en-US Sun, 30 Mar 2025 19:23:12 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 28187 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.]]> 377 Rick Riordan 0786838655 e 0 currently-reading 4.31 2005
author: Rick Riordan
name: e
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> 213618269 The first story collection published in English by Lee Chang-dong, one of South Korea’s most celebrated and influential literary and cinematic figures of the last four decades

Much like Lee Chang-dong’s internationally renowned films (Burning, Secret Sunshine, Peppermint Candy), these brilliant, unsettling tales, originally published in Korea in the 1980s and now translated into English for the first time, investigate themes of injustice, betrayal, and terror—on both an intimate and national scale. Lee writes deeply and hauntingly about barriers between family, the powerful and the vulnerable, conformists and rebels.

In the title story, drawn from the author’s own memories of serving in the South Korean military, the class divide between a university-educated private and a working-class corporal serving sentry duty together one snowy night leads to tragic consequences. In “There’s a Lot of Shit in Nokcheon,� the psychological violence that two brothers enact on each other over the course of a lifetime captures the darkness and paranoia that pervaded Korea in the 1980s, as the country struggled towards democratic rule. And in the novella-length “A Lamp in the Sky,� a young woman’s brutal interrogation at the hands of the police reveals the series of increasingly troubling decisions that led her to this moment. Is she innocent or guilty? In the end, even she cannot say.

Snowy Day and Other Stories introduces English readers to a master storyteller.]]> 368 Lee Chang-dong 059365725X e 0 currently-reading 3.87 2025
author: Lee Chang-dong
name: e
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/29
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]]> 209818989 The revelatory origin story of one of America's most beloved musicians, Louis Armstrong

How did Louis Armstrong become Louis Armstrong?

In Stomp Off, Let's Go, author and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi tells the enthralling story of the iconic trumpeter's meteoric rise to fame. Beginning with Armstrong's youth in New Orleans, Riccardi transports readers through Armstrong's musical and personal development, including his initial trip to Chicago to join Joe "King" Oliver's band, his first to New York to meet Fletcher Henderson, and his eventual return to Chicago, where he changed the course of music with the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings.

While this period of Armstrong's life is perhaps more familiar than others, Riccardi enriches extant narratives with recently unearthed archival materials, including a rare draft of pianist, composer, and Armstrong's second wife Lillian "Lil" Hardin Armstrong's autobiography. Riccardi similarly tackles the perceived notion of Armstrong as a "sell-out" during his later years, highlighting the many ways in which Armstrong's musical style and personal values in fact remained steady throughout his career. By foregrounding the voices of Armstrong and his contemporaries, Stomp Off, Let's Go offers a more intimate exploration of Armstrong's personal and professional relationships, in turn providing essential insights into how Armstrong evolved into one of America's most beloved icons.]]> 488 Ricky Riccardi 0197614485 e 5 4.50
author: Ricky Riccardi
name: e
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
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]]> 200668384
Ratty Barclay wasn't supposed to be born a four-foot-tall, walking, talking rodent, but thanks to the Barclay family curse, he's had to live in hiding from the rest of the world. All he wants for his thirteenth birthday is to return to his family's abandoned estate on Fairweather Island to somehow break the curse. Then he'll finally get to live his life as a four-foot-tall, walking, talking, human boy .

Edweena Gup, the granddaughter of the Barclays' groundskeeper, has dedicated her life to being a Rat-Catcher Extraordinaire like her great-great-great grandmother before her. It doesn't matter that Fairweather Island has been rat-free for over a hundred years—she's determined to make sure everyone is prepared for their imminent return. And when she spots a human-sized rat lurking on the Barclay grounds, her worst fears are confirmed.

Though it seems like Ratty and Edweena are destined to be enemies, they have a lot in common—they're both lonely and misunderstood. But will they be able to overcome their fears of each other and maybe even become . . . friends?]]> 224 Suzanne Selfors 0593622480 e 0 3.84
author: Suzanne Selfors
name: e
average rating: 3.84
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
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]]> 369042 The Vicomte de Bragelonne opens an epic adventure which continues with Louise de La Valliere and reaches its climax in The Man in the Iron Mask. This new edition of the classic translation presents a key episode in the Musketeers saga, fully annotated and with an introduction by a leading Dumas scholar.]]> 768 Alexandre Dumas 0192834630 e 4 3.97
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: e
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2011/12/13
date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> 205977739
Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what's happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves.]]> 368 Katherine Rundell 0593809866 e 0 4.13 2023
author: Katherine Rundell
name: e
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
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]]> 44108933
Five young Minecraft players in the real world find themselves transported inside the game they love. But now it's not a game--and they will have to use everything they know to explore, build, and survive! This illustrated hardcover series will thrill and engage fans of Minecraft and action-packed fantasy stories alike.

© 2019 Mojang AB and Mojang Synergies AB. MINECRAFT and MOJANG are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mojang Synergies AB.]]> 144 Nick Eliopulos 1984850458 e 0 4.23
author: Nick Eliopulos
name: e
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/29
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]]> 112974898 From the best-selling author of Three Strong Women comes a thrilling novel about a triple homicide that dredges up unsettling memories from a lawyer's childhood

The heroine of Marie NDiaye's new novel is a quiet middle-aged lawyer, living a modest existence in Bordeaux. She has been so effectively consumed by her job she is known to all simply as Maître Susane. But when Gilles Principaux shows up at her office asking her to defend his wife, who is accused of a horrific crime, Maître Susane begins to crack.

She seems to remember having been alone with him in her youth for a significant event, one her mind obsesses over but can't quite reconstruct. Who is this Gilles Principaux? And why would he come to her, a run-of-the-mill lawyer, for the most important trial of his life?

While this mystery preoccupies Maître Susane, at home she is greeted by Sharon, her faithful but peculiar housekeeper. Sharon arrived from Mauritius with her husband and children, and she lacks legal residency in France. And while Maître Susane has generously offered Sharon her professional services, the young maid always finds ways to evade her, claiming the marriage certificate Maître Susane requires is being held hostage. Is Sharon being honest with Maître Susane, or is something more sinister going on?

Told in a slow seethe recalling the short novels of Elena Ferrante and the psychological richness of Patricia Highsmith's work, Vengeance Is Mine is a dreamlike portrait of a woman afflicted by failing memories, tortured uncertainty, and an unreliability that frightens her.]]> 241 Marie NDiaye 0593534255 e 3 2.87 2021
author: Marie NDiaye
name: e
average rating: 2.87
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
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]]> 20775043 320 Charles M. Schulz 1606997920 e 4 4.46 2004
author: Charles M. Schulz
name: e
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/20
date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 62001844
A heavily abridged English translation of Lies and Sorcery came out in the 1950s under the title of House of Lies. Jenny McPhee’s new translation is the first complete English rendering of the book that Georg Lukács considered the greatest of modern Italian novels.]]> 800 Elsa Morante 1681376849 e 0 to-read 4.02 1948
author: Elsa Morante
name: e
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1948
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> 1189894
120 black-and-white, 16 full-color illustrations.]]> 287 L. Frank Baum 0486206920 e 0 3.68 1904
author: L. Frank Baum
name: e
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1904
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
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]]> 59238510 A perfectly plotted, cosy detective story from Seicho Matsumoto, Japan's master of mystery.

'It was a puzzle with no solution. But he did not lose heart.'

In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...

Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - and as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.]]> 150 SeichĹŤ Matsumoto 0241439078 e 3 3.75 1958
author: SeichĹŤ Matsumoto
name: e
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1958
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
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]]> 221515948 How many eggs have been broken in the making of this programme? What is the worst thing Alex has eaten? Are you more likely to win Taskmaster if you wear a hat? Why is the Taskmaster always right?

This hilarious compendium celebrates a decade of Taskmaster's hilarious chaos. Relive the most outrageous tasks, iconic meltdowns, and ingenious victories from your favourite contestants.

Inside you'll

- Unforgettable From the brilliantly bizarre to the wonderfully pointless, relive the tasks that left us howling with laughter.
- Comedy gold Revisit the contestant blunders, inspired madness, and Greg Davies' withering put-downs
- Behind the Get the inside scoop on the show's creation, an interview with the Taskmaster himself (Alex Horne, of course!), and find out which tasks were deemed to dangerous by the show's insurers
- Statistical 17 series, 85 contestants and thousands of smashed eggs - what's the best star sign to be if you want to win?

This is the ultimate gift for any Taskmaster fanatic. So grab a cup of 'warm milk' (or something stronger) and relive ten years of comedic chaos!]]> 320 Alex Horne 1529441528 e 0 4.17
author: Alex Horne
name: e
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
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]]> 209801581 768 Allan Kozinn 006300075X e 4 4.66
author: Allan Kozinn
name: e
average rating: 4.66
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> 56769615

Beginning in 1941 during her junior year at Barnard, the diaries exhibit the intoxicating “atmosphere of nameless dread� (Boston Globe) that permeates classics such as Strangers on a Train and the Ripley series. In her skewering of McCarthy-era America, her prickly disparagement of contemporary art, her fixation on love and writing, and ever-percolating prejudices, the famously secretive Highsmith reveals the roots of her psychological angst and acuity. In one of the most compulsively readable literary diaries to publish in generations, at last we see how Patricia Highsmith became Patricia Highsmith.]]> 999 Patricia Highsmith e 4 4.07
author: Patricia Highsmith
name: e
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/27
date added: 2024/12/31
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]]> 90590133
Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. In this frank and surreal memoir,Ěýshe delivers a sharp and often hilarious portrait of neurodivergence and living unmasked.

After reading about autism in her teens, Fern Brady knew instinctively that she had it—autism explained her sensory issues, her meltdowns, her inability to pick up on social cues—and she told her doctor as much. But it took until she was thirty-four for her to get diagnosed.

Strong Female Character is about the years in between, and the unique combination of sexism and ableism that so often prevents autistic women from getting diagnosed until adulthood. Coming from a working-class Scottish Catholic family, Fern wasn’t exactly poised to receive an open-minded acceptance of her neurodivergence. With the piercing clarity and wit that has put her at the top of the British comedy scene, she now reflects on the ways her undiagnosed autism influenced her youth, from the tree that functioned as her childhood best friend to the psychiatric facility where she ended up when neither her parents nor school knew what to do with her.

In a memoir as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Fern leaves no stone unturned while detailing her futile attempts at employment, her increasingly destructive coping mechanisms, and the meltdowns that left her mind (and apartment) in ruins. Her chaotic, nonlinear journey—from stripping to getting arrested to finding a lifeline in comedy to her breakout appearance on the Taskmaster TV show as her full, unmasked self—is both a remarkable coming-of-age tale and a dark but poignant tribute to life at the intersection of womanhood and neurodiversity.

Strong Female Character is a story of how being female can get in the way of being autistic and how being autistic gets in the way of being the 'right kind' of woman.]]> 288 Fern Brady 0593582500 e 4 4.39 2023
author: Fern Brady
name: e
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> 60560509
There is something strange about the woman living on top of the hill and the people of Fishmonger Bay leave her alone. At least until the day she visits the village witch.

One magic-user is bad enough; the emergence of another—intolerable.

Spinning out of control, Reecah must decide whether to slay the dragon or risk becoming a victim of her people.

Can Reecah find the key to unlock her family heritage or will she fall prey to the secret so many have died to protect?]]> 327 Richard H. Stephens 1989257143 e 0 4.58
author: Richard H. Stephens
name: e
average rating: 4.58
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
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]]> 6059070 256 Carlo Collodi 8809018168 e 4 3.65 1883
author: Carlo Collodi
name: e
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1883
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/08
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]]> 220239394 Dorothy Parker’s complete weekly New Yorker column about books and people and the rigors of reviewing.


When, in 1927, Dorothy Parker became a book critic for the New Yorker, she was already a legendary wit, a much-quoted member of the Algonquin Round Table, and an arbiter of literary taste. In the year that she spent as a weekly reviewer, under the rupic “Constant Reader,� she created what is still the most entertaining book column ever written. Parker’s hot takes have lost none of their heat, whether she’s taking aim at the evangelist Aimee Semple MacPherson (“She can go on like that for hours. Can, hell—does�), praising Hemingway’s latest collection (“He discards detail with magnificent lavishness�), or dissenting from the Tao of Pooh (“And it is that word �hummy,� my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader Fwowed up�).


Introduced with characteristic wit and sympathy by Sloane Crosley, Constant Reader gathers the complete weekly New Yorker reviews that Parker published from October 1927 through November 1928, with gimlet-eyed appreciations of the high and low, from Isadora Duncan to Al Smith, Charles Lindbergh to Little Orphan Annie, Mussolini to Emily Post]]> 223 Dorothy Parker e 0 to-read 4.60
author: Dorothy Parker
name: e
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/01
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]]> 205438851 221 David Mikics 159853792X e 3 3.66
author: David Mikics
name: e
average rating: 3.66
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/28
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]]> 199793365 240 Pedro AlmodĂłvar 0063349760 e 4 3.51 2023
author: Pedro AlmodĂłvar
name: e
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
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]]> 207294891
Sam Windsor’s parents and younger siblings, Grayson and Addie, are his whole world, so when his parents announce they’re separating, Sam is devastated. He’d do anything to make his parents change their minds and keep the family together. When a stranger offers a flute made of bone that supposedly grants the player’s wish, Sam doesn’t really believe it will work but figures he has nothing to lose.

Surprisingly, the wish on the skeleton flute comes true. The next day, his parents are happily in love, with no plans for his dad to leave. But there’s a major problem: his parents� relationship isn’t the only thing in his life that has changed, and some of the changes are definitely for the worse.

Caught in a world full of unintended consequences and familiar strangers, Sam has limited options for returning to his old life—worries, challenges, and all. Can he track down the mysterious man who gave him the flute and undo his wish?]]> 368 Damara Allen 1665946601 e 0 4.18
author: Damara Allen
name: e
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
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]]> 43440975
In the course of his line of business, the man who calls himself Roy Martin has robbed a bank in Phoenix, killed three men, and caught a bullet in his arm.ĚýĚýSafety--and one half of $178,000--awaits him on the other side of the country.ĚýĚýAll that separates "Martin" from his destination are two thousand treacherous miles and three lethal temptations:ĚýĚýto trust the wrong friend, to love the right woman, and to start believing that a man like himself can ever be safe.

The Name of the Game is Death combines a narrative as taut as a hangman's rope with chillingly authentic insights into the psychology of casual murder.]]> 159 Dan J. Marlowe e 4 4.00 1962
author: Dan J. Marlowe
name: e
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
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]]> 10656470 192 Victor L. Whitechurch 1906288054 e 0 to-read 3.57 1927
author: Victor L. Whitechurch
name: e
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1927
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 776407 180 A.A. Milne 0525444440 e 4 4.37 1928
author: A.A. Milne
name: e
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves:
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]]> 205064686 224 Chester Himes 0593686721 e 4 4.00 1960
author: Chester Himes
name: e
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves:
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]]> 204593679 A spooky yet heartwarming adventure about one girl's journey into the land of the undead, and the unexpected family she finds along the way. Perfect for fans of Nevermoor and the hit series Wednesday.

On Halloween, it is always wise to expect the unexpected, but no amount of planning could have prepared Eve for that particular night. Fleeing an unpleasant orphanage, she’s saved by someone who she never believed was real…the fabled Pumpkin King himself.

Throwing caution aside, Eve accepts the offer to become his daughter and is whisked away to the misty Hallowell Valley—home to witches and vampires, ghosts and goblins, and all that go bump in the night. But just when she believes she’s found her place among the undead, a sinister scheme unearths itself, threatening to take everything from Eve unless she can stop it.

From debut author Steven Banbury comes a cozy, magical adventure sure to delight anyone who loves the tricks of Halloween as much as the treats of autumn.]]> 336 Steven Banbury 0316572993 e 0 4.21 2024
author: Steven Banbury
name: e
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
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]]> 31110480 1660 William L. Shirer 079531700X e 5 4.49 1960
author: William L. Shirer
name: e
average rating: 4.49
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/06
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
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]]> 18895251 The biggest edition yet � expanded and updated with 35,000 words of new material Critically acclaimed in its previous editions, The Complete David Bowie is widely recognized as the foremost source of analysis and information on every facet of Bowie’s career. The A-Z of songs and the day-by-day dateline are the most complete ever published. From the 11-year-old’s skiffle performance at the 18th Bromley Scouts� Summer Camp in 1958, to the emergence of the legendary lost album Toy in 2011, The Complete David Bowie discusses and dissects every last development in rock’s most fascinating career. * The Albums � detailed production history and analysis of every album from 1967 to the present day. * The Songs � hundreds of individual entries reveal the facts and anecdotes behind not just the famous recordings, but also the most obscure of unreleased rarities � from �Absolute Beginners� to �Ziggy Stardust�, from �Abdulmajid� to �Zion�. * The Tours � set-lists and histories of every live show. * The Actor � a complete guide to Bowie’s career on stage and screen. * Plus � the videos, the BBC radio sessions, the paintings, the Internet and much more.]]> 544 Nicholas Pegg 0857687190 e 4 4.39 2000
author: Nicholas Pegg
name: e
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2014/02/17
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves:
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]]> 937105 Ěý
But it’s in the countryside, among nature, where Lolly has her first taste of freedom. Duty-bound to no one except herself, she revels in the solitary life. When her nephew moves there, and Lolly feels once again thrust into her old familial role, she reaches out to the otherworldly, to the darkness, to the unheeded power within the hearts of women to feel at peace once moreĚý.Ěý.Ěý.]]> 222 Sylvia Townsend Warner 0940322161 e 0 to-read 3.75 1926
author: Sylvia Townsend Warner
name: e
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1926
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 200201076 288 Carrie Rickey 0393866769 e 4 3.99 2024
author: Carrie Rickey
name: e
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/15
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
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]]> 200982393 224 R.L. Stine 1250836336 e 0 3.82 2024
author: R.L. Stine
name: e
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
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]]> 25241616 Now a Netflix film

When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be narrated by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes � hope and belonging, desire and compassion � with the lightness of a magician’s touch. With dreamlike illustrations and a cover by Yoko Tanaka.]]> 224 Kate DiCamillo 0763680885 e 0 4.16 2009
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: e
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
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]]> 606713
On the near horizon a ship is sinking. They rescue its lone passenger, a young man who claims he buried his wife and another couple, dead from food poisoning. But suspicion gnaws at Ingram, a suspicion only too soon justified. Soon Ingram and his wife are nearly overside with the killer's other victims!]]> 188 Charles Williams 0670260428 e 3 3.63 1963
author: Charles Williams
name: e
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1963
rating: 3
read at: 2012/06/26
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
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]]> 891521
Why did Rae Osborne, the flamboyant green-eyed beauty with a taste for highballs, spend a thousand dollars on an air search?

Someone was playing John Ingram for a sucker ... but who?

The answer found the tough charter skipper with a boat on his hands, a blonde on his mind, and a gun in his back ...]]> 186 Charles Williams e 4 3.75 1960
author: Charles Williams
name: e
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2011/07/30
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves:
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]]> 58355357 “All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.�

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

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

The animals� world embodies the author’s wry, whimsical, and unfailingly inventive imagination. It is a world that succeeding generations of both adult and young readers have found irresistible. But why say more? To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: “Travel, change, interest, excitement!...Come inside.�]]> 252 Kenneth Grahame e 4 4.29 1908
author: Kenneth Grahame
name: e
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1908
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/23
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]]> 52706058 One of Japan's greatest classic murder mysteries, introducing their best loved detective, translated into English for the first time.

In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village.

Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house. Soon, amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi is on the scene to investigate what will become a legendary murder case, but can this scruffy sleuth solve a seemingly impossible crime?]]> 189 Seishi Yokomizo 1782275002 e 4 3.63 1946
author: Seishi Yokomizo
name: e
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
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]]> 7184
Twenty Years After (1845), the sequel to The Three Musketeers, is a supreme creation of suspense and heroic adventure.

Two decades have passed since the musketeers triumphed over Cardinal Richelieu and Milady. Time has weakened their resolve, and dispersed their loyalties. But treasons and stratagems still cry out for justice: civil war endangers the throne of France, while in England Cromwell threatens to send Charles I to the scaffold. Dumas brings his immortal quartet out of retirement to cross swords with time, the malevolence of men, and the forces of history. But their greatest test is a titanic struggle with the son of Milady, who wears the face of Evil.]]> 845 Alexandre Dumas 0192838431 e 5 4.06 1845
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: e
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1845
rating: 5
read at: 2011/12/03
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 5413 Also contains: One For the Road, Jerusalem's Lot. For standalone novel see ISBN 9780450031069.

Stephen King's second novel, the classic vampire bestseller 'Salem's Lot, tells the story of evil in small-town America. For the first time in a major trade edition, this terrifying novel is accompanied by previously unpublished material from King's archive, two short stories, and eerie photographs that bring King's fictional darkness and evil to vivid life.

When Stephen King’s classic thriller 'Salem's Lot hit the stands in 1975, it thrilled and terrified millions of readers with tales of demonic evil in small-town America. Now, thirty years later and still scaring readers witless, 'Salem's Lot reemerges in a brilliant new edition, complete with photographs, fifty pages of deleted and alternate scenes, and two short stories related to the events of the novel.

While the original edition of 'Salem's Lot will forever be a premier horror classic, 'Salem's Lot: Illustrated Edition, with the inclusion of material from King’s archive, is destined to become a classic in its own right and a must-have for all Stephen King fans. In this edition, the hair-raising story of Jerusalem’s Lot, a small town in Maine whose inhabitants succumb to the evil allure of a new resident, is told as the author envisioned it, complete with fifty pages of alternate and deleted scenes. With a new introduction by the author, two short stories related to the events and residents of Jerusalem’s Lot, the lavishly creepy photographs of Jerry Uelsmann, and a stunning new page design, this edition brings the story to life in words and pictures as never before.

No library will be complete without this ideal collector’s item for any King aficionado, the definitive illustrated edition of the great 'Salem's Lot.]]> 594 Stephen King 0385516487 e 4 4.28 1975
author: Stephen King
name: e
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1975
rating: 4
read at: 2012/03/01
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 45032 488 Jane Austen e 4 3.86 1814
author: Jane Austen
name: e
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 754713 242 Arthur Conan Doyle 0755334434 e 4 4.26 1917
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: e
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1917
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 781819 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER - NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER
Dig deep in this award-winning, modern classic that will remind readers that adventure is right around the corner--or just under your feet!




Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment--and redemption.

A smart jigsaw puzzle of a novel. --New York Times


*Includes a double bonus: an excerpt from Small Steps, the follow-up to Holes, as well as an excerpt from the New York Times bestseller Fuzzy Mud.]]> 233 Louis Sachar 044022859X e 0 4.15 1998
author: Louis Sachar
name: e
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/08/01
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]]> 32191885 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the past decade. Presented as the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes as she tries to solve the murder of her beloved and enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. In Book Two, dark mysteries past and present continue to abound in the tumultuous and violent Chicago summer of 1968. Young Karen attends the Yippie-organized Festival of Life in Grant Park and finds herself swept up in a police stomping. Privately, she continues to investigate Anka’s recent death and discovers one last cassette tape that sheds light upon Anka's heroic activities in Nazi Germany. She wrestles with her own sexual identity, the death of her mother, and the secrets she suspects her brother Deez of hiding. Ferris’s exhilarating cast of characters experience revelations and epiphanies that both resolve and deepen the mysteries visited upon them earlier. Visually, the story is told in Ferris's inimitable style that breathtakingly and seamlessly combines panel-to-panel storytelling and cartoon montages filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster mag iconography. Full-color illustrations throughout]]> 304 Emil Ferris 168396019X e 5 4.23 2024
author: Emil Ferris
name: e
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
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]]> 28877 454 Thomas Harris e 0 4.07 1981
author: Thomas Harris
name: e
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/23
date added: 2024/07/23
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]]> 20646 160 Terry Jones 0140322620 e 0 4.23 1981
author: Terry Jones
name: e
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/30
date added: 2024/07/09
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]]> 181513308 288 Braden Hallett 1773218565 e 0 4.16
author: Braden Hallett
name: e
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/09
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]]> 29069374 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen’s investigation takes us back to Anka’s life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge. Full-color illustrations throughout.]]> 416 Emil Ferris 1606999591 e 5 4.21 2017
author: Emil Ferris
name: e
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
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]]> 122971443
Sex, drugs, and . . . murder. Private eye Eugène Tarpon (previously seen in Jean-Patrick Manchette’s No Room at the Morgue ) returns for another punishing round against the forces of greed and malfeasance. Along the way he drags his only friends, Charlotte Malrakis and Jean-Baptiste Haymann, through some gruesome episodes of their own. In Skeletons in the Closet , Manchette aims his dark humor at corruption at the highest “spiritual� and political levels. A savage page-turner with a heart.]]> 176 Jean-Patrick Manchette 1681377608 e 0 to-read 3.67 1976
author: Jean-Patrick Manchette
name: e
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> 37190 A brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal–winning tale.

Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.]]> 272 Kate DiCamillo 0763625299 e 0 4.07 2003
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: e
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/20
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]]> 61311670 Meet Ham, Minnie, Enos, Roscoe, Tiger, and Rocky.

When the United States was scrambling to catch up to the Soviets after their successful launch of Sputnik, they didn’t turn to Mercury Seven astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn. Rather, they began bringing chimpanzees to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico for a top-secret program. The goal? To do everything America needed to make space travel safe for humans and beat the Soviets.

Based on extensive research and interviews with living members of the team of veterinarians, handlers, and psychologists who worked with the animals, The Astrochimps offers a fresh perspective on animal intelligence and the rise of the space age. Detailed back matter provides resources, space mission stats, and calls to action for young readers to honor the astrochimps� legacy and advocate for the humane treatment of chimpanzees today.

Vividly depicted at work, at play, in and out of spacecrafts, these chimps played an under-appreciated part in helping the United States win the Space Race.]]> 216 Dawn Cusick 1641608951 e 0 3.74
author: Dawn Cusick
name: e
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/06/17
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]]> 177721372 Because of Winn-Dixie has outdone herself with a hilarious and achingly real love story about a girl, a ghost, a grandmother, and growing up.

It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans—wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?

As Charisse likes to say, “Every good story is a love story,� and Kate DiCamillo has written one for the ages: emotionally resonant and healing, showing the two-time Newbery Medalist at her most playful, universal, and profound.]]> 226 Kate DiCamillo 1536231053 e 0 4.22 2024
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: e
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/06/17
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]]> 10668123 120 Terry Jones 1843651637 e 0 3.88 2011
author: Terry Jones
name: e
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/17
date added: 2024/04/18
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]]> 162164937 5/5 - RECORD COLLECTOR
4/5 - THE TELEGRAPH
4/5 - MOJO

Everyone has their favourite era of the Bee Gees' career, but so much is still unclear about this celebrated but often misunderstood band. This book will provide the perfect route in, pulling together every fascinating strand to tell the story of these pioneering, melancholic masters of pop.

Uniquely, the Bee Gees' tale spans the entire modern pop era - they are the only group to have scored British top-ten singles in the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s - and includes world-conquering disco successes like 'Stayin' Alive' and 'More Than a Woman', both from the soundtrack of hit film Saturday Night Fever .

But the Bee Gees' extraordinary career was one of highs and lows. From a vicious but temporary split in 1969 to several unreleased albums, disastrous TV and film appearances, and a demoralising cabaret season, the group weren't always revelling in the glow of million-selling albums, private jets and UNICEF concerts. Yet, even in the Gibbs' darkest times, their music was rarely out of the charts, as sung by the likes of Al Green, Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton and Diana Ross.

Award winning author Bob Stanley captures the human story at the heart of the Bee Gees in this lyrical and stylish read.]]> 400 Bob Stanley 1788705416 e 5 4.20
author: Bob Stanley
name: e
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/23
date added: 2024/04/16
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]]> 207009066 189 Joe Wilkinson 1787630811 e 0 4.44 2020
author: Joe Wilkinson
name: e
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/14
date added: 2024/04/14
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]]> 138522773
Covering the full oeuvre of The Pet Shop boys; their albums, films, stage productions and collaborations, chapters in this collection show how their work is suffused with political commentary on the past and present covering themes as broad as queer identity, the HIV/AIDs epidemic, globalization and Brexit. It also places them within the context of their times and considers them as activists, authors, social commentators, political actors and personalities to better understand what influenced them. Bringing together a range of perspectives and disciplines, The Pet Shop Boys and the Political provides a unique and untapped insight into a formative pop band of the modern era that has mirrored and shaped society over the past forty years.]]> 290 Bodie A. Ashton 1350331562 e 0 3.67
author: Bodie A. Ashton
name: e
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
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]]> 20649 128 Terry Jones 0670848999 e 0 4.07 1993
author: Terry Jones
name: e
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/06
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]]> 29920980 Librarian note: alternate-cover edition of 9780965476027

First published in 1941, Walter Farley's best-selling novel for young readers is the triumphant tale of a boy and a wild horse. From Alec Ramsay and the Black's first meeting on an ill-fated ship to their adventures on a desert island and their eventual rescue, this beloved story will hold the rapt attention of readers new and old.]]> 224 Walter Farley e 0 4.00 1941
author: Walter Farley
name: e
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1941
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/07
date added: 2024/03/14
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]]> 60762263
Before film made them international comedy legends, the Marx Brothers developed their comic skills on stage for twenty-five years. In Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage , Robert S. Bader offers the first comprehensive history of the foursome’s hardscrabble early years honing their act in front of live audiences.

From Groucho’s debut in 1905 to their final live performances of scenes from A Night in Casablanca in 1945, the brothers� stage career shows how their characters and routines evolved before their arrival in Hollywood. Four of the Three Musketeers draws on an unmatched array of sources, many not referenced elsewhere. Bader’s detailed portrait of the struggling young actors both brings to vivid life a typical night on the road for the Marx Brothers and illuminates the inner workings of the vaudeville business, especially during its peak in the 1920s.

As Bader traces the origins of the characters that would later come to be beloved by filmgoers, he also skillfully scrapes away the accretion of rumors and mythology perpetuated not only by fans and writers but by the Marx Brothers themselves. Revealing, vital, and entertaining, Four of the Three Musketeers has taken its place as an essential reference for this legendary American act. Now, the updated edition adds newly discovered performances—some submitted by readers—and additional information provided by descendants of long-departed vaudevillians mentioned in the book.]]> 544 Robert S. Bader 0810145758 e 4 4.75
author: Robert S. Bader
name: e
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/13
date added: 2024/02/13
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]]> 78411
I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket]]> 162 Lemony Snicket 0439206472 e 4 4.02 1999
author: Lemony Snicket
name: e
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/09
date added: 2024/02/10
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]]> 197051197 'An incredible piece of writing' - Brett Goldstein
'Interrogates moments of trauma with insight, kindness and humanity' - John Robins

This is a book about mistakes. And why we should de-flower shame in all its messy, complicated glory...

Hello!

It's Lou here...

I've poured my heart and guts on to the page and shared my soul in this book. This won't be for everyone but I hope it helps the people it does connect with. We all have stories and I think its useful to share them, I think it helps unite us and in some ways it helps us release some shame.

I've been alarmingly truthful and sincere, because I think society would be better if we could all be honest. I've of course used humour too, not as a way to cope (I've processed the darker things that have happened to me), but as a change in pace, some gorgeous light relief, because life is light and dark dancing together in the wind. And I love jokes.

If this is the sort of thing you're after, please pick me up and take me to bed (that's the book speaking so a little joke there).]]> 288 Lou Sanders 1788708571 e 4 3.89
author: Lou Sanders
name: e
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/30
date added: 2024/01/30
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]]> 63840230 An ingenious and highly atmospheric classic whodunit from Japan’s master of crime.

Amid the rubble of post-war Tokyo, inside the grand Tsubaki house, a once-noble family is in mourning.

The old viscount Tsubaki, a brooding, troubled composer, has been found dead.

When the family gather for a divination to conjure the spirit of their departed patriarch, death visits the house once more, and the brilliant Kosuke Kindaichi is called in to investigate.

But before he can get to the truth Kindaichi must uncover the Tsubakis� most disturbing secrets, while the gruesome murders continue…]]> 355 Seishi Yokomizo 1782278842 e 4 3.87 1951
author: Seishi Yokomizo
name: e
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/25
date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 122991962 The Last Battle, book seven in the classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. The full-color jacket features art by three time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator, David Wiesner, and black-and-white interior art by the series' original illustrator, Pauline Baynes.

During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge—not an invader from without but an enemy from within. Lies and treachery have taken root, and only the king and a small band of loyal followers can prevent the destruction of all they hold dear in this, the magnificent ending to The Chronicles of Narnia.

Witness the greatest of all battles in The Last Battle, is the seventh and final book in C. S. Lewis's classic fantasy series, which has been drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over sixty years. A complete stand-alone read, but if you want to relive the adventures and find out how it began, pick up The Magician's Nephew, the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia.]]> 224 C.S. Lewis 0060234938 e 1 4.24 1956
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1956
rating: 1
read at: 2024/01/24
date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 179846489
Among all of Carr’s ingenious crime scenes, the present case is one of his best a dead man is found strangled in the middle of a clay tennis court, just after a storm. In the damp dirt, there is one set of footsteps―his own―leading back to the grass; the court is otherwise untouched. There are no trees above from which the body may have fallen and no other visible means by which it may have been transported to its final resting place. Before determining the perpetrator of the strangulation, the local authorities are first confronted by the utter implausibility of the location―two interlocking questions puzzling enough to stump even the most seasoned inspector.

The bafflement is reaching a harried volley by the time amateur sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell gets involved, but he soon shows that the knotted plot is no match for his deductive powers. Before he can serve up a dazzling explanation of whodunnit, though, Fell will have to sort through a confounding set of clues in search of a diabolical killer and a bizarre murder method.

Reissued for the first time this century, The Problem of the Wire Cage is an atmospheric and amusing Golden Age mystery with a memorable puzzle at its center. It’s sure to please long-time fans of John Dickson Carr and is also a great entry point into his beloved Gideon Fell series.]]> 288 John Dickson Carr 1613164866 e 0 to-read 3.77 1939
author: John Dickson Carr
name: e
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/19
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]]> 10717333 400 William Peter Blatty 006209436X e 4 4.20 1971
author: William Peter Blatty
name: e
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1971
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/17
date added: 2024/01/17
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]]> 896889 Jill and Eustace must recue the Prince from the evil Witch.

NARNIA . . . where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans, where a prince is put under an evil spell . . . and where the adventure begins.

Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor . . . or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face-to-face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be saved.

Enter this enchanted world countless times in The Chronicles of Narnia.

This edition is complete with full-color cover and interior art by the original illustrator, Pauline Baynes.

An alternate cover edition can be found here.]]> 243 C.S. Lewis 0064409457 e 0 4.03 1953
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1953
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/09
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]]> 34862885 'Adrian Gray was born in May 1862 and met his death through violence, at the hands of one of his own children, at Christmas, 1931.'<'b>

Thus begins a classic crime novel published in 1933 that has been too long neglected―until now. It is a riveting portrait of the psychology of a murderer.

Each December, Adrian Gray invites his extended family to stay at his lonely house, Kings Poplars. None of Gray's six surviving children is fond of him; several have cause to wish him dead. The family gathers on Christmas Eve―and by the following morning, their wish has been granted.

This fascinating and unusual novel tells the story of what happened that dark Christmas night; and what the murderer did next.]]> 240 Anne Meredith 071235686X e 0 to-read 3.33 1933
author: Anne Meredith
name: e
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1933
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/03
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]]> 60219811
The modern Churchill cult is out of control, closing down debate and encouraging support for twenty-first-century wars. The wartime leader has become a household god for many, preserving an antiquated vision of Britain still shared by all three parties. Yet, was he anything more than a plump carp happy to swim in the foulest of ponds to defend the Empire?

Churchill himself never bothered to conceal his passionate defence of the British Empire or its attendant racism. On a more personal level, his complacent self-belief influenced his every step and frequently tripped him up. As the head of the British Navy during the First World War, he was responsible for a series of calamitous errors that cost thousands of lives. His attempt to crush the Irish nationalists left wounds that have yet to heal. His attacks on striking workers in Glasgow and Tonypandy, his posturing when calling in the army to burn two anarchists in London’s East End, his vicious propaganda during the General Strike were not forgotten or forgiven.

Even during the war against Germany, the most revered period of his career, Churchill’s crimes abroad continued, including the brutal assault on the Greek Resistance, the Bengal Famine that cost over 3 million Indian lives, the all-out assault on civilians in Dresden and Hamburg, and the insistence on the use of nuclear weapons in Japan. Postwar, he continued to cause harm in Iran and Kenya. His is a terrible record, amply documented in Tariq Ali’s indictment.]]> 448 Tariq Ali 1788735773 e 5 3.72 2022
author: Tariq Ali
name: e
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/28
date added: 2023/12/28
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]]> 140225
The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World.]]> 248 C.S. Lewis 006112527X e 0 4.10 1952
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1952
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/18
date added: 2023/12/19
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]]> 147444511
Werner Herzog was born in September 1942 in Munich, Germany, at a turning point in the Second World War. Soon Germany would be defeated and a new world would have to be made out the rubble and horrors of the war. Fleeing the Allied bombing raids, Herzog’s mother took him and his older brother to a remote, rustic part of Bavaria where he would spend much of his childhood hungry, without running water, in deep poverty. It was there, as the new postwar order was emerging, that one of the most visionary filmmakers of the next seven decades was formed.

Until age 11, Herzog did not even know of the existence of cinema. His interest in films began at age 15, but since no one was willing to finance them, he worked the night shift as a welder in a steel factory. He started to travel on foot. He made his first phone call at age 17, and his first film in 1961 at age 19. The wildly productive working life that followed—spanning the seven continents and encompassing both documentary and fiction—was an adventure as grand and otherworldly as any depicted in his many classic films .

Every Man for Himself and God Against All is at once a personal record of one of the great and self-invented lives of our time, and a singular literary masterpiece that will enthrall fans old and new alike. In a hypnotic swirl of memory, Herzog untangles and relives his most important experiences and inspirations, telling his story for the first and only time.]]> 368 Werner Herzog e 5 4.22 2022
author: Werner Herzog
name: e
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/10
date added: 2023/12/10
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]]> 58724923 A wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.]]> 372 Jason Rekulak 1250819342 e 3 4.12 2022
author: Jason Rekulak
name: e
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/07
date added: 2023/12/07
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]]> 75665931 From one of contemporary literature’s most exciting new voices, a haunting story centered on the Hungarian polymath John von Neumann, tracing the impact of his singular legacy on the dreams and nightmares of the twentieth century and the nascent age of AI

Benjamín Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World electrified a global readership. A Booker Prize and National Book Award finalist, and one of the New York Times� Ten Best Books of the Year, it explored the life and thought of a clutch of mathematicians and physicists who took science to strange and sometimes dangerous new realms. In The MANIAC, Labatut has created a tour de force on an even grander scale.

A prodigy whose gifts terrified the people around him, John von Neumann transformed every field he touched, inventing game theory and the first programable computer, and pioneering AI, digital life, and cellular automata. Through a chorus of family members, friends, colleagues, and rivals, Labatut shows us the evolution of a mind unmatched and of a body of work that has unmoored the world in its wake.

The MANIAC places von Neumann at the center of a literary triptych that begins with Paul Ehrenfest, an Austrian physicist and friend of Einstein, who fell into despair when he saw science and technology become tyrannical forces; it ends a hundred years later, in the showdown between the South Korean Go Master Lee Sedol and the AI program AlphaGo, an encounter embodying the central question of von Neumann's most ambitious unfinished project: the creation of a self-reproducing machine, an intelligence able to evolve beyond human understanding or control.

A work of beauty and fabulous momentum, The MANIAC confronts us with the deepest questions we face as a species.]]> 368 BenjamĂ­n Labatut 0593654471 e 0 to-read 4.33 2023
author: BenjamĂ­n Labatut
name: e
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/04
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]]> 121749
Narnia . . . where animals talk . . . where trees walk . . . where a battle is about to begin.

A prince denied his rightful throne gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world.

Prince CaspianĚýis the fourth book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you would like to see more of Lucy and Edmund’s adventures, readĚýThe Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the fifth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.]]> 240 C.S. Lewis 000720230X e 0 3.99 1951
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1951
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/30
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]]> 123984731
Here we have Flaubert’s youthful, sensual outpourings to his mistress, the poet Louise Colet, and, as he advances, still unknown, into his thirties, the wrestle to write Madame Bovary . We hear, too, of his life-changing trip to Egypt, as described to family and friends, and then there are lively exchanges with Baudelaire, with the influential critic Sainte-Beuve, and with Guy de Maupassant, his young protégé. Flaubert’s letters to George Sand reveal her as the great confidante of his later years.

Steegmuller’s book, a classic in its own right, is bothĚýa splendid life of Flaubert in his own words and the arsĚýpoetica of the master who laid the foundations for modernĚýwriters from James Joyce to Lydia Davis. Originally issued in two volumes, the book appears here for the first time under a single cover.]]> 720 Gustave Flaubert 1681377160 e 0 to-read 4.74 1980
author: Gustave Flaubert
name: e
average rating: 4.74
book published: 1980
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/28
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]]> 1052650 259 Carmen Callil 0330341820 e 3 3.71 1999
author: Carmen Callil
name: e
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/24
date added: 2023/11/24
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A lot of short story collections in this survey of the English-language novel!
]]> 101162141 From the premiere Beatles biographer—author of the New York Times bestseller John The Life and the million-copy selling Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation—a rare and revealing portrait of George Harrison, the most misunderstood and mysterious Beatle, based on decades-long research and unparalleled access to inside sources.

Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, George Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was allowed to contribute only one or two songs per Beatles album out of the dozens he wrote.

Now, acclaimed Beatles biographer Philip Norman examines Harrison through the lens of his numerous self-contradictions. Compared to songwriting luminaries John Lennon and Paul McCartney he was considered a minor talent, yet he composed such masterpieces as “While My Guitar Gently Weeps� and “Here Comes the Sun,� and his solo debut album “All Things Must Pass� achieved enormous success, appearing on many lists of the 100 best rock albums ever. Modern music critics place him in the pantheon of sixties guitar gods alongside Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, and Jimmy Page.

Harrison railed against the material world yet wrote the first pop song complaining about income tax. He spent years lovingly restoring his Friar Park estate as a spiritual journey, but quickly mortgaged the property to help rescue a film project that would be widely banned as sacrilegious, Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Harrison could be fiercely jealous, but not only did he stay friends with Eric Clapton when Clapton fell in love with Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, the two men grew even closer after Clapton walked away with her.

Unprecedented in scope and filled with numerous color photos, this rich biography captures George Harrison at his most devoted friend, loyal son, master guitar player, brilliant songwriter, cocaine addict, serial philanderer, global philanthropist, student of Indian mysticism, self-deprecating comedian, and, ultimately, iconic artist and man beloved by millions.]]> 505 Philip Norman 198219586X e 3 4.25
author: Philip Norman
name: e
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/18
date added: 2023/11/18
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The problem is that the first 250+ pages are all very very familiar territory. The Beatles are too big a part of the story to be minimized, but Norman goes over the oft-told tale with such an eye to the picture of the whole band that occasionally one would be forgiven for forgetting exactly whose bio it is meant to be. The post-1970 years receive fairly lightweight attention, very little attention paid to the albums, major episodes go by with many notable details left out. Still entertaining enough. A handful of nice little unfamiliar-to-me anecdotes from Michael Palin sprinkled throughout.
]]> 84119 The Horse and his Boy is a stirring and dramatic fantasy story that finds a young boy named Shasta on the run from his homeland with the talking horse, Bree. When the pair discover a deadly plot by the Calormen people to conquer the land of Narnia, the race is on to warn the inhabitants of the impending danger and to rescue them all from certain death.]]> 224 C.S. Lewis 0439861365 e 0 3.92 1954
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1954
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/13
date added: 2023/11/13
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]]> 60877584 448 David Thomson 0063041413 e 0 to-read 3.20
author: David Thomson
name: e
average rating: 3.20
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rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/09
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]]> 481509 They open a door and enter a world.

NARNIA . . . the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy . . . the place where adventure begins.

Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first, no one believes her when she tells of her adventures in the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund and then Peter and Susan discover the Magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. In blink of an eye, their lives are changed forever.

Enter this enchanted world countless times in The Chronicles of Narnia.

This edition is complete with full-color cover and interior art by the original illustrator, Pauline Baynes.]]> 189 C.S. Lewis 0064409422 e 0 4.32 1950
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1950
rating: 0
read at: 2023/10/25
date added: 2023/10/25
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]]> 138505710
Not long ago, the celebrated activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had just such an experience―she was confronted with a doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who. Destabilized, she lost her bearings, until she began to understand the experience as one manifestation of a strangeness many of us have come to know but struggle to define: AI-generated text is blurring the line between genuine and spurious communication; New Age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers are scrambling familiar political allegiances of left and right; and liberal democracies are teetering on the edge of absurdist authoritarianism, even as the oceans rise. Under such conditions, reality itself seems to have become unmoored. Is there a cure for our moment of collective vertigo?

Naomi Klein is one of our most trenchant and influential social critics, an essential analyst of what branding, austerity, and climate profiteering have done to our societies and souls. Here she turns her gaze inward to our psychic landscapes, and outward to the possibilities for building hope amid intersecting economic, medical, and political crises. With the assistance of Sigmund Freud, Jordan Peele, Alfred Hitchcock, and bell hooks, among other accomplices, Klein uses wry humor and a keen sense of the ridiculous to face the strange doubles that haunt us―and that have come to feel as intimate and proximate as a warped reflection in the mirror.

Combining comic memoir with chilling reportage and cobweb-clearing analysis, Klein seeks to smash that mirror and chart a path beyond despair. Doppelganger What do we neglect as we polish and perfect our digital reflections? Is it possible to dispose of our doubles and overcome the pathologies of a culture of multiplication? Can we create a politics of collective care and undertake a true reckoning with historical crimes? The result is a revelatory treatment of the way many of us think and feel now―and an intellectual adventure story for our times.]]> 416 Naomi Klein 0374610320 e 4 4.21 2023
author: Naomi Klein
name: e
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/25
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]]> 7176430 A classic memoir by the author of the New York Times bestseller Somewhere Towards the End.

As a young woman, Diana Athill was engaged to an air force pilot�Instead of a Letter tells how he broke off the engagement, married someone else, and, worst of all, died overseas before she could confront or forgive him. Evoking perfectly the picturesque country setting of her youth, this fearless and profoundly honest story of love and modern womanhood marks the beginning of Athill’s brilliant literary career. .]]> 256 Diana Athill 0393338576 e 4 3.83 1962
author: Diana Athill
name: e
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/05
date added: 2023/10/05
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]]> 7073818 208 C.S. Lewis 1615543783 e 0 4.09 1955
author: C.S. Lewis
name: e
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at: 2023/10/04
date added: 2023/10/04
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]]> 61342602 310 Alyn Shipton 110883423X e 4 3.50
author: Alyn Shipton
name: e
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/26
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]]> 32068112 Lust plus greed equals murder in this classic Hollywood noir novel by "a real pro" (The New York Times Book Review).

A struggling actor, Willy Griff keeps himself entertained with the wife of a business mogul, but he wants more: He also wants the business mogul's money. The mistress, Doris, likes the idea even more than Willy does, and figures if she helps plan the murder, she can ditch the husband and keep the cash.

It's a dangerous scheme for two low-level, aspiring criminals. But Willy comes up with an ingenious, foolproof plot for pulling it off. At least, he better hope it's foolproof . . .

The Murderers is a gritty tale of crime and passion from Fredric Brown, a master of noir and mystery and winner of the prestigious Edgar Award.]]> 119 Fredric Brown e 4 3.70 1961
author: Fredric Brown
name: e
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/24
date added: 2023/09/25
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]]> 45726081
Calvino’s 200 tales are presented across two spectacular volumes featuring gold-blocked bindings and printed map endpapers that show each story’s provenance. With illustrations drawing on Goya’s Los Caprichos prints and an imitation snakeskin slipcase inspired by the shape-changing serpents in many of Calvino’s tales, this is a truly exceptional collector’s edition.]]> 1048 Italo Calvino e 5 4.67 1956
author: Italo Calvino
name: e
average rating: 4.67
book published: 1956
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/18
date added: 2023/09/18
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]]> 32074041 192 Friedrich DĂĽrrenmatt e 5 4.10 1957
author: Friedrich DĂĽrrenmatt
name: e
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1957
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/18
date added: 2023/09/18
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]]> 2366593
This period of pillage (it is difficult to determine how long it lasted) had, like all other sublunary effects, a cause, not so difficult to discover. In the marechal's army was a regiment, composed almost entirely of Italians and commanded by a certain Colonel Eugene, a man of remarkable bravery, a second Murat, who, having entered the military service too late, obtained neither a Grand Duchy of Berg nor a Kingdom of Naples, nor balls at the Pizzo. But if he won no crown he had ample opportunity to obtain wounds, and it was not surprising that he met with several. His regiment was composed of the scattered fragments of the Italian legion. This legion was to Italy what the colonial battalions are to France. Its permanent cantonments, established on the island of Elba, served as an honorable place of exile for the troublesome sons of good families and for those great men who have just missed greatness, whom society brands with a hot iron and designates by the term "mauvais sujets"; men who are for the most part misunderstood; whose existence may become either noble through the smile of a woman lifting them out of their rut, or shocking at the close of an orgy under the influence of some damnable reflection dropped by a drunken comrade.

Napoleon had incorporated these vigorous beings in the sixth of the line, hoping to metamorphose them finally into generals,--barring those whom the bullets might take off. But the emperor's calculation was scarcely fulfilled, except in the matter of the bullets. This regiment, often decimated but always the same in character, acquired a great reputation for valor in the field and for wickedness in private life. At the siege of Tarragona it lost its celebrated hero, Bianchi, the man who, during the campaign, had wagered that he would eat the heart of a Spanish sentinel, and did eat it. Though Bianchi was the prince of the devils incarnate to whom the regiment owed its dual reputation, he had, nevertheless, that sort of chivalrous honor which excuses, in the army, the worst excesses. In a word, he would have been, at an earlier period, an admirable pirate. A few days before his death he distinguished himself by a daring action which the marechal wished to reward. Bianchi refused rank, pension, and additional decoration, asking, for sole recompense, the favor of being the first to mount the breach at the assault on Tarragona. The marechal granted the request and then forgot his promise; but Bianchi forced him to remember Bianchi. The enraged hero was the first to plant our flag on the wall, where he was shot by a monk.]]> 90 Honoré de Balzac 1594562784 e 4 3.18 1833
author: Honoré de Balzac
name: e
average rating: 3.18
book published: 1833
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/14
date added: 2023/09/14
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]]> 6350718 26 Honoré de Balzac 1583963294 e 3 3.34 1831
author: Honoré de Balzac
name: e
average rating: 3.34
book published: 1831
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/08
date added: 2023/09/08
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]]> 105736602
Arabian Nights of 1934 is a journey through the fevered dreamworld embodied in American movies of the early 1930 an era that closed abruptly with the enforcement of the Production Code in July 1934. It distills a thousand and one nights of Depression-era movie-going—plotlines, closeups, cityscapes, wisecracks, backchat, and frantic outbursts—into a haunting parallel life, the stories bleeding into one another as they did in the minds of the viewers whom they helped sustain.

Two of those viewers, it so happens, are O'Brien's own parents in their restless youth—one impatient to experience the world beyond the screen, one ready to take it on—and the glimpse we're afforded into the darkened theaters of their minds frames the book with an act of imagination at once tender and audacious.]]> 240 Geoffrey O'Brien 194959727X e 0 to-read 4.20
author: Geoffrey O'Brien
name: e
average rating: 4.20
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]]> 34068470 The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.

In this fresh, authoritative version--the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman--this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, this engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer's sprightly pace and singing with a voice that echoes Homer's music.

Wilson's Odyssey captures the beauty and enchantment of this ancient poem as well as the suspense and drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, from the cunning goddess Athena, whose interventions guide and protect the hero, to the awkward teenage son, Telemachus, who struggles to achieve adulthood and find his father; from the cautious, clever, and miserable Penelope, who somehow keeps clamoring suitors at bay during her husband's long absence, to the "complicated" hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this translation as a more fully rounded human being than ever before.

A fascinating introduction provides an informative overview of the Bronze Age milieu that produced the epic, the major themes of the poem, the controversies about its origins, and the unparalleled scope of its impact and influence. Maps drawn especially for this volume, a pronunciation glossary, and extensive notes and summaries of each book make this an Odyssey that will be treasured by a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers alike.]]> 582 Homer 0393089053 e 5 4.30 -700
author: Homer
name: e
average rating: 4.30
book published: -700
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/31
date added: 2023/08/31
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]]> 54814676
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band � and meeting the man who would become her husband � her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.]]> 243 Michelle Zauner 0525657746 e 0 to-read 4.25 2021
author: Michelle Zauner
name: e
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/28
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]]> 27071490 An alternate cover edition can be found here.

A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi's magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control. Homegoing is a tremendous reading experience, not to be missed, by an astonishingly gifted young writer.]]> 305 Yaa Gyasi e 0 to-read 4.48 2016
author: Yaa Gyasi
name: e
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/21
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]]> 273565

From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 283 Sigrid Undset 0394752996 e 0 to-read 3.91 1920
author: Sigrid Undset
name: e
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1920
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/02
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]]> 52124305 The first book in an exciting new classic mystery series created in partnership with the Library of Congress, That Affair Next Door follows Miss Amelia Butterworth, an inquisitive single woman who becomes involved in a murder investigation after the woman next door turns up dead.

Miss Amelia Butterworth is unmarried but quite content as an observer of human nature--until late one evening she notices a man and woman enter the supposedly empty house next door, whose owners are away on a trip abroad. Suspiciously, the man leaves the house some time later, but the woman doesn't follow. The next morning Miss Butterworth finds the woman dead, mysteriously crushed under a cabinet. When Detective Ebenezer Gryce takes on the case, Miss Butterworth decides to take matters into her own hands and solve the murder herself.]]> 384 Anna Katharine Green 1464212953 e 3 3.58 1897
author: Anna Katharine Green
name: e
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1897
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2023/08/01
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]]> 3390681 80 Honoré de Balzac 1406502197 e 4 3.22 1830
author: Honoré de Balzac
name: e
average rating: 3.22
book published: 1830
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/31
date added: 2023/07/31
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]]> 31945042 --Library Journal (starred review) "In the book, [Shirley] Manson is seen with a bob cut and smudged black eyeliner, power posing for magazines and shredding guitar solos onstage. You'll also find candid interviews, cocktail recipes (one reads 'fill your glass with garbage'), and hundreds of archival photos from the road."
--The Cut/New York Magazine "Look at the band's just released funny, engaging and defiant coffee table book, This Is The Noise That Keeps Me Awake. Written with journalist Jason Cohen, the tableau tells the story of the band's rise to success to the tune of more than 17 million albums sold and the ups and downs that came with that, mixed in with the group's custom cocktail recipes, sidebars on the worst foodborne illnesses they have had, Manson's love for the San Antonio Spurs and the rest of the band's affinity for the Green Bay Packers and celebrity encounters like Bono and Bill Clinton."
--Forbes "Garbage will release a coffee-table book full of artifacts, photos, and anecdotes that capture their long pages of lyrics with penciled-in edits, cocktail recipes--like one for 'Vodka With Anything'--and snapshots from a forgotten era where Manson wore her hair boy-short and platinum blonde."
--The Cut/New York Magazine, from a feature on Shirley Manson "With input from all four of the band's members, the book looks at Garbage's musical process and how they’ve coexisted as a band for over two decades."
--Dazed "This Is the Noise That Keeps Me Awake is ultimately a tale of survival. The band fought constantly against record companies, illnesses, trends, and a million other headaches to become an international success...Against the odds, Garbage has remained one of the only survivors of the post-grunge era, one that continues to push their own boundaries and explore what they're capable of."
--Noisey/VICE "All I know is, if you call yourself Garbage, you’re going to start hanging out with garbage, and the next thing you know, you will be garbage."
Carrie Elizabeth Erickson (1920-2012) to her son Douglas "Duke" Erikson, 1995 Garbage are known around the world for songs that mix pop sweetness with the dour thunder of industrial music and the rhythmic punch of hip-hop. Now, for the first time, the four band members tell the story of that music in their own words. Packed with rare photos and personal snapshots, this book examines how Garbage make their music, and how they've kept it together (or not) for more than twenty years. The beautifully designed, large-format coffee-table book is bound with an embossed cloth hardcover and finished with a dust jacket. The edges of the text pages, printed on luxurious matte art paper in six colors, are finished with a stunning pink spot color. This Is the Noise That Keeps Me Awake is a must-have (and perfect gift) for Garbage's fans. Excerpt (In the words of Butch Vig, drummer): "It was 1995, we were finishing our debut album, and I was stressed. A lot of music business people had told me it was a mistake to give up full-time music production to start a band. So I ignored them all and took a leap of faith. The simplest reason was that I just wanted to be in a band with my friends. I'd been playing with Duke and Steve for several years, and now we had a new beginning with an X a Scottish singer named Shirley. She seemed like a good fit for our little club of misfits. So we all took that leap."]]> 208 Garbage 1617755508 e 4 4.63
author: Garbage
name: e
average rating: 4.63
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/29
date added: 2023/07/28
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]]> 5665422 20 Honoré de Balzac 1605890839 e 3 3.63 1830
author: Honoré de Balzac
name: e
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1830
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/24
date added: 2023/07/24
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]]> 28061346 On the morning of the 29th of January, 1896, Eustace Peters was found murdered in his bed at his house, Grenvile Combe, in the parish of Long Wilton, of which I was then rector.
Much mystery attached to the circumstances of his death. It was into my hands that chance threw the clue to this mystery, and it is for me, if for any one, to relate the facts.
To the main fact of all, the death of my own friend on the eve, as I sometimes fancy, of a fuller blossoming of his powers, my writing cannot give the tragic import due to it, for it touched my own life too nearly.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.]]> 289 Godfrey Rathbone Benson 1331232635 e 0 to-read 2.00 1906
author: Godfrey Rathbone Benson
name: e
average rating: 2.00
book published: 1906
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/07/23
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]]> 17834880
We think of Honoré de Balzac as the author of long and fully upholstered novels, stitched together into the magnificent visionary document called The Human Comedy. Yet along with the full-length fiction within The Human Comedy stand many shorter works, among the most brilliant and forceful of his fictions. Drawn always to the tradition of oral storytelling—to the human voice telling of experience—and to the kinds of reactions produced in the listeners to stories, Balzac repeatedly dramatizes both telling and listening, and the interactions of men and women around the story told. It’s in the short fiction that we get some of his most daring explorations of crime, sexuality, and artistic creation. As Marcel Proust noted, it is in these tales that we detect, under the surface, the mysterious circulation of blood and desire.

Included here are tales of artists, of the moneylender who controls the lives of others, of passion in the desert sands and in the drawing rooms of Parisian duchesses, episodes of madness and psychotherapy, the uncovering of fortunes derived from crime and from castration. And stories about the creation of story, the need to transmit experience. All are newly translated by three outstanding translators who restore the freshness of Balzac’s vivid and highly colored prose.

SARRASINE
GOBSECK
ADIEU
Z. MARCAS
A PASSION IN THE DESERT
THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS
THE RED INN
FACINO CANE
ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMANKIND]]> 428 Honoré de Balzac 1590176641 e 4 4.07 1842
author: Honoré de Balzac
name: e
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1842
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/21
date added: 2023/07/21
shelves:
review:

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“This book takes you so close to the action that you can smell the sweat, cigar smoke, and bad cologne that brought these movies to life.”—Paul Scheer

The Last Action Heroes opens in May 1990 in Cannes, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone waltzing together, cheered on by a crowd of famous faces. After years of bitter combat—Stallone once threw a bowl of flowers at Schwarzenegger’s head, and the body count in Schwarzenegger’s Commando was increased so the film would “have a bigger dick than Rambo ”—the world’s biggest action stars have at last made peace.

In this wildly entertaining account of the golden age of the action movie, Nick de Semlyen charts Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s carnage-packed journey from enmity to friendship against the backdrop of Reagan’s America and the Cold War. He also reveals fascinating untold stories of the colorful characters who ascended in their high-kickers Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan, glowering tough guys Dolph Lundgren and Steven Seagal, and quipping troublemakers Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Willis. But as time rolled on, the era of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts, or the perfect weapon to save the day began to fade. When Jurassic Park trounced Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero in 1993, the glory days of these macho men—and the vision of masculinity they celebrated—were officially over.

Drawing on candid interviews with the action stars themselves, plus their collaborators, friends, and foes, The Last Action Heroes is a no-holds-barred account of a period in Hollywood history when there were no limits to the heights of fame these men achieved, or to the mayhem they wrought, on-screen and off.]]> 352 Nick de Semlyen 059323880X e 2
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author: Nick de Semlyen
name: e
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/07/18
date added: 2023/07/18
shelves:
review:
Pretty shallow, with negligible critical insight. If you want fresh, interesting, perhaps revisionist takes on these films, forget it, decades-old conventional wisdom is the order of the day. If you told me that the author had never seen any of these films and cobbled this together from press clippings, I might have believed you, but I'll take the afterword's word that they've at least met all but one of the subjects in person. The text is riddled with errors, from calling Jackie Chan director Stanley Tong "Stanley Chow," to getting wrong which Creed film Stallone was Oscar-nominated for. Some really weird choices, too: how does one write about Steven Seagal's SNL episode without even mentioning the only part people even remember these days: the bizarre, mirthless mini-action film skit included at Seagal's insistence?


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Author Celia Fremlin received an Edgar Award for her suspenseful debut novel, The Hours Before Dawn. Her second thriller, Uncle Paul, evokes a similar atmosphere of menace as the paranoia of her characters � and readers � combine to form a mood of increasing tension. Rich in psychological insight and dark humor, the elegant, razor-sharp quality of Fremlin's writing provides page-turning excitement.]]> 208 Celia Fremlin 0486816214 e 0 to-read 3.15 1959
author: Celia Fremlin
name: e
average rating: 3.15
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/05
shelves: to-read
review:

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