Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

Jane McGonigal

Shows how game designers have hit on core truths about what makes us happy, and utilized these discoveries to astonishing effect in virtual environments. This title reveals how gamers have become expert problem solvers and collaborators, and also shows how we can use the lessons of game design to social...

Swallowdale (#2 Swallows & Amazons)

Arthur Ransome

Ahoy! Ahoy! Swallows! Ahoy!' Have you ever sailed in a boat or built a camp? Have you caught trout and cooked it yourself? The four Swallows, John, Susan, Titty and Roger return to the lake full of such plans and they can't wait to meet up with Nancy and Peggy, the Amazon Pirates. When the Swallow is sh...

A Hero of Our Time

M.IU Lermontov

Set in the Caucasus, the scene of Russia's military campaigns in the 19th century, this is both an adventure story and a sardonic look at the heroic ideals of the author's contemporaries - which makes it all the more ironic that the main character, Pushkin, (like the author) was killed in a duel....