Sumashini's bookshelf: read en-US Fri, 01 Jul 2022 02:57:27 -0700 60 Sumashini's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Forest of Enchantments 43293099
The Forest of Enchantments is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour, it is also about women’s struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men, as Chitra transforms an ancient story into a gripping, contemporary battle of wills.

While the Ramayana resonates even today, she makes it more relevant than ever, in the underlying questions in the novel: How should women be treated by their loved ones? What are their rights in a relationship? When does a woman need to stand up and say, ‘Enough!’]]> 372 Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni 9353025982 Sumashini 4 4.20 2019 The Forest of Enchantments
author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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date added: 2022/07/01
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]]> Martin Marten 21853663
And Dave is not the only one approaching adulthood and its freedoms on Wy'east that summer. Martin, a pine marten (a small animal of the deep woods, of the otter/mink family), is leaving his own mother and siblings and setting off on his own as well. As Martin and Dave's paths cross on forest trails and rocky mountaintops, they—and we—witness the full, unknowable breadth and vast sweep of life, and the awe-inspiring interconnectedness of the world and its many inhabitants, human and otherwise.

Martin Marten is a coming-of-age tale like no other, told in Brian Doyle's joyous, rollicking style.]]> 309 Brian Doyle 1250045207 Sumashini 4 4.31 2015 Martin Marten
author: Brian Doyle
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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date added: 2022/07/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed]]> 37570546 From a psychotherapist, and national advice columnist comes a thought-provoking new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world -- where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she).

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.

As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients' lives -- a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can't stop hooking up with the wrong guys -- she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.

With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is revolutionary in its candor, offering a deeply personal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.]]> 415 Lori Gottlieb 1328662055 Sumashini 5 4.36 2019 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
author: Lori Gottlieb
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 5
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date added: 2022/07/01
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]]> <![CDATA[பூனாச்சி அல்லது ஒர� வெள்ளாட்டின் கத� [Poonachi Allathu Oru Vellatin Kathai]]]> 36216128 Through a seeming act of providence, an old couple receives a day-old female goat kid as a gift from the cosmos. Thus begins the story of Poonachi, the little orphan goat.

As you follow her story from forest to habitation, independence to motherhood, you recognise in its significant moments the depth and magnitude of your own fears and longings, fuelled by the instinct for survival that animates all life. Masterly and nuanced, Perumal Murugan’s tale forces us reflect on our own responses to hierarchy and ownership, selflessness and appetite, love and desire, living and dying. Poonachi is the story of a goat who carries the burden of being different all her life, of a she-goat who survives against the odds. It is equally an expression of solidarity with the animal world and the female condition. The tale is also a commentary on our times, on the choices we make as a society and a nation, and the increasing vulnerability of individuals, particularly writers and artists, who resist when they are pressed to submit.

]]> 213 Perumal Murugan 935244180X Sumashini 5 4.40 2018 பூனாச்சி அல்லது ஒரு வெள்ளாட்டின் கதை [Poonachi Allathu Oru Vellatin Kathai]
author: Perumal Murugan
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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date added: 2021/06/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Unquiet River: A Biography of the Brahmaputra]]> 49046695 Historian Arupjyoti Saikia's biography of the Brahmaputra reimagines the layered history of Assam with the unquiet river at the centre. The book combines a range of disciplinary scholarship to unravel the geological forces as well as human endeavour which have shaped the river into what it is today. Wonderfully illuminated with archival detail and interwoven with narratives and striking connections, the book allows the reader to imagine the Brahmaputra's course in history.
This evocative and compelling book will be interesting reading for anyone trying to understand the past and the present of a river confronted by the twenty-first century's ambitious infrastructural designs to further re-engineer the river and its landscape.]]> 602 Arupjyoti Saikia 0199468117 Sumashini 4 4.31 The Unquiet River: A Biography of the Brahmaputra
author: Arupjyoti Saikia
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/05/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World]]> 23995249
In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt’s extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change; his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia; his relationships with iconic figures, including Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson; and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt’s ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism—and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever.]]> 473 Andrea Wulf 038535066X Sumashini 5 4.28 2015 The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
author: Andrea Wulf
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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date added: 2021/05/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures]]> 52668915
Neither plant nor animal, it is found throughout the earth, the air and our bodies. It can be microscopic, yet also accounts for the largest organisms ever recorded, living for millennia and weighing tens of thousands of tonnes. Its ability to digest rock enabled the first life on land, it can survive unprotected in space, and thrives amidst nuclear radiation.

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

Entangled Life is a mind-altering journey into this hidden kingdom of life, and shows that fungi are key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel and behave. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.]]> 352 Merlin Sheldrake 0525510311 Sumashini 4 4.34 2020 Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
author: Merlin Sheldrake
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/05/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Despite the State: Why India Lets Its People Down and How They Cope]]> 56709894
This is a tale of India’s states, of why they build schools but do not staff them with teachers; favour a handful of companies so much that others slip into losses; wage water wars with their neighbours while allowing rampant sand mining and groundwater extraction; harness citizens� right to vote but brutally crack down on their right to dissent.

Reporting from six states over thirty-three months, award-winning investigative journalist M. Rajshekhar delivers a necessary account of a deep crisis that has gone largely unexamined.]]> 296 M. Rajshekhar Sumashini 5 4.35 Despite the State: Why India Lets Its People Down and How They Cope
author: M. Rajshekhar
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine]]> 31434883 No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they had been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond’s big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. If she does, she'll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all.

Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .

the only way to survive is to open your heart.]]> 336 Gail Honeyman 0735220689 Sumashini 4 4.21 2017 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
author: Gail Honeyman
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 4
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date added: 2020/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating]]> 21258882 201 Elisabeth Tova Bailey Sumashini 5 4.11 2010 The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
author: Elisabeth Tova Bailey
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2019/10/04
date added: 2019/10/04
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]]> The Last Lecture 12484072 217 Randy Pausch 1844568326 Sumashini 5 4.40 2008 The Last Lecture
author: Randy Pausch
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2018/10/30
date added: 2018/10/30
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]]> My Man Jeeves 23815514 209 P.G. Wodehouse 3956764315 Sumashini 0 4.14 1919 My Man Jeeves
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1919
rating: 0
read at: 2017/03/24
date added: 2017/03/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Much Obliged, Jeeves Lib/E (Jeeves and Wooster Series Lib/E, 1971)]]> 28182788 0 P.G. Wodehouse 1624600492 Sumashini 4 4.08 1971 Much Obliged, Jeeves Lib/E (Jeeves and Wooster Series Lib/E, 1971)
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1971
rating: 4
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date added: 2016/11/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories]]> 475173
The best of a lifetime of stories from a short story writer of rare distinction. Ruskin Bond's stories are predominantly set in the beautiful hill country of Garhwal where he has made his home for the last twenty-five years. Some of these stories present people who, consciously or otherwise, need each other: people in love or in need of love, the awkward adolescent and the timid lover. Some are gently satirical studies about village and small-town braggarts and petty officials. Several others mourn the gradual erosion of the beauty of the hills (and the gentle people who live in them) with the coming of the steel and dust and worries of modern civilization. All the stories are rewarding for their compassionate portrayal of love, loss, accomplishment, pain and struggle.]]> 245 Ruskin Bond 014011615X Sumashini 5 Some stories off the list I loved reading -
The Woman on Platform 8
The Man Who Was Kipling
The Eyes Have It
The Night Train at Deoli
The Prospect of Flowers
The Cherry Tree]]> 4.22 1988 The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories
author: Ruskin Bond
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/09
date added: 2016/10/09
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Ruskin Bond beautifully describes our longing for things we have lost - childhood, people, success among others in this fine collection of short stories. The subtlety in the presentation of experiences, be it that of making a new friend, loneliness or the bonding between the very young and the very old, is so beautiful that the story lands straight in your heart. I really cannot help but wonder if the common small town setting in all the stories is responsible for the magic that every story conjures upon its reader. Maybe that is where we belong, among the hills, rivers, trees and flowers and they leave you longing for a life close to them.
Some stories off the list I loved reading -
The Woman on Platform 8
The Man Who Was Kipling
The Eyes Have It
The Night Train at Deoli
The Prospect of Flowers
The Cherry Tree
]]> The sphinx without a secret 7518106 32 Oscar Wilde 0061922250 Sumashini 5 3.44 1887 The sphinx without a secret
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1887
rating: 5
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date added: 2016/02/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Much Obliged, Jeeves (Jeeves, #14)]]> 2960227 203 P.G. Wodehouse 009951396X Sumashini 4 4.10 1971 Much Obliged, Jeeves (Jeeves, #14)
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1971
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/12/28
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]]> The Book Thief 19063 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)]]> 592 Markus Zusak Sumashini 5 4.38 2005 The Book Thief
author: Markus Zusak
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2015/10/11
date added: 2015/10/11
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]]> Malgudi Days 14082 Four gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan’s centennial

Introducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India “the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story.� Composed of powerful, magical portraits of all kinds of people, and comprising stories written over almost forty years, Malgudi Days presents Narayan’s imaginary city in full color, revealing the essence of India and of human experience. This edition includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize- winning author Jhumpa Lahiri.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 264 R.K. Narayan 0143039652 Sumashini 0 4.22 1943 Malgudi Days
author: R.K. Narayan
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at: 2015/09/13
date added: 2015/09/13
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sceptical Patriot: Exploring the Truths Behind the Zero and Other Indian Glories]]> 21966725
Sidin Vadukut takes on a complete catalogue of ‘India's Greatest Hits� and ventures to separate the wheat of fact from the chaff of legend. Did India really invent the zero? Has it truly never invaded a foreign country in over 1,000 years? Did Indians actually invent plastic surgery before those insufferable Europeans? The truth is more interesting—and complicated—than you think.]]> 208 Sidin Vadukut 8129129035 Sumashini 4 3.66 2014 The Sceptical Patriot: Exploring the Truths Behind the Zero and Other Indian Glories
author: Sidin Vadukut
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/07/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys, #1)]]> 87976
The Hardy Boys will soon celebrate their 100th anniversary, but they remain the quintessential mystery and detective stories for younger readers. This first one, 'The Tower Mystery,' introduced the action, mystery, and suspense themes. The boys continue to deliver thrills to this day.

It all starts with the boys, Frank and Joe, on their motorcycles delivering important papers to a lawyer in Willowville for their father, Fenton Hardy. He's the well-known private investigator who lives with his family in Bayport. A reckless driver almost forces them over the embankment. It is not long before they find that their friend Chet's yellow jalopy has been stolen, possibly by the same red-haired driver! Stolen loot may be the issue. Later a dying criminal confesses that the loot has been stashed "in the tower" and the Hardy Boys make an astonishing discovery.]]> 214 Franklin W. Dixon 1557091447 Sumashini 3 3.91 1927 The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys, #1)
author: Franklin W. Dixon
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1927
rating: 3
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date added: 2015/07/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)]]> 5 435 J.K. Rowling 043965548X Sumashini 4 4.57 1999 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1999
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/07/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Bravely Fought the Queen [Apr 01, 2006] Dattani, Mahesh]]> 6958223
The family in focus is that of two brothers, Jiten and Nitin, who run an advertising agency and are married to sisters: Dolly and Alka. Their mother, Baa, moves between the two households, attached more to her memories of the past than to any present reality.

Marital friction, sibling rivalry, the traditional tension between mother-in-law and daughters-in-law, the darker moments of business and personal dealings, the play takes us through the entire gamut of emotional experience as it winds to a climactic finish. With its relentless pace, crisp idiom and unflinching insight into the urban milieu, this is a play that confirms Mahesh Dattani's reputation as India's most influential playwright.]]> 100 Mahesh Dattani 0143062077 Sumashini 3 3.84 2003 Bravely Fought the Queen [Apr 01, 2006] Dattani, Mahesh
author: Mahesh Dattani
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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date added: 2015/07/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Martini of Destiny: A Rucksack Universe Novella]]> 25529479 Librarian Notes: this is an alternate cover edition ISBN13: 9781940119038 - The Martini of Destiny.

One drink changed everything.

Influencing a man's fate should have been another day behind the bar.

Bartender Jake Hongkong has served The Management longer than any other Jake or Jade, but now he doubts his role influencing people's destinies and decisions. Declan is directionless and scared when he comes to the pub, yet one drink is all it takes to give him the courage to make a life-altering decision. Deeply shaken by something he wasn't meant to see, Jake doubts more than ever, and consequences ripple through destiny and the world. Soon one martini will forever alter lives and fates... especially Jake's and Declan's.]]> 82 Anthony St. Clair Sumashini 5 3.80 2013 The Martini of Destiny: A Rucksack Universe Novella
author: Anthony St. Clair
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/30
date added: 2015/06/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #4)]]> 194373 Silver Blaze
The Cardboard Box
The Yellow Face
The Stockbroker's Clerk
The 'Gloria Scott'
The Musgrave Ritual
The Reigate Squire
The Crooked Man
The Resident Patient
The Greek Interpreter
The Naval Treaty
The Final Problem]]> 378 Arthur Conan Doyle 0192123092 Sumashini 4 favorites 4.31 1893 The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #4)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1893
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/06/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)]]> 6 734 J.K. Rowling 0439139597 Sumashini 5 favorites 4.56 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/06/28
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]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

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

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Sumashini 5 favorites 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/21
date added: 2015/06/28
shelves: favorites
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]]> <![CDATA[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]> 21 544 Bill Bryson 076790818X Sumashini 5 favorites 4.21 2003 A Short History of Nearly Everything
author: Bill Bryson
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/17
date added: 2015/06/28
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)]]> 11
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!]]> 216 Douglas Adams Sumashini 5 favorites 4.21 1979 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/06/28
shelves: favorites
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]]> <![CDATA[Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan]]> 145249
Beyond the Sky and the Earth is an autobiographical work that details her experiences and transformations after spending three years in Bhutan. It is as much a book about Zeppa's day-to-day life in Bhutan as it is about the personal awakenings and realizations that she had while living there.

Visitors to Bhutan, an increasingly hot tourist destination, are still few and far between, largely because of tight government restrictions on entry, visa requirements, and a law requiring tourists to spend at least $200 a day there. There aren't many books on Bhutan, and even fewer first-hand accounts of life there. Beyond the Sky and the Earth stands out as both an informative introduction to the people and culture of Bhutan and as a beautiful piece of travel literature set against the backdrop of one of the most remote and unspoiled places on earth.

Zeppa recounts her experiences living abroad, such as learning to live without electricity and carrying on a forbidden affair with one of her students, in such a compelling way that even someone who has never left home will become entranced by her story and captivated by her unique experiences.

Naturally, Zeppa experienced culture shock when she arrived in Bhutan. The hardships she encountered seemed insurmountable, and at first she thought she couldn't bear it and fantasized about returning to Canada. She had to learn a new language in order to communicate with her students, she had to learn to live on her own, and she had to learn to deal with homesickness. Perhaps her biggest challenge was learning how to reconcile her growing love for Bhutan with her nostalgia for her life in Canada, her family, and her fiancé. But after living among Bhutan's Himalayan peaks, lush valleys, colorful villages, and friendly people, and after gaining an appreciation for life in a place frozen in time, Zeppa realizes that she feels at home in Bhutan and wants to stay.

Although to Zeppa Bhutan is a magical land, she cautions herself and the reader not to deem it "the last Shangri-La," as is often done by the lucky travelers who make their way through the red tape required for entry into the kingdom. Bhutan is not without its problems: it is an underdeveloped country plagued by the problems that affect many places cut off from modernity. There is infant mortality, illness, and poverty. There are also domestic and international tensions that stem from the government's stringent regulations intended to preserve the national culture. Among them are the prohibition of foreign television and a requirement that people wear the national dress, a kira for women and a gho for men.

Few of us will ever get to see the place that was Zeppa's home. But her narrative is so clear and insightful that you easily feel as though you are sharing this portion of her life with her. Even if you haven't had the experience of living abroad, or if the prospect of a trip to the furthest reaches of Asia is not in your cards, Zeppa's book is a worthy read on many levels.

From her powerful use of language to describe the superb beauty of Bhutan's landscape to her passionate description of her spellbinding relationship with her future husband, Beyond the Sky and the Earth draws readers in and takes them on her rocky ride to self-realization.

When trying to explain to a friend what she finds appealing about Bhutan, Zeppa writes: "It takes a long time to find the true words, to put them in order, to tell the whole story. It is not just this or that, the mountains, the people, it is me and the way I can be here, the freedom to walk unafraid into the great dark night. It is a hundred thousand things and I could never trace or tell all the connections and reflections, the shadows and echoes and secret relations between them."

But, in fact, Zeppa does tell the reader about these connections and reflections in a lyrical way. After reading the book, you will have a deep understanding, appreciation, and respect for Zeppa's strength of character and for the wonders of Bhutan.

Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a delight to read in every way. Zeppa's beautiful prose, peppered alternately with funny observations and profound soul-searching, is a truly special and unique work that will leave you craving an adventure of your own.]]> 320 Jamie Zeppa 157322815X Sumashini 5 favorites 4.15 1999 Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan
author: Jamie Zeppa
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/06/28
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]]> The Law 1609224 61 Frédéric Bastiat 1933550147 Sumashini 5 favorites 4.34 1849 The Law
author: Frédéric Bastiat
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1849
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/25
date added: 2015/06/28
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]]> Animal Farm 7613
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]> 129 George Orwell Sumashini 5 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/27
date added: 2015/06/28
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]]> Train to Pakistan 785454 “In the summer of 1947, when the creation of the state of Pakistan was formally announced, ten million people—Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs—were in flight. By the time the monsoon broke, almost a million of them were dead, and all of northern India was in arms, in terror, or in hiding. The only remaining oases of peace were a scatter of little villages lost in the remote reaches of the frontier. One of these villages was Mano Majra.�

It is a place, Khushwant Singh goes on to tell us at the beginning of this classic novel, where Sikhs and Muslims have lived together in peace for hundreds of years. Then one day, at the end of the summer, the “ghost train� arrives, a silent, incredible funeral train loaded with the bodies of thousands of refugees, bringing the village its first taste of the horrors of the civil war. Train to Pakistan is the story of this isolated village that is plunged into the abyss of religious hate. It is also the story of a Sikh boy and a Muslim girl whose love endured and transcends the ravages of war.

Introduction by Arthur Lall]]> 181 Khushwant Singh 0802132219 Sumashini 4 3.92 1956 Train to Pakistan
author: Khushwant Singh
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1956
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Bharathiyar Kavithaigal - Tamil]]> 25675780 0 Giri 8179501213 Sumashini 5 3.86 Bharathiyar Kavithaigal - Tamil
author: Giri
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/06/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Where There's a Will: A Stage Play]]> 19582077 528 Mahesh Dattani Sumashini 5 3.67 2013 Where There's a Will: A Stage Play
author: Mahesh Dattani
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2013
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/06/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Dance Like a Man: A Stage Play in Two]]> 1976978 78 Mahesh Dattani 0143062085 Sumashini 5 3.93 2006 Dance Like a Man: A Stage Play in Two
author: Mahesh Dattani
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> Collected Plays, Vol. 1 1137952 250 Mahesh Dattani 0140293256 Sumashini 5 4.02 1999 Collected Plays, Vol. 1
author: Mahesh Dattani
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1999
rating: 5
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]]> The Kite Runner 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Sumashini 4 4.34 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/06/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Sumashini 3 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/04/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Secret of the Mansion (Trixie Belden, #1)]]> 183116 272 Julie Campbell 037582412X Sumashini 2 4.14 1948 The Secret of the Mansion (Trixie Belden, #1)
author: Julie Campbell
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1948
rating: 2
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)]]> 15881
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls� bathroom. But then the real trouble begins � someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects� Harry Potter himself!]]> 352 J.K. Rowling Sumashini 3 4.42 1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> A Christmas Carol 5326
Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.]]> 184 Charles Dickens 1561797464 Sumashini 4 4.06 1843 A Christmas Carol
author: Charles Dickens
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1843
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Sumashini 5 4.50 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)]]> 136251
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.]]> 759 J.K. Rowling Sumashini 4 4.61 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]> 489 Dan Brown Sumashini 5 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mystery of the Fire Dragon (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #38)]]> 862005 182 Carolyn Keene 0448095386 Sumashini 5 3.97 1961 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #38)
author: Carolyn Keene
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1961
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Black Jacket Mystery (Trixie Belden, #8)]]> 183103 272 Kathryn Kenny 0375829792 Sumashini 3 4.12 1961 The Black Jacket Mystery (Trixie Belden, #8)
author: Kathryn Kenny
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1961
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> The Moonstone 6138
This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive 1871 edition.]]> 528 Wilkie Collins 0375757856 Sumashini 4 3.90 1868 The Moonstone
author: Wilkie Collins
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1868
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #1)]]> 32979 210 Carolyn Keene 1557091552 Sumashini 5 3.99 1930 The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #1)
author: Carolyn Keene
name: Sumashini
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1930
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)]]> 16331 288 Agatha Christie 1579126251 Sumashini 4 4.07 1930 Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1930
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> Alice in Wonderland 13023 This is an adaptation. For the editions of the original book, see here .

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.]]> 96 Jane Carruth 0517223627 Sumashini 4 4.03 1865 Alice in Wonderland
author: Jane Carruth
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1865
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 3 309 J.K. Rowling 0439554934 Sumashini 5 4.47 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Poirot investiga (Hercule Poirot, #3)]]> 140302
Incluye los siguientes relatos:

1- La aventura de la Estrella del Oeste
2- Tragedia en Marsdon Manor
3- La aventura del piso barato
4- El misterio de Hunter's Lodge
5- El robo del millón de dólares en bonos
6- La aventura de la tumba egipcia
7- Robo de joyas en el Grand Metropolitan
8- El rapto del primer ministro
9- La desaparición del Señor Davenheim
10- La aventura del noble italiano
11- El caso del testamento desaparecido]]> 237 Agatha Christie Sumashini 4 4.10 1924 Poirot investiga (Hercule Poirot, #3)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1924
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]> And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Sumashini 4 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sumashini
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/12/22
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]]>