Relaxing Holidays!

It’s July already and high time to think about summer vacation! Take a break with 10 relaxing gems from our catalog.

Carruthers of the British Foreign Office needs to get away from it all, and he does so on a yachting holiday with a friend. But something sinister is going on in the Frisian Islands they are visiting – will they be able to solve The Riddle of the Sands in the novel by Erskine Childers?

Alec McNamara has nothing good in mind when he bribes a judge to steal the goldmine of the Glenisters. However, they are ready to hit back with the help of other miners. The Spoilers by Rex Beach, set in Nome, Alaska, is based on a true story.

Another true story: Rose Wilder Lane and two other American women visited the Peaks of Shala in Northern Albania shortly after WWI. There, instead of borders, they encounter local customs and legends and prehistoric cities.

When the City of London was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, Sir Christopher Wren was charged with rebuilding it. He created 52 churches, among them St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lawrence Weaver’s biography also includes some of Wren’s own writings.

Grant Overton reviewed many “artistically fine” writings for his book The Women Who Make Our Novels. You’ll find some LibriVox favorites like Edith Wharton, Anna Katherine Green, Edna Ferber, and 29 other female novelists.

Not on the list, however, is Maria Firmina dos Reis, a black woman from Brazil. In her novel, Tancreda falls in love with Úrsula who has to escape her uncle’s schemes. The couple’s only help are their slaves – will there be a happy ending?

One is already on the horizon for Brighton and Amy. But for their wedding, Brighton’s old flame shows up, as well as his philandering friend Billy. Throw in a burglar who’s after the family jewels, and there’s quite a Hoodoo at hand. Thankfully, it’s a comedy by Walter Ben Hare.

Lots of fun is in store for the young cadets who stage The Riverpark Rebellion. After all, the main goal is to take an unauthorized holiday to go to the circus. But when they return to the academy in the book by Homer Greene, they must work hard to redeem themselves.

Redemption lies also at the heart – Kokoro in Japanese – of this novel by Soseki Natsume. Two men meet at Kamakura, but despite a mutual desire for friendship, Sensei keeps the younger man at arm’s length – too heavily weighs the memory of an old mistake…

What awaits all of us this holiday season – will it be a Summer of Love? This is a collection of 59 early, fairly sentimental poems by Joyce Kilmer, who later became famous for “The Trees”.

Enjoy – and have a relaxing holiday!