Food – one of the major drives of every species. Our own has come a long way from hunting and gathering – discover just how far with 10 gems from our catalog.

Everybody should learn how to cook! But remembering recipes can be difficult. Imogen Clark has the solution: Rhymed Receipts for Any Occasion are recipes in verse, with a focus on desserts, cakes, and candies.

What’s the perfect thing to go with cake? Coffee of course! Not just any kind though, but rather Six Cups of Coffee, perfectly brewed by various authorities on cooking.

Jerome K. Jerome, being British, probably prefered different fare in the afternoon. Various characters meet for his imaginary Tea-table Talk, where they speak frankly about a number of sometimes frivolous, sometimes thought-provoking topics.

Even more inspiring is what Andrew Murray has to say about the last supper. In his book The Lord’s Table, he focuses on the weeks before, during, and after this important event in Christian religion.

Hetty Thompson also experiences a turning point in her cosy farm life: Her chickens suddenly lay golden eggs, and her cows produce milk that explodes. It’s all because of the new atomic testing site nearby – but what to do about it? Find out in the fun story Make Mine Homogenized by Rick Raphael.

The best way to avoid complications with dairy products is by going vegan with Rupert H. Wheldon’s No Animal Food & Nutrition and Diet with Vegetable Recipes. This very first vegan cook book was written back in the early 20th century.

John Dough and the Cherub also prefer not to be eaten. Created from a batch of gingerbread mixed with a magical elixir, they try to flee from hungry mouths in one of the fantastic worlds created by L. Frank Baum.

Gene Stratton-Porter has created the world of The Harvester, where a young man grows medicinal herbs for a living. When he has a spontaneous vision of the girl of his dreams, he leaves everything behind to try find her…

Mr. and Mrs. Bassett also leave everything behind when they are called to grandma’s bedside. “Everything” includes their seven children who must prepare An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving dinner all by themselves. Read our dramatic adaptation of Louise May Alcott’s novel for kids.

Very dramatic is also the dinner Mr. von Schatz is attending. He tries to divide his attention between the meal and Gräfin von Erlach, but she has other priorities for the evening… Otto Roquette spins a fun tale in Bei Tische – eine gastrosophische Novelle.

Enjoy – both our books and your meal!

February is usually the coldest month in the Northern Hemisphere. That means: lots of opportunity to stay home with 10 gems from our wintery catalogue.

The Bobbsey Twins at Snow Lodge is the main topic of conversation among the family, so busy is everybody planning their Christmas vacation. But before, they have to try and clear Bert form an untrue accusation in the novel by Laura Lee Hope.

There’s no way Fridtjof Nansen will stay home either, regardless of the weather. In his short book Auf Schneeschuhen übers Gebirge he tells about a hiking trip in the Norwegian mountains – from Bergen to Kristiania to Voss.

Bob Sumner on the other hand would rather be home in St. Louis. But he has been shangaied and is now on his way to The Land of Frozen Suns, where he must learn to survive both the environment and the unfriendly fellows he travels with. Read the adventure by Bertrand W. Sinclair to find out if he will!

Definitely a survivor is Sir Wilfred Grenfell. While he was crossing a frozen bay on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, he was caught Adrift on an Ice-Pan – and lived to tell the tale!

“How I was murdered” is the tale that comes to the ears, or rather: eyes, of detective Muller of the Austrian Police. Will he be able to solve The Case of the Pocket Diary Found in the Snow, written by Auguste Groner and Grace Isabel Colbran?

Equally in the dark – literally – is Snow Blind Sylvie, who was rescued at the last minute by fugitive Hugh. Brought to the small cabin where he lives with brother Pete and cook Bella, Sylvie is forced to rely on her ears to unravel the story. Katharine Newlin Burt tells a story of expectations – will they be met?

Matthew A. Henson surely never expected to be A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. This is his exciting memoir of Robert Peary’s expedition, of which he was a very important part.

Part of the poorest people was Yosef Haim Brenner, a Russian Jew who emigrated to Palestine in 1909. The four stories of בחורף – In Winter tell about the struggles of poor Jewish families during the Russian Anti-Jewish massacres of that time.

In The Snowflake and Other Poems, Canadian poet Arthur Weir deals with everything winter related with a focus on the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.

Don’t worry – winter won’t last forever! Just like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has a happy ending, so will the cold give way to spring. While you’re waiting, listen to the dramatic adaptation of the famous fairy tale by Jessie Braham White.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year! One of the favourite pastimes on New Year’s Day – especially in Europe and Asia – is listening to the Vienna New Year’s Concert. So, why not read about music too with 10 gems from our catalog?

One of the earliest ways kids are exposed to music is by listening to – and later singing themselves – old local songs. Thirteen can be found in our Folk Ballad Collection 001, both read and sung by LibriVoxers from all over the world.

If you prefer a more formal approach to music appreciation, Henry E. Krehbiehl will teach you How to Listen to Music. Written for what he calls “untaught lovers of the art”, you will learn, among others, when really to believe the critics.

Everyone’s a critic in the novella by Franz Grillparzer: Der arme Spielmann is obviously a dreadful violin player. But tread softly, and he will tell you the reasons behind it, buried with a long lost love.

Kaspar is also in a reminiscent mood. After his mother’s death, he, his uncle, and his cousin talk about his youth. Find out what’s behind the Confidences d’un joueur de clarinette in the French play by Erckmann-Chatrian.

Not in the mood for big revelations is Aaron. In the aftermath of WWI, he is unhappy and indifferent to most things, and just wants “to be left alone”. Aaron’s Rod by D. H. Lawrence sketches the life of somebody who has lost everything but his flute.

On the way to happiness is poor May Wedderburn in the book by Jessie Fothergill. After all, a wealthy landowner wants her hand in marriage. But she prefers to flee to Germany, where she hears her First Violin, and everything changes.

Lots of changes lie ahead for the Quire, a group of church musicians, when the new pastor decides to buy an organ. And their member Dick is in love with the new school mistress… Read the early novel by Thomas Hardy to see how things pan out Under the Greenwood Tree.

Big changes to music were brought by a composer and pianist from Poland. In Chopin: The Man and his Music, James Hunecker produces both a biography of the famous artist and a critical analysis of his works.

No need to be famous, to become a Cathedral Singer, is all a little boy from New York wants. He has the voice of an angel, a devoted mother, and everything’s possible in the US in the early 20th century… Or so we hope, in the novel by James Lane Allen.

If after all this, you want to learn more about music, we recommend the first formal book on Music Notation and Terminology, a 1914 classic by Karl W. Gehrkens. There you’ll find everything you need: musical terms, history, excerpts, examples…

Enjoy!