Amanda's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:27:00 -0700 60 Amanda's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Hag-Seed (Hogarth Shakespeare, #4)]]> 29369606
Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he's staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds.

Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge.

After twelve years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his Tempest and snare the traitors who destroyed him. It's magic! But will it remake Felix as his enemies fall?

Margaret Atwood’s novel take on Shakespeare’s play of enchantment, retribution, and second chances leads us on an interactive, illusion-ridden journey filled with new surprises and wonders of its own.

From the Hardcover edition.]]> 295 Margaret Atwood Amanda 3 2017 3.97 2016 Hag-Seed (Hogarth Shakespeare, #4)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/15
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: 2017
review:
Makes me wanna do plays again! Or do something with prisoners. Not my fave Margaret Atwood, but I have high expectations for her.
]]> <![CDATA[E is for Evidence (Kinsey Millhone, #5)]]> 8134084 320 Sue Grafton 1429909382 Amanda 3 2017 4.28 1988 E is for Evidence (Kinsey Millhone, #5)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1988
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/15
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> Brave Enough 27430481 From the bestselling author of Wild, a collection of quotes--drawn from the wide range of her writings--that capture her wisdom, courage, and outspoken humor, presented in a gift-sized package that's as irresistible to give as it is to receive.<

In her three previous books--her critically acclaimed debut novel, Torch, her groundbreaking memoir, Wild, and her dazzlingly insightful “Dear Sugar� advice columns, Tiny Beautiful Things--Cheryl Strayed has shared with an ardently devoted audience the many twists and trials of her remarkable life, offering much-needed truths, as well as laughter, to millions of readers. Her honesty, spirit, and ample supply of tough love have enabled many of us, even in the darkest hours, to somehow put one foot in front of the other--and be brave enough. Whether humorous or wise (and often both at once) Strayed's words are anthems that remind us that we may inevitably make mistakes, but we can also do better, both for ourselves and for others. Such
Ěý
Be brave enough to break your own heart.
You can't ride to the fair unless you get on the pony.
Keep walking.
Acceptance is a small, quiet room.
Romantic love is not a competitive sport.
Forward is the direction of real life.
Ěý
Brave Enough gathers more than 100 of these “mini-instruction manuals for the soul,� urging us toward the incredible capacity for love, compassion, forgiveness, and endurance that is within us all.]]> 137 Cheryl Strayed 0345810880 Amanda 3
:-)

PS. This book is just a bunch of quotes. That's it. Leave your expectations at that level... Read Tiny Beautiful Things or Wild if you're craving something toothier.]]> 4.00 2015 Brave Enough
author: Cheryl Strayed
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2017/02/05
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: 2017, perhaps-i-shall-read-it-again
review:
Cheryl Strayed is in a special class of women who Just Know. Wise and wonderful and naked, and while--as she herself admits--she's a fuckup, she's a role model of a fuckup. I wish I knew her in real life.

:-)

PS. This book is just a bunch of quotes. That's it. Leave your expectations at that level... Read Tiny Beautiful Things or Wild if you're craving something toothier.
]]> <![CDATA[K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, #11)]]> 8453201
Her death had raised a host of tough questions. The cops suspected homicide, but they could find neither motive nor suspect. Even the means were Lorna's body was so badly decomposed when it was discovered that they couldn't be certain she hadn't died of natural causes. In the way of overworked cops everywhere, the case was gradually shifted to the back burner and became another unsolved file.

Only Lorna's mother kept it alive, consumed by the certainty that somebody out there had gotten away with murder.

In the ten months since her daughter's death, Janice Kepler had joined a support group, trying to come to terms with her loss and her anger. It wasn't helping. And so, leaving a session one evening and noticing a light on in the offices of Millhone Investigations, she knocked on the door.

In answering that knock, Kinsey Millhone is pulled into the netherworld of unavenged murder, where only a pact with the devil will satisfy the restless ghosts of the victims and give release to the living they have left behind.

Eleven books into the series that has won her readers around the world, Sue Grafton takes a darkside turn, pitching us into a shadow land of pain and grief where killers still walk free, unaccused, unpunished, unrepentant. With "K" is for Killer she offers a tale that is dark, complex, and deeply disturbing.
]]> 352 Sue Grafton 1429911654 Amanda 0 2017 4.22 1994 K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, #11)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at: 2017/08/26
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> Faithful 29508185 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and The Dovekeepers comes a soul-searching story about a young woman struggling to redefine herself and the power of love, family, and fate.

Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.

What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky? Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.

Here is a character you will fall in love with, so believable and real and endearing, that she captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding yourself at last. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap.

Alice Hoffman’s “trademark alchemy� (USA TODAY) and her ability to write about the “delicate balance between the everyday world and the extraordinary� (WBUR) make this an unforgettable story. With beautifully crafted prose, Alice Hoffman spins hope from heartbreak in this profoundly moving novel.]]> 283 Alice Hoffman 1476799261 Amanda 3 2017 4.24 2017 Faithful
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2017/01/04
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> Lysistrata and Other Plays 1567 Achanians is a plea for peace set against the background of the long war with Sparta. In Lysistrata a band of women tap into the awesome power of sex in order to end a war. The darker comedy of The Clouds satirizes Athenian philosophers, Socrates in particular, and reflects the uncertainties of a generation in which all traditional religious and ethical beliefs were being challenged.

For this edition Alan Sommerstein has completely revised his translation of these three plays, bringing out the full nuances of Aristophanes� ribald humour and intricate word play, with a new introduction explaining the historical and cultural background to the plays.]]> 241 Aristophanes Amanda 4 plays 3.94 -423 Lysistrata and Other Plays
author: Aristophanes
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.94
book published: -423
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: plays
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All the Ugly and Wonderful Things]]> 28595833
As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.

By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world. A powerful novel you won’t soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love.]]> 365 Bryn Greenwood 1466885807 Amanda 4 2017 Love story. 3.99 2016 All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
author: Bryn Greenwood
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/21
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves: 2017
review:
Love story.
]]> <![CDATA[Swann’s Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1)]]> 133539
He claims that people are defined by the objects that surround them and must piece together their identities bit by bit each time they wake up. The young Marcel is so nervous about sleeping alone that he looks forward to his mother's goodnight kisses, but also dreads them as a sign of an impending sleepless night. One night, when Charles Swann, a friend of his grandparents, is visiting, his mother cannot come kiss him goodnight. He stays up until Swann leaves and looks so sad and pitiful that even his disciplinarian father encourages "Mamma" to spend the night in Marcel's room.]]> 615 Marcel Proust 0375751548 Amanda 0 4.28 1913 Swann’s Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1)
author: Marcel Proust
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1913
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves: to-read, in-my-possession-to-reads
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spoon River Anthology (Signet Classics)]]> 919220 Spoon River Anthology remains an American classic.]]> 319 Edgar Lee Masters 0451525302 Amanda 3 plays 3.76 1915 Spoon River Anthology (Signet Classics)
author: Edgar Lee Masters
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1915
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/11/04
shelves: plays
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #6)]]> 30244 368 Laurell K. Hamilton 0425209067 Amanda 0 4.14 1997 The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #6)
author: Laurell K. Hamilton
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/21
shelves: dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:

]]> Flowers for Algernon 18306919 Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.
Ěý
Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?

Catalog ID: Q2099, cover price $1. 25]]> 216 Daniel Keyes Amanda 1 the-great-high-school-reread ew ew ew 4.02 1966 Flowers for Algernon
author: Daniel Keyes
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1966
rating: 1
read at: 1988/01/01
date added: 2023/08/18
shelves: the-great-high-school-reread
review:
ew ew ew
]]> <![CDATA[Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia, #2)]]> 317501 The four Pevensies help Caspian battle Miraz and ascend his rightful throne.

NARNIA... the land between the lamp-post and the castle of Cair Paravel, where animals talk, where magical things happen... and where the adventure begins.

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are returning to boarding school when they are summoned from the dreary train station (by Susan's own magic horn) to return to the land of Narnia—the land where they had ruled as kings and queens and where their help is desperately needed.]]> 216 C.S. Lewis 0020442408 Amanda 5
Today, I've read a passage that I find disturbing and quite out of character for CS Lewis:

p.72 "Shall we go farther up for you, up to the crags? There's an Ogre or two and a Hag that we could introduce you to, up there." "Certainly not," said Caspian. "I should think not, indeed," said Trufflehunter. "We want none of that sort on our side."

Seems a bit racist, if you ask me. It really makes me wonder exactly what CS Lewis is getting at here. It's totally the opposite of what happens in The Last Battle when Aslan sorts the good guys from the bad guys by whether they're good oir evil in their hearts. So anyway, it seems weird and I don't like it. The Hag does ends up being a bad guy in the end, but still... I dunno.

I'll keep reading and blame the racism on the 1950s for now.

Oh yeah, as a side note, whenever I read British literature, I talk to myself in a British accent and rhythm for a while afterward. It's so dorky!!!

Later...
I've read a bit more now. The race issue didn't come up again.

The battle scenes are not the same as you might see these days. There's something more frank and quick about them. Lewis doesn't explain every little move and maneuver, so in fact, if you're reading too fast, you might even miss a fight going on. Here's an example of a battle overview without much in the way of specifics:
P. 187
But the new bout went well. Peter now seemed to be able to make some use of his shield, and he certainly made good use of his feet. He was almost playing Tig with Miraz now, keeping out of range shifting his ground, making the enemy work.

I think if this book had been written today by a different author, it might be about 500 pages of battle scenes. I'm glad its not. Instead, the book is more about people standing on the side of good. Here's a passage that I just love which describes Edmund who may be a boy, but is also a king:
P.174An hour later two great lords in the army of Miraz, the Lord Glozelle and the Lord Sopespian, strolling along their lines and picking their teeth after breakfast, looked up and saw coming down to them from the wood the Centaur and Giant Wembleweather, whom they had seen before in battle, and between them a figure they could not recognise. Nor indeed would the other boys at Edmund's school have recognised him if they could have seen him at that moment. For Aslan had breathed on him at their meeting and a kind of greatness hung about him.

Ahhhhh... See? For Narnia and the North!


Also, you Tolkien fans will recognize the onslaught of trees which comes in at the end of the battle--Two Towers--and the river emerging (with the help of Bacchus and his grapevines) to take out the bridge and thwart the enemy in its path--Fellowship. Who came up with it first, I wonder... :)



Later still...
As I finish reading this lovely little novel, allow me to drop off to sleep with feet towards the fire and good friends on either side... Thank you, Mr. Lewis. I have had a time. ]]> 3.94 1951 Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia, #2)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1951
rating: 5
read at: 1990/01/01
date added: 2022/07/29
shelves: fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, 2008
review:
November 19, 2008. I've read these books a zillion and one times and surely I shall read them a zillion more. Because every single time, I realize new truths and find more honor in their pages.

Today, I've read a passage that I find disturbing and quite out of character for CS Lewis:

p.72 "Shall we go farther up for you, up to the crags? There's an Ogre or two and a Hag that we could introduce you to, up there." "Certainly not," said Caspian. "I should think not, indeed," said Trufflehunter. "We want none of that sort on our side."

Seems a bit racist, if you ask me. It really makes me wonder exactly what CS Lewis is getting at here. It's totally the opposite of what happens in The Last Battle when Aslan sorts the good guys from the bad guys by whether they're good oir evil in their hearts. So anyway, it seems weird and I don't like it. The Hag does ends up being a bad guy in the end, but still... I dunno.

I'll keep reading and blame the racism on the 1950s for now.

Oh yeah, as a side note, whenever I read British literature, I talk to myself in a British accent and rhythm for a while afterward. It's so dorky!!!

Later...
I've read a bit more now. The race issue didn't come up again.

The battle scenes are not the same as you might see these days. There's something more frank and quick about them. Lewis doesn't explain every little move and maneuver, so in fact, if you're reading too fast, you might even miss a fight going on. Here's an example of a battle overview without much in the way of specifics:
P. 187
But the new bout went well. Peter now seemed to be able to make some use of his shield, and he certainly made good use of his feet. He was almost playing Tig with Miraz now, keeping out of range shifting his ground, making the enemy work.

I think if this book had been written today by a different author, it might be about 500 pages of battle scenes. I'm glad its not. Instead, the book is more about people standing on the side of good. Here's a passage that I just love which describes Edmund who may be a boy, but is also a king:
P.174An hour later two great lords in the army of Miraz, the Lord Glozelle and the Lord Sopespian, strolling along their lines and picking their teeth after breakfast, looked up and saw coming down to them from the wood the Centaur and Giant Wembleweather, whom they had seen before in battle, and between them a figure they could not recognise. Nor indeed would the other boys at Edmund's school have recognised him if they could have seen him at that moment. For Aslan had breathed on him at their meeting and a kind of greatness hung about him.

Ahhhhh... See? For Narnia and the North!


Also, you Tolkien fans will recognize the onslaught of trees which comes in at the end of the battle--Two Towers--and the river emerging (with the help of Bacchus and his grapevines) to take out the bridge and thwart the enemy in its path--Fellowship. Who came up with it first, I wonder... :)



Later still...
As I finish reading this lovely little novel, allow me to drop off to sleep with feet towards the fire and good friends on either side... Thank you, Mr. Lewis. I have had a time.
]]> Love Lettering 44792512
A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out—before he leaves New York for good—how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline, a fractured friendship, and a bad case of creative block, Meg doesn’t have time for Reid’s questions—unless he can help her find her missing inspiration. As they gradually open up to each other about their lives, work, and regrets, both try to ignore the fact that their unlikely connection is growing deeper. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late . . .]]> 307 Kate Clayborn 1496725174 Amanda 3 3.62 2019 Love Lettering
author: Kate Clayborn
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2021/07/28
date added: 2021/07/28
shelves: 2021, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:
More about love than power. A little too "romance-y" but there's enough depth to the characters to excuse the sap. Glad to read a book that wasn't ruined by a crap ending.
]]> Pussy: A Reclamation 28956885 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERĚý

“Required reading for every woman who longs to step into her power and live with pleasure and purpose.�

� Kris Carr, New York Times best-selling author

Get ready to encounter a book that will change your experience as a woman, in a powerful new way. Author, educator, and School of Womanly Arts founder Regena Thomashauer has been working with women for the past 25 years, and what began as just a few women in her living room has since grown into a global movement with thousands of graduates worldwide.

In her newest book, Pussy: A Reclamation, you’ll discover what no one taught you about the source of your feminine power and how to use it. It’s no secret that women today are still undervalued at home, at work, and in relationship. Too many of us are at war with our bodies and disconnected from our truth.

See, we live in a culture that teaches us to turn off. To play small. To take care of everyone else first. To keep a lid on our dreams and a cork on our truth.

This book is written to reacquaint a woman with her own power source—which is the part of herself she has been taught to ignore, push down, and despise. Indeed, the word that most viscerally sums up that power is, as Regena puts it, “arguably the most powerful pejorative word in the English language.� Like any expletive used effectively, the title of this book is meant to be a wake-up call. It is a reclamation, in a world that desperately requires the feminine.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

The key practices required to seek and speak your deepest truth, no matter what

How to embody radical self-celebration, and why it will change your life
How to end the war with your body—and rather, see it for what it is: beautiful, sacred, powerful, and so, so worthy of approval
How to trade depletion, obligation, overwork, and resentment for gratitude-filled, passionate contribution to our families, communities, and society
Why a woman’s sensual awareness is critical for her spiritual, intellectual, and emotional health
What’s ahead on the next frontier of feminism—and how you can help make it happen

And oh so much, much moreThis provocative, groundbreaking book brings forth a whole new paradigm for women, along with game-changing tools and practices to navigate any area of your life—relationships, career, body, confidence, sensuality, and more.

By turns earthy and erudite, passionately argued and laugh-out-loud funny, Pussy delivers the tools and practices a woman requires to do and be whatever she wants in this life. It’s a call for her to tune in, turn on, and not drop out—but live more richly, fully, and lusciously than she ever thought she could.

There’s a revolution afoot, and you’re invited.]]> 257 Regena Thomashauer 1401950248 Amanda 3 3.85 2016 Pussy: A Reclamation
author: Regena Thomashauer
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2016/12/31
date added: 2021/07/28
shelves: 2016, it-s-kinda-true, random-fb-challenge
review:
If you're in need of some female empowerment and can move past the author's egotistical blahblahblah, this might be the perfect book for you.
]]> The Screwtape Letters 480236 209 C.S. Lewis Amanda 2 4.21 1942 The Screwtape Letters
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1942
rating: 2
read at: 1995/01/01
date added: 2019/12/22
shelves:
review:
I don't think I was in the right frame of mind to read this. I got pretty bored. Don't think I was educated enough to understand the allegory...
]]> <![CDATA[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)]]> 2647293 132 Lewis Carroll 1904808166 Amanda 3 3.83 1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)
author: Lewis Carroll
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1865
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/21
date added: 2018/12/05
shelves: 2011, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, perhaps-i-shall-read-it-again
review:
The moral of the story is the story has no moral.
]]> All the King's Men 379138 ]]> 656 Robert Penn Warren 0156012952 Amanda 4 plays 4.22 1946 All the King's Men
author: Robert Penn Warren
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/11/16
shelves: plays
review:
This is a play. Ok, maybe this particular book on my shelf is not a play, but I know for sure that there is a damn play version, because I've done the play. And the play is Lyrical!!! (I think Xio said that it's not possible to make a film from this novel in Hollywood. But there's a play and it is lovely--that's why theatre is better than film.) I gave 3 stars because while I looooooooved working on the show, I think I would only like it if I weren't an active participant.
]]> Year of Yes 29540318 Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder and Catch, reveals how saying YES changed her life -- and how it can change yours too. With three hit shows on television and three children at home, Shonda Rhimes had lots of good reasons to say no when invitations arrived. Hollywood party? No. Speaking engagement? No. Media appearances? No. And to an introvert like Shonda, who describes herself as 'hugging the walls' at social events and experiencing panic attacks before press interviews, there was a particular benefit to saying no: nothing new to fear. Then came Thanksgiving 2013, when Shonda's sister Delorse muttered six little words at her: You never say yes to anything. Profound, impassioned and laugh-out-loud funny, in Year of Yes Shonda Rhimes reveals how saying YES changed -- and saved -- her life. And inspires readers everywhere to change their own lives with one little word: Yes.]]> 352 Shonda Rhimes 1471157326 Amanda 4 2016, it-s-kinda-true 4.04 2015 Year of Yes
author: Shonda Rhimes
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/04/09
shelves: 2016, it-s-kinda-true
review:

]]> A Visit from the Goon Squad 7331435
We first meet Sasha in her mid-thirties, on her therapist’s couch in New York City, confronting her long-standing compulsion to steal. Later, we learn the genesis of her turmoil when we see her as the child of a violent marriage, then as a runaway living in Naples, then as a college student trying to avert the suicidal impulses of her best friend. We plunge into the hidden yearnings and disappointments of her uncle, an art historian stuck in a dead marriage, who travels to Naples to extract Sasha from the city’s demimonde and experiences an epiphany of his own while staring at a sculpture of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Museo Nazionale. We meet Bennie Salazar at the melancholy nadir of his adult life—divorced, struggling to connect with his nine-year-old son, listening to a washed-up band in the basement of a suburban house—and then revisit him in 1979, at the height of his youth, shy and tender, reveling in San Francisco’s punk scene as he discovers his ardor for rock and roll and his gift for spotting talent. We learn what became of his high school gang—who thrived and who faltered—and we encounter Lou Kline, Bennie’s catastrophically careless mentor, along with the lovers and children left behind in the wake of Lou’s far-flung sexual conquests and meteoric rise and fall.

A Visit from the Goon Squad is a book about the interplay of time and music, about survival, about the stirrings and transformations set inexorably in motion by even the most passing conjunction of our fates. In a breathtaking array of styles and tones ranging from tragedy to satire to PowerPoint, Egan captures the undertow of self-destruction that we all must either master or succumb to; the basic human hunger for redemption; and the universal tendency to reach for both—and escape the merciless progress of time—in the transporting realms of art and music. Sly, startling, exhilarating work from one of our boldest writers.]]> 274 Jennifer Egan 0307592839 Amanda 2 3.70 2010 A Visit from the Goon Squad
author: Jennifer Egan
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2018/03/18
date added: 2018/03/18
shelves:
review:
Did I skip some pages or something? I don't remember anything that happened or who any of the people are. Maybe I shoulda read this when it was written...
]]> <![CDATA[M is for Malice (Kinsey Millhone, #13)]]> 64854
Malek Construction is a mega-million-dollar company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction—and one of the few still in family hands. Today, the three Malek sons stand to inherit a fortune, but in order for any one of them to claim his share, the missing fourth brother must be found.

M is for MISSING�

Now it’s up to Kinsey Millhone to find Guy Malek, the man who, eighteen years ago, vanished without a trace. Did he run away—or was he abducted? Did he intend to make something of himself on his own, apart from the wealth and prowess of his family, or were his motives something more sinister?

M is for MALICE...

The ties that bind. The rivalries of brotherhood. The fall of an empire� As Kinsey tries to unravel the mystery of the missing Malek brother she finds herself in a heart-stopping race against time in which loyalties are tested, greed is rampant, and no one—including Kinsey herself—is safe…]]> 337 Sue Grafton 0449223604 Amanda 2 4.09 1996 M is for Malice (Kinsey Millhone, #13)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2017/11/29
shelves:
review:
I've been liking these Sue Grafton books. But this one was dumb til about 3/4 of the way through. Why would Kinsey have bothered to get involved with these people? Put-lease.
]]> <![CDATA[A Little Harmless Sex (Harmless, #1)]]> 2107165 Is it love, or just a little harmless sex?

Max has always been Anna's knight in shining armor. But Max has always seen her as a charming, and very sexy, little sister.

Until Max's cold fiance dumps him, Anna unloads another of her many conquests and she invites him over for margaritas and Mexican food. Too much tequila, too much flirting, and too many years of fighting the attraction � Max loses control and has mind-blowing sex with Anna on her couch. And in her shower. And in her bed.

When the sun rises the next morning, both of them must face that their night together is just the first of many. For Max, he knows he wants Anna forever, but convincing a commitment-phobe like Anna is no easy task. For Anna, she can't believe she has finally slipped beneath Max's steely self-control. He is every woman's dark, wet fantasy come true. But what happens when Max pushes Anna for more than just A Little Harmless Sex?

This book was previously published, but has been substantially revised and expanded for Samhain Publishing.

Warning: this title contains the following, explicit sex, graphic terms for body parts, torture via silk stockings, a little spanking, and shower and office sex.]]> 193 Melissa Schroeder 1599984237 Amanda 4 A storyline!!! Yay! 3.65 2007 A Little Harmless Sex (Harmless, #1)
author: Melissa Schroeder
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2017/10/23
date added: 2017/11/08
shelves: 2017, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:
A storyline!!! Yay!
]]> 13 Reasons Why 35128673 You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows Hannah's recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.]]> 336 Jay Asher 0451479327 Amanda 3

If I was an angsty teen, I woulda freaking loved this book!]]> 3.82 2007 13 Reasons Why
author: Jay Asher
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2017/10/15
date added: 2017/10/15
shelves: 2017, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
I don't understand what point the author was trying to make here. But here's a point I'll make. Life can be complicated and shitty and absolutely miserable sometimes. Happens to everybody. So give yourself some power back--own your own life. Own the role you play. Everyone else is chopped liver.


If I was an angsty teen, I woulda freaking loved this book!
]]> A Circle of Cats (Newford) 186448
Set in the countryside north of de Lint's fictional Newford, with some of the same characters as the duo's recent, acclaimed "Seven Wild Sisters," "A Circle of Cats" is the long-awaited first picture book by long-time friends Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, whose masterful art is as magical as the story.]]> 48 Charles de Lint 0670036471 Amanda 3 4.24 2003 A Circle of Cats (Newford)
author: Charles de Lint
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/09/26
shelves: fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[L is for Lawless (Kinsey Millhone, #12)]]> 643962
'L is for Lawless,' but you could call it 'Kinsey Millhone in Bad Company.' Call it a mystery without a murder, a treasure hunt without a map, a quest novel with truly mixed-up motives. Call it the return of Kinsey as a bad girl - quick-witted and quick-silvery. She pokes her nose into everybody's dirty laundry as she joins up with a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde in an 'Our Gang' comedy that will take her halfway across the country and leave her with a major headache and an empty bank balance.

America's favorite borderline delinquent is back with her one-liners and her energy level on high, romping through her fastest and funniest adventure in this, her twelfth foray into the alphabet of crime.]]> 336 Sue Grafton 0449221490 Amanda 0 2017 3.92 1995 L is for Lawless (Kinsey Millhone, #12)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at: 2017/08/25
date added: 2017/09/26
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> Small Great Things 28587957
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game.]]> 480 Jodi Picoult 0345544951 Amanda 3 2017 4.30 2016 Small Great Things
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/09/25
date added: 2017/09/26
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[J is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone, #10)]]> 9007384 304 Sue Grafton 1429911611 Amanda 2 2017 3.58 1993 J is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone, #10)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1993
rating: 2
read at: 2017/06/16
date added: 2017/06/16
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear. Get On the Mat. Love Your Body]]> 30754069
It’s a book of inspiration for beginners of all shapes and sizes: If Jessamyn could transcend these emotional and physical barriers, so can we.

It’s a book for readers already doing yoga, looking to refresh their practice or find new ways to stay motivated.

It’s a how-to book: Here are easy-to-follow directions to 50 basic yoga poses and 10 sequences to practice at home, all photographed in full color.

It’s a book that challenges the larger issues of body acceptance and the meaning of beauty.

Most of all, it’s a book that changes the paradigm, showing us that yoga isn’t about how one looks, but how one feels, with yoga sequences like “I Want to Energize My Spirit,� “I Need to Release Fear,� “I Want to Love Myself.�

Jessamyn Stanley, a yogi who breaks all the stereotypes, has built a life as an internationally recognized yoga teacher and award-winning Instagram star by combining a deep understanding for yoga with a willingness to share her personal struggles in a way that touches everyone who comes to know her. Now she brings her body-positive, emotionally uplifting approach to yoga in a book that will help every reader discover the power of yoga and how to weave it seamlessly into his or her life.]]> 222 Jessamyn Stanley 0761193111 Amanda 5 2017, it-s-kinda-true 4.35 2017 Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear. Get On the Mat. Love Your Body
author: Jessamyn Stanley
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/06/14
date added: 2017/06/14
shelves: 2017, it-s-kinda-true
review:
F-bomb heaven! No bullshit. Life is hard but also awesome.
]]> The Heart Goes Last 28503851 Margaret Atwood puts the human heart to the ultimate test in an utterly brilliant new novel that is as visionary asĚýThe Handmaid's TaleĚýand as richly imagined asĚýThe Blind Assassin.

ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýStan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around—and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in . . . for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes.
ĚýĚýĚýĚý At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 380 Margaret Atwood 1101912367 Amanda 0 couldn-t-finish-it 3.36 2015 The Heart Goes Last
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/05/30
shelves: couldn-t-finish-it
review:
Nope. I just can't do it. Even though Margaret Atwood is tops in my book, I can't read this one. I started it, but the whole world was full of murder and bullies who are more dangerous than murderers. I only want light and joyful things for my heart. No sad stuff, Margaret Atwood! Not for me.
]]> <![CDATA[C is for Corpse (Kinsey Millhone, #3)]]> 7323919 243 Sue Grafton 1429922370 Amanda 3 2017 3.60 1986 C is for Corpse (Kinsey Millhone, #3)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2017/04/18
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> Sharp Objects 18045891
Librarian's Note: this is an alternate cover edition - ISBN 10: 0307341550 (ISBN 13: 9780307341556)]]> 254 Gillian Flynn 0297851535 Amanda 3 2017 Good grief! 4.05 2006 Sharp Objects
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/23
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:
Good grief!
]]> <![CDATA[A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries, # 1)]]> 7414207
Eight years later and out on parole, Niki Fife hires Kinsey Millhone to find out who really killed her late husband.

A trail that is eight years cold. A trail that reaches out to enfold a bitter, wealthy, and foul-mouthed old woman and a young boy, born deaf, whose memory cannot be trusted. A trail that leads to a lawyer defensively loyal to a dead partner--and disarmingly attractive to Millhone; to an ex-wife, brave, lucid, lovely--and still angry over Fife's betrayal of her; to a not-so-young secretary with too high a salary for too few skills--and too many debts left owing: The trail twists to include them all, with Millhone following every turn until it finally twists back on itself and she finds herself face-to-face with a killer cunning enough to get away with murder.]]> 320 Sue Grafton 1429901349 Amanda 3 2017
Now that it's the twenty-teens, I don't remember anything about this book so it was a fun easy read. No cell phones!!! She uses a typewriter and an answering service! So cute. ]]> 3.67 1982 A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries, # 1)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at: 2017/01/07
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:
I'm pretty sure I originally read this in the early 90s while at the beach with my family, wearing a blue-with-white-polka-dot pajama set that I really loved.

Now that it's the twenty-teens, I don't remember anything about this book so it was a fun easy read. No cell phones!!! She uses a typewriter and an answering service! So cute.
]]> Gone Girl 15704161 What have we done to each other?

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

So what did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?]]> 444 Gillian Flynn 0297859404 Amanda 3 2017 3.92 2012 Gone Girl
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2017/01/15
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:
Hmmm. I mostly liked this book! But maybe not Part III. The endings of books seem to always be my least favorite part.
]]> <![CDATA[B is for Burglar (Kinsey Millhone, #2)]]> 7362420 230 Sue Grafton 1429922257 Amanda 4 2017 3.56 1985 B is for Burglar (Kinsey Millhone, #2)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2017/02/05
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:
Having fun with these A, B, C books by Sue Grafton. I find myself nostalgic for the days of phone books and answering machines.
]]> Interworld 7413759 171 Neil Gaiman 0061542857 Amanda 4 3.53 2007 Interworld
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2017/04/18
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[D Is For Deadbeat (Kinsey Millhone, #4)]]> 7898364 230 Sue Grafton 1429909323 Amanda 3 2017 3.64 1987 D Is For Deadbeat (Kinsey Millhone, #4)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/09
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[F is for Fugitive (Kinsey Millhone, #6)]]> 8166484 262 Sue Grafton 142990979X Amanda 4 2017 3.63 1989 F is for Fugitive (Kinsey Millhone, #6)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/18
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions]]> 34808265 From the best-selling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists comes a powerful new statement about feminism today--written as a letter to a friend.

A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a dear friend from childhood, asking her how to raise her baby girl as a feminist. Dear Ijeawele is Adichie's letter of response.

Here are fifteen invaluable suggestions--compelling, direct, wryly funny, and perceptive--for how to empower a daughter to become a strong, independent woman. From encouraging her to choose a helicopter, and not only a doll, as a toy if she so desires; having open conversations with her about clothes, makeup, and sexuality; debunking the myth that women are somehow biologically arranged to be in the kitchen making dinner, and that men can "allow" women to have full careers, Dear Ijeawele goes right to the heart of sexual politics in the twenty-first century. It will start a new and urgently needed conversation about what it really means to be a woman today.]]> 1 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Amanda 3 2017, audio-b 4.38 2017 Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/18
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017, audio-b
review:

]]> <![CDATA[G is for Gumshoe (Kinsey Millhone, #7)]]> 9192483 262 Sue Grafton 1429910860 Amanda 4 2017 3.61 1990 G is for Gumshoe (Kinsey Millhone, #7)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/19
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[H is for Homicide (Kinsey Millhone, #8)]]> 8098770 256 Sue Grafton 1429910879 Amanda 3 2017 3.72 1991 H is for Homicide (Kinsey Millhone, #8)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/22
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I is for Innocent (Kinsey Millhone, #9)]]> 7648599 "I" Is For Innocent is no exception. Her most intricately plotted novel to date, it is layered in enough complexity to baffle even the cleverest among us.

Lonnie Kingman is in a bind. He's smack in the middle of assembling a civil suit, and the private investigator who was doing his pretrial legwork has just dropped dead of a heart attack. In a matter of weeks the court's statute of limitations will put paid to his case. Five years ago David Barney walked when a jury acquitted him of the murder of his rich wife, Isabelle. Now Kingman, acting as attorney for the dead woman's ex-husband and their child (and sure that the jury made a serious mistake), is trying to divest David Barney of the profits of that murder. But time is running out, and David Barney still swears he's innocent.

Patterned along the lines of a legal case, "I" Is For Innocent is seamlessly divided into one-third of the novel is devoted to the prosecution, one-third to the defense, and a final third to cross-examination and rebuttal. The result is a trial novel without a trial and a crime novel that resists solution right to the end.

When Kinsey Millhone agrees to take over Morley Shine's investigation, she thinks it is a simple matter of tying up the loose ends. Morley might have been careless about his health, but he was an old pro at the business. So it comes as a real shock when she finds his files in disarray, his key informant less than credible, and his witnesses denying ever having spoken with him. It comes as a bigger shock when she finds that every claim David Barney has made checks out. But if Barney didn't murder his wife, who did? It would seem the list of candidates is a long one. In life, Isabelle Barney had stepped on a lot of toes.

In "I" Is For Innocent, Sue Grafton once again demonstrates her mastery of those telling details that reveal our most intimate and conflicted relationships. As Kinsey comments on the give-and-take by which we humans deal with each other, for better and sometimes for worse, the reader is struck yet again by how acute a social observer Ms. Grafton can be. Frequently funny and sometimes caustic, she is also surprisingly compassionate-- understanding how little in life is purely black and white. Except for murder.

Somewhere out there, a killer waits to see just what Kinsey will find out. Somewhere out there, someone's been getting away with murder, and this time it just might turn out to be Kinsey's.

"I" Is For Innocent is Sue Grafton in peak form. Fast-paced. Funny. And very, very devious.

]]> 352 Sue Grafton 1429911581 Amanda 4 2017 3.61 1992 I is for Innocent (Kinsey Millhone, #9)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/29
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves: 2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Under Your Skin (For Your Love #1)]]> 27168957
Norah O'Malley has been alone for a long time. It's been ten years since her father and four brothers shipped her off to be raised by her aunt. Seven months since she's seen the guy who got her pregnant--who still doesn't know. And it's two weeks since she came home to Chicago and discovered none of her family wants to talk--or listen.

She never expected to walk into a tattoo shop seven months pregnant and get her socks knocked off by instant attraction. She can't even see her socks. But Kai Ellis is big and gruff and sexy as hell, and if he has a past, well, so does she. Even more, Kai knows how to listen so that Norah feels just a little less alone . . .

All the chemistry in the world can't help Norah make her decisions. And no sizzle of desire will make Kai believe in happy endings. But a little time with someone who understands might just change everything . . .]]> 313 Shannyn Schroeder 1420139495 Amanda 0 3.48 2016 Under Your Skin (For Your Love #1)
author: Shannyn Schroeder
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Commonwealth 28214365
Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them.

When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.

Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.]]> 322 Ann Patchett 0062491792 Amanda 3 2017, random-fb-challenge 3.81 2016 Commonwealth
author: Ann Patchett
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/02/06
date added: 2017/02/06
shelves: 2017, random-fb-challenge
review:
It's no Bel Canto, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Recommended by a girl who works at Scuppernong.
]]> Coraline 806314 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you're on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl's work, it is delicious.

What's on the other side of the door? A distorted-mirror world, containing presumably everything Coraline has ever dreamed of... people who pronounce her name correctly (not "Caroline"), delicious meals (not like her father's overblown "recipes"), an unusually pink and green bedroom (not like her dull one), and plenty of horrible (very un-boring) marvels, like a man made out of live rats. The creepiest part, however, is her mirrored parents, her "other mother" and her "other father"--people who look just like her own parents, but with big, shiny, black button eyes, paper-white skin... and a keen desire to keep her on their side of the door. To make creepy creepier, Coraline has been illustrated masterfully in scritchy, terrifying ink drawings by British mixed-media artist and Sandman cover illustrator Dave McKean. This delightful, funny, haunting, scary as heck, fairy-tale novel is about as fine as they come. Highly recommended. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson

]]> 195 Neil Gaiman 0060575913 Amanda 3 4.08 2002 Coraline
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/01/14
shelves: fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Five Things I Love About You (Chase Brothers, #1)]]> 25988685 breathe? Housesitting her brother's New York apartment, complete with broken elevator and smoking air conditioner, is her kind of hell. It's only for two weeks, though. What could possibly go wrong?

Dumping a jar of pickles on the hot girl at the grocery store wasn't Crosby Chase's finest hour, nor was getting bitten in the butt by the demonic cat on her fire escape. But he is going to change her mind about his beloved city, damn it. In fact, if they could just make it five minutes without falling into bed, he bets Estelle he can find five things she'll love about New York.

Falling in love wasn't part of his plan. And with an entire country between them, Crosby realizes he doesn't need five reasons to make Estelle love New York.

He needs one big reason to make her stay...

Each book in the Chase Brothers series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Five Things I Love About You
Book #2 For Seven Nights Only
Book #3 The Three Week Arrangement]]> 124 Sarah Ballance 1633753379 Amanda 4 3.70 2015 Five Things I Love About You (Chase Brothers, #1)
author: Sarah Ballance
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2017/01/08
date added: 2017/01/08
shelves: 2017, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:
Cute little love story. With sex scenes. :-)
]]> <![CDATA[Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar]]> 13152194 The Rumpus, now revealed as Cheryl Strayed, author of the bestselling memoir Wild - is the person thousands turn to for advice.
Tiny Beautiful Things brings the best of Dear Sugar in one place and includes never-before-published columns and a new introduction by Steve Almond. ĚýRich with humor, insight, compassion - and absolute honesty - this book is a balm for everything life throws our way.]]> 354 Cheryl Strayed Amanda 5 4.26 2012 Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
author: Cheryl Strayed
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/01/07
shelves: it-s-kinda-true, 2014, books-i-highly-recommend, perhaps-i-shall-read-it-again
review:
We will not be able to avoid hurting other people's feelings. We will not be able to avoid being terribly ungrateful. We will not be able to avoid hate and jealousy and anger and selfishness and apathy. We will not be abale to avoid feeling helpless and powerless and rejected and unloved and unsuccessful and unworthy. But I guess we just gotta keep on keeping on and be kind to ourselves for gods' sake. Here goes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Man (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)]]> 176938 here.

First published in 1897, The Invisible Man ranks as one of the most famous scientific fantasies ever written. Part of a series of pseudoscientific romances written by H. G. Wells (1866�1946) early in his career, the novel helped establish the British author as one of the first and best writers of science fiction.
Wells' years as a science student undoubtedly inspired a number of his early works, including this strikingly original novel. Set in turn-of-the-century England, the story focuses on Griffin, a scientist who has discovered the means to make himself invisible. His initial, almost comedic, adventures are soon overshadowed by the bizarre streak of terror he unleashes upon the inhabitants of a small village.
Notable for its sheer invention, suspense, and psychological nuance, The Invisible Man continues to enthrall science-fiction fans today as it did the reading public nearly 100 years ago.]]> 110 H.G. Wells 0486270718 Amanda 2
Love,
Amanda]]> 3.56 1897 The Invisible Man (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
author: H.G. Wells
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1897
rating: 2
read at: 2016/05/20
date added: 2016/08/12
shelves: 2016, random-fb-challenge, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:
I finished this book! I didn't like it much until the end which was ok. I think you should go read some of the other reviews of this book on GoodReads, because they're more interesting than this one.

Love,
Amanda
]]> Why Not Me? 22716447 Why Not Me?, Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,� Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.�) “Player� tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.�) In “Unlikely Leading Lady,� she muses on America’s fixation with the weight of actresses, (“Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they’re walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.�) And in “Soup Snakes,� Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak (“I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.�)

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.]]> 228 Mindy Kaling 0804138141 Amanda 4 2016, it-s-kinda-true Mindy Kaling love fest! 3.85 2015 Why Not Me?
author: Mindy Kaling
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/29
date added: 2016/07/29
shelves: 2016, it-s-kinda-true
review:
Mindy Kaling love fest!
]]> <![CDATA[Images You Should Not Masturbate To]]> 9219816 80 Graham Johnson 0399536493 Amanda 3
(Get it?)]]> 3.85 2011 Images You Should Not Masturbate To
author: Graham Johnson
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2016/07/09
date added: 2016/07/10
shelves: 2016, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:
RiDICKulous!

(Get it?)
]]> Interpreter of Maladies 5439 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

Navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations. In "A Temporary Matter," published in The New Yorker, a young Indian-American couple faces the heartbreak of a stillborn birth while their Boston neighborhood copes with a nightly blackout. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession. Lahiri writes with deft cultural insight reminiscent of Anita Desai and a nuanced depth that recalls Mavis Gallant.]]> 198 Jhumpa Lahiri 0618101365 Amanda 4 2016
Like most collections of short stories, this one had its good and bad. But I'm especially glad it ended the way it did--with a sweet love story between a man, his wife, and a 103 year old widow. :-)]]> 4.18 1999 Interpreter of Maladies
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/10
date added: 2016/07/10
shelves: 2016
review:
I found this book in one of our neighborhood's Little Libraries. I was donating some of my own books when I came across it, and I thought, "Why not? This is a book people read." So I grabbed it. Fascinating, I know!

Like most collections of short stories, this one had its good and bad. But I'm especially glad it ended the way it did--with a sweet love story between a man, his wife, and a 103 year old widow. :-)
]]> <![CDATA[First Frost (Waverley Family, #2)]]> 21853633 Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves..

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections � rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds � are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby � a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to.. if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.]]> 296 Sarah Addison Allen 1250019834 Amanda 4 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi 3.96 2015 First Frost (Waverley Family, #2)
author: Sarah Addison Allen
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/06/27
date added: 2016/07/01
shelves: 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]> 20899335 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Blue Carbuncle', and 'The Speckled Band'.
The editor of this volume, Richard Lancelyn Green is editor of The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes and The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. With John Michael Gibson, he compiled the Soho Series Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle.
1. A Scandal In Bohemia
2. The Red-Headed League
3. A Case Of Identity
4. The Boscombe Valley Mystery
5. The Five Orange Pips
6. The Man With The Twisted Lip
7. The Adventure Of The Blue Carbuncle
8. The Adventure Of The Speckled Band
9. The Adventure Of The Engineer's Thumb
10. The Adventure Of The Noble Bachelor
11. The Adventure Of The Beryl Coronet
12. The Adventure Of The Copper Beaches]]> 290 Arthur Conan Doyle Amanda 4 2015
I liked these stories to varying degrees, as can be expected.]]> 4.28 1892 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1892
rating: 4
read at: 2015/01/02
date added: 2016/06/22
shelves: 2015
review:
Reading Sherlock Holmes stories in preparation for visiting the international Sherlock Holmes exhibition in St. Louis December 2014. The books are so far quite different than the TV show I love so much. Not in a good or bad way--just different.

I liked these stories to varying degrees, as can be expected.
]]> <![CDATA[Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)]]> 10335308
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you've come to the right book, mostly!

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door - not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.]]> 222 Mindy Kaling 0307886263 Amanda 3 2016, funny-stuffs-funny 3.86 2011 Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
author: Mindy Kaling
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2016/05/29
date added: 2016/06/08
shelves: 2016, funny-stuffs-funny
review:

]]> The Girl Who Chased the Moon 5126859 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different women discover how to find their place in the world--no matter how out of place they feel.

Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. Such as, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? And why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew--a reclusive, real-life gentle giant--she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.

Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson’s cakes--which is a good thing, because Julia can’t seem to stop baking them. She offers them to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth but also in the hope of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Flour, eggs, milk, and sugar . . . Baking is the only language the proud but vulnerable Julia has to communicate what is truly in her heart. But is it enough to call back to her those she’s hurt in the past?Ěý

Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily’s backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in.]]> 288 Sarah Addison Allen 0553807218 Amanda 4 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi So sweet! 3.97 2010 The Girl Who Chased the Moon
author: Sarah Addison Allen
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/06/08
date added: 2016/06/08
shelves: 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:
So sweet!
]]> We Were Liars 16143347 A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

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

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.]]> 242 E. Lockhart 0385741278 Amanda 4 3.66 2014 We Were Liars
author: E. Lockhart
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/06/03
date added: 2016/06/03
shelves: 2016, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
Jeeeeeeezus. The problem with kids is that they always choose passion over pragmatism. This girl fucked up a lot of shit, man. And I'm kinda pissed at her for it. And sad about her boyfriend. I'm not a happy camper right now. Ughhhhh.
]]> A Lesson Before Dying 5197 256 Ernest J. Gaines 0375702709 Amanda 2 3.98 1993 A Lesson Before Dying
author: Ernest J. Gaines
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1993
rating: 2
read at: 2007/05/01
date added: 2016/06/03
shelves:
review:
approximated the read date. was def in 2007. I guess I gave it 2 stars because tragedy is too sad. no, not tragedy... more like asshole-y bullshit because it's about bullshitty assholes.
]]> The Peach Keeper 8546358 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.]]> 273 Sarah Addison Allen 0553807226 Amanda 3 3.84 2011 The Peach Keeper
author: Sarah Addison Allen
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2016/06/02
date added: 2016/06/02
shelves: 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, random-fb-challenge
review:
A little bit of love; a little bit of magic. Read it in under 12 hours. Yay, books!
]]> The Sugar Queen 2200877
Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night�. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.

Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.]]> 276 Sarah Addison Allen 0553805495 Amanda 3 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi 3.99 2008 The Sugar Queen
author: Sarah Addison Allen
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2016/06/01
date added: 2016/06/02
shelves: 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Garden Spells (Waverley Family, #1)]]> 1158967 In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.�

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down—along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy—if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom—or with each other.

Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own�.]]> 304 Sarah Addison Allen 0553805487 Amanda 4 2016 4.07 2007 Garden Spells (Waverley Family, #1)
author: Sarah Addison Allen
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2016/05/01
date added: 2016/05/01
shelves: 2016
review:
I'm embarrassed to admit that I liked this book--one I'm sure most of you would consider fluffy chick lit--but I DID like it. A lot of sugar. A little spice. So many love stories in so few pages!! And now I reeeeeeally want to eat cake.
]]> <![CDATA[The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)]]> 870899 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.]]> 973 Ken Follett Amanda 0 4.40 1989 The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
author: Ken Follett
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/04/11
shelves: to-read, in-my-possession-to-reads
review:

]]> Eggs 169413 224 Jerry Spinelli 0316166464 Amanda 3 3.61 2007 Eggs
author: Jerry Spinelli
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/08
date added: 2016/03/08
shelves: 2016, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
So, I kind of hated this book. Primrose is a bitch. And David keeps coming back for more! It's annoying to watch these two going back and forth and back and forth over and over again, she's a bully and he's begging for more. I couldn't understand why Jerry Spinelli would care to write such a thing. But... I guess we all love our fair share of assholes. Happens to the best of us. Somehow we survive.
]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, "To Kill A Mockingbird" takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Amanda 0 the-great-high-school-reread 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/01
shelves: the-great-high-school-reread
review:

]]> Their Eyes Were Watching God 37415 238 Zora Neale Hurston 0061120065 Amanda 0 the-great-high-school-reread 3.98 1937 Their Eyes Were Watching God
author: Zora Neale Hurston
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1937
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/01
shelves: the-great-high-school-reread
review:

]]> Lost Lake (Lost Lake, #1) 13481275 New York Times bestseller Garden Spells comes a beautiful, haunting story of old loves and new, and the power of the connections that bind us forever�.



The first time Eby Pim saw Lost Lake, it was on a picture postcard. Just an old photo and a few words on a small square of heavy stock, but when she saw it, she knew she was seeing her future.That was half a lifetime ago. Now Lost Lake is about to slip into Eby’s past. Her husband, George, is long passed. Most of her demanding extended family are gone. All that’s left is a once-charming collection of lakeside cabins succumbing to the southern Georgia heat and damp, and an assortment of faithful misfits drawn back to Lost Lake year after year by their own unspoken dreams and desires.



It’s a lot, but it’s not enough to keep Eby from calling this her final summer at the lake, and relinquishing Lost Lake to a developer with cash in hand. Until one last chance at family knocks on her door.



Lost Lake is where Kate Pheris spent her last best summer at the age of twelve, before she learned of loneliness and heartbreak and loss. Now she’s all too familiar with those things, but she knows about hope, too, thanks to her resilient daughter, Devin, and her own willingness to start moving forward. Perhaps at Lost Lake her little girl can cling to her own childhood for just a little longer…and maybe Kate herself can rediscover something that slipped through her fingers so long ago.



One after another, people find their way to Lost Lake, looking for something that they weren’t sure they needed in the first place: love, closure, a second chance, peace, a mystery solved, a heart mended. Can they find what they need before it’s too late?



At once atmospheric and enchanting, Lost Lake shows Sarah Addison Allen at her finest, illuminating the secret longings and the everyday magic that wait to be discovered in the unlikeliest of places.]]> 296 Sarah Addison Allen 125001980X Amanda 4 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi 3.87 2014 Lost Lake (Lost Lake, #1)
author: Sarah Addison Allen
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/03/01
shelves: 2016, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:

]]> Lolita 7604 Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141182537.

Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Dolores Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.]]> 368 Vladimir Nabokov 0679723161 Amanda 3 2016, random-fb-challenge 3.87 1955 Lolita
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1955
rating: 3
read at: 2016/02/15
date added: 2016/02/15
shelves: 2016, random-fb-challenge
review:
I'm medium on this book. I get that it's fancy pants literature, but I'm a daydreamer who doesn't speak ANY French, so I got a little bored/distracted in the middle parts. I am so glad there is a post script by the author. It answered my burning question, "Why did he write this book...?" Because. And I almost wish I would have read it when I was (will be?) in a phase of life where I'm more in my head. Perhaps the daydreaming would've stopped. Don't argue. This makes perfect sense to me.
]]> Four Loves 174760 "We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves."

We hear often that love is patient and kind, not envious or prideful. We hear that human love is a reflection of divine love. We hear that God is love. But how do we understand its work in our lives, its perils and rewards? Here, the incomparable C. S. Lewis examines human love in four forms: affection, the most basic, general, and emotive; friendship, the most rare, least jealous, and, in being freely chosen, perhaps the most profound; Eros, passionate love that can run counter to happiness and poses real danger; charity, the greatest, most spiritual, and least selfish. Proper love is a risk, but to bar oneself from it--to deny love--is a damning choice. Love is a need and a gift; love brings joy and laughter. We must seek to be awakened and so to find an Appreciative love through which "all things are possible."

"The Four Loves deserves to become a minor classic as a modern mirror of our souls, a mirror of the virtues and failings of human loving." �New York Times Book Review

"Lewis has a keen eye, a large measure of human sympathy, wit, and a command of simple words." �Times Literary Supplement

C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis (1898-1963), one of the great writers of the twentieth century, also continues to be one of our most influential Christian thinkers. He wrote more than thirty books, both popular and scholarly, including The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, Mere Christianity, and Surprised by Joy.]]> 141 C.S. Lewis 0156329301 Amanda 3 4.11 1960 Four Loves
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1960
rating: 3
read at: 1997/01/01
date added: 2016/02/08
shelves:
review:
I think this, along with a lot of Lewis' other work, is one I need to go back and re-visit...
]]> <![CDATA[Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy in Three Acts]]> 126903
After a six day honeymoon, they get a surprise visit from Corie's loopy mother and decide to play matchmaker during a dinner with their neighbor-in-the-attic Velasco, where everything that can go wrong, does. Paul just doesn't understand Corie, as she sees it. He's too staid, too boring and she just wants him to be a little more spontaneous, running "barefoot in the park" would be a start...]]> 114 Neil Simon 0573605858 Amanda 0 plays
Hey, Jini and Christina, let's do this play in February. It's a technician's nightmare and we can't afford to build a set, but it sure is a cute love story!!!]]> 3.89 1963 Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy in Three Acts
author: Neil Simon
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at: 2009/06/09
date added: 2016/01/29
shelves: plays
review:
5 stars for the great mood I'm in right now. This play is just plain silliness, which normally doesn't float my boat. But man, oh, man, today it just hit the spot. We meet this young newlywed couple. She's happy-go-lucky and he's... Well, he's a lawyer. And a real stuffed- shirt. And in the face of a tiny Manhattan apartment with a hole in the skylight and reversed plumbing, their 2 week old marriage falls apart! But not to worry--they get back together. (Don't bitch about spoilers, people. First off, you weren't gonna read this anyway, and second, it's Neil Simon so you have to expect a happy ending.) Ok, anyway, they get back together, but not before lots of whackiness ensues. Their upstirs neighbor (who lives in the attic) is really my kinda guy--eating funky foods, saying funky stuff--I'd fix him up with my grandmother if he existed in real life. And thanks to the funky neighbor, they all sorta get a whole new lease on life and re-learn to love each other and live happily after (and hopefully, have fantastic sex 3-5 times per week for all eternity).

Hey, Jini and Christina, let's do this play in February. It's a technician's nightmare and we can't afford to build a set, but it sure is a cute love story!!!
]]> <![CDATA[Watership Down (Watership Down, #1)]]> 76620 Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN13 9780380395866 here.

Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of friends, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.]]> 478 Richard Adams 038039586X Amanda 5 If you wanna cry your eyes out, read this book.

Original review:
I like books about animals! :)]]> 4.08 1972 Watership Down (Watership Down, #1)
author: Richard Adams
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2001/06/01
date added: 2016/01/26
shelves: fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, random-fb-challenge, 2016
review:
Re-read, 2016.
If you wanna cry your eyes out, read this book.

Original review:
I like books about animals! :)
]]> The Elephant Keeper 7746136
piEngland, 1766/i: After a long voyage from the East Indies, a ship docks in Bristol, England, and rumor quickly spreads about its unusual cargomdash;some say a mermaid is on board. A crowd forms, hoping to catch a glimpse of the magical creature. One crate after another is unpacked: a zebra, a leopard, and a baboon. There's no mermaid, but in the final two crates is something almost as magicalmdash;a pair of young elephants, in poor health but alive.

pSeeing a unique opportunity, a wealthy sugar merchant purchases the elephants for his country estate and turns their care over to a young stable boy, Tom Page. Tom's family has long cared for horses, but an elephant is something different altogether. It takes time for Tom and the elephants to understand one another, but to the surprise of everyone on the estate, a remarkable bond is formed.

piThe Elephant Keeper/i, the story of Tom and the elephants, in Tom's own words, moves from the green fields and woods of the English countryside to the dark streets and alleys of late-eighteenth-century London, reflecting both the beauty and the violence of the age. Nicholson's lush writing and deft storytelling complement a captivating tale of love and loyalty between one man and the two elephants that change the lives of all who meet them.]]> 298 Christopher Nicholson 0061651613 Amanda 3 2016, random-fb-challenge 3.34 2008 The Elephant Keeper
author: Christopher Nicholson
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2016/01/06
date added: 2016/01/21
shelves: 2016, random-fb-challenge
review:
Ehhhh, I dunno what I think about this book. The animals are poorly treated, which I abhor. But I like when Tom can talk to Jenny. Or when she can talk back to him, I guess. I just kept waiting for bad things to happen even while I hoped that good things would happen. And then the end was deliberately ambiguous. So yeah... I think it's time for me to go to sleep.
]]> <![CDATA[Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit (Ishmael, #1)]]> 227265 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL.
Must have an earnest desire to
save the world. Apply in person.

It was just a three-line ad in the personals section, but it launched the adventure of a lifetime...

So begins Ishmael, an utterly unique and captivating novel that has earned a large and passionate following among readers and critics alike—one of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published.]]> 266 Daniel Quinn 0553375407 Amanda 4
I'm not saying I agree or disagree with everything it says--I agree with some points, disagree with others, and already forgot the other 90%. What I DO agree with is that it would be really nice if our society would mind its own business and butt the hell out of what other people want to do with their own damn lives. (Except female genital mutilation. THAT is totally fine with me if we eradicate.) A lot of people think this book suggests we return to the hunter/gatherer lifestyle, but it's not actually saying that. In fact, it says specifically that we CAN'T do that. But we can live and let live.

So mote it be.]]> 3.99 1992 Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit (Ishmael, #1)
author: Daniel Quinn
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2016/01/21
date added: 2016/01/21
shelves: couldn-t-finish-it, 2016, random-fb-challenge
review:
Evidently I started reading this book in May 2008 and couldn't finish it. But I finished it this time. And liked it! Yay!

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with everything it says--I agree with some points, disagree with others, and already forgot the other 90%. What I DO agree with is that it would be really nice if our society would mind its own business and butt the hell out of what other people want to do with their own damn lives. (Except female genital mutilation. THAT is totally fine with me if we eradicate.) A lot of people think this book suggests we return to the hunter/gatherer lifestyle, but it's not actually saying that. In fact, it says specifically that we CAN'T do that. But we can live and let live.

So mote it be.
]]> In the Shadow of Blackbirds 13112915
Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.]]> 387 Cat Winters 141970530X Amanda 4 3.85 2013 In the Shadow of Blackbirds
author: Cat Winters
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2016/01/01
date added: 2016/01/01
shelves: fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, 2016
review:
I kinda wish the dude woulda been alive after all, but that's ok. It was a pretty good book.
]]> Tease 115451
Now an advertising exec, Tess has been hired by one of Madison Avenue's hottest agencies as co-creative director with wunderkind Danny Gabriel. Secretly, she's been asked to rein in his maverick style, and Tess immediately suspects Danny when someone sabotages her new campaign. But everyone in the place seems to have a secret agenda. It's a cutthroat business, and not everyone is willing to play nice with the new girl.

Including Danny. His early, fervent advances are a pleasant shock to Tess, but she never imagines for a second that she'd allow him to draw her into the dark heart of the most breathtaking erotic S&M club in Manhattan—or that she'd be so willing to give up control and like it.]]> 384 Suzanne Forster 0373605064 Amanda 3 3.10 2006 Tease
author: Suzanne Forster
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2015/12/28
date added: 2015/12/28
shelves: 2015, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:

]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

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

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

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

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Amanda 5 2015, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2015/12/26
date added: 2015/12/26
shelves: 2015, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi
review:
I had my doubts at first, but I ended up really liking this book! And I had no idea how it was going to end--alive Mark or dead Mark. I've been lying awake at night, trying to figure out how to get myself off Mars. A part of me wishes I would've studied math or science or engineering instead of theatre. The whole last chapter, I don't think I took a single breath I was so nervous. But everything worked out just fine! Whew!! I feel pretty happy now.
]]> Hausfrau 22725443
Hausfrau
haus·frau \haus-frau\ n 1: Origin: German.
Housewife, homemaker. 2: A married woman. 3: A novel by Jill Alexander Essbaum

Anna was a good wife, mostly.

Anna Benz, an American in her late thirties, lives with her Swiss husband, Bruno—a banker—and their three young children in a postcard-perfect suburb of Zürich. Though she leads a comfortable, well-appointed life, Anna is falling apart inside. Adrift and increasingly unable to connect with the emotionally unavailable Bruno or even with her own thoughts and feelings, Anna tries to rouse herself with new experiences: German language classes, Jungian analysis, and a series of sexual affairs she enters with an ease that surprises even her.

But Anna can't easily extract herself from these affairs. When she wants to end them, she finds it's difficult. Tensions escalate, and her lies start to spin out of control. Having crossed a moral threshold, Anna will discover where a woman goes when there is no going back.

Intimate, intense, and written with the precision of a Swiss Army knife, Jill Alexander Essbaum's debut novel is an unforgettable story of marriage, fidelity, sex, morality, and most especially self. Navigating the lines between lust and love, guilt and shame, excuses and reasons, Anna Benz is an electrifying heroine whose passions and choices readers will debate with recognition and fury. Her story reveals, with honesty and great beauty, how we create ourselves and how we lose ourselves and the sometimes disastrous choices we make to find ourselves.]]> 324 Jill Alexander Essbaum 0812997530 Amanda 2 2015 3.23 2015 Hausfrau
author: Jill Alexander Essbaum
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2015/12/16
shelves: 2015
review:
This book is supposed to be like Anna Karenina. I wish I remembered Anna Karenina.
]]> Bossypants 10438971
She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

]]> 290 Tina Fey 0316175862 Amanda 5
I don't know what I expected, but what I found was magical feminist entrepreneurial gold. I feel like she's my new mentor as a boss and business owner. She'll probably come down to NC to coach me right? Please? Tinaaa?]]> 3.84 2011 Bossypants
author: Tina Fey
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/17
date added: 2015/10/19
shelves: 2015, books-i-highly-recommend, business-and-entrepreneuership, funny-stuffs-funny, it-s-kinda-true, perhaps-i-shall-read-it-again
review:
I love this book SO MUCH! And I love Tina Fey like a thousand times more now than I did before I read this book.

I don't know what I expected, but what I found was magical feminist entrepreneurial gold. I feel like she's my new mentor as a boss and business owner. She'll probably come down to NC to coach me right? Please? Tinaaa?
]]> <![CDATA[Modern Romance: An Investigation]]> 26035479 A hilarious, thoughtful, and in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils of modern romance from one of this generation's most popular and sharpest comedic voices.

At some point every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it's wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?

Some of our problems are unique to our time. "Why did this guy just text me an emoji of a pizza?" "Should I go out with this girl even though she listed Combos as one of her favorite snack foods? Combos?!" "My girlfriend just got a message from some dude named Nathan. Who's Nathan? Did he just send her a photo of his penis? Should I check just to be sure?"

But the transformation of our romantic lives can't be explained by technology alone. In a short period of time, the whole culture of finding love has changed dramatically. A few decades ago, people would find a decent person who lived in their neighborhood. Their families would meet, and, after deciding neither party seemed like a murderer, they would get married and soon have a kid, all by the time they were 24. Today people marry later than ever and spend years of their lives on a quest to find the perfect person, a soul mate.

For years Aziz Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for Modern Romance, the audiobook, he decided he needed to take things to another level. He teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and designed a massive research project, including hundreds of interviews and focus groups conducted everywhere from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita.

Run time: 6 hours 14 minutes]]> 7 Aziz Ansari 1101914726 Amanda 4 3.60 2015 Modern Romance: An Investigation
author: Aziz Ansari
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/10/14
date added: 2015/10/19
shelves: 2015, it-s-kinda-true, funny-stuffs-funny, audio-b
review:
Funny and informative. (OMG I cannot believe I just rated this book higher than the Barbara Kingsolver book I finished yesterday. Ugh.) Not all hope is lost for the single peeps out there. Love is in the air! Just wait a day to text back.
]]> The Signature of All Things 18789773 A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed

In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery.
Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia.
Born in 1800, Henry's brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father's money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma's research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction—into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist—but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life.

Exquisitely researched and told at a galloping pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe—from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who—born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution—bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas.

Written in the bold, questing spirit of that singular time, Gilbert's wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.]]> 493 Elizabeth Gilbert 1101638001 Amanda 4 2015
The science parts were the best parts. And the parts where Alma traveled and had feelings. Seems to me that her mother's Dutch way of life was no way to live. Take off the clamps and kick up some dirt, people! Yeahhhh.


Recommended by Brian Bush and Chicks on Lit.]]> 3.95 2013 The Signature of All Things
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/02/20
date added: 2015/10/19
shelves: 2015
review:
I was worried for a while that this was not going to end well. But I guess everything works out!

The science parts were the best parts. And the parts where Alma traveled and had feelings. Seems to me that her mother's Dutch way of life was no way to live. Take off the clamps and kick up some dirt, people! Yeahhhh.


Recommended by Brian Bush and Chicks on Lit.
]]> Yes Please 20910157 Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.]]> 329 Amy Poehler 0062268341 Amanda 3
...keep walkin']]> 3.85 2014 Yes Please
author: Amy Poehler
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/15
date added: 2015/10/19
shelves: 2015, audio-b, funny-stuffs-funny
review:
Her last line in the chapter about sex is the best line ever written. Ever. In the history of time.

...keep walkin'
]]> The Door in the Hedge 8091 216 Robin McKinley 0698119606 Amanda 3 3.68 1981 The Door in the Hedge
author: Robin McKinley
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2015/10/19
date added: 2015/10/19
shelves: fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns, 2015
review:
4 short stories. The 4th one is the best. The other three were ok. The end.
]]> The Poisonwood Bible 7244 The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.]]> 546 Barbara Kingsolver 0060786507 Amanda 3
I liked this book. I reeeeeally did. But it isn't the heart of me. I don't have the goodness or passion or intellect. I'm just hanging out in the hotel bar after everyone is gone, dangling my sandals off my toes, wondering about something or maybe nothing.]]> 4.10 1998 The Poisonwood Bible
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2015/10/12
date added: 2015/10/13
shelves: 2015, perhaps-i-shall-read-it-again
review:
I'm trying to figure out why this book doesn't resonate with me (as much as I expected it to). Maybe it's because it feels unfinished. Oh!!! Just like the whole of life. I didn't know Ruth May's last chapter was her last chapter, so I didn't soak it in slowly. I kept waiting for Orleanna to snap out of it, but some people just never do. I didn't realize so much time had passed in a flash right at the end, so quickly I think I must've missed something.

I liked this book. I reeeeeally did. But it isn't the heart of me. I don't have the goodness or passion or intellect. I'm just hanging out in the hotel bar after everyone is gone, dangling my sandals off my toes, wondering about something or maybe nothing.
]]> The Girl on the Train 22557272
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.]]> 336 Paula Hawkins 1594633665 Amanda 3 2015

No it's not. It's just ok. But that's because of the hype. Don't listen to the hype and you'll like it much better than I did. I kept waiting for the thriller part to start, but it never did. It's pretty easy to figure out whodunit and the little surprises interspersed aren't so surprising. Meh.

This is not to say the book is terrible! There are some interesting psychological characteristics that the main woman has that are sad but fascinating. I would have loved to see even more of that "fucked up shit" stuff from her life.

I think this book needs another re-write or two. Published prematurely I think. Rearrange some of the chapters, start them in different places, and give us more psychological drama--could be a winner.]]> 3.97 2015 The Girl on the Train
author: Paula Hawkins
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/09/07
date added: 2015/09/07
shelves: 2015
review:
All the cool kids are reading this book. It's great!


No it's not. It's just ok. But that's because of the hype. Don't listen to the hype and you'll like it much better than I did. I kept waiting for the thriller part to start, but it never did. It's pretty easy to figure out whodunit and the little surprises interspersed aren't so surprising. Meh.

This is not to say the book is terrible! There are some interesting psychological characteristics that the main woman has that are sad but fascinating. I would have loved to see even more of that "fucked up shit" stuff from her life.

I think this book needs another re-write or two. Published prematurely I think. Rearrange some of the chapters, start them in different places, and give us more psychological drama--could be a winner.
]]> Lady Chatterley's Lover 9641970 335 D.H. Lawrence Amanda 0 3.18 1928 Lady Chatterley's Lover
author: D.H. Lawrence
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.18
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/09/04
shelves: to-read, educating-rita-and-everything-in-it
review:

]]> State of Wonder 9118135
As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle.

Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness.

Stirring and luminous, "State of Wonder" is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest's jeweled canopy.]]> 353 Ann Patchett 0062049801 Amanda 3 2015
I do remember one thing: Easter is the best thing there is!]]> 3.88 2011 State of Wonder
author: Ann Patchett
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/25
date added: 2015/08/26
shelves: 2015
review:
I might get myself in the habit of scratching out Ann Patchett's last chapters. I liked reading the rest of it. Though try as I may, I can't remember why. Something seems flat now that I've finished. A little empty. Is that what it's like to return from the Amazon? All solidity fades as your plane lands? Perhaps the shock of an irrevocable act is what makes the rest fade.

I do remember one thing: Easter is the best thing there is!
]]> <![CDATA[Suburban souls: The Erotic Psychology of a Man and a Maid]]> 436178 When Suburban Souls was first published in 1901 by Charles Carrington, an active publisher of erotica in England and France, its sexual frankness and autobiographical disclosures quickly made it as sought after as My Secret Life. The first edition was strictly limited and did not become widely available until 1968, when Grove Press published the work in the United States.

The author identifies himself only as Jacky S., a 43-year-old broker with the Paris stock exchange. His memoir tells of his five-year love affair with 19-year-old Lilian Arvel. At the beginning of their romance, Lilian seemed to reciprocate Jacky's passion and willingly joined in mutual "exploration games," fondly calling Jacky her "Papa" and submitting to his strangest whims. Jacky's intentions toward Lilian were honorable, and while she lasciviously encouraged him to debase her, he did not object when she refused to give up her virginity. Gradually, however, their affair developed into a strange standoff, then came apart after the signs of infidelity became unmistakable -- Lilian had lost her virginity to someone else and entered into a peculiar relationship with her stepfather.

Jacky occasionally digresses to tell of various light-hearted sexual interludes with others. But for five years Lilian controlled Jacky's destiny, even though she could not return his love. This edition also includes 20 appendices, among them the complete text of another novel, The Yellow Room, referred to in Suburban Souls as having been edited by Jacky S.

]]> 572 Anonymous 0394175417 Amanda 0 0.0 1901 Suburban souls: The Erotic Psychology of a Man and a Maid
author: Anonymous
name: Amanda
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1901
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/21
shelves: dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty, couldn-t-finish-it
review:
My cover is yellow, with a picture of a naked lady lying face-down on a blanket and a pile of pillows.
]]> 1984 5477 Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 are the great modern classics of "Negative Utopia"—not dramas of what life might be... but nightmares of what it is becoming.

The world of 1984 is one in which eternal warfare is the price of bleak prosperity, in which the Party keeps itself in power by complete action over man's actions and his thoughts. As the lovers Winston Smith and Julia learn when they try to evade the Thought Polic, and then join the underground opposition, the Party can smash the last impulse of love, the last flicker of individuality.

But let the reader beware: 1984 is more than a satire of totalitarian barbarism. "It means us, too," says Erich Fromm in his Afterword. It is no merely a political novel but also a diagnosis of the deepest alienation in the mind of Organization Man.

George Orwell writes with a swift clean style that has come down from Defoe. Like Defoe, he creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing—from the first sentence to the last four words... words which might stand as the epitaph of the twentieth century.]]> 268 George Orwell 0451516753 Amanda 2 2010
This book was boring. Not the whole book mind you, but parts. (Not the same as butt parts.) The most especially boring parts were where he was reading The Book and where Dr. Scratch-n-Sniff was regaling Winston with the party rhetoric during his "lessons." I didn't need those things spelled out for me. I figured all that stuff out on my own. It was obvious (and therefore boring) even to me, and I'm only just mildly smart. I can imagine how boring 1984 would be to someone with a higher IQ than mine.

Now I know there are tons of folks out there that disagree with me. I know that there are tons of folks who will say, "You have to think of this book in its historical context! At the time it was written, this book was top intellectual and political fodder! It was RELEVANT!!!" And I'm sure you folks are right. But did I like it? No. It registered a 2 on my reading-is-fun scale. And you can have its importance in the history of mankind and all that is sacred and orderly.]]> 4.09 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1949
rating: 2
read at: 2010/07/07
date added: 2015/06/21
shelves: 2010
review:
Meh.

This book was boring. Not the whole book mind you, but parts. (Not the same as butt parts.) The most especially boring parts were where he was reading The Book and where Dr. Scratch-n-Sniff was regaling Winston with the party rhetoric during his "lessons." I didn't need those things spelled out for me. I figured all that stuff out on my own. It was obvious (and therefore boring) even to me, and I'm only just mildly smart. I can imagine how boring 1984 would be to someone with a higher IQ than mine.

Now I know there are tons of folks out there that disagree with me. I know that there are tons of folks who will say, "You have to think of this book in its historical context! At the time it was written, this book was top intellectual and political fodder! It was RELEVANT!!!" And I'm sure you folks are right. But did I like it? No. It registered a 2 on my reading-is-fun scale. And you can have its importance in the history of mankind and all that is sacred and orderly.
]]> Best Erotic Romance 11956131 This inaugural collection of erotic romance features the very best of the genre. In erotic romance, the sexual component is critical to the development of the romantic relationship. Each of these masterfully written tales contains the essence of true romance: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying, optimistic ending. What sets Best Erotic Romance apart is the scorching hot sex and the happily-ever-after (or happy-for-now) ending. Award-winning romance writer and editor Kristina Wright and her cast of terrific romance writers have crafted stories that touch the hearts and minds of readers, and linger in the memory for a long, long time.

]]> 242 Kristina Wright 157344751X Amanda 0 3.43 2011 Best Erotic Romance
author: Kristina Wright
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/11
shelves: 2015, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:

]]> Best Erotic Romance 2014 18114430 224 Kristina Wright 1627780092 Amanda 3 3.21 2014 Best Erotic Romance 2014
author: Kristina Wright
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/11
date added: 2015/06/11
shelves: 2015, dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty
review:
Most of these couples are in long-term, committed relationships. I approve!
]]> Specials (Uglies, #3) 24765
And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it's easy to tune that out -- until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.]]> 384 Scott Westerfeld 0689865406 Amanda 3 3.76 2006 Specials (Uglies, #3)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/11
date added: 2015/06/11
shelves: 2015, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
I thought it was dumb at first, but then I started getting into it!
]]> <![CDATA[The Integral Trees (The State, #2)]]> 939740 Discipline was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, Discipline was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew. But what they weren’t prepared for was the smoke ring–an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When Discipline encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis.
Five hundred years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, Discipline waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children.]]> 272 Larry Niven 0345320654 Amanda 3
Larry Niven is famous. FAMOUS! I'm just not sure I want to read more of his books. But maybe I "should." I dunno.]]> 3.76 1983 The Integral Trees (The State, #2)
author: Larry Niven
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at: 2015/05/31
date added: 2015/05/31
shelves: 2015, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, favorites-from-other-goodreaders
review:
Three stars because the good guys win. And because this book is my friend James's favorite. That's a recent development though. The first half of the book gets zero stars. Because I didn't really understand lots of the details--just like I don't understand the details of Star Wars. Why, for example, is it a bad idea to belch during free-fall? Also zero stars in the first half because Larry Niven keeps changing the voice of whoever's talking without any warning or transition. And most of the characters at the beginning don't even make it past the third chapter. Whatevs. But then at the end there's a capture and an escape and that part's interesting! (And there's a love story and a tiny bit of sex. So...woo! I'm literate and mature!)

Larry Niven is famous. FAMOUS! I'm just not sure I want to read more of his books. But maybe I "should." I dunno.
]]> Stone Mattress: Nine Tales 22642472 A recently widowed fantasy writer is guided through a stormy winter evening by the voice of her late husband. An elderly lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome comes to terms with the little people she keeps seeing, while a newly formed populist group gathers to burn down her retirement residence. A woman born with a genetic abnormality is mistaken for a vampire, and a crime committed long ago is revenged in the Arctic via a 1.9 billion-year-old stromatolite.

In these nine tales, Margaret Atwood ventures into the shadowland earlier explored by fabulists and concoctors of dark yarns such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Daphne du Maurier and Arthur Conan Doyle - and also by herself, in her award-winning novel Alias Grace. In Stone Mattress, Margaret Atwood is at the top of her darkly humorous and seriously playful game.]]> 273 Margaret Atwood 0385539126 Amanda 4 2015
Surprisingly, I like the revisit of the Robber Bride.

This book doesn't feel like the same Margaret Atwood. I think because I met her at the book signing so now nothing will ever be the same with her.]]> 3.89 2014 Stone Mattress: Nine Tales
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/05/30
date added: 2015/05/30
shelves: 2015
review:
Cliffhangers and oddball endings. Nothing is resolved.

Surprisingly, I like the revisit of the Robber Bride.

This book doesn't feel like the same Margaret Atwood. I think because I met her at the book signing so now nothing will ever be the same with her.
]]> <![CDATA[Tickle His Pickle!: Your Hands-On Guide to Penis Pleasing]]> 204343 152 Sadie Allison 0970661126 Amanda 0
Feel good about yourselves girls and boys. This book assures you that pickle-tickling is most successful when you rely on your natural common sense and humming enthusiasm.]]> 3.80 2004 Tickle His Pickle!: Your Hands-On Guide to Penis Pleasing
author: Sadie Allison
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/27
shelves: dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty-dirty, 2009, it-s-kinda-true
review:
Since the boys are adding their cunnilingus guides, I thought I'd add this one.

Feel good about yourselves girls and boys. This book assures you that pickle-tickling is most successful when you rely on your natural common sense and humming enthusiasm.
]]> <![CDATA[Ali in Wonderland: And Other Tall Tales]]> 11724676 272 Ali Wentworth 0061998575 Amanda 2 2015, it-s-kinda-true
I do wanna watch reruns of In Living Color though. Think it's on Netflix?]]> 3.42 2012 Ali in Wonderland: And Other Tall Tales
author: Ali Wentworth
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2015/04/07
date added: 2015/04/08
shelves: 2015, it-s-kinda-true
review:
My neighbor, my darling lovely neighbor, recommended this book to me, raving about how hilarious it is. I knew it couldn't possibly be THAT funny, but I anticipated liking it well enough. Turns out, it wasn't that funny. It was only a little funny. And I suppose a little interesting. But I couldn't say I liked it very much. There was something not sitting right with me. I think it's that Ali isn't being herself in this book. We get a barely scratched surface of who she is. A half heartfelt browse through photo albums and yearbooks. A brief peek in her diary. And that's it. Nothing deep. Nothing moving. Just eh.

I do wanna watch reruns of In Living Color though. Think it's on Netflix?
]]> <![CDATA[This Is Not a Love Story (Love Story Universe)]]> 22499313
Julian is barely two years older than Romeo. A runaway from an abusive home, he has had to make some difficult choices and sells himself on the street to survive. Taking care of Romeo changes him, gives him a purpose in life, gives him hope, and he tries to be strong and keep his troubles with drugs behind him. But living as they do is slowly destroying him, and he begins to doubt he can be strong enough.

This is the story of their struggle to find a way off the streets and stay together at all costs. But when events threaten to tear them apart, it is Romeo who must find the strength within himself to help Julian (and not let their love story turn into a Shakespearean tragedy).]]> 260 Suki Fleet 1632160404 Amanda 3
Adult me wants to shout, "Save yourself, foolish child!" But this is literature and it all works out in the end.

*In reality, teenage me would have never read anything with sex or drugs in it, because of Jesus. But that's a tale for my therapist.]]> 4.02 2014 This Is Not a Love Story (Love Story Universe)
author: Suki Fleet
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/05
date added: 2015/04/05
shelves: 2015, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
I almost wish I woulda read books like this when I was a teenager. Full of sex and drugs and of that primitive (teenage) feeling of living passionately for only the good and that other person who needs you so much it's painful. The teenage me* gives this book 5 stars.

Adult me wants to shout, "Save yourself, foolish child!" But this is literature and it all works out in the end.

*In reality, teenage me would have never read anything with sex or drugs in it, because of Jesus. But that's a tale for my therapist.
]]> The Lacuna 6433752 The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities.

Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico—from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City—Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.

Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach—the lacuna—between truth and public presumption.

With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.]]> 508 Barbara Kingsolver 0060852577 Amanda 5 3.80 2009 The Lacuna
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2015/03/23
date added: 2015/03/23
shelves:
review:
I want the reward for naivety to be a life happily ever after. As I'm sitting here thinking about whether that's the kind of ending we have here or not, I'm staring into the night sky. There is one star there. One solitary star, or maybe it's a planet. I feel how this star makes me feel and I see what this star makes me see, but I can't say what I feel and see because I don't have the words for it. But Soli Shepherd would have the words for it. And that's why I loved this book.
]]> Hedda Gabler 292275 Hedda Gabler has since become one of Ibsen's most frequently performed plays. Its title role is elusive and complex: Hedda is an intelligent and ambitious woman, who has no means of finding personal fulfilment in the stifling world of late nineteenth-century bourgeois society. Too frightened of scandal to become involved with a brilliant, wayward writer, she opts for a conventional but loveless marriage in the hope of finding surrogate satisfaction through her husband's career.]]> 112 Henrik Ibsen 1847024696 Amanda 2 plays, 2015
For the record, I'm in the Hedda-as-a-power-tripping-beyotch camp. I can't consider her a feminist or an innocent victim. LEAVE MY HAIR ALONE, NUTCASE!]]> 3.82 1890 Hedda Gabler
author: Henrik Ibsen
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1890
rating: 2
read at: 2015/02/22
date added: 2015/02/22
shelves: plays, 2015
review:
Two stars because of my tastes, not because of the quality of the play. I just don't like period pieces and you just can't make me. Ibsen though. Oh yeah. He's like, "Check out this crazy shit!" And we're like, "Hmmmm now that you mention it, this IS some crazy shit."

For the record, I'm in the Hedda-as-a-power-tripping-beyotch camp. I can't consider her a feminist or an innocent victim. LEAVE MY HAIR ALONE, NUTCASE!
]]> Ramona the Pest (Ramona, #2) 78039 192 Beverly Cleary 0192750976 Amanda 0 4.07 1968 Ramona the Pest (Ramona, #2)
author: Beverly Cleary
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at: 2015/02/21
date added: 2015/02/21
shelves: 2015, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
So, here I am. Just a single girl, at home by herself on a Saturday night, reading Beverly Cleary. Perfectly. Normal.
]]> A Darkness In Sunshine 10204381 Don Morgan Amanda 3
Reminds me eeeever so slightly of Christopher Moore.


Recommended by James Quinn]]> 4.00 2010 A Darkness In Sunshine
author: Don Morgan
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2015/02/06
date added: 2015/02/20
shelves: 2015, fantasy-and-some-sci-fi, in-referencing-the-american-indian
review:
The story is not so great (my grave mistake was not realizing it was meant to be a dark comedy until after I'd finished), though I did enjoy the rather cheesy and charmingly predictable ending. I give extra points for the creative and thoughtful take on cultural and physiological evolution. Neat to think about a new "what if."

Reminds me eeeever so slightly of Christopher Moore.


Recommended by James Quinn
]]> Inkheart (Inkworld, #1) 28194 9780439709101

From internationally acclaimed storyteller Cornelia Funke, this bestselling, magical epic is now out in paperback!

One cruel night, Meggie's father reads aloud from a book called INKHEART-- and an evil ruler escapes the boundaries of fiction and lands in their living room. Suddenly, Meggie is smack in the middle of the kind of adventure she has only read about in books. Meggie must learn to harness the magic that has conjured this nightmare. For only she can change the course of the story that has changed her life forever.

This is INKHEART--a timeless tale about books, about imagination, about life. Dare to read it aloud.]]> 563 Cornelia Funke Amanda 2 3.91 2003 Inkheart (Inkworld, #1)
author: Cornelia Funke
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2015/02/06
shelves: couldn-t-finish-it, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
Nope. Just couldn't finish it. Maybe I'll try again some other time but for now, I'll say goodbye.
]]> ABC's of Anarchy 10589894 36 Brian Heagney 1453687815 Amanda 5 3.78 2010 ABC's of Anarchy
author: Brian Heagney
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/02/03
shelves: 2011, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:

]]> The Skin I'm In 751635 176 Sharon G. Flake 0786813075 Amanda 3 4.17 1998 The Skin I'm In
author: Sharon G. Flake
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2014/11/02
date added: 2015/01/26
shelves: 2014, fer-teenagers-kids-and-younguns
review:
This book was on the YA shelves at Women and Children First in Chigago, which my friend Jini and I accidentally and serendipitously found while moseying around last week. If I were thirteen years old, I'd give this book five stars and would probably be crying my eyes out and wishing I had my very own Caleb. Which is probably what happened to "Abby." I don't know "Abby," but she is the reason I bought this book--a review posted at the bookstore, written my her, adorable as it comes. I love "Abby" even though I've never met her, and I want to celebrate her like crazy. Take it on, girl! This world is yours.
]]> <![CDATA[Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)]]> 15849470
"Work hard. Do good. Be incredible!" is the advice Teresa Rae Wood shares with the listeners of her local radio show, Modern Pioneers , and the advice she strives to live by every day. She has fled a bad marriage and rebuilta life with her children, Claire and Joshua, and their caring stepfather, Bruce. Their love for each other binds them as a family through the daily struggles of making ends meet. But when they received unexpected news that Teresa, only 38, is dying of cancer, their lives all begin to unravel and drift apart. Strayed's intimate portraits of these fully human characters in a time of crisis show the varying truths of grief, forgiveness, and the beautiful terrors of learning how to keep living.]]> 432 Cheryl Strayed 0345805615 Amanda 1 couldn-t-finish-it 3.59 2006 Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)
author: Cheryl Strayed
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2015/01/26
shelves: couldn-t-finish-it
review:
Cheryl Strayed is great!!! But not this book. It's too similar to Wild and Wild is fantastic. So I don't see the need to finish reading this novel. It can't keep my attention and I'm getting a headache from rolling my eyes so much. But Cheryl Strayed is great!!!! The end.
]]>