en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 22:39:39 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 50403513
What can you do when you carry scars not on your body, but within your soul? And what happens when those spiritual wounds exist not just in you, but in everyone in your family, community, and even beyond?

Spiritual teacher Thomas Hübl has spent years investigating why it is that old and seemingly disconnected traumas can seed their way through communities and across generations. His work culminates in Healing Collective Trauma , a new perspective on trauma that addresses both its visible effects and its most hidden roots. Thomas combines deep knowledge of mystical traditions with the latest scientific research. “In this way,” writes Thomas, “we are weaving a double helix between ancient wisdom and contemporary understanding.”

Thomas details the Collective Trauma Integration Process, a group-based modality for evoking and eventually dissolving stuck traumatic energies. Providing structured practices for both students and group facilitators, Healing Collective Trauma is intended to build a practical tool kit for integration.

Here, you will

? The innumerable ways trauma shapes our world―from identity and health to economy, geopolitics, and the state of the environment
? The concept of “trauma loyalty”―unconscious group bonds based in a pain narrative
? How the climate crisis is both a manifestation of humanity’s collective trauma and an opportunity to heal
? “Retrocausality”―how the power of presence can reshape the past and make new futures possible

Including essays contributed by experts such as Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Otto Scharmer, Dr. Christina Bethell, and Ken Wilber, Healing Collective Trauma offers not just an advanced look at community trauma but also a hopeful glimpse of the future. As Thomas declares, “Together, I believe we can and must heal the ‘soul wound’ that marks us all. In so doing, we will awaken to the luminous possibility and profound potential of our true, mutual nature as humankind.”]]> 304 Thomas Hübl 1683647378 Angela 0 to-read 4.18
author: Thomas Hübl
name: Angela
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/30
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]]> 219838010 One of the hottest stand-ups working today, Nate Bargatze brings his everyman comedy to the page in this hilarious collection of personal stories, opinions, and confessions.

Nate Bargatze used to be a genius. That is, until the summer after seventh grade when he slipped, fell off a cliff, hit his head on a rock, and “my brain got, like, dented or something.” Before this accident, he dreamed of being “an electric engineer, or a brain doctor, or maybe a math person who does like, math things for a living.” Afterwards, a voice in his head told him, “It’s okay. You’re dumb now. All you got is standup.”* But the “math things’ industry’s loss is our gain because Nate went on to become one of today’s top-grossing comedians who breaks both attendance and streaming records.
?
In his highly-anticipated first book, Nate talks about life as a non-genius. From stories about his first car (named Old Blue, a clunky Mazda with a tennis ball for a stick shift), life as a Southerner (Northerners constantly ask him things like, do you believe in dinosaurs?), and his first apartment where a rat chewed a hole right through the wall to how his wife keeps him in line and so much more. He also reflects on such topics as Vandy football and the origins of sushi (how can a Philadelphia roll be from old-time Japan?).
?
Nate’s book is full of heart and it will make readers laugh out loud and nod in recognition, but it probably won’t make them think too much.
?
?
*Nate’s family disputes this entire story]]> 240 Nate Bargatze 1538768461 Angela 0 to-read 3.93
author: Nate Bargatze
name: Angela
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> 51773972 On the heels of the breakaway success of The Body Is Not an Apology comes an action guide to help readers practice the art of radical self-love both for themselves and to transform our society.

Readers of The Body Is Not an Apology have been clamoring for guidance on how to do the work of radical self-love. After crowdsourcing her community, Sonya Renee Taylor found her readers wanted more concrete ideas on how to apply this work in a larger social and structural context. Your Body Is Not an Apology is the action guide that gives them just that--tools and structured frameworks they can apply immediately to start changing the world. Taylor guides readers with concrete ideas and, as always, practical applications that move us beyond theory and into doing and being radical self-love change agents in the world. This workbook, along with the new edition of the book, will put people in action in their organizations, in politics, in their doctor's offices, and at their jobs.]]> 176 Sonya Renee Taylor 1523091169 Angela 0 4.26 2020
author: Sonya Renee Taylor
name: Angela
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/08
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]]> 122495009 A spellbinding selection of short stories in the original Italian alongside their English translations


This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Italy. Each story appears in the original Italian alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a spellbinding tale of the supernatural to a powerful portrait of post-war Italy, this revelatory collection includes works from beloved authors, Italo Calvino, Fausta Cialente, Alba de Céspedes, Grazia Deledda, Natalia Ginzburg, Elsa Morante, Lalla Romano, Umberto Saba, Alberto Savinio, and Elio Vittorini.
]]> 175 Various 1802062572 Angela 0 3.58
author: Various
name: Angela
average rating: 3.58
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
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]]> 57954144 A single Black lawyer puts her career and personal moral code at risk when she moves in with her coffee entrepreneur boyfriend and his doomsday-prepping roommates in a novel that’s packed with tension, curiosity, humor, and wit from a writer with serious comedy credentials.

In the wake of her parents’ death, Aretha, a habitually single Black lawyer, has had only one obsession in life—success—until she falls for Aaron, a coffee entrepreneur. Moving into his Brooklyn brownstone to live along with his Hurricane Sandy-traumatized, illegal-gun-stockpiling, optimized-soy-protein-eating, bunker-building roommates, Aretha finds that her dreams of making partner are slipping away, replaced by an underground world, one of selling guns and training for a doomsday that’s maybe just around the corner.

For readers of Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, and Zakiya Harris’s The Other Black Girl, The Survivalists is a darkly humorous novel from a smart and relevant new literary voice that’s packed with tension, curiosity and wit, and unafraid to ask the questions most relevant to a new generation of Americans: Does it make sense to climb the corporate ladder? What exactly are the politics of gun ownership? And in a world where it’s nearly impossible for young people to earn enough money to afford stable housing, what does it take in order to survive?]]> 299 Kashana Cauley 1593767285 Angela 0 3.03 2023
author: Kashana Cauley
name: Angela
average rating: 3.03
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: ladies-who-read, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 68005500 A darkly comic, boundary-pushing debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.

Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of ‘great works of literature’, but instead mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood films in her flat in London while living off her parents’ generous allowance and discussing the ‘underside of life’ with her best friend, Naima. Then she meets Adam, who has successfully leveraged his savant-level aptitude for languages into an enviable career. At first, this only adds to her sense of inadequacy, but when Adam learns to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret.

Adam tells Anisa about the Centre, an elite, invite-only program that guarantees absolute fluency in any language in just ten days. Sceptical but intrigued, Anisa enrols. Stripped of her belongings and all contact with the outside world, she undergoes the Centre's strange and rigorous processes. But as she enmeshes herself further within the organisation, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the disturbing, hidden cost of its services.

By turns dark, funny, and surreal, and with twists page-turning and shocking, The Centre takes the reader on a journey through Karachi, London, and New Delhi, interrogating the sticky politics of language, translation, and appropriation with biting specificity, and ultimately asking: what price would you be willing to pay for success?]]> 288 Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi Angela 0 3.37 2023
author: Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
name: Angela
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
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]]> 219451919 As Anton’s carefully constructed life begins to disintegrate around him, he’s forced to choose between loyalty to his family and his desires for a different kind of life. When everyone is willing to use someone else to escape the past, it is up to Anton, on the island of Ischia, to face the ghosts that travel close behind him.
Emily St. John Mandel follows up her electric debut with a spellbinding novel of international crime, false identities, the depths and limits of family ties, and the often confusing bonds of love. Taut with suspense, beautifully imagined, full of unexpected corners, desperate choices, betrayals and halftruths with deadly consequences, The Singer’s Gun explores the dangerous territory between one’s moral compass and the heart’s desire.]]> 265 Emily St. John Mandel Angela 3 4.02 2010
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Angela
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
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]]> 219521090 A publishing event ten years in the making—a searing, exquisite new novel by the best-selling and award-winning author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—the story of four women and their loves, longings, and desires.

Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until — betrayed and brokenhearted — she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America – but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.

In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world, Dream Count pulses with emotional urgency and poignant, unflinching observations on the human heart, in language that soars with beauty and power. It confirms Adichie’s status as one of the most exciting and dynamic writers on the literary landscape.]]> 416 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 059380273X Angela 0 3.93 2025
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Angela
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ladies-who-read, quick-reads, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 216857785
Why is Miami…Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns for the first time in twenty-five years to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.

Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world’s most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell’s most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It’s time we took tipping points seriously.]]> 352 Malcolm Gladwell 0316575801 Angela 3 4.03 2024
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Angela
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/10
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]]> 48822628
"Full of intimate details, battling personalities, heated court cases, public persuasion.”??—John Williams, The New York Times

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state bans on gay marriage were unconstitutional, making same-sex unions legal across the United States. But the road to that momentous decision was much longer than many know. In this definitive account, Sasha Issenberg vividly guides us through same-sex marriage’s unexpected path from the unimaginable to the inevitable.

It is a story that begins in Hawaii in 1990, when a rivalry among local activists triggered a sequence of events that forced the state to justify excluding gay couples from marriage. In the White House, one president signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which elevated the matter to a national issue, and his successor tried to write it into the Constitution. Over twenty-five years, the debate played out across the country, from the first legal same-sex weddings in Massachusetts to the epic face-off over California’s Proposition 8 and, finally, to the landmark Supreme Court decisions of United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges . From churches to hedge funds, no corner of American life went untouched.

This richly detailed narrative follows the coast-to-coast conflict through courtrooms and war rooms, bedrooms and boardrooms, to shed light on every aspect of a political and legal controversy that divided Americans like no other. Following a cast of characters that includes those who sought their own right to wed, those who fought to protect the traditional definition of marriage, and those who changed their minds about it, The Engagement is certain to become a seminal book on the modern culture wars.]]> 928 Sasha Issenberg 1524748730 Angela 0 4.24 2021
author: Sasha Issenberg
name: Angela
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: to-read, education, good-trouble, trips-to-the-library, work
review:

]]> 198563717
Come to Paris, August 2021, when the City of Lights was still empty of tourists, and a thirst for long overdue pleasure gripped those who wandered its streets.

After New York City emptied out in March 2020, Glynnis MacNicol, aged 46, unmarried with no children, spent 16 months alone in her tiny Manhattan apartment. The isolation was punishing. A year without touch. Women are warned of invisibility as they age, but this was an extreme loneliness no one can prepare you for. When the opportunity to sublet a friend’s apartment in Paris arose, MacNicol jumped on it. Leaving felt like less of a risk than a necessity.

What follows is a decadent, unexpected journey into one woman’s pursuit of radical enjoyment.

The weeks in Paris are filled with friendship and food and sex. There is dancing on the Seine; a plethora of gooey cheese; midnight bike rides through empty Paris; handsome men; afternoons wandering through the empty Louvre; nighttime swimming in the ocean off a French island. And yes, plenty of nudity.

In the spirit of Deborah Levy and Annie Ernaux, I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself is an intimate, insightful, powerful, and endlessly pleasurable memoir of an intensely lived experience whose meaning and insight expands far beyond the personal narrative. MacNicol is determined to document the beauty, excess, and triumph of a life that does not require permission.

The pursuit of enjoyment is a political act, both a right and a responsibility. Enjoying yourself—as you are—is not something the world tells you is possible, but it is.

Here’s the proof.]]> 288 Glynnis MacNicol 0593655753 Angela 0 3.39 2024
author: Glynnis MacNicol
name: Angela
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: ladies-who-read, rec-by-friend, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 58958034 ?
"Jessie Asya Kanzer is like a Taoist Anne Lamott, and she's written?a practical and?actionable?guide."? —Joel Fotinos, author of The Prosperity Principles

Here are 47 inspirational pieces that are smart, hip, accessible, and rich with insight; Jessie Asya Kanzer’s bite-sized stories of struggle, triumph, and contemplation?provide a quick burst of mindfulness.?Each chapter begins with a verse from the Tao, followed by?sharp observations and anecdotes from her own life?that give the teachings of Lao Tzu applicability to contemporary life. And each chapter concludes with a “Do Your Tao” section that offers an actionable step, leaving the reader with a sense of grounding and fluidity.?
?
Chapters “Success Sucks (Sometimes),” “F*ck This, I'm Water,” “I Love You, I Not Love You,” “The Tao of Babushka,” and “Mystics Wear Leggings”.]]> 256 Jessie Asya Kanzer 1642970352 Angela 0 3.72
author: Jessie Asya Kanzer
name: Angela
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> 408893 104 Thubten Zopa 0861711947 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 4.22 1994
author: Thubten Zopa
name: Angela
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 177186058 From the James Beard Award–winning blogger behind The Everywhereist come hilarious, searing essays on how food and cooking stoke the flames of her feminism.

When celebrity chef Mario Batali sent out an apology letter for the sexual harassment allegations made against him, he had the gall to include a recipe—for cinnamon rolls, of all things. Geraldine DeRuiter decided to make the recipe, making food journalism history along with it. Her subsequent essay, with its scathing commentary about the pervasiveness of misogyny in the food world, would be read millions of times, lauded by industry luminaries from Martha Stewart to The New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells—and it would land DeRuiter in the middle of a media firestorm. She found herself on the receiving end of dozens of threats when all she wanted to do was make something to eat (and okay, maybe also take down the patriarchy).

In If You Can’t Take the Heat, DeRuiter shares stories about her shockingly true, painfully funny (and sometimes just painful) adventures in gastronomy. We’ll learn how she finally got a grip on her debilitating anxiety by emergency meal–planning for the apocalypse. (“You are probably deeply worried that in times of desperation I would eat your pets. And yes, I absolutely would.”) Or how she learned to embrace her hanger. (“Because women can be a lot of things, but we can’t be angry. Or president, apparently.”) And how she inadvertently caused another international incident with a negative restaurant review. (She made it on to the homepage of The New York Times’s website! And got more death threats!)

Deliciously insightful and bitingly clever, If You Can’t Take the Heat is a fresh look at food and feminism from one of the culinary world’s sharpest voices.]]> 316 Geraldine DeRuiter 0593444485 Angela 4 4.05 2024
author: Geraldine DeRuiter
name: Angela
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 5481 Brave New World first appeared in 1932, its shocking analysis of a scientific dictatorship seemed a projection into the remote future. Here, in one of the most important and fascinating books of his career, Aldous Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy. He scrutinizes threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion, and explains why we have found it virtually impossible to avoid them. Brave New World Revisited is a trenchant plea that humankind should educate itself for freedom before it is too late. Brave New World Revisted (first published in 1958) is not a reissue or revision Brave New World. Brave New World is a novel, whereas Brave New World Revisted is a nonfiction exploration of the themes in Brave New World.]]> 123 Aldous Huxley 0060898526 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 3.94 1958
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Angela
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 11299 147 Haruki Murakami Angela 4 3.81 2000
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Angela
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
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]]> 176450755
Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town--except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.

When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present. Edme––who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile––is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate, yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.]]> 290 Scott Alexander Howard 1668015471 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 3.85 2024
author: Scott Alexander Howard
name: Angela
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Angela 0 4.14 2012
author: Hugh Howey
name: Angela
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read, rec-by-friend, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 40796106
There's no shortage of decluttering books on the market, but Lightly is different. It goes beyond decluttering - far beyond - to uplift your thoughts, your actions, every moment and aspect of your life. Learn how to

Lightly is like a recipe book for minimalism, designed so you can dip into it anytime for advice and inspiration. Whether you want to clear out a closet, free up some time, or get rid of a nagging guilt, you can turn to the relevant page for the help you need. Hand-drawn quotes and illustrations make for a beautiful book to keep by your sofa or bedside.

What's more, Lightly is a complete philosophy of life. When you're tempted by an impulse purchase, trying to resist a chocolate donut, or struggling to say no to another obligation, all you have to remember is one word - "lightly" - to boost your resolve and make beautiful choices. It doesn't get any easier than that.

With this book, Francine Jay makes minimalism more doable and delightful than ever. In just minutes a day you can cast off the weight, and glide through life more lightly and gracefully.]]> 256 Francine Jay 1328585034 Angela 0 3.65 2019
author: Francine Jay
name: Angela
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
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]]> 200298052 260 Jim O’Heir 0063293501 Angela 0 3.70 2024
author: Jim O’Heir
name: Angela
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: to-read, improv-nerd, laughs, trips-to-the-library
review:

]]> 51625396 From the duo behind the massively successful and award-winning podcast Stuff You Should Know comes an unexpected look at things you thought you knew.

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant started the podcast Stuff You Should Know back in 2008 because they were curious—curious about the world around them, curious about what they might have missed in their formal educations, and curious to dig deeper on stuff they thought they understood.

As it turns out, they aren't the only curious ones. They've since amassed a rabid fan base, making Stuff You Should Know one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Armed with their inquisitive natures and a passion for sharing, they uncover the weird, fascinating, delightful, or unexpected elements of a wide variety of topics.

The pair have now taken their near-boundless "whys" and "hows" from your earbuds to the pages of a book for the first time—featuring a completely new array of subjects that they’ve long wondered about and wanted to explore. Each chapter is further embellished with snappy visual material to allow for rabbit-hole tangents and digressions—including charts, illustrations, sidebars, and footnotes. Follow along as the two dig into the underlying stories of everything from the origin of Murphy beds, to the history of facial hair, to the psychology of being lost.

Have you ever wondered about the world around you, and wished to see the magic in everyday things? Come get curious with Stuff You Should Know. With Josh and Chuck as your guide, there’s something interesting about everything (…except maybe jackhammers).]]> 297 Josh Clark 1250268516 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 3.90 2020
author: Josh Clark
name: Angela
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 197449225 256 Paul Scheer 0063293714 Angela 4 4.15 2024
author: Paul Scheer
name: Angela
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
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]]> 38746153
“Entrepreneurs will learn a thing or two about translating a dream into thoughtful business growth, and everyone will laugh, cry, and nod along with a woman who has chosen to live an extraordinary life amidst many piles of dishes.” —Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, founder of Shake Shack, author of the New York Times bestseller Setting the Table

In this charming graphic memoir, the founder of an iconic housewares shop recounts the ups and downs—and ups again—of starting a family business, starting a family, and staying true to one’s path while trying to make it in the Big City.

Whether it’s a set of vintage plates from a 1920s steamship, a mug with a New Yorker cartoon on it, a tin of sprinkles designed by Amy Sedaris, or a juice glass from a Jazz Age hotel, Fishs Eddy products are distinctly recognizable. A New York institution, Fishs Eddy also remains a family business whose owners endured the same challenges as many family businesses—and lived to write about it in this tale filled with humorous characterizations of opinionated relatives, nosy neighbors, quirky employees, and above all the eccentric foibles of the founders themselves. Readers come to know author Julie Gaines and her husband, with whom she founded the store, and because this is a family business, the illustrations are all in the family, their son Ben Lenovitz’s drawings bring Fishs Eddy to life with a witty style a la Roz Chast and Ben Katchor.
?
Over the years the store has collaborated with artists and celebrities such as Charley Harper and Todd Oldham, Alan Cumming, and many others to produce original designs that are now found in thousands of stores throughout the country, and Fishs Eddy has garnered a huge amount of media coverage. A great gift for anyone who has ever dreamed of opening a little business—or anyone with any kind of dream— Minding the Store offers wisdom, inspiration, and an exceedingly entertaining story.]]> 176 Julie Gaines 1616206624 Angela 0 3.80 2018
author: Julie Gaines
name: Angela
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
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]]> 204593731 Cynicism is making us sick; Stanford Psychologist Dr. Jamil Zaki has the cure—a “ray of light for dark days” (Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author).? ?

For thousands of years, people have argued about whether humanity is selfish or generous, cruel or kind. But recently, our answers have changed. In 1972, half of Americans agreed that most people can be trusted; by 2018, that figure had fallen to 30%. Different generations, genders, religions, and political parties can’t seem to agree on anything, except that they all think human virtue is evaporating.

Cynicism is a perfectly understandable response to a world full of injustice and inequality. But in many cases, cynicism is misplaced. Dozens of studies find that people fail to realize how kind, generous, and open-minded others really are. And cynical thinking worsens social problems, because our beliefs don’t just interpret the world—they change it. When we expect people to be awful, we coax awfulness out of them. Cynicism is a disease, with a history, symptoms–and a cure. Through science and storytelling, Jamil Zaki imparts the secret for beating back cynicism: hopeful skepticism. This approach doesn’t mean putting our faith in every politician or influencer. It means thinking critically about people and our problems, while simultaneously acknowledging and encouraging our strengths. Far from being na?ve, hopeful skepticism is a more precise way of understanding others, and paying closer attention re-balances how you think about human nature. As more of us do this, we can take steps towards building the world we truly want.]]> 288 Jamil Zaki 153874306X Angela 0 3.87
author: Jamil Zaki
name: Angela
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 59539716 336 Mya-Rose Craig 1787333205 Angela 4 3.95 2022
author: Mya-Rose Craig
name: Angela
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
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]]> 40168 208 Danny Gregory 1401307922 Angela 0 4.00 2005
author: Danny Gregory
name: Angela
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, rec-by-friend, work
review:

]]> 61885062
–Love for Your First Car (“To Buy or Lease”)
–The Truth about Personal Hygiene (“How You Know When It’s Time to Go”)
–Date Nights (“Will You Go Out with Me?”)
–Unfamiliar Hotel Rooms (“Why Nothing Works”)
–Pets (“Cats–Ancient Menace”)
–Drinking (“There’s no Cure for a Hangover”)
–Ducking your Family, even Though you Love Them (“The Lesson of Mark Twain’s Cigars”)

Tom Papa’s books make readers laugh, but–crucially–feel better about themselves while doing it. And while there’s thematic overlap with Papa’s stand-up, with a couple of exceptions, all the writing here is fresh for our book.]]> 256 Tom Papa 1250280095 Angela 0 3.75
author: Tom Papa
name: Angela
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
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]]> 199798580 New York Times bestselling author Ann Leary offers a literary feast of humor and wisdom told from the perspective of a recovering people pleaser.

Having arrived at a certain age (her prime), Ann Leary casts a wry backward glance at a life spent trying—and often failing—to be nice. With wit and surprising candor, Leary recounts the bedlam of home bat invasions, an obsession with online personality tests, and the mortification of taking ballroom dance lessons with her actor husband. She describes hilarious red-carpet fiascos and other observations from the sidelines of fame, while also touching upon her more poignant struggles with alcoholism, her love for her family, her dogs, and so much more.

Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe and revel in the comically relatable chaos of Ann Leary’s life as revealed in this delighful collection of essays.]]> 240 Ann Leary 1982120347 Angela 0 3.76 2024
author: Ann Leary
name: Angela
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/09
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]]> 61286570 406 Stephen Moss 1783352418 Angela 4 3.98 2023
author: Stephen Moss
name: Angela
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/28
date added: 2024/09/28
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]]> 107525918
Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. In this frank and surreal memoir,?she delivers a sharp and often hilarious portrait of neurodivergence and living unmasked.

After reading about autism in her teens, Fern Brady knew instinctively that she had it—autism explained her sensory issues, her meltdowns, her inability to pick up on social cues—and she told her doctor as much. But it took until she was thirty-four for her to get diagnosed.

Strong Female Character is about the years in between, and the unique combination of sexism and ableism that so often prevents autistic women from getting diagnosed until adulthood. Coming from a working-class Scottish Catholic family, Fern wasn’t exactly poised to receive an open-minded acceptance of her neurodivergence. With the piercing clarity and wit that has put her at the top of the British comedy scene, she now reflects on the ways her undiagnosed autism influenced her youth, from the tree that functioned as her childhood best friend to the psychiatric facility where she ended up when neither her parents nor school knew what to do with her.

In a memoir as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Fern leaves no stone unturned while detailing her futile attempts at employment, her increasingly destructive coping mechanisms, and the meltdowns that left her mind (and apartment) in ruins. Her chaotic, nonlinear journey—from stripping to getting arrested to finding a lifeline in comedy to her breakout appearance on the Taskmaster TV show as her full, unmasked self—is both a remarkable coming-of-age tale and a dark but poignant tribute to life at the intersection of womanhood and neurodiversity.

Strong Female Character is a story of how being female can get in the way of being autistic and how being autistic gets in the way of being the 'right kind' of woman.]]> 288 Fern Brady 0593582519 Angela 0 4.37 2023
author: Fern Brady
name: Angela
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/28
date added: 2024/09/28
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]]> 32315541 The Idea Book. The How-to Book. The Everything Book.

It’s the ultimate wedding planning bible from the ultimate wedding planner. From getting engaged to getting to the altar to taking off for your honeymoon to preserving the memories forever, this is the book to help you bring your dream wedding to life, no matter how big or small your budget.

The Wedding Book fashion consultant, menu planner, etiquette expert, and floral designerAn insider source for stretching budgets and negotiating contractsA digital-savvy friend for making the most of Instagram, Etsy, Pinterest, and wedding planning websites and appsA wise shoulder to lean on when sticky family issues come up Whatever the subject—cakes, stationery, dress shopping, lingerie, tents, Uber, insurance, porta-potties, party favors, the toasts, looking great in photos, tipping, and thank-you notes— The Wedding Book has the answer.
Includes lists, schedules, budgeting tools, and timelines.
?]]> 1172 Mindy Weiss 0761189793 Angela 0 to-read 4.11
author: Mindy Weiss
name: Angela
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> 60880804
Learn to conquer the one real hurdle to scaling your company and growing Time

How you use your free time will make or break your success. The secret? It’s not about working harder or finding more time to do work. It’s about designing the freedom to engage in the high-value work that brings you energy and fulfillment. This is at the heart of the message that has made Dan Martell the world’s most popular SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) coach. Now, in his first book, Buy Back Your Time, he teaches entrepreneurs at every level how to scale their business, fast, while avoiding burnout. Trading money for time—that is, literally buying back free space in your calendar—will give you more financial success than you ever dreamed was possible.

With over two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur and founder, Dan Martell will teach you the secrets to work less and play more while building an empire. He’ll dig into the practical steps that will allow you to start buying back time immediately , while also developing operating procedures and hiring practices that will ensure rapid and robust growth. And he will teach you how to invest in your newfound time wisely—at work and at home—so you keep building your empire while living your best life.

Buy Back Your Time is the definitive guide for entrepreneurs at every level on how to succeed in business while enjoying more freedom than you ever imagined.]]> 272 Dan Martell 059342297X Angela 0 to-read 4.39
author: Dan Martell
name: Angela
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> 73702
Tim Parks is anything but a gentleman in Verona. With an Italian wife, an Italian made family, and a whole Italian condominium bubbling around him, he collects a gallery full of splendid characters who initiate us into all the foibles and delights of life in provincial Italy.

More than a travel book, Italian Neighbors is a sparkling, witty, beautifully observed tale of how the most curious people and places gradually assume the familiarity of home. Italian Neighbors is a rare work that manages to be both a portrait and an invitation for everyone who has ever dreamed about Italy.]]> 280 Tim Parks 0802140343 Angela 0 3.74 1985
author: Tim Parks
name: Angela
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> 58438595
Suddenly, Owen is forced to flee the home that had once felt so confining and hide in plain sight with his uncle and cousin in Washington. There, he feels the joy of finding a family among friends; of sharing the bird in his chest and being embraced fully; of falling in love and feeling the devastating heartbreak of rejection before finding a spark of happiness in the most unexpected place; of living his truth regardless of how hard the thieves of joy may try to tear him down. But the threat of the Army of Acronyms is a constant, looming presence, making Owen wonder if he’ll ever find a way out of the cycle of fear.

A heartbreaking yet hopeful novel about the things that make us unique and lovable, The Boy with a Bird in His Chest grapples with the fear, depression, and feelings of isolation that come with believing that we will never be loved, let alone accepted, for who we truly are, and learning to live fully and openly regardless.]]> 308 Emme Lund 1982171936 Angela 0 to-read, rec-by-friend 3.71 2022
author: Emme Lund
name: Angela
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read, rec-by-friend
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]]> 50271308 Move on, Motherf*cker (MOMF)! With MOMF, you'll learn to manage worry and anxiety, put a stop to unhelpful internal dialogue, and approach new situations with humor, levity, and perspective. You'll also find real tools to help you: set personal and professional boundaries; identify toxic or codependent relationships; become assertive without being aggressive; and stop seeking perfection. So, stop letting your inner voice tear you down. With this fun and effective guide, you'll learn how to take control of your negative thoughts and get back to living your best life.]]> 168 Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt 1684034868 Angela 0 3.57
author: Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt
name: Angela
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/29
date added: 2024/08/31
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]]> 199893191
The calendar. The Senate. The university. The piano, the heliocentric model, and the pizzeria. It’s hard to imagine a world without Italian influence—and easy to assume that inventions like these could only come from a strong, stable peninsula, sure of itself and its place in the world. In this breakneck history, bestselling author Ross King dismantles this assumption, uncovering the story of a land rife with inner uncertainty even as its influence spread.

As the Italian tale unfolds, prosperity and power fluctuate like the elevation in the Dolomites. If Rome’s seven hills could talk, they might speak of the time of Trajan, when nearly one million people lived in a glorious version of The Eternal City—or they might bemoan the absence of life five hundred years later, when conquest and the Bubonic Plague brought Rome’s population below forty thousand. Widely known episodes of wealth like the First Triumvirate and the time of the Medicis are given fresh life alongside thorough descriptions of other periods less heralded, but equally The Middle Ages, the early days of Venice, the invasion of Napoleon, and the long struggle for unification. Along the way, King

Why the fall of the Romans was not quite a bang or a whimperWhy the years called the “Dark Ages” more than deserve their nameHow a unique baptism led to the proliferation of the caféHow a small-town secretary became the principal founder of FascismWith illustrations and maps to reinforce key details, King paints a colorful, fascinating picture of a country that has been through it all—a place that remains compelling not just to tens of millions of Italian Americans, but to the millions of Americans who visit Italy every year.]]> 274 Ross King 1891011464 Angela 4 abroad, trips-to-the-library 4.00
author: Ross King
name: Angela
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/21
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: abroad, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 40163119
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.

Patrick Radden Keefe writes an intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.]]> 441 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385521316 Angela 0 4.47 2018
author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: Angela
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves: to-read, rec-by-friend, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 155383
In ihrem zweiten Band zum Thema Hochsensibilit?t erl?utert Elaine N. Aron wichtige Fragen: Welche Gefühle werden ausgel?st, wenn sich Hochsensible verlieben? Wodurch kann Stress reduziert werden? Wie k?nnen beide Partner voneinander profitieren - egal, ob einer oder beide hochsensibel sind.]]> 261 Elaine N. Aron 0767903366 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 3.87 2000
author: Elaine N. Aron
name: Angela
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
review:

]]> 40191067 208 Joe Navarro 0008292604 Angela 3 quick-reads 3.67
author: Joe Navarro
name: Angela
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/07
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: quick-reads
review:

]]> 58725025
What follows is a story of wonder and betrayal, from the gaslit streets of London, and the wooden theaters of Meiji-era Tokyo, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh where other children with gifts--like Komako, a witch-child and twister of dust, and Ribs, a girl who cloaks herself in invisibility--are forced to combat the forces that threaten their safety. There, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. With this new found family, Komako, Marlowe, Charlie, Ribs, and the rest of the Talents discover the truth about their abilities. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, a new question arises: What truly defines a monster?

Riveting in its scope, exquisitely written, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world--and of the gifted, broken children who must save it.]]> 672 J.M. Miro 1250833663 Angela 0 3.75 2022
author: J.M. Miro
name: Angela
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read, rec-by-friend, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 59095820
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a veteran of the infamous Stonewall Riots, a former sex worker, and a transgender elder and activist who has survived Bellevue psychiatric hospital, Attica Prison, the HIV/AIDS crisis and a world that white supremacy has built. She has shared tips with other sex workers in the nascent drag ball scene of the late 1960s, and helped found one of America’s first needle exchange clinics from the back of her van.

Miss Major Speaks is both document of her brilliant life–told with intimacy, warmth and an undeniable levity-and a roadmap for the challenges black, brown, queer and trans youth will face on the path to liberation today.

Her incredible story of a life lived and a world survived becomes a conduit for larger questions about the riddle of collective liberation. For a younger generation, she warns about the traps of ‘representation,’ the politics of 'self-care,' and the frequent dead-ends of non-profit organizing; for all of us, she is a strike against those who would erase these histories of struggle.

Miss Major offers something that cannot be found an affirmation that our vision for freedom can and must be more expansive than those on offer by mainstream institutions.]]> 176 Major Griffin-Gracy Angela 0 4.66 2023
author: Major Griffin-Gracy
name: Angela
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: to-read, education, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 59788339
In None of the Above, Travis Alabanza examines seven phrases people have directed at them about their gender identity. These phrases have stayed with them over the years. Some are deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or offensive, some celebratory; sentences that have impacted them for better and for worse; sentences that speak to the broader issues raised by a world that insists that gender must be a binary.

Through these seven phrases, which include some of their most transformative experiences as a Black, mixed race, non binary person, Travis Alabanza turns a mirror back on society, giving us reason to question the very framework in which we live and the ways we treat each other.]]> Travis Alabanza Angela 0 4.37 2022
author: Travis Alabanza
name: Angela
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: to-read, education, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 63112620 Revolution Is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation is the powerful and celebratory visual record of a contemporary activist movement in New York City, and a moving testament to the enduring power of photography in activism, advocacy, and community.

In June 2020, after a Black trans woman in Missouri and a Black trans man in Florida were killed just weeks apart, activists Qween Jean and Joela Rivera returned to the historic Stonewall Inn—site of the 1969 riots that launched the modern gay rights movement—where they initiated weekly actions known thereafter as the Stonewall Protests. Brought together by the urgent need to center Black trans and queer lives within the Black Lives Matter movement, a vibrant and radical community emerged.

Over the following year, the Stonewall Protests brought together thousands of people across communities and social movements to gather in solidarity, resistance, and communion. Each Thursday was an invitation for protests, healing, and celebration—whether through marches, voguing balls, or vigil—and a living testament to love in revolution. This book gathers twenty-four photographers who participated in these actions to share images and words on the demonstrations and their community at large, preserving this legacy as it unfolded. Through photographs, interviews, and text, Revolution Is Love celebrates the power of shared joy and struggle in trans community and liberation.

Featuring images and text by Ramie Ahmed, Lucy Baptiste, Budi, Brandon English, Deb Fong, Snake Garcia, Stas Ginzburg, Katie Godowski, Robert Hamada, Chae Kihn, Zak Krevitt, Erica Lansner, Daniel Lehrhaupt, Caroline Mardok, Ryan McGinley, Josh Pacheco, Jarrett Robertson, Phoenix Robles, Souls of a Movement, Madison Swart, Cindy Trinh, Sean Waltrous, Ruvan Wijesooriya, and David Zung]]> 224 Qween Jean 1597115304 Angela 0 4.79
author: Qween Jean
name: Angela
average rating: 4.79
book published:
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]]> 65214654 A passionate, powerful memoir by a trailblazing Black transgender activist, tracing her life of transformation and her work towards collective liberation.

In 2017, Raquel Willis took to the National Women’s March podium just after the presidential election of Donald Trump, primed to tell her story as a young Black transgender woman from the South. Despite having her speaking time cut short, the appearance only deepened her commitment to speaking up for communities on the margins.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, to Black Catholic parents, Raquel spent years feeling isolated, even within a loving, close-knit family. There was little access to understanding what it meant to be queer and transgender. It wasn’t until she went to the University of Georgia that she found the LGBTQ+ community, fell in love, and explored her gender for the first time. But the unexpected death of her father forced her to examine her relationship with herself and those she loved. These years of grief, misunderstanding, and hard-won epiphanies seeped into the soil of her life, serving as fertilizer for growth and allowing her to bloom within.

Upon graduation, Raquel entered a career in journalism against the backdrop of the burgeoning Movement for Black Lives, intersectional feminism going mainstream, and unprecedented visibility of the trans community. After hiding her identity as a newspaper reporter, her increasing awareness of the epidemic of violence plaguing trans women of color and the heightened suicide of trans teens inspired her to come out publicly. Within just a few short years of community organizing in Atlanta, Oakland, and New York, Raquel emerged as one of the most formidable Black trans activists in history.

In The Risk It Takes to Bloom, Raquel Willis recounts with passion and candor her experiences straddling the Obama and Trump eras, the possibility of transformation after tragedy, and how complex moments can push us all to take necessary risks and bloom toward collective liberation.]]> 384 Raquel Willis 1250275687 Angela 0 4.29 2023
author: Raquel Willis
name: Angela
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: to-read, education, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 65215002
" Comedy Book changes the way we talk about an art form that is more diverse and exciting than ever before.” ―Seth Meyers "A sharp, loving, well written exploration and analysis of the art form that makes us smile, helps us relate, and is perpetually mysterious." ―Jenny Slate

From a beloved comedy critic, a wisecracking, heartfelt, and overdue chronicle of comedy’s boom―and its magic.

Comedy is king. From multimillion-dollar TV specials to sold-out stand-up shows and TikTok stardom, comedy has never been more popular, democratized, or influential. Comedians have become organizing forces across culture―as trusted as politicians and as fawned-over as celebrities―yet comedy as an art form has gone under-considered throughout its history, even as it has ascended as a cultural force.

In Comedy Book , Jesse David Fox―the country’s most definitive voice in comedy criticism and someone who, in his own words, “enjoys comedy maybe more than anyone on this planet"―tackles everything you need to know about comedy. Weaving together history and analysis, Fox unravels the genre’s political legacy through an ode to Jon Stewart, interrogates the divide between highbrow and lowbrow via Adam Sandler, and unpacks how marginalized comics create spaces for their communities. Along the way, Fox covers everything from comedy in the age of political correctness and Will Smith’s slap to the right wing’s relationship with comedy and, for Fox, comedy’s ability to heal personal tragedy.

With memorable cameos from Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney, Ali Wong, Kate Berlant, and countless others, Comedy Book is an eye-opening education in how to engage with our most omnipresent art form, a riotous history of American pop culture, and a love letter to laughter.]]> 368 Jesse David Fox 0374604711 Angela 4 3.5 stars 4.15 2023
author: Jesse David Fox
name: Angela
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/23
date added: 2024/07/23
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3.5 stars
]]> 123204507 Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.]]> 288 Rob Harvilla 1538759462 Angela 0 3.88 2023
author: Rob Harvilla
name: Angela
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 209192695 From the bestselling author of Norwegian Wood and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World comes a love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for our peculiar times.

We begin with a nameless young couple: a boy and a girl, teenagers in love. One day, she disappears . . . and her absence haunts him for the rest of his life.

Thus begins a search for this lost love that takes the man into middle age and on a journey between the real world and an other world—a mysterious, perhaps imaginary, walled town where unicorns roam, where a Gatekeeper determines who can enter and who must remain behind, and where shadows become untethered from their selves. Listening to his own dreams and premonitions, the man leaves his life in Tokyo behind and ventures to a small mountain town, where he becomes the head librarian, only to learn the mysterious circumstances surrounding the gentleman who had the job before him. As the seasons pass and the man grows more uncertain about the porous boundaries between these two worlds, he meets a strange young boy who helps him to see what he’s been missing all along.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a singular and towering achievement by one of modern literature’s most important writers.]]> 449 Haruki Murakami 0593801970 Angela 0 to-read 3.72 2023
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Angela
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> 943712 205 Corita Kent 0553344455 Angela 0 4.25 1992
author: Corita Kent
name: Angela
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, education, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 1721026 672 Mel Watkins 1556523513 Angela 0 4.32 1995
author: Mel Watkins
name: Angela
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, improv-nerd, laughs, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 24886657
Starting with the vaudeville circuit at the turn of the last century, Nesteroff introduces the first stand-up comedian—an emcee who abandoned physical shtick for straight jokes. After the repeal of Prohibition, Mafia-run supper clubs replaced speakeasies, and mobsters replaced vaudeville impresarios as the comedian’s primary employer. In the 1950s, the late-night talk show brought stand-up to a wide public, while Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Jonathan Winters attacked conformity and staged a comedy rebellion in coffeehouses. From comedy’s part in the Civil Rights movement and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, to the first comedy clubs of the 1970s and the cocaine-fueled comedy boom of the 1980s, The Comedians culminates with a new era of media-driven celebrity in the twenty-first century.]]> 432 Kliph Nesteroff 0802123988 Angela 0 3.96 2015
author: Kliph Nesteroff
name: Angela
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, improv-nerd, laughs, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 13538700 More than fifty years of iconic comediennes, unmediated and unfiltered

In January 2007, Vanity Fair published an essay by Christopher Hitchens called “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” It was incendiary, much-discussed, and—as proven by Yael Kohen’s fascinating oral history—totally wrongheaded.

In We Killed, Kohen assembles America’s most prominent comediennes (and the writers, producers, nightclub owners, and colleagues who revolved around them) to piece together the revolution that happened to (and by) women in American comedy. We start in the 1950s, when comic success meant ridiculing and desexualizing yourself. Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller emerged as America’s favorite frustrated ladies; the joke was always on them. The Sixties saw the appearance of smart, edgy comediennes (Elaine May, Lily Tomlin), and the women’s movement brought a new wave of radicals: the women of SNL, tough-ass stand-ups, and a more independent breed on TV (Mary Tyler Moore and her sisters). There were battles to fight and preconceptions to shake before we could get to where we finally are: in a world where women (like Tina Fey, or, whether you like them or not, Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler) can be smart, attractive, sexually confident—and most of all, flat-out funny.

Like all revolutions, it’s suffered false starts and backslides. But it’s been a remarkable trip, as the more than?one hundred?people interviewed for this riveting oral history make clear. With a chorus of creative voices and often hilarious storytelling, We Killed is essential cultural and social history.]]> 336 Yael Kohen 0374287236 Angela 0 3.69 2012
author: Yael Kohen
name: Angela
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, improv-nerd, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 54303191
If you've been feeling lost lately, you're not alone! Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans were experiencing record levels of loneliness and anxiety. And in our current political turmoil, it's safe to say that people are looking for new tools to help them feel more present, positive, and in sync with the world. So what better way to get there than play?

In Play Your Way Sane, Dr. Clay Drinko offers 120 low-key, accessible activities that draw on the popular principles of improv comedy to help you tackle your everyday stress and reconnect with the people around you. Divided into twelve fun sections, including "Killing Debbie Downer" and "Thou Shalt Not Be Judgy," the games emphasize openness, reciprocation, and active listening as the keys to a mindful and satisfying life. Whether you're looking to improve your personal relationships, find new meaning at work, or just survive our trying times, Play Your Way Sane offers serious self-help with a side of Second City sass.]]> 224 Clay Drinko 1982169222 Angela 0 3.93 2021
author: Clay Drinko
name: Angela
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/08
date added: 2024/07/08
shelves: education, laughs, trips-to-the-library, work, creative-endeavors, improv-nerd
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]]> 123027172
Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL. Whether I’m talking about my childhood growing up in the South, my early stand-up days driving from gig to gig through the darkest parts of our country and praying I wouldn’t get murdered, what Chris Rock told Lorne Michaels, that time I wanted to shoot Whoopi Goldberg on SNL, and yeah, I’ll tell you all about Ghostbusters and the nudes and Supermarket Sweep and The Daily Show . . . I’m sharing it all in these pages. It’s not easy being a woman in comedy, especially when you’re a tall-*ss Black woman with a trumpet voice. I have to fight so that no one takes me for granted, and no one takes advantage. These are the stories that explain why. (Cue the Law & Order theme.)]]> 288 Leslie Jones 1538706490 Angela 0 4.09 2023
author: Leslie Jones
name: Angela
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/05
date added: 2024/07/06
shelves: creative-endeavors, improv-nerd, laughs, quick-reads
review:

]]> 61484888 Brian "Box" Brown brings history and culture to life through his comics. In his new graphic novel, he unravels how marketing that targeted children in the 1980s has shaped adults in the present.

Powered by the advent of television and super-charged by the deregulation era of the 1980s, media companies and toy manufacturers joined forces to dominate the psyches of American children. But what are the consequences when a developing brain is saturated with the same kind of marketing bombardment found in Red Scare propaganda?

Brian "Box" Brown's The He-Man Effect shows how corporate manipulation brought muscular, accessory-stuffed action figures to dizzying heights in the 1980s and beyond. Bringing beloved brands like He-Man, Transformers, My Little Pony, and even Mickey Mouse himself into the spotlight, this graphic history exposes a world with no rules and no concern for results beyond profit.]]> 272 Brian "Box" Brown 1250261406 Angela 4 4.02 2023
author: Brian "Box" Brown
name: Angela
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
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]]> 112974860 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person in order to foster deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives—from the author of The Road to Character and The Second Mountain

As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”

And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?

Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception.

The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly creative: How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them, and in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.]]> 304 David Brooks 059323006X Angela 4 4.09 2023
author: David Brooks
name: Angela
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/06/18
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review:

]]> 6282334
Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the enduring classic Mountains Beyond Mountains, has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” In this new book, Kidder gives us the superb story of a hero for our time. Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him – a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.

Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness.

An extraordinary writer, Tracy Kidder once again shows us what it means to be fully human by telling a story about the heroism inherent in ordinary people, a story about a life based on hope.]]> 277 Tracy Kidder 1400066212 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 4.03 2000
author: Tracy Kidder
name: Angela
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 51710349 Harvard University’s Joseph Henrich, Chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, delivers a bold, epic investigation into the development of the Western mind, global psychological diversity, and its impact on the world

Perhaps you are raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you’re rather psychologically peculiar.

Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselves—their attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations—over their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries? Did these differences have an impact on the development of the laws, economic systems, and governments that now dominate the world?

In W.E.I.R.D. Minds, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world.

Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details, W.E.I.R.D. Minds explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history.]]> 706 Joseph Henrich 0374710457 Angela 0 4.12 2020
author: Joseph Henrich
name: Angela
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/18
shelves: to-read, abroad, education, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 1127067
Written by Daniel Nettle--author of the popular book Happiness--this brief volume takes the reader on an exhilarating tour of what modern science can tell us about human personality. Revealing that our personalities stem from our biological makeup, Nettle looks at the latest findings from genetics and brain science, and considers the evolutionary origins and consequences of different personalities. The heart of the book sheds light on the "big five": Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientious, Agreeableness, and Openness. Using a stimulating blend of true-life stories and scientific research, Nettle explains why we have something deep and consistent within us that determines the choices we make and situations we bring about. He addresses such questions as why members of the same family differ so markedly in their natures? What is the best personality to have--a bold one or a shy one, an aggressive one or a meek one? And are you stuck with your personality, or can you change it? Life, Nettle concludes, is partly the business of finding a niche where your personality works for you. "It is a question of choosing the right pond," he notes, "and being mindful of the dangers." There is no ideal personality to have. Every disposition brings both advantages and disadvantages.

Full of human wisdom as well as scientific insight, this book illuminates the pluses and minuses of personality, offering practical advice about living with the nature you were born with. It even includes a questionnaire so that you can assess yourself.]]> 304 Daniel Nettle 0199211426 Angela 0 3.88 2007
author: Daniel Nettle
name: Angela
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves: to-read, education, trips-to-the-library, work
review:

]]> 15014
When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences; or read Crucial Conversations and discover how to communicate best when it matters most. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to:

Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique
Make it safe to talk about almost anything
Be persuasive, not abrasive
Keep listening when others blow up or clam up
Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want]]> 240 Kerry Patterson 0071401946 Angela 0 4.04 2002
author: Kerry Patterson
name: Angela
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves: to-read, education, good-trouble, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 55711592
That’s what “high conflict” does. It’s the invisible hand of our time. And it’s different from the useful friction of healthy conflict. That’s good conflict, and it’s a necessary force that pushes us to be better people.

High conflict, by contrast, is what happens when discord distills into a good-versus-evil kind of feud, the kind with an us and a them . In this state, the normal rules of engagement no longer apply. The brain behaves differently. We feel increasingly certain of our own superiority and, at the same time, more and more mystified by the other side.

New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist Amanda Ripley investigates how good people get captured by high conflict—and how they break free.

Our journey begins in California, where a world-renowned conflict expert struggles to extract himself from a political feud. Then we meet a Chicago gang leader who dedicates his life to a vendetta—only to find himself working beside the man who killed his childhood idol. Next, we travel to Colombia, to find out whether thousands of people can be nudged out of high conflict at scale. Finally, we return to America to see what happens when a group of liberal Manhattan Jews and conservative Michigan corrections officers choose to stay in each other’s homes in order to understand one another better.

All these people, in dramatically different situations, were drawn into high conflict by similar forces, including conflict entrepreneurs, humiliation, and false binaries. But ultimately, all of them found ways to transform high conflict into something good, something that made them better people. They rehumanized and recatego?rized their opponents, and they revived curiosity and wonder, even as they continued to fight for what they knew was right.

People do escape high conflict. Individuals—even entire communities—can short-circuit the feedback loops of outrage and blame, if they want to. This is a mind-opening new way to think about conflict that will transform how we move through the world.]]> 368 Amanda Ripley 1982128569 Angela 0 4.26 2021
author: Amanda Ripley
name: Angela
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/16
shelves: to-read, education, good-trouble, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 28257714
When someone you know is hurting, you want to let her know that you care. But many people don’t know what words to use—or are afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. This thoughtful, instructive guide, from empathy expert Dr. Kelsey Crowe and greeting card maverick Emily McDowell, blends well-researched, actionable advice with the no-nonsense humor and the signature illustration style of McDowell's immensely popular Empathy Cards, to help you feel confident in connecting with anyone experiencing grief, loss, illness, or any other difficult situation.

Written in a how-to, relatable, we’ve-all-been-that-deer-in-the-headlights kind of way, There Is No Good Card for This isn’t a spiritual treatise on how to make you a better person or a scientific argument about why compassion matters. It is a helpful illustrated guide to effective compassion that takes you, step by step by step, past the paralysis of thinking about someone in a difficult time to actually doing something (or nothing) with good judgment instead of fear.

There Is No Good Card for This features workbook exercises, sample dialogs, and real-life examples from Dr. Crowe’s research, including her popular "Empathy Bootcamps" that give people tools for building relationships when it really counts. Whether it’s a coworker whose mother has died, a neighbor whose husband has been in a car accident, or a friend who is seriously ill, There Is No Good Card for This teaches you how to be the best friend you can be to someone in need.]]> 272 Kelsey Crowe 0062470000 Angela 0 to-read 4.18 2017
author: Kelsey Crowe
name: Angela
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> 53229565
And things are about to get even tougher. No sooner has Teagan chased off one psychotic kid hell-bent on trashing the whole West Coast, but now she has to contend with another supernatural being who can harness devastating electrical power. And if Teagan can’t stop him, the whole of Los Angeles will be facing the sh*tstorm of the century…]]> 496 Jackson Ford Angela 0 3.5 stars 3.96 2021
author: Jackson Ford
name: Angela
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars
]]> 6414344
Finally realizing a long-held desire to learn first-hand the experience of restaurant cooking, Buford soon finds himself drowning in improperly cubed carrots and scalding pasta water on his quest to learn the tricks of the trade. His love of Italian food then propels him further to Italy, to discover the secrets of pasta-making and, finally, how to properly slaughter a pig. Throughout, Buford stunningly details the complex aspects of Italian cooking and its long history, creating an engrossing and visceral narrative stuffed with insight and humor. The result is a hilarious, self-deprecating, and fantasically entertaining journey into the heart of the Italian kitchen.]]> 384 Bill Buford 1400043751 Angela 0 4.02 2006
author: Bill Buford
name: Angela
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> 195888511
Is the Constitution a living document that needs to evolve with the times? Or should we try to divine the original meaning that our Founding Fathers intended, and hew to that as strictly as possible, as present-day originalists suggest?

In The Year of Living Constitutionally , A.J. Jacobs tries to get inside the minds of the Founding Fathers by living as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution. He exercises his Second Amendment rights by marching around Manhattan with a colonial musket. He asserts his right to free speech by writing his opinions on parchment and handing them out in Times Square. He turns his home into a traditional 1790s household by lighting candles, boiling mutton, and—because women were not allowed to sign contracts—taking over the household finances from his much more business-savvy wife.

The book blends unforgettable adventures—traveling to the Capitol to personally deliver a list of grievances to Congress, consenting to quarter soldiers in his apartment, and battling Redcoats as part of a Revolutionary War reenactment group--with dozens of interviews from constitutional experts from both sides of the debate. Much like he did with the Bible in The Year of Living Biblically , Jacobs provides a crash course on our Constitution as he experiences the benefits and perils of living like it’s the 1790s. In the process, he showcases the potentially dangerous effects originalism has on our democracy as well as the progress we’ve made since the time of its writing in 1789, when, for instance, life expectancy was forty-five years and married women couldn’t own property.

Now more than ever, Americans need to understand the meaning and value of the Constitution. As conservative politicians and Supreme Court Justices continue to argue for a more literal interpretation of the Constitution, A.J. Jacobs provides an entertaining yet illuminating look into how this storied document fits into our democracy today.]]> 304 A.J. Jacobs 0593136748 Angela 0 3.99 2024
author: A.J. Jacobs
name: Angela
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: to-read, laughs, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 142538 The Dark Heart of Italy is Jones's account of his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula.

Jones writes not just about Italy's art, climate, and cuisine but also about the much livelier and stranger sides of the Bel Paese: the language, soccer, Catholicism, cinema, television, and terrorism. Why, he wonders, does the parliament need a "slaughter commission"? Why do bombs still explode every time politics start getting serious? Why does everyone urge him to go home as soon as possible, saying that Italy is a "brothel"? Most of all, why does one man, Silvio Berlusconi-in the words of a famous song-appear to own everything from Padre Nostro (Our Father) to Cosa Nostra (the Mafia)?

The Italy that emerges from Jones's travels is a country scarred by civil wars and "illustrious corpses"; a country that is proudly visual rather than verbal, based on aesthetics rather than ethics; a country where crime is hardly ever followed by punishment; a place of incredible illusionism, where it is impossible to distinguish fantasy from reality and fact from fiction.]]> 314 Tobias Jones 0865477248 Angela 0 3.70 2003
author: Tobias Jones
name: Angela
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/25
shelves: to-read, abroad, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 30285138 what’s shared can never be unshared.

An allegory inspired by the grisly neo-fascist campaigns of its day, The Twenty Days of Turin has enjoyed a fervent cult following in Italy for forty years. Now, in a fretful new age of "lone-wolf" terrorism fueled by social media, we can find uncanny resonances in Giorgio De Maria’s vision of mass fear: a mute, palpitating dread that seeps into every moment of daily existence. With its stunning anticipation of the Internet—and the apocalyptic repercussions of oversharing—this bleak, prescient story is more disturbingly pertinent than ever.

Brilliantly translated into English for the first time by Ramon Glazov, The Twenty Days of Turin establishes De Maria’s place among the literary ranks of Italo Calvino and beside classic horror masters such as Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. Hauntingly imaginative, with visceral prose that chills to the marrow, the novel is an eerily clairvoyant magnum opus, long overdue but ever timely.]]> 224 Giorgio De Maria 1631492292 Angela 0 3.72 1977
author: Giorgio De Maria
name: Angela
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/25
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]]> 60436168
The River Po is the longest river in Italy, travelling for 650 kilometres from its source in the Alps across the entire width of the peninsula until it reaches the Adriatic Sea in the east. Flowing through 13 provinces and 180 local councils, it is a part of the national psyche, as iconic to Italy as the Thames is to England or the Mississippi to the USA.

This mighty river creates a formidable barrier and its banks have witnessed not only Italian history – the battle of Ticinus between Hannibal and Scipio, the Battle of the Po in 1431, Operation Grapeshot in 1945 – but also the clash of natural and human history. At the Po's delta is an astonishing nature reserve: a wetland swamp of 380 square kilometres and 450 different lakes.

In The Po, Tobias Jones travels the length of the river gathering its stories: its battles, crimes, characters, cuisines, histories, industries and inventions. He visits towns made famous for their sporting legacy, birthplaces of the greatest Italian writers and composers and rediscovers Italy's unusual industries and agricultures; from the marble mines of Paesana that provided the raw materials for the Renaissance to the paddy fields of risotto rice at Chivasso.

Whether tasting the wines of the Po valley, sampling the steamy crucible of bagna cauda or hearing the legend of Aleramo, Tobias Jones gives us a feel for what it's like to live in Italy: an eclectic assault on the senses and on the emotions.]]> 276 Tobias Jones 1786697394 Angela 0 3.65 2022
author: Tobias Jones
name: Angela
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/25
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]]> 1108953 Celebrating New Orleans' food culture, one specialty at a time.

A cocktail is more than a segue to dinner when it's a Sazerac, an anise-laced drink of rye whiskey and bitters indigenous to New Orleans. For Wisconsin native Sara Roahen, a Sazerac is also a fine accompaniment to raw oysters, a looking glass into the cocktail culture of her own family and one more way to gain a foothold in her beloved adopted city. Roahen's stories of personal discovery introduce readers to New Orleans' well-known signatures: gumbo, po-boys, red beans and rice, and its lesser-known gems: the pho of its Vietnamese immigrants, the braciolone of its Sicilians, and the ya-ka-mein of its street culture. By eating and cooking her way through a place as unique and unexpected as its infamous turducken, Roahen finds a home. And then Katrina. With humor, poignancy, and hope, she conjures up a city that reveled in its food traditions before the storm – and in many ways has been saved by them since.]]> 294 Sara Roahen 0393061671 Angela 0 to-read, trips-to-the-library 3.96 2008
author: Sara Roahen
name: Angela
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library
review:

]]> 32051836 122 Cynthia Caughey Angela 0 3.69
author: Cynthia Caughey
name: Angela
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/19
date added: 2024/05/20
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]]> 52089304
A young boy with the ability to cause earthquakes has come to Los Angeles – home to the San Andreas, one of the most lethal fault lines in the world. If Teagan can’t stop him, the entire city – and the rest of California – could be wiped off the map.]]> 300 Jackson Ford Angela 4 4.04 2020
author: Jackson Ford
name: Angela
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 15799151
Franz Kafka, frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.”
?
Kafka is one of 161 minds who describe their daily rituals to get their work done, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his “male configurations”.... Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day ... Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced “every pleasure imaginable.”

Here are: Anthony Trollope, who demanded of himself that each morning he write three thousand words (250 words every fifteen minutes for three hours) before going off to his job at the postal service, which he kept for thirty-three years during the writing of more than two dozen books ... Karl Marx ... Woody Allen ... Agatha Christie ... George Balanchine, who did most of his work while ironing ... Leo Tolstoy ... Charles Dickens ... Pablo Picasso ... George Gershwin, who, said his brother Ira, worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers....

Here also are the daily rituals of Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, John Updike, Twyla Tharp, Benjamin Franklin, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Anne Rice, and Igor Stravinsky (he was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to “clear the brain”).]]> 278 Mason Currey 0307273601 Angela 0 3.67 2013
author: Mason Currey
name: Angela
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/05/15
shelves: creative-endeavors, trips-to-the-library, work
review:

]]> 40891690 From the bestselling author of A More Beautiful Question, hundreds of big and small questions that harness the magic of inquiry to tackle challenges we all face--at work, in our relationships, and beyond. When confronted with almost any demanding situation, the act of questioning can help guide us to smart decisions. By asking questions, we can analyze, learn, and move forward in the face of uncertainty. But "questionologist" Warren Berger says that the questions must be the right ones; the ones that cut to the heart of complexity or enable us to see an old problem in a fresh way. In The Book of Beautiful Questions, Berger shares illuminating stories and compelling research on the power of inquiry. Drawn from the insights and expertise of psychologists, innovators, effective leaders, and some of the world's foremost creative thinkers, he presents the essential questions readers need to make the best choices when it truly counts, with a particular focus in four key decision-making, creativity, leadership, and relationships. The powerful questions in this book can help Identify opportunities in your career or industry- Generate fresh ideas in business or in your own creative pursuits- Check your biases so you can make better judgments and decisions- Do a better job of communicating and connecting with the people around you Thoughtful, provocative, and actionable, these beautiful questions can be applied immediately to bring about change in your work or your everyday life.]]> 274 Warren Berger 1632869586 Angela 0 4.27 2018
author: Warren Berger
name: Angela
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/12
date added: 2024/05/12
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]]> 2181828 222 Raymond Flower 1558681655 Angela 0 3.00 1994
author: Raymond Flower
name: Angela
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/11
date added: 2024/05/11
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]]> 59575968
Is there an Italian way to deal with life? Can we all learn something from the Italians?

Italy often arouses in Americans a unique mix of attraction and bafflement, moderate disapproval and incredible allure. From the Italians' love of poetry to an innate desire to socialize to the regional differences between the north and the south, Beppe Severgnini, who has dedicated his career to the meticulous observation of his compatriots, embarks on an enthralling quest to identify a core Italian identity and explore how that identity has evolved since the global pandemic.

Told with the warmth and humor of a longtime friend, Severgnini touches upon patience, endurance, and wisdom, and offers a one-of-a-kind set of timeless lessons for overcoming trials, the Italian way.]]> 224 Beppe Severgnini 0593315634 Angela 0 3.19
author: Beppe Severgnini
name: Angela
average rating: 3.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
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]]> 59847689
Yes, the cover of this book looks a lot like the one Del Griffith (John Candy) is reading at the New York airport in the 1987 movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. A strikingly similar book also appears in 2018's Deadpool 2. It was long believed that this was a prop book. But it was a real book published in the 1980s and from a company that went out of business before the end of the decade.

This re-imagined incarnation of The Canadian Mounted explores the use of this prop book and many other intriguing, insightful and entertaining behind-the-scenes details as they relate to the classic 1987 John Hughes film.

Created for fans of the movie and of John Hughes, this book explores and shares stories related to the writing and making of the film, curious tales and collected trivia associated with it, including:

The incident that inspired Hughes to write the original script
Del-isms
The film's eclectic sound-track
Missing Oxford commas
Deleted scenes
Ryan Reynolds' adoration of fellow Canadian John Candy
General trivia
And more...

If you love and regularly re-watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles, then this is a book you must read.]]> 192 Mark Leslie 1989351646 Angela 4 4.24
author: Mark Leslie
name: Angela
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/27
date added: 2024/04/27
shelves:
review:
Great trivia and stories - a quick and wonderful read for anyone who is a fan of the movie, John Candy, and John Hughes.
]]> 725923 220 Maria Laurino 0393321959 Angela 0 to-read, family-ties 3.87 2000
author: Maria Laurino
name: Angela
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/27
shelves: to-read, family-ties
review:

]]> 20663711 320 Maria Laurino 0393241297 Angela 0 to-read, family-ties 4.23 2014
author: Maria Laurino
name: Angela
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/27
shelves: to-read, family-ties
review:

]]> 40988961 The Moor's Account, here is a timely and powerful novel about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant--at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story, informed by the treacherous fault lines of American culture.

Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui's daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought she'd left for good; his widow, Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, an old friend of Nora's and an Iraq War veteran; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son's secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself.

As the characters--deeply divided by race, religion, and class--tell their stories, connections among them emerge, even as Driss's family confronts its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies, and love, messy and unpredictable, is born.]]> 320 Laila Lalami 1524747149 Angela 4 3.88 2019
author: Laila Lalami
name: Angela
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 34261775
With It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides―as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner―Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, "happy" life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it.

On this unabridged audio recording read by the author, Megan offers stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices to guide us through an experience we all must face. With Megan’s gentle but direct guidance, you’ll

? Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief
? How challenging the myths of grief―doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold―allows us to accept it as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve
? Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to "fix" your pain

Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to "solve" grief. Megan writes, "Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution." It’s OK That You’re Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves―and each other―better.]]> 0 Megan Devine 1683640365 Angela 0 to-read 4.37 2017
author: Megan Devine
name: Angela
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61349388 256 Elizabeth Passarella 1400219019 Angela 0 3.94 2023
author: Elizabeth Passarella
name: Angela
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/04
shelves: to-read, laughs, trips-to-the-library
review:

]]> 1524686 128 Insight Guides 9812349367 Angela 0 3.93 1998
author: Insight Guides
name: Angela
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/03
date added: 2024/04/04
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]]> 30240076 At last, a book that shows you how to build--design--a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage

Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home--at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve.

In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life, a life of fulfillment and joy, constantly creative and productive, one that always holds the possibility of surprise.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 274 Bill Burnett Angela 0 4.06 2016
author: Bill Burnett
name: Angela
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves: trips-to-the-library, work, rec-by-friend
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]]> 127282631 Following the death of her closest friend, Sloane Crosley explores multiple kinds of loss in this disarmingly witty and poignant memoir.

Grief Is for People is a deeply moving and surprisingly suspenseful portrait of friendship and a book about loss packed with verve for life. Sloane Crosley is one of our most renowned observers of contemporary behavior, and now the pathos that has been ever present in her trademark wit is on full display. After the pain and confusion of losing her closest friend to suicide, Crosley looks for answers in friends, philosophy, and art, hoping for a framework more useful than the unavoidable stages of grief.]]> 208 Sloane Crosley 0374609845 Angela 0 3.84 2024
author: Sloane Crosley
name: Angela
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves: to-read, trips-to-the-library, work
review:

]]> 14492381 235 Dennis Tirch 1849015139 Angela 0 to-read 4.00 2012
author: Dennis Tirch
name: Angela
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 182761899 ?
Conscious Grieving is a book for anyone seeking guidance and support after loss. Renowned grief therapist Claire Bidwell Smith combines her deeply personal experience of loss with her long career spent working with thousands of people to introduce a new approach to grief, one that promotes hope and even transformation.? What does it mean to grieve consciously? Most of the time, when we lose someone we love, it feels like grief is just happening to us. We feel out of control, and overwhelmed. Claire reminds us that while loss is something that inevitably happens to all of us, how we choose to grieve is up to us. When we can consciously engage with our grief, rather than avoiding it, we can access profound pathways to healing. Presented in a series of thoughtful, brief vignettes that don’t overwhelm the reader, Conscious Grieving offers a new framework for each stage of Entering, Engaging, Surrendering, and Transforming. Grief asks a lot from us. But the ability to grieve is a birthright. We grieve throughout our lifetimes. We grieve the deaths of loved ones yes, but also moves, divorce, illness, injustice, time lost, changes in the world and healing from these losses requires that we evaluate everything we ever considered meaningful. Healing means making our lives worth the pain we endure when we lose someone we love. And transforming through grief is an opportunity afforded to all.?]]> 240 Claire Bidwell Smith 1523520280 Angela 0 4.39
author: Claire Bidwell Smith
name: Angela
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/12
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]]> 195474144 From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a richly detailed and sharply drawn collection of stories set in New York and Los Angeles. The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next. Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.]]> 451 Amor Towles 0593296370 Angela 0 to-read 4.15 2024
author: Amor Towles
name: Angela
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> 62226126
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?]]> 421 Richard Osman 0241512441 Angela 4 4.44 2023
author: Richard Osman
name: Angela
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/08
date added: 2024/03/08
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]]> 28260431
Why the cockerel features on many church spires
The one sacred bird that symbolizes life and peace in most cultures
How to dispel bad luck if you see this black-and-white bird
The South American "devil bird" once thought to be a dragon

Lore, Myth and Legend draws on historical accounts and scientific literature to reveal how colorful tales or superstitions were shaped by human imagination from each bird's behavior or appearance. It offers an enchanting and different perspective on birds across the world.]]> 304 Rachel Warren-Chadd 1472922867 Angela 0 4.54 2016
author: Rachel Warren-Chadd
name: Angela
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/05
shelves: to-read, bird-is-the-word, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 182095333
"A truly unique, inspiring perspective on the time we have, what we do with it, and how we let go of this world.... There is no one I'd trust more to guide me through an understanding of death, and how it informs life." — Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Mad Honey and The Book of Two Ways

"Briefly Perfectly Human is a beautiful, raw, light-bringing experience. Alua's voice is shimmering, singular, and pulses with humor, vulnerability, insight, and refreshing candor.... Be prepared for it to grab you, hold you tight, and raise the roof on the power of human connection." — Tembi Locke, author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country’s leading death doula, she’s spreading a transformative message: thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life.

Warm, generous, and funny AF, Alua supports and helps manage end-of-life care on many levels. The business matters, medical directives, memorial planning; but also honoring the quiet moments, when monitors are beeping and loved ones have stepped out to get some air—or maybe not shown up at all—and her clients become deeply contemplative and want to talk. Aching, unfinished business often emerges. Alua has been present for thousands of these sacred moments—when regrets, fears, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally said aloud. When this happens, Alua focuses her attention at the pulsing center of her clients’ anguish and creates space for them, and sometimes their loved ones, to find peace.

This has had a profound effect on Alua, who was already no stranger to death’s periphery. Her family fled a murderous coup d’état in Ghana in the 1980s. She has suffered major, debilitating depressions. And her dear friend and brother-in-law died of lymphoma. Advocating for him in his final months is what led Alua to her life’s calling. She knows firsthand the power of bearing witness and telling the truth about life’s painful complexities, because they do not disappear when you look the other way. They wait for you.

Briefly Perfectly Human is a life-changing, soul-gathering debut, by a writer whose empathy, tenderness, and wisdom shimmers on the page. Alua Arthur combines intimate storytelling with a passionate appeal for loving, courageous end-of-life care—what she calls “death embrace.” Hers is a powerful testament to getting in touch with something deeper in our lives, by embracing the fact of our own mortality. “Hold that truth in your mind,” Alua says, “and wondrous things will begin to grow around it.”]]> 272 Alua Arthur 0063240033 Angela 0 4.19 2024
author: Alua Arthur
name: Angela
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/01
shelves: to-read, education, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 27248112
How do artists think? Where does their creativity originate? How can we, too, learn to be more creative? BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz seeks answers to these questions in his exuberant, intelligent, witty, and thought-provoking style. Think Like an Artist identifies 10 key lessons on creativity from artists that range from Caravaggio to Warhol, Da Vinci to Ai Weiwei, and profiles leading contemporary figures in the arts who are putting these skills to use today.

After getting up close and personal with some of the world’s leading creative thinkers, Gompertz has discovered traits that are common to them all. He outlines basic practices and processes that allow your talents to flourish and enable you to embrace your inner Picasso—no matter what you do for a living.

With wisdom, inspiration, and advice from an author named one of the 50 most original thinkers in the world by Creativity magazine, Think Like an Artist is an illuminating view into the habits that make people successful. It’s time to get inspired and think like an artist!

Includes a full-color pull-out insert featuring works of art discuessed.]]> 208 Will Gompertz 1419721836 Angela 0 3.83 2015
author: Will Gompertz
name: Angela
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/24
date added: 2024/02/26
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]]> 127282370
Like Love is a momentous, raucous collection of essays drawn from twenty years of Maggie Nelson’s brilliant work. These profiles, reviews, remembrances, tributes, and critical essays, as well as several conversations with friends and idols, bring to life Nelson’s passion for dialogue and dissent. The range of subjects is wide―from Prince to Carolee Schneemann to Matthew Barney to Lhasa de Sela to Kara Walker―but certain themes intergenerational exchange; love and friendship; feminist and queer issues, especially as they shift over time; subversion, transgression, and perversity; the roles of the critic and of language in relation to visual and performance arts; forces that feed or impede certain bodies and creators; and the fruits and follies of a life spent devoted to making.

Arranged chronologically, Like Love shows the writing, thinking, feeling, reading, looking, and conversing that occupied Nelson while writing iconic books such as Bluets and The Argonauts. As such, it is a portrait of a time, an anarchic party rich with wild guests, a window into Nelson’s own development, and a testament to the profound sustenance offered by art and artists.]]> 336 Maggie Nelson 1644452812 Angela 0 3.70 2024
author: Maggie Nelson
name: Angela
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/26
shelves: to-read, creative-endeavors, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 61355268 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Wintering, an invitation to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all.

Many of us feel trapped in a grind of constant change: rolling news cycles, the chatter of social media, our families split along partisan lines. We feel fearful and tired, on edge in our bodies, not quite knowing what has us perpetually depleted. For Katherine May, this low hum of fatigue and anxiety made her wonder what she was missing. Could there be a different way to relate to the world, one that would allow her to feel more rested and at ease, even as seismic changes unfold on the planet? Might there be a way for all of us to move through life with curiosity and tenderness, sensitized to the subtle magic all around?

In Enchantment, May invites the reader to come with her on a journey to reawaken our innate sense of wonder and awe. With humor, candor, and warmth, she shares stories of her own struggles with work, family, and the aftereffects of pandemic, particularly feelings of overwhelm as the world rushes to reopen. Craving a different way to live, May begins to explore the restorative properties of the natural world, moving through the elements of earth, water, fire, and air and identifying the quiet traces of magic that can be found only when we look for them. Through deliberate attention and ritual, she unearths the potency and nourishment that come from quiet reconnection with our immediate environment. Blending lyricism and storytelling, sensitivity and empathy, Enchantment invites each of us to open the door to human experience in all its sensual complexity, and to find the beauty waiting for us there.]]> 212 Katherine May 0593329996 Angela 0 3.60 2023
author: Katherine May
name: Angela
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/12
date added: 2024/02/12
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]]> 149322220
Renowned improv instructor and award-winning director Mick Napier has been at the heart of the professional improvisation community for more than 25 years. The first edition of Improvise. quickly earned its position as necessary reading for improv students across the country and around the world and gave birth to a new generation of performers who questioned "The Rules" of improvisation. In this entertaining and incredibly informative book, Napier will teach you the essentials of...

· Why "The Rules" don't matter
· How to take care of yourself in a scene
· Using context to your advantage
· Effective two-person scenes
· Balanced large-cast scenes
· Successful auditioning
· Solo exercises you can practice at home]]> 220 Mick Napier Angela 5 improv-nerd, laughs 4.75
author: Mick Napier
name: Angela
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/09
date added: 2024/02/09
shelves: improv-nerd, laughs
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]]> 140344330
Race Rules is an innovative, practical manual for white people of the unwritten rules relating to race, explaining the unvarnished truth about racist and offensive white behaviors. It offers a unique lens from Fatimah Gilliam, a light-skinned Black woman, and is informed by the revealing things white people say when they don't realize she's Black.

Presented as a series of race rules, this book has each chapter tackling a specific topic many people of color wish white people understood. Combining history and explanations with practical advice, it goes beyond the theoretical by focusing on what's implementable.

Gilliam addresses issues such as
Racial blinders and misperceptions
White privilege
Racial stereotypes
Everyday choices and behaviors that cause racial harm

Introducing a straightforward universal three-step framework to unlearn racism and challenge misconceptions, this book offers readers a chance to change behaviors and shift mindsets to better navigate cross-racial interactions and relationships. Through its race etiquette guidelines, it teaches white people to become action-oriented racism disruptors instead of silent, complicit supporters of white supremacy.]]> 384 Fatimah Gilliam 1523004509 Angela 0 4.13
author: Fatimah Gilliam
name: Angela
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/09
shelves: to-read, education, good-trouble, ladies-who-read, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 150779002
A world without prisons? Ridiculous. Schools that foster the genius of every child? Impossible. Work that doesn’t strangle the life out of people? Naive. A society where everyone has food, shelter, love? In your dreams. Exactly. Ruha Benjamin, Princeton University professor, insists that imagination isn’t a luxury. It is a vital resource and powerful tool for collective liberation.

Imagination: A Manifesto is her proclamation that we have the power to use our imaginations to challenge systems of oppression and to create a world in which everyone can thrive. But obstacles abound. We have inherited destructive ideas that trap us inside a dominant imagination. Consider how racism, sexism, and classism make hierarchies, exploitation, and violence seem natural and inevitable—but all emerged from the human imagination.

The most effective way to disrupt these deadly systems is to do so collectively. Benjamin highlights the educators, artists, activists, and many others who are refuting powerful narratives that justify the status quo, crafting new stories that reflect our interconnection, and offering creative approaches to seemingly intractable problems.

Imagination: A Manifesto offers visionary examples and tactics to push beyond the constraints of what we think, and are told, is possible. This book is for anyone who is ready to take to heart Toni Morrison’s instruction: “Dream a little before you think.”]]> 192 Ruha Benjamin 1324020970 Angela 0 4.18
author: Ruha Benjamin
name: Angela
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/09
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]]> 618512 386 Jeffrey Sweet 0879100737 Angela 0 4.07 1978
author: Jeffrey Sweet
name: Angela
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1978
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/08
shelves: to-read, improv-nerd, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 58969637
As human beings, our instinct is to nest with those we love, migrate where the best opportunities await us, and find our flock for solidarity and support. Yet all of these instincts can become a battle when we are struggling with depression, isolation, and trauma.

But what if we could find camaraderie and comfort in our own backyard? What if we could be inspired by peering through the branches and leaves to find a flash of feathers and birdsong?

Licensed therapist Tammah Watts shares her emotional journey of overcoming chronic pain and finding resilience by connecting to the natural world of birds. Her revealing exercises, helpful tools, reflection "ponds," and journal prompts will help you:
? Dip your toe into birdwatching from the comfort of your own home and beyond
? Reduce symptoms of stress, pain, depression, and anxiety
? Increase focus and concentration
? Find acceptance and alignment with the spirit and beauty of birds

Through the practice of observing and connecting with our feathered friends, we can find a place for reflection, self-discovery, and being grounded in the present.]]> 163 Tammah Watts 1401963358 Angela 0 3.85
author: Tammah Watts
name: Angela
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/07
shelves: to-read, bird-is-the-word, creative-endeavors, the-great-outdoors, trips-to-the-library
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]]> 74885408 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up.

“Wondrous . . . captivating.”—Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An Immense World

A Washington Post and Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year ? Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal

Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While?in the?park one morning in May 2020,?Cooper?was engaged in the?birdwatching?ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old?when what might have been?a routine encounter with a dog walker?exploded?age-old racial?tensions.?Cooper’s?viral?video of the incident would?send shock waves through the nation.

In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself.

Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper’s journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.]]> 295 Christian Cooper 0593242394 Angela 4 4.40 2023
author: Christian Cooper
name: Angela
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves: bird-is-the-word, good-trouble, trips-to-the-library, work
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]]> 57793313
A group of strangers arrive on a beautiful but remote island, ready for the challenge of a lifetime: to live there for one year, without contact with the outside world.

But 12 months later, on the day when the boat is due to return for them, no one arrives.

Eight people stepped foot on the island. How many will make it off alive?

A totally addictive psychological thriller with twists and turns you just won’t see coming. Fans of The Hunting Party, The Castaways and The Sanatorium will be totally gripped from the very first moment until the final, breath-taking conclusion.]]> 392 Sarah Goodwin 0008467366 Angela 0 to-read 3.93 2021
author: Sarah Goodwin
name: Angela
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 57281804 ASIN moved from less recent edition

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.]]> 259 Neil Gaiman Angela 4 4.22 2013
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Angela
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/27
date added: 2024/01/27
shelves: rec-by-friend, trips-to-the-library
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]]>