Written for J.R.R. Tolkien"s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when first published more than sixty years ago. Now recognized as a timeless classic with sales of more than 40 million copies worldwide, this introduction to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Wizard, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth tells of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.

The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber

Leaves of Grass (1855) is a poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman. Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," and in later editions, Whitman's elegy to the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." Whitman spent his entire life writing Leaves of Grass, revising it in several editions until his death.

Leaves of Grass has its genesis in an essay called The Poet by Ralph Waldo Emerson, published in 1845, which expressed the need for the United States to have its own new and unique poet to write about the new country's virtues and vices. Whitman, reading the essay, consciously set out to answer Emerson's call as he began work on the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Whitman, however, downplayed Emerson's influence, stating, "I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to a boil".



On May 15, 1855, Whitman registered the title Leaves of Grass with the clerk of the United States District Court, Southern District of New Jersey, and received its copyright. The first edition was published in Brooklyn at the Fulton Street printing shop of two Scottish immigrants, James and Andrew Rome, whom Whitman had known since the 1840s, on July 4, 1855. Whitman paid for and did much of the typesetting for the first edition himself. The book did not include the author's name, instead offering an engraving by Samuel Hollyer depicting the poet in work clothes and a jaunty hat, arms at his side. Early advertisements for the first edition appealed to "lovers of literary curiosities" as an oddity. Sales on the book were few but Whitman was not discouraged.

The first edition was very small, collecting only twelve unnamed poems in 95 pages. Whitman once said he intended the book to be small enough to be carried in a pocket. "That would tend to induce people to take me along with them and read me in the open air: I am nearly always successful with the reader in the open air. "About 800 were printed, though only 200 were bound in its trademark green cloth cover. The only American library known to have purchased a copy of the first edition was in Philadelphia. The poems of the first edition, which were given titles in later issues, were "Song of Myself," "A Song For Occupations," "To Think of Time," "The Sleepers," "I Sing the Body Electric," "Faces," "Song of the Answerer," "Europe: The 72d and 73d Years of These States," "A Boston Ballad," "There Was a Child Went Forth," "Who Learns My Lesson Complete?", and "Great Are the Myths."

The title Leaves of Grass was a pun. "Grass" was a term given by publishers to works of minor value and "leaves" is another name for the pages on which they were printed.

Whitman sent a copy of the first edition of Leaves of Grass to Emerson, the man who had inspired its creation. In a letter to Whitman, Emerson said "I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." He went on, "I am very happy in reading it, as great power makes us happy."

NOTE: THOSE WHO PURCHASED A COPY OF "DROWNING" PRIOR TO FEB. 16, 2012 WILL RECEIVE A NEW RE-EDITED VERSION. A PREVIOUS UNEDITED COPY WAS ERRONEOUSLY UPLOADED. THE NEW EDITED 2/16/2012 VERSION IS THE SAME VERSION AS THE PAPERBACK BESTSELLER & AWARD-WINNING NOVEL. IF YOU WISH TO GET A NEW FREE COPY PLEASE GO TO: WWW.SUSANWINGATE.COM, THEN FROM THE "BOOKS" TAB, YOU'LL SEE A DROP-DOWN MENU. PRESS THE TAB FOR THE "DROWNING" PAGE. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FILL IN THE CONTACT FORM AND GET YOUR NEW EDITED VERSION OF THE AWARD-WINNING, #1 AMAZON BESTSELLER--"DROWNING" BY SUSAN WINGATE.

#1 Amazon Bestseller and Winner in the 2011 FORWARD NATIONAL LITERATURE AWARD for the category of Drama.

Even with her mother's death days away, even as her marriage is falling apart, Euly Winger leaves home, returning to the place she grew up in order to uncover a dark secret about her parent's divorce.

On her search for answers, Euly meets up with an old family friends--some offer help, some disaster. Euly returns home just hours before her mother dies. As they sit alone together, Euly asks her mother for the truth.

A suspenseful and inspirational read, DROWNING, a story of love and redemption. Mainstream women’s fiction/family drama category.

NOTE: THOSE WHO PURCHASED A COPY OF "DROWNING" PRIOR TO FEB. 16, 2012 WILL RECEIVE A NEW RE-EDITED VERSION. A PREVIOUS UNEDITED COPY WAS ERRONEOUSLY UPLOADED. THE NEW EDITED 2/16/2012 VERSION IS THE SAME VERSION AS THE PAPERBACK BESTSELLER & AWARD-WINNING NOVEL. IF YOU WISH TO GET A NEW FREE COPY PLEASE GO TO: WWW.SUSANWINGATE.COM, THEN FROM THE "BOOKS" TAB, YOU'LL SEE A DROP-DOWN MENU. PRESS THE TAB FOR THE "DROWNING" PAGE. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FILL IN THE CONTACT FORM AND GET YOUR NEW EDITED VERSION OF THE AWARD-WINNING, #1 AMAZON BESTSELLER--"DROWNING" BY SUSAN WINGATE.

#1 Amazon Bestseller and Winner in the 2011 FORWARD NATIONAL LITERATURE AWARD for the category of Drama.

Even with her mother's death days away, even as her marriage is falling apart, Euly Winger leaves home, returning to the place she grew up in order to uncover a dark secret about her parent's divorce.

On her search for answers, Euly meets up with an old family friends--some offer help, some disaster. Euly returns home just hours before her mother dies. As they sit alone together, Euly asks her mother for the truth.

A suspenseful and inspirational read, DROWNING, a story of love and redemption. Mainstream women’s fiction/family drama category.

When a mafia princess falls for a two-bit hoodlum an unhappy don plays some rough games in order to separate the two lovers.

Sean O'Donnell is a man who always keeps his word, especially to a lady. His good-for-nothing old man left his mother flat. When she gets ill, Sean assures her that he will never be like his father; if he makes a promise he will keep it, no matter what the cost. When local mob boss Mario Torretta's daughter Nicole falls for Sean, the Don is not pleased, and makes it known that Sean is not good enough for his princess. However, Nicole is in love and begs Sean to stick by her. Once Sean gives his word, no amount of pressure from the Don will weaken his resolve. Sean will endure and persevere to keep his promise to Nicole, and to his mother.

Reservoir Dogs meets Romeo and Juliet in this brutal crime drama for fans of Dennis Lehane, Andrew Vachss and Charlie Huston.

When a mafia princess falls for a two-bit hoodlum an unhappy don plays some rough games in order to separate the two lovers.

Sean O'Donnell is a man who always keeps his word, especially to a lady. His good-for-nothing old man left his mother flat. When she gets ill, Sean assures her that he will never be like his father; if he makes a promise he will keep it, no matter what the cost. When local mob boss Mario Torretta's daughter Nicole falls for Sean, the Don is not pleased, and makes it known that Sean is not good enough for his princess. However, Nicole is in love and begs Sean to stick by her. Once Sean gives his word, no amount of pressure from the Don will weaken his resolve. Sean will endure and persevere to keep his promise to Nicole, and to his mother.

Reservoir Dogs meets Romeo and Juliet in this brutal crime drama for fans of Dennis Lehane, Andrew Vachss and Charlie Huston.

Time-saving, inspiring lesson plans provide a comprehensive novel unit--created by teachers for teachers. The legwork is done for you. The chapter-by-chapter guides incorporate research-based, high-order reading, writing and thinking activities. (This is NOT the paperback novel.)

Anne Frank's diaries have always been among the most moving and eloquent documents of the Holocaust. This new edition restores diary entries omitted from the original edition, revealing a new depth to Anne's dreams, irritations, hardships, and passions. Anne emerges as more real, more human, and more vital than ever. If you've never read this remarkable autobiography, do so. If you have read it, you owe it to yourself to read it again.

There is no nicer surprise for a reader than to discover that an acknowledged classic really does deliver the goods. Mark Twain's Roughing It is just such a book. The adventure tale is a delight from start to finish and is just as engrossing today as it was 125 years ago when it first appeared.

Roughing It tells the true-ish escapades of Twain in the American West. Although he clearly "speaks with forked tongue," Roughing It is informative as well as humorous. From stagecoach travel to the etiquette of prospecting, the modern reader gains considerable insight into that much-fictionalized time and place. Do you know about sagebrush, for example?

Sage-brush is very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child, the mule. But their testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.