Tory S.'s bookshelf: read en-US Wed, 27 Nov 2024 04:20:10 -0800 60 Tory S.'s bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Tory S. 0 to-read 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> GNU Emacs Manual Version 20.7 7914991 Lay-flat binding 564 Richard M. Stallman 1882114078 Tory S. 4 nonfiction, textbooks, tech 4.00 1993 GNU Emacs Manual Version 20.7
author: Richard M. Stallman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2013/03/10
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves: nonfiction, textbooks, tech
review:

]]> The Order of Time 36442813
With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery, inviting us to imagine a world where time is in us and we are not in time.]]> 224 Carlo Rovelli 073521610X Tory S. 5 4.14 2017 The Order of Time
author: Carlo Rovelli
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/22
date added: 2021/09/22
shelves: history, philosophy, psychology, nonfiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)]]> 17347389 439 Maggie Stiefvater 0545424941 Tory S. 0 currently-reading 4.22 2013 The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions]]> 21413662 xkcd comic ask Munroe a lot of strange questions: What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by his signature xkcd comics. (They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.)

In celebration of 10 years of unusual insight, Randall Munroe has revised his classic blockbuster to ask what if? x 10. The result is 10x the adventure of scientific inquiry. Featuring brand-new 2-color annotations and illustrations, this special anniversary edition is far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read.]]> 303 Randall Munroe 0544272994 Tory S. 0 4.13 2014 What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
author: Randall Munroe
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Doctor Who: Time Lord Fairytales]]> 25361904
Fifteen tales of ancient wonder and mystery, passed down through generations of Time Lords.

Dark, beautiful and twisted, these stories are filled with nightmarish terrors and heroic triumphs, from across all of time and space.]]> 260 Justin Richards 1405920025 Tory S. 4 3.88 2015 Doctor Who: Time Lord Fairytales
author: Justin Richards
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/10
date added: 2021/09/10
shelves:
review:
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this to my kids! A first time reading a real bed time story book to them.
]]> <![CDATA[Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)]]> 9969571 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

IN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win〞and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.]]> 480 Ernest Cline 030788743X Tory S. 4 fantasy, sci-fi 4.21 2011 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)
author: Ernest Cline
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/08/26
shelves: fantasy, sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4)]]> 49021976 The eagerly awaited sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson

After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar's crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.

Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin's scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition＊s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.]]> 1232 Brandon Sanderson 0765326388 Tory S. 5 fantasy 4.58 2020 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/05/01
date added: 2021/05/01
shelves: fantasy
review:
The first of this series I've given the full five-stars to; with this epic fantasy, reaching almost Russian-lit levels of scope, Brandon is actually finding a way to bring it all together. He combines his characteristically gripping cinematic action sequences (the "war" in the title is definitely not incidental) with philosophical musings and, in what truly wins the 5th star from me, principles of redemption, grief, and acceptance -- all while beginning to stitch together his ambitious "cosmere" in which the worlds of several of his series share a universe.
]]> <![CDATA[Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)]]> 34002132 Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance.

Dalinar Kholin's Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.

Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realizes that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar's blood-soaked past and stand together--and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past--even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.]]> 1248 Brandon Sanderson Tory S. 4 fantasy 4.60 2017 Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/19
date added: 2021/04/19
shelves: fantasy
review:
I am finally coming around to some others' critiques: it is starting to get TOO big and disparate, with many parallel story lines running in different timelines. However, Brandon is doing an interesting job of pulling it all together, including introducing bridges to his other works in his Cosmere.
]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)]]> 136251
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.]]> 759 J.K. Rowling Tory S. 4 fantasy 4.61 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/04/02
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5)]]> 34703445 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, a special gift edition of Edgedancer, a short novel of the Stormlight Archive.

Three years ago, Lift asked a goddess to stop her from growing older--a wish she believed was granted. Now, in Edgedancer, the barely teenage nascent Knight Radiant finds that time stands still for no one. Although the young Azish emperor granted her safe haven from an executioner she knows only as Darkness, court life is suffocating the free-spirited Lift, who can't help heading to Yeddaw when she hears the relentless Darkness is there hunting people like her with budding powers. The downtrodden in Yeddaw have no champion, and Lift knows she must seize this awesome responsibility.

]]> 272 Brandon Sanderson 1250166543 Tory S. 4 fantasy, children-s Brandon Sanderson Reckoner's Series, Mitosis. The character is a fun rascal that my daughter would love to read, stealing pancakes, indulging in some potty-humor, and saving people from the bad-guys. At the same time, Sanderson is smartly laying ground-work for future books and more in the Stormlight Archives.

A little juvenile? Sure. Relevant to the epic series? Yep. Worth enjoying? Definitely.]]> 4.14 2016 Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/01
date added: 2021/04/01
shelves: fantasy, children-s
review:
A fun little romp, something like the short-story interim in Brandon Sanderson Reckoner's Series, Mitosis. The character is a fun rascal that my daughter would love to read, stealing pancakes, indulging in some potty-humor, and saving people from the bad-guys. At the same time, Sanderson is smartly laying ground-work for future books and more in the Stormlight Archives.

A little juvenile? Sure. Relevant to the epic series? Yep. Worth enjoying? Definitely.
]]> <![CDATA[Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)]]> 17332218 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance, Book Two of the Stormlight Archive, continues the immersive fantasy epic that The Way of Kings began.

Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status "darkeyes." Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.

The Assassin, Szeth, is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin's master has much deeper motives.

Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable.]]> 1088 Brandon Sanderson 0765326361 Tory S. 4 fantasy 4.76 2014 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.76
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2021/03/31
date added: 2021/03/31
shelves: fantasy
review:
A fun continuation of the Stormlight series. Things continue to grow more dire and more epic and, like the best games (and popular anime), general power-level is steadily increasing.
]]> Learn Clojurescript 53869715 Andrew Stephen Meredith Tory S. 0 to-read 5.00 Learn Clojurescript
author: Andrew Stephen Meredith
name: Tory S.
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Warden's Daughter 30760299 From Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee, Stargirl) comes the "moving and memorable" (Kirkus Reviews, starred) story of a girl searching for happiness inside the walls of a prison. Cammie O'Reilly lives at the Hancock County Prison--not as a prisoner, she's the warden's daughter. She spends the mornings hanging out with shoplifters and reformed arsonists in the women's excercise yard, which gives Cammie a certain cache with her school friends.But even though Cammie's free to leave the prison, she's still stuck. And sad, and really mad. Her mother died saving her from harm when she was just a baby. You wouldn't think you could miss something you never had, but on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, the thing Cammie most wants is a mom. A prison might not be the best place to search for a mother, but Cammie is determined and she's willing to work with what she's got."Jerry Spinelli again proves why he's the king of storytellers" (Shelf Awarenss, starred) in this tale of a girl who learns that heroes can come in surprising disguises, and that even if we don't always get what we want, sometimes we really do get what we need."This book is never boring and never predictable. Fame, good and bad fortune, friendship and mental illness all make their way into [Cammie's] narrative."--The New York Times Book ReviewPraise for the works of Jerry "Spinelli is a poet of the prepubescent. . . . No writer guides his young characters, and his readers, past these pitfalls and challenges and toward their futures with more compassion." --The New York Times"It's almost unreal how much the children's book still resonates." --Bustle.com on Maniac Magee]]> 0 Jerry Spinelli 1524721115 Tory S. 4 teenage-profound 3.68 2017 The Warden's Daughter
author: Jerry Spinelli
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2021/03/10
date added: 2021/03/10
shelves: teenage-profound
review:
A fine book, worthy of the Newberry. A strange situation, being in a prison warden's home. It is a compliment to this type of book that it is incompatible with speed-listening; the emotion is too nuanced, and the relationships too faceted, to take in at high-speed. I found the intensity of the blooming teenage emotions to be hard to stomach in their bitterness and fury, but the book was remarkable for the high energy level it maintains for the bulk of the story. It is, indeed, a very hard summer for Cammy, and it is a privilege to live through by proxy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)]]> 7235533 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.]]> 1007 Brandon Sanderson 0765326353 Tory S. 4 4.66 2010 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Walkaway 40604388
Hubert Vernon Rudolph Clayton Irving Wilson Alva Anton Jeff Harley Timothy Curtis Cleveland Cecil Ollie Edmund Eli Wiley Marvin Ellis Espinoza〞known to his friends as Hubert, Etc〞was too old to be at that Communist party.

But after watching the breakdown of modern society, he really has no where left to be〞except amongst the dregs of disaffected youth who party all night and heap scorn on the sheep they see on the morning commute. After falling in with Natalie, an ultra-rich heiress trying to escape the clutches of her repressive father, the two decide to give up fully on formal society〞and walk away.

After all, now that anyone can design and print the basic necessities of life〞food, clothing, shelter〞from a computer, there seems to be little reason to toil within the system.

It＊s still a dangerous world out there, the empty lands wrecked by climate change, dead cities hollowed out by industrial flight, shadows hiding predators animal and human alike. Still, when the initial pioneer walkaways flourish, more people join them. Then the walkaways discover the one thing the ultra-rich have never been able to buy: how to beat death. Now it＊s war 每 a war that will turn the world upside down.

Fascinating, moving, and darkly humorous, Walkaway is a multi-generation science fiction thriller about the wrenching changes of the next hundred years＃and the very human people who will live their consequences.]]> 384 Cory Doctorow Tory S. 0 to-read 3.76 2017 Walkaway
author: Cory Doctorow
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Humankind: A Hopeful History 53406646
Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.

In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world's most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think 每 and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.

It is time for a new view of human nature.]]> 496 Rutger Bregman 1408898942 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.36 2019 Humankind: A Hopeful History
author: Rutger Bregman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Anna Karenina 151
?Nos cap赤tulos iniciais de Anna Kar谷nina, somos conduzidos, uma e outra vez, a um sentido de analogia musical. H芍 efeitos de contraponto e harmonia no desenvolvimento das principais tramas do ※prel迆dio Oblonski§ (o acidente na esta??o ferrovi芍ria, a zombadora discuss?o sobre o div車rcio entre Vronski e a baronesa Chilton, o deslumbramento do fogo vermelho diante dos olhos de Anna). O m谷todo de Tolstoi 谷 polif車nico; mas as harmonias principais desen- volvem-se com uma tremenda for?a e amplitude. As t谷cnicas musicais e lingu赤sticas n?o podem comparar-se de um modo exato. Mas como poder赤amos elucidar de outro modo o sentimento de que as novelas de Tolstoi surgem de um princ赤pio interior de ordem e vitalidade, enquanto as dos escritores menos importantes parecem alinhavadas??

?Anna Kar谷nina morre no mundo do romance; mas cada vez que lemos o livro ela ressuscita, e mesmo depois de o termos acabado adquire outra vida na nossa recorda??o. Em cada personagem liter芍ria existe algo da F谷nix imortal. Atrav谷s das vidas perdur芍veis das suas personagens, a pr車pria exist那ncia de Tolstoi teve a sua eternidade.? [George Steiner, Tolstoi ou Dostoievski]]]> 838 Leo Tolstoy 0143035002 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.11 1878 Anna Karenina
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1878
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lord of the Rings the Complete Trilogy (Lord of the Rings Trilogy)]]> 3619846 The Lord of the Rings stars Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier and Peter Woodthorpe. This box set contains all three parts of the epic tale - The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him the Rings of Power - the means by which he will be able to rule the world. All he lacks in his plan for domination is the Ruling Ring, which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Frodo Baggins... Brian Sibley, one of the original dramatists, has written new opening and closing narration for the character of Frodo, played by Ian Holm. This collection also includes a bonus CD featuring Stephen Oliver's complete musical score, and a demo version of 'Bilbo's Last Song'.

13 CDs. 13 hrs 15 mins.]]> J.R.R. Tolkien 0563496142 Tory S. 5 fantasy
I was happy to learn that much of the music is performed by the Ambrosian Singers, who I have loved (I refuse to blush about this) since hearing the music to the musical Chess. Even those pieces not performed by them are memorable; the film version mumbling of "The Road Goes Ever On and On" is a shaded memory hearkening to a younger Ian Holms handling the fine tune on these albums.

Some of those who have loved the action scenes of LOTR, be it in imagination or film, have expressed disappointment in the audio; fair enough. But Tolkien has made an epic of epics that transcends action alone, and anything disappointing in the fight with Shelob, for instance, is more than made up for in that inducer of my childhood nightmares as the hobbits slosh through the Swamp of the Dead, or the valiant glory of Aragorn humbly but strongly leading humanity's hope. ]]> 4.38 1987 The Lord of the Rings the Complete Trilogy (Lord of the Rings Trilogy)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/07/24
shelves: fantasy
review:
Having heard this a dozen times growing up, a favorite bed-time story, the masterful voice acting still delights me when I encounter a film with a voice I recognize (which isn't that rare, considering some of the cream of the BBC crop in this). Though I love the movies, I find myself disappointed when at times it falls short of the expectations of this masterpiece; a line is delivered with less fervor or, most of all, the music and poetry which, in snippets, makes this piece so exceptional is nowhere to be found. While you're at it, be sure to get yourself the version with the CD of just the music, as that is a treasure of its own.

I was happy to learn that much of the music is performed by the Ambrosian Singers, who I have loved (I refuse to blush about this) since hearing the music to the musical Chess. Even those pieces not performed by them are memorable; the film version mumbling of "The Road Goes Ever On and On" is a shaded memory hearkening to a younger Ian Holms handling the fine tune on these albums.

Some of those who have loved the action scenes of LOTR, be it in imagination or film, have expressed disappointment in the audio; fair enough. But Tolkien has made an epic of epics that transcends action alone, and anything disappointing in the fight with Shelob, for instance, is more than made up for in that inducer of my childhood nightmares as the hobbits slosh through the Swamp of the Dead, or the valiant glory of Aragorn humbly but strongly leading humanity's hope.
]]> <![CDATA[Off Balance on Purpose: Embrace Uncertainty and Create a Life You Love]]> 6758353 ''Dan Thurmon is a masterful performer and communicator. His book is a classic, providing great advice to help you simultaneously fuel your work life, your family life, and your personal life. Read it now!''
-- Jeffrey Gitomer , New York Times bestselling author of Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude and Little Red Book of Selling ''Dan Thurmon is right on. Any important endeavor will sometimes take you off balance in order to learn or grow. This book shows you how to do that while staying connected to the most important aspects of life.''
-- Chris Widener , New York Times bestselling author of The Angel Inside and The Art of Influence ''Dan offers an extremely refreshing perspective and innovative approach on how to deal with life's many challenges. His inspiring philosophy will help propel many individuals and organizations to new heights!''
-- Dr. John Affleck Graves , executive vice president, University of Notre Dame ''An inspiring and illuminating work. This book delivers clarity about how to integrate pursuits related to work, relationships, health, spiritual growth, and personal interests in new and powerful ways. Dan Thurmon is a master at motivation and education.''
-- Dr. Nido Qubein , president, High Point University, chairman, Great Harvest Bread Co. ''Refreshing, thoughtful, and practical! In the effort to find 'balance' in our lives, we more often find increased stress, guilt, and regret. This book will free you from that burden and provide a more fun, less stressful, and more meaningful path to fulfillment.''
-- Mimi Taylor , vice president and CIO, Baptist Health]]> 238 Dan Thurmon 1608320146 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.73 2009 Off Balance on Purpose: Embrace Uncertainty and Create a Life You Love
author: Dan Thurmon
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation]]> 106024 264 Hayden White 0801841151 Tory S. 3 narrative, nonfiction 4.04 1987 The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation
author: Hayden White
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2020/06/16
date added: 2020/06/16
shelves: narrative, nonfiction
review:
Primarily concerned with history vs. narrative, with narrative as the legitimizing force in the question of narrative's bearing on reality. In representation of reality, historical discourse (whether or not it manages to qualify as discourse) is insufficient if lacking narrative dimension.
]]> The Storyteller 27206454
Long, long ago, like a pearl around a grain of sand, the Kingdom of Morocco formed at the edge of the great, dry Sahara. It had fountains of cool, refreshing water to quench the thirst of the desert, and storytellers to bring the people together.

But as the kingdom grew, the people forgot the dangers of the desert, and they forgot about the storytellers, too. All but one young boy, who came to the Great Square for a drink and found something that quenched his thirst even wonderful stories. As he listened to the last storyteller recount the Endless Drought, and the Glorious Blue Water Bird, he discovered the power of a tale well told.

Acclaimed illustrator Evan Turk has created a stunning multidimensional story within a story that will captivate the imagination and inspire a new generation of young storytellers.]]> 48 Evan Turk 1481435183 Tory S. 4 4.04 2016 The Storyteller
author: Evan Turk
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/04/16
shelves: fun-with-the-kids, sublime-children-s
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: (A Heartwarming Tale of a China Rabbit's Quest for Love & Belonging - A Middle-Grade Chapter Book for Kids Ages 7-10 in Grades 2-5)]]> 37186
Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.

Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle 〞 that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.]]> 228 Kate DiCamillo 0763625892 Tory S. 3 4.38 2006 The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: (A Heartwarming Tale of a China Rabbit's Quest for Love & Belonging - A Middle-Grade Chapter Book for Kids Ages 7-10 in Grades 2-5)
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/04/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Homo Narrans: The Poetics and Anthropology of Oral Literature]]> 36229
In Homo Narrans John D. Niles explores how human beings shape their world through the stories they tell. This book vividly weaves together the study of Anglo-Saxon literature and culture with the author's own engagements in the field with some of the greatest twentieth-century singers and storytellers in the Scottish tradition. Niles ponders the nature of the storytelling impulse, the social function of narrative, and the role of individual talent in oral tradition. His investigation of the poetics of oral narrative encompasses literary works that we know only through written text but that are grounded in oral technique--works such as the epic poems and hymns of early Greece, Beowulf, and the tales of the Grimm brothers.

That all forms of narrative, even the most sophisticated genres of contemporary fiction, have their ultimate origin in storytelling is a point that scarcely needs to be argued. Niles's claims here are more that oral narrative is and has long been the chief basis of culture itself, that the need to tell stories is what distinguishes humans from all other living creatures.]]> 296 John D. Niles 0812235045 Tory S. 3 nonfiction, language 4.17 1999 Homo Narrans: The Poetics and Anthropology of Oral Literature
author: John D. Niles
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2020/02/28
date added: 2020/03/02
shelves: nonfiction, language
review:
Some compelling ideas on narrativity being at the core of our humanity and moreover that storytelling is the source of all society. The book is heavily concerned with poetics and details of the performance, so highly sociological and only nods a little to narratology as a very different field of study.
]]> <![CDATA[The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963]]> 108077 The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 , celebrates 20 years with this anniversary edition featuring a special letter from Christopher Paul Curtis and an introduction by noted educator Dr. Pauletta Bracy.
Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They're heading South to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America's history.]]> 224 Christopher Paul Curtis 044022800X Tory S. 5
Great as the story is on its own merit, it is made all the better by Levar Burton's sometimes soothing, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering reading of the audio.]]> 4.00 1995 The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
author: Christopher Paul Curtis
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2020/02/10
date added: 2020/02/10
shelves: sublime-children-s, teenage-profound
review:
After watching Selma together my favorite librarian suddenly remembered this book to recommend. She described Christopher Paul Curtis as a Gary Schmidt-like author (another of our absolute favorites), and he certainly displayed that same ability to transport the reader into the inner life of a child, this one being Kenny, a middle-child of a Michigan-living African American family in 1963 America. The first portion of the book consists of getting to know each member of the family before the big brother, "juvenile delinquent" (ie. teenager) Byron, goes a few steps too far. The whole family takes a road-trip vacation to Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama. In the short amount of the story remaining Curtis tells the story with a powerful one-two punch. The jab establishes a dramatic groundwork that could have been an end to the story itself. Then comes the hook, building on that groundwork with a follow-up that took my breath away as it drew together the reality of the characters Curtis has written us with the stunning finality of history -- and then, in marvelous denouement, healing is made possible through pain, uncertainty, and a definite touch of inspiration.

Great as the story is on its own merit, it is made all the better by Levar Burton's sometimes soothing, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering reading of the audio.
]]> <![CDATA[Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1)]]> 1554
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex has never been surpassed for the raw and terrible power with which its hero struggles to answer the eternal question, "Who am I?" The play, a story of a king who acting entirely in ignorance kills his father and marries his mother, unfolds with shattering power; we are helplessly carried along with Oedipus towards the final, horrific truth.

To make Oedipus more accessible for the modern reader, our Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classics includes a glossary of the more difficult words, as well as convenient sidebar notes to enlighten the reader on aspects that may be confusing or overlooked. We hope that the reader may, through this edition, more fully enjoy the beauty of the verse, the wisdom of the insights, and the impact of the drama.]]> 75 Sophocles 1580495931 Tory S. 0 3.73 -429 Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1)
author: Sophocles
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.73
book published: -429
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Tao Te Ching 67896 A lucid translation of the well-known Taoist classic by a leading scholar-now in a Shambhala Pocket Library edition.

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching, or -The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, - is one of the true classics of the world of spiritual literature.

Traditionally attributed to the legendary -Old Master, - Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching teaches that the qualities of the enlightened sage or ideal ruler are identical with those of the perfected individual.

Today, Lao Tzu's words are as useful in mastering the arts of leadership in business and politics as they are in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life. To follow the Tao or Way of all things and realize their true nature is to embody humility, spontaneity, and generosity.

John C. H. Wu has done a remarkable job of rendering this subtle text into English while retaining the freshness and depth of the original. A jurist and scholar, Dr. Wu was a recognized authority on Taoism and the translator of several Taoist and Zen texts and of Chinese poetry.

This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts.

The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.]]> 107 Lao Tzu 0679724346 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.29 -350 Tao Te Ching
author: Lao Tzu
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.29
book published: -350
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Once and Future King 43545 639 T.H. White 0441627404 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.07 1958 The Once and Future King
author: T.H. White
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel Annotated & Explained]]> 368200
The Secret Book of John is the most significant and influential text of the ancient Gnostic religion. Part of the library of books found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, this central myth of Gnosticism tells the story of how God fell from perfect Oneness to imprisonment in the material world, and how by knowing our divine nature and our divine origins that we are one with God we reverse God's descent and find our salvation.

The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel Annotated & Explained decodes the principal themes, historical foundation, and spiritual contexts of this challenging yet fundamental Gnostic teaching. Drawing connections to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, kabbalistic Judaism, and Sufism, Davies focuses on the mythology and psychology of the Gnostic religious quest. He illuminates the Gnostics' ardent call for self-awareness and introspection, and the empowering message that divine wholeness will be restored not by worshiping false gods in an illusory material world but by our recognition of the inherent divinity within ourselves.

Now you can experience and understand this foundational teaching even if you have no previous knowledge of Gnosticism. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the most important and valued book in Gnostic religion with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary. It provides deeper insight into the understanding that in Gnosticism the distinction between savior and saved ceases to exist you must save yourself and in doing so save God."]]> 208 Stevan L. Davies 1594730822 Tory S. 4
Gnosticism as presented here has fascinating ideas and, in some ways, great explanatory power. By comparison to mythologies you are more familiar with, about impassioned superheroes, for instance, Gnosticism is complex and rich.

A failing I did pick up in this book was that the commentary acts under the assumption that Gnosticism is one unified religion with a consider set of doctrines. This is misleading, since Gnosticism is extremely varied. In terms of reconciling the explanatory power of the Gnostic interpretations with my own Christian faith, there are two possibilities: Gnosticism had some deep truths that clear up biblical confusion, or Gnosticism has been so closely intertwined with Christian history that it was able to insert itself into the biblical texts and cause the problems it solves.

In any case, this book and the philosophies it introduces are fascinating and, in my mind, worth the reading. Complex, different, yet relevant, I recommend The Secret Gospel of John.]]> 4.27 2011 The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel Annotated & Explained
author: Stevan L. Davies
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/01/31
shelves: faith, fantasy, philosophy, psychology
review:
A fascinating read displaying the complex ideas of the Gnostic philosophy, making it probably as approachable as anything can. The Gnostic faith is complex and very different from most mythologies you've heard. of particular interest to me was the approach it takes to the creation--asserting a spiritual creation before the physical, the divine spark in all humans, the eternal nature of companions, etc. it also turns the creation of Genesis on its head, keeping the events but reversing the roles. The "devil" is the creator and Jesus the serpent!

Gnosticism as presented here has fascinating ideas and, in some ways, great explanatory power. By comparison to mythologies you are more familiar with, about impassioned superheroes, for instance, Gnosticism is complex and rich.

A failing I did pick up in this book was that the commentary acts under the assumption that Gnosticism is one unified religion with a consider set of doctrines. This is misleading, since Gnosticism is extremely varied. In terms of reconciling the explanatory power of the Gnostic interpretations with my own Christian faith, there are two possibilities: Gnosticism had some deep truths that clear up biblical confusion, or Gnosticism has been so closely intertwined with Christian history that it was able to insert itself into the biblical texts and cause the problems it solves.

In any case, this book and the philosophies it introduces are fascinating and, in my mind, worth the reading. Complex, different, yet relevant, I recommend The Secret Gospel of John.
]]> <![CDATA[Healing the Shame that Binds You]]> 98399
Shame is the motivator behind our toxic behaviors: the compulsion, co-dependency, addiction and drive to superachieve that breaks down the family and destroys personal lives. This book has helped millions identify their personal shame, understand the underlying reasons for it, address these root causes and release themselves from the shame that binds them to their past failures.

Key Features]]> 316 John Bradshaw 0757303234 Tory S. 4
Healthy shame is the psychoilogical foundation of humility. It is the source of spirituality. - p. vii

During the course of the book the author considers shame as the underpinnings to a host of issues from the interpersonal to the intensely, dismally personal; the suggestion might be that toxic shame is at the root of almost all psychological issues. He embraces and extends such established successes as 12-Step programs, though he also refers favorably to dubius programs like Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) and a few other pop-psychology ideas that might have more of popularity than proof.

I particularly enjoyed the concluding chapters that focused on the role of shame in relationships. The book examines the means by which I can identify negative components of my previous marriage and confront those present in my marriages. What to me was the coup de gr?ce that I'd been waiting for to give this a stamp of approval to my spiritual sensibilities was the conclusion in which Bradshaw discusses service. Enacting service, he points out, is the inevitable result of becoming a fully realized individual, and for this reason is the concluding step of 12-step programs: upon balancing of the self, the desire is to share with and serve others in ways that can help them achieve the same. Had the book failed to conclude on this point I would likely have finished reading on a note of disappointment and skepticism. Instead, I can recommend this book generally to anyone interested in self-improvement, concepts of humility and self-confidence, and improving understanding of the struggles of themselves and others around them (especially understanding the addicted and the self-deprecating).]]> 4.09 1988 Healing the Shame that Binds You
author: John Bradshaw
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2020/01/15
date added: 2020/01/15
shelves: personal-improvement, psychology, relationships
review:
This review is of the 1988 edition. A thought-provoking read in which John Bradshaw introduces some valuable concepts and terminology. It is centrally concerned with one's relationship with themself, wherein lies the defining characteristics that can be healthy or toxic shame. In my religious parlance it is concerned with humility, what Bradshaw calls healthy shame:

Healthy shame is the psychoilogical foundation of humility. It is the source of spirituality. - p. vii

During the course of the book the author considers shame as the underpinnings to a host of issues from the interpersonal to the intensely, dismally personal; the suggestion might be that toxic shame is at the root of almost all psychological issues. He embraces and extends such established successes as 12-Step programs, though he also refers favorably to dubius programs like Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) and a few other pop-psychology ideas that might have more of popularity than proof.

I particularly enjoyed the concluding chapters that focused on the role of shame in relationships. The book examines the means by which I can identify negative components of my previous marriage and confront those present in my marriages. What to me was the coup de gr?ce that I'd been waiting for to give this a stamp of approval to my spiritual sensibilities was the conclusion in which Bradshaw discusses service. Enacting service, he points out, is the inevitable result of becoming a fully realized individual, and for this reason is the concluding step of 12-step programs: upon balancing of the self, the desire is to share with and serve others in ways that can help them achieve the same. Had the book failed to conclude on this point I would likely have finished reading on a note of disappointment and skepticism. Instead, I can recommend this book generally to anyone interested in self-improvement, concepts of humility and self-confidence, and improving understanding of the struggles of themselves and others around them (especially understanding the addicted and the self-deprecating).
]]> <![CDATA[Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]> 2389938 434 108543401X Tory S. 5 religion 4.65 Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/12/31
shelves: religion
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]]> 2139442 295 1432624806 Tory S. 5 religion 4.56 1835 The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.56
book published: 1835
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/12/31
shelves: religion
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Standard of Truth: 1815每1846 (Saints, #1)]]> 40886652
But opposition and violence follow those who defy old traditions to embrace restored truths. The women and men who join the church must choose whether or not they will stay true to their covenants, establish Zion, and proclaim the gospel to a troubled world.

The Standard of Truth is the first book in Saints, a new, four-volume narrative history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fast-paced, meticulously researched, Saints recounts true stories of Latter-day Saints across the globe and answers the Lord＊s call to write history ※for the good of the church, and for the rising generations§ (Doctrine and Covenants 69:8).]]> 699 1629737100 Tory S. 4 history, religion 4.55 2018 The Standard of Truth: 1815每1846 (Saints, #1)
author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/11/01
date added: 2019/12/31
shelves: history, religion
review:
A nice look at the early history of the church, surprising me with its approach to several of the difficult topics of this portion of church history (polygamy, Dannites, Joseph's presidential campaign, Joseph's efforts through fractured friendships) as well as appealing to some modern hot-topics such as POC and extra attention to the women who defined bedrock facets of the origin of the church. The book demonstrated impressive transparency that usually didn't come across as preachy or propagandized at all. The narrative writing style is a notable improvement over the chronologies of some previous church accounts, and is much more palatable. Although not a masterpiece of English writing, it was informative without being too dry. The reader on the free Gospel Library app was also just fine.
]]> <![CDATA[Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price]]> 747061 1310 1592975038 Tory S. 5 4.33 1950 Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price
author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What Is Marriage?: Man and Woman: A Defense]]> 13236267
Originally published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy , this book's core argument quickly became the year's most widely read essay on the most prominent scholarly network in the social sciences. Since then, it has been cited and debated by scholars and activists throughout the world as the most formidable defense of the tradition ever written. Now revamped, expanded, and vastly enhanced, What Is Marriage? stands poised to meet its moment as few books of this generation have.

Rhodes Scholar Sherif Girgis, Heritage Foundation Fellow Ryan T. Anderson, and Princeton Professor Robert P. George offer a devastating critique of the idea that equality requires redefining marriage. They show why both sides must first answer the question of what marriage really is . They defend the principle that marriage, as a comprehensive union of mind and body ordered to family life, unites a man and a woman as husband and wife, and they document the social value of applying this principle in law.

Most compellingly, they show that those who embrace same-sex civil marriage leave no firm ground--none--for not recognizing every relationship describable in polite English, including polyamorous sexual unions, and that enshrining their view would further erode the norms of marriage, and hence the common good.

Finally, What Is Marriage? decisively answers common objections: that the historic view is rooted in bigotry, like laws forbidding interracial marriage; that it is callous to people's needs; that it can't show the harm of recognizing same-sex couplings, or the point of recognizing infertile ones; and that it treats a mere "social construct" as if it were natural, or an unreasoned religious view as if it were rational.

If the marriage debate in America is decided soon, it will be with this book's help or despite its powerful arguments.]]> 133 Sherif Girgis 1594036225 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.12 2012 What Is Marriage?: Man and Woman: A Defense
author: Sherif Girgis
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Secular Translations: Nation-State, Modern Self, and Calculative Reason]]> 40215831 225 Talal Asad 0231548591 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.28 2018 Secular Translations: Nation-State, Modern Self, and Calculative Reason
author: Talal Asad
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/12/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Much Ado About Nothing 12957 Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid.]]> 249 William Shakespeare Tory S. 5 classics 4.06 1598 Much Ado About Nothing
author: William Shakespeare
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1598
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/12/07
shelves: classics
review:
As a big fan of the Branaugh film, it's even more hilarious after digesting this masterpiece.
]]> <![CDATA[What Stories Are: Narrative Theory and Interpretation]]> 1993855 232 Thomas M. Leitch 0271004312 Tory S. 4
My critiques first: being written many years before the concept of cognitive narrative would be a term, I still wish he would have more carefully considered the difference between narrative (narrated) and story (the inchoate form that exists before mediation and narration).

The treatment the book offers would have been wonderfully aware of new media in 1986, discussing soap operas ("narratives without an ending") and classic films. I spent several chapters imagining how interesting would be inclusion of modern film, show series, and video games. I also especially enjoyed the chapter on character, in which he insightfully addresses that story characters are NOT people.

Although Leitch doesn't quite manage to answer his title question in a clear fashion, he illustrates that narratives are often about the experiencing of them. The experience of this book was likewise very worthwhile.]]> 3.33 1986 What Stories Are: Narrative Theory and Interpretation
author: Thomas M. Leitch
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at: 2019/12/07
date added: 2019/12/07
shelves:
review:
Fine treatment of the ambitious task of defining "story," considering literary, Cinema, and theatric media. Leitch clearly lays out many of the challenges, including with the fiction/non-fiction vagueries, as well as teleographic (having a designed message or point) vs discursive (having a tendency toward continuing indefinitely), and described stories as being definitively concerned with the struggle between these two opposites.

My critiques first: being written many years before the concept of cognitive narrative would be a term, I still wish he would have more carefully considered the difference between narrative (narrated) and story (the inchoate form that exists before mediation and narration).

The treatment the book offers would have been wonderfully aware of new media in 1986, discussing soap operas ("narratives without an ending") and classic films. I spent several chapters imagining how interesting would be inclusion of modern film, show series, and video games. I also especially enjoyed the chapter on character, in which he insightfully addresses that story characters are NOT people.

Although Leitch doesn't quite manage to answer his title question in a clear fashion, he illustrates that narratives are often about the experiencing of them. The experience of this book was likewise very worthwhile.
]]> The Essential Iliad 1378 224 Homer 0872205428 Tory S. 3 classics 4.00 -800 The Essential Iliad
author: Homer
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.00
book published: -800
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/10/11
shelves: classics
review:

]]> Cinder Edna 434076 32 Ellen Jackson 0688162959 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.15 1994 Cinder Edna
author: Ellen Jackson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Caine Mutiny 368772 The Caine Mutiny and the hit Broadway play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life-and mutiny-on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater was immediately embraced, upon its original publication in 1951, as one of the first serious works of American fiction to grapple with the moral complexities and the human consequences of World War II. In the intervening half century, The Caine Mutiny has become a perennial favorite of readers young and old, has sold millions of copies throughout the world, and has achieved the status of a modern classic.]]> 537 Herman Wouk 0316955108 Tory S. 4 4.26 1951 The Caine Mutiny
author: Herman Wouk
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/09/16
shelves:
review:
I can't give it 5 because it's been so long since I read it and I don't remember everything but I remember liking it, which says a lot
]]> Orange Is the New Black 6314763 322 Piper Kerman 0385523386 Tory S. 3 3.71 2010 Orange Is the New Black
author: Piper Kerman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2019/09/06
date added: 2019/09/06
shelves:
review:
I was hesitant because of the HBO series based on it, which I have no desire to see. However, as long as you can tolerate (for prison, a rather expected amount) of bad language, I found it an insightful jump into a completely different world that exists under our noses as a blight on society -- yet, any statement-making by Kerman is blended with an optimistic message about the goodness of people even in the worst of situations, even when many other people are sadistic, stupid, or crazy.
]]> Pay Attention, Carter Jones 37763409
In addition to figuring out middle school, Carter has to adjust to the unwelcome presence of this new know-it-all adult in his life and navigate the butler's notions of decorum. And ultimately, when his burden of grief and anger from the past can no longer be ignored, Carter learns that a burden becomes lighter when it is shared.]]> Gary D. Schmidt Tory S. 4 teenage-profound 4.06 2019 Pay Attention, Carter Jones
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/08/23
date added: 2019/08/27
shelves: teenage-profound
review:
Another triumph from Gary Schmidt, seeming to me somewhat lighter than some of his eithers. Something of a cross between Jeeves and the first part of Yours, Mine, and Ours, it was a delightful read even when it did turn to the serious stuff. I'm eager to learn Cricket now.
]]> Gone with the Wind 18405 1037 Margaret Mitchell 0446365386 Tory S. 4 classics 4.30 1936 Gone with the Wind
author: Margaret Mitchell
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1936
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/08/18
shelves: classics
review:

]]> The Scarlet Letter 12296 279 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0142437263 Tory S. 3 classics 3.43 1850 The Scarlet Letter
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1850
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/08/18
shelves: classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dear Girl: A Celebration of Wonderful, Smart, Beautiful You!]]> 34605803 40 Amy Krouse Rosenthal 0062422502 Tory S. 5 sublime-children-s 4.57 2017 Dear Girl: A Celebration of Wonderful, Smart, Beautiful You!
author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/08/18
shelves: sublime-children-s
review:
We were already fans is Rosenthal, but this meaningful message combined with signature Amy and being completed after her death with the help of her daughter -- unforgettable. If this were an ode to Amy, it would still deserve a spot on my shelf -- but to be sterling wisdom to my daughter as well as Rosenthal's daughter, and "dear girls" everywhere -- more than worth a read, and another.
]]> <![CDATA[Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self]]> 33574185 In 2015, Manoush Zomorodi, host of WNYC＊s popular podcast and radio show 'Note To Self' led tens of thousands of listeners through an experiment to help them unplug from their devices, get bored, jumpstart their creativity, and change their lives. Bored and Brilliant builds on that experiment to show us how to rethink our gadget use to live better and smarter in this new digital ecosystem. Manoush explains the connection between boredom and original thinking, exploring how we can harness boredom＊s hidden benefits to become our most productive and creative selves without totally abandoning our gadgets in the process.
Grounding the book in the neuroscience and cognitive psychology of ※mind wandering§〞what our brains do when we＊re doing nothing at all〞Manoush includes practical steps you can take to ease the nonstop busyness and enhance your ability to dream, wonder, and gain clarity in your work and life. The outcome is mind-blowing. Unplug and read on.]]> 192 Manoush Zomorodi 1250124956 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.71 2017 Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self
author: Manoush Zomorodi
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Words Behind World-Building]]> 24611649
From master language creator David J. Peterson?comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, game creators, and language lovers. Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien＊s creations and Klingon to today＊s?thriving global community of conlangers. He provides the essential tools necessary for inventing and evolving new languages, using examples from a variety of languages including his own creations, punctuated with references to everything from Star Wars to Janelle Mon芍e. Along the way, behind-the-scenes stories lift the curtain on how he built languages like Dothraki for HBO＊s Game of Thrones and Shiv?isith for Marvel＊s The Dark World , and an included phrasebook will start fans speaking Peterson＊s constructed languages. The Art of Language Invention is an inside look at a fascinating culture and an engaging entry into a flourishing art form〞and it might be the most fun you＊ll ever have with linguistics.

The Art of Language Invention includes a new chapter on phrases, specifically, word order, negation, question formation, pragmatic concerns, relativization, and subordination, providing a complete introduction to language creation and linguistics. Invented languages featured in the book now include Chakobsa from Legendary＊s Dune , Trigedasleng (or Grounder) from The 100 , M谷n赤sh豕 language from Fort Salem and Ravkan from the Netflix series Shadow and Bone . ?]]> 292 David J. Peterson Tory S. 0 to-read 4.12 2015 The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Words Behind World-Building
author: David J. Peterson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870]]> 31812528 0 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 1681684578 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.98 A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870
author: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/08/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy]]> 165856 219 Gary D. Schmidt 0553494953 Tory S. 4 Gary D. Schmidt acclaimed The Wednesday Wars, Lizzie Bright is a historical novel I found at first reminiscent of Johnny Tremain. However, while both are New England Americana, the similarity stops there; this book is not patriotic or set around any well-known historical events. Instead it is steeped in Maine bay-culture where fishing, lobster-catching and oyster-hunting are the daily bread of life, along with strict religionism that Turner's family, led by his preacher father, was hired from Boston to implement. Though there is not slavery in the North, a severe stigma follows "negroes," who are viewed as the cast-away ne'er-do-well inhabitants of Malaga Island.

It took me a chapter or two to get a taste for what I was reading, with less striking characters than Wednesday Wars or Okay For Now, but it grew on me and I soon realized that I was reading something of high quality. Schmidt's prose doesn't shine -- the functionality of it is his style -- but his story-crafting is where the pearls are buried. As significant as the individual characters is that of "The Town," really led by the masters of commerce and the old-boy religionists who inform Preacher Buckminster what he should preach and think and endorse. While I won't here recite any of the plot, I will point out that this book is very much about the life cycle (including Darwin's work) of both people and towns, but that while it gives a fair reckoning of "survival of the fittest," it also seasons it with humanity. I was shocked when I realized in the second half of the book that no punches are pulled here; terrible things happen without apology. And yet, despite it all, it ends with a distinct rising note that seems to say, "Life goes on, and even with its scars and wounds, it might just be richer than before." This book has the rare distinction of inculcating alongside the character development of the protagonist, Turner, the development of the reader. I can't help but feel that my awareness and perspective on life is as impacted as Turner's by his having "touched a whale" and throughout everything else that symbolic moment shone as a beacon.]]> 3.91 2004 Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2019/08/07
date added: 2019/08/07
shelves:
review:
Published two years before Gary D. Schmidt acclaimed The Wednesday Wars, Lizzie Bright is a historical novel I found at first reminiscent of Johnny Tremain. However, while both are New England Americana, the similarity stops there; this book is not patriotic or set around any well-known historical events. Instead it is steeped in Maine bay-culture where fishing, lobster-catching and oyster-hunting are the daily bread of life, along with strict religionism that Turner's family, led by his preacher father, was hired from Boston to implement. Though there is not slavery in the North, a severe stigma follows "negroes," who are viewed as the cast-away ne'er-do-well inhabitants of Malaga Island.

It took me a chapter or two to get a taste for what I was reading, with less striking characters than Wednesday Wars or Okay For Now, but it grew on me and I soon realized that I was reading something of high quality. Schmidt's prose doesn't shine -- the functionality of it is his style -- but his story-crafting is where the pearls are buried. As significant as the individual characters is that of "The Town," really led by the masters of commerce and the old-boy religionists who inform Preacher Buckminster what he should preach and think and endorse. While I won't here recite any of the plot, I will point out that this book is very much about the life cycle (including Darwin's work) of both people and towns, but that while it gives a fair reckoning of "survival of the fittest," it also seasons it with humanity. I was shocked when I realized in the second half of the book that no punches are pulled here; terrible things happen without apology. And yet, despite it all, it ends with a distinct rising note that seems to say, "Life goes on, and even with its scars and wounds, it might just be richer than before." This book has the rare distinction of inculcating alongside the character development of the protagonist, Turner, the development of the reader. I can't help but feel that my awareness and perspective on life is as impacted as Turner's by his having "touched a whale" and throughout everything else that symbolic moment shone as a beacon.
]]> The Dark Side of Nowhere 192799
Not any more.

Who is he? That's the problem. Jason isn't sure. And it's not just him. Everyone in town is acting weird. His friends. His parents. Everyone. Billington is usually such a normal town. As Jason is about to discover, nothing will ever be normal again.]]> 185 Neal Shusterman 076534243X Tory S. 3 3.70 1997 The Dark Side of Nowhere
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/07/16
shelves:
review:
Finally a Schusterman book that does not leave me breathless. This book works as some decent light reading, with some interesting sci-fi ideas but lack-luster prose and shallow character development. If you want a break from the depth and intensity of some of Schusterman's more recent work, this is a decent pick-up book.
]]> <![CDATA[Antsy Does Time (Antsy Bonano, #2)]]> 3112309 Fueled by friendship and sympathy, Antsy Bonano signs a month of his life over to his dying classmate Gunnar Umlaut. Soon everyone at school follows suit, giving new meaning to the idea of living on borrowed time. But does Gunnar really have six months to live, or is news of his imminent death greatly exaggerated? When a family member suffers a heart attack after donating two years to Gunnar, Antsy wonders if he has tempted fate by playing God. Fans of the Schwa will welcome favorite and new characters in this wholly fresh tale, which is as touchingly poignant as it is darkly comical.

]]> 247 Neal Shusterman 0525478256 Tory S. 5

As someone who is generally disappointed by sequels, this one gets cataloged as one of the best I've read.?]]> 3.95 2008 Antsy Does Time (Antsy Bonano, #2)
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2019/07/13
date added: 2019/07/13
shelves:
review:
Schusterman has done it again. The first Antsy book was a masterpiece of an adventure through the Bronx and through Italian-American Life with the questions that came with the character of The Schwa. This book manages to do something I've rarely seen in a sequel: picking up several of the characters you came to love before, and not only letting them live again, but displaying their growth. The Antsy who concludes this story is not the same one who ended the last one. Few are the books that have evoked from me choked laughter (to the worry of my flight neighbor) and also brought me to tears. Not only is it a ride, but it's a rewarding one. And don't forget -- the author himself reads the audio, imparting his authentic Bronx to bring Antsy and his family to life in a way that actually makes me recommend the audio over the text, if you have a chance.?


As someone who is generally disappointed by sequels, this one gets cataloged as one of the best I've read.?
]]> Okay for Now 9165406 Midwesterner Gary D. Schmidt won Newbery Honor awards for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boys and The Wednesday Wars, two coming-of-age novels about unlikely friends finding a bond. Okay For Now, his latest novel, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself. Along the way, he also readjusts his relationship with his abusive father, his school peers, and his older brother, a newly returned war victim of Vietnam.

]]> 360 Gary D. Schmidt 0547152604 Tory S. 5 teenage-profound 4.23 2011 Okay for Now
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2019/07/10
date added: 2019/07/09
shelves: teenage-profound
review:
A superbly written sequel to The Wednesday Wars, stepping up in maturity and the level of hardship encountered, yet managing a very genuine (ie not squeaky-clean) happy ending. It deals with parental abuse, the Vietnam war and the trauma of veterans, and about carrying on with joy in life despite unresolved questions of, "why do bad things happen to good people?" And this is the central message of the book, decorated with 1960s Americana and the same bright hope in good people and mighty art (in Wednesday Wars it was Shakespeare, in this it's literal visual art) with unblanching admittance of bad, stupid, and flawed individuals.
]]> <![CDATA[Causality: Models, Reasoning, and Inference]]> 174276 400 Judea Pearl 0521773628 Tory S. 0 currently-reading 4.10 2000 Causality: Models, Reasoning, and Inference
author: Judea Pearl
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Introduction to Discrete Event Systems]]> 3346156 796 Christos G. Cassandras 0387333320 Tory S. 0 currently-reading 4.60 1999 Introduction to Discrete Event Systems
author: Christos G. Cassandras
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.60
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Causal Models: How People Think about the World and Its Alternatives]]> 915900 the effects of intervention and cognition is thus intimately tied to actions that take place either in the actual physical world or in imagination, in counterfactual worlds. The book offers a conceptual introduction to the key mathematical ideas, presenting them in a non-technical way, focusing on the intuitions rather than the theorems. It tries to show why the ideas are important to understanding how people explain things and why thinking not only about the world as it is but the world as it could be is so central to human action. The book reviews the role of causality, causal models, and intervention in the basic human cognitive decision making, reasoning, judgment, categorization, inductive inference, language, and learning. In short, the book offers a discussion about how people think, talk, learn, and explain things in causal terms, in terms of action and manipulation.]]> 224 Steven Sloman 0195183118 Tory S. 4
The subject focuses on the human plausability of causal models, models of the "why" of things, for how we think and make many of our decisions. Sloman didn't come up with the bulk if what he's talking about, but he is making strides in connecting it to human psychology.]]> 3.69 2005 Causal Models: How People Think about the World and Its Alternatives
author: Steven Sloman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/27
date added: 2019/04/27
shelves:
review:
I used it as a proper to reading the definitive works on the subject by Judea Pearl. Unlike Pearl, this book emphasizes human thought and process with only a cursory overview of the mathematical formality. It is well-reasoned with excellent examples and clear points. In the end it did seem a little un-targeted, making a general "this is important stuff, worthy of attention" statement, but definitely insightful overall.

The subject focuses on the human plausability of causal models, models of the "why" of things, for how we think and make many of our decisions. Sloman didn't come up with the bulk if what he's talking about, but he is making strides in connecting it to human psychology.
]]> <![CDATA[Return Statements: The Return of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy (Incitements)]]> 27501260 256 Gregg Lambert 1474413900 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.00 Return Statements: The Return of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy (Incitements)
author: Gregg Lambert
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Functional Programming: Practice and Theory]]> 1523750 608 Bruce J. MacLennan 0201137445 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.29 1990 Functional Programming: Practice and Theory
author: Bruce J. MacLennan
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Words and Rules 5753 Words and Rules, Steven Pinker explains the mysteries of language by examining a single construction from a dozen viewpoints, proposing that the essence of language is a mental dictionary of memorized words, and a mental grammar of creative rules.]]> 397 Steven Pinker 0753810255 Tory S. 3 3.91 1999 Words and Rules
author: Steven Pinker
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2019/04/27
date added: 2019/04/27
shelves:
review:
A nice introduction for folks who don't know anything about linguistics, with comic strips and accessable comparisons. It won't offer much to the better-initiated, though.
]]> <![CDATA[The Screwtape Letters: Also Includes "Screwtape Proposes a Toast"]]> 674321 This edition includes a substantial new preface from the author who tells the reader something of the writing of the book, and answers the question often raised as to whether he "really believes in devils." The answer involves discussion of devils and angels in literature, art and life. "My symbol for hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or a thoroughly nasty business office." The edition also includes a new Screwtape piece, "Screwtape Proposes a Toast," and should find a new generation of readers for the wittiest piece of writing the 20th century has yet produced to stimulate the ordinary man to godliness.]]> 209 C.S. Lewis 0805420401 Tory S. 5 4.39 1942 The Screwtape Letters: Also Includes "Screwtape Proposes a Toast"
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1942
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/03/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Open Society and Its Enemies]]> 240592 920 Karl Popper 0415282365 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.21 1956 The Open Society and Its Enemies
author: Karl Popper
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato]]> 1129911 Open Society and Its Enemies was the result.


In the book, Popper condemned Plato, Marx, and Hegel as "holists" and "historicists"--a holist, according to Popper, believes that individuals are formed entirely by their social groups; historicists believe that social groups evolve according to internal principles that it is the intellectual's task to uncover. Popper, by contrast, held that social affairs are unpredictable, and argued vehemently against social engineering. He also sought to shift the focus of political philosophy away from questions about who ought to rule toward questions about how to minimize the damage done by the powerful. The book was an immediate sensation, and--though it has long been criticized for its portrayals of Plato, Marx, and Hegel--it has remained a landmark on the left and right alike for its defense of freedom and the spirit of critical inquiry.]]> 368 Karl Popper 0691019681 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.16 1945 The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato
author: Karl Popper
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1945
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Logic of Scientific Discovery]]> 61550
(Note: the book was first published in 1934, in German, with the title Logik der Forschung. It was "reformulated" into English in 1959. See for details.)]]> 544 Karl Popper 0415278449 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.03 1934 The Logic of Scientific Discovery
author: Karl Popper
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1934
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> First Things First 36071 炵蹈覂釬室藲忮閉徹5000勀掛

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換苀腔奀潔奪燴膘祜ㄛ斕猁酕腔岆枑汔硒俴虴薹ㄛ輛奧符夔盓饜赻撩腔侂ㄛ鳳腕囀陑腔噙迵傖憩覜﹝掛抎腔囀搧葚粗掉銋傱穔譫鼴謑狠庠媯蒴籥祴堁梛彸暻刵警馨魂怓僅ㄛ奧祥岆跤斕載嗣腔換苀揭源潦ㄛ猁⑴斕酕腕載辦﹜載贗薯﹜載棲隴﹝秪敼れ參岈①捃厒酕俇ㄛ斕恁寁酕妦Nㄛ眕摯暻恅蓛√鵙瑵酕ㄛむ妗載笭猁﹝

馱釬揤薯湮﹜藩毞袚覂奀潔變ㄛ岆珋測侂魂腔珨湮蝴藉﹝妢著煉ㄝ螞峎憌炭屍陬騫掉銋傱窾褊誰遙廜侅侕妤芄畎嗷剆樓疪輹珇衶輮宋漟譯鵓婧香楚坻膘祜植汜韜腔翋絳依誼鼳藉曀饒戩堧甭蓏謎眭那漡尤鰽躉獐悵畏蟹韜楷桯迵奀腔祭覃⑸黺睿迣ㄛ眕雛逋阭恣〧魂﹜悝炾迵楷閨荌砒薯腔侐湮價掛剒⑴ㄛ迵坻佴眼森帥挾饑侂﹝

斕褫眕蔚堐黍森抎艘傖岆珨僇囀吽腔徹最˙斕褫眕け楛燂奻抎掛ㄛъ泭懂赻囀陑腔汒秞﹝婓冪v旮僅赻扂珋玥贏最綴ㄛ珨隅頗衄垀蜊曹〞〞斕艘渾岍賜腔源宒﹜艘渾佷妏S腔源宒﹜艘渾奀潔腔源宒ㄛ朼祫艘渾赻撩腔源宒ㄛ飲頗蜊曹﹝扂蠅澄陓掛抎褫眕董到僅芄炬Ｗ蠑衝蓌硞警鐃銌謑炭荋侐蒫騫掉雿姣慡剆譎稂寋玥騫蟲懭洁ㄠ梇> 384 Stephen R. Covey 0684802031 Tory S. 5 personal-improvement The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change), and this one was definitely no exception. Prioritization, productivity, and personal peace are the goals of this book. I found most of the discussions contributed meaningfully to topics I've pondered over the years and repaired many of the loose strands of thoughts and values that are floating around my mind. In particular I enjoyed his sections on balance, and on the interdependent paradism (reminding the reader that people and relationships should float to the top of the priority list). A read I recommend to parents as well as project-managers. ]]> 4.12 1996 First Things First
author: Stephen R. Covey
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2019/02/16
date added: 2019/02/16
shelves: personal-improvement
review:
Covey books are always insightful (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change), and this one was definitely no exception. Prioritization, productivity, and personal peace are the goals of this book. I found most of the discussions contributed meaningfully to topics I've pondered over the years and repaired many of the loose strands of thoughts and values that are floating around my mind. In particular I enjoyed his sections on balance, and on the interdependent paradism (reminding the reader that people and relationships should float to the top of the priority list). A read I recommend to parents as well as project-managers.
]]> <![CDATA[The Story is True: The Art and Meaning of Telling Stories]]> 339015 256 Bruce Jackson 1592136060 Tory S. 4 narrative, psychology
This isn't an academic work; it is consummately accessible, and both entertaining and thought-provoking. Unlike other favorites, like Living Narrative: Creating Lives in Everyday Storytelling, which focus on the personal cognitive functions of narrative, The Story is True centers on the social and situated roles of story-telling and story-believing. Much of it comes down to what is described in the books' chapter 14 preamble quote, by Walter Benjamin: "The Storyteller takes what he tells from experience每his own or that reported by others. And he in turn makes it the experience of those who are listening to his tale."]]> 4.00 2007 The Story is True: The Art and Meaning of Telling Stories
author: Bruce Jackson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/05
date added: 2019/02/06
shelves: narrative, psychology
review:
My area of research is cognitive narrative 每 that is, the stories we live by. This book was a pleasant surprise for me as Jackson looks precisely at that. Were I to rename it, I'd call it "The Story Isn't True," as Jackson looks at that which is constantly true about stories and, reflexively, that which is constantly false 每 using examples from his considerable experience, from films to literature to oral stories, to elaborate on the dynamics that make stories meaningful, memorable, and always changing. Of particular interest to me were those chapters that examine the ways we use stories to help us negotiate reality - to decide when it's just to execute a life, when people permit lies through story, when people find beauty and fulfillment.

This isn't an academic work; it is consummately accessible, and both entertaining and thought-provoking. Unlike other favorites, like Living Narrative: Creating Lives in Everyday Storytelling, which focus on the personal cognitive functions of narrative, The Story is True centers on the social and situated roles of story-telling and story-believing. Much of it comes down to what is described in the books' chapter 14 preamble quote, by Walter Benjamin: "The Storyteller takes what he tells from experience每his own or that reported by others. And he in turn makes it the experience of those who are listening to his tale."
]]> Let Us Now Praise Famous Men 243360 "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" was first published to enormous critical acclaim.
This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.]]> 416 James Agee 0141188499 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.99 1941 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
author: James Agee
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1941
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Blue Castle 95693
Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle--a place where all her dreams come true and she can be who she truly wants to be. After getting shocking news from the doctor, she rebels against her family and discovers a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.]]> 218 L.M. Montgomery 0553280511 Tory S. 3 classics 4.29 1926 The Blue Castle
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1926
rating: 3
read at: 2019/01/28
date added: 2019/01/28
shelves: classics
review:
A very enjoyable story from L.M. Montgomery, demonstrating a surprisingly different perspective from Anne of Green Gables. It centers on a womans emancipation from stifling anonymity and an atmosphere of procedural ignorance, catalyzed by the doctor-borne realization that her life will be ending unlived. The story is full of incredulity, melodrama, and projected emotions of a sort that I recognized on a personal level. For those who do not recognize them so personally, perhaps the book will be obnoxious. For me, it was a pleasure.
]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Tory S. 0 to-read 4.33 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Schwa Was Here (Antsy Bonano, #1)]]> 199699 240 Neal Shusterman 0142405779 Tory S. 5 americana, teenage-profound 3.92 2004 The Schwa Was Here (Antsy Bonano, #1)
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2019/01/18
date added: 2019/01/18
shelves: americana, teenage-profound
review:
My second Schusterman book and I am definitely understanding why he is one of my wife's favorite authors. My previous read of his, Challenger Deep, blew my socks off with an unexpectedly cerebral story dealing with heavy subject matter; this book is of totally different style and exhibits playfulness and pinache while shining a light on domestic life, Brooklyn childhood, and the nature of anonymity. The style was fresh, the subject well-handled, the mood balanced between playfulness, moxy, and every once in a while, focused seriousness. To top it off, the audio is read by the author, whose Brooklyn accent lends itself perfectly to the likably every-man character of Anthony "Antsy" Banano as he navigates his place as a son, brother, friend, and young-man. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed books like Because of Win Dixie, Raymie Nightingale, and even Chomp.
]]> Nation 2855034 Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She＊s certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, that all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship＊s parrot, until other survivors arrive to take refuge on the island. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things (including how to milk a pig, and why spitting in beer is a good thing), and start to forge a new nation.

Encompassing themes of death and nationhood, Terry Pratchett＊s new novel is, as can be expected, extremely funny, witty and wise. Mau＊s ancestors have something to teach us all. Mau just wishes they would shut up about it and let him get on with saving everyone＊s lives!]]> 367 Terry Pratchett 0061433012 Tory S. 3 4.08 2008 Nation
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2019/01/14
date added: 2019/01/18
shelves:
review:
An intriguing departure from Disc World and quite different from non-Discworld Pratchett books like Dodger. In true fantasy-fiction style Pratchett spins an alternate world dealing with apocalyptic events and uses it as a foil for discussions of atheism, identity, civilization, and tradition. His wit, though subdued outside the romping Discworld setting, is still clear and pleasant. An intriguing book that I don't regret reading.
]]> <![CDATA[Snuff (Discworld, #39; City Watch, #8)]]> 8785374
Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies - and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.

He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, occasionally snookered and out of his mind. But never out of guile. Where there is a crime, there must be a finding, there must be a chase, and there must be a punishment.

They say that in the end all sins are forgiven.

But not quite all...]]> 378 Terry Pratchett Tory S. 3 fantasy 4.16 2011 Snuff (Discworld, #39; City Watch, #8)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2019/01/10
date added: 2019/01/13
shelves: fantasy
review:
Having been thoroughly enjoying Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series, this is my first return to Captain Vimes since "Guards, Guards!" As opposed to the kindness and personal empathy that characterize Tiffany stories, this one featured Vimes for a more adult-oriented crime story concerning domestic life and the importance of justice. While not particularly innovative or brandishing any uncommon profundity, it was Pratchett in healthy form, exhibiting his wit and cleverness while exemplifying page-turning fun and fun characters.
]]> <![CDATA[You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation]]> 147222 342 Deborah Tannen 0060959622 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.89 1990 You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation
author: Deborah Tannen
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/11/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Buried Giant 22522805
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.

Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.

Included on TIME Magazine's "THE 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME"]]> 317 Kazuo Ishiguro 030727103X Tory S. 0 to-read 3.56 2015 The Buried Giant
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/11/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Making of the Mind: The Neuroscience of Human Nature]]> 17247964 293 Ronald T. Kellogg 1616147334 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.71 2013 The Making of the Mind: The Neuroscience of Human Nature
author: Ronald T. Kellogg
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/10/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All the Crooked Saints 30025336 From bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater, a gripping tale of darkness, miracles, and family. Saints. Miracles. Family. Romance. Death. Redemption.

Here is a thing everyone wants: A miracle.

Here is a thing everyone fears: What it takes to get one.

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.

At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.

They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.]]> 313 Maggie Stiefvater 0545930804 Tory S. 5
The book was recommended to me by my favorite librarian, and I haven't encountered such a pleasant read in sometime. My particular habit is to not read cover text for books and thereby allow myself to be surprised. This book was a wonderful surprise although somewhat disorienting for the first chapters. It jumps from time to time seeing some of the characters at different ages and also bringing in other characters from foreign locals as you step into the story. Each of these serves Maggie Steifvater masterful techniques: layering. This book is full of layering. This layering in turn highlights the reflection and the symbolism Stiefvater uses. The book itself has as a primary theme what Stiefvater terms "miracles." Miracles described by the book are in fact an opportunity for visitors to undergo a two-fold transformation. First, "inner darkness" is made visible in fantastic ways. In this way individual idiosyncrasies, self-blame, etc are made visible as monsters, mutations, and credible happenings. The next stage, as makes clear the author, is not resolved immediately. The "pilgrim", the word used for those who come seeking miracles, then has to find a way to conquer the fantastic manifestation. Failing to do so often results in the death of the pilgrim. Despite this being a generally family friendly and accessible book, there are no bones about the harsh consequences of failing in an individual's miraculous journey. Others of the pilgrims who visit are sometimes around for years unable to resolve their issues, and as you read the book you come to love the long-benighted who are cursed by inability to resolve their first miracle.

The book features a whole swath of one (the Soria) family, and takes a few these characters as the central fixtures around whom the story revolves. I won't spoil the ending, but the overall result of Steifvater's masterful layering is that the story was in keeping with the entire arc that the author had created providing insight into human nature and the nature of love and repentance and faith. I was continually surprised the keen insight the author chose to shed, something not always present in young adult literature where the authors sometimes prostitute depth of observation to the goal of entertaining or watering things down for the reader. Maggie Stiefvater did not do any of these things; her only nods to her young adult audience were in making it accessable to them with the nature of the setting and the emotions discussed. Certainly a very well deserved 5-stars.

Also, regarding the audio: narrator Thom Rivera performed masterfully, capturing accents of both US and Hispanic heritage and giving a riveting, but not overwrought, reading. ]]> 3.82 2017 All the Crooked Saints
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2018/10/08
date added: 2018/10/13
shelves:
review:
Maggie Stiefvater's /All the Crooked Saints/ is, pun intended, a miraculous book. It qualifies as young adult literature because it describes an emotional world centering on love, confusion, regret, and responsibilities. It also carries with it wide pallets of characters and several interlinking family dynamics. Finally, it also has multiple embedded love stories. All of these serve to not only flavor the story but the pieces on the board for the layered introspective and symbolic journey that the book takes the reader through.

The book was recommended to me by my favorite librarian, and I haven't encountered such a pleasant read in sometime. My particular habit is to not read cover text for books and thereby allow myself to be surprised. This book was a wonderful surprise although somewhat disorienting for the first chapters. It jumps from time to time seeing some of the characters at different ages and also bringing in other characters from foreign locals as you step into the story. Each of these serves Maggie Steifvater masterful techniques: layering. This book is full of layering. This layering in turn highlights the reflection and the symbolism Stiefvater uses. The book itself has as a primary theme what Stiefvater terms "miracles." Miracles described by the book are in fact an opportunity for visitors to undergo a two-fold transformation. First, "inner darkness" is made visible in fantastic ways. In this way individual idiosyncrasies, self-blame, etc are made visible as monsters, mutations, and credible happenings. The next stage, as makes clear the author, is not resolved immediately. The "pilgrim", the word used for those who come seeking miracles, then has to find a way to conquer the fantastic manifestation. Failing to do so often results in the death of the pilgrim. Despite this being a generally family friendly and accessible book, there are no bones about the harsh consequences of failing in an individual's miraculous journey. Others of the pilgrims who visit are sometimes around for years unable to resolve their issues, and as you read the book you come to love the long-benighted who are cursed by inability to resolve their first miracle.

The book features a whole swath of one (the Soria) family, and takes a few these characters as the central fixtures around whom the story revolves. I won't spoil the ending, but the overall result of Steifvater's masterful layering is that the story was in keeping with the entire arc that the author had created providing insight into human nature and the nature of love and repentance and faith. I was continually surprised the keen insight the author chose to shed, something not always present in young adult literature where the authors sometimes prostitute depth of observation to the goal of entertaining or watering things down for the reader. Maggie Stiefvater did not do any of these things; her only nods to her young adult audience were in making it accessable to them with the nature of the setting and the emotions discussed. Certainly a very well deserved 5-stars.

Also, regarding the audio: narrator Thom Rivera performed masterfully, capturing accents of both US and Hispanic heritage and giving a riveting, but not overwrought, reading.
]]> Dodger 13516846 A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's...Dodger.

Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl--not even if her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England.

From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

Beloved and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett combines high comedy with deep wisdom in this tale of an unexpected coming-of-age and one remarkable boy's rise in a complex and fascinating world.]]> 360 Terry Pratchett 0062009494 Tory S. 4
Of course, this week isn't to say that it was a perfect book. Pratchett has some characteristic limitations that I still recognized: his fairly superficial emotional pallet, for example, and the fact that his ending winds down at great length and strolls along until well after the narrative pulse had flat-lined. But if you're a Pratchett fan, this book is sure to please; and if, by added bonus, you are also a Dickens fan, "Dodger" will be all the more a treat.]]> 3.92 2012 Dodger
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2018/09/26
date added: 2018/09/27
shelves:
review:
The initial draw for me was, "what happens if we take Terry Pratchett out of Disc World? Can be really do something without magic and a dash of lunacy?" Further props should go to the fact that he dares write a book sharing not only Dickens' London, but some of Dickens' characters. So what was the result? Sheer mastery. The grime of London was everywhere present, yet the magic of Pratchett's playful-yet-sometimes-profound language shone through. I was overwhelmed with the result: definitely one of Pratchett's finest.

Of course, this week isn't to say that it was a perfect book. Pratchett has some characteristic limitations that I still recognized: his fairly superficial emotional pallet, for example, and the fact that his ending winds down at great length and strolls along until well after the narrative pulse had flat-lined. But if you're a Pratchett fan, this book is sure to please; and if, by added bonus, you are also a Dickens fan, "Dodger" will be all the more a treat.
]]> Johnny Tremain 816870 322 Esther Forbes Tory S. 4
The ending, too, was satisfying to me, showing its allegiance first to history and realism before either tragedy or romance, with just a twinge of the necessary patriotic righteousness. Overall, a well-balanced story that was well-told and interesting.]]> 3.68 1943 Johnny Tremain
author: Esther Forbes
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1943
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/09/18
shelves:
review:
A well-told piece of historical fiction, taking you on a patriotic, yet not compromisingly optimistic or slanted, journey through a Boston youth that covers the events leading up to the Tea Party and the inauguration of the war for Independence. The story keeps a good pace, always moving forward and not going in for many of the cheap dramatic shots I half-expected the author to drag me through; the author had a story to tell and didn't get distracted by opportunities to string the reader along. Overall, the book unfolds historical events while also gracefully illustrating the growth of Johnny from impetuous arrogance to self-sacrificing maturity. I was also impressed with the way the book displayed the British empathetically and made it clear that they were neither evil not monstrous and that the common soldiers and officers were often friends and kin to the budding Americans. At one point says one Brit to a Bostonian, "we don't want to be here any more than you want us here."

The ending, too, was satisfying to me, showing its allegiance first to history and realism before either tragedy or romance, with just a twinge of the necessary patriotic righteousness. Overall, a well-balanced story that was well-told and interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[An Imaginary Tale: The Story of]]> 29417770 An Imaginary Tale, Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' most elusive numbers, the square root of minus one, also known as i. He recreates the baffling mathematical problems that conjured it up, and the colorful characters who tried to solve them.

In 1878, when two brothers stole a mathematical papyrus from the ancient Egyptian burial site in the Valley of Kings, they led scholars to the earliest known occurrence of the square root of a negative number. The papyrus offered a specific numerical example of how to calculate the volume of a truncated square pyramid, which implied the need for i. In the first century, the mathematician-engineer Heron of Alexandria encountered I in a separate project, but fudged the arithmetic; medieval mathematicians stumbled upon the concept while grappling with the meaning of negative numbers, but dismissed their square roots as nonsense. By the time of Descartes, a theoretical use for these elusive square roots--now called "imaginary numbers"--was suspected, but efforts to solve them led to intense, bitter debates. The notorious i finally won acceptance and was put to use in complex analysis and theoretical physics in Napoleonic times.

Addressing readers with both a general and scholarly interest in mathematics, Nahin weaves into this narrative entertaining historical facts and mathematical discussions, including the application of complex numbers and functions to important problems, such as Kepler's laws of planetary motion and ac electrical circuits. This book can be read as an engaging history, almost a biography, of one of the most evasive and pervasive "numbers" in all of mathematics.]]> 280 Paul J. Nahin 8173713995 Tory S. 0 currently-reading 0.0 1998 An Imaginary Tale: The Story of
author: Paul J. Nahin
name: Tory S.
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Astrophysics for People in a Hurry]]> 32191710
But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.]]> 223 Neil deGrasse Tyson 0393609391 Tory S. 4 nonfiction 4.07 2017 Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/08/19
date added: 2018/08/19
shelves: nonfiction
review:
A fascinating survey of the wild and incredulous of astrophysics. The audio is read by the author, which was a pleasure and was particularly effective at conveying his passion and imagination for the subject.
]]> Crime and Punishment 7144 671 Fyodor Dostoevsky Tory S. 2 classics 4.26 1866 Crime and Punishment
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1866
rating: 2
read at: 2018/08/19
date added: 2018/08/19
shelves: classics
review:
A walk down insanity-lane in the head of an irritable, deranged vagabond. If I was reading it in text, perhaps I could have sped my way through it. The reader was skilled but the character himself was too tiresome for me to continue.
]]> Turtles All the Way Down 35504431
Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there＊s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Pickett＊s son Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.]]> 290 John Green 0525555366 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.87 2017 Turtles All the Way Down
author: John Green
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/15
shelves: to-read
review:

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

This is Newland Archer＊s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life〞or mercilessly destroy it.]]> 293 Edith Wharton 159308143X Tory S. 0 to-read 3.96 1920 The Age of Innocence
author: Edith Wharton
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1920
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/05/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wishtree 33158525 Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"〞people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this "wishtree" watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever.]]> 224 Katherine Applegate 1250043220 Tory S. 4 4.28 2017 Wishtree
author: Katherine Applegate
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/18
shelves: children-s, sublime-children-s
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins Tory S. 4 teenage-serial-reading 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/07
shelves: teenage-serial-reading
review:

]]> <![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 Tory S. 4 teenage-serial-reading 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/07
shelves: teenage-serial-reading
review:

]]> <![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 Tory S. 4 teenage-serial-reading 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/07
shelves: teenage-serial-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Peculiar Children of Bus 13: Book 1: The New Girl]]> 36636136 199 Tory Anderson Tory S. 0 4.12 The Peculiar Children of Bus 13: Book 1: The New Girl
author: Tory Anderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2018/01/24
date added: 2018/04/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Little Brother (Little Brother, #1)]]> 954674
But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they＊re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, his injured best friend Darryl does not come out. The city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: "M1k3y" will take down the DHS himself.]]> 382 Cory Doctorow 0765319853 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.93 2008 Little Brother (Little Brother, #1)
author: Cory Doctorow
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)]]> 68494 710 China Mi谷ville 0345459407 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.98 2000 Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)
author: China Mi谷ville
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/03/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)]]> 55399 Vast legions of gods, mages, humans, dragons and all manner of creatures play out the fate of the Malazan Empire in this first book in a major epic fantasy series from Steven Erikson.

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.

However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

Conceived and written on a panoramic scale, Gardens of the Moon is epic fantasy of the highest order--an enthralling adventure by an outstanding new voice.]]> 666 Steven Erikson 0765348780 Tory S. 0 to-read 3.91 1999 Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)
author: Steven Erikson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library, #1)]]> 16054808 A New York Times Bestseller

Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library.

Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of the first 12 kids in the library for an overnight of fun, food, and lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors remain locked. Kyle and the other winners must solve every clue and every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route. And the stakes are very high.

In this cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Night in the Museum, Agatha Award winner Chris Grabenstein uses rib-tickling humor to create the perfect tale for his quirky characters. Old fans and new readers will become enthralled with the crafty twists and turns of this ultimate library experience.]]> 304 Chris Grabenstein 037587089X Tory S. 4 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a high-tech library instead of the candy factory and a zany, imaginative, library-loving game-maker instead of the slightly psychotic, deranged candy maker. Much of the book felt like unabashed fan-service to libraries, from scavenger-hunts through the stacks to revels in the Dewey Decimal System. Being unabashedly married to a librarian, I don't mind this at all. Mixed in are morals about honesty, loyalty, not giving up, and thinking outside the box. It was the kind of wholesome, interesting story that I'll happily share with our children for a fun read.]]> 4.11 2013 Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library, #1)
author: Chris Grabenstein
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/22
date added: 2018/01/25
shelves: teenage-serial-reading, children-s
review:
A fun, wholesome, and smart book essentially giving a benign, library-loving twist on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a high-tech library instead of the candy factory and a zany, imaginative, library-loving game-maker instead of the slightly psychotic, deranged candy maker. Much of the book felt like unabashed fan-service to libraries, from scavenger-hunts through the stacks to revels in the Dewey Decimal System. Being unabashedly married to a librarian, I don't mind this at all. Mixed in are morals about honesty, loyalty, not giving up, and thinking outside the box. It was the kind of wholesome, interesting story that I'll happily share with our children for a fun read.
]]> <![CDATA[Wintersmith (Discworld, #35; Tiffany Aching, #3)]]> 34492 Tiffany Aching is a trainee witch 〞 now working for the seriously scary Miss Treason. But when Tiffany witnesses the Dark Dance 〞 the crossover from summer to winter 〞 she does what no one has ever done before and leaps into the dance. Into the oldest story there ever is. And draws the attention of the Wintersmith himself.

As Tiffany-shaped snowflakes hammer down on the land, can Tiffany deal with the consequences of her actions? Even with the help of Granny Weatherwax and the Nac Mac Feegle 〞 the fightin＊, thievin＊ pictsies who are prepared to lay down their lives for their ※big wee hag.§

Wintersmith is the third title in an exuberant series crackling with energy and humour. It follows The Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky.


]]> 325 Terry Pratchett 0060890312 Tory S. 4 fantasy 4.23 2006 Wintersmith (Discworld, #35; Tiffany Aching, #3)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/17
date added: 2018/01/18
shelves: fantasy
review:
Yet another excellent Tiffany Aching book in Discworld,using as Pratchett does Tiffany and the witches as an exploration in true service and magic. This tale is a pivotal one in the Tiffany Aching saga, often referred to in later books (she's "the girl who kissed Winter"). It has a dash of a favorite theme of mine, the importance of stories/folklore/tales/legends. But the book shines most in its interesting circumspection of the topic of what it means to be human (a question more commonly addressed in science fiction, not fantasy). Tiffany, as always, exemplifies passion and compassion, humility yet self-pride. The Mac Nac Feegles play a supporting role in this story while Tiffany deals with demi-gods and the forces of nature, all her problems coming about because of a lapse in her self-control early in the story. The conclusion is sweet and perhaps a little less profound but more epic (in a folk-tale sort of way) than others of her stories.
]]> Catching a Storyfish 28695553 224 Janice N. Harrington 1629794295 Tory S. 5 Shel Silverstein or, a little closer to its audience, "Please Bury Me in the Library," either. But after a few pages one realizes that this book is story, and though the every-page-titled format might be reminiscent of those other genres, the real work to be appraised is the book as a whole. And in this scope my experience of the book was a definite success.

The book follows a child of perhaps 10 years of age. We see "Keet Keet" moved away from her Alabama home in an experience that is first confusing, then disorienting, then distressing. People make fun of her southern accent here and cause her to self-consiously stop her characteristic gabbing and story-telling. Harrington explores a variety of poetic forms as she expresses Keet's experiences, including a glossary of poetic forms in the back of the book. While doing so she maintains the vocabulary-level of the youth that are the target audience of this book. The overall effect was a pleasant one: the pages turn like a good story, and the shift in modality causes the reader to experience the story in personal and thoughtful ways. The two moving dynamics of the book are Keet's relationship with her grandfather, whose presence is the original singular benefit of her move to this new place, and her budding friendship with Allie-gator, another new-to-the-school child who has prevously learned to be self-conscious for her own reasons. Harrington develops both of these relationships with care and emotion, telling how story-stifled Keet recaptures what her grandfather calls "Storyfish," and how (not coincidentally) this occurs in tandem with the development of friendship and courage and concern in her life.

While I won't exalt Harrington as a poet, she definitely earns the right to be considered a great story teller for this. The use of poetry was refreshing and, most effectively, a powerful way of telling the story and reflecting the inner life and perception of Keet (and occasionally those around her). I look forward to discussing this book with my daughter, although I'll have to wait until she is 8 or 10 years old and can recognize the nuance of the book. Also worth mentioning is the way this book gives language itself -- poetry, storytelling, and even just words -- full attention. This is a message I will happily share. Had Harrington demonstrated more sophistication of poetry and wording, I'm afraid she would have lost the approachability of the book for young readers. In other words, the book was instructive for its poetry and really amazing for its poetically-powered storytelling.]]> 4.09 2016 Catching a Storyfish
author: Janice N. Harrington
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2018/01/03
date added: 2018/01/13
shelves: sublime-children-s, poetry, relationships, narrative, language
review:
Reading this (note: as comprised of poetry, it needs to be read in text, not audio) was a small journey for me. Not really knowing what I was getting into I began unsure and with some criticism. The power of the verse didn't stand up to poetry anthologies or masterpieces of lyric prose that I've read before. It didn't compare to Shel Silverstein or, a little closer to its audience, "Please Bury Me in the Library," either. But after a few pages one realizes that this book is story, and though the every-page-titled format might be reminiscent of those other genres, the real work to be appraised is the book as a whole. And in this scope my experience of the book was a definite success.

The book follows a child of perhaps 10 years of age. We see "Keet Keet" moved away from her Alabama home in an experience that is first confusing, then disorienting, then distressing. People make fun of her southern accent here and cause her to self-consiously stop her characteristic gabbing and story-telling. Harrington explores a variety of poetic forms as she expresses Keet's experiences, including a glossary of poetic forms in the back of the book. While doing so she maintains the vocabulary-level of the youth that are the target audience of this book. The overall effect was a pleasant one: the pages turn like a good story, and the shift in modality causes the reader to experience the story in personal and thoughtful ways. The two moving dynamics of the book are Keet's relationship with her grandfather, whose presence is the original singular benefit of her move to this new place, and her budding friendship with Allie-gator, another new-to-the-school child who has prevously learned to be self-conscious for her own reasons. Harrington develops both of these relationships with care and emotion, telling how story-stifled Keet recaptures what her grandfather calls "Storyfish," and how (not coincidentally) this occurs in tandem with the development of friendship and courage and concern in her life.

While I won't exalt Harrington as a poet, she definitely earns the right to be considered a great story teller for this. The use of poetry was refreshing and, most effectively, a powerful way of telling the story and reflecting the inner life and perception of Keet (and occasionally those around her). I look forward to discussing this book with my daughter, although I'll have to wait until she is 8 or 10 years old and can recognize the nuance of the book. Also worth mentioning is the way this book gives language itself -- poetry, storytelling, and even just words -- full attention. This is a message I will happily share. Had Harrington demonstrated more sophistication of poetry and wording, I'm afraid she would have lost the approachability of the book for young readers. In other words, the book was instructive for its poetry and really amazing for its poetically-powered storytelling.
]]> Between Shades of Gray 7824322
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously〞and at great risk〞documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.]]> 344 Ruta Sepetys 0399254129 Tory S. 4
I listened to the audio of this book, but I think I would have much preferred to experience it through text. For the first third of the book I was somewhat confused and put-off by the overall storytelling and content of this book. I didn't realize that it was a young adult novel and so didn't understand the emotional pallet being applied, nor the choices in the voice of the main character (both of which are somewhat different from the adult-targeting war stories I've experienced). My other "young adult" war novel most recently was Anna and the Swallow Man, which is a deeply and utterly different type of book despite being set in the same time period as this. Perhaps the largest difference is that Between Shades of Gray is deeply concerned with community and with the privation of groups as a whole, with families, and with communal hope versus selfishness. The main character, young teenager Lina, is a talented artist from an unfortunately bourgeois family, although there is little of privilege or spoiling in her actual disposition (to be clear, she is the child of a well-off professor, not any kind of aristocrat). Throughout the story she transports the reader back and forth between happy memories and impossible hardship, a storytelling method that Ruta Sepetys uses to good effect. Lina's artistic eye is effective as she captures the world around her. Curiously, she never draws her mother, who appears throughout the story as the embodiment of human dignity and compassion while she sacrifices everything to protect her children and to make their fellow sufferers into a surrogate family.

I had some concerns while reading the book which will require some spoilers to elucidate. To those who want to retain the element of surprise as they experience this book, just know that the elements of writing/storytelling that I was worried about were resolved to my full satisfaction, so you needn't concern yourself with the spoilers below for fear that the book contains some secret defect that will betray the reader.

One of the major fears I had while experiencing this story was that the young-adult gearing of the book would cause Ruta to compromise the stark hardships with trivialities. I was particularly worried that she would violate the story with teenage romance in the midst of starvation, as seemed threatened during Lina's growing interest in strong jaw-lines, nice hair, and the handsomeness of certain boys. One of the most impressive pleasures I found in this book, though, is that despite the story flirting with teenage romance, it doesn't ever spoil itself with it. The ending of the story is true in the way a story should be 每 consistent with itself and to the realities it is depicting. The possible exception to this is that Lina herself never experiences the sexual abuse that would seem so likely for a 16-year old girl in her circumstances; nonetheless, Sepetys ensures that that sort of horror remains on the fringes; while choosing not to make sexual abuse one of the topics of an already harrowing tale, she makes clear that it is present in the stories of many fellow refugees. In the end, Lina's chapters of greater boy-interest proved more to coincide with her developing maturity than with any selling-out of the author. The story as a whole ends rough 每 much more bitter than sweet 每 but for all of its horror it manages to cut to the quick of true humanity and what remains to survive as hope flickers and, in some cases, dies. ]]> 4.36 2011 Between Shades of Gray
author: Ruta Sepetys
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/13
date added: 2018/01/13
shelves:
review:
How many people have had confused search results with this book when confusing the "Between" and "Fifty" title words? Amusing stories aside, though, this book centers on the little-told situation of refugees on the Soviet-side of World War 2. It depicts the extremities of starvation, Siberian death in the cold, and the inhumanity capable by humans. It features tragedy and hope, with a very real depiction of the value of dignity despite the consummately degrading, tarnishing situations that make dignity seem impossible.

I listened to the audio of this book, but I think I would have much preferred to experience it through text. For the first third of the book I was somewhat confused and put-off by the overall storytelling and content of this book. I didn't realize that it was a young adult novel and so didn't understand the emotional pallet being applied, nor the choices in the voice of the main character (both of which are somewhat different from the adult-targeting war stories I've experienced). My other "young adult" war novel most recently was Anna and the Swallow Man, which is a deeply and utterly different type of book despite being set in the same time period as this. Perhaps the largest difference is that Between Shades of Gray is deeply concerned with community and with the privation of groups as a whole, with families, and with communal hope versus selfishness. The main character, young teenager Lina, is a talented artist from an unfortunately bourgeois family, although there is little of privilege or spoiling in her actual disposition (to be clear, she is the child of a well-off professor, not any kind of aristocrat). Throughout the story she transports the reader back and forth between happy memories and impossible hardship, a storytelling method that Ruta Sepetys uses to good effect. Lina's artistic eye is effective as she captures the world around her. Curiously, she never draws her mother, who appears throughout the story as the embodiment of human dignity and compassion while she sacrifices everything to protect her children and to make their fellow sufferers into a surrogate family.

I had some concerns while reading the book which will require some spoilers to elucidate. To those who want to retain the element of surprise as they experience this book, just know that the elements of writing/storytelling that I was worried about were resolved to my full satisfaction, so you needn't concern yourself with the spoilers below for fear that the book contains some secret defect that will betray the reader.

One of the major fears I had while experiencing this story was that the young-adult gearing of the book would cause Ruta to compromise the stark hardships with trivialities. I was particularly worried that she would violate the story with teenage romance in the midst of starvation, as seemed threatened during Lina's growing interest in strong jaw-lines, nice hair, and the handsomeness of certain boys. One of the most impressive pleasures I found in this book, though, is that despite the story flirting with teenage romance, it doesn't ever spoil itself with it. The ending of the story is true in the way a story should be 每 consistent with itself and to the realities it is depicting. The possible exception to this is that Lina herself never experiences the sexual abuse that would seem so likely for a 16-year old girl in her circumstances; nonetheless, Sepetys ensures that that sort of horror remains on the fringes; while choosing not to make sexual abuse one of the topics of an already harrowing tale, she makes clear that it is present in the stories of many fellow refugees. In the end, Lina's chapters of greater boy-interest proved more to coincide with her developing maturity than with any selling-out of the author. The story as a whole ends rough 每 much more bitter than sweet 每 but for all of its horror it manages to cut to the quick of true humanity and what remains to survive as hope flickers and, in some cases, dies.
]]> Professional Clojure 28194538 264 Jeremy Anderson 1119267277 Tory S. 3 programming, textbooks 3.83 Professional Clojure
author: Jeremy Anderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/01/09
date added: 2018/01/10
shelves: programming, textbooks
review:
A nice introduction to the capacities of the language for practices like TDD, interactive development, and some recommended libraries. Not as inspiring as some Clojure books, but probably a good resource to revisit.
]]> Fish in a Tree 22402972
Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions.?She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there＊s a lot more to her〞and to everyone〞than a label, and that great minds don＊t always think alike.]]> 288 Lynda Mullaly Hunt 0399162593 Tory S. 4 teenage-profound, children-s 4.24 2015 Fish in a Tree
author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/08
date added: 2018/01/08
shelves: teenage-profound, children-s
review:
A fun read and a perceptive step in to grade school lives. It's nice to read a well-written story, with well-developed characters, centered on the struggles of dyslexia. I recommend this book readily.
]]> <![CDATA[Bus Driver Diaries: Stories From the Driver's Seat]]> 31879404 ※Faces Like Music§ from Bus Driver Diaries


After fifteen years traveling the world in the high tech industry, Tory Anderson found himself driving his first busload of kids. What started as an act of desperation turned into a life changing experience that led to courage he was lacking, and love he didn＊t know he had.

Bus Driver Diaries puts you in the driver＊s seat with Tory to experience the world that unfolds on a bus in-between school and home. Amid the noise and frustration you will find a world of beauty, wonder, and humor. After reading this book, every sighting of a school bus will bring a smile to your face.]]> 107 Tory C. Anderson Tory S. 4 4.39 Bus Driver Diaries: Stories From the Driver's Seat
author: Tory C. Anderson
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/05
date added: 2018/01/07
shelves:
review:
The Bus Driver Diaries is a series of vignettes from the life of an unusual bus driver. By no means a story, it's a book of little scenes and brief flashes. You spend moments observing country children who run to the end of gravel roads to catch a passing school bus. In other scenes you wind down terrifying mountain roads in the middle of a blizzard. Throughout the book you wonder at the literature-appreciating tech professional turned bus driver that is shuttling children of all ages down country roads. This book provides excellent end-of-the-day stories for when you want to put your feet up and be transported into a discerning bus driver's mercurial experience of the joy and chaos of the children's lives. You are free to choose at random which page or story you dive into. You might find a developing fondness for the children and something contagious in the unassuming warmth and care of their bus driver.
]]> <![CDATA[Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation]]> 18693773 The author of Reading the OED presents a look at language ※mistakes§ and how they came to be accepted as correct〞or not.

English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or just plain wrong. Filled with historic and contemporary examples, the book chronicles the long and entertaining history of language mistakes, and features some of our most common words and phrases. This is a book that will settle arguments among word lovers〞and it＊s sure to start a few, too.]]> 272 Ammon Shea 0399165576 Tory S. 3 language, nonfiction, to-read 3.64 2014 Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
author: Ammon Shea
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/01/05
shelves: language, nonfiction, to-read
review:

]]> Kierkegaard: An Introduction 6489830 224 C. Stephen Evans 0521700418 Tory S. 0 to-read 4.10 2009 Kierkegaard: An Introduction
author: C. Stephen Evans
name: Tory S.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[New Narratives: Stories and Storytelling in the Digital Age (Frontiers of Narrative)]]> 13035378
New Narratives reflects the diversity of its subject by bringing together some of the foremost practitioners and theorists of digital narratives. It extends the range of digital subgenres examined by narrative theorists to include forms that have become increasingly prominent, new examples of experimental hypertext, and contemporary video games. The collection also explicitly draws connections between the development of narrative theory, technological innovation, and the use of narratives in particular social and cultural contexts.
Finally, New Narratives focuses on how the tools provided by new technologies may be harnessed to provide new ways of both producing and theorizing narrative. Truly interdisciplinary, the book offers broad coverage of contemporary narrative theory, including frameworks that draw from classical and postclassical narratology, linguistics, and media studies.]]> 296 Ruth E. Page 0803217862 Tory S. 0 3.29 2011 New Narratives: Stories and Storytelling in the Digital Age (Frontiers of Narrative)
author: Ruth E. Page
name: Tory S.
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2018/01/05
date added: 2018/01/05
shelves:
review:

]]>