Ra's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 26 Apr 2025 16:14:05 -0700 60 Ra's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running: The Best Advice to Get Started, Stay Motivated, Lose Weight, Run Injury-Free, Be Safe, and Train for Any Distance]]> 6571958 With clear photographs, running sidebars, and testimonials from women runners of all ages and abilities, this comprehensive resource provides the most current practical advice available anywhere for women runners of all levels.]]> 320 Dagny Scott Barrios 1605298603 Ra 4 scribd 3.84 1997 Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running: The Best Advice to Get Started, Stay Motivated, Lose Weight, Run Injury-Free, Be Safe, and Train for Any Distance
author: Dagny Scott Barrios
name: Ra
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/31
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: scribd
review:

]]> A Beautiful Poison 34932769 Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

]]> 350 Lydia Kang 1477828109 Ra 0 to-read 3.94 2017 A Beautiful Poison
author: Lydia Kang
name: Ra
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Simple Favor 31250564 She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train


It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems.

A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.]]> 304 Darcey Bell 0062497790 Ra 2 scribd, meh
Apart from the pacing, everything is wrong, including some small irritating details, like when Stephanie calls Sean from the US to England in the morning and expects him to be asleep, or perhaps that was done on purpose to show how stupid she is. Expect to hate everyone in this book, including the boring kids who were mere ghots or puppets to serve the plot.

Reading this story is a learning experience. It might serve as motivation for you to write your own work of fiction in the domestic thriller genre, just read Gone Girl, then spin off something in that vein paying little attention to logic or reason. It might become a bestseller. ]]> 3.41 2017 A Simple Favor
author: Darcey Bell
name: Ra
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2020/04/28
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: scribd, meh
review:
This book has everything: lazy plotting, unrealistic motivations, unbelievably stupid charchters and a cliff-hanger ending that spares everyone the consequences of their actions.

Apart from the pacing, everything is wrong, including some small irritating details, like when Stephanie calls Sean from the US to England in the morning and expects him to be asleep, or perhaps that was done on purpose to show how stupid she is. Expect to hate everyone in this book, including the boring kids who were mere ghots or puppets to serve the plot.

Reading this story is a learning experience. It might serve as motivation for you to write your own work of fiction in the domestic thriller genre, just read Gone Girl, then spin off something in that vein paying little attention to logic or reason. It might become a bestseller.
]]> <![CDATA[Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience]]> 19669336 Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives.

]]> 322 Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 0061876720 Ra 0 to-read, scribd 4.11 1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
name: Ra
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)]]> 22840421 This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed� (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

Like that could go wrong.]]> 474 Cynthia Hand 0062391798 Ra 4 nook-serial-read
The love story is really cute, and there is no alpha-male character to sweep the wall-flower bookish girl off her feet. Lady Jane's love interest is a vulnerable character with many flaws. The development of their relationship was realistic and fun to watch, as they discovered their common interests.

There is a lot of shape-shifting magic going on, in addition to politics and intrigue, which keeps the story going. The alternative history was handled in a way that made sense to our modern sensibility and the resolution was clear and satisfying.

Merged review:

Candy reading has its places sometimes, like when you are on a holiday to the coast and it starts pouring with rain. Fortunately I had this fun read to get lost into.

The love story is really cute, and there is no alpha-male character to sweep the wall-flower bookish girl off her feet. Lady Jane's love interest is a vulnerable character with many flaws. The development of their relationship was realistic and fun to watch, as they discovered their common interests.

There is a lot of shape-shifting magic going on, in addition to politics and intrigue, which keeps the story going. The alternative history was handled in a way that made sense to our modern sensibility and the resolution was clear and satisfying.]]> 4.00 2016 My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)
author: Cynthia Hand
name: Ra
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/30
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: nook-serial-read
review:
Candy reading has its places sometimes, like when you are on a holiday to the coast and it starts pouring with rain. Fortunately I had this fun read to get lost into.

The love story is really cute, and there is no alpha-male character to sweep the wall-flower bookish girl off her feet. Lady Jane's love interest is a vulnerable character with many flaws. The development of their relationship was realistic and fun to watch, as they discovered their common interests.

There is a lot of shape-shifting magic going on, in addition to politics and intrigue, which keeps the story going. The alternative history was handled in a way that made sense to our modern sensibility and the resolution was clear and satisfying.

Merged review:

Candy reading has its places sometimes, like when you are on a holiday to the coast and it starts pouring with rain. Fortunately I had this fun read to get lost into.

The love story is really cute, and there is no alpha-male character to sweep the wall-flower bookish girl off her feet. Lady Jane's love interest is a vulnerable character with many flaws. The development of their relationship was realistic and fun to watch, as they discovered their common interests.

There is a lot of shape-shifting magic going on, in addition to politics and intrigue, which keeps the story going. The alternative history was handled in a way that made sense to our modern sensibility and the resolution was clear and satisfying.
]]> Blue Monday 11687681 Blue Monday is the thrilling first novel in Nicci French's top-ten bestselling killer new series introducing psychotherapist Frieda Klein
***
Monday: five-year-old Matthew Faraday is abducted. His face is splashed across newspaper front pages. His parents and the police are desperate. Can anyone help find their little boy before it is too late?
Psychotherapist Frieda Klein just might know something.
One of her patients describes dreams of seizing a boy who is the spitting image of Matthew. Convinced at first the police will dismiss her fears out of hand, Frieda reluctantly finds herself drawn into the heart of the case. A previous abduction, from twenty years ago, suggests a new lead - one that only Frieda, an expert on the minds of disturbed individuals, can uncover.
Struggling to make sense of this terrifying investigation, Frieda will face her darkest fears in the hunt for a clever and brutal killer...


Praise for Nicci French:
'Nicci French's sophisticated, compassionate and gripping crime novels stand head and shoulders above the competition. No one understands human psychological frailty better. No one writes better about grief, love, fear or emotional damage. Not many books are as insightful as they are addictive; Nicci French's are,' Sophie Hannah
'A brilliantly crafted new crime series' Daily Mirror
'Terrific. The writing is pacy, the jaw-dropping twists are plentiful' Short List
'One of French's hardest-to-put-down novels' Sunday Express
'French is undeniably at the top of British psychological suspense writing, expert in the unguessable twist, supremely skilled at ratcheting up the tension' Observer
'A nerve-jangling and addictive read' Daily Express

]]> 401 Nicci French 0141970251 Ra 0 to-read, ebook 4.08 2011 Blue Monday
author: Nicci French
name: Ra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, ebook
review:

]]> The Five Thieves of Happiness 33790570 “The only things holding you back from complete peace of mind are mental, and this book shows you how to remove these barriers once and for all.”�—Brian Tracy,New York Times-bestselling author ofEat That Frog! Happiness is our natural state, for each of us and for humanity as a whole, argues John Izzo. But that happiness is being stolen by insidious mental patterns that he depicts as the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort. He discovered these thieves as he sought the true source of happiness during a year-long sabbatical, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and living in the Andes of Peru. This thoughtful and inspiring book describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and how to lock them out once and for all. Izzo shows how these same thieves of personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is our true nature while creating a world we all want to live in. “Brilliantly conceived, beautifully written, and thoroughly engaging. It’s a sparkling gem of a book, rich in timeless wisdom and abounding in contemporary truths—a book that you will want to return to again and again as you ponder what it means to live a good life.”—Jim Kouzes, international bestselling coauthor ofThe Leadership Challenge “Skip this book and you will steal from yourself.The Five Thievesoffers a gift of awareness and a vision for finding peacefulness within ourselves and our society.”—Noah Blumenthal, author ofBe the Hero]]> 212 John B. Izzo 1626569347 Ra 0 to-read, scribd 4.11 2017 The Five Thieves of Happiness
author: John B. Izzo
name: Ra
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories]]> 26045774 A Manual for Cleaning Women compiles the best work of the legendary short-story writer Lucia Berlin.

With the grit of Raymond Carver, the humor of Grace Paley, and a blend of wit and melancholy all her own, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the Laundromats and halfway houses of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Bay Area upper class, among switchboard operators and struggling mothers, hitchhikers and bad Christians.

Readers will revel in this remarkable collection from a master of the form and wonder how they'd ever overlooked her in the first place.]]> 433 Lucia Berlin 0374712867 Ra 5 scribd, favorites
This collection is different. The stories are worth reading for their individual value. They are vignettes, snapshots of a life lived in struggle, between poverty and affluence, sobriety and alcoholism, sickness and health, life and death. They are breathtaking for their emotional power.
They are also taken from the author's live, so we meet the same characters sometimes at different stages of their lives, from different points of view. It makes for an interesting reading like looking at lives in a mosaic of jigsaw puzzle form.

Lucia Berlin's writing is literary without being pretentious. Here the quirky humor, the inventive imagery and new turns of phrase trump the heavy literary prose that plagues most award-wining writing. She is a literary writer for the people, embracing their problems, their body odor, their embarrassing failings in the face of addiction, sickness, infidelity and death. One can feel her empathy and generosity of spirit throughout her narratives.

This book is sometimes heavy, sometimes funny but always profoundly relevant. It is worth putting on your bookshelf to dive into and re-read repeatedly.]]> 4.10 2015 A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories
author: Lucia Berlin
name: Ra
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/11
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: scribd, favorites
review:
I usually do not read short stories collections. I feel that starting out each book is an investment in getting to know its characters, and get involved in their pain. The short stories are sometimes not worth the investment as they conclude too quickly or take too long to get to the point.

This collection is different. The stories are worth reading for their individual value. They are vignettes, snapshots of a life lived in struggle, between poverty and affluence, sobriety and alcoholism, sickness and health, life and death. They are breathtaking for their emotional power.
They are also taken from the author's live, so we meet the same characters sometimes at different stages of their lives, from different points of view. It makes for an interesting reading like looking at lives in a mosaic of jigsaw puzzle form.

Lucia Berlin's writing is literary without being pretentious. Here the quirky humor, the inventive imagery and new turns of phrase trump the heavy literary prose that plagues most award-wining writing. She is a literary writer for the people, embracing their problems, their body odor, their embarrassing failings in the face of addiction, sickness, infidelity and death. One can feel her empathy and generosity of spirit throughout her narratives.

This book is sometimes heavy, sometimes funny but always profoundly relevant. It is worth putting on your bookshelf to dive into and re-read repeatedly.
]]> Untamed 52676534 In her most revealing and powerful memoir yet, the beloved activist, speaker, and bestselling author of Love Warrior and Carry On, Warrior explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet the expectations of the world, and start trusting the voice deep within us.

"Untamed will liberate women—emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It is phenomenal." � Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls and Eat Pray Love

This is how you find yourself.

There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and Wasn't it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent—even from ourselves.

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her own discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. But she soon realized they had come to her from within. This was her own voice—the one she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions, cultural conditioning, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to quit abandoning herself and to instead abandon the world's expectations of her. She quit being good so she could be free. She quit pleasing and started living.

Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is the story of navigating divorce, forming a new blended family, and discovering that the brokenness or wholeness of a family depends not on its structure but on each member's ability to bring her full self to the table. And it is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honor our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts so that we become women who can finally look at ourselves and There She Is.

Untamed shows us how to be brave. As Glennon The braver we are, the luckier we get.]]> 302 Glennon Doyle 1984801260 Ra 3 non-fiction, ebook
I have mixed feelings about this book and its author. Ms Doyle's experiences are somewhat relateable. She makes excellent points about the life of women and how we are all subject to unconscious bias when it comes to women who are sure of themselves and know what they want. All of us label them as aggressive and they are faced with dislike even from their sisters. I understand the urge to keep our wild, and the need to raise our children to live their own destiny, to be held and free at the same time.

But even as I admire her work as a volunteer and activist, and even as I cheer for her modern concept of family, I am not sure I could relate fully to her constant insitence on KNOWING. There is too much prolytesizing and bids for one-upmanship, too many excuses for past opinions and backpedaling from past knowings, and not much room for a healthy margin of doubt. I am happy that things worked for her for now, but for some of us finding grace takes a lot longer, and it is more about accepting failure and not-knowing, rather than finding a magical spell that solves everything.

I am uncomfortable around people who insist on KNOWING, who constantly need to bow to some sort of divinity, whether it is within or without. I am still searching myself, and if I bow to the divinity of knowing, to love, to acceptance, or to anything that I find within, I always accept that this could be transient. I am never sure whether this will be my ultimate knowing or just the-best-of-my-knowledge-for-now. I am happy with the not-knowing and curious about what I will learn next. This saves a lot of future backpedaling.

My approach to life is different from what she suggests, but hers is useful for what she is doing. I am still searching for an approach that will work for me. I am curiosity, doubt, not-knowing. I bumble along in my life doing what is right-for-now, which might very well turn out to be utterly wrong tomorrow.

I could write a story about this, but never a book of advice, because I want to be able to change my mind, as I know I will.

]]> 4.09 2020 Untamed
author: Glennon Doyle
name: Ra
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/18
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: non-fiction, ebook
review:
This book is a series of loosely connected blog-style essays. some are better than others, but they are meant to talk to general themes of finding one's true voice, raising happy children, and building a relationship. It touches on body image, faith and love.

I have mixed feelings about this book and its author. Ms Doyle's experiences are somewhat relateable. She makes excellent points about the life of women and how we are all subject to unconscious bias when it comes to women who are sure of themselves and know what they want. All of us label them as aggressive and they are faced with dislike even from their sisters. I understand the urge to keep our wild, and the need to raise our children to live their own destiny, to be held and free at the same time.

But even as I admire her work as a volunteer and activist, and even as I cheer for her modern concept of family, I am not sure I could relate fully to her constant insitence on KNOWING. There is too much prolytesizing and bids for one-upmanship, too many excuses for past opinions and backpedaling from past knowings, and not much room for a healthy margin of doubt. I am happy that things worked for her for now, but for some of us finding grace takes a lot longer, and it is more about accepting failure and not-knowing, rather than finding a magical spell that solves everything.

I am uncomfortable around people who insist on KNOWING, who constantly need to bow to some sort of divinity, whether it is within or without. I am still searching myself, and if I bow to the divinity of knowing, to love, to acceptance, or to anything that I find within, I always accept that this could be transient. I am never sure whether this will be my ultimate knowing or just the-best-of-my-knowledge-for-now. I am happy with the not-knowing and curious about what I will learn next. This saves a lot of future backpedaling.

My approach to life is different from what she suggests, but hers is useful for what she is doing. I am still searching for an approach that will work for me. I am curiosity, doubt, not-knowing. I bumble along in my life doing what is right-for-now, which might very well turn out to be utterly wrong tomorrow.

I could write a story about this, but never a book of advice, because I want to be able to change my mind, as I know I will.


]]> <![CDATA[The Pawn (The Patrick Bowers Files #1)]]> 18879709 Cunning and lethal, the killer is always one step ahead of the law, and he's about to strike again. It will take all of Bowers's instincts and training to stop this man who calls himself the Illusionist. And just when the pieces start to come together, Bowers realizes they're not quite adding up. Can he unravel the pattern and save the next victim? Or will the Illusionist win the game by taking one of his opponent's pieces? Thrilling, chilling, and impossible to put down, The Pawn will hold suspense lovers in its iron grip until the very last page.]]> 401 Steven James 1441216235 Ra 4 scribd, favorites 4.15 2007 The Pawn (The Patrick Bowers Files #1)
author: Steven James
name: Ra
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2017/02/08
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: scribd, favorites
review:
A roller-coaster ride of a thriller with a very interesting true backstory. I think it will make a very good movie.
]]> Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk 31204493
As she crosses the unpredictable landscape of a run-down Manhattan, a city anxious after an attack by a still-at-large subway vigilante, she encounters bartenders, bodega clerks, chauffeurs, security guards, bohemians, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be—in surprising moments of generosity and grace. As she strolls, Lillian recalls a long and eventful life that included a brief reign as the highest-paid advertising woman in America, cut short by marriage, motherhood, divorce, and a breakdown.

A love letter to city life--no matter how shiny or sleazy--LILLIAN BOXFISH TAKES A WALK by Kathleen Rooney paints a portrait of a remarkable woman across the canvas of a changing America: from the Jazz Age to the onset of the AIDS epidemic, from the Great Depression to the birth of hip-hop.]]> 304 Kathleen Rooney 1250113334 Ra 3 scribd Later I found out that Lilian Boxfish is based on an actual character called Margaret Fishback who was a poet and an advertising copywriter for R H Macy's in the heyday of print advertising.

I thought Lilian was an opinionated city brat. She loved the city that I loathed and could not wait to get away from. She made bad decisions in her life (and on her walks). And she spoke patronizingly to the people she met, although she might have though of herself as friendly, but I found her brash and loud, like New York itself, perhaps she was drawn like this on purpose. I could not recognize the character as a feminist. Yes she was fiercely independent, worked for as long as she could and stayed in the city she loved. But to be honest that was her stubborn nature, not her feminist principle.

Also, I was very much deflated after finding out that the book was "based on Fishback's life". I dislike this pronouncement because it neither frees me to enjoy the pure fiction nor educates me properly on the life of the person it is based on. I am cheated both ways. I do not get a proper story that germinated in the author's brain, nor a proper biography of someone that actually lived. It is my least preferred type of literature.

In all not a bad piece of writing. Read it if you are in love with eccentric and stubborn characters, the city of New York, or light poetry. There is stuff in there for you. For me it was a so-so deal, I like poetry, dislike New York, and feel cheated and stuck halfway between story and biography. ]]> 4.03 2017 Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
author: Kathleen Rooney
name: Ra
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2019/01/13
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: scribd
review:
When I started this book I read it because it was a fictitious account of a lady who walks in Manhattan. It was somehow trumpeted as a historical journey, historical walk in the city. I read it because of the praise it received, and because I lived for some years in NYC.
Later I found out that Lilian Boxfish is based on an actual character called Margaret Fishback who was a poet and an advertising copywriter for R H Macy's in the heyday of print advertising.

I thought Lilian was an opinionated city brat. She loved the city that I loathed and could not wait to get away from. She made bad decisions in her life (and on her walks). And she spoke patronizingly to the people she met, although she might have though of herself as friendly, but I found her brash and loud, like New York itself, perhaps she was drawn like this on purpose. I could not recognize the character as a feminist. Yes she was fiercely independent, worked for as long as she could and stayed in the city she loved. But to be honest that was her stubborn nature, not her feminist principle.

Also, I was very much deflated after finding out that the book was "based on Fishback's life". I dislike this pronouncement because it neither frees me to enjoy the pure fiction nor educates me properly on the life of the person it is based on. I am cheated both ways. I do not get a proper story that germinated in the author's brain, nor a proper biography of someone that actually lived. It is my least preferred type of literature.

In all not a bad piece of writing. Read it if you are in love with eccentric and stubborn characters, the city of New York, or light poetry. There is stuff in there for you. For me it was a so-so deal, I like poetry, dislike New York, and feel cheated and stuck halfway between story and biography.
]]> <![CDATA[Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life]]> 8117684 "A warm, generous and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps." �Los Angeles Times

Advice on writing and on life from an acclaimed bestselling

Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at ourfamily cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.']]> 272 Anne Lamott 0307424987 Ra 0 to-read, ebook 4.35 1994 Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
author: Anne Lamott
name: Ra
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, ebook
review:

]]> Full Catastrophe Living 589455 467 Jon Kabat-Zinn 0385303122 Ra 0 4.22 1990 Full Catastrophe Living
author: Jon Kabat-Zinn
name: Ra
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: currently-reading, ipad, ebook
review:

]]> Night 13458984 Night is Elie Wiesel's masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. This new translation by Marion Wiesel, Elie's wife and frequent translator, presents this seminal memoir in the language and spirit truest to the author's original intent. And in a substantive new preface, Elie reflects on the enduring importance of Night and his lifelong, passionate dedication to ensuring that the world never forgets man's capacity for inhumanity to man.

Night offers much more than a litany of the daily terrors, everyday perversions, and rampant sadism at Auschwitz and Buchenwald; it also eloquently addresses many of the philosophical as well as personal questions implicit in any serious consideration of what the Holocaust was, what it meant, and what its legacy is and will be.]]> 121 Elie Wiesel 1466805366 Ra 0 to-read 4.58 1956 Night
author: Elie Wiesel
name: Ra
average rating: 4.58
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Tram 83 26531941
Fiston Mwanza Mujila (b. 1981, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo) is a poet, dramatist, and scholar. Tram 83 is his award-winning and raved-about debut novel that caused a literary sensation when published in France in August 2014.]]> 224 Fiston Mwanza Mujila 1941920055 Ra 0 to-read, scribd 3.23 2014 Tram 83
author: Fiston Mwanza Mujila
name: Ra
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, scribd
review:

]]> Friend Request 40658082 Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston is dead. Isn't she?

1989. When Louise first notices the new girl who has mysteriously transferred late into their senior year, Maria seems to be everything the girls Louise hangs out with aren't. Authentic. Funny. Brash. Within just a few days, Maria and Louise are on their way to becoming fast friends.

2016. Louise receives a heart-stopping email: Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Long-buried memories quickly rise to the surface: those first days of their budding friendship; cruel decisions made and dark secrets kept; the night that would change all their lives forever.

Louise has always known that if the truth ever came out, she could stand to lose everything. Her job. Her son. Her freedom. Maria's sudden reappearance threatens it all, and forces Louise to reconnect with everyone she'd severed ties with to escape the past. But as she tries to piece together exactly what happened that night, Louise discovers there's more to the story than she ever knew. To keep her secret, Louise must first uncover the whole truth, before what's known to Maria - or whoever's pretending to be her - is known to all.]]> 385 Laura Marshall 1478948507 Ra 3 ebook Louise tells her story, going back and forth between the present time and the memories of her high school days that led to that fateful night. There is constant struggle with guilt over something horrible that Louise and her friends did to Maria, and we keep wondering whether that horrible thing (which we only know about much much later) has any connection to her untimely death.

There are a handful of suspects, and a few red herrings, but the author cheated a bit by hiding certain events/character traits until the last 50 pages, if it weren't for this small omission the story wouldn't have been as mysterious.

I am usually very sympathetic to the single mom character but this Louise made so many bad decisions throughout, it made her hard to like. I thought many of her problems were of her own making. There were occasional illuminating insights into the influence of social media, bullying, and peer pressure that made for interesting reading. These prevent me from putting this book in the flop category, but the story itself is forgettable and would probably merit only 2.5 stars, so 3 stars is a generous upgrade.]]> 3.68 2017 Friend Request
author: Laura Marshall
name: Ra
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2018/07/20
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: ebook
review:
Really overhyped piece of mystery writing. Louise is a single mom in her late thirties, and the story starts with her getting a friend request from one Maria Weston, who died over 20 years ago, in strange circumstances, on the night of their high school prom.
Louise tells her story, going back and forth between the present time and the memories of her high school days that led to that fateful night. There is constant struggle with guilt over something horrible that Louise and her friends did to Maria, and we keep wondering whether that horrible thing (which we only know about much much later) has any connection to her untimely death.

There are a handful of suspects, and a few red herrings, but the author cheated a bit by hiding certain events/character traits until the last 50 pages, if it weren't for this small omission the story wouldn't have been as mysterious.

I am usually very sympathetic to the single mom character but this Louise made so many bad decisions throughout, it made her hard to like. I thought many of her problems were of her own making. There were occasional illuminating insights into the influence of social media, bullying, and peer pressure that made for interesting reading. These prevent me from putting this book in the flop category, but the story itself is forgettable and would probably merit only 2.5 stars, so 3 stars is a generous upgrade.
]]> Before the Fall 26245850
Was it by chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something more sinister at work? A storm of media attention brings Scott fame that quickly morphs into notoriety and accusations, and he scrambles to salvage truth from the wreckage. Amid trauma and chaos, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy grows and glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, morality, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.]]> 391 Noah Hawley 1455561789 Ra 4 ebook Notwithstanding my rating of 4 stars, I have found a few flaws. In the final chapter one of the characters reveals something about the crash incident, [spoilers removed]whereas there was no foreshadowing of where the knowledge of the facts came from. Also [spoilers removed].

In all a very readable book if not for the mystery aspect, then for the portraits of the characters.]]> 3.69 2016 Before the Fall
author: Noah Hawley
name: Ra
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/09/10
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: ebook
review:
I liked the way this story was told from the viewpoint of almost all the characters, and I cared about the fate of the main protagonists, the survivors of the crash. The vignettes of the trophy wives, the ageing media personality, and the bored heiress were very interesting as well. There were really no boring secondary characters.
Notwithstanding my rating of 4 stars, I have found a few flaws. In the final chapter one of the characters reveals something about the crash incident, [spoilers removed]whereas there was no foreshadowing of where the knowledge of the facts came from. Also [spoilers removed].

In all a very readable book if not for the mystery aspect, then for the portraits of the characters.
]]> Bone Gap 18806240 Bone Gap is the story of Roza, a beautiful girl who is taken from a quiet midwestern town and imprisoned by a mysterious man, and Finn, the only witness, who cannot forgive himself for being unable to identify her kidnapper. As we follow them through their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures, acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.]]> 373 Laura Ruby 0062317636 Ra 3 nypl 3.81 2015 Bone Gap
author: Laura Ruby
name: Ra
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/02
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: nypl
review:

]]> Long Gone 11324099
Echoing the intensity of Harlan Coben’s Tell No One and the psychological depth of Laura Lippman’s What the Dead Know, Alafair Burke’s first stand-alone novel catapults her into the top ranks of modern suspense. In New York City’s cut-throat world of art, appearances can be deceiving—especially when art world newcomer Alice Humphrey becomes a suspect in a gruesome murder at a Chelsea gallery, and is thrown into a treacherous labyrinth of intrigue, crime, and conspiracy. Now, Alice must discover the truth behind the murder before the unsolved mystery claims her as its next victim.]]> 547 Alafair Burke 0062092227 Ra 4 nook-serial-read, favorites 3.93 2011 Long Gone
author: Alafair Burke
name: Ra
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2016/08/24
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: nook-serial-read, favorites
review:

]]> Before the Fall 40670008 On a foggy summer night, eleven people--ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter--depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs-the painter-and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family.
With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members--including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot--the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. And while Scott struggles to cope with fame that borders on notoriety, the authorities scramble to salvage the truth from the wreckage.
Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.
]]> 401 Noah Hawley 1455561800 Ra 4 Notwithstanding my rating of 4 stars, I have found a few flaws. In the final chapter one of the characters reveals something about the crash incident, [spoilers removed]whereas there was no foreshadowing of where the knowledge of the facts came from. Also [spoilers removed].

In all a very readable book if not for the mystery aspect, then for the portraits of the characters.]]> 3.69 2016 Before the Fall
author: Noah Hawley
name: Ra
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:
I liked the way this story was told from the viewpoint of almost all the characters, and I cared about the fate of the main protagonists, the survivors of the crash. The vignettes of the trophy wives, the ageing media personality, and the bored heiress were very interesting as well. There were really no boring secondary characters.
Notwithstanding my rating of 4 stars, I have found a few flaws. In the final chapter one of the characters reveals something about the crash incident, [spoilers removed]whereas there was no foreshadowing of where the knowledge of the facts came from. Also [spoilers removed].

In all a very readable book if not for the mystery aspect, then for the portraits of the characters.
]]> The Female of the Species 30297552 Speak with the relentless pacing and alternating perspectives of Gone Girl. A stunning, unforgettable page-turner.

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.

Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.

As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.]]> 348 Mindy McGinnis 0062320912 Ra 0 scribd, to-read 4.18 2016 The Female of the Species
author: Mindy McGinnis
name: Ra
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: scribd, to-read
review:

]]> Moonglow 30046315 The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon traveled to his mother’s home in Oakland, California, to visit his terminally ill grandfather. Tongue loosened by powerful painkillers, memory stirred by the imminence of death, Chabon’s grandfather shared recollections and told stories the younger man had never heard before, uncovering bits and pieces of a history long buried and forgotten. That dreamlike week of revelations forms the basis for the novel Moonglow, the latest feat of legerdemain from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.

Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession of a man the narrator refers to only as “my grandfather.� It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and marriage and desire, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact—and the creative power—of keeping secrets and telling lies. It is a portrait of the difficult but passionate love between the narrator’s grandfather and his grandmother, an enigmatic woman broken by her experience growing up in war-torn France. It is also a tour de force of speculative autobiography in which Chabon devises and reveals a secret history of his own imagination.

From the Jewish slums of prewar South Philadelphia to the invasion of Germany, from a Florida retirement village to the penal utopia of New York’s Wallkill prison, from the heyday of the space program to the twilight of the “American Century,� the novel revisits an entire era through a single life and collapses a lifetime into a single week. A lie that tells the truth, a work of fictional nonfiction, an autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir, Moonglow is Chabon at his most moving and inventive.]]> 449 Michael Chabon 006222557X Ra 0 to-read, scribd 3.99 2016 Moonglow
author: Michael Chabon
name: Ra
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: to-read, scribd
review:

]]> Something in the Water 36488805
Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events....]]> 352 Catherine Steadman 1524797197 Ra 3 scribd 3.67 2018 Something in the Water
author: Catherine Steadman
name: Ra
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2019/04/07
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History]]> 36008996

When you think of serial killers throughout history, the names that come to mind are ones like Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy. But what about Tillie Klimek, Moulay Hassan, Kate Bender? The narrative we’re comfortable with is the one where women are the victims of violent crime, not the perpetrators. In fact, serial killers are thought to be so universally, overwhelmingly male that in 1998, FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood infamously declared in a homicide conference, “There are no female serial killers.�

Lady Killers, based on the popular online series that appeared on Jezebel and The Hairpin, disputes that claim and offers fourteen gruesome examples as evidence. Though largely forgotten by history, female serial killers such as Erzsébet Báthory, Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotton, and Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova rival their male counterparts in cunning, cruelty, and appetite for destruction.

Each chapter explores the crimes and history of a different subject, and then proceeds to unpack her legacy and her portrayal in the media, as well as the stereotypes and sexist clichés that inevitably surround her. The first book to examine female serial killers through a feminist lens with a witty and dryly humorous tone, Lady Killers dismisses easy explanations (she was hormonal, she did it for love, a man made her do it) and tired tropes (she was a femme fatale, a black widow, a witch), delving into the complex reality of female aggression and predation. Featuring 14 illustrations from Dame Darcy, Lady Killers is a bloodcurdling, insightful, and irresistible journey into the heart of darkness.



]]> 327 Tori Telfer 0062433741 Ra 2 scribd, non-fiction
The most fascinating story was the last one about the woman of one village in Hungary silently conspiring to get rid of their men. There is even a wikipedia entry about them: ]]> 3.74 2017 Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History
author: Tori Telfer
name: Ra
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2017/12/30
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: scribd, non-fiction
review:
Two and a half stars. A collection of stories about lady killers from different parts of the world. The writer tried to delve into motives and societal drivers for serial crime, and did a decent but not brilliant job. The stories felt disjointed and did not have a common thread since the motives and the societies varied so widely. It would have been better to stick perhaps to one culture but then the sample size is not so large.

The most fascinating story was the last one about the woman of one village in Hungary silently conspiring to get rid of their men. There is even a wikipedia entry about them:
]]> The Elegance of the Hedgehog 9610784
Then there's Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter.

Paloma and Renée hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma's trust and to see through Renée's timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.]]> 323 Muriel Barbery 1609450132 Ra 2 nypl
The book consists of the internal monologues of its two main protagonists, one a middle aged concierge of humble background who is also a highly intellectual autodidact, and trying to hide this from her employers. The second is a pre-teen suicidal girl, who is also very intelligent and trying to find meaning in life before the day she set for her suicide.

The first part is full of pretentious philosophizing and literary name-dropping, where nothing happens. This is punctuated by some minor goings-on and lamenting of the base nature of the rich inhabitants of the residents of the building. The plot gets going and wraps up in the final quarter of the novel. It could have made an interesting short story.

I could not relate to any of the characters, and the story was a muddle of names and peripheral characters which I could not tell apart. In the end they all blended into one mess of spoiled rich people, with various degrees of neurosis. I also agree with what some reviewers referred to as Japanese Fetishism, which I found somewhat discordant.


I am glad I borrowed this book from the library it would have been a waste of shelf space. Perhaps it was written for people of superior intellect, who would understand the waxing lyrical about some Dutch still life and all the philosophical theorizing involved. Another possibility is that like the Emperor's New Clothes it is made so dense and high-brow that the readers would be ashamed to admit they missed the point and pretend it was wonderful.
On the brighter side: It has tons of lofty descriptions and interesting turns of phrase (I admire the effort of the translator), and it is one good way of enriching your vocabulary. It also inspired me to re-read Tolstoy.

]]> 3.85 2006 The Elegance of the Hedgehog
author: Muriel Barbery
name: Ra
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 2012/04/28
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: nypl
review:
I read this book to the end, and I feel it is overly pretentious. Unfortunately it re-enforces the prejudice I have against European "literary fiction".

The book consists of the internal monologues of its two main protagonists, one a middle aged concierge of humble background who is also a highly intellectual autodidact, and trying to hide this from her employers. The second is a pre-teen suicidal girl, who is also very intelligent and trying to find meaning in life before the day she set for her suicide.

The first part is full of pretentious philosophizing and literary name-dropping, where nothing happens. This is punctuated by some minor goings-on and lamenting of the base nature of the rich inhabitants of the residents of the building. The plot gets going and wraps up in the final quarter of the novel. It could have made an interesting short story.

I could not relate to any of the characters, and the story was a muddle of names and peripheral characters which I could not tell apart. In the end they all blended into one mess of spoiled rich people, with various degrees of neurosis. I also agree with what some reviewers referred to as Japanese Fetishism, which I found somewhat discordant.


I am glad I borrowed this book from the library it would have been a waste of shelf space. Perhaps it was written for people of superior intellect, who would understand the waxing lyrical about some Dutch still life and all the philosophical theorizing involved. Another possibility is that like the Emperor's New Clothes it is made so dense and high-brow that the readers would be ashamed to admit they missed the point and pretend it was wonderful.
On the brighter side: It has tons of lofty descriptions and interesting turns of phrase (I admire the effort of the translator), and it is one good way of enriching your vocabulary. It also inspired me to re-read Tolstoy.


]]> People Like Her 56141668 A razor-sharp, wickedly smart suspense debut about an ambitious influencer mom whose soaring success threatens her marriage, her morals, and her family’s safety.

Followed by Millions, Watched by One

To her adoring fans, Emmy Jackson, aka@the_mamabare, is the honest “Instamum� who always tells it like it is.

To her skeptical husband, a washed-up novelist who knows just how creative Emmy can be with the truth, she is a breadwinning powerhouse chillingly brilliant at monetizing the intimate details of their family life.

To one of Emmy’s dangerously obsessive followers, she’s the woman that has everything—but deserves none of it.

As Emmy’s marriage begins to crack under the strain of her growing success and her moral compass veers wildly off course, the more vulnerable she becomes to a very real danger circling ever closer to her family.

In this deeply addictive tale of psychological suspense, Ellery Lloyd raises important questions about technology, social media celebrity, and the way we live today. Probing the dark side of influencer culture and the perils of parenting online, People Like Her explores our desperate need to be seen and the lengths we’ll go to be liked by strangers. It asks what—and who—we sacrifice when make our private lives public, and ultimately lose control of who we let in. . . .]]> 277 Ellery Lloyd 0062997416 Ra 3 3.59 2021 People Like Her
author: Ellery Lloyd
name: Ra
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/31
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: büchereien-wien, ebook, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Conscious Living: How to Create a Life of Your Own Design]]> 9491278 289 Gay Hendricks 0061912247 Ra 4 scribd, non-fiction
The five principles of conscious living are also very important and relate-able: Feel all your feelings deeply; Seek your true self; Let go of the uncontrollable; We are all made of the same thing; Life is fullest when we are most true to ourselves. The author intersperses these principles with his own autobiographical experience, of turning his life around.

Some aspects near the end about his relationship with his wife, and how they keep they keep the intimate and creative connection in their married life felt like too much information, but I appreciate his honesty, and perhaps it is just my critical brain trying to find fault in something I never experienced. I might come back to it some other day if I were in a couple situation.
In my mind it is a very honest and sincere attempt to help readers follow a path of peaceful and happy living based on the author's personal human experiences as well as his professional experience as a psychologist and therapist. It resonated with me perfectly, in most parts.]]> 4.42 2000 Conscious Living: How to Create a Life of Your Own Design
author: Gay Hendricks
name: Ra
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/26
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: scribd, non-fiction
review:
The book gives great advice on living consciously. The first part of the book is the most interesting as it links the modern principle of conscious living with ancient philosophical from Stoicism, e.g Epictetus, and Taoism (Lao Tzu). It also touches on quotes from some fringe philosophers such as Thaddeus Golas (The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment). All of these pointers enrich the text and awakened my curiosity to reading more. My next step will be Tao Te Ching, and the writings of Epictetus with a touch of Sufi meanderings. I will get there some day.

The five principles of conscious living are also very important and relate-able: Feel all your feelings deeply; Seek your true self; Let go of the uncontrollable; We are all made of the same thing; Life is fullest when we are most true to ourselves. The author intersperses these principles with his own autobiographical experience, of turning his life around.

Some aspects near the end about his relationship with his wife, and how they keep they keep the intimate and creative connection in their married life felt like too much information, but I appreciate his honesty, and perhaps it is just my critical brain trying to find fault in something I never experienced. I might come back to it some other day if I were in a couple situation.
In my mind it is a very honest and sincere attempt to help readers follow a path of peaceful and happy living based on the author's personal human experiences as well as his professional experience as a psychologist and therapist. It resonated with me perfectly, in most parts.
]]> Then Came You 11065196


Jules Strauss is a Princeton senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a family she’s ashamed to invite to Parents� Weekend. With the income she’ll receive from donating her “pedigree� eggs, she believes she can save her father from addiction.



Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four people on her husband’s salary, she thinks she’s found a way to recover a sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.



India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.



But each of their plans is thrown into disarray when Marcus� daughter Bettina, intent on protecting her father, becomes convinced that his new wife is not what she seems�



With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.]]> 354 Jennifer Weiner 1451617747 Ra 3 ebook
Very entertaining explorations of the motives that drive women into egg donation, becoming surrogate mothers, and/or opting to use a surrogate mother, in addition to the complex relationships that form as a result of this. ]]> 3.95 2011 Then Came You
author: Jennifer Weiner
name: Ra
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/06/03
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: ebook
review:
This is chick-lit backed up with intelligence. The idea of the book is intriguing; A young woman is approached during a solitary lunch and asked whether she would like to become an egg donor. A married mother of two small children explores the idea of becoming a surrogate mother, and a forty-something, wife of a billionaire wants to become a mother for the first time. Add to the mix the daughter of the billionaire who wants to expose her new step-mother as a gold-digger.

Very entertaining explorations of the motives that drive women into egg donation, becoming surrogate mothers, and/or opting to use a surrogate mother, in addition to the complex relationships that form as a result of this.
]]> <![CDATA[No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria]]> 36527105
Award-winning journalist Rania Abouzeid dissects the tangle of ideologies and allegiances that make up the Syrian conflict through the dramatic stories of four young people seeking safety and freedom in a shattered country. Hailed by critics, No Turning Back masterfully “[weaves] together the lives of protestors, victims, and remorseless killers at the center of this century’s most appalling human tragedy� (Robert F. Worth). Based on more than five years of fearless, clandestine reporting, No Turning Back brings readers deep inside Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, to covert meetings where foreign states and organizations manipulated the rebels, and to the highest levels of Islamic militancy and the formation of the Islamic State. An utterly engrossing human drama full of vivid, indelible characters, No Turning Back shows how hope can flourish even amid one of the twenty-first century’s greatest humanitarian disasters.]]> 383 Rania Abouzeid 0393609502 Ra 0 to-read, ebook 4.37 2018 No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria
author: Rania Abouzeid
name: Ra
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: to-read, ebook
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success]]> 18662473 For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But today, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. It turns out that at work, most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers. Whereas takers strive to get as much as possible from others and matchers aim to trade evenly, givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return.
Using his own pioneering research as Wharton's youngest tenured professor, Grant shows that these styles have a surprising impact on success. Although some givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve extraordinary results across a wide range of industries. Combining cutting-edge evidence with captivating stories, this landmark book shows how one of America's best networkers developed his connections, why the creative genius behind one of the most popular shows in television history toiled for years in anonymity, how a basketball executive responsible for multiple draft busts transformed his franchise into a winner, and how we could have anticipated Enron's demise four years before the company collapsed-without ever looking at a single number.
Praised by bestselling authors such as Dan Pink, Tony Hsieh, Dan Ariely, Susan Cain, Dan Gilbert, Gretchen Rubin, Bob Sutton, David Allen, Robert Cialdini, and Seth Godin-as well as senior leaders from Google, McKinsey, Merck, Estee Lauder, Nike, and NASA-"Give and Take" highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common. This landmark book opens up an approach to success that has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, but entire organizations and communities.]]> 321 Adam M. Grant 1101622849 Ra 2 ebook, non-fiction The examples from the sporting field are hard to relate to for a reader outside of North America, and some business word examples are also very specific to the US.

]]> 4.20 2013 Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Ra
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2019/12/30
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: ebook, non-fiction
review:
The premise of the book is good but loses narrative energy in part.
The examples from the sporting field are hard to relate to for a reader outside of North America, and some business word examples are also very specific to the US.


]]> <![CDATA[Am I Overthinking This?: Over-answering life's questions in 101 charts]]> 46267061 136 Michelle Rial 1452177384 Ra 3 ipad 3.80 2019 Am I Overthinking This?: Over-answering life's questions in 101 charts
author: Michelle Rial
name: Ra
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/27
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: ipad
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong]]> 22062636 The classic #1 New York Times bestseller that answers the age-old question: Why is incompetence so maddeningly rampant and so vexingly triumphant?

The Peter Principle, the eponymous law Dr. Laurence J. Peter coined, explains that everyone in a hierarchy—from the office intern to the CEO, from the low-level civil servant to a nation’s president—will inevitably rise to his or her level of incompetence. Dr. Peter explains why incompetence is at the root of everything we endeavor to do—why schools bestow ignorance, why governments condone anarchy, why courts dispense injustice, why prosperity causes unhappiness, and why utopian plans never generate utopias.

With the wit of Mark Twain, the psychological acuity of Sigmund Freud, and the theoretical impact of Isaac Newton, Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull’s The Peter Principle brilliantly explains how incompetence and its accompanying symptoms, syndromes, and remedies define the world and the work we do in it.]]> 193 Laurence J. Peter 0062359495 Ra 0 to-read, scribd 3.86 1969 The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong
author: Laurence J. Peter
name: Ra
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read, scribd
review:

]]> The Ghost Bride 18196256 A startlingly original voice makes her literary debut with this wondrous coming-of-age story infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, adventure, and fascinating, dreamlike twists.

'One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride...'

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, traditional ghost marriages are used to placate restless spirits. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lims' handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits, and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.]]> 373 Yangsze Choo 0062227386 Ra 4 ebook 3.94 2013 The Ghost Bride
author: Yangsze Choo
name: Ra
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/28
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: ebook
review:
A fantasy novel rich with atmosphere of old Malaya and Chinese mythology. I loved the mix between the spirit and real world and their interactions. It also made me curious to read more about Chinese myths and beliefs.
]]> <![CDATA[Nairobi Heat (Melville International Crime)]]> 12379039 A cop from Wisconsin pursues a killer through the terrifying slums of Nairobi and the memories of genocide IN MADISON, WISCONSIN, it’s a big deal when African peace activist Joshua Hakizimana—who saved hundreds of people from the Rwandan genocide—accepts a position at the university to teach about “genocide and testimony.� Then a young woman is found murdered on his doorstep. Local police Detective Ishmael—an African-American in an “extremely white� town—suspects the crime is racially motivated; the Ku Klux Klan still holds rallies there, after all. But then he gets a mysterious phone “If you want the truth, you must go to its source. The truth is in the past. Come to Nairobi.� It’s the beginning of a journey that will take him to a place still vibrating from the genocide that happened around its borders, where violence is a part of everyday life, where big-oil money rules and where the local cops shoot first and ask questions later—a place, in short, where knowing the truth about history can get you killed.]]> 207 Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ 1612190073 Ra 3 nypl, africa 3.48 2009 Nairobi Heat (Melville International Crime)
author: Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ
name: Ra
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/31
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves: nypl, africa
review:

]]> Invasive 28862452 Michael Crichton meets Elon Musk in this gripping sci-fi tech thriller, set in the eye-opening, paranoid world of the electrifying Zeroes.

Hannah Stander is a consultant for the FBI—a futurist who helps the Agency with cases that feature demonstrations of bleeding-edge technology. It’s her job to help them identify unforeseen threats: hackers, AIs, genetic modification, anything that in the wrong hands could harm the homeland.

Hannah is in an airport, waiting to board a flight home to see her family, when she receives a call from Agent Hollis Copper. “I’ve got a cabin full of over a thousand dead bodies,� he tells her. Whether those bodies are all human, he doesn’t say.

What Hannah finds is a horrifying murder that points to the impossible—someone weaponizing the natural world in a most unnatural way. Discovering who—and why—will take her on a terrifying chase from the Arizona deserts to the secret island laboratory of a billionaire inventor/philanthropist. Hannah knows there are a million ways the world can end, but she just might be facing one she could never have predicted—a new threat both ancient and cutting-edge that could wipe humanity off the earth.]]> 328 Chuck Wendig 0062351605 Ra 2 scribd 3.86 2016 Invasive
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Ra
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2017/10/30
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: scribd
review:

]]> Reconstructing Amelia 17859082
In Reconstructing Amelia, the stunning debut novel from Kimberly McCreight, Kate's in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from Grace Hall, her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate.



An academic overachiever despondent over getting caught cheating has jumped to her death. At least that’s the story Grace Hall tells Kate. And clouded as she is by her guilt and grief, it is the one she forces herself to believe. Until she gets an anonymous She didn’t jump.



Reconstructing Amelia is about secret first loves, old friendships, and an all-girls club steeped in tradition. But, most of all, it’s the story of how far a mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she couldn’t save.

]]> 337 Kimberly McCreight 0062225456 Ra 3 scribd Once the mad dash is over and you finally reach the resolution of the story you become keenly aware of the holes, the coincidences and character failures that serve as plot devices or drive the story.
What is disturbing is that apart from Amelia and one (perhaps two) male characters you are hard pressed to find characters with a normal levels of absurdity or neurosis. This is a constructed world that has nothing to do with reality and all with driving the story.
It compares poorly with Gilian Flynn's work, which has more depth (even in its sensationalism).]]> 3.95 2013 Reconstructing Amelia
author: Kimberly McCreight
name: Ra
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2017/06/01
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: scribd
review:
This book is immensely readable. It takes hold of you from the first few pages and appeals to common parental angst of raising your children right and being there for them. Especially in the case of single moms it plays up the endless fountain of guilt we seem to possess. I would have given it 2 1/2 stars for the level of its readability alone. You are swept along with Kate to find out the truth about her daughter's death.
Once the mad dash is over and you finally reach the resolution of the story you become keenly aware of the holes, the coincidences and character failures that serve as plot devices or drive the story.
What is disturbing is that apart from Amelia and one (perhaps two) male characters you are hard pressed to find characters with a normal levels of absurdity or neurosis. This is a constructed world that has nothing to do with reality and all with driving the story.
It compares poorly with Gilian Flynn's work, which has more depth (even in its sensationalism).
]]> <![CDATA[Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death]]> 17205584
Together with his roguish friend, inspector Geordie Keating, Sidney inquires into the suspect suicide of a Cambridge solicitor, a scandalous jewelry theft at a New Year's Eve dinner party, the unexplained death of a jazz promoter's daughter, and a shocking art forgery that puts a close friend in danger. Sidney discovers that being a detective, like being a clergyman, means that you are never off duty, but he nonetheless manages to find time for a keen interest in cricket, warm beer, and hot jazz-as well as a curious fondness for a German widow three years his junior.

With a whiff of Agatha Christie and a touch of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown, The Grantchester Mysteries introduces a wonderful new hero into the world of detective fiction.]]> 392 James Runcie 1608198588 Ra 3 nook-serial-read The book is a series of short cases, with some more interesting than others. ]]> 3.94 2012 Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death
author: James Runcie
name: Ra
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2016/09/29
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: nook-serial-read
review:
Interesting premise, the priest is a detective. The writer ventures into cultural aspect of the 1950s in addition to some thoughts on literature and morality. No deep theology here but a rather gentle narration of the thoughts of a man of the church.
The book is a series of short cases, with some more interesting than others.
]]> Dead Boys 58103938 “If China Miéville, Neil Gaiman and Hunter S. Thompson had a ménage à trois, Dead Boys would be the lovechild. A cracking book.�-Jay Kristoff, author of StormdancerA decade dead, Jacob Campbell is a preservationist, providing a kind of taxidermy to keep his clients looking lifelike for as long as the forces of entropy will allow. But in the Land of the Dead, where the currency is time itself and there is little for corpses to do but drink, thieve, and gamble eternity away, Jacob abandons his home and his fortune for an opportunity to meet the man who cheated the rules of life and death entirely.According to legend, the Living Man is the only adventurer to ever cross into the underworld without dying first. It’s rumored he met his end somewhere in the labyrinth of pubs beneath Dead City’s streets, disappearing without a trace. Now Jacob’s vow to find the Living Man and follow him back to the land of the living sends him on a perilous journey through an underworld where the only certainty is decay.Accompanying him are the boy Remington, an innocent with mysterious powers over the bones of the dead, and the hanged man Leopold l’Eclair, a flamboyant rogue whose criminal ambitions spark the undesired attention of the shadowy ruler known as the Magnate.An ambitious debut that mingles the fantastic with the philosophical, Dead Boys twists the well-worn epic quest into a compelling, one-of-a-kind work of weird fiction that transcends genre, recalling the novels of China Miéville and Neil Gaiman.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.]]> 288 Gabrielle Squailia Ra 3 scribd
The corpses inhabit separate cities, fight over dominion, collect debts and generally try to keep themselves intact. The main character is Jacob Campbell, a preservationist for the dead, who is on a quest to find the living man, who legend has it, had crossed while still alive the curtain between the living world, above and the afterlife below. He simply wanted to find a way back to the world of the living, although why he did it is still a mystery to me, or I might have missed it.
In his quest he teems up with a boy, Remington, who is missing most of his brain after eating a gun, the injury was perhaps self-inflicted, but we do not know for sure. The two are later joined by Leopold a shifty character, who also died by hanging himself, and then two headless characters, dubbed Adam and Eve.

The rest of the story can be read as an adventure in a weird and unfamiliar world, which gets revealed to us gently and gradually, and we get to know how people spend their eternity and deal with their status in the afterlife. They also develop separate philosophies on how to spend eternity. And even there some are more accepting than others of their status as impermanent dust. If people have a hard time accepting this in life, then I guess it is even harder to deal with it in an eternal afterlife.

I am sure there are so many layers to this story, but the weirdness of the setting, and the quality of the writing is enough to keep you interested. You need to have a love for fantasy and the macabre to enjoy it fully.
]]> 3.27 2015 Dead Boys
author: Gabrielle Squailia
name: Ra
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/05
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: scribd
review:
One of the weirdest books I read. It is an original depiction about an afterlife where corpses of the Dead City spend eternity squabbling over preserving the remains of their decaying flesh, and trying to look as life-like as possible. Possessions are traded for time, and taverns serve swill made out of rotting vegetables that are carried by the river Lethe.

The corpses inhabit separate cities, fight over dominion, collect debts and generally try to keep themselves intact. The main character is Jacob Campbell, a preservationist for the dead, who is on a quest to find the living man, who legend has it, had crossed while still alive the curtain between the living world, above and the afterlife below. He simply wanted to find a way back to the world of the living, although why he did it is still a mystery to me, or I might have missed it.
In his quest he teems up with a boy, Remington, who is missing most of his brain after eating a gun, the injury was perhaps self-inflicted, but we do not know for sure. The two are later joined by Leopold a shifty character, who also died by hanging himself, and then two headless characters, dubbed Adam and Eve.

The rest of the story can be read as an adventure in a weird and unfamiliar world, which gets revealed to us gently and gradually, and we get to know how people spend their eternity and deal with their status in the afterlife. They also develop separate philosophies on how to spend eternity. And even there some are more accepting than others of their status as impermanent dust. If people have a hard time accepting this in life, then I guess it is even harder to deal with it in an eternal afterlife.

I am sure there are so many layers to this story, but the weirdness of the setting, and the quality of the writing is enough to keep you interested. You need to have a love for fantasy and the macabre to enjoy it fully.

]]> Hyperfocus 41455609 Canada's productivity expert returns with a totally fresh angle on how to do more with less.Throughout his experiments and research, Chris Bailey came across many little-known insights into how we focus (a key element of productivity), including the surprising idea that focus isn't so much a state of heightened awareness (as we'd assume), but a balance between two frames of mind. The most recent neuroscientific research on attention reveals that our brain has two powerful modes that can be unlocked when we use our attention a focused mode (hyperfocus), which is the foundation for being highly productive, and a creative mode (scatterfocus), which enables us to connect ideas in novel ways. Hyperfocus helps readers unlock both, so they can concentrate more deeply, think more clearly, and work and live more deliberately. Diving deep into the science and theories about how and why we bring our attention to bear on life's big goals and everyday tasks, Chris Bailey takes his unique approach to productivity to the next level in Hyperfocus, while retaining the approachable voice and perspective that made him a fast favourite.]]> 256 Chris Bailey 0735273707 Ra 0 3.95 2018 Hyperfocus
author: Chris Bailey
name: Ra
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: currently-reading, ebook, büchereien-wien, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror]]> 22051876 299 Stephen Kinzer 1620455307 Ra 3 scribd, non-fiction 4.46 2003 All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
author: Stephen Kinzer
name: Ra
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2017/09/23
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: scribd, non-fiction
review:

]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 12385458 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think.

System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic.]]> 512 Daniel Kahneman 1429969350 Ra 0 to-read, ebook 4.20 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Ra
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: to-read, ebook
review:

]]> The Homewreckers 58789339 Summer begins with Mary Kay Andrews, in this delightful summer read about flipping houses, and finding true love.

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work helping clean up restored homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at 18; married the boss’s son at 20; and was only 25 when her husband, Hank, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Broken hearted, but determined to continue the business of their dreams, she takes the life insurance money, buys a small house in a gentrifying neighborhood, flips it, then puts the money into her next project. But that house is a disaster and a money-loser, which rocks her confidence for years to come. Then, Hattie gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: star in a beach house renovation reality show called The Homewreckers, cast against a male lead who may be a love interest, or may be the ultimate antagonist. It's a question of who will flip, and who will flop, and will Hattie ever get her happily-ever-after.

Filled with Mary Kay Andrews's trademark wit, warmth, junking trips, and house porn, The Homewreckers is a summer beach delight.]]> 442 Mary Kay Andrews 1250278376 Ra 4 ebook, büchereien-wien 4.11 2022 The Homewreckers
author: Mary Kay Andrews
name: Ra
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/29
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> Brava, Valentine 8148421 Award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker Adriana Trigiani returns with Brava, Valentine, continuing the heartwarming and hilarious story of Valentine Roncalli, her family, her love life, and the Angelini Shoe Company. Following on the heels of the New York Times bestseller Very Valentine (hailed by People magazine as “Sex and the City meets Moonstruck�), Brava, Valentine is another tour-de-force from the beloved author of bestselling novels Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, and the Big Stone Gap series.

]]> 364 Adriana Trigiani 0061969427 Ra 1 nook-serial-read, flop 4.17 2010 Brava, Valentine
author: Adriana Trigiani
name: Ra
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at: 2016/01/30
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves: nook-serial-read, flop
review:
A yawner. Not worth the time.
]]> The Geometry of Love 21795385 292 Jessica Levine 1938314638 Ra 4 scribd
On a deeper level it is an exploration of love and loss, of connections that shape our lives, of choices, paths not taken, and the cost of living a life where you are not true to your essence and feelings. Julia's chosen path of security and companionship with Ben, and some degree of love, came with its own rewards and costs, she is left to figure out for decades whether this choice was the correct one for her. Although ultimately she was successful and broke free of her complete dependence on Ben, there were parts of her that never flourished in that secure and dependable relationship. Her very creativity, and her poetry suffered.

This is a love story that resonated with me. Although there were some sappy parts, the feelings described were genuine, and I can almost forgive some of the sex scenes because of their focused on the emotions more than the mechanics (most of the time).

Some memorable quotes:
".. a single moment of being completely yourself can be worth much sacrifice."
"We're not so different in matters of the heart. There are experiences of connection so deep they mark and change you forever. After excessive joy there's the knowledge that everything to come can only be less than; that the happiness experienced is now gone forever, carried away by the torrential river of time; that the rest of life, as a result can only disappoint. The bliss becomes a traumatic initiation into the ultimate insufficiency of life. Whatever the future has to offer, one thing is clear: it won't be enough."

]]> 3.68 2014 The Geometry of Love
author: Jessica Levine
name: Ra
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2018/12/26
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves: scribd
review:
On the surface this is a simple love story. Julia is an aspiring poet, and is in a committed relationship with Ben, a British professor who is expecting to get tenure at Princeton, a waiting game that lasts for some years. Julia is living with Ben when she realizes that she is completely in love with Michael, a former university colleague and a musician. The two drift in and out of each other's lives, until Julia sets Michael up with her cousin.

On a deeper level it is an exploration of love and loss, of connections that shape our lives, of choices, paths not taken, and the cost of living a life where you are not true to your essence and feelings. Julia's chosen path of security and companionship with Ben, and some degree of love, came with its own rewards and costs, she is left to figure out for decades whether this choice was the correct one for her. Although ultimately she was successful and broke free of her complete dependence on Ben, there were parts of her that never flourished in that secure and dependable relationship. Her very creativity, and her poetry suffered.

This is a love story that resonated with me. Although there were some sappy parts, the feelings described were genuine, and I can almost forgive some of the sex scenes because of their focused on the emotions more than the mechanics (most of the time).

Some memorable quotes:
".. a single moment of being completely yourself can be worth much sacrifice."
"We're not so different in matters of the heart. There are experiences of connection so deep they mark and change you forever. After excessive joy there's the knowledge that everything to come can only be less than; that the happiness experienced is now gone forever, carried away by the torrential river of time; that the rest of life, as a result can only disappoint. The bliss becomes a traumatic initiation into the ultimate insufficiency of life. Whatever the future has to offer, one thing is clear: it won't be enough."


]]> <![CDATA[Vegan Betrayal: Love, lies and hunger in a plants-only world]]> 32313834
Weaving intimate storytelling with cutting-edge nutrition research, this coming-of-age journey veers passionately from youthful idealism to intense questioning to mature acceptance of our genetic dictates and the earth's sacred but unforgiving biological truths. Travel the wisdom roads of the Buddha, female bowhunters, and salt-of-the-earth family farmers in this candid, comic, fierce but always honest look at our dietary choices and the rightful individuality of your chosen way.

In this book you will

---Why some thrive and some take a dive on this non-historical, minimally researched diet

---The author’s concept of reverse favoring another species' well-being over your own and other humans

---All the important carni-nutrients found exclusively in animal-sourced food (there are a lot of them)

---Why lab-concocted supplements and synthetics can never replace real, whole foods

---How to find out if you are a high-protein or high-carb metabolic type (or something in between)

---Why daily protein recommendations have been substantially increased by nutrition experts

---The Ayurvedic body type that suffers most as a vegan, and which type best tolerates this restricted diet

---The dark side of why an excess is harmful, while eating a large variety of species, both plant and animal, is the road to good health

---The 2.5 million-year anthropological record of human omnivores vs. the extremely brief history of veganism, who invented it, where and why

---Why the ethical argument does not hold up under close examination of modern industrial plant agriculture

---How our youthful idealism can be betrayed by reality]]> 510 Mara Kahn Ra 0 to-read 4.50 Vegan Betrayal: Love, lies and hunger in a plants-only world
author: Mara Kahn
name: Ra
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[... trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager]]> 43520583 192 Viktor E. Frankl 3641059038 Ra 4
The German version is different from Man's Search for Meaning as it contains a short play written by Frankl. Synchronization in Birkenwald. The English version, which I will also read has an introduction to Logotherapy which the author is known for. ]]> 4.38 1946 ... trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Ra
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/16
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves: büchereien-wien, ebook, german
review:
The subject of the book is grim but the message is an uplifting and empowering one. Life is suffering and the best thing for us to do in our transient existence is to be worthy of our suffering. Our goal is not to win but to set an example for humanity whether our life is long or short, whatever we do we can be that model of humanity, and never lose our humanity whether we are prisoners or prison wardens. We can always decide to remain human.

The German version is different from Man's Search for Meaning as it contains a short play written by Frankl. Synchronization in Birkenwald. The English version, which I will also read has an introduction to Logotherapy which the author is known for.
]]> The Shipping News 7354
A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary American family, The Shipping News shows why E. Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.
(back cover)]]> 337 Annie Proulx 0743225422 Ra 0 to-read 3.88 1993 The Shipping News
author: Annie Proulx
name: Ra
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mother-Daughter Murder Night 166176898
The Maid meets The Last Thing He Told Me in this fun, fresh, and twisty debut whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio who come together as amateur sleuths to solve a murder in their coastal California town.

Nothing brings an estranged family together like a murder next door.

High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of:her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepycoastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.

Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking near their bungalow. Jack quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.

With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.]]> 13 Nina Simon 0063315076 Ra 4 audio-book, scribd 3.47 2023 Mother-Daughter Murder Night
author: Nina Simon
name: Ra
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/10/02
shelves: audio-book, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Der Federmann (Kommissar Nils Trojan, #1)]]> 15824474 8 Max Bentow Ra 4 3.71 2011 Der Federmann (Kommissar Nils Trojan, #1)
author: Max Bentow
name: Ra
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/28
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien, german
review:

]]> Der Nachtzirkus 13639293 464 Erin Morgenstern 3844905456 Ra 3
First read was for the eBook original edition in English borrowed from NYPL.
Second read was for the German translation, audio version borrowed from Buecherein Wien.
My opinion has not chaged. The German is a bit better I guess for the flowery discription but love scenes are terribly corny.]]> 3.71 2011 Der Nachtzirkus
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Ra
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/21
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: nypl, audio-book, german, büchereien-wien, scifi-fantasy
review:
A tale about dreams, magic and the power of imagination. Good entertainment and pace although I could not get too many realistic points of reference, but I think it is just me being skeptic as usual.

First read was for the eBook original edition in English borrowed from NYPL.
Second read was for the German translation, audio version borrowed from Buecherein Wien.
My opinion has not chaged. The German is a bit better I guess for the flowery discription but love scenes are terribly corny.
]]> <![CDATA[Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons (Enola Holmes #6.5)]]> 60291403 Nancy Springer's nationally bestselling series and breakout Netflix sensation is back! In this short story, Enola Holmes is on the case when a young porter - the boy in buttons - disappears without a trace.

Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, owns a building in the heart of 19th century London, a place she uses under pseudonyms to front for her investigative work. Employed there is a porter - Joddy, a young boy in a uniform festooned with buttons - whose even younger brother substitutes for him when he's sick. But Paddy disappears after one day at the job and Enola Holmes is alerted to this by the still ill Joddy.

Determined to find the missing porter, Enola travels to the rough part of London where the boys live and starts searching Aldgate Pump area for the missing boy. When she finds the missing buttons - but not the boy - she decides that drastic action is essential if she's to save the missing boy.]]> Nancy Springer 1250841356 Ra 3 3.51 2021 Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons (Enola Holmes #6.5)
author: Nancy Springer
name: Ra
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/09
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien, short-novella
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche (Enola Holmes #7)]]> 59229989
The Earl's note is suspiciously vague and the death certificate is even more dubious, signed it seems by a John H. Watson, M.D. (who denies any knowledge of such). The only way forward is for Enola to go undercover--or so Enola decides at the vehement objection of her brother. And she soon finds out that this is not the first of the Earl's wives to die suddenly and vaguely--and that the secret to the fate of the missing Felicity is tied to a mysterious black barouche that arrived at the Earl's home in the middle of the night. To uncover the secrets held tightly within the Earl's hall, Enola is going to require help--from Sherlock, from the twin sister of the missing woman, and from an old friend, the young Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether!]]> Nancy Springer 1250824370 Ra 3 audio-book, büchereien-wien 4.07 2021 Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche (Enola Holmes #7)
author: Nancy Springer
name: Ra
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/27
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Every City Is Every Other City (Gordon Stewart Mystery, #1)]]> 58813289 Behind the scenes, nothing is what it seems.

Gord Stewart, 40 years old, single, moved back into his sub-urban childhood home to care for his widowed father. But his father no longer needs care and Gord is stuck in limbo. He's been working in the movie business as a location scout for years, and when there isn't much filming, as a private eye for a security company run by ex-cops, OBC. When a fellow crew member asks him to find her missing uncle, Gord reluctantly takes the job. The police say the uncle walked into some dense woods in Northern Ontario and shot himself, but the man's wife thinks he's still alive.

With the help of his movie business and OBC connections, Gord finds a little evidence that the uncle may be alive. Now Gord has two problems: what to do when he finds a man who doesn't want to be found, and admitting that he's getting invested in this job. For the first time in his life, Gord Stewart is going to have to leave the sidelines and get into the game. Even if it might get him killed.]]> John McFetridge Ra 2 3.07 2021 Every City Is Every Other City (Gordon Stewart Mystery, #1)
author: John McFetridge
name: Ra
average rating: 3.07
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/29
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien, meh
review:

]]> Becoming 40786511 Listening Length: 19 hrs 3 min

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.]]> 20 Michelle Obama Ra 3 4.57 2018 Becoming
author: Michelle Obama
name: Ra
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/04
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: biography, büchereien-wien, audio-book
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane, #1)]]> 35627749
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.]]> 342 Andrea Penrose 1496710789 Ra 3 ebook, büchereien-wien 3.73 2017 Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane, #1)
author: Andrea Penrose
name: Ra
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Enola Holmes Mysteries (Enola Holmes, #1-6)]]> 55270435
Meet Enola Holmes, teenage girl turned detective and the younger sister to Sherlock Holmes, as she solves the mystery in each of these action-packed adventures! This collection includes: The Case of the Missing Marquess, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, and The Case of the Gypsy Good-bye.]]> 719 Nancy Springer 0593352351 Ra 4 audio-book, büchereien-wien 4.60 2020 The Enola Holmes Mysteries (Enola Holmes, #1-6)
author: Nancy Springer
name: Ra
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/13
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sync or Swim: A Fable About Workplace Communication and Coming Together in a Crisis]]> 20702169 112 Gary Chapman 0802412238 Ra 3 3.44 2014 Sync or Swim: A Fable About Workplace Communication and Coming Together in a Crisis
author: Gary Chapman
name: Ra
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2017/12/29
date added: 2023/06/28
shelves: scribd, audio-book, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Weißer Flieder (Sara Vallén #1)]]> 115971304 Die Polizeikommissarin Sara Vallén wird mit dem Fall beauftragt und gleich wieder abkommandiert, als sich herausstellt, dass ihr eigener Sohn Johannes der Hauptverdächtige ist. Um ihn zu retten, beginnt Sara ihre eigenen Ermittlungen. Denn sie ist ü Zu solchen Taten wäre Johannes niemals fähig. Oder?]]> 360 Cecilia Sahlström 8728013948 Ra 2 I thought I liked Nordic mysteries but this one is really unnecessarily complicated and simplistic in its plotting at the same time, not a good combination for a thriller or crime fiction. I prefer the plain old whodunnits, with less blood and gore, more relateable characters with more regular proclivities.

The book is FULL of characters, and each of them is less interesting than the next. From the plain annoying to the outright jerk. Not one character was worthy of attention or even compassion.
There was also a completely gratuitious and unnecessary angle of domestic violence, which I found frankly tasteless. I doubt that I will check out Sarah Vallen again. ]]> 2.31 2017 Weißer Flieder (Sara Vallén #1)
author: Cecilia Sahlström
name: Ra
average rating: 2.31
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2023/04/10
date added: 2023/05/18
shelves: ebook, audio-book, scribd, büchereien-wien, meh
review:
I started this as an ebook from my library, and then it expired and I picked it up where I left off with the English edition on Scribd called "White Lilac".
I thought I liked Nordic mysteries but this one is really unnecessarily complicated and simplistic in its plotting at the same time, not a good combination for a thriller or crime fiction. I prefer the plain old whodunnits, with less blood and gore, more relateable characters with more regular proclivities.

The book is FULL of characters, and each of them is less interesting than the next. From the plain annoying to the outright jerk. Not one character was worthy of attention or even compassion.
There was also a completely gratuitious and unnecessary angle of domestic violence, which I found frankly tasteless. I doubt that I will check out Sarah Vallen again.
]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue]]> 54301223
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 18 Victoria E. Schwab Ra 4
The premise and scope adds colour and interest to the events, but I do not see that there is much character development there. Addie, even after 300 years of life, remains largely the same, defiant and headstrong, not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it just is.

]]> 4.08 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Ra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/20
date added: 2023/03/27
shelves: audio-book, scifi-fantasy, büchereien-wien
review:
The story works very well in the Audiobook version and the reader really added colour and texture to the different personas. I agree that it might have been overlong and boring in the print version.

The premise and scope adds colour and interest to the events, but I do not see that there is much character development there. Addie, even after 300 years of life, remains largely the same, defiant and headstrong, not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it just is.


]]> <![CDATA[The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes, #1)]]> 59823464 Now a Netflix original movie starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter!

Meet Enola Holmes, teenage girl turned detective and the younger sister to Sherlock Holmes.

When Enola Holmes, sister to the detective Sherlock Holmes, discovers her mother has disappeared, she quickly embarks on a journey to London in search of her. But nothing can prepare her for what awaits. Because when she arrives, she finds herself involved in the kidnapping of a young marquess, fleeing murderous villains, and trying to elude her shrewd older brothers--all while attempting to piece together clues to her mother's strange disappearance. Amid all the mayhem, will Enola be able to decode the necessary clues and find her mother?

From acclaimed author Nancy Springer comes the Edgar Award nominated Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquees. Perfect for those who love mysteries and detective stories!]]> Nancy Springer Ra 3 audio-book, büchereien-wien 3.63 2006 The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes, #1)
author: Nancy Springer
name: Ra
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/27
date added: 2023/03/27
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> The Last Thing He Told Me 55713039
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]> 9 Laura Dave 179712319X Ra 3 3.64 2021 The Last Thing He Told Me
author: Laura Dave
name: Ra
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/15
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien, not-worth-the-hype
review:

]]> Bodies from the Library 43092525 Bodies from the Library 2
Bodies from the Library 3
______________________
This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together a selection of rare tales by masters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Agatha Christie crime story that has not been seen since 1922. At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, Bodies from the Library unearths lost stories from the Golden Age, that period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public's imagination and saw the emergence of some of the world's cleverest and most popular storytellers. This audio anthology brings together the majority of forgotten tales from the book Bodies from the Library, from the 1920s to the 1950s, by masters of the Golden Age including Cyril Hare, Freeman Wills Crofts and A.A. Milne. Most anticipated of all are the contributions by women writers: the first detective story by Georgette Heyer, unseen since 1923; an unpublished story by Christianna Brand, creator of Nanny McPhee; and a dark tale by Agatha Christie published only in an Australian journal in 1922 during her Grand Tour of the British Empire. With other stories by Detection Club stalwarts Anthony Berkeley, H.C. Bailey, J.J. Connington and John Rhode, plus Vincent Cornier, Leo Bruce, Roy Vickers and Arthur Upfield, this essential collection harks back to a time before forensic science when murder was a complex business.]]> Tony Medawar 0008289247 Ra 3 audio-book, büchereien-wien 3.68 2018 Bodies from the Library
author: Tony Medawar
name: Ra
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/12
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache, #1)]]> 21853764 Winner oftheNew Blood Dagger,Arthur Ellis,Barry,Anthony, andDilys awards.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces---and this series---with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.]]> 0 Louise Penny 1427258333 Ra 3 audio-book, büchereien-wien 3.78 2005 Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache, #1)
author: Louise Penny
name: Ra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/11
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Das neunte Gemälde: Kriminalroman (Die Lennard-Lomberg-Reihe 1) (German Edition)]]> 61715332 Eine Leiche in einem Bonner Hotel. Ein geheimnisumranktes Gemälde. Und eine Spur, die den Ermittler an die Abgründe der jüngeren europäischen Geschichte führt � und an die seiner eigenen Familie. Das neunte Gemälde ist der erste Band einer packenden Krimireihe um den Kunstexperten Lennard Lomberg.
Bonn im April 2016. Auf dem Weg zum Flughafen erhält Lennard Lomberg einen rätselhaften Anruf. Ein Mann namens Dupret drängt ihn, die Rückgabe eines verschollenen kubistischen Gemäldes zu organisieren, das sich unrechtmäßig im Besitz einer französischen Stiftung befinden soll. Kurz darauf wird Dupret tot in einem Bonner Hotel aufgefunden. Von dem Gemälde fehlt jede Spur. Sofort gerät Lomberg ins Visier von Kriminalrätin Sina Röhm. Ihre Ermittlungen zeigen, dass der einst von den Nazis geraubte mutmaßliche Picasso unmittelbar mit der Geschichte von Lombergs Vater verbunden sein könnte. Lomberg senior hatte sich seinerzeit vom einfachen Leutnant für Kunstschutz im besetzten Paris der 1940er bis zum Generalbundesanwalt der Bonner Republik hochgearbeitet.
Lennard Lomberg wird zum Detektiv in eigener Sache. Immer tiefer taucht er ein in die tragische Geschichte des neunten Gemäldes, und wird schließlich mit einer explosiven Wahrheit über seine Familie konfrontiert. Klar ist: Lomberg muss das Gemälde finden. Doch die sich anbahnende kunsthistorische Sensation ruft skrupellose Gegenspieler auf den Plan, die über Leichen gehen, um vor ihm an das Kunstwerk zu gelangen.]]> 401 Andreas Storm 3462003887 Ra 4 audio-book, büchereien-wien The suspense is based loosely on some episodes in art and political history expertly woven together with current events. My only problems was the number of characters all of whom were more or less connected to the story by some hidden detail.
I was waiting for the banker girlfriedn of Lennard to get connected to these shadow dealings somehow but perhaps this will happen in the next installment.
I recommend this book for people with interest in art, paintings and history.]]> 4.08 2022 Das neunte Gemälde: Kriminalroman (Die Lennard-Lomberg-Reihe 1) (German Edition)
author: Andreas Storm
name: Ra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/08
date added: 2023/03/08
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien
review:
I was on the lookout for a German read and this one kept me interested after listening to a sample. The narrator is good, and made even long history-book details sound interesting.
The suspense is based loosely on some episodes in art and political history expertly woven together with current events. My only problems was the number of characters all of whom were more or less connected to the story by some hidden detail.
I was waiting for the banker girlfriedn of Lennard to get connected to these shadow dealings somehow but perhaps this will happen in the next installment.
I recommend this book for people with interest in art, paintings and history.
]]> <![CDATA[Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)]]> 38608955 Beneath the Sugar Sky returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world.

Sumi died years before her prophesied daughter Rini could be born. Rini was born anyway, and now she’s trying to bring her mother back from a world without magic.

4 hrs 15 mins]]> 0 Seanan McGuire 1427293783 Ra 3 3.63 2018 Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Ra
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/03/08
shelves: audio-book, büchereien-wien, scifi-fantasy
review:
Another strange fantasy tale following the fate of some of the wayward children. It is entertaining and imaginvative enough, but I fail to see the point as the imaginative and unbelievable part is layered too thick for my taste.
]]> <![CDATA[How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self]]> 57470633 From Dr. Nicole LePera, creator of "the holistic psychologist"—the online phenomenon with more than two million Instagram followers—comes a revolutionary approach to healing that harnesses the power of the self to produce lasting change.

As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Nicole LePera often found herself frustrated by the limitations of traditional psychotherapy. Wanting more for her patients—and for herself—she began a journey to develop a united philosophy of mental, physical and spiritual health that equips people with the interdisciplinary tools necessary to heal themselves. After experiencing the life-changing results herself, she began to share what she’d learned with others—and soon “The Holistic Psychologist� was born.

Now, Dr. LePera is ready to share her much-requested protocol with the world. In How to Do the Work, she offers both a manifesto for self-healing as well as an essential guide to creating a more vibrant, authentic, and joyful life. Drawing on the latest research from a diversity of scientific fields and healing modalities, Dr. LePera helps us recognize how adverse experiences and trauma in childhood live with us, resulting in whole body dysfunction—activating armful stress responses that keep us stuck engaging in patterns of codependency, emotional immaturity, and trauma bonds. Unless addressed, these self-sabotaging behaviors can quickly become cyclical, leaving people feeling unhappy, unfulfilled, and unwell.

In How to Do the Work, Dr. LePera offers readers the support and tools that will allow them to break free from destructive behaviors to reclaim and recreate their lives. Nothing short of a paradigm shift, this is a celebration of empowerment that will forever change the way we approach mental health and self-care.


]]> Nicole LePera Ra 3 3.84 2021 How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self
author: Nicole LePera
name: Ra
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/24
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: scribd, audio-book, non-fiction
review:
I guess it is ok. The material is familiar but the format is a bit strange. It does contain some mediation and visualisation exercises, but it also invites journaling, so it is not easy to follow either in the printed or the audio formats. I half-listened while doing chores, but I still managed to get some nuggets of wisdom, that are also available elsewhere. I would not call it my favourite self help book.
]]> <![CDATA[Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice]]> 26620795 Red Notice is a searing expose of the wholesale whitewash by Russian authorities of Magnitsky's imprisonment and murder, slicing deep into the shadowy heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths. Bill Browder - the hedge fund manager who employed Magnitsky - takes us on his explosive journey from the heady world of finance in New York and London in the 1990s, through his battles with ruthless oligarchs in the turbulent landscape of post-Soviet Union Moscow, to his expulsion from Russia on Putin's orders. Browder's graphic portrait of the Russian government as a criminal enterprise wielding all the power of a sovereign state illuminates his personal transformation from financier to human rights activist, campaigning for justice for his late lawyer and friend.
With fraud, bribery, corruption, and torture exposed at every turn, Red Notice is a shocking but true political roller-coaster that plays out in the highest echelons of Western power.
©2015 Hermitage Media Limited (P)2015 Recorded Books]]> Bill Browder Ra 3 4.28 2015 Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice
author: Bill Browder
name: Ra
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/04
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: audio-book, scribd, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath]]> 60807566 Following his explosive New York Times bestseller Red Notice, Bill Browder returns with another gripping thriller chronicling how he became Vladimir Putin’s number one enemy by exposing Putin’s campaign to steal and launder hundreds of billions of dollars and kill anyone who stands in his way.

When Bill Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail, Browder made it his life’s mission to go after his killers and make sure they faced justice. The first step of that mission was to uncover who was behind the $230 million tax refund scheme that Magnitsky was killed over. As Browder and his team tracked the money as it flowed out of Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas, they were shocked to discovered that Vladmir Putin himself was a beneficiary of the crime.

As law enforcement agencies began freezing the money, Putin retaliated. He and his cronies set up honey traps, hired process servers to chase Browder through cities, murdered more of his Russian allies, and enlisted some of the top lawyers and politicians in America to bring him down. Putin will stop at nothing to protect his money. As Freezing Order reveals, it was Browder’s campaign to expose Putin’s corruption that prompted Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential election.

At once a financial caper, an international adventure, and a passionate plea for justice, Freezing Order is a stirring morality tale about how one man can take on one of the most ruthless villains in the world—and win.]]> 10 Bill Browder Ra 4 audio-book, scribd 4.18 2022 Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
author: Bill Browder
name: Ra
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/03
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: audio-book, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Putins Krieg � Wie die Menschen in der Ukraine für unsere Freiheit kämpfen (German Edition)]]> 62229304
Seit vielen Jahren berichtet Katrin Eigendorf regelmäßig aus der Ukraine. So auch während der dramatischen Tage und Wochen nach dem 24. Februar 2022, als Wladimir Putin mit seinem grausamen Angriff auf die Ukraine den Krieg zurück nach Europa getragen hat. Angesichts der Bilder aus Mariupol, Charkiw und Kyiw ist auch Deutschland aufgewacht, nachdem es über viele Jahre Wladimir Putin verharmlost hat.

Katrin Eigendorf erzählt hier vom Krieg, den Putin mit aller Härte führt, vor allem gegen die Bevölkerung. Von ihren Begegnungen mit Menschen, die von einem Tag auf den anderen alles verloren haben, von Familien, die zerrissen wurden, von Kindern, die ihre Kindheit verloren haben. Es sind Begegnungen, die immer wieder an die Schmerzgrenze gehen, auch für eine Reporterin.

Sie hat den Beginn dieser Entwicklung bereits 2008 in Georgien erlebt, als der Kreml seine Truppen nach Tbilissi schickte. Und 2014 in Donezk, Luhansk und Mariupol, als die russische Armee nach der Krim auch den Osten der Ukraine angriff und besetzte. Kriege, die auch in Deutschland nicht ernst genug genommen wurden.

Putins Narrativ vom Krieg gegen eine faschistische Regierung in Kyiw, vom Eintreten für Russlands Sicherheit ist eine zynische Lüge. Sein Krieg zeigt überdies die ganze Schwäche eines autoritären Regimes. Ein System, das Kinder bombardiert und Menschen aushungert, das die Wahrheit nicht duldet, ist gescheitert. Noch nie war es Katrin Eigendorf wichtiger, vor Ort zu sein und zu zeigen, worum es in der Ukraine wirklich geht: um den Kampf eines Volkes für Freiheit und Demokratie � auch in Europa.]]> 256 Katrin Eigendorf 359670944X Ra 4 4.24 Putins Krieg – Wie die Menschen in der Ukraine für unsere Freiheit kämpfen (German Edition)
author: Katrin Eigendorf
name: Ra
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/19
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: büchereien-wien, audio-book, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference]]> 30361898
While a researcher at Oxford, trying to figure out which career would allow him to have the greatest impact, William MacAskill confronted this problem head on. He discovered that much of the potential for change was being squandered by lack of information, bad data, and our own prejudice. As an antidote, he and his colleagues developed effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach that allows each of us to make a tremendous difference regardless of our resources. Effective altruists believe that it’s not enough to simply do good; we must do good better.

At the core of this philosophy are five key questions that help guide our altruistic decisions: How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing I can do? Is this area neglected? What would have happened otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be? By applying these questions to real-life scenarios, MacAskill shows how many of our assumptions about doing good are misguided. For instance, he argues one can potentially save more lives by becoming a plastic surgeon rather than a heart surgeon; measuring overhead costs is an inaccurate gauge of a charity’s effectiveness; and, it generally doesn’t make sense for individuals to donate to disaster relief.

MacAskill urges us to think differently, set aside biases, and use evidence and careful reasoning rather than act on impulse. When we do this—when we apply the head and the heart to each of our altruistic endeavors—we find that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good.]]> William MacAskill Ra 4 4.05 2015 Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference
author: William MacAskill
name: Ra
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/27
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: non-fiction, audio-book, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children, #2)]]> 31450908
This is the story of what happened first�

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.]]> 187 Seanan McGuire 0765392038 Ra 3 It follows the fate of the twins Jack and Jill from the first novel. I liked but did not love it.
]]> 4.14 2017 Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children, #2)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Ra
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/20
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: audio-book, scifi-fantasy, büchereien-wien
review:
This is the second one I read by the author. I think it is classified as YA.
It follows the fate of the twins Jack and Jill from the first novel. I liked but did not love it.

]]> <![CDATA[Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)]]> 25667166 Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Guests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.]]> 176 Seanan McGuire 076538387X Ra 3 It touches upon many subjects of coming of age, acceptance of self, community and isolation. In addition to gender identity and sexual orientation.
The story is not overly long and gets resolved quickly. We get to know a little of the backstory of each of the Wayward Children, but there is a hint that there is more to them. ]]> 3.76 2016 Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Ra
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/19
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien, scifi-fantasy
review:
Good writing overall and an interesting story, of the fantasy genre.
It touches upon many subjects of coming of age, acceptance of self, community and isolation. In addition to gender identity and sexual orientation.
The story is not overly long and gets resolved quickly. We get to know a little of the backstory of each of the Wayward Children, but there is a hint that there is more to them.
]]> مسك الغزال 60238281 250 Hanan Al-Shaykh 9953891605 Ra 3 audio-book, scribd, arabic I found the population of this book a bit on the depraved and/or helpless side (men and women alike).
There was probably one side character I could moderately care for. The subject matter and the tone is depressing, which might be intentional. There is no distinct story arc, and the story of each women ends abruptly, and the next one starts. Some reappear in the story of others, while some disappear completely. It has been three weeks since I listened and I already forgotten almost everything except the pressing desperation and emptiness of the desert setting. ]]> 3.75 1982 مسك الغزال
author: Hanan Al-Shaykh
name: Ra
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/01
date added: 2023/02/27
shelves: audio-book, scribd, arabic
review:
Mildly interesting story about a bunch of women who are loosely connected by a location, that might or might not be Saudi Arabia.
I found the population of this book a bit on the depraved and/or helpless side (men and women alike).
There was probably one side character I could moderately care for. The subject matter and the tone is depressing, which might be intentional. There is no distinct story arc, and the story of each women ends abruptly, and the next one starts. Some reappear in the story of others, while some disappear completely. It has been three weeks since I listened and I already forgotten almost everything except the pressing desperation and emptiness of the desert setting.
]]> The Lies I Tell 59646635 Two women. Many aliases.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.

The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future.]]> 307 Julie Clark 1728247608 Ra 3 büchereien-wien, ebook 4.25 2022 The Lies I Tell
author: Julie Clark
name: Ra
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/17
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves: büchereien-wien, ebook
review:

]]> The Paper Palace 55994372
Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn't forever changed the course of their lives.

As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593329825.]]> 400 Miranda Cowley Heller Ra 0 dnf, büchereien-wien, ebook 3.73 2021 The Paper Palace
author: Miranda Cowley Heller
name: Ra
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/16
shelves: dnf, büchereien-wien, ebook
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)]]> 58821087
An einem Nachmittag sind fünf Schüler in der Bayview High zum Nachsitzen versammelt. Bronwyn, das Superhirn auf dem Weg nach Yale, bricht niemals die Regeln. Klassenschönheit Addy ist die perfekte Homecoming-Queen. Nate hat seinen Ruf als Drogendealer weg. Cooper glänzt als Baseball-Spieler. Und Simon hat die berüchtigte Gossip-App der Schule unter seiner Kontrolle. Als Simon plötzlich zusammenbricht und kurz darauf stirbt, ermittelt die Polizei wegen Mordes. Simon wollte am Folgetag einen Skandalpost absetzen. Im Schlaglicht: Bronwyn, Addy, Nate und Cooper. Jeder der vier hat etwas zu verbergen - und damit ein Motiv ...]]> 496 Karen M. McManus Ra 3
[spoilers removed]

That said, it is good fun for a low mental activity listen while doing chores. I listened to the German version, which was a great way to get into teenage slang in the language. ]]> 3.17 2017 One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Ra
average rating: 3.17
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/24
date added: 2022/11/25
shelves: audio-book, young-readers, büchereien-wien
review:
The regular YA formula with teenage angst, relationships, sexual orientation, peer pressure, depression, murder, male stereotypes, female stereotypes, and trying to grow up.

[spoilers removed]

That said, it is good fun for a low mental activity listen while doing chores. I listened to the German version, which was a great way to get into teenage slang in the language.
]]> The Last Flight 51197260 Two women. Two Flights. One last chance to disappear.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets � Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

The Last Flight is the story of two women � both alone, both scared � and one agonizing decision that will change thetrajectory of both of their lives.]]> 352 Julie Clark 1728215730 Ra 4 ebook, büchereien-wien The book had minor moments of preaching to the choir or trying to ride on the wave of current issues, but it was quick read with plausible character development.

A good thriller that will appeal more to women as they represent all the main characters.]]> 4.26 2020 The Last Flight
author: Julie Clark
name: Ra
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/20
date added: 2022/11/24
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien
review:
Good plot and drama, and good resolution too.
The book had minor moments of preaching to the choir or trying to ride on the wave of current issues, but it was quick read with plausible character development.

A good thriller that will appeal more to women as they represent all the main characters.
]]> The Club 60902925 From the author of People Like Her comes a smart and sinister murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs.

Everyone's Dying to Join . . .

The Home Group is a glamorous collection of celebrity members' clubs dotted across the globe, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media.

The most spectacular of all is Island Home--a closely-guarded, ultraluxurious resort, just off the English coast--and its three-day launch party is easily the most coveted A-list invite of the decade.

But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point: the ambitious and expensive project has pushed the Home Group's CEO and his long-suffering team to their absolute limits. All of them have something to hide--and that's before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island.

As tempers fray and behavior worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home's members will begin to wish they'd never made the guest list.

Because at this club, if your name's on the list, you're not getting out.]]> 303 Ellery Lloyd Ra 1
The book can be described in one sentence: People are awful, and rich people are most awful. My biggest regret was that not enough of these awful people met their well-deserved and predictable end.
Possibly the worst of the Reese Weatherspoon's recommendations I read so far. I am clearly not the target audience for this type of story.]]> 3.55 2022 The Club
author: Ellery Lloyd
name: Ra
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2022/11/12
date added: 2022/11/14
shelves: meh, not-worth-the-hype, büchereien-wien, flop
review:
I finished this, which is a great achievement. I actually gritted my teeth in parts of it. There is every part of stereotypical awful celebrity character in this novel. And I dislike paragraphs and paragraphs describing interior design and attire. All of this is terribly opulent and pretentious.

The book can be described in one sentence: People are awful, and rich people are most awful. My biggest regret was that not enough of these awful people met their well-deserved and predictable end.
Possibly the worst of the Reese Weatherspoon's recommendations I read so far. I am clearly not the target audience for this type of story.
]]> <![CDATA[The Magnus Archives: Season 1 (Magnus Archives, #1)]]> 53840244
With each chapter released as a podcast episode, The Magnus Archive is structured as a series of statements recorded or written and then recorded for internal research use within The Magnus Institute. At the beginning of each statement, the statement-taker (mainly Jon, the head archivist) provides a brief description of the statement and the name of the statement-maker. Those who give or record statements in the Magnus Institute tend to lapse into a trance-like state not unlike reliving the event.]]> Jonathan Sims Ra 4 audio-book 4.78 The Magnus Archives: Season 1 (Magnus Archives, #1)
author: Jonathan Sims
name: Ra
average rating: 4.78
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/31
date added: 2022/11/14
shelves: audio-book
review:
My second time listening. I am on season 5 now.
]]> We Were Liars 22044722
We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury.

We are cracked and broken.

A story of love and romance.

A tale of tragedy.

Which are lies?

Which is truth?]]> 219 E. Lockhart 1471403998 Ra 3 Also I dislike books with privileged rich people. Saving them or getting them to learn a life lesson comes at a huge expense to everyone. In this story, the person "saved" was hardly worth saving. ]]> 3.64 2014 We Were Liars
author: E. Lockhart
name: Ra
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/10/23
date added: 2022/10/24
shelves: young-readers, ebook, not-worth-the-hype
review:
Perhaps books hit you different when you are young. My son read this one for English class (strange choice) and he told me it was awesome and the ending made him cry. I read it on the same day. The good thing about this book is that it was short, and could be finished in one sitting. However, I still thought it was enough of an ordeal. I felt the author went for the cheap trick of shock and awe rather than anything of substance. And the last few pages dripped with milodrama.
Also I dislike books with privileged rich people. Saving them or getting them to learn a life lesson comes at a huge expense to everyone. In this story, the person "saved" was hardly worth saving.
]]> <![CDATA[Good Samaritans (Detective Sergeant Pace, #1)]]> 40574569 One crossed wire, three dead bodies and six bottles of bleach

Seth Beauman can’t sleep. He stays up late, calling strangers from his phonebook, hoping to make a connection, while his wife, Maeve, sleeps upstairs. A crossed wire finds a suicidal Hadley Serf on the phone to Seth, thinking she is talking to The Samaritans.
But a seemingly harmless, late-night hobby turns into something more for Seth and for Hadley, and soon their late-night talks are turning into day-time meet-ups. And then this dysfunctional love story turns into something altogether darker, when Seth brings Hadley home�
And someone is watching�
Dark, sexy, dangerous and wildly readable, Good Samaritans marks the scorching return of one of crime fiction’s most exceptional voices.


]]> 318 Will Carver 1912374382 Ra 4 büchereien-wien, ebook 3.86 2018 Good Samaritans (Detective Sergeant Pace, #1)
author: Will Carver
name: Ra
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/02
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: büchereien-wien, ebook
review:
Fast-paced thriller, with dark characters and twisty points of view. I enjoyed the thrill and the ride but I cannot say that I was completely happy with the payoff.
]]> ‫الفاشي� الإسلامية 43790538 حامد عبد الصّمد هو أحد أهم نُقّاد الإِسلام السّياسي في العالم. إن كتاباته شديدة الصّدق والقسوة. نكتشف ذلك عند قراءة روايته (وداعًا أيتها السماء)، ثم]]> 280 Hamed Abdel-Samad Ra 3 الكتاب ليس تحليلاً كما ينتقد البعض ولكنه يشبه نوعاً ما تحقيقات النيويوركر الطويلة فهو يروي قصصاً تاريخية إلى جانب بعض التجارب الشخصية لأفراد يكافحون ضد التطرف الإسلامي أو الفاشية الإسلامية، ويرسم بهذا صورة يحاول فيها أن يجد نقاط الالتقاء والتقاطع بين الفاشية والإسلاموية ومنها إلى الإسلام المتطرف.
ومن يقرأ الكتاب لا بد أن يقتنع أن هناك بعض نقاط التشابه بين التطرف الديني والفاشية. وفي هذا الزمان بالذات يلفت نظري كثيراً كيف يصطف البشر خلف شخصيات فاشية مثل دونالد ترامب وبوتين وغيره وليس لهذا سبب سوى نرجسية التفوق مقترنة مع إحساس الهزيمة وهي خليط مدمر أدى بتدهورنا منذ انحسار الغزو الصليبي والدولة العثمانية ولم تقم لنا قائمة منذ ذلك الوقت لأننا ضحايا فكر ينفر من التنوير والحداثة ويشيطن الآخر.
كل شخص عاش في حياته تحت ظل نرجسية أب أو أم أو شريك حياة يعرف أن الانعتاق من أسر هذا النوع من العلاقات يتطلب شجاعة كبيرة وتضحيات مؤلمة وحامد عبد الصمد نفسه مر بسلسلة من الانغلاق والأسر والانعتاق وهو يتحدث بذلك عن دراية.
]]> 3.74 2014 ‫الفاشية الإسلامية
author: Hamed Abdel-Samad
name: Ra
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/12
date added: 2022/09/13
shelves: audio-book, scribd, non-fiction, arabic
review:
سمعت هذا الكتاب مقروءاً وقد وقعت قارئته في كثير من الأخطاء في اللفظ وربط الجمل ولذلك يلزم الانتباه إلى ذلك وربما قراءته باللغة الإنكليزية أو الألمانية لأن المنشورات بتلك اللغات تخضع لقدر أكبر من التحرير والتدقيق.
الكتاب ليس تحليلاً كما ينتقد البعض ولكنه يشبه نوعاً ما تحقيقات النيويوركر الطويلة فهو يروي قصصاً تاريخية إلى جانب بعض التجارب الشخصية لأفراد يكافحون ضد التطرف الإسلامي أو الفاشية الإسلامية، ويرسم بهذا صورة يحاول فيها أن يجد نقاط الالتقاء والتقاطع بين الفاشية والإسلاموية ومنها إلى الإسلام المتطرف.
ومن يقرأ الكتاب لا بد أن يقتنع أن هناك بعض نقاط التشابه بين التطرف الديني والفاشية. وفي هذا الزمان بالذات يلفت نظري كثيراً كيف يصطف البشر خلف شخصيات فاشية مثل دونالد ترامب وبوتين وغيره وليس لهذا سبب سوى نرجسية التفوق مقترنة مع إحساس الهزيمة وهي خليط مدمر أدى بتدهورنا منذ انحسار الغزو الصليبي والدولة العثمانية ولم تقم لنا قائمة منذ ذلك الوقت لأننا ضحايا فكر ينفر من التنوير والحداثة ويشيطن الآخر.
كل شخص عاش في حياته تحت ظل نرجسية أب أو أم أو شريك حياة يعرف أن الانعتاق من أسر هذا النوع من العلاقات يتطلب شجاعة كبيرة وتضحيات مؤلمة وحامد عبد الصمد نفسه مر بسلسلة من الانغلاق والأسر والانعتاق وهو يتحدث بذلك عن دراية.

]]> <![CDATA[The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life]]> 28257707 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited�"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.]]> 212 Mark Manson Ra 2 Ok. Maybe it is also the overuse of the F word everywhere, but I am clearly not Mark Manson's target audience. Mediocre listen.]]> 3.87 2016 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
author: Mark Manson
name: Ra
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2022/08/31
date added: 2022/09/03
shelves: audio-book, non-fiction, scribd, not-worth-the-hype, meh
review:
Maybe I should not give a fuck, but I agree that the smug attitude of this person is irritating. It is quite like people who by chance gain a huge following on instagram and the next thing they do is write a book on how to build a huge audience.
Ok. Maybe it is also the overuse of the F word everywhere, but I am clearly not Mark Manson's target audience. Mediocre listen.
]]> <![CDATA[The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying]]> 22011085 Transform your home into a permanently clear and clutter-free space with the incredible KonMari Method. Japan's expert declutterer and professional cleaner Marie Kondo will help you tidy your rooms once and for all with her inspirational step-by-step method.

The key to successful tidying is to tackle your home in the correct order, to keep only the things you really love and to do it all at once - and quickly. After that for the rest of your life you only need to choose what to keep and what to discard.

The KonMari Method will not just transform your space. Once you have your house in order you will find that your whole life will change. You can feel more confident, you can become more successful, and you can have the energy and motivation to create the life you want. You will also have the courage to move on from the negative aspects of your life: you can recognise and finish a bad relationship; you can stop feeling anxious; you can finally lose weight.

Marie Kondo's method is based on a 'once-cleaned, never-messy-again' approach. If you think that such a thing is impossible then you should definitely read this compelling book.

]]> 256 Marie Kondō Ra 4 3.98 2010 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying
author: Marie Kondō
name: Ra
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/04
date added: 2022/09/03
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien, non-fiction
review:

]]> Mastery 56961656
In Mastery, you’ll discover:
The 5 Essential Keys to Mastery, Tools for Mastery, Mastery and Energy, How to Master Your Athletic Potential, The 3 Personality Types that Are Obstacles to Mastery, How to Avoid Pitfalls Along the Path, and more . . .]]> George Leonard Ra 3 3.89 1991 Mastery
author: George Leonard
name: Ra
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/01
date added: 2022/09/03
shelves: audio-book, non-fiction, scribd
review:
The text is a little bit dated, and because it is an audiobook I completely switched out during the last few chapters of exercises. However, one gains some valuable insights from reading (or listening)
]]> <![CDATA[A Thousand Hills to Heaven: Love, Hope, and a Restaurant in Rwanda]]> 17333298
Newlyweds Josh and Alissa were at a party and received a challenge that shook them to the do you think you can really make a difference? Especially in a place like Rwanda, where the scars of genocide linger and poverty is rampant?

While Josh worked hard bringing food and health care to the country's rural villages, Alissa was determined to put their foodie expertise to work. The couple opened Heaven, a gourmet restaurant overlooking Kigali, which became an instant success. Remarkably, they found that between helping youth marry their own local ingredients with gourmet recipes (and mix up "the best guacamole in Africa") and teaching them how to help themselves, they created much-needed jobs while showing that genocide's survivors really could work together.

While first a memoir of love, adventure, and family, A Thousand Hills to Heaven also provides a remarkable view of how, through health, jobs, and economic growth, our foreign aid programs can be quickly remodeled and work to end poverty worldwide.]]> 320 Josh Ruxin 0316232912 Ra 2
The author makes some good points about how to do development in Africa without creating dependence. His style, however, irritated me somewhat. I perceived him as an American do-gooder, with a sense of superiority that is respectful to Africa on the surface only. I did not even find the way he described his wife or his children particularly endearing, they came across as trophies to his expat life. There is endless name-dropping, and great detail about setting up the restaurant called Heaven (hence the title). I also found the jumping around between stories and characters confusing (especially in the audio version where you really cannot cross-check or move back and forth quickly between chapters).

This tries to sound as the story of a couple who makes it in a strange land. However, it is hard to overlook the fact of their born privilege. They made it because they come from money and power. They used the trophies of their privilege to make it in Africa. So this is not the story of struggle or suffering or sacrifice that they want us to believe.

The book is saved by the personal stories of those who really suffered, and made it, in Rwanda. Some horrific details of the genocide left me in tears, and I admire the spirit of Rwandans who made it through this darkness. I loved the descriptions of Africa and the resilience and wisdom of its people, the driver he calls Op-Ed for example.
I only listened absently to recipes and the way to run a restaurant, and the underlying self-congratulatory tone of how privileged few can make it in the heart of darkness.

I cannot deny the author's achievement and how much good he and his family did in Rwanda. In the end he used his privileged upbringing and wealth to help the people in many ways. He worked towards empowering them. But he also got plenty in return. I did not sense any personal sacrifice from his part. The wife Alissa seemed to be the one carrying that burden.]]> 4.09 2013 A Thousand Hills to Heaven: Love, Hope, and a Restaurant in Rwanda
author: Josh Ruxin
name: Ra
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2017/07/25
date added: 2022/08/28
shelves: scribd, audio-book, non-fiction, africa
review:
I really wanted to like this book. It was recommended by one of my favourite book blogs and I love Africa and people who do good there.

The author makes some good points about how to do development in Africa without creating dependence. His style, however, irritated me somewhat. I perceived him as an American do-gooder, with a sense of superiority that is respectful to Africa on the surface only. I did not even find the way he described his wife or his children particularly endearing, they came across as trophies to his expat life. There is endless name-dropping, and great detail about setting up the restaurant called Heaven (hence the title). I also found the jumping around between stories and characters confusing (especially in the audio version where you really cannot cross-check or move back and forth quickly between chapters).

This tries to sound as the story of a couple who makes it in a strange land. However, it is hard to overlook the fact of their born privilege. They made it because they come from money and power. They used the trophies of their privilege to make it in Africa. So this is not the story of struggle or suffering or sacrifice that they want us to believe.

The book is saved by the personal stories of those who really suffered, and made it, in Rwanda. Some horrific details of the genocide left me in tears, and I admire the spirit of Rwandans who made it through this darkness. I loved the descriptions of Africa and the resilience and wisdom of its people, the driver he calls Op-Ed for example.
I only listened absently to recipes and the way to run a restaurant, and the underlying self-congratulatory tone of how privileged few can make it in the heart of darkness.

I cannot deny the author's achievement and how much good he and his family did in Rwanda. In the end he used his privileged upbringing and wealth to help the people in many ways. He worked towards empowering them. But he also got plenty in return. I did not sense any personal sacrifice from his part. The wife Alissa seemed to be the one carrying that burden.
]]> Night Music 41745863 Jojo Moyes Ra 4 3.23 2008 Night Music
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Ra
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/20
date added: 2022/08/23
shelves: audio-book, scribd, romance_fluff
review:

]]> The Memory Shop 40655599 The most important things in life . . . are not things at all.

Nora is fleeing London for her childhood home in Dublin after her heart is suddenly torn apart. Back home, she learns she has inherited all of her grandmother's worldly belongings - a feather shrug, a Tiffany mirror, a gold locket, and many more precious things besides.

With no means of keeping them, and not able to bear auctioning everything off, Nora decides to open The Memory Shop so each object is matched to a perfect new owner.

Soon Nora begins transforming the lives of those around her through the items she pairs them with, helping them find new happiness in unexpected ways. Now if she can only let go of her own past, she might just surprise herself . . .

An uplifting novel set in a charming Irish community, about love, family and finding your way.

]]> 13 Ella Griffin 1510068325 Ra 3 3.88 2017 The Memory Shop
author: Ella Griffin
name: Ra
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/21
date added: 2022/08/23
shelves: audio-book, scribd, romance_fluff
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong]]> 35232646 Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Eric Barker reveals the extraordinary science behind what actually determines success and most importantly, how anyone can achieve it. You’ll learn:


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

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

By looking at what separates the extremely successful from the rest of us, we learn what we can do to be more like them—and find out in some cases why it’s good that we aren’t. Barking Up the Wrong Tree draws on startling statistics and surprising anecdotes to help you understand what works and what doesn’t so you can stop guessing at success and start living the life you want.]]> Eric Barker Ra 3 3.95 2017 Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong
author: Eric Barker
name: Ra
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/11
date added: 2022/08/13
shelves: audio-book, non-fiction, scribd
review:

]]> <![CDATA[You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town]]> 50902197 "Wicomb deserves a wide American audience, on a part with Nadine Gordimer and J.M.Coetzee." - Wall St. Journal

Wicomb is a gifted writer, and her compressed narratives work like brilliant splinters in the mind, suggesting a rich rhythm and shape."-Seattle Times

"[Wicomb's] prose is vigorous, textured, lyrical. . . . [She] is a sophisticated storyteller who combines the open-endedness of contemporary fiction with the force of autobiography and the simplicity of family stories."-Bharati Mukherjee, New York Times Book Review

For course use in: African literature, African studies, growing up female, world literature, women's studies

Zoe Wicomb was born in 1948 and raised in Namaquland, South Africa. After 20 years voluntary exile, she returned to South Africa in 1991 to teach at the University of the Western Cape. She currently lives in Glasgow and teaches at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Marcia Wright is professor of history at Columbia University and a member of the executive committee for the Women Writing Africa series. Carol Sicherman is professor emerita of English at Lehman College, CUNY.

]]> 0 Zoë Wicomb 1415200513 Ra 3 africa, african-writer 3.00 1987 You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town
author: Zoë Wicomb
name: Ra
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/03
date added: 2022/08/03
shelves: africa, african-writer
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Path to Love: Spiritual Strategies for Healing]]> 138903

From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 352 Deepak Chopra 060980135X Ra 3 borrowed-printedbook 4.00 1996 The Path to Love: Spiritual Strategies for Healing
author: Deepak Chopra
name: Ra
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/01
date added: 2022/08/01
shelves: borrowed-printedbook
review:

]]> The Secrets You Keep 30759320 New York Times bestselling author of The Wrong Man and Eyes on You comes a harrowing new psychological thriller about a successful self-help author who suddenly finds her life spiraling dangerously out of control.

What would you do if you realized that your new husband, a man you adore, is keeping secrets from you—secrets with terrifying consequences?

Bryn Harper, an accomplished self-help author, already has plenty to deal with. She’s still recovering from a devastating car accident that has left her haunted by recurring, smoke-filled nightmares. Worse still, she can’t shake the ominous feeling her dreams contain a warning.

In the beginning, Bryn’s husband Guy couldn’t have been more supportive. But after moving into a new house together, disturbing incidents occur and Guy grows evasive, secretive. What the hell is going on, she wonders? Then, a woman hired to cater their dinner party is brutally murdered.

As Bryn’s world unravels—and yet another woman in town is slain —she must summon her old strength to find answers and protect her own life. Her nightmares may in fact hold the key to unlocking the truth and unmasking the murderer.

With unexpected, riveting twists, The Secrets You Keep is an utterly compelling psychological thriller that once again showcases Kate White’s extraordinary storytelling talent.]]> Kate White 0062660004 Ra 3 audio-book, scribd
I have listened before to a few thrillers by Kate White, and by now the formula is obvious. Too many red herrings to keep track of, and they cover every plausible explanation that the plot could offer. In the end the pieces fit together in a really bizzare way, too reliant on coincidences and incidentals to be termed clever and neat.

The book is engaging enough though and will not put you to sleep, so use it for a boring drive or boring manual work. ]]> 3.21 2017 The Secrets You Keep
author: Kate White
name: Ra
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/16
date added: 2022/07/16
shelves: audio-book, scribd
review:
Fast thriller read suitable for listening while doing chores or repetitive work. After a slew of books that brought me to sleep I though I change pace to something more engaging.

I have listened before to a few thrillers by Kate White, and by now the formula is obvious. Too many red herrings to keep track of, and they cover every plausible explanation that the plot could offer. In the end the pieces fit together in a really bizzare way, too reliant on coincidences and incidentals to be termed clever and neat.

The book is engaging enough though and will not put you to sleep, so use it for a boring drive or boring manual work.
]]> <![CDATA[Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived]]> 13621432 In Love Wins, bestselling author, international teacher, and speaker Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis, Drops Like Stars) addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—hell and the afterlife—arguing, would a loving God send people to eternal torment forever?

Rob Bell is an electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,� with millions viewing his NOOMA videos.

With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial with a hopeful message—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.]]> Rob Bell 0062080938 Ra 2 4.08 2011 Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
author: Rob Bell
name: Ra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2022/06/23
date added: 2022/07/16
shelves: non-fiction, scribd, audio-book, meh
review:
It is an okay book and an idea, but I think it would be more interesting for someone with a theology background, who will be able to follow a quote from scripture in every sentence. This approach did not work for me.
]]> <![CDATA[The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain]]> 53043771 Life-changing opportunities pass us by every day � now we can train our minds to seize them

Self-help books like The Secret promise that we can control our destiny by reshaping our minds. Despite scepticism, these systems have been used by millions of people for generations. Why?

Because if we strip away the mumbo-jumbo, The Secret and its forbears are fundamentally powerful � and they are backed up by the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience and behavioural psychology. Because most of the things we want from life � health, happiness, wealth, love � are governed by our ability to think, feel and act; in other words, by our brain.

What if a neuroscientist could take the best of The Secret � together with its original source book The Master Key System - and make it accessible for a new generation?

What if a book offered a rigorous, proven toolkit for unlocking our minds and reaching our fullest potential?

That neuroscientist is Dr Tara Swart. And that book is The Source.

‘Tara Swart is an extremely calming presence, all the more so for being palpably intelligent. Her brain appears to require no boosting. I’d sign up in an eye blink� I like her � a lot�
Hannah Betts, The Times

‘Dr Tara Swart is friendly, charming, and knows what she’s talking about. Having qualified as a doctor, then trained as a neuroscientist, she worked as a psychiatrist before going into private practice as a highly sought-after expert to the rich and famous�
Janet Street-Porter, Daily Mail

‘Neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart works with some of the City’s highest-earning and most respected leaders in finance, law and media�
Evening Standard

‘Dr Swart has become one of the most prominent voices in the field of neuroscience, and counts among her clients some of the biggest names in business�
The Telegraph]]> Tara Swart Ra 2 This one is more grounded in science but still brings up the same type of visualisation techniques and vision boards for the future. Apart from this, the audiobook version suffers from the soporific voice of the author who made the subject exquisitely boring.
I partly listened, partly slept, partly day-dreamt through the whole thing even though I accompanied it with some meditative activity like knitting and crochet.

The book can be distilled in a few short sentences: Think happy and positive thoughts, meditate, believe that good things will happen to you and they will. If this entices you to get into the details of the "exercises" by all means go ahead. I shall have better use of my time, reading more interesting books.]]> 3.78 2019 The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain
author: Tara Swart
name: Ra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2022/07/16
date added: 2022/07/16
shelves: non-fiction, audio-book, scribd, meh
review:
This struck me as a smarter and brainer version of the The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, a book I read years ago and found entirely fake.
This one is more grounded in science but still brings up the same type of visualisation techniques and vision boards for the future. Apart from this, the audiobook version suffers from the soporific voice of the author who made the subject exquisitely boring.
I partly listened, partly slept, partly day-dreamt through the whole thing even though I accompanied it with some meditative activity like knitting and crochet.

The book can be distilled in a few short sentences: Think happy and positive thoughts, meditate, believe that good things will happen to you and they will. If this entices you to get into the details of the "exercises" by all means go ahead. I shall have better use of my time, reading more interesting books.
]]> The Christie Affair 59534531 In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. Only I know the truth of her disappearance.
I’m no Hercule Poirot.
I’m her husband’s mistress.

Agatha Christie’s world is one of glamorous society parties, country house weekends, and growing literary fame.

Nan O’Dea’s world is something very different. Her attempts to escape a tough London upbringing during the Great War led to a life in Ireland marred by a hidden tragedy.

After fighting her way back to England, she’s set her sights on Agatha. Because Agatha Christie has something Nan wants. And it’s not just her husband.

Despite their differences, the two women will become the most unlikely of allies. And during the mysterious eleven days that Agatha goes missing, they will unravel a dark secret that only Nan holds the key to . . .

The Christie Affair is a stunning novel which reimagines the unexplained eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926 that captivated the world.]]> 358 Nina de Gramont 1529054206 Ra 3 ebook, büchereien-wien The events are interesting enough but the characterisation of real people fell short somehow. I felt that Agatha Christie was a caricature of herself, and also Archie was strange.

I cannot explain why I did not like the book as much as I should have perhaps because I felt it capitalised on the bestselling author's life without delivering any of her trademark style. The woman who wrote all these clever whoddunits was not very bright in this book. Still an interesting read, with lots of background on catholic Ireland and the lives of unwed mothers. Here the stereotypical treatment of characters was breathtaking. I also found the storyline of sister Mary rather farfetched, but stranger things have happened in real life. ]]> 3.91 2022 The Christie Affair
author: Nina de Gramont
name: Ra
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/21
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien
review:
Interesting story about a writer that I loved, and her unexplained disappearance for 11 days, which she never spoke about openly.
The events are interesting enough but the characterisation of real people fell short somehow. I felt that Agatha Christie was a caricature of herself, and also Archie was strange.

I cannot explain why I did not like the book as much as I should have perhaps because I felt it capitalised on the bestselling author's life without delivering any of her trademark style. The woman who wrote all these clever whoddunits was not very bright in this book. Still an interesting read, with lots of background on catholic Ireland and the lives of unwed mothers. Here the stereotypical treatment of characters was breathtaking. I also found the storyline of sister Mary rather farfetched, but stranger things have happened in real life.
]]> <![CDATA[Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life]]> 53077974 Marie Kondo, author of the worldwide #1 bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and organizational psychologist Scott Sonenshein team up to bring joy to work.

The workplace is a magnet for clutter and mess. Who hasn't felt drained by wasteful meetings, disorganized papers, endless emails, and unnecessary tasks? These are the modern-day hazards of working, and they can slowly drain the joy from work, limit our chances of career progress, and undermine our well-being.

There is another way.

In Joy at Work, bestselling author and Netflix star Marie Kondo and Rice University business professor Scott Sonenshein offer stories, studies, and strategies to help you eliminate clutter and make space for work that really matters.

Using the world-renowned KonMari Method and cutting-edge research, Joy at Work will help you overcome the challenges of workplace mess and enjoy the productivity, success, and happiness that comes with a tidy desk and mind.
]]> Marie Kondō 154912255X Ra 2
The whole part of how Marie runs her business with her husband is self-congratulary drivel that is of no interest to many. The book is just a limited use offshoot of the more successful volume about organizing the home. ]]> 3.47 2020 Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life
author: Marie Kondō
name: Ra
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2022/07/13
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves: büchereien-wien, audio-book, non-fiction
review:
The book contains one or two good ideas but is probably a rewrite of the more successful book about the joy of tidying up. I think I will take the common sense advice to heart eventually and see whether anything there sparks joy in a tideous office existence.

The whole part of how Marie runs her business with her husband is self-congratulary drivel that is of no interest to many. The book is just a limited use offshoot of the more successful volume about organizing the home.
]]> <![CDATA[The Garden of Small Beginnings]]> 33877155 and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she’s becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed.

At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks—like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there’s that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently, being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can’t be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity.

After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles botanical garden feeling out of her element. But what she’ll soon discover—with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners—is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not�

READERS GUIDE INCLUDED

*HelloGiggles
**Bustle]]> 368 Abbi Waxman Ra 2 ebook, büchereien-wien, meh 3.87 2017 The Garden of Small Beginnings
author: Abbi Waxman
name: Ra
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2022/07/11
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien, meh
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends]]> 54507113
Despotic leaders do not rule alone; they rely on political allies, bureaucrats, and media figures to pave their way and support their rule. The authoritarian and nationalist parties that have arisen within modern democracies offer new paths to wealth or power for their adherents. Applebaum describes many of the new advocates of illiberalism in countries around the world, showing how they use conspiracy theory, political polarization, social media, and even nostalgia to change their societies.]]> 208 Anne Applebaum Ra 3 ebook, büchereien-wien The interesting parts were the broader brushstrokes about people like Viktor Orban of Hungary and Boris Johnson of Britain.
The author also has an interesting theory about the development of authoritarian government, as a response to a nostalgia for a lost and glorious past. This explained to me in part the attraction of strange figures such as Nasser of Egypt in my part of the word.
In all a quick and interesting read, if you put up with the name-dropping. ]]> 4.01 2020 Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends
author: Anne Applebaum
name: Ra
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/29
date added: 2022/06/28
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien
review:
Interesting life experience from journalist and historian Anne Appelbaum. I enjoyed her slice of life story even if she is what I would consider an intellectual and a member of the elite who rubs shoulder with politicians and people in high places. I had a hard time following the trail of names dropped here, or the importance of some of the friends she parted with in Poland for example, where I know little to nothing about the political system.
The interesting parts were the broader brushstrokes about people like Viktor Orban of Hungary and Boris Johnson of Britain.
The author also has an interesting theory about the development of authoritarian government, as a response to a nostalgia for a lost and glorious past. This explained to me in part the attraction of strange figures such as Nasser of Egypt in my part of the word.
In all a quick and interesting read, if you put up with the name-dropping.
]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 59452617
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 352 Nita Prose 000843574X Ra 3 ebook, büchereien-wien Molly is a lovely character, weird and whimsical, but she checks many boxes for socially awkward perhaps autistic.

Thed plots is simplistic and it is a stretch to call it a murder mystery, just a quirky little story about a naive but honest girl who gets herself in trouble because of her awkward nature. But at least she is a bit novel. The other characters are all stereotypes, and I agree with another reviewer when she said that they belonged to a different age. The story has a feel of the 1980s to it.

The cast includes a Rich guy with the younger trophy wife. He has suspect business deals. There is also the sleazy bar tender, who could or could not be an enabler of shady business deals. There is the saintly grandmother and the greedy landlord. The honest hardworking doorman whose daughter is a successful lawyer. And of course the clueless hotel manager with empty team-building mottos that only make sense to someone devoid of cynicism like Molly.

Still, the book has its moments, and would make for a nice feel-good family movie, where everyone gets what they deserve in the end. ]]> 3.94 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)
author: Nita Prose
name: Ra
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/08
date added: 2022/06/28
shelves: ebook, büchereien-wien
review:
The book was just okay. Molly Gray (Molly the maid) is a maid at a posh hotel. She finds one of her wealthy clients dead in his bed, and becomes a suspect in his murder.
Molly is a lovely character, weird and whimsical, but she checks many boxes for socially awkward perhaps autistic.

Thed plots is simplistic and it is a stretch to call it a murder mystery, just a quirky little story about a naive but honest girl who gets herself in trouble because of her awkward nature. But at least she is a bit novel. The other characters are all stereotypes, and I agree with another reviewer when she said that they belonged to a different age. The story has a feel of the 1980s to it.

The cast includes a Rich guy with the younger trophy wife. He has suspect business deals. There is also the sleazy bar tender, who could or could not be an enabler of shady business deals. There is the saintly grandmother and the greedy landlord. The honest hardworking doorman whose daughter is a successful lawyer. And of course the clueless hotel manager with empty team-building mottos that only make sense to someone devoid of cynicism like Molly.

Still, the book has its moments, and would make for a nice feel-good family movie, where everyone gets what they deserve in the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Die andere Seite der Liebe : Roman]]> 1803028 Marie Louise Fischer Ra 2 This is a formulaic story about a girl coming of age and coming to terms with the realities of the release of her father from prison. The father was serving time for killing her mother, and he spent his life denying the charge.
The books is predictable with an omniscient narrator who constantly explains the motivations and feelings of the terribly flat characters, showing and not telling. The author was big in her time in women's fiction (West Germany of the 1970s and 1980s) but she wouldn't count for anything in modern fiction.
I was happy to let this one go. ]]> 2.67 1995 Die andere Seite der Liebe : Roman
author: Marie Louise Fischer
name: Ra
average rating: 2.67
book published: 1995
rating: 2
read at: 2022/06/05
date added: 2022/06/15
shelves: retro, romance_fluff, meh, donated
review:
Reading books from the past makes one appreciate how much the art of storytelling has evolved in the decades since this one came out.
This is a formulaic story about a girl coming of age and coming to terms with the realities of the release of her father from prison. The father was serving time for killing her mother, and he spent his life denying the charge.
The books is predictable with an omniscient narrator who constantly explains the motivations and feelings of the terribly flat characters, showing and not telling. The author was big in her time in women's fiction (West Germany of the 1970s and 1980s) but she wouldn't count for anything in modern fiction.
I was happy to let this one go.
]]>