99 Words

Toni Morrison is the pen name for Chloe Anthony Wofford, the Ohio-born author of the novel Beloved which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. Morrison is best known for her epic themes of the roles of black women in a racist and patriarchal society. In 1993, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Morrison was dubbed one of t he “30 Most Powerful Women in America” by the Ladies’ Home Journal in 2001. She was an educator and and editor. Her other popular novels are The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1974), Song of Solomon (1977), and Jazz (1992).

Machu Picchu is known as the “Lost City of the Incas”. The sacred city sits on a mountain ridge overlooking Peru’s Urubamba Valley. Built in the 1400s by the Incans, the city became deserted after its residents were afflicted with a lethal disease, probably the smallpox, that eventually banished the civilization. The city is divided into three zones. Separate areas are designated for the nobles and the commoners. Another zone is dedicated to the Incan sun god, Inti. The walls of the city were made of irregularly-shaped polished stones held together without mortar.

In 1911, Machu Picchu was rediscovered by an American professor, Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu became one of the prime archaeological sites in South America. It is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and was name UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

And Then There Were None is best-selling detective fiction by Agatha Christie that was first published in the United Kingdom on November 1939 by the Collins Crime Club. The title was changed to Ten Little Niggers when it was published in the UK and in the United States. To date, the book has sold over 115 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling mystery book in history. When the novel was adapted into film, it carried the title, Ten Little Indians.

The story evolves around eight people of different social classes who was invited to a Soldier Island mansion by an unidentified couple.When they arrived at the island, they were informed that all of them were guilty of murder, though they were not sentenced to heavy prison or death, in the island they had to face their consequences as each of the characters gets murdered, one by one, each killing paralleling a verse of the nursery rhyme “Ten Little Soldier Boys”.

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren was a Swedish screenwriter and children’s book auther, whose works have been translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries. She sold about 145 million copies around the world. Astrid Lindgren is greatly remembered for writing the Pippi Longstocking and Karisson-on-the-Roof book series. Her works uses a variety of styles and themes but most are influenced by her country childhood, in some way or another. Interesting style that she incorporate in her writings is the ability to create drama out of everyday situations and her tendency to introduce unique, wild and fantastic elements. Britt-Mari lättar sitt hjärta was the first published book that Lindgren wrote, the title immediately won second prize in a competition organized by Sweden’s largest children’s literature publisher, Rabén & Sjögren. The win launched the writer’s career as a literary artist. During the mid-20^th century, Lindgren has had a revolutionary impact on children’s fiction in Scandinavia; rejecting the restrictive, moralizing conventions during that era. Lindgren wrote books from children’s prespective and tackled issues as far ranging as tradegy, violence, pain and death.

Haiku is a verse form of Japanese poetry, noted for its compression and suggestiveness. Haiku is made out of three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables. Formerly known as hokku, Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki changed it to its current name at the end of 19^th century. Traditionally and ideally, this form of poetry presents a pair of contrasting images, one suggestive of time and place, the other a vivid but brief observation. Most of the time, haiku evokes mood and emotion. This form of poetry influenced imagism, the early 20th-century Anglo-American poetic movement.

The Da Vinci Code is a mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown published in 2003. It follows protagonist Robert Langdon, a symbologist who investigates a murder of the Louvre curator and discovers a battle between the Priory of Scion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus being married and fathering children with Mary Magdalene. It became controversial because it provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and the role of Mary Magdalene in the history of Christianity.

The novel was a major success in 2004 and sold more than the highly popular Harry Potter series. The Da Vinci Code was a worldwide bestseller, it was translated into 44 languages and is thought to be the 19^th best-selling book of all time. The novel was attacked and extensively criticized by Catholics and other Christians as a dishonest attact against the Church and was tagged historically inaccurate.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is a series of books that usually features a collection of short and inspirational stories and motivational essays. The stories and essays were complied by motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. The first book sold over 2 million copies and now over 100 million copies are in print and have been translated in 54 languages world wide. The name “Chicken Soup” was chosen by the authors of the book because of the use of chicken soup as a home remedy for the sick. After the success of Chicken Soup for the Soul, over 105 titles have been published; many of which are directed to specific groups of people. The Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series also became a bestseller among teens across the world.

Clive Staples “Jack” Lewis or commonly known as C.S. Lewis is an Irish writer, scholar, critic and novelist best known for his books dealing factually or imaginatively with religion. Most of his writings are diverse and often include fictional instances relating to the fight between good and evil. Some of his masterpieces known worldwide are: The Screwtape Letters, The Space Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Born in Belfast, Ireland, Lewis was educated privately at the Univeristy of Oxford and later on became a professor in medieval and Renaissance English literature at the Univeristy of Cambridge. His first few published writings were under the psuedonym of Clive Hamilton. He was a close friendof J.R.R Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings. His works have been published and translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies across the world.

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels written by C.S. Lewis. It’s considered a classic children’s literature that sold over 100 million copies translated in 41 languages. The seven books are the following: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian: The Return of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew and The Last Battle. Written between 1949 and 1954, Chronicles of Narnia borrowed characters and ideals from Christian themes, Greek and Roman Mythology and some British and Irish fairytales.

The plot evolves around children who helped unfold the history of the fictional realm called Narnia, a place where animals could talk, magic is common and where there is a constant battle of good versus evil. Each book features protagonist children who comes from the modern world that are magically transported to Narnia with the help of the lion Aslan to aid crisis in the world of Narnia.

Russian writer and moral philosopher Leo Tolstoy is one of the greatest novelists in the world. Twentieth century literature was profoundly influenced by his writings and his moral teachings helped shape the ideas and thinking of several important leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Anna Karenina and War and Peace are two of his world known masterpieces and 31 translations of his works was published in the year 1887 alone.

He was born on August 28,1828 in Yasnaya, Polyana in Central Russia in a family of old Russian nobles. He was married to Sofia Andreevna and had a daughter named Alexandra. His marriage and his conversion to rationalism was two of the most important landmarks in his life.