James's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 09 Jan 2025 10:32:42 -0800 60 James's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Wool - Holston (Wool, #1) 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]>
56 Hugh Howey James 0 to-read 4.14 2012 Wool - Holston (Wool, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: James
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)]]> 15810910
Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost. But that was before a rebellion upended his life. And once the powder smoke settled, he was left in charge of a demoralized force clinging tenuously to a small fortress at the edge of the desert.

To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must win the hearts of her men and lead them into battle against impossible odds.

The fates of both these soldiers and all the men they lead depend on the newly arrived Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, who has been sent by the ailing king to restore order. His military genius seems to know no bounds, and under his command, Marcus and Winter can feel the tide turning. But their allegiance will be tested as they begin to suspect that the enigmatic Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural—a realm with the power to ignite a meteoric rise, reshape the known world, and change the lives of everyone in its path.]]>
513 Django Wexler 0451465105 James 0 4.03 2013 The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)
author: Django Wexler
name: James
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: in-my-book-list, currently-reading
review:

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1Q84 Book 1 (1Q84, #1) 6443834 そして2009年、『1蚕84』は逆の方向から1984年を描いた近过去小説である。
そこに描かれているのは「こうであったかもしれない」世界なのだ。
私たちが生きている现在が、「そうではなかったかもしれない」世界であるのと、ちょうど同じように。闭闭>
554 Haruki Murakami 4103534222 James 1 4.02 2009 1Q84 Book 1 (1Q84, #1)
author: Haruki Murakami
name: James
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2009
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

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Paris 18730321 The Song of Roland; a humble family that embodies the ideals of the French Revolution; a pair of brothers from the slums behind Montmartre, one of whom works on the Eiffel Tower as the other joins the underworld near the Moulin Rouge; and merchants who lose everything during the reign of Louis XV, rise again in the age of Napoleon, and help establish Paris as the great center of art and culture that it is today. With Rutherfurd’s unrivaled blend of impeccable research and narrative verve, this bold novel brings the sights, scents, and tastes of the City of Light to brilliant life.]]> 809 Edward Rutherfurd 0345530764 James 0 4.07 2013 Paris
author: Edward Rutherfurd
name: James
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves: in-my-book-list, currently-reading
review:

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Paris 15786792 809 Edward Rutherfurd 0385535309 James 3 currently-reading 3.98 2013 Paris
author: Edward Rutherfurd
name: James
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928]]> 20821221 A magnificent new biography that revolutionizes our understanding?of Stalin and his world

It has the quality of myth: A poor cobbler’s son, a seminarian from an oppressed outer province of the Russian empire, reinvents himself as a revolutionary and finds a leadership role within a small group of marginal zealots. When the old world is unexpectedly brought down in a total war, the band seizes control of the country, and the new regime it founds as the vanguard of a new world order is ruthlessly dominated from within by the former seminarian until he stands as the absolute ruler of a vast and terrible state apparatus, with dominion over Eurasia. But the largest country in the world is also a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. Shortly after seizing total power, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted: the root-and-branch uprooting and collectivization of agriculture and industry across the entire Soviet Union. To stand up to the capitalists he will force into being an industrialized, militarized, collectivized great power is an act of will. Millions will die, and many more will suffer, but Stalin will push through to the end against all resistance and doubts. Where did such power come from? We think we know the story well. Remarkably, Stephen Kotkin’s epic new biography shows us how much we still have to learn.

The product of a decade of scrupulous and intrepid research, Stalin contains a host of astonishing revelations. Kotkin gives an intimate first-ever view of the Bolshevik regime’s inner geography, bringing to the fore materials from Soviet military intelligence and the secret police. He details Stalin’s invention of a fabricated trial and mass executions as early as 1918, the technique he would later impose across the whole country. The book places Stalin’s momentous decision for collectivization more deeply than ever in the tragic history of imperial Russia. Above all, Kotkin offers a convincing portrait and explanation of Stalin’s monstrous power and of Russian power in the world. Stalin restores a sense of surprise to the way we think about the former Soviet Union, revolution, dictatorship, the twentieth century, and indeed the art of history itself.
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976 Stephen Kotkin 1594203792 James 0 to-read 3.94 Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
author: Stephen Kotkin
name: James
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/29
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]> 1537134 80 J.R.R. Tolkien 0044407262 James 4 3.78 1962 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: James
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1962
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/08/10
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<![CDATA[The Red Flag: A History of Communism]]> 6675452 720 David Priestland 0802119247 James 0 currently-reading 3.80 2009 The Red Flag: A History of Communism
author: David Priestland
name: James
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/31
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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London 12407442 1332 Edward Rutherfurd James 0 to-read 4.20 1997 London
author: Edward Rutherfurd
name: James
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/07/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August]]> 18295861 416 Claire North 0316399612 James 5 3.93 2014 The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
author: Claire North
name: James
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/04/11
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<![CDATA[The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic]]> 34184069
But the very success of the Republic proved to be its undoing. The republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome ruled. Bankrolled by mountains of imperial wealth and without a foreign enemy to keep them united, ambitious Roman leaders began to stray from the republican austerity of their ancestors. Almost as soon as they had conquered the Mediterranean, Rome would become engulfed in violent political conflicts and civil wars that would destroy the Republic less than a century later.

The Storm Before the Storm tells the story of the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic--the story of the first generation that had to cope with the dangerous new political environment made possible by Rome's unrivaled domination over the known world. The tumultuous years from 133-80 BCE set the stage for the fall of the Republic.

The Republic faced issues like rising economic inequality, increasing political polarization, the privatization of the military, endemic social and ethnic prejudice, rampant corruption, ongoing military quagmires, and the ruthless ambition and unwillingness of elites to do anything to reform the system in time to save it--a situation that draws many parallels to present-day America. These issues are among the reasons why the Roman Republic would fall. And as we all know, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.]]>
327 Mike Duncan 1610397215 James 0 to-read 4.23 2017 The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic
author: Mike Duncan
name: James
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/03/16
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York]]> 1111 The Power Broker tells the hidden story behind the shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York (city and state) and makes public what few have known: that Robert Moses was, for almost half a century, the single most powerful man of our time in New York, the shaper not only of the city's politics but of its physical structure and the problems of urban decline that plague us today.

In revealing how Moses did it--how he developed his public authorities into a political machine that was virtually a fourth branch of government, one that could bring to their knees Governors and Mayors (from La Guardia to Lindsay) by mobilizing banks, contractors, labor unions, insurance firms, even the press and the Church, into an irresistible economic force--Robert Caro reveals how power works in all the cities of the United States. Moses built an empire and lived like an emperor. He personally conceived and completed public works costing 27 billion dollars--the greatest builder America (and probably the world) has ever known. Without ever having been elected to office, he dominated the men who were--even his most bitter enemy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, could not control him--until he finally encountered, in Nelson Rockefeller, the only man whose power (and ruthlessness in wielding it) equalled his own.]]>
1246 Robert A. Caro 0394720245 James 3
Anyone please feel free to reply.]]>
4.51 1974 The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
author: Robert A. Caro
name: James
average rating: 4.51
book published: 1974
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/05/11
shelves:
review:
I bought this audiobook. It's the largest book of my 400+titles. I can't help think that I can read half a dozen great books, or this single one. I know these are older reviews, but if you had to sell me on this, what would you say? As well, if you wanted to deter me, how?

Anyone please feel free to reply.
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<![CDATA[Heaven and Hell: My Life in The Eagles, 1974-2001]]> 2265789 340 Don Felder 0297844628 James 0 to-read 3.99 2007 Heaven and Hell: My Life in The Eagles, 1974-2001
author: Don Felder
name: James
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1)]]> 86524
The Path to Power, Book One, reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnson’s political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, of the national power for which he hungered.

We see in him, from earliest childhood, a fierce, unquenchable necessity to be first, to win, to dominate—coupled with a limitless capacity for hard, unceasing labor in the service of his own ambition. Caro shows us the big, gangling, awkward young Lyndon—raised in one of the country’s most desperately poor and isolated areas, his education mediocre at best, his pride stung by his father’s slide into failure and financial ruin—lunging for success, moving inexorably toward that ultimate “impossible” goal that he sets for himself years before any friend or enemy suspects what it may be.

We watch him, while still at college, instinctively (and ruthlessly) creating the beginnings of the political machine that was to serve him for three decades. We see him employing his extraordinary ability to mesmerize and manipulate powerful older men, to mesmerize (and sometimes almost enslave) useful subordinates. We see him carrying out, before his thirtieth year, his first great political inspiration: tapping-and becoming the political conduit for-the money and influence of the new oil men and contractors who were to grow with him to immense power. We follow, close up, the radical fluctuations of his relationships with the formidable “Mr. Sam” Rayburn (who loved him like a son and whom he betrayed) and with FDR himself. And we follow the dramas of his emotional life-the intensities and complications of his relationships with his family, his contemporaries, his girls; his wooing and winning of the shy Lady Bird; his secret love affair, over many years, with the mistress of one of his most ardent and generous supporters . . .

Johnson driving his people to the point of exhausted tears, equally merciless with himself . . . Johnson bullying, cajoling, lying, yet inspiring an amazing loyalty . . . Johnson maneuvering to dethrone the unassailable old Jack Garner (then Vice President of the United States) as the New Deal’s “connection” in Texas, and seize the power himself . . . Johnson raging . . . Johnson hugging . . . Johnson bringing light and, indeed, life to the worn Hill Country farmers and their old-at-thirty wives via the district’s first electric lines.

We see him at once unscrupulous, admirable, treacherous, devoted. And we see the country that bred him: the harshness and “nauseating loneliness” of the rural life; the tragic panorama of the Depression; the sudden glow of hope at the dawn of the Age of Roosevelt. And always, in the foreground, on the move, LBJ.

Here is Lyndon Johnson—his Texas, his Washington, his America—in a book that brings us as close as we have ever been to a true perception of political genius and the American political process.]]>
882 Robert A. Caro 0679729453 James 0 to-read 4.39 1982 The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1)
author: Robert A. Caro
name: James
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/04/19
shelves: to-read
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Permafrost 40048442 A 2019 Locus Award finalist
A USA Today Bestseller

Fix the past. Save the present. Stop the future. Master of science fiction Alastair Reynolds unfolds a time-traveling climate fiction adventure in Permafrost.


2080: at a remote site on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a group of scientists, engineers and physicians gather to gamble humanity’s future on one last-ditch experiment. Their to make a tiny alteration to the past, averting a global catastrophe while at the same time leaving recorded history intact. To make the experiment work, they just need one last an ageing schoolteacher whose late mother was the foremost expert on the mathematics of paradox.

2028: a young woman goes into surgery for routine brain surgery. In the days following her operation, she begins to hear another voice in her head... an unwanted presence which seems to have a will, and a purpose, all of its own – one that will disrupt her life entirely. The only choice left to her is a simple one.

Does she resist ... or become a collaborator?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]>
133 Alastair Reynolds 1250303559 James 0 to-read 3.88 2019 Permafrost
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: James
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/04/15
shelves: to-read
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Reamde 10552338
For Richard, the game was the perfect opportunity to launder his aging hundred dollar bills and begin his own high-tech start up—a venture that has morphed into a Fortune 500 computer gaming group, Corporation 9592, with its own super successful online role-playing game, T’Rain. But the line between fantasy and reality becomes dangerously blurred when a young gold farmer accidently triggers a virtual war for dominance—and Richard is caught at the center.

In this edgy, 21st century tale, Neal Stephenson, one of the most ambitious and prophetic writers of our time, returns to the terrain of his cyberpunk masterpieces Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, leading readers through the looking glass and into the dark heart of imagination.]]>
1044 Neal Stephenson 0061977969 James 0 did-not-finish 3.97 2011 Reamde
author: Neal Stephenson
name: James
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/02
shelves: did-not-finish
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Anathem 2845024
Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates—at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros—a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose—as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world—as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.]]>
937 Neal Stephenson 0061474096 James 0 4.16 2008 Anathem
author: Neal Stephenson
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/02
shelves: in-my-book-list, currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer]]> 827 The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a science fiction coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence.]]> 499 Neal Stephenson 0553380966 James 0 did-not-finish 4.17 1995 The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
author: Neal Stephenson
name: James
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/02
shelves: did-not-finish
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Cryptonomicon 816 Cryptonomicon zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods—World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, crypt analyst extraordinaire, and gung-ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe. They're part of Detachment 2702, an Allied group trying to break Axis communication codes while simultaneously preventing the enemy from figuring out that their codes have been broken. Their job boils down to layer upon layer of deception. Dr. Alan Turing is also a member of 2702, and he explains the unit's strange workings to Waterhouse. "When we want to sink a convoy, we send out an observation plane first... Of course, to observe is not its real duty—we already know exactly where the convoy is. Its real duty is to be observed... Then, when we come round and sink them, the Germans will not find it suspicious."

All of this secrecy resonates in the present-day story line, in which the grandchildren of the WWII heroes—inimitable programming geek Randy Waterhouse and the lovely and powerful Amy Shaftoe—team up to help create an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia and maybe uncover some gold once destined for Nazi coffers. To top off the paranoiac tone of the book, the mysterious Enoch Root, key member of Detachment 2702 and the Societas Eruditorum, pops up with an unbreakable encryption scheme left over from WWII to befuddle the 1990s protagonists with conspiratorial ties.]]>
1152 Neal Stephenson James 0 currently-reading 4.24 1999 Cryptonomicon
author: Neal Stephenson
name: James
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal]]> 8575701 516 James D. Hornfischer 055380670X James 0 4.26 2011 Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
author: James D. Hornfischer
name: James
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2019/01/07
date added: 2019/01/07
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)]]> 6424171 An alternate cover edition can be found here.

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price. Until something goes wrong. . . .--back cover]]>
416 Michael Crichton 0345370775 James 5 4.25 1990 Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: James
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/12/07
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Evil Has a Name: The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation]]> 41836110
The monster who preyed on Californians from 1976 to 1986 was known by many aliases. And while numerous police sketches tried to capture his often-masked visage, the Golden State Killer spent more than 40 years not only faceless, but nameless.

For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity. To be sure, the chances of obtaining closure—or any form of justice—after so many years were slim to none, at best.

Then, on April 24, 2018, authorities arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif., based on DNA evidence linked to the crimes. After a decades-long hunt, a suspect was behind bars. Could it be that evil finally had a name?

Delivering all-new details about the investigation and a stunning final act to the events of Michelle McNamara's haunting bestseller, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, this is the true story of how the suspected Golden State Killer was captured, as told, first-hand, by those closest to the case:

Paul Holes—the forensic criminologist and retired Costa County detective who spent 20 years trying to crack the Golden State Killer case, and finally did.

Jim Clemente (Host)—a retired FBI profiler and former New York City prosecutor who has investigated some of the highest profile criminal cases in U.S. history, including the Unabomber.

Please note: This work contains descriptions of violent crime and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.]]>
6 Paul Holes James 5 4.44 2018 Evil Has a Name: The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
author: Paul Holes
name: James
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/11/15
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<![CDATA[The Ultimation (Play to Live, #7)]]> 30052225 What is Max to do? Become embittered and butcher his enemies? Seize the deserted castles and abandoned lands? Attempt to save the one who had given her life for him? Or try to win the jackpot by finding a way home, back to Earth?]]> 197 D. Rus James 0 to-read 4.03 2015 The Ultimation (Play to Live, #7)
author: D. Rus
name: James
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/08/09
shelves: to-read
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Luke Baldwin's Vow 2045396 187 Morley Callaghan 0590715496 James 5 to-read 3.60 1948 Luke Baldwin's Vow
author: Morley Callaghan
name: James
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1948
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/06/30
shelves: to-read
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Pushing Ice 89186 Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. But when Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, inexplicably leaves its natural orbit and heads out of the solar system at high speed, Bella is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach.

In accepting this mission she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny—for Janus has many surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome...]]>
458 Alastair Reynolds 0441014011 James 0 in-my-book-list 4.06 2005 Pushing Ice
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: James
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2018/03/07
date added: 2018/03/07
shelves: in-my-book-list
review:

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<![CDATA[Redemption Ark (Revelation Space, #2)]]> 89190 694 Alastair Reynolds 044101173X James 0 currently-reading 4.15 2002 Redemption Ark (Revelation Space, #2)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: James
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/02/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Revelation Space (Revelation Space, #1)]]> 89187
For the humans now settling the Amarantin homeworld, it's of little more than academic interest, even after the discovery of a long-hidden, almost perfect city and a colossal statue of a winged Amarantin.

For brilliant, ruthless scientist Dan Sylveste, it's more than merely intellectual curiosity - and he will stop at nothing to get at the truth. Even if it costs him everything.

But the Amarantin were wiped out for a reason, and that danger is closer and greater than even Syveste imagines...

The original novel in the epic series, Revelation Space was nominated for both the BSFA and Arthur C. Clarke awards. Reynolds' PhD in astronomy and experience with the ESA means that his space operas present hard science spins on intergalactic adventures and have impacted SF for years.]]>
585 Alastair Reynolds 0441009425 James 0 to-read 3.99 2000 Revelation Space (Revelation Space, #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: James
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/02/20
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Elysium Fire (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #2)]]> 35601772
But even utopia needs a police force. For the citizens of the Glitter Band that organization is Panoply, and the prefects are its operatives.

Prefect Tom Dreyfus has a new emergency on his hands. Across the habitats and their hundred million citizens, people are dying suddenly and randomly, victims of a bizarre and unprecedented malfunction of their neural implants. And these "melters" leave no clues behind as to the cause of their deaths...

As panic rises in the populace, a charismatic figure is sowing insurrection, convincing a small but growing number of habitats to break away from the Glitter Band and form their own independent colonies.]]>
415 Alastair Reynolds 0316555665 James 0 to-read 4.06 2018 Elysium Fire (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #2)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: James
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/02/20
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The Prefect (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #1)]]> 89195
A murderous attack against a Glitter Band habitat is nasty, but it looks to be an open-and-shut case—until Dreyfus starts looking under some stones that some very powerful people would really rather stayed unturned. What he uncovers is far more serious than mere gruesome murder...]]>
410 Alastair Reynolds 0575077166 James 0 currently-reading 4.15 2007 The Prefect (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: James
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/02/20
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Traitor's Blade (Greatcoats #1)]]> 18947303
Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters.

All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission. But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn…]]>
370 Sebastien de Castell 184866379X James 0 to-read 4.05 2014 Traitor's Blade (Greatcoats #1)
author: Sebastien de Castell
name: James
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/02/20
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[They Both Die at the End (Death-Cast, #1)]]> 33385229
Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.]]>
389 Adam Silvera 0062457799 James 0 3.76 2017 They Both Die at the End (Death-Cast, #1)
author: Adam Silvera
name: James
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2018/01/17
date added: 2018/01/17
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<![CDATA[Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941]]> 34201498
When we left Stalin at the end of Stalin: Paradoxes of Power: 1878-1928, it was 1928, and he had finally climbed the mountaintop and achieved dictatorial power of the Soviet empire. The vastest peasant economy in the world would be transformed into socialist modernity, whatever it took.
What it took, or what Stalin believed it took, was the most relentless campaign of shock industrialization the world has ever seen. This is the story of the five year plans, the new factory towns, and the integration of an entire system of penal labor into the larger economy. With the Great Depression throwing global capital into crisis, the Soviet Union's New Man looked like nothing so much as the man of the future. As the shadows of the 30's deepen, Stalin's drive to militarize Soviet society takes on increasing urgency, and the ambition of Nazi Germany becomes the predominant geopolitical reality he faces when Hitler claims that communism is a global "Judeo-Bolshevik" conspiracy to bring the Slavic race to power.
But just because they're out to get you doesn't mean you're not paranoid. Stalin's paranoia is increasingly one of the most horrible facts of life for his entire country. Stalin's obsessions drive him to violently purge almost a million people, including military leadership, diplomatic corps and intelligence apparatus, to say nothing of a generation of artistic talent. And then came the pact that shocked the world, and demoralized leftists everywhere: Stalin's pact with Hitler in 1939, the carve-up of Poland, and Stalin's utter inability to see Hitler's build-up to the invasion of the USSR. Yet for all that, in just 12 years of total power, Stalin has taken this country from a peasant economy to a formidable modern war machine that rivaled anything else in the world. When the invasion came, Stalin wasn't ready, but his country would prove to be prepared. That is a dimension of the Stalin story that has never adequately been reckoned with before, and it looms large here.
Stalin: Waiting for Hitler: 1929-1941 is, like its predecessor, nothing less than a history of the world from Stalin's desk. It is also, like its predecessor, a landmark achievement in the annals of its field, and in the biographer's art.]]>
1184 Stephen Kotkin 1594203806 James 0 to-read 4.42 2017 Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941
author: Stephen Kotkin
name: James
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/16
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future]]> 25541028 392 Ashlee Vance 0062301233 James 0 to-read 4.12 2015 Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
author: Ashlee Vance
name: James
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/09
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin]]> 24040192 ?
The New Tsar is the book to read if you want to understand how Vladimir Putin sees the world and why he has become one of the gravest threats to American security. The epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president—the only complete biography in English – that fully captures his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history, by the former New York Times Moscow bureau chief.

In a gripping narrative of Putin’s rise to power as Russia’s president, Steven Lee Myers recounts Putin’s origins—from his childhood of abject poverty in Leningrad, to his ascension through the ranks of the KGB, and his eventual consolidation of rule. Along the way, world events familiar to readers, such as September 11th and Russia’s war in Georgia in 2008, as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, are presented from never-before-seen perspectives.?

This book is a grand, staggering achievement and a breathtaking look at one man’s rule. On one hand, Putin’s many reforms—from tax cuts to an expansion of property rights—have helped reshape the potential of millions of Russians whose only experience of democracy had been crime, poverty, and instability after the fall of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Putin has ushered in a new authoritarianism, unyielding in his brutal repression of revolts and squashing of dissent. Still, he retains widespread support from the Russian public.

The New Tsar is a narrative tour de force, deeply researched, and utterly necessary for anyone fascinated by the formidable and ambitious Vladimir Putin, but also for those interested in the world and what a newly assertive Russia might mean for the future.?]]>
592 Steven Lee Myers 0307961613 James 0 to-read 4.06 2014 The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin
author: Steven Lee Myers
name: James
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/12/16
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win]]> 36549880 354 Luke Harding James 0 to-read 4.18 2017 Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win
author: Luke Harding
name: James
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/21
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis]]> 342103 185 Robert F. Kennedy 0393318346 James 3 4.09 1968 Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis
author: Robert F. Kennedy
name: James
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/11/07
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<![CDATA[Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)]]> 26863057
Now only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun.]]>
432 Michael J. Sullivan 1101965339 James 0 4.21 2016 Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)
author: Michael J. Sullivan
name: James
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/04
shelves: to-read, in-my-book-list, did-not-finish
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Behind Closed Doors 29437949
But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what’s really going on once the dinner party is over, and the front door has closed.]]>
293 B.A. Paris 1250121000 James 4 3.96 2016 Behind Closed Doors
author: B.A. Paris
name: James
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/07/02
date added: 2017/11/04
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Beneath a Scarlet Sky 32487617 Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

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509 Mark T. Sullivan 1503943372 James 0 did-not-finish 4.33 2017 Beneath a Scarlet Sky
author: Mark T. Sullivan
name: James
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2017/07/20
date added: 2017/11/04
shelves: did-not-finish
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The Heart's Invisible Furies 33253215 real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he?

Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead.

At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from – and over his three score years and ten, will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country and much more.

In this, Boyne's most transcendent work to date, we are shown the story of Ireland from the 1940s to today through the eyes of one ordinary man. The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel to make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of the human spirit.]]>
582 John Boyne James 0 did-not-finish 4.51 2017 The Heart's Invisible Furies
author: John Boyne
name: James
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/11/04
shelves: did-not-finish
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<![CDATA[A Column of Fire (Kingsbridge, #3)]]> 33571713 As Europe erupts, can one young spy protect his queen? Ken Follett takes us deep into the treacherous world of powerful monarchs, intrigue, murder, and treason with his magnificent epic, A Column of Fire—the chronological latest in the Kingsbridge series, following The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and the prequel, The Evening and the Morning.

In 1558, the ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn apart by religious conflict. As power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash, testing friendship, loyalty, and love.

Ned Willard wants nothing more than to marry Margery Fitzgerald. But when the lovers find themselves on opposing sides of the religious conflict dividing the country, Ned goes to work for Princess Elizabeth. When she becomes queen, all Europe turns against England. The shrewd, determined young monarch sets up the country’s first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions, and invasion plans. Over a turbulent half century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. Elizabeth clings to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents.

The real enemies, then as now, are not the rival religions. The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else—no matter what the cost.

Exciting and ambitious, and set during one of the most turbulent and revolutionary times in history, A Column of Fire will delight longtime fans of the Kingsbridge series and serve as the perfect introduction for readers new to Ken Follett.]]>
916 Ken Follett 052595497X James 0 currently-reading 4.16 2017 A Column of Fire (Kingsbridge, #3)
author: Ken Follett
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/11/04
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds, #1)]]> 34234639 Welcome... to "The Land!"

Tricked into a world of banished gods, demons, goblins, sprites and magic, Richter must learn to meet the perils of The Land and begin to forge his own kingdom. Actions have consequences across The Land, with powerful creatures and factions now hell-bent on Richter's destruction.

Can Richter forge allegiances to survive this harsh and unforgiving world or will he fall to the dark denizens of this ancient and unforgiving realm?

A tale to shake "The Land" itself, measuring 10/10 on the Richter scale, how will Richter's choices shape the future of The Land and all who reside in it? Can he grow his power to meet the deadliest of beings of the land? When choices are often a shade of grey, how will Richter ensure he does not become what he seeks to destroy?

ps - Gnomes Rule]]>
252 Aleron Kong 1535020709 James 0 4.13 2015 The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds, #1)
author: Aleron Kong
name: James
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/04
shelves: in-my-book-list, currently-reading
review:

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The Arabs: A History 4100352
Drawing from Arab sources little known to Western readers, Rogan's The Arabs will transform our understanding of the past, present, and future of one of the world's most tumultuous regions.]]>
513 Eugene Rogan 0465071007 James 0 currently-reading 4.33 2009 The Arabs: A History
author: Eugene Rogan
name: James
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/11/04
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World]]> 33413891 The dramatic, pulse-pounding story of Harry Truman’s first four months in office, when this unlikely, small-town Washington outsider had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

Heroes are often defined as ordinary characters who get thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and through courage and a dash of luck, cement their place in history. Chosen as FDR’s fourth-term vice president for his well-praised work ethic, good judgment, and lack of enemies, Harry S. Truman was the prototypical ordinary man, still considered an obscure Missouri politician. That is, until he was shockingly thrust in over his head after FDR's sudden death. At the climactic moments of the Second World War, Truman had to play judge and jury during the founding of the United Nations, the Potsdam Conference, the Manhattan Project, the Nazi surrender, the liberation of concentration camps, and the decision to drop the bomb and end World War II.

Tightly focused, meticulously researched, and using documents not available to previous biographers, The Accidental President escorts readers into the situation room with Truman during this tumultuous, history-making 120 days, when the stakes were high and the challenges even higher.]]>
464 A.J. Baime 0544617347 James 5 I cannot count how many books I have read about WW2 and all its different aspects, but among them all, this book really stands out. I sped through this book, anticipating one event to the next. Baime creates excitement surrounding events most of the general public already know. For example, I found myself rushing through to find out what was going to happen after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
I highly recommend this book not only to those who have an interest in WW2 stories and history buffs, but to anyone who would enjoy reading about an unlikely man thrust into the position of the most powerful person on planet Earth - at the most dangerous, important and pivotal moment to ever face the world.
The Accidental President gives us a front row seat at a time unlike any other - a time when every single decision made could and would determine the course of history for the next century, and beyond. ]]>
4.45 2017 The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
author: A.J. Baime
name: James
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/11/01
date added: 2017/11/01
shelves:
review:
Simply put... fantastic!
I cannot count how many books I have read about WW2 and all its different aspects, but among them all, this book really stands out. I sped through this book, anticipating one event to the next. Baime creates excitement surrounding events most of the general public already know. For example, I found myself rushing through to find out what was going to happen after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
I highly recommend this book not only to those who have an interest in WW2 stories and history buffs, but to anyone who would enjoy reading about an unlikely man thrust into the position of the most powerful person on planet Earth - at the most dangerous, important and pivotal moment to ever face the world.
The Accidental President gives us a front row seat at a time unlike any other - a time when every single decision made could and would determine the course of history for the next century, and beyond.
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<![CDATA[Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)]]> 18666047
But first he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea itself - all with only one good hand. Born a weakling in the eyes of a hard, cold world, he cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he has sharpened his mind to a deadly edge.

Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast, he finds they can help him more than any noble could. Even so, Yarvi's path may end as it began - in twists, traps and tragedy...]]>
336 Joe Abercrombie 0804178321 James 0 to-read 3.96 2014 Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: James
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/10/16
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Augustus: First Emperor of Rome]]> 20949792 ?
"A fascinating study of political life in ancient Rome."—Nick Romeo, Christian Science Monitor

Caesar Augustus’ story, one of the most riveting in Western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. Thrusting himself into Rome’s extremely violent politics while yet a very young man, Augustus skillfully maneuvered his way through twisting alliances during years of civil war. Named heir to the murdered Julius Caesar, he outwitted and outlasted far more experienced rivals like Antony and Brutus.?Ruling supreme, he reinvented himself as a benevolent man of peace and created a new system of government.
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In this highly anticipated biography Goldsworthy puts his deep knowledge of ancient sources to full use, recounting the events of Augustus’ long life in greater detail than ever before. Goldsworthy pins down the man behind the a consummate manipulator, propagandist, and showman, both generous and ruthless. Under Augustus’ rule the empire prospered, yet his success was never assured and the events of his life unfolded with exciting unpredictability. Goldsworthy captures the passion and savagery, the public image and private struggles of the real man whose epic life continues to influence Western history.]]>
624 Adrian Goldsworthy 0300178727 James 0 to-read 4.26 2014 Augustus: First Emperor of Rome
author: Adrian Goldsworthy
name: James
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/10/14
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Caesar: Life of a Colossus 60432
In the introduction to his biography of the great Roman emperor, Adrian Goldsworthy writes, “Caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator . . . as well as husband, father, lover and adulterer.” In this landmark biography, Goldsworthy examines Caesar as military leader, all of these roles and places his subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C.
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583 Adrian Goldsworthy 0300120486 James 3 currently-reading 4.20 2006 Caesar: Life of a Colossus
author: Adrian Goldsworthy
name: James
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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The Book of Swords 27917260 Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Classic characters like these made sword and sorcery a storytelling sensation, a cornerstone of fantasy fiction — and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own outsize tales of magic and swashbuckling adventure.

Now, in the Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters — many of them set in their authors’ best-loved worlds. Join today’s finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R.R. Martin, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, C.J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do, featuring a stunning assortment of fearless swordsmen and warrior women who face down danger and death at every turn with courage, cunning, and cold steel.

Contents:
- The Best Man Wins by K.J. Parker
- Her Father’s Sword by Robin Hobb
- The Hidden Girl by Ken Liu
- The Sword of Destiny by Matthew Hughes
- "I Am a Handsome Man", Said Apollo Crow by Kate Elliott
- The Triumph of Virtue by Walter Jon Williams
- The Mocking Tower by Daniel Abraham
- Hrunting by C.J. Cherryh
- A Long, Cold Trail by Garth Nix
- When I Was a Highwayman by Ellen Kushner
- The Smoke of Gold Is Glory by Scott Lynch
- The Colgrid Conundrum by Rich Larson
- The King’s Evil by Elizabeth Bear
- Waterfalling by Lavie Tidhar
- The Sword Tyraste by Cecelia Holland
- The Sons of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin

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522 Gardner Dozois 0399593764 James 0 to-read 3.66 2017 The Book of Swords
author: Gardner Dozois
name: James
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism]]> 14894629
As historian Edward Baptist reveals in The Half Has Never Been Told, the expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States. In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton empire, and the United States grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Until the Civil War, Baptist explains, the most important American economic innovations were ways to make slavery ever more profitable. Through forced migration and torture, slave owners extracted continual increases in efficiency from enslaved African Americans. Thus the United States seized control of the world market for cotton, the key raw material of the Industrial Revolution, and became a wealthy nation with global influence.

Told through intimate slave narratives, plantation records, newspapers, and the words of politicians, entrepreneurs, and escaped slaves, The Half Has Never Been Told offers a radical new interpretation of American history. It forces readers to reckon with the violence at the root of American supremacy, but also with the survival and resistance that brought about slavery’s end—and created a culture that sustains America’s deepest dreams of freedom.
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498 Edward E. Baptist 046500296X James 0 currently-reading 4.45 2013 The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism
author: Edward E. Baptist
name: James
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/10/06
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<![CDATA[Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)]]> 25499718
WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?]]>
608 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1447273281 James 0 currently-reading 4.29 2015 Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: James
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/10/06
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<![CDATA[Kings of the Wyld (The Band, #1)]]> 30841984
Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

It's time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.]]>
502 Nicholas Eames 0316362476 James 0 currently-reading 4.26 2017 Kings of the Wyld (The Band, #1)
author: Nicholas Eames
name: James
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/10/06
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<![CDATA[Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan]]> 29370481 The powerful and riveting new book in the multimillion-selling Killing series by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

Autumn 1944. World War II is nearly over in Europe but is escalating in the Pacific, where American soldiers face an opponent who will go to any length to avoid defeat. The Japanese army follows the samurai code of Bushido, stipulating that surrender is a form of dishonor. Killing the Rising Sun takes readers to the bloody tropical-island battlefields of Peleliu and Iwo Jima and to the embattled Philippines, where General Douglas MacArthur has made a triumphant return and is plotting a full-scale invasion of Japan.

Across the globe in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team of scientists are preparing to test the deadliest weapon known to mankind. In Washington, DC, FDR dies in office and Harry Truman ascends to the presidency, only to face the most important political decision in history: whether to use that weapon. And in Tokyo, Emperor Hirohito, who is considered a deity by his subjects, refuses to surrender, despite a massive and mounting death toll. Told in the same page-turning style of Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, Killing Patton, and Killing Reagan, this epic saga details the final moments of World War II like never before.]]>
323 Bill O'Reilly 1627790624 James 0 to-read 4.29 2016 Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: James
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real West]]> 24614866 The must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historic series Legends and The Real West, a fascinating, eye-opening look at the truth behind the western legends we all think we knowHow did Davy Crockett save President Jackson's life only to end up dying at the Alamo? Was the Lone Ranger based on a real lawman-and was he an African American? What amazing detective work led to the capture of Black Bart, the "gentleman bandit" and one of the west's most famous stagecoach robbers? Did Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid really die in a hail of bullets in South America? Generations of Americans have grown up on TV shows, movies and books about these western icons. But what really happened in the Wild West? All the stories you think you know, and others that will astonish you, are here--some heroic, some brutal and bloody, all riveting. Included are the ten legends featured in Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies docuseries -from Kit Carson to Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok to Doc Holliday-- accompanied by two bonus chapters on Daniel Boone and Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley.Frontier America was a place where instinct mattered more than education, and courage was necessary for survival. It was a place where luck made a difference and legends were made. Heavily illustrated with spectacular artwork that further brings this history to life, and told in fast-paced, immersive narrative, Legends and Lies is an irresistible, adventure-packed ride back into one of the most storied era of our nation's rich history.]]> 304 David Fisher 1627795081 James 0 did-not-finish 3.85 2015 Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real West
author: David Fisher
name: James
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Day the World Went Nuclear: Dropping the Atom Bomb and the End of World War II in the Pacific]]> 33574176
Adapted from Bill O'Reilly's historical thriller Killing the Rising Sun, with characteristically gripping storytelling, this story explores the decision to use the atom bomb and the end of World War II in the Pacific.]]>
320 Bill O'Reilly 1250120330 James 0 to-read 4.25 The Day the World Went Nuclear: Dropping the Atom Bomb and the End of World War II in the Pacific
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: James
average rating: 4.25
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<![CDATA[Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency]]> 25624089 From the bestselling team of Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard comes Killing Reagan, a page-turning epic account of the career of President Ronald Reagan that tells the vivid story of his rise to power--and the forces of evil that conspired to bring him down. The basis for the 2016 television movie available on streaming.Just two months into his presidency, Ronald Reagan lay near death after a gunman's bullet came within inches of his heart. His recovery was nothing short of remarkable -- or so it seemed. But Reagan was grievously injured, forcing him to encounter a challenge that few men ever face. Could he silently overcome his traumatic experience while at the same time carrying out the duties of the most powerful man in the world?Told in the same riveting fashion as Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, and Killing Patton, Killing Reagan reaches back to the golden days of Hollywood, where Reagan found both fame and heartbreak, up through the years in the California governor's mansion, and finally to the White House, where he presided over boom years and the fall of the Iron Curtain. But it was John Hinckley Jr.'s attack on him that precipitated President Reagan's most heroic actions. In Killing Reagan, O'Reilly and Dugard take readers behind the scenes, creating an unforgettable portrait of a great man operating in violent times.]]> 290 Bill O'Reilly James 0 4.12 2015 Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: James
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General]]> 22381892 365 Bill O'Reilly 0805096698 James 0 4.14 2014 Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: James
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/09/29
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Killing Jesus: A History 17286958 Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history.

Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus's life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable - and changed the world forever.]]>
293 Bill O'Reilly 0805098542 James 0 3.93 2013 Killing Jesus: A History
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: James
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence]]> 34568988
The Revolutionary War as never told before.
The breathtaking latest installment in Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s mega-bestselling Killing series transports readers to the most important era in our nation’s history, the Revolutionary War. Told through the eyes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Great Britain’s King George III, Killing England chronicles the path to independence in gripping detail, taking the reader from the battlefields of America to the royal courts of Europe. What started as protest and unrest in the colonies soon escalated to a world war with devastating casualties.

O’Reilly and Dugard recreate the war’s landmark battles, including Bunker Hill, Long Island, Saratoga, and Yorktown, revealing the savagery of hand-to-hand combat and the often brutal conditions under which these brave American soldiers lived and fought. Also here is the reckless treachery of Benedict Arnold and the daring guerilla tactics of the “Swamp Fox” Frances Marion.

A must read, Killing England reminds one and all how the course of history can be changed through the courage and determination of those intent on doing the impossible.

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0 Bill O'Reilly 1427290393 James 0 currently-reading 4.01 2017 Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: James
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/09/29
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported]]> 34479566
A call to action from three of Washington's premier political scholar-journalists, One Nation After Trump offers the definitive work on the threat posed by the Trump presidency and how to counter it.

American democracy was never supposed to give the nation a president like Donald Trump. We have never had a president who gave rise to such widespread alarm about his lack of commitment to the institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, and to the need for basic knowledge about how government works. We have never had a president who raises profound questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to take on the most challenging political office in the world.

Yet if Trump is both a threat to our democracy and a product of its weaknesses, the citizen activism he has inspired is the antidote. The reaction to the crisis created by Trump’s presidency can provide the foundation for an era of democratic renewal and vindicate our long experiment in self-rule.

The award-winning authors of One Nation After Trump explain Trump’s rise and the danger his administration poses to our free institutions. They also offer encouragement to the millions of Americans now experiencing a new sense of citizenship and engagement and argue that our nation needs a unifying alternative to Trump’s dark and divisive brand of politics―an alternative rooted in a New Economy, a New Patriotism, a New Civil Society, and a New Democracy.

One Nation After Trump is the essential audiobook for our era, an unsparing assessment of the perils facing the United States and an inspiring roadmap for how we can reclaim the future.]]>
0 E.J. Dionne Jr. 1427292698 James 5 to-read 3.83 2017 One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported
author: E.J. Dionne Jr.
name: James
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/09/29
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Paradox Bound 33825757
So when the traveler finally reappears in his life, Eli is determined that this time he’s not going to let her go without getting some answers. But his determination soon leads him into a strange, dangerous world and a chase not just across the country but through a hundred years of history—with nothing less than America’s past, present, and future at stake.]]>
373 Peter Clines 0553418335 James 3 currently-reading So, while waiting for Hayes or Weir, Wong or (could we be so lucky? ), Ernest Clines, I figured I'd give this one a pre-order on Audible. Honestly, I didn't even know what it was about... but thought I'd give it a shot. So far, I'm uninspired , unimpressed and, really, car mechanics?
So far, no good. This may change if the tale gets a purpose and makes a bit of sense. Shall report back.]]>
3.88 2017 Paradox Bound
author: Peter Clines
name: James
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/09/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:
pp 1-50,... I find Clines is spot on (14 the Novel) or way off (Ex-Series - sorry, I just couldn't get into them).
So, while waiting for Hayes or Weir, Wong or (could we be so lucky? ), Ernest Clines, I figured I'd give this one a pre-order on Audible. Honestly, I didn't even know what it was about... but thought I'd give it a shot. So far, I'm uninspired , unimpressed and, really, car mechanics?
So far, no good. This may change if the tale gets a purpose and makes a bit of sense. Shall report back.
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Reincarnation Blues 33571217 A magically inspiring tale of a man who is reincarnated through many lifetimes so that he can be with his one true love: Death herself.

What if you could live forever—but without your one true love? Reincarnation Blues is the story of a man who has been reincarnated nearly 10,000 times, in search of the secret to immortality so that he can be with his beloved, the incarnation of Death. Neil Gaiman meets Kurt Vonnegut in this darkly whimsical, hilariously profound, and wildly imaginative comedy of the secrets of life and love. Transporting us from ancient India to outer space to Renaissance Italy to the present day, is a journey through time, space, and the human heart.]]>
374 Michael Poore 0399178481 James 5 3.86 2017 Reincarnation Blues
author: Michael Poore
name: James
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/09/23
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Abomination 25909020
She is a fierce young warrior, raised among an elite order of knights. Driven by a dark secret from her past, she defies her controlling father and sets out on a dangerous quest to do what none before her ever have—hunt down and kill an abomination, alone.

When a chance encounter sets these two against one another, an incredible twist of fate will lead them toward a salvation they never thought possible—and prove that the power of love, mercy, and forgiveness can shine a hopeful light even in history’s darkest age.]]>
352 Gary Whitta 1941758339 James 0 3.62 2015 Abomination
author: Gary Whitta
name: James
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/09/21
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<![CDATA[A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza De Vaca]]> 22238098 336 Andrés Reséndez James 4 3.88 2007 A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza De Vaca
author: Andrés Reséndez
name: James
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/09/06
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<![CDATA[Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)]]> 17333324
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.]]>
386 Ann Leckie James 0 to-read 3.98 2013 Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)
author: Ann Leckie
name: James
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/24
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<![CDATA[Star Nomad (Fallen Empire, #1)]]> 31667137
But she has a plan.

Steal a dilapidated and malfunctioning freighter from a junkyard full of lawless savages. Slightly suicidal, but she believes she can do it. Her plan, however, does not account for the elite cyborg soldier squatting in the freighter, intending to use it for his own purposes. As an imperial soldier, he has no love for Alliance pilots. In fact, he's quite fond of killing them.

Alisa has more problems than she can count, but she can't let cyborgs, savages, or ancient malfunctioning ships stand in her way. If she does, she’ll never see her daughter again.]]>
228 Lindsay Buroker 153463455X James 5 3.79 2016 Star Nomad (Fallen Empire, #1)
author: Lindsay Buroker
name: James
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/13
date added: 2017/08/13
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The Amityville Horror 293101
In December 1975, the Lutz family moved into their dream home, the same home where Ronald DeFeo had murdered his parents, brothers and sisters just one year earlier.

The psychic phenomena that followed created the most terrifying experience the Lutz family had ever encountered, forcing them to flee the house in 28 days, convinced that it was possessed by evil spirits.

Their fantastic story, never before disclosed in full detail, makes for an unforgettable book with all the shocks and gripping suspense of The Exorcist, The Omen or Rosemary's Baby, but with one vital difference...the story is true.]]>
315 Jay Anson 0553116606 James 0 to-read 3.85 1977 The Amityville Horror
author: Jay Anson
name: James
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/09
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<![CDATA[The Exorcist (The Exorcist, #1)]]> 179780 385 William Peter Blatty James 0 to-read 4.20 1971 The Exorcist (The Exorcist, #1)
author: William Peter Blatty
name: James
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1971
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/09
shelves: to-read
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Infinite Jest 6759
Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.

Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human—and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do.]]>
1088 David Foster Wallace James 0 to-read 4.26 1996 Infinite Jest
author: David Foster Wallace
name: James
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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Midnight’s Children 14836 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

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

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight’ s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.]]>
647 Salman Rushdie 0099578514 James 0 to-read 3.98 1981 Midnight’s Children
author: Salman Rushdie
name: James
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening, #1)]]> 25451852 Winner 2016 Readers' Favourite Award for Epic Fantasy
Winner 2015 LYRA Award for Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Winner 2015 CIPA EVVY Award for Fiction/Fantasy
Winner 2015 Beverly Hills Book Award for Fantasy
Winner 2016 Audible Best Fantasy Audiobook
Runner-up 2016 IPPY Awards and 2015 Great Midwest Book Festival for Sci-Fi/Fantasy
#1 Bestseller in Epic, Historical and Coming of Age Fantasy.

When a high-ranking officer gallops into the quiet Mistyvales, he brings a warning that shakes the countryfolk to their roots. But for Aedan, a scruffy young adventurer with veins full of fire and a head full of ideas, this officer is not what he seems.

The events that follow propel Aedan on a journey that only the foolhardy or desperate would risk, leading him to the gates of the nation’s royal academy – a whole world of secrets in itself.

But this is only the beginning of his discoveries. Something is stirring in the land, something more ominous than the rising threat of hostile nations. Fearful travellers whisper of an ancient power breathing over Thirna, changing it, waking it. In the very heart of these stirrings, Aedan encounters that which defies belief, leaving him speechless with terror – and wonder.]]>
715 Jonathan Renshaw James 5 4.35 2015 Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening, #1)
author: Jonathan Renshaw
name: James
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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Saga, Volume 1 15704307
Collects: Saga #1-6.]]>
160 Brian K. Vaughan 1607066017 James 0 to-read 4.16 2012 Saga, Volume 1
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2)]]> 18138189
Vaelin Al Sorna, warrior of the Sixth Order, called Darkblade, called Hope Killer. The greatest warrior of his day, and witness to the greatest defeat of his nation: King Janus’s vision of a Greater Unified Realm drowned in the blood of brave men fighting for a cause Vaelin alone knows was forged from a lie. Sick at heart, he comes home, determined to kill no more.

Named Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches by King Janus’s grateful heir, he can perhaps find peace in a colder, more remote land far from the intrigues of a troubled Realm. But those gifted with the blood-song are never destined to live a quiet life. Many died in King Janus’s wars, but many survived, and Vaelin is a target, not just for those seeking revenge but for those who know what he can do.

The Faith has been sundered, and many have no doubt who their leader should be. The new King is weak, but his sister is strong. The blood-song is powerful, rich in warning and guidance in times of trouble, but is only a fraction of the power available to others who understand more of its mysteries. Something moves against the Realm, something that commands mighty forces, and Vaelin will find to his great regret that when faced with annihilation, even the most reluctant hand must eventually draw a sword.]]>
608 Anthony Ryan 0425265625 James 0 to-read 4.14 2014 Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2)
author: Anthony Ryan
name: James
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)]]> 2890090
Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body - though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean's imploring - and the Bondsmage's mention of a woman from Locke's past: Sabetha. She is the love of his life, his equal in skill and wit, and now, his greatest rival.

Locke was smitten with Sabetha from his first glimpse of her as a young fellow orphan and thief-in-training. But after a tumultuous courtship, Sabetha broke away. Now they will reunite in yet another clash of wills. For faced with his one and only match in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha - or to woo her. It is a decision on which both their lives may depend.

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650 Scott Lynch 0553804693 James 0 to-read 4.21 2013 The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)
author: Scott Lynch
name: James
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)]]> 7896527 Meet Celaena Sardothien.

Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, Celaena, an assassin, is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.]]>
406 Sarah J. Maas James 0 to-read 4.19 2012 Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: James
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
shelves: to-read
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Warbreaker 1268479
Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.]]>
688 Brandon Sanderson James 0 to-read 4.29 2009 Warbreaker
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: James
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1)]]> 25494343 Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.]]>
688 Cassandra Clare 1442468351 James 0 to-read 4.35 2016 Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: James
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)]]> 7171637 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...]]>
479 Cassandra Clare 1416975861 James 0 to-read 4.31 2010 Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: James
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)]]> 68494 710 China Miéville 0345459407 James 0 to-read 3.98 2000 Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)
author: China Miéville
name: James
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[The Night Angel Trilogy (Night Angel, #1-3)]]> 6122735 "Way of Shadows", "Shadow's Edge", "Beyond the Shadows" all in one beautiful hardcover edition]]> 1392 Brent Weeks 160751351X James 0 to-read 4.44 2009 The Night Angel Trilogy (Night Angel, #1-3)
author: Brent Weeks
name: James
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)]]> 2767793
Who is the Hero of Ages?

To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness—the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists—is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. Vin can't even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans!]]>
572 Brandon Sanderson 0765316897 James 0 to-read 4.54 2008 The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: James
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
shelves: to-read
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Elantris (Elantris, #1) 68427
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.]]>
638 Brandon Sanderson 0765350378 James 0 to-read 4.16 2005 Elantris (Elantris, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)]]> 3227063 New York Times Bestselling author Brent Weeks...
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.]]>
645 Brent Weeks 0316033677 James 0 to-read 4.15 2008 The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)
author: Brent Weeks
name: James
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)]]> 944073
Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

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515 Joe Abercrombie 0575079797 James 0 to-read 4.21 2006 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: James
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)]]> 256683
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...]]>
485 Cassandra Clare 1416914285 James 0 to-read 4.08 2007 City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: James
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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<![CDATA[American Gods (American Gods, #1)]]> 4407
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...

This is the author's preferred text, never before published in the UK, and is about 12,000 words longer than the previous UK edition.

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635 Neil Gaiman James 0 4.10 2001 American Gods (American Gods, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: James
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/08/07
shelves: currently-reading, did-not-finish
review:

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<![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]>
541 Brandon Sanderson James 0 4.48 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: James
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/07
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Mother Go 35712215
But the sweep of interplanetary politics and an affair with a Martian catches Mariska up in a conspiracy to commit a bold theft that will alter the future of space colonization. Mariska must put her life on the line again and again if she is to discover who she is and what her true destiny must be.

In his first new novel in more than 20 years, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award winner James Patrick Kelly has crafted a hard science techno-thriller that never loses its focus on the conflicted emotional life of Mariska, a true citizen of the posthuman 22nd century.]]>
James Patrick Kelly James 5 3.52 Mother Go
author: James Patrick Kelly
name: James
average rating: 3.52
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/08/03
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<![CDATA[Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors (The History of England, #1)]]> 13539185
In Foundation, the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death, in 1509, of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past--a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house--and describes in rich prose the successive waves of invaders who made England English, despite being themselves Roman, Viking, Saxon, or Norman French.

With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place and his acute eye for the telling detail, Ackroyd recounts the story of warring kings, of civil strife, and foreign wars. But he also gives us a vivid sense of how England's early people lived: the homes they built, the clothes the wore, the food they ate, even the jokes they told. All are brought vividly to life through the narrative mastery of one of Britain's finest writers.]]>
496 Peter Ackroyd 125000361X James 0 currently-reading 4.01 2011 Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors (The History of England, #1)
author: Peter Ackroyd
name: James
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/03
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11/22/63 10644930
In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane — and insanely possible — mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.

In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald...]]>
849 Stephen King 1451627289 James 5 4.33 2011 11/22/63
author: Stephen King
name: James
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2016/04/19
date added: 2017/08/01
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The Shining (The Shining, #1) 11588 497 Stephen King 0450040186 James 5 4.28 1977 The Shining (The Shining, #1)
author: Stephen King
name: James
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/31
date added: 2017/08/01
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Naughty Monster 35507377 His family has some friends and invites them for tea during weekends. Everything goes nice and well before another monsters’ family comes to live next door.
They are very angry and badly behaving monsters. Little Stompy makes friends with new neighbors and starts to turn bad. He won’t use nice pajamas to sleep in and starts to frighten people.

This kind story will help your little monster to realize how important it is to keep evening routines and choose friends wisely.
The book is a great fit to read before bedtime. It is filled with truly amazing characters that will keep a child captivated from beginning till the end of story.]]>
32 Mila Mirason 1548064343 James 0 to-read 0.0 Naughty Monster
author: Mila Mirason
name: James
average rating: 0.0
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<![CDATA[Wandlore: A Guide for the Apprentice Wandmaker]]> 26534784 176 K.P. Theodore 0993328407 James 0 to-read 3.62 2015 Wandlore: A Guide for the Apprentice Wandmaker
author: K.P. Theodore
name: James
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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Nothing 26792480 311 Linda Naseem 0692499164 James 0 to-read 3.59 2015 Nothing
author: Linda Naseem
name: James
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Building a Mystery (The Cups Triptych, #1)]]> 28605708
There are some stains you just can’t get out – coffee, red wine, demonic possession*.?
It’s that last one, you’re about to discover, leaves the worst mark.

As a child Russell McLachlan was kidnapped by a secret cult to be the vessel for their demon lord. Stained by the demon, McLachlan has been after the cult ever since. Now several years later an artifact from that ritual surfaces has surfaced...he wants it. Despite the better judgment of his friends,?Matteo?–?the werewolf Pack Lord,?and Rowan, a pure of heart Wiccan.?

Meanwhile, Rebecca Miller is working the midnight to dawn shift at NYU's college station trying to get her life back in order. Which would be great if she hadn’t developed an interest in one of her audience members. That being the mysterious yet funny Russell McLachlan.

Building a Mystery follows both of their stories, introducing friends and enemies as McLachlan tries to recover the artifact and Rebecca struggles to regain a healthier sense of herself. Their stories are intercut with flashbacks of McLachlan's youth, and his journey through adolescence as a troubled boy. All the while, keeping up a steady stream of banter and urban adventure, as McLachlan protects modern day New York from things that go bump in the night.

This is the first?book in The Cups Triptych?where the Cult of Eighth House re-enter McLachlan’s?life at the same time as he wants to start living properly. Feeling like she has lost her voice in the world, Rebecca wants to be heard.?And not just by those who tune into the radio show.?

*Please note: this book is not a domestic guide to stubborn stains and the perils of misunderstanding those laundry symbols on clothing tags. Just thought I should clear that up.?
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250 Ian Thomas 1523451203 James 0 to-read 4.50 2016 Building a Mystery (The Cups Triptych, #1)
author: Ian Thomas
name: James
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Wolves Without Teeth (The Accords Triptych, #1)]]> 33913659
The witches have retreated. The vampires are a starving underclass. And the wolves. Well…they’ve been all but house-trained.

But these are monsters. Creatures who thrive on destruction. On chaos. On death.
Offensive and unnatural. Much like this festering agreement and the man who made them a reality.

Time to tear them apart.

The accords and their pathetic peace.
______________________________________________________________

Following the ordeal with the Cult, a new evil rises intent on destroying the Pack War accords, With the Pack Lord a shell of his former self, a wolf turned traitor, and McLachlan in love, the destruction will be glorious.

Destruction is healthy after all.
It cleans out the weak, does away with the old, and allows for a fresh start.
No one ever sees it coming. That’s the best part. The surprise in their eyes when delivering a killing blow.

Destruction is necessary.

Destruction is coming.]]>
298 Ian Thomas 1542397251 James 0 to-read 4.00 2017 Wolves Without Teeth (The Accords Triptych, #1)
author: Ian Thomas
name: James
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/01
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<![CDATA[The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo! (The Danger Gang, #1)]]> 31450608
Teaming up with his trusty butler Jeeves, his quick-witted fencing nemesis Julianne Sato, and his pet cobra Carter, Ronald sets course for the jungle of Borneo where his parents were last sighted. If they can crash-land a plane and outrun a hungry snow leopard, surely they can find the secret lair of Zeetan Z, the world's most ruthless pirate! But as their adventure becomes more and more dangerous, can Ronald and his companions muster enough courage to see this adventure through?]]>
378 Stephen Bramucci 1619636921 James 0 to-read 4.42 2017 The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo! (The Danger Gang, #1)
author: Stephen Bramucci
name: James
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/01
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<![CDATA[Jaeth's Eye (The Agartes Epilogues, #1)]]> 35169255
After a botched job leaves his friend dead, the mercenary Kefier is chased down by former associates for the crime. Already once branded a murderer, fate seems to continue to frown on him when he comes face-to-face with his friend's sister, Sume: a young woman reeling from her own string of bad luck, and the last person he would ever want to confess to. Their lives, unknowingly tangled before they've even met, are now thrown into upheaval as one flees from the past and the other runs to it.

In the meantime, the young, arrogant merchant Ylir takes a special interest in Kefier while he battles with a powerful mage, one whose name has been long forgotten in legend. At the crux of their conflict is a terrible creature with one eye, cast from the womb of a forlorn woman, with powers so immense whoever possesses it holds the key to bring the continent to its knees.]]>
374 K.S. Villoso James 0 to-read 3.70 2014 Jaeth's Eye (The Agartes Epilogues, #1)
author: K.S. Villoso
name: James
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Epic Fail (Lorimer SideStreets)]]> 34918266 176 Cristy Watson 1459412370 James 0 to-read 3.75 Epic Fail (Lorimer SideStreets)
author: Cristy Watson
name: James
average rating: 3.75
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<![CDATA[Battling the Oceans in a Rowboat]]> 32498525
Storms, fatigue, equipment failure, intense hunger, and lack of water are just a few of the challenges that ocean rower MICK DAWSON, endured whilst attempting to complete one of the World's "Last Great Firsts."

In this nail-biting, man-against-nature true story, Dawson, former Royal Marine Commando, Guinness world record ocean rower and high seas adventurer, takes on the Atlantic and ultimately the North Pacific Oceans.

It would require three attempts and a back breaking voyage of over six months to finally cross the mighty North Pacific for the first time. 189 days, 10 hours and 55 minutes rowing around the clock, fighting death and destruction every step of the way before finally arriving beneath the iconic span of the Golden Gate Bridge with his friend and rowing partner Chris Martin.

Dawson details his epic adventures propelling his tiny boat one stroke at a time for thousands of miles across the most hostile route of the greatest ocean on earth, overcoming failure, personal tragedy and all of the challenges mother nature could throw at him.]]>
288 Mick Dawson 1478947519 James 0 to-read 4.15 Battling the Oceans in a Rowboat
author: Mick Dawson
name: James
average rating: 4.15
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<![CDATA[Case of the Fleet-Footed Mummy]]> 33586249
Pomme Valley's newest crime fighting crusaders are on the case with Sherlock, new pack mate Watson, and their reluctant human, Zack. Can they solve the murder and locate the missing loot before any more misfortune can befall the town?]]>
222 Jeffrey M. Poole 1539869865 James 0 to-read 4.33 Case of the Fleet-Footed Mummy
author: Jeffrey M. Poole
name: James
average rating: 4.33
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date added: 2017/08/01
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