en-US Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:06:31 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 25807793 331 Wang Xiaobo Kasey 0 to-read 4.64 2006
author: Wang Xiaobo
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/07/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 29868611
Ursula K. Le Guin has won multiple prizes and accolades from the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to the Newbery Honor, the Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and PEN/Malamud Awards. She has had her work collected over the years, but never as a complete retrospective of her longer works as represented in the wonderful The Found and the Lost.

CONTENT
"Vaster Than Empires And More Slow"
"Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight"
"Hernes" by Ursula K. Le Guin
"The Matter Of Seggri"
"Another Story Or A Fisherman Of The Inland Sea"
"Forgiveness Day"
"A Man Of The People"
"A Woman’s Liberation"
"Old Music And The Slave Women"
"The Finder"
"On The High Marsh"
"Dragonfly"
"Paradises Lost"

This collection is a literary treasure chest that belongs in every home library.]]> 816 Ursula K. Le Guin 1481451391 Kasey 0 to-read 4.42 2016
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2491161 291 Mike Befeler 1594145156 Kasey 0 to-read 3.60 2007
author: Mike Befeler
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 26038180 698 Jean-Paul Sartre Kasey 0 to-read 3.82 1943
author: Jean-Paul Sartre
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 20342617
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned.

Just Mercy tells the story of EJI, from the early days with a small staff facing the nation’s highest death sentencing and execution rates, through a successful campaign to challenge the cruel practice of sentencing children to die in prison, to revolutionary projects designed to confront Americans with our history of racial injustice.

One of EJI’s first clients was Walter McMillian, a young Black man who was sentenced to die for the murder of a young white woman that he didn’t commit. The case exemplifies how the death penalty in America is a direct descendant of lynching — a system that treats the rich and guilty better than the poor and innocent.]]> 336 Bryan Stevenson Kasey 0 to-read 4.62 2014
author: Bryan Stevenson
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 29906980 Lincoln in the Bardo is a literary experience unlike any other—for no one but Saunders could conceive it.

February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returned to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body.

From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory, where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.

Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices—living and dead, historical and invented—to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?]]> 368 George Saunders 0812995341 Kasey 0 to-read 3.75 2017
author: George Saunders
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 15808513 The heartwrenching New York Times bestseller about the only known person born inside a North Korean prison camp to have escaped

North Korea’s political prison camps have existed twice as long as Stalin’s Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. No one born and raised in these camps is known to have escaped. No one, that is, except Shin Dong-hyuk.



In Escape From Camp 14, Blaine Harden unlocks the secrets of the world’s most repressive totalitarian state through the story of Shin’s shocking imprisonment and his astounding getaway. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence—he saw his mother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his mother and brother.



The late “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il was recognized throughout the world, but his country remains sealed as his third son and chosen heir, Kim Jong Eun, consolidates power. Few foreigners are allowed in, and few North Koreans are able to leave. North Korea is hungry, bankrupt, and armed with nuclear weapons. It is also a human rights catastrophe. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people work as slaves in its political prison camps. These camps are clearly visible in satellite photographs, yet North Korea’s government denies they exist.



Harden’s harrowing narrative exposes this hidden dystopia, focusing on an extraordinary young man who came of age inside the highest security prison in the highest security state. Escape from Camp 14 offers an unequalled inside account of one of the world’s darkest nations. It is a tale of endurance and courage, survival and hope.]]> 210 Blaine Harden 0143122916 Kasey 0 to-read 4.09 2012
author: Blaine Harden
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 149221 223 Mary Westmacott 0006499503 Kasey 0 to-read 3.91 1956
author: Mary Westmacott
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 75020
Moscow: Present Day. Atlanta lawyer Miles Lord, fluent in Russian and well versed in the country’s history, is thrilled to be in Moscow on the eve of such a momentous event. After the fall of Communism and a succession of weak governments, the Russian people have voted to bring back the monarchy. The new tsar will be chosen from the distant relatives of Nicholas II by a specially appointed commission, and Miles’ job is to perform a background check on the Tsarist candidate favored by a powerful group of Western businessmen. But research quickly becomes the least of Miles’ concerns when he is nearly killed by gunmen on a city plaza.

Suddenly Miles is racing across continents, shadowed by nefarious henchmen. At first, his only question is why people are pursuing him. But after a strange conversation with a mysterious Russian, who steers Miles toward the writings of Rasputin, he becomes desperate to know more–most important, what really happened to the family of Russia’s last tsar?

His only companion is Akilina Petrov, a Russian circus performer sympathetic to his struggle, and his only guide is a cryptic message from Rasputin that implies that the bloody night of so long ago is not the last chapter in the Romanovs’ story . . . and that someone might even have survived the massacre. The prophecy’s implications are earth-shattering–not only for the future of the tsar and mother Russia, but also for Miles himself.]]> 387 Steve Berry 0345460065 Kasey 3 mystery, reread
(Maybe this book has gotten me into historical fiction...)]]> 3.95 2004
author: Steve Berry
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2011/01/19
date added: 2016/07/12
shelves: mystery, reread
review:
I thought that this book was pretty good, especially the plot line. It kept me on the edge of my seat at was very rich and interesting. I'm not really interested in history books, but the way Berry presented the information and back story was well done.

(Maybe this book has gotten me into historical fiction...)
]]> 9969571 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

IN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.]]> 480 Ernest Cline 030788743X Kasey 0 to-read 4.21 2011
author: Ernest Cline
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/07/12
shelves: to-read
review:
Okay, so maybe like, half-read. The story was quite interesting to where I got up to, but I'm sorry, I couldn't finish it. There were quite a bit of logical fallacies that kind of warped my image of certain ideas in the plot and settings and whatnot. I'm normally okay with these, and I did think the plot was good enough to continue. EXCEPT I HAD TO READ THIS BOOK FOR A BOOK CLUB and while I'm really okay with that, I'm not okay if other members try to prove me wrong like I'm trash-talking the book! Like UGH. I'm just stating and idea, you know. They could have rephrased their opinions differently and blah blah blah this is just a rant I guess. Anywho, this was a cool book in its own way, especially for people into the '80s but I just can't finish it. I think with the warped ideas and settings I lose focus.
]]> 17800 Alternate cover edition here.

High-class call girls billed to Mastercard. A psychic 13-year-old dropout with a passion for Talking Heads. A hunky matinee idol doomed to play dentists and teachers. A one-armed beach-combing poet, an uptight hotel clerk and one very bemused narrator caught in the web of advanced capitalist mayhem. Combine this offbeat cast of characters with Murakami's idiosyncratic prose and out comes Dance Dance Dance.]]> 393 Haruki Murakami 0099448769 Kasey 5
edit– 3/6/16. Thank you Godreads for informing me this was a sequel. Didn't even realize it. And, well, for me, background from the previous titles weren't crucial for understanding this near-bible. ]]> 4.06 1988
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 2016/03/06
date added: 2016/07/12
shelves:
review:
I really have found my newest favorite book. And potentially my favorite book for a long, long time. Thanks to my writer-of-an-oldest-sister for letting me borrow it indefinitely.

edit– 3/6/16. Thank you Godreads for informing me this was a sequel. Didn't even realize it. And, well, for me, background from the previous titles weren't crucial for understanding this near-bible.
]]> 226973
There’s not a whole lot to say story wise. A young man drinks a lot of beer and has strange conversations with a mysterious young lady he just met. So, classic Murakami.]]> 130 Haruki Murakami 4061860267 Kasey 0 to-read 3.59 1979
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/06/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11298 353 Haruki Murakami 037571894X Kasey 0 to-read 3.96 1982
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/06/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 591978 215 Haruki Murakami 4061860127 Kasey 0 to-read 3.52 1980
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/06/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1949253 Vernon Deyre is a sensitive and brilliant musician, even a genius. But there is a high price to be paid for his talent, especially by his family and the two women in his life. His sheltered childhood in the home he loves has not prepared Vernon for the harsh reality of his adult years, and in order to write the great masterpiece of his life, he has to make a crucial decision with no time left to count the cost…

]]> 528 Mary Westmacott Kasey 5 mystery I thought it was elegant. Terrifying. Morbid. Haunting. Beautiful. Artistic. Human.

Something about this book always bothered me, even when I put the book down. I thought that the book was horrifying and the characters were so abstract and cruel. Then I realized that it was reality. Christie, Westmacott, had really captured the feelings and indecisions in a human life. That book was so accurate that it made me embarrassed to read. The characters were very...human. I think I've said that too many times already, but I can't explain the feeling well. To understand it, you should definitely read the book yourself. The characters were so indecisive and annoying, yet truthful and beautiful. But then they were stupid, which is exactly human.

Uhm, on a more analytical note, the characters and their stories were wonderfully woven throughout the book. In my mind, none of the characters were just created for the moment and then dropped (which I find happens in most books). Each character had some significance, though maybe briefly mentioned. As a young reader, I did not fully grasp what Christie was going at, and I struggled to find the connection to the prologue. But Agatha Christie is a genius and I can come up with my own speculations, however vague they may be.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy the psychological aspect of stories and the more analytical type of reading.]]> 3.99 1930
author: Mary Westmacott
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1930
rating: 5
read at: 2012/05/01
date added: 2016/06/19
shelves: mystery
review:
What did I think?
I thought it was elegant. Terrifying. Morbid. Haunting. Beautiful. Artistic. Human.

Something about this book always bothered me, even when I put the book down. I thought that the book was horrifying and the characters were so abstract and cruel. Then I realized that it was reality. Christie, Westmacott, had really captured the feelings and indecisions in a human life. That book was so accurate that it made me embarrassed to read. The characters were very...human. I think I've said that too many times already, but I can't explain the feeling well. To understand it, you should definitely read the book yourself. The characters were so indecisive and annoying, yet truthful and beautiful. But then they were stupid, which is exactly human.

Uhm, on a more analytical note, the characters and their stories were wonderfully woven throughout the book. In my mind, none of the characters were just created for the moment and then dropped (which I find happens in most books). Each character had some significance, though maybe briefly mentioned. As a young reader, I did not fully grasp what Christie was going at, and I struggled to find the connection to the prologue. But Agatha Christie is a genius and I can come up with my own speculations, however vague they may be.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy the psychological aspect of stories and the more analytical type of reading.
]]> 11944741
In the Dust of This Planet explores these relationships between philosophy and horror. In Thacker’s hands, philosophy is not academic logic-chopping; instead, it is the thought of the limit of all thought, especially as it dovetails into occultism, demonology, and mysticism. Likewise, Thacker takes horror to mean something beyond the focus on gore and scare tactics, but as the under-appreciated genre of supernatural horror in fiction, film, comics, and music. This relationship between philosophy and horror does not mean the philosophy of horror, if anything, it means the reverse, the horror of philosophy: those moments when philosophical thinking enigmatically confronts the horizon of its own existence. For Thacker, the genre of supernatural horror is the key site in which this paradoxical thought of the unthinkable takes place.]]> 179 Eugene Thacker 184694676X Kasey 0 to-read 3.68 2011
author: Eugene Thacker
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 160149 A definitive collection of stories from the unrivaled master of twentieth-century horror.

"I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." - Stephen King.

Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft's preeminent interpreter, presents a selection of the master's fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as "The Outsider" to the overpowering cosmic terror of "The Call of Cthulhu." More than just a collection of terrifying tales, this volume reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical- and visionary-American writer.

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.

H. P. Lovecraft was born in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, where he lived most of his life. Frequent illnesses in his youth disrupted his schooling, but Lovecraft gained a wide knowledge of many subjects through independent reading and study. He wrote many essays and poems early in his career, but gradually focused on the writing of horror stories, after the advent in 1923 of the pulp magazine Weird Tales, to which he contributed most of his fiction. His relatively small corpus of fiction—three short novels and about sixty short stories—has nevertheless exercised a wide influence on subsequent work in the field, and he is regarded as the leading twentieth-century American author of supernatural fiction. H. P. Lovecraft died in Providence in 1937.

S. T. Joshi is a freelance writer and editor. He has edited Penguin Classics editions of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories (1999), and The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories (2001), as well as Algernon Blackwood’s Ancient Sorceries and Other Strange Stories (2002). Among his critical and biographical studies are The Weird Tale (1990), Lord Dunsany: Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination (1995), H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (1996), and The Modern Weird Tale (2001). He has also edited works by Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Machen, and H. L. Mencken, and is compiling a three-volume Encyclopedia of Supernatural Literature. He lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington.]]> 420 H.P. Lovecraft 0141182342 Kasey 0 to-read 4.21 1928
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63213
ix · H.P. Lovecraft and His Work · August Derleth · in
10 · In the Vault · ss The Tryout Nov ’25; Weird Tales Apr ’32
19 · Pickman’s Model · ss Weird Tales Oct ’27
33 · The Rats in the Walls · ss Weird Tales Mar ’24
53 · The Outsider · ss Weird Tales Apr ’26
60 · The Colour Out of Space · nv Amazing Sep ’27
89 · The Music of Erich Zann · ss The National Amateur Mar ’22; Weird Tales Nov ’34
98 · The Haunter of the Dark · nv Weird Tales Dec ’36
121 · The Picture in the House · ss The National Amateur Jul ’19; Weird Tales Mar ’37
130 · The Call of Cthulhu [Inspector Legrasse] · nv Weird Tales Feb ’28
160 · The Dunwich Horror · nv Weird Tales Apr ’29
203 · Cool Air · ss Tales of Magic and Mystery Mar ’28; Weird Tales Jul ’27
212 · The Whisperer in Darkness · na Weird Tales Aug ’31
278 · The Terrible Old Man · vi The Tryout Jul ’20; Weird Tales Aug ’26
281 · The Thing on the Door-step · nv Weird Tales Jan ’37
308 · The Shadow Over Innsmouth · na Visionary Press: Everett, PA, 1936; Weird Tales Jan ’42
370 · The Shadow Out of Time · na Astounding Jun ’36]]> 433 H.P. Lovecraft 0870540378 Kasey 0 to-read 4.26 1929
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1929
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2195464
Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.]]> 188 Haruki Murakami Kasey 0 to-read 3.87 2007
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 542389 Stalingrad as the definitive account of World War II's most harrowing battle.

In August 1942, Hitler's huge Sixth Army reached the city that bore Stalin's name. In the five-month siege that followed, the Russians fought to hold Stalingrad at any cost; then, in an astonishing reversal, encircled and trapped their Nazi enemy. This battle for the ruins of a city cost more than a million lives. Stalingrad conveys the experience of soldiers on both sides, fighting in inhuman conditions, and of civilians trapped on an urban battlefield. Antony Beevor has interviewed survivors and discovered completely new material in a wide range of German and Soviet archives, including prisoner interrogations and reports of desertions and executions. As a story of cruelty, courage, and human suffering, Stalingrad is unprecedented and unforgettable.]]> 494 Antony Beevor 0140284583 Kasey 0 to-read 4.32 1998
author: Antony Beevor
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 15706279 320 Tennessee Williams Kasey 0 to-read 3.82 1947
author: Tennessee Williams
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1947
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 14295
The stories in Pastoralia are set in a slightly skewed version of America, where elements of contemporary life have been merged, twisted, and amplified, casting their absurdity—and our humanity—in a startling new light. Whether he writes a gothic morality tale in which a male exotic dancer is haunted by his maiden aunt from beyond the grave, or about a self-help guru who tells his followers his mission is to discover who's been "crapping in your oatmeal," Saunders's stories are both indelibly strange and vividly real.]]> 188 George Saunders 0747553866 Kasey 5
How much of a dreamer does Saunders consider himself? How much of a wanderer? His characters will continue to haunt me now that I've opened the worlds of Pastoralia (read: Pandora's box). ]]> 4.10 2000
author: George Saunders
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2016/01/05
date added: 2016/01/13
shelves:
review:
Brilliant. Can't say I loved all the stories, but I definitely enjoyed all of them. Interestingly enough, I read the title story last, and, for some unknown reason, I felt it was right for me to do so. Thinking about Pastoralia still annoys me and gives me chills, despite it being one of the no-gore stories (goosebumps always accompanies gore for me).

How much of a dreamer does Saunders consider himself? How much of a wanderer? His characters will continue to haunt me now that I've opened the worlds of Pastoralia (read: Pandora's box).
]]> 505609 150 Arthur Kopit 0573621748 Kasey 3 3.55 1965
author: Arthur Kopit
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1965
rating: 3
read at: 2016/01/03
date added: 2016/01/13
shelves:
review:
Collection of plays that are amusing, dark, and very expressive. Would like to see some acted out.
]]> 14940 272 Edward Albee 0451218590 Kasey 0 to-read 4.07 1962
author: Edward Albee
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 10058
In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island's highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag.

Now the son of one of the flagraisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever.

To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.

But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is what happened after the victory. The men in the photo—three were killed during the battle—were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley's father truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: "The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back."

Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 382 James D. Bradley 0553384155 Kasey 0 to-read 4.22 2000
author: James D. Bradley
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2112370 336 Edward Friedman 0300046553 Kasey 4 4.00 1991
author: Edward Friedman
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 775647
From 1954 until Mao Zedong's death twenty-two years later, Dr. Li Zhisui was the Chinese ruler's personal physician, which put him in daily—and increasingly intimate—contact with Mao and his inner circle. in The Private Life of Chairman Mao , Dr. Li vividly reconstructs his extraordinary experience at the center of Mao's decadent imperial court.

Dr. Li clarifies numerous long-standing puzzles, such as the true nature of Mao's feelings toward the United States and the Soviet Union. He describes Mao's deliberate rudeness toward Khrushchev and reveals the actual catalyst of Nixon's historic visit. Here are also surprising details of Mao's personal depravity (we see him dependent on barbiturates and refusing to wash, dress, or brush his teeth) and the sexual politics of his court. To millions of Chinese, Mao was more god than man, but for Dr. Li, he was all too human. Dr. Li's intimate account of this lecherous, paranoid tyrant, callously indifferent to the suffering of his people, will forever alter our view of Chairman Mao and of China under his rule.

Praise for The Private Life of Chairman Mao

“From now one no one will be able to pretend to understand Chairman Mao's place in history without reference to this revealing account.” —Professor Lucian Pye, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Dr. Li does for Mao what the physician Lord Moran's memoir did for Winston Churchill—turns him into a human being. Here is Mao eccentric, demanding, suspicious, unregretful, lascivious, and unfailingly fascinating. Our view of Mao will never be the same again.” —Ross Terrill, author of China in Our Time

“An extraordinarily intimate portrait of Mao. [Dr. Li] portrays [Mao's imperial court] as a place of boundless decadence, licentiousness, selfishness, relentless toadying and cutthroat political intrigue.” —Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

“One of the most provocative books on Mao to appear since the publication of Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China. ” —Paul G. Pickowicz, The Wall Street Journal]]> 736 Li Zhisui 0679764437 Kasey 3 4.14 1988
author: Li Zhisui
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1988
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 815863 392 Joseph W. Esherick 0804753504 Kasey 4 3.50 2006
author: Joseph W. Esherick
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 73220 363 Ye Sang 0520245148 Kasey 5 3.99 2005
author: Ye Sang
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 23363065
Longlisted for the Lionel Gelber Award for the Best Non-Fiction book in the world on Foreign Affairs

An Economist Book of the Year, 2014

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice

"One of the best analyses of the impact of Tiananmen throughout China in the years since 1989." -- The New York Times Book Review

On June 4, 1989, People's Liberation Army soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians in Beijing, killing untold hundreds of people. A quarter-century later, this defining event remains buried in China's modern history, successfully expunged from collective memory. In The People's Republic of Amnesia , Louisa Lim charts how the events of June 4th changed China, and how China changed the events of June 4th by rewriting its own history.

Lim reveals new details about those fateful days, including how one of the country's most senior politicians lost a family member to an army bullet, as well as the inside story of the young soldiers sent to clear Tiananmen Square. She also introduces us to individuals whose lives were transformed by the events of Tiananmen Square, such as a founder of the Tiananmen Mothers, whose son was shot by martial law troops; and one of the most important government officials in the country, who post-Tiananmen became one of its most prominent dissidents. And she examines how June 4th shaped China's national identity, fostering a generation of young nationalists, who know little and care less about 1989. For the first time, Lim uncovers the details of a brutal crackdown in a second Chinese city that until now has been a near-perfect case study in the state's ability to rewrite history, excising the most painful episodes. By tracking down eyewitnesses, discovering US diplomatic cables, and combing
through official Chinese records, Lim offers the first account of a story that has remained untold for a quarter of a century. The People's Republic of Amnesia is an original, powerfully gripping, and ultimately unforgettable book about a national tragedy and an unhealed wound.]]> 288 Louisa Lim 0190227915 Kasey 5 4.09 2014
author: Louisa Lim
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 78024 1408 Mikhail Sholokhov 0460878905 Kasey 0 to-read 4.07 1928
author: Mikhail Sholokhov
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/10/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 23346719
Finding a mysterious novel at her bedside plunges documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft into a living nightmare. Though ostensibly fiction, The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the terrible day she became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew—and that person is dead.

Now that the past is catching up with her, Catherine’s world is falling apart. Her only hope is to confront what really happened on that awful day . . . even if the shocking truth might destroy her.]]> 304 Renée Knight 0857522817 Kasey 0 to-read 3.61 2015
author: Renée Knight
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/10/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 51496 139 Robert Louis Stevenson 0451528956 Kasey 3 3.84 1886
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1886
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/01
date added: 2015/09/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 14781504
A man named Nicholas Edwards lives in New Orleans renovating houses, doing honest work and making decent money at it. Between his family and his stamp collection, all his spare time is happily accounted for. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he used to kill people for a living.

But when the nation's economy tanks, taking the construction business with it, all it takes is one phone call to drag him back into the game. It may say Nicholas Edwards on his driver's license and credit cards, but he's back to being the man he always Keller.

Keller's work takes him to New York, the former home he hasn't dared revisit, where his target is the abbot of a midtown monastery. Another call puts him on a West Indies cruise, with several interesting fellow passengers -- the government witness, the incandescent young woman keeping the witness company, and, sharing Keller's cabin, his wife, Julia. But the high drama comes in Cheyenne, where a recent widow is looking to sell her husband's stamp collection . . .

In Hit Me , legendary Edgar Grandmaster and New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block returns to one of his most beloved characters. Welcome back, Keller. You've been missed.]]> 448 Lawrence Block 0316224146 Kasey 5
Sorry. On to a more intelligible review:

As I mentioned when beginning the book, I was taken aback at the announcement of a fifth in this series, years ago. After all, the last situation Keller finds himself in (VAGUE SPOILER) is safe enough to nestle down in, and compromise his sociopathic ways. Which means he's done, right? No hit-man, no story. WRONG.

I got around to purchasing HIT ME and reading it this summer, and it was well worth the price instead of waiting for someone to donate it to the local library. And I get to own a copy of this crazy story! Woohoo!

..and now, cue spoilers:

Wow. Was definitely not expecting the economic crash in 2008 to be the reason. But I certainly enjoy fiction placed in non-fictional settings, e.g. current events.

Does it give him a good enough reason to revert to murdering people for money? Not really.

Have I fell so deep into this character that I don't care? YES. Ugh.

And involving his lovely wife, who seems to be down to fu--do anything for this cold-blooded murderer? WOW, Keller, wow.

Anything for those stamps, I guess. In fact, I love how Block relies on that hobby of his that he's so preciously into, and in fact uses philately to show off Keller's decency and adorableness.
And so after all this waiting, I fall in love again with Block's wonderful depiction of a sociopathic assassin.
AND WAS NOT READY FOR ANOTHER CLIFF-HANGER THANK YOU VERY MUCH, which takes me back to my first point.
GRAHHHHHHHHHHHhhjhjasgh
The boy! The stamps! The demon uncles and aunts! A short adventure, I'm aware, but still demands two things: filling in the rest of the story ourselves, or kneeling and begging for a continuation (because really, it is so endearing how Keller is not only siding with the boy, but even making friends with him)! The amount of redeeming qualities that Keller has to make up for the fact that he's a hit-man is off the charts.
I have to get to class now, but I could rant on this for days...
Definitely waiting for a sixth, Block!]]> 3.81 2012
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2015/07/01
date added: 2015/09/30
shelves:
review:
GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sorry. On to a more intelligible review:

As I mentioned when beginning the book, I was taken aback at the announcement of a fifth in this series, years ago. After all, the last situation Keller finds himself in (VAGUE SPOILER) is safe enough to nestle down in, and compromise his sociopathic ways. Which means he's done, right? No hit-man, no story. WRONG.

I got around to purchasing HIT ME and reading it this summer, and it was well worth the price instead of waiting for someone to donate it to the local library. And I get to own a copy of this crazy story! Woohoo!

..and now, cue spoilers:

Wow. Was definitely not expecting the economic crash in 2008 to be the reason. But I certainly enjoy fiction placed in non-fictional settings, e.g. current events.

Does it give him a good enough reason to revert to murdering people for money? Not really.

Have I fell so deep into this character that I don't care? YES. Ugh.

And involving his lovely wife, who seems to be down to fu--do anything for this cold-blooded murderer? WOW, Keller, wow.

Anything for those stamps, I guess. In fact, I love how Block relies on that hobby of his that he's so preciously into, and in fact uses philately to show off Keller's decency and adorableness.
And so after all this waiting, I fall in love again with Block's wonderful depiction of a sociopathic assassin.
AND WAS NOT READY FOR ANOTHER CLIFF-HANGER THANK YOU VERY MUCH, which takes me back to my first point.
GRAHHHHHHHHHHHhhjhjasgh
The boy! The stamps! The demon uncles and aunts! A short adventure, I'm aware, but still demands two things: filling in the rest of the story ourselves, or kneeling and begging for a continuation (because really, it is so endearing how Keller is not only siding with the boy, but even making friends with him)! The amount of redeeming qualities that Keller has to make up for the fact that he's a hit-man is off the charts.
I have to get to class now, but I could rant on this for days...
Definitely waiting for a sixth, Block!
]]> 25387351 344 John Grisham 0385539436 Kasey 0 to-read 3.67 2015
author: John Grisham
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 19380 Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher's immortal narrative takes Candide around the world to discover that — contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss — all is not always for the best. Alive with wit, brilliance, and graceful storytelling, Candide has become Voltaire's most celebrated work.]]> 129 Voltaire 0486266893 Kasey 3 3.76 1759
author: Voltaire
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1759
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 5354
Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong. Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich—very fast. ...]]> 440 John Grisham 0385339674 Kasey 4 inspirational 3.75 2000
author: John Grisham
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2007/12/31
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves: inspirational
review:
Wow. This was my first John Grisham and the plot was quite strange. I was interested in it because at the time I was quite squeamish with blood and there is no bloodshed in this book. However, I thought that it was quite the interesting story! I don't really remember what happened at the end though.
]]> 10256851 384 Lawrence Block 0061802336 Kasey 4 mystery 3.50 2000
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2008/12/31
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves: mystery
review:
The book cover really caught my eye. I disregarded the "don't judge a book by it's cover" and just picked it up. At first, I think the pace was a bit slow, but when I got caught in the midst of some serious action, I really enjoyed it. This was the book that got me hooked onto mystery. :)
]]> 5107 It's Christmas time and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school...

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends. The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.

The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

J.D. Salinger's (1919–2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.]]> 277 J.D. Salinger 0316769177 Kasey 4
For this book I don't remember having such a favorable opinion of my classmates' opinions. Everyone hated the book but I thoroughly enjoyed it, albeit for one sole reason.

HOLDEN CAULFIELD.
I wonder if his character bothered my classmates? However I felt like I could relate. Holden is this skeptical, hypocritical (little piece of shtt) boy trying to figure out his purpose in life, calling everyone phonies even when he is one himself. He's a brilliant character and the way J.D. Salinger details his experiences adds to his monotonous perspective of the world.

I definitely have to find this book and re-read it.]]> 3.81 1951
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at: 2009/12/30
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves:
review:
I have to reread this now that it's not required for school. Depending on the teacher, I think, changes my experience for these books whether its good or bad.

For this book I don't remember having such a favorable opinion of my classmates' opinions. Everyone hated the book but I thoroughly enjoyed it, albeit for one sole reason.

HOLDEN CAULFIELD.
I wonder if his character bothered my classmates? However I felt like I could relate. Holden is this skeptical, hypocritical (little piece of shtt) boy trying to figure out his purpose in life, calling everyone phonies even when he is one himself. He's a brilliant character and the way J.D. Salinger details his experiences adds to his monotonous perspective of the world.

I definitely have to find this book and re-read it.
]]> 16304 322 Agatha Christie 0425200450 Kasey 4 mystery 4.16 1934
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1934
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/06
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves: mystery
review:
Brilliant, well written plot. Totally unexpected. In mystery novels, I like to guess who the murderer is, but in Agatha Christie novels, she subtly makes one character seem extremely suspicious but not the murderer. If anything, the culprit fits right into the crowd of sane people. I can never guess who it is. Christie is really the queen of mystery novels, so stated by my sister. :D
]]> 9496240
Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil—a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor’s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.

Page Numbers Source ISBN: 054774501X]]> 448 Oliver P?tzsch Kasey 2 3.72 2008
author: Oliver P?tzsch
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 2012/01/01
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed the plot. I think a little too much was added awkwardly. The book was more "tell" rather than "show" but all in all I liked the dark theme.
]]> 16356
Indeed, he is Harlequin. The only consistent thing about the mysterious Mr. Quin is that his presence is always a harbinger of love .. or death.

Quin and Satterthwaite appear in a string of short stories by the incomparable Agatha Christie. She often said that some of them are among her personal favourites. They'll be yours too.

Librarian's note #1: the characters, settings, etc. have been done for the 12 stories in this collection: 1. The Coming of Mr. Quin; 2. The Shadow on the Glass; 3. At the 'Bells and Motley,' 4. The Sign in the Sky; 5. The Soul of the Croupier; 6. The Man from the Sea; 7. The Voice in the Dark; 8. The Face of Helen; 9. The Dead Harlequin; 10. The Bird with the Broken Wing; 11. The World's End; and, 12. Harlequin's Lane.

Librarian's note #2: the characters, settings, etc. have also been done for the other two Mr. Quin stories which are found in other collections: 'The Love Detectives,' and 'The Harlequin Tea Set.' Mr. Satterthwaite also appears in 'Three Act Tragedy' and 'Dead Man's Mirror.' All by Agatha Christie, of course!

Librarian's note #3: this is the entry for the collection of 12 short stories, 'The Mysterious Mr. Quin.' Entries for each of the stories are located elsewhere on 欧宝娱乐. All 12, plus the 2 extras in note #2, can be found by searching 欧宝娱乐 for: 'a Harley Quin Short Story.' Or, for 'Harley Quin.' Details on characters and settings, etc., can be found there.]]> 396 Agatha Christie 0007154844 Kasey 5 inspirational, mystery 3.77 1930
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1930
rating: 5
read at: 2012/01/25
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves: inspirational, mystery
review:
This book was simply haunting and yet, beautifully written. The ending leaves you hanging, though you know that there is really nothing more. These two characters, Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite, have become my favorites, surpassing Hastings (sorry, love!).
]]> 6185 You can find the redesigned cover of this edition HERE.

At the centre of this novel is the passionate love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff - recounted with such emotional intensity that a plain tale of the Yorkshire moors acquires the depth and simplicity of ancient tragedy.

This best-selling Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1847 first edition of the novel. For the Fourth Edition, the editor has collated the 1847 text with several modern editions and has corrected a number of variants, including accidentals. The text is accompanied by entirely new explanatory annotations.

New to the fourth Edition are twelve of Emily Bronte's letters regarding the publication of the 1847 edition of Wuthering Heights as well as the evolution of the 1850 edition, prose and poetry selections by the author, four reviews of the novel, and poetry selections by the author, four reviews of the novel, and Edward Chitham's insightful and informative chronology of the creative process behind the beloved work.

Five major critical interpretations of Wuthering Heights are included, three of them new to the Fourth Edition. A Stuart Daley considers the importance of chronology in the novel. J. Hillis Miller examines Wuthering Heights's problems of genre and critical reputation. Sandra M. Gilbert assesses the role of Victorian Christianity plays in the novel, while Martha Nussbaum traces the novel's romanticism. Finally, Lin Haire-Sargeant scrutinizes the role of Heathcliff in film adaptations of Wuthering Heights.

A Chronology and updated Selected Bibliography are also included.]]> 464 Emily Bront? Kasey 4
...did I say hilarious? Yes.
His rage towards Cathy and Edgar and Hindley and Isabella and whoever stood in his path was so intense and violent that it was funny. It was too much, over-powering, almost lethal (and in Linton's case, yes) that I enjoyed it a little more than necessary. I don't understand how Bronte could have written such dark and twisted romance so well that I found it amusing. I'm normally not fond of romance at all and yet I enjoyed the love-interactions the characters had.

And Nelly? Nelly was awesome. She was a catalyst, speeding up relationships or helping to break them down disastrously.

I'd reccomend Wuthering Heights to someone who enjoys pathological and insane romance.]]> 3.89 1847
author: Emily Bront?
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1847
rating: 4
read at: 2012/10/03
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves:
review:
First things first: Heathcliff. What did I think about him? Well, I imagined him as a tanned Spaniard of some sort (according to one of Nelly's descriptions). He is angsty, mysterious, impudent, low-class, quick tempered, stubborn, and hilarious.

...did I say hilarious? Yes.
His rage towards Cathy and Edgar and Hindley and Isabella and whoever stood in his path was so intense and violent that it was funny. It was too much, over-powering, almost lethal (and in Linton's case, yes) that I enjoyed it a little more than necessary. I don't understand how Bronte could have written such dark and twisted romance so well that I found it amusing. I'm normally not fond of romance at all and yet I enjoyed the love-interactions the characters had.

And Nelly? Nelly was awesome. She was a catalyst, speeding up relationships or helping to break them down disastrously.

I'd reccomend Wuthering Heights to someone who enjoys pathological and insane romance.
]]> 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 Kasey 4 mystery
Short review:
Although I've finished this book three months ago or so, it continues to bother me and haunt me. Brilliantly written, characters deep even when they're shown purposely at their face value, and extremely thought-provoking. A great read, but not a quick one despite the physical length of the novel.
I recommend this book for high school students and up because when I read this book as a fifth grader it didn't make any sense to me at all.
...
Well I still don't make much sense of it, but at least a little more than before.

Long review:
In my opinion, without Nick Caraway, this story would be meaningless. From my perspective, Gatsby is an incongruous and frivolous prick that I just felt like punching throughout the entire novel. From any other character's point-of-view, Gatsby is a mysterious man (even faceless to most) who's (suspiciously) made enough money to throw it around every weekend for no apparent reason. But Nick, bless his pathetic little soul, tries to see Gatsby in a different light. And because Gatsby needs to use Nick to get to Daisy, Nick is inevitably pulled into Gatsby's world. Nick tries to look for character, for purpose in the seemingly purposeless man. Nick tries to get to know James Gatz, the former identity of a now hollow man, desperately lacking in any substance.

I'll spare you a rant about the central contents of the book because that's a waste of your time.

-spoiler alert-
Nick continues to figure out who James Gatz and Jay Gatsby were, chasing the image of the mysterious man even after Gatsby's death. That opulent image, however, already starts to fade from the eyes of society. Gatsby's short-lived life of fame and riches comes and goes, like the dust images that Nick once observed billow through the Valley of Ashes.
So why does Nick still care? Does Nick ever figure out who Gatsby is? Does Nick find what he's looking for in Gatsby?
I think so, but it still bothers me.
I hate how mindlessly Nick believes in Jay Gatsby. I feel as though he's already sold his soul to the tormenting enchantment of Daisy, but Nick seems to think that Gatsby has finally found peace in death.
This book was twisted as fuck and the ending didn't really help me see eye-to-eye with the characters.
UGH.
But at least Nick comes to terms with his own problems, and I think that that helped me feel a little relieved at the end.

At least the book is very quotable! ;)
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”]]> 3.93 1925
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/31
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves: mystery
review:
The Great Gatsby. Read for class.

Short review:
Although I've finished this book three months ago or so, it continues to bother me and haunt me. Brilliantly written, characters deep even when they're shown purposely at their face value, and extremely thought-provoking. A great read, but not a quick one despite the physical length of the novel.
I recommend this book for high school students and up because when I read this book as a fifth grader it didn't make any sense to me at all.
...
Well I still don't make much sense of it, but at least a little more than before.

Long review:
In my opinion, without Nick Caraway, this story would be meaningless. From my perspective, Gatsby is an incongruous and frivolous prick that I just felt like punching throughout the entire novel. From any other character's point-of-view, Gatsby is a mysterious man (even faceless to most) who's (suspiciously) made enough money to throw it around every weekend for no apparent reason. But Nick, bless his pathetic little soul, tries to see Gatsby in a different light. And because Gatsby needs to use Nick to get to Daisy, Nick is inevitably pulled into Gatsby's world. Nick tries to look for character, for purpose in the seemingly purposeless man. Nick tries to get to know James Gatz, the former identity of a now hollow man, desperately lacking in any substance.

I'll spare you a rant about the central contents of the book because that's a waste of your time.

-spoiler alert-
Nick continues to figure out who James Gatz and Jay Gatsby were, chasing the image of the mysterious man even after Gatsby's death. That opulent image, however, already starts to fade from the eyes of society. Gatsby's short-lived life of fame and riches comes and goes, like the dust images that Nick once observed billow through the Valley of Ashes.
So why does Nick still care? Does Nick ever figure out who Gatsby is? Does Nick find what he's looking for in Gatsby?
I think so, but it still bothers me.
I hate how mindlessly Nick believes in Jay Gatsby. I feel as though he's already sold his soul to the tormenting enchantment of Daisy, but Nick seems to think that Gatsby has finally found peace in death.
This book was twisted as fuck and the ending didn't really help me see eye-to-eye with the characters.
UGH.
But at least Nick comes to terms with his own problems, and I think that that helped me feel a little relieved at the end.

At least the book is very quotable! ;)
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
]]> 735107
The stories are: (1) Problem at Pollensa Bay - with Parker Pyne, (2) The Second Gong - with Hercule Poirot, (3) Yellow Iris - with Hercule Poirot, (4) The Harlequin Tea Set - with Harley Quin, (5) The Regatta Mystery - with Parker Pyne, (6) The Love Detectives - with Harley Quin, (7) Next To A Dog - a standalone short story, and (8) Magnolia Blossom - a standalone short story. The last two can be described as romances, but they are much more than that.

The variety of the stories stands out. From murder and attempted murder, to theft and the love between a woman and her pet dog, no one can say that Agatha Christie wasn't versatile! The individual stories were first published between the 1920s and 1971.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the collection of short stories, "Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories." Entries for the eight individual titles, including the title story, can be found elsewhere on 欧宝娱乐. Any short story featuring Poirot can be found by searching 欧宝娱乐 for "a Hercule Poirot Short Story," Pyne by searching for "a Parker Pyne Short Story," and Quin by searching for "a Harley Quin Short Story."]]> 227 Agatha Christie 0002239221 Kasey 5
Despite the fact that I only found this book for Satterthwaite's stories, the other stories were just as thrilling and enigmatic, all beautifully written. ]]> 3.59 1991
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/08/24
shelves:
review:
Seriously looked all over for the book just for the Harlequin Tea Set story. I suppose I have a updated publication of this book as it featured another adventure of Satterthwaite's.

Despite the fact that I only found this book for Satterthwaite's stories, the other stories were just as thrilling and enigmatic, all beautifully written.
]]> 15966960 154 Jesse Russell 5512408003 Kasey 0 to-read 3.00 2012
author: Jesse Russell
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 388018 8 Agatha Christie 1572703938 Kasey 4 3.75 1963
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/09/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 719399
In 1931 Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and 10 other crime writers from the newly formed Detection Club collaborated in publishing a unique crime novel. In a literary game of consequences, each author would write one chapter, leaving G.K. Chesterton to write a typically paradoxical prologue and Anthony Berkeley to tie up all the loose ends. In addition, all of the authors provided their own solutions in sealed envelopes, all of which appeared at the end of the book, with Agatha Christie's ingenious conclusion acknowledged at the time to be 'enough to make the book worth buying on its own'. The authors of this novel are G.K. Chesterton, Canon Victor Whitechurch, G.D.H. Cole and Margaret Cole, Henry Wade, Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kennedy, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley.

?1931, 2011 The Detection Club (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers]]> 320 The Detection Club 051511023X Kasey 0 to-read 3.87 1931
author: The Detection Club
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1931
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/08/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 386260 A masterful pageant of idealism, love, and adventure -- in a Paris bursting with revolutionary frenzy, and a London alive with anxious anticipation -- A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens's most energetic and exciting works.]]> 382 Charles Dickens 0553211765 Kasey 0 currently-reading 3.95 1859
author: Charles Dickens
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1859
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/08/28
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 4929 Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.]]> 467 Haruki Murakami 1400079276 Kasey 4 4.14 2002
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/08/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 11600163 385 John Grisham 1444729705 Kasey 2 3.76 2011
author: John Grisham
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2014/08/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 3613997 373 John Grisham 0385517831 Kasey 3 3.68 2009
author: John Grisham
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/08/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 12966107 222 Ed Lynskey Kasey 0 to-read 3.61
author: Ed Lynskey
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.61
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16052807 76 M. Thomas Gammarino Kasey 0 to-read 3.60 2012
author: M. Thomas Gammarino
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/09/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 32499 400 John Grisham 0385339704 Kasey 3 4.06 1992
author: John Grisham
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2013/05/27
date added: 2013/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 2122
This modern classic is the story of intransigent young architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite...of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy...and of the fanatic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator. As fresh today as it was then, Rand’s provocative novel presents one of the most challenging ideas in all of fiction—that man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress...

“A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly...This is the only novel of ideas written by an American woman that I can recall.”—The New York Times]]> 704 Ayn Rand Kasey 0 currently-reading 3.87 1943
author: Ayn Rand
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/05/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 24128 249 William Shakespeare 0743477561 Kasey 4 3.77 1596
author: William Shakespeare
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1596
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/05/15
shelves:
review:
All that glisters is not gold...
]]> 253264 129 Jerome Lawrence 0345501039 Kasey 4 3.93 1955
author: Jerome Lawrence
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1955
rating: 4
read at: 2009/01/01
date added: 2013/05/14
shelves:
review:
I remember liking this book a lot, but I'd have to read it again to comment more.
]]> 379160
Originally published: New York: Carroll & Graf Pub., 2000.]]> 224 David Benioff 0452284198 Kasey 0 to-read 3.80 2000
author: David Benioff
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Kasey 0 to-read 4.13 2012
author: John Green
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16248113 The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.]]> 488 Soman Chainani 0062104896 Kasey 0 to-read 4.00 2013
author: Soman Chainani
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59716
As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and its greatest triumph—the human capacity for change.]]> 209 Virginia Woolf Kasey 4 thought-provoking 3.81 1927
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1927
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/04
date added: 2013/04/06
shelves: thought-provoking
review:
Freaky. Freakishly brilliant. Freakishly accurate. Freakishly omniscient. And somber. Also finished a freaky book review about it afterwards. I think books that make you think about thinking are really difficult to follow and understand. However, Virginia Woolf accurately describes the thought process and ultimately helped me learn more about myself and other people. I just couldn't understand the book the first time around.
]]> 12989112 A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.

Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.

But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.

By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true... but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.

Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.]]> 325 Jennifer Echols 145165801X Kasey 0 to-read 3.84 2012
author: Jennifer Echols
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/01/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6334 288 Kazuo Ishiguro 1400078776 Kasey 5
For now one word:
Creepy. ]]> 3.85 2005
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2012/12/04
date added: 2012/12/04
shelves:
review:
I'll finish a better review later when I've got a bit more time on my hands but...

For now one word:
Creepy.
]]> 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 Kasey 4 4.02 1601
author: William Shakespeare
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/02
date added: 2012/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 248704
Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness.]]> 444 Ned Vizzini 078685197X Kasey 0 to-read 4.08 2006
author: Ned Vizzini
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 28862
1. So it is that to know the nature of a people, one need be a Prince; to know the nature of a Prince, one need to be of the people.
2. If a Prince is not given to vices that make him hated, it is unsusal for his subjects to show their affection for him.
3. Opportunity made Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus, and others; their virtue domi-nated the opportunity, making their homelands noble and happy. Armed prophets win; the disarmed lose.
4. Without faith and religion, man achieves power but not glory.
5. Prominent citizens want to command and oppress; the populace only wants to be free of oppression.
6. A Prince needs a friendly populace; otherwise in diversity there is no hope.
7. A Prince, who rules as a man of valor, avoids disasters,
8. Nations based on mercenary forces will never be solid or secure.
9. Mercenaries are dangerous because of their cowardice
10. There are two ways to fight: one with laws, the other with force. The first is rightly man’s way; the second, the way of beasts.]]> 144 Niccolò Machiavelli 0937832383 Kasey 0 to-read 3.85 1513
author: Niccolò Machiavelli
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1513
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments, 'He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.]]> 964 Leo Tolstoy 0345803922 Kasey 0 to-read 4.11 1878
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1878
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 13449693
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them — not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He has it all — family money, good looks, devoted friends — but he's looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we've never been before.]]> 408 Maggie Stiefvater 0545424933 Kasey 0 to-read 4.06 2012
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2010832
Contents:
Plan of the windows of Chartres Cathedral --
The History of the Chartres Cathedral: Chartres from Roman Times Until 1194 --
1194-1260: The Gothic Cathedral --
The Donors' Windows --
Chartres Cathedral Since 1260 --
Architechture --
The 12th Century: Sculpture --
The Royal Portal --
Glass --
The Jesse Window --
The Incarnation Window --
The Passion and Resurrection Window --
The Blue Virgin Window --
The 13th Century: Sculpture --
The North Proch --
Glass --
The North Rose Window --
The Symbolic Window of the Redemption --
The Joseph Window --
The Noah Window --
The john the Divine Window --
The Mary Magdalene Window --
The Good Samaritan and Adam and Eve Window --
The Assumption Window --
The Life of Mary Window --
The Zodiac Signs Window --
The Charlemagne Window --
The Parable of the Prodigal Son Window --
The Upper Storey Windows --
Sculpture --
The South Porch --
Glass --
The West Rose Window --
The South Rose Window --
The Heavenly Jerusalem --]]> 96 Malcolm B. Miller 0853727376 Kasey 4 4.28 1991
author: Malcolm B. Miller
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2012/01/01
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves:
review:
I've met the man who wrote this. Like, seriously. He's really old so I'm very fortunate. He's also got this adorable sense of humor. But this book was brilliant. I had to read it for a research project, but I secretly borrowed it to just read the whole thing. Malcolm Miller also toured my group around the Cathedral, and I was captivated the whole time. The pictures in the book were gorgeous, an awesome representation of the real thing, especially those of the stained glass windows because they were quite inaccessible. Huzzah!
]]> 79800 320 Ross King 0701176830 Kasey 3 I enjoyed it. However, it was really slow. There were many redundant words and some sentences could've been more concise.

But it gave me a new view to Impressionism. In fact, I've never enjoyed walking through art museums as much as I do now. (I'm especially excited seeing Manet's works.) I've never seen Meissonier's works! Ever! I wish I could, their descriptions and feelings that Ross King described really swayed me.

Interested in art/art history? Perfect book. I'd recommend King's other works as well, like the Yellow House and others.]]> 4.12 2006
author: Ross King
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2012/01/01
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves:
review:
Just wanted to make a little note about this book:
I enjoyed it. However, it was really slow. There were many redundant words and some sentences could've been more concise.

But it gave me a new view to Impressionism. In fact, I've never enjoyed walking through art museums as much as I do now. (I'm especially excited seeing Manet's works.) I've never seen Meissonier's works! Ever! I wish I could, their descriptions and feelings that Ross King described really swayed me.

Interested in art/art history? Perfect book. I'd recommend King's other works as well, like the Yellow House and others.
]]> 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Kasey 5 4.34 2003
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 121648 Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. But instead of setting the young woman's mind at ease, the letter only raises disquieting questions. Did Caroline indeed write the truth? And if she didn't kill her husband, who did?

To find out, the Crale’s daughter asks Hercule Poirot to reopen the case. His investigation takes him deep into the conflicting memories and motivations of the five other people who were with the Crales on the fatal day. With his keen understanding of human psychology, he manages to discover the surprising truth behind the artist's death.]]> 216 Agatha Christie Kasey 2 mystery 4.02 1942
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1942
rating: 2
read at: 2011/05/29
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves: mystery
review:
Extremely intricate plot line, although a bit dull at the part where Poirot gets a written account of the crime from all five suspects. Still amazing though! The characters were so vividly described, I could easily imagine the personality and demeanor of each.
]]> 16424
Poirot quickly takes a particular interest in the young woman. Recently, she has narrowly escaped a series of life-threatening accidents. Something tells the Belgian sleuth that these so-called accidents are more than just mere coincidences or a spate of bad luck. Something like a bullet! It seems all too clear to him that someone is trying to do away with poor Nick, but who? And, what is the motive? In his quest for answers, Poirot must delve into the dark history of End House. The deeper he gets into his investigation, the more certain he is that the killer will soon strike again. And, this time, Nick may not escape with her life.]]> 287 Agatha Christie 0007119305 Kasey 3 mystery
I actually didn't even read the title of the book, I just started reading and powered through in at the most, four hours. Exciting. :D]]> 4.00 1932
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1932
rating: 3
read at: 2011/05/30
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves: mystery
review:
Simply amazing! The plot line was well written! The kind of suspicious tension between all of the people involved was very exciting. Extremely humorous even down to the last sentences in the book.

I actually didn't even read the title of the book, I just started reading and powered through in at the most, four hours. Exciting. :D
]]> 16308
Shortly afterwards, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man’s sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by ‘spirits’ that Mrs Underhay’s first husband is still alive. Poirot has his suspicions when he is asked to find a missing person guided only by the spirit world. Yet what mystifies Poirot most is the woman’s true motive for approaching him…]]> 352 Agatha Christie 0007121016 Kasey 3 mystery 3.72 1948
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1948
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves: mystery
review:
Loved this one a lot. The turn of events were simply well written and caught me completely off guard!
]]> 40117
Ishiguro's extraordinary and original study of a man whose life has accelerated beyond his control was met on publication by consternation, vilification – and the highest praise.]]> 535 Kazuo Ishiguro 057122539X Kasey 4 mystery
I really enjoyed the plot. I actually tried to give up reading it a few times (because I'm kind of slow) but every time I was itching to know more, and picked it up again and continued reading.
It was brilliantly written. The way Ishiguro wrote it was definitely intriguing and very compelling. The ending was strangely quite anticlimactic and befuddling! It caught me off guard.


If you're feeling like I had felt, reading the book review(s) below might help you out. :)
]]> 3.59 1995
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2011/09/21
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves: mystery
review:
As a teenager, I found the writing style slightly difficult to understand. This was my first Kazuo Ishiguro, and I plan on reading Never Let Me Go next. I hope it is easier to understand.

I really enjoyed the plot. I actually tried to give up reading it a few times (because I'm kind of slow) but every time I was itching to know more, and picked it up again and continued reading.
It was brilliantly written. The way Ishiguro wrote it was definitely intriguing and very compelling. The ending was strangely quite anticlimactic and befuddling! It caught me off guard.


If you're feeling like I had felt, reading the book review(s) below might help you out. :)

]]> 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 Kasey 3 4.34 2008
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2012/01/01
date added: 2012/09/20
shelves:
review:
Quirky. Read after watched the movie. The characters I pictured after reading in my mind had different faces and personalities. I thought it was too similar to Battle Royale, which was a richer book in terms of plot and well, violence. All in all a good book. I don't plan on reading the rest of the series.
]]> 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 Kasey 5 4.03 1865
author: Jane Carruth
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1865
rating: 5
read at: 2012/09/19
date added: 2012/09/19
shelves:
review:
I've never actually read the book, though media and whatnot has really amplified the story. I daresay that the Disney movie is not very magical at all, in comparison to the book. The book was so wonderful that every so often I had to pause and illustrate what I had seen myself. I am really inspired to draw.
]]> 6614209 160 John McPartland Kasey 0 to-read 3.00 1954
author: John McPartland
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1954
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/09/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 882953 166 Fredric Brown Kasey 0 to-read 3.88 1949
author: Fredric Brown
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1949
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 439226 205 Fredric Brown 155310336X Kasey 0 to-read 3.98 1949
author: Fredric Brown
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1949
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16358
The Edge
The Actress
While the Light Lasts
The House of Dreams
The Lonely God
Manx Gold
Within a Wall
The Mystery of the Spanish Chest
The Harlequin Tea Set]]> 224 Agatha Christie 0425165159 Kasey 0 to-read 3.72 1997
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/08/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 121646
Are you ready for a question about each of the stories? How did a woman holding a pistol in her right hand manage to shoot herself in the left temple? What was the link between a ghost sighting and the disappearance of top secret military plans? How did the bullet that killed Sir Gervase shatter a mirror in another part of the room? And who destroyed the "eternal triangle" of love involving renowned beauty, Valentine Chantry?

Hercule Poirot is faced with four mystifying cases: 1. Murder in the Mews, 2. The Incredible Theft, 3. Dead Man's Mirror, and 4. Triangle at Rhodes. Each of them is a miniature classic of characterization, incident, and suspense.

Listening length: 4 hrs. 26 mins.]]> 5 Agatha Christie 1572702842 Kasey 0 to-read 3.82 1937
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1937
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/08/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 781046
Hilariously and movingly told through Tobey and Sara's authentic voices, Susane Colasanti's debut novel sizzles in its portrayal of two young people searching for The One.]]> 287 Susane Colasanti 0670060291 Kasey 0 to-read 3.74 2006
author: Susane Colasanti
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/08/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 791345
Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three of the girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of Hanging Rock. Further, higher, till at last they disappeared.

They never returned.

Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction the reader must decide for themselves.]]> 189 Joan Lindsay 0099750619 Kasey 0 to-read 3.65 1967
author: Joan Lindsay
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/08/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 121655 742 Agatha Christie 0451201183 Kasey 0 currently-reading 4.05 1950
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1950
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/08/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 570641 191 John D. MacDonald Kasey 0 to-read 3.81 1955
author: John D. MacDonald
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at:
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]]> 502950 ISBN10:0425068064 can be found HERE

A blinding snowstorm--and a homicidal maniac--traps a small party of friends in an isolated estate. Out of this deceptively simple set-up, Agatha Christie fashioned one of her most ingenious puzzlers, which, in turn, would provide the basis for The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in history. From this classic title novella to the deliciously clever gems on its tail (solved to perfection by Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple), this rare collection of murder most foul showcases the inimitable Christie at her inventive best, proving her reputation as "the champion deceiver of our time." (The New York Times)


Includes the stories

Three Blind Mice
Strange Jest
The Tape-Measure Murder
The Case of the Perfect Maid
The Case of the Caretaker
The Third Floor Flat
The Adventure of Johnny Waverly
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds
The Love Detectives]]> 224 Agatha Christie 0425068064 Kasey 0 to-read 3.74 1950
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1950
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]]> 131359
Who is also on board? Christie's great detective Hercule Poirot is on holiday. He recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: ‘I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.’ Despite the exotic setting, nothing is ever quite what it seems…]]> 352 Agatha Christie Kasey 3 4.13 1937
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1937
rating: 3
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Adorable. However, I think the ending was kind of abrupt and the way Christie ended the book had many basically-non-existent curveballs that appeared at the end but anyways...
]]> 10530870 211 Ed Lynskey Kasey 0 to-read 3.50 2011
author: Ed Lynskey
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> 31476 294 Lawrence Block 0380813734 Kasey 0 to-read 4.17 1991
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1991
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]]> 162938 339 Lawrence Block 0752837486 Kasey 0 to-read 3.95 1992
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.95
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]]> 39508 244 Lawrence Block 0752837494 Kasey 0 to-read 4.06 1989
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.06
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]]> 132111 272 Lawrence Block 0752836994 Kasey 0 to-read 4.18 1986
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1986
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]]> 162923 292 Lawrence Block 0752837478 Kasey 0 to-read 4.14 1990
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.14
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]]> 76758 352 Lawrence Block 0380715732 Kasey 0 to-read 4.15 1982
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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]]> 76765 304 Lawrence Block 0380715740 Kasey 0 to-read 3.99 1981
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.99
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]]> 380558 170 Lawrence Block 0752827499 Kasey 0 to-read 3.82 1976
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.82
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]]> 76761 244 Lawrence Block 0380763621 Kasey 0 to-read 3.77 1976
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name: Kasey
average rating: 3.77
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]]> 39507 The pretty young prostitute is dead. Her alleged murderer—a minister's son—hanged himself in his jail cell. The case is closed. But the dead girl's father has come to Matthew Scudder for answers, sending the unlicensed private investigator in search of terrible truths about a life that was lived and lost in a sordid world of perversion and pleasures.

]]> 182 Lawrence Block 0752834525 Kasey 0 to-read 3.87 1976
author: Lawrence Block
name: Kasey
average rating: 3.87
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]]>