Kelvino's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:37:03 -0700 60 Kelvino's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Son (The Giver, #4) 13324841
Son thrusts readers once again into the chilling world of the Newbery Medal winning book, The Giver, as well as Gathering Blue and Messenger where a new hero emerges. In this thrilling series finale, the startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s epic tale culminates in a final clash between good and evil.]]> 393 Lois Lowry 0547887205 Kelvino 4
- Lowry's language is so comically on the nosesometimes lol, she deliberately chooses the word INDOCTRINATION as a character's dialogue, like ok Lowry we get it, it's dystopian lmfao. Like she's speaking to me direcrtly LOL. Another instance of these not so subtle jabs is like the 'objective' narrator describing the routine as DULL, opinions which a normal community member presumedly would not have.
- There's this moment that I thought was really emblematic of their society, where the crowd gets exhilirated for Jonas during his ceremony for being chosen as the next giver. The crowd chants his name repeatedly, but just when people collectively join in, a buzzer is sounded and the room goes quiet. People are allowed to feel emotion, but only so much as the community will allow it.
- There's a scene where Claire talks to one of the ship people and the guy asks if Claire wants to see around the ship. She says "idt it's allowed", but Claire means that she wouldn't be allowed by the community and the guy interprets as her politness for the captain. I love this kind of subtle dramatic irony where simple dialogue like this shows their different backgrounds.
- Upon discobering more feelings for the first time, Claire realizes she can't go back anymore, "she would die... before she would giveup thelove she felt for her son" (116). John Stuart Mill would be so proud fr LMFAO, #applyingphilosophytoreallife
- The scene where Claire gains back her memories felt so weak brah, like it was a whole important thing but Lowry described her pain and confusion in like half a page LMFAO.
- Ending was okayyy, ig it's all I could expect, the defeat of the trademaster just felt boring lol idk.

Fine series though overall. Yippee! First series done of the year. Overall a 3/5 series. ]]> 3.98 2012 Son (The Giver, #4)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves:
review:
Probably the best written one! And definitely my favourite. This book is a great strong finishto the series. It's been like two months since I've read it so I don't remember too much of it but it was very fun to read. The first book's story was easily the best and I loved that this enriches the first book a lot. Here's some random points I noted onthe book:

- Lowry's language is so comically on the nosesometimes lol, she deliberately chooses the word INDOCTRINATION as a character's dialogue, like ok Lowry we get it, it's dystopian lmfao. Like she's speaking to me direcrtly LOL. Another instance of these not so subtle jabs is like the 'objective' narrator describing the routine as DULL, opinions which a normal community member presumedly would not have.
- There's this moment that I thought was really emblematic of their society, where the crowd gets exhilirated for Jonas during his ceremony for being chosen as the next giver. The crowd chants his name repeatedly, but just when people collectively join in, a buzzer is sounded and the room goes quiet. People are allowed to feel emotion, but only so much as the community will allow it.
- There's a scene where Claire talks to one of the ship people and the guy asks if Claire wants to see around the ship. She says "idt it's allowed", but Claire means that she wouldn't be allowed by the community and the guy interprets as her politness for the captain. I love this kind of subtle dramatic irony where simple dialogue like this shows their different backgrounds.
- Upon discobering more feelings for the first time, Claire realizes she can't go back anymore, "she would die... before she would giveup thelove she felt for her son" (116). John Stuart Mill would be so proud fr LMFAO, #applyingphilosophytoreallife
- The scene where Claire gains back her memories felt so weak brah, like it was a whole important thing but Lowry described her pain and confusion in like half a page LMFAO.
- Ending was okayyy, ig it's all I could expect, the defeat of the trademaster just felt boring lol idk.

Fine series though overall. Yippee! First series done of the year. Overall a 3/5 series.
]]> Messenger (The Giver, #3) 12930 Ěý
Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man known for his special sight. Village once welcomed newcomers, but something sinister has seeped into Village and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. Matty has been invaluable as a messenger. Now he must risk everything to make one last journey through the treacherous forest with his only weapon, a power he unexpectedly discovers within himself.]]> 169 Lois Lowry 0385732538 Kelvino 2 3.90 2004 Messenger (The Giver, #3)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves:
review:
This one was definitively my least favourite out of the four and also I think the worst written book in the series. Same thing again withher other books, there's a promising concept, like maybe Lowry should just write like fantasybooks because she has interesting world building ideas and I often find them to be more enjoyable than the main one. Like the villagers were turning evil and selfish blah blah blah but like woahhh what's trademaster? How are these things being traded? I want answers!!! That I did not get in this book rip. It just felt like like Ihad tons of questions, why does the forest react to people's characters? Why was Matty allowed to pass through it often? Why not other people? But the only thing that is concluded is that Matty magically heals the forest with his powers or smth. Meh.
]]> <![CDATA[Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)]]> 12936
As she did in The Giver, Lowry challenges readers to imagine what our world could become, and what will be considered valuable. Every reader will be taken by Kira's plight and will long ponder her haunting world and the hope for the future.

]]> 240 Lois Lowry 0385732562 Kelvino 3
Spoilers, but especially the reveal of how Kira's father actually died was really silly. There's a lot of suspense built up on what Kira's life will look like after her trial, and the trial was REALLY good, idk why I was so hooked onto that one section. I was excited for the restof the book after that part finished but then, there was literally nothing. Not really any stakes as Kira's life was safe now that she also had a colour mentor. Even the disappearance of her teacher was just like ... okay and? It felt like I was supposed to react to facts but the author hadn't set up stakes.

This was most obvious at the end, where the father reveals that Jamison was the one who tried to kill Kira's father. And then that's it, the story ends. There's no reaction to that information from the characters, no consequences for Jamison, and I was just left confused, I thought Jamison was pretty chill tbh, cuz he saved Kira's life too. Just felt like the book was going somewhere and ended up nowhere. This one lands 3rd place in the 4 book series.]]> 3.82 2000 Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves:
review:
Lois Lowry books always start out really good but the conclusions really are just never pulled off well. There are plot set ups and everything but ... that's it kind of, the revelations are just kind of like, oh... that's it?

Spoilers, but especially the reveal of how Kira's father actually died was really silly. There's a lot of suspense built up on what Kira's life will look like after her trial, and the trial was REALLY good, idk why I was so hooked onto that one section. I was excited for the restof the book after that part finished but then, there was literally nothing. Not really any stakes as Kira's life was safe now that she also had a colour mentor. Even the disappearance of her teacher was just like ... okay and? It felt like I was supposed to react to facts but the author hadn't set up stakes.

This was most obvious at the end, where the father reveals that Jamison was the one who tried to kill Kira's father. And then that's it, the story ends. There's no reaction to that information from the characters, no consequences for Jamison, and I was just left confused, I thought Jamison was pretty chill tbh, cuz he saved Kira's life too. Just felt like the book was going somewhere and ended up nowhere. This one lands 3rd place in the 4 book series.
]]> Paludes 1289449 Sous le couvert d'un dilettantisme savant, d'une fantaisie contrôlée avec art, voici le journal d'un homme qui dirigeait ses journées avec un enchantement mesuré et le sens aigu de la cadence. Faussement négligent, le ton ne manque en effet ni d'harmonie ni d'humour. Au besoin, l'auteur se livre à une satire décapante des gens de lettres, du philosophe au bel esprit.]]> 171 André Gide 2070364364 Kelvino 3
Et pourtant il y a d'ici et là de petites pépites de sagesse qui sautent aux yeux qui t'obligent à prendre l'écrivain au sérieux encore. C'est une enquête dans la vie d'un écrivain, comment un écrivain considère son public et son oeuvre, et franchement ça me pousse à me mettre à l'écriture aussi, cette vie a l'air marrant et ça démantele un peu l'air mystérieux autour des artistes. Si même un auteur célèbre tel André Gide s'identifie à ces sentiments, jusqu'au point d'écrire un court livre dessus, bah ma timidité est bien justifiée et validée.

En une phrase, comme un autre reviewer avait dit, ce livre est du génie léger.

L'art est de peindre un sujet particulier avec assez de puissance pour que la généralité dont il dépendait s'y comprenne. En terms abstraits cela se dit très mal parce que c'est déjà une pensée abstraite ; mais vous me comprendrez assurément en songeant à tout l'enorme paysage qui passe à travers le trou d'une serrure dès que l'oeil se rapproche suffisamment de la porte. Tel qui ne voit ici qu'une serrure, verrait le monde entier au travers s'il savait seulement se pencher. Il suffit qu'il y ait possibilité de généralisation; la généralisation, c'est au lecteur, au critique de la faire
]]> 3.50 1895 Paludes
author: André Gide
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1895
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves:
review:
Pas un livre très mémorable, ça fait un mois depuis que je l'ai lu etj'ai déjà oublié l'intrigue, pas qu'il y en avait un forcément à l'origine. C'est une satire sur le monde des écrivains, la haute culture et la littérature. Le protagoniste veut tellement être le genre d'écrivain mystérieux, sombre, qui semble ruminer à tout moment, mais en fait sa vie est tout autre. Il essaye de faire pareil à ce qu'il considère comme étant les habitudes d'un écrivain 'sérieux', mais on voit évidemment, que ses efforts ne sont pas sincères; la vie qu'il mène réellement ne reflète pas exactement le personnage principal dans son propre histoire.

Et pourtant il y a d'ici et là de petites pépites de sagesse qui sautent aux yeux qui t'obligent à prendre l'écrivain au sérieux encore. C'est une enquête dans la vie d'un écrivain, comment un écrivain considère son public et son oeuvre, et franchement ça me pousse à me mettre à l'écriture aussi, cette vie a l'air marrant et ça démantele un peu l'air mystérieux autour des artistes. Si même un auteur célèbre tel André Gide s'identifie à ces sentiments, jusqu'au point d'écrire un court livre dessus, bah ma timidité est bien justifiée et validée.

En une phrase, comme un autre reviewer avait dit, ce livre est du génie léger.

L'art est de peindre un sujet particulier avec assez de puissance pour que la généralité dont il dépendait s'y comprenne. En terms abstraits cela se dit très mal parce que c'est déjà une pensée abstraite ; mais vous me comprendrez assurément en songeant à tout l'enorme paysage qui passe à travers le trou d'une serrure dès que l'oeil se rapproche suffisamment de la porte. Tel qui ne voit ici qu'une serrure, verrait le monde entier au travers s'il savait seulement se pencher. Il suffit qu'il y ait possibilité de généralisation; la généralisation, c'est au lecteur, au critique de la faire

]]> <![CDATA[The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, #1)]]> 13228487
The seven dragon tribes have been at war for generations, locked in an endless battle over an ancient, lost treasure. A secret movement called the Talons of Peace is determined to bring an end to the fighting, with the help of a prophecy -- a foretelling that calls for great sacrifice.

Five dragonets are collected to fulfill the prophecy, raised in a hidden cave and enlisted, against their will, to end the terrible war.

But not every dragonet wants a destiny. And when the select five escape their underground captors to look for their original homes, what has been unleashed on the dragon world may be far more than the revolutionary planners intended . . .]]> 336 Tui T. Sutherland 0545349184 Kelvino 4 4.22 2012 The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, #1)
author: Tui T. Sutherland
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Man Alone with Himself 5956506 82 Friedrich Nietzsche 0141036680 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.76 1878 Man Alone with Himself
author: Friedrich Nietzsche
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1878
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Meditations 30659 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. While the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation and encouragement, Marcus Aurelius also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a timeless collection that has been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers and readers throughout the centuries.]]> 254 Marcus Aurelius 0140449337 Kelvino 0 currently-reading 4.29 180 Meditations
author: Marcus Aurelius
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.29
book published: 180
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Forbidden Notebook 61026364 Quaderno Proibito is a classic domestic novel by the Italian-Cuban feminist writer Alba de CĂ©spedes, whose work inspired contemporary writers like Elena Ferrante.

In this modern translation by acclaimed Elena Ferrante translator Ann Goldstein, Forbidden Notebook centers the inner life of a dissatisfied housewife living in postwar Rome.

Valeria Cossati never suspected how unhappy she had become with the shabby gentility of her bourgeois life—until she begins to jot down her thoughts and feelings in a little black book she keeps hidden in a closet. This new secret activity leads her to scrutinize herself and her life more closely, and she soon realizes that her individuality is being stifled by her devotion and sense of duty toward her husband, daughter, and son. As the conflicts between parents and children, husband and wife, and friends and lovers intensify, what goes on behind the Cossatis� facade of middle-class respectability gradually comes to light, tearing the family’s fragile fabric apart.

An exquisitely crafted portrayal of domestic life, Forbidden Notebook recognizes the universality of human aspirations.]]> 288 Alba de CĂ©spedes 1662601395 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.20 1952 Forbidden Notebook
author: Alba de CĂ©spedes
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1952
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Almond 52219386 This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.Ěý

One of the monsters is me.

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother aren’t fazed by his condition. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say "thank you," and when to laugh. Yunjae grows up content, even happy, with his small family in this quiet, peaceful space.

Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school and begins to bully Yunjae.Ěý

Against all odds, tormentor and victim learn they have more in common than they realized. Gon is stumped by Yunjae’s impassive calm, while Yunjae thinks if he gets to know the hotheaded Gon, he might learn how to experience true feelings. Drawn by curiosity, the two strike up a surprising friendship. As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life in danger, it is Yunjae who will step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become a most unlikely hero.Ěý

The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever.]]> 272 Sohn Won-Pyung 0062961373 Kelvino 4
The protagnoist really reminds me actually of Meursault from l'Ă©tranger tbh, in the way that he describes his grand-mother's death, I wonder if there was some sort of inspiration from that category. Though the two are pretty different otherwise.

I think the book is meant to challenge the notion of normalcy? Normalcy in itself isn't good or bad, but it does make your life easier when most people are instinctually judgemental. In-group biases are so strong and it leads so naturally to marginalization of people who stand out. I feel like Gon, protag (i forgot his name already), and Dora are meant to be the author's take on the three types of reactions of the marginalized.

Protag. reacts by accepting his abnormalities and resigns himself to his fate as an outsider. I think it's an interesting but common reaction though and it reminds me of the problem of bystanders and neutrality. When someone is being bullied for example, it seems we have three options, we either jump in on the bullying, stop the bullying, or just watch on. However, while there are three options, there are two outcomes, the bullying either continues/escalates, or the bullying stops. But if one side is more dominant than the other, by doing nothing, the bystander perpetuates the bullying. They do nothing to tip the favour in odds of the victim. Similarly, while the protag. seems to be neutral about those who harass them as he doesn't feel anything about it, he ends up accepting them in his neutrality. Is it the same? I mean to say the protag. is a bystander to the societal beliefs all while being a victim of it. Idk if that makes sense, but he does agree that he is not like them.

Gon takes another route, when he is labeled as an outsider, he digs in his heels and leans into the role of an outsider. I really empathize with this reaction because I'm like this, if someone gives me a label, I'll try to live up to their ideas. But Gon is slightly different, he wants to match up to their expectations because even if he did try, no one would accept him anyways. So he throws it all away, being the complete opposite to them as he senses that, maybe society does want to dehumanize him to simply be a hooligan, or that they would prefer having to write him off as a simple hooligan rather than dealing with his trauma, perhaps scared that they are more similar than they thought to be. I liked Gon a lot, maybe he and I would have been friends. I'm always a fan of these troubled but good hearted characters.

Dora feels like a hugeee throwaway character just to establish this point LMFAO, she's the outsider who remains true to herself despite pressures otherwise and even carves her own way through society and manages to garner the respect of others. Imo, in a way, she is both a rebel and a conformist. She rebels against 'traditional' forms of success in a capitalist society by still being able to assumedly have a future promised for her through her athletic capabilities. In that way, she rebels by going against the common way instead of just being like an office worker like what her parents would have wanted, but she still benefits from this same society that judged her, as she would be able to still have the respect of everybody as a star athlete still fits into a less common pathway of success in overarching social models. Even though I imagine she would not care for societal idolatry, she would still benefit from it. Like a respected unruly person, people would still accept her.

Anyways, the last point I wanted to bring up in the book was about the protag's "return to normalcy" afterwards at the end. His brain slowly tries to fix himself. Though I was confused at first, because it seems to be hypocritical almost, that he's 'becoming normal', I don't think that it doesn't make sense. While he'll be able to feel similar emotions to everybody else presumedly in the future, he still wouldn't be normal. Understanding what it would be like to be emotionless, the social prejudice that he faced for it etc., (my only two examples lmfao), these experiences will influence in itself how he percieves emotions in a unique way such that, while he experiences feelings of frustration, love, and attraction now, he won't interpret them the same way. I'm not using this term right, but the intersectionality of his experiences will alter the meanings he derives from his experiences from now on.

And this idea applies to everybody. The emotions that we have are simply tools. We all have a body, we mostly all have 4 limbs, two eyes and a nose, whatever, but while we appear normal, we all have very unique upbringings. Similarly, protag. will now be also equiped with this tool of deeper emotions that everyone else have, but he won't be normal, like everybody else who also has emotions, he will have his unique story. In that sense, the experience of the protag. applies to everybody else, but his is a lot more obvious, in the same way that it would be obvious with how the life of someone having 4 limbs is different from someone having just 2.

Anyways, every Korean plot I read/watch is all about social exclusion, I'm so glad I grew up in Canada! Like all those evil evil bullying stories, phew, always from asian countires, specifically Korea idk why! Fun snack book.]]> 4.16 2017 Almond
author: Sohn Won-Pyung
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves:
review:
This book goes into my category of books I would recommend for people getting back into reading, quick personal read that was really enjoyable. Whenever I saw the name Gon, I kept thinking about HxH LOL

The protagnoist really reminds me actually of Meursault from l'Ă©tranger tbh, in the way that he describes his grand-mother's death, I wonder if there was some sort of inspiration from that category. Though the two are pretty different otherwise.

I think the book is meant to challenge the notion of normalcy? Normalcy in itself isn't good or bad, but it does make your life easier when most people are instinctually judgemental. In-group biases are so strong and it leads so naturally to marginalization of people who stand out. I feel like Gon, protag (i forgot his name already), and Dora are meant to be the author's take on the three types of reactions of the marginalized.

Protag. reacts by accepting his abnormalities and resigns himself to his fate as an outsider. I think it's an interesting but common reaction though and it reminds me of the problem of bystanders and neutrality. When someone is being bullied for example, it seems we have three options, we either jump in on the bullying, stop the bullying, or just watch on. However, while there are three options, there are two outcomes, the bullying either continues/escalates, or the bullying stops. But if one side is more dominant than the other, by doing nothing, the bystander perpetuates the bullying. They do nothing to tip the favour in odds of the victim. Similarly, while the protag. seems to be neutral about those who harass them as he doesn't feel anything about it, he ends up accepting them in his neutrality. Is it the same? I mean to say the protag. is a bystander to the societal beliefs all while being a victim of it. Idk if that makes sense, but he does agree that he is not like them.

Gon takes another route, when he is labeled as an outsider, he digs in his heels and leans into the role of an outsider. I really empathize with this reaction because I'm like this, if someone gives me a label, I'll try to live up to their ideas. But Gon is slightly different, he wants to match up to their expectations because even if he did try, no one would accept him anyways. So he throws it all away, being the complete opposite to them as he senses that, maybe society does want to dehumanize him to simply be a hooligan, or that they would prefer having to write him off as a simple hooligan rather than dealing with his trauma, perhaps scared that they are more similar than they thought to be. I liked Gon a lot, maybe he and I would have been friends. I'm always a fan of these troubled but good hearted characters.

Dora feels like a hugeee throwaway character just to establish this point LMFAO, she's the outsider who remains true to herself despite pressures otherwise and even carves her own way through society and manages to garner the respect of others. Imo, in a way, she is both a rebel and a conformist. She rebels against 'traditional' forms of success in a capitalist society by still being able to assumedly have a future promised for her through her athletic capabilities. In that way, she rebels by going against the common way instead of just being like an office worker like what her parents would have wanted, but she still benefits from this same society that judged her, as she would be able to still have the respect of everybody as a star athlete still fits into a less common pathway of success in overarching social models. Even though I imagine she would not care for societal idolatry, she would still benefit from it. Like a respected unruly person, people would still accept her.

Anyways, the last point I wanted to bring up in the book was about the protag's "return to normalcy" afterwards at the end. His brain slowly tries to fix himself. Though I was confused at first, because it seems to be hypocritical almost, that he's 'becoming normal', I don't think that it doesn't make sense. While he'll be able to feel similar emotions to everybody else presumedly in the future, he still wouldn't be normal. Understanding what it would be like to be emotionless, the social prejudice that he faced for it etc., (my only two examples lmfao), these experiences will influence in itself how he percieves emotions in a unique way such that, while he experiences feelings of frustration, love, and attraction now, he won't interpret them the same way. I'm not using this term right, but the intersectionality of his experiences will alter the meanings he derives from his experiences from now on.

And this idea applies to everybody. The emotions that we have are simply tools. We all have a body, we mostly all have 4 limbs, two eyes and a nose, whatever, but while we appear normal, we all have very unique upbringings. Similarly, protag. will now be also equiped with this tool of deeper emotions that everyone else have, but he won't be normal, like everybody else who also has emotions, he will have his unique story. In that sense, the experience of the protag. applies to everybody else, but his is a lot more obvious, in the same way that it would be obvious with how the life of someone having 4 limbs is different from someone having just 2.

Anyways, every Korean plot I read/watch is all about social exclusion, I'm so glad I grew up in Canada! Like all those evil evil bullying stories, phew, always from asian countires, specifically Korea idk why! Fun snack book.
]]> Why Men Love Bitches 9201647
Do you feel like you are too nice? Sherry Argov's Why Men Love Bitches delivers a unique perspective as to why men are attracted to a strong woman who stands up for herself. With saucy detail on every page, this no-nonsense guide reveals why a strong woman is much more desirable than a "yes woman" who routinely sacrifices herself. The author provides compelling answers to the tough questions women often ask:

· Why are men so romantic in the beginning and why do they change?
· Why do men take nice girls for granted?
· Why does a man respect a woman when she stands up for herself?

Full of advice, hilarious real-life relationship scenarios, "she says/he thinks" tables, and the author's unique "Attraction Principles," Why Men Love Bitches gives you bottom-line answers. It helps you know who you are, stand your ground, and relate to men on a whole new level. Once you've discovered the feisty attitude men find so magnetic, you'll not only increase the romantic chemistry—you'll gain your man's love and respect with far less effort.]]> 288 Sherry Argov 1605501557 Kelvino 2
The concept of this book is just ragebait by banking on the reader's outrage through "misusing" words that are commonly associated with certain connotations. The most flagrant one is bitch - it's likened basically to being a mormal, independent person that is not insecure and respects a partner's boundaries, the word is changed in meaning. The opposite definition that she gives of the bitch is the "nice girl", characterized by being incredibly insecure, and extremely overbearing, likened irl to just being a not cool person, meaning the word is inversely changed in meaning. The way that she uses these two words is just the reverse of how people would normally percieve these two labels.

I think this quote shows the main point of the book quite well, "never assume you are not attractive enough and therefore you have to overcompensate or chase a man. Taste is subjective, one man's ugly is another man's beautiful" (14). I think she wants women to be empowered by casting away their vulnerability, be confident, own yourself, but it ends up coming off as performative, having like a 'fake it till you make it' mindset. But does this faking actually lead to real change in the end? In this case, no because her idea gravitates in self-confidence with the purpose of attracting men, act and talk like a 'bitch' to attract a good man, but it is only that, simply acting, with none of her advice touching on the self. She treats symptoms of insecurity, "correcting" behavior but not addressing personal reasons for insecurity, with advice like "Act like a prize and you'll turn him into a believer" (14). While it poses as a self-help book for empowering women, its advice is extremely superficial and does little to actually make somebody confident, rather favouring pandering to hollow desires for social domination.

Not only does she promote insincere self-help, many of her ideas in attracting men, hypocritically, serve to cater to unhealthy common behavior of men without challenging any current realities. It has the guise of manipulating men, having them unknowingly in the grasp of your palm, (control everybody with your dark feminine dark psychology knowledge!), but it's honestly just really embarrassing to read tbh. There's a clip from breaking bad where Victor claims to know everything about Walter's meth-making process, just by observing him, but then Walter roasts the living shit out of him by asking him questions about the real processes that happen invisibly LMFAO. Similarly, the author pretends to know everything about men, and I'm sure it's a working strategy to charm them, but it's just a bunch of empirical observations without understanding why people are the way they are. She relies really heavily on a 'men are incomoprehensibly different from women biologically' and doesn't think that behaviours are socially taught at all, which leads her to simply accept everything, her mindset being harmful, in that she asks women to be the people who adapt to men while under the guise of self-empowerment. While she writes as if she's found the way to game the system, she's the one getting gamed.

I like to think of it like a chicken in a boiling pot. The chicken reasons with the humans to let it be spared, even learning all the tricks to let it not get boiled alive today, it acts cute, it persuades the humans to not kill it today, and so it manages to survive, maybe even living well. But only for a chicken in a boiling pot. Why is the chicken in the pot in the first place? The chicken never asks that question and never finds out that it could rebel and jump out of the pot. Not that the chicken is stupid, but that it hasn't made the realization yet, and its written a book on how to charm your captors.

Anyways, the book is based on insane men, like LMFAO, it's insane to me that she validates their quotes and never challenges any of their beliefs. Here are some:
- A man there said: "I don't think most men would mind if a woman was the one in control at home, just as long as no one else knew about it" (48). Brah this is so embarrassing to admit, he wants her to do all the household work, not just chores, while he gets the recognition for it LMFAOOO.
- In her incredible non problematic principles, she writes: "If a man has to wait before he sleeps with a woman, he'll not only percieve has a more beautiful, he'll aslo take time to appreciate who she is" (55). INSANITYYYY, why question why men are so comfortable seeing women as JUST sexual opportunities?
- "Benny is a 'mans man' and hates ballets or seeing live plays ... he describe the evening: 'I gave her my credit card and she got the tickets and rented me a tux. There I am, holding 'wussy'little binoculars ith the long stick on one side . It was an affront to my manhood" (190). She then says 10 pages later, "No matter what you choose, as long as you are passionate about something other than him, it will draw him back in". Clearly don't be passionate for ballet and live plays LOL.

Here is the most insane section that I saw, page 64-71 is so disgusting, I think this author should be institutionalized!

"Perhaps your top comes off, or there's a little bit of grinding action while you're kissing on the couch. A few minutes later, he'll think you're ready to roll. This is not the time to say, 'No, i'm just not ready.'Telling him this is like taking candy away from a child after you've already let him taste it. You can't titillate him to the point of no return and then say, 'No, I just don't feel right about it'." (65). EXCUSSSSSSE ME??? The rest of the section goes on about, don't put yourself into scenarios that could be percieved as inviting sex if you aren't ready for it ... or else you'll be a tease!!! This is such dangerous rhetoric that definitely invites sexual assault like brah cmon. I hate this, predator vs prey mindset when it comes to men and women. Contradictorily, she writes on page 71, "this little lesson is a satire on the pressures women feel to perform", brah you just put a bunch of pressure on women to give into masculine libidinal lust. The whole chapter is a whole thing to discuss on its own.

In wanting to please men at all costs, she says that men want women to be 'natural', but only to a point that it doesn't bother them... she often makes fun of women that have actual convictions, they must fit a certain mould, have personality, be feisty, but without it embarrassing them and impeding in their ambitions. You always have to play yourself in a way that HE would understand, change and adapt yourself to HIS perspective, he doesn't like talking about feelings (because all men are like that, they'll just run away silly woman DUHHH), so pull back. Cater cater cater cater cater cater. This book is so regressed and you can tell it was written by a millenial and for other millenials, it's the same vibe as like instagram comments that go like "haha men so simple, why women overcomplicate life xDDD". But empathy and discussion stops there, why not attempt to validate emotion on both ways? Perhaps postulate that there is a legitimate reason for their feelings and that as a functional partner, you should help them??

I think after finishing this book, my thought was, how do people live like this? Especially, how does a relationship progress after such behaviour? The author treats love and relationships like a game, giving advice on how to charm people, and hey, it probably would work, but what then? Such performativeness is surely exhausting and is that what you want your relationship with your partner to be? A game of attraction? At the end of the day, where is the love?

There's some unintentionally funny parts in the book that I didn't bother to include but overall, a 2/5 because it was fun to hate-read. A waste of time otherwise! It's also a great book to read right before Tomorrow Sex will be good again by Katherine Angel.]]> 3.78 2009 Why Men Love Bitches
author: Sherry Argov
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves:
review:
Shoutout to @darius for hate-reading this with me LMFAO, I can't believe you said you wanted to read this initially over 5 weeks brah, check out his review cuz it basically summarizes up my thoughts well but I'll write my own for myself.

The concept of this book is just ragebait by banking on the reader's outrage through "misusing" words that are commonly associated with certain connotations. The most flagrant one is bitch - it's likened basically to being a mormal, independent person that is not insecure and respects a partner's boundaries, the word is changed in meaning. The opposite definition that she gives of the bitch is the "nice girl", characterized by being incredibly insecure, and extremely overbearing, likened irl to just being a not cool person, meaning the word is inversely changed in meaning. The way that she uses these two words is just the reverse of how people would normally percieve these two labels.

I think this quote shows the main point of the book quite well, "never assume you are not attractive enough and therefore you have to overcompensate or chase a man. Taste is subjective, one man's ugly is another man's beautiful" (14). I think she wants women to be empowered by casting away their vulnerability, be confident, own yourself, but it ends up coming off as performative, having like a 'fake it till you make it' mindset. But does this faking actually lead to real change in the end? In this case, no because her idea gravitates in self-confidence with the purpose of attracting men, act and talk like a 'bitch' to attract a good man, but it is only that, simply acting, with none of her advice touching on the self. She treats symptoms of insecurity, "correcting" behavior but not addressing personal reasons for insecurity, with advice like "Act like a prize and you'll turn him into a believer" (14). While it poses as a self-help book for empowering women, its advice is extremely superficial and does little to actually make somebody confident, rather favouring pandering to hollow desires for social domination.

Not only does she promote insincere self-help, many of her ideas in attracting men, hypocritically, serve to cater to unhealthy common behavior of men without challenging any current realities. It has the guise of manipulating men, having them unknowingly in the grasp of your palm, (control everybody with your dark feminine dark psychology knowledge!), but it's honestly just really embarrassing to read tbh. There's a clip from breaking bad where Victor claims to know everything about Walter's meth-making process, just by observing him, but then Walter roasts the living shit out of him by asking him questions about the real processes that happen invisibly LMFAO. Similarly, the author pretends to know everything about men, and I'm sure it's a working strategy to charm them, but it's just a bunch of empirical observations without understanding why people are the way they are. She relies really heavily on a 'men are incomoprehensibly different from women biologically' and doesn't think that behaviours are socially taught at all, which leads her to simply accept everything, her mindset being harmful, in that she asks women to be the people who adapt to men while under the guise of self-empowerment. While she writes as if she's found the way to game the system, she's the one getting gamed.

I like to think of it like a chicken in a boiling pot. The chicken reasons with the humans to let it be spared, even learning all the tricks to let it not get boiled alive today, it acts cute, it persuades the humans to not kill it today, and so it manages to survive, maybe even living well. But only for a chicken in a boiling pot. Why is the chicken in the pot in the first place? The chicken never asks that question and never finds out that it could rebel and jump out of the pot. Not that the chicken is stupid, but that it hasn't made the realization yet, and its written a book on how to charm your captors.

Anyways, the book is based on insane men, like LMFAO, it's insane to me that she validates their quotes and never challenges any of their beliefs. Here are some:
- A man there said: "I don't think most men would mind if a woman was the one in control at home, just as long as no one else knew about it" (48). Brah this is so embarrassing to admit, he wants her to do all the household work, not just chores, while he gets the recognition for it LMFAOOO.
- In her incredible non problematic principles, she writes: "If a man has to wait before he sleeps with a woman, he'll not only percieve has a more beautiful, he'll aslo take time to appreciate who she is" (55). INSANITYYYY, why question why men are so comfortable seeing women as JUST sexual opportunities?
- "Benny is a 'mans man' and hates ballets or seeing live plays ... he describe the evening: 'I gave her my credit card and she got the tickets and rented me a tux. There I am, holding 'wussy'little binoculars ith the long stick on one side . It was an affront to my manhood" (190). She then says 10 pages later, "No matter what you choose, as long as you are passionate about something other than him, it will draw him back in". Clearly don't be passionate for ballet and live plays LOL.

Here is the most insane section that I saw, page 64-71 is so disgusting, I think this author should be institutionalized!

"Perhaps your top comes off, or there's a little bit of grinding action while you're kissing on the couch. A few minutes later, he'll think you're ready to roll. This is not the time to say, 'No, i'm just not ready.'Telling him this is like taking candy away from a child after you've already let him taste it. You can't titillate him to the point of no return and then say, 'No, I just don't feel right about it'." (65). EXCUSSSSSSE ME??? The rest of the section goes on about, don't put yourself into scenarios that could be percieved as inviting sex if you aren't ready for it ... or else you'll be a tease!!! This is such dangerous rhetoric that definitely invites sexual assault like brah cmon. I hate this, predator vs prey mindset when it comes to men and women. Contradictorily, she writes on page 71, "this little lesson is a satire on the pressures women feel to perform", brah you just put a bunch of pressure on women to give into masculine libidinal lust. The whole chapter is a whole thing to discuss on its own.

In wanting to please men at all costs, she says that men want women to be 'natural', but only to a point that it doesn't bother them... she often makes fun of women that have actual convictions, they must fit a certain mould, have personality, be feisty, but without it embarrassing them and impeding in their ambitions. You always have to play yourself in a way that HE would understand, change and adapt yourself to HIS perspective, he doesn't like talking about feelings (because all men are like that, they'll just run away silly woman DUHHH), so pull back. Cater cater cater cater cater cater. This book is so regressed and you can tell it was written by a millenial and for other millenials, it's the same vibe as like instagram comments that go like "haha men so simple, why women overcomplicate life xDDD". But empathy and discussion stops there, why not attempt to validate emotion on both ways? Perhaps postulate that there is a legitimate reason for their feelings and that as a functional partner, you should help them??

I think after finishing this book, my thought was, how do people live like this? Especially, how does a relationship progress after such behaviour? The author treats love and relationships like a game, giving advice on how to charm people, and hey, it probably would work, but what then? Such performativeness is surely exhausting and is that what you want your relationship with your partner to be? A game of attraction? At the end of the day, where is the love?

There's some unintentionally funny parts in the book that I didn't bother to include but overall, a 2/5 because it was fun to hate-read. A waste of time otherwise! It's also a great book to read right before Tomorrow Sex will be good again by Katherine Angel.
]]> Scarborough 143363433 Scarborough the novel employs a multitude of voices to tell the story of a tight-knit neighborhood under fire: among them, Victor, a black artist harassed by the police; Winsum, a West Indian restaurant owner struggling to keep it together; and Hina, a Muslim school worker who witnesses first-hand the impact of poverty on education.

And then there are the three kids who work to rise above a system that consistently fails them: Bing, a gay Filipino boy who lives under the shadow of his father's mental illness; Sylvie, Bing's best friend, a Native girl whose family struggles to find a permanent home to live in; and Laura, whose history of neglect by her mother is destined to repeat itself with her father.

Scarborough offers a raw yet empathetic glimpse into a troubled community that locates its dignity in unexpected places: a neighborhood that refuses to be undone.

Catherine Hernandez is a queer theatre practitioner and writer who has lived in Scarborough off and on for most of her life. Her plays Singkil and Kilt Pins were published by Playwrights Canada Press, and her children's book M is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book was published by Flamingo Rampant. She is the Artistic Director of Sulong Theatre for women of color.]]> 258 Catherine Hernandez Kelvino 4 4.00 2017 Scarborough
author: Catherine Hernandez
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Engaging in Community Music: An Introduction]]> 31329804 210 Lee Higgins 1138638161 Kelvino 4
To be relevant to the book, I think overindividualization of music has made us share less music with one another. Music is given from conglomerates and celebreties to us and we've lost the desire to make music by ourselves, like there's less amateur musicians? I feel like we don't share music with one another as often either, concerts are the only time where people come together for music.

In any case, the concept of community music is not music for the sake of artistry but music as a vehicle for self-empowerment and growth. It's extremely broad but I really do sincerely believe in its potential to be implemented more into formal education. This textbooks given me the idea to run a non-formal music learning thing in the future and I'll definitely be adding things from this book into my skillset. I want more community!]]> 4.43 Engaging in Community Music: An Introduction
author: Lee Higgins
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves:
review:
Interesting textbook read for a course, not super academic so super easy to understand. I'd been thinking about music as a transformative tool ever since this other course of Music for Health and Wellness where music transcends its typical connotations and is used as a real medium of healing. An interesting question that was asked by that professor was, when did music become an individualized experience rather than a communal one? What were the impacts of that?

To be relevant to the book, I think overindividualization of music has made us share less music with one another. Music is given from conglomerates and celebreties to us and we've lost the desire to make music by ourselves, like there's less amateur musicians? I feel like we don't share music with one another as often either, concerts are the only time where people come together for music.

In any case, the concept of community music is not music for the sake of artistry but music as a vehicle for self-empowerment and growth. It's extremely broad but I really do sincerely believe in its potential to be implemented more into formal education. This textbooks given me the idea to run a non-formal music learning thing in the future and I'll definitely be adding things from this book into my skillset. I want more community!
]]> <![CDATA[When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence]]> 86624 240 Squire Rushnell 0785218920 Kelvino 2
If the ultimate divine plan was a rapprochement to our realtionship with god (for example through these extreme coincidences in the book which leads to more faith), does the good that we obtain like bravery etc. through these difficulties that god presents us lose value? Because those qualities are no longer inherently good but more of a stepping stone towards a greater good, they kind of lose their authenticity. Like the good things we learn from our trials are merely tools to show gods greatness. I'm not sure! I was reading this book and god simply seems a bit manipulative, in the same way that a toxic partner gaslights us to rely on them exclusively by setting us up for failure and then coming to save us in the end.]]> 4.10 2000 When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence
author: Squire Rushnell
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves:
review:
Honestly, I thought this book was incredibly boring and not memorable at all. I thought this would be more informative but it wasn't, it's just a collection of stories on how people think god helps them in the nick of time through coincidence. I think the atheist gut reaction perspective to this book would be, why did god put these people through such turmoil in the first place only to save them in the end? To which I would say that we would need a certain amount of turmoil in order to morally grow as free creatures. But I wonder if the people in this book actually learned independently intrinsically good value of courage, bravery, etc. as it seems more like they learned these only to have more faith in god? Idk if I'm getting my point across.

If the ultimate divine plan was a rapprochement to our realtionship with god (for example through these extreme coincidences in the book which leads to more faith), does the good that we obtain like bravery etc. through these difficulties that god presents us lose value? Because those qualities are no longer inherently good but more of a stepping stone towards a greater good, they kind of lose their authenticity. Like the good things we learn from our trials are merely tools to show gods greatness. I'm not sure! I was reading this book and god simply seems a bit manipulative, in the same way that a toxic partner gaslights us to rely on them exclusively by setting us up for failure and then coming to save us in the end.
]]> Buy an artist a drink 34939768
This small book, the result of observing artists in their natural environments � at the pub, at school, online, in the workplace, on the streets, in the forests � is a call-to-action to stand up for these harried souls. To cut them some slack. To buy something they make. To attend one of their performances. Or, at least, to buy them a drink.]]> 74 George Daicopoulos Kelvino 0 to-read 3.25 2015 Buy an artist a drink
author: George Daicopoulos
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Persepolis, Volume 4 1272467 104 Marjane Satrapi 2844141374 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.41 2003 Persepolis, Volume 4
author: Marjane Satrapi
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent]]> 52514416 A provocative, elegantly written analysis of female desire, consent, and sexuality in the age of MeToo

Women are in a bind. They are told that in the name of sexual consent and feminist empowerment, they must proclaim their desires clearly and confidently. Sex researchers tell us that women don't know what they want. And men are on hand to persuade women that what they want is, in fact, exactly what men want. In this environment, how can women possibly know what they want—and how can they be expected to?

In this elegantly written, searching book Katherine Angel surveys medical and psychoanalytic understandings of female desire, from Freud to Kinsey to present-day science; MeToo-era debates over consent, assault, and feminism; and popular culture, TV, and film to challenge our assumptions about female desire. Why, she asks, do we expect desire to be easily understood? Why is there not space for the unsure, the tentative, the maybe, the let's just see? In contrast to the endless exhortation to know what we want, Angel proposes that sex can be a conversation, requiring insight, interaction, and mutual vulnerability—a shared collaboration into the unknown.

In this crucial moment of renewed attention to violence and power, Angel urges that we remake our thinking about sex, pleasure, and autonomy without any illusions of perfect self-knowledge. Only then will we bring about Michel Foucault's sardonic promise, in 1976, that "tomorrow sex will be good again."]]> 160 Katherine Angel Kelvino 5
The book starts off with an extremely unhinged example LMFAO though it portrays a good example of the contradiction that women have to maneuver in their sexuality. Invited onto a porn shoot to have the 'chance' to film a scene with porn star James Deen, we see her vacillate between being happy about being able to be with a star (expressing her sexuality) and her hesitance in knowing that this could potentially jeopardize her social life (repressing her sexuality). She must "balance desire with risk" and "pay attention to so much in the pursuit of pleasure", living in "the double bind in which women exist; that saying no may be difficult but so too is saying yes" (5). In expressing sexuality, women open themselves to a certain level of risk. What if this goes too far? What if I don't want this? What if I suffer socially from this experience? This issue is only further complicated when considering intersectionality, white women have an easier time expressing their sexuality compared to black women as they are more privileged to have the social relief of being more likely to be protected by law enforcement over black women.

In the 1970s, rape prevention campaigns gave the burden of responsability to prevent rape by saying 'no' clearly, having the slogan of 'No means no', but it "framed women's role in sex primarily as one of refusal" (19). This progressed eventually to an affirmative consent model where the emphasis was changed, recognizing on more equal grounds mutuality for sexual activity. From "simply the right to refuse sex, to the right to desire sex, to say yes to sex, and indeed to ask for sex - often enthusiastically". It's a controversial change to this day I think with men often ridiculing the concept, I still see jokes from men online exaggerating the seemingly contractual part of this agreement, asking women to sign paper contracts to exempt them from false rape accusations. In any case, I think it's a strawman argument, people form implicit social contracts to live in society all the time without noticing it and suddenly this is too much. Though I do understand the awkwardness which relates to men having a hard time being vulnerable as they would need to express their desire for the other person as well as women being embarrassed as they have similar social pressure to not express sexual desire.

In any case, to circumvent these criticisms, so came about enthusiastic consent. Women were encouraged to be more knowledgeable about sex and know what they want. Women were no longer keepers of sex, rather they desired to be enthusiastic participants of it, 'I know what I want' and be able to proclaim it loudly for all to hear. It is based implicitly in the belief that for sexual equality to exist, we must uplift women on the same level of men by being verbose about their desire. Once again, the onus is placed on women to ensure their own pleasure through speech, though it's a huge red herring. Women are now forced as Foucault said (8), "we ardently conjure away the present and appeal to the future". We ask women to simply be aware and be vocal of their sexuality without acknowledging the historical and social context that prevents that from being possible. It does little to acknowledge "the punitive effects of the very acts women are called to perform in the name of feminist empowerment (15), women expose themselves to risk by saying yes, such as courts being against them (as she said she would enjoy it no?), socially (slut-shaming) etc. Women are called to know what they want all the time, and not knowing, expressing ambivalence for their desires, is dangerous in the dichotomy of consent as they do not state what is NOT allowed as well. Again, the onus is on them.

You could argue that this is simply "bad sex" then, that it's a shame that it happens but that these are formative experiences for both parties that are inevitable. It would be a valid point, if you were to not consider context, who is the person that would suffer more from 'bad sex'? Without bringing up obvious differences like pregnancy, women suffer disproportionately. "90% of men reach orgasm during sex, 50 to 70% of women do" (25). On top of this, women have a higher likelihood of experiencing sexual violence, rape and assaults. Can you simply surmise this as an inevitable experience? It's not to minimize traumatic experience men have with women either, but it is much more likely for women to suffer more. Even without taking physical consequences into account, "are the lessons men and women learn the same (from bad sex)? ... Who learns that their role is to acquire pleasure at whatever cost, and who learns that they must suffer sex's consequences alone?" (26-27). This model of simply 'bad sex' assumes that both parties are cooperatively working together to learn from one another and explore themselves and doesn't consider real world context.

"(Enthusiastic consent) only works if we assume a certain kind of partner, one who is fully committed to a woman's right to have uncertain or changing desires" (31). Is the man trying to coerce a yes out of her? Is he abusing the greater physical and social power he has over her? Is he abusing the knowledge that women rarely report assault and have the odds stacked against them if they do (31)? In response to their vulnerability to violence, women are encouraged to be POWERFUL, don't let anybody control you. However, as Chanel Miller wrote in 'Know my Name', "(rape) makes you want to turn into wood, hard and impenetrable, the opposite of a body that is meant to be tender, porous, soft" (36). We harden all the time in response to difficulty, we will ourselves to be invulnerable, but are we truly so upon doing so? I recently read 'Why Men Love Bitches', a book that gives performative advice to 'be that girl' and it portrays an idealistic girl boss for lack of a better word LOL. This performance, is it not more like a knight equipping themselves with armour while still being soft on the inside? Women are called to equip themselves with knowledge, confidence, and bravado, this is their armour, holding their vulnerability at bay, rejecting it, but it lingers on the horizon. After all, it is their protection in response to violence, it should not be our end goal. Like any knight, nobody can permanently live in their armour, it is not them. We are flesh and blood fundamentally.

The last tidbit to think about as a criticism to enthusiastic consent is also, who does enthusiastic consent serve? Surely women, but with the onus being on them, it equally gives evil people the chance to excuse themselves, "she didn't know what she wanted really!" But like in other areas of life, do we always know what we want? It implies a permanent model of desire, that good sex is simply fulfilling a checklist of desires that you've kept in the backlog of your mind, is this ever congruent with reality? "That we don't always know and can't always say what we want - must be folded into the ethics of sex rather than swept aside as an inconvenience" (39). It is human nature to continually have doubts and have desires to be ever evolving and it is easy to capitalize on this doubt to coerce others into doing things they do not really want. Though that phrasing is misleading from me, I mean to say there is no fixed thing we "really want", desire reacts on circumstances. "We are social creatures, and our desires have always emerged ... in relation to those who care, or do not care, for us. Desire never exists in isolation. This is also what makes sex potentially exciting rich and meaningful. How do we make this fact galvanizing rather than paralyzing?" (39).

"Commentators on the new landscape of sex and consent often plaintively ask why it is that men are expected to be able to 'read a woman's mind when it comes to sex. My question is different: why are women asked to know their own minds, when knowing one's own mind is such an undependable aim? Self-knowledge is not a reliable feature of female sexuality, nor of sexuality in general ... it's an assumption that has been conceded for far too long, to the impediment of conversations about pleasure, joy, autonomy and safety... Instead of fiddling with formulations of consent on which we place too high an ethical burden ..., we need to articulate an ethics of sex that does not try frantically to keep desire's uncertainty at bay. A sexual ethics that is worth its name has to allow for obscurity, for opacity and for not-knowing ... we shouldn't have to know ourselves to be safe from violence" (40). Such a bar!

Angel also talks about how sexuality is different from women to men. The question 'why men have sex' is rarely ever asked, the reason being that men have sex for sex, it is like a primitive drive, libidinal and inherent to their being. This contrasts to women who are often viewed as to be weighing up interest apart from sexual pleasure, their reasons for sex are also cognitive and so "woman's interest in sex is less, well, sexual" (63) LOL. A man's desire for sex is viewed as a deep need while a woman calculates interests. It implicitly states that women in a way, feel less sexual desire compared to men, as if they also enjoy it extrinsically. This creates a troubling power dynamic where women are the keepers of sex whereas men are the pursuers. Men coerce and persuade women to be receptive to having sex. I feel like online; this narrative is strongly pushed by claiming it to be biological, and explained by evolution. But I would think rather that a man is permitted socially to engage in their sexuality so overtly almost as if it was biological. Rather than resigning ourselves to a man's libido as simply a drive, we should also question whether it is or if we view it so.

This libidinal connotation of sexuality associated with men isn't helpful to men either, and these impossible social requirements of men harm them just as much. Men are pushed to be masters of sex, always raring to go but this impossible expectation simply sets them up for failure. They are asked to be chads LMFAO, but Chad is not real sorry! Not being able to meet this expectation of being a stud, quite understandably so, as women are portrayed as the keepers of sex, resentment begins to form. "Men, after all, hate women so that they don't have to hate themselves" (67). It's their fault! On top of that, this virile portrayal of men is so dehumanizing LMFAO, men equally have sex extrinsically apart from pleasure, but this desire for intimacy is simply rendered invisible. We treat "male desire as a biological given, rather than the socially enabled, sanctioned and enforced behavior that it is" (67).
Angel also has an interesting section that warns people to take sexology reports with a grain of salt as well, in that old experiments often did not take intersectionality into account, focusing mainly on privileged white women, the experiments that observe these women are divorced from real sex and are basically just masturbation, and often take for granted certain premises that may not be accurate. Science is often weaponized as a beacon of truth, and the desire to find "the truth" not in a woman’s words but their bodies has been attempted. These experiments are still resonant in popular conception of a women's arousal today, specifically, wetness is viewed as the most honest manifestation of sexuality from women. Scientists had participating women watch a variety of pornographic films that had diverse content, featuring heterosexual sex, lesbian sex, gay sex, that even of BEASTIALITY (wtf lmfao) and in most circumstances, women would react to ALL FOOTAGE. Does this mean that women are just freaks? No, more logically speaking, you would say that perhaps wetness is not always an accurate predictor for arousal. The myth of "the body does not lie" is a common popular double standard in men and women. It isn't common for men to have unwanted erections, and yet it happens. A more poignant example is erectile dysfunction quite simply. That is viewed as a simple problem of hydraulics, a physical dysfunction that is not perceived as a lack of sexual desire. Why not prescribe them a sexual disorder? Here, we believe a man's subjective arousal, if they say they are aroused despite their penis not functioning, we believe them. However, when a woman says they are not aroused while being wet, we do not believe them. "We should prioritize what women say, in all its complexity, rather than fetishizing what their bodies do in the name of a spurious scientism" (83). We take the subjective arousal of men as truths while questioning the subjective arousal of women. Why so? We can't simply interpret observations to fit our narratives.
This claim now, that women DO NOT know themselves, that they should not trust their subjective arousal, is especially dangerous when considering enthusiastic consent, which bases its validity in a women's self-knowledge. How can women ever consent properly then if they are to not even trust their own subjective arousal? Does it not simply pose a paradox? Women must know themselves well to assure great sex, and yet at the same time, women cannot trust themselves for their bodies may betray them. This contradiction only serves men in inscribing women the task of risk management all the while making them easier to coerce. "If a woman doesn't know and state her desires, she is effectively guilty of her own repression ... The onus [should] not be on women to have a sexuality that admits of no abuse; it is on other not to abuse them. The fetishization of certain knowledge does nothing to enable rich, exciting pleasurable sex, for women and for men" (92).

And so, an all-knowing sexual experience is most likely idealistic and unattainable. It's unrealistic and unhelpful for people to expect others to simply KNOW what they desire and that being the key to ensuring good sex. Rather than prescribing a certain formula or standardizing a certain way to have sex, let people reside in the unknown. We cannot be invulnerable either as the consequences of it is that nothing can reach you either" (99). How do we "neither discount fear, nor be overwhelmed by it, how [do we] enjoy feeling deeply?" Angel's answer lies in accepting being vulnerable and risking being hurt by your partner. I think personally that Angel forgets to mention that we must create this atmosphere of trust and build a comfortable bond in which we would dare even to be vulnerable. It is so difficult! Difficult for men because it is emasculating to step down from a position of mastery, and difficult for women for, well all the other reasons too. That's why good sex is such a sensitive and impactful issue for people, it is a pure state of vulnerability and expression of desire for somebody. "It is an exercise in mutual trust and negotiation of fear" (100). The requirements to even arrive at this situation is obviously immensely difficult and description of this is out of the scope of this book but it serves as a good stepping stone towards it. Angel says that “an ideal of joyful vulnerability may be so murkily inaccessible to our dominant understandings of sex that the language of clear, transparent self-knowing about desire becomes all the more appealing as a result" (100-101). Funnily enough, a good example of vulnerability leading to great sex can be found in BDSM communities. What are the participants if not clearly vulnerable? Boundaries are asserted, you place yourself in terrifyingly vulnerable positions, you risk injuries, you play with fantasy power dynamics, all on the grounds of trust. Consent is still super important obviously, and such boundaries, and admission of respect for the other person may just be the FIRST steppingstone towards real pleasurable sex. But these stated boundaries risk becoming a part of you, "rather than a strategic stance" while "one of the pleasures of sex is precisely its changeability".

In vulnerability, Angel argues that we should embrace mutual vulnerability and resist the urge to toughen up. As well, there are little objective sex acts and each person's unique story infuses different positions, ways of having sex with different meanings. "What [Angel] suggests is that ... part of our sexual pleasure is the way [we] shatter, ... that mastery and the boundary between ourselves and each other" (109). "Why should we know what we want? Why should we not expect men to proceed with us in exploration? The fixation on yes and no doesn't help us navigate these waters; it's precisely the uncertain, unclear space between yes and no that we need to learn to navigate" (111). "We understand sex is inextricable from how we understand what it is to be a person. We cannot deny that we are flexible, social creatures, constantly ingesting, incorporating and formulating what we take in. The fantasy of total autonomy and of total self-knowledge, is not only a fantasy; it's nightmare... The task is to accept the boundaries of oneself and others, while remaining vulnerable, woundable around the bounds. Sometimes, the deepest pleasure is letting someone in (114). "Working out what we want is life’s work, and it has to be done over and over and over. The joy may lie in it never being done" (115).
I'd recommend "Magnificent Sex : Lessons from Extraordinary Lovers" if ur interested in more reading. Anyways, that's it, thanks to whoever read until the end, this is obnoxiously long.]]> 4.07 2021 Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent
author: Katherine Angel
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:
I read this book initially back in August but I wasn't able to come up with a satisfying review that I think did justice to my impressions on it so I held onto it from the library for the entirety of the school year lmfao. But now that the book is out of renewals and I'm procrastinating on a real essay, I've decided that this is the optimal time to read this book LOL.

The book starts off with an extremely unhinged example LMFAO though it portrays a good example of the contradiction that women have to maneuver in their sexuality. Invited onto a porn shoot to have the 'chance' to film a scene with porn star James Deen, we see her vacillate between being happy about being able to be with a star (expressing her sexuality) and her hesitance in knowing that this could potentially jeopardize her social life (repressing her sexuality). She must "balance desire with risk" and "pay attention to so much in the pursuit of pleasure", living in "the double bind in which women exist; that saying no may be difficult but so too is saying yes" (5). In expressing sexuality, women open themselves to a certain level of risk. What if this goes too far? What if I don't want this? What if I suffer socially from this experience? This issue is only further complicated when considering intersectionality, white women have an easier time expressing their sexuality compared to black women as they are more privileged to have the social relief of being more likely to be protected by law enforcement over black women.

In the 1970s, rape prevention campaigns gave the burden of responsability to prevent rape by saying 'no' clearly, having the slogan of 'No means no', but it "framed women's role in sex primarily as one of refusal" (19). This progressed eventually to an affirmative consent model where the emphasis was changed, recognizing on more equal grounds mutuality for sexual activity. From "simply the right to refuse sex, to the right to desire sex, to say yes to sex, and indeed to ask for sex - often enthusiastically". It's a controversial change to this day I think with men often ridiculing the concept, I still see jokes from men online exaggerating the seemingly contractual part of this agreement, asking women to sign paper contracts to exempt them from false rape accusations. In any case, I think it's a strawman argument, people form implicit social contracts to live in society all the time without noticing it and suddenly this is too much. Though I do understand the awkwardness which relates to men having a hard time being vulnerable as they would need to express their desire for the other person as well as women being embarrassed as they have similar social pressure to not express sexual desire.

In any case, to circumvent these criticisms, so came about enthusiastic consent. Women were encouraged to be more knowledgeable about sex and know what they want. Women were no longer keepers of sex, rather they desired to be enthusiastic participants of it, 'I know what I want' and be able to proclaim it loudly for all to hear. It is based implicitly in the belief that for sexual equality to exist, we must uplift women on the same level of men by being verbose about their desire. Once again, the onus is placed on women to ensure their own pleasure through speech, though it's a huge red herring. Women are now forced as Foucault said (8), "we ardently conjure away the present and appeal to the future". We ask women to simply be aware and be vocal of their sexuality without acknowledging the historical and social context that prevents that from being possible. It does little to acknowledge "the punitive effects of the very acts women are called to perform in the name of feminist empowerment (15), women expose themselves to risk by saying yes, such as courts being against them (as she said she would enjoy it no?), socially (slut-shaming) etc. Women are called to know what they want all the time, and not knowing, expressing ambivalence for their desires, is dangerous in the dichotomy of consent as they do not state what is NOT allowed as well. Again, the onus is on them.

You could argue that this is simply "bad sex" then, that it's a shame that it happens but that these are formative experiences for both parties that are inevitable. It would be a valid point, if you were to not consider context, who is the person that would suffer more from 'bad sex'? Without bringing up obvious differences like pregnancy, women suffer disproportionately. "90% of men reach orgasm during sex, 50 to 70% of women do" (25). On top of this, women have a higher likelihood of experiencing sexual violence, rape and assaults. Can you simply surmise this as an inevitable experience? It's not to minimize traumatic experience men have with women either, but it is much more likely for women to suffer more. Even without taking physical consequences into account, "are the lessons men and women learn the same (from bad sex)? ... Who learns that their role is to acquire pleasure at whatever cost, and who learns that they must suffer sex's consequences alone?" (26-27). This model of simply 'bad sex' assumes that both parties are cooperatively working together to learn from one another and explore themselves and doesn't consider real world context.

"(Enthusiastic consent) only works if we assume a certain kind of partner, one who is fully committed to a woman's right to have uncertain or changing desires" (31). Is the man trying to coerce a yes out of her? Is he abusing the greater physical and social power he has over her? Is he abusing the knowledge that women rarely report assault and have the odds stacked against them if they do (31)? In response to their vulnerability to violence, women are encouraged to be POWERFUL, don't let anybody control you. However, as Chanel Miller wrote in 'Know my Name', "(rape) makes you want to turn into wood, hard and impenetrable, the opposite of a body that is meant to be tender, porous, soft" (36). We harden all the time in response to difficulty, we will ourselves to be invulnerable, but are we truly so upon doing so? I recently read 'Why Men Love Bitches', a book that gives performative advice to 'be that girl' and it portrays an idealistic girl boss for lack of a better word LOL. This performance, is it not more like a knight equipping themselves with armour while still being soft on the inside? Women are called to equip themselves with knowledge, confidence, and bravado, this is their armour, holding their vulnerability at bay, rejecting it, but it lingers on the horizon. After all, it is their protection in response to violence, it should not be our end goal. Like any knight, nobody can permanently live in their armour, it is not them. We are flesh and blood fundamentally.

The last tidbit to think about as a criticism to enthusiastic consent is also, who does enthusiastic consent serve? Surely women, but with the onus being on them, it equally gives evil people the chance to excuse themselves, "she didn't know what she wanted really!" But like in other areas of life, do we always know what we want? It implies a permanent model of desire, that good sex is simply fulfilling a checklist of desires that you've kept in the backlog of your mind, is this ever congruent with reality? "That we don't always know and can't always say what we want - must be folded into the ethics of sex rather than swept aside as an inconvenience" (39). It is human nature to continually have doubts and have desires to be ever evolving and it is easy to capitalize on this doubt to coerce others into doing things they do not really want. Though that phrasing is misleading from me, I mean to say there is no fixed thing we "really want", desire reacts on circumstances. "We are social creatures, and our desires have always emerged ... in relation to those who care, or do not care, for us. Desire never exists in isolation. This is also what makes sex potentially exciting rich and meaningful. How do we make this fact galvanizing rather than paralyzing?" (39).

"Commentators on the new landscape of sex and consent often plaintively ask why it is that men are expected to be able to 'read a woman's mind when it comes to sex. My question is different: why are women asked to know their own minds, when knowing one's own mind is such an undependable aim? Self-knowledge is not a reliable feature of female sexuality, nor of sexuality in general ... it's an assumption that has been conceded for far too long, to the impediment of conversations about pleasure, joy, autonomy and safety... Instead of fiddling with formulations of consent on which we place too high an ethical burden ..., we need to articulate an ethics of sex that does not try frantically to keep desire's uncertainty at bay. A sexual ethics that is worth its name has to allow for obscurity, for opacity and for not-knowing ... we shouldn't have to know ourselves to be safe from violence" (40). Such a bar!

Angel also talks about how sexuality is different from women to men. The question 'why men have sex' is rarely ever asked, the reason being that men have sex for sex, it is like a primitive drive, libidinal and inherent to their being. This contrasts to women who are often viewed as to be weighing up interest apart from sexual pleasure, their reasons for sex are also cognitive and so "woman's interest in sex is less, well, sexual" (63) LOL. A man's desire for sex is viewed as a deep need while a woman calculates interests. It implicitly states that women in a way, feel less sexual desire compared to men, as if they also enjoy it extrinsically. This creates a troubling power dynamic where women are the keepers of sex whereas men are the pursuers. Men coerce and persuade women to be receptive to having sex. I feel like online; this narrative is strongly pushed by claiming it to be biological, and explained by evolution. But I would think rather that a man is permitted socially to engage in their sexuality so overtly almost as if it was biological. Rather than resigning ourselves to a man's libido as simply a drive, we should also question whether it is or if we view it so.

This libidinal connotation of sexuality associated with men isn't helpful to men either, and these impossible social requirements of men harm them just as much. Men are pushed to be masters of sex, always raring to go but this impossible expectation simply sets them up for failure. They are asked to be chads LMFAO, but Chad is not real sorry! Not being able to meet this expectation of being a stud, quite understandably so, as women are portrayed as the keepers of sex, resentment begins to form. "Men, after all, hate women so that they don't have to hate themselves" (67). It's their fault! On top of that, this virile portrayal of men is so dehumanizing LMFAO, men equally have sex extrinsically apart from pleasure, but this desire for intimacy is simply rendered invisible. We treat "male desire as a biological given, rather than the socially enabled, sanctioned and enforced behavior that it is" (67).
Angel also has an interesting section that warns people to take sexology reports with a grain of salt as well, in that old experiments often did not take intersectionality into account, focusing mainly on privileged white women, the experiments that observe these women are divorced from real sex and are basically just masturbation, and often take for granted certain premises that may not be accurate. Science is often weaponized as a beacon of truth, and the desire to find "the truth" not in a woman’s words but their bodies has been attempted. These experiments are still resonant in popular conception of a women's arousal today, specifically, wetness is viewed as the most honest manifestation of sexuality from women. Scientists had participating women watch a variety of pornographic films that had diverse content, featuring heterosexual sex, lesbian sex, gay sex, that even of BEASTIALITY (wtf lmfao) and in most circumstances, women would react to ALL FOOTAGE. Does this mean that women are just freaks? No, more logically speaking, you would say that perhaps wetness is not always an accurate predictor for arousal. The myth of "the body does not lie" is a common popular double standard in men and women. It isn't common for men to have unwanted erections, and yet it happens. A more poignant example is erectile dysfunction quite simply. That is viewed as a simple problem of hydraulics, a physical dysfunction that is not perceived as a lack of sexual desire. Why not prescribe them a sexual disorder? Here, we believe a man's subjective arousal, if they say they are aroused despite their penis not functioning, we believe them. However, when a woman says they are not aroused while being wet, we do not believe them. "We should prioritize what women say, in all its complexity, rather than fetishizing what their bodies do in the name of a spurious scientism" (83). We take the subjective arousal of men as truths while questioning the subjective arousal of women. Why so? We can't simply interpret observations to fit our narratives.
This claim now, that women DO NOT know themselves, that they should not trust their subjective arousal, is especially dangerous when considering enthusiastic consent, which bases its validity in a women's self-knowledge. How can women ever consent properly then if they are to not even trust their own subjective arousal? Does it not simply pose a paradox? Women must know themselves well to assure great sex, and yet at the same time, women cannot trust themselves for their bodies may betray them. This contradiction only serves men in inscribing women the task of risk management all the while making them easier to coerce. "If a woman doesn't know and state her desires, she is effectively guilty of her own repression ... The onus [should] not be on women to have a sexuality that admits of no abuse; it is on other not to abuse them. The fetishization of certain knowledge does nothing to enable rich, exciting pleasurable sex, for women and for men" (92).

And so, an all-knowing sexual experience is most likely idealistic and unattainable. It's unrealistic and unhelpful for people to expect others to simply KNOW what they desire and that being the key to ensuring good sex. Rather than prescribing a certain formula or standardizing a certain way to have sex, let people reside in the unknown. We cannot be invulnerable either as the consequences of it is that nothing can reach you either" (99). How do we "neither discount fear, nor be overwhelmed by it, how [do we] enjoy feeling deeply?" Angel's answer lies in accepting being vulnerable and risking being hurt by your partner. I think personally that Angel forgets to mention that we must create this atmosphere of trust and build a comfortable bond in which we would dare even to be vulnerable. It is so difficult! Difficult for men because it is emasculating to step down from a position of mastery, and difficult for women for, well all the other reasons too. That's why good sex is such a sensitive and impactful issue for people, it is a pure state of vulnerability and expression of desire for somebody. "It is an exercise in mutual trust and negotiation of fear" (100). The requirements to even arrive at this situation is obviously immensely difficult and description of this is out of the scope of this book but it serves as a good stepping stone towards it. Angel says that “an ideal of joyful vulnerability may be so murkily inaccessible to our dominant understandings of sex that the language of clear, transparent self-knowing about desire becomes all the more appealing as a result" (100-101). Funnily enough, a good example of vulnerability leading to great sex can be found in BDSM communities. What are the participants if not clearly vulnerable? Boundaries are asserted, you place yourself in terrifyingly vulnerable positions, you risk injuries, you play with fantasy power dynamics, all on the grounds of trust. Consent is still super important obviously, and such boundaries, and admission of respect for the other person may just be the FIRST steppingstone towards real pleasurable sex. But these stated boundaries risk becoming a part of you, "rather than a strategic stance" while "one of the pleasures of sex is precisely its changeability".

In vulnerability, Angel argues that we should embrace mutual vulnerability and resist the urge to toughen up. As well, there are little objective sex acts and each person's unique story infuses different positions, ways of having sex with different meanings. "What [Angel] suggests is that ... part of our sexual pleasure is the way [we] shatter, ... that mastery and the boundary between ourselves and each other" (109). "Why should we know what we want? Why should we not expect men to proceed with us in exploration? The fixation on yes and no doesn't help us navigate these waters; it's precisely the uncertain, unclear space between yes and no that we need to learn to navigate" (111). "We understand sex is inextricable from how we understand what it is to be a person. We cannot deny that we are flexible, social creatures, constantly ingesting, incorporating and formulating what we take in. The fantasy of total autonomy and of total self-knowledge, is not only a fantasy; it's nightmare... The task is to accept the boundaries of oneself and others, while remaining vulnerable, woundable around the bounds. Sometimes, the deepest pleasure is letting someone in (114). "Working out what we want is life’s work, and it has to be done over and over and over. The joy may lie in it never being done" (115).
I'd recommend "Magnificent Sex : Lessons from Extraordinary Lovers" if ur interested in more reading. Anyways, that's it, thanks to whoever read until the end, this is obnoxiously long.
]]> Know My Name 50196744
Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways–there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.]]> 384 Chanel Miller 0735223718 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.69 2019 Know My Name
author: Chanel Miller
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The History of Sexuality 1: The Will to Knowledge]]> 1879 168 Michel Foucault 0140268685 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.87 1976 The History of Sexuality 1: The Will to Knowledge
author: Michel Foucault
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/09
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]]> Vendredi soir 2243651
C'était vendredi et elle allait dîner chez des amis.
Et demain, pour la première fois de sa vie, elle vivrait avec quelqu'un. »]]> 112 Emmanuèle Bernheim 2070750876 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.21 1998 Vendredi soir
author: Emmanuèle Bernheim
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.21
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> La tresse 34903981 Trois femmes, trois vies, trois continents. Une même soif de liberté.

Inde - Smita est une Intouchable. Elle rêve de voir sa fille échapper à sa condition misérable et entrer à l’école.

Sicile - Giulia travaille dans l’atelier de son père. Lorsqu’il est victime d’un accident, elle découvre que l’entreprise familiale est ruinée.

Canada - Sarah, avocate réputée, va être promue à la tête de son cabinet quand elle apprend qu’elle est gravement malade.

Liées sans le savoir par ce qu’elles ont de plus intime et de plus singulier, Smita, Giulia et Sarah refusent le sort qui leur est destiné et décident de se battre. Vibrantes d’humanité, leurs histoires tissent une tresse d’espoir et de solidarité.]]> 224 Laetitia Colombani 2246813883 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.03 2017 La tresse
author: Laetitia Colombani
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Great Gatsby 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Kelvino 0 currently-reading 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)]]> 307791
But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them?]]> 270 Jeanne DuPrau 0375822747 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.89 2003 The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)
author: Jeanne DuPrau
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism]]> 1237300 The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence in order to implement its economic policies in so many parts of the world from Latin America and Eastern Europe to South Africa, Russia, and Iraq. At the core of disaster capitalism is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization combined with the privatization of the disaster response itself. By capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, Klein argues that the disaster capitalism complex now exists as a booming new economy, and is the violent culmination of a radical economic project that has been incubating for fifty years.]]> 558 Naomi Klein 0805079831 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.27 2007 The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
author: Naomi Klein
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Phoenix and the Blue Jackal]]> 221752102 Mystery, Personal Development, and Philosophy, exploring how our environments—good and bad—shape who we are.
�
Mia, a future-shy girl, is drawn by fate to the mystical town of Ăze on the CĂ´te d’Azur to care for the enigmatic Madame Charlotte after a recent accident. But what begins as a simple caretaking role quickly transforms into a journey of discovery, as Mia uncovers paranormal secrets and faces life-changing challenges that push her to grow. She encounters the six Phoenixes, the immortal siblings who each desire something from her, drawing Mia deeper into a web of supernatural intrigue. Among them is a Mentor who may hold the key to her destiny. Blending myths with philosophy, and magic with self-discovery, The Golden Phoenix and the Blue Jackal takes readers on an enthralling journey through a world of deep bonds, ancient legacies and the timeless quest for identity.

Could Mia survive Madame Charlotte's lessons, or will she be just another casualty in the immortal game?

“Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant.� � Seneca

]]> 344 Chris Mustache Kelvino 0 to-read 4.20 The Golden Phoenix and the Blue Jackal
author: Chris Mustache
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The After (The After Series, #1)]]> 220303260 186 J. Taylor 1038309999 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.83 The After (The After Series, #1)
author: J. Taylor
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.83
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Girl I Was 218171630 “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.�

Alexis Spencer will use any inspirational quote to rationalize her failures and shortcomings. Her closest friends are a distant memory, and her college debt is still as high as the day she left—but that’s all fine and dandy, because “whatever will be, will be.� However, when Alexis loses her job and her relationship on the same day, there’s no quote strong enough to help her cope. In typical fashion, she blames the world for her problems, including her younger self, who should have tried harder. Feeling sorry for herself, Alexis finds a bottle of vodka from her college days and goes on a bender, blacking out in the process. Only this time she doesn’t wake up at home—or even in the right city. In fact, she isn’t even in the right year.]]> 304 Jeneva Rose 0778387488 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.71 2021 The Girl I Was
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
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]]> No Ordinary Love 223354333
In an unspoken story of survival, Gabbi, a therapist in her late thirties, wants her family to know what really happened to her all those years ago, but she's running out of time to finish writing her story before it's too late.Ěý

Seeking safety throughout a lifelong escape, Alex, a school counsellor in her late twenties, struggles to navigate dealing with her clients' traumas while healing from her own when her abusive ex finds her and starts sending letters from jail. Now she must flee again before he's released and hunts her down.Ěý

Falling for a nightmare disguised as a dream guy, Katee, a high school student, craves love, but her desperation grooms her for the perfect predator. Now she must escape her abusive boyfriend before she becomes yet another statistic in the femicide epidemic.Ěý

The abuse they suffer echoes the countless shared experiences of domestic violence survivors around the world, but their fight for freedom is uniquely their own.

He shall remain unnamed, for he could be anybody's tormentor.]]> 337 B.B. Gabriel 1069121304 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.93 No Ordinary Love
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]]> Their Monstrous Hearts 212431583 A haunting novel about the boundaries people will cross to keep their dreams alive.

A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection.

The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.

As Riccardo explores the decrepit estate, he stumbles upon Perihan’s diary, which might hold the key to her mysterious death. Or at least give him the inspiration he needs to finish his manuscript.

But he might not survive long enough to write it.

]]> 320 YiÄźit Turhan 0778368270 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.45 2025 Their Monstrous Hearts
author: YiÄźit Turhan
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.45
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]]> The Graceview Patient 222376946 Misery meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers in this genre-bending, claustrophobic hospital gothic from the bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence.

Margaret lives with a rare autoimmune condition that has destroyed her life, leaving her isolated. It has no cure, but she’s making do as best she can—until she’s offered a fully paid-for spot in an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial.

The conditions are simple, if grueling; she will live at the hospital as a full-time patient, subjecting herself to the near-total destruction of her immune system and its subsequent regeneration. The trial will essentially kill most of, but not all of her. But as the treatment progresses and her body begins to fail, she stumbles upon something sinister living and spreading within the hospital.

Unsure of what's real and what is just medication-induced delusion, Margaret struggles to find a way out as her body and mind succumb further to the darkness lurking throughout Graceview's halls.]]> 304 Caitlin Starling 1250340756 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.97 2025 The Graceview Patient
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name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.97
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]]> Dark Sisters 222376679 Three women must chase a curse through the generations in order to reclaim their power in this fierce and stunning novel from Such a Pretty Smile author Kristi DeMeester.

1750: Anne Bolton sets off with her daughter to begin a life of secrecy. In town, they are killing women accused of witchcraft every day, and as a healer, she’ll soon be persecuted too. But then she makes a deal with the Dark Sisters to protect those under her purview–and unleashes a devastating power with consequences that will echo for three hundred years.

1953: Mary Shephard is a new mother, a picture-perfect wife, and dutiful member of The Path–a community of faith that holds piety and family values above all else. But Mary feels oppressed by these limiting expectations, so she takes a part-time job. Then she meets Sharon, and their star-crossed love story begins. But that’s the thing about star-crossed lovers–people just want to tear you apart.

2007: Camilla Burson is the preacher’s daughter, and she knows how to play the game. But now women in The Path are dying of a rare disease, including her mother, and this time she’ll push her father too far. Her punishment: The Retreat, a place that shows troublemakers like Camilla that toeing the line is best for everyone. But there is an old, forgotten power awaiting her; a power that if Camilla can claim, will change everything.

"Magnificent.� - Rachel Harrison

"A visceral, mesmerizing nightmare. I couldn't look away." - Hannah Morrissey]]> 336 Kristi DeMeester 1250286816 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.32 Dark Sisters
author: Kristi DeMeester
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average rating: 4.32
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]]> <![CDATA[To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other]]> 217446823 From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sympathizer (now an HBO series) comes a moving and unflinchingly personal meditation on the literary forms of otherness and a bold call for expansive political solidarity.

Born in war-ravaged Vietnam, Viet Nguyen arrived in the United States as a child refugee in 1975. The Nguyen family would soon move to San Jose, California, where the author grew up, attending UC-Berkeley in the aftermath of the shocking murder of Vincent Chin, which shaped the political sensibilities of a new generation of Asian Americans.

The essays here, delivered originally as the prestigious Norton Lectures, proffer a new answer to a classic literary What does the outsider mean to literary writing? Over the course of six captivating and moving chapters, Nguyen explores the idea of being an outsider through lenses that are, by turns, literary, historical, political, and familial.

Each piece moves between writers who influenced Nguyen’s craft and weaves in the haunting story of his late mother’s mental illness. Nguyen unfolds the novels and nonfiction of Herman Melville, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ralph Ellison, William Carlos Williams, and Maxine Hong Kingston, until aesthetic theories give way to pressing concerns raised by war and politics. What is a writer’s responsibility in a time of violence? Should we celebrate fiction that gives voice to the voiceless—or do we confront the forces that render millions voiceless in the first place? What are the burdens and pleasures of the “minor� writer in any society? Unsatisfied with the modest inclusion accorded to “model minorities� such as Asian Americans, Nguyen sets the agenda for a more radical and disquieting solidarity with those whose lives have been devastated by imperialism and forever wars.]]> 144 Viet Thanh Nguyen 0674298179 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.21 To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other
author: Viet Thanh Nguyen
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]]> The Odyssey 210864316 560 Homer 022660442X Kelvino 0 to-read 4.30 -800 The Odyssey
author: Homer
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.30
book published: -800
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]]> Le Petit Gus fait sa crise 10837670 Le petit Gus fait sa crise 160 Claudine Desmarteau 2226209336 Kelvino 5 4.40 2010 Le Petit Gus fait sa crise
author: Claudine Desmarteau
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/14
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]]> Mickey7 (Mickey7, #1) 57693457 After several deaths punctuating a series of all-too-brief life spans, a clone reassesses his purpose � and his humanity � in Edward Ashton’s Mickey7, “a unique blend of thought-provoking sci-fi concepts, farcical relationship drama, and exotic body horror� (New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin).

EXPENDABLE \ik’spen-d�-b’l\ n. A human clone utilized for dangerous work on space exploration missions. An Expendable’s personality and memories may be transferred intact to a new body if and when the current host dies.

Mickey Barnes is an Expendable, now on his seventh iteration, living � and dying � among his fellow colonists on the near-uninhabitable ice world of Niflheim. Some consider him immortal. Others believe he’s a soulless monstrosity. For the past nine years, he has been deployed for hazardous assignments and subjected to experiments that test the limits of human endurance, his humanity sacrificed for the greater good.

While on reconnaissance, Mickey7 is injured and left for dead, only to be saved by Niflheim’s native species, thought to be insentient by the colonists. Returning to base, Mickey7 meets his next generation, Mickey8. Neither clone is willing to recycle himself, but if anyone discovers multiple Mickeys exist, they’ll both be executed � and there won’t ever be a Mickey9.

But Mickey7’s premature twin isn’t his only secret. He hasn’t uploaded his memories in a month, leaving his clone in the dark about his near death and close encounter with the planet’s inhabitants. Mickey7 also doesn’t know how all of his previous selves died, and those he remembers have left him traumatized and mistrustful of the colony’s mission. A mission that has Mickey Barnes questioning his moral and mortal existence...again...and again....]]> 296 Edward Ashton 1250275032 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.74 2022 Mickey7 (Mickey7, #1)
author: Edward Ashton
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.74
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]]> The Bride of Lammermoor 49495
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700Ěýtitles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theĚýseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-dateĚýtranslations by award-winning translators.]]> 346 Walter Scott 0140436561 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.68 1819 The Bride of Lammermoor
author: Walter Scott
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1819
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]]> Crisis in the Classroom 35291708 552 Charles E Silberman 0394420829 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.50 Crisis in the Classroom
author: Charles E Silberman
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.50
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]]> Diary of an Oxygen Thief 1561703
Say there was a novel in which Holden Caulfield was an alcoholic and Lolita was a photographer’s assistant and, somehow, they met in Bright Lights, Big City. He’s blinded by love. She by ambition. Diary of an Oxygen Thief is an honest, hilarious, and heartrending novel, but above all, a very realistic account of what we do to each other and what we allow to have done to us.]]> 140 Anonymous 908105841X Kelvino 0 to-read 2.72 2006 Diary of an Oxygen Thief
author: Anonymous
name: Kelvino
average rating: 2.72
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> The 48 Laws of Power 1303 Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control � from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.

In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling� and “fascinating,� Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.

Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master�), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness�), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally�). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.]]> 452 Robert Greene 0140280197 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.11 1998 The 48 Laws of Power
author: Robert Greene
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1998
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]]> <![CDATA[The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom]]> 214151420 From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.�

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.� No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.]]> 320 Shari Franke 1668065398 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.42 2025 The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
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name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.42
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]]> Dead Souls 28381 Dead Souls, Russia's first major novel, is one of the most unusual works of nineteenth-century fiction and a devastating satire on social hypocrisy.

In his introduction to this new translation, Robert A. Maguire discusses Gogol's life and literary career, his depiction of Russian society, and the language and narrative techniques employed in Dead Souls. This edition also includes a chronology, further reading, appendices, a glossary, map and notes.]]> 464 Nikolai Gogol 0140448071 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.00 1842 Dead Souls
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name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.00
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]]> <![CDATA[Stay Away from Gretchen: Eine unmögliche Liebe]]> 56178609 Eine große Liebe in dunklen Zeiten

Der bekannte Kölner Nachrichtenmoderator Tom Monderath macht sich Sorgen um seine 84-jährige Mutter Greta, die immer mehr vergisst. Was anfangs ärgerlich für sein scheinbar so perfektes Leben ist, wird unerwartet zu einem Geschenk. Nach und nach erzählt Greta aus ihrem Leben � von ihrer Kindheit in Ostpreußen, der Flucht vor den russischen Soldaten im eisigen Winter, der Sehnsucht nach dem verschollenen Vater und ihren Erfolgen auf dem Schwarzmarkt in Heidelberg. Als Tom jedoch auf das Foto eines kleinen Mädchens mit dunkler Haut stößt, verstummt Greta. Zum ersten Mal beginnt Tom, sich eingehender mit der Vergangenheit seiner Mutter zu befassen. Nicht nur, um endlich ihre Traurigkeit zu verstehen. Es geht auch um sein eigenes Glück.]]> 528 Susanne Abel Kelvino 0 to-read 4.51 2021 Stay Away from Gretchen: Eine unmögliche Liebe
author: Susanne Abel
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence]]> 56465 Unwarranted fear is a curse.
Learn how to tell the difference.

A date won't take "no" for an answer. The new nanny gives a mother an uneasy feeling. A stranger in a deserted parking lot offers unsolicited help. The threat of violence surrounds us every day. But we can protect ourselves, by learning to trust—and act on—our gut instincts.

In this empowering book, Gavin de Becker, the man Oprah Winfrey calls the nation's leading expert on violent behavior, shows you how to spot even subtle signs of danger—before it's too late. Shattering the myth that most violent acts are unpredictable, de Becker, whose clients include top Hollywood stars and government agencies, offers specific ways to protect yourself and those you love, including how to act when approached by a stranger, when you should fear someone close to you, what to do if you are being stalked, how to uncover the source of anonymous threats or phone calls, the biggest mistake you can make with a threatening person, and more. Learn to spot the danger signals others miss. It might just save your life.
]]> 352 Gavin de Becker 0747538352 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.16 1997 The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence
author: Gavin de Becker
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1997
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]]> <![CDATA[Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times]]> 37860165 Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin. Fryderyk Chopin is an intimate look into a dramatic life; of particular focus are Chopin's childhood and youth in Poland, which are brought into line with the latest scholarly findings, and Chopin's romantic life with George Sand, with whom he lived for nine years.

Comprehensive and engaging, and written in highly readable prose, the biography wears its scholarship lightly: this is a book suited as much for the professional pianist as it is for the casual music lover. Just as he did in his definitive biography of Liszt, Walker illuminates Chopin and his music with unprecedented clarity in this magisterial biography, bringing to life one of the nineteenth century's most confounding, beloved, and legendary artists.]]> 768 Alan Walker 0374159068 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.46 2018 Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times
author: Alan Walker
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2018
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]]> <![CDATA[Le Comte de Monte-Cristo II (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, #2 of 2)]]> 956320
Le baron Danglars, ancien commis aux écritures devenu riche banquier. Monsieur de Villefort, substitut devenu procureur du roi. Le comte Fernand de Morcerf, désormais pair de France, et mari de Mercédès ! Sous le masque du comte de Monte-Cristo, Dantès a juré leur déshonneur, leur ruine et leur mort... Mais peut-il à bon droit se substituer à la divine Providence ? Ne serait-il pas plus grand justicier s'il était magnanime ? Telle est aussi la question que pose le livre le plus humain d'Alexandre Dumas.]]> 709 Alexandre Dumas Kelvino 0 to-read 4.57 1844 Le Comte de Monte-Cristo II (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, #2 of 2)
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1844
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]]> Le pays des autres 50819580
Tous les personnages de ce roman vivent dans «le pays des autres» : les colons comme les indigènes, les soldats comme les paysans ou les exilés. Les femmes, surtout, vivent dans le pays des hommes et doivent sans cesse lutter pour leur émancipation. Après deux romans au style clinique et acéré, Leïla Slimani, dans cette grande fresque, fait revivre une époque et ses acteurs avec humanité, justesse, et un sens très subtil de la narration.]]> 368 Leïla Slimani 2072887992 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.85 2020 Le pays des autres
author: LeĂŻla Slimani
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.85
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]]> <![CDATA[Le Comte de Monte-Cristo I (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, #1 of 2)]]> 956323
« On fit encore quatre ou cinq pas en montant toujours, puis Dantès sentit qu'on le prenait par la tête et par les pieds et qu'on le balançait.
« Une, dirent les fossoyeurs.
- Deux.
- Trois ! »
En même temps, Dantès se sentit lancé, en effet, dans un vide énorme, traversant les airs comme un oiseau blessé, tombant, tombant toujours avec une épouvante qui lui glaçait le cœur. Quoique tiré en bas par quelque chose de pesant qui précipitait son vol rapide, il lui sembla que cette chute durait un siècle. Enfin, avec un bruit épouvantable, il entra comme une flèche dans une eau glacée qui lui fit pousser un cri, étouffé à l'instant même par l'immersion. Dantès avait été lancé dans la mer, au fond de laquelle l'entraînait un boulet de trente-six attaché à ses pieds.La mer est le cimetière du château d'If. »]]> 703 Alexandre Dumas Kelvino 0 to-read 4.52 1844 Le Comte de Monte-Cristo I (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, #1 of 2)
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.52
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]]> <![CDATA[From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000]]> 144409
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes.

Delving deep into his own meticulous notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city–state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time.

Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state's security and began the arduous process of nation building: forging basic infrastructural roads through a land that still consisted primarily of swamps, creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population, stamping out the last vestiges of colonial–era corruption, providing mass public housing, and establishing a national airline and airport.

In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, aiming always "to be correct, not politically correct." Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men to marry women as well educated as themselves. Today's safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee's unmistakable stamp, for which he is unapologetic: "If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one."

Though Lee's domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a larger place in world affairs. With inimitable style, he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic issues of recent times and reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including the indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the poetry–spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.

Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and of their pride in their three children –� particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong, who is now Singapore's deputy prime minister.

For more than three decades, Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal measure, and he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary's heart, soul, and mind.]]> 752 Lee Kuan Yew 0060197765 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.47 2000 From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000
author: Lee Kuan Yew
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2000
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]]> <![CDATA[Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman]]> 164296 385 Nancy B. Reich 0801486378 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.17 1985 Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman
author: Nancy B. Reich
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1985
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]]> Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1) 50
Brian had been distraught over his parents' impending divorce and the secret he carries about his mother, but now he is truly desolate and alone. Exhausted, terrified, and hungry, Brian struggles to find food and make a shelter for himself. He has no special knowledge of the woods, and he must find a new kind of awareness and patience as he meets each day's challenges. Is the water safe to drink? Are the berries he finds poisonous?

Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage--an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane. Most of all, Brian leaves behind the self-pity he has felt about his predicament as he summons the courage to stay alive.

A story of survival and of transformation, this riveting book has sparked many a reader's interest in venturing into the wild.]]> 208 Gary Paulsen 0689840926 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.77 1987 Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)
author: Gary Paulsen
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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]]> Brave New World 5129 Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine� (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New Worldd likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

"Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." —Chicago Tribune]]> 268 Aldous Huxley 0060929871 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.99 1932 Brave New World
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1932
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]]> <![CDATA[The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains]]> 9778945 Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways.

Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection.

Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, The Shallows sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds.]]> 280 Nicholas Carr 0393339750 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.90 2010 The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
author: Nicholas Carr
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
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]]> <![CDATA[Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business]]> 74034 184 Neil Postman 014303653X Kelvino 0 to-read 4.15 1985 Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
author: Neil Postman
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
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]]> Martyr! 139400713 ˛ŃÄ™ł¦łú±đ˛Ô˛Ôľ±°ě! Kavego Akbara to opowieść o tym, jak niestrudzenie przez caĹ‚e ĹĽycie prĂłbujemy odnaleźć sens â€� w wierze, sztuce, w nas samych i w innych ludziach. W tej historii osierocony syn iraĹ„skich imigrantĂłw, od niedawna niepijÄ…cy, wiedziony gĹ‚osami artystĂłw, poetĂłw i wĹ‚adcĂłw, podejmuje poszukiwania, ktĂłre prowadzÄ… go do Ĺ›miertelnie chorej malarki, doĹĽywajÄ…cej swych dni w Muzeum BrooklyĹ„skim.

Cyrus Shams jest młodym mężczyzną, zmagającym się z bagażem przemocy i straty: wskutek bezsensownego wypadku zestrzelono nad Teheranem samolot z jego matką na pokładzie; z kolei życie ojca w Ameryce określała praca na farmie drobiu na Środkowym Zachodzie. Cyrus jest alkoholikiem, narkomanem i poetą, którego obsesja na punkcie męczenników popycha go do zgłębienia tajemnic własnej przeszłości � kluczem do rodzinnego sekretu jest wujek, który przed laty galopował po irańskich polach bitwy, przebrany za Anioła Śmierci, by dodawać otuchy i nieść pocieszenie umierającym, oraz pewien obraz z brooklyńskiej galerii sztuki.

Ta elektryzująca, zabawna, całkowicie oryginalna i głęboka powieść zapowiada pojawienie się nowego głosu na literackiej scenie.]]> 331 Kaveh Akbar 0593537610 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.22 2024 Martyr!
author: Kaveh Akbar
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
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]]> Zone 1882752 160 Marcel Dubé 0776100009 Kelvino 0 to-read 2.86 1960 Zone
author: Marcel Dubé
name: Kelvino
average rating: 2.86
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[L'effet jus d'orange (La Cache #1)]]> 24687495 344 Sandra Dussault Kelvino 0 to-read 3.80 2015 L'effet jus d'orange (La Cache #1)
author: Sandra Dussault
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> The Outsiders 192566704 214 S.E. Hinton 014240733X Kelvino 0 to-read 4.22 1967 The Outsiders
author: S.E. Hinton
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1967
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Rebuilding Milo: A Lifter's Guide to Fixing Common Injuries and Building a Strong Foundation for Enhancing Performance]]> 54303312
Rebuilding Milo is the culmination of Dr. Horschig’s life’s work as a sports physical therapist, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and Olympic weightlifting coach. It contains all of the knowledge he has amassed over the past decade while helping some of the best athletes in the world. Now he wants to share that knowledge with you. This book, designed by a strength athlete for anyone who spends time in the weight room, is the solution to your struggles with injury and pain. It walks you through simple tests and screens to uncover the movement problem at the root of your pain. After discovering the cause of your injury, you’ll be able to create an individualized rehab program as laid out in this book. Finally, you’ll be on the right path to eliminate your pain and return to the activities you love.]]> 400 Aaron Horschig 1628604220 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.57 Rebuilding Milo: A Lifter's Guide to Fixing Common Injuries and Building a Strong Foundation for Enhancing Performance
author: Aaron Horschig
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.57
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]]> The Screwtape Letters 8130077
C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.â€� At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. LewisĚýgives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape LettersĚýis the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.Ěý]]> 222 C.S. Lewis Kelvino 0 to-read 4.37 1942 The Screwtape Letters
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1942
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Kokou no Hito Vol. 1: Great Manga Book for Adolescent and Adults]]> 57916827 Curtis Dufour Kelvino 4 4.58 Kokou no Hito Vol. 1: Great Manga Book for Adolescent and Adults
author: Curtis Dufour
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.58
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rating: 4
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]]> The Travelling Cat Chronicles 40961230
An instant international bestseller and indie bestseller, The Travelling Cat Chronicles has charmed readers around the world. With simple yet descriptive prose, this novel gives voice to Nana the cat and his owner, Satoru, as they take to the road on a journey with no other purpose than to visit three of Satoru's longtime friends. Or so Nana is led to believe...

With his crooked tail—a sign of good fortune—and adventurous spirit, Nana is the perfect companion for the man who took him in as a stray. And as they travel in a silver van across Japan, with its ever-changing scenery and seasons, they will learn the true meaning of courage and gratitude, of loyalty and love.]]> 281 Hiro Arikawa 0735235244 Kelvino 4 4.35 2012 The Travelling Cat Chronicles
author: Hiro Arikawa
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
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]]> <![CDATA[A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains]]> 62050269 Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughsâ€� in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow. In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have, for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art, identify tumors in pictures, and even steer our cars. And yet, large gaps remain in what modern AI systems can achieve—indeed, human brains still easily perform intellectual feats that we can’t replicate in AI systems. How is it possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can’t effectively load a dishwasher? As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues, finding the answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts, calamities, and clever innovations. Not only do our brains have a story to tell—the future of AI may depend on it. Now, inĚýA Brief History of Intelligence, Bennett bridges the gap between neuroscience and AI to tell the brain’s evolutionary story, revealing how understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI breakthroughs. Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of many top minds in neuroscience, Bennett consolidates this immense history into an approachable new framework, identifying the “Five Breakthroughsâ€� that mark the brain’s most important evolutionary leaps forward. Each breakthrough brings new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence. Containing fascinating corollaries to developments in AI, A Brief History of Intelligence shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains, as well as where AI systems still fall short. Simply put, until AI systems successfully replicate each part of our brain’s long journey, AI systems will fail to exhibit human-like intelligence. Endorsed and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today, Bennett’s work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story. With sweeping scope and stunning insights,ĚýA Brief History of IntelligenceĚý proves that understanding the arc of our brain’s history can unlock the tools for successfully navigating our technological future.Ěý]]> 432 Max Solomon Bennett Kelvino 0 to-read 4.44 A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
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]]> <![CDATA[Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know]]> 43848929 Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers -- and why they often go wrong.

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you'll hear the voices of people he interviewed--scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There's even a theme song - Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout."

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.]]> 388 Malcolm Gladwell 0316478520 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.00 2019 Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
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]]> <![CDATA[The New Rules: The ultimate guide to being her. Confidence. Dating. Relationships.]]> 213938304 304 Margarita Nazarenko 0733651747 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.42 The New Rules: The ultimate guide to being her. Confidence. Dating. Relationships.
author: Margarita Nazarenko
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.42
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]]> <![CDATA[Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch, #1)]]> 64216 376 Terry Pratchett 0061020648 Kelvino 3 4.33 1989 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
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]]> <![CDATA[On Loverose Lane (Return to Dublin Street, #1)]]> 220262236 The #1 International bestselling author of On Dublin Street is back with this witty, emotional and steamy fake-dating sports romance in which ambitious entrepreneur, Beth Carmichael, meets her match in the grumpy football captain who moves into the apartment above hers.

Imagine my surprise when my new neighbor turns out to be one of Scotland’s most famous (and hottest) professional footballers, Callan Keen. I’m even more shocked to discover that the brooding player is still holding a grudge for something that happened (or didn’t happen) between us years ago.

Too busy trying to take my social media management company to the next level, I don’t have time for this gorgeous blast from the past. Or at least I shouldn’t. Yet whenever I see him, I can’t help but engage in a battle of wits with the grump upstairs.

When a huge client opportunity arises, circumstances force me to enlist Callan’s help. I require a fake date and Callan needs me to facilitate a meeting with my dad to further his own business interests.

The deal between us should be simple. Except, of course, the blazing chemistry we’ve shared since the moment we met. We can’t deny it, we can’t control it, and soon we’re agreeing to six weeks of no-strings-attached, mind-blowing, steamy shenanigans.

I told myself I was too smart to catch feelings. But when Callan finally finds out the truth about our past, he becomes the guy I used to know. And that man is way too easy to fall for.

The problem is that Callan has vowed to never let another person close enough to break his heart again.

It just might prove impossible to show my stubborn Scotsman I’m worth the risk, especially when old wounds are re-opened and threaten to wreck any chance of a future together…]]> 440 Samantha Young 1915243270 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.96 2025 On Loverose Lane (Return to Dublin Street, #1)
author: Samantha Young
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.96
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]]> Nothing Ever Happens Here 212378262 When I Was You

Nothing ever happens in small towns�

When Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack that should have left her dead, she tries to move past it—for herself, and for her family. Fifteen months later, with the help of her best friend, Mackenzie, she finally feels safe again in the snowy Minnesota town she calls home. But when an anonymous note appears on her windshield bearing the same threats her attacker made, Shelby realizes that her nightmare has only just begun.

As new evidence surfaces, and a group of well-meaning senior citizens accidentally makes the case go viral online, the situation quickly goes from bad to worse. And with suspicious accidents targeting those closest to her happening all over town, Shelby can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. Fighting to stay one step ahead of disaster, she finds herself asking the question on everyone’s lips: Who attacked her that night?

But Shelby isn’t the only one with questions. Mackenzie’s husband, Leo, vanished without a trace on that terrible night, and over a year later, no one knows why. Until a deep dive into his finances reveals a history of debts, mismanaged funds, and hidden accounts—one of which is still active. Their suspicion that Leo is still alive only complicates things further, though, and when another person connected to Shelby goes missing, she’s caught in a race against time before her attacker becomes a killer.]]> 304 Seraphina Nova Glass 1525836722 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.47 2025 Nothing Ever Happens Here
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name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.47
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]]> My Mother and the Artist 221079761 Now imagine that you're the middle-aged daughter, who left home as a teenager, ashamed of your mother's unconventional life choices. You don't know your extended family or who fathered you, but you're successful and consumed by your work saving battered women—until the mother you've not seen for thirty years dies and you read "Owned," her memoir about being the sex slave of a famous artist. Two intertwined stories, Margaret's and Alexandra's, mother and daughter, come together in an unlikely rapprochement as Alex reads and tries to make sense of her mother's book. A dark S&M romance? A tortured story of sexual abuse? Both versions of their lives, filtered through Margaret's retelling and Alex's memory, clash as the story within unfolds.
Margaret always wanted to reconnect with the daughter who she deeply loved, but she believed she was a bad mother who deserved the punishing silence and estrangement. Would a good mother freely consent to be the sex slave of a master who ignored the safe practices of their unconventional bond, compromising her ability to tend to her daughter's failing health? Accompany Alex on her journey of reconciliation, revisiting her teenage years when the artist did unspeakable things to her mother, forcing her to choose between her master and her child.
Mother and daughter's embedded narratives explore the limits of cruelty, judgment, and forgiveness that one life can offer another as Alex goes in search of the family that her mother has kept hidden, learns the truth of who her father is, and uncovers the secrets of her mother's life that drove her into the arms of the artist. Readers who struggle with the opposing demands of rearing a child while pursuing a romantic relationship may like this book. The mother of a chronically ill child balances a love interest who, at best, assumes godlike status as an alluring master, and at worst, is a callous jerk. The woman, who had a child while she herself was still a child, was sent away to a home to birth her baby anonymously. She defied society's strictures and, with the help of another woman, built a life for herself and her child. Hard-working and determined, but naïve and ill-equipped to handle the sophisticated, complex rules of the BDSM world she fell into, she struggles to find a way out. Catholicism is used as goad and foil to the mother's proclivities—a window through which she understands herself, but also a tool by which her artist master manipulates her.
The daughter's tender coming-of-age story, told through her mother's memoir, adds a counterpoint and complicated texture to her mother's troubling adventures. Readers who like the call and response style to explore the mother/daughter dynamic may empathize with the mother's struggles while simultaneously feeling her daughter's outrage. The mother's dark drama nestles painfully within her daughter's story of rage, grief, and sensemaking.
What complex interplay of life experiences drives a woman to cross boundaries and seek ecstasy in an S&M relationship, territory she doesn't recognize even when it seems all too familiar? What causes her to stay and feel liberated amidst grievous disappointment and pain while society, her daughter, and perhaps the reader judge the relationship as psychopathological? What forces might be stronger than the pull of pain and punishment to compel her to shift loyalties and leave the bubble of fantasy that becomes her all-consuming life?]]> 324 Isabella Synan Kelvino 0 to-read 4.33 My Mother and the Artist
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]]> They Bloom at Night 211003894
Now, Noon is stuck navigating the submerged town with her mom, who believes their dead family has reincarnated as sea creatures. Alone with the pain of what happened that night at the cove, Noon buries the truth: she is not the right shape.

When Mercy’s predatory leader demands Noon and her mom capture the creature drowning residents, she reluctantly finds an ally in his deadly hunter of a daughter and friends old and new. As the next storm approaches, Noon must confront the past and decide if it’s time to answer the monster itching at her skin.]]> 272 Trang Thanh Tran 1547611111 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.61 2025 They Bloom at Night
author: Trang Thanh Tran
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2025
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]]> <![CDATA[The Blue Horse (Porter Beck, #3)]]> 217388223 A controversial wild horse round-up in the high desert of Nevada results in two murders and too many suspects for Sheriff Porter Beck to deal with.

A helicopter driving a controversial round-up of wild horses suddenly crashes and the pilot is found to have been shot. Then the person coordinating the round-up for the Bureau of Land Management is savagely murdered, buried up to her neck and then trampled to death by the very same wild horses. And there's no lack of suspects—with the wild horse advocacy group having sworn to protect the horse At Any Cost! Now the state and federal agencies are showing up looking for answers or at least a scapegoat.

Sheriff Porter Beck has had better days.

Porter Beck's new girlfriend, Detective Charlie Blue Horse, arrives to help with the investigation, which leads them to Canadian Lithium mining operation near the round-up area that sets off Beck's mental alarm bells. Brinley, Beck's sister, is leading a group of troubled kids in a wilderness program, when one of them, Rafa, bolts one night. When Brinley catches up to him, they're just outside the mine—in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

With his personal life in turmoil, too many suspects and too many secrets, the feds pushing for a quick resolution, and his impetuous (if skilled) sister in the mix, one wrong step could be deadly for Porter Beck.]]> 368 Bruce Borgos 1250373905 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.53 2025 The Blue Horse (Porter Beck, #3)
author: Bruce Borgos
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.53
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]]> <![CDATA[Close Your Eyes and Count to 10]]> 211894916 An extreme game of hide-and-seek turns deadly in this riveting new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger

When the real game begins, who will make it to the count of 10?

Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.

Enter Adele, a single mother with a fierce determination to protect her children at all costs. When she begins the game, she unwittingly enters a twisted web of deception and intrigue. Can she maneuver through the treacherous storm and the relentless competition and get home to her family? In a ruthless battle for survival where the stakes are higher than ever, the blurry line between the virtual and the real proves that the only person we can trust is ourselves.]]> 384 Lisa Unger 0778333361 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.15 2025 Close Your Eyes and Count to 10
author: Lisa Unger
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.15
book published: 2025
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]]> Overdue 222376487 Is it time to renew love or start a new chapter?

Ingrid Dahl, a cheerful twenty-nine-year-old librarian in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, has been happily dating her college boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years without ever discussing marriage. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement to a woman she’s only been dating for two years, Ingrid and Cory feel pressured to consider their future. Neither has ever been with anybody else, so they make an unconventional decision. They'll take a one-month break to date other people, then they'll reunite and move toward marriage. Ingrid even has someone in mind: her charmingly grumpy coworker, Macon Nowakowski, on whom she’s secretly crushed for years. But plans go awry, and when the month ends, Ingrid and Cory realize they’re not ready to resume their relationship� and Ingrid’s harmless crush on Macon has turned into something much more complicated.

Overdue is a beautiful, slow-burn romance full of lust and longing about new beginnings and finding your way.]]> 416 Stephanie Perkins 1250313465 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.89 2025 Overdue
author: Stephanie Perkins
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.89
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]]> Friends with Benefits 217388127 Lifelong best friends say 'I do' to a marriage of convenience, trading vows for a financial safety net and benefits. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Katherine Center.

Evie Bloom pays attention to the details. Her very job depends on it—as an aspiring Foley artist, she’s responsible for every crisp footstep, smacking kiss, and distinct sound in film and television. So when she’s selected for a fellowship opportunity that would make all her career dreams come true, she’s quick to spot the there are no health benefits, and for someone with a chronic illness, that’s a non-starter.

Theo Cohen is an elementary school teacher who can't afford to live on his own in LA, and is facing eviction after his roommates couple up and move out of their dream of a rent-controlled apartment. But there is one loophole in his each tenant must meet an income threshold, unless the tenants are married.

For Theo, the answer is obvious. Marry Evie, his best friend since forever. It’s not as if they don’t spend all their free time together anyways. Not only will Theo be able to keep his apartment, but Evie can be added to his insurance plan so she can accept her dream fellowship. It’s such a logical, practical solution. Never mind that Evie doesn’t really want to be married—not to Theo, not to anyone—ever. Or the small, complicating fact that Theo has always been a little bit in love with Evie.

But it doesn’t have to be a big deal. Marriage. It will just give them space to breathe, and much-needed relief from the daily financial stress. It won’t change anything.

It’s . . . going to change everything.]]> 384 Marisa Kanter 1250358892 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.63 Friends with Benefits
author: Marisa Kanter
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.63
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]]> <![CDATA[Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind]]> 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.
Ěý
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?).
Ěý
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.
Ěý
Ěý
*Nate’s family disputes this entire story]]> 240 Nate Bargatze 1538768461 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.85 Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind
author: Nate Bargatze
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.85
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]]> Blood Moon 214175156 #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown returns with a sexy thriller where an unruly detective and an ­­­­ambitious tv show producer work against the clock to prevent another young woman from disappearing before the next blood moon—while trying to resist the attraction between them.

Detective John Bowie is one misstep away from being fired from the Auclair Police Department in coastal Louisiana. Recently divorced and slightly heavy-handed with his liquor, Bowie does all that he can to cope with the actions taken (or not taken) during the investigation of Crissy Mellin, a teenage girl who disappeared more than three years prior. But now, Crisis Point, a long-running true crime television series, is soon to air an episode documenting the unsolved Mellin case. Bowie has been instructed by his unscrupulous boss to keep to himself his grievances and criticisms over the mishandling of the investigation.

Beth Collins, a senior producer on Crisis Point, knows what classifies as a great story and when there’s something more to be told. After working on the show for seven years researching, fact checking, and editing dozens of episodes, Collins is convinced that Crissy Mellin’s disappearance was not an isolated incident. A string of disappearances of teenage girls in nearby areas have only one thing in common: They took place on the night of a blood moon. In a last-ditch effort to find out the truth, Beth leaves New York City for Louisiana to enlist Detective Bowie in helping her figure out what happened to Crissy and find the true culprit before he acts on the next blood moon—in four days� time.

At the risk of their jobs and lives, Bowie and Collins band together to identify and capture a canny perpetrator, while fighting an irresistible spark between them that threatens to upend everything.]]> 448 Sandra Brown 1538742985 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.91 2025 Blood Moon
author: Sandra Brown
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/31
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]]> The Drummer's Heart 218024103 That was the one rule my bandmates followed, because they knew how much it messed me up to think about her, especially on tour.
My ex, Nicole.
The one who got away and the woman who still owned every piece of my heart.
After our divorce, I threw myself into the rock scene, trying to forget my heartbreak.
Three years after we split, a phone call from Nicole changed everything.
She told me her grandmother wasn’t doing well.
Mimi was still family to me, and she apparently had one wish before dying: to spend time with us—Nicole and me.
With Mimi’s caretaker away on vacation, it would be the ideal time for us to move in with her for a couple of weeks.
Of course, I couldn’t refuse.
But there was a catch.
Nicole apparently never told her that we’d gotten a divorce.
She hadn’t believed Mimi could handle it, because her grandmother loved me so much.
So, not only would I have to see Nicole again, but I’d be pretending to still be her husband.
Two weeks in a tiny house in a small town with the woman who broke my heart. Or was it me who broke hers?
It was complicated.
And it was about to be a heck of a lot more complicated sharing one bed in the guest room with a woman who wasn’t mine anymore.]]> 340 Penelope Ward 1959827812 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.10 The Drummer's Heart
author: Penelope Ward
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/31
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]]> The Sun's Shadow 213356020 From the bestselling author of The Storyteller’s Secret comes an unflinching exploration of betrayal, forgiveness, and the healing power of a second chance.

Celine’s life is spiraling out of control. She’s in danger of losing the beloved equestrian farm that was her childhood home. Her distant husband, Eric, is devoting a suspicious amount of time to a stunning new colleague. Then her young son, Brian, receives a devastating cancer diagnosis. How much worse can things get?

Felicity has uprooted her career and her teenage son, Justin, to get closer to Eric. She’s tired of keeping his secrets—that Justin is his son, and Eric’s frequent “business trips� have been spent playing the good dad with him. Felicity is determined to get her happily ever after, even if it means confronting Celine at a delicate time.

But when Brian’s prognosis worsens, and a transplant from Justin becomes his best chance at survival, Felicity must make a wrenching decision about her son’s well-being—and Celine must accept that the “other woman� is her only hope.

In another life Celine and Felicity might have been friends. Can they put aside the pain between them to do what’s best for their families—and their own futures?]]> 333 Sejal Badani 166250974X Kelvino 0 to-read 4.03 The Sun's Shadow
author: Sejal Badani
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.03
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date added: 2025/01/31
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]]> <![CDATA[The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God]]> 11389341 The Songs of Jesus, Timothy Keller with his wife of 36 years, delivers The Meaning of Marriage, an extraordinarily insightful look at the keys to happiness in marriage that will inspire Christians, skeptics, singles, long-time married couples, and those about to be engaged.

Modern culture would make you believe that everyone has a soul-mate; that romance is the most important part of a successful marriage; that your spouse is there to help you realize your potential; that marriage does not mean forever, but merely for now; that starting over after a divorce is the best solution to seemingly intractable marriage issues. All those modern-day assumptions are, in a word, wrong.

Using the Bible as his guide, coupled with insightful commentary from his wife of thirty-six years, Kathy, Timothy Keller shows that God created marriage to bring us closer to him and to bring us more joy in our lives. It is a glorious relationship that is also the most misunderstood and mysterious. With a clear-eyed understanding of the Bible, and meaningful instruction on how to have a successful marriage, The Meaning of Marriage is essential reading for anyone who wants to know God and love more deeply in this life.]]> 288 Timothy J. Keller 0525952470 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.49 2011 The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> Don't Waste Your Life 347656
"God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives."

Most people slip by in life without a passion for God, spending their lives on trivial diversions, living for comfort and pleasure, and perhaps trying to avoid sin. This book will warn you not to get caught up in a life that counts for nothing. It will challenge you to live and die boasting in the cross of Christ and making the glory of God your singular passion. If you believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain, read this book, learn to live for Christ, and don't waste your life!]]> 192 John Piper 1581344988 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.13 2003 Don't Waste Your Life
author: John Piper
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/29
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]]> Two Stories 53347543
Mr Salary is Nathan. Sukie moved in with him years ago because her mother was dead and her father was difficult, and she had nowhere else to go. Now they are on the brink of the inevitable.

My love for him felt so total and so annihilating that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all.

In Colour and Light , Aidan and Pauline watch a firework display together. They are almost strangers. But their stumbling connection pains Aidan more than any casual flirtation.

He now feels utterly confused as to why they seem to be arguing, confused to the point of abrupt despair.]]> 0 Sally Rooney 0571365418 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.31 2020 Two Stories
author: Sally Rooney
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Seduce Me in Dreams (Three Worlds, #1)]]> 8534780 Ravenna is the leader of the Chosen Ones, a small group of people from her village born with extraordinary powers. She doesn't know what draws her to Bronse's dreams night after night, but she senses that he and his team are in jeopardy. Ravenna can help him, but first Bronse must save the Chosen Ones from those who plan to use their powers for evil. Together, Bronse and Ravenna will be unstoppable. But Ravenna is hiding something that could endanger them all.]]> 320 Jacquelyn Frank 0345517679 Kelvino 1 3.90 2011 Seduce Me in Dreams (Three Worlds, #1)
author: Jacquelyn Frank
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2011
rating: 1
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
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review:
There is literally nothing of substance in this book. When people are talking about ai replacing creative industries in the future, I usually disagree, but for books like this, 100% bro
]]> <![CDATA[Death Note: Another Note - The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases]]> 2021816
Onto the scene comes L, the mysterious super-sleuth. Despite his peculiar working habits, he's never shown his face in public—but this time, he needs help.

Enlisting the services of an FBI agent named Naomi Misora, L starts snooping around the City of Angels. It soon becomes apparent that the killing spree is a psychotic riddle designed to specifically engage L in a battle of wits. Stuck in the middle between killer and investigator, it's up to Misora to navigate both the dead bodies and the egos to solve the Los Angeles Murder Cases.]]> 176 NisiOisiN 142151883X Kelvino 0 to-read 4.28 2006 Death Note: Another Note - The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
author: NisiOisiN
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism]]> 1858013 Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical, is a prequel to The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.

The End of Faith. The God Delusion. God Is Not Great. Letter to a Christian Nation. Bestseller lists are filled with doubters. But what happens when you actually doubt your doubts?

Although a vocal minority continues to attack the Christian faith, for most Americans, faith is a large part of their lives: 86 percent of Americans refer to themselves as religious, and 75 percent of all Americans consider themselves Christians. So how should they respond to these passionate, learned, and persuasive books that promote science and secularism over religion and faith? For years, Tim Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced “doubts� skeptics bring to his Manhattan church. And in The Reason for God, he single-handedly dismantles each of them. Written with atheists, agnostics, and skeptics in mind, Keller also provides an intelligent platform on which true believers can stand their ground when bombarded by the backlash. The Reason for God challenges such ideology at its core and points to the true path and purpose of Christianity.

Why is there suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive? Shouldn’t the Christian God be a god of love? How can one religion be “right� and the rest “wrong�? Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God? These are just a few of the questions even ardent believers wrestle with today. In this book, Tim Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations and reasoning, and even pop culture to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.]]> 293 Timothy J. Keller 0525950494 Kelvino 4 4.22 2008 The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
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review:

]]> Living a Feminist Life 29771377 Living a Feminist Life Sara Ahmed shows how feminist theory is generated from everyday life and the ordinary experiences of being a feminist at home and at work. Building on legacies of feminist of color scholarship in particular, Ahmed offers a poetic and personal meditation on how feminists become estranged from worlds they critique—often by naming and calling attention to problems—and how feminists learn about worlds from their efforts to transform them. Ahmed also provides her most sustained commentary on the figure of the feminist killjoy introduced in her earlier work while showing how feminists create inventive solutions—such as forming support systems—to survive the shattering experiences of facing the walls of racism and sexism. The killjoy survival kit and killjoy manifesto, with which the book concludes, supply practical tools for how to live a feminist life, thereby strengthening the ties between the inventive creation of feminist theory and living a life that sustains it.]]> 312 Sara Ahmed 0822363046 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.32 2017 Living a Feminist Life
author: Sara Ahmed
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> Rickshaw Boy 8016836 A beautiful new translation of beloved Chinese author Lao She's masterpiece of social realism, about the misadventures of a poor Beijing rickshaw driver

First published in China in 1937, Rickshaw Boy is the story of Xiangzi, an honest and serious country boy who works as a rickshaw puller in Beijing. A man of simple needs whose greatest ambition is to one day own his own rickshaw, Xiangzi is nonetheless thwarted, time and again, in his attempts to improve his lot in life.

One of the most important and popular works of twentieth-century Chinese literature, Rickshaw Boy is an unflinchingly honest, darkly comic look at a life on the margins of society and a searing indictment of the philosophy of individualism.]]> 300 Lao She 0061436925 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.84 1936 Rickshaw Boy
author: Lao She
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1936
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Health for All: A Doctor's Prescription for a Healthier Canada]]> 197641699 An Instant #1 National Bestseller •ĚýFrom one of Canada's most respected and high-profile health professionals (and former federal Minister of Health), a timely, practical, ambitious, and deeply personal call for action on health that sets out the roadmap to our future well-being.

Jane Philpott has spent her life learning what makes people sick and what keeps people well. She has witnessed miracles in modern medicine. She has also watched children die of starvation in a world that has plenty of food. With Health for All, she sounds a clarion call for a radical disruption in a health care system that is broken—but not beyond repair.ĚýThe vision is rooted in a deep-seated commitment to health equity.

Decades ago, a few visionary Canadian leaders put laws in place to ensure health care insurance for all. But the structures to deliver that care were never fully developed as envisioned. As a result, our health systems are not comprehensive or well-coordinated. In the wake of a pandemic, we risk it all falling apart. More than six million people have no family doctor, nor any other access to primary care. Emergency rooms are routinely closed. Exhausted health workers wonder if it will ever get better. Some say we should hand health care over to the private sector. But to abandon our commitment to publicly funded health care now would only lead to more expensive and less equitable care. Philpott outlines a different solution—an ambitious, once-in-a-generation reset of health systems with universal access to primary care teams.

What sets this book apart is that it’s more than a prescription for better medical care. Philpott looks at the big picture of health for all. This includes an intimate look at the personal roots of hope, belonging, meaning, and purpose. Then, through real-life stories, she examines the impact of the social determinants of health. Finally, she explains that none of this will happen without the political will to do the hard work of rebuilding a healthy society. The remedy we await is serious leadership to implement what we already know and to put the well-being of Canadians at the top of the agenda.]]> 295 Jane Philpott 0771014767 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.26 2024 Health for All: A Doctor's Prescription for a Healthier Canada
author: Jane Philpott
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror]]> 51497 'He put the glass to his lips and drank at one gulp... his face became suddenly black and the features seemed to melt and alter'

Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with 'damnable young man' Edward hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil. The other stories in this volume also testify to Stevenson's inventiveness within the Gothic tradition: 'Olalla', a tale of vampirism and tainted family blood, and 'The Body Snatcher', a gruesome fictionalization of the exploits of the notorious Burke and Hare.

This edition contains a critical introduction by Robert Mighall, which discusses class, criminality and the significance of the story's London setting. It also includes an essay on the scientific contexts of the novel and the development of the idea of the Jekyll-and-Hyde personality.]]> 224 Robert Louis Stevenson 0141439734 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.92 1886 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1886
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
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]]> Counselling for Toads 548887 164 Robert De Board 0415174295 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.32 1983 Counselling for Toads
author: Robert De Board
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 14891 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.]]> 496 Betty Smith 0061120073 Kelvino 0 currently-reading 4.29 1943 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
author: Betty Smith
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Demon Copperhead 60194162 "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

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

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver 0063251922 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.46 2022 Demon Copperhead
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Crying in H Mart 54814676
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band � and meeting the man who would become her husband � her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.]]> 243 Michelle Zauner 0525657746 Kelvino 4
I think of when my dad taught me this silly hand gesture for when someone pours tea for you and me being so enthused by such a silly piece of knowledge. It's meant to be a sign of appreciation and respect, feellings which I am not sincere about when I reciprocate the gesture because I am divorced from that sort of upbringing, but it remains a gesture that makes me feel chiefly chinese even though I am that only superficially.

But it isn't a clean, altruistic desire to learn about my parents spurred by curiosity. It feels almost desperate, knowing that their chinese traditions and ideas will more or less not be passed down to my kids. Not that I wish to completely keep it going but for my parent's spirit to extinguish through their kids just seems like a pity. With the passing of time, I become more and more acutely aware of how much I want to retain ; I want to understand them more but I also have to find time to live my own life guilt free, no one else will do it for me.

Also her dad is weird lol, how is your new girlfriend gonna be younger than your daughter? It's such a weird move to move to Thailand like that after your wife's death too. I think reading about Zauner's thoughts about her dad, I thought about what Chris Bumstead had said once, something about how, while growing up, you will seem like an impervious superman to your child, but that one day, they will be able to see through you completely. Zauner said (i can't find the quote anymore srry!!!) that his stories of fights no longer seemed courageous but now foolish and his stories began to appear more lackluster as he grew older. One day, your child will see you not as a father, but as a man that was once a child, who fears and still fears, who has parents, and are weaker and smaller than you think. There's this blog post (?) that Zauner made or smth that talks about how she forgives her dad and all that. As she said in the post : "It was a passage natural to the established arc of generations, one of those full-circle karmic life things when the adult child must learn to temper their parent’s regressions.". What a bar. I'd like to think I'll be above these regressions but life is always a cycle as my mom said, you start in diapers and you'll end your life in diapers too.

Anyways, I don't know her music that well, but fire memoir.]]> 4.25 2021 Crying in H Mart
author: Michelle Zauner
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
Man I love memoirs tbh. This is definitely one that is worth reading, especially if you're a second generation canadian. I wonder if it is a universal desperation in a sense for us to want to know everything and be a part of thhis second culture as wel, on top of being a canadian already. I feel almost a sense of responsability outside of me to take part in this culture, learn its language, its social customs and its traditions, even if disconnected from its meaning.

I think of when my dad taught me this silly hand gesture for when someone pours tea for you and me being so enthused by such a silly piece of knowledge. It's meant to be a sign of appreciation and respect, feellings which I am not sincere about when I reciprocate the gesture because I am divorced from that sort of upbringing, but it remains a gesture that makes me feel chiefly chinese even though I am that only superficially.

But it isn't a clean, altruistic desire to learn about my parents spurred by curiosity. It feels almost desperate, knowing that their chinese traditions and ideas will more or less not be passed down to my kids. Not that I wish to completely keep it going but for my parent's spirit to extinguish through their kids just seems like a pity. With the passing of time, I become more and more acutely aware of how much I want to retain ; I want to understand them more but I also have to find time to live my own life guilt free, no one else will do it for me.

Also her dad is weird lol, how is your new girlfriend gonna be younger than your daughter? It's such a weird move to move to Thailand like that after your wife's death too. I think reading about Zauner's thoughts about her dad, I thought about what Chris Bumstead had said once, something about how, while growing up, you will seem like an impervious superman to your child, but that one day, they will be able to see through you completely. Zauner said (i can't find the quote anymore srry!!!) that his stories of fights no longer seemed courageous but now foolish and his stories began to appear more lackluster as he grew older. One day, your child will see you not as a father, but as a man that was once a child, who fears and still fears, who has parents, and are weaker and smaller than you think. There's this blog post (?) that Zauner made or smth that talks about how she forgives her dad and all that. As she said in the post : "It was a passage natural to the established arc of generations, one of those full-circle karmic life things when the adult child must learn to temper their parent’s regressions.". What a bar. I'd like to think I'll be above these regressions but life is always a cycle as my mom said, you start in diapers and you'll end your life in diapers too.

Anyways, I don't know her music that well, but fire memoir.
]]> Ox Bells and Fireflies 2708050 302 Ernest Buckler 0771091990 Kelvino 3
When I liked this book, I loved it, the author just randomly drops some insane bars out of NOWHERE, it's a memoir but without the contempary wailing and pity. Buckler's prose is remniscent of an impressionist painting, an attempt to capture idyllic beauty that is paradoxically ever-changing. The depiction of rural life in the farms is almost paradisiacal but alluring in that it is acutely filled with hardships. He takes pride in this hard life that is filled with love.

I wish I had more patience to actually take apart the prose in this book because it DOES make sense, you just need to think about it for awhile and man it is DENSE. I ashamedly had to skim through this book towards the middle point because I was at the end of the line with my patience for it. Anyways, here are some excerpts to exhibit what I was talking about:

"Things turning the other way are turning away from you without a backward glance. Things turning toward you bare their dead intent at you without a flicker of thought to what particular sentience you have. Things standing still cry to you(though not to you) their deafness to themselves. Silence tortures. It is the loudness of yourself alone. Speech tortures. It is the husk of speech forever falling short of the wall that the voice crying beneath it knows it can never penetrate or reach over. Music tortures. It holds out to you the leap beyond yourself to where it promises to fuse all things, but lands you there to find nothing but its orchestration of your singleness. Living tortures. It will give you no clear space in its mirror wher eyou can see both yourself defined for everything and your self reflected out into all things. And because it will not stop."
- This paragraph is such a bar bruh

I loved Buckler's microscopic meticulous perspective on life, there's detail in every part in life that we constantly overlook and once decorticated, beauty hides in brick walls, in our moles and dust.

But yeah, hard read, good read, maybe out of my level still. Made it hard to enjoy fully, im just mad at myself lol ig, I wanna like it more!!!]]> 3.90 1968 Ox Bells and Fireflies
author: Ernest Buckler
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
I think this book is actually incredibly written but maybe I'm stupid but it was also incredibly hard for me to follow at times. The prose is so unique, I've never seen anything like it, rocks, grass, chimneys have souls and are living with memories.

When I liked this book, I loved it, the author just randomly drops some insane bars out of NOWHERE, it's a memoir but without the contempary wailing and pity. Buckler's prose is remniscent of an impressionist painting, an attempt to capture idyllic beauty that is paradoxically ever-changing. The depiction of rural life in the farms is almost paradisiacal but alluring in that it is acutely filled with hardships. He takes pride in this hard life that is filled with love.

I wish I had more patience to actually take apart the prose in this book because it DOES make sense, you just need to think about it for awhile and man it is DENSE. I ashamedly had to skim through this book towards the middle point because I was at the end of the line with my patience for it. Anyways, here are some excerpts to exhibit what I was talking about:

"Things turning the other way are turning away from you without a backward glance. Things turning toward you bare their dead intent at you without a flicker of thought to what particular sentience you have. Things standing still cry to you(though not to you) their deafness to themselves. Silence tortures. It is the loudness of yourself alone. Speech tortures. It is the husk of speech forever falling short of the wall that the voice crying beneath it knows it can never penetrate or reach over. Music tortures. It holds out to you the leap beyond yourself to where it promises to fuse all things, but lands you there to find nothing but its orchestration of your singleness. Living tortures. It will give you no clear space in its mirror wher eyou can see both yourself defined for everything and your self reflected out into all things. And because it will not stop."
- This paragraph is such a bar bruh

I loved Buckler's microscopic meticulous perspective on life, there's detail in every part in life that we constantly overlook and once decorticated, beauty hides in brick walls, in our moles and dust.

But yeah, hard read, good read, maybe out of my level still. Made it hard to enjoy fully, im just mad at myself lol ig, I wanna like it more!!!
]]> Cat’s Cradle 135479 Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ...

Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to humankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh...]]> 306 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Kelvino 2
I thinkkkkkk that the message is smth smth about how there is no meaning to find an objective truth in this world, especially as there is none and you'll grow crazy trying to find one. In response to it, peeople created Bokononism, where everything in it is a bald-faced lie but it makes people happy so it's useful. Like there is no meaning, so you kinda just make smth up and run with it ig. Cuz like the game of Cat's Cradle, no matter how hard you look, "no damn cat, no damn cradle" LOL, that made me laugh when I read it for the first time.

Anyways, idk if im just silly then but I just had a really hard time following the book, and I found it quite a bore at times, the humour wasn't my thing much sorry Mr. Vonnegut, ik he gave an A+ to this book but it was impossible for me to follow along with the book. I think it was a linear timeline too, idk why I got so confused lol.]]> 4.17 1963 Cat’s Cradle
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1963
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:
Bruh I thought Bokonism was real LOLLL. It's not exactly the same but this book really reminded me of the Universal Paperclips game. Idk if anyone would get that reference tbh but it's about technology, manufactured for a certain objective, whether it be to make paperclips, cars, sell books, as it hoists itself to the tops of its competitors, will raze the earth for the sake of efficiency. The message is a bit different here in that the aimless pursuit of silence would probably destroy humanity.

I thinkkkkkk that the message is smth smth about how there is no meaning to find an objective truth in this world, especially as there is none and you'll grow crazy trying to find one. In response to it, peeople created Bokononism, where everything in it is a bald-faced lie but it makes people happy so it's useful. Like there is no meaning, so you kinda just make smth up and run with it ig. Cuz like the game of Cat's Cradle, no matter how hard you look, "no damn cat, no damn cradle" LOL, that made me laugh when I read it for the first time.

Anyways, idk if im just silly then but I just had a really hard time following the book, and I found it quite a bore at times, the humour wasn't my thing much sorry Mr. Vonnegut, ik he gave an A+ to this book but it was impossible for me to follow along with the book. I think it was a linear timeline too, idk why I got so confused lol.
]]> Coraline 17061
In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.]]> 176 Neil Gaiman 0061139378 Kelvino 4 4.13 2002 Coraline
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:
I think the movie is better! I don't have much to say about this book though the fricking scene where the Other Mother baits her into going into that trap room with the warped Other Father was SCAWEE. Bon bref the movie was way better tbh, it really did the concept of the movie much justice. Oh also, the drawings of the Other Mother are fricking terrifying.
]]> <![CDATA[Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)]]> 62047992 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 150 Satoshi Yagisawa 0063278677 Kelvino 3 3.67 2010 Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:
I think if you liked "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" you'd like this book. It's enjoyable but lowkey the love of books is a bit of a bait. It reminds me of the book "Chemistry" by Weike Wang, where chemistry isn't mentioned more than a little trap to get people into chemistry to buy the book. Similarly, I feel like a love of books wasn't really explored, the books don't save this girl, apart from her coincidentally finding a book that speaks to her. It's the community that is kind to her. Which is okay but "a tale of new beginnings, romantic and family relationships, and the comfort" is found in an uncle that's willing to let you stay with him for free, not in books. Enjoyable but just typical japanese short story heartwarming slop.
]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Kelvino 4
There's this insane critique comment on the Giver giving it a one start as well which i actually semi agree with LOL, go check it out. The guy calls the book PROPAGANDA which is such an exrtreme term LMFAO, at most it's nationalistic, but what media doesn't hint at some subjective truth? In any case, I agree with most of the guy's critique on the Giver but I'm glad I'm not seasoned enough as well to end up having such a vitriolic take on the book. Though I think some parts of me wants to be able to have that perspective. I'd love to be able to turn on and off such a critical and socially aware lens cuz keeping it on permanently lowkey ruins your life LOL, it's so deeply rooted in some spiritual cynicism that vilifies everyone, supposing that everyone has some intentional agenda, when most people just spread what they know by existing. Go read that long ass review, it's well worth it! You can find my comment on it too lol.

In any case, my actual own critiques on it largely ressemble what that guy's said. As Mr Critiquer said, "Lowry equates a spiritual journey with a moral one", supposing that because Jonas went through this evolution throughout his mental training with the Giver, he's supposedly the one in the right in the case. Not that I agree with the communities methods but looking at their perspective, all Jonas did was abandon his important job, kidnap a child and then both die LOL. Fundamentally I side with Jonas of course but I do have a hard time wresting a proper moral out of this book. The community is portrayed to be evil uniquely through profiting off of (socially taught) reaction towards euthanasia ... towards infants!!! In reality, euthanasia i feel like is pretty common in the real world, we have abortions, assisted death, and we put down our pets in suffering. But of course, infant killing therefore bad.

Anyways, my point isn't to support infant killing anyways but that there's a lack of reasoning in the book, more that Lowry appeals to our emotional gut response to the communities actions as argument for why it's in the wrong. I've seen people call it thought-provoking, but it's realy just provoking, what can you even say to that? In that way, the book is pretty nationalistic, in equating value with singularity, where everyone is super inherently special which I'd have to disagree with, people are just more similar than we'd like to believe and that's chill.

Oh and this one point I actually didn't see mentioned as well was Lowry bringing up the disdain people have towards Birthmothers and labourers. I'm not really sure what was meant to be said there tbh, but W for Lowry LOL. I wonder if this is an example of doublespeak like 1984, cuz I do profoundly believe that like low-skill workers are essential for our society and I genuinely respect the jobs having been there multiple times lol, but at the same time, I wouldn't want my future kids to work as them. Like sincere respect for the work but at the same time justified elitism. Not sure!

Anyways, it's still a fun series but far from irreprochable. Imma finish the series for my inner child.]]> 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:
I liked this book a lot actually though and it's hella nostalgic. I think my favourite part is discovering that the world is actually grey for most people. I'm really into the idea that no matter how perfect of a world you try to create, one of the primordial basic needs and instincts for a human is the desire to be free and have choice. Like building a perfect cage for a bird, its instinct once you open it's door will be to fly. Whether it lead to suffering or not, the freedom is an end in and of itself, "at least he died free". Well EYE think Jonas died at least.

There's this insane critique comment on the Giver giving it a one start as well which i actually semi agree with LOL, go check it out. The guy calls the book PROPAGANDA which is such an exrtreme term LMFAO, at most it's nationalistic, but what media doesn't hint at some subjective truth? In any case, I agree with most of the guy's critique on the Giver but I'm glad I'm not seasoned enough as well to end up having such a vitriolic take on the book. Though I think some parts of me wants to be able to have that perspective. I'd love to be able to turn on and off such a critical and socially aware lens cuz keeping it on permanently lowkey ruins your life LOL, it's so deeply rooted in some spiritual cynicism that vilifies everyone, supposing that everyone has some intentional agenda, when most people just spread what they know by existing. Go read that long ass review, it's well worth it! You can find my comment on it too lol.

In any case, my actual own critiques on it largely ressemble what that guy's said. As Mr Critiquer said, "Lowry equates a spiritual journey with a moral one", supposing that because Jonas went through this evolution throughout his mental training with the Giver, he's supposedly the one in the right in the case. Not that I agree with the communities methods but looking at their perspective, all Jonas did was abandon his important job, kidnap a child and then both die LOL. Fundamentally I side with Jonas of course but I do have a hard time wresting a proper moral out of this book. The community is portrayed to be evil uniquely through profiting off of (socially taught) reaction towards euthanasia ... towards infants!!! In reality, euthanasia i feel like is pretty common in the real world, we have abortions, assisted death, and we put down our pets in suffering. But of course, infant killing therefore bad.

Anyways, my point isn't to support infant killing anyways but that there's a lack of reasoning in the book, more that Lowry appeals to our emotional gut response to the communities actions as argument for why it's in the wrong. I've seen people call it thought-provoking, but it's realy just provoking, what can you even say to that? In that way, the book is pretty nationalistic, in equating value with singularity, where everyone is super inherently special which I'd have to disagree with, people are just more similar than we'd like to believe and that's chill.

Oh and this one point I actually didn't see mentioned as well was Lowry bringing up the disdain people have towards Birthmothers and labourers. I'm not really sure what was meant to be said there tbh, but W for Lowry LOL. I wonder if this is an example of doublespeak like 1984, cuz I do profoundly believe that like low-skill workers are essential for our society and I genuinely respect the jobs having been there multiple times lol, but at the same time, I wouldn't want my future kids to work as them. Like sincere respect for the work but at the same time justified elitism. Not sure!

Anyways, it's still a fun series but far from irreprochable. Imma finish the series for my inner child.
]]> On the Suffering of the World 136066 132 Arthur Schopenhauer 0141018941 Kelvino 0 to-read 3.90 1850 On the Suffering of the World
author: Arthur Schopenhauer
name: Kelvino
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1850
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Holy Bible: King James Version]]> 1923820 Kršćani Bibliju proučavaju kao svoju normativnu, za život smjerodavnu knjigu u kojoj oni nalaze poruku - riječ Božju. No, Biblija je uz to i spomenik historije čovječanstva, jedna od najstarijih knjiga, u kojoj je genij Hebreja na svoj način asimilirao i dalje obogatio razmišljanje i mudrost drevne Mezopotamije i Egipta, da je onda, obogaćenu grčkim genijem, po Novom zavjetu i daljnjem kršćanskom razmišljanju unese u tadašnji grčko-rimski svijet. Po postanku i jeziku, po sadržaju i stilu, po slikovitosti i metaforici, Biblija nije jedna knjiga, nego zbir knjiga koje su nastajale u razdoblju od 13. st. pr. Kr do 2. st. po Kr.
Biblija je za kršćane sveta, inspirirana i kanonska knjiga. Za svakog čovjeka Biblija je istovremeno zbirka povijesnih isprava i književno djelo izvorne i neprolazne umjetničke snage. Ona pripada zajedničkoj kulturi čovječanstva.
Stari zavjet u Bibliji Stvarnosti plod je mnogostruko udruženog rada hrvatskih bibličara i književnika. Kao polazišni tekst izabran je prijevod Antuna Sovića, s tim da je Petoknjižje preveo Silvije Grubišić, Psalme Filibert Gass, a Pjesmu nad pjesmama Nikola Miličević. Novi zavjet preveo je Ljudevit Rupčić.]]> 1590 Anonymous Kelvino 0 to-read 4.44 1611 The Holy Bible: King James Version
author: Anonymous
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1611
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)]]> 70535
So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.

But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong...

One of the greatest-selling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end.]]> 297 Arthur C. Clarke Kelvino 0 to-read 4.17 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)
author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.37 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Tao of Pooh 48757
Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl.

Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.]]> 176 Benjamin Hoff 1405204265 Kelvino 0 to-read 4.02 1982 The Tao of Pooh
author: Benjamin Hoff
name: Kelvino
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>