This is an entertaining collection of varying stories recounted as only a master storyteller could deliver them.

In 1846 Lear published A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks that went through three editions and helped popularize the form. This book contains 112 of these funny, imaginative verses that have been well loved by many generations of children (and adults). (

Elbert Hubbard is best known as the author of the "Little Journeys To The Homes of Famous People". These 11 short stores show the side of him that celebrated caring, friendship love among humans. The first describes how 5 frightened orphan children from a foreign country were cared for on a railroad journey of a thousand miles; all by strangers without any planning and without a word of English being spoken or needed. He observed caring human men and women of all ages doing whatever was necessary to see they reached their destination in whatever comfort could be provided...

Twelve short stories of real girls who have influenced the history of their times.

These 18 wonderful short stories by Eleanor H. Porter, the author of Pollyanna, deal with those marvelous and maddeningly frustrating creatures: human beings. As always, Porter describes real people with sensitivity and an insight into all of their variety that makes you say "I knew someone just like that". She is able to capture the faded, but not quite extinguished, dreams of the elderly and the bright hopes of youth. The theme of this collection is how we humans deal with life and love throughout our lives, "Across the Years", no matter where we are or what era we live in.

Three fellow travelers on a train enter into a discussion concerning what they would call an ‘indiscreet letter.’ The discussion albeit short, produces some rather interesting revelations during the journey and at journey’s end.

Short stories written by the first wife of French statesman Francois Guizot for young readers.

A “Bluebeard” story in which a young woman marries a man whom she discovers has killed his previous wives and is trying to kill her as well.

Round the Sofa (1859), is a book of stories by the lady that Charles Dickens called his “dear Scheherazade” due to her skill as a story teller. That Lady was Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South, Wives and Daughters, Cranford etc.). Mrs. Gaskell begins with Round the Sofa, a short story which she uses as a device to stitch together six previously published stories into a single work. It introduces us to a set of characters who take turns to recount stories to one another during their weekly soirée...

Twenty-two moral stories for children. A collection of short stories about good little boys & girls and the rewards that come from good behavior, and naughty children who suffer the consequences of their actions. "Arabella fancied there could be no pleasure in the world equal to that of listening to conversations in which she had no concern, peeping into her mamma's drawers and boxes, and asking impertinent questions. If a parcel was brought to the house, she had no rest till she had found out what was in it; and if her papa rung the bell, she would never quit the room till the servant came up, that she might hear what he wanted." - from "Curiosity"- Summary by Krista Zaleski

The singing mouse tells tales of nature in songs. This book is for those who want to know how the mountains ate up the plains, what the waters said or where the city went.

A well-to-do French farm family is destroyed by a flood. The story, thrilling to the very end, is told from the point of view of the family’s 70-year-old patriarch. The story speaks of the helplessness of mankind in the face of the forces of nature.

Mrs. Emily Beesly, the writer of this brilliant narrative, lived in an era of nothing but fairy tales and "the stories of nursery life" for her children. Yet, she believed that when historical stories of importance were reworded into narratives fit for her children's ears, they, too could learn the Stories from the History of Rome and grow in knowledge, fascination, and wonder with the past. This is the product of that idea and desire. Summary by Melissa Petermann

Written by Baroness Orczy and first published in 1919, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. The book consists of eleven short stories about Sir Percy Blakeney’s exploits in rescuing various aristos and French citizens from the clutches of the guillotine. The stories which are listed below, are set in 1793 but appear in no particular order. They occasionally refer to events in other books in the series.

This collection from Darker Projects brings the Star Trek series back to life with a fictional account of our universe on the brink of war. With stakes running high a splinter group decides to take on the most morally dubious missions and bring us the listeners along for the ride. Sometimes in war there are no good options and this series explores those darker decisions that don't have to be made in everyday life. The story is action packed and goes at light speed jumping around the universe always keeping in the center of the action and outwitting the enemy.

This story begins after a long and devastating war that has left The Federation in shambles. The pressing mission for the remaining ships in Star Fleet is to travel the war-torn galaxy's and find old alleys to reunite under one federation. Many of the classic Star Trek races make an appearance in this series including the Klingons, Romulans and everyone's favorite the Borg! This book is fast paced and a very creative read. It comes recommended highly for anyone who has followed Star Trek and it also fills in a good amount of background information for those less well versed in the subject.

Ernest Bramah is mainly known for his ‘Kai Lung’ books – Dorothy L Sayers often used quotes from them for her chapter headings. In his lifetime however he was equally well known for his detective stories. Since Sherlock Holmes we have had French detectives, Belgian detectives, aristocratic detectives, royal detectives, ecclesiastical detectives, drunken detectives and even a (very) few quite normal happily married detectives. Max Carrados was however probably the first blind detective.

A Thief in the Night is a 1905 collection of short stories by Ernest William Hornung, featuring his popular character A. J. Raffles. It was the third book in the series, and the final collection of short stories. In it, Raffles, a gentleman thief, commits a number of burglaries in late Victorian England. Although Raffles had been killed in the Second Boer War at the end of The Black Mask, chronicler and accomplice Bunny Manders narrates additional adventures which he had previously omitted, from various points in their criminal careers.

Love stories make perfect short stories. This collection contains 16 different short stories on the different ways a love affair can play out. - Summary by Carolin

How are friction matches made? How do rags and trees become paper? Who makes the dishes on our tables? Published in 1916, this children's book explains the origins of everyday items in an entertaining and informative way. There are plenty of illustrations, so please feel free to read along.

A life lived backwards, with events happening in reverse order forms the strange and unexpected framework of one of F Scott Fitzgerald's rare short stories. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was published in Collier's in 1927 and the idea came to Fitzgerald apparently from a quote of Mark Twain's in which he regretted that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst at the end. Fitzgerald's concept of using this notion and turning the normal sequence of life on its head resulted in this delightful, thought provoking fantasy tale...

Pretty but socially clueless Bernice lets her know-it-all cousin push her around, but eventually, something's gotta give! (Introduction by BellonaTimes)

As the city above soars gloriously skyward, the denizens of the city writhe in its dirty underbelly.The Vertical City is a collection of six short stories by Fannie Hurst . Each story, tells in gritty, dramatic style, of ugly inner city tragedy: unwed mothers, women doing what they need to do in order to escape poverty, or loneliness… A mother can literally give her life in the attempt to provide a better life for her child, and even then she may fail because her love, protection and guidance, cannot overcome the depravity of the environment.Stories included here are: She Walks In Beauty, Back Pay, The Vertical City, The Smudge, Guilty, and Roulette. Summary by Lisa Reichert

This is a delightful collection of 43 fairy tales (both old and new), folk lore, myths and real life stories by a variety of authors, brought together by writer Fanny E Coe. They are mostly short and are fun to listen to by children and adults and most teach valuable lessons about life. Some of the stories are: A Legend of the North Wind; How the Robin's Breast became Red; The Little Rabbits; St Christopher; The Necklace of Truth; A Night with Santa Claus; The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe; Pocahontas and How Molly spent her Sixpence

A charming collection of nine short stories for children with a moral weaved in each. These were originally published as separate booklets, under the series title "Stories for God's Little Ones".

Hagar Stanley, a beautiful young Gypsy, is driven by sexual harassment to leave her tribe and seek refuge with her uncle Jacob, a miserly London pawnbroker. He dies after teaching Hagar the business, and she takes over running the popshop till the legitimate heir can be traced. In the odd assortment of objects that pass across her counter, Hagar uncovers one mystery after another. Some items are linked to actual crimes, others to iniquitous acts of human deceit and betrayal. Whether investigating independently or alongside the police, Hagar combines her native shrewdness with woman's intuition to help untangle the webs of wickedness she encounters, that justice might prevail in the end...

This is a collection of short stories and fairy tales by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.