Ethan's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 10 Apr 2025 02:55:08 -0700 60 Ethan's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 14201
Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange.

Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.]]> 1006 Susanna Clarke Ethan 0 currently-reading 3.84 2004 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Felix Grey and the Descendant 49474917 In this historical mystery, a string of abductions and rising tensions thrusts a young leader into a world of murky politics and dark secrets—written by award-winning BAFTA scriptwriter and film director, Mario Theodorou.

London, 1904.

Edward VII sits on the throne, the economy is faltering, and one of the youngest Prime Ministers in history, Felix Grey, has been thrust into office on the crest of a populist wave.

Battling self-doubt and fierce opposition within the Commons, Felix is plunged into a world of murky politics and hidden secrets when a lord is mysteriously abducted from a gentleman’s club in London. With tensions between the government and trade unions rising, amidst a series of fatal factory disasters, Felix must quickly connect the dots between the missing politicians and the growing chaos in the country as a rapidly escalating chain of events threatens to tear Parliament and the nation apart from the inside.

Can Felix crack the case, protect his country, and restore faith in his leadership before it’s too late?]]> 199 M.M. Theodorou Ethan 0 to-read 4.50 Felix Grey and the Descendant
author: M.M. Theodorou
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/08
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death Stranding - Death Stranding: The Official Novelization â€� Volume 1 (Death Stranding, 1)]]> 54974531 233 Hitori Nojima 178909576X Ethan 3 3.65 2021 Death Stranding - Death Stranding: The Official Novelization – Volume 1 (Death Stranding, 1)
author: Hitori Nojima
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Railsea 12392681
From China Miéville comes a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping and brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms his status as "the most original and talented voice to appear in several years." ( Science Fiction Chronicle )]]> 424 China Miéville 0345524527 Ethan 0 to-read 3.87 2012 Railsea
author: China Miéville
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> On the Beach 38180 On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare.]]> 296 Nevil Shute Ethan 0 to-read 3.95 1957 On the Beach
author: Nevil Shute
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1957
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dawn (Legend of the Galactic Heroes, #1)]]> 25986983 292 Yoshiki Tanaka 1421584948 Ethan 4
This early part of LoGH is the section I’m most familiar with, where Tanaka pits an amalgamation of Prussian/Late German Empire ideals against a mix of the stagnant Western democracies present toward the end of the Cold War. Tanaka does a great job of matching the importance of both personal and macro-level conflicts, giving equal importance to both. Book 2 should start with the establishment of the Napoleon-like Empire if I remember rightly?

The book ends with the introduction of religious fanatics who subtly influence and profit from the "Galactic" War, which, in my opinion, is a solid place to conclude—considering how important that group is in the overall story and especially after spending the entire book establishing the two opposing protagonists' positions within their respective nations as well as their first two encounters on the field of battle.

The prose itself is a little wooden at times, likely due to the translation taking a more direct approach, but I don’t think it suffers too much because of this. Some of the characters can feel a little comical at times with how inept they're portrayed, a very heavy handed approach to commentary of the political climate.]]> 4.02 1982 Dawn (Legend of the Galactic Heroes, #1)
author: Yoshiki Tanaka
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves:
review:
Pretty good book!

This early part of LoGH is the section I’m most familiar with, where Tanaka pits an amalgamation of Prussian/Late German Empire ideals against a mix of the stagnant Western democracies present toward the end of the Cold War. Tanaka does a great job of matching the importance of both personal and macro-level conflicts, giving equal importance to both. Book 2 should start with the establishment of the Napoleon-like Empire if I remember rightly?

The book ends with the introduction of religious fanatics who subtly influence and profit from the "Galactic" War, which, in my opinion, is a solid place to conclude—considering how important that group is in the overall story and especially after spending the entire book establishing the two opposing protagonists' positions within their respective nations as well as their first two encounters on the field of battle.

The prose itself is a little wooden at times, likely due to the translation taking a more direct approach, but I don’t think it suffers too much because of this. Some of the characters can feel a little comical at times with how inept they're portrayed, a very heavy handed approach to commentary of the political climate.
]]> <![CDATA[The Symbolist Movement in Literature]]> 20880340 The Symbolist Movement in Literature was a highly influential work of criticism, and served to introduce the French Symbolists to an Anglophone readership. Symonsâ€� interest in writers such as Verlaine and MallarmĂ© puts him at the heart of contemporary debates about Decadence and Symbolism in fin-de-siĂšcle literature; but his work was also a formative influence on modernist writers such as Joyce, Eliot, Pound and Yeats, helping to shape the role of the Image in modernist writing. This new critical edition makes available a key text that has been out of print for over 50 years. It includes an introduction, chronology and notes, together with appendices presenting the full text of Symonsâ€� essay ‘The Decadent Movement in Literatureâ€� and a selection of his translations of French poetry.]]> 336 Arthur Symons 1847771254 Ethan 0 to-read 3.93 1899 The Symbolist Movement in Literature
author: Arthur Symons
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1899
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Eighth Tower 98879
Strange manifestations have haunted humans since prehistoric times. Beams of light, voices from the heavens, the "little people," gods and devils, ghosts and monsters, and UFOs, have all had a prominent place in our history and legends. In this dark work, John Keel explores these phenomena, and in doing so reveals the shocking truth about our present position and future destiny in the cosmic scheme of things.

Are we pawns in a celestial game?

In the Orient, there is a story told of the seven towers. These citadels, well hidden from mankind, are occupied by groups of Satanists who are chanting the world to ruin. Perhaps this is just a story; perhaps there is some truth behind it. But what if there is yet another tower, a tower not of good or evil but of infinite power? What if all our destinies are controlled by this cosmic force for its own mysterious purposes? And what if UFOs and other paranormal manifestations are merely tools being used to manipulate us and guide us toward the cosmic role we are fated to play? Perhaps, after all, we are not independent beings but are instead the creations and slaves of the eighth tower.]]> 203 John A. Keel 0451074602 Ethan 0 to-read 3.89 2013 The Eighth Tower
author: John A. Keel
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Jirel of Joiry 941226 Weird Tales between 1934-1939, sexual attraction is mostly only vividly implied. No loss. Jirel's journeys through unnatural landscapes and her battles with supernatural opponents are still wonderful to read, and though newcomers Red Sonja and Xena are more famous now, Jirel rules as the archetypal, indomitable redheaded swordswoman in chain mail and greaves, swinging her "great two-edged sword."

Contents:

· Jirel Meets Magic · nv Weird Tales Jul â€�35
· Black God’s Kiss · nv Weird Tales Oct â€�34
· Black God’s Shadow · nv Weird Tales Dec â€�34
· The Dark Land · nv Weird Tales Jan â€�36
· Hellsgarde · nv Weird Tales Apr â€�39]]> 212 C.L. Moore 0441385702 Ethan 0 to-read 3.75 1934 Jirel of Joiry
author: C.L. Moore
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1934
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds, #1)]]> 43301353 An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens her new home and her fragile place in it, in a stunning sci-fi debut that’s both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgĂ€ngers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.]]> 336 Micaiah Johnson Ethan 0 to-read 3.90 2020 The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds, #1)
author: Micaiah Johnson
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Inkheart / Inkspell / Inkdeath (The Inkheart Trilogy, #1-3)]]> 3334563 1152 Cornelia Funke 1905294964 Ethan 0 to-read 4.21 2008 Inkheart / Inkspell / Inkdeath (The Inkheart Trilogy, #1-3)
author: Cornelia Funke
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Athenian Murders 71704
Simultaneously, a second plot unfolds: that of the modern-day translator of the ancient text, who, as he proceeds with his work, becomes convinced that the original author has hidden a second meaning in the text, one that can be interpreted through certain repeated words and images. As the story advances, however, the translator is alarmed to discover references to himself, which seem to address him personally in an increasingly menacing fashion.]]> 314 José Carlos Somoza 0349116180 Ethan 4 3.87 2001 The Athenian Murders
author: José Carlos Somoza
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hollow Faces, Merciless Moons ]]> 13133069 A Weirdbook Special Edition 96 William Scott Home Ethan 0 to-read 4.14 1977 Hollow Faces, Merciless Moons
author: William Scott Home
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #1)]]> 50329893
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is the Glitter Band, that vast swirl of space habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone, the teeming hub of a human interstellar empire spanning many worlds. His current case: investigating a murderous attack against one of the habitats that leaves nine hundred people dead. But his investigation uncovers something far more serious than mass slaughter-a covert plot by an enigmatic entity who seeks nothing less than total control of the Glitter Band.]]> 428 Alastair Reynolds 0316462578 Ethan 0 to-read 4.42 2007 Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Circumference of the World]]> 178698000
“Ingeniously constructed and stylistically protean, this seven-course banquet of a novel glistens with the Golden Age of science fiction, even as it nourishes our neurons with a marvelous thought experiment.â€�
� James Morrow, award-winning author of Shambling Towards Hiroshima

Delia Welegtabit discovered two things during her childhood on a South Pacific her love for mathematics and a novel that isn’t supposed to exist. But the elusive book proves unexpectedly dangerous. Oskar Lens, a science fiction-obsessed mobster in the midst of an existential crisis, will stop at nothing to find the novel. After Delia’s husband Levi goes missing, she seeks help from Daniel Chase, a young, face-blind book dealer.

The infamous novel Lode Stars was written by the infamous Eugene Charles legendary pulp science-fiction writer and founder of the Church of the All-Seeing Eyes. In Hartley’s novel, a doppelganger of Delia searches for her missing father in a strange star system. But is any of Lode Stars real? Was Hartley a cynical conman on a quest for wealth and immortality, creating a religion he did not believe in? Or was he a visionary who truly discovered the secrets of the universe?]]> 258 Lavie Tidhar 1616963638 Ethan 0 to-read 3.64 2023 The Circumference of the World
author: Lavie Tidhar
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Engines of God (The Academy, #1)]]> 18891246 The first Priscilla Hutchins novel from Jack McDevitt, hailed by Stephen King as “the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.â€� Humans call them the Monument-Makers. An unknown race, they left stunning alien statues on distant planets in the galaxy. Each relic is different. Each inscription defies translation. Yet all are heartbreakingly beautiful. And for planet Earth, on the brink of disaster, they may hold the only key to survival for the entire human race.]]> 546 Jack McDevitt 1101532742 Ethan 0 to-read 3.97 1994 The Engines of God (The Academy, #1)
author: Jack McDevitt
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Utopia Avenue 52597312 The long-awaited new novel from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks.

Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967 and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, guitar demigod Jasper de Zoet, and blues bassist Dean Moss, Utopia Avenue released only two LPs during its brief, blazing journey from the clubs of Soho and drafty ballrooms to Top of the Pops and the cusp of chart success, and on to glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American fortnight in the autumn of 1968.

David Mitchell’s captivating new novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue; of riots in the streets and revolutions in the head; of drugs, thugs, madness, love, sex, death, art; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder. Can we change the world in turbulent times, or does the world change us?]]> 574 David Mitchell 0812997433 Ethan 0 to-read 3.94 2020 Utopia Avenue
author: David Mitchell
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Running Wild 70236 112 J.G. Ballard 0374525463 Ethan 0 to-read 3.61 1988 Running Wild
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Tatami Galaxy (Tatami Series, #1)]]> 60619439
An unfulfilled college student hurtles through four parallel realities to explore the what-might've-been and the what-should-never-be in this Groundhog Day meets The Midnight Library–esque novel from one of Japan’s most popular authors.

Our protagonist, an unnamed junior at a prestigious university in Kyoto, is on the verge of dropping out. After rebelling against the dictatorial jock president of the film club, he and his worst and only friend, the diabolical creep Ozu, are personas non grata on campus. For two years, our protagonist has made all the wrong decisions, and now he's about to make another mistake. He and Ozu are preparing for revenge—a fireworks attack at the film club's welcoming party for new members. Then, a chance encounter with a self-proclaimed god sets the confused and distraught young man on a new course. Destiny will bring him together with Akashi, the blunt but charming sophomore he has a crush on—if he’s brave enough to make a move. Yet our protagonist cannot get beyond his profound disillusionment and the moment is lost. But what if there's a universe where he did join the club of his dreams, ditched Ozu for good, and was confident enough to get the girl? A realm of possibility opens up for our protagonist as time rewinds, and from the four-and-a-half-mat tatami floor of his dorm room, he is plunged into a series of adventures that will take him to four parallel universes. In each universe, he is given the opportunity to start over as a freshman, in search of a rose-colored campus life.

The inspiration behind the much-loved anime series, Tomihiko Morimi's contemporary classic is a fantastic journey through time and space, where a half-eaten castella cake, a photograph from Rome, and a giant cavity in a wisdom tooth hold the keys to self-discovery. A time-traveling romp that speaks to everyone who has wondered what if, The Tatami Galaxy will win readers� hearts over . . . and over . . . and over again.]]> 344 Tomihiko Morimi 0063158442 Ethan 4 3.45 2004 The Tatami Galaxy (Tatami Series, #1)
author: Tomihiko Morimi
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Spider-Man: Life Story 44286872
COLLECTING: SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY 1-6]]> 208 Chip Zdarsky 1302917331 Ethan 4 4.18 2019 Spider-Man: Life Story
author: Chip Zdarsky
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/05
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Doctor Who: Intelligence for War]]> 187593005
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart © Haisman & Lincoln and used under licence. With thanks to Hannah Haisman and Candy Jar]]> Eddie Robson 183868882X Ethan 4 4.02 Doctor Who: Intelligence for War
author: Eddie Robson
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Canticle For Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)]]> 815551 368 Walter M. Miller Jr. 1857230140 Ethan 5
As profound as it is funny, A Canticle for Leibowitz collects three novellas spanning around 70 generations of life after the bombs fell.

“Fiat Homoâ€� (expect a lot of passages in Latin) tells the story of a novice who stumbles upon what might be the resting place of his Patron's wife. He then gets embroiled in the Politics of the New Roman Catholic Church and is forced to redo his Lental vigil several times to avoid embarrassment/influencing the canonisation of Leibowitz.

This first part does a great job introducing readers to this new world and outlining the mission the Church has upheld since the dawn of this era. The protagonist here—a bumbling novice eager to prove his vocation—I found especially compelling as you follow his life for quite a long period of time.

“Fiat Luxâ€� parallels the Renaissance, exploring the dynamic between the monks, whose beliefs are rooted in morality; the scholars, who push forward with new technology in the name of progress; and the warlords, who seek technology only for their own power. Despite the parallels to our own Renaissance, certain leaps and advancements feel unnaturally accelerated, hinting that the development of history will change based on the knowledge preserved by the monks from the scientific findings of the old world.

“Fiat Voluntas Tua,â€� the last part, takes place in a quasi-20th century that’s a bit more advanced than our own. Here, we see the role of the Church in a world on the verge of igniting another global conflict, as tensions rise toward a new cold war.

The final passage is beautifully haunting.]]> 3.84 1959 A Canticle For Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)
author: Walter M. Miller Jr.
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1959
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
The Catholic Church, resilient like a cockroach, endures even a nuclear holocaust, bringing all its virtues and vices into a post-megawar world. Their new task? To preserve the knowledge of the old world, keeping it from the destruction at the hands of the anti-intelligentsia that arose from the ashes.

As profound as it is funny, A Canticle for Leibowitz collects three novellas spanning around 70 generations of life after the bombs fell.

“Fiat Homoâ€� (expect a lot of passages in Latin) tells the story of a novice who stumbles upon what might be the resting place of his Patron's wife. He then gets embroiled in the Politics of the New Roman Catholic Church and is forced to redo his Lental vigil several times to avoid embarrassment/influencing the canonisation of Leibowitz.

This first part does a great job introducing readers to this new world and outlining the mission the Church has upheld since the dawn of this era. The protagonist here—a bumbling novice eager to prove his vocation—I found especially compelling as you follow his life for quite a long period of time.

“Fiat Luxâ€� parallels the Renaissance, exploring the dynamic between the monks, whose beliefs are rooted in morality; the scholars, who push forward with new technology in the name of progress; and the warlords, who seek technology only for their own power. Despite the parallels to our own Renaissance, certain leaps and advancements feel unnaturally accelerated, hinting that the development of history will change based on the knowledge preserved by the monks from the scientific findings of the old world.

“Fiat Voluntas Tua,â€� the last part, takes place in a quasi-20th century that’s a bit more advanced than our own. Here, we see the role of the Church in a world on the verge of igniting another global conflict, as tensions rise toward a new cold war.

The final passage is beautifully haunting.
]]> The Mysteries of Udolpho 93134 The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to a new level and inspired a long line of imitators. Portraying her heroine's inner life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her.

This new edition includes an introduction that discusses the publication and early reception of the novel, the genre of Gothic romance, and Radcliffe's use of history, exotic settings, the supernatural, and poetry.]]> 654 Ann Radcliffe 0140437592 Ethan 0 to-read 3.42 1794 The Mysteries of Udolpho
author: Ann Radcliffe
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.42
book published: 1794
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Metzengerstein 1467621 Young Frederick, Baron of Metzengerstein, inherits the family fortune at age 18 (though the age changes throughout its many re-publications[1]) and begins to exhibit particularly cruel behavior. "The behavior of the heir out-heroded Herod".[2] A few days after he receives his inheritance, the stables of the rival family Berlifitzing catch fire, killing the family's patriarch, William Von Berlifitzing. It is implied that Metzengerstein himself may have been responsible for this act of arson. That day, Metzengerstein sits staring at an old tapestry depicting a Metzengerstein who kills a Berlifitzing who lies at the feet of his horse. He thinks he sees the horse move and take on "an energetic and human expression." A few minutes later, he's told that a new, remarkable "fiery-colored" horse has been found in his stables with the letters "W.V.B." branded on its forehead, "I supposed them, of course, to be the initials of William Von Berlifitzing, but all at the castle are positive in denying any knowledge of the horse."
The horse displays "ferocious and demonlike" qualities. Only the baron is brave enough to try to break the mysterious horse. Day after day, Metzengerstein rides it as if addicted, and becomes less and less interested in the affairs of his house. During a nocturnal ride, the Metzengerstein castle catches fire. The runaway horse, against the horseman's orders, jumps into the flames with its rider, killing the last of the Metzengerstein clan. The horrified onlookers see a cloud of smoke settle above the castle in the shape of "the distinct colossal figure of � a horse."]]> 13 Edgar Allan Poe Ethan 4 3.23 1832 Metzengerstein
author: Edgar Allan Poe
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.23
book published: 1832
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?]]> 161275 47 Alan Moore 1563893150 Ethan 4 4.14 1985 Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
author: Alan Moore
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Night in the Lonesome October]]> 62005
In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff � gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

And now the dread night approaches � so let the Game begin.]]> 280 Roger Zelazny 0380771411 Ethan 5 4.16 1993 A Night in the Lonesome October
author: Roger Zelazny
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves:
review:

]]> All Hallows 60784620 Stranger Things, this horror drama from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden follows neighborhood families and a mysterious, lurking evil on one Halloween day.

It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, horrifying secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?

New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales...but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.

All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask...]]> 325 Christopher Golden 125028029X Ethan 2
Golden also frequently ended chapters with short, dramatic sentences. While this worked at first, it started to feel less effective and eventually kinda lame. :/]]> 3.51 2023 All Hallows
author: Christopher Golden
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/07
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves:
review:
The book started off very well. Golden does an excellent job of establishing the stakes and setting the tone—especially the first time The Cunning Man is mentioned, which I found quite creepy. However, after the halfway point, I felt there were too many characters, and the 'twist' wasn’t handled particularly well.

Golden also frequently ended chapters with short, dramatic sentences. While this worked at first, it started to feel less effective and eventually kinda lame. :/
]]> Ireland 90360 Seanchai enthralls his assembled audience for three evenings running with narratives of foolish kings and fabled saints, of enduring accomplishments and selfless acts -- until he is banished from the household for blasphemy and moves on. But these three incomparable nights have changed young Ronan forever, setting him on the course he will follow for years to come -- as he pursues the elusive, itinerant storyteller . . . and the magical tales that are no less than the glorious saga of his tenacious, troubled, and extraordinary isle.]]> 651 Frank Delaney 0060563494 Ethan 0 to-read 4.02 2004 Ireland
author: Frank Delaney
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Middlesex 2187 Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family, who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City and the race riots of 1967 before moving out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.]]> 529 Jeffrey Eugenides 0312422156 Ethan 0 to-read 4.03 2002 Middlesex
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)]]> 1736739
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life � sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty.]]> 270 Elizabeth Strout Ethan 0 to-read 3.85 2008 Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Dutch House 44318414
The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.]]> 337 Ann Patchett 0062963678 Ethan 0 to-read 4.08 2019 The Dutch House
author: Ann Patchett
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ 135438255 0 Walter M. Miller Jr. Ethan 0 to-read 3.98 1959 A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ
author: Walter M. Miller Jr.
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Steppenwolf 16631 Steppenwolf is a poetical self-portrait of a man who felt himself to be half-human and half-wolf. This Faust-like and magical story is evidence of Hesse's searching philosophy and extraordinary sense of humanity as he tells of the humanization of a middle-aged misanthrope. Yet his novel can also be seen as a plea for rigorous self-examination and an indictment of the intellectual hypocrisy of the period. As Hesse himself remarked, "Of all my books Steppenwolf is the one that was more often and more violently misunderstood than any of the others".]]> 256 Hermann Hesse 0140282580 Ethan 0 to-read 4.15 1927 Steppenwolf
author: Hermann Hesse
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1927
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus Vol. 1]]> 37489721 The New York Times bestselling tales of Batman by Grant Morrison are now collected in their entirety in this oversize omnibus edition!

One of the greatest storytellers of his generation, Grant Morrison's arrival onto the Dark Knight was one of the most hyped debuts in industry history. This collection includes time-spanning epic graphic novels featuring the cataclysmic events of FINAL CRISIS and the introduction of Batman's son, Damian Wayne! These blockbuster stories featured a deconstruction of super hero comics like never before, with challenging, thought-provoking takes on the modern, four-color icons.

Collects BATMAN #655-658 and #663-683, stories from 52 #30 and#47 and DC Universe #0.]]> 658 Grant Morrison 1401282997 Ethan 4
Another significant part of Morrison's run is the introduction of Batman's son, Damian Wayne, I have a vaguie memory of this being quite controversial at the time, Damian's arrival marked the first new Robin since Tim Drake in the late '80s, and the comic landscape had evolved considerably by then. I feel somewhat ambivalent about him based on the 650 pages covered in this omnibus, certainly not enough to dislike the character.

Since this is a Morrison-centric collection, stories from this period not written by Morrison are summarized briefly in one or two pages. These summaries do a solid job of providing the necessary context for events that occurred "off-page," allowing readers to stay immersed in the larger narrative without feeling lost.

Overall, I think this is a pretty decent collection of Batman stories. I do like the more esoteric and mystical parts of Batman which this collection delivers in spades.]]> 4.28 2009 Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus Vol. 1
author: Grant Morrison
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
I particularly enjoyed 'The Island of Mister Mayhew', a Christie-esque murder mystery set on an island, which reintroduces the 'Batmen of All Nations'—a group of international heroes from the mid-'50s, all inspired by Batman in both their actions and costumes. This arc adds a fresh, nostalgic twist while celebrating Batman's global influence.

Another significant part of Morrison's run is the introduction of Batman's son, Damian Wayne, I have a vaguie memory of this being quite controversial at the time, Damian's arrival marked the first new Robin since Tim Drake in the late '80s, and the comic landscape had evolved considerably by then. I feel somewhat ambivalent about him based on the 650 pages covered in this omnibus, certainly not enough to dislike the character.

Since this is a Morrison-centric collection, stories from this period not written by Morrison are summarized briefly in one or two pages. These summaries do a solid job of providing the necessary context for events that occurred "off-page," allowing readers to stay immersed in the larger narrative without feeling lost.

Overall, I think this is a pretty decent collection of Batman stories. I do like the more esoteric and mystical parts of Batman which this collection delivers in spades.
]]> Beware of Pity 19279189
Hofmiller, an Austro-Hungarian cavalry officer stationed at the edge of the empire, is invited to a party at the home of a rich local landowner, a world away from the dreary routine of the barracks. The surroundings are glamorous, wine flows freely, and the exhilarated young Hofmiller asks his host—s lovely daughter for a dance, only to discover that sickness has left her painfully crippled. It is a minor blunder that will destroy his life, as pity and guilt gradually implicate him in a well-meaning but tragically wrongheaded plot to restore the unhappy invalid to health.]]> 393 Stefan Zweig Ethan 0 to-read 4.21 1939 Beware of Pity
author: Stefan Zweig
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1939
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Goodbye, Eri 60786406 202 Tatsuki Fujimoto Ethan 4
Fujimoto plays with this concept through Goodbye, Eri so much that by the end you have to question the reality of what you've just witnessed.

]]> 4.33 2022 Goodbye, Eri
author: Tatsuki Fujimoto
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
Ultimately, cinema is subjective. From concept to execution, every aspect of it's creation and reception is coloured by the thought of the individiual.

Fujimoto plays with this concept through Goodbye, Eri so much that by the end you have to question the reality of what you've just witnessed.


]]> <![CDATA[Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1)]]> 112537 243 Arthur C. Clarke 1857231589 Ethan 4 4.12 1973 Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1)
author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1973
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/21
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
Takes its time in that wonderful way mid-century science-fiction loves to do.
]]> Doctor Who: Deathworld 212468758
Adapted from the original treatment by Bob Baker and Dave Martin for what later became the TV episode The Three Doctors.

**This title is strictly limited to 2,000 copies**
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart © Haisman & Lincoln and used under licence. With thanks to Hannah Haisman and Candy Jar.]]> 0 Dave Martin 1802402209 Ethan 4 4.12 Doctor Who: Deathworld
author: Dave Martin
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Dark Matter 27833670 A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

"Are you happy with your life?"

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."

In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that's the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.]]> 342 Blake Crouch 1101904224 Ethan 4
A quick and easy read that I quite enjoyed.


I hope the show is as good as this.]]> 4.13 2016 Dark Matter
author: Blake Crouch
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:
A really tight three act structure helps keep the pace of Dark Matter flowing forward in such a way that prevents you from getting too bogged down in the mechanics of the plot. (Even if you're tempted to, it's pretty well thought out so that it does actually make total sense.)

A quick and easy read that I quite enjoyed.


I hope the show is as good as this.
]]> <![CDATA[Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures - The Annihilators]]> 60003712
While the Doctor uncovers sinister goings-on in the city morgue, Liz attracts the attention of something unearthly. But with Time running out, quite literally, the Doctor, Liz and UNIT aren’t the only ones to find themselves targeted by a world-shattering alien menaceâ€�

...because they’ve got a previous Doctor and his best friend Jamie in their sights, too!

Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart © Haisman & Lincoln and used under licence.
With thanks to Hannah Haisman and Candy Jar]]> 0 Nicholas Briggs 1838687386 Ethan 3
As always Nick Briggs shows he's got a real in-depth knowledge of the era but fails to reach the heights of any of the other Season 7 stories, which admittedly would be quite a feat.]]> 4.13 2022 Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures - The Annihilators
author: Nicholas Briggs
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:
An extra episode of Season 7 of Classic Who.

As always Nick Briggs shows he's got a real in-depth knowledge of the era but fails to reach the heights of any of the other Season 7 stories, which admittedly would be quite a feat.
]]> <![CDATA[The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King #1-4)]]> 28434662 The Once and Future King is an Arthurian fantasy novel. It was first published in 1958, and is mostly a composite of earlier works written between 1938 and 1941. The central theme is an exploration of human nature regarding power and justice, as the boy Arthur becomes king and attempts to quell the prevalent "might makes right" attitude with his idea of chivalry.

Includes:
The Sword in the Stone
The Queen of Air and Darkness
The Ill-Made Knight
The Candle in the Wind]]> 864 T.H. White Ethan 5 3.89 1958 The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King #1-4)
author: T.H. White
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1958
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bone Clocks 20819685
For Holly has caught the attention of a cabal of dangerous mystics—and their enemies. But her lost weekend is merely the prelude to a shocking disappearance that leaves her family irrevocably scarred. This unsolved mystery will echo through every decade of Holly’s life, affecting all the people Holly loves—even the ones who are not yet born.

A Cambridge scholarship boy grooming himself for wealth and influence, a conflicted father who feels alive only while reporting from occupied Iraq, a middle-aged writer mourning his exile from the bestseller list—all have a part to play in this surreal, invisible war on the margins of our world. From the medieval Swiss Alps to the nineteenth-century Australian bush, from a hotel in Shanghai to a Manhattan townhouse in the near future, their stories come together in moments of everyday grace and extraordinary wonder.]]> 624 David Mitchell 1400065674 Ethan 5 3.82 2014 The Bone Clocks
author: David Mitchell
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Doctor Who: Goth Opera 875583
Manchester, 1993. The vampires of Great Britain have received a the long-awaited arrival of their evil messiah is imminent. It’s time for a recruitment drive.

On holiday in Tasmania with Tegan and the Doctor, Nyssa is attacked by a demonic child. She escapes unharmed - except for two small wounds in her neck.

Why are the descendants of the Great Vampire so desperate to obtain the blood of a Time Lord? And what is their connection to a forbidden ancient Gallifreyan cult?]]> 238 Paul Cornell 0426204182 Ethan 3 3.73 1994 Doctor Who: Goth Opera
author: Paul Cornell
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
review:
Really captures 1983 (Doctor Who) but in a way that feels almost disgustingly '90s (Doctor Who). Cornell is definitely of the better writers to come from the 'Wilderness Years' and Goth Opera shows that wonderfully.
]]> The Magus 16286 The Magus is Nicholas Urfe, a young Englishman who accepts a teaching position on a remote Greek island, where he befriends a local millionaire. The friendship soon evolves into a deadly game, in which reality and fantasy are deliberately manipulated, and Nicholas finds that he must fight not only for his sanity but for his very survival.]]> 656 John Fowles 0316296198 Ethan 0 to-read 4.06 1965 The Magus
author: John Fowles
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Magic Mountain 88077
The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death.]]> 706 Thomas Mann Ethan 0 to-read 4.12 1924 The Magic Mountain
author: Thomas Mann
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1924
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Secret History 29044 559 Donna Tartt 1400031702 Ethan 5 favorites 4.17 1992 The Secret History
author: Donna Tartt
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/30
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: favorites
review:
I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.
]]> Slade House 40611069 Keep your eyes peeled for a small black iron door.

Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents â€� an odd brother and sister â€� extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late...

Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barreling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.]]> 241 David Mitchell 0812998693 Ethan 4 3.79 2015 Slade House
author: David Mitchell
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/08
date added: 2024/07/08
shelves:
review:

]]> The Song of Achilles 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller Ethan 3 4.30 2011 The Song of Achilles
author: Madeline Miller
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/26
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Silverblood Promise (The Last Legacy, #1)]]> 195790755
When Lukan discovers that his estranged father has been murdered in strange circumstances, he finds fresh purpose. Deprived of his chance to make amends for his mistakes, he vows to unravel the mystery behind his father's death.

His search for answers leads him to Saphrona, fabled city of merchant princes, where anything can be bought if one has the coin. Lukan only seeks the truth, but instead he finds danger and secrets in every shadow.

For in Saphrona, everything has a price―and the price of truth is the deadliest of all.]]> 528 James Logan 1250345804 Ethan 0 to-read 3.94 2024 The Silverblood Promise (The Last Legacy, #1)
author: James Logan
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Spinning Silver 36896898 Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into a glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.

Channeling the vibrant heart of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver weaves a multilayered, magical tapestry that readers will want to return to again and again.]]> 465 Naomi Novik Ethan 3 4.20 2018 Spinning Silver
author: Naomi Novik
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves:
review:
Beautifully written but a lot of the elements just felt off to me
]]> <![CDATA[Reveries of the Solitary Walker]]> 722065 Reveries.

In the two years before his death in 1778, Jean-Jacques Rousseau composed the ten meditations of Reveries of the Solitary Walker. Combining philosophical argument with amusing anecdotes and lyrical desriptive passages, they record the great French writer's sense of isolation and alienation from a world which he felt had rejected his work. As he wanders around Paris, gazing at plants and day-dreaming, Rousseau looks back over his life in order to justify his actions and to elaborate on his ideal of a well-structured society fit for the noble and solitary natural man.]]> 155 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 0140443630 Ethan 0 to-read 3.68 1782 Reveries of the Solitary Walker
author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1782
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> Razorblade Tears 54860585 A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.

Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250252708]]> 336 S.A. Cosby Ethan 0 to-read 4.08 2021 Razorblade Tears
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> All the Sinners Bleed 61884832 A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.

Powerful and unforgettable, All the Sinners Bleed confirms S. A. Cosby as “one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fictionâ€� (The Washington Post).]]> 338 S.A. Cosby 1250831911 Ethan 0 to-read 4.19 2023 All the Sinners Bleed
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> Blacktop Wasteland 51182571
After a series of financial calamities (worsened by the racial prejudices of the small town he lives in) Bug reluctantly takes part in a daring diamond heist to solve his money troubles - and to go straight once and for all. However, when it goes horrifically wrong, he's sucked into a grimy underworld which threatens everything, and everyone, he holds dear . . .]]> 285 S.A. Cosby Ethan 0 to-read 4.06 2020 Blacktop Wasteland
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand]]> 85861 The story of a truly galactic civilization with over 6,000 inhabited worlds.

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a science fiction masterpiece, an essay on the inexplicability of sexual attractiveness, and an examination of interstellar politics among far-flung worlds. First published in 1984, the novel's central issues--technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism--have only become more pressing with the passage of time.

The novel's topic is information itself: What are the repercussions, once it has been made public, that two individuals have been found to be each other's perfect erotic object out to "point nine-nine-nine and several nines percent more"? What will it do to the individuals involved, to the city they inhabit, to their geosector, to their entire world society, especially when one is an illiterate worker, the sole survivor of a world destroyed by "cultural fugue," and the other is--you!]]> 356 Samuel R. Delany 0819567140 Ethan 0 to-read 3.86 1984 Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
author: Samuel R. Delany
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) 60929
The Oankali survive by genetically merging with primitive civilizations—whether their new hosts like it or not. For the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Earth will be inhabited. Grass will grow, animals will run, and people will learn to survive the planet’s untamed wilderness. But their children will not be human. Not exactly.]]> 248 Octavia E. Butler 0446603775 Ethan 0 to-read 4.15 1987 Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Always Coming Home 201901 Always Coming Home is a major work of the imagination from one of America's most respected writers. More than five years in creation, it is a novel unlike any other.

A rich and complex interweaving of story and fable, poem, artwork, and music, it totally immerses the reader in the culture of the Kesh, a peaceful people of the far future who inhabit a place called the Valley on the Northern Pacific Coast. The author makes the inhabitants of the valley as familiar, as immediate, as wholly human as our own friends or family.

Spiraling outward from the dramatic life story of a woman called Stone Telling, Le Guin's Always Coming Home interweaves wry wit, deep insight and extraordinary compassion into a compelling unity of vision.]]> 525 Ursula K. Le Guin 0520227352 Ethan 0 to-read 4.05 1985 Always Coming Home
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hollow Needle: Further Adventures of ArsĂšne Lupin]]> 57608280 207 Maurice Leblanc 1954525168 Ethan 5 3.83 1909 The Hollow Needle: Further Adventures of ArsĂšne Lupin
author: Maurice Leblanc
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1909
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Decagon House Murders (House Murders, #1)]]> 25561888 228 Yukito Ayatsuji 1508503737 Ethan 4 3.79 1987 The Decagon House Murders (House Murders, #1)
author: Yukito Ayatsuji
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> The Man in the High Castle 216363
This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake.]]> 259 Philip K. Dick 0679740678 Ethan 4 3.64 1962 The Man in the High Castle
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2024/04/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Murder of Quality (George Smiley, #2)]]> 622855
George Smiley was simply doing a favor for Miss Ailsa Brimley, and old friend and editor of a small newspaper. Miss Brimley had received a letter from a worried reader: "I'm not mad. And I know my husbad is trying to kill me." But the letter had arrived too late: its scribe, the wife of an assistant master at the distinguished Carne School, was already dead.

So George Smiley went to Carne to listen, ask questions, and think. And to uncover, layer by layer, the complex network of skeletons and hatreds that comprised that little English institution.]]> 146 John Le Carré 0743431685 Ethan 3 3.57 1962 A Murder of Quality (George Smiley, #2)
author: John Le Carré
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1962
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/17
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Perfect Blue: Awaken from a Dream (Light Novel) (Perfect Blue (Light Novel))]]> 36322007
Delve deeper into the dark underbelly of super-stardom, where fame comes at a steep price. In this sequel anthology to the hit psychological thriller, Perfect Blue, creepy fans thrust their idols into struggles of life and death. Gruesome body switches, bloody fan letters, and a stalker in a terrifying rabbit costume–it’s a life of fame and misfortune that lies in wait for these hapless pop stars.]]> 232 Yoshikazu Takeuchi 1626927413 Ethan 3 3.09 2002 Perfect Blue: Awaken from a Dream (Light Novel) (Perfect Blue (Light Novel))
author: Yoshikazu Takeuchi
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/15
date added: 2024/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis]]> 35383763 232 Yoshikazu Takeuchi 162692645X Ethan 4 3.47 1991 Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis
author: Yoshikazu Takeuchi
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/14
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves:
review:
The film clears by a wide margin but I love that you can see the DNA of it here, they're pretty much different stories that utilise the same base concepts to tell stories of toxic fans and although I prefer the direction the film took with it's far more cerebral approach, the raw visceral horror in the novel I found pretty effective.
]]> 813 57903917 340 Maurice Leblanc 195452529X Ethan 4
I think The Hollow Needle is more tightly constructed as a story, but it's 8 1 3 that portrays all the strengths and weaknesses of Lupin (both the character and the writing) the best.]]> 3.86 1910 813
author: Maurice Leblanc
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1910
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/14
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves:
review:
Picks up ArsĂšne Lupin's story 4 years after the tragic end of The Hollow Needle. Having mastered outwitting the Gendarmerie, this tale follows Lupin's exploits as he targets the higher echelons of power after he's unwittingly implicated in a murder. Definitely darker in tone compared to previous Lupin stories with an increase in death and destruction as Lupin contends with a rival in the form of the mysterious L.M.

I think The Hollow Needle is more tightly constructed as a story, but it's 8 1 3 that portrays all the strengths and weaknesses of Lupin (both the character and the writing) the best.
]]> Kon-Tiki 790171 Kon-Tiki is the record of an astonishing adventure - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. Intrigued by Polynesian folklore, biologist Thor Heyerdahl suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east, led by a mythical hero, Kon-Tiki. He decided to prove his theory by duplicating the legendary voyage.

On April 28, 1947, Heyerdahl and five other adventurers sailed from Peru on a balsa log raft. After three months on the open sea, encountering raging storms, whales, and sharks, they sighted land - the Polynesian island of Puka Puka.

Translated into over sixty languages, Kon-Tiki is a classic, inspiring tale of daring and courage - a magnificent saga of men against the sea.]]> 240 Thor Heyerdahl 0671726528 Ethan 0 to-read 4.15 1948 Kon-Tiki
author: Thor Heyerdahl
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1948
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)]]> 46000520
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Alternate cover edition can be found here .]]> 382 Richard Osman Ethan 3 3.87 2020 The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)
author: Richard Osman
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:
it was ok very bluntly tied everything together
]]> <![CDATA[The Big Lebowski: An Illustrated, Annotated History of the Greatest Cult Film of All Time]]> 21416261 The Big Lebowski is a modern hero who has inspired festivals, burlesque interpretations, and even a religion(Dudeism). In this paperback reissue, film author and curator Jenny M. Jones tells the full story of the Dude, from how the Coen brothers came up with the idea for a modern LA noir to never-been-told anecdotes about the film's production, its critical and commercial reception, and, finally, how it came to be such an international cult hit. Achievers, as Lebowski fans call themselves, will discover many hidden truths, including why it is that Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) is so obsessed with Vietnam, what makes Theodore Donald "Donny" Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi) so confused all the time, how the film defies genre, and what unexpected surprise Bridges got during filming of the Gutterballs dream sequence. (Hint: it involved curly wigs and a gurney.) Interspersed throughout are sidebars, interviews with members of the film's cast and crew, scene breakdowns, guest essays by prominent experts on Lebowski language, music, filmmaking techniques, and more, and hundreds of photographsĂą??including many of artwork inspired by the film.]]> 216 Jenny M. Jones 0760347093 Ethan 4 4.02 2012 The Big Lebowski: An Illustrated, Annotated History of the Greatest Cult Film of All Time
author: Jenny M. Jones
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 32758901 "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.â€� Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 144 Martha Wells Ethan 2
Murderbot's only other trait -shyness- felt vapid and shallow. The ending felt ripped straight out of a 1D just adopted me fic, until ofc we get the obligatory sequel bait. A sequel that I doubt I will ever get around to.]]> 4.11 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves:
review:
The author seems to be under the misapprehension that "consuming content" is a character trait when in fact "consuming content" just for the sake of it is despicable and serves to make Murderbot feel far less human than what was clearly intended.

Murderbot's only other trait -shyness- felt vapid and shallow. The ending felt ripped straight out of a 1D just adopted me fic, until ofc we get the obligatory sequel bait. A sequel that I doubt I will ever get around to.
]]> Journal of the Gun Years 219540 249 Richard Matheson 0425132072 Ethan 0 to-read 3.91 1991 Journal of the Gun Years
author: Richard Matheson
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shades of Grey (Shades of Grey, #1)]]> 2113260
Eddie Russett is an above-average Red who dreams of moving up the ladder. Until he is sent to the Outer Fringes where he meets Jane - a lowly Grey with an uncontrollable temper and a desire to see him killed.

For Eddie, it's love at first sight. But his infatuation will lead him to discover that all is not as it seems in a world where everything that looks black and white is really shades of grey...]]> 400 Jasper Fforde 0670019631 Ethan 0 to-read 4.15 2009 Shades of Grey (Shades of Grey, #1)
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Stories of Your Life and Others]]> 223380 ]]> 281 Ted Chiang 0330426648 Ethan 5
Understand presents a interesting idea, sort of an opposite to Satre's Nausea where the protagonist starts to find meaning rather than meanlingness in everything he sees. A very tight and thrilling read and one with a particularly gratifying ending.

I liked Division By Zero. The use of a mathematical metaphor as an allegory for love. The way Renee starts to be driven mad by the maths that she loved but no longer understands mirrored with her husband experiencing the same situation with his feelings for her. Chiang notes at the end of the collection that he particularly finds the possibility of the 'wonderous beauty' of maths being just an illusion terrifying. Which certainly comes across in the story.

Regarding Stories of Your Life, the depiction of linguistic revelation intertwined with an understanding of temporal perception is masterfully executed. The underlying theme of determinism juxtaposed with the pursuit of joy despite the inevitability of mortality is profoundly resonant. I do wonder if the story would be better read before watching the film. There's something so wonderful about the way Chiang finally reveals how the Heptapod language works to the reader through Louise's own realisation.

The Evolution of Human Science is very short, although this makes sense after reading about the original circumstances of it's publication. Essentially a piece dealing wih those left behind after a huge scientific leap leaves those less advanced unable to comprehend the advancements being made. Good stuff, very interesting to think about.

The last story, Liking What You See: A Documentary was also pretty good. The format was certainly interesting and I would love to see an updated version now that the biggest proponent of beauty standars in young people comes from social media rather than directly from beauty corporations.

The other three stories, the one's dealing with religion, were fascinating. I was under the impression that Chiang was Jewish based on both Tower of Babel and the 72 letter stories. But I think during Hell is the Absence of God it clicked that this guy is either agnostic or an atheist. Tower of Babel was a great intro, maybe the best narrative of the collection. I can't think of many stories that are speculative fiction set in biblical times. Great stuff.

72 Letters was fun, the most action packed story. I remember reading Pratchett's story about Golem's (Feet of Clay iirc) so it was cool to see a different perspective on this. The 'twist' of the Lord hoping to use this technology for racial purity was so good! A horrifying realisation for sure.
]]> 4.28 2002 Stories of Your Life and Others
author: Ted Chiang
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/14
date added: 2024/03/14
shelves:
review:
Words on this one since I missed the book club meeting and therfore had to type up my thoughts.

Understand presents a interesting idea, sort of an opposite to Satre's Nausea where the protagonist starts to find meaning rather than meanlingness in everything he sees. A very tight and thrilling read and one with a particularly gratifying ending.

I liked Division By Zero. The use of a mathematical metaphor as an allegory for love. The way Renee starts to be driven mad by the maths that she loved but no longer understands mirrored with her husband experiencing the same situation with his feelings for her. Chiang notes at the end of the collection that he particularly finds the possibility of the 'wonderous beauty' of maths being just an illusion terrifying. Which certainly comes across in the story.

Regarding Stories of Your Life, the depiction of linguistic revelation intertwined with an understanding of temporal perception is masterfully executed. The underlying theme of determinism juxtaposed with the pursuit of joy despite the inevitability of mortality is profoundly resonant. I do wonder if the story would be better read before watching the film. There's something so wonderful about the way Chiang finally reveals how the Heptapod language works to the reader through Louise's own realisation.

The Evolution of Human Science is very short, although this makes sense after reading about the original circumstances of it's publication. Essentially a piece dealing wih those left behind after a huge scientific leap leaves those less advanced unable to comprehend the advancements being made. Good stuff, very interesting to think about.

The last story, Liking What You See: A Documentary was also pretty good. The format was certainly interesting and I would love to see an updated version now that the biggest proponent of beauty standars in young people comes from social media rather than directly from beauty corporations.

The other three stories, the one's dealing with religion, were fascinating. I was under the impression that Chiang was Jewish based on both Tower of Babel and the 72 letter stories. But I think during Hell is the Absence of God it clicked that this guy is either agnostic or an atheist. Tower of Babel was a great intro, maybe the best narrative of the collection. I can't think of many stories that are speculative fiction set in biblical times. Great stuff.

72 Letters was fun, the most action packed story. I remember reading Pratchett's story about Golem's (Feet of Clay iirc) so it was cool to see a different perspective on this. The 'twist' of the Lord hoping to use this technology for racial purity was so good! A horrifying realisation for sure.

]]> <![CDATA[Witch Hunt in Hollywood: McCarthyism's War on Tinseltown]]> 8179885 288 Michael Freedland 1906779090 Ethan 3 3.65 2008 Witch Hunt in Hollywood: McCarthyism's War on Tinseltown
author: Michael Freedland
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The Consolation of Philosophy 31837
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 155 Boethius 0140447806 Ethan 0 to-read 4.03 524 The Consolation of Philosophy
author: Boethius
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.03
book published: 524
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Naked Pictures of Famous People]]> 707 164 Jon Stewart 0688171621 Ethan 0 to-read 3.59 1998 Naked Pictures of Famous People
author: Jon Stewart
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Genocidal Organ 13163514 297 Project Itoh 1421542722 Ethan 0 to-read 3.92 2007 Genocidal Organ
author: Project Itoh
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Outlaw: Author Armed & Dangerous]]> 55451919 Outlaw: Author Armed & Dangerous, Rédoine Faïd, of Algerian immigrant parents, born and raised in the housing projects surrounding Paris, recounts his career as an infamous and renowned bandit. Drawing inspiration and instruction from a host of films and television series, Faïd styled himself and was known to friends and accomplices as "Doc" � after Steve McQueen in the legendary suspense thriller, The Getaway.

With self-discipline and a striking ability to learn from experience, FaĂŻd carried off his first robberies while still a teenager. He soon graduated from petty thievery to armed robbery, targeting computer component suppliers, jewelry stores, banks, and most memorably, armored trucks. A master of disguise, with bulletproof vest and a .357 Magnum as a prop to encourage compliance, he led a crew that operated with careful planning but eschewed bloodshed and physical violence.

In imitation of Michael Mann's Heat, Faïd and his cohorts donned hockey masks for one job, sometimes even quoting from other famous heist films during their capers. When bold plans went wrong, he reacted with fast thinking that served him well � until it didn't, and he was arrested and imprisoned in 1998.

Outlaw was first published in France in 2009, after which FaĂŻd was imprisoned again. Subsequently, his dramatic escapes from jail, in 2013 and 2018, made front-page news in France and around the world.

Interviewed by journalist JĂ©rĂŽme Pierrat, who specializes in crime and investigative reportage, RĂ©doine FaĂŻd tells his own story with panache and humor, darkened by introspection and cautionary tales. His story, like that of a character out of a Jean-Pierre Melville film or Dassin's Rififi, is not only intriguing, it is also as compelling as any high-grade thriller. Three months after his daring helicopter escape from RĂ©au Prison in 2018, FaĂŻd was captured again. He currently remains in jail.]]> 264 RĂ©doine FaĂŻd 1940625386 Ethan 0 to-read 4.10 Outlaw: Author Armed & Dangerous
author: RĂ©doine FaĂŻd
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mr. Boop 60106023
Author Alec Robbins is deeply in love with his wife, 1930s cartoon superstar Betty Boop. And wouldn't you know it, she loves him back! It's the perfect marriage, and nothing will ever go wrong. They'll be happy together forever and nothing will ever come between them--not other famous cartoon characters, not intellectual property law, and certainly not Alec's own towering insecurities. Basically, they're just both really happy together and everything's good and nice and that's the end of it. No more questions. Don't even bother reading this comic.

Absurdist humor, a middle finger to corporate IP, and a sweetly romantic heart blend together into one of the most inventive comics of the Twitter age.]]> 384 Alec Robbins 1945509805 Ethan 5 4.25 Mr. Boop
author: Alec Robbins
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/07
date added: 2024/02/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Notes on the Synthesis of Form]]> 320553
In the first part of the book, Christopher Alexander discusses the process by which a form is adapted to the context of human needs and demands that has called it into being. He shows that such an adaptive process will be successful only if it proceeds piecemeal instead of all at once. It is for this reason that forms from traditional un-self-conscious cultures, molded not by designers but by the slow pattern of changes within tradition, are so beautifully organized and adapted. When the designer, in our own self-conscious culture, is called on to create a form that is adapted to its context he is unsuccessful, because the preconceived categories out of which he builds his picture of the problem do not correspond to the inherent components of the problem, and therefore lead only to the arbitrariness, willfulness, and lack of understanding which plague the design of modern buildings and modern cities.

In the second part, Mr. Alexander presents a method by which the designer may bring his full creative imagination into play, and yet avoid the traps of irrelevant preconception. He shows that, whenever a problem is stated, it is possible to ignore existing concepts and to create new concepts, out of the structure of the problem itself, which do correspond correctly to what he calls the subsystems of the adaptive process. By treating each of these subsystems as a separate subproblem, the designer can translate the new concepts into form. The form, because of the process, will be well-adapted to its context, non-arbitrary, and correct.

The mathematics underlying this method, based mainly on set theory, is fully developed in a long appendix. Another appendix demonstrates the application of the method to the design of an Indian village.]]> 224 Christopher W. Alexander 0674627512 Ethan 0 to-read 4.05 1964 Notes on the Synthesis of Form
author: Christopher W. Alexander
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)]]> 79766 A Pattern Language is the philosophy that in designing their environments people always rely on certain ‘languages,â€� which, like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate and communicate an infinite variety of designs within a formal system which gives them coherence.

This book provides a language of this kind. It will enable making a design for almost any kind of building, or any part of the built environment. ‘Patterns,â€� the units of this language, are answers to design problems: how high should a window sill be?; how many stories should a building have?; how much space in a neighborhood should be devoted to grass and trees?

More than 250 of the patterns in this language are outlined, each consisting of a problem statement, a discussion of the problem with an illustration, and a solution. As the authors say in their introduction, many of the patterns are archetypal, so deeply rooted in the nature of things that it seems likely that they will be a part of human nature and human action as much in five hundred years as they are today.

A Pattern Language is related to Alexander’s other works in the Center for Environmental Structure series: The Timeless Way of Building (introductory volume) and The Oregon Experiment.]]> 1171 Christopher W. Alexander 0195019199 Ethan 0 to-read 4.42 1977 A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
author: Christopher W. Alexander
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size]]> 106732 480 Tor NĂžrretranders 0140230122 Ethan 0 to-read 4.32 1991 The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size
author: Tor NĂžrretranders
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The War Master: Rogue Encounters]]> 63827280
10.1 Runtime by Tim Foley - When the Daleks threaten to alter the course of history, the Master has no choice but to save a world � and he only has an hour to do it.

10.2 Manhunt by Rochana Patel - After her boyfriend disappears on an American road trip, Alison Walker instantly becomes the prime suspect. But are the abductors from further afield than Earth?

10.3 The Sublime Porte by James Goss - Hijacking an archaeological dig, the Master excavates the mythical Sublime Porte. But he also unleashes a far more ancient force with it � and its name is Bilis Manger.

10.4 Alone by Scott Handcock - As the human race dwindles against the encroaching night, one man strives to find a solution to their plight. But can Professor Yana save the future when a dark past threatens his present?]]> Tim Foley 1838689818 Ethan 4 4.35 2023 The War Master: Rogue Encounters
author: Tim Foley
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Anima 16008346 Par son projet, par sa tenue, par son accomplissement, ce roman-Minotaure repousse les bornes de la littĂ©rature. Anima est une bĂȘte, Ă  la fois rĂ©elle et fabuleuse, qui veut dĂ©vorer l’Inoubliable.]]> 394 Wajdi Mouawad 2330012632 Ethan 0 to-read 4.14 2012 Anima
author: Wajdi Mouawad
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea]]> 58922203
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.

But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking
]]> 321 Axie Oh 1529391695 Ethan 0 to-read 4.08 2022 The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
author: Axie Oh
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> How to Write for Animation 1793176 Jeffrey Scott 1585672408 Ethan 4 4.23 2002 How to Write for Animation
author: Jeffrey Scott
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/21
date added: 2024/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bright Sword 201750794
They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.]]> 673 Lev Grossman 0735224048 Ethan 0 to-read 3.94 2024 The Bright Sword
author: Lev Grossman
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all:

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expatsâ€� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridgeâ€�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as â€�1847â€� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,â€� “Spotify,â€� and “the collapse of the British Empire.â€� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 Ethan 0 to-read 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)]]> 61242426
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success � not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.]]> 296 Travis Baldree Ethan 3 4.05 2022 Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)
author: Travis Baldree
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/01/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Society of the Crossed Keys: Selections from the Writings of Stefan Zweig, Inspirations for The Grand Budapest Hotel]]> 20940011 The Society of the Crossed Keys contains Wes Anderson's selections from the writings of the great Austrian author Stefan Zweig, whose life and work inspired The Grand Budapest Hotel.

A CONVERSATION WITH WES ANDERSON
Wes Anderson discusses Zweig's life and work with Zweig biographer George Prochnik.

THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY
Selected extracts from Zweig's memoir, The World of Yesterday, an unrivalled evocation of bygone Europe.

BEWARE OF PITY
An extract from Zweig's only novel, a devastating depiction of the torment of the betrayal of both honour and love.

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN THE LIFE OF A WOMAN
One of Stefan Zweig's best-loved stories in full-a passionate tale of gambling, love and death, played out against the stylish backdrop of the French Riviera in the 1920s.

'The World of Yesterday is one of the greatest memoirs of the twentieth century, as perfect in its evocation of the world Zweig loved, as it is in its portrayal of how that world was destroyed.' -- David Hare

'Beware of Pity is the most exciting book I have ever read...a feverish, fascinating novel' -- Antony Beevor

'One of the joys of recent years is the translation into English of Stefan Zweig's stories.'--Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with the Amber Eyes

Stefan Zweig was born in 1881 in Vienna. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and between the wars was an international bestselling author. With the rise of Nazism, he left Austria, and lived in London, Bath, New York and Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double death by suicide.

Wes Anderson's films include Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr Fox, and Moonrise Kingdom. He directed and wrote the screenplay for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Translated by Anthea Bell
Cover illustration by Nathan Burton
272 pp
Published 13/03/2014
ISBN 9781782271079
B-Format Paperback]]> 272 Stefan Zweig 1782271074 Ethan 4 3.92 2014 The Society of the Crossed Keys: Selections from the Writings of Stefan Zweig, Inspirations for The Grand Budapest Hotel
author: Stefan Zweig
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2023/12/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Bond vs. Bond: The Many Faces of 007]]> 20981074 Bond vs. Bond. A fully comprehensive guide, Bond vs. Bond compares and contrasts all of the various ways Ian Fleming's iconic British Secret Service agent, code name 007, has been interpreted through the years, from the books and movies to the guns and gadgets.

Spanning from Fleming's 1953 book Casino Royale to Sam Mendes' 2012 film Skyfall, Bond vs. Bond features every incarnation of 007. Paul Simpson, co-author of Middle-earth Envisioned and That's What They Want You to Think, adds side-by-side comparisons of the weapons and gadgets, the heroines and femme fatales, and more! You'll be riveted with the expanse of Bond knowledge, facts and lore in these pages. This is definitely a book that no Bond fan should be without!


]]> 195 Paul Simpson 1631060007 Ethan 3 3.68 2014 Bond vs. Bond: The Many Faces of 007
author: Paul Simpson
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2023/12/31
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]]> <![CDATA[The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay]]> 3985 639 Michael Chabon 0312282990 Ethan 0 to-read 4.18 2000 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
author: Michael Chabon
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/14
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]]> Winter's Tale 12967 New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake, orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.

Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.

Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and besieged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.

]]> 769 Mark Helprin 0156031191 Ethan 0 to-read 3.55 1983 Winter's Tale
author: Mark Helprin
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption]]> 8664353
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.]]> 475 Laura Hillenbrand 1400064163 Ethan 0 to-read 4.38 2010 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
author: Laura Hillenbrand
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community]]> 478 The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."

Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans' changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures--whether they be PTA, church, or political parties--have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe.

Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnam's Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at the heart of our society and suggests what we can do.]]> 544 Robert D. Putnam 0743203046 Ethan 0 to-read 3.84 2000 Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
author: Robert D. Putnam
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures]]> 52668915
Neither plant nor animal, it is found throughout the earth, the air and our bodies. It can be microscopic, yet also accounts for the largest organisms ever recorded, living for millennia and weighing tens of thousands of tonnes. Its ability to digest rock enabled the first life on land, it can survive unprotected in space, and thrives amidst nuclear radiation.

In this captivating adventure, Merlin Sheldrake explores the spectacular and neglected world of fungi: endlessly surprising organisms that sustain nearly all living systems. They can solve problems without a brain, stretching traditional definitions of ‘intelligenceâ€�, and can manipulate animal behaviour with devastating precision. In giving us bread, alcohol and life-saving medicines, fungi have shaped human history, and their psychedelic properties, which have influenced societies since antiquity, have recently been shown to alleviate a number of mental illnesses. The ability of fungi to digest plastic, explosives, pesticides and crude oil is being harnessed in break-through technologies, and the discovery that they connect plants in underground networks, the ‘Wood Wide Webâ€�, is transforming the way we understand ecosystems. Yet they live their lives largely out of sight, and over ninety percent of their species remain undocumented.

Entangled Life is a mind-altering journey into this hidden kingdom of life, and shows that fungi are key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel and behave. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.]]> 352 Merlin Sheldrake 0525510311 Ethan 0 to-read 4.34 2020 Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
author: Merlin Sheldrake
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Arsenio Lupin contro Herlock Sholmes]]> 63126697 Dopo il furto di un diamante blu dal valore inestimabile, i due daranno luogo a una rivalità serrata sul piano dell’astuzia e dell’intelligenza.
RiuscirĂ  Herlock Sholmes a incastrare Arsenio Lupin, il ladro piĂč scaltro di tutti i tempi?]]> 320 Maurice Leblanc Ethan 4 4.50 1908 Arsenio Lupin contro Herlock Sholmes
author: Maurice Leblanc
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1908
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/30
date added: 2023/11/30
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]]> Railway Race to the North 52177828 176 Oswald Stevens Nock 0711006571 Ethan 0 to-read 5.00 Railway Race to the North
author: Oswald Stevens Nock
name: Ethan
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Fire & Steam: How the Railways Transformed Britain]]> 1719134 368 Christian Wolmar 1843546299 Ethan 0 to-read 4.01 2008 Fire & Steam: How the Railways Transformed Britain
author: Christian Wolmar
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> Wind, Sand and Stars 8837 ]]> 229 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 0156027496 Ethan 0 to-read 4.18 1939 Wind, Sand and Stars
author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System (P.S.)]]> 105701
Sharon Waxman of the New York Times spent the decade covering these young filmmakers, and in Rebels on the Backlot she weaves together the lives and careers of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction; Steven Soderbergh, Traffic; David Fincher, Fight Club; Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights; David O. Russell, Three Kings; and Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich.]]> 386 Sharon Waxman 0060540184 Ethan 0 to-read 3.79 2005 Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System (P.S.)
author: Sharon Waxman
name: Ethan
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia]]> 60465539 267 Natasha Lance Rogoff 1538161281 Ethan 0 to-read 4.09 2022 Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia
author: Natasha Lance Rogoff
name: Ethan
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/23
shelves: to-read
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]]>