The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Great read the stories are entertaining and intriguing. It is easy to see how Holmes inspired the following the character has still today.

5 Stars Perfect Kindle mysteries at the perfect price!
This free Kindle download is the prelude to The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless tales are perfect for Kindle and, actually, the Kindle’s electronic voice does an admirable job of reading them to you!

Special thanks to Eileen T for posting the list of stories contained within!

The only downside to this free Kindle download is that it doesn’t have linked Table of Contents. So how do you quickly skip to a chapter later in the book?

Elementary my dear Watson! (-:

Pick a unique word from the story title. Click MENU > “Search this book”

Then type the most unique words from the title. Alas, this doesn’t always work, and I can’t figure out why. A new mystery! In the meantime, enjoy the classics….

5 Stars Wonderful Mystery
This book included 12 adventures:

1. A Scandal in Bohemia

2. The Red-Headed League

3. A Case of Identity

4. The Boscombe Valley Mystery

5. The Five Orange Pips

6. The Man with the Twisted Lip

7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

8. The Adventure of the Speckled Band

9. The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb

10. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

11. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

12. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Great classic literature. I really enjoy reading Holmes and Watson’s adventures, solving the mystery, and putting the puzzles together.

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The Huntress

The Huntress

The monsters teemed the lands-all who tried to fight failed. Until a small band of terrified people united to battle back the darkness…and thus, the saga begins.

Every hero has a past.

Every legend has a beginning.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars short story that could have been so much more
This short story could have been so much more, it is more like an introduction than a novel. The authoress is talented, but this work felt rushed and incomplete. I am hoping her other stories are more develpoed and told.

3 Stars not quite fleshed out enough
I liked the premise of the story very much, and was disappointed to see its execution somewhat lacking. The story feels rushed and quite short. The dialogue also felt somewhat stilted. I felt left wanting, even with the sex scenes.

5 Stars Beginning of the Hunters Series
Rachel will die soon. It’s only a matter of time before she and her village will be destroyed by the monsters outside her door. Without any help or guidance, they will be hunted, raped and slaughtered by either the pale creatures or the were-shifters. The only person they could count on was Rachel’s husband, Matthew, but he’s been missing for months. Or is he?

Matthew has returned a changed man. He doesn’t know how he will be received by his wife or his village, but he knows that he must tell them why he left and let them believe him dead. Only then can he help them fight the creatures. When he asks for volunteers, only his wife is brave enough to take the risk.

The Huntress is the beginning story of Rachel, the first Huntress and her husband Matthew. Her faith that her husband was alive was humbling because how many women would continue to believe when people were dying left and right? My admiration only grew once Rachel volunteered to help her husband fight the monsters. She didn’t know what would happen, but it didn’t matter because she had Matthew. He could have left her behind, but Matthew chose to come back even though he did not know how Rachel would receive him. They are a dynamic couple but Rachel’s first dealing with evil was chilling. I could see why she is the Huntress. The Huntress is a great addition to the Hunter series and my keeper shelf. Kudos to Ms. Walker for continually raising the bar on an awesome series.

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Hunted House of Night Book 5

Hunted House of Night Book 5

Book Description
What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil and all he wanted was you?

At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer. But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses. Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?

On the run and holed up in Tulsa’s Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down. Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems. The red fledglings have cleaned up well–they’ve even managed to make the dark, creepy tunnels feel more like home–but are they really as friendly as they seem? On the boyfriend front, Zoey has a chance to make things right with super-hot ex-, Eric, but she can’t stop thinking about Stark, the archer who died in her arms after one unforgettable night, and she is driven to try to save him from Neferet’s sinister influence at all costs. Will anyone believe the power evil has to hide among us?

An Interview with P.C. Cast

Amazon.com: Why vampyres? What was intriguing to you about them? (Also, why “y”?)

P.C. Cast: Actually, the idea for the series originated with my fabulous agent, Meredith Bernstein. We were at RWA [Romance Writers of America] Nationals in Reno several years ago and Meredith said she had an idea for a series she’d like to see me write. Then she said the three magic words: vampire finishing school. I instantly thought of YA because I’d been reading the Hawksong books by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes–so my head was already in YA. Also, I’ve been teaching high school English since 1993 (I’m from a family of teachers) so I definitely knew my audience. Basically, it sounded like fun to write, so I jumped in even though I’d only written fantasy and paranormal romance up until then.

Oh, and the spelling is just my choice ’cause I like the way it looks!

Amazon.com: I don’t want to draw too many comparisons between your series and Twilight, because they are completely different types of stories. However, I am curious if the popularity of that series has changed the way you see your genre, or do you even see it being the same genre?

PC: I see my genre as YA, and to me that encompasses everyone from Rowling to Laurie Halse Anderson to Janice Erlbaum. So, yes, Twilight fits in the same genre. And while I enjoy Ms. Meyer’s books very much, I think the genre has been growing and changing and gaining popularity steadily over the past decade–mostly thanks to Ms. Rowling! As a high school English teacher I certainly noticed the increase in sophistication and popularity of the genre some time ago. Today’s YA has an incredible range and depth, and it deals with real coming of age issues in varied and interesting ways. I’m proud to be a member of the ranks of YA authors!

Amazon.com: Can you talk a little bit about the role that religion plays in the novels? The whole series revolves around the worship of Nyx, the Goddess of Night, and Hunted really digs into questions of faith and free will (often related to what guy Zoey will be drawn to next…very clever to make that her weakness!). At various points in the series you also have People of Faith, Catholic nuns, and Cherokee legend. How do you see all these elements working together?

PC: Very clever of you to recognize the ramifications of Zoey’s weakness!

It’s easy for me to weave the different religious elements of the world together because it’s not really “religion” I’m dealing with when I create the conflicts and faith foundations in the House of Night. Instead I see it as a way to illuminate coming of age issues, which often deal with conformity and obsession and trying to learn boundaries. I chose to give my heroine a belief system in which to live that is matriarchal because my purpose is to empower young women, and by allowing Zoey to join a world where women are valued as leaders and really have no glass ceiling, except the ones they create for themselves, as exemplified by Neferet, I have a springboard for a lot of girl power.

Amazon.com: What were some of your influences for the House of Night school?

PC: South Intermediate High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma! I just looked around me and wrote what I saw. I also write what I wish I could see, as in the amazing HoN facility and their very cool classes. I’d love to teach a Vampyre Sociology class!

Amazon.com: How has Kristin being in school affected the series as it’s progressed? The scenes with friends hanging out and geeking out on movies in the dorm seem pretty familiar…

PC: When the series started Kristin was nineteen and was still living at home her first semester in college. And then when she did move out it certainly wasn’t into a dorm that looked as cool as the House of Night dorms! But she does DEFINITELY geek out with her friends. (She’s going to kill me for that…)

Amazon.com: When did the two of you decide to write a book together? How does your writing process work?

PC: I brought Kristin in while I was writing the first three chapters of Marked. I kept stumbling over silly little things, like specific slang that I thought I knew, but found out once I started writing about teenagers that MY deeply buried inner teen from the 70’s kept trying to resurface and butt in with her slang! Kristin keeps me straight about that. She also says she keeps Zoey from “sounding like a 40-something disgruntled school teacher.” Sigh.

We’re on book six of the series, and we have the process down. We do some brainstorming, then I write the first draft, often asking Kristin questions right in the manuscript or leaving blanks for her to fill in. Then I send the entire thing to her, and she goes through it, answering questions, filling in blanks, and asking me questions/making comments of her own. She sends it back to me and I go through it again. Then it’s ready to go to St. Martin’s and our lovely editor, Jennifer Weis. It sounds like a tedious process, but it’s really very freeing for me. I can write whatever and know Kristin has my back.

Amazon.com: Zoey has a few mother-daughter-like relationships–with her mom, her grandma, Neferet, Nyx. How much does your mother-daughter relationship inform your writing? Is it ever awkward?

PC: Hmm…that’s a good question. Kristin and I have a unique writing relationship. Actually, I probably wouldn’t even consider writing with anyone else–it’s unusually easy with my daughter (perhaps because I can beat her?). She and I have always been close, and we have a very honest relationship. Talking with each other has never been a problem, so we’re used to communicating. That helps a lot in a co-author situation.

Regarding the mother-daughter relationships in the book: clearly Zoey’s relationship with her own mom is nothing like Kristin and mine. Sadly, both of us have met many Linda Heffers here in Oklahoma, which is why she is so easy–and disturbing–for us to write. When I write Nyx’s words I often think about how I feel about Kristin, and then try to expand that to how this goddess would view the vampyres, especially Zoey, as her children.

We get the awkward question often because of the sexual tension in the books. Kristin and I do discuss the temperature of the books and the specific situations a lot. It doesn’t feel awkward between us because we’re used to communicating, and because we don’t just stick sex in our series to be gratuitous. The sexual issues are there because they’re realistic to teenagers. Yes, Zoey has several boyfriends–often at the same time. But in six books she has had sex once, and that was because she was manipulated and used by a charismatic adult. It wasn’t awkward writing those parts with my daughter–we believe in the reality of the books and the points we make about mistakes and consequences.

Amazon.com: Each of the books sort of has its own personality. Chosen, for example, was more focused on the friends and the guys, and Untamed was much more deeply focused on folklore and goddess rituals. Do you think that’s influenced by each of your interests, with Kristin having more influence on one book and P.C. showing up more in another? Or is that just the natural arc of the story?

PC: I think the shifting emphasis is because of the natural arc of the story. Think about your own life. Doesn’t your focus shift from time to time? I know mine does. Actually, sometimes it feels like events happen in waves: lots of guy, no guys, friend stres, no friend stress, crazy stuff at school, kinda calm school, etc. So I guess fiction is just mimicking the patterns I see in life.

Amazon.com: Even though it has a satisfying ending (no spoilers!) Hunted certainly doesn’t seem like the end of Zoey’s story. What’s next?

PC: Zoey has to save the world! And it’s definitely a big job. Seriously, now that the dark influences that have been lurking on the periphery of Zoey’s world have been brought out into the open, it’s time to deal with them. Of course that’s a lot harder than “Okay, Z, kick their butts and save the world now!” sounds. Especially as there are many layers to the House of Night world and often good appears bad, and bad seems terribly attractive.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars
I read the first four books and I was hooked. From the moment I picked up Marked I couldn’t stop reading it. When Haunted finally came out I was so excited and curious to how the book would continue… only to be disappointed. The ending happened all to fast. Leaving me with a big.. “What the?…huh?” Plus in the “boys” category…she never solved anything.

4 Stars I know I am old but I LOVE the House of Night!!
I have not completed it yet but so far, so VERY good. I heard there was a 6th book coming- I can’t wait. I hope a movie is to follow. Seriously- I don’t care how young I am supposed to be for this book- I love it!!

2 Stars more of the same crap
when i read “Marked” i was excited to get into a new series. zoey had her problems, but overall she was a cool, strong female protagonist. as the books have progressed, they have just gotten worse and zoey is a skank! i’m so tired of her boy drama. why can’t she learn her lesson and GET OVER IT! of all of the house of night books, this is the most poorly written. nothing happens. very little plot development, no character development, nothing! i admit that i will keep reading the series, but only in hopes that the books get good again, like the first few.

1 Star Four hours of my life that I will never get back…
I can safely say that this is the worst book I have ever read. While somewhat cheesy and predictable, I enjoyed the first four books of the series. However, I can not say how extremely disaappointed I was in this book. Never before in this series has it been so apparent that an adult was trying to write for teens. The characters have no development and the use of blind teen and racial stereotypes runs rampant. All black characters speak in what I can only assume is Cast’s idea of ebonics, all male characters are only interested in sex and fighting, and the gay characters are weak, feminine, and only care about fashion. This book was written to fill a deadline. Period.

5 Stars Hunted
The book is in pristine condition. The shipping was quick and I was very very pleased.

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Assassins Apprentice

Assassins Apprentice

The bastard sons of kings play a noble role in fantasy: not only were King Arthur and Modred by-blows, but it is often suggested that Merlin himself came to power from the “wrong side of the bed.” While Hobb’s offering has a few too many illegitimate heirs backstabbing around, this is still a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne. Fitz, who is often called the “Boy” or the “Bastard,” was begotten by good Prince Chivalry upon some “peasant” woman. At age six, he is given over to the safekeeping of the prince’s man, Burrich. Fitz’s impolitic existence causes the prince to abdicate his claim to the throne, and he and his wife leave the court, and the boy, behind. Fitz has inherited the “Skill,” a mind-bending talent, and also has the ability to meld his thoughts with those of nonhuman creatures and to mentally “repel” physical advances. When Fitz finally comes to King Shrewd’s attention, he is given over to the Royal Assassin’s tutelage and trained to carry out the king’s devious plans. The novel’s conceit-that it offers Fitz’s memoirs from childhood through adolescence-allows for several sequels. A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies and Arthurian romances.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A Delight To Read
I enjoyed Robin Hood’s writing so much I read the entire series. On my iPhone. I have always liked Science Fiction but found the Fantasy field a poor second cousin. But this book entranced me. I am grateful I discovered this author and will continue to enjoy her work. It is true that later works would have benefitted from editing but I realize that many fans prefer to stay in the author’s world as long as possible.

5 Stars Delighted
First book I’ve read by this author and I really liked it. Kind of reminded me of Jennifer Falon’s series. Now I’m going to have to buy the rest.

4 Stars Feels like I’m onto something here …
Oh dear !

I really have wasted a lot of time, haven’t I ?

Let me explain.

I read the first two tomes of “A Song of Ice and Fire” from G.R.R. Martin, and unlike most fantasy lovers, loathed it ! Almost with a passion. Something that had only happened with Jordan’s later “Wheel of Time” novels.

On enquiring on Robin Hobb’s series a little later on, someone I spoke with in a bookshop stated the two authors works were very similar. That put me off Robin Hobb for quite a few years.

Nonetheless, very recently, I picked up Assassin’s Apprentice, lack of what I thought better fantasy works I hadn’t read available on the library shelves, and wondered how far I’d be able to get into the book without shutting it for ever.

How I was wrong !

Unlike the previous author(s), words aren’t wasted, characters are valued, the plot is consistent, and even if it seems like things are at their darkest, there is always hope.

Whatsmore, Robin Hobb’s wordsmithing is just as good, if not better than that of Martin’s. I didn’t have to plough through a mess of descriptions for no reason whatsoever.

Of course, I don’t usually write comments here, but this was just such a surprise I felt I had to.

Thank you.

5 Stars A Engrossing Very Realistic Book
This is an engrossing, very realistic book. The protagonist’s story revolver around his maturation from a six-year old boy to teenager. The book gives a very realistic description of the difficulties in making it to and through the teenage years. He doesn’t miraculously figure things out the way some other authors depict their heroes. In fact, he isn’t exactly a heroic figure. He makes many mistakes as the story unfolds. His actions are not what the normal author writes for their hero.

The self-doubt and emotional upheaval the author puts him through reminds me of my years as a teenager at a remove of 34-years. He is put through struggles that you don’t think that he’ll survive. The suspense involving the seaborne raiders had me tempted to read the end of the book to see how it ends.

I have the Kindle version and have really enjoyed reading it on my Kindle 1.

1 Star Waste of time and money - don’t bother
This has all the makings of being a great series, but the execution is terrible and this is being nice.

I struggled to get through the book and by the end wondered why I bothered.

It just leaves me feeling empty and I certainly will not read the rest of the series.

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Ratio The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

Ratio The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

Ruhlman, who explained the basic ingredients, tools, and cookbooks essential to the home chef in The Elements of Cooking (2007), now offers an illuminating read on the magic numbers that lie at the heart of basic cookery. He divides the book into five parts (doughs, stocks, sausages, sauces, and custards). In each section he explains what essential properties make the ratios work and the subtle variations that differentiate, for instance, a bread dough (five parts flour, three parts water) from a biscuit dough (three parts flour, one part fat, two parts liquid). While making his case that “possessing one small bit of crystalline information can open up a world of practical applications” gets a little repetitive, it’s certainly a lesson worth taking to heart. This revealing and remarkably accessible read offers indispensible information for those ready to cook by the seat of their pants; with a handy grasp of these ratios (and a dash of technique), willing chefs should have no excuse to remain tethered to recipe cards and cookbooks.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Bird’s Eye View of Baking
Ratio is a book that should be read before opening any recipe book, especially on, say baking. Why? It gives an overview and an insight as no other baking text has done. It easily shows you the differences and similarities between different products (i.e. doughs), by varying just one component, such as amount of egg, sugar, or flour. Seeing the “big picture” lets you bake two different items at the same time, just by following the simple ratios of ingredients, and varying one part of a ratio. Baking is an art and science that requires proper ratios of ingredients to get best results. Many recipes have a hodgepodge of ingredients in odd measures-this is straighforward, you can double or halve recipes with ease.

Bonus:This is far from limited to baking. It also covers ratios for stocks, sausages’ fat to meat ratio, sauce preparation and ratios, custards and more.

I’ve compared the rations here to my recipes that work, and they are spot on. That means, Ruhlman did the hard work, and he frees you up to make things that come out right. What I really respect about him is that he gives the chef who had these ratios, to start with, full credit. Too many chefs snag ideas from others, and publish, not giving credit. Ruhlman has integrity.

I highly recommend this, not merely as a cookbook or recipe book-there hundreds out there, with pretty photos and abundant recipe variations. It’s because the author makes it so easy to get the “big picture” of cooking, and covers many different items, in cooking or baking. If you have the ratios, you can make some variations, and personalize things, if you choose. You benefit from this concise “Cliff’s Notes” on cooking and baking. You get the benefit of knowledge from other chef’s successes and failures, and you benefit by creating baked or cooked products that taste great.

4 Stars Almost getting teaching kitchen improv right: priceless
(This review originally appeared in a somewhat different form at my blog, OffSeasonTV at Blogspot.)

This book purports to be the latest and greatest in books claiming to teach how to cook without recipes, a trail blazed not all that successfully by authors such as Pam Anderson. Derived from a chart Ruhlman acquired from Chef Uwe Hestnar, at the Culinary Institute of America, it actually does a fairly creditable job of showing how certain aspects of cooking (particularly baking, charcuterie, and saucemaking) are based heavily on ingredient ratios (weight, by the way, not volume ratios, which are somewhat useless due to differences in ingredient density). Hestnar felt quite strongly (and presumably still does) that these ratios were the most critical things a professional chef needs to know, and that pretty much anything else is secondary.

As is often the case with books of this sort, Ratio oversells itself; anyone who’s spent a great deal of time studying politics can tell you that something that claims to be the utmost in simplicity seldom really is, and truthfully this book has a tendency to downplay technique (entire books can be and have been written on the subject, which really isn’t a very simple subject at all), as well as hyperfocusing on classical Franco-international cuisine. The question really comes down to this: how valid is Hestnar’s point, and can a non-cook learn to cook from Ruhlman’s book?

Well, Hestnar’s not wrong. Certainly a lot of this book comes down to the interactions of the chemical components of food; mayonnaise, for example, and its dependence on egg yolk as an emulsifier is an extreme example, since it really takes very little yolk to emulsify oil and vinegar (indeed, Ruhlman quotes a 20:1:1 ratio for oil/vinegar/yolk), but the ratio in question is extremely squishy compared to the rather strict 5:3 ratio of flour to water for a standard loaf bread (hardcore bakers will recognize that as a baker’s percentage of 66%). And indeed these ratios are fairly important for the subjects that Hestnar’s chart covers — too little liquid will create a gloppy sauce, and too much will create a hard-to-handle bread dough (although this is something you actually want for a ciabatta). And fat ratios make the difference between a bread dough and a pastry dough.

But as I said, I do think it’s oversold. The simple fact is that these ratios really aren’t as general as Ruhlman wants to think; they cover only certain parts of the culinary arts, and are mainly of use for troubleshooting purposes outside the realms the book covers. And Ruhlman’s work only covers classical French-based cuisine; there isn’t a tomato sauce to be found in here, for example, nor any discussion of rice or other grains (if cooking rice isn’t ratio-driven I don’t know what is). But what is in here is quite useful, and it does promote the use of weight measurements in the American kitchen, something people seem to be afraid of. It’s an interesting read, and I do recommend it, but as a guide to improvisational cooking it only does half the job.

5 Stars The only cook book I ever finished reading because of its content
This book has a few qualities that I have found lacking in most cook books

1) It is well written it is a joy to read.

2) It gives recipes with variations and moves from the simple to the complex so that beginners and professionals alike can learn from it.

3) Every thing can be done in a majority of kitchens.

4) Cooking times and temperatures have been well thought out and tested.

5) Tips on salvaging recipes in with common problems are addressed.

6) Fundimentals are taught instead of a nice story and a recipe.

7) The book gives a definition of all kind of things such as Stock, Cookies, Breads , Vinagretes, Saugages, custards, Pancakes and many more. But the definitions by ingredent ratios tell you what a food is and then with varitations you can add taste and complexities.

I never ever ever found a cook book that has done this or even tried to do it. But this book does it well and consisely.

I cook a lot of French, German and Italian food and this book has application in all areas. It is mostly french cooking inspired but it is applicable to all fields. Even things that I am good at such as stocks and sausages, were made more clear to me by this book. Every other cook book I have looked at has been the source of a good recipe or two but never has one so broadly and elegantly presented what food types are and how to make them.

This book not only is about ratios but is heavly involved in technique and the techniques have all been tested. This man loves food and is not shy to stress what it takes to go from good to great to unbelieviably good food.

I am inspired to bake and use thicking rouxs because they make sense to me now. I have always depeneded on slow reductions before to add taste and flavors but this has opened my eyes to things that seemed to hard to do in the past.

4 Stars Changed the way I cook-wish there was more
I LOVE this book, the ratios work! I haven’t been able to put it down since I downloaded it to my Kindle. It is extremely freeing to go into the kitchen, armed with a ratio and whip up a batch of biscuits (which were wonderful even without chilling the dough), muffins, (also excellent) and bread(wonderful). I’m sure ratios are not new to professional chefs, however this book makes this information available forthe home cook.A rmed with just the knowledge of the correct ratios and a good understanding of technique you can do anything. This is NOT a book for beginners and it is not a “how to cook” book. I am an experienced, avid baker, and an average, less avid meal cook. Many of the instructions assume you are knowledgeable about cooking basics, there are many “cook until done” type instructions. The book does not purport to be a “how to cook” book. But if you are an experienced cook and know how to judge when a cookie or bread is done, this book will change the way you cook. The goal is to open the world of ratios to those cooks who want to expand their expertise beyond recipes. I have always been very “recipe dependent” but no more, this concept has freed me up to do what I want in the quantities I want. This has definitely changed the way I cook. I’ve made smaller batches, tried my own variations and everything works. The ratios rely on weighing ingredients so it is best to have a kitchen scale in order to make the ratios work. I have 2 caveats: You can’t see the charts well on the Kindle edition, and I wish there were more ratios.

4 Stars speedy delivery
the speedy delivery we have come to expect from Amazon.com which is what keeps me coming back to amazon.

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