Aubrey's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 22 Sep 2020 07:56:53 -0700 60 Aubrey's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Little Prince 157993
Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince, presented here in a stunning new translation with carefully restored artwork. The definitive edition of a worldwide classic, it will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.]]>
96 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 0152023984 Aubrey 3 4.32 1943 The Little Prince
author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1943
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/09/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
Meditations 30659 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. While the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation and encouragement, Marcus Aurelius also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a timeless collection that has been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers and readers throughout the centuries.]]> 254 Marcus Aurelius 0140449337 Aubrey 5 4.29 180 Meditations
author: Marcus Aurelius
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.29
book published: 180
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/07/15
shelves:
review:

]]>
Siddartha 30141085 131 Hermann Hesse Aubrey 4 4.13 1922 Siddartha
author: Hermann Hesse
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1922
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/05/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Prince and the Pauper 62446 240 Mark Twain 0451528352 Aubrey 3 3.88 1881 The Prince and the Pauper
author: Mark Twain
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1881
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/05/07
shelves:
review:

]]>
Midnight’s Children 14836 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

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

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnightâ€� s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.]]>
647 Salman Rushdie 0099578514 Aubrey 5 3.98 1981 Midnight’s Children
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Way of All Flesh 126512 The Way of All Flesh is regarded by some as the first twentieth-century novel. Samuel Butler's autobiographical account of a harsh upbringing and troubled adulthood shines an iconoclastic light on the hypocrisy of a Victorian clerical family's domestic life. It also foreshadows the crumbling of nineteenth-century bourgeois ideals in the aftermath of the First World War, as well as the ways in which succeeding generations have questioned conventional values.

Hailed by George Bernard Shaw as "one of the summits of human achievement," this chronicle of the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex spans four generations, focusing chiefly on the relationship between Ernest and his father, Theobald. Written in the wake of Darwin's Origin of Species, it reflects the dawning consciousness of heredity and environment as determinants of character. Along the way, it offers a powerfully satirical indictment of Victorian England's major institutions—the family, the church, and the rigidly hierarchical class structure.]]>
315 Samuel Butler 0486434664 Aubrey 3 3.61 1903 The Way of All Flesh
author: Samuel Butler
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1903
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina (Claudius, #2)]]> 52251 I, Claudius, Robert Graves continues the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emperor in spite of himself and his handicaps. Claudius the God reveals the splendor, vitality and decadence of the Roman Empire through the eyes of the wry and bemused Claudius who reigns as emperor for thirteen years. The crippled Claudius describes himself as the fool of the royal family, whom none of his ambitious and blood-thirsty relatives considered worth the trouble of killing. Once in the throne, however, he finds himself at last at the center of the political maelstrom.]]> 533 Robert Graves 0679725733 Aubrey 4 4.22 1934 Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina (Claudius, #2)
author: Robert Graves
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1934
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]>
I, Claudius (Claudius, #1) 18765
I, Claudius and its sequel, Claudius the God, are among the most celebrated, as well the most gripping historical novels ever written.

Cover illustration: Brian Pike]]>
469 Robert Graves 067972477X Aubrey 5 4.24 1934 I, Claudius (Claudius, #1)
author: Robert Graves
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1934
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Aubrey 4 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)]]> 136251
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.]]>
759 J.K. Rowling Aubrey 2 4.61 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)]]> 5 435 J.K. Rowling 043965548X Aubrey 4 4.57 1999 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 3 309 J.K. Rowling 0439554934 Aubrey 2 4.47 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
Darkness at Noon 30672
Darkness at Noon (from the German: Sonnenfinsternis) is a novel by the Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best-known work tells the tale of Rubashov, a Bolshevik 1917 revolutionary who is cast out, imprisoned and tried for treason by the Soviet government he'd helped create.]]>
216 Arthur Koestler 0553265954 Aubrey 5 4.09 1940 Darkness at Noon
author: Arthur Koestler
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1940
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
Jane Eyre 10210 Alternate editions can be found here and here.

A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.

Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.]]>
532 Charlotte Brontë 0142437204 Aubrey 4 4.14 1847 Jane Eyre
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1847
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)]]> 6 734 J.K. Rowling 0439139597 Aubrey 3 4.56 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]>
912 J.K. Rowling Aubrey 4 4.50 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)]]> 15881
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girlsâ€� bathroom. But then the real trouble begins â€� someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspectsâ€� Harry Potter himself!]]>
352 J.K. Rowling Aubrey 4 4.42 1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 37380 359 Carson McCullers 0618084746 Aubrey 4 3.99 1940 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
author: Carson McCullers
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1940
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/06/27
shelves:
review:

]]>
Captains Courageous 34057 A pampered millionaire's son tumbles overboard from a luxury liner and falls into good fortune, disguised in the form of a fishing boat. The gruff and hearty crew teach the young man to be worth his salt as they fish the waters off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Brimming with adventure and humor.

]]>
161 Rudyard Kipling 0543895882 Aubrey 4 3.89 1897 Captains Courageous
author: Rudyard Kipling
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1897
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Gulliver’s Travels 7733 A wickedly clever satire uses comic inversions to offer telling insights into the nature of man and society. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Gulliver's Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. In Laputa, a flying island, he encounters a society of speculators and projectors who have lost all grip on everyday reality; while they plan and calculate, their country lies in ruins. Gulliver's final voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses whom he quickly comes to admire - in contrast to the Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who bear a disturbing resemblance to humans. This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all the original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver's Travels has been interpreted since its first publication. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin.

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.]]>
306 Jonathan Swift 0141439491 Aubrey 3 3.59 1726 Gulliver’s Travels
author: Jonathan Swift
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1726
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Hard Times 5344
Without a moral compass to guide them, the children sink into lives of desperation and despair, played out against the grim background of Coketown, a wretched community shadowed by an industrial behemoth. Louisa falls into a loveless marriage with Josiah Bouderby, a vulgar banker, while the unscrupulous Tom, totally lacking in principle, becomes a thief who frames an innocent man for his crime. Witnessing the degradation and downfall of his children, Gradgrind realizes that his own misguided principles have ruined their lives.

Considered Dickens' harshest indictment of mid-19th-century industrial practices and their dehumanizing effects, this novel offers a fascinating tapestry of Victorian life, filled with the richness of detail, brilliant characterization, and passionate social concern that typify the novelist's finest creations.

Of Dickens' work, the eminent Victorian critic John Ruskin had this to say: "He is entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written; and all of them, but especially Hard Times, should be studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions."]]>
384 Charles Dickens 0321107217 Aubrey 4 3.55 1854 Hard Times
author: Charles Dickens
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1854
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
April Morning 77012 202 Howard Fast 0553273221 Aubrey 4 3.47 1961 April Morning
author: Howard Fast
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Moll Flanders 38262 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781853260735.

The Fortunes & Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (aka Moll Flanders) is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age.

By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, with the success of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. His political work was tapering off at this point, due to the fall of both Whig and Tory party leaders with whom he had been associated (Robert Walpole was beginning his rise). Defoe was never fully at home with the Walpole group. Defoe's Whig views are nevertheless evident in the story of Moll. The novel's full title gives some insight into this and the outline of the plot: "The Fortunes & Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, & during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, & died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums."]]>
339 Daniel Defoe Aubrey 3 3.53 1722 Moll Flanders
author: Daniel Defoe
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1722
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Little Women (Little Women, #1)]]> 1934 This is an alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780451529305.

Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.

It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with "woman’s work,â€� including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing. Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune, and far from being the "girl’s bookâ€� her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.

]]>
449 Louisa May Alcott Aubrey 4 4.16 1868 Little Women (Little Women, #1)
author: Louisa May Alcott
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1868
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/12/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Room with a View 3087
Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her, until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.

Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?]]>
119 E.M. Forster 1420925431 Aubrey 3 3.92 1908 A Room with a View
author: E.M. Forster
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1908
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/11/03
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Wind in the Willows 5659 “All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.â€�

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

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

The animalsâ€� world embodies the author’s wry, whimsical, and unfailingly inventive imagination. It is a world that succeeding generations of both adult and young readers have found irresistible. But why say more? To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: “Travel, change, interest, excitement!...Come inside.â€�]]>
197 Kenneth Grahame 0143039091 Aubrey 3 4.02 1908 The Wind in the Willows
author: Kenneth Grahame
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1908
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/10/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
Sister Carrie 126609
Theodore Dreiser: ΒαΞÎčÎŹ Ï€ÎżÎ»ÎčτÎčÎșÎżÏ€ÎżÎčÎ·ÎŒÎ­ÎœÎżÏ‚, αÎșτÎčÎČÎčÏƒÏ„ÎźÏ‚, ÎŽÎżÏÎ»Î”ÏˆÎ” ÎłÎčα Ï„Îż Î§ÏŒÎ»Ï…ÎłÎżÏ…ÎœÏ„, ÏƒÏ…ÎœÎ”ÏÎłÎŹÏ„Î·Ï‚ Ï„ÎżÏ… Î€ÏƒÎŹÏ€Î»ÎčΜ, στη Όαύρη Î»ÎŻÏƒÏ„Î± Ï„ÎżÏ… ΜαÎșÎŹÏÎžÎč.]]>
580 Theodore Dreiser 0393960420 Aubrey 4 3.77 1900 Sister Carrie
author: Theodore Dreiser
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1900
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/10/05
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)]]> 43763
Louis and Claudia travel Europe, eventually coming to Paris and the ragingly successful Theatre des Vampires--a theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires. Here they meet the magnetic and ethereal Armand, who brings them into a whole society of vampires. But Louis and Claudia find that finding others like themselves provides no easy answers and in fact presents dangers they scarcely imagined.

Originally begun as a short story, the book took off as Anne wrote it, spinning the tragic and triumphant life experiences of a soul. As well as the struggles of its characters, Interview captures the political and social changes of two continents. The novel also introduces Lestat, Anne's most enduring character, a heady mixture of attraction and revulsion. The book, full of lush description, centers on the themes of immortality, change, loss, sexuality, and power.
source: annerice.com]]>
346 Anne Rice 0345476875 Aubrey 3 4.04 1976 Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)
author: Anne Rice
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1976
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
Ulysses 338798
According to Declan Kiberd, "Before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking". Ulysses chronicles the peripatetic appointments and encounters of Leopold Bloom in Dublin in the course of an ordinary day, 16 June 1904. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, and the novel establishes a series of parallels between the poem and the novel, with structural correspondences between the characters and experiences of Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, in addition to events and themes of the early 20th-century context of modernism, Dublin, and Ireland's relationship to Britain.

The novel is highly allusive and also imitates the styles of different periods of English literature. Since its publication, the book has attracted controversy and scrutiny, ranging from an obscenity trial in the United States in 1921 to protracted textual "Joyce Wars." The novel's stream-of-consciousness technique, careful structuring, and experimental prose—replete with puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterisation and broad humour have led it to be regarded as one of the greatest literary works in history; Joyce fans worldwide now celebrate 16 June as Bloomsday.']]>
783 James Joyce Aubrey 2 3.72 1922 Ulysses
author: James Joyce
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1922
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2016/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
Lolita 7604 Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141182537.

Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Dolores Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.]]>
368 Vladimir Nabokov 0679723161 Aubrey 3 3.87 1955 Lolita
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1955
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/06/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
Gone with the Wind 18405 1037 Margaret Mitchell 0446365386 Aubrey 5 4.30 1936 Gone with the Wind
author: Margaret Mitchell
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1936
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
As I Lay Dying 77013 As I Lay Dying is Faulkner’s harrowing account of the Bundren family’s odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn by each of the family members -- including Addie herself -- as well as others; the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic.

This edition reproduces the corrected text of As I Lay Dying as established in 1985 by Noel Polk.]]>
288 William Faulkner Aubrey 3 3.71 1930 As I Lay Dying
author: William Faulkner
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1930
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
Sons and Lovers 32071 "She was a brazen hussy."

"She wasn't. And she was pretty, wasn't she?"

"I didn't look ... And tell your girls, my son, that when they're running after you, they're not to come and ask your mother for you - tell them that - brazen baggages you meet at dancing classes"

The marriage of Gertrude and Walter Morel has become a battleground. Repelled by her uneducated and sometimes violent husband, delicate Gertrude devotes her life to her children, especially to her sons, William and Paul - determined they will not follow their father into working down the coal mines. But conflict is evitable when Paul seeks to escape his mother's suffocating grasp through relationships with women his own age. Set in Lawrence's native Nottinghamshire, Sons and Lovers is a highly autobiographical and compelling portrayal of childhood, adolescence and the clash of generations.]]>
654 D.H. Lawrence Aubrey 5 3.65 1913 Sons and Lovers
author: D.H. Lawrence
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1913
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]>
Catch-22 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]>
453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Aubrey 4 3.99 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Things They Carried 133518
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.

Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.]]>
246 Tim O'Brien 0767902890 Aubrey 5 4.14 1990 The Things They Carried
author: Tim O'Brien
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]>
323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Aubrey 4 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/10/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human errorâ€� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills â€� and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit â€� he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

]]>
384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Aubrey 4 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/10/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Red and the Black 14662 The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical portrayal of French society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui, and Julien - the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions - is one of the most intriguing characters in European literature.

Roger Gard's fine translation remains faithful to the natural, conversational tone of the original, while his introduction elucidates the complexities of Julien's character. This edition also contains a chronology, further reading and an appendix on Stendhal's use of epigraphs.]]>
577 Stendhal 0140447644 Aubrey 3 3.91 1830 The Red and the Black
author: Stendhal
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1830
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 14891 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.]]> 496 Betty Smith 0061120073 Aubrey 4 4.29 1943 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
author: Betty Smith
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1943
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared]]> 15832916
A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert with a fondness for vodka) decides it’s not too late to start over â€�

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he’s still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn’t interested (and he’d like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant).

It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.]]>
384 Jonas Jonasson 1443419109 Aubrey 3 3.68 2009 The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
author: Jonas Jonasson
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]>
Invisible Man 16981 Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature. For not only does Ralph Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide tell unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators, it gives us an entirely new model of what a novel can be.

As he journeys from the Deep South to the streets and basements of Harlem, from a horrifying "battle royal" where black men are reduced to fighting animals, to a Communist rally where they are elevated to the status of trophies, Ralph Ellison's nameless protagonist ushers readers into a parallel universe that throws our own into harsh and even hilarious relief. Suspenseful and sardonic, narrated in a voice that takes in the symphonic range of the American language, black and white, Invisible Man is one of the most audacious and dazzling novels of our century.]]>
581 Ralph Ellison Aubrey 3 3.91 1952 Invisible Man
author: Ralph Ellison
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1952
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]>
Bossypants 9476337
She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

]]>
277 Tina Fey 0316056863 Aubrey 3 3.90 2011 Bossypants
author: Tina Fey
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/06/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo, #2)]]> 33507 269 Jules Verne 076072850X Aubrey 3 3.92 1869 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo, #2)
author: Jules Verne
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1869
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/03/28
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Sound and the Fury 10975 366 William Faulkner Aubrey 3 3.86 1929 The Sound and the Fury
author: William Faulkner
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1929
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/03/08
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Scarlet Letter 12296 279 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0142437263 Aubrey 5 3.43 1850 The Scarlet Letter
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1850
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/02/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
Lost Illusions 25932 656 Honoré de Balzac 1406506583 Aubrey 4 4.18 1843 Lost Illusions
author: Honoré de Balzac
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1843
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Idiot 12505 667 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0679642420 Aubrey 3 4.22 1869 The Idiot
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1869
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
Anna Karenina 15823480 Anna Karenina provides a vast panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in all of literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature - with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy himself, often expressing the author's own views and convictions.

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments, 'He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.]]>
964 Leo Tolstoy 0345803922 Aubrey 5 4.11 1878 Anna Karenina
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1878
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
Paradise Lost 15997 Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven, hell, and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, who are motivated by all too human temptations but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.

Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition, Paradise Lost is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years, it has held generation upon generation of audiences in rapt attention, and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.]]>
453 John Milton 0140424393 Aubrey 5 3.83 1667 Paradise Lost
author: John Milton
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1667
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/10/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Leaves of Grass 27494 624 Walt Whitman Aubrey 3 4.12 1855 Leaves of Grass
author: Walt Whitman
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1855
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/09/01
shelves:
review:

]]>
Brave New World 5129 Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machineâ€� (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New Worldd likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

"Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." —Chicago Tribune]]>
268 Aldous Huxley 0060929871 Aubrey 3 3.99 1932 Brave New World
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1932
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/07/27
shelves:
review:

]]>
Fahrenheit 451 17470674
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.

Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which, decades on from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.

--back cover]]>
227 Ray Bradbury 0007491565 Aubrey 5 4.01 1953 Fahrenheit 451
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1953
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/07/15
shelves:
review:

]]>
Romeo and Juliet 18135 Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers� final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.]]>
281 William Shakespeare 0743477111 Aubrey 5 3.74 1597 Romeo and Juliet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1597
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/07/05
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)]]> 49041 There is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13 9780316160193 here.

I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough.... But this was no dream, and, unlike the nightmare, I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.

FOR BELLA SWAN THERE IS ONE THING more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning....

LEGIONS OF READERS ENTRANCED BY THE New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bell and Edward. In New Moon, Stephanie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.]]>
563 Stephenie Meyer 0316160199 Aubrey 3 3.61 2006 New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)]]> 428263 "BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

READERS CAPTIVATED BY Twilight AND New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.]]>
629 Stephenie Meyer 0316160202 Aubrey 3 3.73 2007 Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]>
390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Aubrey 4 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Hobbit, or There and Back Again]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Aubrey 3 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]>
391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Aubrey 4 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)]]> 1162543 "Don't be afraid," I murmured. "We belong together."
I was abruptly overwhelmed by the truth of my own words.
This moment was so perfect, so right, there was no way to doubt it.
His arms wrapped around me,
holding me against him....
It felt like every nerve ending in my body was a live wire.
"Forever," he agreed.

WHEN YOU LOVED THE ONE WHO WAS KILLING YOU, IT LEFT YOU NO OPTIONS. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

TO BE IRREVOCABLY IN LOVE WITH A VAMPIRE is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

NOW THAT BELLA HAS MADE HER DECISION, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

THE ASTONISHING, BREATHLESSLY anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.]]>
756 Stephenie Meyer 031606792X Aubrey 2 3.74 2008 Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2014/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
Metamorphoses 1715
In Metamophoses, Ovid brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation—often as a result of love or lust—where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic and yet playful, Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes.

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.]]>
723 Ovid 014044789X Aubrey 3 4.08 8 Metamorphoses
author: Ovid
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.08
book published: 8
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/06/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Sot-Weed Factor 24835 The Sot-Weed Factor has acquired the status of a modern classic. Set in the late 1600s, it recounts the wildly chaotic odyssey of hapless, ungainly Ebenezer Cooke, sent to the New World to look after his father's tobacco business and to record the struggles of the Maryland colony in an epic poem.

On his mission, Cooke experiences capture by pirates and Indians; the loss of his father's estate to roguish impostors; love for a farmer prostitute; stealthy efforts to rob him of his virginity, which he is (almost) determined to protect; and an extraordinary gallery of treacherous characters who continually switch identities. A hilarious, bawdy tribute to all the most insidious human vices, The Sot-Weed Factor has a lasting relevance for readers of all times.]]>
756 John Barth 1903809509 Aubrey 4 4.09 1960 The Sot-Weed Factor
author: John Barth
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/05/16
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Picture of Dorian Gray 5297
In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.]]>
272 Oscar Wilde Aubrey 5 4.13 1890 The Picture of Dorian Gray
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1890
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/02/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Mill on the Floss 20564 'If life had no love in it, what else was there for Maggie?'

Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, the clash between their expectations and her desires is painfully played out as she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family's worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor. With its poignant portrayal of sibling relationships, The Mill on the Floss is considered George Eliot's most autobiographical novel; it is also one of her most powerful and moving.

In this edition writer and critic A.S. Byatt provides full explanatory notes and an introduction relating Mill on the Floss to George Eliot's own life and times.

Edited with an introduction and notes by A.S. BYATT]]>
579 George Eliot 0141439629 Aubrey 4 3.82 1860 The Mill on the Floss
author: George Eliot
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1860
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two (Fairyland, #3)]]> 17261183 248 Catherynne M. Valente 1250023505 Aubrey 3 4.01 2013 The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two (Fairyland, #3)
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]>
Earthly Powers 8822 A Clockwork Orange, is regarded as one of the most original and daring writers in the English language. His work is illuminated by a dazzling imagination, by a gift for character and plot, by a talent for surprise.

In Earthly Powers Burgess created his masterpiece. At its center are two twentieth-century men who represent different kinds of power—Kenneth Toomey, eminent novelist, a man who has outlived his contemporaries to survive into honored, bitter, luxurious old age as a celebrity of dubious notoriety; and Don Carlo Campanati, a man of God, eventually beloved Pope, who rises through the Vatican as a shrewd manipulator to become the architect of church revolution and a candidate for sainthood.

Through the lives of these two modern men Burgess explores the very essence of power. As each pursues his career—one to sainthood, one to wealthy exile—their relationship becomes the heart of a narrative that incorporates almost everyone of fame and distinction in the social, literary, and political life of America and Europe. This astonishing company is joined together by the art of a great novelist into an explosive and entertaining tour de force that will captivate fans of sweeping historic fiction.]]>
649 Anthony Burgess 0099468646 Aubrey 4 4.13 1980 Earthly Powers
author: Anthony Burgess
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/11/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso]]> 6656 This Everyman’s Library edition–containing in one volume all three cantos, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso–includes an introduction by Nobel Prize—winning poet Eugenio Montale, a chronology, notes, and a bibliography. Also included are forty-two drawings selected from Botticelli’s marvelous late-fifteenth-century series of illustrations.

Translated in this edition by Allen Mandelbaum, The Divine Comedy begins in a shadowed forest on Good Friday in the year 1300. It proceeds on a journey that, in its intense recreation of the depths and the heights of human experience, has become the key with which Western civilization has sought to unlock the mystery of its own identity.

Mandelbaum’s astonishingly Dantean translation, which captures so much of the life of the original, renders whole for us the masterpiece of that genius whom our greatest poets have recognized as a central model for all poets.]]>
798 Dante Alighieri 0679433139 Aubrey 3 4.08 1320 The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
author: Dante Alighieri
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1320
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Clockwork Orange 227463 A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. And when the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him, the novel asks, "At what cost?"

This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."]]>
192 Anthony Burgess Aubrey 3 3.98 1962 A Clockwork Orange
author: Anthony Burgess
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Red Badge of Courage 35220 Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work.

Henry Fleming has joined the Union army because of his romantic ideas of military life, but soon finds himself in the middle of a battle against a regiment of Confederate soldiers. Terrified, Henry deserts his comrades. Upon returning to his regiment, he struggles with his shame as he tries to redeem himself and prove his courage.

The Red Badge of Courage is Stephen Crane’s second book, notable for its realism and the fact that Crane had never personally experienced battle. Crane drew heavy inspiration from Century Magazine, a periodical known for its articles about the American Civil War. However, he criticized the articles for their lack of emotional depth and decided to write a war novel of his own. The manuscript was first serialized in December 1894 by The Philadelphia Press and quickly won Crane international acclaim before he died in June 1900 at the age of 28.]]>
149 Stephen Crane 1580495869 Aubrey 3 3.28 1895 The Red Badge of Courage
author: Stephen Crane
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.28
book published: 1895
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/04/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest]]> 332613 9780451163967

Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy � the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey's extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.]]>
325 Ken Kesey Aubrey 5 4.20 1962 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
author: Ken Kesey
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1962
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Importance of Being Earnest]]> 92303
Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend the "rivals" to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their beloveds pandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day!

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader appreciate Wilde's wry wit and elaborate plot twists.]]>
89 Oscar Wilde 158049580X Aubrey 4 4.17 1895 The Importance of Being Earnest
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1895
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/03/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]>
279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Aubrey 4 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1813
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/03/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Modest Proposal 5206937
A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, who were predominantly Irish Catholic, as well as British policy towards the Irish in general.]]>
48 Jonathan Swift 1605977276 Aubrey 2 4.04 1729 A Modest Proposal
author: Jonathan Swift
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1729
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2013/03/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland - For a Little While (Fairyland, #0.5)]]> 11869878 31 Catherynne M. Valente Aubrey 3 3.91 2011 The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland - For a Little While (Fairyland, #0.5)
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/03/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Aeneid 12914
Virgil’s epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his city after its fall, with his father Anchises and his young son Ascanius â€� for Aeneas is destined to found Rome and father the Roman race. As Aeneas journeys closer to his goal, he must first prove his worth and attain the maturity necessary for such an illustrious task. He battles raging storms in the Mediterranean, encounters the fearsome Cyclopes, falls in love with Dido, Queen of Carthage, travels into the Underworld and wages war in Italy.]]>
442 Virgil 0679729526 Aubrey 4 3.86 -19 The Aeneid
author: Virgil
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.86
book published: -19
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland, #1)]]> 9591398 Ìę
With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.
]]>
247 Catherynne M. Valente 0312649614 Aubrey 4 3.95 2011 The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland, #1)
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/02/26
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence]]> 95532 288 Paul Feig 0609809431 Aubrey 2 3.81 2002 Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence
author: Paul Feig
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2013/02/26
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5)]]> 13
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

"Life, the Universe and Everything"

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky- so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish"

Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

"Mostly Harmless"

Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Also includes the short story "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe".]]>
815 Douglas Adams 0345453743 Aubrey 4 4.38 1996 The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Sun Also Rises 3876 The Sun Also Rises (Fiesta) is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.]]> 189 Ernest Hemingway Aubrey 4 3.81 1926 The Sun Also Rises
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1926
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass]]> 24213
When Alice sees a white rabbit take a watch out of its waistcoat pocket she decides to follow it, and a sequence of most unusual events is set in motion. This mini book contains the entire topsy-turvy stories of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, accompanied by practical notes and Martina Pelouso's memorable full-colour illustrations.]]>
239 Lewis Carroll Aubrey 5 4.07 1871 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
author: Lewis Carroll
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1871
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer]]> 616828 Heart Of Darkness. The story of the civilized, enlightened Mr. Kurtz who embarks on a harrowing "night journey" into the savage heart of Africa, only to find his dark and evil soul.

The Secret Sharer. The saga of a young, inexperienced skipper forced to decide the fate of a fugitive sailor who killed a man in self-defense. As he faces his first moral test the skipper discovers a terrifying truth -- and comes face to face with the secret itself.

Heart Of Darkness and The Secret Sharer draw on actual events and people that Conrad met or heard about during his many far-flung travels. In portraying men whose incredible journeys on land and at sea are also symbolic voyages into their own mysterious depths, these two masterful works give credence to Conrad's acclaim as a major psychological writer.]]>
168 Joseph Conrad 0451526570 Aubrey 5 3.51 1910 Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1910
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)]]> 41865
First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.]]>
498 Stephenie Meyer 0316015849 Aubrey 3 3.66 2005 Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Iliad 1371
Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”]]>
614 Homer 0140275363 Aubrey 4 3.88 -800 The Iliad
author: Homer
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.88
book published: -800
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Where the Sidewalk Ends 30119 Come in... for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins.

Shel Silverstein, theÌęNew York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound.

You'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages.]]>
176 Shel Silverstein 0060513039 Aubrey 4 4.34 1974 Where the Sidewalk Ends
author: Shel Silverstein
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Aesop’s Fables 21348 352 Aesop 0192840509 Aubrey 4 4.07 -560 Aesop’s Fables
author: Aesop
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.07
book published: -560
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Portrait of a Lady 264
]]>
797 Henry James 0141439637 Aubrey 5 3.79 1881 The Portrait of a Lady
author: Henry James
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1881
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
East of Eden 4406
Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.]]>
601 John Steinbeck 0142000655 Aubrey 4 4.41 1952 East of Eden
author: John Steinbeck
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1952
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Tess of the D’Urbervilles 32261 here and here.

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her ‘cousinâ€� Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.]]>
518 Thomas Hardy Aubrey 4 3.83 1891 Tess of the D’Urbervilles
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1891
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Oliver Twist 18254
The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull's Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

This Penguin Classics edition of Oliver Twist is the first critical edition to faithfully reproduce the text as its earliest readers would have encountered it from its serialisation in Bentley's Miscellany, and includes an introduction by Philip Horne, a glossary of Victorian thieves' slang, a chronology of Dickens's life, a map of contemporary London and all of George Cruikshank's original illustrations.

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.]]>
608 Charles Dickens Aubrey 4 3.88 1838 Oliver Twist
author: Charles Dickens
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1838
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Don Quixote 3836
With its experimental form and literary playfulness, Don Quixote has been generally recognized as the first modern novel. The book has been enormously influential on a host of writers, from Fielding and Sterne to Flaubert, Dickens, Melville, and Faulkner, who reread it once a year, "just as some people read the Bible."]]>
1023 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Aubrey 5 3.86 1615 Don Quixote
author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1615
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Moby-Dick or, The Whale 153747 "It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it."

So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author's lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

This edition of Moby-Dick, which reproduces the definitive text of the novel, includes invaluable explanatory notes, along with maps, illustrations, and a glossary of nautical terms.]]>
720 Herman Melville 0142437247 Aubrey 4 3.53 1851 Moby-Dick or, The Whale
author: Herman Melville
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1851
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Grapes of Wrath 4395 The Grapes of Wrath is a landmark of American literature. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation, The Grapes of Wrath is also the story of one Oklahoma family, the Joads, who are driven off their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.

First published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath summed up its era in the way that Uncle Tom's Cabin summed up the years of slavery before the Civil War. Sensitive to fascist and communist criticism, Steinbeck insisted that "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" be printed in its entirety in the first edition of the book—which takes its title from the first verse: "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s fictional chronicle of the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s is perhaps the most American of American Classics.]]>
455 John Steinbeck Aubrey 5 3.88 1939 The Grapes of Wrath
author: John Steinbeck
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1939
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Three Musketeers 7190 The Three Musketeers is the most famous of Alexandre Dumas' historical novels and one of the most popular adventure novels ever written.

Dumas' swashbuckling epic chronicles the adventures of d'Artagnan, a brash young man from the countryside who journeys to Paris in 1625 hoping to become a musketeer and guard to King Louis XIII. Before long, he finds treachery and court intrigue,and also three boon companions, the daring swordsmen Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Together, the four strive heroically to defend the honor of their queen against the powerful Cardinal Richelieu and the seductive spy Milady.]]>
625 Alexandre Dumas Aubrey 4 4.09 1844 The Three Musketeers
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1844
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Les Misérables 24280 1463 Victor Hugo 0451525264 Aubrey 4 4.19 1862 Les Misérables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1862
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Dracula 17245 You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here.

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

Criticism collects seven theoretical interpretations of Dracula by Phyllis A. Roth, Carol A. Senf, Franco Moretti, Christopher Craft, Bram Dijkstra, Stephen D. Arata, and Talia Schaffer.

A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are included.]]>
488 Bram Stoker 0393970124 Aubrey 4 4.02 1897 Dracula
author: Bram Stoker
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1897
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Count of Monte Cristo 7126 The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond DantÚs is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas� epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]>
1276 Alexandre Dumas 0140449264 Aubrey 3 4.29 1846 The Count of Monte Cristo
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1846
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
War and Peace 656
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.

As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.


Tolstoy gave his personal approval to this translation, published here in a new single volume edition, which includes an introduction by Henry Gifford, and Tolstoy's important essay `Some Words about War and Peace'.]]>
1392 Leo Tolstoy 0192833987 Aubrey 4 4.14 1869 War and Peace
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1869
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Great Expectations 2623
Pip must discover his true self, and his own set of values and priorities. Whether such values allow one to prosper in the complex world of early Victorian England is the major question posed by Great Expectations, one of Dickens's most fascinating, and disturbing, novels.

This edition includes the original, discarded ending, Dickens's brief working notes, and the serial instalments and chapter divisions in different editions. It also uses the definitive Clarendon text.]]>
544 Charles Dickens 0192833596 Aubrey 3 3.78 1861 Great Expectations
author: Charles Dickens
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1861
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Odyssey 1381 Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.

So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.

If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces, during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.

In the myths and legends that are retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb Introduction and textual commentary provide new insights and background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles' translation.

This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the public at large, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.

--

Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning new modern-verse translation.]]>
541 Homer 0143039954 Aubrey 5 3.79 -700 The Odyssey
author: Homer
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.79
book published: -700
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Tale of Two Cities 1953 A Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens’s great historical novel, set against the violent upheaval of the French Revolution. The most famous and perhaps the most popular of his works, it compresses an event of immense complexity to the scale of a family history, with a cast of characters that includes a bloodthirsty ogress and an antihero as believably flawed as any in modern fiction. Though the least typical of the author’s novels, A Tale of Two Cities still underscores many of his enduring themes—imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal.]]> 489 Charles Dickens 0141439602 Aubrey 3 3.86 1859 A Tale of Two Cities
author: Charles Dickens
name: Aubrey
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1859
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Winter of Our Discontent 4796
Set in Steinbeck’s contemporary 1960 America, the novel explores the tenuous line between private and public honesty that today ranks it alongside his most acclaimed works of penetrating insight into the American condition. This edition features an introduction and notes by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw.]]>
291 John Steinbeck 0143039482 Aubrey 4 4.01 1961 The Winter of Our Discontent
author: John Steinbeck
name: Aubrey
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]>