Vlad's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 31 Aug 2024 16:25:22 -0700 60 Vlad's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Le Tour du monde en 80 jours 1452956 Le Tour du monde en 80 jours notamment, sont conçus comme des machines thĂ©Ăątrales. Tout y est calibrĂ©, ajustĂ© pour tenir le lecteur en haleine, l'Ă©tonner, le distraire ou le prendre Ă  contre-pied. On est en pleine esthĂ©tique romantique, celle de Dumas en particulier, avec qui Verne collabora un temps. Mais le Tour du monde c'est aussi l'avĂšnement du monde industriel, le culte de la machine, de l'efficacitĂ©, le pointage horaire Ă©tendu Ă  une Ă©chelle universelle. Culte portĂ© jusqu'Ă  l'outrance, avec un humour fĂ©roce, une ironie mordanteÌę: Verne n'est pas dupe. Et s'il agite ses personnages comme des marionnettes prises de frĂ©nĂ©sie, c'est pour, en sourdine, articuler un discours de rĂ©volteÌę: PhilĂ©as Fogg n'est pas si loin de NĂ©mo l'anarchiste, nouveau Faust moderne, et ce texte Ă©blouissant cache bien des profondeurs. --Scarbo]]> 331 Jules Verne 2253012696 Vlad 2 3.81 1872 Le Tour du monde en 80 jours
author: Jules Verne
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1872
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/08/31
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fourth Industrial Revolution]]> 28570175
Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human.

Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factoriesâ€� in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials.

The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history.

He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.]]> 198 Klaus Schwab Vlad 3 3.53 2016 The Fourth Industrial Revolution
author: Klaus Schwab
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2016
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/10/12
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]]> Gone Girl 19288043 What have we done to each other?

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone.

So what did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?]]> 415 Gillian Flynn 0307588378 Vlad 3 4.22 2012 Gone Girl
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 3
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]]> Steve Jobs 11084145 630 Walter Isaacson 1451648537 Vlad 3 4.15 2011 Steve Jobs
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/10/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Vlad 3 4.34 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet]]> 56632919
At the heart of solving the puzzle -- and address global disturbance and uncertainty--lies three identifiable issues that need need to fit: First, income and other inequality within societies has been on the rise, while productivity and wage growth slowed, and countries are burdened by debt. Second, the market power of the world's largest companies reached unprecedented levels, raising questions on the spread of innovation and productivity gains. And third, the exploitation of natural resources is leading to a deteriorating environment, affecting the lives of many for the worse.

The debate over what caused this situation is still open: whether laissez-faire governments, a poorly managed globalization, or the rise of technology that favours the few, the possible culprits are legion. In any case, Schwab argues our current system has failed to properly register and address many of the issues we are now faced with.

What are the real causes of our system's shortcomings, and what are false positives? Do solutions lie in small adjustments to our current system, or a complete overhaul of it? And what best practices exist around the world, including Asia, that would allow for better outcomes?

There are no easy answers, and no single stakeholder can provide them. But it is certain that individual actors do have agency, and that policies matter, when it comes to dealing with external forces. Moreover, as success stories from the Switzerland to Singapore, and from Costa Rica to China show it is only when government, businesses and individuals all play their respective roles, and agree on a social contract with shared responsibility that societal outcomes will be optimal.

The Jigsaw Economy addresss these problems, ad provides achievable answers to solve them. Piece by piece, this new book by Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the World Economic Forum, shares answers for all stakholderes in the global economy, rich and poor, vested and disenfranchised, engaged or searching. optimistic. The goall: to address problems and provide solutions, piece by piece, stakeholder by stakeholdere, country by coutrny, world citizen by world citizen.]]> 291 Klaus Schwab 1119756146 Vlad 3 3.52 2021 Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet
author: Klaus Schwab
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/08/01
date added: 2021/10/12
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]]> COVID-19: The Great Reset 54498122 280 Klaus Schwab 2940631115 Vlad 0 to-read 2.63 2020 COVID-19: The Great Reset
author: Klaus Schwab
name: Vlad
average rating: 2.63
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/01/31
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Win Friends & Influence People]]> 4865
Since its release in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 30 million copies. Dale Carnegie's first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie's principles endure, and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.]]> 288 Dale Carnegie Vlad 4 4.22 1936 How to Win Friends & Influence People
author: Dale Carnegie
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1936
rating: 4
read at: 2020/10/10
date added: 2021/01/03
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]]> Anna Karenina 155
Set against this tragic affair is the story of Konstantin Levin, a melancholy landowner whom Tolstoy based largely on himself. While Anna looks for happiness through love, Levin embarks on his own search for spiritual fulfillment through marriage, family, and hard work. Surrounding these two central plot threads are dozens of characters whom Tolstoy seamlessly weaves together, creating a breathtaking tapestry of nineteenth-century Russian society.

From its famous opening sentence â€� "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”—to its stunningly tragic conclusion, this enduring tale of marriage and adultery plumbs the very depths of the human soul.]]> 803 Leo Tolstoy 1593080271 Vlad 5 4.00 1878 Anna Karenina
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1878
rating: 5
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date added: 2020/11/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life]]> 28257707 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

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

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

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

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.]]> 212 Mark Manson Vlad 3 3.88 2016 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
author: Mark Manson
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/01
date added: 2020/09/13
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]]> Putin: Prisoner of Power 52285363
On New Year's Eve 1999, a young Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian TV screens - awkward, self-conscious. . .and the new President. Two decades later, Putin is still in power, standing self-assured and at ease on the world stage. How did a once little known KGB bureaucrat become one of the most dominant figures of 21st-century politics?

In this gripping narrative history, Misha Glenny, journalist and best-selling author of 'McMafia,' tells the story of an unexpected and swift rise to power - one full of political intrigue, backroom deals, courtroom battles and war.

Insider Kremlin accounts and well-known journalists reveal how Putin was first chosen by Yeltsin and the Oligarchy and how he then went head to head with Russia's richest man. After Putin had consolidated power he needed to stay in power. The second half of the series tells the story of how he took over the media and Crimea and increased the powers of the KGB. Finally, Misha considers what Putin might do next.]]> 3 Russell Finch Vlad 4 3.73 2019 Putin: Prisoner of Power
author: Russell Finch
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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]]> We Live in Water 15818259 We Live in Water is a darkly comic, moving collection of short stories that veer from comic tales of love to social satire to suspenseful crime fiction, from hip Portland to once-hip Seattle to never-hip Spokane, from a condemned casino in Las Vegas to a bottomless lake in the dark woods of Idaho. This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive con men, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.

In "Thief," an aluminum worker turns unlikely detective to solve the mystery of which of his kids is stealing from the family vacation fund. In "We Live in Water," a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared thirty years earlier. In "Anything Helps," a homeless man has to "go to cardboard" to raise enough money to buy his son the new Harry Potter book. In "Virgo," a local newspaper editor tries to get back at his superstitious ex-girlfriend by screwing with her horoscope. Also included are the stories "Don't Eat Cat" and "Statistical Abstract of My Hometown, Spokane, Washington," both of which achieved a cult following after publication online.]]> 179 Jess Walter 0061926620 Vlad 3 3.89 2013 We Live in Water
author: Jess Walter
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2020/02/24
date added: 2020/02/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Carnival Row: Tangle in the Dark]]> 49438946 Listening Length: 3 hours and 8 minutes

Tourmaline Larou lives an idyllic life of learning by day and partying by night. An aspiring poet, her future promises nothing less than brilliance. Then, Vignette Stonemoss walks through the door, and Tourmaline’s world is upended. As she struggles to understand the effect this stranger has on her, Tourmaline and her fellow fae face a looming threat from the human world. War is on the horizon, and their very existence is at stake. And Tourmaline will discover whether love will save her—or destroy her.

Carnival Row: Tangle in the Dark is set in the world of the Amazon Original series Carnival Row, created by Travis Beacham and René Echevarria. Carnival Row is available only on Amazon Prime Video.]]> 3 Stephanie K. Smith Vlad 3 3.32 2019 Carnival Row: Tangle in the Dark
author: Stephanie K. Smith
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/01/14
date added: 2020/01/14
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It]]> 13344951 67 Mark Cuban 0983988536 Vlad 4 4.03 2011 How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It
author: Mark Cuban
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2020/01/12
date added: 2020/01/12
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]]> The Diary of a Young Girl 48855
In 1942, with the Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, the Franks and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexeâ€� of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly humorous, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
--back cover]]> 283 Anne Frank Vlad 0 to-read 4.19 1947 The Diary of a Young Girl
author: Anne Frank
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1947
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)]]> 38447
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.]]> 311 Margaret Atwood 038549081X Vlad 0 to-read 4.15 1985 The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> Norse Mythology 37903770 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780393356182

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.]]> 301 Neil Gaiman Vlad 5 4.11 2017 Norse Mythology
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> All the Bright Places 18460392 The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!
Ìę
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Ìę
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
Ìę
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wondersâ€� of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
Ìę
This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.]]> 388 Jennifer Niven 0385755880 Vlad 3 4.12 2015 All the Bright Places
author: Jennifer Niven
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2020/01/11
date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> Becoming 38746485
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.]]> 426 Michelle Obama 1524763136 Vlad 5 4.42 2018 Becoming
author: Michelle Obama
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance]]> 88061 453 Barack Obama 1921351438 Vlad 5 3.93 1995 Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
author: Barack Obama
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know]]> 43848929 Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers -- and why they often go wrong.

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you'll hear the voices of people he interviewed--scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There's even a theme song - Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout."

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.]]> 388 Malcolm Gladwell 0316478520 Vlad 5 4.00 2019 Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/05
date added: 2020/01/11
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]]> Two Can Keep a Secret 38225791
The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.]]> 329 Karen M. McManus 1524714720 Vlad 4 3.92 2019 Two Can Keep a Secret
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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date added: 2019/07/28
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]]> Hamlet 1432 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13:9780743477123, Hamlet.

Hamlet is the story of the Prince of Denmark who learns of the death of his father at the hands of his uncle, Claudius. Claudius murders Hamlet's father, his own brother, to take the throne of Denmark and to marry Hamlet's widowed mother. Hamlet is sunk into a state of great despair as a result of discovering the murder of his father and the infidelity of his mother. Hamlet is torn between his great sadness and his desire for the revenge of his father's murder.

Each Folger edition includes:

- Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
- Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
- Scene-by-scene plot summaries
- A key to famous lines and phrases
- An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
- An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
- Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books]]> 342 William Shakespeare Vlad 3 4.05 1601 Hamlet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1601
rating: 3
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date added: 2019/04/14
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]]> Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) 40858486
But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch's precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced to flee. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch. They travel to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch's secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme re-ligion, Langdon and Vidal must evade an enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain's Royal Palace. They uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch's shocking discovery...and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.]]> 638 Dan Brown Vlad 0 to-read 3.78 2017 Origin (Robert Langdon, #5)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Ucigașul ABC (Hercule Poirot, #13)]]> 17284935 256 Agatha Christie 9731038981 Vlad 0 4.28 1936 Ucigașul ABC (Hercule Poirot, #13)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1936
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/01/16
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]]> Skeleton Crew 13440 Librarian's Note: Alternate-cover edition for ISBN 0751504386

In a bumper collection of truly chilling tales, we meet Gramma - who only wanted to hug little George, even after she was dead; The Raft - a primeval sea creature with an insatiable appetite; The Monkey - an innocent-looking toy with sinister powers; the unspeakable horror of The Mist. And there is a gruesome host of other stories, each with the distinctive blend of unimaginable terror and realism that typifies King's writing.]]> 612 Stephen King 0751504386 Vlad 0 to-read 3.98 1985 Skeleton Crew
author: Stephen King
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/09/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Omul Negru 24910447
Booklist

Produs al ingineriei genetice, üntrupare a agresivităƣii pure Ɵi a instinctelor primare pe care fiinƣele umane le-au pierdut de-a lungul mileniilor de evoluƣie, Carl Marsalis face parte dintr-o nouă specie umanoidă: variantele treisprezece. Pentru guvernul Statelor Unite, aceƟtia au reprezentat forƣa militară supremă, pñnă cñnd s-a ajuns la concluzia că supersoldaƣii sunt niƟte mutanƣi periculoƟi, care trebuie exilaƣi pe Marte. Marsalis a reuƟit pentru o vreme să evite exilul, devenind un fel de vñnător de recompense, ünsă curñnd a fost aruncat ün ünchisoare.

O nouă Ɵansă de a-Ɵi recăpăta libertatea se iveƟte atunci cñnd i se cere să-Ɵi folosească ünsuƟirile pentru a prinde un fugar. Doar că acesta nu este un răufăcător oarecare, ci un alt treisprezece, care a măcelărit üntreg echipajul unei nave.]]> 856 Richard K. Morgan Vlad 0 to-read 3.69 2007 Omul Negru
author: Richard K. Morgan
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/09/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)]]> 46654 Foundation begins a new chapter in the story of man's future. As the Old Empire crumbles into barbarism throughout the million worlds of the galaxy, Hari Seldon and his band of psychologists must create a new entity, the Foundation-dedicated to art, science, and technology-as the beginning of a new empire.

Foundation and Empire describes the mighty struggle for power amid the chaos of the stars in which man stands at the threshold of a new enlightened life which could easily be destroyed by the old forces of barbarism.

Second Foundation follows the Seldon Plan after the First Empire's defeat and describes its greatest threat-a dangerous mutant strain gone wild, which produces a mind capable of bending men's wills, directing their thoughts, reshaping their desires, and destroying the universe.

This adaptation for BBC Radio 4 was first broadcast in 1973 with a cast which included Lee Montague, Maurice Denham, John Justin, Angela Plesence, Wolfe Morris, Julian Glover and Prunella Scales.]]> 679 Isaac Asimov 0380508567 Vlad 0 to-read 4.42 1953 The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1953
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/09/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3)]]> 18691070
But Detective Hank Palace still has one last case to solve. His beloved sister Nico was last seen in the company of suspicious radicals, armed with heavy artillery and a plan to save humanity. Hank's search for Nico takes him from Massachusetts to Ohio, from abandoned zoos and fast food restaurants to a deserted police station where he uncovers evidence of a brutal crime. With time running out, Hank follows the clues to a series of earth-shattering revelations.

The third novel in the Last Policeman trilogy, World of Trouble presents one final pre-apocalyptic mystery—and Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond whodunit: How far would you go to protect a loved one? And how would you choose to spend your last days on Earth?]]> 320 Ben H. Winters 1594746850 Vlad 0 to-read 4.01 2014 World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3)
author: Ben H. Winters
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/09/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Countdown City (The Last Policeman, #2)]]> 16046748 Ìę
Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace â€� an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone’s gone “bucket listâ€� or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off “impact zoneâ€� refugees.
Ìę
The second novel in the critically acclaimed Last Policeman trilogy, Countdown City presents a fascinating mystery set on brink of an apocalypse � and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond "whodunit." What do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?]]> 316 Ben H. Winters Vlad 0 to-read 3.82 2013 Countdown City (The Last Policeman, #2)
author: Ben H. Winters
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman, #1)]]> 13330370
Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.â€� What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?]]> 316 Ben H. Winters 1594745765 Vlad 0 to-read 3.75 2012 The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman, #1)
author: Ben H. Winters
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> White River Burning 36492355 "It's always a pleasure to watch a keen mind absorbed in a difficult puzzle, which is how Dave Gurney distinguishes himself in John Verdon's tricky whodunits." -The New York Times

Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. The racially polarized city is on edge, confronted with angry demonstrations, arson, and looting. In the midst of the turmoil, a White River police officer is shot dead by an unknown sniper. As the town spirals out of control, local authorities approach Dave Gurney to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting.

The situation in White River becomes truly explosive as more killings occur in what appears to be an escalating sequence of retaliations. But when Gurney questions the true nature of all this bloodshed, and zeroes in on peculiar aspects of the individual murders, his involvement is suddenly terminated. Obsessed with evidence that doesn't support the official version of events, Gurney cannot let go of the case. Despite intense opposition from the police, as well as from dangerous fanatics lurking in the shadows, he begins to uncover an astonishing structure of deception-learning that nothing in White River is what it seems to be.

White River Burning is the most provocative and timely book yet by the author hailed by The New York Times as "masterly."]]> 432 John Verdon 1640090649 Vlad 0 to-read 4.03 2018 White River Burning
author: John Verdon
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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]]> Wolf Lake (Dave Gurney, #5) 27037166

Police zero in quickly on Richard Hammond, a controversial psychologist who conducts hypnotherapy sessions at a spooky old Adirondack inn called Wolf Lake Lodge. It seems that each of the victims had gone there to meet with Hammond shortly before turning up dead.


Troubled by odd holes in the official approach to the case, Gurney begins his own investigation â€� an action that puts him in the crosshairs of not only an icy murderer and the local police but the darkest corner of the federal government. As ruthless as the blizzard trapping him in the sinister eeriness of Wolf Lake, Gurney’s enemies set out to keep him from the truth at any cost â€� including an all-out assault on the sanity of his beloved wife Madeleine.


With his emotional resources strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced.



Wolf Lake is the page-turning new work by a writer hailed by the New York Times as “masterlyâ€� â€� and it furthers the adventures of Dave Gurney, a detective reviewers have compared to Sherlock Holmes.]]> 375 John Verdon 161902733X Vlad 0 to-read 3.88 2015 Wolf Lake (Dave Gurney, #5)
author: John Verdon
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Peter Pan Must Die (Dave Gurney, #4)]]> 18630554
The daunting task that confronts Gurney, once the NYPD’s top homicide cop: determining the guilt or innocence of a woman already convicted of shooting her charismatic politician husband -- who was felled by a rifle bullet to the brain while delivering the eulogy at his own mother’s funeral.

Peeling back the layers, Gurney quickly finds himself waging a dangerous battle of wits with a thoroughly corrupt investigator, a disturbingly cordial mob boss, a gorgeous young temptress, and a bizarre assassin whose child-like appearance has earned him the nickname Peter Pan.

Startling twists and turns occur in rapid-fire sequence, and soon Gurney is locked inside one of the darkest cases of his career � one in which multiple murders are merely the deceptive surface under which rests a scaffolding of pure evil. Beneath the tangle of poisonous lies, Gurney discovers that the truth is more shocking than anyone had imagined.

And the identity of the villain at the mystery’s center turns out to be the biggest shock of all.]]> 440 John Verdon 0385348401 Vlad 0 to-read 3.88 2013 Peter Pan Must Die (Dave Gurney, #4)
author: John Verdon
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Let the Devil Sleep (Dave Gurney, #3)]]> 13154447 In this latest novel from bestselling author John Verdon, ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney puts under the magnifying glass a notorious serial murderÌę â€� one whose motives have been enshrined as law-enforcement dogma - and discovers that everyone has it wrong.
Ìę
The most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history, Dave Gurney is still trying to adjust to his life of quasi-retirement in upstate New York when a young woman who is producing a documentary on a notorious murder spree seeks his counsel.Ìę Soon after, Gurney begins feeling threatened: a razor-sharp hunting arrow lands in his yard, and he narrowly escapes serious injury in a booby-trapped basement.Ìę As things grow more bizarre, he finds himself reexamining the case of The Good Shepherd, which ten years before involved a series of roadside shootings and a rage-against-the-rich manifesto.Ìę The killings ceased, and a cult of analysis grew up around the case with a consensus opinion that no one would dream of challengingÌę -- no one, that is, but Dave Gurney.Ìę
Ìę
Mocked even by some who’d been his supporters in previous investigations, Dave realizes that the killer is too clever to ever be found.Ìę The only gambit that may make sense is also the most dangerous â€� to make himself a target and get the killer to come to him.
Ìę
To survive, Gurney must rely on three allies: his beloved wife Madeleine, impressively intuitive and a beacon of light in the gathering darkness; his de-facto investigative “partnerâ€� Jack Hardwick, always ready to spit in authority’s face but wily when it counts; and his son Kyle, who has come back into Gurney’s life with surprising force, love and loyalty.
Ìę
Displaying all the hallmarks for which the Dave Gurney series is lauded -- well-etched characters, deft black humor, and ingenious deduction that ends in a climactic showdown � Let the Devil Sleep is something more: a reminder of the power of self-belief in a world that contains too little of it.]]> 449 John Verdon 0307717925 Vlad 0 to-read 3.90 2012 Let the Devil Sleep (Dave Gurney, #3)
author: John Verdon
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Shut Your Eyes Tight (Dave Gurney, #2)]]> 9696745 super detective. He was simply a man who, when faced with a puzzle, wanted to know. He was called to the investigative hunt by the presumptuous arrogance of murderers � by their smug belief that they could kill without leaving a trace. There was always a trace, Gurney believed.

Except what if one day there wasn’t?

Dave Gurney, a few months past the Mellery case that pulled him out of retirement and then nearly killed him, is trying once again to adjust to his country house’s bucolic rhythms when he receives a call about a case so seductively bewildering that the thought of not looking into it seems unimaginable—even if his beloved wife, Madeleine, would rather he do anything but.

The facts of what has occurred are horrible: a blushing bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist and just minutes from hearing her congratulatory toast, is found decapitated, her head apparently severed by a machete. Though police investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed the young woman in a fit of jealous fury, the victim’s mother—a chilly high-society beauty—is having none of it. Reluctantly drawn in, Dave is quickly buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarrely monstrous into the monstrously bizarre. Ìę

Underneath it all may exist one of the darkest criminal schemes imaginable. And as Gurney begins deciphering its grotesque outlines, some of his most cherished assumptions about himself are challenged, causing him to stare into an abyss so deep that it threatens to swallow not just him but Madeleine, too.
Desperate to protect Madeleine and bring an end to the madness, Gurney ultimately discovers that the killer has left a trace after all. Unfortunately, the revelation may come too late to save his own life.

With Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon delivers on the promise of his internationally bestselling debut, Think of a Number, creating a portrait of evil let loose across generations that is as rife with moments of touching humanity as it is with spellbinding images of perversity.]]> 509 John Verdon 0307717895 Vlad 0 to-read 4.03 2011 Shut Your Eyes Tight (Dave Gurney, #2)
author: John Verdon
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Think of a Number (Dave Gurney, #1)]]> 7853137 Think of a Number is an exquisitely plotted novel of suspense that grows relentlessly darker and more frightening as its pace accelerates, forcing its deeply troubled characters to moments of startling self-revelation.

Arriving in the mail over a period of weeks are taunting letters that end with a simple declaration, “Think of any number
picture it
now see how well I know your secrets.”ÌęAmazingly, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly.ÌęFor Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD’s top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial murder investigation.

What police are confronted with is a completely baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air.ÌęEven more disturbing, the scale of his ambition seems to widen as events unfold.

Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe. Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.

In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become â€� what we all become when guilty memories fester â€� and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense.

A work that defies easy labels -- at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats â€� Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.]]> 432 John Verdon 0307588920 Vlad 0 to-read 3.91 2010 Think of a Number (Dave Gurney, #1)
author: John Verdon
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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]]> Johnny Mnemonic 313998
But headaches are the least of Johnny's problems. The Americans aren't the only ones who want the data. The Yakuza are after Johnny too. Not all of him, though. All they need is his cryogenically frozen head...

In Johnny Mnemonic, the science-fiction guru of our age brings his acid-drenched tale of the near future to the screen for the first time. Containing William Gibson's original short story, his full script and exclusive stills from the film, this classic of the cyberpunk era expresses the unique vision of the author who was the first to see his way into tomorrow...]]> 160 William Gibson 000224618X Vlad 0 to-read 3.80 1981 Johnny Mnemonic
author: William Gibson
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1981
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl, #3)]]> 154091 Neuromancer, has written his most brilliant and thrilling work to date... The Mona Lisa Overdrive.ÌęEnter Gibson's unique world - lyric and mechanical, erotic and violent, sobering and exciting - where multinational corporations and high tech outlaws vie for power, traveling into the computer-generated universe known as cyberspace.ÌęInto this world comes Mona, a young girl with a murky past and an uncertain future whose life is on a collision course with internationally famous Sense/Net star Angie Mitchell.ÌęSince childhood, Angie has been able to tap into cyberspace without a computer.ÌęNow, from inside cyberspace, a kidnapping plot is masterminded by a phantom entity who has plans for Mona, Angie, and all humanity, plans that cannot be controlled... or even known.ÌęAnd behind the intrigue lurks the shadowy Yakuza, the powerful Japanese underworld, whose leaders ruthlessly manipulate people and events to suit their own purposes... or so they think.

]]> 312 William Gibson 0553281747 Vlad 0 to-read 4.01 1988 Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl, #3)
author: William Gibson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> Burning Chrome (Sprawl, #0) 22323 Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome.

Johnny Mnemonic (1981)
The Gernsback Continuum (1981)
Fragments of a Hologram Rose (1977)
The Belonging Kind (1981) with John Shirley
Hinterlands (1981)

Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) with Bruce Sterling
New Rose Hotel (1984)
The Winter Market (1985)
Dogfight (1985) with Michael Swanwick
Burning Chrome (1982)]]> 226 William Gibson 0060539828 Vlad 0 to-read 4.07 1986 Burning Chrome (Sprawl, #0)
author: William Gibson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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]]> Count Zero (Sprawl, #2) 22200
A corporate mercenary wakes in a reconstructed body, a beautiful woman by his side. Then Hosaka Corporation reactivates him, for a mission more dangerous than the one he’s recovering to get a defecting chief of R&D—and the biochip he’s perfected—out intact. But this proves to be of supreme interest to certain other parties—some of whom aren’t remotely human....]]> 308 William Gibson Vlad 0 to-read 4.03 1986 Count Zero (Sprawl, #2)
author: William Gibson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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]]> Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1) 888628
Case was the sharpest data thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system. Now a new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run against an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a mirror-eyed girl street-samurai riding shotgun, he's ready for the silicon-quick, bleakly prophetic adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.]]> 278 William Gibson Vlad 0 to-read 4.01 1984 Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
author: William Gibson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1984
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Knight (The Wizard Knight #1)]]> 60212
Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, wizards, and dragons. His adventure will conclude in the second volume of The Wizard Knight, The Wizard.

With this new series, Wolfe not only surpasses all the most popular genre writers of the last three decades, he takes on the legends of the past century, in a work that will be favorably compared with the best of J. R. R. Tolkien, E. R. Eddison, Mervyn Peake, and T. H. White. This is a book---and a series---for the ages, from perhaps the greatest living writer in (or outside) the fantasy genre.]]> 544 Gene Wolfe 0765347016 Vlad 0 to-read 3.77 2004 The Knight (The Wizard Knight #1)
author: Gene Wolfe
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wizard (The Wizard Knight, #2)]]> 40996 The Wizard is a charming, riveting, emotionally charged tale of wonders, written with all the beauty one would expect from a writer whom Damon Knight called "a national treasure."
]]> 587 Gene Wolfe 0765350505 Vlad 0 to-read 3.89 2004 The Wizard (The Wizard Knight, #2)
author: Gene Wolfe
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> A Time of Changes 1706646 205 Robert Silverberg 0586039953 Vlad 0 3.70 1971 A Time of Changes
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1971
rating: 0
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]]> Island of the Blue Dolphins 41044096 Scott O'Dell's Newbery Medal-winning classic is a gripping tale of survival, strength, and courage. Based on the true story of a Nicoleïżœo Indian girl living alone on an island off the coast of California, Island of the Blue Dolphins has captivated readers for generations.

On San Nicolas Island, dolphins flash in the surrounding blue waters, sea otter play in the vast kelp beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, a girl named Karana spent eighteen years alone.

Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that killed her younger brother, constantly guard against Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. Her courage, self-reliance, and grit has inspired millions of readers in this breathtaking adventure.

As Smithsonian magazine put "For kids all over the country, reading the book in language arts classes, Karana is a powerful symbol of their growing independence. Through her, they can imagine themselves making their way in the world alone--and thriving."]]> 194 Scott O'Dell 0547488890 Vlad 0 4.02 1960 Island of the Blue Dolphins
author: Scott O'Dell
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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]]> Moara cu Noroc 1711424 Dimensiunea Fișierului: 1-2 MB
Pagini Ediție Print: 114
aprox. 38668 cuvinte



Moara cu Noroc tratează consecințele pe care dorința de Ăźmbogățire le are asupra destinului uman. Majoritatea criticilor o consideră creația cea mai importantă a autorului, alături de Pădureanca și romanul Mara.

Acƣiunea se desfăƟoară pe parcursul unui an, üntre două repere temporale cu valoare religioasă: de la Sfñntul Gheorghe pñnă la PaƟte, iar ün final, apa Ɵi focul purifică locul.

Alcătuită din 17 capitole, nuvela are un subiect concentrat, cu deschideri bogate. Nuvela debutează cu un precept moral izvorĂąt din ĂźnĆŁelepciunea bătrĂąnească rostit de mama-soacră, ce are Ăźn nuvelă rolul corului din tragedia antică greacă: â€�- Omul să fie mulĆŁumit cu sărăcia sa, căci, dacă-i vorba, nu bogăƣia, ci liniƟtea colibei tale te face fericit".

Bătrñna este adepta păstrării tradiƣiei, ün timp ce Ghiƣă, capul familiei, doreƟte schimbarea, bunăstarea materială. Cizmar sărac, dar onest, harnic Ɵi muncitor, Ghiƣă ia ün arendă cñrciuma de la Moara cu noroc, pentru a cñƟtiga rapid bani. Iniƣial, cñrciumarul nu este un om slab, ci dimpotrivă, üƟi asumă responsabilitatea destinului celorlalƣi.

Apariƣia lui Lică Sămădăul la Moara cu noroc, un personaj ciudat, carismatic, Ɵeful porcarilor Ɵi al turmelor de porci din ümprejurimi, tulbură echilibrul familiei. Orgoliul lui Lică e unul de stăpñn care nu doar üƟi subordonează oamenii, dar se substituie destinului lor. Cu toate că üƟi dă seama că Lică reprezintă un pericol pentru el Ɵi familia lui, Ghiƣă nu se poate sustrage influenƣei malefice pe care acesta o exercită asupra lui, Ɵi nici tentaƣiei ümbogăƣirii.

Nuvela a fost ecranizată ßn 1955 de către regizorul Victor Iliu. Filmul a fost nominalizat la Palm d'or la Festivalul Filmului de la Cannes.

Cartea ”Moara cu Norocâ€� a fost adăugată Ăźn lucrarea "101 Cărți RomĂąnești de Citit Într-o Viață" de Eugen Istodor, editorialist la Cațavencii și Dilema Veche, membru al Uniunii Scriitorilor din RomĂąnia]]> 114 Ioan Slavici Vlad 0 3.21 1881 Moara cu Noroc
author: Ioan Slavici
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.21
book published: 1881
rating: 0
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]]> Hanul Ancuței 5198851 Hanu Ancuței este capodopera idilicului jovial și a subtilității barbare. Formal, scrierea e un fel de Decameron Ăźn care cĂąÈ›iva obișnuiți ai unui han spun anecdote, Ăźn sine foarte indiferente. Esențială este starea de fericire materială Ăźnfăptuită de oaspeți. Ei trăiesc la modul Canaanului, ospătĂąnd numai cu carne friptă și bĂąnd vin, Ăźnsă după o rĂąnduială care cere inițiere. (G. Călinescu)]]> 142 Mihail Sadoveanu 9735913232 Vlad 0 3.02 1928 Hanul Ancuței
author: Mihail Sadoveanu
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.02
book published: 1928
rating: 0
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]]> Ion 778255 416 Liviu Rebreanu 0720646502 Vlad 0 3.39 1920 Ion
author: Liviu Rebreanu
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1920
rating: 0
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]]> Alexandru LăpuƟneanul 11412726 "Alexandru LăpuƟneanu, după cum s-a observat uneori, este propriu-zis o dramă ün mai multe acte, ün care un conflict primitiv se rezolvă printr-o catastrofă. Povestirea nu apare, ün desfăƟurarea acƣiunii menƣinută tot timpul sub ochii noƟtri, decñt cu rolul Ɵi aproape cu dimensiunile pe care le au üntr-o compoziƣie dramatică. De aceea, atunci cñnd revenim de la naraƣiunile scriitorului la scenele dialogate avem impresia de a trece de la auxiliar la esenƣial, de la articulaƣiile cu valoare artistică redusă pe planul viu al creaƣiei." (Tudor Vianu)]]> 26 Constantin Negruzzi 9738580765 Vlad 0 3.10 1840 Alexandru LăpuƟneanul
author: Constantin Negruzzi
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.10
book published: 1840
rating: 0
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]]> The Secret (The Secret, #1) 52529 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781582701707.

The worldwide bestselling phenomenon that has helped millions tap the power of the law that governs all our lives to create—intentionally and effortlessly—a joyful life.

In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universeâ€�The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller.

Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions, and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.

In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life.

The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.]]> 199 Rhonda Byrne Vlad 0 3.74 2006 The Secret (The Secret, #1)
author: Rhonda Byrne
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> Hiroshima 27323 152 John Hersey 0679721037 Vlad 0 to-read 4.02 1946 Hiroshima
author: John Hersey
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1946
rating: 0
read at:
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story]]> 18422 224 Ben Carson Vlad 0 4.14 1992 Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
author: Ben Carson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence]]> 13465 272 Ben Carson 0310269008 Vlad 0 4.18 1992 Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence
author: Ben Carson
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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]]> Brave New World 5129 Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machineâ€� (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New Worldd likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

"Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." —Chicago Tribune]]> 268 Aldous Huxley 0060929871 Vlad 0 to-read 3.99 1932 Brave New World
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1932
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/03
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]]> I, Robot (Robot, #0.1) 41804
I, ROBOT

They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on perhaps its greatest adventure: the invention of the first positronic man. It was a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities—and unforeseen risks. For the scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should ' remain programmed helpers, companions, and semisentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves; aware of their own intelligence, power, and humanity, aren't either.

As humans and robots struggle to survive together—and sometimes against each other—on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligences that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity obsolete?

In l, Robot Isaac Asimov changes forever our perception of robots, and human beings and updates the timeless myth of man's dream to play god. with all its rewards—and terrors.
--front flap]]> 224 Isaac Asimov 0553803700 Vlad 0 to-read 4.22 1950 I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.22
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]]> The Selfish Gene 61535 360 Richard Dawkins 0199291152 Vlad 0 to-read 4.15 1976 The Selfish Gene
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]]> 12609433
Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year.

An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees—how they approach worker safety—and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones.

What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.

They succeeded by transforming habits.

In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.

Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation’s largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death.

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work.

Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.]]> 375 Charles Duhigg 1400069289 Vlad 0 to-read 4.13 2012 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.13
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]]> The Iliad 1371
Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”]]> 614 Homer 0140275363 Vlad 0 to-read 3.88 -800 The Iliad
author: Homer
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.88
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]]> Lolita 7604 Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141182537.

Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Dolores Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.]]> 368 Vladimir Nabokov 0679723161 Vlad 0 3.87 1955 Lolita
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1955
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]]> If I Stay (If I Stay, #1) 4374400 208 Gayle Forman 0525421033 Vlad 0 3.92 2009 If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)
author: Gayle Forman
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
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]]> We Were Liars 16143347 A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.]]> 242 E. Lockhart 0385741278 Vlad 0 3.66 2014 We Were Liars
author: E. Lockhart
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
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]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human errorâ€� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills â€� and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit â€� he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Vlad 0 to-read 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
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]]> The Girl on the Train 22557272
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.]]> 336 Paula Hawkins 1594633665 Vlad 0 3.97 2015 The Girl on the Train
author: Paula Hawkins
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2015
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]]> Macbeth 8852
This shocking tragedy - a violent caution to those seeking power for its own sake - is, to this day, one of Shakespeare’s most popular and influential masterpieces.]]> 249 William Shakespeare 0743477103 Vlad 0 3.90 1623 Macbeth
author: William Shakespeare
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1623
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]]> Programming in Haskell 912217 184 Graham Hutton 0521692695 Vlad 0 4.02 2006 Programming in Haskell
author: Graham Hutton
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.02
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]]> Algorithms 10803540
The algorithms in this book represent a body of knowledge developed over the last 50 years that has become indispensable, not just for professional programmers and computer science students but for any student with interests in science, mathematics, and engineering, not to mention students who use computation in the liberal arts.

The companion web site, algs4.cs.princeton.edu contains An online synopsis Full Java implementations Test data Exercises and answers Dynamic visualizations Lecture slides Programming assignments with checklists Links to related material
The MOOC related to this book is accessible via the "Online Course" link at algs4.cs.princeton.edu. The course offers more than 100 video lecture segments that are integrated with the text, extensive online assessments, and the large-scale discussion forums that have proven so valuable. Offered each fall and spring, this course regularly attracts tens of thousands of registrants.

Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne are developing a modern approach to disseminating knowledge that fully embraces technology, enabling people all around the world to discover new ways of learning and teaching. By integrating their textbook, online content, and MOOC, all at the state of the art, they have built a unique resource that greatly expands the breadth and depth of the educational experience.]]> 976 Robert Sedgewick 032157351X Vlad 0 to-read 4.44 1983 Algorithms
author: Robert Sedgewick
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1983
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]]> <![CDATA[Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship]]> 3735293 Noted software expert Robert C. Martin presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship . Martin has teamed up with his colleagues from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning code on the fly into a book that will instill within you the values of a software craftsman and make you a better programmer but only if you work at it.
What kind of work will you be doing? You'll be reading code - lots of code. And you will be challenged to think about what's right about that code, and what's wrong with it. More importantly, you will be challenged to reassess your professional values and your commitment to your craft.
Clean Code is divided into three parts. The first describes the principles, patterns, and practices of writing clean code. The second part consists of several case studies of increasing complexity. Each case study is an exercise in cleaning up code - of transforming a code base that has some problems into one that is sound and efficient. The third part is the payoff: a single chapter containing a list of heuristics and "smells" gathered while creating the case studies. The result is a knowledge base that describes the way we think when we write, read, and clean code.
Readers will come away from this book understanding

� How to tell the difference between good and bad code
� How to write good code and how to transform bad code into good code
� How to create good names, good functions, good objects, and good classes
� How to format code for maximum readability
� How to implement complete error handling without obscuring code logic
� How to unit test and practice test-driven development

This book is a must for any developer, software engineer, project manager, team lead, or systems analyst with an interest in producing better code.]]> 464 Robert C. Martin 0132350882 Vlad 0 4.37 2007 Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
author: Robert C. Martin
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.37
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]]> The C Programming Language 515601
From the Preface:
We have tried to retain the brevity of the first edition. C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book. We have improved the exposition of critical features, such as pointers, that are central to C programming. We have refined the original examples, and have added new examples in several chapters. For instance, the treatment of complicated declarations is augmented by programs that convert declarations into words and vice versa. As before, all examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form.

As we said in the first preface to the first edition, C "wears well as one's experience with it grows." With a decade more experience, we still feel that way. We hope that this book will help you to learn C and use it well.

]]> 272 Brian W. Kernighan 0131103628 Vlad 0 4.44 1978 The C Programming Language
author: Brian W. Kernighan
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average rating: 4.44
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]]> How to Stop Time 35411685 “The first rule is that you don’t fall in love," he saidâ€�, "There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay."

A love story across the ages - and for the ages - about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live.

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history--performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

So Tom moves back his to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher--the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him.

But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.]]> 325 Matt Haig 0525522875 Vlad 0 to-read 3.77 2018 How to Stop Time
author: Matt Haig
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.77
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]]> Animal Farm 7613
The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones' Manor Farm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, describe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. Old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the animals � inspired by his philosophy of Animalism � plot a rebellion against Jones.

Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, prove themselves important figures and planners of this dangerous enterprise. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, the revolution occurs, and Jones and his men are chased off the farm. Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism are painted on the barn wall...]]> 129 George Orwell Vlad 0 to-read 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.90
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]]> The Little Prince 157993
Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince, presented here in a stunning new translation with carefully restored artwork. The definitive edition of a worldwide classic, it will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.]]> 96 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 0152023984 Vlad 0 4.32 1943 The Little Prince
author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1943
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]]> The Picture of Dorian Gray 5297
In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.]]> 272 Oscar Wilde Vlad 0 to-read 4.13 1890 The Picture of Dorian Gray
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.13
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]]> Carrie 10592
Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is...Carrie
--back cover]]> 272 Stephen King 1416524304 Vlad 0 to-read 4.00 1974 Carrie
author: Stephen King
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1974
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]]> The Great Gatsby 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Vlad 0 to-read 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
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]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, "To Kill A Mockingbird" takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Vlad 0 to-read 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
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]]> Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]> 279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Vlad 0 to-read 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice
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name: Vlad
average rating: 4.28
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]]> Wuthering Heights 6185 You can find the redesigned cover of this edition HERE.

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

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

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

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

A Chronology and updated Selected Bibliography are also included.]]> 464 Emily Brontë Vlad 0 to-read 3.89 1847 Wuthering Heights
author: Emily Brontë
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1847
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]]> The Trial 17690 The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.]]> 255 Franz Kafka Vlad 0 to-read 4.00 1925 The Trial
author: Franz Kafka
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1925
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]]> Tender Is the Night 46164 Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character, Tender Is the Night is lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative.]]> 430 F. Scott Fitzgerald Vlad 0 to-read 3.81 1934 Tender Is the Night
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1934
rating: 0
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]]> Arsenic and Old Lace 178599 104 Joseph Kesselring 0856761222 Vlad 0 to-read 4.14 1939 Arsenic and Old Lace
author: Joseph Kesselring
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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]]> All My Sons 179142
Winner of the Drama Critics' Award for Best New Play in 1947, All My Sons established Arthur Miller as a leading voice in the American theater. All My Sons introduced themes that thread through Miller's work as a whole: the relationship between fathers and sons, and the conflict between business and personal ethics.]]> 112 Arthur Miller 0141185465 Vlad 0 to-read 3.90 1947 All My Sons
author: Arthur Miller
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1947
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]]> Of Mice and Men 890 “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.â€�

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.]]> 107 John Steinbeck 0142000671 Vlad 0 to-read 3.88 1937 Of Mice and Men
author: John Steinbeck
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
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]]> <![CDATA[Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch]]> 12067
People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons â€� well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel â€� would quite like the Rapture not to happen.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist
]]> 491 Terry Pratchett Vlad 0 to-read 4.27 1990 Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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]]> The Brothers Karamazov 4934
This award-winning translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal inventiveness of Dostoevsky’s prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original. It is an achievement worthy of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel.]]> 796 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0374528373 Vlad 0 to-read 4.36 1880 The Brothers Karamazov
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1880
rating: 0
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]]> The Death of Ivan Ilych 18386
How, Tolstoy asks, does an unreflective man confront his one and only moment of truth?

This short novel was an artistic culmination of a profound spiritual crisis in Tolstoy's life, a nine-year period following the publication of Anna Karenina during which he wrote not a word of fiction.
A thoroughly absorbing, and, at times, terrifying glimpse into the abyss of death, it is also a strong testament to the possibility of finding spiritual salvation.]]> 86 Leo Tolstoy Vlad 0 to-read 4.12 1886 The Death of Ivan Ilych
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1886
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Vlad 0 to-read 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
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]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Vlad 0 to-read 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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]]> Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) 17212231 ‘Seek and ye shall find.â€�

With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings.

A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon’s knowledge of hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.

With only a few lines from Dante’s dark and epic masterpiece, The Inferno, to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the most celebrated artefacts of the Renaissance â€� sculptures, paintings, buildings â€� to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threatâ€�

Set against an extraordinary landscape inspired by one of history’s most ominous literary classics, Inferno is Dan Brown’s most compelling and thought-provoking novel yet, a breathless race-against-time thriller that will grab you from page one and not let you go until you close the book.]]> 463 Dan Brown 0385537859 Vlad 0 to-read 3.87 2013 Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2013
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]]> Digital Fortress 11125 This an alternate cover for 9780552151696

When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage...not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

From the underground hallways of power to the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the towering cathedrals of Spain, a desperate race unfolds. It is a battle for survival--a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius...an impregnable code-writing formula that threatens to obliterate the post-cold war balance of power. Forever.]]> 510 Dan Brown Vlad 0 to-read 3.70 1998 Digital Fortress
author: Dan Brown
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)]]> 6411961
Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object - gruesomely encoded with five symbols - is discovered at the epicentre of the Rotunda. It is, he recognises, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's revered mentor, Peter Solomon - philanthropist and prominent mason - is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons and follow wherever it leads him.

Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America's most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.

A brilliantly composed tapestry of veiled histories, arcane icons and enigmatic codes, The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced thriller that offers surprises at every turn. For, as Robert Langdon will discover, there is nothing more extraordinary or shocking than the secret which hides in plain sight...]]> 509 Dan Brown 0385504225 Vlad 0 to-read 3.75 2009 The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]> 489 Dan Brown Vlad 0 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)]]> 16331 288 Agatha Christie 1579126251 Vlad 0 to-read 4.07 1930 Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1930
rating: 0
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]]> And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Vlad 0 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Furthest Station (Rivers of London, #5.5)]]> 31626329
Enter PC Peter Grant junior member of the Metropolitan Police's Special Assessment unit AKA The Folly AKA the only police officers whose official duties include ghost hunting. Together with Jaget Kumar, his counterpart at the British Transport Police, he must brave the terrifying the crush of London's rush hour to find the source of the ghosts.

Joined by Peter's wannabe wizard cousin, a preschool river god and Toby the ghost hunting dog their investigation takes a darker tone as they realise that a real person's life might just be on the line.

And time is running out to save them.

With this new novella, bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch has crafted yet another wickedly funny and surprisingly affecting chapter in his beloved Rivers of London series.]]> 144 Ben Aaronovitch 1473222443 Vlad 0 to-read 4.05 2017 The Furthest Station (Rivers of London, #5.5)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Broken Homes (Rivers of London, #4)]]> 16078584
Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.

So far so London.

But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on a housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate.

Is there a connection?

And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?]]> 357 Ben Aaronovitch 0575132469 Vlad 0 to-read 4.13 2013 Broken Homes (Rivers of London, #4)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London, #5)]]> 20499240
Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what's more all the shops are closed by 4pm ...]]> 377 Ben Aaronovitch 0575132507 Vlad 0 to-read 4.16 2014 Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London, #5)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Whispers Under Ground (Rivers of London, #3)]]> 10814687
We found one.

And that was that, I thought come Monday. First case of the day: Person Unknown has been stabbed to death on the tracks at Baker Street Underground. Magic may have been involved. Sure enough, the weapon turns out to be saturated in the tell-tale traces left by magic.

But Person Unknown turns out to be the son of a US senator, so before you can say "international incident", FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds and her firmly held religious beliefs are on my case.

And down in the dark, in the Tube tunnels of London, along with the buried rivers and remnants of Victorian sewer systems, I'm hearing some really strange things...]]> 418 Ben Aaronovitch 0575097647 Vlad 0 to-read 4.12 2012 Whispers Under Ground (Rivers of London, #3)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London, #2)]]> 10381195 Body and Soul. The song. That's what London constable and sorcerer's apprentice Peter Grant first notices when he examines the corpse of Cyrus Wilkins, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho's 606 Club. The notes of the old jazz standard are rising from the body - a sure sign that something about the man's death was not at all natural but instead supernatural.

Body and soul - they're also what Peter will risk as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, and the assistance of beautiful jazz aficionado Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace - one that leads right to his own doorstep and to the squandered promise of a young jazz musician: a talented trumpet player named Richard "Lord" Grant - otherwise known as Peter's dear old dad.]]> 375 Ben Aaronovitch 0575097604 Vlad 0 to-read 4.05 2011 Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London, #2)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Vlad
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1)]]> 9317452 392 Ben Aaronovitch 0575097566 Vlad 0 to-read 3.83 2011 Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Vlad
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/09/03
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]]>