Sally Bedell Smith - Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch eBook

Language: English; PDF Pages: 531; 
File Size: 9 MB;

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch is a biography written by New York Times bestselling author, Sally Bedell Smith. First published in October 2012, the book deeply and widely explores the life of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, one of the most popular and important modern monarch. Smith herself, as an author, is renowned for her biographies of important and influential figures such as J.F. Kennedy, Diana, and Bill Clinton.

By conducting deep research, doing extensive interviews, and inspecting unrevealed documents, Smith pushes aside the shade of rumors, gossips, and glamour to present vivid and accurate details of one of the most intriguing and enigmatic women in U.K. and in the world, Queen Elizabeth II. In this biography, readers will be taken to see how young Elizabeth Alexandra Mary had to struggle in succeeding to the throne that was left by her uncle.
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley eBook

Language: English; PDF Pages: 409; File Size: 2.2 MB;

Constantly becoming a bestseller since its original publication in 1965, The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley has gained wide attention and critical acclaim, and it was named one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century by Time magazine. Haley was a journalist who conducted several in-depth interviews with Malcolm X between 1963 and 1965.

Based on the information and narratives told by Malcolm X himself, Haley ghostwrote the book, outlining the human right activist's life, especially his movement (Nation of Islam), philosophical view (black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism) and spiritual journey (conversion to Sunni Islam, pilgrimage to Mecca). It was Haley who fully wrote the epilogue of the book, in which he illustrated the collaboration of the two and the sums up the end and significance of the life of Malcolm X, one of the most importance and influential persons of the 20th Century.
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Louise Rennison - Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Book 6 to 10 eBooks

Book 6 – Book 10; Language English;

Confessions of Georgia Nicolson is a young-adult/teen novel series written by English author Louise Rennison. There are ten books in the series, with the first volume published in 1999 and the final installment released in 2009. In autobiographical style, the series delivers the journal of Georgia Nicolson, a teenage girl who lives and grows up in England.

Just like most teen-lit novels, the series humorously illustrates Georgia Nicolson’s life among her family and her adventure with her “gang.”  The family here consists of an embarrassing father, a loose mother, a weird little sister, and a vicious pet cat. Her refuge for friendship, comfort, and fun is a group of her best friends, the Ace Gang.

As a girl going through the tumultuous teenage years, boys and relationships are probably among the most important and complicated issues for Georgia, and also her friends. Most of the plots in series are built around those issues and occupying the spotlight is Georgia's dilemma and inability to settle her choice between Robbie (initial boyfriend), Masimo (the Italian stallion), and Dave the Laugh (a close friend). Teenage friendship is another major theme in the story, which is captured in the relationships among the Ace Gang members.
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Louise Rennison - Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Book 1 to 5 eBooks

Book 1 – Book 5; Language: English;

Confessions of Georgia Nicolson is a hilarious young-adult/teen novel series written by English author Louise Rennison. There are ten books in the series, with the first volume published in 1999 and the final installment released in 2009. In autobiographical style, the series delivers the journal of Georgia Nicolson, a teenage girl who lives and grows up in England.

Just like most teen-lit novels, the series humorously illustrates Georgia’s life among her family and her adventure with her “gang.” The family here consists of an embarrassing father, a loose mother, a weird little sister, and a vicious pet cat. Her refuge for friendship, comfort, and fun is a group of her best friends, the Ace Gang.

As a girl going through the tumultuous teenage years, boys and relationships are probably among the most important and complicated issues for Georgia, and also her friends. Most of the plots in series are built around those issues and occupying the spotlight is Georgia's dilemma and inability to settle her choice between Robbie (initial boyfriend), Masimo (the Italian stallion), and Dave the Laugh (a close friend). Teenage friendship is another major theme in the story, which is captured in the relationships among the Ace Gang members.
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Patrick Süskind - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer eBook (PDF)

Language: English; PDF Pages: 199; File Size: 0.8 MB;

First published under the title Das Parfum in 1985, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a novel written by German author Patrick Süskind. The book got wide attention because it is a literary historical cross-genre work. With the main themes including identity , communication, and human morality and spirit, the novel digs deep into a quite unique subject, which is the sense of smell. It explores how scents are able to carry and convey different emotional meanings and how people perceive those meanings by catching the sense with their sense of smell.
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Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram eBook (PDF)

Language: English; PDF Pages: 726; File Size: 3.2 MB;

Shantaram is a novel written by Australian writer Gregory David Roberts first published in 2003. Before becoming an author and charity worker, Roberts was a heroin addict and bank robber, who got caught but then escaped from Pentridge Prison and fled to India. The title, which is an Indian word means “man of peace” in English, was taken from the name Roberts given by his best friend's mother during the time he lived in India. Although the author stated that the book is actually a fictional novel, there is a debate surrounding it about how much of it is actual fact—some people refer the book as an autobiography—and which parts are invented fictions.
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Joseph Heller - Catch-22 eBook (PDF)

Language: English; PDF Pages: 371; File Size: 1.5 MB;

Catch-22 is a now classic satirical novel written by American author and World War II veteran Joseph Heller. First published in 1961, the book has become one of the most important twentieth century literary works. Since early after its publication, it has gained cult followers and until now approximately 10 million copies of it have been sold. A fellow WWII veteran, who is also an author and a scholar, referred to the novel as the most accurate book about military. The title itself, Catch-22, has introduced a new term entry in English vocabulary which means, as written at Wikipedia.com, “a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule."

Set during the World War II, the story in the novel is somewhat historical and it covers several themes and motives; among others are heroism, (absurdity, inefficiency, and power of) bureaucracy, religious faith, sanity, greed, and amorality of capitalism. However, despite the WWII background in the story, Heller said that he got the influence from and intended his criticisms toward the Koran War and the Cold War.
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Chetan Bhagat - Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition eBook (PDF)

Language: English; PDF Pages: 304;
File Size: 23.6 MB;

Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition is romance/contemporary novel with Indian cultural background first published in 2011. The book was written by Indian author, columnist, and speaker Chetan Bhagat, who has written some of the bestselling English novels in India and thus being dubbed “the biggest selling English language novelist in India's history” by The New York Times.

Getting the inspiration, as stated by Bhagat, from the apparent corruption in youth educational system in India, the novel focuses on several themes like youth and education, social and cultural issues, and youth romance. All of those have been brilliantly packed by the author in a young-adult story, in which the main characters involve in a love triangle, witness the corruption in the system, and go through a self-discovery journey.
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb - The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable eBook (PDF)

Language: English; PDF Pages: 391; File Size: 2.2 MB;

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable is a New York Times best-seller book on philosophy/sociology written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a Lebanese American epistemologist. It was first published in 2007 and was republished as expanded second edition in 2010. Covering subjects relating to knowledge, aesthetics, and ways of life, the book offers an extended discussion on the black swan theory: the extreme impact of certain kinds of rare and unpredictable events (outliers) and humans' tendency to find simplistic explanations for these events retrospectively.
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Chetan Bhagat - Five Point Someone eBook (PDF)

Language: English; PDF Pages: 153; File Size: 9.5 MB;

First published in 2004, Five Point Someone: What not to do at IIT! is the debut novel of Indian author Chetan Bhagat. Despite the mixed reception and criticism it received, the book has become one of the best-selling English novels in India, and even still stays in the bestseller list until now. It has also been adapted into movies, 3 Idiots (Hindi) and Nanban (Tamil), thought there is a controversy between author and the moviemaker regarding how much part of the movie actually came from the book.

The book is set in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. The time is around 1991 to 1995. The story evolves around three mechanical engineering students, who are best friends and hostel-mates: Hari Kumar (the narrator), Ryan Oberoi, and Alok Gupta. Read more »

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The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers 1-6 eBooks (PDF)

Cahills vs. Vespers is a six-volume series part of The 39 Clues action/science-fiction novel series. The books in the series were written by several well known authors. This series expand the thrilling adventures of Amy and Dan Cahill, descendants of the most important family in the world history, after their 39 Clues hunt. The series received generally positive reception and critical responses, with some volumes listed in the New York Times Bestseller list.

Darkness is engulfing all branches of the Cahill family around the globe. One by one, members of the Cahill family are missing, kidnapped by a mysterious, underground group known as the Vespers. Vesper One, leader of the Vespers, makes their demand, stating that if Amy and Dan want to save the hostage, they will have to pay the ransoms. The ransoms here are several historical items kept in well-secured places and these items will lead to a massive threat of destruction that may end the world.
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