Vicki's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 23 Mar 2025 13:50:39 -0700 60 Vicki's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Seventh Veil of Salome 199927990 A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine ¡ª but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic.

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.

So when the film¡¯s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.

Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood¡ªa city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue¡ªmake for a sizzling combination.

But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.

Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.]]> 336 Silvia Moreno-Garcia Vicki 3 3.75 2024 The Seventh Veil of Salome
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma]]> 18693771 A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world's foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers' capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments¡ªfrom neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga¡ªthat offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain's natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk's own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal¡ªand offers new hope for reclaiming lives.]]> 464 Bessel van der Kolk 0670785938 Vicki 3 4.36 2014 The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
author: Bessel van der Kolk
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
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]]> Maya & Natasha 213656341 This stunning debut novel set in the fascinating world of Cold War Soviet ballet follows the fates of twin sisters whose bond is competitive, complicated, but never broken.

Maya and Natasha are twin sisters born in the midst of the Siege of Leningrad in 1941 and immediately abandoned by their mother, a prima ballerina at the Kirov Ballet who would rather die than not dance. Taken in by their mother¡¯s best friend at the Kirov, the girls are raised to be dancers themselves. The Vaganova Ballet Academy¡ªand the totalitarian Soviet regime¡ªis the only world they know.

In 1958, now seniors at the Vaganova at the height of the Cold War, all Maya and Natasha and their classmates want is to dance with the Kirov, and to join the company on its tour to America next year. But a new law from the Kremlin upends Maya and Natasha¡¯s due to fears of defection, family members may no longer travel abroad together. The Kirov can only accept one of them.

Maya, long accustomed to living in her sister¡¯s shadow, accepts her bitter fate, until a new dance partner inspires her to dream bigger and practice harder. For the first time¡ªand at the cruelest possible moment¡ªthe sisters are equally matched. And then one sister betrays the other, altering their lives forever and splitting them in two, though neither will stray far from the other¡¯s orbit.

As one of the twins pursues her ballet career and experiences a world outside Russia for the first time, the other is cast in an epic film adaptation of?War and Peace, produced and financed by the Soviet State. As the Cold War heats up, Maya and Natasha must confront their to East versus West; to the government that saved them versus their dreams of freedom; and, always, to each other.


]]> 384 Elyse Durham 0063393611 Vicki 0 to-read 3.99 2025 Maya & Natasha
author: Elyse Durham
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/19
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]]> Letters to a Young Poet 46199 Listy do mlodego poety 80 Rainer Maria Rilke 0486422453 Vicki 2 4.32 1929 Letters to a Young Poet
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1929
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
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Bros would have been insufferable texters
]]> §®§à§ñ §Ý§ð§Ò§Ú§Þ§Ñ§ñ §ã§ä§â§Ñ§ß§Ñ 199640749 240 Elena Kostyuchenko 9934239426 Vicki 5 4.72 2023 §®§à§ñ §Ý§ð§Ò§Ú§Þ§Ñ§ñ §ã§ä§â§Ñ§ß§Ñ
author: Elena Kostyuchenko
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.72
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
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]]> The Library of Babel 172366 36 Jorge Luis Borges 156792123X Vicki 2 4.37 1941 The Library of Babel
author: Jorge Luis Borges
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1941
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition]]> 61362987 He is Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, the diversified investment corporation chaired by Warren Buffett; in this capacity, Buffett describes Charlie Munger as "my partner." Munger served as chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation from 1984 through 2011 (Wesco was approximately 80%-owned by Berkshire-Hathaway during that time). He is also the chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation, based in Los Angeles, California, and a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation.]]> 501 Peter D. Kaufman Vicki 2 4.30 Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition
author: Peter D. Kaufman
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Incontri in Sicilia - Short Stories in Italian for Lower-Intermediate to Intermediate Learners : Easy Italian Reader (A2, B1 CEFR levels) (Italian Edition)]]> 71394335 Bite-Sized Chapters: Dive into each chapter in minutes. The vocabulary and grammar used are optimized for beginners and intermediate Italian learners.

Bilingual Wordlist: Learn some of the most common Italian words and verbs, ready to add to your flashcards.

Insights on Common Mistakes: Written with the most recurring mistakes Italian beginners and intermediate learners make in my classes in mind.

Speaking Prompts: Enhance your spoken Italian skills, whether alone or with your tutor.

Cultural Insights About Sicily: Gain insights into some of the most picturesque villages in Sicily and get ready for your next trip to Italy.

Realistic Adult Stories: Learn real-life dialogues and experiences that you'll encounter as traveler in Italy.


The Plot

Fiona is a young American who is traveling to Sicily to obtain her dual citizenship through her great-grandparents. While visiting the small picturesque village of Montalbano Elicona, where her ancestors came from, she makes new friends...and more.


This short novel in Italian has been designed and optimized by a teacher of Italian with over 10 years of teaching experience, specializing in teaching adult Italian language learners.]]> 123 Serena Capilli Vicki 4 4.66 Incontri in Sicilia - Short Stories in Italian for Lower-Intermediate to Intermediate Learners : Easy Italian Reader (A2, B1 CEFR levels) (Italian Edition)
author: Serena Capilli
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.66
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> The Count of Monte Cristo 7126 The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dant¨¨s is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas¡¯ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]> 1276 Alexandre Dumas 0140449264 Vicki 4 4.29 1846 The Count of Monte Cristo
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1846
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion]]> 345504 Man Is Not Alone is a profound, beautifully written examination of the ingredients of piety: how man senses God's presence, explores it, accepts it, and builds life upon it. Abraham Joshua Heschel's philosophy of religion is not a philosophy of doctrine or the interpretation of a dogma. He erects his carefully built structure of thought upon foundations which are universally valid but almost generally ignored. It was Man Is Not Alone which led Reinhold Niebuhr accurately to predict that Heschel would "become a commanding and authoritative voice not only in the Jewish community but in the religious life of America." With its companion volume, God in Search of Man, it is revered as a classic of modern theology.]]> 320 Abraham Joshua Heschel 0374513287 Vicki 0 to-read 4.40 1951 Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion
author: Abraham Joshua Heschel
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man]]> 345500 The Sabbath has been hailed as a classic of Jewish spirituality ever since its original publication-and has been read by thousands of people seeking meaning in modern life.
In this brief yet profound meditation on the meaning of the Seventh Day, Heschel introduced the idea of an "architecture of holiness" that appears not in space but in time. Judaism, he argues, is a religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the material things that fill it but in time and the eternity that imbues it, so that "the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals."]]> 118 Abraham Joshua Heschel 0374529752 Vicki 5 4.37 1951 The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man
author: Abraham Joshua Heschel
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1951
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World]]> 208840291 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.

As indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love.

Meanwhile, the serviceberry¡¯s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth¡ªits abundance of sweet, juicy berries¡ªto meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, ¡°Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.¡±]]> 112 Robin Wall Kimmerer 1668072246 Vicki 0 to-read 4.39 2024 The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> The Wood at Midwinter 206101583 'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees¡ªand she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst¡ªand the path of her life is changed forever.

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe. Featuring an introduction by Susanna Clarke and gorgeous illustrations from Victoria Sawdon truly worthy of the magic of this story, this is a mesmerising, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf.]]> 64 Susanna Clarke 1639734481 Vicki 3 3.47 2024 The Wood at Midwinter
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> The Philosophy of Translation 210129382 A deep dive into the nature of translation from one of its most acclaimed practitioners
?
Avoiding theoretical debates and clich¨¦d metaphors, award-winning translator Damion Searls has written a fresh, approachable, and convincing account of what translation really is and what translators actually do. As the translator of sixty books from multiple languages, Searls has spent decades grappling with words on the most granular nouns and verbs, accents on people¡¯s names, rhymes, rhythm, ¡°untranslatable¡± cultural nuances. Here, he connects a wealth of specific examples to larger philosophical issues of reading and perception. Translation, he argues, is fundamentally a way of reading¡ªbut reading is much more than taking in information, and translating is far from a mechanical process of converting one word to another. This sharp and inviting exploration of the theory and practice of translation is for anyone who has ever marveled at the beauty, force, and movement of language.]]> 248 Damion Searls 0300247370 Vicki 3 4.41 2024 The Philosophy of Translation
author: Damion Searls
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> Chess Story 59151
Travelers by ship from New York to Buenos Aires find that on board with them is the world champion of chess, an arrogant and unfriendly man. They come together to try their skills against him and are soundly defeated. Then a mysterious passenger steps forward to advise them and their fortunes change. How he came to possess his extraordinary grasp of the game of chess and at what cost lie at the heart of Zweig's story.

This new translation of Chess Story brings out the work's unusual mixture of high suspense and poignant reflection.]]> 104 Stefan Zweig 1590171691 Vicki 5 4.31 1942 Chess Story
author: Stefan Zweig
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1942
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Five Dysfunctions of a Team]]> 21343 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams.

Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight.

Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders.]]> 228 Patrick Lencioni 0787960756 Vicki 0 to-read 4.09 2002 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
author: Patrick Lencioni
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[On Grief and Reason: Essays (FSG Classics)]]> 320600 504 Joseph Brodsky 0374525099 Vicki 0 to-read 4.33 1997 On Grief and Reason: Essays (FSG Classics)
author: Joseph Brodsky
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> §®§í§ê§î 202062117 355 §ª§Ó§Ñ§ß §¶§Ú§Ý§Ú§á§á§à§Ó 1998265129 Vicki 0 to-read 3.92 §®§í§ê§î
author: §ª§Ó§Ñ§ß §¶§Ú§Ý§Ú§á§á§à§Ó
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> §Á §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§ð §á§Ö§á§Ý§Ñ §ã§Ó§à§Ö§Þ§å §Õ§à§Þ§å 198617162 158 Darya Serenko 965930837X Vicki 0 to-read 3.96 §Á §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§ð §á§Ö§á§Ý§Ñ §ã§Ó§à§Ö§Þ§å §Õ§à§Þ§å
author: Darya Serenko
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> <![CDATA[La Rossa - Book (Italian Edition)]]> 36577833 Ducci Giovanni 886182370X Vicki 3 3.69 La Rossa - Book (Italian Edition)
author: Ducci Giovanni
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> Opera 6849241 Rare book Alessandro De Giuli 3190152381 Vicki 3 3.40 Opera
author: Alessandro De Giuli
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.40
book published:
rating: 3
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> A Room of One¡¯s Own 18521 A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on the 24th of October, 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. While this extended essay in fact employs a fictional narrator and narrative to explore women both as writers and characters in fiction, the manuscript for the delivery of the series of lectures, titled Women and Fiction, and hence the essay, are considered nonfiction. The essay is seen as a feminist text, and is noted in its argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy.]]> 112 Virginia Woolf Vicki 5 4.21 1929 A Room of One¡¯s Own
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1929
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> <![CDATA[I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom]]> 203578812 A standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin.

Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC.

But there are rules:

He cannot look inside the box.
He cannot ask questions.
He cannot tell anyone.
They must leave immediately.
He must leave all trackable devices behind.

As these eccentric misfits hit the road, rumors spread on social media that the box is part of a carefully orchestrated terror attack intended to plunge the USA into civil war.

The truth promises to be even stranger, and may change how you see the world.]]> 400 Jason Pargin 125028595X Vicki 0 to-read 3.98 2024 I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
author: Jason Pargin
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir]]> 214175247 An unforgettable portrait of an extraordinary life¡ªone forged through a poverty-stricken childhood in ¡°slummy, one-horse towns¡±; obsessive desire; bursts of comedy; and indispensable friendships, reflecting on the way art, music, and a deep connection to nature helped her on a singular journey?to become a beloved, Grammy-nominated artist.

Neko Case has long been revered as one of music¡¯s most influential artists, whose authenticity, lyrical storytelling, and sly wit have endeared her to a legion of critics, musicians, and lifelong fans.?In?The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You,?Case?brings her trademark?candor and?precision?to a memoir that traces her evolution from an invisible?girl ¡°raised by two dogs and a space heater¡± in rural Washington state to?her improbable emergence as an internationally-acclaimed talent. In luminous, sharp-edged prose, Case?shows readers what it¡¯s like to be left alone for hours and hours as a child, to take refuge in the woods around her home, and to channel the?monotony and loneliness and joy that comes from music, camaraderie, and shared experience into art.

The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You?is a rebellious meditation on identity and corruption, and a manifesto on how to make space for ourselves in this world, despite the obstacles we face.


?]]> 288 Neko Case 1538710501 Vicki 0 to-read 4.10 2025 The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir
author: Neko Case
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/11
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]]> I Who Have Never Known Men 60811826 Deep underground, forty women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.


As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl¡ªthe fortieth prisoner¡ªsits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.


Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman¡¯s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.]]> 184 Jacqueline Harpman 1945492600 Vicki 5 Wtf 4.12 1995 I Who Have Never Known Men
author: Jacqueline Harpman
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:
Wtf
]]> <![CDATA[The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning]]> 199388132 We can bury the girlboss, but what comes next? The former executive editor of Teen Vogue tells the story of her personal workplace reckoning and argues for collective responsibility to reimagine work as we know it.

¡°As I sat in the front row that day, I was 80 percent faking it with a 100-percent-real Gucci bag.¡± Samhita Mukhopadhyay had finally made it: she had her dream job, dream clothes¡ªdream life. But time and time again, she found herself sacrificing time with family and friends, paying too much for lattes, and limping home after working twelve hours a day. Success didn¡¯t come without costs, right? Or so she kept telling herself. And Mukhopadhyay wasn¡¯t alone: Far too many of us are taught that we need to work ourselves to the bone to live a good life. That we just need to climb up the corporate ladder, to ¡°lean in¡± and ¡°hustle,¡± to enact change. But as Mukhopadhyay shows, these definitions of success are myths¡ªand they are seductive ones.

Mukhopadhyay traces the origins of these myths, taking us from the sixties to the present. She forms a critical overview of workplace feminism, looking at stories from her own professional career, analysis from activists and experts, and of course, experiences of workers at different levels. As more individuals continue to question whether their professional ambitions can lead to happiness and fulfillment in the first place, Mukhopadhyay asks, What would it mean to have a liberated workplace? Mukhopadhyay emerges with a vision for a workplace culture that pays fairly, recognizes our values, and gives people access to the resources they need.

A call to action to redefine and reimagine work as we know it, The Myth of Making It is a field guide and manifesto for all of us who are tired, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of hustle culture.]]> 256 Samhita Mukhopadhyay 059344809X Vicki 3 3.76 The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning
author: Samhita Mukhopadhyay
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
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]]> Ambition Monster: A Memoir 199898067 A deeply personal memoir about workaholism, the addictive nature of ambition, and the humbling process of picking yourself up when the world lets you down¡ªan anti-girlboss tale for our times for readers of A Love Story and Uncanny Valley.After years of relentlessly racing up the professional ladder, Jennifer Romolini reached the kind of success many a high-profile, C-suite dream job, a book well-received enough that reporters wanted to know the secrets to her success, and a gig traveling around the country giving speeches on ¡°making it.¡± She had a handsome and clever husband, a precocious child, and a home in a desirable Los Angeles neighborhood. But beneath this shiny surface, Romolini was falling apart. Written with self-deprecation and wit, Ambition Monster is a gutsy and powerful look at workaholism and the addictive nature of achievement, the lingering effect of childhood trauma, and the failures of our modern rat race. This is a Cinderella story of success and a brutal appraisal of the cost of capitalism¡ªperfect for people pleasers, overachievers, and those whose traumas have driven them to strike for ¡°goodness,¡± no matter the cost. With its timely and resonant deconstructing of the American Dream, Ambition Monster is a singular excavation of selfhood, an essential interrogation about the way we work, and an inspiring and affirming call to always bet on yourself.]]> 303 Jennifer Romolini 1668056607 Vicki 0 to-read 3.96 2024 Ambition Monster: A Memoir
author: Jennifer Romolini
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 46041199 A fierce international bestseller that launched Korea¡¯s new feminist movement, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman¡¯s psychic deterioration in the face of rigid misogyny.

Truly, flawlessly, completely, she became that person.

In a small, tidy apartment on the outskirts of the frenzied metropolis of Seoul lives Kim Jiyoung. A thirtysomething-year-old ¡°millennial everywoman,¡± she has recently left her white-collar desk job¡ªin order to care for her newborn daughter full-time¡ªas so many Korean women are expected to do. But she quickly begins to exhibit strange symptoms that alarm her husband, parents, and in-laws: Jiyoung impersonates the voices of other women¡ªalive and even dead, both known and unknown to her. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her discomfited husband sends her to a male psychiatrist.

In a chilling, eerily truncated third-person voice, Jiyoung¡¯s entire life is recounted to the psychiatrist¡ªa narrative infused with disparate elements of frustration, perseverance, and submission. Born in 1982 and given the most common name for Korean baby girls, Jiyoung quickly becomes the unfavored sister to her princeling little brother. Always, her behavior is policed by the male figures around her¡ªfrom the elementary school teachers who enforce strict uniforms for girls, to the coworkers who install a hidden camera in the women¡¯s restroom and post their photos online. In her father¡¯s eyes, it is Jiyoung¡¯s fault that men harass her late at night; in her husband¡¯s eyes, it is Jiyoung¡¯s duty to forsake her career to take care of him and their child¡ªto put them first.

Jiyoung¡¯s painfully common life is juxtaposed against a backdrop of an advancing Korea, as it abandons ¡°family planning¡± birth control policies and passes new legislation against gender discrimination. But can her doctor flawlessly, completely cure her, or even discover what truly ails her?

Rendered in minimalist yet lacerating prose, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 sits at the center of our global #MeToo movement and announces the arrival of writer of international significance]]> 163 Cho Nam-Joo 1631496700 Vicki 0 to-read 4.17 2016 Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
author: Cho Nam-Joo
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
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]]> The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It¡¯s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she¡¯s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn¡¯t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she¡¯s dreamed of coming for years¡ªshe hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she¡¯s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan¡ªwhich makes it that much more surprising when the two women can¡¯t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach¡¯s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined¡ªand the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Vicki 0 to-read 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
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]]> Margo's Got Money Troubles 199534613
¡°[An] enormously entertaining and lovable book.¡± ¡ªNick Hornby, New York Times Book Review

A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman¡¯s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world¡ªfrom the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.

As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she¡¯d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can¡¯t imagine how she¡¯ll ever make a living. She¡¯s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor¡ªand while the affair is brief, it isn¡¯t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone¡¯s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naivet¨¦ and a yearning for something bigger.

Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion¡ªfast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she¡¯ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx¡¯s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she¡¯s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo¡¯s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo¡¯s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who¡¯s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It¡¯s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.

¡°A wholly original novel. . . . Thorpe is both poetic and profound in the way she brings her remarkable story to an end.¡± ¡ªThe Associated Press]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 Vicki 0 to-read 3.87 2024 Margo's Got Money Troubles
author: Rufi Thorpe
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Safekeep 199798201
A house is a precious thing...

It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother¡¯s country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be¡ªled by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel¡¯s doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season.

Eva is Isabel¡¯s antithesis: she sleeps late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn¡¯t. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house¡ªa spoon, a knife, a bowl¡ªIsabel¡¯s suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summer, Isabel¡¯s paranoia gives way to infatuation¡ªleading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva¡ªnor the house in which they live¡ªare what they seem.

Mysterious, sophisticated, sensual, and infused with intrigue, atmosphere, and sex, The Safekeep is a brilliantly plotted and provocative debut novel you won¡¯t soon forget.]]> 272 Yael van der Wouden 1668034344 Vicki 0 to-read 4.05 2024 The Safekeep
author: Yael van der Wouden
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> Our Wives Under the Sea 58659343
Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It¡¯s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.]]> 240 Julia Armfield 152901722X Vicki 0 to-read 3.75 2022 Our Wives Under the Sea
author: Julia Armfield
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Book Lovers 58690308 One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming....

Nora Stephens¡¯ life is books¡ªshe¡¯s read them all¡ªand she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters¡¯ trip away¡ªwith visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she¡¯s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they¡¯ve met many times and it¡¯s never been cute.

If Nora knows she¡¯s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he¡¯s nobody¡¯s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again¡ªin a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow¡ªwhat they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they¡¯ve written about themselves.]]> 377 Emily Henry 0593334833 Vicki 0 to-read 4.09 2022 Book Lovers
author: Emily Henry
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Small Things Like These 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 Vicki 5 4.14 2021 Small Things Like These
author: Claire Keegan
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Raven Scholar (The Eternal Path, #1)]]> 212174157 From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar¡¯s quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists¡ªthe best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor¡¯s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won¡¯t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.]]> 704 Antonia Hodgson 152933988X Vicki 0 to-read 4.49 2025 The Raven Scholar (The Eternal Path, #1)
author: Antonia Hodgson
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words]]> 24108839
Beginning with ALONE and closing with WORK, each chapter is a meditation on meaning and context, an invitation to shift and broaden our perspectives on the inevitable vicissitudes of life: pain and joy, honesty and anger, confession and vulnerability, the experience of feeling besieged and the desire to run away from it all. Through this lens, procrastination may be a necessary ripening; hiding an act of freedom; and shyness the appropriate confusion and helplessness that accompanies the first stage of revelation.

CONSOLATIONS invites readers into a poetic and thoughtful consideration of words whose meaning and interpretation influence the paths we choose and the way we traverse them throughout our lives.]]> 245 David Whyte 1932887342 Vicki 2 4.47 2014 Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words
author: David Whyte
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> All the Colors of the Dark 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges¡ªPatch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Vicki 3 4.24 2024 All the Colors of the Dark
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present¡ªfacing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew¡¯s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches¡ªwith one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Vicki 1 4.15 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 1
read at: 2014/12/07
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Wool - Holston (Wool, #1) 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Vicki 4 4.14 2012 Wool - Holston (Wool, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/23
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:
It¡¯s not a super deep book but the plot moves quickly and you want to find out why all this is happening. It¡¯s a nice easy,fun read.
]]> <![CDATA[So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men]]> 126262032 Librarian's Note: This is the entry for the short story collection. Please don't combine it with the short story of the same name.


A triptych of stories about love, lust, betrayal, misogyny, and the ever-intriguing interchanges between women and men. Celebrated for her powerful short fiction, Claire Keegan now gifts us three exquisite stories, newly revised and expanded, together forming a brilliant examination of gender dynamics and an arc from Keegan¡¯s earliest to her most recent work.

In ¡°So Late in the Day,¡± Cathal faces a long weekend as his mind agitates over a woman with whom he could have spent his life, had he behaved differently.

In ¡°The Long and Painful Death,¡± a writer¡¯s arrival at the seaside home of Heinrich B?ll for a residency is disrupted by an academic who imposes his presence and opinions.

And in ¡°Antarctica,¡± a married woman travels out of town to see what it¡¯s like to sleep with another man and ends up in the grip of a possessive stranger.?

Each story probes the dynamics that corrupt what could be between women and a lack of generosity, the weight of expectation, the looming threat of violence. Potent, charged, and breathtakingly insightful, these three essential tales will linger with readers long after the book is closed.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802160859 Vicki 5 3.98 2022 So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men
author: Claire Keegan
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming]]> 55841848 375 Jon Bodner 1492077216 Vicki 4 4.46 Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming
author: Jon Bodner
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom]]> 6596 The Four Agreements, don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. The Four Agreements are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don't Take Anything Personally, Don't Make Assumptions, Always Do Your Best.]]> 152 Miguel Ruiz 1878424505 Vicki 2 4.20 1997 The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
author: Miguel Ruiz
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1997
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay]]> 195820983
¡°There¡¯s no single answer that will solve all our future problems. There¡¯s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers¡ªat least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.¡±

Originally published in Essence magazine in the year 2000, Octavia E. Butler¡¯s essay ¡°A Few Rules for Predicting the Future¡± offers an honest look into the inspiration behind her science fiction novels and the importance of studying history and taking responsibility for our actions if we are to move forward.?

Organized into four main rules, this short essay reminds readers to learn from the past, respect the law of consequences, be aware of their perspectives, and count on the surprises. Citing the warning signs of fascism, the illusive effects of fear and wishful thinking, and the unpredictable nature of what is yet to come, Butler shares realistic but hopeful suggestions to shape our future into something good. An inspiring and motivational gift for students and recent graduates, fans of Butler's work, and anyone seeking a brighter day tomorrow, this exquisite gift book includes stunning Afrofuturist artwork by Manzel Bowman alongside the full text of the original essay.

LITERARY Octavia E. Butler was a pioneering science fiction writer whose novels, written decades ago, remain eerily relevant, reflecting on themes of racial injustice, women¡¯s rights, environmental collapse, and political corruption. In 1995, she became the first science fiction author to win a MacArthur Genius grant, and her books are taught in over 200 colleges and universities nationwide. This book shares Butler's timely but lesser-known essay and is a must-read for fans of her classic sci-fi works.
?
CELEBRATE BLACK This book spotlights one of the greatest authors of Afrofuturism, a genre and philosophy that explores and reimagines Black culture, creativity, and liberation through fiction, art, music, film, and other media. Octavia E. Butler¡¯s forward-thinking essay is paired with contemporary illustrations by Manzel Bowman, whose evocative images are also inspired by Afrofuturist visions.
?
INSPIRING A unique gift for students, recent graduates, and anyone celebrating life milestones or looking forward in life, this beautifully designed hardcover book is sure to inspire. Octavia E. Butler¡¯s essay is also an important, evergreen reminder for writers, creatives, dreamers, and activists who want to envision and work toward a brighter future.

Perfect ]]> 56 Octavia E. Butler 1797229052 Vicki 4 4.35 2000 A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business]]> 74034 184 Neil Postman 014303653X Vicki 0 to-read 4.15 1985 Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
author: Neil Postman
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology]]> 79678
"A provocative book ... A tool for fighting back against the tools that run our lives."?¡ª Dallas Morning News

The story of our society's transformation into a Technopoly: a society that no longer merely uses technology as a support system but instead is shaped by it¡ªwith radical consequences for the meanings of politics, art, education, intelligence, and truth.]]> 222 Neil Postman 0679745408 Vicki 0 to-read 3.95 1992 Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
author: Neil Postman
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Resurrectionist 210365385 Historical fiction, true crime, and dark academia intertwine in a harrowing tale of murder, greed, and the grisly origins of modern medicine.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828. Na?ve but determined James Willoughby has abandoned his posh, sheltered life at Oxford to pursue a lifelong dream of studying surgery in Edinburgh. A shining beacon of medical discovery in the age of New Enlightenment, the city¡¯s university offers everything James desires¡ªexcept the chance to work on a human cadaver.

For that he needs to join one of the private schools in Surgeon¡¯s Square, at a cost he cannot afford. In desperation he strikes a deal with Aneurin ¡°Nye¡± MacKinnon, a dashing young dissectionist with an artist¡¯s eye for anatomy and a reckless passion for knowledge. Nye promises to help James gain the surgical experience he craves¡ªbut it doesn¡¯t take long for James to realize he¡¯s made a devil¡¯s bargain... Nye is a body snatcher¡ªand James has unwittingly become his accomplice.]]> 336 A. Rae Dunlap 1496750349 Vicki 0 to-read 3.88 2024 The Resurrectionist
author: A. Rae Dunlap
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)]]> 75668288 The heart is a battlefield.

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire's shadows.

Prince Alaric, the emperor's only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire's rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.

Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion--one that could save their world...or destroy it.

An exquisite fantasy brimming with unforgettable characters, sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, and richly drawn worlds, The Hurricane Wars marks the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new writer.]]> 472 Thea Guanzon 0063277271 Vicki 0 to-read 3.65 2023 The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)
author: Thea Guanzon
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> Goblin Market 59849909 One sister must save the other from the goblin prince in this rich, spooky, and delightfully dark fantasy!

Lizzie and Minka are sisters, but they¡¯re nothing alike: Minka is outgoing and cheerful, while Lizzie is shy and sensitive. But when Minka is charmed and ensnared by a prince of the zduszes¡ªthe goblins¡ªand taken to his dark forest home, Lizzie will have to draw on reserves of strength she never knew she had and follow her sister into a world of dreams, danger, and death.

Rich worldbuilding inspired by Polish folklore combines with a tender sister story for an original and compelling fantasy-horror adventure.]]> 240 Diane Zahler 0823450813 Vicki 0 to-read 3.83 2022 Goblin Market
author: Diane Zahler
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> Costanza 200479589
In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin. Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife - until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, whose jet-black gaze matches his dark temper. From the second they set eyes upon each other, a fatal attraction is born.

Their secret love burns with a passion that consumes them. But with every stolen kiss and illicit tryst, Costanza's reputation is at stake. Meanwhile, Bernini has a dangerous desire: he wants to make Costanza immortal. He vows to possess her not just in body and soul, but also in marble.

When Bernini unveils his sculpture of Costanza, she is exposed as his lover, marking the undoing of their affair - and the beginning of a scandal which will rock Roman society. For Bernini would rather destroy Costanza than let her go.

Betrayed. Abandoned. Banished. This was meant to be the end of Costanza's story. But Costanza is no ordinary woman: from the ashes, she will rise...

Based on a true story, Costanza is a dizzying and sensual historical novel that brings to life a feminist icon who has been written out of history. This utterly addictive tale of desire and betrayal is perfect for fans of The Marriage Portrait and The Miniaturist.]]> 336 Rachel Blackmore 0349131082 Vicki 0 to-read 4.19 2024 Costanza
author: Rachel Blackmore
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character]]> 6069 In this strikingly original and groundbreaking book, Dr. Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets.
]]> 246 Jonathan Shay 0684813211 Vicki 5 4.31 1994 Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
author: Jonathan Shay
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store]]> 65678550
Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served the neighborhood's quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated the town's first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming that the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill's residents¡ªroused by Chona's kindess and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin¡ªbanded together to keep the boy safe.

As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town¡¯s establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community¡ªheaven and earth¡ªthat ultimately sustain us.]]> 385 James McBride 0593422945 Vicki 0 to-read 3.84 2023 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
author: James McBride
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> Carrie Soto Is Back 60435878 Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.]]> 384 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158687 Vicki 0 to-read 4.19 2022 Carrie Soto Is Back
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Partners in Gatekeeping: How Italy Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy over Ten Pivotal Years, 1891¨C1901 (Politics and Culture in the Twentieth-Century South)]]> 156698916
Through her examination of these distinct locations, Braun-Strumfels argues that we must consider Italian migration as an essential piece in the history of how the United States became a gatekeeping nation. In particular, she details how an asymmetric partnership emerged between the United States and Italy to manage that migration.

In so doing, Partners in Gatekeeping reveals that the last ten years of the nineteenth century were critical to the establishment of the modern gatekeeping system. By showing the roles of the Italian programs in this migration system, Braun-Strumfels establishes antecedents for remote control beyond the well-studied Chinese and Mexican cases.]]> 224 Lauren Braun-Strumfels 0820365408 Vicki 4 4.50 Partners in Gatekeeping: How Italy Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy over Ten Pivotal Years, 1891¨C1901 (Politics and Culture in the Twentieth-Century South)
author: Lauren Braun-Strumfels
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
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]]> Marcovaldo 18929 128 Italo Calvino Vicki 4 3.83 1963 Marcovaldo
author: Italo Calvino
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Il giorno della civetta 6057901 120 Leonardo Sciascia Vicki 0 to-read 3.70 1961 Il giorno della civetta
author: Leonardo Sciascia
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Bel Canto 5826 318 Ann Patchett Vicki 5 3.93 2001 Bel Canto
author: Ann Patchett
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin]]> 52309
Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World.]]> 143 Benjamin Franklin 0743255062 Vicki 5 Banger. 3.84 1791 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
author: Benjamin Franklin
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1791
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:
Banger.
]]> <![CDATA[La nuvola Olga va in vacanza (Italian Edition)]]> 81059102 0 Nicoletta Costa 8867148761 Vicki 3 3.00 La nuvola Olga va in vacanza (Italian Edition)
author: Nicoletta Costa
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves:
review:
Perch¨¦ una nuvola ha bisogno di vacanza?
]]> STORIE di due minuti 42584151 Per leggere in italiano e imparare a comunicare nelle situazioni di ogni giorno.?

Una nuova serie di letture graduate, in un nuovo formato tutto a colori e con la possibilit¨¤ di accedere gratuitamente online alla versione audio del testo, con voci di attori professionisti ed effetti sonori realistici e coinvolgenti.
La versione audio permette di gustare al meglio il racconto. ¨¨ inoltre utile per migliorare la capacit¨¤ di comprensione orale, l¡¯intonazione e la pronuncia.

La nuova collana STORIE presenta raccolte di racconti brevi e brevissimi, integrati da test di comprensione, esercizi, attivit¨¤ didattiche.

I testi sono graduati in quattro livelli e consentono allo studente non madrelingua di scoprire il piacere di leggere in italiano, affinando al tempo stesso le proprie conoscenze linguistiche.]]> 64 Valeria Blasi Vicki 4 4.00 STORIE di due minuti
author: Valeria Blasi
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/11/30
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]]> The Baron in the Trees 9804
Cosimo di Rond¨®, a young Italian nobleman of the eighteenth century, rebels against his parents by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. He adapts efficiently to an existence in the forest canopy¡ªhe hunts, sows crops, plays games with earth-bound friends, fights forest fires, solves engineering problems, and even manages to have love affairs. From his perch in the trees, Cosimo sees the Age of Enlightenment pass by, and a new century dawn.

The Baron in the Trees exemplifies Calvino¡¯s peerless ability to weave tales that sparkle with enchantment. This new English rendering by acclaimed translator Ann Goldstein breathes new life into one of Calvino¡¯s most beloved works.]]> 217 Italo Calvino Vicki 3 4.12 1957 The Baron in the Trees
author: Italo Calvino
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1957
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Space Rogue: How the Hackers Known As L0pht Changed the World]]> 90400419 364 Cris Thomas Vicki 3 4.07 Space Rogue: How the Hackers Known As L0pht Changed the World
author: Cris Thomas
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:
Super interesting glimpse into an early internet world I didn¡¯t know much about
]]> Turning Pro 14912777 148 Steven Pressfield Vicki 3 4.14 2012 Turning Pro
author: Steven Pressfield
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:
Lotta platitudes but not all bad
]]> <![CDATA[The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)]]> 13662
Then a wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs¡¯ greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar¡¯s duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?]]> 180 Ursula K. Le Guin 0689845367 Vicki 5 Incredible. 4.12 1971 The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1971
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
Incredible.
]]> <![CDATA[Come hai detto che ti chiami? + online MP3 audio]]> 49819504 0 Alessandra Pasqui 8861825656 Vicki 4 3.73 Come hai detto che ti chiami? + online MP3 audio
author: Alessandra Pasqui
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves:
review:
Sono stata alla edge of my seat
]]> Outline 21400742
Beginning with the neighbouring passenger on the flight out and his tales of fast boats and failed marriages, the storytellers talk of their loves and ambitions and pains, their anxieties, their perceptions and daily lives. In the stifling heat and noise of the city the sequence of voice begins to weave a complex human tapestry. The more they talk the more elliptical their listener becomes, as she shapes and directs their accounts until certain themes begin to emerge: the experience of loss, the nature of family life, the difficulty of intimacy and the mystery of creativity itself.

Outline is a novel about writing and talking, about self-effacement and self-expression, about the desire to create and the human art of self-portraiture in which that desire finds its universal form.]]> 249 Rachel Cusk 0571233627 Vicki 4 3.68 2014 Outline
author: Rachel Cusk
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves:
review:
No idea what this book was about but it was great.
]]> Moonlight in Odessa 9303353 352 Janet Skeslien Charles 1608191346 Vicki 0 to-read 4.15 2009 Moonlight in Odessa
author: Janet Skeslien Charles
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55223004 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08GJVLGGX.

A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green Vicki 0 to-read 4.31 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing]]> 43205240
For the first time in his long career, Robert Caro gives us a glimpse into his own life and work in these evocatively written, personal pieces. He describes what it was like to interview the mighty Robert Moses; what it felt like to begin discovering the extent of the political power Moses wielded; the combination of discouragement and exhilaration he felt confronting the vast holdings of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas; his encounters with witnesses, including longtime residents wrenchingly displaced by the construction of Moses¡¯ Cross-Bronx Expressway and Lady Bird Johnson acknowledging the beauty and influence of one of LBJ¡¯s mistresses. He gratefully remembers how, after years of loneliness, he found a writers¡¯ community at the New York Public Library¡¯s Frederick Lewis Allen Room and details the ways he goes about planning and composing his books.
Caro recalls the moments at which he came to understand that he wanted to write not just about the men who wielded power but about the people and the politics that were shaped by that power. And he talks about the importance to him of the writing itself, of how he tries to infuse it with a sense of place and mood to bring characters and situations to life on the page. Taken together, these reminiscences¨Csome previously published, some written expressly for this book¨Cbring into focus the passion, the wry self-deprecation, and the integrity with which this brilliant historian has always approached his work.]]> 231 Robert A. Caro 0525656340 Vicki 5 4.42 2019 Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing
author: Robert A. Caro
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves:
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¡ªdivorced, struggling to connect with his nine-year-old son, listening to a washed-up band in the basement of a suburban house¡ªand 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¡ªwho thrived and who faltered¡ªand 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¡ªand escape the merciless progress of time¡ªin the transporting realms of art and music. Sly, startling, exhilarating work from one of our boldest writers.]]> 274 Jennifer Egan 0307592839 Vicki 4 3.70 2010 A Visit from the Goon Squad
author: Jennifer Egan
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
review:
Minus one star for ending which was weird but otherwise impeccable
]]> §Á §ß§Ö §ä§à§â§Þ§à§Ù 40648908
§ª §Þ§í§ã§Ý§Ö§Û §à§Ò §ï§ä§à§Þ §å §ª§Ô§ß§Ñ§ä§Ñ §á§à§Ý§ß§à. §³§Ó§à§Ú§ç, §ß§Ú §å §Ü§à§Ô§à §ß§Ö §Ù§Ñ§ß§ñ§ä§í§ç. §´§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §Ó§à§ä §Õ§Ö§Ý§Ú§ä§î§ã§ñ §à§ß §Ú§Þ§Ú §ß§Ö §Ý§ð§Ò§Ú§ä, §Õ§Ñ §Ú §ß§Ö §ã §Ü§Ö§Þ ¡ª §Ü§ä§à §Ø§Ö §Ù§Ñ §ß§Ú§Þ §á§à§ã§á§Ö§Ö§ä? §·§à§ä§ñ §ª§Ô§ß§Ñ§ä§Ñ §Ó§ã§Ö §Ý§ð§Ò§ñ§ä. §°§ß §ï§ä§à §ã§Ý§å§é§Ñ§Û§ß§à §Ü§Ñ§Ü?§ä§à §á§à§ß§ñ§Ý ¡ª §å§Õ§Ú§Ó§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à, §Õ§Ñ? §¯§à §à§ß §Þ§ß§à§Ô§à §é§Ö§Ô§à, §à§Ü§Ñ§Ù§í§Ó§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ, §Ö§ë§Ö §ß§Ö §Õ§à§Ô§à§ß§ñ§Ö§ä. §¯§Ñ§á§â§Ú§Þ§Ö§â, §é§ä§à §å §ß§Ö§Ô§à §Õ§â§å§Ô §Ö§ã§ä§î §ß§Ñ §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§Þ §Õ§Ö§Ý§Ö. §ª §ß§Ö §à§Õ§Ú§ß. §ª§Ý§Ú §é§ä§à §ß§Ö§Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Ö §Ó§ã§Ö§â§î§Ö§Ù §ã§à§Ò§Ú§â§Ñ§ð§ä§ã§ñ §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§î §á§à§ã§Ó§ñ§ä§Ú§ä§î §á§à§Þ§à§ë§Ú §Õ§â§å§Ô§Ú§Þ §Ý§ð§Õ§ñ§Þ... §¯§Ú§é§Ö§Ô§à, §à§ß §ß§Ö §ä§à§â§Þ§à§Ù, §Õ§à§Ô§à§ß§Ú§ä. §£ §à§Ò§ë§Ö§Þ, §Õ§Ñ, §Ú§ß§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §Ú §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§Ü§Ñ§ä§ß§à§Þ§å §Ñ§ß§Ô§Ö§Ý§å §ß§Ñ§Õ§à §à§ä§Õ§à§ç§ß§å§ä§î.

§±§à§Ó§Ö§ã§ä§î ?§Á §ß§Ö §ä§à§â§Þ§à§Ù? §á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ú§è§í §¯§Ú§ß§í §¥§Ñ§ê§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§à§Û, §å§Ø§Ö §ç§à§â§à§ê§à §Ú§Ù§Ó§Ö§ã§ä§ß§à§Û §Ú §á§à§Ý§ð§Ò§Ú§Ó§ê§Ö§Û§ã§ñ §é§Ú§ä§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§ñ§Þ §á§à §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§Ñ§Þ ?§°§Ü§à§Ý§à §Þ§å§Ù§í§Ü§Ú?, ?§£§Ú§Ý§Ý§Ú?, §ã§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §á§à§Ò§Ö§Õ§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§Ö§Þ §Ü§à§ß§Ü§å§â§ã§Ñ §Õ§Ö§ä§ã§Ü§à§Û §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§Ú ?§¬§ß§Ú§Ô§å§â§å? §Ó 2015 §Ô§à§Õ§å.]]> 158 Nina Dashevskaya 5917594708 Vicki 5 4.43 §Á §ß§Ö §ä§à§â§Þ§à§Ù
author: Nina Dashevskaya
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The C Programming Language 515601
From the Preface:
We have tried to retain the brevity of the first edition. C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book. We have improved the exposition of critical features, such as pointers, that are central to C programming. We have refined the original examples, and have added new examples in several chapters. For instance, the treatment of complicated declarations is augmented by programs that convert declarations into words and vice versa. As before, all examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form.

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

]]> 272 Brian W. Kernighan 0131103628 Vicki 5 4.44 1978 The C Programming Language
author: Brian W. Kernighan
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1978
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves:
review:
Worked through this all summer,
]]> Life with Picasso 234067 Life with Picasso, her account of those extraordinary years, is filled with intimate and astonishing revelations about the man, his work, his thoughts and his friends - Matisse, Braque, Gertrude Stein and Giacometti, among others. Francois Gilot paints a compelling portrait of her turbulent life with the temperamental (and even abusive) genius that was Picasso. As one of the few intimate witnesses to Picasso as a human being and as an artist, her account of him is invaluable for assessing him on both counts.]]> 358 Fran?oise Gilot 1853812331 Vicki 5 Brilliant book. 4.08 1964 Life with Picasso
author: Fran?oise Gilot
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1964
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves:
review:
Brilliant book.
]]> 1Q84 Book 1 (1Q84, #1) 6443834 ¤½¤·¤Æ2009Äê¡¢¡º1²Ï84¡»¤ÏÄæ¤Î·½Ïò¤«¤é1984Äê¤òÃ褤¤¿½ü¹ýȥСÕh¤Ç¤¢¤ë¡£
¤½¤³¤ËÃ褫¤ì¤Æ¤¤¤ë¤Î¤Ï¡¸¤³¤¦¤Ç¤¢¤Ã¤¿¤«¤â¤·¤ì¤Ê¤¤¡¹ÊÀ½ç¤Ê¤Î¤À¡£
˽¤¿¤Á¤¬Éú¤­¤Æ¤¤¤ëÏÖÔÚ¤¬¡¢¡¸¤½¤¦¤Ç¤Ï¤Ê¤«¤Ã¤¿¤«¤â¤·¤ì¤Ê¤¤¡¹ÊÀ½ç¤Ç¤¢¤ë¤Î¤È¡¢¤Á¤ç¤¦¤Éͬ¤¸¤è¤¦¤Ë¡£±Õ±Õ> 554 Haruki Murakami 4103534222 Vicki 0 to-read 4.02 2009 1Q84 Book 1 (1Q84, #1)
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[At Home: A Short History of Private Life]]> 9471932 At Home?one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.]]> 512 Bill Bryson 0385533594 Vicki 0 to-read 4.12 2010 At Home: A Short History of Private Life
author: Bill Bryson
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Employees 53780642 A workplace novel of the 22nd century

The near-distant future. Millions of kilometres from Earth.

The crew of the Six-Thousand ship consists of those who were born, and those who were created. Those who will die, and those who will not. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew is perplexed to find itself becoming deeply attached to them, and human and humanoid employees alike find themselves longing for the same things: warmth and intimacy. Loved ones who have passed. Our shared, far-away Earth, which now only persists in memory.

Gradually, the crew members come to see themselves in a new light, and each employee is compelled to ask themselves whether their work can carry on as before ¨C and what it means to be truly alive.

Structured as a series of witness statements compiled by a workplace commission, Ravn¡¯s crackling prose is as chilling as it is moving, as exhilarating as it is foreboding. Wracked by all kinds of longing, The Employees probes into what it means to be human, emotionally and ontologically, while simultaneously delivering an overdue critique of a life governed by work and the logic of productivity.]]> 136 Olga Ravn Vicki 4 3.69 2018 The Employees
author: Olga Ravn
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/17
date added: 2024/07/17
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review:

]]> The Familiar 133286777 From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishaverse series comes a highly anticipated historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio P¨¦rez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen¡ªand P¨¦rez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive¡ªeven if that means enlisting the help of Guill¨¦n Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.]]> 387 Leigh Bardugo 125088425X Vicki 3 3.74 2024 The Familiar
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter]]> 152809 An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter is the story of a moment in the life of the German artist Johan Moritz Rugendas (1802-1858). Greatly admired as a master landscape painter, he was advised by Alexander von Humboldt to travel West from Europe to record the spectacular landscapes of Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. Rugendas did in fact become one of the best of the nineteenth-century European painters to venture into Latin America. However this is not a biography of Rugendas. This work of fiction weaves an almost surreal history around the secret objective behind Rugendas's trips to America: to visit Argentina in order to achieve in art the "physiognomic totality" of von Humboldt's scientific vision of the whole. Rugendas is convinced that only in the mysterious vastness of the immense plains will he find true inspiration. A brief and dramatic visit to Mendosa gives him the chance to fulfill his dream. From there he travels straight out onto the pampas, praying for that impossible moment, which would come only at an immense price¡ªan almost monstrously exorbitant price that would ultimately challenge his drawing, and force him to create a new way of making art. A strange episode that he could not avoid absorbing savagely into his own body interrupts the trip and irreversibly and explosively marks him for life.]]> 88 C¨¦sar Aira 0811216306 Vicki 3 Quirky and interesting 3.95 2000 An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
author: C¨¦sar Aira
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves:
review:
Quirky and interesting
]]> Either/Or 58890783 From the acclaimed and bestselling author of The Idiot, the continuation of beloved protagonist Selin's quest for self-knowledge, as she travels abroad and tests the limits of her newfound adulthood

Selin is the luckiest person in her family: the only one who was born in America and got to go to Harvard. Now it's sophomore year, 1996, and Selin knows she has to make it count. The first order of business: to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over the summer. Why did Selin's elusive crush, Ivan, find her that job in the Hungarian countryside? What was up with all those other people in the Hungarian countryside? Why is Ivan's weird ex-girlfriend now trying to get in touch with Selin? On the plus side, it feels like the plot of an exciting novel. On the other hand, why do so many novels have crazy abandoned women in them? How does one live a life as interesting as a novel--a life worthy of becoming a novel--without becoming a crazy abandoned woman oneself?

Guided by her literature syllabus and by her more worldly and confident peers, Selin reaches certain conclusions about the universal importance of parties, alcohol, and sex, and resolves to execute them in practice--no matter what the cost. Next on the list: international travel.

Unfolding with the propulsive logic and intensity of youth, Either/Or is a landmark novel by one of our most brilliant writers. Hilarious, revelatory, and unforgettable, its gripping narrative will confront you with searching questions that persist long after the last page.]]> 368 Elif Batuman 0525557598 Vicki 0 to-read 4.01 2022 Either/Or
author: Elif Batuman
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sea of Tranquility 58446227 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, GoodReads

"One of [Mandel's] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet." --The New York Times

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal--an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.]]> 259 Emily St. John Mandel 0593321448 Vicki 0 to-read 4.04 2022 Sea of Tranquility
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Berry Pickers 123036004 A four-year-old Mi¡¯kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.

July 1962. A Mi¡¯kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family¡¯s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister¡¯s disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren¡¯t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.

For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.]]> 307 Amanda Peters 1646221958 Vicki 0 to-read 4.04 2023 The Berry Pickers
author: Amanda Peters
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience]]> 66354 303 Mih¨¢ly Cs¨ªkszentmih¨¢lyi 0060920432 Vicki 3 4.11 1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
author: Mih¨¢ly Cs¨ªkszentmih¨¢lyi
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:
This was a lot more sales-y than I was led to believe, the main idea still carries weight though
]]> <![CDATA[Head First C: A Brain-Friendly Guide]]> 12447064 Head First C provides a complete learning experience for C and structured imperative programming. With a unique method that goes beyond syntax and how-to manuals, this guide not only teaches you the language, it helps you understand how to be a great programmer. You'll learn key areas such as language basics, pointers and pointer arithmetic, and dynamic memory management. Advanced topics include multi-threading and network programming¡ªtopics typically covered on a college-level course.

This book also features labs: in-depth projects intended to stretch your abilities, test your new skills, and build confidence. Head First C mimics the style of college-level C courses, making it ideal as an accessible textbook for students.

We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First C uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.]]> 629 David Griffiths 1449399916 Vicki 5 4.22 2011 Head First C: A Brain-Friendly Guide
author: David Griffiths
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:
I love this entire series and this is no exception
]]> North Woods 71872930
When a pair of young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become home to an extraordinary succession of inhabitants . An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. A pair of spinster twins survive war and famine, only to succumb to envy and desire.?A crime reporter unearths a mass grave, but finds the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a conman, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle; as each one confronts the mysteries of the north woods, they come to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.

Traversing cycles of history, nature, and even literature, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we¡¯re connected to our environment and to one another, across time, language and space. Written along with the seasons and divided into the twelve months of the year, it is an unforgettable novel about secrets and fates that asks the timeless how do we live on, even after we¡¯re gone?]]> 372 Daniel Mason 0593597036 Vicki 5 4.12 2023 North Woods
author: Daniel Mason
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:
What a delightful and unusual book.
]]> The Bright Sword 201750794
They aren¡¯t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They¡¯re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight and Sir Dagonet, Arthur¡¯s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They¡¯re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin¡¯s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur¡¯s death has revealed Britain¡¯s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur¡¯s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they¡¯ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain¡¯s dark past.]]> 673 Lev Grossman 0735224048 Vicki 0 to-read 3.94 2024 The Bright Sword
author: Lev Grossman
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1)]]> 195790597 When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear.

We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword.

On Kupala Night, Dymitr arrives in Chicago¡¯s monstrous, magical underworld with a perilous mission: pick the mythical fern flower and offer it to a cursed creature in exchange for help finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga.

Ala is a fear-eating zmora afflicted with a bloodline curse that¡¯s slowly killing her. She's just desperate enough to say yes to Dymitr, even if she doesn¡¯t know his motives.

Over the course of one night, Ala and Dymitr risk life and limb in search of Baba Jaga, and begin to build a tentative friendship. . . but when Ala finds out what Dymitr is hiding, it could destroy them both.]]> 166 Veronica Roth 1250855489 Vicki 0 to-read 3.71 2024 When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I Hope This Finds You Well 200987323 In this wildly funny and heartwarming office comedy, an admin worker accidentally gains access to her colleagues¡¯ private emails and DMs and decides to use this intel to save her job¡ªa laugh-till-you-cry debut novel you¡¯ll be eager to share with your entire list of contacts, perfect for fans of Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don¡¯t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text colour to white so no one can see. That is, until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.

When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department¡¯s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss¡¯s favour, convince HR she¡¯s Supershops material and beat out the competition.

But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworker¡¯s private worlds and secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble¡ªespecially around Cliff, who she definitely cannot have feelings for. Soon she will need to decide if she¡¯s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if it means coming clean to her colleagues.

Crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and relatable observations, I Hope This Finds You Well is a fresh and surprisingly tender comedy about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens. This sparkling debut novel will open your heart to the everyday eccentricities of work culture and the undeniable human connection that comes with it.]]> 338 Natalie Sue 0063320363 Vicki 0 to-read 3.75 2024 I Hope This Finds You Well
author: Natalie Sue
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rattle Bag 574889
Moreover, Heaney and Hughes have elected to list their favorites not by theme or by author but simply by title (or by first line, when no title is given). As they explain in their "We hope that our decision to impose an arbitrary alphabetical order allows the contents [of this book] to discover themselves as we ourselves gradually discovered them--each poem full of its singular appeal, transmitting its own signals, taking its chances in a big, voluble world."

With undisputed masterpieces and rare discoveries, with both classics and surprises galore, The Rattle Bag includes the work of such key poets as William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, Dylan Thomas, Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath among its hundreds of poems. A helpful Glossary as well as an Index of Poets and Works are offered at the conclusion of this hefty, unorthodox, diverse, inspired, and inspiring collection of poetry.]]> 512 Seamus Heaney 057111976X Vicki 5 4.28 1982 The Rattle Bag
author: Seamus Heaney
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves:
review:
Imagine someone made you a mix tape, but instead it¡¯s poetry and that someone has amazing taste.
]]> Plutoshine 57427661
What nobody factored in was a saboteur - but who, and why?

From the start, terraformer Lucian is intrigued by nine-year-old Nou, traumatised to muteness after a horrifying incident that shook the base and upended her family into chaos. If he could reach her, perhaps he could understand what happened that day - and what she knows about the secrets of Pluto.

For Nou possesses unspoken knowledge - something that could put a stop to the terraforming. But crippled by her fears, and unable to trust her family, there is no one she can talk to. Only through Lucian's gentle friendship does she start to rediscover her voice - and what she has to say will transform our sense of place in the Universe.]]> 410 Lucy Kissick 1473233143 Vicki 3 3.70 2022 Plutoshine
author: Lucy Kissick
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves:
review:
I feel like the book and author have a lot of potential and it¡¯s a very cool idea but I wasn¡¯t a huge fan because it was hard to follow the plot and the science was in the way of the fiction a lot of the time. Lucien as the main character who never got mad or irritated was also hard to believe.
]]> The Collected Poems 133906
Alongside such famous works as "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and Montage of a Dream Deferred, The Collected Poems includes the author's lesser-known verse for children; topical poems distributed through the Associated Negro Press; and poems such as "Goodbye Christ" that were once suppressed.??Lyrical and pungent, passionate and polemical, the result is a treasure of a book, the essential collection of a poet whose words have entered our common language.]]> 736 Langston Hughes 0679764089 Vicki 5 A true master of the genre. 4.36 1994 The Collected Poems
author: Langston Hughes
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/24
date added: 2024/04/24
shelves:
review:
A true master of the genre.
]]> <![CDATA[The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction]]> 61089439
But although we think of early monks as master concentrators, a life of mindfulness did not, in fact, come to them easily. As historian Jamie Kreiner demonstrates in The Wandering Mind , their attempts to stretch the mind out to God¨Dto continuously contemplate the divine order and its ethical requirements¨Dwere all-consuming, and their battles against distraction were never-ending. Delving into the experiences of early Christian monks living in the Middle East, around the Mediterranean, and throughout Europe from 300 to 900 CE, Kreiner shows that these men and women were obsessed with distraction in ways that seem remarkably modern. At the same time, she suggests that our own obsession is remarkably medieval. Ancient Greek and Roman intellectuals had sometimes complained about distraction, but it was early Christian monks who waged an all-out war against it. The stakes could not have been they saw distraction as a matter of life and death.

Even though the world today is vastly different from the world of the early Middle Ages, we can still learn something about our own distractedness by looking closely at monks¡¯ strenuous efforts to concentrate. Drawing on a trove of sources that the monks left behind, Kreiner reconstructs the techniques they devised in their lifelong quest to master their minds¨Dfrom regimented work schedules and elaborative metacognitive exercises to physical regimens for hygiene, sleep, sex, and diet. She captures the fleeting moments of pure attentiveness that some monks managed to grasp, and the many times when monks struggled and failed and went back to the drawing board. Blending history and psychology, The Wandering Mind is a witty, illuminating account of human fallibility and ingenuity that bridges a distant era and our own. 30 black-and-white images throughout]]> 288 Jamie Kreiner 1631498053 Vicki 3 3.47 2023 The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction
author: Jamie Kreiner
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves:
review:
A fun read about the historical dangers of distraction, I really liked all the research the author did in making this book relatable
]]> Neapolitan Chronicles 34381092 Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey

"Anna Maria Ortese was the last great writer of the generation that produced Italo Calvino and Primo Levi. Today, few critics would disagree with the poet Andrea Zanzotto, who rates her as 'one of the most important Italian women writers of this century.'" ¡ªThe Independent

A masterful and gripping classic of European literature, this superb collection of short fiction and reportage is set in Italy's perhaps most vibrant and turbulent metropolis¡ªNaples¡ªin the immediate aftermath of World War II. These writings helped inspire Elena Ferrante's best-selling novels and she has expressed deep admiration for the author of this volume. Anna Maria Ortese's work was also championed by Italo Calvino, who was her Italian editor. The powerful portrait of Naples high and low and its documentation of often-trying conditions comprises a stunning literary companion to some of the great neo-realist films of the era by directors such as Vittorio de Sica and Roberto Rossellini. This classic is exquisitely rendered in English by Ann Goldstein and Jenny McPhee, two of the leading translators working from Italian today. Included in the collection is "A Pair of Eyeglasses," one of the most widely praised Italian short stories of the twentieth century.

Anna Maria Ortese (1914-1998) is one of the most celebrated and original Italian writers of the last century. Neapolitan Chronicles brought her widespread acclaim in her native country when it was first published in 1953 and won the prestigious Premio Viareggio.


]]> 192 Anna Maria Ortese 1939931517 Vicki 3 Powerful and sad 3.51 1953 Neapolitan Chronicles
author: Anna Maria Ortese
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1953
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves:
review:
Powerful and sad
]]> The Story of Art Without Men 56301206
Discover the glittering Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance, the radical work of Harriet Powers in the nineteenth-century USA, and the artist who really invented the Readymade. Explore the Dutch Golden Age, the astonishing work of post-War artists in Latin America, and the women artists defining art in the 2020s. Have your sense of art history overturned, and your eyes opened to many art forms often overlooked or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan this is the history of art as it's never been told before.]]> 352 Katy Hessel 1788167406 Vicki 3 4.31 2022 The Story of Art Without Men
author: Katy Hessel
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves:
review:
Beautiful book and wonderful idea but I wish it went more in detail on historical context - less broad and more deep
]]> Our Share of Night 61111034
A young father and son set out on a road trip, devastated by the death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travel to her ancestral home, where they must confront the terrifying legacy she has bequeathed: a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality.

For Gaspar, the son, this maniacal cult is his destiny. As the Order tries to pull him into their evil, he and his father take flight, attempting to outrun a powerful clan that will do anything to ensure its own survival. But how far will Gaspar¡¯s father go to protect his child? And can anyone escape their fate?

Moving back and forth in time, from London in the swinging 1960s to the brutal years of Argentina¡¯s military dictatorship and its turbulent aftermath, Our Share of Night is a novel like no other: a family story, a ghost story, a story of the occult and the supernatural, a book about the complexities of love and longing with queer subplots and themes. This is the masterwork of one of Latin America¡¯s most original novelists, ¡°a mesmerizing writer,¡± says Dave Eggers, ¡°who demands to be read.¡±]]> 588 Mariana Enr¨ªquez 0451495144 Vicki 5 4.07 2019 Our Share of Night
author: Mariana Enr¨ªquez
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves:
review:
Impossible to encompass the enormity of this book. This is Literature.
]]> Half-Witch 40738073
Lizbet is desperate, and the only one who can help her is the unpleasant and sarcastic witch girl Strix. As the two girls journey through the mountains and into the lands of wonder beyond, on the run from goblins, powerful witches, and human criminals, Lizbet discovers, to her horror, that Strix's magic is turning Lizbet into a witch, too. Meanwhile, a revolution in Heaven is brewing.]]> 300 John Schoffstall 1618731416 Vicki 0 to-read 3.95 2018 Half-Witch
author: John Schoffstall
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Italian Journey 832491 512 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 0140442332 Vicki 0 to-read 3.90 1816 Italian Journey
author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
name: Vicki
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1816
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Fair Folk 171827937 400 Su Bristow Vicki 0 to-read 4.00 The Fair Folk
author: Su Bristow
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Engineering Management for the Rest of Us]]> 58502800 There seem to be millions of articles and "how to"s on programming and only a handful of resources on Engineering Management- why? It's very tough to talk about something that involves people processes. People are non-deterministic. Working relationships are nuanced, communication is linked with individual values, motivations, power dynamics, and skills. People also have a range of experiences and emotions that are not consistent day-to-day.
Hopefully, in the happiest, most productive sense.
It's imperative that we as managers learn as much as we can and work on ourselves, so that our teams may enjoy a healthy working life and strong relationships. It's not just important, it's crucial that we iterate on our own skills as managers so that we can properly support everyone around individuals, peers, leadership, and the business.
I'm sharing what I've learned- not so that you follow my concepts exactly, but rather so that you can be thoughtful about your own leadership and needs. The book goes from the macro to the micro- with topics ranging everywhere from "feedback" to "scoping down PRs".
Though the book is meant to address people in management, individual contributors are welcome to read the book as well- perhaps you need to manage up and need some tools to help guide the conversation, perhaps you just want a peek at other concerns within the business- everyone is invited to the conversation.]]> 220 Sarah Drasner 898676931X Vicki 4 4.18 2022 Engineering Management for the Rest of Us
author: Sarah Drasner
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:
It¡¯s hard to write a good engineering management book but this one does a nice job balancing practical advice with theory.
]]> Cathedral of the Sea 1790237 A construction that moves parallel to the hazardous story of Arnau, son of a peasant serf, who flees from the abuses of his feudal lord and takes refuge in Barcelona, ??where he becomes a citizen and, with it, a free man.
While his best friend and adopted brother Joan studies to become a priest, young Arnau becomes a member of the guild of the stone-workers, soldier and moneychanger. A strenuous life which leads him from the misery of the fugitive to nobility and wealth. But with this privileged position he also gets the envy of his peers, who devise a sordid plot that puts his life in the hands of the Inquisition. He finds himself face-to-face with his own brother. Will he lose his life just as his beloved Cathedral of the Sea is finally completed?]]> 611 Ildefonso Falcones 0525950486 Vicki 4 Banger. 4.06 2006 Cathedral of the Sea
author: Ildefonso Falcones
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:
Banger.
]]> The Sunne in Splendour 119829
In this beautifully rendered modern classic, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III - vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming?hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower - from his maligned?place in history with a?dazzling combination of research and storytelling.?

Born into?the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century?England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning.?

This magnificent retelling of his life is filled with all of the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of the fifteenth century, the rigors of court politics, and the passions and prejudices of royalty.]]> 936 Sharon Kay Penman 0345363132 Vicki 0 to-read 4.39 1982 The Sunne in Splendour
author: Sharon Kay Penman
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Name of the Rose 119073 552 Umberto Eco 0156001314 Vicki 0 to-read 4.13 1980 The Name of the Rose
author: Umberto Eco
name: Vicki
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>