en-US Mon, 28 Apr 2025 21:50:04 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 13053698 Pastime is Robert B. Parker's electrifying masterpeice of crime fiction--a startling game of memory, desire, and danger that forces Spenser to face his own past. Ten years ago, he saved a teenage boy from a father's rage. Now, on the brink of manhood, the boy seeks answers to his mother's sudden disapearance. Spenser is the only man he can turn to.This time, it's more than a routine search for a missing person--Spenser must search his own soul...]]> 214 Robert B. Parker 1101546522 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.36 1991
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 8130056 228 Dean A. James 1101205180 SLB 0 currently-reading 3.67 2005
author: Dean A. James
name: SLB
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/25
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]]> 12338159 236 Robert B. Parker 1101546557 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.34 1990
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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]]> 13007877 280 Robert B. Parker 1101546530 SLB 0 4.28 1989
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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]]> 8141519
In the city of the Red Sox and the Red Line someone is leaving roses—red ones, of course—on the bodies of women he kills. For a psychologist named Susan Silverman and a P.I. named Spenser, the case is personal. But Spenser knows it's the wrong man. Because the right one has come calling on Susan—with a red rose in hand.

“A novel worth reading with an ending that is worth waiting for.”—South Bend Tribune]]> 306 Robert B. Parker SLB 0 currently-reading 4.25 1988
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 59122928
A hotshot reporter is dead. He'd gone to take a look-see at “Miami North”—little Wheaton, Massachusetts—the biggest cocaine distribution center above the Mason-Dixon line.

Did the kid die for getting too close to the truth . . . or to a sweet lady with a jealous husband?

Spenser will stop at nothing to find out.]]> 318 Robert B. Parker SLB 0 4.39 1987
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/23
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]]> 215807543 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERĚýâ€� From a renowned National Book Award–winning scholar, an extraordinary new account of the life of Jesus that explores the mystery of how a poor young man inspired a religion that reshaped the world.

“This a brilliant and necessary book. Sober, wise, respectful, and fearless."Ěý—Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America

"Pagels� story is for believers and non-believers alike.� —Tara Westover, author of Educated

"The depth of spirituality she uncovers is profound.� —The New York Times Book Review

Early in her career, Elaine Pagels changed our understanding of the origins of Christianity with her work in The Gnostic Gospels. Now, in the culmination of a decades-long career, she explores the biggest subject of all, Jesus. In Miracles and Wonder she sets out to discover how a poor young Jewish man inspired a religion that shaped the world.

The book reads like a historical mystery, with each chapter addressing a fascinating question and answering it based on the gospels Jesus's followers left behind. Why is Jesus said to have had a virgin birth? Why do we say he rose from the dead? Did his miracles really happen and what did they mean?

The story Pagels tells is thrilling and tense. Not just does Jesus comes to life but his desperate, hunted followers do as well. We realize that some of the most compelling details of Jesus's life are the explanations his disciples created to paper over inconvenient facts. So Jesus wasn't illegitimate, his mother conceived by God; Jesus's body wasn't humiliatingly left to rot and tossed into a common grave—no, he rose from the dead and was seen whole by his followers; Jesus isn't a failed messiah, his kingdom is a he lives in us. These necessary fabrications were the very details and promises that electrified their listeners and helped his followers' numbers grow.

In Miracles and Wonder, Pagels does more than solve a historical mystery. She sheds light on Jesus's enduring power to inspire and attract.]]> 290 Elaine Pagels 0385547498 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.28
author: Elaine Pagels
name: SLB
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 59122897
Praise for Taming a Seahorse

“Irresistible!”—The Bergen Record

“A winner.”—The Chicago Tribune]]> 316 Robert B. Parker SLB 0 currently-reading 4.21 1986
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 8602899
Praise for A Catskill Eagle

“Entertaining.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune

“His best mystery novel.”—Time]]> 386 Robert B. Parker SLB 5 4.19 1985
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
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]]> 8569795 286 Robert B. Parker SLB 5 4.26 1984
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
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]]> 8438019 194 Robert B. Parker SLB 5 4.25 1983
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1983
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
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]]> 8233594 “[Robert B.] Parker's brilliance is in his simple dialogue, and in Spenser.”—The Philadelphia InquirerA bitter divorce is only the beginning. First the father hires thugs to kidnap his son. Then the mother hires Spenser to get the boy back. But as soon as Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own. With a contract out on his life, he heads for the Maine woods, determined to give a puny 15 year old a crash course in survival and to beat his dangerous opponents at their own brutal game.]]> 226 Robert B. Parker SLB 1 4.38 1981
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1981
rating: 1
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/07
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A really weird book. Spenser is hired by a divorced woman to protect her and her teenage son from her former husband. Spenser decides that both parents are losers and kidnaps the kid and takes him unto the wilderness, where the two of them build a log cabin from scratch. During the construction, Spenser shares his philosophies, quoting Shakespeare and Frost, among others. The two of them eat and drink booze and visit museums and ballet performances together,Spenser having apparently limitless funds for such purposes. The previously worthless kid grows in wisdom and strength and decides he wants to be a ballet dancer. (Susan Silverman is understandably not thrilled about this arrangement.)Whereupon Spenser blackmails the now perfect kids� parents into paying tuition, room and board in a ballet school far from all of them. Hawk makes a brief appearance to kill some worthless and helpless schnook Spenser refused to shoot. I kid you not. And I normally love Parker’s fiction. Oh well�
]]> 35183386
But there are nine killers to one Spenser—long odds. Hawk helps balance the equation. The rest depends on a wild plan. Spenser will get one of the terrorists to play Judas Goat—to lead him to others. Trouble is, he hasn't counted on her being very blond, very beautiful and very dangerous.]]> 208 Robert B. Parker SLB 3 Irish guys (Spenser) and Jewish girls (Susan) do not, in my vast experience, normally banter, and surely not cutely. Argue, yes. Passionately discuss, sure. Banter cutely about sex—not so much. And I never knew a Jewish girl who was a boozer like Susan.
So, three stars and on to the next Spenser story.]]> 4.36 1978
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1978
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
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I love these books, but the cutesy sexual banter between Susan and Spenser is getting pretty hard to take.
Irish guys (Spenser) and Jewish girls (Susan) do not, in my vast experience, normally banter, and surely not cutely. Argue, yes. Passionately discuss, sure. Banter cutely about sex—not so much. And I never knew a Jewish girl who was a boozer like Susan.
So, three stars and on to the next Spenser story.
]]> 8140210
Is Marty throwing fast balls or throwing games? It doesn't take long for Spenser to link Marty's performance with Linda's past...or to find himself trapped between a crazed racketeer and an enforcer toting an M-16.

America's favorite pastime has suddenly become a very dangerous sport, and one wrong move means strike three, with Spenser out for good!]]> 338 Robert B. Parker SLB 5 Spenser is emerging as a really interesting person.
I came to Spenser via Jesse Stone and I am beginning to understand and like him. (I love Jesse!!) Highly recommended. ]]> 4.33 1975
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/04/01
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This is a really well done novel. Good plot, fine character development, the interesting moral dilemma at the heart of the story is resolved as well as possible.
Spenser is emerging as a really interesting person.
I came to Spenser via Jesse Stone and I am beginning to understand and like him. (I love Jesse!!) Highly recommended.
]]> 50848485 The Boston PI gets tangled in Cape Cod’s criminal underworld in this Edgar Award–winning mystery from the New York Times–bestselling author.
Ěý
Cape Cod businessman Harvey Shepard is in over his head. He lost a quarter million on a shady real estate deal, the loan shark is circling, and now he needs a private investigator to find out where his wife, Pam, disappeared to. Spencer takes the case, but finding Pam isn’t the hard part—the hard part is finding out she’s suspected of a bank robbery that led to murder.
Ěý
Robert B.ĚýParker’s Spencer novels featuring the former boxer turned Boston PI are “one of the great series in the history of the American detective story.â€� Promised Land, the Edgar Award–winning fourth Spencer novel, was also adapted into the pilot episode of the classic tv series Spencer: For Hire (The New York Times).]]> 228 Robert B. Parker SLB 0 currently-reading 4.20 1976
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/01
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]]> 11107498

From the Paperback edition.]]> 209 Robert B. Parker SLB 0 currently-reading 4.19 1974
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1974
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 43801521 When her husband mysteriously disappears in a plane crash into the Virginia countryside, a devastated wife must sort out truth from lies in this page-turning New York Times bestseller.

Sidney Archer has it all: a husband she loves, a job at which she excels, and a cherished young daughter. Then, as a plane plummets into the Virginia countryside, everything changes. And suddenly there is no one whom Sidney Archer can trust.

Jason Archer is a rising young executive at Triton Global, the world's leading technology conglomerate. Determined to give his family the best of everything, Archer has secretly entered into a deadly game. He is about to disappear--leaving behind a wife who must sort out his lies from his truths, an accident team that wants to know why the plane he was ticketed on crashed, and a veteran FBI agent who wants to know it all]]> 612 David Baldacci SLB 0 4.47 1997
author: David Baldacci
name: SLB
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
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]]> 21847028 "Coleman keeps the characters and the somber atmosphere but makes the book his own stylistically." --Booklist
Police Chief Jesse Stone is back in the remarkable new installment of the New York Times–bestselling series.
Ěý
It’s been a long time since Jesse Stone left L.A., and still longer since the tragic injury that ruined his chances for a major league baseball career. When Jesse is invited to a reunion of his old Triple-A team at a hip New York city hotel, he is forced to grapple with his memories and regrets over what might have been.

Jesse left more behind him than unresolved feelings about the play that ended his baseball career. The darkly sensuous Kayla, his former girlfriend and current wife of an old teammate is there in New York, too. As is Kayla’s friend, Dee, an otherworldly beauty with secret regrets of her own. But Jesse’s time at the reunion is cut short when, in Paradise, a young woman is found murdered and her boyfriend, a son of one of the town’s most prominent families, is missing and presumed kidnapped.

Though seemingly coincidental, there is a connection between the reunion and the crimes back in Paradise. As Jesse, Molly, and Suit hunt for the killer and for the missing son, it becomes clear that one of Jesse’s old teammates is intimately involved in the crimes. That there are deadly forces working below the surface and just beyond the edge of their vision. Sometimes, that’s where the danger comes from, and where real evil lurks. Not out in the light—but in your blind spot. Ěý Ěý Ěý]]> 352 Reed Farrel Coleman 0698155629 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.24 2014
author: Reed Farrel Coleman
name: SLB
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 18893746
She was barely out of her teens, not exactly beautiful, but she’d tried to make the most of her looks.

Now, defiled and alone in a seedy beachfront motel, she was dead. And Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone doesn’t even know her name. But when his investigation lures him into the crosshairs of two ruthless pimps, Jesse finds out more about the girl than he ever dreamed. Because in pursuit of justice, if anyone can see the truth in dark, dark places, it’s Jesse Stone.]]> 290 Michael Brandman 1101636483 SLB 0 4.28 2013
author: Michael Brandman
name: SLB
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
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]]> 12140047 Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone returns in a brilliant new addition to the New York Times-bestselling series.Paradise, Massachusetts, is preparing for the summer tourist season when a string of car thefts disturbs what is usually a quiet time in town. In a sudden escalation of violence, the thefts become murder, and chief of police Jesse Stone finds himself facing one of the toughest cases of his career. Pressure from the town politicians only increases when another crime wave puts residents on edge. Jesse confronts a personal dilemma as a burgeoning relationship with a young PR executive, whose plans to turn Paradise into a summertime concert destination may have her running afoul of the law.When a mysterious figure from Jesse's past arrives in town, memories of his last troubled days as a cop in L.A. threaten his ability to keep order in Paradise-especially when it appears that the stranger is out for revenge.]]> 285 Michael Brandman 110154774X SLB 0 4.35 2011
author: Michael Brandman
name: SLB
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
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]]> 8156564 Family ties prove deadly in this brilliant Jesse Stone novel fromĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Robert B. Parker.ĚýThe body in the trunk was just the beginning.ĚýTurns out the stiff was a foot soldier for local tough guy Reggie Galen, now enjoying a comfortable "retirement" with his beauti­ful wife, Rebecca, in the nicest part of Paradise. Living next door are Knocko Moynihan and his wife, Robbie, who also happens to be Rebecca's twin. But what initially appears to be a low-level mob hit takes on new meaning when a high-ranking crime figure is found dead on Paradise Beach.ĚýStressed by the case, his failed relationship with his ex-wife, and his ongoing battle with the bottle, Jesse needs something to keep him from spinning out of control. When private investigator Sunny Randall comes into town on a case, she asks for Jesse's help. As their professional and personal relationships become intertwined, both Jesse and Sunny realize that they have much in common with both their victims and their suspects—and with each other.]]> 338 Robert B. Parker 1101185384 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.19 2010
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> 6450390 Parker and Stone-back with another New York Times bestseller When the sun sets in Paradise, the women get nervous. A Peeping Tom is on the loose. According to the notes he sends Police Chief Jesse Stone, he's about to take his obsession one step further.]]> 316 Robert B. Parker 1101016051 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.34 2009
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 8121601 302 Robert B. Parker 1101207744 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.34 2008
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 6439828 The murder of a notorious public figure places police chief Jesse Stone in the harsh glare of the media spotlight in this New York Times bestseller.When the body of controversial talk-show host Walton Weeks is discovered hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone finds himself at the center of a highly public case, forcing him to deal with small-minded local officials and national media scrutiny. When another dead body-that of a young woman-is discovered just a few days later, the pressure becomes almost unbearable.Two victims in less than a week should provide a host of clues, but all Jesse runs into are dead ends. But what may be the most disturbing aspect of these murders is the fact that no one seems to care-not a single one of Weeks's ex-wives, not the family of the girl. And when the medical examiner reveals a heartbreaking link between the two departed souls, the mystery only deepens.Despite Weeks's reputation and the girl's tender age, Jesse is hard-pressed to find legitimate suspects. Though the crimes are perhaps the most gruesome Jesse has ever witnessed, it is the malevolence behind them that makes them all the more frightening. Forced to delve into a world of stormy relationships, Jesse soon comes to realize that knowing whom he can trust is indeed a matter of life and death.]]> 306 Robert B. Parker 1101205210 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.16 2007
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 59243827
When a woman's partially decomposed body washes ashore in Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone is forced into a case far more difficult than it initially appears. Identifying the woman is just the first step in what proves to be an emotionally charged investigation. Florence Horvath was an attractive, recently divorced heiress from Florida; she also had a penchant for steamy sex and was an enthusiastic participant in a video depicting the same. Somehow the combination of her past and present got her killed, but no one is talking—not the crew of the Lady Jane, the Fort Lauderdale yacht moored in Paradise Harbor; not her very blond, very tan twin sisters, Corliss and Claudia; and not her curiously affectless parents, living out a sterile retirement in a Miami high rise. But someone—Jesse—has to speak for the dead, even if it puts him in harm's way.]]> 314 Robert B. Parker SLB 0 4.33 2006
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
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]]> 13074240 348 Robert B. Parker 1101546387 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.31 2003
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 12763581
Robert B. Parker takes readers back in Paradise, where Detective Jesse Stone is looking for two things: the killer of a teenage girl—and someone, anyone, who is willing to claim the body...

The local cops haven't seen anything like this, but Jesse's L.A. past has made him all too familiar with floaters. This girl hadn't committed suicide; she hadn't been drowned: she'd been shot and dumped, discarded like trash. Before long it becomes clear that she had a taste for the wild life; and her own parents can't be bothered to report her missing, or even admit that she once was a child of theirs. All Jesse has to go on is a young man's school ring on a gold chain, and a hunch or two.

Filled with magnetic characters and the muscular writing that are Parker's trademarks, Death in Paradise is a storytelling masterpiece.]]> 314 Robert B. Parker 1101546379 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.29 2001
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 12218957 Jesse Stone returns in thisĚýNew York Times bestselling novel of death and deception from Robert B. Parker.Stiles Island is a wealthy and exclusive enclave separated by a bridge from the Massachusetts coast town of Paradise. James Macklin sees the Island as the ultimate investment all he needs to do is invade it, blow the bridge, and loot the island. To realize his scheme, Macklin, along with his devoted girlfriend, Faye, assembles a crew of fellow ex-cons—all experts in their fields—including Wilson Cromartie, a fearsome Apache. James Macklin is a bad man, a very bad man. And Wilson Cromartie, known as Crow, is even worse.As Macklin plans his crime, Paradise police chief Jesse Stone has his hands full. He faces romantic entanglements in his ex-wife, Jenn, is in the Paradise jail for assault, he’s begun a new relationship with a Stiles Island realtor named Marcy Campbell, and he’s still sorting out his feelings for attorney Abby Taylor. When Macklin’s attack on Stiles Island is set in motion, both Marcy and Abby are put in jeopardy. As the casualties mount, it’s up to Jesse to keep both women from harm.]]> 233 Robert B. Parker 1101546328 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.28 1998
author: Robert B. Parker
name: SLB
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 18930084 A Picador Paperback Original

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent comes a compelling new legal mystery featuring George Mason from Personal Injuries. Originally commissioned and published by The New York Times Magazine, this edition contains additional material.

Life would seem to have gone well for George Mason. His days as a criminal defense lawyer are long behind him. At fifty-nine, he has sat as a judge on the Court of Appeals in Kindle County for nearly a decade. Yet, when a disturbing rape case is brought before him, the judge begins to question the very nature of the law and his role within it. What is troubling George Mason so deeply? Is it his wife's recent diagnosis? Or the strange and threatening e-mails he has started to receive? And what is it about this horrific case of sexual assault, now on trial in his courtroom, that has led him to question his fitness to judge?

In Limitations, Scott Turow, the master of the legal thriller, returns to Kindle County with a page-turning entertainment that asks the biggest questions of all. Ingeniously, and with great economy of style, Turow probes the limitations not only of the law but of human understanding itself.]]> 321 Scott Turow 146684101X SLB 5 Character development is as usual superb.
I loved it.]]> 4.00 2006
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
This is not Scott Turow’s densest or most challenging work. But it is a terrific story with his usual deep philosophical insights that is a hell of a good read.
Character development is as usual superb.
I loved it.
]]> 6575375 453 Scott Turow SLB 5 4.20 2002
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/08
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
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]]> 165099
In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson—the only one he’d granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Zehme was tapped for the Esquire feature story thanks to his years of legendary celebrity profiles, and the resulting piece portrayed Carson as more human being than showbiz legend. Shortly after Carson’s death in 2005 and urged on by many of those closest to Carson, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade—interviewing dozens of Carson’s colleagues and friends and filling up a storage locker with his voluminous research—before a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. When he died in 2023 his obituaries mentioned the Carson book, with New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman calling it “one of the great unfinished biographies.�

Yet the hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history: A man who brought so much joy and laughter to so many millions but was himself exceedingly shy and private. Zehme traces Carson’s rise from a magic-obsessed Nebraska boy to a Navy ensign in World War II to a burgeoning radio and TV personality to, eventually, host of The Tonight Show—which he transformed, along with the entirety of American popular culture, over the next three decades. Without Carson, there would be no late-night television as we know it. On a much more intimate level, Zehme also captures the turmoil and anguish that accompanied the success: four marriages, troubles with alcohol, and the devastating loss of a child.

In one passage, Zehme notes that when asked by an interviewer in the mid-80s for the secret to his success, Carson replied simply, “Be yourself and tell the truth.� Completed with help from journalist and Zehme’s former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers just that: an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.]]> Bill Zehme 0739324144 SLB 3 John the magician claws and scratches his way from nowhere Nebraska to fame and fortune in New York and LA as the TONIGHT show host for 30 years.
And so what? Four wives, four bitter divorces. Three boys he ignored who didn’t like what little they knew about him.
Real friends? Nope. He was “unknowable� offstage.
Booze? Oh yeah, plenty, and he was apparently a terrifying, violent drunk.
And this book as written by someone who adored him!
For all his “successes� he lived and died alone.
No thanks. I prefer “The Pleasures of an Ordinary Life�, as Judith Viorst’s poem celebrates. ]]> 3.18
author: Bill Zehme
name: SLB
average rating: 3.18
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves:
review:
What a sad, sad story!
John the magician claws and scratches his way from nowhere Nebraska to fame and fortune in New York and LA as the TONIGHT show host for 30 years.
And so what? Four wives, four bitter divorces. Three boys he ignored who didn’t like what little they knew about him.
Real friends? Nope. He was “unknowable� offstage.
Booze? Oh yeah, plenty, and he was apparently a terrifying, violent drunk.
And this book as written by someone who adored him!
For all his “successes� he lived and died alone.
No thanks. I prefer “The Pleasures of an Ordinary Life�, as Judith Viorst’s poem celebrates.
]]> 9587203
Robbie Feaver (pronounced "favor") is a charismatic personal injury lawyer with a high profile practice, a way with the ladies, and a beautiful wife (whom he loves), who is dying of an irreversible illness. He also has a secret bank account where he occasionally deposits funds that make their way into the pockets of the judges who decide Robbie's cases.

Robbie is caught by the Feds, and, in exchange for leniency, agrees to "wear a wire" as he continues to try to fix decisions. The FBI agent assigned to supervise him goes by the alias of Evon Miller. She is lonely, uncomfortable in her skin, and impervious to Robbie's charms. And she carries secrets of her own.

As the law tightens its net, Robbie's and Evon's stories converge thrillingly. Scott Turow takes us into, the world of greed and human failing he has made immortal in Presumed Innocent, The Burden of Proof, Pleading Guilty, and The Laws of Our Fathers, all published by FSG. He also shows us enduring love and quiet, unexpected heroism. Personal Injuries is Turow's most reverberant, most moving novel-a powerful drama of individuals trying to escape their characters.]]> 545 Scott Turow SLB 5 An ambitious prosecutor pursues both the judges taking kickbacks from plaintiff personal injury lawyers and the lawyers themselves.
Good guy versus bad guys, right? Nope. At what cost
to the lawyers, who may have been unwilling victims of a corrupt system, does this relentless Javert pursue his judicial targets?
(Consider the recent Madigan circus in Chicago, where the prosecution’s immunized procurer of the alleged wrongdoing was described by the jury foreman as “garbage.�)
Turow clearly thinks Robbie Faever, the “corrupt� personal injury lawyer, is not “evil� but rather a loving son, husband and friend. The “bribed� judges are tools of their superiors, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the corrupt system.
As usual with Turow, the character development is masterful, the prose is poetic, the plot twists and turns are terrific.
I loved it and remain troubled by it.]]> 4.20 1999
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/31
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
Amazing. One of Scott Turow’s best. Do not miss it.
An ambitious prosecutor pursues both the judges taking kickbacks from plaintiff personal injury lawyers and the lawyers themselves.
Good guy versus bad guys, right? Nope. At what cost
to the lawyers, who may have been unwilling victims of a corrupt system, does this relentless Javert pursue his judicial targets?
(Consider the recent Madigan circus in Chicago, where the prosecution’s immunized procurer of the alleged wrongdoing was described by the jury foreman as “garbage.�)
Turow clearly thinks Robbie Faever, the “corrupt� personal injury lawyer, is not “evil� but rather a loving son, husband and friend. The “bribed� judges are tools of their superiors, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the corrupt system.
As usual with Turow, the character development is masterful, the prose is poetic, the plot twists and turns are terrific.
I loved it and remain troubled by it.
]]> 60196616 The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent and The Last Trial returns with a riveting legal thriller in which a reckless private detective is embroiled in a fraught police scandal.

For as long as Lucia Gomez has been the police chief in the city of Highland Isle, near Kindle County, she has known that any woman in law enforcement must walk a precarious line between authority and camaraderie to gain respect.Ěý She has maintained a spotless reputation—until now. Three male police officers have accused her of soliciting sex in exchange for promotions to higher ranks. With few people left who she can trust, Chief Gomez turns to an old friend, Rik Dudek, to act as her attorney in the federal grand jury investigation, insisting to Rik that the accusations against her are part of an ugly smear campaign designed to destroy her career and empower her enemies—both outside the police force and within..
Ěý
Clarice “Pinkyâ€� Granum spent most of her youth experimenting with an impressive array of drugs and failing out of various professions, including the police academy. Pinky knows that in the eyes of most people, she's nothing but a screwup—but she doesn't trust most people's opinions anyway. Moreover, she finally has a respectable-enough job as a licensed P.I. working for Rik on his roster of mostly minor cases, like workman's comp, DUIs and bar fights. Rik's shabby office and even shabbier cases are a far cry from the kinds of high-profile criminal matters Pinky became familiar with in the law office of her grandfather, Sandy Stern. But Rik and Pinky feel that Chief Gomez’s case, which has attracted national attention, is their chance to break into the legal big leagues. ĚýĚýĚý
Ěý
Guided by her gut instinct and razor-sharp investigative skills, Pinky dives headfirst into a twisted scandal that will draw her into the deepest recesses of the city’s criminal networks, as well as the human mind. But she will need every scrap of tenacity and courage to unravel the dark secrets those closest to her are determined to keep hidden.]]> 464 Scott Turow SLB 5
]]> 4.05 2022
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/17
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:
Wonderful! Great plot and characters. Completely absorbing.


]]> 112976363 254 Sigrid Nunez SLB 4 3.80 2023
author: Sigrid Nunez
name: SLB
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 8341825 Scott Turow's Pleading Guilty takes us back to Kindle County, where skies are generally gray and the truth is seldom simple, in an edge-of-the-chair story rife with indelible characters and riveting suspense. The star litigator from a top-notch law firm has gone missing, along with 5.6 million dollars from a class-action settlement, and "Mack" Malloy, a foul-mouthed ex-cop and partner-on-the-wane must find both. Immediately.]]> 433 Scott Turow SLB 5
No Rusty. No Nat. No Sandy. Yikes!!
But this is a complex, beautifully plotted dissection of how a mega-law firm deals with theft, betrayal and murder within its own ranks. It’s actually a sardonic comedy. And Scott Turow is a peerless narrator and insightful observer.
A must read!!]]> 3.61 1993
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/23
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
review:
A DEADLY FUNNY SCOTT TUROW:

No Rusty. No Nat. No Sandy. Yikes!!
But this is a complex, beautifully plotted dissection of how a mega-law firm deals with theft, betrayal and murder within its own ranks. It’s actually a sardonic comedy. And Scott Turow is a peerless narrator and insightful observer.
A must read!!
]]> 8700873
Late one spring afternoon, Alejandro Stern, the brilliant defense lawyer from Presumed Innocent, comes home from a business trip to find that Clara, his wife of thirty years, has committed suicide.]]> 527 Scott Turow SLB 5 4.09 1990
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves:
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]]> 8190864 Presumed Innocent, the men are once more pitted against one another in a riveting psychological match. When Sabich, now 60 years old and the chief judge of an appellate court, finds his wife Barbara dead under mysterious circumstances, Molto accuses him of murder for the second time, setting into motion a trial that is vintage Turow--the courtroom at its most taut and explosive. With his characteristic insight into both the dark truths of the human psyche and the dense intricacies of the criminal justice system, Scott Turow proves once again that some books simply compel us to read late into the night, desperate to know who did it.]]> 416 Scott Turow SLB 5 4.26 2010
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
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]]> 213890792 New from the author of Presumed Innocent, the #1 bestseller that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+’s most-watched drama series ever.

Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail.

Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first degree murder.

Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent—it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.]]> 544 Scott Turow 1538706369 SLB 5



His characters are vibrant, his plots are compelling, and his narrations are enriched by his deep philosophical and, yes, moral insights. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to the courtroom.
I loved this book as I have loved all his books.
A must read.]]> 4.23 2025
author: Scott Turow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:
Scott Turow is simply the best there is at intellectual legal thrillers.




His characters are vibrant, his plots are compelling, and his narrations are enriched by his deep philosophical and, yes, moral insights. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to the courtroom.
I loved this book as I have loved all his books.
A must read.
]]> 125475159
Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture. What Bond represents about ideas of masculinity, the British national psyche and global politics has shifted over time, as has the interpretation of the life of his author. But Fleming himself was more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote.

Ian's childhood with his gifted brother Peter and his extraordinary mother set the pattern for his ambition to be 'the complete man', and he would strive for the means to achieve this 'completeness' all his life. Only a thriller writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal life and impressive career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction. Exceptionally well connected, and widely travelled, from the United States and Soviet Russia to his beloved Jamaica, Ian had access to the most powerful political figures at a time of profound change.

Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering material that casts new light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography. His unprecedented access to the Fleming archive and his nose for a story make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of the man and his famous creation.]]> 846 Nicholas Shakespeare 1787302415 SLB 1 Fleming himself is superficially portrayed as a drunken loser relentlessly pursuing his brother� success and women -like his mother-who castrate and hate and reject him.
So that’s why he created James Bond? Really?

But it’s REALLY LONGl—so it must be really good, right?]]> 4.12 2023
author: Nicholas Shakespeare
name: SLB
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves:
review:
It is a sloppy, badly edited, overlong, badly written, hard to follow piece of junk that is NOT what anyone who loves the BOND books and movies wants: Namely, How did Ian Fleming and his life get into these amazing BOND books and movies?
Fleming himself is superficially portrayed as a drunken loser relentlessly pursuing his brother� success and women -like his mother-who castrate and hate and reject him.
So that’s why he created James Bond? Really?

But it’s REALLY LONGl—so it must be really good, right?
]]> 128551475 FOUR TALES OF INTRIGUE THAT PUSH 007 TO THE LIMIT

In “Octopussy,� a former operative in the Second World War must face the consequences of past sins when James Bond knocks on the door of his Caribbean fortress, and in “The Property of a Lady� Bond deciphers the elaborate codes of a Sotheby’s bidding war in order to catch a KGB agent. �007 in New York� takes Bond to the titular city to warn an ex-agent of her boyfriend’s secret KGB affiliation. And “The Living Daylights� sends Bond to Berlin to protect a British agent before an assassin strikes.]]> 120 Ian Fleming 0063299062 SLB 5 4.18 1966
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1966
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves:
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]]> 124118282 BOND TAKES ON A DEATH-DEFYING NEW MISSION TO SECURE KEY JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE

James Bond is shattered by the murder of his wife at the hands of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and only the prospect of a particularly challenging mission can draw him out of his deep depression.

Determined to restore 007 to his former effectiveness, M sends Bond to Japan, where a criminal mastermind is using a poisonous garden inside a rocky island fortress to lure people to their deaths. Bond will have to infiltrate and destroy this mysterious "Castle of Death" in exchange for top secret Japanese intelligence.

When the mastermind behind the deadly plot proves to be an old and terrifying enemy, 007 will have to use all of his skills in a fight to the death.]]> 266 Ian Fleming 0063298996 SLB 4 3.97 1964
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1964
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 123843137 JAMES BOND AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE

Unlike the rest of the books in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series,ĚýThe Spy Who Loved MeĚýis told from the perspective of a woman who fell for 007—and owes him her life.

Vivienne Michel, a precocious French Canadian raised in the United Kingdom, feels like a foreigner in every land. With only a supercharged Vespa and a handful of American dollars, she travels down winding roads into the pine forests of the Adirondacks. After stopping at the Dreamy Pines Motor Court and being coerced into caretaking at the vacant motel for the night, Viv opens the door to two armed mobsters and realizes being a woman alone is no easy task. But when a third stranger arrives―a confident Englishman with a keen sense for sizing things up―the tables are turned.

Still reeling in the wake of Operation Thunderball, Bond had planned for his jaunt through the Adirondacks to be a period of rest before his return to Europe. But that all changes when his tire goes flat in front of a certain motel…]]> 197 Ian Fleming 0063298902 SLB 1 I love the Bond books and think Ian Fleming is a gifted writer, but this bondage fantasy in the words of a girl being tortured who is miraculously saved by an unrecognizable James Bond is crap. The “spy� is Bond and the “me� is the tortured/saved girl and the “love””is a quickie after Bond rescues the girl and is gone when she wakes up. So so beneath Ian Fleming. Or is it???]]> 3.87 1962
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1962
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:
Ugh. “Women like to be raped!�. Really, dude?
I love the Bond books and think Ian Fleming is a gifted writer, but this bondage fantasy in the words of a girl being tortured who is miraculously saved by an unrecognizable James Bond is crap. The “spy� is Bond and the “me� is the tortured/saved girl and the “love””is a quickie after Bond rescues the girl and is gone when she wakes up. So so beneath Ian Fleming. Or is it???
]]> 128578679 JAMES BOND IS HOT ON THE TRAIL OF TWO STOLEN ATOM BOMBS

Upon M’s insistence, James Bond takes a two-week respite in a secluded natural health spa. But amid the bland teas and tasteless yogurts Bond stumbles onto the trail of a lethal man with ties to a new secret organization called SPECTRE. When SPECTRE hijacks two A-bombs, a frantic global search for the weapons ensues, and M’s hunch that the plane containing the bombs will make a clean drop into the ocean sends Bond to the Bahamas to investigate.

On the island paradise, 007 finds a wealthy pleasure seeker’s treasure hunt and meets Domino Vitali, the gorgeous mistress of Emilio Largo, otherwise known as SPECTRE’s Number 1. But as powerful as he is, Emilio works for someone Ernst Stavro Blofeld, a peculiar man with a deadly creative mind.]]> 329 Ian Fleming 0063298864 SLB 5 4.38 1961
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 83814907 JAMES BOND MUST STOP A GOLD-OBSESSED MILLIONAIRE AND THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY

Auric Goldfinger is the richest man in England―though his wealth can’t be found in banks. He’s been hoarding vast stockpiles of his namesake metal, and it has attracted the suspicion of Bond’s superiors at MI6.

Sent to investigate, Bond uncovers an ingenious gold-smuggling scheme, as well as Goldfinger’s most daring caper Operation Grand Slam, a heist so audacious it could bring down the world economy and put the fate of the West in the hands of SMERSH. Only 007 can stop the enigmatic millionaire and his murderous mania for gold.]]> 335 Ian Fleming SLB 4 4.19 1959
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1959
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 42275114 314 Ian Fleming SLB 5 4.30 1955
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 61307990
On multiple levels, Passing is a fascinating listening experience.]]> 115 Nella Larsen SLB 0 3.92 1929
author: Nella Larsen
name: SLB
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1929
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 73248609 Dr. No by Ian Fleming inspired the very first film featuring James Bond, starring Sean Connery in 1962, helping to kick off the global saturation of this legendary fictional spy as an icon of British cool.

Dr Julius No is a man with a mysterious past.

Nobody knows what secrets are hidden on his Caribbean island, and all those who have attempted to investigate further have disappeared.

When two British agents go missing in Jamaica, Bond is sent to investigate. Battling the Doctor's twin obsessions with power and pain, he uncovers the true nature of his opponent's covert operation--but he must undergo a deadly assault course before he can destroy the Doctor's plans once and for all.


]]> 297 Ian Fleming 0063298732 SLB 5 4.25 1958
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1958
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
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]]> 63238428 LEGENDARY AGENT JAMES BOND CONFRONTS AN ENEMY UNLIKE ANY HE’S FACED BEFORE

James Bond is not an easily intimidated man, but it’s hard not to feel unnerved in the presence of Mr. Big. A ruthless Harlem gangster who uses superstition and fear to control his vast criminal empire, he’s also one of SMERSH’s top American operatives.

Mr. Big has been smuggling British pirate treasure to New York from a remote Jamaican island and funneling the proceeds to Moscow. With help from Solitaire, Mr. Big’s beautiful and enigmatic Creole fortune teller, and his old friend Felix Leiter of the CIA, 007 must locate the crime lord’s hideout, sabotage his operation, and reclaim the pirate hoard for England.]]> 280 Ian Fleming 0063298570 SLB 5 Amazing intense romantic wonderful Bond #2. Nothing frivolous about this thriller.

Wow! Super Bond! I can not wait to read #3. Nothing like the frivolous movies.
I did not realize or remember how literate and Hemingwayish was Ian Fleming.]]> 4.13 1954
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves:
review:
Amazing intense romantic wonderful Bond #2. Nothing frivolous about this thriller.

Wow! Super Bond! I can not wait to read #3. Nothing like the frivolous movies.
I did not realize or remember how literate and Hemingwayish was Ian Fleming.
]]> 62921988 From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming features the global icon, legendary spy James Bond/007.

SMERSH, the Russian intelligence unit, is hell-bent on destroying Special Agent James Bond.

His death would deal a hammer blow to the heart of the British Secret Service.

The lure? The chance for 007 to bring the Spektor decoding machine from Istanbul to London, and for the British to take the upper hand in a chilling new front of the Cold War.

So begins a deadly game of bluff and double bluff, with Bond a marked man as he enters the murky world of Balkan espionage.


]]> 327 Ian Fleming 0063298694 SLB 5 4.40 1957
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1957
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves:
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]]> 61649024 JAMES BOND PLAYS A DEADLY GAME OF CHANCE IN IAN FLEMING'S LEGENDARY FIRST 007 NOVEL

"Le Chiffre" is a ruthless operative and the accountant for a soviet SMERSH cell in France, but he's on the verge of disaster after gambling away his client's money. Taking the last of his stash, he lures a dozen wealthy players to a high-stakes baccarat game, hoping to hustle his way whole.

The British Secret Service would like to see this red thorn plucked from the hide of Europe, and sends their best card sharp, James Bond, to bankrupt Le Chiffre for good.

With the cards running against him and SMERSH operatives threatening to kill him and his beautiful ally, Vesper Lynd, 007 needs his luck to turn before he wagers away their lives.]]> 219 Ian Fleming 0063298546 SLB 5 4.06 1953
author: Ian Fleming
name: SLB
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1953
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 216181025 How much does the truth cost?

In Charleston, South Carolina, against a backdrop of racial tension, twenty-one-year-old Deon Ramsey was convicted for the brutal assault of his blonde girlfriend. The first trial stirred up feelings of hatred and angst amongst the community, bringing the city to the edge. Two years after the conviction, when new information is discovered that might prove Ramsey’s innocence, criminal defense attorney Joe Hennessy agrees to join the defense team.

Digging deep into a web of lies, desperate to find the truth, Hennessy uncovers secrets buried by one of South Carolina’s most powerful families. Battling against corrupt officials, fraudulent business owners, and violent felons, Hennessy is thrown into a world where money buys loyalty and silence.

To save his client from a grave injustice, to expose what really happened, Joe Hennessy must risk everything to bring the guilty party to justice…]]> 407 Peter O'Mahoney SLB 0 4.51
author: Peter O'Mahoney
name: SLB
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
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]]> 104527325 The trial of the century has arrived.

After twenty years of anguish, after twenty years of pain, defense attorney Joe Hennessy has the chance to confront the man who ordered the murder of his ten-year-old son.

In Charleston, South Carolina, Hennessy uncovers evidence that Senator Richard Longhouse has links to his son’s unsolved murder.
Desperate to know the truth, Hennessy digs deep into the past, following the evidence trail into the criminal underworld. Clashing with corrupt cops, dishonest politicians, and ruthless felons, Hennessy uncovers information that has been buried for twenty years.

But to find justice, to finally expose the truth, Joe Hennessy must risk everything he loves...]]> 418 Peter O'Mahoney SLB 5 4.51
author: Peter O'Mahoney
name: SLB
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
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]]> 60891737
When one of South Carolina’s most powerful lawyers is charged with the murder of his wife, criminal defense attorney Joe Hennessy agrees to be part of the defense team. As Hennessy builds a legal defense, he’s thrown into a world of danger and corruption, cruelty and violence.

Despite his full caseload, Hennessy agrees to defend a folk singer charged with drug trafficking. As he prepares for the trial, Hennessy digs into a world of lies, manipulation, and exploitation.

Fighting to find the truth in both cases, Hennessy battles against violent criminals, corrupt businessmen, and ruthless felons. He follows the evidence trail, digging deep into the criminal underworld and finds more than he bargained for.

With the clock ticking, the pressure builds from all sides of the law.

The evidence Hennessy uncovers provides the chance to expose a deadly secret. But to do that, to take that gamble, to take that chance, Joe Hennessy must risk everything he loves�


The Southern Criminal is the second book in an epic new legal thriller series!]]> 325 Peter O'Mahoney SLB 3 4.41
author: Peter O'Mahoney
name: SLB
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
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]]> 205328237 Fighting for justice is a dangerous profession...

When criminal defense attorney Tex Hunter's older brother is arrested for murder, the story captures the attention of the national media. Battling against a corrupt system in Chicago, Hunter struggles to find the truth.

Can Hunter expose the facts in court? Or will his pursuit of justice cost him everything?

Final Justice can be read as a standalone novel or part of the heart-pounding Tex Hunter Legal Thriller series.]]> 352 Peter O'Mahoney SLB 5 4.60
author: Peter O'Mahoney
name: SLB
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves:
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]]> 60625125
When prosecutor Michelle Law is arrested for the murder of a young political analyst, the media scrutiny of her life leads her to breaking point.

Criminal defense attorney Tex Hunter agrees to defend his former adversary, digging deep into a case that leads to corruption at the highest levels.
Confronting political lobbyist Walter Charman, Hunter finds there’s more to the case than listed in the police files. With Chicago’s most powerful against him, Hunter battles to save his client, working hard to find the evidence that could clear her name.

As the case twists and turns, Hunter is driven to uncover the truth. But to expose the truth, to find out what really happened on the night of the murder, Hunter must risk his own life.

Can he win the case in court? Or will the powerful send him to an early grave?


Losing Justice can be read as a standalone novel or part of the heart-pounding Tex Hunter Legal Thriller series!]]> 304 Peter O'Mahoney SLB 5 4.56
author: Peter O'Mahoney
name: SLB
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/22
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]]> 59132619
After thirty-five years in prison, convicted serial killer Alfred Hunter has the chance to clear his name. His son, criminal defense attorney Tex Hunter, has fought hard to prove his father’s innocence, but powerful forces have been against them. The criminal underworld, corrupt politicians, and the Chicago Police Department all need to keep the truth from coming out. When a piece of hidden evidence is unveiled, Hunter has the chance to demand a retrial.

For his whole life, Tex Hunter has battled to free his father from prison, but to reveal the truth, to finally uncover what happened, he must take the greatest risk of all…]]> 357 Peter O'Mahoney SLB 5 4.66
author: Peter O'Mahoney
name: SLB
average rating: 4.66
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
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]]> 25867755
Jalen Jordan retained Street for what seemed to be a minor traffic violation, but when evidence turned up linking Jordan to the death of two boys, Street wanted out of the case. To ensure his lawyer’s cooperation and silence, Jordan threatened to make Street’s son the next victim. Shortly after, Jordan’s own body turned up with a bullet hole in his chest.

Now Street is on trial for his life, and the enemy he made in the DA’s office is clearly out for blood. It’s one lawyer out to frame another. Can a desperate father escape punishment for a crime he didn’t commit?]]> 314 Scott Pratt 150395529X SLB 4 4.40 2015
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
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]]> 200244620 A memoir by one of America’s most accomplished public servants and legal thinkers—who spent years denying and working around his blindness, before finally embracing it as an essential part of his identity. David Tatel has served nearly 30 years on America’s second highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where many of our most crucial cases are resolved—or teed up for the Supreme Court. He has championed equal justice for his entire adult life; decided landmark environmental and voting cases; and embodied the ideal of what a great judge should be. Yet he has been blind for the past 50 of his 80-plus years. Initially, he depended upon aides to read texts to him, and more recently, a suite of hi-tech solutions has allowed him to listen to reams of documents at high speeds. At first, he tried to hide his deteriorating vision, and for years, he denied that it had any impact on his career. Only recently, partly thanks to his first-ever guide dog, Vixen, has he come to fully accept his blindness and the role it's played in his personal and professional lives. His story of fighting for justice over many decades, with and without eyesight, is an inspiration to us all. Ěý]]> 325 David S. Tatel SLB 5 Wonderful, inspiring and funny.

David Tatel was a superstar trial lawyer in two of the world’s best law firms.
He gave that up to advance the cause of civil rights at the highest level. He then distinguished himself as a judge on the DC Court of Appeals. He has succeeded at the highest pinnacle of the legal profession. And he is blind. In VISION, Judge Tatel relates this journey with wit and passion. It’s a terrific story beautifully told by a brilliant lovely man.

]]> 4.43
author: David S. Tatel
name: SLB
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/19
shelves:
review:
Wonderful, inspiring and funny.

David Tatel was a superstar trial lawyer in two of the world’s best law firms.
He gave that up to advance the cause of civil rights at the highest level. He then distinguished himself as a judge on the DC Court of Appeals. He has succeeded at the highest pinnacle of the legal profession. And he is blind. In VISION, Judge Tatel relates this journey with wit and passion. It’s a terrific story beautifully told by a brilliant lovely man.


]]> 23670643
The owner of her record company is charged with murder.

In the seventh installment of Scott Pratt's bestselling Joe Dillard series, Dillard is hired to travel to Tennessee's capital city to defend Paul Milius, a record company baron accused of strangling Kasey Cartwright, his label's young star. Dillard navigates Nashville's unfamiliar legal system and the world of country music in search of the truth, but he soon finds himself confronted with a web of lies so masterfully woven that he fears he may never find any answers. As the trial begins and the tension mounts, Dillard fears that not only will his client be wrongfully convicted, but that Dillard himself may not survive.

"If you like Reacher, the Lincoln Lawyer, Jake Brigance and Paul Madriani, you'll be excited to meet Joe Dillard!" --Amazon Five-Star Review

"I predict it won't be long before you see Scott Pratt's name mentioned with Lee Child, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, and Steve Martini when critics talk about legal/crime fiction." --Amazon Five-Star Review

"Every bit as good as Grisham! Superb characterization, suspense, drama." --Amazon Five-Star Review

"I love the Dillard Series by Scott Pratt. As a retired attorney who practiced transactional law and not civil or criminal litigation, I appreciate the way Scott reveals the tension between defense attorneys and prosecutors, the prejudices of both toward each other, the Judge, and law enforcement." --Amazon Five-Star Review]]> 339 Scott Pratt SLB 5 4.38 2014
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
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]]> 18856384 241 Scott Pratt SLB 5 4.42 2013
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
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Interesting, well developed characters, compelling plot, very well written. This guy is good!
]]> 11045159 "Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a facade of vulnerability." -- Publisher's WeeklyThree young women are found floating in a lake.The suspect is one of the richest and most powerful men in Tennessee.In the fourth installment of the bestselling Joe Dillard series, Dillard has become the district attorney in Northeast Tennessee. He becomes heavily involved in the investigation with Sheriff Leon Bates and soon realizes that he is up against an enemy that he has never before encountered -- someone so rich and so powerful that the course of justice could be altered by money and political influence. But when bodies start showing up in his driveway and his family is threatened with termination, Dillard must ask himself a previously unthinkable question. His life, and the lives of his family, depend on the answer.***Each Joe Dillard novel can be read as a standalone. There is no need to have read previous books in the series in order to enjoy this story.]]> 270 Scott Pratt SLB 5 4.44 2011
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
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]]> 18841489
A young employee of the district attorney's office goes missing.

In this third book of the best selling Joe Dillard series, Dillard finds himself in the middle of two volatile mysteries. The primary suspect in the judge's murder is Dillard's son's best friend, and Dillard's wife may have destroyed evidence. Meanwhile, the missing girl turns out to be a mystery far deeper than anyone imagined...

"Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable." - "Publisher's Weekly."

"It's Scott Turow and Grisham..." - Ken Bruen.

"Pratt knows what he's doing and it shows." - Alafair Burke.]]> 367 Scott Pratt SLB 5 4.48 2010
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
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]]> 34237826
Before the Civil War, Grant was flailing. His business ventures had been dismal, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War, he ended up resigning from the army in disgrace amid recurring accusations of drunkenness. But in the Civil War, Grant began to realize his remarkable potential, soaring through the ranks of the Union army, prevailing at the Battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign and ultimately defeating the legendary Confederate general Robert E. Lee after a series of unbelievably bloody battles in Virginia. Along the way Grant endeared himself to President Lincoln and became his most trusted general and the strategic genius of the war effort. His military fame translated into a two-term presidency, but one plagued by corruption scandals involving his closest staff. All the while Grant himself remained more or less above reproach. But, more importantly, he never failed to seek freedom and justice for black Americans, working to crush the Ku Klux Klan and earning the admiration of Frederick Douglass, who called him 'the vigilant, firm, impartial, and wise protector of my race." After his presidency, he was again brought low by a trusted colleague, this time a dashing young swindler on Wall Street, but he resuscitated his image by working with Mark Twain to publish his memoirs, which are recognized as a masterpiece of the genre.

With his famous lucidity, breadth, and meticulousness, Chernow finds the threads that bind these disparate stories together, shedding new light on the man whom Walt Whitman described as "nothing heroic... and yet the greatest hero." His probing portrait of Grant's lifelong struggle with alcoholism transforms our understanding of the man at the deepest level. This is America's greatest biographer, bringing movingly to life one of America's finest but most underappreciated presidents. The definitive biography, Grant is a grand synthesis of painstaking research and literary brilliance that makes sense of all sides of Grant's life, explaining how this simple Midwesterner could at once be so ordinary and so extraordinary.]]> 1074 Ron Chernow 159420487X SLB 5 4.46 2017
author: Ron Chernow
name: SLB
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/06/22
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]]> 200624156 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2023

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police on her step. They have arrived to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart, caught in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny. As the life she knows and the ones she loves disappear before her eyes, Eilish must contend with the dystopian logic of her new, unraveling country. How far will she go to save her family? And what—or who—is she willing to leave behind?

Exhilarating, terrifying and surprisingly intimate, Prophet Song offers a shocking vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.]]> 244 Paul Lynch SLB 2 4.22 2023
author: Paul Lynch
name: SLB
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/24
date added: 2024/05/24
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]]> 36343013 384 Scott Pratt SLB 5 Very well written. This guy is good!]]> 4.40 2009
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/23
shelves:
review:
Really interesting plot, good character development.
Very well written. This guy is good!
]]> 2981970
While Gates Hunt chose to fight his abusive father head-on, his younger brother, Mason, eventually escaped their bitter, impoverished circumstances by earning a free ride to college and law school. And while Gates became an intransigent, compulsive felon, Mason met and married the love of his life, had a spitfire daughter, and returned to his rural hometown as the commonwealth's attorney. But Mason's idyll is abruptly pierced by a wicked tragedy, and soon afterward his life further unravels when Gates, convinced that his brother's legal influence should spring him from prison, attempts to force his cooperation by means of a secret they'd both sworn to take with them to the grave. And with his closest friend and staunch ally suddenly threatened by secrets of his own, Mason ultimately finds himself facing complete ruin and desperately defending everything and everyone he holds dear.

Intricately plotted and shot through with authenticity, The Legal Limit is a roller coaster of moral relevance. What should govern our actions when family loyalty challenges personal integrity, when the letter of the law defies its spirit, and when fate plays dice with our best endeavors?]]> 368 Martin Clark 0307268357 SLB 4 3.86 2008
author: Martin Clark
name: SLB
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/05/17
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]]> 24015748
Lisa and Joe Stone, married for twenty years and sole partners in their small law firm in Henry County, Virginia, handle less than glamorous cases, whether domestic disputes, personal injury settlements, or a plethora of complaints from their cantankerous client Lettie VanSandt ("eccentric" by some accounts, "certifiable" by others). When she dies in a freakish incident, the Stones think it's within the realm of possibility that she was cooking meth in her trailer. But details soon emerge that lead them to question how "accidental" Lettie's demise actually was, and settling her peculiar estate becomes endlessly complicated.Ěý

Before long, the Stones find themselves embroiled in a corporate conspiracy that will require all of their legal prowess--not to mention some serious guts--for them to survive. Meanwhile, Lisa is making secret, herculean efforts to shield Joe from an egregious error that she would give anything to erase entirely, even as his career--and her own--hangs in the balance.
InĚýThe Jezebel Remedy, Clark gives us a stunning portrait of a marriage, a gripping courtroom drama, and a relentlessly entertaining story that is full of inventions, shocks, and understanding.]]> 400 Martin Clark 038535360X SLB 3 3.78 2015
author: Martin Clark
name: SLB
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
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]]> 5236847 A bestselling work of spiritual advice from a nationally known spiritual leader and beloved author that offers “a set of guideposts for living a useful and fulfilled life, no matter what the future holds� (The Boston Globe).

Drawing on the stories of his own congregants, on literature, current events and, above all, on the Biblical story of Jacob (the worldly trickster who evolves into a man of God), Rabbi Harold S. Kushner—author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People—addresses some of the most persistent dilemmas of the human Why do decent people so often violate their moral standards? How can we pursue justice without giving in to the lure of revenge? How can we turn our relationships with family and friends into genuine sources of meaning? Persuasive and sympathetic, filled with humanity and warmth, Living a Life That Matters is a deeply rewarding book.]]> 176 Harold S. Kushner SLB 5 4.49 2001
author: Harold S. Kushner
name: SLB
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
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]]> 194992980 "Very smart and entertaining . . . dishy-yet-earnest . . . Gefter shows why Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? hit the '60s like a torpedo."-NPR, Fresh Air

“Raucous, unpredictable, wild, and affecting.�- Entertainment Weekly

An award-winning writer reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the provocative play, the groundbreaking film it became, and how two iconic stars changed the image of marriage forever.

From its debut in 1962, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod. The play transpires over one long, boozy night, laying bare the lies, compromises, and scalding love that have sustained a middle-aged couple through decades of marriage. It scandalized critics but magnetized audiences. Across 644 sold-out Broadway performances, the drama demolished the wall between what could and couldn't be said on the American stage and marked a definitive end to the I Love Lucy 1950s.

Then, Hollywood took a colossal gamble on Albee's sophisticated play-and won. Costarring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the sensational 1966 film minted first-time director Mike Nichols as industry royalty and won five Oscars. How this scorching play became a movie classic-surviving censorship attempts, its director's inexperience, and its stars' own tumultuous marriage-is one of the most riveting stories in all of cinema.

Now, acclaimed author Philip Gefter tells that story in full for the first time, tracing Woolf from its hushed origins in Greenwich Village's bohemian enclave, through its tormented production process, to its explosion onto screens across America and a permanent place in the canon of cinematic marriages. This deliciously entertaining book explores how two couples-one fictional, one all too real-forced a nation to confront its most deeply held myths about relationships, sex, family, and, against all odds, love.]]> 359 Philip Gefter 1635579635 SLB 5 4.17
author: Philip Gefter
name: SLB
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/03
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]]> 85148114
ĚýĚýĚýĚýAs these charactersâ€� stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us.]]> 400 James McBride 0593422961 SLB 5 4.25 2023
author: James McBride
name: SLB
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/23
date added: 2024/02/23
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]]> 34951151 For the bicentennial of its first publication, Mary Shelley’s original 1818 text, introduced by National Book Critics Circle award-winner Charlotte Gordon. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

2018 marks the bicentennial of Mary Shelley’s seminal novel. For the first time, Penguin Classics will publish the original 1818 text, which preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley’s original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley’s relationship with her mother—trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman—and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother’s ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.

This edition includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by National Book Critics Circle award-winner and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon, and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 288 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 1524705705 SLB 5 4.14 1818
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: SLB
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1818
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/20
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]]> 72355 Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter - a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for Baxter's creation.

The hilarious tale of love and scandal that ensues would be "the whole story" in the hands of a lesser author (which in fact it is, for this account is actually written by Dr. McCandless). For Gray, though, this is only half the story, after which Bella (a.k.a. Victoria McCandless) has her own say in the matter. Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, Poor Things is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking duel between the desires of men and the independence of women, from one of Scotland's most accomplished authors.]]> 318 Alasdair Gray 0747562288 SLB 5 3.92 1992
author: Alasdair Gray
name: SLB
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1992
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/01/27
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Really really different. It’s about women and their role in our life and world. I read it before I saw the movie (and have not seen it yet) but your grandmother would not find it sexy. Sex cripples lusty men who get more than they expect. It is very very political about the British Empire and racism and sexism. But it is really funny also.
]]> 105269213
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living;the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she’s found in her marriage to James Brolin.

No entertainer’s memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand’s, and this engrossing and delightful book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.]]> 989 Barbra Streisand 0698405250 SLB 5 4.38 2023
author: Barbra Streisand
name: SLB
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 5
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]]> 25367856 1679 Michel de Montaigne 1623959551 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.29 1580
author: Michel de Montaigne
name: SLB
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1580
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/17
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 178359464 outsideĚýthe courtroom.ĚýĚý

With its unforgettable characters, insider’s blueprint of the justice system, intricate plotting, and provocative, no-holds-barred ending,ĚýThe Plinko BounceĚýdemonstrates once again why Martin Clark has been called “the thinking man’s John Grishamâ€� byĚýThe New York TimesĚýand praised as “hands down, our finest legal-thriller writerâ€� byĚýEntertainment Weekly.


]]> 312 Martin Clark 1644283913 SLB 4 A good read.

Not LeCarre or Scott Turow but a good read nonetheless. Good character development and a fine story. Way superior to Grisham’s The Exchange.]]> 3.95 2023
author: Martin Clark
name: SLB
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/20
date added: 2023/11/20
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A good read.

Not LeCarre or Scott Turow but a good read nonetheless. Good character development and a fine story. Way superior to Grisham’s The Exchange.
]]> 124025550 #1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham delivers high-flying international suspense in a stunning new legal thriller that marks the return of Mitch McDeere, the brilliant hero of The Firm.

What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country? The answer is in The Exchange, the riveting sequel to The Firm, the blockbuster thrillerĚýthat launched the careerĚýof America’s favorite storyteller. It is now fifteen years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firmĚýin the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwideĚýimplications—and once again endangers his colleagues, friends, and family. Mitch has becomeĚýa master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhereĚýto hide.]]> 352 John Grisham 0385548966 SLB 1 A total rip-off. Grisham should be ashamed of himself for this slap-dash piece of nothing.]]> 3.97 2023
author: John Grisham
name: SLB
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2023/11/07
date added: 2023/11/07
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One of the dumbest books I have ever read. Leaden prose, sketchy references to THE FIRM, little character development, improbable plot twists, and an embarrassing non- ending that resolved nothing.
A total rip-off. Grisham should be ashamed of himself for this slap-dash piece of nothing.
]]> 57818648 A profound debut about the unlikely bond between two freedmen who are brothers and the Georgia farmer whose alliance will alter their lives, and his, forever.

In the waning days of the Civil War, brothers Prentiss and Landry—freed by the Emancipation Proclamation—seek refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of their only son to the war, hire the brothers to work their farm, hoping through an unexpected friendship to stanch their grief. Prentiss and Landry, meanwhile, plan to save money for the journey north and a chance to reunite with their mother, who was sold away when they were boys.
Ěý
Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The young men, recently returned from the war to the town of Old Ox, hold their trysts in the woods. But when their secret is discovered, the resulting chaos, including a murder, unleashes convulsive repercussions on the entire community. In the aftermath of so much turmoil, it is Isabelle who emerges as an unlikely leader, proffering a healing vision for the land and for the newly free citizens of Old Ox.
Ěý
With candor and sympathy, debut novelist Nathan Harris creates an unforgettable cast of characters, depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstruction. Equal parts beauty and terror, as gripping as it is moving, The Sweetness of Water is an epic whose grandeur locates humanity and love amid the most harrowing circumstances.]]> 368 Nathan Harris 0316461261 SLB 5 4.31 2021
author: Nathan Harris
name: SLB
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/04
date added: 2023/11/04
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]]> 61771675
But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters� unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?]]> 416 Ann Napolitano SLB 4 4.14 2023
author: Ann Napolitano
name: SLB
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
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]]> 156552773 When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own—until it all came undone.]]> 261 Michael Lewis 1324074345 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.09 2023
author: Michael Lewis
name: SLB
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/15
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 32077564 ASIN moved from less recent edition

A preacher is found brutally murdered in a Tennessee motel room.

A beautiful, mysterious young girl is accused.

In this Mystery Readers International finalist for "Best Debut Mystery," criminal defense lawyer Joe Dillard has become jaded over the years as he's tried to balance his career against his conscience. Savvy but cynical, Dillard wants to quit doing criminal defense, but he can't resist the chance to represent someone who might actually be innocent. His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer's, but Dillard's commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him.

"Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a facade of vulnerability in this brilliantly executed debut." -- Publisher's Weekly.

"It’s Scott Turow and Grisham... The opening chapter is maybe the most compelling I’ve read in a decade.� � Ken Bruen.

Smart and sophisticated, with a plot twist that will leave you shaking your head in wonder, "An Innocent Client" -- the first in the acclaimed Joe Dillard series -- will also leave you wanting more.]]> 375 Scott Pratt SLB 3 4.32 2008
author: Scott Pratt
name: SLB
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/14
date added: 2023/10/14
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]]> 6505954 Full of politics, heart, and the sort of suspense that nobody in the world does better, The Mission Song turns John Le Carre's laser eye for the complexity of the modern world on turmoil and conspiracy in Africa. Abandoned by both his Irish father and Congolese mother, Bruno Salvador has long looked for someone to guide his life. He has found it in Mr. Anderson of British Intelligence. Bruno's African upbringing, and fluency in numerous African languages, has made him a top interpreter in London, useful to businesses, hospitals, diplomats -- and spies. Working for Anderson in a clandestine facility known as the "Chat Room,"Salvo (as he's known) translates intercepted phone calls, bugged recordings, and snatched voice mail messages. When Anderson sends him to a mysterious island to interpret during a secret conference between Central African warlords, Bruno thinks he is helping Britain bring peace to a bloody corner of the world. But then he hears something he should not have... By turns thriller, love story, and comic allegory of our times, The Mission Song is a crowning achievement, recounting an interpreter's heroically naive journey out of the dark of Western hypocrisy and into the heart of lightness.]]> 352 John Le Carré SLB 0 currently-reading 4.00 2006
author: John Le Carré
name: SLB
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/09
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 5769045 453 John Le Carré SLB 2 Not his best by far

I love LeCarre and have read all his books. This is pale stuff. The characters are undeveloped and the plot is horribly confusing. I read this as Israel is being invaded byHamas and our domestic politics are turbulent. I wish LeCarre were here to write about our world today. But this book is unworthy of him.]]> 3.95 2003
author: John Le Carré
name: SLB
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/07
date added: 2023/10/07
shelves:
review:
Not his best by far

I love LeCarre and have read all his books. This is pale stuff. The characters are undeveloped and the plot is horribly confusing. I read this as Israel is being invaded byHamas and our domestic politics are turbulent. I wish LeCarre were here to write about our world today. But this book is unworthy of him.
]]> 38726160 The celebrated author ofĚýDouble CrossĚýandĚýRogue HeroesĚýreturns with his greatest spy story yet, a thrillingĚýAmericans-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War.

If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. For nearly a decade, as the Cold War reached its twilight, Gordievsky helped the West turn the tables on the KGB, exposing Russian spies and helping to foil countless intelligence plots, as the Soviet leadership grew increasingly paranoid at the United States's nuclear first-strike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close, MI6 never revealed Gordievsky's name to its counterparts in the CIA, which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britain's obviously top-level source. Their obsession ultimately doomed Gordievsky: the CIA officer assigned to identify him was none other than Aldrich Ames, the man who would become infamous for secretly spying for the Soviets.Ěý

Unfolding the delicious three-way gamesmanship between America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and culminating in the gripping cinematic beat-by-beat of Gordievsky's nail-biting escape from Moscow in 1985, Ben Macintyre's latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, it brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man's hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations.]]> 384 Ben Macintyre SLB 5 4.63 2018
author: Ben Macintyre
name: SLB
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/15
date added: 2023/09/15
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]]> 60317128 Demon Copperhead is set in the mountains of southern Appalachia. It's the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 550 Barbara Kingsolver SLB 5 4.58 2022
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: SLB
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/12
date added: 2023/09/12
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]]> 21796767 Master storyteller Ben Macintyre’s most ambitious work to date offers a powerful new angle on the twentieth century’s greatest spy story


Kim Philby was the greatest spy in history, a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War—while he was secretly working for the enemy. And nobody thought he knew Philby like Nicholas Elliott, Philby’s best friend and fellow officer in MI6. The two men had gone to the same schools, belonged to the same exclusive clubs, grown close through the crucible of wartime intelligence work and long nights of drink and revelry. It was madness for one to think the other might be a communist spy, bent on subverting Western values and the power of the free world.

But Philby was secretly betraying his friend. Every word Elliott breathed to Philby was transmitted back to Moscow—and not just Elliott’s words, for in America, Philby had made another powerful James Jesus Angleton, the crafty, paranoid head of CIA counterintelligence. Angleton's and Elliott’s unwitting disclosures helped Philby sink almost every important Anglo-American spy operation for twenty years, leading countless operatives to their doom. Even as the web of suspicion closed around him, and Philby was driven to greater lies to protect his cover, his two friends never abandoned him—until it was too late. The stunning truth of his betrayal would have devastating consequences on the two men who thought they knew him best, and on the intelligence services he left crippled in his wake.

Told with heart-pounding suspense and keen psychological insight, and based on personal papers and never-before-seen British intelligence files, A Spy Among Friends is Ben Macintyre’s best book yet, a high-water mark in Cold War history telling.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 384 Ben Macintyre SLB 5 4.30 2014
author: Ben Macintyre
name: SLB
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/07
date added: 2023/09/08
shelves:
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Well written and absorbing. A great story well told.
]]> 63429926 From the New York Times–bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.

The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of Cutting for Stone. Published in 2009, Cutting for Stone became a literary phenomenon, selling over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. The family is part of a Christian community that traces itself to the time of the apostles, but times are shifting, and the matriarch of this family, known as Big Ammachi—literally “Big Mother”—will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life. All of Verghese’s great gifts are on display in this new there are astonishing scenes of medical ingenuity, fantastic moments of humor, a surprising and deeply moving story, and characters imbued with the essence of life.

A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 775 Abraham Verghese SLB 5 4.58 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: SLB
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/29
date added: 2023/07/29
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]]> 58347388 The seemingly inexplicable estrangement between a woman and her grown daughter opens up a troubling question: What damage do we do in the blindness of love?

Thousands of miles from home, a woman stands on a dark street, peeking through well-lit windows at two little girls. They are the grandchildren she’s never met, daughters of the daughter she has not seen in years.

At the center of this mesmerizing story is the woman’s quest to understand how a relationship that began in bliss—a mother besotted with her only child—arrived at a point of such unfathomable distance. Weaving back and forth in time, she unravels memories and long-buried feelings, retracing the infinite acts of parental care, each so mundane and apparently benign, that in ensemble may have undermined what she most treasured. With exquisite psychological precision, Blum traces the seemingly insignificant missteps and deceptions of family life, where it’s possible to cross the line between protectiveness and possession without even seeing it—and uncertain whether, or how, we can find our way back.]]> 268 Hila Blum 0593539664 SLB 4 3.67 2021
author: Hila Blum
name: SLB
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/28
date added: 2023/07/28
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]]> 56993075 This New York Times bestseller is a “masterful� (The Washington Post), “juicy tour of the company [Jeff] Bezos built� (The New York Times Book Review), revealing the most important business story of our time by the bestselling author of The Everything Store.Almost ten years ago, Bloomberg journalist Brad Stone captured the rise of Amazon in his bestseller The Everything Store. Since then, Amazon has expanded exponentially, inventing novel products like Alexa and disrupting countless industries, while its workforce has quintupled in size and its valuation has soared to nearly two trillion dollars. It’s almost impossible to go a day without encountering the impact of Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, between services like Whole Foods, Prime Video, and Amazon’s cloud computing unit, AWS, plus Bezos’s ownership of The Washington Post. We live in a world run, supplied, and controlled by Amazon and its iconoclast founder. In Amazon Unbound, Brad Stone presents an “excellent� (The New York Times), deeply reported, vividly drawn portrait of how a retail upstart became of the most powerful and feared entities in the global economy. Stone also probes the evolution of Bezos himself—who started as a geeky technologist totally devoted to building Amazon, but who transformed to become a fit, disciplined billionaire with global ambitions, who ruled Amazon with an iron fist, even as he found his personal life splashed over the tabloids. Definitive, timely, and “engaging� (Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America), Stone has provided an unvarnished portrait of a man and company that we couldn’t imagine modern life without.]]> 488 Brad Stone 1982132639 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.30 2021
author: Brad Stone
name: SLB
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 54388921 The definitive story of Amazon.com, one of the most successful companies in the world, and of its driven, brilliant founder, Jeff Bezos.

Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices. To do so, he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked. Until now. Brad Stone enjoyed unprecedented access to current and former Amazon employees and Bezos family members, giving readers the first in-depth, fly-on-the-wall account of life at Amazon. Compared to tech's other elite innovators--Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg--Bezos is a private man. But he stands out for his restless pursuit of new markets, leading Amazon into risky new ventures like the Kindle and cloud computing, and transforming retail in the same way Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing.

THE EVERYTHING STORE will be the revealing, definitive biography of the company that placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read.

]]> 386 Brad Stone SLB 0 currently-reading 4.35 2013
author: Brad Stone
name: SLB
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 6450446 “Any reader who feared that the end of the Cold War would deprive Mr. le Carré of his subject can now feel a measure of relief. If anything, his subject of East-West misunderstanding has grown richer, and he now possesses vast new territories to mine" (The New York Times).

New York Times bestselling author John le Carré's novels deftly navigate us through the intricate shadow worlds of international intrigue with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him unprecedented worldwide acclaim.

A lawyer from a London finance house is shot dead on a Turkish hillside by people with whom he thought he was in business. A children's magician in the English countryside is asked to explain the arrival of more than five million pounds sterling in his young daughter's modest trust.

In Single & Single, le Carré masterfully establishes a sequence of events whose connections are mysterious, complex and compelling. He tells of corrupt liaisons between criminal elements in the new Russian states and the world of legitimate finance in the West. He also paints an intimate portrait of two one Russian, the other English; one trading illicit goods, the other laundering the profits; one betrayed by a son-in-law, the other betrayed, and redeemed, by a son.]]> 400 John Le Carré SLB 5
I think in his later years he was philosophizing, attacking what he perceived as evil in the world, and coming to grips (sort of) with his anger at being denied a “normal� family upbringing. All of this imbued his fiction with great insight and passion. And he had the Irish gift of language.

This book isn’t perfect but it is irresistible.]]> 4.01 1999
author: John Le Carré
name: SLB
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/19
date added: 2023/07/19
shelves:
review:
I read this wonderfully humorous novel in July, 2023.

I think in his later years he was philosophizing, attacking what he perceived as evil in the world, and coming to grips (sort of) with his anger at being denied a “normal� family upbringing. All of this imbued his fiction with great insight and passion. And he had the Irish gift of language.

This book isn’t perfect but it is irresistible.
]]> 74892080
As the novel opens, Adam is approaching his seventieth birthday, staring down his mortality and fading relevance. He has always managed his bipolar disorder with medication, but he’s determined to make one last scientific breakthrough and so he has secretly stopped taking his pills, which he knows will infuriate his children. Meanwhile, Abby and Ken are both harboring secrets of their own, and there is a new person on the periphery of the family—Steph, who doesn’t make her connection known. As Adam grows more attuned to the frequencies of the deep sea and less so to the people around him, Ken and Abby each plan the elaborate gifts they will present to their father on his birthday, jostling for primacy in this small family unit.

Set in the fraught summer of 2016, and drawing on the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, Little Monsters is an absorbing, sharply observed family story by a writer who knows Cape Cod inside and out—its Edenic lushness and its snakes.]]> 317 Adrienne Brodeur 1982198125 SLB 0 currently-reading 3.92 2023
author: Adrienne Brodeur
name: SLB
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 6329461
He was, during his 84-year life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical -- though not most profound -- political thinkers. He proved by flying a kite that lightning was electricity, and he invented a rod to tame it. He sought practical ways to make stoves less smoky and commonwealths less corrupt. He organized neighborhood constabularies and international alliances, local lending libraries and national legislatures. He combined two types of lenses to create bifocals and two concepts of representation to foster the nation's federal compromise. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of America: the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the peace treaty with England, and the Constitution. And he helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor, democratic values, and philosophical pragmatism.

But the most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was, in his life and in his writings, consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity.

Through it all, he trusted the hearts and minds of his fellow "leather-aprons" more than he did those of any inbred elite. He saw middle-class values as a source of social strength, not as something to be derided. His guiding principle was a "dislike of everything that tended to debase the spirit of the common people." Few of his fellow founders felt this comfort with democracy so fully, and none so intuitively.

In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.]]> 608 Walter Isaacson 0743260848 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.36 2003
author: Walter Isaacson
name: SLB
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 11297044 Walter Isaacson’s “enthralling� (The New Yorker) worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs.

Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Isaacson’s portrait touched millions of readers.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with the author, he asked for no control over what was written. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. He himself spoke candidly about the people he worked with and competed against.

His friends, foes, and colleagues offer an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

Steve Jobs is the inspiration for the movie of the same name starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels, directed by Danny Boyle with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.]]> 656 Walter Isaacson SLB 5 Beautifully written and well researched.
If you have ever wondered where your iphone, mac, ipad, airpods, icloud came from—here it is. And it is a HUMAN story about a fallible angry person who changed the world. Like Beethoven and Edison. No kidding!
Everyone should read this book.
And I loved reading it! It is hilarious! Like life.]]> 4.29 2011
author: Walter Isaacson
name: SLB
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/11
date added: 2023/06/12
shelves:
review:
Perhaps the most informative book I have ever read.
Beautifully written and well researched.
If you have ever wondered where your iphone, mac, ipad, airpods, icloud came from—here it is. And it is a HUMAN story about a fallible angry person who changed the world. Like Beethoven and Edison. No kidding!
Everyone should read this book.
And I loved reading it! It is hilarious! Like life.
]]> 59560942 413 Geraldine Brooks 0399562982 SLB 4 4.53 2022
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: SLB
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/11
date added: 2023/06/11
shelves:
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]]> 62912108 From the Academy Award-winning actor and best-selling author: his debut novel. The story of the making of a colossal, star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic book that inspired it.


PART ONE of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew, leaves an indelible impression, and then disappears for 23 years.

Cut to 1970: The nephew, now drawing underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering the comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero.

Cut to the present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie.

Cue the cast: We meet the film's extremely difficult male star, his wonderful leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the go-fer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.

Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, this is a novel not only about the making of a movie, but also about the changes in America and American culture since World War II. Bonus material: Interspersed throughout are the three comic books that are featured in the story - all created by Hanks himself - including the comic book that becomes the official tie-in to this novel's major motion picture masterpiece.]]> 448 Tom Hanks 0525655603 SLB 0 currently-reading 4.01 2023
author: Tom Hanks
name: SLB
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 18899505 "Fielding and Jebedee were dead, Steed-Asprey vanished. Smiley � where was he?"

John le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, offers an exquisite, satirical look at an elite private school as it chronicles the early development of George Smiley.

Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs. Stella Rode, saying that she fears her husband—an assistant master at Carne School—is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley. Unfortunately, it's too late. Mrs. Rode has just been murdered. As Smiley takes up the investigation, he realizes that in life—as in espionage—nothing is quite what it appears.

Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0143122584]]> 158 John Le Carré 1101603763 SLB 2 3.91 1962
author: John Le Carré
name: SLB
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1962
rating: 2
read at: 2020/04/30
date added: 2023/05/17
shelves:
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]]> 35072467 NATIONAL BESTSELLERA 2023 ROLLING STONE RECOMMENDED BOOKShortlisted for the 2017 Legislative Assembly of Ontario Speaker's Book AwardNominated for the 2018 Heritage Toronto Award - Historical Book“The preeminent account of the late singer's life.”Ěý—Rolling StoneThe definitive, full-access story of the life and songs of Canada's legendary troubadourGordon Lightfoot’s name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness. His music defined the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and â€�70s, topped charts and sold millions. He is unquestionably Canada’s greatest songwriter, and an international star who has performed on the world’s biggest stages.While Lightfoot’s songs are well known, the man behind them is elusive. He’s never allowed his life to be chronicled in a book—until now.Biographer Nick Jennings has had unprecedented access to the notoriously reticent musician. Lightfoot takes us deep inside the artist’s world, from his idyllic childhood in Orillia, the wild sixties, and his canoe trips into Canada’s North to his heady times atop the music world. Jennings explores the toll that success took on his personal life—including his troubled relationships, his battle with alcohol and his near-death experiences—and the extraordinary drive and tenacity that pulled him through it all.Rich in voices from fellow musicians, close friends, Lightfoot’s family and the singer’s own reminiscences, the biography tells the stories behind some of his best-known love songs, including “Beautifulâ€� and “Song for a Winter’s Night,â€� as well as the infidelity and divorce that resulted in classics like “Sundownâ€� and “If You Could Read My Mind.â€� Kris Kristofferson has called Lightfoot’s songs “some of the most beautiful and lasting music of our time.â€� Lightfoot is an unforgettable portrait of a treasured singer-songwriter, an artist whose work has been covered by everyone from Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand and Nico to Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Gord Downie. Revealing and insightful, Lightfoot is both an inspiring story of redemption and an exhilarating read.]]> 344 Nicholas Jennings 014319920X SLB 2 4.23
author: Nicholas Jennings
name: SLB
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/11
date added: 2023/05/11
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]]> 19847968
The 50th-anniversary edition of the bestselling novel that launched John le Carré’s career worldwide

In the shadow of the newly erected Berlin Wall, Alec Leamas watches as his last agent is shot dead by East German sentries. For Leamas, the head of Berlin Station, the Cold War is over. As he faces the prospect of retirement or worse—a desk job—Control offers him a unique opportunity for revenge. Assuming the guise of an embittered and dissolute ex-agent, Leamas is set up to trap Mundt, the deputy director of the East German Intelligence Service—with himself as the bait. In the background is George Smiley, ready to make the game play out just as Control wants.

Setting a standard that has never been surpassed, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a devastating tale of duplicity and espionage.]]> 213 John Le Carré SLB 5 4.26 1963
author: John Le Carré
name: SLB
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1963
rating: 5
read at: 2020/05/02
date added: 2023/05/02
shelves:
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]]> 57684325
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride�) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.]]> 400 Bonnie Garmus SLB 4 4.47 2022
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: SLB
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/01
date added: 2023/05/01
shelves:
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]]> 11013349
The times were not propitious when Nicholas came to power. It is doubtful Nicholas could have survived the times, even with luck, but fate seemed against him. His son's hemophilia was a great burden; worse was Rasputin, an unprincipled Siberian mystic. On top of it all came the great war in 1914. When Russian armies suffered staggering defeats, the whole structure began to crumble.

"Massie gives the tantalizing what-ifs of history a full airing in this satisfying follow-up to PETER THE GREAT, another acknowledged master-work." (Journal of Literary Reviews)]]> 640 Robert K. Massie SLB 5
But I have a question: Where were the Tsars� daughters in all this drama? He has a sick son and a concerned wife and Rasputin and a war. So he failed ?My daughters and granddaughters would have busted his chops and been the family realists. Did Nicholas love Alexandra so much that he destroyed Russia? And his daughters said nothing? No way.]]> 4.42 1967
author: Robert K. Massie
name: SLB
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1967
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/25
date added: 2023/04/25
shelves:
review:
It is magnificent. I have read and enjoyed Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. This book equals their successes.

But I have a question: Where were the Tsars� daughters in all this drama? He has a sick son and a concerned wife and Rasputin and a war. So he failed ?My daughters and granddaughters would have busted his chops and been the family realists. Did Nicholas love Alexandra so much that he destroyed Russia? And his daughters said nothing? No way.
]]>