Ann's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 02 Jan 2024 08:09:32 -0800 60 Ann's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Joy Luck Club 563002
With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery.]]> 332 Amy Tan 0804106304 Ann 5 3.88 1989 The Joy Luck Club
author: Amy Tan
name: Ann
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
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]]> Year of Wonders 4965
Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition.

As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love.

As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. ]]> 304 Geraldine Brooks 0142001430 Ann 3 4.00 2001 Year of Wonders
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Ann
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/30
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]]> The Time Traveler's Wife 14050 537 Audrey Niffenegger 0965818675 Ann 2 3.90 2003 The Time Traveler's Wife
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: Ann
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2012/06/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vanity and Vexation: A Novel of Pride and Prejudice]]> 364522
"Tall, dark, and arrogantly handsome---not to mention distinguished, powerful, and rolling in money. Mr. Darcy? No, that's just the woman director of Pride and Prejudice ," reports Nicholas Llewellyn Bevan, impoverished novelist and occasional (reluctant) journalist, when a TV production company trundles into his sleepy North Yorkshire valley. Amusedly he watches these glamorous invaders combine the filming of Jane Austen's romantic classic with the much less modest pursuit, off-camera, of real-life romances with the locals.

Under his very nose, his bashful handsome neighbor John is plucked out of a village dance by the famously gorgeous (and wealthy) leading actress, Candia Bingham, with whom he at once falls completely in love. Our would-be hero manages only to trip over the black-booted foot of the intimidating and imperious director, Mary Dance. So he's amazed---and a little bit alarmed---when her steely eye seems to be straying his way.

A witty and entertaining update on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , Austen fans old and new will adore Vanity and Vexation 's modern take on her sublime blueprint of the romance game complete with sex, money, and power. With an assured and respectful hand, in the context of the contemporary world, Kate Fenton has penned a riveting story with a hilarious twist.

After all, it is a truth universally acknowledged that Hollywood taking an interest---better still an option---in a novelist's work is a surefire way to propel that novelist into serious sales figures and the bestseller lists.]]> 288 Kate Fenton 031232801X Ann 3 3.19 1991 Vanity and Vexation: A Novel of Pride and Prejudice
author: Kate Fenton
name: Ann
average rating: 3.19
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2012/06/28
date added: 2012/06/28
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

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

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

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Ann 4 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Ann
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2012/06/28
date added: 2012/06/28
shelves:
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]]> Still Alice 2153405 Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University.

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind...]]> 292 Lisa Genova 0595440096 Ann 4 4.32 2007 Still Alice
author: Lisa Genova
name: Ann
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/06/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society]]> 6696985 Mary Ann Shaffer 1415954402 Ann 5 4.17 2008 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
author: Mary Ann Shaffer
name: Ann
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves:
review:
I loved how each voice in the book was done in a very unique way so you really felt like you got to know the individuals in the book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society]]> 2728527
“Treat yourself to this book, please - I can’t recommend it highly enough.� (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love)

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.�

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb....

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends - and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island - boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

“A jewel... Poignant and keenly observed, Guernsey is a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends.� (People)

“A book-lover’s delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary.� (Chicago Sun-Times)

“A sparkling epistolary novel radiating wit, lightly worn erudition and written with great assurance and aplomb.� (The Sunday Times [London])

“Cooked perfectly à point: subtle and elegant in flavour, yet emotionally satisfying to the finish.� (The Times [London])]]> 277 Mary Ann Shaffer 0385340990 Ann 4 4.13 2008 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
author: Mary Ann Shaffer
name: Ann
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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date added: 2010/08/31
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]]> <![CDATA[A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table]]> 8132757 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
Cotton candy at the state fair. S'mores around the campfire. Hot dogs at a baseball game. Some foods are inextricably linked to events or places. Wizenberg has noted similar associations between food and her own life, and she shares them in this delightful treat of a book. Part recipe book, part memoir, Wizenberg takes us through the moments of her life and the memorable foods that helped mark those occasions. Time-tested and good tasting, her recipes range from the simple to the complex, the healthful to the decadent. Some are original and some are borrowed, but each one marks an event -- important or mundane -- with equal significance.



She candidly shares the heartbreak of losing her father (accompanied by a multitude of dishes dropped off by caring neighbors and friends), recalled in the memory of a comforting pie. And she recounts the memory of her young French love, Guillaume, in the description of a steamy dessert: "Dolloped with cr�me fraiche, tarte tatin doesn't dally with small talk. It reaches for your leg under the table."
brbr
Wizenberg has a wonderful way with words -- as well as food -- and whether you cook or not, you'll find your mouth watering as you turn the pages of this wholly satisfying read.
(iSummer 2009 Selection/i)]]> 336 Molly Wizenberg 1616877324 Ann 4 3.83 2009 A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table
author: Molly Wizenberg
name: Ann
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/07/01
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves:
review:
I love the Jimmy's Pink Cookies and am looking forward to making them again!
]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

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

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

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Ann 4 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Ann
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins Ann 5 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Ann
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves:
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]]> The Help 4667024
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women, mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends, view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.


Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here]]> 464 Kathryn Stockett 0399155341 Ann 5 book-club 4.46 2009 The Help
author: Kathryn Stockett
name: Ann
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2010/08/01
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves: book-club
review:
It took me the first third of the book to get into it but once I was vested in the characters I couldn't read it fast enough. I still wish I knew where they were now ~don't worry I am working on my own version of fan fiction where I have come up with where they are 2010 for all of them.
]]> <![CDATA[Travels with Charley: In Search of America]]> 5306 A quest across America, from the northernmost tip of Maine to California’s Monterey Peninsula

To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.

With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.]]> 214 John Steinbeck 0142000701 Ann 0 book-club 4.07 1961 Travels with Charley: In Search of America
author: John Steinbeck
name: Ann
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at: 2010/08/31
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves: book-club
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Weekend Sewing: More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Stitching (Weekend Craft)]]> 5784730 And because weekends are often the most fun when they’re social, Ross features ideas that encourage us to share our stitching and our time, such as a recipe for soup to simmer while sewing, then serve to guests later in the day, and tips for transporting a sewing machine to a friend’s house for an afternoon of social stitching.
The sewing instructions are beautifully illustrated, and patterns for the projects are included on pullout sheets.]]> 160 Heather Ross 1584796758 Ann 0 3.76 2009 Weekend Sewing: More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Stitching (Weekend Craft)
author: Heather Ross
name: Ann
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2010/08/31
date added: 2010/08/31
shelves:
review:
I am loving looking at the pictures ~now if I could just find the time to sew...
]]> <![CDATA[The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements]]> 7247854
The periodic table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. "The Disappearing Spoon" masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, discovery, and alchemy, from the big bang through the end of time.


* Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.]]> 394 Sam Kean 0316051640 Ann 0 to-read 3.92 2010 The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
author: Sam Kean
name: Ann
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/07/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Your Money and Your Man: How You and Prince Charming Can Spend Well and Live Rich]]> 133671 –Michelle Singletary

Here at last is the lowdown on how to manage your finances with the man in your life. Money is the #1 problem couples fight about, says beloved Washington Post financial columnist Michelle Singletary. Acknowledging that most fights about money are usually about something else–like feelings of fear or resentment–Singletary stresses the value of open dialogue. In her trademark no-holds-barred style, she shows us how to handle the entire range of financial issues couples face–from splitting the dinner bill when dating to planning for retirement together after years of marriage.
Singletary speaks to the hearts of women as they try to successfully merge their money and future security with those of their man. Acknowledging the emotional weight of shared investments, she brings her own experience as a wife and mother to the table and doles out advice in a voice that, while encouraging and rational, is never less than frank on tough topics.
From sizing up a potential mate’s financial responsibility (or lack thereof) to figuring out how best to share bank accounts and expenses once you’ve made the leap, to determining how to teach your children about money, Your Money and Your Man focuses on the undeniable role that finance plays in every stage of a long-term relationship.
Including typical questions from readers of her syndicated column and advice from one of the savviest financial experts she has ever known–her grandmother–Singletary shows women that they can live happily ever after with Prince Charming, even if he doesn’t have a royal bank account!]]> 304 Michelle Singletary 034547970X Ann 3 3.56 2006 Your Money and Your Man: How You and Prince Charming Can Spend Well and Live Rich
author: Michelle Singletary
name: Ann
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2007/09/13
date added: 2010/05/07
shelves:
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]]> The Painted Veil 99664 The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful, but love-starved Kitty Fane.

When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.

The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive.]]> 246 W. Somerset Maugham 0307277771 Ann 2 The book is a good read in its self but not so much if you are looking to round out the movie.]]> 3.95 1925 The Painted Veil
author: W. Somerset Maugham
name: Ann
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1925
rating: 2
read at: 2007/03/01
date added: 2009/12/16
shelves:
review:
Okay I read the book because I saw the movie and loved it and often find the book to almost always be a better option ~so much is often left out of a movie. Let me just warn you the movie after they move to inland China is just loosely based on the book from that point on.
The book is a good read in its self but not so much if you are looking to round out the movie.
]]> <![CDATA[An Assembly Such as This (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #1)]]> 110095 "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me."

So begins the timeless romance of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen's classic novel is beloved by millions, but little is revealed in the book about the mysterious and handsome hero, Mr. Darcy. And so the question has long remained: Who is Fitzwilliam Darcy?

In An Assembly Such as This, Pamela Aidan finally answers that long-standing question. In this first book of her Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy, she reintroduces us to Darcy during his visit to Hertfordshire with his friend Charles Bingley and reveals Darcy's hidden perspective on the events of Pride and Prejudice. As Darcy spends more time at Netherfield supervising Bingley and fending off Miss Bingley's persistent advances, his unwilling attraction to Elizabeth grows—as does his concern about her relationship with his nemesis, George Wickham.

Setting the story vividly against the colorful historical and political background of the Regency, Aidan writes in a style comfortably at home with Austen but with a wit and humor very much her own. Aidan adds her own cast of fascinating characters to those in Austen's original, weaving a rich tapestry from Darcy's past and present. Austen fans and newcomers alike will love this new chapter of the most famous romance of all time.]]> 255 Pamela Aidan 0743291344 Ann 4 3.70 2003 An Assembly Such as This (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #1)
author: Pamela Aidan
name: Ann
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2007/06/01
date added: 2009/12/16
shelves:
review:
It was a lot of fun to read this book and see the story from his point of view. Also as fan fiction goes I think this one is one of the best interpretations I have seen.
]]> <![CDATA[Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen]]> 13747
Julie Powell is 30-years-old, living in a rundown apartment in Queens and working at a soul-sucking secretarial job that’s going nowhere. She needs something to break the monotony of her life, and she invents a deranged assignment. She will take her mother's dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she will cook all 524 recipes. In the span of one year.

At first she thinks it will be easy. But as she moves from the simple Potage Parmentier (potato soup) into the more complicated realm of aspics and crépes, she realizes there’s more to Mastering the Art of French Cooking than meets the eye. With Julia’s stern warble always in her ear, Julie haunts the local butcher, buying kidneys and sweetbreads. She sends her husband on late-night runs for yet more butter and rarely serves dinner before midnight. She discovers how to mold the perfect Orange Bavarian, the trick to extracting marrow from bone, and the intense pleasure of eating liver.

And somewhere along the line she realizes she has turned her kitchen into a miracle of creation and cuisine. She has eclipsed her life’s ordinariness through spectacular humor, hysteria, and perseverance.]]> 310 Julie Powell 031610969X Ann 3 book-club 3.74 2005 Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
author: Julie Powell
name: Ann
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2009/04/16
shelves: book-club
review:

]]> Northanger Abbey 50398 Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen's "Gothic parody." Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist.

The story's unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry's mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is a lighthearted, yet unsentimental commentary on love and marriage.]]> 260 Jane Austen 1593082649 Ann 0 3.85 1817 Northanger Abbey
author: Jane Austen
name: Ann
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1817
rating: 0
read at: 2009/04/16
date added: 2009/04/16
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Bridget Jones’s Diary (Bridget Jones, #1)]]> 227443 a. lose 7 pounds
b. stop smoking
c. develop Inner Poise

"129 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)..."

"Bridget Jones' Diary" is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement � a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult - and learn to program the VCR.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and � like millions of readers the world round � you'll find yourself shouting, "Bridget Jones is me!"]]> 288 Helen Fielding 014028009X Ann 4 3.81 1996 Bridget Jones’s Diary (Bridget Jones, #1)
author: Helen Fielding
name: Ann
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2008/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason]]> 35842
"7:15 a.m. Hurrah! The wilderness years are over. For four weeks and five days now have been in functional relationship with adult male, thereby proving am not love pariah as recently feared."

Lurching from the cappuccino bars of Notting Hill to the blissed-out shores of Thailand, Bridget Jones searches for The Truth in spite of pathetically unevolved men, insane dating theories, and Smug Married advice ("I'm just calling to say in the potty! In the potty! Well, do it in Daddy's hand, then!"). She experiences a zeitgeist-esque Spiritual Epiphany somewhere between the pages of How to Find the Love You Want Without Seeking It (can self-help books really help self?), protective custody, and a lightly chilled Chardonnay.]]> 338 Helen Fielding 014303443X Ann 3 3.02 1999 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
author: Helen Fielding
name: Ann
average rating: 3.02
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2008/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Shopaholic, #3)]]> 9419
Then Luke proposes - and all of a sudden life gets hectic. Becky's mum in rural Surrey wants one thing, Luke's mother in New York wants the complete opposite. Becky knows she has to sit down and decide - but to be honest, it's a lot more fun testing cake, trying on dresses and registering wedding presents. But time's ticking by, plans are being made both sides of the Atlantic and soon she realizes she's in trouble...]]> 407 Sophie Kinsella 0440241898 Ann 4 3.80 2002 Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Shopaholic, #3)
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Ann
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2008/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Devil Wears Prada (The Devil Wears Prada, #1)]]> 5139
Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.� Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.� Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.]]> 384 Lauren Weisberger 0307275558 Ann 4 3.82 2003 The Devil Wears Prada (The Devil Wears Prada, #1)
author: Lauren Weisberger
name: Ann
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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date added: 2008/01/29
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]]> Where the Sidewalk Ends 30119 Come in... for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins.

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

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

Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages.]]> 176 Shel Silverstein 0060513039 Ann 5 4.34 1974 Where the Sidewalk Ends
author: Shel Silverstein
name: Ann
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1974
rating: 5
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]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Ann 5 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Ann
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 5
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]]> The Poisonwood Bible 7244 The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.]]> 546 Barbara Kingsolver 0060786507 Ann 3 4.10 1998 The Poisonwood Bible
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Ann
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1998
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1)]]> 179064 She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste.

Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.]]> 383 Shannon Hale 1582349908 Ann 5 4.14 2003 The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1)
author: Shannon Hale
name: Ann
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> The History of Love 3867
Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love who, sixty years ago in Poland, inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn't know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives...

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]> 255 Nicole Krauss 0393328627 Ann 4 3.92 2005 The History of Love
author: Nicole Krauss
name: Ann
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> The Thirteenth Tale 40440
The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.]]> 406 Diane Setterfield 0743298020 Ann 4 3.96 2006 The Thirteenth Tale
author: Diane Setterfield
name: Ann
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[These Three Remain (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #3)]]> 108759 The exciting conclusion to the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy recounts the climactic events of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from its enigmatic hero's point of view.

One of the most beloved romantic heroes in all of literature, Fitzwilliam Darcy remains an enigma even to Jane Austen's most devoted fans. No longer. With this concluding volume in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy, novelist and Austen aficionada Pamela Aidan at last gives readers the man in full.

These Three Remain follows a humbled Darcy on the journey of self-discovery, after Elizabeth Bennet's rejection of his marriage proposal, in which he endeavors to grow into the kind of gentleman he desires to become. Happily, a chance meeting with Elizabeth during a tour of his estate in Derbyshire offers Darcy a new opportunity to press his suit, but his newfound strengths are put to the test by an old nemesis, George Wickham.

Vividly capturing the colorful historical and political milieu of the Regency era, Aidan writes in a style evocative of her literary progenitor, but with a wit and humor very much her own. While staying faithful to the people and events in Austen's original, she adds her own fascinating cast of characters, weaving a rich tapestry out of Darcy's past and present that will beguile his admirers anew.

]]> 437 Pamela Aidan 0743291379 Ann 0 3.96 2005 These Three Remain (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #3)
author: Pamela Aidan
name: Ann
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2007/10/01
date added: 2008/01/29
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]]> <![CDATA[Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro, #1)]]> 14748
For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.

But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.]]> 376 Jennifer Weiner 0743418174 Ann 0 3.76 2002 Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro, #1)
author: Jennifer Weiner
name: Ann
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2008/01/29
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]]> Angle of Repose 292408
Wallace Stegner's Pultizer Prize-winning novel is a story of discovery—personal, historical, and geographical.]]> 569 Wallace Stegner 014016930X Ann 2 4.24 1971 Angle of Repose
author: Wallace Stegner
name: Ann
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1971
rating: 2
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]]> Possession 41219 A beautiful hardback edition of the Booker Prize-winning novel. A romance, a literary quest, a modern classic.

A pair of young scholars investigate the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of letters, journals and poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit and tragedy, and their quest becomes a battle against time. Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once a literary detective novel and a triumphant love story.]]> 555 A.S. Byatt 0679735909 Ann 3 3.89 1991 Possession
author: A.S. Byatt
name: Ann
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1991
rating: 3
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]]> Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]> 279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Ann 5 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Ann
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1813
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything]]> 1202
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives -- how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and -- if the right questions are asked -- is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
(front flap)]]> 268 Steven D. Levitt 0061234001 Ann 5 4.01 2005 Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
author: Steven D. Levitt
name: Ann
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> Emma 6969 The newest edition is here. Another alternate cover can be found here.

Emma Woodhouse is one of Austen's most captivating and vivid characters. Beautiful, spoilt, vain and irrepressibly witty, Emma organizes the lives of the inhabitants of her sleepy little village and plays matchmaker with devastating effect.]]> 474 Jane Austen 0141439580 Ann 4 4.05 1815 Emma
author: Jane Austen
name: Ann
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1815
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1)]]> 9416
Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from the bank –letters with large red sums she can't bear to read–and they're getting ever harder to ignore.

She tries cutting back. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky's only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something....

Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life–and the lives of those around her–forever.]]> 368 Sophie Kinsella 0440241413 Ann 4 3.71 2000 Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1)
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Ann
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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]]> Can You Keep a Secret? 33724 374 Sophie Kinsella 0440241901 Ann 4 3.82 2003 Can You Keep a Secret?
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Ann
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood]]> 137791 383 Rebecca Wells 006075995X Ann 4 3.86 1996 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
author: Rebecca Wells
name: Ann
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> The Robber Bride 17650 The Robber Bride is inspired by "The Robber Bridegroom," a wonderfully grisly tale from the Brothers Grimm in which an evil groom lures three maidens into his lair and devours them, one by one. But in her version, Atwood brilliantly recasts the monster as Zenia, a villainess of demonic proportions, and sets her loose in the lives of three friends, Tony, Charis, and Roz. All three "have lost men, spirit, money, and time to their old college acquaintance, Zenia. At various times, and in various emotional disguises, Zenia has insinuated her way into their lives and practically demolished them. To Tony, who almost lost her husband and jeopardized her academic career, Zenia is 'a lurking enemy commando.' To Roz, who did lose her husband and almost her magazine, Zenia is 'a cold and treacherous bitch.' To Charis, who lost a boyfriend, quarts of vegetable juice and some pet chickens, Zenia is a kind of zombie, maybe 'soulless'" (Lorrie Moore, New York Times Book Review). In love and war, illusion and deceit, Zenia's subterranean malevolence takes us deep into her enemies' pasts.]]> 528 Margaret Atwood Ann 4 3.83 1993 The Robber Bride
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Ann
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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]]> Twelfth Night 1625 Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia—only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.]]> 272 William Shakespeare 0743482778 Ann 4 3.97 1602 Twelfth Night
author: William Shakespeare
name: Ann
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1602
rating: 4
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]]> Romeo and Juliet 18135 Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers� final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.]]> 281 William Shakespeare 0743477111 Ann 4 3.74 1597 Romeo and Juliet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Ann
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1597
rating: 4
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]]> The Merchant of Venice 24128 249 William Shakespeare 0743477561 Ann 4 3.77 1596 The Merchant of Venice
author: William Shakespeare
name: Ann
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1596
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference]]> 2612 The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.]]> 301 Malcolm Gladwell 0316346624 Ann 3 4.01 2002 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Ann
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2002
rating: 3
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]]> The Diary of a Young Girl 48855
In 1942, with the Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, the Franks and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe� of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly humorous, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
--back cover]]> 283 Anne Frank Ann 4 4.19 1947 The Diary of a Young Girl
author: Anne Frank
name: Ann
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1947
rating: 4
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]]> Lord of the Flies 7624 182 William Golding 0140283331 Ann 3 3.70 1954 Lord of the Flies
author: William Golding
name: Ann
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1954
rating: 3
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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 Ann 4 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Ann
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 4
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]]> Me Talk Pretty One Day 4137 272 David Sedaris 0349113912 Ann 4 4.01 2000 Me Talk Pretty One Day
author: David Sedaris
name: Ann
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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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 Ann 5 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Ann
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 5
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]]> The Virgin Blue 2873 The Virgin Blue is a novel of passion and intrigue that compels readers to the very last page.]]> 304 Tracy Chevalier 0452284449 Ann 4 3.68 1997 The Virgin Blue
author: Tracy Chevalier
name: Ann
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> Girl with a Pearl Earring 2865
Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant—and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model.]]> 233 Tracy Chevalier 0452287022 Ann 4 3.93 1999 Girl with a Pearl Earring
author: Tracy Chevalier
name: Ann
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1999
rating: 4
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]]> Memoirs of a Geisha 930
In "Memoirs of a Geisha," we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction - at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful - and completely unforgettable.]]> 434 Arthur Golden 0739326228 Ann 4 4.07 1997 Memoirs of a Geisha
author: Arthur Golden
name: Ann
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ]]> 323355 From the Introduction:

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. Thsi group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, the a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" and "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses."

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course an ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10: 3-5)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.]]> 531 Joseph Smith Jr. 0967686563 Ann 5 4.22 1830 The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
author: Joseph Smith Jr.
name: Ann
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1830
rating: 5
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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 Ann 5 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Ann
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> The Red Tent 4989 The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.]]> 324 Anita Diamant 0312353766 Ann 5 4.21 1997 The Red Tent
author: Anita Diamant
name: Ann
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> The Scarlet Letter 12296 279 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0142437263 Ann 5 3.43 1850 The Scarlet Letter
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Ann
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1850
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)]]> 49041 There is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13 9780316160193 here.

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

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

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

LEGIONS OF READERS ENTRANCED BY THE New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bell and Edward. In New Moon, Stephanie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.]]> 563 Stephenie Meyer 0316160199 Ann 3 3.61 2006 New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Ann
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2007/09/13
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]]> The Glass Castle 7445 THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.]]> 288 Jeannette Walls 074324754X Ann 3 4.32 2005 The Glass Castle
author: Jeannette Walls
name: Ann
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2007/10/14
date added: 2007/09/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Duty and Desire (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #2)]]> 110097 "There was little danger of encountering the Bennet sisters ever again."

Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice is beloved by millions, but little is revealed in the book about the mysterious and handsome hero, Mr. Darcy. And so the question has long remained: Who is Fitzwilliam Darcy?

Pamela Aidan's trilogy finally answers that long-standing question, creating a rich parallel story that follows Darcy as he meets and falls in love with Elizabeth Bennet. Duty and Desire, the second book in the trilogy, covers the "silent time" of Austen's novel, revealing Darcy's private struggle to overcome his attraction to Elizabeth while fulfilling his roles as landlord, master, brother, and friend.

When Darcy pays a visit to an old classmate in Oxford in an attempt to shake Elizabeth from his mind, he is set upon by husband-hunting society ladies and ne'er-do-well friends from his university days, all with designs on him -- some for good and some for ill. He and his sartorial genius of a valet, Fletcher, must match wits with them all, but especially with the curious Lady Sylvanie.

Irresistibly authentic and entertaining, Duty and Desire remains true to the spirit and events of Pride and Prejudice while incorporating fascinating new characters, and is sure to dazzle Austen fans and newcomers alike.

]]> 280 Pamela Aidan 0743291360 Ann 4 3.35 2006 Duty and Desire (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #2)
author: Pamela Aidan
name: Ann
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/09/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)]]> 428263 "BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

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

READERS CAPTIVATED BY Twilight AND New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.]]> 629 Stephenie Meyer 0316160202 Ann 4 3.73 2007 Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Ann
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/09/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)]]> 41865
First, Edward was a vampire.

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

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

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.]]> 498 Stephenie Meyer 0316015849 Ann 4 3.66 2005 Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Ann
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2007/09/13
date added: 2007/07/27
shelves:
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Alright I can admit I was totally into this book ~it isn't awesome writing or anything but man for some reason it was totally captivating...
]]> <![CDATA[Real Simple Celebrations: Easy Entertaining for Every Occasion]]> 64027 192 Real Simple 193340518X Ann 5 3.85 2006 Real Simple Celebrations: Easy Entertaining for Every Occasion
author: Real Simple
name: Ann
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2007/09/13
date added: 2007/07/13
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]]> One Hundred Years of Solitude 5215 464 Gabriel García Márquez 0060740450 Ann 0 3.92 1967 One Hundred Years of Solitude
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Ann
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at: 2007/07/01
date added: 2007/07/13
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I didn't finish it ~I couldn't get into it and I was horribly behind book club so I just left it ~ I can do that.
]]> Persuading Annie 826458

You've got to be tough to succeed in business and romance.
Sometimes your meddling loved ones are right about your worthless, no-good boyfriend being worthless and no good.
The only reliable thing about men is that they're totally unreliable.
Okay, she's been persuaded. So now, seven years after wisely and abruptly dumping the "love of her life," Jake Mead, things should be going better for Annie Markham, right? Unfortunately, her life's going nowhere, her family's going mental, and the family business is heading straight down the tubes. Could it get worse? Of course! Jake's back, Annie's getting ready for bankruptcy, and no one's ready for Christmas ... let alone a happy New Year.

And no amount of persuasion will ever convince Annie that magic does happen and dreams do come true, not even at the stroke of midnight on December 31 at New York's Plaza Hotel ... will it?]]> 352 Melissa Nathan 0060595809 Ann 4 3.56 2000 Persuading Annie
author: Melissa Nathan
name: Ann
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2007/06/29
shelves:
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