Great Short Works of Mark Twain
by Mark Twain

Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: PerfectBound

Subject(s): Classic LiteratureFiction

A masterpiece collection of great literature, The Great Short Works of Mark Twain belongs on every bookshelf, featuring classics such as Old Times on the Mississippi, The Mysterious Stranger, The Jumping Frog, and more.

Great Short Works of Stephen Crane
by Stephen Crane

Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: PerfectBound

Subject(s): Classic LiteratureFiction

The stories and novels representing Stephen Crane's art at its finest. Includes The Red Badge of Courage, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, The Monster, The Blue Hotel, and other short stories.

Great Short Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe

Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: PerfectBound

Subject(s): Classic LiteratureFiction

"From the best of his comic and satiric works to the best of his Gothic works . . . a remarkable literary achievement--perhaps one of the most remarkable of the nineteenth century."--G. R. Thompson, from the Introduction.

Great Short Works of Herman Melville
by Herman Melville

Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: PerfectBound

Subject(s): Classic LiteratureFiction

Billy Budd, Sailor and Bartleby, the Scrivener are two of the most revered shorter works of fiction in history. Here, they are collected along with 19 other stories in a beautifully redesigned collection that represents the best short work of an American master. As Warner Berthoff writes in his introduction to this volume, "It is hard to think of a major novelist or storyteller who is not also a first-rate entertainer ... a master, according to choice, of high comedy, of one or another robust species of expressive humour, or of some special variety of the preposterous, the grotesque, the absurd. And Melville, certainly, is no exception. A kind of vigorous supervisory humour is his natural idiom as a writer, and one particular attraction of his shorter work is the fresh further display it offers of this prime element in his literary character."

Hurry! Borrow these classics at Overdrive.

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“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald born on Sept. 24, 1896, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is an American short-story writer and novelist famous for his depictions of the Jazz Age (the 1920s), his most brilliant novel being The Great Gatsby (1925). His private life, with his wife, Zelda, in both America and France, became almost as celebrated as his novels.

Fitzgerald was the only son of an unsuccessful, aristocratic father and an energetic, provincial mother. Half the time he thought of himself as the heir of his father's tradition, which included the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Francis Scott Key, after whom he was named, and half the time as “straight 1850 potato-famine Irish.” As a result he had typically ambivalent American feelings about American life, which seemed to him at once vulgar and dazzlingly promising.

Image & Extract Entry: Encyclopedia Britannica 2007. Online Library Edition
http://library.eb.com

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It has been a year since our much loved Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, died on September 4, 2006.

"I have no fear of losing my life - if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it."-Steve Irwin

This picture was taken at our very own Singapore Zoological Gardens with our much loved Ah Meng and family. Steve commented that the Singapore Zoo was one of his favourite destination.

It was a tragic, yet in some ways not wholly unexpected end for the adventurer. Irwin was filming in the Low Isles, Queensland near Port Douglas, north of Cairns, Queensland, Australia, where he was stung either through his heart or through the left side of his chest and suffered cardiac arrest.

Irwin had been around animals from an early age. His father, Bob, 66, opened Australia Zoo in 1973, and his mother, Lyn, who died in a car accident in 2000, was a former nurse who cared for baby kangaroos and injured birds. Wrestling his first crocodile at 9 years old under his dad's supervision, Irwin has said that working with animals was "in my genetic makeup."

Irwin rose to worldwide fame through the natural history series, which has been one of the highest-rated programs on Animal Planet and Discovery Networks channels worldwide for the past 10 years. However, it wasn't until the program became a hit in the U.S. that the Australian public also took him to heart.

His exploits included wrestling crocodiles, catching venomous snakes and swimming with endangered whales. He worked with wild animals while imparting his passionate views on wildlife conservation in his trademark khaki shorts and shirts and catchphrase "Crikey."

Irwin believed in promoting environmentalism by sharing his excitement about the natural world rather than preaching to people. He was concerned with conservation of endangered animals and land clearing leading to loss of habitat. He urged people to take part in considerate tourism and not support illegal poaching through the purchase of items such as turtle shells. He considered conservation to be the most important part of his work: "I consider myself a wild-life warrior. My mission is to save the world's endangered species."

He founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which was later renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, and became an independent charity. He and his wife remained patrons and major supporters along with the AFL clubs of Australia.

Thanks to his family, Irwin's animal-friendly philosophy will live on. His plans for a massive zoo expansion are under way. And his daughter Bindi has picked up her daddy's torch with her series Jungle Girl.

Dubbing himself the "wildlife warrior," his ultimate goal wasn't to show off his bravado, he said, but to teach people to respect animals.

Irwin on his eco-awareness efforts: "Our motto is conservation through exciting education--that's the game”.

http://www.ripsteve.com

Images from EBSCOHost & Library Press Display

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Many people don't realize that we are committed right now to a significant amount of global warming and sea level rise," said Gerald Meehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "The longer we wait to do something about it, the more change we will have."

There is a lot of media coverage now about global warming and its threatening effects.

From catastrophic sea level rise to jarring changes in local weather, humanity faces a potentially dangerous threat from the changes our own pollution has wrought on Earth’s climate.

Most scientific public discussions on the topic tend to focus not on research but on the potential impacts of higher global temperatures. The following summarizes the major concerns.

Oceans

The most prominent ocean-related threat from global warming is sea level rise caused by the inflow of water from melting glaciers and polar ice sheets, and thermal expansion (warmer water takes up more space than cooler water). Nearly 50 percent of the world's population lives in coastal zones.
Scientists in recent years have warned that global warming could decimate polar bear populations. The bears depend on sea ice on which to hunt for seals.
Climate change is also very likely to put stress on fisheries by altering the distribution and abundance of major fish stocks around the world.

Freshwater Resources

Many scientists believe that global warming is likely, in many regions, to alter the distribution of freshwater, an important resource that supports human activities and ecosystems. Increased temperatures will mean that evaporation will occur at a higher rate, promoting cycles of intense drought and flood.

Agriculture & Food Supply

Global warming is expected to affect countries differently. Production in developed countries with relatively stable populations, such as the United States, may increase, whereas crop yields are likely to decrease in developing countries with increasing populations.

Changes in precipitation type, timing, frequency, and intensity will affect crop yields, and warmer temperatures may cause explosions in insect populations, leading to increased use of pesticides to control them.

Forests

Organisms are accustomed to certain levels of rainfall and temperature provided by the ecosystem in which they live. If the environment changes, organisms are forced to adapt or migrate. Climate changes spurred by global warming, however, are expected to occur over a matter of decades, much too quickly for many species to respond or migrate.

Other plant and animal species may be rendered extinct if potential migration routes have been blocked by human development.

Forests are an important global resource, providing wildlife habitat, clean air and water, cultural and aesthetic value, recreational opportunities, and products that can be harvested, such as timber and fuel wood.

Widespread destruction of trees could significantly increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Forestry experts fear that global-warming-induced drought may increase the danger of wildfires, further devastating vulnerable forests.

Human Health

Human health is intricately bound to weather and environment. With the projected increase in the severity and frequency of heat waves will likely come an increase in ailments associated with heat stress.

Increasing amounts of fossil-fuel-based pollutants, will also likely lead to rising concentrations of ground-level ozone, which is known to aggravate respiratory disorders such as asthma.

A warmer world may also see an increased spread of disease. Many insect carriers of disease thrive in warmer and wetter conditions, promoting the spread of malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever,

References:
(1) Long, Douglas. "global warming." Global Warming, Library in a Book. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Science Online.

(2) Images from OnAsia.

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Who's Who in Opera
by
Oxford University Press
Publisher: Oxford University Press UK

Containing over 2,500 operatic characters, this guide gives plot synopses for over 250 operas and operettas, and details full information on each operatic role, including its creator and notable performers. Well-known personalities contribute articles on favourite roles, for example, Placido Domingo writes on the character of Otello and Janet Baker on Mary Stuart. Other contributors include Andrew Porter, Sena Jurinac, Philip Langridge, Jonathan Miller, Sir Charles MacKerras, and Marie McLaughlin revealing much about the creative process behind some of the most famous performances in opera history.

Why not click through to Overdrive in our eBooks section and borrow it?

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"“Am I afraid of high notes? Of course I am afraid? What sane man is not?”"

"Penso che una vita per la musica sia una vita spesa bene ed e questo che mi sono dedicato"
("I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent and this is what I have devoted my life to")
Luciano Pavarotti, (born Modena 1935 died Modena 2007) Opera Tenor

Luciano Pavarotti renowned worldwide as the best tenor of this or perhaps any other generation- famed for the power and effortlessness of his upper register notes. His "high C" was his chief source of renown. He came into popular view through a performance of Nessun Dorma sung at the opening ceremony of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

There's lots of news coverage and tributes so why not check up our One Browse service and search for "Pavarotti"

DIRECT LINKS
IMAGE Copyright:©UPI
Caption:
PAVAROTTI'S FAREWELL CONCERT IN PARIS-Luciano Pavarotti performs in concert at Bercy in Paris, France on May 17, 2005. The concert was part of Pavarotti's farewell tour and marked his final performance in Paris. (UPI Photo/David Silpa) courtesy of EBSCOHOST

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