Kristina's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 07 Apr 2025 22:32:43 -0700 60 Kristina's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within]]> 9923549 An acclaimed Turkish novelist's personal account of balancing a writer's life with a mother's life.

After the birth of her first child in 2006, Turkish writer Elif Shafek suffered from postpartum depression that triggered a profound personal crisis. Infused with guilt, anxiety, and bewilderment about whether she could ever be a good mother, Shafak stopped writing and lost her faith in words altogether. In this elegantly written memoir, she retraces her journey from free-spirited, nomadic artist to dedicated but emotionally wrought mother. Identifying a constantly bickering harem of women who live inside of her, each with her own characteristics--the cynical intellectual, the goal-oriented go-getter, the practical-rational, the spiritual, the maternal, and the lustful--she craves harmony, or at least a unifying identity. As she intersperses her own experience with the lives of prominent authors such as Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Alice Walker, Ayn Rand, and Zelda Fitzgerald, Shafak looks for a solution to the inherent conflict between artistic creation and responsible parenting.

With searing emotional honesty and an incisive examination of cultural mores within patriarchal societies, Shafak has rendered an important work about literature, motherhood, and spiritual well-being.]]> 267 Elif Shafak 0670022640 Kristina 0 to-read 3.83 2007 Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within
author: Elif Shafak
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Daily Rituals: How Artists Work]]> 15799151
Franz Kafka, frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.�

Kafka is one of 161 minds who describe their daily rituals to get their work done, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his “male configurations�.... Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day ... Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced “every pleasure imaginable.�

Here are: Anthony Trollope, who demanded of himself that each morning he write three thousand words (250 words every fifteen minutes for three hours) before going off to his job at the postal service, which he kept for thirty-three years during the writing of more than two dozen books ... Karl Marx ... Woody Allen ... Agatha Christie ... George Balanchine, who did most of his work while ironing ... Leo Tolstoy ... Charles Dickens ... Pablo Picasso ... George Gershwin, who, said his brother Ira, worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers....

Here also are the daily rituals of Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, John Updike, Twyla Tharp, Benjamin Franklin, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Anne Rice, and Igor Stravinsky (he was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to “clear the brain�).]]> 278 Mason Currey 0307273601 Kristina 0 to-read 3.67 2013 Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
author: Mason Currey
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> There Are Rivers in the Sky 202468422 From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.�]]> 464 Elif Shafak 0593801717 Kristina 0 4.39 2024 There Are Rivers in the Sky
author: Elif Shafak
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: currently-reading, audio-book, cultural, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance]]> 27213329
Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, other factors can be even more crucial such as identifying our passions and following through on our commitments.

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently bemoaned her lack of smarts, Duckworth describes her winding path through teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not genius, but a special blend of passion and long-term perseverance. As a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth created her own character lab and set out to test her theory.

Here, she takes readers into the field to visit teachers working in some of the toughest schools, cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she's learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers; from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to the cartoon editor of The New Yorker to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll.

Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that not talent or luck makes all the difference.]]> 277 Angela Duckworth 1443442313 Kristina 0 4.07 2016 Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
author: Angela Duckworth
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: currently-reading, audio-book, inspirational, non-fiction, personal-development, psychology, useful
review:

]]> Low Carb Cookbook 9388222 256 Anouska Jones 174045393X Kristina 2 Otherwise nice format, there are three sections: under 5g, 6-10g, 11-15g, and each has starters, mains and desserts. There is a photo of every dish, and that sums everything good I can say about it.
The recipes are too elaborated in my opinion. You need to do a lot of stuffing, cutting, cooking, putting things together, etc.]]> 2.00 2004 Low Carb Cookbook
author: Anouska Jones
name: Kristina
average rating: 2.00
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:
In short: mainly meat.
Otherwise nice format, there are three sections: under 5g, 6-10g, 11-15g, and each has starters, mains and desserts. There is a photo of every dish, and that sums everything good I can say about it.
The recipes are too elaborated in my opinion. You need to do a lot of stuffing, cutting, cooking, putting things together, etc.
]]> <![CDATA[Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong]]> 31706504 Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Eric Barker reveals the extraordinary science behind what actually determines success and most importantly, how anyone can achieve it. You’ll learn:


� Why valedictorians rarely become millionaires, and how your biggest weakness might actually be your greatest strength
� Whether nice guys finish last and why the best lessons about cooperation come from gang members, pirates, and serial killers

� Why trying to increase confidence fails and how Buddhist philosophy holds a superior solution
� The secret ingredient to “grit� that Navy SEALs and disaster survivors leverage to keep going
� How to find work-life balance using the strategy of Genghis Khan, the errors of Albert Einstein, and a little lesson from Spider-Man

By looking at what separates the extremely successful from the rest of us, we learn what we can do to be more like them—and find out in some cases why it’s good that we aren’t. Barking Up the Wrong Tree draws on startling statistics and surprising anecdotes to help you understand what works and what doesn’t so you can stop guessing at success and start living the life you want.]]> 224 Eric Barker 0062416170 Kristina 0 to-read 4.06 2017 Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong
author: Eric Barker
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood]]> 62217096 A radical new examination of the transition into motherhood and how it affects the mind, brain and body

During pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo a far-reaching physiological, psychological and social metamorphosis. Other than during adolescence, there is no other time in a human's life with such dramatic change, yet science, medicine, and philosophy have neglected this life-altering transition. Its seismic effects go largely unrepresented across literature and the arts. Speaking about motherhood as anything other than a pastel-hued dream remains, for the most part, taboo.

In this ground-breaking, deeply personal investigation, acclaimed journalist and author Lucy Jones brings to light the emerging concept of 'matrescence'. Drawing on new research across various fields—neuroscience and evolutionary biology; psychoanalysis and existential therapy; sociology, economics and ecology—Jones shows how the changes in the maternal mind, brain, and body are far more profound, wild, and enduring than we have been led to believe. She reveals the dangerous consequences of our neglect of the maternal experience, and interrogates the patriarchal and capitalist systems that have created the untenable situation mothers face today.

Here is an urgent examination of the modern institution of motherhood that seeks to unshackle all parents from oppressive social norms. As it deepens our understanding of matrescence, it raises vital questions about motherhood and femininity; interdependence and individual identity; and our relationships with each other and the world.]]> 310 Lucy Jones 0241513480 Kristina 0 to-read 4.46 2023 Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood
author: Lucy Jones
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Never Let Me Go 6334
Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.]]> 288 Kazuo Ishiguro 1400078776 Kristina 5
�

]]> 3.85 2005 Never Let Me Go
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: audio-book, book-club, dystopian-fiction, fiction, relationships, to-write-a-review
review:
Poignant and beautifully written.

�


]]> <![CDATA[How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 (The How To Talk Series)]]> 29430725
A must-have resource for anyone who lives or works with young kids, with an introduction by Adele Faber, coauthor of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk , the international mega-bestseller The Boston Globe dubbed “The Parenting Bible.�

For over thirty-five years, parents have turned to How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk for its respectful and effective solutions to the unending challenges of raising children. Now, in response to growing demand, Adele’s daughter, Joanna Faber, along with Julie King, tailor How to Talk’s powerful communication skills to children ages two to seven.

Faber and King, each a parenting expert in her own right, share their wisdom accumulated over years of conducting How To Talk workshops with parents and a broad variety of professionals. With a lively combination of storytelling, cartoons, and fly-on-the-wall discussions from their workshops, they provide concrete tools and tips that will transform your relationship with the young kids in your life.

What do you do with a little kid who…won’t brush her teeth…screams in his car seat…pinches the baby...refuses to eat vegetables…throws books in the library...runs rampant in the supermarket? Organized according to common challenges and conflicts, this book is an essential emergency first-aid manual of communication strategies, including a chapter that addresses the special needs of children with sensory processing and autism spectrum disorders.

This user-friendly guide will empower parents and caregivers of young children to forge rewarding, joyful relationships with terrible two-year-olds, truculent three-year-olds, ferocious four-year-olds, foolhardy five-year-olds, self-centered six-year-olds, and the occasional semi-civilized seven-year-old. And, it will help little kids grow into self-reliant big kids who are cooperative and connected to their parents, teachers, siblings, and peers.]]> 385 Joanna Faber 1501131656 Kristina 0 to-read 4.38 2017 How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 (The How To Talk Series)
author: Joanna Faber
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting (The Peaceful Parent Series)]]> 13542640
Based on the latest research on brain development and extensive clinical experience with parents, Dr. Laura Markham’s approach is as simple as it is effective. Her message: Fostering emotional connection with your child creates real and lasting change. When you have that vital connection, you don’t need to threaten, nag, plead, bribe—or even punish.

This remarkable guide will help parents better understand their own emotions—and get them in check—so they can parent with healthy limits, empathy, and clear communication to raise a self-disciplined child. Step-by-step examples give solutions and kid-tested phrasing for parents of toddlers rightthrough the elementary years.

If you’re tired of power struggles, tantrums, and searching for the right “consequence,� look no further. You’re about to discover the practical tools you need to transform your parenting in a positive, proven way.]]> 276 Laura Markham 0399160280 Kristina 0 to-read 4.20 2012 Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting (The Peaceful Parent Series)
author: Laura Markham
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Source Code: My Beginnings 213034913 The origin story of one of the most influential and transformative business leaders and philanthropists of the modern age.

The business triumphs of Bill Gates are widely known: the twenty-year-old who dropped out of Harvard to start a software company that became an industry giant and changed the way the world works and lives; the billionaire many times over who turned his attention to philanthropic pursuits to address climate change, global health, and U.S. education.

Source Code is not about Microsoft or the Gates Foundation or the future of technology. It’s the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today: his childhood, his early passions and pursuits. It’s the story of his principled grandmother and ambitious parents, his first deep friendships and the sudden death of his best friend; of his struggles to fit in and his discovery of a world of coding and computers in the dawn of a new era; of embarking in his early teens on a path that took him from midnight escapades at a nearby computer center to his college dorm room, where he sparked a revolution that would change the world.

Bill Gates tells this, his own story, for the first time: wise, warm, revealing, it’s a fascinating portrait of an American life.]]> 336 Bill Gates 059380158X Kristina 0 to-read 4.07 2025 Source Code: My Beginnings
author: Bill Gates
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
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 Kristina 0 to-read 4.35 2022 Remarkably Bright Creatures
author: Shelby Van Pelt
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Intermezzo 208931300 An exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family—but especially love—from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney.

Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.

Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent, and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women—his enduring first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude—a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.]]> 454 Sally Rooney 0374602638 Kristina 4 3.88 2024 Intermezzo
author: Sally Rooney
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: audio-book, book-club, fiction, love, page-turner, psychology, relationships, to-write-a-review
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science & Poetry]]> 207568356 The Universe in Verseis an ode to wonder and an exploration of the human search for truth and meaning. Poetry and science, as Popova writes in her introduction, "are instruments for knowing the world more intimately and loving it more deeply."In 15 short essays on subjects ranging from the mystery of dark matter and the infinity of pi to the resilience of trees and the intelligence of octopuses, Popova tells the stories of scientific searching and discovery. These stories are interwoven with details from the very real and human lives of scientists—many of them women, many underrecognized—and poets inspired by the same questions and the beauty they reveal.Each essay is paired with a poem reflecting its subject by poets ranging fromEmily Dickinson,W. H. Auden,and Edna St. Vincent Millay to Maya Angelou, Diane Ackerman, and Tracy K. Smith,and is stunningly illustrated by celebrated artist Ofra Amit. Together, they wake us to a "reality aglow with wonder."]]> 112 Maria Popova 1635868831 Kristina 5
***

I'm SO delighted to have read these exquisite odes to Cosmic and Earth wonders!
This book brought so much light and awe to my postpartum days. It is such a beautiful and valuable book. Thank you, Universe, Maria Popova and the illustrator Ofra Amit! ]]> 4.24 2024 The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science & Poetry
author: Maria Popova
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: books-i-own, essays, i-am-so-excited, inspirational, poetry, perfect-gift, art, educational, favorites, historical, non-fiction, science, short-stories, to-write-a-review
review:
I would like to give this book as many ŷ stars as the stars in the Andromeda galaxy. :)

***

I'm SO delighted to have read these exquisite odes to Cosmic and Earth wonders!
This book brought so much light and awe to my postpartum days. It is such a beautiful and valuable book. Thank you, Universe, Maria Popova and the illustrator Ofra Amit!
]]> <![CDATA[The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon, #6)]]> 223889699
But Prague is an old and dangerous city, steeped in folklore and mystery. For over two thousand years, the tides of history have washed back and forth over it, leaving behind echoes of everything that has gone before. Little can Langdon know that he is being stalked by a spectre from that dark past. He must use all of his arcane knowledge to decipher the world around him before he too is consumed by the rings of treachery and deception that have swallowed Katherine.

Against a backdrop of vast castles, towering churches, graveyards buried twelve deep and labyrinthine underground passages, Langdon must navigate a shadow city hiding in plain sight, a city which has successfully kept its secrets for centuries and will not readily deliver them. This is a battlefield unlike any he has previously experienced, one on which he must fight not for his only life, but for the future of humanity itself.

The Secret Of Secrets is Dan Brown’s first novel for over eight years and sees the stunning return of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time pitting his wits against a conspiracy which will test even his considerable brainpower and take him to the edge of losing all that he holds dear…]]> 688 Dan Brown 0385546890 Kristina 0 to-read 4.80 2025 The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon, #6)
author: Dan Brown
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.80
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Breakfast At Tiffany's 58507301
ترومن کاپوتی رمان کوتاه صبحانه در تیفانی را در سال ۱۹۵۸ منتشر کرد. هالی گولایتلی، شخصیت اصلی رمان، مشهورترین شخصیتی شد که کاپوتی خلق کرده و همچنین یکی از مشهورترین شخصیت‌ها� تاریخ ادبیات امریکا. نثر کاپوتی در این رمان را هم می‌توا� اوج پختگی نثر او دانست، تا جایی که همین کتاب باعث شد نورمن میلر، نویسنده‌� هم‌دوره‌� کاپوتی، او را «کامل‌تری� نویسنده‌� نسل من» بنامد.
بلیک ادواردز، کارگردان امریکایی، فیلمی از روی این رمان ساخت که با آن‌ک� مثل یبش‌ت� اقتباس‌ها� سینمایی از رمان ضعیف‌ت� است، باعث شهرت بیش از پیش رمان شد. نقش هالی گولایتلی در این فیلم را ادری هپبورن بازی می‌کر� که آن شخصیت هم یکی از به‌یادماندنی‌تری� شخصیت‌ها� سینمایی تاریخ است.]]> 160 Truman Capote Kristina 4 3.69 1958 Breakfast At Tiffany's
author: Truman Capote
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1958
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Being You: A New Science of Consciousness]]> 53036979 Being You is not as simple as it sounds. Somehow, within each of our brains, billions of neurons work to create our conscious experience. How does this happen? Why do we experience life in the first person? After over twenty years researching the brain, world-renowned neuroscientist Anil Seth puts forward a radical new theory of consciousness and self. His unique theory of what it means to 'be you' challenges our understanding of perception and reality and it turns what you thought you knew about yourself on its head.]]> 352 Anil Seth 0571337708 Kristina 0 to-read 4.07 2020 Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
author: Anil Seth
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Art of Loving 14142
Most people are unable to love on the only level that truly matters: love that is compounded of maturity, self-knowledge, and courage. As with every art, love demands practice and concentration, as well as genuine insight and understanding.

In his classic work, The Art of Loving, renowned psychoanalyst and social philosopher Erich Fromm explores love in all its aspects—not only romantic love, steeped in false conceptions and lofty expectations, but also brotherly love, erotic love, self-love, the love of God, and the love of parents for their children.]]> 180 Erich Fromm 0061129739 Kristina 0 to-read 4.05 1956 The Art of Loving
author: Erich Fromm
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love, and Happiness (Updated and Expanded Edition)]]> 41150537
In this newly revised and expanded edition of The Emotion Code , renowned holistic physician and lecturer Dr. Bradley Nelson skillfully lays bare the inner workings of the subconscious mind. He reveals how emotionally-charged events from your past can still be haunting you in the form of "trapped emotions"―emotional energies that literally inhabit your body. These trapped emotions can fester in your life and body, creating pain, malfunction, and eventual disease. They can also extract a heavy mental and emotional toll on you, impacting how you think, the choices that you make, and the level of success and abundance you are able to achieve. Perhaps most damaging of all, trapped emotional energies can gather around your heart, cutting off your ability to give and receive love.

The Emotion Code is a powerful and simple way to rid yourself of this unseen baggage. Dr. Nelson’s method gives you the tools to identify and release the trapped emotions in your life, eliminating your “emotional baggage,� and opening your heart and body to the positive energies of the world. Filled with real-world examples from many years of clinical practice, The Emotion Code is a distinct and authoritative work that has become a classic on self-healing.]]> 352 Bradley Nelson 1250214505 Kristina 0 to-read 3.86 2007 The Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love, and Happiness (Updated and Expanded Edition)
author: Bradley Nelson
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Kristina 0 to-read 4.15 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho]]> 150253 416 Sappho 1844080811 Kristina 0 currently-reading 4.44 -550 If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
author: Sappho
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.44
book published: -550
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model]]> 55384168 Discover an empowering new way of understanding your multifaceted mind—and healing the many parts that make you who you are.

Is there just one “you�? We’ve been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we think we should be. Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind� theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds—or parts,� says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us—and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.�

Dr. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has been transforming psychology for decades. With No Bad Parts, you’ll learn why IFS has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment—and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives. Here you’ll explore:

� The IFS revolution—how honoring and communicating with our parts changes our approach to mental wellness
� Overturning the cultural, scientific, and spiritual assumptions that reinforce an outdated mono-mind model
� The ego, the inner critic, the saboteur—making these often-maligned parts into powerful allies
� Burdens—why our parts become distorted and stuck in childhood traumas and cultural beliefs
� How IFS demonstrates human goodness by revealing that there are no bad parts
� The Self—discover your wise, compassionate essence of goodness that is the source of healing and harmony
� Exercises for mapping your parts, accessing the Self, working with a challenging protector, identifying each part’s triggers, and more

IFS is a paradigm-changing model because it gives us a powerful approach for healing ourselves, our culture, and our planet. As Dr. Schwartz teaches, “Our parts can sometimes be disruptive or harmful, but once they’re unburdened, they return to their essential goodness. When we learn to love all our parts, we can learn to love all people—and that will contribute to healing the world.�

]]> 216 Richard C. Schwartz 1683646681 Kristina 0 to-read 4.13 2021 No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model
author: Richard C. Schwartz
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Kristina 4 3.67 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: audio-book, fiction, japan, magical-realism, page-turner, to-write-a-review
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Kristina 0 to-read 4.36 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children]]> 7103545 300 Shefali Tsabary 1897238452 Kristina 0 to-read 4.27 2010 The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children
author: Shefali Tsabary
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wuthering Heights 6185 You can find the redesigned cover of this edition HERE.

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

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

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

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

A Chronology and updated Selected Bibliography are also included.]]> 464 Emily Brontë Kristina 4 3.89 1847 Wuthering Heights
author: Emily Brontë
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1847
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: audio-book, classics, fiction, historical-fiction, to-write-a-review
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Man: King of Mind, Body, and Circumstance]]> 7550828 108 James Allen 1602061831 Kristina 5 3.83 1911 Man: King of Mind, Body, and Circumstance
author: James Allen
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1911
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: audio-book, educational, guide, happiness, inspirational, non-fiction, philosophy, personal-development, self-improvement, short-stories, spiritual, to-write-a-review, transhumanism, useful
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Дневник на младия комикс художник]]> 59146273 73 Анна Цочева 6191886756 Kristina 5 5.00 Дневник на младия комикс художник
author: Анна Цочева
name: Kristina
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/05
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: books-i-own, contemporary, educational, graphic-novels, guide, inspirational, non-fiction, perfect-gift, to-write-a-review, useful
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way to Overcome Them]]> 270435 Heal Your Body is a fresh and easy step-by-step guide. Just look up your specific health challenge and you will find the probable cause for this health issue and the information you need to overcome it by creating a new thought pattern.]]> 96 Louise L. Hay 0937611352 Kristina 5 4.35 1976 Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way to Overcome Them
author: Louise L. Hay
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1976
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: biohacking, educational, guide, health, happiness, inspirational, kindle, mental-health, non-fiction, non-muggle, personal-development, psychology, spiritual, to-write-a-review, useful, want-paper-copy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Aunt Jeanne (English and French Edition)]]> 140607 154 Georges Simenon 0151097925 Kristina 3 3.81 1972 Aunt Jeanne (English and French Edition)
author: Georges Simenon
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1972
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, to-write-a-review
review:

]]> The Truth About Bebe Donge 1057016 176 Georges Simenon 0151913196 Kristina 5 3.74 1942 The Truth About Bebe Donge
author: Georges Simenon
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1942
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: fiction, mystery, page-turner, psychology, short-stories, to-write-a-review
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You]]> 26533127 New York Times bestselling author Dr. Joseph Mercola.

Achieve more with less The secret to weight loss, fitness, and wellness lies in the most basic and most overlooked function of your body—how you breathe. One of the biggest obstacles to better health and fitness is a rarely identified chronic over-breathing. We often take many more breaths than we need—without realizing it—contributing to poor health and fitness, including a host of disorders, from anxiety and asthma to insomnia and heart problems.

In The Oxygen Advantage, the man who has trained over 5,000 people—including Olympic and professional athletes—in reduced breathing exercises now shares his scientifically validated techniques to help you breathe more efficiently. Patrick McKeown teaches you the fundamental relationship between oxygen and the body, then gets you started with a Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) to determine how efficiently your body uses oxygen. He then shows you how to increase your BOLT score by using light breathing exercises and learning how to simulate high altitude training, a technique used by Navy SEALs and professional athletes to help increase endurance, weight loss, and vital red blood cells to dramatically improve cardio-fitness.

Following his program, even the most out-of-shape person (including those with chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma) can climb stairs, run for a bus, or play soccer without gasping for air, and everyone can


Easy weight loss and weight maintenance Improved sleep and energy Increased concentration Reduced breathlessness during exercise Heightened athletic performance Improved cardiovascular health Elimination of asthmatic symptoms, and more.
With The Oxygen Advantage, you can look better, feel better, and do more—it’s as easy as breathing.]]> 360 Patrick McKeown 0062349481 Kristina 5 4.01 2015 The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You
author: Patrick McKeown
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: audio-book, biohacking, educational, guide, health, inspirational, non-fiction, personal-development, to-write-a-review, useful
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth]]> 6493321 This graphic novel recounts the spiritual odyssey of philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his agonized search for absolute truth, he crosses paths with thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert & Kurt Gödel, & finds a passionate student in Ludwig Wittgenstein. But his most ambitious goal—to establish unshakable logical foundations of mathematics—continues to loom before him. Thru love & hate, peace & war, he persists in the mission threatening to claim both his career & happiness, finally driving him to the brink of insanity.
This story is at the same time a historical novel & an accessible explication of some of the biggest ideas of mathematics & modern philosophy. With rich characterizations & atmospheric artwork, it spins the pursuit of such ideas into a satisfying tale.
Probing, layered, the book throws light on Russell’s inner struggles while setting them in the context of the timeless questions he tried to answer. At its heart, Logicomix is a story about the conflict between ideal rationality & the flawed fabric of reality.]]> 347 Apostolos Doxiadis 1596914521 Kristina 0 to-read 4.05 2009 Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
author: Apostolos Doxiadis
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body]]> 34272471 Two New York Times-bestselling authors unveil new research showing what meditation can really do for the brain.

In the last twenty years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from your weight to your relationship to your achievement level. Unveiling here the kind of cutting-edge research that has made them giants in their fields, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson show us the truth about what meditation can really do for us, as well as exactly how to get the most out of it.

Sweeping away common misconceptions and neuromythology to open readers' eyes to the ways data has been distorted to sell mind-training methods, the authors demonstrate that beyond the pleasant states mental exercises can produce, the real payoffs are the lasting personality traits that can result. But short daily doses will not get us to the highest level of lasting positive change--even if we continue for years--without specific additions. More than sheer hours, we need smart practice, including crucial ingredients such as targeted feedback from a master teacher and a more spacious, less attached view of the self, all of which are missing in widespread versions of mind training. The authors also reveal the latest data from Davidson's own lab that point to a new methodology for developing a broader array of mind-training methods with larger implications for how we can derive the greatest benefits from the practice.

Exciting, compelling, and grounded in new research, this is one of those rare books that has the power to change us at the deepest level.]]> 336 Daniel Goleman 0399184384 Kristina 0 to-read 3.87 2017 Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
author: Daniel Goleman
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work]]> 30317415 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

CNBC and Strategy + Business Best Business Book of 2017


It’s the biggest revolution you’ve never heard of, and it’s hiding in plain sight. Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, Special Operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising short cut. They're harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition.

New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler and high performance expert Jamie Wheal spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution—from the home of SEAL Team Six to the Googleplex, the Burning Man festival, Richard Branson’s Necker Island, Red Bull’s training center, Nike’s innovation team, and the United Nations� Headquarters. And what they learned was stunning: In their own ways, with differing languages, techniques, and applications, every one of these groups has been quietly seeking the same thing: the boost in information and inspiration that altered states provide.

Today, this revolution is spreading to the mainstream, fueling a trillion dollar underground economy and forcing us to rethink how we can all lead richer, more productive, more satisfying lives. Driven by four accelerating forces—psychology, neurobiology, technology and pharmacology—we are gaining access to and insights about some of the most contested and misunderstood terrain in history. Stealing Fire is a provocative examination of what’s actually possible; a guidebook for anyone who wants to radically upgrade their life.]]> 304 Steven Kotler 0062429671 Kristina 0 to-read 3.91 2017 Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
author: Steven Kotler
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens & the I Ching]]> 191375 256 Terence McKenna 0062506358 Kristina 0 to-read 3.98 1975 The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens & the I Ching
author: Terence McKenna
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Teachings of All Ages]]> 183683 A classic since 1928, this masterly encyclopedia of ancient mythology, ritual, symbolism, and the arcane mysteries of the ages is available for the first time in a compact "reader's edition."

Like no other book of the twentieth century, Manly P. Hall's legendary The Secret Teachings of All Ages is a codex to the ancient occult and esoteric traditions of the world. Students of hidden wisdom, ancient symbols, and arcane practices treasure Hall's magnum opus above all other works.

While many thousands of copies have sold since its initial publication in 1928, The Secret Teachings of All Ages has previously been available only in oversized, expensive editions. For the first time, Hall's celebrated classic is now published in an affordable trade paperback volume. Literally hundreds of entries shine a rare light on some of the most fascinating and closely held aspects of myth, religion, and philosophy from throughout the centuries.

More than one hundred line drawings and a sixteen-page color insert reproduce some of the finest illustrations of the original book, while reset and reformatted text makes this edition of The Secret Teachings of All Ages newly accessible to readers everywhere.]]> 768 Manly P. Hall 1585422509 Kristina 4 4.26 1928 The Secret Teachings of All Ages
author: Manly P. Hall
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/05
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read, audio-book, books-about-books, historical, non-fiction, philosophy, spiritual, to-write-a-review, wish-list
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everything Is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World]]> 199798096
At its simplest, Bayes’s theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. But in Everything Is Predictable, Tom Chivers lays out how it affects every aspect of our lives. He explains why highly accurate screening tests can lead to false positives and how a failure to account for it in court has put innocent people in jail. A cornerstone of rational thought, many argue that Bayes’s theorem is a description of almost everything.

But who was the man who lent his name to this theorem? How did an 18th-century Presbyterian minister and amateur mathematician uncover a theorem that would affect fields as diverse as medicine, law, and artificial intelligence?

Fusing biography, razor-sharp science writing, and intellectual history, Everything Is Predictable is an entertaining tour of Bayes’s theorem and its impact on modern life, showing how a single compelling idea can have far reaching consequences.]]> 384 Tom Chivers 1668052601 Kristina 0 to-read 4.00 2024 Everything Is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World
author: Tom Chivers
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity]]> 200128457
Math has a reputation for being inaccessible. People think that it requires a special gift or that comprehension is a matter of genes. Yet the greatest mathematicians throughout history, from René Descartes to Alexander Grothendieck, have insisted that this is not the case. Like Albert Einstein, who famously claimed to have “no special talent,� they said that they had accomplished what they did using ordinary human doubts, weaknesses, curiosity, and imagination.

David Bessis offers an illuminating guide toward deeper mathematical comprehension and reconnects us with the mental plasticity we experienced as children. With simple, concrete examples, Bessis shows how mathematical comprehension is integral to the great learning milestones of life, such as learning to see, to speak, to walk, and to eat with a spoon.

Focusing on the deeply human roots of mathematics, Bessis dispels the myths of mathematical genius and offers an engaging initiation into the experience of math not as a series of discouragingly incomprehensible logic problems but as a physical activity akin to yoga, meditation, or a martial art. He opens the door to changing the way you think not only about math but about intelligence, intuition, and everything that goes on inside your head.]]> 344 David Bessis 0300270887 Kristina 0 to-read 4.33 Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity
author: David Bessis
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When You're Ready, This Is How You Heal]]> 60153064 Healing is not a one-time event.

It can begin with a one-time event � typically some form of sudden loss that disrupts our projection of what the future might be. However, the true work of healing is allowing that disruption to wake us from a deep state of unconsciousness, to release the personas we adapted into and begin consciously piecing together the full truth of who we were meant to be.

In her follow up collection to the international bestseller 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, Brianna Wiest shares 45+ new pieces that will help you find your inner sanctum and embark on the path of true transformation. Wiest's words are a balm for any soul on the journey of their own becoming.]]> 235 Brianna Wiest Kristina 0 to-read 4.25 2022 When You're Ready, This Is How You Heal
author: Brianna Wiest
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Secret of the Golden Flower 152055510 Richard Wilhelm Kristina 0 to-read 4.75 Secret of the Golden Flower
author: Richard Wilhelm
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer]]> 13203
Celebrations is a collection of timely and timeless poems that are an integral part of the global fabric. Several works have become nearly as iconic as Angelou herself: the inspiring “On the Pulse of Morning,� read at President William Jefferson Clinton’s 1993 inauguration; the heartening “Amazing Peace,� presented at the 2005 lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House; “A Brave and Startling Truth,� which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations; and “Mother,� which beautifully honors the first woman in our lives. Angelou writes of celebrations public and private, a bar mitzvah wish to her nephew, a birthday greeting to Oprah Winfrey, and a memorial tribute to the late Luther Vandross and Barry White.

More than a writer, Angelou is a chronicler of history, an advocate for peace, and a champion for the planet, as well as a patriot, a mentor, and a friend. To be shared and cherished, the wisdom and poetry of Maya Angelou proves there is always cause for celebration.]]> 128 Maya Angelou 1400066107 Kristina 0 to-read 4.18 2006 Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer
author: Maya Angelou
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Age of Innocence 53835 The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people “dreaded scandal more than disease.�

This is Newland Archer’s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.]]> 293 Edith Wharton 159308143X Kristina 0 to-read 3.96 1920 The Age of Innocence
author: Edith Wharton
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1920
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Half of a Yellow Sun 18749 A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,� Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed.

With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.]]> 435 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 1400044162 Kristina 0 to-read 4.34 2006 Half of a Yellow Sun
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Home Fire 33621427
Then Eamonn enters the sisters� lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to—or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz’s salvation? Suddenly, two families� fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined, in this searing novel that asks: What sacrifices will we make in the name of love?

The suspenseful and heartbreaking story of an immigrant family driven to pit love against loyalty, with devastating consequences ]]> 276 Kamila Shamsie 0735217688 Kristina 0 to-read 4.00 2017 Home Fire
author: Kamila Shamsie
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)]]> 13642
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.]]> 183 Ursula K. Le Guin Kristina 0 to-read 4.02 1968 A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We're Going to Need More Wine 34884359 A powerful collection of essays about gender, sexuality, race, beauty, Hollywood, and what it means to be a modern woman.

One month before the release of the highly anticipated film The Birth of a Nation, actress Gabrielle Union shook the world with a vulnerable and impassioned editorial in which she urged our society to have compassion for victims of sexual violence. In the wake of rape allegations made against director and actor Nate Parker, Union—a forty-four-year-old actress who launched her career with roles in iconic �90s movies—instantly became the insightful, outspoken actress that Hollywood has been desperately awaiting. With honesty and heartbreaking wisdom, she revealed her own trauma as a victim of sexual assault: "It is for you that I am speaking. This is real. We are real."

In this moving collection of thought provoking essays infused with her unique wisdom and deep humor, Union uses that same fearlessness to tell astonishingly personal and true stories about power, color, gender, feminism, and fame. Union tackles a range of experiences, including bullying, beauty standards, and competition between women in Hollywood, growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her black relatives in Nebraska, coping with crushes, puberty, and the divorce of her parents. Genuine and perceptive, Union bravely lays herself bare, uncovering a complex and courageous life of self-doubt and self-discovery with incredible poise and brutal honesty. Throughout, she compels us to be ethical and empathetic, and reminds us of the importance of confidence, self-awareness, and the power of sharing truth, laughter, and support.

]]> 272 Gabrielle Union Kristina 0 to-read 4.18 2017 We're Going to Need More Wine
author: Gabrielle Union
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death]]> 205362868 How animals conceive of death and dying—and what it can teach us about our own relationships with mortality

When the opossum feels threatened, she becomes paralyzed. Her body temperature plummets, her breathing and heart rates drop to a minimum, and her glands simulate the smell of a putrefying corpse. Playing Possum explores what the opossum and other creatures can teach us about how we and other species understand mortality, and demonstrates that the concept of death, far from being a uniquely human attribute, is widespread in the animal kingdom.

With humor and empathy, Susana Monsó tells the stories of ants who attend their own funerals, chimpanzees who clean the teeth of their dead, dogs who snack on their caregivers, crows who avoid the places where they saw a carcass, elephants obsessed with collecting ivory, and whales who carry their dead for weeks. Monsó, one of today’s leading experts on animal cognition and ethics, shows how there are more ways to conceive of mortality than the human way, and challenges the notion that the only emotional reactions to death worthy of our attention are ones that resemble our own.

Blending philosophical insight with new evidence from behavioral science and comparative psychology, Playing Possum dispels the anthropocentric biases that cloud our understanding of the natural world, and reveals that, when it comes to death and dying, we are just another animal.]]> 264 Susana Monsó 0691260761 Kristina 0 to-read 3.47 2024 Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
author: Susana Monsó
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Here One Moment 208516656 If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.�

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.]]> 512 Liane Moriarty 0593798600 Kristina 0 to-read 3.99 2024 Here One Moment
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Having a Baby 7457437 152 NSW Dept. of Health Kristina 5 3.82 2006 Having a Baby
author: NSW Dept. of Health
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth]]> 75398063 The definitive contemporary category buster for a modern generation of mothers by the creator of the top-rating podcast and online hub, Australian Birth Stories.Australia's number 1 bestselling pregnancy book'Excellent and empowering . . . a must-read before conception.' Dr Lionel Steinberg, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist'A book full of the wisdom of birth stories. Accessible, conversational and wise . . . a celebration.' Hannah Dahlen AM, Professor of MidwiferyEverything you need as you journey through pregnancy and prepare for a positive birth experience.'I wish someone had told me!' It's a phrase uttered by countless women after they give birth for the first time. Here's the book that shares the wisdom of women and their birth stories, so that you can make informed and empowered decisions that are best for you.The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth draws on the expertise of dozens of doctors, midwives and other health specialists to offer the most comprehensive and up-to-date information about pregnancy, labour, birth and early postpartum in Australia. From making essential care decisions, asking questions of care providers and managing overwhelm to navigating physical changes and preparing for labour, this book is your trusted companion as you make the transition to motherhood. And among all the facts, stats and info is a lot of gentle and kind advice, including first-hand accounts of births, in all kinds of birth settings, from families of diverse backgrounds.On every page this book reminds you that your pregnancy matters, your labour matters, your birth matters.]]> 644 Sophie Walker 1761185993 Kristina 5 4.61 The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth
author: Sophie Walker
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.61
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/27
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Apples Never Fall 56143578 #1 New York Times Bestseller
A Peacock Original TV Series–Streaming Soon

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest

The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.]]> 467 Liane Moriarty 1250220254 Kristina 4 3.69 2021 Apples Never Fall
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Anthem 667 Anthem is Ayn Rand's classic tale of a dystopian future of the great "We"—a world that deprives individuals of a name or independence—that anticipates her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

They existed only to serve the state. They were conceived in controlled Palaces of Mating. They died in the Home of the Useless. From cradle to grave, the crowd was one—the great WE.

In all that was left of humanity, there was only one man who dared to think, seek, and love. He lived in the dark ages of the future. In a loveless world, he dared to love the woman of his choice. In an age that had lost all trace of science and civilization, he had the courage to seek and find knowledge. But these were not the crimes for which he would be hunted. He was marked for death because he had committed the unpardonable sin: He had stood forth from the mindless human herd. He was a man alone. He had rediscovered the lost and holy word—I.

"I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals, and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to these possibilities."
 —Ayn Rand]]> 105 Ayn Rand 0452281253 Kristina 4 3.59 1938 Anthem
author: Ayn Rand
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Ina May's Guide to Childbirth 32127
Drawing upon her thirty-plus years of experience, Ina May Gaskin, the nation’s leading midwife, shares the benefits and joys of natural childbirth by showing women how to trust in the ancient wisdom of their bodies for a healthy and fulfilling birthing experience. Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention.

Filled with inspiring birth stories and practical advice, this invaluable resource includes:

� Reducing the pain of labor without drugs—and the miraculous roles touch and massage play
� What really happens during labor
� Orgasmic birth—making birth pleasurable
� Episiotomy—is it really necessary?
� Common methods of inducing labor—and which to avoid at all costs
� Tips for maximizing your chances of an unmedicated labor and birth
� How to avoid postpartum bleeding—and depression
� The risks of anesthesia and cesareans—what your doctor
doesn’t necessarily tell you
� The best ways to work with doctors and/or birth care providers
� How to create a safe, comfortable environment for
birth in any setting, including a hospital
� And much more

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth takes the fear out of childbirth by restoring women’s faith in their own natural power to give birth with more ease, less pain, and less medical intervention.]]> 348 Ina May Gaskin 0553381156 Kristina 5 4.36 2003 Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
author: Ina May Gaskin
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cockatoos: Shorter Novels and Stories (Twentieth-Century Classics)]]> 1188382 288 Patrick White 0140185828 Kristina 0 to-read 3.62 1974 The Cockatoos: Shorter Novels and Stories (Twentieth-Century Classics)
author: Patrick White
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Good Inside: A Practical Guide to Resilient Parenting Prioritizing Connection Over Correction]]> 60817832
An Instant Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller

“This book is for any parent who has ever struggled under the substantial weight of caregiving—which is to say, all of us.Good Insideis not only a wise and practical guide to raising resilient, emotionally healthy kids, it’s also a supportive resource for overwhelmed parents who need more compassion and less stress. Dr. Becky is the smart, thoughtful, in-the-trenches parenting expert we’ve been waiting for!”—Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play and Find Your Unicorn Space

Dr. Becky Kennedy, wildly popular parenting expert and creator of @drbeckyatgoodinside, shares her groundbreaking approach to raising kids and offers practical strategies for parenting in a way that feels good.

Over the past severalyears, Dr. Becky Kennedy—known to her followers as “Dr. Becky”—has been sparking a parenting revolution. Millions of parents, tired of following advice that either doesn’t work or simply doesn’t feel good, have embraced Dr. Becky’s empowering and effective approach, a model that prioritizes connecting with our kids over correcting them.

Parents have long been sold a model of childrearing thatsimply doesn’t work. From reward charts to time outs, many popular parenting approaches are based onshaping behavior, not raising humans.Thesetechniques don’t build the skills kids need for life, or account fortheircomplex emotional needs. Add to that parents� complicated relationships with their own upbringings, and it’s easy to see why so many caretakers feel lost, burned out, and worried they’re failing their kids.InGood Inside, Dr. Becky shares her parenting philosophy, complete with actionable strategies, that will help parents move from uncertainty and self-blame to confidence and sturdy leadership.

Offering perspective-shiftingparenting principles and troubleshooting for specific scenarios—including sibling rivalry, separation anxiety, tantrums, and more—Good Insideis a comprehensive resource for a generation of parentslooking fora new way to raise their kidswhile still setting themupfor a lifetime of self-regulation, confidence, and resilience.]]> 332 Becky Kennedy Kristina 0 to-read 4.55 Good Inside: A Practical Guide to Resilient Parenting Prioritizing Connection Over Correction
author: Becky Kennedy
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health]]> 196848596 A bold new vision for optimizing our health now and in the future.

What if depression, anxiety, infertility, insomnia, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, dementia, cancer and many other health conditions that torture and shorten our lives actually have the same root cause?

Our ability to prevent and reverse these conditions - and feel incredible today - is under our control and simpler than we think. The key is our metabolic function - the most important and least understood factor in our overall health. As Dr. Casey Means explains in this groundbreaking book, nearly every health problem we face can be explained by how well the cells in our body create and use energy. To live free from frustrating symptoms and life-threatening disease, we need our cells to be optimally powered so that they can create "good energy," the essential fuel that impacts every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing.

If you are battling minor signals of "bad energy" inside your body, it is often a warning sign that more life-threatening illness may emerge later in life. But here's the good news: for the first time ever, we can monitor our metabolic health in great detail and learn how to improve it ourselves.

Weaving together cutting-edge research and personal stories, as well as groundbreaking data from the health technology company Dr. Means founded, Good Energy offers an essential four-week plan and explains:

� The five biomarkers that determine your risk for a deadly disease.
� How to use inexpensive tools and technology to "see inside your body" and take action.
� Why dietary philosophies are designed to confuse us, and six lifelong food principles you can implement whether you're carnivore or vegan.
� The crucial links between sleep, circadian rhythm, and metabolism.
� A new framework for exercise focused on building simple movement into everyday activities.
� How cold and heat exposure helps build our body's resilience.
� Steps to navigate the medical system to get what you need for optimal health.

Good Energy offers a new, cutting-edge understanding of the true cause of illness that until now has remained hidden. It will help you optimize your ability to live well and stay well at every age.]]> 400 Casey Means 0593712641 Kristina 0 to-read 4.15 2024 Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health
author: Casey Means
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Embroideries 9526
Embroideries gathers together Marjane’s tough–talking grandmother, stoic mother, glamorous and eccentric aunt and their friends and neighbors for an afternoon of tea drinking and talking. Naturally, the subject turns to love, sex and the vagaries of men.

As the afternoon progresses, these vibrant women share their secrets, their regrets and their often outrageous stories about, among other things, how to fake one’s virginity, how to escape an arranged marriage, how to enjoy the miracles of plastic surgery and how to delight in being a mistress. By turns revealing and hilarious, these are stories about the lengths to which some women will go to find a man, keep a man or, most important, keep up appearances.

Full of surprises, this introduction to the private lives of some fascinating women, whose life stories and lovers will strike us as at once deeply familiar and profoundly different from our own, is sure to bring smiles of recognition to the faces of women everywhere—and to teach us all a thing or two.]]> 144 Marjane Satrapi 0375714677 Kristina 0 to-read 3.92 2003 Embroideries
author: Marjane Satrapi
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth]]> 196774338
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.

What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is.

We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.]]> 304 Zoë Schlanger 0063073854 Kristina 0 to-read 4.28 2024 The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth
author: Zoë Schlanger
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[French Children Don't Throw Food]]> 17119857
Who hasn't noticed how well-behaved French children are - compared to our own?

- How come French babies sleep through the night?

- Why do French children happily eat what is put in front of them?

- How can French mums chat to their friends while their children play quietly?

- Why are French mums more likely to be seen in skinny jeans than tracksuit bottoms?

Pamela Druckerman, who lives in Paris with three young children, has had years of observing her French friends and neighbours, and with wit and style, has written a memoir that is ideally placed to teach us the basics of parenting a la francaise.]]> 368 Pamela Druckerman 0552779180 Kristina 0 to-read 3.98 2012 French Children Don't Throw Food
author: Pamela Druckerman
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Feminisms: A Global History (Pelican Books)]]> 50742904
Feminism is the ongoing story of a profound historical transformation. Despite being repeatedly written off as a political movement that has achieved its aim of female liberation, it has been continually redefined as new generations of women campaign against the gender inequity of their age.

In this absorbing book, historian Lucy Delap challenges the simplistic narrative of 'feminist waves' - a sequence of ever more progressive updates ­- showing instead that feminists have been motivated by the specific concerns of their historical moment. Drawing on an extraordinary range of examples from Japan to Russia, Egypt to Germany, Delap explores different feminist projects to show that those who are part of this movement have not always agreed on a single programme. This diverse history of feminism, she argues, can help us better navigate current debates and controversies.

A tour de force from an award-winning expert, Feminisms shows that a rich relationship to the past can infuse today's activism with a sense possibility and inspiration.]]> 416 Lucy Delap 0241398142 Kristina 0 to-read 3.84 2020 Feminisms: A Global History (Pelican Books)
author: Lucy Delap
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Around the World in 80 Books 57866001 A transporting and illuminating voyage around the globe, through classic and modern literary works that are in conversation with one another and with the world around them

Inspired by Jules Verne’s hero Phileas Fogg, David Damrosch, chair of Harvard University’s department of comparative literature and founder of Harvard’s Institute for World Literature, set out to counter a pandemic's restrictions on travel by exploring eighty exceptional books from around the globe. Following a literary itinerary from London to Venice, Tehran and points beyond, and via authors from Woolf and Dante to Nobel Prize-winners Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mo Yan, and Olga Tokarczuk, he explores how these works have shaped our idea of the world, and the ways in which the world bleeds into literature.

To chart the expansive landscape of world literature today, Damrosch explores how writers live in two very different worlds: the world of their personal experience and the world of books that have enabled great writers to give shape and meaning to their lives. In his literary cartography, Damrosch includes compelling contemporary works as well as perennial classics, hard-bitten crime fiction as well as haunting works of fantasy, and the formative tales that introduce us as children to the world we’re entering. Taken together, these eighty titles offer us fresh perspective on enduring problems, from the social consequences of epidemics to the rising inequality that Thomas More designed Utopia to combat, as well as the patriarchal structures within and against which many of these books� heroines have to struggle--from the work of Murasaki Shikibu a millennium ago to Margaret Atwood today.

Around the World in 80 Books is a global invitation to look beyond ourselves and our surroundings, and to see our world and its literature in new ways.]]> 432 David Damrosch 0593299884 Kristina 0 to-read 3.61 2021 Around the World in 80 Books
author: David Damrosch
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Parenting the First Twelve Years: What the Evidence Tells Us (Pelican Books)]]> 41463798 Concrete, research-driven advice on humanity's oldest, hardest jobWhy is parenting so fraught and so difficult in today's society? There has never been a time when advice was so readily available, and yet there is also a prevailing sense that parents are getting it wrong. This book examines the arguments and counter-arguments supported by research on how best to parent children, from birth to twelve years. By taking an impartial approach to the evidence and, by discussing case studies from across the world and from a number of academic disciplines, this book is designed to show how good parenting comes in many shapes and forms.]]> 352 Victoria Cooper Kristina 0 to-read 3.72 Parenting the First Twelve Years: What the Evidence Tells Us (Pelican Books)
author: Victoria Cooper
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information]]> 39305829
These tantalizing questions are tackled by renowned American thinker John D. Caputo in this wide-reaching exploration of what the traditional term 'hermeneutics' can mean in a postmodern, twenty-first century world. As a contemporary of Derrida's and longstanding champion of rethinking the disciplines of theology and philosophy, for decades Caputo has been forming alliances across disciplines and drawing in readers with his compelling approach to what he calls "radical hermeneutics." In this new introduction, drawing upon a range of thinkers from Heidegger to the Parisian "1968ers" and beyond, he raises a series of probing questions about the challenges of life in the postmodern and maybe soon to be 'post-human' world.']]> 358 John D. Caputo Kristina 0 to-read 4.16 2018 Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information
author: John D. Caputo
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors]]> 39074550 An international bestseller

The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, "When am I ever going to use this in the real world?"

"Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining, Humble Pi is a charming and very readable guide to some of humanity's all-time greatest miscalculations--that also gives you permission to feel a little better about some of your own mistakes." --Ryan North, author of How to Invent Everything

Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn't. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences.

Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean.

Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.]]> 314 Matt Parker 0241360196 Kristina 0 to-read 4.11 2019 Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors
author: Matt Parker
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[For Small Creatures Such as We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in Our Unlikely World]]> 43983938
Sasha Sagan was raised by secular parents, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer Ann Druyan. They taught her that the natural world and vast cosmos are full of profound beauty, that science reveals truths more wondrous than any myth or fable.

When Sagan herself became a mother, she began her own hunt for the natural phenomena behind our most treasured occasions--from births to deaths, holidays to weddings, anniversaries, and more--growing these roots into a new set of rituals for her young daughter that honor the joy and significance of each experience without relying on religious framework.

As Sagan shares these rituals, For Small Creatures Such as We becomes a tribute to a father, a newborn daughter, a marriage, and the natural world--a celebration of life itself, and the power of our families and beliefs to bring us together.]]> 275 Sasha Sagan 0735218773 Kristina 0 to-read 4.10 2019 For Small Creatures Such as We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in Our Unlikely World
author: Sasha Sagan
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Midnight’s Children 14836 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,� all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts.

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight� s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.]]> 647 Salman Rushdie 0099578514 Kristina 0 to-read 3.98 1981 Midnight’s Children
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Little Life 22822858
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.]]> 720 Hanya Yanagihara 0385539258 Kristina 0 to-read 4.28 2015 A Little Life
author: Hanya Yanagihara
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Unaccustomed Earth 85301
In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations,� a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,� a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,� a trio of linked stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.

Unaccustomed Earth is rich with Jhumpa Lahiri’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.]]> 352 Jhumpa Lahiri 0676979343 Kristina 0 to-read 4.14 2008 Unaccustomed Earth
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food]]> 6400653 Deep Nutrition illustrates how our ancestors used nourishment to sculpt their anatomy, engineering bodies of extraordinary health and beauty. The length of our limbs, the shape of our eyes, and the proper function of our organs are all gifts of our ancestor's collective culinary wisdom. Citing the foods of traditional cultures from the Ancient Egyptians and the Maasai to the Japanese and the French, the Shanahans identify four food categories all the world's healthiest diets have in common, the Four Pillars of World Cuisine.

Using the latest research in physiology and genetics, Dr. Shanahan explains why your family's health depends on eating these foods. In a world of competing nutritional ideologies, Deep Nutrition gives us the full picture, empowering us to take control of our destiny in ways we might never have imagined.]]> 322 Catherine Shanahan 0615228380 Kristina 0 to-read 4.17 2008 Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food
author: Catherine Shanahan
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Razor’s Edge 31196 314 W. Somerset Maugham 1400034205 Kristina 0 to-read 4.20 1944 The Razor’s Edge
author: W. Somerset Maugham
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1944
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness]]> 55148500 The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a collection of Naval’s wisdom and experience from the last ten years, shared as a curation of his most insightful interviews and poignant reflections. This isn’t a how-to book, or a step-by-step gimmick. Instead, through Naval’s own words, you will learn how to walk your own unique path toward a happier, wealthier life.]]> 242 Eric Jorgenson 1544514204 Kristina 0 to-read, books-i-own 4.53 2020 The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
author: Eric Jorgenson
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves: to-read, books-i-own
review:

]]> Butter 200776812 The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer," Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.]]> 464 Asako Yuzuki 0063236400 Kristina 0 to-read 3.51 2017 Butter
author: Asako Yuzuki
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)]]> 16331 288 Agatha Christie 1579126251 Kristina 0 to-read 4.07 1930 Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1930
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Words That Hurt, Words That Heal: How to Choose Words Wisely and Well]]> 102345 240 Joseph Telushkin 0688163505 Kristina 0 to-read 4.38 1996 Words That Hurt, Words That Heal: How to Choose Words Wisely and Well
author: Joseph Telushkin
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Doors of Perception 3188964 The Doors of Perception is a philosophical essay, released as a book, by Aldous Huxley. First published in 1954, it details his experiences when taking mescaline.

The book takes the form of Huxley's recollection of a mescaline trip that took place over the course of an afternoon in May 1953. The book takes its title from a phrase in William Blake's 1793 poem 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'.

Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, which range from the "purely aesthetic" to "sacramental vision". He also incorporates later reflections on the experience and its meaning for art and religion.]]> 208 Aldous Huxley Kristina 5 "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite" (William Blake)

For a long time, I knew that one of my fav bands, "The Doors", has taken their name from this book, so I understood there would come a day in which I will read it. That day came last week, and since then, I've read it twice (it's a short book).

"The Doors of Perception" started curiously, and I liked the beginning. Then I thought, "Well, maybe it is not my cup of tea", and then I shifted to "Wow, this book is fantastic and eye-opening."

I would not say I'm interested in peyote, but I genuinely enjoyed how Aldous Huxley explains his transcendental journey to his inner self by consuming mescaline. He has many interesting thoughts and talks about art, music, religion, nature, education.

"Most men and women lead lives at the worst so painful, at the best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principal appetites of the soul. Art and religion, carnivals and saturnalia, dancing and listening to oratory -all these have served, in H. G. Wells's phrase, as Doors in the Wall. And for private, far everyday use there have always been chemical intoxicants. All the vegetable sedatives and narcotics, all the euphorics that grow on trees, the hallucinogens that ripen in berries or can be squeezed from roots -all, without exception, have been known and systematically used by human beings from time immemorial."


I'm sure I will re-read this book many times and maybe do a proper review. :)]]> 3.91 1956 The Doors of Perception
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1956
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/28
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: classics, essays, inspirational, non-fiction, non-muggle, philosophy, psychology, religion, spiritual, to-re-read, useful, want-paper-copy
review:
"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite" (William Blake)


For a long time, I knew that one of my fav bands, "The Doors", has taken their name from this book, so I understood there would come a day in which I will read it. That day came last week, and since then, I've read it twice (it's a short book).

"The Doors of Perception" started curiously, and I liked the beginning. Then I thought, "Well, maybe it is not my cup of tea", and then I shifted to "Wow, this book is fantastic and eye-opening."

I would not say I'm interested in peyote, but I genuinely enjoyed how Aldous Huxley explains his transcendental journey to his inner self by consuming mescaline. He has many interesting thoughts and talks about art, music, religion, nature, education.

"Most men and women lead lives at the worst so painful, at the best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principal appetites of the soul. Art and religion, carnivals and saturnalia, dancing and listening to oratory -all these have served, in H. G. Wells's phrase, as Doors in the Wall. And for private, far everyday use there have always been chemical intoxicants. All the vegetable sedatives and narcotics, all the euphorics that grow on trees, the hallucinogens that ripen in berries or can be squeezed from roots -all, without exception, have been known and systematically used by human beings from time immemorial."


I'm sure I will re-read this book many times and maybe do a proper review. :)
]]> Pachinko 29983711 Pachinko follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.

So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.]]> 490 Min Jin Lee 1455563935 Kristina 4 4.25 2017 Pachinko
author: Min Jin Lee
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: audio-book, book-club, cultural, historical, historical-fiction, to-write-a-review
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout]]> 197773418 Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload.

Our current definition of “productivity� is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers—from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe—Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,� a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for workers to replace them with a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.]]> 244 Cal Newport 0593544854 Kristina 0 to-read 3.65 2024 Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
author: Cal Newport
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection]]> 157981748 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593243916.

Who and what are supercommunicators? They're the people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offence. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They're brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. How do they do it?

In this groundbreaking book, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators to reveal the art - and the science - of successful communication. He unpicks the different types of everyday conversation and pinpoints why some go smoothly while others swiftly fall apart. He reveals the conversational questions and gambits that bring people together. And he shows how even the most tricky of encounters can be turned around. In the process, he shows why a CIA operative was able to win over a reluctant spy, how a member of a jury got his fellow jurors to view an open-and-shut case differently, and what a doctor found they needed to do to engage with a vaccine sceptic.

Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances. Packed with fascinating case studies and drawing on cutting-edge research, this book will change the way you think about what you say, and how you say it.]]> 320 Charles Duhigg Kristina 0 to-read 4.00 2024 Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Alchemist 865 197 Paulo Coelho 0061122416 Kristina 3 allegory, audio-book 3.85 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1988
rating: 3
read at: 2016/09/01
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: allegory, audio-book
review:
The first time I read it I didn't like it at all but then I gave it a second chance I liked it more. Still, this is not among my favourite books but it's not bad.
]]> The Little Prince 157993
Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince, presented here in a stunning new translation with carefully restored artwork. The definitive edition of a worldwide classic, it will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.]]> 96 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 0152023984 Kristina 5 I will never get tired of reading it.

I've done it at least ten times and every time I find something new and inspiring.

The book itself is precious to me as it was a present from my dear and loving aunt.

It's not difficult to expand your imagination and grasp the world full of magic, beauty and mystery revealed in the book.

The book is simple and profound at the same time. This is the main reason, in my opinion, that makes it accessible to people of all ages. It doesn't matter if you are a child or an adult. There are so many layers of meaning and also a lot of philosophy.

If you haven't read it, give it a chance. After all, you can read it in about 2 hours, and the benefits you can gain are forever.

I know for myself that there are many re-reads yet to come. Many more hours in this marvellous ambience.

P.S. I've challenged myself with reading "The Little Prince" in as many languages as I can. So far, I've accomplished Bulgarian and English. Italian is yet to come, and there is a distant dream to read it in French. One fine day. :)]]> 4.32 1943 The Little Prince
author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1943
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: adventure, books-i-own, classics, european-literature, favorites, inspirational, non-muggle, philosophy, to-re-read, page-turner, must-read
review:
I will never get tired of reading it.

I've done it at least ten times and every time I find something new and inspiring.

The book itself is precious to me as it was a present from my dear and loving aunt.

It's not difficult to expand your imagination and grasp the world full of magic, beauty and mystery revealed in the book.

The book is simple and profound at the same time. This is the main reason, in my opinion, that makes it accessible to people of all ages. It doesn't matter if you are a child or an adult. There are so many layers of meaning and also a lot of philosophy.

If you haven't read it, give it a chance. After all, you can read it in about 2 hours, and the benefits you can gain are forever.

I know for myself that there are many re-reads yet to come. Many more hours in this marvellous ambience.

P.S. I've challenged myself with reading "The Little Prince" in as many languages as I can. So far, I've accomplished Bulgarian and English. Italian is yet to come, and there is a distant dream to read it in French. One fine day. :)
]]> Alias Grace 35086132
An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories?

Captivating and disturbing, Alias Grace showcases best-selling, Booker Prize-winning author Margaret Atwood at the peak of her powers.]]> 567 Margaret Atwood 0735253390 Kristina 0 to-read 4.03 1996 Alias Grace
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cut and Thirst 209411839 Three women scheme to avenge an old friend in a darkly witty short story about loyalty, ambition, and delicious retribution by Margaret Atwood, the #1 bestselling author of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Myrna, Leonie, and Chrissy meet every Thursday to sample fine cheeses, to reminisce about their former lives as professors, and lately, to muse about murder. Decades ago, a vicious cabal of male poets contrived—quite publicly and successfully—to undermine the writing career, confidence, and health of their dear friend Fern. Now, after Fern has taken a turn for the worse, her three old friends decide that it’s finally time to strike back—in secret, of course, since Fern is far too gentle to approve of a vendetta. All they need is a plan with suitably Shakespearean drama. But as sweet and satisfying as revenge can be, it’s not always so cut and dried.]]> 35 Margaret Atwood 1662523335 Kristina 4 3.13 2024 Cut and Thirst
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves:
review:

]]> The Blind Assassin 78433 The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience.

It opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.

For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious. The Blind Assassin proves once again that Atwood is one of the most talented, daring, and exciting writers of our time. Like The Handmaid's Tale, it is destined to become a classic.]]> 637 Margaret Atwood Kristina 5 3.96 2000 The Blind Assassin
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: audio-book, fiction, historical-fiction, mystery
review:
The Blind Assassin is a brilliantly written and very original novel. Margaret Atwood is one of the best storytellers I've read. There is a lot of complexity and plot twists in the story. It was a little bit confusing at the beginning, and a tiny bit slow, but at the end I was shocked and was wondering how I did not notice some of the earlier cues and details.
]]> Where'd You Go, Bernadette 13526165
When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces--which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.]]> 330 Maria Semple 0316204277 Kristina 4 adventure, book-club I read it again as it was chosen in our bookclub and was very surprised that I did not remember almost anything from the story. I find it again engaging and funny although it's focused a little bit around mental illness. I guess that was the intention of the author, to show the comic part of some serious matters. I laughted so hard when Bernadette was explaining what Seattle is like. I reconsidered my rating and giving 3.5 stars now!

----
First time read:
An easy reading and truly funny.
Had a good time on the beach with that book. :)]]> 3.87 2012 Where'd You Go, Bernadette
author: Maria Semple
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: adventure, book-club
review:
Second time read:
I read it again as it was chosen in our bookclub and was very surprised that I did not remember almost anything from the story. I find it again engaging and funny although it's focused a little bit around mental illness. I guess that was the intention of the author, to show the comic part of some serious matters. I laughted so hard when Bernadette was explaining what Seattle is like. I reconsidered my rating and giving 3.5 stars now!

----
First time read:
An easy reading and truly funny.
Had a good time on the beach with that book. :)
]]> <![CDATA[Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson]]> 6900
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final 'class': lessons in how to live.]]> 210 Mitch Albom Kristina 0 to-read 4.19 1997 Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
author: Mitch Albom
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain]]> 23719305 A new theory of how the brain constructs emotions that could revolutionize psychology, health care, law enforcement, and our understanding of the human mind.

Emotions feel automatic, like uncontrollable reactions to things we think and experience. Scientists have long supported this assumption by claiming that emotions are hardwired in the body or the brain. Today, however, the science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology—ans this paradigm shift has far-reaching implications for us all.

Leading the charge is psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose theory of emotion is driving a deeper understanding of the mind and brain, and shedding new light on what it means to be human. Her research overturns the widely held belief that emotions are housed in different parts of the brain and are universally expressed and recognized. Instead, she has shown that emotion is constructed in the moment, by core systems that interact across the whole brain, aided by a lifetime of learning. This new theory means that you play a much greater role in your emotional life than you ever thought. Its repercussions are already shaking the foundations not only of psychology but also of medicine, the legal system, child-rearing, meditation, and even airport security.

Why do emotions feel automatic? Does rational thought really control emotion? How does emotion affect disease? How can you make your children more emotionally intelligent? How Emotions Are Madeanswers these questions and many more, revealing the latest research and intriguing practical applications of the new science of emotion, mind, and brain.]]> 425 Lisa Feldman Barrett 0544133315 Kristina 0 to-read 4.09 2017 How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain
author: Lisa Feldman Barrett
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Art of Communicating 17331360 Peace is Every Step and one of the most respected and celebrated religious leaders in the world, delivers a powerful path to happiness through mastering life's most important skill.

How do we say what we mean in a way that the other person can really hear?

How can we listen with compassion and understanding?

Communication fuels the ties that bind, whether in relationships, business, or everyday interactions. Most of us, however, have never been taught the fundamental skills of communication—or how to best represent our true selves. Effective communication is as important to our well-being and happiness as the food we put into our bodies. It can be either healthy (and nourishing) or toxic (and destructive).

In this precise and practical guide, Zen master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh reveals how to listen mindfully and express your fullest and most authentic self. With examples from his work with couples, families, and international conflicts, The Art of Communicating helps us move beyond the perils and frustrations of misrepresentation and misunderstanding to learn the listening and speaking skills that will forever change how we experience and impact the world.]]> 176 Thich Nhat Hanh 0062224689 Kristina 0 to-read 4.08 2013 The Art of Communicating
author: Thich Nhat Hanh
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Own Your Everyday: Overcome the Pressure to Prove and Show Up for What You're Made to Do]]> 40713198 Do you ever feel the pressure to prove yourself? Or to "figure it all out" as you're waiting in seasons that seem like the awkward in-between? Does it ever feel seem that you're the only one with "unfigured-out dreams"?
Jordan equips you to confront the feeling of being stuck and instead live your purpose by owning (not ignoring) your story, your quirks, your struggles, and everything that makes you, you.

In this book, Jordan provides practical tools as she shows you how to:
tackle limitations like disappointment, perfectionism, comparison, distraction, and more;
overcome the lie that you can't live your purpose until or unless you reach a certain goal, milestone, etc.;
remove labels and break out of the box of expectations;
identify and eliminate excuses, insecurity, and unnecessary stress about an unknown future.]]> 240 Jordan Lee Dooley 0735291497 Kristina 0 to-read 4.04 Own Your Everyday: Overcome the Pressure to Prove and Show Up for What You're Made to Do
author: Jordan Lee Dooley
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Ching: The Book of Change (Shambhala Pocket Library)]]> 34713451 The well-known ancient Chinese oracle and sourcebook of Asian wisdom--now in a Shambhala Pocket Library edition.
The I Ching (Book of Change) is considered the oldest of the Chinese classics, and has throughout Chinese history commanded unsurpassed prestige and popularity. Containing several layers of text and given numerous levels of interpretation, the I Ching has been venerated for more than three thousand years as an oracle of fortune, a guide to success, and a source of wisdom. The underlying theme of the text is change, and how this fundamental force influences all aspects of life--from business and politics to personal relationships. This translation of the I Ching draws on ancient Confucian commentary, which emphasizes applying practical wisdom in everyday affairs.
This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.]]> 152 Anonymous 1611805007 Kristina 0 to-read, books-i-own 3.90 -850 I Ching: The Book of Change (Shambhala Pocket Library)
author: Anonymous
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.90
book published: -850
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves: to-read, books-i-own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hermeticism: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Hermetica, Kybalion, and Hermetic Principles (Spiritual Philosophies)]]> 57841144 Uncover the history of Hermeticism, including instructions and hands-on methods!Hermeticism, Kybalion, Hermetic Principles—have these words seemed so esoteric that you believed they were beyond your level of comprehension? Have you ever wondered what religion and philosophical systems were in practice in ancient times? Are you intrigued by Hermeticism and want to learn more about it but cannot find a book written in simple and easy-to-understand language? If you answered “Yes,� you have come to the right place. This book on Hermeticism offers a detailed and comprehensive explanation of Hermeticism for any beginner looking to take the first step on this journey.In this book, you Learn what Hermeticism is, and its founderDiscover everything you need to know about Hermes TrismegistusExplore Kybalion and what it containsUncover the basics of the Hermetic philosophy and its historyUnderstand the meaning of AllFind a full chapter on each of the seven principles of HermeticismInvestigate how you can use the principles to transform your life for the betterAnd so much more!Complete with engaging examples, you will find it easy to relate to all the elements of this highly esoteric belief system. So, what are you waiting for? Scroll up and click the “Add to Cart� button to get started!]]> 118 Mari Silva Kristina 0 to-read 4.23 2021 Hermeticism: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Hermetica, Kybalion, and Hermetic Principles (Spiritual Philosophies)
author: Mari Silva
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Immortality Key: Uncovering the Secret History of the Religion with No Name]]> 51174256 A groundbreaking, controversial dive into the role psychedelics have played in the human experience of the Divine throughout Western history, and the answer to a 2,000 year old mystery that could shake the Church to its foundations.

The Immortality Key connects the lost, psychedelic sacrament of Greek religion to early Christianity—exposing the true origins of Western Civilization. In the tradition of unsolved historical mysteries like David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon and Douglas Preston's The Lost City of the Monkey God, Brian Muraresku’s 10-year investigation takes the reader through Greece, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, offering unprecedented access to the hidden archives of the Louvre and the Vatican along the way.

In The Immortality Key, Muraresku explores a little-known connection between the best-kept secret in Ancient Greece and Christianity. This is the real story of the most famous human being who ever lived (Jesus) and the biggest religion the world has ever known. Today, 2.4 billion people are Christian. That's one third of the planet. But do any of them really know how it all started?

Before Jerusalem, before Rome, before Mecca—there was Eleusis: the spiritual capital of the ancient world. It promised immortality to Plato and the rest of Athens's greatest minds with a very simple formula: drink this potion, see God. Shrouded in secrecy for millennia, the Ancient Greek sacrament was buried when the newly Christianized Roman Empire obliterated Eleusis in the fourth century AD.

Renegade scholars in the 1970s claimed the Greek potion was psychedelic, just like the original Christian Eucharist that replaced it. In recent years, vindication for the disgraced theory has been quietly mounting in the laboratory. The rapidly growing field of archaeological chemistry has proven the ancient use of visionary drugs. And with a single dose of psilocybin, the psycho-pharmacologists at Johns Hopkins and NYU are now turning self-proclaimed atheists into instant believers. No one has ever found hard, scientific evidence of drugs connected to Eleusis, let alone early Christianity. Until now.

Armed with key documents never before translated into English, convincing analysis, and a captivating spirit of quest, Muraresku mines science, classical literature, biblical scholarship and art to deliver the hidden key to eternal life, bringing us to what clinical psychologist William Richards calls "the edge of an awesomely vast frontier."

Featuring a Foreword by Graham Hancock, the New York Times bestselling author of America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization.]]> 352 Brian C. Muraresku 1250207142 Kristina 0 to-read 4.25 2020 The Immortality Key: Uncovering the Secret History of the Religion with No Name
author: Brian C. Muraresku
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection]]> 144873
The New York Times bestseller that has helped thousands leverage the mind-body connection to heal lower back pain and live pain free—without drugs, surgery, or physical therapy.

Offering a surprising, noninvasive solution to an epidemic of pain, Dr. John E. Sarno’s research on TMS (Tension Myoneural Syndrome) reveals that stress, anxiety and other psychological factors, not structural abnormalities, are the root cause of chronic pain.

TMS develops as a result of repressed emotions which trigger tension in the body and deprive muscles and nerves of oxygen. The solution? Recognize the emotional roots of your TMS and sever the connection between mental and physical pain.

With Dr. Sarno’s expert guidance you will learn: Sharing case histories and the results of his extensive, groundbreaking research, Dr. Sarno’s life-changing insights show readers how to banish back pain and reclaim their lives for good.]]> 193 John E. Sarno 0446392308 Kristina 0 to-read 4.01 1982 Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection
author: John E. Sarno
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society]]> 40696923

In Blueprint, Nicholas A. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide.


With many vivid examples -- including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups thrown together by design or involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own -- Christakis shows that, despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness.


In a world of increasing political and economic polarization, it's tempting to ignore the positive role of our evolutionary past. But by exploring the ancient roots of goodness in civilization, Blueprint shows that our genes have shaped societies for our welfare and that, in a feedback loop stretching back many thousands of years, societies are still shaping our genes today.]]> 544 Nicholas A. Christakis 0316230030 Kristina 0 to-read 3.95 2019 Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
author: Nicholas A. Christakis
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> You should write a book 60312531
Whether you want to work with a publisher or on your own, Katel LeDû and Lisa Maria Marquis walk you through crafting a stellar proposal, break down the reality of writing and editing a manuscript, and demystify the marketing and publishing process—so when you’re ready to contribute, you’ll know what to expect.]]> 146 Katel LeDû 1952616190 Kristina 0 to-read 3.93 You should write a book
author: Katel LeDû
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> SEO For Everyone 59007077
In this practical, illuminating book, Rebekah Baggs and Chris Corak make the case that SEO plays a central role not just in search rankings, but in delivering an excellent user experience. After all, most interactions don’t begin on our carefully crafted homepages, but on a list of search results—and only by connecting our efforts in content, design, development, and search optimization can we create a truly human-centered web that supports users throughout their entire journey.]]> 173 Rebekah Baggs 1952616077 Kristina 0 to-read 4.11 SEO For Everyone
author: Rebekah Baggs
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Design for Cognitive Bias 54866129 107 David Dylan Thomas 1937557979 Kristina 0 to-read 4.41 2020 Design for Cognitive Bias
author: David Dylan Thomas
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Demystifying Public Speaking 32784222 83 Lara Hogan 1937557529 Kristina 0 to-read 4.11 Demystifying Public Speaking
author: Lara Hogan
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Just Enough Research 17236175
Good research is about asking more and better questions, and thinking critically about the answers. It’s something every member of your team can and should do, and which everyone can learn, quickly. And done well, it will save you time by reducing unknowns and making sure you're building the right thing, in the best possible way.

In Just Enough Research, co-founder of Mule Design Erika Hall distills her experience into a brief cookbook of research methods. Learn how to discover your competitive advantages, spot your own blind spots and biases, identify small changes with huge potential impact, and why you should never, ever hold a focus group. You'll be on the path to good research in less time than you can plan your next pitch.]]> 154 Erika Hall 1937557103 Kristina 0 to-read 4.19 2013 Just Enough Research
author: Erika Hall
name: Kristina
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Designing for Emotion 12910715 104 Aaron Walter Kristina 0 to-read 3.97 2011 Designing for Emotion
author: Aaron Walter
name: Kristina
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>