en-US Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:34:37 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 40121378 Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.

Learn how to:
-ĚýMake time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
-ĚýOvercome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.

Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.]]> 319 James Clear Karen 0 to-read 4.34 2018
author: James Clear
name: Karen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/02
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]]> 148394 Ěý
Fabled, feared, romanticized, and reviled, the Gypsies—or Roma—are among the least understood people on earth. Their culture remains largely obscure, but in Isabel Fonseca they have found an eloquent witness.
Ěý
In Bury Me Standing , alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals—the poet, the politician, the child prostitute—Fonseca offers sharp insights into the humor, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. She traces their exodus out of India 1,000 years ago and their astonishing history of persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis; forcibly assimilated by the communist regimes; evicted from their settlements in Eastern Europe, and most recently, in Western Europe as well. Whether as handy scapegoats or figments of the romantic imagination, the Gypsies have always been with us—but never before have they been brought so vividly to life.
Ěý
Includes fifty black and white photos.]]> 336 Isabel Fonseca 067973743X Karen 0 to-read 3.94 1995
author: Isabel Fonseca
name: Karen
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
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]]> 6667514 The New York Times bestselling author of Better and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.

In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.

An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.]]> 208 Atul Gawande 0805091742 Karen 0 to-read 4.00 2009
author: Atul Gawande
name: Karen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
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]]> 123226964 The surprising story of how declining marriage rates are driving many of the country’s biggest economic problems.



In The Two-Parent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney makes a provocative, data-driven case for marriage by showing how the institution’s decline has led to a host of economic woes—problems that have fractured American society and rendered vulnerable populations even more vulnerable. Eschewing the religious and values-based arguments that have long dominated this conversation, Kearney shows how the greatest impacts of marriage are, in fact, when two adults marry, their economic and household lives improve, offering a host of benefits not only for the married adults but for their children. Studies show that these effects are today starker, and more unevenly distributed, than ever before. Kearney examines the underlying causes of the marriage decline in the US and draws lessons for how theĚý US can reverse this trend to ensure the country’s future prosperity.



Based on more than a decade of economic research, including her original work, Kearney shows that a household that includes two married parents—holding steady among upper-class adults, increasingly rare among most everyone else—functions as an economic vehicle that advantages some children over others. As these trends of marriage and class continue, the compounding effects on inequality and opportunity grow increasingly dire. Their effects include not just children’s behavioral and educational outcomes, but a surprisingly devastating effect on adult men, whose role in the workforce and society appears intractably damaged by the emerging economics of America’s new social norms.



For many, the two-parent home may be an old-fashioned symbol of the idyllic American dream. But The Two-Parent Privilege makes it clear that marriage, for all its challenges and faults, may be our best path to a more equitable future. By confronting the critical role that family makeup plays in shaping children’s lives and futures, Kearney offers a critical assessment of what a decline in marriage means for an economy and a society—and what we must do to change course.

Ěý]]> 237 Melissa S. Kearney 0226817784 Karen 0 to-read 3.87 2023
author: Melissa S. Kearney
name: Karen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/19
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]]> 23659067
A critical read for teachers and parents who want to improve children’s mathematics learning,Ěý What’s Math Got to Do with It? is “an inspiring resourceâ€� ( Publishers Weekly ). Featuring all the importantĚýadvice and suggestions in the original edition of What’s Math Got to Do with It? , this revised editionĚýis now updated with new research on the brain and mathematics that is revolutionizing scientists’Ěýunderstanding of learning and potential.

As always Jo Boaler presents research findings through practical ideas that can be used inĚýclassrooms and homes. The new What’s Math Got to Do with It? prepares teachers and parents forĚýthe Common Core, shares Boaler’s work on ways to teach mathematics for a “growth mindset,â€� andĚýincludes a range of advice to inspire teachers and parents to give their students the best mathematicalĚýexperience possible.]]> 272 Jo Boaler 0143128299 Karen 3 4.37 2008
author: Jo Boaler
name: Karen
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2020/06/17
date added: 2025/01/22
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I read this for a class I took towards re-certification. It had some good ideas, but anyone well versed in Common Core Standards and strategies will be familiar with much of this. Perhaps more revolutionary when it first came out than it seems now. She addresses a number of issues, but I found the book quite thin on strategies and ideas for implementation. For example, heterogeneous grouping is encouraged, but she never addresses how to do that and still challenge the high achieving students. Anyway, I got the credits needed and gained a few new insights.
]]> 218651898
Amidst colossal generators, vast battery fields, and accelefields that produce harvests in mere days, Evl’s yearning for a better life morphs into a battle for existence. The cryptic gift of the Lightning Seed from Talain, a local warlord, comes with a simple yet daunting keep it and stay alive.

With an increasing number of powerful adversaries in close pursuit, can Evl’s peculiar tribal gifts keep him a step ahead long enough to discover what the Lightning Seed can do? Will Ma’a, and perhaps the entire universe, survive if he does?

Uncover lost worlds and forgotten knowledge in this action-packed dystopian sci-fi saga. ]]> 431 John Durant Karen 0 to-read 4.40
author: John Durant
name: Karen
average rating: 4.40
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
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]]> 220274036 Male - Female - Straight - Gay - Cis - Trans How? Why?

How did I become a male or female? Is there a male brain or a female brain? Why are some people trans? Why are some people gay? Gender is one of the most vital issues of our day. Unfortunately, widespread misunderstanding and misinformation about the nature of gender hinders productive conversation and intelligent policy.

An excellent starting point for these discussions would be a good understanding of how we got this way. Many essential questions can be clarified by the current scientific understanding of how we develop our sex and gender,

How do our masculine or feminine traits develop?What is the role of our genes, our hormones, and our upbringing when it comes to determining our masculine or feminine traits?Why are some people straight and some people gay? Why are some people cis and some people trans?
This book was written to answer these questions and explain to a broad audience how gendered traits in our bodies, brains and personalities develop. It was written with the belief that it is possible for most of us to understand the processes that lead to our sex, our masculine and feminine traits, our sexual orientation, and even our gender identities. It explores how nature and nurture impact our development, both before and after we are born. It discusses the impact of our genes, our hormones, and our environments on these processes.

This book provides an accessible description of how our traits can masculinize or feminize—especially our personality traits. It addresses the different factors involved, from the role of hormones on our developing brains as fetuses, to the role of parenting and culture. It describes a variety of traits including interests such as auto mechanics or ballet dancing, capacities such as empathy or violence, behaviors such as how we move or throw objects, as well as our self-perceptions and our sexual attractions.

There is currently substantial conflict in our societies about how we should approach sex and gender. The hope is that these discussions will be more fruitful if they are based on up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the basics. Furthermore, the facts about how we develop as humans are both fascinating and awe-inspiring. It is truly valuable to understand how these human traits develop, with an appreciation for our vast human similarities as well as our vast individual differences.]]> 142 Daniel Y. Parkinson Karen 0 to-read 4.86
author: Daniel Y. Parkinson
name: Karen
average rating: 4.86
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rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/07
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]]> 176444081
Former presidents have an unusual place in American life. King George III believed that George Washington’s departure after two terms made him “the greatest character of the age.� But Alexander Hamilton worried former presidents might “[wander] among the people like ghosts.� They were both right.

Life After Power tells the stories of seven former presidents, from the Founding to today. Each changed history. Each offered lessons about how to decide what to do in the next chapter of life.

Thomas Jefferson was the first former president to accomplish great things after the White House, shaping public debates and founding the University of Virginia, an accomplishment he included on his tombstone, unlike his presidency. John Quincy Adams served in Congress and became a leading abolitionist, passing the torch to Abraham Lincoln. Grover Cleveland was the only president in American history to serve a nonconsecutive term. William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Herbert Hoover shaped the modern conservative movement, led relief efforts after World War II, reorganized the executive branch, and reconciled John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Jimmy Carter had the longest post-presidency in American history, advancing humanitarian causes, human rights, and peace. George W. Bush made a clean break from politics, bringing back George Washington’s precedent, and reminding the public that the institution of the presidency is bigger than any person.

Jared Cohen explores the untold stories in the final chapters of these presidents� lives, offering a gripping and illuminating account of how they went from President of the United States one day, to ordinary citizens the next. He tells how they handled very human problems of ego, finances, and questions about their legacy and mortality. He shows how these men made history after they left the White House.]]> 512 Jared Cohen 1982154543 Karen 0 to-read 4.21
author: Jared Cohen
name: Karen
average rating: 4.21
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date added: 2024/11/29
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]]> 45032 488 Jane Austen Karen 4 3.86 1814
author: Jane Austen
name: Karen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/11/27
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]]> 15823480 Anna Karenina provides a vast panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in all of literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature - with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy himself, often expressing the author's own views and convictions.

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments, 'He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.]]> 964 Leo Tolstoy 0345803922 Karen 5
The scenes, the imagery, the symbols, the characters in all their humanity (both their foibles and their kindnesses) -- all just brilliant.]]> 4.11 1878
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Karen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1878
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
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Mark and I recently listened to it on a cross-country drive. 36 hours. I'd read it before but it took me over a year so I didn't have a clear picture of the overarching story. This was a much better way to really dive into it. It's a masterful work. The contrast between Anna's life and Levin's is really moving.

The scenes, the imagery, the symbols, the characters in all their humanity (both their foibles and their kindnesses) -- all just brilliant.
]]> 36373264
Meet the Cobble Street Lily, who wants to be a poet, Tess, who wants to be a Broadway star, and Rosie, who wants a little cottage with flowers by the door. Right now, though, the cousins are sharing an attic bedroom in their Aunt Lucy’s light blue house on Cobble Street, and happily making plans for the summer.

This paperback boxed set
In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen
A Little Shopping
Special Gifts
Some Good News
Summer Party
Wedding Flowers]]> 400 Cynthia Rylant 1534416331 Karen 5 4.65
author: Cynthia Rylant
name: Karen
average rating: 4.65
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rating: 5
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These books delighted Hannah as a child and her daughters are now loving them as well. One of my favorite series. Hannah loved them so much when she was young that she wrote a letter to Cynthia Rylant. What a pleasure it was when she recieved a note back!!
]]> 11098921 Oh, Mercy! Pig out on the first six adventures in the New York Times best-selling series, all tucked together in one enticing box--the perfect gift!

Foiling a robber, driving a car, squeezing into a tutu--is there anything the porcine wonder won't do in her single-minded pursuit of treats, buttered toast, or just a rollicking fun time? And who knows what other adventures twinkle in her mischievous eyes? Here, for Mercy Watson's loyal fans and new friends, comes a big fat paperback collection of pig tales that will have readers squealing with delight. Included are:

MERCY WATSON TO THE RESCUE
MERCY WATSON GOES FOR A RIDE
MERCY WATSON FIGHTS CRIME
MERCY WATSON: PRINCESS IN DISGUISE
MERCY WATSON THINKS LIKE A PIG
MERCY WATSON: SOMETHING WONKY THIS WAY COMES]]> 470 Kate DiCamillo 0763657093 Karen 5 4.62 2010
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: Karen
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/11/20
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Sweet books about a delightfully curious pig, her family and neighbors. They are funny, endearing and clever. I just got them to share with my grandkids.
]]> 195790746
Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in the United States and everywhere else. Pundits, politicians, and the public usually depict immigrants as either villains or victims. The villain narrative is that immigrants pose a threat—to our economy because they steal our jobs; our way of life because they change our culture; and to our safety and laws because of their criminality. The victim argument tells us that immigrants are needy outsiders—the poor, huddled masses whom we must help at our own cost if necessary. But the data clearly debunks both narratives. From jobs, investment, and innovation to cultural vitality and national security, more immigration has an overwhelmingly positive impact on everything that makes a society successful.

In The Truth About Immigration, Wharton professor Zeke Hernandez draws from nearly 20 years of research to answer all the big questions about immigration. He combines moving personal stories with rigorous research to offer an accessible, apolitical, and evidence-based look at how newcomers affect our local communities and our nation. You'll learn about the overlooked impact of immigrants on investment and job creation; realize how much we take for granted the novel technologies, products, and businesses newcomers create; get the facts straight about perennial concerns like jobs, crime, and undocumented immigrants; and gain new perspectives on misunderstood issues such as the border, taxes, and assimilation.

Most books making a case for immigration tell you that immigration is good for immigrants. This book is all about how newcomers benefit you, your community, and your country. Skeptics fear that newcomers compete economically with locals because of their similarities and fail to socially assimilate because of their differences. You'll see that it's exactly the opposite: newcomers bring enduring economic benefits because of their differences and contribute positively to society because of their similarities. Destined to become the go-to book on one of the most important issues of our time, this book turns fear into hope by proving a simple truth: immigrants are essential for economically prosperous and socially vibrant nations.]]> 320 Zeke Hernandez 125028824X Karen 4 4.44 2024
author: Zeke Hernandez
name: Karen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
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Data driven book about the positive impacts of immigration on both the economy and society. He provides very personal and interesting anecdotes to illustrate the points. I really liked the open non-political tone of his writing. It was very thorough on the general impact of immigration. I did wish he had talked more about undocumented immigration and the complexity of the issue, rather than just one short chapter that re-inforced the premis of the previous chapters.
]]> 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 Karen 0 to-read 4.14 2021
author: Claire Keegan
name: Karen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/20
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]]> 208580627 192 Ingvild H. Rishøi 0802163491 Karen 0 to-read 3.67 2021
author: Ingvild H. Rishøi
name: Karen
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/20
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]]> 201608156
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love � and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.

But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.

Set over the course of one December in the same village as Williams' beloved This Is Happiness, Time of the Child is a tender return to Faha for readers who know its charms, and a heartwarming welcome to new readers entering for the very first time.]]> 304 Niall Williams 1639734201 Karen 0 to-read 4.17 2024
author: Niall Williams
name: Karen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/20
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]]> 52728937 159 Barbara Morgan Gardner 1629725609 Karen 0 to-read 4.54 2019
author: Barbara Morgan Gardner
name: Karen
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/09
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]]> 336834 631 Bruce C. Hafen 1570088330 Karen 4 4.44 2002
author: Bruce C. Hafen
name: Karen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/05
date added: 2024/11/06
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Nice overview of Elder Maxwell’s life and personality. And how he developed and changed over time. Hafen’s writing style is very thorough so he gives plenty of backstory and context for each phase of Maxwell’s work. Sometimes I really appreciated that and sometimes it seemed a bit too tangential.
]]> 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 Karen 0 to-read 4.46
author: Kate Holbrook
name: Karen
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/28
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]]> 27310 290 Karen Armstrong 0062508865 Karen 0 to-read 4.20 1991
author: Karen Armstrong
name: Karen
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 520771 229 Karen Armstrong 0871139693 Karen 0 to-read 3.80 2007
author: Karen Armstrong
name: Karen
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/28
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]]> 45865916 and discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and her new friend will need every tool at their disposal -- including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends -- to solve the case before Aggie's beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn't commit.]]> 325 Marthe Jocelyn 0735265461 Karen 3 3.91 2020
author: Marthe Jocelyn
name: Karen
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
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The beginning was a bit slow but it picked up. Nice take on a young Agatha and Poirot. Treated murder quite lightly for a children’s book � hmmm.
]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Karen 0 4.50 2003
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Karen
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
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]]> 52616342
Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door.

A high school girl has vanished from Erika's quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst--murder. And Erika's teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive.

Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he's innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can't deny the truth--Liam may have done the unthinkable.

Now she must ask herself:

How far will she go to protect her son?]]> 373 Freida McFadden Karen 0 to-read 4.03 2019
author: Freida McFadden
name: Karen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 54981009
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]> 307 Laura Dave 1501171348 Karen 0 to-read 3.78 2021
author: Laura Dave
name: Karen
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 56271394 Ěý
IndianĚýAmerican journalistĚýSmita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.

In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice, Thrity Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to their homelands and themselves at the same time.]]> 326 Thrity Umrigar 161620995X Karen 0 to-read 4.32 2022
author: Thrity Umrigar
name: Karen
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
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]]> 32148570 Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.]]> 342 Lisa Wingate 0425284689 Karen 0 to-read 4.38 2017
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Karen
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
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]]> 198563674 A sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.

Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.]]> 368 Lisa Wingate 0593726502 Karen 0 to-read 3.81 2024
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Karen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
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]]> 803454 A 1967 Newbery Honor Book: A “stunning� historical novel of a teenager’s journey from Spain to the New World in search of gold (Kirkus Reviews).

Mapmaker Esteban de Sandoval is only seventeen years old, but he has experienced much adventure, traveling to the New World to hunt for gold with the Conquistadors. Whatever treasure they find, they were expected to give one-fifth of it to the king. But Esteban is accused of withholding the king’s fifth—and of murder.

As he waits for his trial to begin, he recalls the experience of his journey: the men he sailed with, the young Native American girl who guided him—and the ways that it changed him—in this remarkable novel about Spanish colonialism by the author of such classics as Island of the Blue Dolphins.]]> 272 Scott O'Dell 0618747834 Karen 4
I liked the ending, but it came up to quickly for the pace of the story and we never got to see Estaban really struggle through his decisions. But maybe that's ok as the book is understated in so many ways.]]> 3.64 1966
author: Scott O'Dell
name: Karen
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1966
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:
Beautifully written, though the pace is slow. I love how the actions and motives of the different characters evolve in the quest for gold. And the switch between the two time frames is lovely. I'm afraid I got a little too caught up in the map making, and trying to figure out exactly where they were in relation to present day Arizona. Then, oh yea -- it's fiction -- some of the geography has been created for the story.

I liked the ending, but it came up to quickly for the pace of the story and we never got to see Estaban really struggle through his decisions. But maybe that's ok as the book is understated in so many ways.
]]> 4952 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children —the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man.
-back cover]]> 475 Dave Eggers 1932416641 Karen 0 to-read 4.14 2006
author: Dave Eggers
name: Karen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 164230
During his tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon from 1949 through 1972, Bill Bowerman won 4 national team titles, trained dozens of milers to break the 4-minute barrier, and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. Single-handedly he helped turn the college town of Eugene, Oregon, into the running capital of the world.

In Bowerman: The Wings of Nike, Kenny Moore, a world-class marathon runner and one of Bowerman's Oregon men, tells the story of his mentor and hero, drawing on years of taped interviews and the full cooperation of the Bowerman family and Nike, the company that Bowerman helped to found through his invention of the waffle-soled running shoe.

Whether providing a fresh look at the tragic siege at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, where Bowerman coached the track and field team; offering a close-up view of the coach's relationship with runner Steve Prefontaine (subject of the movie Without Limits, co-written and co-produced by Moore); or exploring Bowerman's role as a Nike innovator, this illuminating portrait is compelling reading throughout—ample evidence of why Bowerman's widow, noting how well the author understood her husband, said: "If anyone should write Bill's life story, it's Kenny Moore."]]> 448 Kenny Moore 1594861900 Karen 3 started-never-finished 4.22 2006
author: Kenny Moore
name: Karen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves: started-never-finished
review:
I started reading this after reading Shoe Dog -- wanting a more in depth look at the Oregon couch and Nike co-founder. But the book is very descriptive and detailed and I realized that it was more than I was interested in. What I got from Shoe Dog and some google searches was enough.
]]> 19463797 800 Misha Glenny 1847087728 Karen 0 started-never-finished 4.40 1999
author: Misha Glenny
name: Karen
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves: started-never-finished
review:
I didn't read enough to be able to rate it. I'll be living in Serbia and had been looking for a good history of the area. This is a great detailed history, but it was far too dense for my abilities. It refers to a lot of other European history of the time, about which I am not well versed, and locations and names are too unfamiliar to keep straight. I ended up watching a bunch of 20 minute youtube videos about the history of Serbia instead. Maybe this will be a good read later on, once I've got a more basic overview under my belt.
]]> 8206846 In The Loss of Sadness, Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield argue that, while depressive disorder certainly exists and can be a devastating condition warranting medical attention, the apparent epidemic in fact reflects the way the psychiatric profession has understood and reclassified normal human sadness as largely an abnormal experience. With the 1980 publication of the landmark third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), mental health professionals began diagnosing depression based on symptoms-such as depressed mood, loss of appetite, and fatigue-that lasted for at least two weeks. This system is fundamentally flawed, the authors maintain, because it fails to take into account the context in which the symptoms occur. They stress the importance of distinguishing between abnormal reactions due to internal dysfunction and normal sadness brought on by external circumstances. Under the current DSM classification system, however, this distinction is impossible to make, so the expected emotional distress caused by upsetting events-for example, the loss of a job or the end of a relationship-could lead to a mistaken diagnosis of depressive disorder. Indeed, it is this very mistake that lies at the root of the presumed epidemic of major depression in our midst.
In telling the story behind this phenomenon, the authors draw on the 2,500-year history of writing about depression, including studies in both the medical and social sciences, to demonstrate why the DSM's diagnosis is so flawed. They also explore why it has achieved almost unshakable currency despite its limitations.
Framed within an evolutionary account of human health and disease, The Loss of Sadness presents a fascinating dissection of depression as both a normal and disordered human emotion and a sweeping critique of current psychiatric diagnostic practices. The result is a potent challenge to the diagnostic revolution that began almost thirty years ago in psychiatry and a provocative analysis of one of the most significant mental health issues today.]]> 312 Allan V. Horwitz 0198042698 Karen 0 to-read 4.25 2007
author: Allan V. Horwitz
name: Karen
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 27220736
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of startups, Nike is the ne plus ultra of all startups, and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe-spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols in the world today.

But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always remained a mystery. Now, for the first time, in a memoir that is candid, humble, gutsy, and wry, he tells his story, beginning with his crossroads moment. At 24, after backpacking around the world, he decided to take the unconventional path, to start his own business—a business that would be dynamic, different.

Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream—along with his early triumphs. Above all, he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees, a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers. Together, harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission, and a deep belief in the spirit of sport, they built a brand that changed everything.]]> 400 Phil Knight 1501135910 Karen 4 4.45 2016
author: Phil Knight
name: Karen
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
Really interesting memoir about the beginnings and early days of Nike. Written with a large dose of nostalgia, Knight goes through the detailed steps they had to take to becoming dominant in the atheltic shoe industry. The cast of characters are all fascinating, quirky and intense. Great read.
]]> 61419629 New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft is back with the newest adventures of Jordan, Drew, Liam, and all the characters that fans first met in New Kid, winner of the Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award! In this full-color contemporary graphic novel, the gang from Riverdale Academy Day is heading to Paris, for an international education like you've never seen before ...

Jordan, Drew, Liam, Maury, and their friends from Riverdale Academy Day School are heading out on a school trip to Paris. As an aspiring artist himself, Jordan can't wait to see all the amazing art in the famous City of Lights.

But when their trusted faculty guides are replaced at the last minute, the school trip takes an unexpected--and hilarious--turn. Especially when trying to find their way around a foreign city ends up being almost as tricky as navigating the same friendships, fears, and differences that they struggle with at home.

Will Jordan and his friends embrace being exposed to a new language, unfamiliar food, and a different culture? Or will they all end up feeling like the "new kid"?

Don't miss the two hilarious and powerful companion novels by Jerry Craft, New Kid and Class Act!]]> 247 Jerry Craft 0062885545 Karen 3
It didn’t make me think like New Kid did. Too much going on and not enough focus for the main themes to really sink in. ]]> 4.16 2023
author: Jerry Craft
name: Karen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
review:
Tried to ride the coattails of the amazing book New Kid but this one felt flat. Too much descriptive travel itinerary. Look it’s the Eiffel Tower. Then we did this. Then we did this �

It didn’t make me think like New Kid did. Too much going on and not enough focus for the main themes to really sink in.
]]> 180357146 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 715 Abraham Verghese 0802162177 Karen 0 to-read 4.34 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Karen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 125766468
This is the housing trap. It’s time to escape. In Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis, renowned urbanists Charles (Chuck) Marohn and Daniel Herriges introduce a first-of-its-kind discussion of the tension between housing as a financial product and housing as shelter. This is the key insight that’s been missing from the Housing Crisis Conversation; and the insight that can help cities fight back against the crisis from the bottom-up.

This book offers a serious, yet accessible, history of housing policy in the United States and explains how it led us to this point in time: where we face a market that is rigged against people who, only a few decades ago, could have been homeowners or stable, long-term rentals.

Only local change, on a neighborhood or city-wide scale, can begin to restore balance to the housing market.

Escaping the Housing Trap is the must-read resource for everyone with a stake in the future of housing in America—and that means everyone. Readers will find:

- Discussions of housing as an investment and how the country's neighborhoods are being transformed by the introduction of large amounts of investment
- Explorations of housing as shelter, including discussions of zoning policy and NIMBYism
- A comprehensive overview of the Strong Towns approach to solving the American housing crisis]]> 240 Charles L. Marohn Jr. 1119984521 Karen 0 to-read 4.39
author: Charles L. Marohn Jr.
name: Karen
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Karen 5 3.95 1872
author: Jules Verne
name: Karen
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:
Great story! I don't know why I thought this was about someone going around the world in a balloon. It wasn't that at all. More adventurous than I expected -- a delight to read.
]]> 60808242

"Even if we understand the idea that we should love people, we sometimes think we’re supposed to love them back onto our path instead of respecting their own journey. I’m not trying to love people into coming with me. I’m just loving people."


THE LAW OF LOVE—loving as God loves, seeking another’s healing, expecting nothing in return—is a simple principle with profound, life-changing implications. How can we live the law of love? Steve Young shares insights from his own multifaceted life as well as from others who are scientists, fellow Latter-day Saints, Anglican, atheist, Baptist, Catholic, Confucian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and secular people of wisdom, as well as from the scriptures. This practical book may shift your mindset to a more expansive worldview that just might change everything. Whether in football, work, church, or family, the law of love is undefeated.]]> 208 Steve Young 1639930310 Karen 3 4.41
author: Steve Young
name: Karen
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves:
review:
Nice reminder to love unconditionally and to move beyond transactional relationships. Also had some nice stories. It got quite repetitive at times -- trying to emphasize the message, I guess.
]]> 59571699 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.

Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.

But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?]]> 368 Ali Hazelwood 1408725789 Karen 2 3.88 2022
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Karen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/08/23
shelves:
review:
I spent 4 hours of vacation on this book. It was ok. In spite of the women in STEM theme it was still pretty ditzy. And the sex scenes were pretty graphic -- fast forward over those. But I'm always game for a quick "we hate each other, no maybe we don't, oh we like each other" romance. Even if there's not a ton of substance in either character. It's like watching "you've got mail" for the 20th time, which I can do from time to time.
]]> 252147 48 Jacob Lawrence 0064434281 Karen 5
Thought of this again when reading more deeply about the Great Migration.]]> 4.33 1993
author: Jacob Lawrence
name: Karen
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves:
review:
Beautiful little book. We saw an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art with these paintings in the 1990's. They are stunning. We bought this picture book in the gift shop. I go to it again and again to look at the pictures.

Thought of this again when reading more deeply about the Great Migration.
]]> 8171378
Wilkerson tells this interwoven story through the lives of three unforgettable protagonists: Ida Mae Gladney, a sharecropper’s wife, who in 1937 fled Mississippi for Chicago; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, and Robert Foster, a surgeon who left Louisiana in 1953 in hopes of making it in California.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous cross-country journeys by car and train and their new lives in colonies in the New World. The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration� within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is a modern classic.]]> 622 Isabel Wilkerson 0679444327 Karen 5
The story of the adjustment to a new life felt very universal -- finding one's way in a new place, finding one's people, comparing it to the past.

Overall I'd highly recommend this book (even if it did get repetitive at times and the ending did drag on).
]]> 4.45 2010
author: Isabel Wilkerson
name: Karen
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves:
review:
This is a beautifully written book. I often don't enjoy non-fiction as it can be too dry. This is written as a story -- the story of the Great Migration through the personal experience of 3 different individuals. Interwoven into their very personal stories is the context of the south from which they came -- cotton picking, citrus groves, and struggling academics. I feel like I have a much clearer picture of Black history than I've ever had, what segregation really looked and felt like, Jim Crow laws -- their history and implementation.

The story of the adjustment to a new life felt very universal -- finding one's way in a new place, finding one's people, comparing it to the past.

Overall I'd highly recommend this book (even if it did get repetitive at times and the ending did drag on).

]]> 38085814
They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.

The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.]]> 288 Raynor Winn 0241349648 Karen 0 to-read 3.97 2018
author: Raynor Winn
name: Karen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 437902 "Profoundly sad and hopeful at the same time . . . Hachiko Waits shows us the very best in life; loyalty, devotion, our ability to love-all taught by a beloved, intelligent, and heroic dog. I love it." -Patricia MacLachlan, Newbery Award-winning author of Sarah Plain and Tall

The loyalty and devotion of a dog has no bounds

What a good dog you are. What a fine dog you are. Hachi, you are the best dog in all of Japan." Professor Ueno speaks these words to his faithful dog before boarding the train to work every morning. And every afternoon just before three o'clock, Hachi is at the train station to greet his beloved master.

One day, the train arrives at the station without the professor. Hachi waits.

For ten years Hachi waits for his master to return. Not even Yasuo, the young boy who takes care of Hachi, can persuade him to leave his post.

Hachiko Waits is a novel inspired by a true story. Readers will be touched by the story of Hachiko and his impact on the people of Japan.

Hachiko Waits is a 2005 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.]]> 96 Lesléa Newman 0805073361 Karen 4 4.29 2004
author: Lesléa Newman
name: Karen
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves:
review:
Quick read. I saw the movie first and decided to finally read the book. Nothing better than a good loyal dog. Makes me miss our dogs who we found out recently are now all in puppy heaven.
]]> 1196664 102 Shizuko O. Koster 1424158214 Karen 0 to-read 4.48 2007
author: Shizuko O. Koster
name: Karen
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53968491 The story of a Muslim boy’s exile from war-torn Bosnia to the United States.�

Kenan loves drawing and playing soccer with his friends. He wants to be a famous athlete, hates it when his classmates trash his buck teeth by calling him “Bugs Bunny,� and fights with his big brother, who’s too busy and cool for him lately. Sometimes his parents drive him crazy, but he feels loved and protected—until the war ruins everything.

Soon, Kenan’s family is trapped in their home with little food or water, surrounded by enemies. Ten months later, with help from friends and strangers, they finally make it out of the country alive. But that’s only the beginning of their journey.]]> 375 Kenan Trebincevic 0358439876 Karen 0 to-read 4.37 2021
author: Kenan Trebincevic
name: Karen
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16200
*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet]]> 208 Mark Dunn 0385722435 Karen 3 3.93 2001
author: Mark Dunn
name: Karen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:
I thought this would be light and funny but it was actually a dystopian view of a world of censorship. Ok but not what I was in the mood for.
]]> 59838319 A new addition to the Questioneers series, a full-color nonfiction early reader series based on the new Ada Twist, Scientist Netflix series!Why do airplanes look the way they do? Why can’t birds fly when they’re first born? And why do some paper planes fly farther than others?ĚýAda Twist, The Why Files is the perfect nonfiction resource for all these questions and more. Discover everything there is to know about flight from Ada Twist, Scientist—from information about creatures that fly, to the history of aircrafts, to modern technology that allows us to soar through the air faster than ever!ĚýBased on the bestselling series and the new Netflix show, this nonfiction series is perfect for the youngest scientists of tomorrow!Ěý]]> 80 Andrea Beaty 1647005604 Karen 0 to-read 3.77
author: Andrea Beaty
name: Karen
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55030
The book also explores spacecraft missions of discovery of the nearby planets, the research in the Library of ancient Alexandria, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the origin of life, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies and the origins of matter, suns and worlds.

Sagan retraces the fifteen billion years of cos-mic evolution that have transformed matter into life and consciousness, enabling the Cosmos to wonder about itself. He considers the latest findings on life elsewhere and how we might communicate with the beings of other worlds.

Cosmos is the story of our long journey of discovery and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science, including Democritus, Hypatia, Kepler, Newton, Huy-gens, Champollion, Lowell and Humason. Sagan looks at our planet from an extra-terrestrial vantage point and sees a blue jewel-like world, inhabited by a lifeform that is just beginning to discover its own unity and to ven-ture into the vast ocean of space.]]> 384 Carl Sagan 0375508325 Karen 0 4.39 1980
author: Carl Sagan
name: Karen
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 79551 228 Tove Jansson 0374453063 Karen 3
This book is well written and the characters are endearing. I read through the last third very quickly to finally be done. It ended satisfactorily -- and the lighthouse keeper's birthday just happens to be the same day as Mark's. ]]> 4.30 1965
author: Tove Jansson
name: Karen
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1965
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/20
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:
I bought this book in Poland, thinking it would be a lovely interesting story to read while I was living near a lighthouse on the Sea. But there's an underlying feeling of dread and isolation in this book that was a bit unnerving. I took a pause and thought I'd read it when I got home -- when things were quiet and I needed an adventure story to balance the quiet of my life. But their lives are even quieter than mine. And their fiddling around trying to figure out what to do was a bit unnerving again.

This book is well written and the characters are endearing. I read through the last third very quickly to finally be done. It ended satisfactorily -- and the lighthouse keeper's birthday just happens to be the same day as Mark's.
]]> 5659 “All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.�

For more than a century, The Wind in the Willows and its endearing protagonists—Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and, of course, the incorrigible Toad—have enchanted children of all ages. Whether the four friends are setting forth on an exciting adventure, engaging in a comic caper, or simply relaxing by the River Thames, their stories will surprise and captivate you.

Hailed as one of the most enduringly popular works of the twentieth century, this story is a classic of magical fancy and enchanting wit. Penned in lyrical prose, the adventures and misadventures of the book’s intrepid quartet of heroes raise fantasy to the level of myth. Reflecting the freshness of childhood wonder, it still offers adults endless sophistication, substance, and depth.

The animals� world embodies the author’s wry, whimsical, and unfailingly inventive imagination. It is a world that succeeding generations of both adult and young readers have found irresistible. But why say more? To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: “Travel, change, interest, excitement!...Come inside.�]]> 197 Kenneth Grahame 0143039091 Karen 3
But. It's a classic and I read it and an check it off my list. Whew!]]> 4.02 1908
author: Kenneth Grahame
name: Karen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1908
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/20
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:
This is one of those books that I finally read because I felt like I ought to read it, and now that I'm finally done, I'm glad that I have read it. But the style did not engage me. The descriptions are lovely, but it's very slow. Except when Mr. Toad is getting into trouble -- but his personality is not endearing to me. I think there's a quote in there about him spending his good will with his friends and they will want to distance themselves from him. That's how I felt about reading about him. Again -- another ought to. It felt like it ought to be funny but just didn't click with me.

But. It's a classic and I read it and an check it off my list. Whew!
]]> 39074550 An international bestseller

The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, "When am I ever going to use this in the real world?"

"Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining, Humble Pi is a charming and very readable guide to some of humanity's all-time greatest miscalculations--that also gives you permission to feel a little better about some of your own mistakes." --Ryan North, author of How to Invent Everything

Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn't. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences.

Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean.

Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.]]> 314 Matt Parker 0241360196 Karen 2 started-never-finished
]]> 4.11 2019
author: Matt Parker
name: Karen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves: started-never-finished
review:
This would have made a better article or essay than book. The idea was interesting, but pretty soon the examples all started to sound a like and a bit esoteric. Favorite chapter was the one about geometry.


]]> 27161156 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062300546.

Hillbilly Elegy recounts J.D. Vance's powerful origin story...

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate now serving as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and the Republican Vice Presidential candidate for the 2024 election, an incisive account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class.

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.'s grandparents were "dirt poor and in love," and moved north from Kentucky's Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.

A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.]]> 264 J.D. Vance Karen 0 3.81 2016
author: J.D. Vance
name: Karen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/15
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]]> 60194162 "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver 0063251922 Karen 0 to-read 4.46 2022
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Karen
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 62229748 A brilliantly original high concept murder mystery from a fantastic new talent: Gosford Park meets Inception, by way of Agatha Christie and Black Mirror.

'Somebody's going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won't appear to be a murder and so the murderer won't be caught. Rectify that injustice and I'll show you the way out.'

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden � one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party � can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...

Also titled as The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.]]> 525 Stuart Turton 1408889560 Karen 3
There was a lot of external meddling so it didn’t evolve naturally. And I wasn’t really a fan of the ending. But. It was a fun twisty ride through a mystery.]]> 3.79 2018
author: Stuart Turton
name: Karen
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves:
review:
Very clever premise which keeps the story interesting as things evolve from different viewpoints. In some ways it was too scattered - it felt like 8 different stories that didn’t really overlap as much as it felt like they should.

There was a lot of external meddling so it didn’t evolve naturally. And I wasn’t really a fan of the ending. But. It was a fun twisty ride through a mystery.
]]> 39277917
In Covert Regime Change, Lindsey A. O’Rourke shows us how states really act when trying to overthrow another state. She argues that conventional focus on overt cases misses the basic causes of regime change. O’Rourke provides substantive evidence of types of security interests that drive states to intervene. Offensive operations aim to overthrow a current military rival or break up a rival alliance. Preventive operations seek to stop a state from taking certain actions, such as joining a rival alliance, that may make them a future security threat. Hegemonic operations try to maintain a hierarchical relationship between the intervening state and the target government. Despite the prevalence of covert attempts at regime change, most operations fail to remain covert and spark blowback in unanticipated ways.

Covert Regime Change assembles an original dataset of all American regime change operations during the Cold War. This fund of information shows the United States was ten times more likely to try covert rather than overt regime change during the Cold War. Her dataset allows O’Rourke to address three foundational questions: What motivates states to attempt foreign regime change? Why do states prefer to conduct these operations covertly rather than overtly? How successful are such missions in achieving their foreign policy goals?]]> 330 Lindsey A. O'Rourke 1501730657 Karen 0 to-read 4.25 2018
author: Lindsey A. O'Rourke
name: Karen
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> 25480369
Like Leadership and Self-Deception, The Arbinger Institute's first book, The Anatomy of Peace has become a worldwide phenomenon—not because of a media blitz, movie tie-in, or celebrity endorsement, but because readers have enthusiastically recommended it to colleagues, relatives, and friends.

The Anatomy of Peace asks, What if conflicts at home, conflicts at work, and conflicts in the world stem from the same root cause? What if we systematically misunderstand that cause? And what if, as a result, we unwittingly perpetuate the very problems we think we are trying to solve?

Through an intriguing story we learn how and why we contribute to the divisions and problems we blame on others and the surprising way that these problems can be solved. Yusuf al-Falah, an Arab, and Avi Rozen, a Jew, each lost his father at the hands of the other's ethnic cousins. The Anatomy of Peace is the story of how they came together, how they help warring parents and children come together, and how we too can find our way out of the struggles that weigh us down.

This second edition includes new sections enabling readers to go deeper into the book's key concepts; access to free digital study and discussion guides; and information about The Reconciliation Project, a highly successful global peace initiative based on concepts in The Anatomy of Peace.]]> 288 Arbinger Institute 1626564310 Karen 0 to-read 4.13 2015
author: Arbinger Institute
name: Karen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 20518872 472 Liu Cixin Karen 4
The ideas are very interesting -- the whole premise of what it would really mean to make contact with aliens, the idea of sacrificing the few (even many) for the greater good, the place of science and morality in the progress of humanity, and the haunting question of whether or not we as humans have done so poorly that we have squandered our chance.

The negatives -- the flashbacks made the timeframe hard to follow, and many of the characters were flat enough that I couldn't keep them straight. I didn't feel my sympathy for any of them and those that did garner my sympathy lost it later.

Very imaginative, though. ]]> 4.08 2006
author: Liu Cixin
name: Karen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves:
review:
I keep going back and forth between 3 and 4 stars -- I settled on four because of how this book is messing with my head and how much I want to talk about it, even though there were many parts of it that were frustrating.

The ideas are very interesting -- the whole premise of what it would really mean to make contact with aliens, the idea of sacrificing the few (even many) for the greater good, the place of science and morality in the progress of humanity, and the haunting question of whether or not we as humans have done so poorly that we have squandered our chance.

The negatives -- the flashbacks made the timeframe hard to follow, and many of the characters were flat enough that I couldn't keep them straight. I didn't feel my sympathy for any of them and those that did garner my sympathy lost it later.

Very imaginative, though.
]]> 57379304
Drawing upon letters written by Emma to Joseph and to many others, along with minutes from Relief Society meetings and other artifacts, this book sketches a more complete portrait of this elect lady. It allows each of us to become personally acquainted with Emma as we learn more about her essential work as a leader, a wife, and a mother in the early days of the Church.]]> 224 Jennifer Reeder 1629728780 Karen 0 to-read 3.91
author: Jennifer Reeder
name: Karen
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 137978862
In Build the Life You Want , Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey invite you to begin a journey toward greater happiness no matter how challenging your circumstances. Drawing on cutting-edge science and their years of helping people translate ideas into action, they show you how to improve your life right now instead of waiting for the outside world to change.

With insight, compassion, and hope, Brooks and Winfrey reveal how the tools of emotional self-management can change your life―immediately. They recommend practical, research-based practices to build the four pillars of family, friendship, work, and faith. And along the way, they share hard-earned wisdom from their own lives and careers as well as the witness of regular people whose lives are joyful despite setbacks and hardship.

Equipped with the tools of emotional self-management and ready to build your four pillars, you can take control of your present and future rather than hoping and waiting for your circumstances to improve. Build the Life You Want is your blueprint for a better life.]]> 272 Arthur C. Brooks 0593545400 Karen 0 to-read 3.76 2023
author: Arthur C. Brooks
name: Karen
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> 906543 But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend seemed a trifle unwilling at the start. And it did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge.

Armand and the children's adventures around Paris -- complete with gypsies and a Santa Claus -- make a story which children will treasure.]]> 97 Natalie Savage Carlson 0064402509 Karen 3 3.97 1958
author: Natalie Savage Carlson
name: Karen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1958
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
Found in a Newberry Honor list. Sweet story about an older wandering man who meets and cares for a homeless young family in Paris. It’s a feel good story that is pretty light.
]]> 34415843
How can you believe all that stuff?
This is the number-one question Catholics get asked—and, sometimes, we ask ourselves. Why do we believe that God exists, that he became a man and came to save us, that what looks like a wafer of bread is actually his body? Why do we believe that he inspired a holy book and founded an infallible Church to teach us the one true way to live?

Ever since he became Catholic, Trent Horn has spent a lot of time answering these questions, trying to explain to friends, family, and total strangers the reasons for his faith

Some didn’t believe in God, or even in the existence of truth.
Others said they were spiritual but didn’t think you needed religion to be happy.
Some were Christians who thought Catholic doctrines over-complicated the pure gospel.
And some were fellow Catholics who had a hard time understanding everything they professed to believe on Sunday.

Why We’re Catholic assembles the clearest, friendliest, most helpful answers that Trent learned to give to all these people and more. Beginning with how we can know reality and ending with our hope of eternal life, it’s the perfect way to help skeptics and seekers (or Catholics who want to firm up their faith) understand the evidence that bolsters our belief—and brings us joy.]]> 240 Trent Horn 1683570243 Karen 3 4.33
author: Trent Horn
name: Karen
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
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I skimmed this quickly. I've been living in a predominantly Catholic country but realized there are many tenets of the Catholic religious faith that I don't understand. I read this as a quick overview. It's concisely written and clear in certain beliefs, though by no means comprehensive. Anyway, a good quick overview by a believer, not a priest.
]]> 56970272 Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves—or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?

A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the number one New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray.]]> 321 Ruta Sepetys 198483603X Karen 4 4.38 2022
author: Ruta Sepetys
name: Karen
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
Very interesting story set in the last months of 1989 Romania before the Ceaușescu era ended. I didn’t realize that the ending of communism in Romania was not peaceful, as it had been in other countries. Great historical fiction.
]]> 58784475 In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> 401 Gabrielle Zevin 0735243344 Karen 0 to-read 4.12 2022
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: Karen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 766917 The comic genius of Robert McCloskey and his wry look at small-town America has kept readers in stitches for generations!

]]> 149 Robert McCloskey 0140309276 Karen 5 4.09 1943
author: Robert McCloskey
name: Karen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1943
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves:
review:
Loved this book. It could have something to do with the fact that my older brother took it off his bookshelf and gave it to me as a kid when he found me feeling left out and sulking. He told me about the stories and why they were so much fun.
]]> 340321 128 E.L. Konigsburg 1416948295 Karen 3
Anyway. It was ok. Nice quick summer read.]]> 3.78 1967
author: E.L. Konigsburg
name: Karen
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1967
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves:
review:
I pulled this off a Newberry Award list -- it was an honor book. I expected to like it more. The relationship between the two girls seemed too uneven -- Jennifer being bossy and Elizabeth trying too hard. But I do like the sweet awkwardness of two girls trying to figure out where they fit in to a new situation and friendships.

Anyway. It was ok. Nice quick summer read.
]]> 13588356 Researcher and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.� —Theodore Roosevelt

Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. The book that Dr. Brown’s many fans have been waiting for, Daring Greatly will spark a new spirit of truth—and trust—in our organizations, families, schools, and communities.]]> 287 Brené Brown 1592407331 Karen 3
Oh yea. This was the source of all that.

All good material but worn out by the time I got to the original source. I’m sure I would have liked it better ten years ago. ]]> 4.29 2012
author: Brené Brown
name: Karen
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:
I just read this book so while the ideas were likely important and groundbreaking when she wrote the book, they were overhyped by the time I read it. I could hear other people’s voices quoting most of the big ideas. I felt like I was reading a caricature of the lines I’ve heard too many times.

Oh yea. This was the source of all that.

All good material but worn out by the time I got to the original source. I’m sure I would have liked it better ten years ago.
]]> 205821 Caddie is brave, and her story is special because it's based on the life and memories of Carol Ryrie Brink's grandmother, the real Caddie Woodlawn. Her spirit and sense of fun have made this book a classic that readers have taken to their hearts for more than seventy years.

]]> 288 Carol Ryrie Brink 1416940286 Karen 4 4.02 1935
author: Carol Ryrie Brink
name: Karen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1935
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
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Lovely coming of age story about a girl in 1860’s Wisconsin.
]]> 196848520
Whether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words , Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, offering a roadmap for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world.

An insider in the world of education technology, Khan explains the ins and outs of these cutting-edge tools and how they will revolutionize the way we learn and teach. Rather than approaching the sea of change brought on by ChatGPT with white-knuckled fear, Khan wants parents and teachers to embrace AI and adapt to it (while acknowledging its imperfections and limitations), so that every student can complement the work they're already doing in profoundly new and creative ways, to personalize learning, adapt assessments, and support success in the classroom.

But Brave New Words is not just about technology—it's about what this technology means for our society, and the practical implications for administrators, guidance counselors, and hiring managers who can harness the power of AI in education and the workplace. Khan also delves into the ethical and social implications of AI and GPT, offering thoughtful insights into how we can use these tools to build a more accessible education system for students around the world.]]> 272 Salman Khan 0593656954 Karen 0 to-read 3.57
author: Salman Khan
name: Karen
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> 49127643 The stunning memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive the Bosnian genocide--and the stray cat who protected her family through it all.

Amra was a teen in Bihac, Bosnia, when her friend said they couldn’t speak anymore because Amra was Muslim. Then refugees from other cities started arriving, fleeing Serbian persecution. When Serbian tanks rolled into Bihac, the life she knew disappeared—right as a stray cat followed her home. Her family didn’t have the money to keep a pet, but after the cat seemed to save her brother, how could they turn it away? Saving a life one time could be a coincidence, but then it happened again—and Amra and her family wondered just what this cat was.

This is the story of a teen who, even in the brutality of war, never wavered in her determination to obtain education, maintain friendships, and even find a first love—and the cat that provided comfort, and maybe even served as a guardian spirit, in the darkest of times.]]> 370 Amra Sabic-El-Rayess 1547604530 Karen 4 4.52
author: Amra Sabic-El-Rayess
name: Karen
average rating: 4.52
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves:
review:
Interesting memoir from a teenage Muslim girl during the years of Bosnian genocide. It gave me a better perspective on the conflict there and in the surrounding areas.
]]> 47281 137 Lois Lowry 0440227534 Karen 4 4.19 1989
author: Lois Lowry
name: Karen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
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]]> 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Karen 5 4.12 1993
author: Lois Lowry
name: Karen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
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]]> 423156
Although he was as swift as the desert winds, Sham's proud pedigree would be scorned all his life by cruel masters and owners.

This is the classic story of Sham and his friend, the stable boy Agba. Their adventures take them from the sands of the Sahara to the royal courts of France and, finally, to the green pastures and stately homes of England.

For Sham was the renowned "Godolphin Arabian" whose blood flows through the veins of almost every superior Thoroughbred. Sham's speed—like his story—has become legendary.]]> 176 Marguerite Henry 0027436292 Karen 4 4.22 1948
author: Marguerite Henry
name: Karen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1948
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
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]]> 825546
When Joseph and his family seek refuge in medieval Krakow, they are caught up in the plots and intrigues of alchemists, hypnotists, and a dark messenger of evil. Will Joseph be able to protect the crystal—and the city—from the plundering Tartars?]]> 208 Eric P. Kelly 0689715714 Karen 0 to-read 3.75 1928
author: Eric P. Kelly
name: Karen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 357664
Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship—and forgiveness—can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.

Kate DiCamillo's beloved, best-selling debut novel is now available in a paperback digest edition.

Kate DiCamillo's first published novel, like Winn-Dixie himself, immediately proved to be a keeper—a New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor winner, the inspiration for a popular film, and most especially, a cherished classic that touches the hearts of readers of all ages. It's now available in a paperback digest format certain to bring this tale's magic to an even wider circle of fans.]]> 182 Kate DiCamillo 0763616052 Karen 4 4.09 2000
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: Karen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/05/31
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]]> 163465 The Great Gilly Hopkins is looking for a home. She's a foster kid who's been angry, lonely, and hurting for so long that's she's always ready for a fight. Be on the lookout for her best barracuda smile, the one she saves for well-meaning social workers. Watch out for her most fearful look, a cross between Dracula and Godzilla, used especially to scare shy foster brothers. Don't be fooled by her "Who me?" expression, guaranteed to trick foster parents, teachers, and anyone who gets in her way.

It's Gilly Hopkins vs. the world! And so far, Gilly seems to be winning. But what she doesn't realize is that every time she wins, she really loses, until she discovers a love as formidable as any enemy she's ever known.]]> 148 Katherine Paterson 0435124773 Karen 5 3.85 1978
author: Katherine Paterson
name: Karen
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1978
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/05/31
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]]> 94803 School and Library Journal called this beloved story collection from Arnold Lobel "a masterpiece of child-styled humor and sensitivity."

Winner of the Newbery Honor award, Frog and Toad Together is a Level Two I Can Read book, geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help.

Supports the Common Core Learning Standards]]> 64 Arnold Lobel 069401298X Karen 5 4.25 1972
author: Arnold Lobel
name: Karen
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1972
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/05/31
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]]> 175824 Summer has a magic all its own.

When Portia sets out for a visit with her cousin Julian, she expects fun and adventure, but of the usual kind: exploring in the woods near Julian's house, collecting stones and bugs, playing games throughout the long, lazy days.

But this summer is different.

On their first day exploring, Portia and Julian discover an enormous boulder with a mysterious message, a swamp choked with reeds and quicksand, and on the far side of the swamp...a ghost town.

Once upon a time the swamp was a splendid lake, and the fallen houses along its shore an elegant resort community. But though the lake is long gone and the resort faded away, the houses still hold a secret life: two people who have never left Gone-Away...and who can tell the story of what happened there.]]> 256 Elizabeth Enright 0152022724 Karen 4 4.13 1957
author: Elizabeth Enright
name: Karen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1957
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
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]]> 42335
Who is Jane Moffat, anyway? She isn't the youngest in the family, and she isn't the oldest-she is always just Jane. How boring. So Jane decides to become a figure of mystery . . . the mysterious "Middle Moffat." But being in the middle is a lot harder than it looks.

In between not rescuing stray dogs, and losing and finding best friends, Jane must secretly look after the oldest inhabitant of Cranbury . . . so he can live to be one hundred. Between brushing her hair from her eyes and holding up her stockings, she has to help the girls' basketball team win the championship. And it falls to Jane-the only person in town with enough courage-to stand up to the frightful mechanical wizard, Wallie Bangs.

Jane is so busy keeping Cranbury in order that she barely has time to be plain old Jane. Sometimes the middle is the most exciting place of all. . . .]]> 256 Eleanor Estes 0152025294 Karen 0 to-read 4.02 1942
author: Eleanor Estes
name: Karen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 964640 When he wants to check out library books, Rufus teaches himself to write...even though he doesn't yet know how to read. When food is scarce, he plants some special "Rufus beans" that actually grow...despite his digging them up every day to check on them. And Rufus has friends that other people don't even know exist! He discovers the only invisible piano player in town, has his own personal flying horse for a day, and tours town with the Cardboard Boy, his dearest friend-and enemy.
Rufus isn't just the youngest Moffat, he's also the cleverest, the funniest, and the most unforgettable.
Eleanor Estes's beloved Moffats stories are being published in new editions as Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classics. The original interior illustrations have been retained, but handsome new cover art by Tricia Tusa gives the books a fresh, timeless appeal for today's readers.]]> 256 Eleanor Estes 0152025774 Karen 4 to-read 4.00 1943
author: Eleanor Estes
name: Karen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1943
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 402127 224 Rachel Field 0689822855 Karen 0 to-read 3.80 1931
author: Rachel Field
name: Karen
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1931
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 621739
An American classic with a refrain that millions of kids love to Ěý Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats .

Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman who were very lonely. They decided to get a cat, but when the old man went out searching, he found not one cat, but millions and billions and trillions of cats! Unable to decide which one would be the best pet, he brought them all home.

How the old couple came to have just one cat to call their own is a classic tale that has been loved for generations. Winner of a Newbery Honor, this collector's edition—featuring a heavy interior stock, spot gloss and embossing on the cover, and a thread-sewn binding—will bring this beloved tale to a whole new generation of readers.]]> 32 Wanda Gág 0142407089 Karen 5 4.09 1928
author: Wanda Gág
name: Karen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1928
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/05/31
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]]> 101025305 A remarkably illuminating biography of the political maverick, filled with revelations and written with his full cooperation by an award-winning writer at The Atlantic.

Authoritative, personal, and vividly written, Romney: A Reckoning is a revealing account of Mitt Romney’s life.

Based on dozens of exclusive interviews with Romney, his family, and his inner circle as well as hundreds of pages of his personal journals, this book offers a rare, portrait of a politician who in recent years has been at the center of our nation’s most defining political dramas.]]> 416 McKay Coppins 1982196238 Karen 4
“The meld of his moral obligation and personal hubris was in some ways Romneys defining trait.�

Fascinating combination at a time of great change in his party. I grew to admire Romney more as I read, he made some very difficult decisions based on principle.

]]> 4.33 2023
author: McKay Coppins
name: Karen
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/21
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review:
Interesting look at both Romney’s personal role and the bigger picture of the politics of the last 25 years. It’s been quite a ride.

“The meld of his moral obligation and personal hubris was in some ways Romneys defining trait.�

Fascinating combination at a time of great change in his party. I grew to admire Romney more as I read, he made some very difficult decisions based on principle.


]]> 18126604
Knowing that their children would have no future under the new government, the Chungs decided to flee the country. In 1979, they joined the legendary "boat people" and sailed into the South China Sea, despite knowing that an estimated two hundred thousand of their countrymen had already perished at the hands of brutal pirates and violent seas.

Where the Wind Leads follows Vinh Chung and his family on their desperate journey from pre-war Vietnam, through pirate attacks on a lawless sea, to a miraculous rescue and a new home in the unlikely town of Fort Smith, Arkansas. There Vinh struggled against poverty, discrimination, and a bewildering language barrier--yet still managed to graduate from Harvard Medical School.

Where the Wind Leads is Vinh's tribute to the courage and sacrifice of his parents, a testimony to his family's faith, and a reminder to people everywhere that the American dream, while still possible, carries with it a greater responsibility.]]> 368 Vinh Chung 0849947561 Karen 0 to-read 4.38 2014
author: Vinh Chung
name: Karen
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/21
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]]> 28364004 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the author of A. Lincoln, a major new biography of one of America's greatest generals--and most misunderstood presidents

Finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman Military History Book Prize

In his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the "Trinity of Great American Leaders." But the battlefield commander-turned-commander-in-chief fell out of favor in the twentieth century. In American Ulysses, Ronald C. White argues that we need to once more revise our estimates of him in the twenty-first.

Based on seven years of research with primary documents--some of them never examined by previous Grant scholars--this is destined to become the Grant biography of our time. White, a biographer exceptionally skilled at writing momentous history from the inside out, shows Grant to be a generous, curious, introspective man and leader--a willing delegator with a natural gift for managing the rampaging egos of his fellow officers. His wife, Julia Dent Grant, long marginalized in the historic record, emerges in her own right as a spirited and influential partner.

Grant was not only a brilliant general but also a passionate defender of equal rights in post-Civil War America. After winning election to the White House in 1868, he used the power of the federal government to battle the Ku Klux Klan. He was the first president to state that the government's policy toward American Indians was immoral, and the first ex-president to embark on a world tour, and he cemented his reputation for courage by racing against death to complete his Personal Memoirs. Published by Mark Twain, it is widely considered to be the greatest autobiography by an American leader, but its place in Grant's life story has never been fully explored--until now.

One of those rare books that successfully recast our impression of an iconic historical figure, American Ulysses gives us a finely honed, three-dimensional portrait of Grant the man--husband, father, leader, writer--that should set the standard by which all future biographies of him will be measured.

Praise for American Ulysses

"[Ronald C. White] portrays a deeply introspective man of ideals, a man of measured thought and careful action who found himself in the crosshairs of American history at its most crucial moment."--USA Today

"White delineates Grant's virtues better than any author before. . . . By the end, readers will see how fortunate the nation was that Grant went into the world--to save the Union, to lead it and, on his deathbed, to write one of the finest memoirs in all of American letters."--The New York Times Book Review

"Ronald White has restored Ulysses S. Grant to his proper place in history with a biography whose breadth and tone suit the man perfectly. Like Grant himself, this book will have staying power."--The Wall Street Journal

"Magisterial . . . Grant's esteem in the eyes of historians has increased significantly in the last generation. . . . [American Ulysses] is the newest heavyweight champion in this movement."--The Boston Globe

"Superb . . . illuminating, inspiring and deeply moving . . . The Grant we meet in American Ulysses is richly deserving of a fuller understanding and of celebration for the man he was and the legacy he left us."--Chicago Tribune

"In this sympathetic, rigorously sourced biography, White . . . conveys the essence of Grant the man and Grant the warrior."--Newsday]]> 864 Ronald C. White Jr. 1400069025 Karen 0 to-read 4.14 2016
author: Ronald C. White Jr.
name: Karen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/19
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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 Karen 0 to-read 4.59 2024
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Karen
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> 58999178
Jun and Hong were scions of a once great southern Chinese family. Each other’s best friend, they grew up in the 1930s during the final days of Old China before the tumult of the twentieth century brought political revolution, violence, and a fractured national identity. By a quirk of timing,Ěýat the end of the Chinese Civil War, Jun ended up on an island under Nationalist control, and then settled in Taiwan, married a Nationalist general, and lived among fellow exiles at odds with everything the new Communist regime stood for on the mainland. Hong found herself an ocean away on the mainland, forced to publicly disavow both her own family background and her sister’s decision to abandon the party. A doctor by training, to overcome the suspicion created by her family circumstances, Hong endured two waves of “re-educationâ€� and internal exile, forced to work in some of the most desperately poor, remote areas of the country.

Ambitious, determined, and resourceful, both women faced morally fraught decisions as they forged careers and families in the midst of political and social upheaval. Jun established one of U.S.-allied Taiwan’s most important trading companies. Hong became one of the most celebrated doctors in China, appearing on national media and honored for her dedication to medicine. Niece to both sisters,Ěýlinguist and East Asian scholar ZhuqingĚýLi tells her auntsâ€� story for the first time, honoring her family’s history with sympathy and grace. Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden is a window into the lives of women in twentieth-century China, a time of traumatic change and unparalleled resilience. In this riveting and deeply personal account, Li confronts theĚýbitter political rivals ofĚýmainland China and Taiwan with elegance and unique insight, while celebrating her auntsâ€� remarkable legacies.]]> 368 Zhuqing Li 0393541770 Karen 0 to-read 4.17 2022
author: Zhuqing Li
name: Karen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/01
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]]> 28696594
From the clipper ships that ventured to Canton hauling cargos of American ginseng to swap Chinese tea, to the US warships facing off against China's growing navy in the South China Sea, from the Yankee missionaries who brought Christianity and education to China, to the Chinese who built the American West, the United States and China have always been dramatically intertwined. For more than two centuries, American and Chinese statesmen, merchants, missionaries, and adventurers, men and women, have profoundly influenced the fate of these nations. While we tend to think of America's ties with China as starting in 1972 with the visit of President Richard Nixon to China, the patterns—rapturous enchantment followed by angry disillusionment—were set in motion hundreds of years earlier.

Drawing on personal letters, diaries, memoirs, government documents, and contemporary news reports, John Pomfret reconstructs the surprising, tragic, and marvelous ways Americans and Chinese have engaged with one another through the centuries. A fascinating and thrilling account, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom is also an indispensable book for understanding the most important—and often the most perplexing—relationship between any two countries in the world.
--us.macmillan.com]]> 704 John Pomfret 0805092501 Karen 0 to-read 4.27 2016
author: John Pomfret
name: Karen
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 90209690
When Antonina's beloved Marek is forced behind ghetto walls along with the rest of Warsaw's Jewish population, Antonina turns her worry into action and becomes a key figure in a daring network of women risking their lives to shelter Jewish children. Helena finds herself drawn into the ranks of Poland's secret army, joining the fight to free her homeland from occupation. But the secrets both are forced to keep threaten to tear the sisters apart--and the cost of resistance proves greater than either ever imagined.

Shining a light on the oft-forgotten history of Poland during WWII and inspired by true stories of ordinary individuals who fought to preserve freedom and humanity in the darkest of times, The Warsaw Sisters is a richly rendered portrait of courage, sacrifice, and the resilience of our deepest ties.]]> 384 Amanda Barratt Karen 3 4.19 2023
author: Amanda Barratt
name: Karen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/04/22
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This book finally helped me to get a clearer picture of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and Warsaw Uprising. So I liked it for that. But I found the reading tedious and slow. Also - it’s the story of two survivors. The second such WW2 book I’ve read recently and some of the survival scenes seem unrealistic. The sad reality is that most did not survive. And the real version is too hard too read.
]]> 49701940 It's been 30 years and with rising temperatures melting icy mountain tops the previously frozen Willoughbys have thawed out and are about to return!

Although they grew up as wretched orphans, the Willoughby siblings also became heirs to the the Melanoff candy company fortune. Everything has turned out just splendidly, except for one problem: Richie Willoughby, son of Timothy Willoughby, is an only child and is quite lonely.

Winifred and Winston Poore have long admired the toys of their neighbor Richie Willoughby and finally befriend the mysterious boy next door. But just as Richie finally begins to make friends, selling sweets is made illegal, and the family's fortune is put in jeopardy. To make matters worse, Richie's horrible Willoughby grandparents—frozen atop a Swiss mountain thirty years ago—have thawed, remain in perfect health, and are making their way home again.

What is the point of being the reclusive son of a billionaire when your father is no longer a billionaire? What is the future without candy in it? And is there any escaping the odiousness of the Willoughbys?]]> 192 Lois Lowry 0358423899 Karen 2 3.55 2020
author: Lois Lowry
name: Karen
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2020
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/04/16
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review:
It felt like a book that had been sketched out on paper then thrown together quickly. At the same time the story was one continuous series of interruptions and tangents. So the book felt too long and too short at the same time. Humor was not my style. I could feel it trying to be funny - but it wasn’t funny.
]]> 2114086 174 Lois Lowry 0618979743 Karen 3 3.81 2008
author: Lois Lowry
name: Karen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/04/15
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review:
I liked the interweaving stories and the references to classic literature. All nice simple fun. The characters and plot didn’t grab me though. Lowry does serious tone really well this less so. But I enjoyed the quick read.
]]> 1104029 135 James Otis 0486293491 Karen 0 to-read 3.64 1880
author: James Otis
name: Karen
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1880
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63241104 In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.]]> 309 Ann Patchett 006332752X Karen 0 to-read 3.92 2023
author: Ann Patchett
name: Karen
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 89763 304 Pam Muñoz Ryan 043912042X Karen 4 4.03 2000
author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
name: Karen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/04/12
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]]> 77770
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts]]> 289 Laura Ingalls Wilder 0060264802 Karen 3 4.20 1943
author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
name: Karen
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1943
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/04/12
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]]> 3008
This unique and fully annotated edition appends excerpts from Frances Hodgson Burnett 's original 1888 novella Sara Crewe and the stage play that preceded the novel, as well as an early story, "Behind the White Brick," allowing readers to see how A Little Princess evolved. In his delightful introduction, U. C. Knoepflmacher considers the fairy-tale allusions and literary touchstones that place the book among the major works of Victorian literature, and shows it to be an exceptionally rich and resonant novel.]]> 242 Frances Hodgson Burnett 0142437018 Karen 0 4.22 1905
author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
name: Karen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1905
rating: 0
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]]> 36316835 How do you keep fighting in the face of unimaginable horror?

This is untold story of one of the greatest heroes of the Second World War.

In the Summer of 1940, after the Nazi occupation of Poland, an underground operative called Witold Pilecki accepted a mission to uncover the fate of thousands of people being interred at a new concentration camp on the border of the Reich.

His mission was to report on Nazi crimes and raise a secret army to stage an uprising. The name of the detention centre -- Auschwitz.

It was only after arriving at the camp that he started to discover the Nazi’s terrifying designs. Over the next two and half years, Witold forged an underground army that smuggled evidence of Nazi atrocities to the West, culminating in the mass murder of over a million Jews. His reports from the camp were to shape the Allies response to the Holocaust - yet his story was all but forgotten for decades.

This is the first major account of his amazing journey, drawing on exclusive family papers and recently declassified files as well as unpublished accounts from the camp’s fighters to show how he saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

The result is a enthralling story of resistance and heroism against the most horrific circumstances, and one man’s attempt to change the course of history.]]> 400 Jack Fairweather 0753545160 Karen 0 to-read 4.33 2019
author: Jack Fairweather
name: Karen
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 50797941
This book will make you fall in love with a country with one of the most unusual histories out there. It'll also show you how languages intersect and whole cultures arise, and make you realise just how interwoven our world is.

Along the way, you'll find out why quarks are made from curd cheese, learn what elephants have to do with a Central European country, and discover how pierogi saved an entire town.]]> 235 Mikołaj Gliński 8360263558 Karen 0 to-read 4.50 2018
author: Mikołaj Gliński
name: Karen
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50358040 In this companion book toĚýNew Kid this time it’s Jordan’s friend Drew who takes center stage in a story about being one of the few kids of color in a prestigious private school.

Eighth grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying “You have to work twice as hard to be just as good.â€� His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what if he worksĚýtenĚýtimes as hard and still isn’t afforded the same opportunities that his privilegedĚýclassmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted?

To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like everything is fine, but it's hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend JordanĚýdoesn't know how to keep the group together.

As the pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself?]]> 249 Jerry Craft 0062885502 Karen 4 4.26 2020
author: Jerry Craft
name: Karen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/02/28
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review:
Liked this a lot but not quite as well as New Kid.
]]> 39893619 A graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real.

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?]]> 256 Jerry Craft Karen 5
This book looks at stereotype, judgement, cultural / racial / socio-economic differences from so many angles! It never becomes predictable and always makes you think.

Plus it's fun.

Also -- I loved that I know the neighborhoods. Our kids had the opposite experience of being just a few of the only white kids in their Washington Heights public school.]]> 4.13 2019
author: Jerry Craft
name: Karen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/23
shelves:
review:
Great book! I remember reading a middle grade book in the 1990's that was being celebrated because there was finally a book about a black kid in Harlem -- problem was, I was teaching in Harlem at the time and I was seeing a wide variety of kids, not just the "poor struggling kid with a single mom" that was portrayed. This is NOT that book (in fact that type of book becomes a caricature in this one).

This book looks at stereotype, judgement, cultural / racial / socio-economic differences from so many angles! It never becomes predictable and always makes you think.

Plus it's fun.

Also -- I loved that I know the neighborhoods. Our kids had the opposite experience of being just a few of the only white kids in their Washington Heights public school.
]]>