Jvanlaar's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:39:34 -0700 60 Jvanlaar's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World]]> 3275093
Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. On the coldest night of the year in Spencer, Iowa, at only a few weeks old--a critical age for kittens--he was stuffed into the return book slot of the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility (for a cat), and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming community slowly working its way back from the greatest crisis in its long history.]]> 464 Vicki Myron 0446541192 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.12 2008 Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
author: Vicki Myron
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Summer Hours at the Robbers Library]]> 35430563
People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget her problems.

But that changes when fifteen-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary. The judge throws the book at Sunny—literally—assigning her to do community service at the library for the summer. Bright, curious, and eager to connect with someone other than her off-the-grid hippie parents, Sunny coaxes Kit out of her self-imposed isolation. They’re joined by Rusty, a Wall Street high-flyer suddenly crashed to earth.

In this little library that has become the heart of this small town, Kit, Sunny, and Rusty are drawn to each other, and to a cast of other offbeat regulars. As they come to terms with how their lives have unraveled, they also discover how they might knit them together again and finally reclaim their stories.]]> 368 Sue Halpern 0062834061 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.59 2018 Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
author: Sue Halpern
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
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]]> The Lending Library 52276402 For fans of Jane Green and Loretta Nyhan, a heartwarming debut novel about a daydreamer who gives her town, and herself, an amazing gift: a lending library in her sunroom.

When the Chatsworth library closes indefinitely, Dodie Fairisle loses her sanctuary. How is a small-town art teacher supposed to cope without the never-ending life advice and enjoyment that books give her? Well, when she’s as resourceful and generous as Dodie, she turns her sunroom into her very own little lending library.

At first just a hobby, this lit lovers� haven opens up her world in incredible ways. She knows books are powerful, and soon enough they help her forge friendships between her zany neighbors—and attract an exciting new romance.

But when the chance to adopt an orphaned child brings Dodie’s secret dream of motherhood within reach, everything else suddenly seems less important. Finding herself at a crossroads, Dodie must figure out what it means to live a full, happy life. If only there were a book that could tell her what to do…]]> 300 Aliza Fogelson 1503904016 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 2.99 2020 The Lending Library
author: Aliza Fogelson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 2.99
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> The Library of Lost and Found 39873227
All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend - her grandmother Zelda - who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When Martha discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda's past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever.

Filled with Phaedra Patrick's signature charm and vivid characters, The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming and poignant tale of how one woman must take control of her destiny to write her own happy ending.]]> 352 Phaedra Patrick 0778369358 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.66 2019 The Library of Lost and Found
author: Phaedra Patrick
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> The Librarianist: A Novel 122822465 352 Patrick deWitt 1487009917 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.44 2023 The Librarianist: A Novel
author: Patrick deWitt
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .]]> 148660831
At the end of his memoir Talking to Canadians , Rick Mercer was poised to make the biggest leap yet in his extraordinary career. Having overcome a serious lack of promise as a schoolboy and risen through the showbiz ranks—as an aspiring actor, star of a surprisingly successful one-man show about the Meech Lake Accord, co-founder of This Hour Has 22 Minutes , creator and star of the dark-comedy sitcom Made in Canada —he was about to tackle his biggest opportunity yet.

The Road Years picks up the story at that exciting point, with the greenlighting of what would become Rick Mercer Report . Plans for the show, of course, included political satire and Rick’s patented rants. But Rick and his partner, Gerald Lunz, were also determined to do something that comedy tends to avoid as too they would emphasize the positive. Rick would travel from coast to coast to coast in search of everything that’s best about Canada, especially its people. He found a lot to celebrate, naturally, and was rewarded with a huge audience and a run of 15 seasons.

The Road Years tells the inside story of that stupendous success. A time when Rick was heading to another town—or military base, sports centre, national park—to try dogsledding, chainsaw carving, and bear tagging; hang from a harness (a lot); ride the “Train of Death;� plus countless other joyous and/or reckless assignments.

Added to the mix were encounters with the country’s great. Every living prime minister. Rock and roll royalty from Rush to Randy Bachman. Olympians and Paralympians. A skinny-dipping Bob Rae. And Jann Arden, of course, who gets a chapter to herself. Along the way he even found the time to visit several countries in Africa and co-found and champion the charity Spread the Net, which has gone on to protect the lives of millions.

Join the celebration, and revive a wealth of happy memories, with what is Rick Mercer’s funniest, most fascinating book yet.]]> 304 Rick Mercer 0385688903 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.42 2023 The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .
author: Rick Mercer
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/01
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]]> Gone with the Penguins 221410913
Eileen, Veronica’s ever-patient assistant, is content taking care of other people. But when a new adventure calls, it makes her question everything...

Ten-year-old, penguin-obsessed Daisy can’t wait to be reunited with Mrs McCreedy in her huge house by the sea for the school holidays.

When they discover that the local Sea Life Centre is under threat, the unlikely trio are determined to save it and the penguins that live there.

Inspired by the penguins and fuelled by Darjeeling tea and finger sandwiches, they embark on an epic fundraising walk. But soon, their mission becomes so much more and it might just lead each of them to a new beginning...]]> 434 Hazel Prior 1804993336 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.38 2024 Gone with the Penguins
author: Hazel Prior
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> <![CDATA[What I Ate in One Year (And Related Thoughts)]]> 207298822
“Sharing food is one of the purest human acts.�

Food has always been an integral part of Stanley Tucci’s life: from stracciatella soup served in the shadow of the Pantheon, to marinara sauce cooked between scene rehearsals and costume fittings, to home-made pizza eaten with his children before bedtime.

Now, in What I Ate in One Year Tucci records twelve months of eating—in restaurants, kitchens, film sets, press junkets, at home and abroad, with friends, with family, with strangers, and occasionally just by himself.

Ranging from the mouth-wateringly memorable to the comfortingly domestic and to the infuriatingly inedible, the meals memorialised in this diary are a prism for him to reflect on the ways his life, and his family, are constantly evolving. Through food he marks—and mourns—the passing of time, the loss of loved ones, and steels himself for what is to come.

Whether it’s duck a l’orange eaten with fellow actors and cooked by singing Carmelite nuns, steaks barbequed at a gathering with friends, or meatballs made by his mother and son and shared at the table with three generations of his family, these meals give shape and add emotional richness to his days.

What I Ate in One Year is a funny, poignant, heartfelt, and deeply satisfying serving of memories and meals and an irresistible celebration of the profound role that food plays in all our lives.]]> 368 Stanley Tucci 1668055686 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.86 2024 What I Ate in One Year (And Related Thoughts)
author: Stanley Tucci
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Be Ready When the Luck Happens]]> 209192698 In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.]]> 320 Ina Garten 0593799895 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.25 2024 Be Ready When the Luck Happens
author: Ina Garten
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> Why I Cook 207567776 Get an unprecedented look inside the mind and kitchen of America’s top chef in this memoir and cookbook by Tom Colicchio, the multiple-James Beard and Emmy Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and television personality. Tom Colicchio cooked his first recipe at 13 years old—a stuffed eggplant from an issue ofCuisinemagazine that he picked up out of boredom—and it changed his life. Now for the first time ever, Tom recounts the extraordinary personal journey that brought him from his working-class Italian background in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to the award-winning kitchens of New York City’s best restaurants, to the set ofTop Chefand the stage of the Emmy Awards. Through 12 memoir chapters and 50 recipes,Why I Cookshares Tom’s personal reflections of more than 40 years behind the stove. From pre-dawn fishing excursions with his grandfather to running the flat-top at the snack shack of the local swim club, to finding his way as a young chef in New York City, Tom chronicles the dishes and memories that make up the course of his extraordinary life. Along the way Tom reveals his struggle growing up with undiagnosed ADHD, his earliest mistakes in professional kitchens, stories from his time onTop Chef, and so much more. The recipes, which reconnect Tom to home cooking—his first love—are a combination of current Colicchio family favorites, such as Warm Eggplant Salad with Ginger, Chilis, and Fresh Herbs, and heirloom recipes passed down from Tom’s parents and grandparents, like his mother’s Crab Rice and his grandfather’s Beet Salad. Through these meaningful dishes, gorgeous recipe shots, and images from Tom’s childhood,Why I Cookis the most personal look into Tom’s life yet. ]]> 320 Tom Colicchio 1648291287 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.83 Why I Cook
author: Tom Colicchio
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.83
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]]> <![CDATA[Space for Birds: Patterns and Parallels of Beauty and Flight]]> 204016389 256 Dr. Roberta L. Bondar 1773272454 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.67 Space for Birds: Patterns and Parallels of Beauty and Flight
author: Dr. Roberta L. Bondar
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.67
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date added: 2025/01/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Wild Wisdom: Primal Skills to Survive in Nature]]> 199798442
Donny Dust is a US Marine Corps veteran who now owns and operates Colorado’s premier survival and wilderness self-reliance school. He’s amassed two decades worth of primitive living skills everywhere from the jungles of Asia to the mountains of North America. He’s appeared on reality TV series like History Channel’s Alone and hosted USA Channel’s Mud, Sweat & Beards. Now, Donny brings all he’s learned to Wild Wisdom . He teaches you how to be more observant to help avoid danger, problem-solve, prioritize finding shelter, and to be flexible and creative when you need the right supplies for a task. He also focuses on essential gear, sheltering, building fire, staying hydrated, food, foraging, and trapping. Beautiful and instructive illustrations throughout make this is must-carry for anyone venturing into nature.

Millions of people now follow Donny Dust on TikTok to watch him craft objects from nothing but what he finds in the wilderness. Even the tools he uses to do the crafting are made from scratch, whether it’s a saw, chisel, hammer, or cordage. He’s made bows, arrows, axes, rope, sandals, backpacks, bowls, swords, and of course, fire—lots of fire—but Wild Wisdom offers so much more. Written by one of the country’s foremost experts, it’s a book for almost anyone, whether you’re a longtime outdoorsperson hoping to hone your skills and deepen your appreciation and understanding of the wilderness, or a newcomer looking to take your first adventures in nature.]]> 336 Donny Dust 1668013436 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.69 Wild Wisdom: Primal Skills to Survive in Nature
author: Donny Dust
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.69
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Seven Primal Questions: Take Control Of The Hidden Forces That Drive You]]> 125657244 216 Mike Foster Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.34 Seven Primal Questions: Take Control Of The Hidden Forces That Drive You
author: Mike Foster
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.34
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date added: 2025/01/03
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]]> <![CDATA[A Life in the Garden: Tales and Tips for Growing Food in Every Season]]> 207567697 380 Barbara Damrosch 1643261819 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.00 A Life in the Garden: Tales and Tips for Growing Food in Every Season
author: Barbara Damrosch
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.00
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date added: 2024/12/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Degrees of Separation: A Decade North of 60]]> 192793652 Over the course of a decade, artist Alison McCreesh lived, worked, and travelled north of the 60th parallel. Through a combination of autobiographical stories, drawings and sketches, Degrees of Separation offers an intimate and understated glimpse of the North as Alison experienced it. From frigid days spent killing time while stranded in the High Arctic, to the challenges of raising a baby in a small shack with no running water, it is one young woman's personal experience of both passing through and of setting down roots. Tinged with McCreesh's characteristic blend of humour and humanity, Degrees of Separation is about the north and its vastness and its diversity. While the backdrop may seem foreign to many, this collection is also a universal exploration of those transformative years from young-adulthood to motherhood. It's a graphic novel navigating themes of connection and disconnect, between the north and the south, but also between different norths and between our different selves.]]> 390 Alison McCreesh 1772620939 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.99 Degrees of Separation: A Decade North of 60
author: Alison McCreesh
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.99
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]]> All the Light We Cannot See 18143977
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 544 Anthony Doerr 1476746583 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.31 2014 All the Light We Cannot See
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Father and I Were Ranchers (Little Britches, #1)]]> 233711
Newly republished in a hardcover edition with a 1950s cover, jacket and pictorial endpages. Interior illustrations by Edward Shenton.]]> 260 Ralph Moody 0803281781 Jvanlaar 0 4.27 1950 Father and I Were Ranchers (Little Britches, #1)
author: Ralph Moody
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1950
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Being a Sanctuary: The Radical Way for the Body of Christ to Be Sacred, Soft, and Safe]]> 209351099
When news outlets reveal church scandals or we hear stories about people leaving the church, it can seem as though we are in a bit of a crisis as the Body of Christ. In Being a Sanctuary, Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez--who has experienced abuse, trauma, and racism within the church--takes us on an honest, biblical, and reflective journey as she examines the state of the church and offers us a hopeful path forward.

Perreaux-Dominguez focuses on three aspects of God's vision for the church: that it would be sacred (Bible based), soft (trauma informed), and safe (justice centered). Each section of the book explores what these mean for the church using biblical teaching, practical instruction, and stories from her own experiences. She unpacks practical steps the body of Christ can take to realize this vision and cultivate a lifestyle of being a sanctuary, including repenting, pursuing sanctification, showing Christ's compassion, healing injustices, choosing unity over uniformity, and being advocates.

This book is for anyone ready to be both challenged and encouraged on how we, as the Body of Christ, can collectively return to God's foundational call to be radicals who choose the path of being sacred, soft, and safe--just like Jesus is.]]> 224 Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez 1587436418 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.46 Being a Sanctuary: The Radical Way for the Body of Christ to Be Sacred, Soft, and Safe
author: Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.46
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rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Everyday Evangelism - Bible Study Book]]> 213938527 112 Preston Perry 1087768586 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.14 Everyday Evangelism - Bible Study Book
author: Preston Perry
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.14
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date added: 2024/09/12
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]]> I Surrender All 205666135 All To Him I Freely Give

From Priscilla Shirer comes this fervent appeal and invitation to surrender everything to Jesus. To follow Him not just as your Savior but as your priority, your first love, your Lord. To move beyond being a believer to becoming His disciple.

Because there is a difference.

Salvation is a gift of God. It’s free. It’s grace. It’s the cross. Discipleship comes at a high cost. It’s surrender. It’s effort. It’s a daily choice to lay down your life and follow His. Few believers choose this route, but the ones who do will experience the abundance that only the surrendered life can offer. It’s the one choice standing between you and the life of freedom and fulfillment, of peace and purpose you’ve always wanted. I Surrender All is all about making that choice.

The choice that changes everything.

This book will be impossible to simply read because it beckons you to make a decision about the kind of Christian you will be. Prepare to engage, to write, to pray, and be called into a surrendered life. An abundant life. A disciple’s life.

Inspired by the themes of the feature film THE FORGE]]> 256 Priscilla Shirer Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.54 I Surrender All
author: Priscilla Shirer
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.54
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]]> Tress of the Emerald Sea 60531406 #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?]]> 443 Brandon Sanderson Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.35 2023 Tress of the Emerald Sea
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/24
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]]> <![CDATA[The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #0)]]> 13152282
Now he's being sent to a new orphanage, where he will encounter vicious bullies, selfish adults, strange circumstances � and a mystery that could change his life forever. Luckily, he does have one thing in his favor: He's a a genius.

On his quest to solve the mystery, Nicholas finds enemies around every corner, but also friends in unexpected places � and discovers along the way that the greatest puzzle of all is himself.]]> 14 Trenton Lee Stewart 0307968316 Jvanlaar 0 4.37 2012 The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #0)
author: Trenton Lee Stewart
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #3)]]> 6164358 ALL IS
LOST.

Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before.]]> 400 Trenton Lee Stewart 0307582396 Jvanlaar 0 4.29 2009 The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #3)
author: Trenton Lee Stewart
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)]]> 40605329
]]> 497 Trenton Lee Stewart 0316032115 Jvanlaar 0 4.29 2007 The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)
author: Trenton Lee Stewart
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)]]> 77390 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

When twelve-year-old Anne Shirley came to Avonlea, she quickly won everyone’s heart. Now, she’s five years older, almost a woman, and about to embark on a new adventure: becoming the teacher in her old Avonlea school. It’s an exciting year as Anne struggles to win over all her students, welcomes two new members to her family, and feels the first stirrings of love.]]> 276 L.M. Montgomery 0553213148 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.23 1909 Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1909
rating: 0
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]]> Hadley Beckett's Next Dish 52536733 To the Max, and most of all his horrible temper. Hadley Beckett, host of the Culinary Channel's other top-rated show, At Home with Hadley, is beloved for her Southern charm and for making her viewers feel like family.

When Max experiences a very public temper tantrum, he's sent packing to get his life in order. When he returns, career in shambles, his only chance to get back on TV and in the public's good graces is to work alongside Hadley.

As these polar-opposite celeb chefs begin to peel away the layers of public persona and reputation, they will not only discover the key ingredients for getting along, but also learn the secret recipe for unexpected forgiveness . . . and maybe even love. In the meantime, hide the knives.

Fan-favorite Bethany Turner serves up a heaping helping of humor and romance with this thoroughly modern story centered on cooking, enemies, and second chances.]]> 352 Bethany Turner 0800735234 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.96 2020 Hadley Beckett's Next Dish
author: Bethany Turner
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck]]> 34020274
With a powerful voice, penetrating insight, and plenty of wit, Bethany Turner explodes onto the scene with a debut that isn't afraid to deal with the thorny realities of living the Christian life.]]> 297 Bethany Turner 0800727665 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.74 2017 The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck
author: Bethany Turner
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> Plot Twist 55918631 An aspiring screenwriter has a chance encounter with an actor who could be the man of her dreams. Over the next ten years, she’ll write the story . . . but will he end up being the star?

February 4, 2003, promises to be a typical day for Olivia Ross—a greeting card writer whose passion project is a screenplay of her own. But after she and a handsome actor have a magical meet-cute in a coffee shop, they make a spontaneous pact: in ten years, after they’ve found the success they’re just sure they’re going to achieve, they’ll return to the coffeehouse to partner up and make a film together. The only problem? Olivia neglected to get the stranger’s name. But she doesn’t forget his face—or the date.

For the next ten years, every February 4 is marked with coincidences and ironies for Olivia. As men come and go and return to her life, she continues to write, but still wonders about the guy from the coffee shop—the nameless actor she’s almost certain has turned out to be Hamish MacDougal, now a famous A-lister and Hollywood leading man.

But a lot can happen in ten years, and while waiting for the curtain to rise on her fate, the true story of Olivia’s life is being written—and if she’s not careful, she’ll completely miss the real-life romantic comedy playing out right before her eyes.]]> 321 Bethany Turner 0785244484 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.58 2021 Plot Twist
author: Bethany Turner
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]> 17125 The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union and confirms Solzhenitsyn's stature as "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dosotevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy"--Harrison Salisbury

This unexpurgated 1991 translation by H. T. Willetts is the only authorized edition available, and fully captures the power and beauty of the original Russian.]]> 182 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.98 1962 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/15
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]]> Letters to a Young Painter 34696382 Never before translated into English, Rainer Maria Rilke’s fascinatingLetters to a Young Painter, written toward the end of his life between 1920 and 1926, is a surprising companion to his infamousLetters to a Young Poet, earlier correspondence from 1902 to 1908. While the latter has become a global phenomenon, with millions of copies sold in many different languages, the present volume has been largely overlooked.

In these eight intimate letters written to a teenage Balthus—who would go on to become one of the leading artists of his generation—Rilke describes the challenges he faced, while opening the door for the young painter to take himself and his work seriously. Rilke’s constant warmth, his ability to sense in advance his correspondent’s difficulties and propose solutions to them, and his sensitivity as a person and an artist come across in these charming and honest letters.

Writing during his aged years, this volume paints a picture of the venerable poet as he faced his mortality, through the perspective of hindsight, and continued to embrace his openness towards other creative individuals. With an introduction by Rachel Corbett, author ofYou Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin(2016), this book is a must-have for Rilke’s admirers, young and old, and all aspiring artists.]]> 72 Rainer Maria Rilke 1941701647 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.47 1945 Letters to a Young Painter
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1945
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/05/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters]]> 61953559
Because this is my story, maybe you won't always relate, or maybe it will feel like you're looking in a mirror. Whatever we have in common and whatever differences lie between us, I only hope my story can help shine a light on the beauty of yours. That my own soul work will stir something of your own. And that by the time you get to the end of my story, you're also holding the beautiful beginnings of your own.

A story only you can tell. And I hope that you will.]]> 247 Joanna Gaines 1400333873 Jvanlaar 2 3.47 2022 The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters
author: Joanna Gaines
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2022
rating: 2
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date added: 2023/05/19
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I was very disappointed with this book of Joanna. It lacked substance. The same thing was said over and over again. I kept blanking out as I read and spacing out. I feel like she lacked the ability to share vulnerably and connect with her reader. It was more about facts than even stories. I also think if she opened up about her faith more it would have helped her. She walked around the bush so many times, scared of culture and shying away from what matters to her.
]]> The Clockmaker's Daughter 38530939 My real name, no one remembers. The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?]]> 485 Kate Morton 1451649398 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.73 2018 The Clockmaker's Daughter
author: Kate Morton
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/07/01
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]]> The Wind in the Willows 5659 “All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.�

For more than a century, The Wind in the Willows and its endearing protagonists—Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and, of course, the incorrigible Toad—have enchanted children of all ages. Whether the four friends are setting forth on an exciting adventure, engaging in a comic caper, or simply relaxing by the River Thames, their stories will surprise and captivate you.

Hailed as one of the most enduringly popular works of the twentieth century, this story is a classic of magical fancy and enchanting wit. Penned in lyrical prose, the adventures and misadventures of the book’s intrepid quartet of heroes raise fantasy to the level of myth. Reflecting the freshness of childhood wonder, it still offers adults endless sophistication, substance, and depth.

The animals� world embodies the author’s wry, whimsical, and unfailingly inventive imagination. It is a world that succeeding generations of both adult and young readers have found irresistible. But why say more? To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: “Travel, change, interest, excitement!...Come inside.�]]> 197 Kenneth Grahame 0143039091 Jvanlaar 0 4.02 1908 The Wind in the Willows
author: Kenneth Grahame
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1908
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey]]> 29807222 448 Trenton Lee Stewart 0316038628 Jvanlaar 0 4.24 2008 The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
author: Trenton Lee Stewart
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Becoming Better Grownups: Rediscovering What Matters and Remembering How to Fly]]> 52669271 A New York Times-bestselling author looks for the meaning of a good life by seeking advice from the very young and the very old.

When his first book tour ended, Brad Montague missed hearing other people's stories so much that he launched what he dubbed a Listening Tour. First visiting elementary schools and later also nursing homes and retirement communities, he hoped to glean new wisdom as to how he might become a better grownup. Now, in this playful and buoyant book, he shares those insights with rest of us --timeless, often surprising lessons that bypass the head we're always stuck in, and go straight to the heart we sometimes forget.

Each of the book's three sections begins with the illustrated story of "The Incredible Floating Girl." Brad weaves this story together with lessons of success, fear, regret, gratitude, love, happiness, and dreams to reveal the true reason we are here: to fly, and to help others fly.

Beautifully designed and featuring Montague's own whimsical 4-color illustrations that appeal to the kid in all of us, Becoming Better Grownups shares the purpose and meaning we can all discover merely by listening, and reveals that--in a world that seems increasingly childish--the secret to joy is in fact to become more childlike.]]> 320 Brad Montague 0525537848 Jvanlaar 0 4.31 Becoming Better Grownups: Rediscovering What Matters and Remembering How to Fly
author: Brad Montague
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.31
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]]> Truman 2279
The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson—and dramatic events. In this riveting biography, acclaimed historian David McCullough not only captures the man—a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined—but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges. The last president to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, Truman’s story spans the raw world of the Missouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, and the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur. Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman’s own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary “man from Missouri� who was perhaps the most courageous president in our history.]]> 1120 David McCullough 0671869205 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.15 1992 Truman
author: David McCullough
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/05/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts]]> 52780142 You can choose hope in the midst of chaos. The visionary behind the million-strong IF:Gathering challenges you to exercise your God-given power to shift negative thinking patterns and take back control of your thoughts and emotions.

Are your thoughts holding you captive? I’ll never be good enough. Other people have better lives than I do. God couldn’t really love me. Jennie Allen knows what it’s like to swirl in a spiral of destructive thoughts, but she also knows we don’t have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns.

As she discovered in her own life, God built a way for us to escape that downward spiral. Freedom comes when we refuse to be victims to our thoughts and realize we have already been equipped with power from God to fight and win the war for our minds.

In Get Out of Your Head, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook, and even our circumstances by taking control of our thoughts. Our enemy is determined to get in our heads to make us feel helpless, overwhelmed, and incapable of making a difference for the kingdom of God. But when we submit our minds to Christ, the promises and goodness of God flood our lives in remarkable ways.

It starts in your head. And from there, the possibilities are endless.]]> 223 Jennie Allen 1601429649 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.06 2020 Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
author: Jennie Allen
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Prince Philip's Century: The Extraordinary Life of the Duke of Edinburgh]]> 57048223 352 Robert Jobson 1913543617 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.05 Prince Philip's Century: The Extraordinary Life of the Duke of Edinburgh
author: Robert Jobson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.05
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]]> The Queen's Gambit 62022 258 Walter Tevis 1400030609 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.15 1983 The Queen's Gambit
author: Walter Tevis
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/03/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company]]> 44525305 A grand vision defined: The CEO of The Walt Disney Company shares the ideas and values he has used to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world, and inspire the people who bring the magic to life.

In 2005, Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was more intense, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company's history. "I knew there was nothing to be gained from arguing over the past," Iger writes. "The only thing that mattered was the future, and I believed I had a clear idea of the direction Disney needed to go." It came down to three clear ideas: 1) Create the highest quality content Disney could produce. 2) Embrace and adopt technology instead of fighting it. And 3) Think bigger--think global--and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.

Twelve years later, Disney is the largest, most respected media company in the world counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and Iger is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our time.

Now, he's sharing the lessons he's learned while running Disney and leading its 200,000 employees--taking big risks in the face of historic disruption; learning to inspire the people who work for you; leading with fairness and communicating principles clearly. This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger for forty-five years, since the day he started as a studio supervisor at ABC. It's also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the evolving Star Wars myth.

"Over the past fourteen years, I think I've learned so much about what real leadership is," Iger writes. "But I couldn't have articulated all of this until I lived it. You can't fake it--and that's one of the key lessons in this book."

Librarian Note: This is an Advance Reader Copy issued with ISBN 9780399592096. That ISBN has been moved to the final published copy, found here]]> 272 Robert Iger Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.37 2019 The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
author: Robert Iger
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/03/07
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]]> Uncle Tom’s Cabin 46787 438 Harriet Beecher Stowe Jvanlaar 4 3.88 1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin
author: Harriet Beecher Stowe
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1852
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/29
date added: 2021/01/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (The Vanderbeekers, #1)]]> 33413919 297 Karina Yan Glaser 0544876393 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.09 2017 The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (The Vanderbeekers, #1)
author: Karina Yan Glaser
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #1)]]> 6609748
Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.

But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?]]> 272 Maryrose Wood 0061791059 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.94 2009 The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #1)
author: Maryrose Wood
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Dickens at Christmas (Vintage Classics)]]> 13573448 A selection of the best of Dickens' Christmas stories and writings in one beautiful hardback edition

It is said that Charles Dickens invented Christmas, and these pagescertainly hold all the elements of a quintessential traditional Christmas brought to vivid life: snowy rooftops, gleaming shop windows, steaming bowls of punch, plum puddings like speckled cannon balls, sage and onion stuffing, miracles, magic, charity, and goodwill. Thiselegantcollection gathers together not only Dickens' Christmas Books but also stories that Dickens wrote for the special seasonal editions of his periodicals All the Year Round and Household Words, and the hilarious festive episodes from The Pickwick Papers. A must-have for Christmas, thisbookis as necessary toseasonal festivities as holly, mistletoe, and silver bells.]]> 581 Charles Dickens 009957313X Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.02 2012 Dickens at Christmas (Vintage Classics)
author: Charles Dickens
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
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]]> <![CDATA[Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day]]> 916856 234 Winifred Watson 190315510X Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.98 1938 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
author: Winifred Watson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1938
rating: 0
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]]> The Works: Edgar Allan Poe 19026589 Includes a Huge Collection of the works of Edgar Allan Poe

Includes easy-to-use search and navigation. Includes tap-and-go Table of Contents.

Includes:

EDGAR ALLAN POE, AN APPRECIATION
EDGAR ALLAN POE
DEATH OF EDGAR A. POE
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OF ONE HANS PFAAL
NOTES TO HANS PFAAL
FOUR BEASTS IN ONE
THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET
MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE
THE OVAL PORTRAIT
HE PURLOINED LETTER
THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE OF SCHEHERAZADE
A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM.
VON KEMPELEN AND HIS DISCOVERY
MESMERIC REVELATION
THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR
THE BLACK CAT
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
SILENCE -- A FABLE
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO
THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE
THE ISLAND OF THE FAY
THE ASSIGNATION
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM
THE PREMATURE BURIAL
THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM
LANDOR'S COTTAGE
WILLIAM WILSON
THE TELL-TALE HEART
BERENICE
ELEONORA
THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY
LIONIZING
X-ING A PARAGRAB
METZENGERSTEIN
THE SYSTEM OF DOCTOR TARR AND PROFESSOR FETHER
HOW TO WRITE A BLACKWOOD ARTICLE
A PREDICAMENT
MYSTIFICATION
DIDDLING
THE ANGEL OF THE ODD
MELLONTA TAUTA
THE DUC DE L'OMELETTE
THE OBLONG BOX
LOSS OF BREATH
THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP
THE BUSINESS MAN
THE LANDSCAPE GARDEN
MAELZEL'S CHESS-PLAYER
THE POWER OF WORDS
THE COLLOQUY OF MONOS AND UNA
THE CONVERSATION OF EIROS AND CHARMION
SHADOW -- A PARABLE
THE RAVEN
THE BELLS
ULALUME
TO HELEN
ANNABEL LEE
A VALENTINE.
AN ENIGMA
TO MY MOTHER
FOR ANNIE
TO FRANCES S. OSGOOD
ELDORADO
EULALIE
A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM
TO MARIE LOUISE (SHEW)
THE CITY IN THE SEA
THE SLEEPER
BRIDAL BALLAD
PLUS MANY MORE

]]> 450 Edgar Allan Poe Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.64 1829 The Works: Edgar Allan Poe
author: Edgar Allan Poe
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.64
book published: 1829
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/06/23
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]]> Surprise Me 35411583
In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring.

But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakeable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that questions some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all…]]> 432 Sophie Kinsella 0399592881 Jvanlaar 0 3.39 2018 Surprise Me
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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]]> The Magnolia Story 29483100 This eBook includes the full text of the book plus an exclusive additional chapter from Chip and Joanna that is not found in the hardcover!

Are you ready to see your fixer upper?

These famous words are now synonymous with the dynamic husband-and-wife team Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. As this question fills the airwaves with anticipation, their legions of fans continue to multiply and ask a different series of questions, like—Who are these people?What’s the secret to their success? And is Chip actually that funny in real life? By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper, they have become America’s new best friends.

The Magnolia Story is the first book from Chip and Joanna, offering their fans a detailed look at their life together. From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything; from the childhood memories that shaped them, to the twists and turns that led them to the life they share on the farm today.

They both attended Baylor University in Waco. However, their paths did not cross until Chip checked his car into the local Firestone tire shop where Joanna worked behind the counter. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. Soon they were married and living in their first fixer upper. Four children and countless renovations later, Joanna garners the attention of a television producer who notices her work on a blog one day.

In The Magnolia Story fans will finally get to join the Gaines behind the scenes and discover:

-The time Chip ran to the grocery store and forgot to take their new, sleeping baby
-Joanna’s agonizing decision to close her dream business to focus on raising their children
-When Chip buys a houseboat, sight-unseen, and it turns out to be a leaky wreck
-Joanna’s breakthrough moment of discovering the secret to creating a beautiful home
-Harrowing stories of the financial ups and downs as an entrepreneurial couple
-Memories and photos from Chip and Jo’s wedding
-The significance of the word magnolia and why it permeates everything they do
-The way the couple pays the popularity of Fixer Upper forward, sharing the success with others, and bolstering the city of Waco along the way

And yet there is still one lingering question for fans of the show: Is Chip really that funny? “Oh yeah,� says Joanna. “He was, and still is, my first fixer upper.”]]> 217 Chip Gaines Jvanlaar 0 4.15 2016 The Magnolia Story
author: Chip Gaines
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2016
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]]> <![CDATA[Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1)]]> 9416
Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from the bank –letters with large red sums she can't bear to read–and they're getting ever harder to ignore.

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

Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life–and the lives of those around her–forever.]]> 368 Sophie Kinsella 0440241413 Jvanlaar 0 3.71 2000 Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1)
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (The Hundred-Year-Old Man, #1)]]> 36578942 The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.]]> 396 Jonas Jonasson Jvanlaar 3 3.84 2009 The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (The Hundred-Year-Old Man, #1)
author: Jonas Jonasson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2009
rating: 3
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date added: 2020/03/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future]]> 51848062 An impassioned plea and workable solution for women and men to imagine a better world, embrace their differences, find ways to end oppression, and learn how to work better together.

We are currently at a strategic cultural intersection with relationships between women and men eroding. And it seems no one knows what to do. While it is good for women to expose their pain, what often happens is that they immediately blame the person at the other end of it, which sets up a never-ending cycle of accusations, denial, avoidance, and ultimately devastation for everyone involved.

This moment of discovery should not signal the end but instead become an opportunity to create a different world where men and women are better together.

Better Togetheris a beacon of hope in a challenging storm. It’s where thoughts can be rechanneled and hope rekindled as author Danielle Strickland offers steps toward a real and workable solution. Her premise is that two things are needed for change:

1) imagine a better world, and

2) understand oppression.

Understanding how oppression works is an important part of undoing it.

Danielle says, “I refuse to believe that all men are bad. I also refuse to believe that all women are victims. I don’t want to be just hopeful, I want to bestrategically hopeful. I want to work toward a better world with a shared view of the future that looks like equality, freedom, and flourishing.”]]> 224 Danielle Strickland 0785230157 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.30 Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future
author: Danielle Strickland
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.30
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date added: 2020/02/27
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]]> Heads You Win 39073422 This program is read by Richard Armitage.

With a final twist that will shock even his most ardent listeners, Heads You Win is #1 New York Times bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s most ambitious and creative work since Kane and Abel.

Leningrad, Russia, 1968. Alexander Karpenko is no ordinary child, and from an early age, it is clear he is destined to lead his countrymen. But when his father is assassinated by the KGB for defying the state, he and his mother will have to escape from Russia if they hope to survive. At the docks, they are confronted with an irreversible choice: should they board a container ship bound for America, or Great Britain? Alexander leaves that choice to the toss of a coin . . .

In a single moment, a double twist decides Alexander’s future. During an epic tale of fate and fortune, spanning two continents and thirty years, we follow his triumphs and defeats as he struggles as an immigrant to conquer his new world. As this unique story unfolds, Alexander comes to realize where his destiny lies, and accepts that he must face the past he left behind in Russia.]]> 16 Jeffrey Archer 1427299226 Jvanlaar 0 3.71 2018 Heads You Win
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/02/14
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]]> A Prisoner of Birth 1611988 International bestseller and master storyteller Jeffrey Archer is at the very top of his game in this story of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge.

If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson the day before, or the day after, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the four prosecution witnesses are a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm's history, who is going to believe his side of the story?

Danny is sentenced to twenty-two years and sent to Belmarsh prison, the highest-security jail in the land, from where no inmate has ever escaped.

However, Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny's determination to seek revenge, and Beth's relentless quest to pursue justice, which ends up with all four fighting for their lives.

Thus begins Jeffrey Archer's most powerful novel since Kane and Abel, with a cast of characters that will remain with you long after you've turned the last page.

And if that is not enough, prepare for an ending that will shock even the most ardent of Archer's fans.

]]> 501 Jeffrey Archer 0312379293 Jvanlaar 0 4.15 2008 A Prisoner of Birth
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/02/14
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]]> Recursion 42046112 Memory makes reality.

That's what NYC cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It's why she's dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face to face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds, but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

At once a relentless pageturner and an intricate science-fiction puzzlebox about time, identity, and memory, Recursion is a thriller as only Blake Crouch could imagine it—and his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.]]> 326 Blake Crouch 1524759783 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.15 2019 Recursion
author: Blake Crouch
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/02/02
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]]> The Way They Learn 110673 176 Cynthia Ulrich Tobias 1561794147 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.10 1994 The Way They Learn
author: Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class]]> 35747538 311 Luke Barr 0804186294 Jvanlaar 4 3.98 2018 Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class
author: Luke Barr
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/12/26
date added: 2019/12/26
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]]> Dutch Feast 34381169 224 Emily Wight 1551526875 Jvanlaar 0 4.21 Dutch Feast
author: Emily Wight
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/12/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America]]> 208767 Mike Yankoski did more than just wonder. By his own choice, Mike's life went from upper-middle class plush to scum-of-the-earth repulsive overnight. With only a backpack, a sleeping bag and a guitar, Mike and his traveling companion, Sam, set out to experience life on the streets in six different cities—from Washington D.C. to San Diego� and they put themselves to the test.
For more than five months the pair experienced firsthand the extreme pains of hunger, the constant uncertainty and danger of living on the streets, exhaustion, depression, and social rejection—and all of this by their own choice. They wanted to find out if their faith was real, if they could actually be the Christians they said they were apart from the comforts they’d always known…to discover first hand what it means to be homeless in America.
Mike and Sam's story is gritty, challenging, and utterly captivating. What you encounter in these pages will radically alter how you see your world—and may even change your life.
]]> 256 Mike Yankoski 1590524020 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.07 2005 Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America
author: Mike Yankoski
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/11/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household]]> 38526343
Sustainable lifestyle blogger and professional Christine Liu takes you on a tour through the rooms of your home � the living area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom � offering tips, tricks and 18 step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle. Whether its by making your own toothpaste, converting to renewable energy sources, reducing your consumption of plastic, growing your own herb garden or upcycling old pieces of furniture, there are numerous ways � both big and small � to make a difference.

With environmental issues at the forefront of global politics, the desire to make small changes on an individual level is on the rise; this book will guide anyone hoping to make a difference, but who perhaps don’t know where to begin.]]> 160 Christine Liu 071123969X Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.66 2018 Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household
author: Christine Liu
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/11/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years]]> 44286431 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In this follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Julie Andrews shares reflections on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Victor/Victoria.

In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage.
With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films--Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry -- from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

Cowritten with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews's trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring.]]> 340 Julie Andrews Edwards 0306845989 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.84 2019 Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years
author: Julie Andrews Edwards
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/10/16
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]]> The Year of Magical Thinking 7815
From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later–the night before New Year's Eve–the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma.

This powerful book is Didion's attempt to make sense of the "weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness . . . about marriage and children and memory . . . about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself."]]> 227 Joan Didion 1400078431 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.94 2005 The Year of Magical Thinking
author: Joan Didion
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/10/09
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]]> The Secret Keeper 13508607
Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.

Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre–WWII England through the blitz, to the �60s and beyond. It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined. The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world.]]> 484 Kate Morton 1439152802 Jvanlaar 5
This book in particular will not disappoint. It is a light enough read to go through at a slower pace and enjoy, but will suck you in rather quickly! ]]> 4.14 2012 The Secret Keeper
author: Kate Morton
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2019/10/06
date added: 2019/10/06
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review:
Kate Morton did not disappoint. She kept me engaged and delighted all the way until the end. She has the capability of creating a carefully crafted plot along with exquisite descriptions along the way. She always makes me feel like I’m living alongside her characters.

This book in particular will not disappoint. It is a light enough read to go through at a slower pace and enjoy, but will suck you in rather quickly!
]]> Momofuku 6487388
Never before has there been a phenomenon like Momofuku. A once-unrecognizable word, it's now synonymous with the award-winning restaurants of the same name in New York City (Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, Má Pêche, Fuku, Nishi, and Milk Bar), Toronto, and Sydney. Chef David Chang single-handedly revolutionized cooking in America and beyond with his use of bold Asian flavors and impeccable ingredients, his mastery of the humble ramen noodle, and his thorough devotion to pork.

Chang relays with candor the tale of his unwitting rise to superstardom, which, though wracked with mishaps, happened at light speed. And the dishes shared in this book are coveted by all who've dined—or yearned to—at any Momofuku location (yes, the pork buns are here). This is a must-read for anyone who truly enjoys food.]]> 304 David Chang 030745195X Jvanlaar 0 3.93 2009 Momofuku
author: David Chang
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/09/24
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]]> <![CDATA[24/6 The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week]]> 43822605
Internet pioneer and renowned filmmaker Tiffany Shlain takes us on a provocative and entertaining journey through time and technology, introducing a strategy for living in our 24/7 world: turning off all screens for twenty-four hours each week. This practice, which she’s done for nearly a decade with her husband and kids (sixteen and ten), has completely changed their lives, giving them more time, productivity, connection, and presence. She and her family call it “Technology Shabbat.�

Drawn from the ancient ritual of Shabbat, living 24/6 can work for anyone from any background. With humor and wisdom, Shlain shares her story, offers lessons she has learned, and provides a blueprint for how to do it yourself. Along the way, she delves into the neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and history of a weekly day of rest across cultures, making the case for why we need to bring this ritual back.

A compelling personal story and a fascinating, far-reaching examination of the complex world we’ve created, 24/6 is a call to rebalance ourselves and our society.]]> 256 Tiffany Shlain 1982116862 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.79 2019 24/6 The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week
author: Tiffany Shlain
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/09/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Cúrate: Authentic Spanish Food from an American Kitchen]]> 28220797
Katie Button debuts her first cookbook ever as a peek inside the kitchen of her award-winning restaurant, Cúrate. This cookbook features 125 recipes celebrating the vibrant flavors and broad appeal of Spanish food. Button brings the cuisine at Cúrate into the kitchen of every home cook, showing readers how to re-create classic Spanish dishes and adapt them using American seasonal ingredients.

From cherished traditions (Tortilla Española; Chicken Paella) to mouthwatering new favorites (Ham and Cheese Stuffed Fried Pork Chops; Ribeye Steak with Blue Cheese Sauce) to celebratory drinks and desserts (The Perfect Gin and Tonic; Almond Cake with Cream Sherry and Brandy), Cúrate brings Spain to you.]]> 304 Katie Button 1250059445 Jvanlaar 0 4.33 Cúrate: Authentic Spanish Food from an American Kitchen
author: Katie Button
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/09/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge]]> 28964277 288 Trine Hahnemann 1849498598 Jvanlaar 0 3.81 Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge
author: Trine Hahnemann
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/09/15
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]]> The Client 5359 483 John Grisham 0385339089 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.06 1993 The Client
author: John Grisham
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/09/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Boss Up!: This Ain’t Your Mama’s Business Book]]> 42772076 256 Lindsay Teague Moreno 0785224416 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.34 2019 Boss Up!: This Ain’t Your Mama’s Business Book
author: Lindsay Teague Moreno
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/09/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Write to the Point How to be Clear, Correct and Persuasive on the Page]]> 36391983
In this complete guide to persuasive writing, Sam Leith shows how to express yourself fully across any medium, and how to maximise your chances of getting your way in every situation. From work reports to Valentine cards, and from emails of condolence to tweets of complaint, Leith lays bare the secrets to successful communication, eloquence and off- and online etiquette. How do you write a job application, a thank-you card, or an email to your bank manager, to your children's headteacher, to your clients or your boss? How do you prepare a speech to win the argument, get the vote of confidence, or embarrass the bridegroom? Getting these things right - or wrong - can be life-changing.

Succinct treatments of the most general principles of style and composition, as well as examinations of specific modes of address (What is a subtweet? How do I write a moving elegy?) are accompanied by concrete and well-illustrated dos and don'ts and examples of wins and fails. Astute, sprightly and illuminating, Write to the Point will give you the skills and confidence you need to get your message across on every occasion.]]> 288 Sam Leith 1781254761 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.61 2017 Write to the Point How to be Clear, Correct and Persuasive on the Page
author: Sam Leith
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Little Paris Bookshop 23278537 “There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.�

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.]]> 392 Nina George 0553418777 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.46 2013 The Little Paris Bookshop
author: Nina George
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/31
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]]> The Wright Brothers 22609391 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.

On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two unknown brothers from Ohio changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe what had happened: the age of flight had begun, with the first heavier-than-air, powered machine carrying a pilot.

Who were these men and how was it that they achieved what they did?

David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, tells the surprising, profoundly American story of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Far more than a couple of unschooled Dayton bicycle mechanics who happened to hit on success, they were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity, much of which they attributed to their upbringing. The house they lived in had no electricity or indoor plumbing, but there were books aplenty, supplied mainly by their preacher father, and they never stopped reading.

When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education, little money and no contacts in high places, never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off in one of their contrivances, they risked being killed.

In this thrilling book, master historian David McCullough draws on the immense riches of the Wright Papers, including private diaries, notebooks, scrapbooks, and more than a thousand letters from private family correspondence to tell the human side of the Wright Brothers' story, including the little-known contributions of their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them.]]> 320 David McCullough Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.14 2015 The Wright Brothers
author: David McCullough
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery]]> 34408997 A stunning memoir from the astronaut who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station--a candid account of his remarkable voyage, of the journeys off the planet that preceded it, and of his colorful formative years.

The veteran of four space flights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly inimical to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both existential and banal: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the pressures of constant close cohabitation; the catastrophic risks of depressurization or colliding with space junk, and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home--an agonizing situation Kelly faced when, on another mission, his twin brother's wife, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot while he still had two months in space. Kelly's humanity, compassion, humor, and passion resonate throughout, as he recalls his rough-and-tumble New Jersey childhood and the youthful inspiration that sparked his astounding career, and as he makes clear his belief that Mars will be the next, ultimately challenging step in American spaceflight. A natural storyteller and modern-day hero, Kelly has a message of hope for the future that will inspire for generations to come. Here, in his personal story, we see the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the boundless wonder of the galaxy.]]> 387 Scott Kelly 0735233713 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.49 2017 Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery
author: Scott Kelly
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home]]> 29737861
Many home cooks find bread baking rewarding but intimidating. In Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen shows bakers of all levels how to make foolproof breads, rolls, flatbreads, and more at home. Each master recipe is presented as a hands-on and reassuring tutorial illustrated with six to 16 full-color step-by-step photos. Organized by level of difficulty to make bread baking less daunting, the book progresses from the simplest recipes for the novice baker to artisan-style loaves, breads that use starters, and more complex project recipes. The recipes cover a wide and exciting range of breads from basics and classics like Easy Sandwich Bread and Fluffy Dinner Rolls to interesting breads from around the world including Lahmacun, Panettone, and Fig and Fennel Bread.]]> 432 America's Test Kitchen 1940352606 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.48 2016 Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home
author: America's Test Kitchen
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[More With Less - Whole Food Cooking Made Irresistibly Simple]]> 36522448 A sophisicated, yet simple take on cooking with whole foods--filled with creative combinations that use fewer ingredients to elevate everyday fare into something extraordinary.

More with Less bridges the gap between quick, everyday cooking and elegant, healthy food. Using simple equation-like combinations, this book inspires readers to make luxurious meals with very few ingredients and very little time. Unlike the time-saving cookbooks that rely on processed ingredients and unhealthy shortcuts, Jodi Moreno makes beautiful ingredients and simple cooking techniques the focus of your everyday meals.

The book will also teach you how to maximize pantry ingredients and homemade condiments that quickly add layers of complexity to create elegant weeknight dinners. Start your day with the Coconut + Cherry + Oatmeal Souffle for breakfast, the Honey Roasted Nectarines + Kale with Dukkah + Oat Croutons for lunch, and finish with Crispy Cauliflower Steaks + Ginger Scallion Sauce for a light dinner. Filled with over 130 approachable recipes perfect for a busy weeknight, but also sophisticated enough to serve at a dinner party. You will find tips on how to make the most of the whole vegetable, from root to leaf, and tips for turning leftovers into something spectacular.]]> 273 Jodi Moreno 1611804701 Jvanlaar 0 3.86 More With Less - Whole Food Cooking Made Irresistibly Simple
author: Jodi Moreno
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Clean Enough: Get Back to Basics and Leave Room for Dessert]]> 38745911
It seems that every day a new superfood or gadget promises to be the key to making healthy eating a reality. Ditch the trends and get back to basics with this comprehensive guide to cooking with simple, whole ingredients that don’t require sacrificing flavor or satisfaction—including the often taboo category of dessert.

Here are over 100 inspiring recipes that make real foods—from greens and grains to chocolate and cream—sing, with methods and combinations perfect for whipping up on a weekday night, leisurely preparing on weekends with plenty of leftovers, or impressing guests with at a dinner party.

From energizing the day with a Green Pow Wow Smoothie, munching on Luxury Granola at the office or on your sofa, savoring a crisp bite of Charred Broccoli with Poached and Crispy Miso Sweet Potatoes, or indulging in a slice of Pan di Spagna, this refreshing approach to health proves that eating clean enough is the key to satisfaction at every meal.]]> 272 Katzie Guy-Hamilton 1615194908 Jvanlaar 0 3.28 Clean Enough: Get Back to Basics and Leave Room for Dessert
author: Katzie Guy-Hamilton
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.28
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/26
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]]> The House in France: A Memoir 10333973
Gully Wells takes us into the heart of London’s lively, liberated intellectual inner circle of the 1960s. Here are Alan Bennett, Isaiah Berlin, Iris Murdoch, Bertrand Russell, Jonathan Miller, Martin Amis, Christopher Hitchens, Robert Kennedy, and Claus von Bülow, and later in New York a completely different Mayor John Lindsay, Mike Tyson, and lingerie king Fernando Sánchez. We meet Wells’s adventurous mother, a television commentator earning a reputation for her outspoken style and progressive views, and her stepfather, an icon in the world of twentieth-century philosophy, proving himself as prodigious a womanizer as he is a thinker. Woven throughout is La Migoua, the old farmhouse in France, where evenings were spent cooking bouillabaisse with fish bought that morning in the market in Bandol, and afternoons included visits to M. F. K. Fisher’s favorite café on the Cours Mirabeau in Aix, with a late-night stop at the bullfighters� bar in Arles. The house perched on a hill between Toulon and Marseille was where her parents and their friends came together every year, and where Gully herself learned some of the enduring lessons of a life well lived.

The House in France is a spellbinding story with a luminous sense of place and a dazzling portrait of a woman who “caught the spirit of the sixties� and one of the most important intellectual figures of the twentieth century, drawn from the vivid memory of the child who adored them both.]]> 320 Gully Wells 0307269809 Jvanlaar 0 3.36 2011 The House in France: A Memoir
author: Gully Wells
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/26
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]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution]]> 688663
Perhaps more responsible than anyone for the revolution in the way we eat, cook, and think about food, Alice Waters has “single-handedly chang[ed] the American palate� according to the New York Times . Her simple but inventive dishes focus on a passion for flavor and a reverence for locally produced, seasonal foods.

With an essential repertoire of timeless, approachable recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients, The Art of Simple Food is an indispensable resource for home cooks. Here you will find Alice’s philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen, to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long. Always true to her philosophy that a perfect meal is one that’s balanced in texture, color, and flavor, Waters helps us embrace the seasons� bounty and make the best choices when selecting ingredients. Fill your market basket with pristine produce, healthful grains, and responsibly raised meat, poultry, and seafood, then embark on a voyage of culinary rediscovery that reminds us that the most gratifying dish is often the least complex.]]> 405 Alice Waters 0307336794 Jvanlaar 5
Not something to just sit down and quickly glance through. It's best to be ready to read a bit through Alice's notes]]> 3.94 2007 The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
author: Alice Waters
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/08/18
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I think this is a great quality book and would get this for a house warming or bridle shower gift! I personally am a creative cook so I don't often need to start from scratch with ideas for meals, but this book helps to bring everything back to the basics and dives into why staple foods are prepared the way they are and how to kick them up a notch.

Not something to just sit down and quickly glance through. It's best to be ready to read a bit through Alice's notes
]]> <![CDATA[Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes: A Cookbook]]> 40636172 85 authentic recipes and 100 stunning photographs that capture the cultural and cooking traditions of the Italian South, from the mountains to the coast.In most cultures, exploring food means exploring history—and the Italian south has plenty of both to offer. The pasta-heavy, tomato-forward “Italian food� the world knows and loves does not actually represent the entire country; rather, these beloved and widespread culinary traditions hail from the regional cuisines of the south. Acclaimed author and food journalist Katie Parla takes you on a tour through these vibrant destinations so you can sink your teeth into the secrets of their rustic, romantic dishes. Parla shares rich recipes, both original and reimagined, along with historical and cultural insights that encapsulate the miles of rugged beaches, sheep-dotted mountains, meditatively quiet towns, and, most important, culinary traditions unique to this precious piece of Italy. With just a bite of the Involtini alla Piazzetta from farm-rich Campania, a taste of Giurgiulena from the sugar-happy kitchens of Calabria, a forkful of ’U Pan� Cuott� from mountainous Basilicata, a morsel of Focaccia from coastal Puglia, or a mouthful of Pizz e Foje from quaint Molise, you’ll discover what makes the food of the Italian south unique.Praise for Food of the Italian South“Parla clearly crafted every recipe with reverence and restraint, balancing authenticity with accessibility for the modern home cook.�—Fine Cooking “Parla’s knowledge and voice shine in this outstanding meditation on the food of South Italy from the Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria regions. . . . This excellent volume proves that no matter how well-trodden the Italian cookbook path is, an expert with genuine curiosity and a well-developed voice can still find new material.�—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “There's There’s Italian food, and then there'sthere’sItalian food. Not just pizza, pasta, and prosciutto, but obscure recipes that have been passed down through generations and are only found in Italy� . . . and in this book.�—Woman’s Day (Best Cookbooks Coming Out in 2019)“[With]Food of the Italian South,Parla wanted to branch out from Rome and celebrate the lower half of the country.�‱ܲԳ “Acclaimed culinary journalist Katie Parla takes cookbook readers and home cooks on a culinary journey.�—The Parkersburg News and Sentinel]]> 228 Katie Parla 1524760471 Jvanlaar 5 3.86 Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes: A Cookbook
author: Katie Parla
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/08/16
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review:

]]> Taken 23411544
When Shannon contacts private investigator and former cop Matthew Dane to help her navigate her reentry into society, she quickly discovers that gaining her freedom doesn’t mean her troubles are over. For one thing, her brother is the leading candidate in the race for Illinois governor, and news of her escape will create a media frenzy. For another, the ransom her family reportedly paid years earlier appears to have been a scam; no one knows what happened to the money. And then there’s the fact that Shannon’s escape involved faking her own death. If the Jacoby family learns she is still alive, they’ll stop at nothing to silence her.

If justice is to be done, and if Shannon’s life is ever to get on track again, Matthew will need to discover exactly what happened to her–even if it means stirring up a hornet’s nest of secrets.]]> 424 Dee Henderson 076421408X Jvanlaar 3
But I always enjoy Dee Henderson's style of writing. That will continue drawing me to her books.]]> 4.07 2015 Taken
author: Dee Henderson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/07/21
shelves:
review:
I was a little underwhelmed by the plot. The beginning was quite drawn out, which would have been fine if time was also taken for the climax as while as the decline. I left the book feeling there was a lack of closure to this story.

But I always enjoy Dee Henderson's style of writing. That will continue drawing me to her books.
]]> Still Me (Me Before You, #3) 41839602 An alternate cover edition for ISBN 978-0399562464 can be found here.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, a new book featuring her iconic heroine of Me Before You and After You, Louisa Clark.

Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.

As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?

Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows Lou as she navigates how to stay true to herself, while pushing to live boldly in her brave new world.]]> 469 Jojo Moyes Jvanlaar 4
I only do not appreciate when there are more intamate scenes, which there are a few of. Hard to skip through when using an audiobook driving! :(]]> 4.03 2018 Still Me (Me Before You, #3)
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/07/06
shelves:
review:
A wonderfully written novel with great twists and turns and a delightfulness of seeing a life transform amongst the changes in circumstances.

I only do not appreciate when there are more intamate scenes, which there are a few of. Hard to skip through when using an audiobook driving! :(
]]> As the Crow Flies 7201
Encompassing three continents and spanning over sixty years, As the Crow Flies brings to life a magnificent tale of one man's rise from rags to riches set against the backdrop of a changing century.]]> 800 Jeffrey Archer 0312997116 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.10 1990 As the Crow Flies
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/05/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hygge & West Home: Design for a Cozy Life]]> 37826505 Hygge & West Home offers a look into 20 covetable homes designed to promote feelings of coziness, companionship, and comfort, from an intimate apartment in San Francisco to a log cabin in Wyoming, a family home in Minneapolis, and a colorful oasis in Brooklyn. With page after page of aspirational interiors, engaging interviews with home owners, and tips on creating similar feelings in any space, this eyecatching book explores what makes a house a truly personal space and offers readers the tools and inspiration to make their home their own.]]> 240 Christiana Coop 1452164320 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.22 Hygge & West Home: Design for a Cozy Life
author: Christiana Coop
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.22
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cottage by the Sea 36569489
Once there, Annie begins to restore her broken spirit, thanks in part to the folks she meets: a local painter, Keaton, whose large frame is equal to his big heart—and who helps Annie fix up her rental cottage by the sea; Mellie, the reclusive, prickly landlord Annie is determined to befriend; and Britt, a teenager with a terrible secret. But it is Keaton to whom Annie feels most drawn. His quiet, peaceful nature offers her both comfort and reprieve from her grief, and the two begin to grow closer.

Then events threaten to undo the idyll Annie has come to enjoy. And when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in her lap, she is torn between the excitement of a new journey toward success and the safe and secure arms of the haven—and the man—she’s come to call home.

In this heartwarming tale, Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within is to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.]]> 429 Debbie Macomber 0399181261 Jvanlaar 0 3.97 2018 Cottage by the Sea
author: Debbie Macomber
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2019/03/10
date added: 2019/03/10
shelves:
review:

]]> The Goldfinch 17333223
Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate.]]> 771 Donna Tartt 0316055433 Jvanlaar 3
However, halfway through the book the characters language started to get more crude and they began using God's name when swearing. As a Christian I did not want to hear this any longer and stopped reading. Otherwise I stand by the authors talent in writing and felt the plot to be very well thoughtout!]]> 3.94 2013 The Goldfinch
author: Donna Tartt
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/03/10
shelves:
review:
This book is incredibly well written! Some people feel that the descriptions used by the author are drawn out, but I throughouly enjoyed it! I do admit that I was reading it through an audiobook and perhaps that made a difference.

However, halfway through the book the characters language started to get more crude and they began using God's name when swearing. As a Christian I did not want to hear this any longer and stopped reading. Otherwise I stand by the authors talent in writing and felt the plot to be very well thoughtout!
]]> The Nest 25781157 A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs� joint trust fund, “The Nest,� which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the future they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.

This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.]]> 353 Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney 0062414216 Jvanlaar 1 3.37 2016 The Nest
author: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2016
rating: 1
read at: 2019/03/10
date added: 2019/03/10
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I am not someone who likes valgar and sexual content so right within the first two pages of the book I realized this was not for me.
]]> A House in the Sky 18039963 The dramatic and redemptive memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most beautiful and remote places, its most imperiled and perilous countries, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity—an exquisitely written story of courage, resilience, and grace.

As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.� On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road.

Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda converts to Islam as a survival tactic, receives “wife lessons� from one of her captors, and risks a daring escape. Moved between a series of abandoned houses in the desert, she survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured.

Vivid and suspenseful, as artfully written as the finest novel, A House in the Sky is the searingly intimate story of an intrepid young woman and her search for compassion in the face of unimaginable adversity.]]> 373 Amanda Lindhout 1451651694 Jvanlaar 3 4.26 2013 A House in the Sky
author: Amanda Lindhout
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/02/15
shelves:
review:
I was a little disappointed with the lack of emotion of character development in a good portion of the beginning of this book, which really impacted the rest of it. Up until the middle there is a lot of narration (there is very little dialogue in the book in general). With a lack of emotional development it was hard to then feel deeply what was happening through the rest of the book. There was a disconnect for me.
]]> <![CDATA[Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been]]> 36408887 "I used to be a lesbian."

In Gay Girl, Good God , author Jackie Hill Perry shares her own story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. Jackie grew up fatherless, experienced gender confusion, and embraced both masculinity and homosexuality with every fiber of her being. She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of the above. But was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could?

At age nineteen, Jackie came face-to-face with what it meant to be made new. And not in a church, or through contactwith Christians. God broke in and turned her heart toward Him right in her own bedroom in light of His gospel.

Read in order to understand. Read in order to hope. Or read in order, like Jackie, to be made new.]]> 193 Jackie Hill Perry 1462751229 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.35 2018 Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been
author: Jackie Hill Perry
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/02/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> Atlas Shrugged 662 This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators?

Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world’s motor � and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life � from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy � to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction � to the philosopher who becomes a pirate � to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph � to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad � to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels.

You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions.

This is a mystery story, not about the murder � and rebirth � of man’s spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.]]> 1168 Ayn Rand 0452011876 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.67 1957 Atlas Shrugged
author: Ayn Rand
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1957
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Food52 A New Way to Dinner: A Playbook of Recipes and Strategies for the Week Ahead]]> 28686770 A smart, inspiring cookbook showing how to plan, shop, and cook for dinners (and lunches and desserts) all through the week. The secret? Cooking ahead.Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, founders of the online kitchen and home destination Food52, pull off home-cooked dinners with their families with stunning regularity. But they don't cook every night.Starting with flexible base dishes made on the weekend, Amanda and Merrill mix, match, and riff to create new dinners, lunches, and even desserts throughout the week. Blistered tomatoes are first served as a side, then become sauce for spaghetti with corn. Tuna, poached in olive oil on a Sunday, gets paired with braised peppers and romesco for a fiery dinner, with spicy mayo for a hearty sandwich, and with zucchini and couscous for a pack-and-go salad.Amanda and Merrill’s seasonal plans give you everything you need to set yourself up well for the week, with grocery lists and cooking timelines. They also share clever tips and tricks for more confident cooking, showing how elements can work across menus and seasons to fit your mood or market, and how to be scrappy with whatever’s left in the fridge. These building blocks form A New Way to Dinner, the key to smarter, happier cooking that leaves you with endless possibilities for the week ahead.]]> 280 Amanda Hesser 0399578013 Jvanlaar 0 3.65 2016 Food52 A New Way to Dinner: A Playbook of Recipes and Strategies for the Week Ahead
author: Amanda Hesser
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/01/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Toronto Cooks:100 Signature Recipes from the City's Best Restaurants]]> 23394041 Amy Rosen Jvanlaar 4 3.72 2014 Toronto Cooks:100 Signature Recipes from the City's Best Restaurants
author: Amy Rosen
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/01/28
shelves:
review:
It was a great to see the creativeness of these chefs and get a glimpse into their work and craft. I did find that the recipes lacked a sense of detail in how to execute the recipes, which can be understandable as they have a signature on these things for their success.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)]]> 853510
One of the passengers is none other than detective Hercule Poirot. On vacation.

Isolated and with a killer on board, Poirot must identify the murderer—in case he or she decides to strike again.]]> 274 Agatha Christie 0007119313 Jvanlaar 0 4.22 1934 Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1934
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave]]> 39855073 Homebody: A Guide To Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave, Joanna Gaines walks you through how to create a home that reflects the personalities and stories of the people who live there. This comprehensive guide will help you assess your priorities and your instincts, as well as your likes and dislikes, with practical steps for navigating and embracing your authentic design style.

Room by room, Homebody gives you an in-depth look at how these styles are iterated as well as how to blend the genres you’re drawn to in order to create spaces that look and feel distinctly yours.

In each chapter are practical takeaways to help problem solve potential pain points in your home. A fold out design guidebook at the back of the book offers a place for you to take notes and sketch out your own design plans as you make your way through the rooms.

The insight shared in Homebody will instill in you the confidence to thoughtfully create spaces that you never want to leave.]]> 352 Joanna Gaines 006280197X Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.05 2018 Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave
author: Joanna Gaines
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]]> 10569 (back cover)]]> 320 Stephen King 0743455967 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.33 2000 On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
author: Stephen King
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Gown 39893613 “Millions willwelcome this joyous event as a flash of color on the long road we have totravel.�—Sir Winston Churchill on the news of Princess Elizabeth’sforthcoming wedding

London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory,burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory.Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfairfashionhouse of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship,but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they arechosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of PrincessElizabeth’s wedding gown.

Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeksto unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy fromher lategrandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her oldlife in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at herwedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to thecelebrated textile artistand holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?

With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous weddinggowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with asweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitouscosts of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersectingthroughout its pages,whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love.]]> 371 Jennifer Robson 0062674951 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 4.10 2018 The Gown
author: Jennifer Robson
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Orchid Thief 228345 The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower—the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii�a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida’s swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean—and the reader—will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion.

In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the “orchid thief,� Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film Adaptation, in a new retrospective essay.]]> 300 Susan Orlean 044900371X Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.66 1998 The Orchid Thief
author: Susan Orlean
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Library Book 39507318
Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia� who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.

Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.]]> 317 Susan Orlean 1476740186 Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.88 2018 The Library Book
author: Susan Orlean
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers (Youth, Family, and Culture)]]> 9206897 2011 Book of the Year Award, Foreword Magazine

Hurt provided a vivid and insightful view into the world of today's teenagers. Now leading youth ministry expert Chap Clark substantially updates and revises his groundbreaking bestseller (over 55,000 copies sold). Hurt 2.0 features a new chapter on youth at society's margins and new material on social networking and gaming. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised with new research, statistics, quotations, and documentation.

Praise for the first edition

"Based on solid research and years of insightful observation, Hurt offers a deep and penetrating look into the contemporary adolescent experience that will serve us well as we work to have a prophetic, preventive, and redemptive influence on the world of today's youth culture."-- Walt Mueller , Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

"A daring yet hopeful glance into the underworld of teen promiscuity, self-mutilation, and suicide. . . . A groundbreaking resource for parents, youth ministers, and counselors."-- ForeWord

"Clark's classic book [is] highly recommended by youth workers and educators who write about teenage stress. It is foundational reading that provides valuable insight into the hurting hearts of young people."-- YouthWorker Journal

"Clark has been stepping inside the world of teenagers for many years. This book is a unique invitation for us to join him in their world. When we finish this journey, we will care more about kids and understand who they are and the challenges they face."-- Denny Rydberg , Young Life

"Drawing together research from many others along with his fresh exploration into the world beneath, Clark paints a compelling picture of adolescent life. . . . This book is a must-read for anyone who has any contact with adolescents."-- Journal of Youth Ministry]]> 288 Chap Clark 080103941X Jvanlaar 0 4.00 2004 Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers (Youth, Family, and Culture)
author: Chap Clark
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/04/02
shelves:
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]]> The Last Days of Socrates 15764588 2 Plato Jvanlaar 0 to-read 3.94 -400 The Last Days of Socrates
author: Plato
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 3.94
book published: -400
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Last Light/Night Light (Restoration, #1 & #2)]]> 6947845 736 Terri Blackstock 0310325986 Jvanlaar 0 4.65 2009 Last Light/Night Light (Restoration, #1 & #2)
author: Terri Blackstock
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/09/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How Will You Measure Your Life?]]> 13425570
The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students.

In this groundbreaking book, Christensen puts forth a series of questions: How can I be sure that I'll find satisfaction in my career? How can I be sure that my personal relationships become enduring sources of happiness? How can I avoid compromising my integrity—and stay out of jail? Using lessons from some of the world's greatest businesses, he provides incredible insights into these challenging questions.

How Will You Measure Your Life? is full of inspiration and wisdom, and will help students, midcareer professionals, and parents alike forge their own paths to fulfillment.]]> 240 Clayton M. Christensen 0062102427 Jvanlaar 0 4.03 2012 How Will You Measure Your Life?
author: Clayton M. Christensen
name: Jvanlaar
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2017/09/04
date added: 2017/09/04
shelves:
review:

]]>