife is dying of tuberculosis. However, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the beautiful Sasha, the daughter of his wealthy neighbors. Augmented by a diverse array of colorful supporting characters and intrigues, this play provides a glimpse of master dramatist Anton Chekhov's early work.

An anthology of writings for the Christmas season from the pen of Charles Dickens.

Sonya Pope is pragmatic and has no time for setbacks, so when she arrives at her elopement to find her fiancé wants to break up, she uses the flight home to reprioritize. But when a woman on the plane has a medical emergency, she jumps to action. Unfortunately, so does the cocky, almost-paramedic two rows back. Ben "Trav" Travis totally got to that patient first, but the cranky nurse with the pretty brown eyes made a big show of taking charge. Sure, he might be one rotation away from actually being certified, but he has real-life experience. The kind he wouldn't wish on anyone. 

It's a story about Riley, a ten-year-old girl forced to grow up way too fast! You see, her mother has disappeared and needs to be found. At least that's what Riley believes. In time, she suspects her father feels the same way, as he continually uproots the family, desperate to find her. And each time they move, Riley carries with her the hope of finding her mother to ease the pain of leaving her friends and her world behind. But her older brother, Jonathan, believes something entirely different.

You can leave the house. You can cross state lines. But you can't outrun the thing that wore your sister's face. Stranded in Branch, West Virginia, during a brutal storm, Emily takes a temporary job at the crumbling Rosehill Motel—a roadside relic with more ghosts than guests. Locals whisper...

The word's out: Ethan Wilder's coming back to town, and the people of Bowie, Georgia are in a southern tizzy. Everyone knows the story. He shot and killed his sister four years ago, and people say his father, Jim Wilder, the biggest holy roller this side of the Mississippi, sent him packing for just that reason. Even if her death was unofficially ruled a suicide, Ethan's return has everybody talking.

Walter Hartright, a struggling art teacher, is stopped for directions while traveling on a dark road by a mysterious woman in white. Thus begins Walter's deep dive into the twists and turns of stolen identities, fraud, spies, conspiracy and death. Along the way, he meets the lovely Laura Fairlie and her emboldened half-sister, Marian Halcombe. Marian is brazen and assertive in her search for the truth, a strong female during a time when women were simply viewed as the weaker sex. She joins Walter on his journey to untangle the web of lies and deceit that has been spun so expertly.

As the curtain falls on the March family's tale, we revisit the Plumfield clan 10 years later, all grown up and finding their way through life's adventures and misadventures.

Join seven-year-old Alice as she tumbles down the rabbit hole to have an adventure in Wonderland, in Lewis Carroll's classic novel beloved by children and adults alike. Alice encounters many strange and curious creatures in Wonderland, including the anxious White Rabbit, the rather unhelpful Caterpillar, the disappearing Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and his guests at their tea party, and the horrible Queen of Hearts.

Major Leah Morgan is a tactical genius and fearless leader who's about to have her limits tested, in more ways than one. The major is tasked with leading the Legacy Operations Command (USLC) to confront supernatural threats from America's past. Her first mission takes the team to Boston's Old North Church, where a Revolutionary War-era mummy is about to awaken. A vital relic has been stolen, and Leah must lead her team into the hidden vaults of history to recover it before the undead spy rises again.

Anne of the Island was published in 1915 covering her from the ages of 18 to 22. This is the third story of Anne Shirley where she earns her BA at Redmond College. In this book, she enjoys new and old friends at Redmond, living together at Patty's Place chaperoned by Aunt Jamesina. Gilbert proposes to Anne and she rejects him - but you must listen to the story to know the rest!

Ben and I are just friends. We've tried to be more, but it never works. There's no chemistry between us. At least that's the story I tell everyone. Truth is, I'm pining for Ben. HARD. Like Taylor Swift, You Belong With Me, hard. I don't know what happened. Suddenly, his casual touch is fire, and his easy smile stops my heart. But Ben has put me in the friend zone. Permanently. His supermodel girlfriend and him setting me up with a pro football player confirm this.

A collection of four of Chekhov's most popular dramas together with his unusual one-act comedy, The Boor, presented by members of The Online Stage.

When a Revolutionary War reenactment in a small Virginia town turns deadly, Captain Leah Morgan and her Legacy Operations Command team are called in to investigate. The suspect? A man who swears he wasn't in the present when he pulled the trigger. He claims he was fighting in 1781, defending his home from the British—right before he shot and killed a fellow reenactor with a musket that was never supposed to be loaded.