Kristin's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 27 Apr 2025 14:00:44 -0700 60 Kristin's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3)]]> 35458
After years of civil war, the Separatists have battered the already faltering Republic nearly to the point of collapse. On Coruscant, the Senate watches anxiously as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aggressively strips away more and more constitutional liberties in the name of safeguarding the Republic. Yoda, Mace Windu, and their fellow Masters grapple with the Chancellor� s disturbing move to assume control of the Jedi Council. And Anakin Skywalker, the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring balance to the Force, is increasingly consumed by his fear that his secret love, Senator Padmé Amidala, will die.

As the combat escalates across the galaxy, the stage is set for an explosive endgame: Obi-Wan undertakes a perilous mission to destroy the dreaded Separatist military leader General Grievous. Palpatine, eager to secure even greater control, subtly influences public opinion to turn against the Jedi. And a conflicted Anakin–tormented by unspeakable visions� edges dangerously closer to the brink of a galaxy-shaping decision. It remains only for Darth Sidious, whose shadow looms ever larger, to strike the final staggering blow against the Republic . . . and to ordain a fearsome new Sith Lord: Darth Vader.

Based on the screenplay of the eagerly anticipated final film in George Lucas’s epic saga, bestselling Star Wars author Matthew Stover’s novel crackles with action, captures the iconic characters in all their complexity, and brings a space opera masterpiece full circle in stunning style.]]> 418 Matthew Woodring Stover 0345428838 Kristin 0 currently-reading 4.29 2005 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3)
author: Matthew Woodring Stover
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street]]> 125035
Helene’s time in London exceeds her wildest expectations. She visits landmarks like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle; explores Shakespeare’s favorite pub, Dickens’s house, and the Oxford University courtyard where John Donne used to walk; and makes a host of new friends from all walks of life, who take her to the theater, introduce her to institutions like Harrod’s, and share with her their favorite corners of countryside.

A love letter to England and its literary heritage, written by a Manhattanite who isn’t afraid to speak her mind (or tell a British barman how to make a real American martini), The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street is an endearing account of two wildly different worlds colliding; it’s an outsider’s witty, vibrant portrait of idiosyncratic British culture at its best, as well as a profound commentary about the written word’s power to sustain us, transport us, and unite us.]]> 160 Helene Hanff 155921144X Kristin 5 4.01 1973 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
author: Helene Hanff
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Privilege- Lessons from the heart of a shepherdess]]> 15735688 240 Kay Nolte Smith 1597510998 Kristin 0 currently-reading 4.40 2010 The Privilege- Lessons from the heart of a shepherdess
author: Kay Nolte Smith
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization]]> 18770061 Arthur Herman has now written the definitive sequel to his New York Times bestseller, How the Scots Invented the Modern World, and extends the themes of the book—which sold half a million copies worldwide—back to the ancient Greeks and forward to the age of the Internet. The Cave and the Light is a magisterial account of how the two greatest thinkers of the ancient world, Plato and Aristotle, laid the foundations of Western culture—and how their rivalry shaped the essential features of our culture down to the present day.
Ěý
Plato came from a wealthy, connected Athenian family and lived a comfortable upper-class lifestyle until he met an odd little man named Socrates, who showed him a new world of ideas and ideals. Socrates taught Plato that a man must use reason to attain wisdom, and that the life of a lover of wisdom, a philosopher, was the pinnacle of achievement. Plato dedicated himself to living that ideal and went on to create a school, his famed Academy, to teach others the path to enlightenment through contemplation.
Ěý
However, the same Academy that spread Plato’s teachings also fostered his greatest rival. Born to a family of Greek physicians, Aristotle had learned early on the value of observation and hands-on experience. Rather than rely on pure contemplation, he insisted that the truest path to knowledge is through empirical discovery and exploration of the world around us. Aristotle, Plato’s most brilliant pupil, thus settled on a philosophy very different from his instructor’s and launched a rivalry with profound effects on Western culture.
Ěý
The two men disagreed on the fundamental purpose of the philosophy. For Plato, the image of the cave summed up man’s destined path, emerging from the darkness of material existence to the light of a higher and more spiritual truth. Aristotle thought otherwise. Instead of rising above mundane reality, he insisted, the philosopher’s job is to explain how the real world works, and how we can find our place in it. Aristotle set up a school in Athens to rival Plato’s Academy: the Lyceum. The competition that ensued between the two schools, and between Plato and Aristotle, set the world on an intellectual adventure that lasted through the Middle Ages and Renaissance and that still continues today.
Ěý
From Martin Luther (who named Aristotle the third great enemy of true religion, after the devil and the Pope) to Karl Marx (whose utopian views rival Plato’s), heroes and villains of history have been inspired and incensed by these two master philosophers—but never outside their influence.
Ěý
Accessible, riveting, and eloquently written, The Cave and the Light provides a stunning new perspective on the Western world, certain to open eyes and stir debate.

Praise for The Cave and the Light
Ěý
“A sweeping intellectual history viewed through two ancient Greek lenses . . . breezy and enthusiastic but resting on a sturdy rock of research.��Kirkus Reviews
Ěý
“Examining mathematics, politics, theology, and architecture, the book demonstrates the continuing relevance of the ancient world.��Publishers Weekly
Ěý
“A fabulous way to understand over two millennia of history, all in one book.��Library Journal
Ěý
“Entertaining and often illuminating.��The Wall Street Journal


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 676 Arthur Herman 0553385666 Kristin 0 currently-reading 4.15 2013 The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
author: Arthur Herman
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)]]> 18512 here.

The Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures as the quest continues. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and took part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escaped into Fangorn Forest and there encountered the Ents. Gandalf returned, miraculously, and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo progressed towards Mordor to destroy the Ring, accompanied by SmEagol--Gollum, still obsessed by his 'precious'. After a battle with the giant spider, Shelob, Sam left his master for dead; but Frodo is still alive--in the hands of the Orcs. And all the time the armies of the Dark Lord are massing. J.R.R. Tolkien's great work of imaginative fiction has been labeled both a heroic romance and a classic fantasy fiction. By turns comic and homely, epic and diabolic, the narrative moves through countless changes of scene and character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail.]]> 404 J.R.R. Tolkien Kristin 5 currently-reading 4.54 1955 The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.54
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/13
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3) 8648
On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequininos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought.

Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequininos require in order to become adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire planet, and all who live there. The Fleet is on its way, a second xenocide seems inevitable.

Xenocide is the third novel in Orson Scott Card's The Ender Saga.]]> 592 Orson Scott Card 0312861877 Kristin 3 3.81 1991 Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Speaker for the Dead (Ender Quintet Book 2)]]> 219317905 301 Orson Scott Card Kristin 4 4.44 Speaker for the Dead (Ender Quintet Book 2)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Macbeth (Oxford School Shakespeare Series)]]> 4611315 138 William Shakespeare 0198319703 Kristin 5 3.83 1623 Macbeth (Oxford School Shakespeare Series)
author: William Shakespeare
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1623
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harriet Tubman Portrait of an American Hero Bound for the Promised Land]]> 40127859 402 Kate Clifford Larson Kristin 5 4.56 2003 Harriet Tubman Portrait of an American Hero Bound for the Promised Land
author: Kate Clifford Larson
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/19
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)]]> 15241
Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in a battle in the Mines of Moria. And Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape, the rest of the company was attacked by Orcs.

Now they continue the journey alone down the great River Anduin -- alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.]]> 322 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346260 Kristin 5 4.45 1954 The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation]]> 8600 209 Lynne Truss 1592402038 Kristin 5 3.86 2003 Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
author: Lynne Truss
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Confessions 18948176
Augustine tells of his wrestlings to master his sexual drive, his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of high power at the imperial court of Milan, and his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage as he recovered the faith that his mother had taught him. It was in a Milan garden that Augustine finally achieved the act of will to Christian conversion, which he compared to a lazy man in bed finally deciding it is time to get up and face the day.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.]]> 311 Augustine of Hippo 0191500976 Kristin 0 currently-reading 4.23 400 Confessions
author: Augustine of Hippo
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 400
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions Through the Psalms]]> 56849585 416 Dane C. Ortlund 1433577704 Kristin 0 currently-reading 4.66 In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions Through the Psalms
author: Dane C. Ortlund
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.66
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings]]> 34845395 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.� At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare�) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.]]> 317 Maya Angelou Kristin 3 4.43 1969 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
author: Maya Angelou
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1) 518848
With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.]]> 491 Garth Nix 0064471837 Kristin 5 4.17 1995 Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1)
author: Garth Nix
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction]]> 99928
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.]]> 160 Jonathan Barnes 0192854089 Kristin 3 3.68 1982 Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction
author: Jonathan Barnes
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves:
review:

]]> Fahrenheit 451 4381 158 Ray Bradbury 0307347974 Kristin 5 3.96 1953 Fahrenheit 451
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1953
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation]]> 61310629 320 Collin Hansen 0310128684 Kristin 0 to-read 4.53 Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation
author: Collin Hansen
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Frodo's Journey: Discover the Hidden Meaning of The Lord of the Rings]]> 25785321
Here, Joseph Pearce, author of Bilbo’s Journey uncovers the rich—and distinctly Christian—meaning just beneath the surface of The Lord of the Rings. Make the journey with Frodo as he makes his perilous trek from the Shire to Mordor, while Pearce expertly reveals the deeper, spiritual significance.

Did you know that the events of The Lord of the Rings are deeply intertwined with the Christian calendar? Or what the Ring, with its awesome and terrible power represents? How do the figures of good and evil in the story reflect those forces in our own lives? Find the answers to these questions and much more in Frodo’s Journey.]]> 158 Joseph Pearce 1618906755 Kristin 0 to-read 4.28 2015 Frodo's Journey: Discover the Hidden Meaning of The Lord of the Rings
author: Joseph Pearce
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth]]> 7341 The Lord of the Rings the most important book of our age—absorbing all 1,500 of its pages with an almost fanatical interest and seeing the Peter Jackson movies in unprecedented numbers. Readers from ages 8 to 80 keep turning to Tolkien because here, in this magical kingdom, they are immersed in depth after depth of significance and meaning—perceiving the Hope that can be found amidst despair, the Charity that overcomes vengeance, and the Faith that springs from the strange power of weakness. The Gospel According to Tolkien examines biblical and Christian themes that are found in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Follow Ralph Wood as he takes us through the theological depths of Tolkien's literary legacy.]]> 169 Ralph C. Wood 0664226108 Kristin 0 to-read 4.07 2003 The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth
author: Ralph C. Wood
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis]]> 63828159
In this book, acclaimed author Karen Swallow Prior examines evangelical history, both good and bad. By analyzing the literature, art, and popular culture that has surrounded evangelicalism, she unpacks some of the movement's most deeply held concepts, ideas, values, and practices to consider what is Christian rather than merely cultural. The result is a clearer path forward for evangelicals amid their current identity crisis--and insight for others who want a deeper understanding of what the term "evangelical" means today.

Brought to life with color illustrations, images, and paintings, this book explores ideas including conversion, domesticity, empire, sentimentality, and more. In the end, it goes beyond evangelicalism to show us how we might be influenced by images, stories, and metaphors in ways we cannot always see.]]> 304 Karen Swallow Prior 1587435756 Kristin 0 to-read 4.23 2023 The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis
author: Karen Swallow Prior
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age]]> 210137188
The West has become "disenchanted"--closed to the idea that the universe contains the supernatural, the metaphysical, or the non-material. Christianity is in crisis. People today are leaving the Church because faith has become dry and lifeless. But people aren't leaving faith for atheism. They are still searching for the divine, and it might just be right under their noses.

InĚýLiving in Wonder, thought leader, cultural critic, andĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Rod Dreher shows you how to encounter and embrace wonder in the world. In his trademark mixture of analysis, reporting, and personal story, Dreher brings together history, cultural anthropology, neuroscience, and the ancient Church to show you--no matter your religious affiliation--how to reconnect with the natural world and the Great Tradition of Christianity so you can relate to the world with more depth and connection.

He shares stories of miracles, rumors of angels, and outbreaks of awe to offer hope, as well as a guide for discerning and defending the truth in a confusing and spiritually dark culture, full of contemporary spiritual deceptions and tempting counterfeit spiritualities.

The world is not what we think it is. It is far more mysterious, exciting, connected, and adventurous. As you learn practical ways to regain a sense of wonder and awaken your sense of God's presence--through prayer, attention, and living by spiritual disciplines--your eyes will be opened, and you will find the very thing every one of us searches our ultimate meaning.]]> 288 Rod Dreher 0310369126 Kristin 0 to-read 3.94 Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age
author: Rod Dreher
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor]]> 204270512 Ministering to Christian Nationalists

Pastor Caleb Campbell has watched as Christian nationalism has taken over large swaths of the United States. And he's suffered the relational fallout of standing against it, both in his community and his church. While it's possible to be both a Christian and hold Christian nationalist ideas, Christian nationalism itself is an un-Christian worldview, rooted in ideas about power, race, and property that are irreconcilable with Christian faith. Campbell has come to see himself as a missionary to Christian nationalists, reaching out to them with the love and freedom of Jesus Christ.

In Disarming Leviathan, Campbell equips Christians to minister to their Christian nationalist neighbors. He introduces the basics of Christian nationalism and explores the reasons so many people are attracted to it. He also addresses a variety of American Christian nationalist talking points and offers questions and responses that humbly subvert these claims and cultivate deeper, heart-level conversations.

Christian nationalism is an established feature of the American landscape. Disarming Leviathan can help prepare us to confront it with compassion and hospitality, and with the truth of the good news of Jesus.]]> 198 Caleb E. Campbell 1514008513 Kristin 0 to-read 4.22 Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor
author: Caleb E. Campbell
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]> 1618 226 Mark Haddon 1400032717 Kristin 4 3.89 2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
author: Mark Haddon
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hobbit, or There and Back Again]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Kristin 5 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness]]> 13579364
This is one of the questions the Apostle Paul addresses as he writes to the church in Corinth. He’s not after some superficial outward tinkering, but instead a deep–rooted, life–altering change that takes place on the inside. In an age where pleasing people, puffing up your ego and building your rĂ©sumĂ© are seen as the methods to â€make itâ€�, the Apostle Paul calls us to find true rest in blessed self–forgetfulness.

In this short and punchy book, best–selling author Timothy Keller, shows that gospel–humility means we can stop connecting every experience, every conversation with ourselves and can thus be free from self–condemnation. A truly gospel–humble person is not a self–hating person or a self–loving person, but a self–forgetful person.

This freedom can be yours…]]> 46 Timothy J. Keller 1906173419 Kristin 0 4.51 2012 The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 34
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
--back cover]]> 398 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346252 Kristin 5 4.36 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]> The Roman Way 27292 224 Edith Hamilton 0393310787 Kristin 4 3.84 1932 The Roman Way
author: Edith Hamilton
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1932
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Robert Fagles: The Aeneid (Paperback); 2008 Edition]]> 147404226 0 Virgil Kristin 0 currently-reading 4.12 Robert Fagles: The Aeneid (Paperback); 2008 Edition
author: Virgil
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (The Pilgrim's Progress Series Book 1)]]> 53662440
Carefully revised in modern English, this modern classic includes Bunyan's original scripture references plus hundreds of additional references, chapter end-notes to help clarify scriptural and historical references, and an Index of words, meanings, titles, characters, and places. 50+ illustrations. Free audio excerpt download.]]> 240 John Bunyan 1948481138 Kristin 0 to-read 4.48 1678 The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (The Pilgrim's Progress Series Book 1)
author: John Bunyan
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.48
book published: 1678
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Orthodoxy 87665 168 G.K. Chesterton 160096527X Kristin 0 to-read 4.17 Orthodoxy
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Emmanuel: An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always]]> 60492093
If there’s one name for Jesus that captures the whole heart of God, it is Emmanuel —God with us. No other name similarly expresses the fullness of God’s eternal desire for His image-bearers. He’s always wanted us to be with Him.

From the bestselling author and artist behind GraceLaced and Beholding and Becoming comes this gorgeously illustrated Advent exploration of what it means to intimately experience God’s presence in our daily lives. Ruth Chou Simons welcomes you and your family to partake in a season of surrender as you discover the true miracle behind that while we journey to grow in our relationships with Jesus, He has already come so He can be with us forever.

Christmas Day is not the end of our celebrations, but the beginning! Emmanuel is an invitation to rejoice in the everlasting fellowship and hope God extended to us on the day of His Son’s birth, guiding us to realize that having God with us all year long is Christmas’s most incredible gift.]]> 240 Ruth Chou Simons 0736984968 Kristin 5 4.63 Emmanuel: An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always
author: Ruth Chou Simons
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.63
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Why Literature Still Matters 222944601 87 Jason M. Baxter 1965520006 Kristin 0 to-read 4.68 Why Literature Still Matters
author: Jason M. Baxter
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.68
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Everyman 205485 52 Unknown 1419118730 Kristin 4 3.31 1485 Everyman
author: Unknown
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.31
book published: 1485
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pilgrim: 25 Ways God’s Character Leads Us Onward]]> 63906866
Guideposts of Grace for Your Faith Journey
Ěý
As a follower of Christ, you live each day as a pilgrim, traveling the path Jesus sets before you. Though the road may be rocky, God provides reminders along the way to show you that He writes your story, paves your path, and walks with you always.Ěý
Ěý
From bestselling author and artist Ruth Chou Simons comes this uplifting meditation on the character of God to accompany you on your pilgrim journey. Featuring stunning new artwork, these 25 devotions will lead you to
Ěý Ěý
Pilgrim reminds us of profound truths by showing us how God’s grace and provision shape each Christian’s unique journey of conforming to the image of Christ. On the path of spiritual growth and maturity, knowing God’s character makes all the difference. When your travels leave you worn and weary, God will not abandon you—you can lay your burdens in His hands, find hope in His presence, and follow His path as He leads you onward.]]> 256 Ruth Chou Simons 0736982922 Kristin 5 4.71 Pilgrim: 25 Ways God’s Character Leads Us Onward
author: Ruth Chou Simons
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rilla of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables, #8)]]> 433533 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780553269222

Anne's children are almost grown up, except for pretty, high-spirited Rilla. No one can resist her bright hazel eyes and dazzling smile. Rilla, almost fifteen, can't think any further ahead than going to her very first dance at the Four Winds lighthouse and getting her first kiss from handsome Kenneth Ford. But undreamed-of challenges await the irrepressible Rilla when the world of Ingleside is endangered by a far-off war. Her brothers go off to fight, and Rilla brings home an orphaned newborn in a soup tureen. She is swept into a drama that tests her courage and changes her forever.]]> 277 L.M. Montgomery Kristin 5 4.22 1921 Rilla of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables, #8)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1921
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Kristin 4 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/23
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Silmarilion 7203161 480 J.R.R. Tolkien 868158524X Kristin 5 4.21 1977 Silmarilion
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories]]> 15161
With Clarke's characteristic historical detail and diction, these dark, enchanting tales unfold in a slightly distorted version of our own world, where people are bedeviled by mischievous interventions from the fairies. With appearances from beloved characters from her novel, including Jonathan Strange and Childermass, and an entirely new spin on certain historical figures, including Mary, Queen of Scots, this is a must-have for fans of Susanna Clarke's and an enticing introduction to her work for new readers.

Some of these stories have never before been published; others have appeared in the "New York Times" or in highly regarded anthologies. In this collection, they come together to expand the reach of Clarke's land of enchantment.]]> 235 Susanna Clarke 1596912510 Kristin 0 to-read 3.87 2006 The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Silmarillion 7332 386 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618391118 Kristin 5 3.99 1977 The Silmarillion
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rainbow Valley (Anne of Green Gables, #7)]]> 77395 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780553269215

Anne Shirley is grown up, has married her beloved Gilbert, and is the mother of six mischievousĚýchildren. These boys and girls discover a special place all their own, but they never dream of what will happen when a strange family moves into an old mansion nearby. The Meredith clan is two boys and two girls—and a runaway named Mary Vance.ĚýSoon the Merediths join Anne's children inĚýtheir private hideout, intent on carrying out their plans to saveĚýMary from the orphanage, to help the lonelyĚýminister find happiness, and to keep a pet rooster fromĚýthe soup pot. There's always an adventure brewingĚýin the sun-dappled world of Rainbow Valley.]]> 225 L.M. Montgomery Kristin 5 4.01 1919 Rainbow Valley (Anne of Green Gables, #7)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1919
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables, #6)]]> 77391 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780553213157

Anne is the mother of five, with never a dull moment in her lively home. And now, with a new baby on the way and insufferable Aunt Mary Maria visiting—and wearing out her welcome—Anne's life is full to bursting.

Still, Mrs. Doctor can't think of any place she'd rather be than her own beloved Ingleside. Until the day she begins to worry that her adored Gilbert doesn't love her anymore. How could that be? She may be a little older, but she's still the same irrepressible, irreplaceable redhead—the wonderful Anne of Green Gables, all grown up. She's ready to make her cherished husband fall in love with her all over again!]]> 274 L.M. Montgomery Kristin 4 4.04 1939 Anne of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables, #6)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1939
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> The Wood at Midwinter 206101583 'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees—and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst—and the path of her life is changed forever.

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe. Featuring an introduction by Susanna Clarke and gorgeous illustrations from Victoria Sawdon truly worthy of the magic of this story, this is a mesmerising, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf.]]> 64 Susanna Clarke 1639734481 Kristin 0 to-read 3.47 2024 The Wood at Midwinter
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Upon Waking: 60 Daily Reflections to Discover Ourselves and the God We Were Made For]]> 98181060
What do you wake up to each day? What do you discover once your eyes have opened and you put your feet to the floor? A mountain of notifications? An endless feed of headlines that make you angry? A flood of tasks that you can’t possibly get done in the next twenty-four hours?
Ěý
What if you could wake up each day to discover something so much bigger—and so much better for you—than all that chaos? What if you could discover God? What if you could discover yourself in light of that God? What if your eyes could be opened to the things that really mattered? What if, in one simple devotional a day, you could glean principles from timeless wisdom to sharpen you for each day's inevitable challenges?
Ěý
In her lyrical, compelling, and poignant voice, bestselling author and Bible teacher Jackie Hill Perry offers sixty short, daily reflections on specific passages from Scripture to help you awaken to the God you were made for, the life you were made for, and the person you were made to be.ĚýĚý
Ěý]]> 208 Jackie Hill Perry 1087783712 Kristin 5 4.71 Upon Waking: 60 Daily Reflections to Discover Ourselves and the God We Were Made For
author: Jackie Hill Perry
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> The Great Divorce 25845273
C.S. Lewis� The Great Divorce is a classic Christian allegorical tale about a bus ride from hell to heaven. An extraordinary meditation upon good and evil, grace and judgment, Lewis’s revolutionary idea in the The Great Divorce is that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Using his extraordinary descriptive powers, Lewis� The Great Divorce will change the way we think about good and evil.]]> 146 C.S. Lewis Kristin 5 4.39 1946 The Great Divorce
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1946
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life]]> 54883759 208 Jason M. Baxter 1540964396 Kristin 0 to-read 4.00 An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life
author: Jason M. Baxter
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables, #5)]]> 77394 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780553213188

Anne's own true love, Gilbert Blythe, is finally a doctor, and in the sunshine of the old orchard, among their dearest friends, they are about to speak their vows. Soon the happy couple will be bound for a new life together and their own dream house, on the misty purple shores of Four Winds Harbor.

A new life means fresh problems to solve, fresh surprises. Anne and Gilbert will make new friends and meet their neighbors: Captain Jim, the lighthouse attendant, with his sad stories of the sea; Miss Cornelia Bryant, the lady who speaks from the heart—and speaks her mind; and the tragically beautiful Leslie Moore, into whose dark life Anne shines a brilliant light.]]> 227 L.M. Montgomery Kristin 5 4.17 1917 Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables, #5)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1917
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prescribing Doubt: A Legal Thriller (Small Town Lawyer Book 5)]]> 213946502 #1 Bestseller in Conspiracy Thrillers!

A murdered millionaire could be the key to a sinister medical conspiracy�

Running his own law firm is harder than Leland Munroe ever imagined, but he’s determined to make it work. Judy Reed, accused of killing her wealthy father, is just the kind of high-profile and high-paying client he needs to keep his firm afloat. Yet the deeper he digs, the more complex her case becomes.

Nurse LaDonna Winters’s financial situation isn’t as ideal. Struggling to make ends meet, she can barely afford legal representation. But her case is compelling—accused of a crime at her hospital she insists she didn't commit, LaDonna is desperate to clear her name.

Juggling these two demanding cases, alongside his responsibilities in Basking Rock, Leland struggles to keep up. The deck is stacked against LaDonna, and Judy’s unpredictable behavior makes defending her challenging. As Leland delves deeper, he begins to suspect that their cases are intertwined, and that something deeply disturbing is happening at the local hospital.

Tangled in a web of small-town secrets and deceit, Leland unearths information that points in some very dangerous directions� for himself as well as his clients.

The closer he gets to the truth, the more he fears that solving these cases could be a fatal mistake.]]> 340 Peter Kirkland Kristin 0 to-read 4.38 Prescribing Doubt: A Legal Thriller (Small Town Lawyer Book 5)
author: Peter Kirkland
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Summer Before the War 25776122
East Sussex, 1914. It is the end of England's brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so beautiful. Hugh Grange, down from his medical studies, is visiting his Aunt Agatha, who lives with her husband in the small, idyllic coastal town of Rye. Agatha's husband works in the Foreign Office, and she is certain he will ensure that the recent saber rattling over the Balkans won't come to anything. And Agatha has more immediate concerns; she has just risked her carefully built reputation by pushing for the appointment of a woman to replace the Latin master.

When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking—and attractive—than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. For her part, mourning the death of her beloved father, who has left her penniless, Beatrice simply wants to be left alone to pursue her teaching and writing.

But just as Beatrice comes alive to the beauty of the Sussex landscape and the colorful characters who populate Rye, the perfect summer is about to end. For despite Agatha's reassurances, the unimaginable is coming. Soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small Sussex town and its inhabitants go to war.]]> 481 Helen Simonson 0812993101 Kristin 0 to-read 3.73 2016 The Summer Before the War
author: Helen Simonson
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 6643090
The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?]]> 359 Helen Simonson 1400068932 Kristin 0 to-read 3.89 2010 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
author: Helen Simonson
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mere Christianity 11137 Mere Christianity is C.S. Lewis's forceful and accessible doctrine of Christian belief. First heard as informal radio broadcasts and then published as three separate books - The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality - Mere Christianity brings together what Lewis saw as the fundamental truths of the religion. Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations, C.S. Lewis finds a common ground on which all those who have Christian faith can stand together, proving that "at the centre of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks the same voice.]]> 227 C.S. Lewis Kristin 5 4.37 1952 Mere Christianity
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1952
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sign of the Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)]]> 15980913 184 Arthur Conan Doyle Kristin 3 3.88 1890 The Sign of the Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1890
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club]]> 196839661 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies� motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.]]> 423 Helen Simonson 1984801325 Kristin 3 4.22 2024 The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club
author: Helen Simonson
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables, #4)]]> 65840 they had wanted as principal of Summerside High School. But as she settles into the cozy tower room at Windy Poplars, Anne finds she has great allies in the widows Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty--and in their irrepressible housekeeper, Rebecca Dew. As Anne learns Summerside's strangest secrets, winning the support of the prickly Pringles becomes only the first of her delicious triumphs.]]> 288 L.M. Montgomery 0808516965 Kristin 5 4.04 1936 Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables, #4)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1936
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Miss Morgan's Book Brigade 199798905 The New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the “captivating, richly drawn� (Woman’s World) The Paris Library returns with a brilliant new novel based on the true story of Jessie Carson—the American librarian who changed the literary landscape of France.

1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.

1987: When NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a passing reference to Jessie Carson in the archives, she becomes consumed with learning her fate. In her obsessive research, she discovers that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than their work at New York’s famed library, but she has no idea their paths will converge in surprising ways across time.]]> 318 Janet Skeslien Charles 166800898X Kristin 0 to-read 3.91 2024 Miss Morgan's Book Brigade
author: Janet Skeslien Charles
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41)]]> 32758320 When a Halloween Party turns deadly, it falls to Hercule Poirots to unmask a murderer in Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery, Hallowe’en Party.

At a Halloween party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.

That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the `evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer...]]> 268 Agatha Christie Kristin 3 3.87 1969 Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne of the Island (Anne of Green Gables, #3)]]> 123280461 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

New adventures lie ahead as Anne Shirley packs her bags, waves good-bye to childhood, and heads for Redmond College. With her old friend Prissy Grant waiting in the bustling city of Kingsport and her frivolous new friend Philippa Gordon at her side, Anne tucks her memories of rural Avonlea away and discovers life on her own terms, filled with surprises . . . including a marriage proposal from the worst fellow imaginable, the sale of her very first story, and a tragedy that teaches her a painful lesson. But tears turn to laughter when Anne and her friends move into an old cottage and an ornery black cat steals her heart. Little does Anne know that handsome Gilbert Blythe wants to win her heart, too. Suddenly Anne must decide whether she's ready for love.]]> 243 L.M. Montgomery 0553213172 Kristin 5 4.39 1915 Anne of the Island (Anne of Green Gables, #3)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1915
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1)]]> 102868
But it's not long before Sherlock Holmes, with Watson in tow, is working with Scotland Yard investigating the murder of two Americans whose deaths have some mysterious connection to sinister groups gathering power in both Britain and America.

Here's where it all began. 'A Study in Scarlet.' Meet Sherlock Holmes, one of the world's leading consulting detectives - fictional of course!]]> 123 Arthur Conan Doyle 1420925539 Kristin 4 4.16 1887 A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1887
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)]]> 8921 256 Arthur Conan Doyle Kristin 4 4.15 1902 The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1902
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/10
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)]]> 40604658
Until something goes wrong. . . .

In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton taps all his mesmerizing talent and scientific brilliance to create his most electrifying technothriller.]]> 450 Michael Crichton 0307763056 Kristin 4 4.38 1990 Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)]]> 77390 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

When twelve-year-old Anne Shirley came to Avonlea, she quickly won everyone’s heart. Now, she’s five years older, almost a woman, and about to embark on a new adventure: becoming the teacher in her old Avonlea school. It’s an exciting year as Anne struggles to win over all her students, welcomes two new members to her family, and feels the first stirrings of love.]]> 276 L.M. Montgomery 0553213148 Kristin 5 4.23 1909 Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1909
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)]]> 8127 Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family� and, most of all, love.

WITH AN AFTERWORD BY JENNIFER LEE CARELL]]> 320 L.M. Montgomery 0451528824 Kristin 5 4.30 1908 Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1908
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/09/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Snow & Rose 33972789 A New York Times bestselling author-illustrator brings readers into the woods to meet two young sisters and a strange bit of magic in this reimagining of the classic but little-known fairy tale "Snow White and Rose Red."

Snow and Rose didn't know they were in a fairy tale. People never do....

Once, they lived in a big house with spectacular gardens and an army of servants.

Once, they had a father and mother who loved them more than the sun and moon.

But that was before their father disappeared into the woods and their mother disappeared into sorrow.

This is the story of two sisters and the enchanted woods that have been waiting for them to break a set of terrible spells.

Bestselling author-illustrator Emily Winfield Martin has created a world that sits on the border of enchantment, with characters who are grounded in real emotions that readers will recognize in themselves.]]> 213 Emily Winfield Martin 0553538209 Kristin 0 to-read 4.04 2017 Snow & Rose
author: Emily Winfield Martin
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> September 116053 613 Rosamunde Pilcher 0340752459 Kristin 0 to-read 4.13 1990 September
author: Rosamunde Pilcher
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The First Ladies 63024287
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends confiding their secrets, hopes and dreams—and holding each other’s hands through tragedy and triumph.
Ěý
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, the two women begin to collaborate more closely, particularly as Eleanor moves toward her own agenda separate from FDR, a consequence of the devastating discovery of her husband’s secret love affair. Eleanor becomes a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly onĚýcivil rights. And when she receives threats because of her strong ties to Mary, it only fuels the women’s desire to fight together for justice and equality.
Ěý
ThisĚýis the story of two different, yet equally formidable, passionate, and committed women, and the way in whichĚýtheir singular friendshipĚýhelped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement.]]> 389 Marie Benedict 0593440285 Kristin 0 to-read 3.96 2023 The First Ladies
author: Marie Benedict
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Like Water for Chocolate 6327687 The bestselling phenomenon and inspiration for the award-winning film.

Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico blends poignant romance and bittersweet wit.

This classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother's womb, her daughter to be weeps so violently she causes an early labor, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef, using cooking to express herself and sharing recipes with readers along the way.]]> 180 Laura Esquivel Kristin 3 3.92 1989 Like Water for Chocolate
author: Laura Esquivel
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Spanish Daughter 57645352 The Washington Post Books to Read Now | Ms. Magazine Reads for the Rest of Us | Bustle Most Anticipated Books | PopSugar Best Books | BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Books | Book Riot Book Recommendations | Finer Things Book Lover Gifts They’ll Actually Love

As a child in Spain, Puri always knew her passion for chocolate was inherited from her father. But it’s not until his death that she learns of something else she’s inherited—a cocoa estate in Vinces, Ecuador, a town nicknamed “París Chiquito.� Eager to claim her birthright and filled with hope for a new life after the devastation of World War I, she and her husband Cristóbal set out across the Atlantic Ocean. But it soon becomes clear someone is angered by Puri’s claim to the estate�

When a mercenary sent to murder her aboard the ship accidentally kills Cristóbal instead, Puri dons her husband’s clothes and assumes his identity, hoping to stay safe while she searches for the truth of her father’s legacy in Ecuador. Though freed from the rules that women are expected to follow, Puri confronts other challenges at the estate—newfound siblings, hidden affairs, and her father’s dark secrets. Then there are the dangers awakened by her attraction to an enigmatic man as she tries to learn the identity of an enemy who is still at large, threatening the future she is determined to claim�

Perfect for fans of Julia Alvarez and Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this exhilarating novel transports you to the lush tropical landscape of 1920s Ecuador, blending family drama, dangerous mystery, and the real-life history of the coastal town known as the “birthplace of cacao.�]]> 352 Lorena Hughes 1496736249 Kristin 0 to-read 3.62 2021 The Spanish Daughter
author: Lorena Hughes
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Lincoln in the Bardo 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 Kristin 0 to-read 3.75 2017 Lincoln in the Bardo
author: George Saunders
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Robe 219919 528 Lloyd C. Douglas 0395957753 Kristin 5 4.21 1942 The Robe
author: Lloyd C. Douglas
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1942
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Master & Commander (Aubrey & Maturin, #1)]]> 77430 Sophie. Accompanied by his eccentric new friend, the physician and naturalist Stephen Maturin, Aubrey does battle with the naval hierarchy, with his own tendency to make social blunders, and with the challenges of forging an effective crew -- before ultimately taking on enemy ships in a vivid, intricately detailed series of sea battles.]]> 464 Patrick O'Brian 0393307050 Kristin 0 4.08 1969 Master & Commander (Aubrey & Maturin, #1)
author: Patrick O'Brian
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI]]> 204927599 From the author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.

For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite allour discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?

Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.

Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.]]> 528 Yuval Noah Harari 059373422X Kristin 0 to-read 4.14 2024 Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Autumn (Seasonal Quartet, #1) 28446947 Autumn. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. That's what it felt like for Keats in 1819.

How about Autumn 2016?

Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic once-in-a-generation summer.

Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever.

Ali Smith's new novel is a meditation on a world growing ever more bordered and exclusive, on what richness and worth are, on what harvest means. This first in a seasonal quartet casts an eye over our own time. Who are we? What are we made of? Shakespearian jeu d'esprit, Keatsian melancholy, the sheer bright energy of 1960s Pop art: the centuries cast their eyes over our own history-making.

Here's where we're living. Here's time at its most contemporaneous and its most cyclic.

From the imagination of the peerless Ali Smith comes a shape-shifting series, wide-ranging in timescale and light-footed through histories, and a story about ageing and time and love and stories themselves.

Here comes Autumn.]]> 264 Ali Smith 0241207002 Kristin 0 to-read 3.67 2016 Autumn (Seasonal Quartet, #1)
author: Ali Smith
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ensemble 44908895
"You won’t be able to quit these characters."Ěý —goop

The addictive novel about four young friends navigating the cutthroat world of classical music and their complex relationships with each other, as ambition, passion, and love intertwine over the course of their lives.

Jana. Brit. Daniel. Henry. They would never have been friends if they hadn't needed each other. They would never have found each other except for the art which drew them together. They would never have become family without their love for the music, for each other.

Brit is the second violinist, a beautiful and quiet orphan; on the viola is Henry, a prodigy who's always had it easy; the cellist is Daniel, the oldest and an angry skeptic who sleeps around; and on first violin is Jana, their flinty, resilient leader. Together, they are the Van Ness Quartet. After the group's youthful, rocky start, they experience devastating failure and wild success, heartbreak and marriage, triumph and loss, betrayal and enduring loyalty. They are always tied to each other - by career, by the intensity of their art, by the secrets they carry, by choosing each other over and over again.

Following these four unforgettable characters, Aja Gabel's debut novel gives a riveting look into the high-stakes, cutthroat world of musicians, and of lives made in concert. The story of Brit and Henry and Daniel and Jana, The Ensemble is a heart-skipping portrait of ambition, friendship, and the tenderness of youth.]]> 352 Aja Gabel 0735214778 Kristin 0 to-read 3.48 2018 The Ensemble
author: Aja Gabel
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music]]> 21896497 304 James Rhodes 1782113371 Kristin 0 to-read 4.22 2015 Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music
author: James Rhodes
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Green Light 759187
Dean Harcourt, of a Middle-western cathedral, is the motivational force in this story of present-day America. The dean had been crippled by infantile paralysis early in his career and his subsequent suffering had made him more aware when the time came to right the wrong done to a young surgeon. He is also instrumental in bringing about the happiness of lonely, young Phyllis Dexter.

The Chicago Daily Tribune says, "There is something of the simple faith in it that has been proclaimed to be more than Norman blood."]]> Lloyd C. Douglas 0432031049 Kristin 0 to-read 3.86 1934 Green Light
author: Lloyd C. Douglas
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1934
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Magnificent Obsession 545936 330 Lloyd C. Douglas 0395957745 Kristin 0 to-read 3.84 Magnificent Obsession
author: Lloyd C. Douglas
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.84
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Separate Peace 5148 A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to the second world war.

Set at a boys boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.

A bestseller for more than thirty years, A Separate Peace is John Knowles crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic.]]> 208 John Knowles Kristin 5 3.60 1959 A Separate Peace
author: John Knowles
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1959
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/23
date added: 2024/08/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians: Finding Authentic Faith in a Forgotten Age with C. S. Lewis]]> 26483472 272 Chris R. Armstrong 1587433788 Kristin 0 to-read 3.98 2016 Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians: Finding Authentic Faith in a Forgotten Age with C. S. Lewis
author: Chris R. Armstrong
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Creatures Great and Small (All Creatures Great and Small, #1-2)]]> 32085
Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.

For over forty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot's periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot's recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.

James Herriot's memoirs have sold 80 million copies worldwide, and continue to delight and entertain readers of all ages]]> 437 James Herriot 0312965788 Kristin 5 4.30 1972 All Creatures Great and Small (All Creatures Great and Small, #1-2)
author: James Herriot
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)]]> 136251
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.]]> 759 J.K. Rowling Kristin 5 4.61 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Kristin 5 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Kristin 4 4.50 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)]]> 6 734 J.K. Rowling 0439139597 Kristin 3 4.56 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> I Cheerfully Refuse 198276006 I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of Rainy, an aspiring musician setting sail on Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. An endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, he seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. After encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, he eventually lands to find an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, a crumbled infrastructure, and a lawless society. As his guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy’s private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his wake.]]> 336 Leif Enger 0802162932 Kristin 0 to-read 3.96 2024 I Cheerfully Refuse
author: Leif Enger
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)]]> 5 435 J.K. Rowling 043965548X Kristin 4 4.57 1999 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)]]> 15881
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls� bathroom. But then the real trouble begins � someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects� Harry Potter himself!]]> 352 J.K. Rowling Kristin 3 4.42 1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 3 309 J.K. Rowling 0439554934 Kristin 4 4.47 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom]]> 56888670
This book is in many ways a memoir, but it’s also an attempt to wake up the reader to the glory of God shining through his creation. One of his first commands to Adam and Eve was to “work and keep� the garden (Genesis 2:15). Award-winning author and songwriter Andrew Peterson, being as honest as possible, seeks to give glory to God by spreading out his roots and raising his branches, trusting that by reading his story, you’ll encounter yours.

Hopefully, you’ll see that the God of the Garden is and has always been present, working and keeping what he loves. Sometimes he plants, sometimes he prunes, but in his goodness he intends to reap a harvest of righteousness.]]> 224 Andrew Peterson 1087736951 Kristin 5 4.48 2021 The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom
author: Andrew Peterson
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Temptation of the Force (Star Wars: The High Republic)]]> 201102251 The reunited Jedi prepare to strike back against the ruthless Nihil in this thrilling sequel to Star Wars: The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness.

For over a year, Jedi Masters Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann were kept apart by the Nihil’s Stormwall. After Avar makes a daring escape from inside the Occlusion Zone, the star-crossed Jedi are reunited. But while the physical distance between them has evaporated, their shared grief over their failure to protect the galaxy from the Nihil threat still remains. To rally the Jedi Order, and the Republic, Avar and Elzar cling to their belief in serving Light and Life. Working together they lead a daring mission into Nihil space to liberate the planet of Naboo, and show those trapped behind the Stormwall that the Jedi will never abandon them. Now back within close orbit of one another, the two Jedi Masters can no longer deny the bond that has always drawn them back together and made them stronger. After finally embracing their true desires and imbued with renewed purpose, Avar and Elzar devise a plan to turn the tide of the conflict with the Nihil once and for all. Accompanied by Jedi Knights Bell Zettifar, Burryaga, and Vernestra Rwoh, the Jedi begin their hunt for Marchion Ro. But to seek out the Nihil’s dangerous leader the Jedi will have to survive the Nameless terrors that they have thus far been powerless to stop.]]> 448 Tessa Gratton 0593723090 Kristin 2 4.11 2024 Temptation of the Force (Star Wars: The High Republic)
author: Tessa Gratton
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter]]> 54997605 The Resurrection accounts of Jesus in the Gospels are the most dramatic and impactful stories ever told. One similarity unites each testimony--that none of his most loyal and steadfast followers could see it was him, back from the dead. The reason for this is at the very foundation of the Christian faith.

She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. (John 20:14)

Hope in the Time of Fear is a book that unlocks the meaning of Jesus's resurrection for readers. Easter is considered the most solemn and important holiday for Christians. It is a time of spiritual rebirth and a time of celebrating the physical rebirth of Jesus after three days in the tomb. For his devoted followers, nothing could prepare them for the moment they met the resurrected Jesus. Each failed to recognize him. All of them physically saw him and yet did not spiritually truly see him. It was only when Jesus reached out and invited them to see who he truly was that their eyes were open. Here the central message of the Christian faith is revealed in a way only Timothy Keller could do it--filled with unshakable belief, piercing insight, and a profound new way to look at a story you think you know. After reading this book, the true meaning of Easter will no longer be unseen.]]> 272 Timothy J. Keller 0525560793 Kristin 5 4.35 2021 Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shakespeare Saved My Life: An Uplifting Memoir for Anyone Who Has Been Changed by a Book]]> 14296907
Many people told Laura that maximum-security prisoners are “beyond rehabilitation." But Laura wanted to find out for herself. She started with the prison's most notorious inmate: Larry Newton. When he was 17 years old, Larry was indicted for murder and sentenced to life with no possibility of parole. When he met Laura, he had been in isolation for 10 years.

Larry had never heard of Shakespeare. But in the characters he read, he recognized himself.

In this profound illustration of the enduring lessons of Shakespeare through the ten-year relationship of Bates and Newton, an amazing testament to the power of literature emerges. But it's not just the prisoners who are transformed. It is a starkly engaging tale, one that will be embraced by anyone who has ever been changed by a book.]]> 304 Laura Bates 1402273142 Kristin 4 3.85 2013 Shakespeare Saved My Life: An Uplifting Memoir for Anyone Who Has Been Changed by a Book
author: Laura Bates
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Astrophysics for People in a Hurry]]> 32191710
But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.]]> 223 Neil deGrasse Tyson 0393609391 Kristin 4 4.07 2017 Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Remarkably Bright Creatures 58733693 Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.]]> 368 Shelby Van Pelt 0063204150 Kristin 4 4.35 2022 Remarkably Bright Creatures
author: Shelby Van Pelt
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/27
date added: 2024/04/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Hamnet 49856101 A thrilling departure: A short, piercing, deeply moving new novel from the acclaimed author of I Am, I Am, I Am, about the death of Shakespeare's eleven-year-old son Hamnet--a name interchangeable with Hamlet in fifteenth-century Britain--and the years leading up to the production of his great play.

England, 1580. A young Latin tutor--penniless, bullied by a violent father--falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman: a wild creature who walks her family's estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer. Agnes understands plants and potions better than she does people, but once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose gifts as a writer are just beginning to awaken when his beloved young son succumbs to bubonic plague.

A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing and seductive, an impossible-to-put-down novel from one of our most gifted writers.]]> 310 Maggie O'Farrell Kristin 5 4.32 2020 Hamnet
author: Maggie O'Farrell
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Star Wars: The Living Force 195267496 In the year before The Phantom Menace, Yoda, Mace Windu, and the entire Jedi Council confront a galaxy on the brink of change.

The Jedi have always traveled the stars, defending peace and justice across the galaxy. But, the galaxy is changing, and along with it, the Jedi Order. More and more, the Order finds itself focused on the future of the Republic, secluded on Coruscant, where the twelve members of the Jedi Council weigh crises on a galactic scale.

As yet another Jedi Outpost leftover from the Republic’s golden age is set to be decommissioned on the planet Kwenn, Qui-Gon Jinn challenges the Council about the increasing isolation of the Order. Mace Windu suggests a bold response: all twelve Jedi Masters will embark on a goodwill mission to help the planet, and remind the people of the galaxy that the Jedi remain as stalwart and present as they have been across the ages.

But the arrival of the Jedi leadership is not seen by all as a cause for celebration. Warring pirate factions have infested the sector in the increasing absence of the Jedi. To maintain their dominance, the pirates unite, intent on assassinating the Council. And they are willing to destroy countless innocent lives to secure their power.

Cut off from Coruscant, the Jedi Masters must reckon with an unwelcome truth: that while no one thinks more about the future than the Jedi Council, nobody needs their help more than those living in the present.]]> 432 John Jackson Miller 0593597958 Kristin 3 3.73 2024 Star Wars: The Living Force
author: John Jackson Miller
name: Kristin
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2024/04/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Eye of Darkness 124019528 One year after the tragic events of The Fallen Star, the Jedi fight to break the Nihil’s control over the galaxy.

The galaxy is divided. Following the shocking destruction of Starlight Beacon, the Nihil have established an impenetrable barrier called the Stormwall around part of the Outer Rim, where Marchion Ro rules and his followers wreak havoc at his every whim. Jedi trapped behind enemy lines, including Avar Kriss, must fight to help the worlds being pillaged by the Nihil while staying one step ahead of the marauders and their Nameless terrors.

Outside of the Nihil’s so-called Occlusion Zone, Elzar Mann, Bell Zettifar, and the other Jedi work alongside the Republic to reach the worlds that have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy. But every attempt to breach the Stormwall has failed, and even communication across the barrier is impossible. The failures and losses weigh heavily upon both Elzar and Bell as they search desperately for a solution.

But even if the Republic and Jedi forces manage to breach the Stormwall, how can the Jedi fight back against the Nameless creatures that prey on the Jedi’s connection to the Force? And what other horrors does Marchion Ro have in store? As desperation for both the Jedi and the Republic grows, any hope of reuniting the galaxy could be all but extinguished. . . .]]> 416 George Mann 0593597931 Kristin 4 4.17 2023 The Eye of Darkness
author: George Mann
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/29
date added: 2024/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Into the Dark (Star Wars: The High Republic)]]> 51733546 Not everyone who hears the call to adventure wants to answer it....

Jedi Padawan Reath Silas loves adventure—reading about it, that is, not living it. Content to spend hours browsing the Jedi Archives on Coruscant, Reath dreams of being one of the great scholars of the Jedi Order. But Reath's master, the well-respected and virtuous Jora Malli, has other plans: she's taken a post at Starlight Beacon, the Republic's shining new outpost on the edge of known space. As her Padawan, Reath must join her, whether he likes the idea or not. (And he most definitely does not.)

So Reath reluctantly boards the ship that will take him and a few other Jedi to the dedication of Starlight Beacon, where Master Jora waits for him to start their new adventurous life on the frontier. But trouble in hyperspace leaves the ship and other nearby vessels stranded, with only an eerie abandoned space station reachable for shelter. And the secrets hidden there will not only bring Reath to a crossroads but, if left unchecked, could plunge the entire galaxy into darkness....]]> 425 Claudia Gray 1368057284 Kristin 3 4.00 2021 Into the Dark (Star Wars: The High Republic)
author: Claudia Gray
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fallen Star (Star Wars: The High Republic)]]> 58640884 In this gripping sequel to Star Wars: The Rising Storm, the light of the Jedi faces its darkest hour.

Time and again, the vicious raiders known as the Nihil have sought to bring the golden age of the High Republic to a fiery end. Time and again, the High Republic has emerged battered and weary but victorious thanks to its Jedi protectors—and there is no monument to their cause grander than the Starlight Beacon.

Hanging like a jewel in the Outer Rim, the Beacon embodies the High Republic at the apex of its aspirations: a hub of culture and knowledge, a bright torch against the darkness of the unknown, and an extended hand of welcome to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As survivors and refugees flee the Nihil’s attacks, the Beacon and its crew stand ready to shelter and heal.

The grateful Knights and Padawans of the Jedi Order stationed there finally have a chance to recover—from the pain of their injuries and the grief of their losses. But the storm they thought had passed still rages; they are simply caught in its eye. Marchion Ro, the true mastermind of the Nihil, is preparing his most daring attack yet—one designed to snuff out the light of the Jedi.]]> 345 Claudia Gray 0593355393 Kristin 5 4.06 2022 The Fallen Star (Star Wars: The High Republic)
author: Claudia Gray
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Weyward 60654349 I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.]]> 329 Emilia Hart 125028080X Kristin 0 to-read 4.03 2023 Weyward
author: Emilia Hart
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Unmaking of June Farrow 66087062 A woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.]]> 320 Adrienne Young 0593598679 Kristin 0 to-read 4.13 2023 The Unmaking of June Farrow
author: Adrienne Young
name: Kristin
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>