「学び直しのためにやさしい英語に触れたい」「きっかけがあれば英語を勉強しはじめたい」「初心者でも挫折しない英語の本と出会いたい」そんな方のための、英語オーディオブックです。

Lina's father had suggested she go "someplace different" for the summer, and she's beginning to wish she hadn't listened. She could be at her grandma's house in Nagano now, instead of trudging through a forest in search of a town that might not even exist. But when a gust of wind carries off her umbrella, it leads Lina down a secret path between the trees to a strange and incredible world. In the hidden village of Misty Valley, centaurs roam the cobblestone streets and gnomes visit shops stuffed with spellbooks and enchanted desserts.

As a Korean student in a Japanese high school, Sugihara has had to defend himself against all kinds of bullies. But nothing could have prepared him for the heartache he feels when he falls hopelessly in love with a Japanese girl named Sakurai. Immersed in their shared love for classical music and foreign movies, the two gradually grow closer and closer. One night, after being hit by personal tragedy, Sugihara reveals to Sakurai that he is not Japanese - as his name might indicate.

These classic fables use simple allegories to convey universal truths. Though it is unkown if Aesop ever actually existed, dating back to the sixth century, BC, these fables are known in cultures throughout the world and have been translated into many languages.

A hugely enjoyable, must-listen murder mystery sure to appeal to fans of Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, and Agatha Christie, with one of the best and most satisfying conclusions you'll ever hear. A classic in Japan, available in English for the first time.

The world between our ears - the world of I, me, and mine - is not real. It is a fabrication, a story we have spent a lifetime making up and believing.... When we are simply present with our breathing, our body sensations and feelings, and our immediate environment, the story lets go of us. We start to know ourselves as the pure, luminous awareness that sees and experiences reality here and now. This knowing may be intellectual at first, but gradually it becomes embodied.

Yayoi, a nineteen-year-old woman from a seemingly loving middle-class family, has lately been haunted by the feeling that she has forgotten something important from her childhood. Her premonition grows stronger day by day and, as if led by it, she decides to move in with her mysterious aunt, Yukino.

長年にわたる宇宙での仕事を終えて地球へ帰還する途中の老人と青年。しかし、ふいに激しい衝撃に襲われて……。味わい深い余韻を残す「宇宙の男たち」をはじめ、未来の暮らしを描く「ゆきとどいた生活」など傑作ショートショート５編を収録！

As Ayanokouji and his classmates begin their second year at the Advanced Nurturing High School, they're greeted by a fresh gauntlet of exams and a fresh batch of rather unique first-year students. They'll have to get to know each other quickly, because the first special exam pairs the first-years with the second-years on a written test--with only the second-years facing expulsion if their team performs poorly! Worse yet? It seems one of the new first-years is also from the White Room. Can Ayanokouji avoid expulsion while sussing out the identity of this hidden foe?

Fuminori Nakamura's Akutagawa Prize-winner plunges us into the depths of a young man's winding, troubled psyche. An unnamed taxi driver in Tokyo has experienced a rupture in his everyday life. He cannot stop daydreaming of suicide, envisioning himself returning to the earth in what soon become terrifying blackout episodes. His live-in girlfriend, Sayuko, is in a similarly bad phase, surrendering to alcoholism to escape the memory of her miscarriage.

ある日、ケイ氏が完成させたカゼの薬。飲めばたちまちカゼが治る……のではなく、カゼをひくことができる――。抜群のユーモアと皮肉が利いた「へんな薬」をはじめ、何の役に立っているのか分からない「なぞのロボット」など、ショートショート集『きまぐれロボット』から５編を収録！

In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call for a movie they don't intend to produce. As the resumes pile up, only one of the applicants catches Aoyama's attention - Yamasaki Asami - a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past. But she is a far cry from the innocent young woman he imagines her to be.

別荘地でくつろぐ経営者を待ち受ける若い女。自分は殺し屋で、商売がたきを殺してくれるという……。鋭い切れ味の「殺し屋ですのよ」をはじめ、行く先々で善行を施す青年を描く「なぞの青年」など、ショートショートの名作５編を収録！

「英語の多読教材のつもりで買ったのに、人生の勉強をしてしまった」「やさしい英語だから、どんどん読める」と大好評の「ちょっといい話」シリーズ。第4弾のテーマは「泣ける」。家族やペット、ソーシャルネットワークまで、幅広いテーマから19編を厳選してお届けします。

■さまざまな表情の「泣ける」話19編
嬉し涙、悔し涙、悲しみの涙、後悔の涙など、人にはいろんな「泣ける」シチュエーションがあります。本書では「苦労して子どもを育てた母」や「子どものころに受けた恩を、大人になって返した男性」、「愛する父を失った娘」など、多彩な登場人物が、さまざまな表情の「泣ける」話を紡ぎます。

■初級レベルの英単語と基本的な構文がベース
初級3000語レベルの英単語（＊）と基本的な構文をベースにリライトしています。やさしい英文なので、英語そのままで理解できます。＊アルクの「標準語彙水準12000」（SVL[Standard Vocabulary List]12000）のレベル1～3を指します。

●対象レベル：英検準2級／TOEIC(R)テスト400点程度
●特典音声つき（MP3）：
（1）「このストーリーのポイント」の音声全19ファイル
（2）書籍未収録の物語２編「You Are...

※本編に特典音声22ファイルを追加しました。コンテンツをダウンロード済みのお客様が特典音声を聞く場合は、再ダウンロードが必要となります。予めご了承ください。 (2016.4.12更新) アメリカ、イギリス、日本の都市伝説から厳選した18の「ちょっと怖い話」を収録。英語圏で広く知られる歴史的な定番ものから、2009年にインターネットで生まれた話題の都市伝説まで幅広く収録！ ■「背筋がひんやりする」都市伝説18編 収録されているのは、アメリカ、イギリス、日本の都市伝説。 「ウィジャボード」のような子どもの遊びにまつわる物語から、「ベビーシッター」のような映画化されている定番や、2009年にインターネットで登場して話題の「スレンダーマン」、さらには歴史的な謎に満ちた物語まで、怖さのバリエーションに富んだ物語を集めました。 テレビ番組で取り上げられた、イギリスの「座ると必ず死ぬ椅子」の物語も収録。日本の都市伝説からは、誰もが知っている「トイレの花子さん」「口裂け女」を収録しています。 ■初中級レベルの英単語と基本的な構文がベース...

When one girl is reincarnated into an otome game, she's ready to clean house—literally! The light novel that inspired the manga, also available from Seven Seas. "I will become the world's most wonderful maid!" With her skirt fluttering in black and white, the girl shouted. Her name is Melody. A reincarnated former Japanese girl, she now pursues her dream in her new life, working as an all-purpose maid for a poor count's family in the kingdom of Theolas. When she makes it, even cheap tea turns into a luxury brew, and a dilapidated mansion is quickly restored to new!

Tokyo, 1979. Yoriko Shindo, a workhorse of a woman who has been an outcast her whole life, is kidnapped and dragged to the lair of the Naiki-kai, a branch of the yakuza. After she savagely fends off a throng of henchmen in an attempt to escape, Shindo is only permitted to live under one condition: that she will become the bodyguard and driver for Shoko Naiki, the obsessively sheltered daughter of the gang’s boss.

犯罪も事故も病気もない、平穏な社会。たったひとつの必要悪を除いては――。ようやく実現した〈すばらしい社会〉を描く「生活維持省」をはじめ、肩にとまったインコが面倒な会話を担ってくれる「肩の上の秘書」など、５編のショートショートを収録！

Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is one of Japan's most beloved writers and poets, known particularly for his sensitive and symbolist children's fiction. This volume collects stories which focus on Miyazawa's love of space and his use of the galaxy as a metaphor for the concepts of purity, self-sacrifice and faith which were near and dear to his heart.

バーのマスターが趣味で作った、美しいロボット。見た目は人間そっくりだが、できるのは簡単なうけ答えと、酒を飲む動作だけ――。

From his deathbed, Hero-King Inglis, the divine knight and master of all he surveys, gazes down on the empire he built with his mighty hand. Having devoted his life to statecraft and his subjects' well-being, his one unfulfilled wish is to live again, for himself this time: a warrior's life he'd devoted himself to before his rise to power. His patron goddess, Alistia, hears his plea and smiles upon him, flinging his soul into the far future.

My life has never been better. I have a beautiful little girl, and I am engaged to be married to the man I’ve had a crush on since I can remember. So when Nick, my handsome fiancé, announces that his sister Carla is finally coming home, it’s truly the icing on the cake. That was twelve years ago, and no one has seen her since. Everyone is ecstatic about Carla’s return. But as I spend more time with her, I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Her behavior is a little off, her childhood memories don't align with mine, and she's oddly evasive about her lost years.

Many dread small talk and shy away from it as much as possible. But whether we like it or not, there’s no way we can escape small talk because it is part of everyday interactions. Humans are social creatures and we use conversation as our way to emotionally connect with each other. If you are one of them, worry not because you are about to learn the techniques to gracefully jumpstart a conversation with anyone in any situation.

A dedicated gamer and antisocial shut-in downloads an update to her favorite fantasy RPG—only to find herself sucked into the game world for real. Reset to level one and equipped with only a cute bear onesie that grants her impressive abilities, Yuna sets out to explore her new reality--even though the fact that she can't seem to take the bearsuit off gives her paws, er, pause!

宇宙パトロール隊が偶然発見したジフ惑星はすばらしい星に見えた。人口過剰の地球にとって、この上ない植民地であり、別荘地である。かくして、基地の建設が始められたが、次々とその目的は、不思議な幻の出現によって攪乱される……。