en-US Wed, 09 Apr 2025 08:46:11 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 60531406 #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?]]> 443 Brandon Sanderson Rachel 4 4.35 2023
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
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]]> 57347786 An epic reappraisal of the medieval world--and the rich and complicated legacy left to us by the rise of the West--from the New York Times bestselling author of The Templars.

When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era--and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names--from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine--Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes readers on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West, and culminates in the first contact between the old and new worlds in the sixteenth century.

The medieval world was forged by the big forces that still occupy us today: climate change, pandemic disease, mass migration, and technological revolutions. This was the time when the great European nationalities were formed; when our basic Western systems of law and governance were codified; when the Christian Churches matured as both powerful institutions and the regulators of Western public morality; and when art, architecture, philosophical inquiry and scientific invention went through periods of massive, revolutionary change. At each stage in this story, successive western powers thrived by attracting--or stealing--the most valuable resources, ideas, and people from the rest of the world.

The West was rebuilt on the ruins of an empire and emerged from a state of crisis and collapse to dominate the region and the world. Every sphere of human life and activity was transformed in the thousand years of Powers and Thrones. As we face a critical turning point in our own millennium, the legacy and lessons of how we got here matter more than ever.]]> 636 Dan Jones 198488087X Rachel 4 4.37 2021
author: Dan Jones
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
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]]> 15811559
We meet the captivating Eleanor of Aquitaine, twice queen and the most famous woman in Christendom; her son, Richard the Lionheart, who fought Saladin in the Third Crusade; and King John, a tyrant who was forced to sign Magna Carta, which formed the basis of our own Bill of Rights.

This is the era of chivalry, of Robin Hood and the Knights Templar, the Black Death, the founding of Parliament, the Black Prince, and the Hundred Year’s War. It will appeal as much to readers of Tudor history as to fans of 'Game of Thrones.]]> 534 Dan Jones 0670026654 Rachel 4 4.22 2012
author: Dan Jones
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
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]]> 20821029
With vivid descriptions of the battle of Towton, where 28,000 men died in a single morning, to Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was hacked down, this is the real story behind Shakespeare's famous history plays.]]> 392 Dan Jones 0670026670 Rachel 4 4.26 2014
author: Dan Jones
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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]]> 204640542
For Dan Jones, Henry V is one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down. He was a hardened, sometimes brutal warrior, yet he was also creative and artistic, with a bookish temperament. He was a leader who made many mistakes, who misjudged his friends and family, but he always seemed to triumph when it mattered. As king, he saved a shattered country from economic ruin, put down rebellions, and secured England’s borders; in foreign diplomacy, he made England a serious player once more. Yet through his conquests in northern France, he sowed the seeds for three generations of calamity at home, in the form of the Wars of the Roses.

Henry V is a historical titan whose legacy has become a complicated one. To understand the man behind the legend, Jones first examines Henry’s years of apprenticeship, when he saw the downfall of one king and the turbulent reign of another. Upon his accession in 1413, he had already been politically and militarily active for years, and his extraordinary achievements as king would come shortly after, earning him an unparalleled historical reputation. Writing with his characteristic wit and style, Jones delivers a thrilling and unmissable life of England’s greatest king.]]> 432 Dan Jones 0593652738 Rachel 4 4.40 2024
author: Dan Jones
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 4
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]]> 157095669 #1 New York Times bestseller

"This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would've helped me find a more joyful path to progress."
-Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distances we ourselves can travel. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.

Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid story­telling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess � it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the charac­ter skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.

This book reveals how anyone can rise to achieve greater things. The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but how far you’ve climbed to get there.]]> 304 Adam M. Grant 0593653149 Rachel 4 4.09 2023
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/01
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]]> 149026 156 Ron Berger 0325005966 Rachel 5 4.23 2003
author: Ron Berger
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/26
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]]> 18062640 176 Peter Korn 1567925111 Rachel 2 3.69 2013
author: Peter Korn
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> 175352596
Both Things Are True is a guided walk through six sets of tensions that disciples must navigate in their practical efforts to become like Christ. Author Kate Holbrook draws on her lifetime of expertise as a historian of Latter-day Saint women’s history to examine the “contraries,� the fruitful tensions that have stretched Saints present and past, including the true Church, revelation, housework, forgiveness and accountability, and legacy. While the book is richly illustrated with personal and historical examples, its ideas are expressed in the simple, gently manner that is Kate’s trademark. Both Things Are True is remarkable in its ability to reach readers of every walk of life.]]> 152 Kate Holbrook 1649332203 Rachel 4 4.46
author: Kate Holbrook
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.46
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rating: 4
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]]> 216351768
If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words�Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins�New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.

Using the same no-nonsense, science-backed approach that's made The Mel Robbins Podcast a global sensation, Robbins explains why The Let Them Theory is already loved by millions and how you can apply it in eight key areas of your life to make the biggest impact. Within a few pages, you'll realize how much energy and time you've been wasting trying to control the wrong things—at work, in relationships, and in pursuing your goals—and how this is keeping you from the happiness and success you deserve.

Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way.

Learn how

Stop wasting energy on things you can't control Stop comparing yourself to other peopleBreak free from fear and self-doubtRelease the grip of people's expectationsBuild the best friendships of your lifeCreate the love you deservePursue what truly matters to you with confidenceBuild resilience against everyday stressors and distractionsDefine your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment. . . and so much more.

The Let Them Theory will forever change the way you think about relationships, control, and personal power. Whether you want to advance your career, motivate others to change, take creative risks, find deeper connections, build better habits, start a new chapter, or simply create more happiness in your life and relationships, this book gives you the mindset and tools to unlock your full potential.

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory now and discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words.]]> 311 Mel Robbins 1401971377 Rachel 0 to-read 4.19 2024
author: Mel Robbins
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.19
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]]> 60784546 After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again�

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands � that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper � an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

An epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.]]> 357 Rebecca Ross 1250857430 Rachel 0 to-read 4.14 2023
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.14
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rating: 0
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]]> 205478787
From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, Paris and its people were forced into surrender by Germans and imperiled as rebel republicans established a breakaway Commune, ultimately crushed by the French army after the burning of central Paris. As Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Sebastian Smee shows, it was against the backdrop of these tumultuous times that the Impressionist movement was born—a reaction to violence, civil war, and political intrigue. Smee tells the story of Paris’s “Terrible Year� through the eyes of the Impressionists, with a focus on the relationship between Edouard Manet, the father of the movement, and Berthe Morisot, the group’s preeminent woman. With narrative sweep and vivid detail, Paris in Ruins captures the shifting passions and politics of the art world, revealing how the pressures of the Siege and the chaos of the Commune had a monumental effect on the development of modern art.]]> 384 Sebastian Smee 1324006951 Rachel 4 4.08
author: Sebastian Smee
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.08
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rating: 4
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]]> 9963483 199 Richard Rohr 0470907754 Rachel 5 4.21 2004
author: Richard Rohr
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/03
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]]> 53008920 From award-winning war reporter and internationally bestselling author Damien Lewis, a blistering account of one of the most daring raids of WWII--and the top-secret weapon that changed the course of history. Based on the never-before-seen WWII archive of those who masterminded Britain's air defenses, Churchill's Shadow Raiders reveals the untold story of Operation Colossus - the Allies first ever airborne raid, and the forgotten heroes of WWII.

In the winter of 1941, as Britain faced defeat on all fronts, an RAF reconnaissance pilot photographed an alien-looking object on the French coast near Le Havre. The mysterious device--a "Wurzburg Dish"--appeared to be a new form of radar technology: ultra-compact, highly precise, and pointed directly across the English Channel. Britain's experts found it hard to believe the Germans had mastered such groundbreaking technology. But one young technician thought it not only possible, he convinced Winston Churchill that the dish posed a unique and deadly threat to Allied forces, one that required desperate measures--and drastic action . . .
So was launched Operation Biting, a mission like no other. An extraordinary "snatch-and-grab" raid on Germany's secret radar installation, it offered Churchill's elite airborne force, the Special Air Service, a rare opportunity to redeem themselves after a previous failed mission--and to shift the tides of war forever. Led by the legendary Major John Frost, these brave paratroopers would risk all in a daring airborne assault, with only a small stretch of beach menaced by enemy guns as their exit point. With the help of a volunteer radar technician who knew how to dismantle the dish, as well as the courageous men and women of the French Resistance, they succeeded against all odds in their act of brazen robbery. Some would die. Others would be captured. All fought with resolute bravery . . .
This is the story of that fateful night of February 27, 1942. A brilliantly told, thrillingly tense account of Churchill's raiders in their finest hour, this is World War II history at its heart-stopping best.]]> 416 Damien Lewis 080654063X Rachel 4 4.20 2019
author: Damien Lewis
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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]]> 32591947
A dying man with a scheme
A charming smuggler one step ahead of the law
A former foundling with a mangled hand
A family of kingmakers
A printing tycoon
A constable on the trail of justice
An idealistic solicitor with secrets of his own
&
The genius at the center of it all, Quincy St. Claire]]> 592 Beth Brower 0998063606 Rachel 4 4.51 2016
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/22
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]]> 120855172 Heralded as the most important Brazilian novel of the century so far, this bestseller's unique blend of magic and social realism won it three literary awards and global acclaim

'I heard Ěýour grandmother asking what we were doing.'"Say something!" she demanded, threatening to tear out our tongues. Little did she know that one of us was holding her tongue in her hand.'

Deep in Brazil's neglected Bahia hinterland, two sisters find an ancient knife beneath their grandmother's bed and, momentarily mystified by its power, decide to taste its metal. The shuddering violence that follows marks their lives and binds them together forever.

Heralded as a new masterpiece and the most important Brazilian novel of this century, this fascinating and gripping story about the lives of subsistence farmers in the Brazil's poorest region, three generations after the abolition of slavery in that country is at once fantastic and realist, covering themes of family, spirituality, slavery and its aftermath and political struggle.]]> 288 Itamar Vieira Junior 1839766425 Rachel 0 currently-reading 4.18 2019
author: Itamar Vieira Junior
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/02
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]]> 61358638 Reimagining the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.]]> 304 Matthew Desmond 0593239911 Rachel 4 4.27 2023
author: Matthew Desmond
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/01/01
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]]> 978689 Ěý
That’s Milton Mayer, writing in a foreword to the 1966 edition of They Thought They Were Free. He’s right about the critics: the book was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1956. General readers may have been slower to take notice, but over time they did—what we’ve seen over decades is that any time people, across the political spectrum, start to feel that freedom is threatened, the book experiences a ripple of word-of-mouth interest. And that interest has never been more prominent or potent than what we’ve seen in the past year.
Ěý
They Thought They Were Free is an eloquent and provocative examination of the development of fascism in Germany. Mayer’s book is a study of ten Germans and their lives from 1933-45, based on interviews he conducted after the war when he lived in Germany. Mayer had a position as a research professor at the University of Frankfurt and lived in a nearby small Hessian town which he disguised with the name “Kronenberg.� “These ten men were not men of distinction,� Mayer noted, but they had been members of the Nazi Party; Mayer wanted to discover what had made them Nazis. His discussions with them of Nazism, the rise of the Reich, and mass complicity with evil became the backbone of this book, an indictment of the ordinary German that is all the more powerful for its refusal to let the rest of us pretend that our moment, our society, our country are fundamentally immune.
Ěý
A new foreword to this edition by eminent historian of the Reich Richard J. Evans puts the book in historical and contemporary context. We live in an age of fervid politics and hyperbolic rhetoric. They Thought They Were Free cuts through that, revealing instead the slow, quiet accretions of change, complicity, and abdication of moral authority that quietly mark the rise of evil.]]> 346 Milton Sanford Mayer 0226511928 Rachel 5 4.14 1955
author: Milton Sanford Mayer
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1955
rating: 5
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]]> 28762683
Strong cultures help people support one another, share their passions, and achieve big goals. And such cultures of belonging aren’t just happy accidents - they can be purposefully cultivated, whether they’re in a company, a faith institution or among friends and enthusiasts. Drawing on 3,000 years of history and his personal experience, Charles Vogl lays out seven time-tested principles for growing enduring, effective and connected communities. He provides hands-on tools for creatively adapting these principles to any group—formal or informal, mission driven or social, physical or virtual. This book is a guide for leaders seeking to build a vibrant, living culture that will enrich lives.

Winner of the Nautilus Silver Book Award in the Business and Leadership Category.]]> 216 Charles H. Vogl 1626568413 Rachel 4 3.65
author: Charles H. Vogl
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 4
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]]> 221735399
The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way. It is The Season she must help Arabella secure a husband, while navigating the threat of Aunt Eugenia, the unflagging adoration of Charles Goddard, and the amusing unpredictability of St. Crispian's. But the secrets of her trusted friends are what might very well bring about disaster.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 339 Beth Brower 1957492031 Rachel 5 4.76
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.76
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rating: 5
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date added: 2024/12/14
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]]> 52085140
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.]]> 125 Beth Brower 0998063614 Rachel 5 4.24 2019
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/26
date added: 2024/11/18
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]]> 7723 The Metamorphosis,� a story that is both harrowing and amusing, and a landmark of modern literature.

Bringing together some of Kafka’s finest work, this collection demonstrates the richness and variety of the author’s artistry. �The Judgment,� which Kafka considered to be his decisive breakthrough, and �The Stoker,� which became the first chapter of his novel Amerika, are here included. These two, along with �The Metamorphosis,� form a suite of stories Kafka referred to as “The Sons,� and they collectively present a devastating portrait of the modern family.

Also included are �In the Penal Colony,� a story of a torture machine and its operators and victims, and �A Hunger Artist,� about the absurdity of an artist trying to communicate with a misunderstanding public. Kafka’s lucid, succinct writing chronicles the labyrinthine complexities, the futility-laden horror, and the stifling oppressiveness that permeate his vision of modern life.]]> 224 Franz Kafka 1593080298 Rachel 3 4.08 1915
author: Franz Kafka
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1915
rating: 3
read at: 2014/12/29
date added: 2024/11/18
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]]> 199798217 A heartfelt novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.�

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls� high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.]]> 327 Marjan Kamali 1668036584 Rachel 0 to-read 4.48 2024
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> 127305853 From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie� McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 Rachel 2 4.59 2024
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2024
rating: 2
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]]> 10335318
But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con­dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet.

Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history.]]> 339 Candice Millard 0385526261 Rachel 4 4.19 2011
author: Candice Millard
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/11/06
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]]> 48890486
There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.

Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren't found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.

Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is.

Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.]]> 280 James Nestor 0735213615 Rachel 4 4.13 2020
author: James Nestor
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
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]]> 51801337 United Kingdom Against Rabbit Population), complicating Peter's job as a Rabbit Spotter, and forcing him to take a stand, moving from unconscious leporiphobe to active supporter of the UK's amiable and peaceful population of anthropomorphised rabbits.]]> 307 Jasper Fforde 1444763628 Rachel 5 4.03 2020
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/10/28
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]]> 55539565 Think Again is a book about the benefit of doubt, and about how we can get better at embracing the unknown and the joy of being wrong. Evidence has shown that creative geniuses are not attached to one identity, but constantly willing to rethink their stances and that leaders who admit they don't know something and seek critical feedback lead more productive and innovative teams.

New evidence shows us that as a mindset and a skilllset, rethinking can be taught and Grant explains how to develop the necessary qualities to do it. Section 1 explores why we struggle to think again and how we can learn to do it as individuals, arguing that 'grit' alone can actually be counterproductive. Section 2 discusses how we can help others think again through learning about 'argument literacy'. And the final section 3 looks at how schools, businesses and governments fall short in building cultures that encourage rethinking.

In the end, learning to rethink may be the secret skill to give you the edge in a world changing faster than ever.]]> 307 Adam M. Grant 1984878107 Rachel 4 4.12 2021
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/14
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]]> 21853621 In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.]]> 564 Kristin Hannah 0312577222 Rachel 0 4.63 2015
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/30
date added: 2024/09/30
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]]> 61357094 For every mother who desires to cultivate a lasting foundation of curiosity and wonder for her children from home, whilst continuing a rich life of learning for herself.

Modern Miss Mason is your invitation into an adventure, a call to turn a corner on your already incredible journey of parenting and let Leah Boden show you the fresh face of an age-old perspective on motherhood, childhood, and education.

As a young mother and new home educator, Leah was overwhelmed by the breadth of available resources. How to know which to choose? What would best guide and inspire her children? Whose voices should she trust?

That's when she discovered the timeless work and words of Charlotte Mason. A ground-breaking and revolutionary voice in education, Charlotte breathed life and beauty back into childhood in a stiff, archaic age, opening the eyes of parent-teachers and the hearts of students--and changing the future of home education.

Let Leah Boden show you how Charlotte Mason's ideas can transform your homeschooling experience. She will help you:

find methods that you and your children can explore by learning through books, being outdoors, and through living experiences;
recognize that each child is unique and discover how to plan their learning journey accordingly; and
learn how to practically incorporate Charlotte's timeless philosophy into your home every day.

In an overwhelming digital age that can distract and divert our attention from the past, turn back to Charlotte Mason's educational ideas that started it all--and discover what they can do for you and your family.]]> 218 Leah Boden 1496458532 Rachel 0 4.30 2023
author: Leah Boden
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/30
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]]> 59138394
"Secrets of the SprakkarĚýis a fascinating window into what a more gender-equal world could look like, and why it's worth striving for. Iceland is doing a lot to level the playing paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and broad support for gender equality as a core value. Reid takes us on an exploration not only around this fascinating island, but also through the triumphs and stumbles of a country as it journeys towards gender equality."

—Hillary Rodham Clinton

Iceland is the best place on earth to be a woman—but why?

For the past twelve years, the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report has ranked Iceland number one on its list of countries closing the gap in equality between men and women. What is it about Iceland that makes many women's experience there so positive? Why has their society made such meaningful progress in this ongoing battle, from electing the world's first female president to passing legislation specifically designed to help even the playing field at work and at home? And how can we learn from what Icelanders have already discovered about women's powerful place in society and how increased fairness benefits everyone?

Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland, examines her adopted homeland's attitude toward women—the deep-seated cultural sense of fairness, the influence of current and historical role models, and, crucially, the areas where Iceland still has room for improvement. Reid's own experience as an immigrant from small-town Canada who never expected to become a first lady is expertly interwoven with interviews with dozens of sprakkar ("extraordinary women") to form the backbone of an illuminating discussion of what it means to move through the world as a woman, and how the rules of society play more of a role in who we view as "equal" than we may understand. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a powerful and atmospheric portrait of a tiny country that could lead the way forward for us all.]]> 288 Eliza Reid 1728242177 Rachel 2 3.89 2022
author: Eliza Reid
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/08/25
date added: 2024/09/28
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]]> 200055052 228 Thomas Wirthlin McConkie 1953677169 Rachel 0 currently-reading 4.53
author: Thomas Wirthlin McConkie
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 17836520
In Asking for It, Kate Harding answers those questions in the same blunt, bullshit-free voice that’s made her a powerhouse feminist blogger. Combining in-depth research with practical knowledge, Asking for It makes the case that twenty-first century America—where it’s estimated that out of every 100 rapes only 5 result in felony convictions—supports rapists more effectively than victims. Harding offers ideas and suggestions for addressing how we as a culture can take rape much more seriously without compromising the rights of the accused.

]]> 261 Kate Harding 0738217026 Rachel 4 4.37 2014
author: Kate Harding
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
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]]> 209078349
Was inflation’s recent spike exacerbated by corporate greed? Do rent controls really help the needy? Are U.S. health care prices set in a Wild West marketplace? Do women get paid less than men for the same work, and do they pay more than men for the same products? The War on Prices is an eye-opening book that answers all these burning questions and more, as top economists debunk popular misconceptions about inflation, prices, and value.

Market prices are under siege. The war on prices is waged most obviously with damaging government price controls and the harmful effects of central bank monetary mismanagement, as we saw with the recent inflation. Yet these bad policies are propped up by widespread, misguided public beliefs about the causes of inflation, the effects of price controls, and the inherent morality of market prices.

Breaking down these complex issues into three distinct sections―inflation, price controls, and value―this book both sheds light on long-standing contentions and brings economic theory and evidence to bear in today’s most contentious debates. Threaded through the book is a revealing too many of us misunderstand the origin, role, and worth of market prices in our economy. The old insult goes that “economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing.� The War on Prices shows that good economists―and soon, you―can appreciate the value of unshackled market prices in delivering prosperity.

Other praise for The War on Prices:

"It is not just actual prices that have risen unusually rapidly in recent years—muddled thinking about prices has grown exponentially. I do not agree with the conclusion of every chapter of this volume, but I agree with most of them. And all of them are grounded in the type of rigorous economics and empirics that are sadly missing in too much of the popular debate." Jason Furman, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard University.

"The War on Prices is a fantastic book. It comprehensively makes the case that price controls do great harm, often to the people they are supposed to help. Particularly good are the chapters on rent controls, price controls on oil and natural gas, and so-called junk fees, which are really fees to solve problems that would exist without them. If the chapter on why we should have a free market in water were taken to heart, my fellow Californians and I would be much better off. Read this book and learn." David R. Henderson, research fellow at the Hoover Institution and editor of The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

"Prices make people angry. Most of the time we feel like we are paying too much for the goods or services we consume, or are being paid too little for the labor we sell. But prices are also a miracle, they make commerce possible and convey invaluable information. We mess with them at our peril. Ryan Bourne has edited a delightful collection of essays that stand up for what is perhaps the most hated, but most important of economic indicators--the market price." Allison Schrager, senior fellow, Manhattan Institute and columnist, Bloomberg Opinion.]]> 433 Ryan A. Bourne 1952223873 Rachel 0 to-read 4.19 2024
author: Ryan A. Bourne
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> 152034931 A rollicking historyĚýof England's earliest kings and queens, a story ofĚýnarcissists, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars,Ěýand more, fromĚýaward-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly , David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects� destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear to us today in their portraits.

Taking us right back to King Arthur ( he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I ( she dies), as the monarchy began to lose its power. It’s a tale of bizarre and curious ascensions, inadequate self-control, and at least one total Cnut, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed King.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history—and is damned if he’ll let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything.Ěý

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the monarchy came to be—and who is to blame.]]> 433 David Mitchell 0593728491 Rachel 0 4.13 2023
author: David Mitchell
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/08
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]]> 55780561 Four young Black sisters come of age during the American Civil War in So Many Beginnings, a warm and powerful YA remix of the classic novel Little Women by national bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow.

North Carolina, 1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently emancipated. Black people have begun building a community of their own, a refuge from the shadow of the old life. It is where the March family has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young daughters:

Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own.

Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained.

Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose.

Amy, a dancer eager to explore life outside her family's home.

As the four March sisters come into their own as independent young women, they will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new horizons. But they will face it all together.]]> 304 Bethany C. Morrow 1250761212 Rachel 0 3.89 2021
author: Bethany C. Morrow
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
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]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Rachel 4 3.95 1872
author: Jules Verne
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 4
read at: 2011/02/01
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 45032 488 Jane Austen Rachel 3 3.86 1814
author: Jane Austen
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 13628812
The Rent Collector is a story of hope, of one woman's journey to save her son and another woman's chance at redemption.]]> 304 Camron Wright 1609071220 Rachel 3 4.22 2012
author: Camron Wright
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/08/03
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]]> 51187948
On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold the country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally-and willing to fight to the end.

In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless." It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it's also an intimate domestic drama set against the backdrop of Churchill's prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London.

Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports-some released only recently-Larson provides a new lens on London's darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents' wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela's illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the cadre of close advisers who comprised Churchill's "Secret Circle," including his lovestruck private secretary, John Colville; newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook; and the Rasputin-like Frederick Lindemann.

The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today's political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when-in the face of unrelenting horror-Churchill's eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together."--]]> 546 Erik Larson 038534872X Rachel 0 to-read 4.30 2020
author: Erik Larson
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 53138160 From the author of A New Kind of Christianity comes a bold proposal: only doubt can save the world and your faith.

Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart.



Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages--Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony--offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.]]> 256 Brian D. McLaren 1250262771 Rachel 4 4.30 2021
author: Brian D. McLaren
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/01
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]]> 24001095 I've found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I've known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality . . .

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the supernatural. First, members of a particularly vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens. A day later, their owner is found murdered, with a single mysterious puncture wound to her neck. Then, in nearby Gad's Valley, dinosaur bones from a recent dig go missing, and an unidentifiable beast attacks animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Policeman Charlie Cane, exiled from New Fiddleham to the valley, calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.]]> 296 William Ritter 1616203544 Rachel 4 3.93 2015
author: William Ritter
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/06
date added: 2024/07/16
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]]> 35187170

Caught in this system, far too many young learners end up discouraged, disconnected, and unhappy. And when they struggle, school pressures parents, with overwhelming force, into “fixing� their children rather than questioning the system.


With boldness, experience, and humor, Susan Wise Bauer turns conventional wisdom on its head: When a serious problem arises at school, the fault is more likely to lie with the school, or the educational system itself, than with the child.


In five illuminating sections, Bauer teaches parents how to flex the K�12 system, rather than the child. She closely analyzes the traditional school structure, gives trenchant criticisms of its weaknesses, and offers a wealth of advice for parents of children whose difficulties may stem from struggling with learning differences, maturity differences, toxic classroom environments, and even from giftedness (not as much of a “gift� as you might think!).


As the author of the classic book on home-schooling, The Well-Trained Mind, Bauer knows how children learn and how schools work. Her advice here is comprehensive and anecdotal, including material drawn from experience with her own four children and more than twenty years of educational consulting and university teaching.


Rethinking School is a guide to one aspect of sane, humane parenting: negotiating the twelve-grade school system in a way that nurtures and protects your child’s mind, emotions, and spirit.]]> 247 Susan Wise Bauer 0393285960 Rachel 4 4.07 2018
author: Susan Wise Bauer
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/07/16
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]]> 18404173
Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 has clouded our view of them, leading to a mass of sentimental and idealized hagiography. With this treasure trove of diaries and letters from the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learn that they were intelligent, sensitive and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the nightmare that would sweep their world away, and them along with it.

The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia, World War I and the Russian Revolution. Rappaort aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados]]> 492 Helen Rappaport 1250020204 Rachel 5 3.85 2014
author: Helen Rappaport
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/26
date added: 2024/06/26
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]]> 59364173
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,� eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?� She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!�), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]> 320 Jennette McCurdy Rachel 0 4.45 2022
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
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]]> 225850 142 John Taylor Gatto 086571519X Rachel 0 4.13 2002
author: John Taylor Gatto
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
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]]> 52950915 A Common-Sense Guide to Living Rich�.Instead of Dying Rich

Imagine if by the time you died, you did everything you were told to. You worked hard, saved your money, and looked forward to financial freedom when you retired.
Ěý
The only thing you wasted along the way was�your life.
Ěý
Die with Zero presents a startling new and provocative philosophy as well as practical guide on how to get the most out of your moneyâ€�and out ofĚýyour life. It’s intended for those who place lifelong memorable experiences far ahead of simply making and accumulating money for one’s so-called Golden Years.
Ěý
In short, Bill Perkins wants to rescue you from over-saving and under-living. Regardless of your age, Die with Zero will teach you Perkins� plan for optimizing your life, stage by stage, so you’re fully engaged and enjoying what you’ve worked and saved for.
Ěý
You’ll discover how to maximize your lifetime memorable moments with “experience bucketing,� how to convert your earnings into priceless memories by following your “net worth curve,� and find out how to navigate whether to invest in, or delay, a meaningful adventure based on your “spend curve� and “personal interest rate.�
Ěý
Using his own life experiences as well as the inspiring stories and cautionary tales of others—and drawing on eye-opening insights about time, money, and happiness from psychological science and behavioral finance —Perkins makes a timely, convincing, and contrarian case for living large.]]> 240 Bill Perkins 0358099765 Rachel 0 3.84 2020
author: Bill Perkins
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/03
date added: 2024/06/12
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]]> 60017790
The search for the Ivory Key has brought royal siblings Vira, Ronak, Kaleb, and Riya closer than they have been in years as they try to restore magic and stability to Ashoka. But despite finally getting their hands on the long-lost key, uncovering its cipher has proved more complicated and dangerous than they ever expected.

Their missions force them to split up and disperse them across Ashoka and beyond. When a rash decision by the council strips Vira of her power, her journey to reclaim her throne takes on new meaning. Kaleb travels to the neighboring country of Lyria to uncover its emperor’s motives and meets a prince seeking answers of his own. Ronak’s efforts to escape his arranged marriage and exonerate his brother lead to a series of risky deals that only bring him closer to what he’s running from. And Riya’s newfound power has turned unpredictable, but her search for answers only raises more questions.

When their attempts at decoding the key release an ancient power, the siblings must align to face the past and save their future once and for all. In a quest that culminates in a deadly labyrinth, there’s only one way they will succeed: together.]]> 432 Akshaya Raman 0358468345 Rachel 1 3.69 2023
author: Akshaya Raman
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/11
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]]> 54711210
But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother, Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is on board, as is an influential circus owner. Thankfully, there's not much a trained acrobat like Val can't overcome when she puts her mind to it.

As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight. But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, audition for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America.

Then one night, the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val's dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival.]]> 368 Stacey Lee 1524740985 Rachel 2 3.67 2021
author: Stacey Lee
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/11
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves:
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]]> 6758245 125 Louis Paul Boon 1564785580 Rachel 4 around-the-world 3.93 1947
author: Louis Paul Boon
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1947
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/12
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: around-the-world
review:

]]> 185965151
The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way. It is The Season she must help Arabella secure a husband, while navigating the threat of Aunt Eugenia, the unflagging adoration of Charles Goddard, and the amusing unpredictability of St. Crispian’s. But the secrets of her trusted friends are what might very well bring about disaster.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 313 Beth Brower 1957492015 Rachel 5 4.78
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.78
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/07
date added: 2024/05/06
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]]> 63027990 There is bedlam, and there is delightful bedlam.
This afternoon touched on the second, much to my pleasure.

The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way. It is The Season she must help Arabella secure a husband, while navigating the threat of Aunt Eugenia, the unflagging adoration of Charles Goddard, and the amusing unpredictability of St. Crispian’s. But the secrets of her trusted friends are what might very well bring about disaster.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 249 Beth Brower Rachel 5 4.79 2022
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.79
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
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]]> 60041932 True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.]]> 341 Jenna Levine 0593548914 Rachel 0 3.46 2023
author: Jenna Levine
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
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]]> 50548165 328 Benjamin Lorr 0553459392 Rachel 4 3.94 2020
author: Benjamin Lorr
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/04
date added: 2024/05/04
shelves:
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]]> 128125963
Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends—a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl—bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart’s mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room in the home of two little girls, the truth is more astonishing than any of them could have imagined. A beloved author of modern classics draws on her most moving themes with humor, heart, and wisdom in the first of the Norendy Tales, a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood, each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator. A magical and beautifully packaged gift volume designed to be read aloud and shared, The Puppets of Spelhorst is a tale that soothes and strengthens us on our journey, leading us through whatever dark forest we find ourselves in.]]> 149 Kate DiCamillo Rachel 0 4.16 2023
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> 40939440
In 1941 Rifka must flee Kiev before the Germans arrive. Her journey is harrowing and fraught with danger because Germans and Russians alike will revile her for her Jewish blood.

In both time periods, the girls must learn who to trust and how to have hope in the midst of horrible events.]]> Anne Blankman Rachel 3 4.42 2020
author: Anne Blankman
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/24
date added: 2024/04/24
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]]> 22162073 52 Jewel Kats 1615992200 Rachel 0 to-read 4.10 2014
author: Jewel Kats
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/21
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]]> 49354511 Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the �Scriptorium�, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word �bondmaid� flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.]]> 384 Pip Williams 1925972593 Rachel 0 to-read 3.97 2020
author: Pip Williams
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/19
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]]> 33224061 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781524740955.

From the founding member of We Need Diverse Books comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.]]> 374 Stacey Lee Rachel 0 to-read 3.92 2019
author: Stacey Lee
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/19
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]]> 59041700 “What a lovely bible,� Mrs. Tribly said.
“Isn’t it just?� I replied, hoping she would not ask me to read a favorite verse aloud.
I do not believe the psalmist wrote,
Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest,
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.]]> 247 Beth Brower 0998063657 Rachel 5 4.77
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.77
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2024/04/15
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]]> 55138117 "It has been a day ordained by the fates, for how else could one explain the wholly cursed chain of events?" The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London Neighbourhood of St. Crispian's. But Emma's plan for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian's. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House. Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 229 Beth Brower Rachel 5 4.65
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/15
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]]> 52129515 Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is the story of navigating divorce, forming a new blended family, and discovering that the brokenness or wholeness of a family depends not on its structure but on each member’s ability to bring her full self to the table. And it is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honor our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts so that we become women who can finally look at ourselves and say: There She Is.]]> 333 Glennon Doyle 1984801252 Rachel 0 3.98 2020
author: Glennon Doyle
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/04/15
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]]> 176443657 The Power of Habit and Angela Duckworth’s Grit, a renowned social psychologist demonstrates the power of small acts—and how a subtle turning of habits into rituals can add purpose and pleasure to life.

Our lives are filled with repetitive tasks meant to boost productivity—what we come to know as habits. Over time, these habits (for example, brushing your teeth or putting on your right sock first) are done on autopilot. But when a layer of mindfulness accompanies a habit—when we focus on the precise way an act is performed—a ritual has been created. Now, an everyday act goes from black-and-white to technicolor. And as author Michael Norton explains here, it’s these rituals that make life worth living.

Think of the way you savor a certain beverage, the care you take with a certain outfit that only gets worn on special occasions, the unique way that your family gathers around the table at the holidays, or the secret language you enjoy with your significant other. To some, these behaviors may seem quirky, but because rituals matter so deeply to us on a personal level, they saturate our lives with purpose and meaning. Rituals can heal a community experiencing a great loss, guide a speaker through a difficult presentation, drive a stadium of sports fans to ecstasy, inspire courage in soldiers going into combat, and help us rise to challenges and realize opportunities. Among those who have made effective use of rituals are Maya Angelou, Keith Richards, Barack Obama, and Steve Jobs. Drawing on decades of original research, author Michal Norton reveals that shifting from a “habitual� mindset to a “ritual� mindset can both enhance performance and add meaning to your life.

Compelling, inspiring, and practical, The Ritual Effect takes us on a fascinating tour of the intention-filled acts that drive human behavior and shows us how to create simple rituals to imbue everyday life with a sense of purpose and joy.]]> 288 Michael Norton 1982153024 Rachel 0 to-read 3.42 2024
author: Michael Norton
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> 49207255 A scientist reveals the groundbreaking evidence linking many major diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease, to a common root cause—insulin resistance—and shares an easy, effective plan to reverse and prevent it. We are sick. Around the world, we struggle with diseases that were once considered rare. Cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes affect millions each year; many people are also struggling with hypertension, weight gain, fatty liver, dementia, low testosterone, menstrual irregularities and infertility, and more. We treat the symptoms, not realizing that all of these diseases and disorders have something in common.Ěý Each of them is caused or made worse by a condition known as insulin resistance. And you might have it. Odds are you do—over half of all adults in the United States are insulin resistant, with most other countries either worse or not far behind.Ěý In Why We Get Sick, internationally renowned scientist and pathophysiology professor Benjamin BikmanĚýexplores why insulin resistance has become so prevalent and why it matters. Unless we recognize it and take steps to reverse the trend, major chronic diseases will be even more widespread. But reversing insulin resistance is possible, and Bikman offers an evidence-based plan to stop and prevent it, with helpful food lists, meal suggestions, easy exercise principles, and more. Full of surprising research and practical advice, Why We Get Sick will help you to take control of your health.]]> 280 Benjamin Bikman 1950665178 Rachel 0 4.11 2020
author: Benjamin Bikman
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> 56553921
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.]]> 208 Beth Brower Rachel 0 4.75
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2024/04/04
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]]> 49918293 *Includes a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents

“As a child of the Jewish people who, by the grace of God, for the past eleven years has also been a child of the Catholic Church, I dare to speak to the Father of Christianity about that which oppresses millions of Germans. For weeks we have seen deeds perpetrated in Germany which mock any sense of justice and humanity, not to mention love of neighbor. For years the leaders of National Socialism have been preaching hatred of the Jews...But the responsibility must fall, after all, on those who brought them to this point and it also falls on those who keep silent in the face of such happenings.� � Edith Stein

To say Edith Stein lived a remarkable life would be a dramatic understatement. Born in Breslau (then part of Germany) at the end of the 19th century, Edith was raised as an observant Jew, only to turn her back on religion right around the time World War I devastated the continent. In the wake of the war, during which she earned a doctorate and began working as an assistant at the University of Freiburg, she began reading the works of the legendary St. Teresa of �vila, one of the most influential Catholic saints in history.

As Stein continued to be influenced by St. Teresa, she was baptized as a Catholic in 1922 and began to turn her attention to becoming a nun. When she ultimately decided that would not be her path, she began to teach at a Catholic school in Speyer, a position she held until 1931. As it turned out, that period of time coincided with the rise of the Nazis, with Adolf Hitler working his way up the ranks of the Weimar Republic before taking full power in 1933.

As the Nazis seized the reins in Germany and began implementing antisemitic policies, Stein’s Jewish background made her a target regardless of her conversion, and she had to quit teaching as a result of not being “Aryan� enough to qualify for a civil servant position. In the wake of that, she pursued her original dream by joining a Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne by the end of 1933, and she took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Edith and her sister Rosa would remain at Cologne until 1938, when their Jewish background compelled them to flee to a monastery in the Netherlands as antisemitic persecution intensified in Germany. They were two of countless Jews who fled Nazi Germany or attempted to ahead of World War II, but as fate would have it, they didn’t get far enough away. In the midst of World War II, the Germans occupied the Netherlands along with most of the rest of Western Europe, and in 1942 Stein and her sister would be sent to Auschwitz, where they became victims of the Final Solution.

In the wake of her death, Stein was lionized as a martyr, and eventually she was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1998. Meanwhile, her works were gradually published in the decades after the war, and her philosophical teachings became influential in their own right. Edith Stein: The Life and Legacy of the Jewish Philosopher Who Became a Catholic Saint examines Edith’s conversion, her work as a nun, her philosophy, and her fate. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Edith Stein like never before.]]> 72 Charles River Editors Rachel 3 4.06
author: Charles River Editors
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.06
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rating: 3
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]]> 30037806
C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—was one of the foremost religious philosophers of the twentieth century; a thinker whose far-reaching influence on Christianity continues to be felt today.

Demonstrating Lewis’s wide range of interests, Present Concerns includes nineteen essays that reveal his thoughts about democratic values, threats to educational and spiritual fulfillment, literary censorship, and other timely topics, offering invaluable wisdom for our own times.]]> 160 C.S. Lewis 0062643592 Rachel 0 4.05 1987
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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]]> 59366261
Andrew Jackson rose from rural poverty in the Carolinas to become the dominant figure in American politics between Jefferson and Lincoln. His reputation, however, defies easy description. Some regard him as the symbol of a powerful democratic movement that saw early 19th-century voting rights expanded for propertyless white men. Others stress Jackson’s prominent role in removing Native American peoples from their ancestral lands, which then became the center of a thriving southern cotton kingdom worked by more than a million enslaved people.

A combative, self-defined champion of “farmers, mechanics, and laborers,� Jackson railed against East Coast elites and Virginia aristocracy, fostering a brand of democracy that struck a chord with the common man and helped catapult him into the presidency. “The General,� as he was known, was the first president to be born of humble origins, first orphan, and thus far the only former prisoner of war to occupy the office.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, The First Populist takes a fresh look at Jackson’s public career, including the pivotal Battle of New Orleans (1815) and the bitterly fought Bank War; it reveals his marriage to an already married woman and a deadly duel with a Nashville dandy, and analyzes his magnetic hold on the public imagination of the country in the decades between the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

“By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump…the hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of �the country’s original anti-establishment president� might shed light on our own� ( The Christian Science Monitor ).]]> 432 David S. Brown 1982191090 Rachel 3 3.75
author: David S. Brown
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.75
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rating: 3
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]]> 48677941
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.
]]> 162 Beth Brower Rachel 5 4.60
author: Beth Brower
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/31
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]]> 7586760 64 Sue Riley 1932482040 Rachel 4 4.38 2005
author: Sue Riley
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
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]]> 53735021 The astonishing WWII true story of a trio of fearless female resisters whose youth and innocence belied their extraordinary daring in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. It also made them the underground's most invaluable commodity. Now for the first time, the complete account of these inspiring teenagers, recruited during WWII as spies, saboteurs and Nazi assassins, who fulfilled their harrowing missions with remarkable courage.

May 10, 1940. The Netherlands was swarming with Third Reich troops. In seven days it's entirely occupied by Nazi Germany. Joining a small resistance cell in the Dutch city of Haarlem were three teenage girls: Hannie Schaft, and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen who would soon band together to form a singular female underground squad.

Smart, fiercely political, devoted solely to the cause, and "with nothing to lose but their own lives", Hannie, Truus, and Freddie took terrifying direct action against Nazi targets. That included sheltering fleeing Jews, political dissidents, and Dutch resisters. They sabotaged bridges and railways and donned disguises to lead children from probable internment in concentration camps to safehouses. They covertly transported weapons and set military facilities ablaze. And they carried out the assassinations of German soldiers and traitors-on public streets and in private traps-with the courage of veteran guerilla fighters and the cunning of seasoned spies.

In telling this true story through the lens of a fearlessly unique trio of freedom fighters, Tim Brady offers a never-before-seen perspective of the Dutch resistance during the war. Of lives under threat; of how these courageous young women became involved in the underground; and how their dedication evolved into dangerous, life-threatening missions on behalf of Dutch patriots-regardless of the consequences.

Harrowing, emotional, and unforgettable, Three Ordinary Girls finally moves these three icons of resistance into the deserved forefront of world history.]]> 298 Tim Brady 0806540389 Rachel 0 to-read 3.69 2021
author: Tim Brady
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/16
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]]> 55710565 Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles (now stationed back in the UK) is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, is bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty and standing by her friends.]]> 304 A.J. Pearce 1501170090 Rachel 3 3.87 2021
author: A.J. Pearce
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/15
date added: 2024/02/15
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]]> 39215026 Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs Bird refuses to read, let alone answer, letters containing any form of Unpleasantness, and definitely not those from the lovelorn, grief-stricken or morally conflicted.

But the thought of these desperate women waiting for an answer at this most desperate of times becomes impossible for Emmy to ignore. She decides she simply must help and secretly starts to write back � after all, what harm could that possibly do?]]> 316 A.J. Pearce 1509853936 Rachel 4 3.91 2018
author: A.J. Pearce
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/02/08
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]]> 7779696 265 Mosab Hassan Yousef 1414333072 Rachel 3 4.20 2011
author: Mosab Hassan Yousef
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/18
date added: 2024/02/02
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]]> 58733693 Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.]]> 368 Shelby Van Pelt 0063204150 Rachel 3 4.35 2022
author: Shelby Van Pelt
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/01
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]]> 59708233
This updated and revised edition of Jett's classic book not only provides a timely overview of American ambassadorship for Foreign Service Officers, aspiring diplomats, and interested citizens, but also calls for much-needed reform, describing the dire implications of failing to change our ambassadorial appointments process for the future of American diplomatic practice and foreign policy.]]> 437 Dennis C. Jett 3030837688 Rachel 4 4.00 2014
author: Dennis C. Jett
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/13
date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 25663540 Obscure and addictive true tales from history told by one of our most entertaining historians, Giles Milton

The first installment in Giles Milton's outrageously entertaining series, History's Unknown Chapters: colorful and accessible, intelligent and illuminating, Milton shows his customary historical flair as he delves into the little-known stories from the past.

There's the cook aboard the Titanic, who pickled himself with whiskey and survived in the icy seas where most everyone else died. There's the man who survived the atomic bomb in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And there's many, many more.

Covering everything from adventure, war, murder and slavery to espionage, including the stories of the female Robinson Crusoe, Hitler's final hours, Japan's deadly balloon bomb and the emperor of the United States, these tales deserve to be told.]]> 261 Giles Milton 1250078776 Rachel 4 3.67 2016
author: Giles Milton
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/07
date added: 2024/01/23
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]]> 81360005 A thrilling and monumental new history of the CIA that reveals how women have always played crucial, often unacknowledged roles in American spycraft, a hidden “sisterhood� of spies, analysts, operatives, and manhunters who, over a half-century, kept the free world safe and, more than once, saved it—from the New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls

Upon its creation in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency instantly became one of the most important spy services in the world. Like every male-dominated workplace in Eisenhower America, the growing intelligence agency needed women to type memos, send messages, manipulate expense accounts, and keep secrets. Despite discrimination—even because of it—these clerks and secretaries rose to become some of the shrewdest, toughest operatives the agency employed. Because women were seen as unimportant, they moved unnoticed on the streets of Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets under the noses of the KGB. Back at headquarters, they built the CIA’s critical archives—first by hand, then by computer.

These women also battled institutional stereotyping and beat it. Men argued they alone could run spy rings. But the women proved they could be spymasters, too. During the Cold War, women made critical contributions to U.S. intelligence, sometimes as officers, sometimes as unpaid spouses, working together as their numbers grew. The women also made unique sacrifices, giving up marriage, children, even their own lives.

They noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see. In the final years of the twentieth century, it was a close-knit network of female CIA analysts who warned about the rising threat of Al Qaeda. After the 9/11 attacks, women rushed to join the fight as a new job, “targeter,� came to prominence. They showed that painstaking data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape—an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA’s successful efforts to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden and, later, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

With the same meticulous reporting and storytelling verve that she brought to her New York Times bestseller Code Girls, Liza Mundy has written an indispensable and sweeping history that reveals how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age.]]> 400 Liza Mundy Rachel 0 to-read 4.21 2023
author: Liza Mundy
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/06
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]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Rachel 4 4.37 2020
author: T.J. Klune
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/01/06
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]]> 87556724 Romance and mystery come full circle in the fifth and final book of Sarah M. Eden’s best-selling Victorian Proper Romance series.

London, 1866

Móirín Donnelly has spent the last five years working in the shadows for the Dread Penny Society, but spending so much of her life in secret is taking a toll on her soul—and her heart.

When members of the Dread Penny Society begin disappearing, MĂłirĂ­n turns to Detective Constable Fitzgerald Parkington for help. The two have developed a friendly rapport, and MĂłirĂ­n feels like she can trust him, though perhaps not with all of her secrets.

Fitzgerald Parkington has a sixth sense when it comes to hunting down criminals, which is why he’s recently been transferred to the Detective Department at Scotland Yard. But when red tape keeps him from tracking down the criminal mastermind known as “The Tempest,� he must rely on the one woman who has unexpectedly captured his heart—the bold and fiery Irish lass, Móirín Donnelly.

As the Tempest’s deadly reach threatens to overwhelm all of London, Móirín and Fitz are caught in an elaborate game of cat and mouse that leads down back alleys, through dark London buildings, and right to the gates of Kensington Palace. Móirín has one chance to save Fitz and the Dread Penny Society from the Tempest, and she might have to sacrifice her one chance at love to do so.]]> 368 Sarah M. Eden 163993152X Rachel 0 4.34 2023
author: Sarah M. Eden
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/27
date added: 2023/12/27
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]]> 125937631
The fiber-optic cables that weave the World Wide Web, the copper veins of our electric grids, the silicon chips and lithium batteries that power our phones and though it can feel like we now live in a weightless world of information—what Ed Conway calls “the ethereal world”—our twenty-first-century lives are still very much rooted in the material.

In fact, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials, from sand to stone to wood to metal. And in Material World, Conway embarks on an epicĚýjourney across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates.

Material World is a celebration of the humans and the human networks, the miraculous processes and the little-known companies, that combine to turnĚýraw materials into things of wonder. This is the story of human civilization from an entirely new the ground up.]]> 512 Ed Conway 0593534344 Rachel 5 4.48 2023
author: Ed Conway
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/12/27
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]]> 30075802
A poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. Explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations.]]> 156 Amanda Lovelace 1532913680 Rachel 2 3.83 2016
author: Amanda Lovelace
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/12/14
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]]> 123444739
Worship in the house of the Lord can help us find answers to questions deep in our hearts. As this book illuminates, through the ordinances and covenants of the temple, Latter-day Saints can come closer to Christ and the abundant life that He offers.]]> 144 Jennifer C. Lane 1639931201 Rachel 0 4.25
author: Jennifer C. Lane
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/09
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]]> 14836 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,� all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts.

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight� s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.]]> 647 Salman Rushdie 0099578514 Rachel 0 3.98 1981
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/06
date added: 2023/12/06
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]]> 25816841 In this exhilarating conclusion to the critically acclaimed Luck Uglies series, the final battle between the Luck Uglies and the treacherous Fork-Tongue Charmers comes to Rye O’Chanter’s doorstep.

Filled with adventure, humor, and a hint of magic, this middle grade fantasy series is an irresistible cross between Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories series and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

When Rye finally travels back home to Village Drowning to help her father with his plan to defeat the Luck Uglies� bitter rivals, she finds it in shambles. The monstrous Bog Noblins now raid the streets at night. And people are afraid to leave their houses because no one is around to protect them.

Rye soon realizes she can’t wait for the adults to sort everything out, so she enlists her friends to come up with a plan. A plan that could change everything for Drowning . . . because the only way to save her village may just be to destroy it.

The Luck Uglies was named an ALA Notable Children’s Book as well as a New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing, and it won the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction and a Sunshine State Young Readers Award.]]> 400 Paul Durham 0062271563 Rachel 0 4.27 2016
author: Paul Durham
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/06
date added: 2023/12/06
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]]> 61916116
Smith’s dream of Zion would lead the way for the trials and the tribulations of the Mormons for the rest of the 19th century, including countless conflicts with local authorities and the U.S. government. Smith himself would be a casualty of the clashing, murdered by a mob in 1844 after being imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois near the settlement of Nauvoo, which Smith had painstakingly tried to create as a commune for his people.

Among the most effective methods by which the Latter-Day Saints attained regional dominance was the flooding of specific areas with a like-minded population of fellow settlers and offspring, subsequently controlling the voting and government institutions through a weighty majority. Such an approach caused alarm in each region to which Mormon settlers emigrated; the church collective had already been evicted from New York and other areas for exercising the tactic. The practice of polygamy within the church may have been socially repugnant to Judaic and Christian denominations, but the schism between Mormonism and other American faiths lay deeper in the Restoration of the Priesthood. This core tenet of the church was based on a non-negotiable belief that Christ’s disciples died before they were able to pass on their master’s authority in the process of Apostolic Succession. Therefore, what came after, whether Catholic or Protestant, was based on an absence of authority, leaving the Mormon faith to stand alone as the “one true church.�

This theological separatism caused the Mormon community to live apart, except in the pursuit of converts. The church became increasingly perceived as “un-American,� and this set the scene for violent conflicts across the frontier over several decades as the Mormons sought to hold their territory and the federal government attempted to resolve thorny issues with them. The disputes leading to the Utah War related largely to the animosity between Mormon leader Brigham Young, who was also the governor of the Utah Territory, and a variety of appointed federal officials sent to Utah. Young and the Mormon leadership did not work well with federal officials, who they considered “Gentiles� (non-Mormons). Furthermore, Young was also in charge of relations with the native groups in the area and head of the state militia. Mormons tended to ignore federal policies they did not like and did not accord the officials much respect.

The Mormon response to the federal government and the Buchanan administration in 1857 and 1858 was shaped by the faith’s experience of previous conflicts, which had included an extermination order proclaimed by the governor of Missouri against Mormons, the murder of Smith, and a massacre of Mormon men and boys. As a result, when things came to a head in Utah, the Mormons were more willing to fight. At the time the Utah War broke out, there were more than 30,000 Mormons in the Utah Territory, by far the largest settler population on the trails between Missouri and California. California itself had experienced the Gold Rush in 1848-49 and had become a state in 1850, with a population of 200,000.]]> 72 Charles River Editors Rachel 0 3.18
author: Charles River Editors
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.18
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rating: 0
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]]> 22635844
Rye O Chanter was shocked to discover that her father was the leader of the notorious band of outlaws known as the Luck Uglies. Now she too has been declared a criminal in her own village, and she must flee to the strange and remote Isle of Pest while her father faces off against the Luck Uglies bitter rivals, the Fork-Tongue-Charmers, on the mainland.

But all bets are off when the battle moves to the shores of Pest. To defeat the Fork-Tongue Charmers, Rye must defy a deranged earl, survive a test meant to judge the grit of the fiercest men, and lead the charge in defending the island against a strangely familiar enemy, which means uncovering some long-buried family secrets .

The first Luck Uglies book was named an ALA Notable Children s Book as well as a New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing, and it won the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction."]]> 416 Paul Durham 0062271539 Rachel 3 4.21 2015
author: Paul Durham
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2023/11/18
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]]> 54304028
In Hunt, Gather, Parent, Doucleff sets out with her three-year-old daughter in tow to learn and practice parenting strategies from families in three of the world’s most venerable communities: Maya families in Mexico, Inuit families above the Arctic Circle, and Hadzabe families in Tanzania. She sees that these cultures don’t have the same problems with children that Western parents do. Most strikingly, parents build a relationship with young children that is vastly different from the one many Western parents develop—it’s built on cooperation instead of control, trust instead of fear, and personalized needs instead of standardized development milestones.

Maya parents are masters at raising cooperative children. Without resorting to bribes, threats, or chore charts, Maya parents rear loyal helpers by including kids in household tasks from the time they can walk. Inuit parents have developed a remarkably effective approach for teaching children emotional intelligence. When kids cry, hit, or act out, Inuit parents respond with a calm, gentle demeanor that teaches children how to settle themselves down and think before acting. Hadzabe parents are world experts on raising confident, self-driven kids with a simple tool that protects children from stress and anxiety, so common now among American kids.

Not only does Doucleff live with families and observe their techniques firsthand, she also applies them with her own daughter, with striking results. She learns to discipline without yelling. She talks to psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and sociologists and explains how these strategies can impact children’s mental health and development. Filled with practical takeaways that parents can implement immediately, Hunt, Gather, Parent helps us rethink the ways we relate to our children, and reveals a universal parenting paradigm adapted for American families.]]> 352 Michaeleen Doucleff 1982149671 Rachel 0 to-read 4.11 2021
author: Michaeleen Doucleff
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/15
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]]> 60447467 Women were made to give life—and they can do that right in their own homes.Ěý

Hygge [HYOO-guh] has become a cultural buzzword. When many read about this Danish practice, their shoulders lift in excitement, then fall in exhale. In a culture of rush, hygge appeals to their desire for rest—for slow living, shared moments, and fostered friendships. Hygge has strong ties to beauty, contentment, and well-being. It’s warm and inviting. Hygge is the opposite of hustle. It eschews abundance. It savors. It takes things slow and envelopes you in sanctuary. Hygge is home. When you sit in a comfy chair by the fire, that’s hygge. When you arrange a fresh bouquet of wildflowers on a bedside table, that’s hygge too. Candles, soft furnishings, natural light, fresh-baked pastries, intimate gatherings with friends—these are what come to mind when you think of hygge. But hygge can be so much more.Ěý

In Holy Hygge, author Jamie Erickson unites the popular Danish practice with the deep, theological truths of the gospel. She unpacks the seven tenets of hygge: hospitality, relationships, well-being, atmosphere, comfort, contentment, and rest. In addition, Erickson shows how the external veneer of a lifestyle can create a life-giving home only when placed under the hope of the gospel. Holy Hygge provides practical ideas for using hygge to gather people and introduce them to faith in Christ. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions, Scripture references, and a prayer.]]> 224 Jamie Erickson 0802427979 Rachel 2 4.11 2022
author: Jamie Erickson
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/11/15
date added: 2023/11/15
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]]> 56668328 An exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war

AĚýNew York Times Book Review Editorsâ€� Choice

In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.
Ěý
Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,â€� asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? Ěý
Ěý
In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?�
Ěý
Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.]]> 256 Malcolm Gladwell 0316296619 Rachel 5 3.98 2021
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/14
date added: 2023/11/14
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]]> 18635085
Strange things are happening in Village Drowning, and a terrifying encounter has Rye O'Chanter convinced that the monstrous, supposedly extinct Bog Noblins have returned.
Now Rye's only hope is an exiled secret society so notorious its name can't be spoken aloud: the Luck Uglies. As Rye dives into Village Drowning's maze of secrets, rules, and lies, she'll discover the truth behind the village's legends of outlaws and beasts...and that it may take a villain to save them from the monsters.

The first in a series, The Luck Uglies is an altogether irresistible cross of Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain, Stefan Bachmann's The Peculiar, and Chris Healy's The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, overflowing with adventure, secrets, friendship, and magic.]]> 395 Paul Durham 0062271504 Rachel 3 4.04 2014
author: Paul Durham
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/07
date added: 2023/11/07
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]]> 58109440
A week of softball, sprinting, and sweaty socks isn't exactly Amelia’s idea of a good time—in fact, she's deeply, appallingly unathletic. By the end of day one, she’s puked her guts out in track, gotten a black eye in no-contact flag football, and firmly established herself as the Least Valuable Player at camp.

As head counselor, Coach Shawn is determined to make an athlete of Amelia, despite her complete inability to land a single basket in basketball and her high effectiveness at scoring in the wrong net in soccer. And all Amelia wants is some time to herself, so she can practice her flute for the Mystwick auditions.

But everyone’s plans are quickly derailed by a series of disasters that strike camp, putting everyone in mortal danger. It's clear that strange magic is at work, and as the only musician around, Amelia suddenly goes from benchwarmer to MVP. But can she discover the source of the malevolent magic—and how to stop it—before the deadly spell reaches its crescendo?]]> 1 Jessica Khoury Rachel 0 3.84 2021
author: Jessica Khoury
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/03
date added: 2023/11/03
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]]> 42361141
Did you know that most of our dinosaur fossils were discovered because two grown men absolutely hated each other? It’s true!

Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World is a riotous audio exclusive, like if Monty Python taught your history class. Each volume of four 30-minute histories will dig into the petty name-calling and grumbling grudges that led to many of the world’s greatest advancements, all delivered with a cheeky sense of humor.

Choose sides: Cope or Marsh, the jerks who discovered so many dinosaurs; Hamilton or Burr, whose rivalry fueled American politics; Queen Elizabeth or Mary Queen of Scots, who fought to rule England; Adidas or Puma, whose rivalry changed the world of sports and fashion.

Kidnappings, rock fights, duels, and explosions, Rivals! shows world leaders at their absolute best and their worst, often at the same time.]]> 5 Scott McCormick Rachel 0 3.84 2019
author: Scott McCormick
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/02
date added: 2023/11/02
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]]> 123413707
the new frontier, a wild and lawless place. It is already central to communication, economics, military strategy and international relations on Earth. Now, it is the latest arena for human exploration, exploitation � and, possibly, conquest. We’re heading up and out, and we’re taking our power struggles with us. China, the USA and Russia are leading the way.

From physical territory and resources to satellites, weaponry and strategic choke points, geopolitics is as important in the skies above us as it is down below. If you’ve ever wondered if humans are going back to the Moon, who will benefit from exploration or what space wars might look like, the answers are here.

With all the insight and wit that have made Tim Marshall the UK’s most popular writer on geopolitics, this gripping book shows how we got here and where we’re going, covering great-power rivalry; technology; commerce; combat in space; and what it means for all of us down here on Earth. This is essential reading on power, politics and the future of humanity.]]> 356 Tim Marshall 1783967242 Rachel 0 to-read 3.93 2023
author: Tim Marshall
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/17
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]]> 98651418 As World War I rages, there are evils—both living and dead—that only a witch can see in a spellbinding novel by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Raven Spell.

With her husband off fighting at World War I’s eastern front, Petra Kurková embraces her fleeting freedom, roaming the city at night with her camera. A born witch, she’s discovered that she can capture the souls of the dead on film. Her supernatural skills don’t go unnoticed by the enigmatic Josef Svoboda. He’s recruiting a team of sorcerers to infiltrate the front lines, where the bloodshed of combat has resurrected foul creatures. Petra’s unique abilities will be needed against the most dangerous enemies of all—those ever present, undead, and unseen.

Deep in the cursed Carpathian Mountains, the ragtag team meets with an emissary of an ancient organization founded to maintain balance between worlds. Photographing the escalating horrors is beyond anything Petra imagined. So are the secrets among her fellow witches. But Petra can’t turn back. Not before she discovers her husband’s fate and the myriad ways her magic is manifesting. To defeat an occult foe, Petra must release the power she’s been concealing for so long, or risk damning a war-torn world to ashes.]]> 255 Luanne G. Smith 166251039X Rachel 0 to-read 3.90 2023
author: Luanne G. Smith
name: Rachel
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/17
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]]> 58308834 A high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world.

As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams.]]> 368 Christina Soontornvat 1536204951 Rachel 3 4.12 2022
author: Christina Soontornvat
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/17
date added: 2023/10/17
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]]> 57094697
Whether she’s playing an “age-defyingâ€� book editor on television or dazzling audiences on the Broadway stage, Sutton Foster manages to make it all look easy. How? Crafting . From the moment she picked up a cross stitch needle to escape the bullying chorus girls in her early performing days, she was hooked. Cross stitching led to crocheting, crocheting led to collages, which led to drawing, and so much more. Channeling her emotions into her creations centered Sutton as she navigated the significant moments in her life and gave her tangible reminders of her experiences. Now, in this charming and poignant collection, Sutton shares those moments, including her fraught relationship with her agoraphobic mother; Ěýa painful divorce splashed on the pages of the tabloids; her struggles with fertility; the thrills she found on the stage during hit plays like Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes , and Violet ; her breakout TV role in Younger ; and the joy of adopting her daughter, Emily. Accompanying the stories, Sutton has included crochet patterns, recipes, and so much more!
Ěý
Witty and poignant, Hooked will leave readers entertained as well as inspire them to pick up their own cross stitch needles and paintbrushes.]]> 235 Sutton Foster 1538734281 Rachel 4 4.08 2021
author: Sutton Foster
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/09
date added: 2023/10/09
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]]> 58065033 390 Bonnie Garmus Rachel 0 4.23 2022
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2023/10/02
date added: 2023/10/05
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]]> 35900387 No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .

The only way to survive is to open your heart. ]]> 390 Gail Honeyman 0008172145 Rachel 4 4.17 2017
author: Gail Honeyman
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/27
date added: 2023/09/27
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]]> 60439682 London, 1866

Dr. Barnabus Milligan has always felt called to help people, whether that means setting a broken bone or rescuing the impoverished women of London from their desperate lives on the streets as part of his work with the Dread Penny Society.

Three years ago, he helped rescue Gemma Kincaid by secretly marrying her to protect her from her family of notorious grave robbers.

But six months after Gemma and Barnabus exchanged vows, she realized her love for her new husband was unrequited. To protect her heart, she left, telling Barnabus to contact her if his feelings for her ever grew beyond a sense of duty.

When Barnabus sends a letter to Gemma inviting her to return home, she hopes to find a true connection between them. But unfortunately, he only wants her help to foil the Kincaids, who have been terrorizing the boroughs of London, eager to gain both money and power.

Heartbroken, Gemma agrees to help, but she warns Barnabus that she will not stay for long, and once she goes, he'll never see her again.

Yet as the couple follows the clues that seem to connect the Kincaids to the Mastiff, the leader of London's criminal network, Gemma and Barnabus realize they might make a better match than either of them suspected. Perhaps the marriage that had once saved Gemma's life might now save Barnabus—and his lonely heart.

But before the once-confirmed bachelor can properly court his secret bride, they'll need to evade the dangerous forces that are drawing ever closer to the hopeful lovers and the entire Dread Penny Society itself.]]> 368 Sarah M. Eden 1639930485 Rachel 0 4.07 2022
author: Sarah M. Eden
name: Rachel
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2023/09/18
date added: 2023/09/18
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]]>