To mark the publication ofStop What You're Doing and Read This!,a collection of essays celebrating reading, Vintage Classics are releasing 12 limited edition themed ebook 'bundles', to tempt readers to discover and rediscover great books.

LITTLE WOMEN&GOOD WIVES Life in the March household is full of adventures and accidents as the four very different March sisters follow their varying paths to adulthood, always maintaining the special bond between them. Sensible Meg, impetuous Jo, shy Beth and artistic Amy each have to confront different challenges as they grow up together and attempt to learn how to be both happy and good.

THE CRANFORD CHRONICLES Follow the small absurdities and major tragedies in the lives of the people of Cranford, a small Cheshire market town, during one extraordinary year. The railway is pushing its way relentlessly towards the town from Manchester, bringing fears of migrant workers and the breakdown of law and order. The arrival of handsome young Doctor Harrison causes yet further agitation not just because of his revolutionary methods but also because of his effect on the hearts of the ladies. Meanwhile Miss Matty's memories of long-ago heartache are rekindled.

Louisa May Alcottwas born on 29 November 1832 in Pennsylvania. Her father was friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau. Alcott started selling stories in order to help provide financial support for her family. Her first book wasFlower Fables(1854). She worked as a nurse during the American Civil War and in 1863 she publishedHospital Sketches, which was based on her experiences.Little Womenwas published in 1868 and was based on her life growing up with her three sisters. She followed it with three sequels,Good Wives(1869),Little Men(1871) andJo's Boys(1886) and she also wrote other books for both children and adults. Louisa May Alcott was an abolitionist and a campaigner for women's rights. She died on 6 March 1888.

Elizabeth Gaskellwas born on 29 September 1810 in London. She was brought up in Knutsford, Cheshire by her aunt after her mother died when she was two years old. In 1832 she married William Gaskell, who was a Unitarian minister like her father. After their marriage they lived in Manchester with their children. Elizabeth Gaskell published her first novel,Mary Barton, in 1848 to great success. She went on to publish much of her work in Charles Dickens's magazines,Household WordsandAll the Year Round. Along with short stories and a biography of Charlotte Brontë, she published five more novels includingNorth and South(1855) andWives and Daughters(1866).Wives and Daughtersis unfinished as Elizabeth Gaskell died suddenly of heart failure on 12 November 1865.