David's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 30 Mar 2025 21:57:30 -0700 60 David's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Redemption Ark (Revelation Space, #2)]]> 21442762 708 Alastair Reynolds David 5 4.35 2002 Redemption Ark (Revelation Space, #2)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: David
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> Pushing Ice 22358922
In accepting this mission she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny-for Janus has many surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome...]]> 532 Alastair Reynolds 0575087722 David 5 4.41 2005 Pushing Ice
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: David
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #1)]]> 50329893
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is the Glitter Band, that vast swirl of space habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone, the teeming hub of a human interstellar empire spanning many worlds. His current case: investigating a murderous attack against one of the habitats that leaves nine hundred people dead. But his investigation uncovers something far more serious than mass slaughter-a covert plot by an enigmatic entity who seeks nothing less than total control of the Glitter Band.]]> 428 Alastair Reynolds 0316462578 David 4 4.42 2007 Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: David
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/24
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]]> Chasm City 20929178 Come to Chasm City and embark on a mind-bending ride through the universe of Revelation SpaceTanner Mirabel was a security specialist who never made a mistake - until the day a woman in his care was blown away by Argent Reivich, a vengeful young postmortal. Tanner's pursuit of Reivich takes him across light-years of space to Chasm City, the domed human settlement on the otherwise inhospitable planet of Yellowstone.But Chasm City is not what it was. The one time high-tech utopia has become a Gothic a nanotechnological virus has corrupted the city's inhabitants as thoroughly as it has the buildings and machines. Before the chase is done, Tanner will have to confront truths which reach back centuries, towards deep space and an atrocity history barely remembers.]]> 708 Alastair Reynolds 0575087692 David 4 3.92 2001 Chasm City
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: David
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Revelation Space (Revelation Space, #1)]]> 20929183

The legendary space opera that kicked off the ground-breaking, universe-spanning series.Nine hundred thousand years ago, something wiped out the Amarantin. For the human colonists now settling the Amarantin homeworld Resurgam, it's of little more than academic interest, even after the discovery of a long-hidden, almost perfect Amarantin city and a colossal statue of a winged Amarantin. For brilliant but ruthless scientist Dan Sylveste, it's more than merelty intellectual curiosity - and he will stop at nothing to get at the truth. Even if the truth costs him everything. But the Amarantin were wiped out for a reason, and that danger is closer and greater than even Syveste imagines ...REVELATION a huge, magnificent space opera that ranges across the known and unknown universe ... towards the most terrifying of destinations.Readers are hooked on Revelation 'An amazing blend of space opera, hard SF, and gothic horror that reads like a cross between Frank Herbert's "Dune" and Ridley Scott's film "Alien"' ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Marvellous hard space opera. Slowly built, with three story lines which at some point merge together, it depicts a very dark universe, full of technological wonders, both human and alien' ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Revelation Space series is one of the favouritest favourites . . . Reynolds held me in thrall with his vision' ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'The setting is a gritty, desolate, and unforgiving universe in which humanity finds itself in imminent danger of extinction . . . I highly recommend it to all adult fans of space opera, cyberpunk, and horror genres' ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'A darn good, solid, well executed work of hard sci-fi . . . I really appreciate that Revelation Space ends in a satisfying and self-contained way' ŷ reviewer, � � � � � 'Awesome characters, awesome setting, awesome ideas, awesome awesome awesome . . .' ŷ reviewer, � � � � ⭐]]> 596 Alastair Reynolds 0575087749 David 3 4.08 2000 Revelation Space (Revelation Space, #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: David
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
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]]> House of Suns 19473944 516 Alastair Reynolds 0575097884 David 5 4.40 2008 House of Suns
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: David
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
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]]> Permutation City 22448402 Immortality can be yours . . . at a pricePermutation city is the tale of a man with a vision - how to create immortality - and how that vision becomes grows beyond his control. Encompassing the lives and struggles of an artificial life junkie desperate to save her dying mother, a billionaire banker scarred by a terrible crime, the lovers for whom, in their timeless virtual world, love is not enough - and much more - Permutation city is filled with the sense of wonder and dread. Can what makes you human be distilled into data? And what happens if you can't afford to pay?Readers are having their minds blown by PERMUTATION "Egan tells the story masterfully. I can only marvel at how he finds his inspiration for a high-tech tale in an ancient wisdom like Kabbalah, and then proceeds to out-Kabbalah even the Kabbalists with his creativity" - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �"Egan questions what it really means to be human in a way that it's quite unsurpassed in my mind" - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �"THIS is why I read SF. THIS is the sense of wonder I'm looking for in a SF story. Forget everything you read about virtual reality, artificial life & consciousness - nothing compares to the concepts and the worldbuilding in this book. This is ultimate postcyberpunk ever" - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �"I can say without qualification that Greg Egan is the greatest science fiction author I've ever read" - ŷ reviewer, � � � � ⭐]]> 320 Greg Egan David 4 4.00 1994 Permutation City
author: Greg Egan
name: David
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
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]]> The Best of Greg Egan 57629695
The Best of Greg Egan contains twenty stories and novellas arranged in chronological order, and each of them is a brilliantly conceived, painstakingly developed gem, including the Hugo Award-winning novella “Oceanic�, a powerful account of a boy whose deeply held religious beliefs are undermined by what he comes to learn about the laws of the physical world.
This book really does represent the best of Greg Egan, and it therefore takes its place among the best of contemporary SF. Startling, intelligent and always hugely entertaining, it provides an ideal introduction to one of the most accomplished and original writers working today. This is an important and provocative collection, and it deserves a place on the serious science fiction reader’s permanent shelf.]]> 736 Greg Egan 1473232309 David 4 4.33 2019 The Best of Greg Egan
author: Greg Egan
name: David
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Diaspora: The dark, post-apocalyptic thriller perfect for fans of BLACK MIRROR and Philip K. Dick]]> 19788293 After the extinction of humans, how do you define humanity?Since the Introdus in the twenty-first century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software. Others opted for disposable, renewable robotic bodies that remain in contact with the physical world of force and friction. Many of these have left the solar system forever in fusion-drive starships. And there are the the fleshers left behind in the muck and jungle of Earth-some devolved into dream apes, others cavorting in the seas or the air-while the statics and bridgers try to shape out a roughly human destiny. But the complacency of the citizens is shattered when an unforeseen disaster ravages the fleshers and reveals the possibility that the polises themselves might be at risk from bizarre astrophysical processes that seem to violate fundamental laws of nature. The orphan Yatima, a digital being grown from a mind seed, joins a group of citizens and flesher refugees in a search for the knowledge that will guarantee their safety-a search that puts them on the trail of the ancient and elusive Transmuters, who have the power to reshape subatomic particles, and to cross into the macrocosmos, where the universe we know is nothing but a speck in the higher-dimensional vacuum.Readers are having their minds blown by 'Diaspora is a work of staggering imagination' - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Diaspora is one of the greatest science fiction books I have ever read. Reading it brought into my mind a sense of wonder and of sheer visceral infinity that I hadn't felt for years' - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Absolutely stunning concepts are fired at you every couple of pages . . . Spectacular' - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Egan takes us into areas of multi-dimensional maths and wormhole physics that stretch the readers' minds . . . all told with a clarity and skill that makes Egan one of the finest and most important writers working in SF today' - ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Totally mind-blowing sci-fi. It manages to be plausible but audaciously imaginative' - ŷ reviewer, � � � � ⭐]]> 352 Greg Egan 0575105429 David 5 4.30 1997 Diaspora: The dark, post-apocalyptic thriller perfect for fans of BLACK MIRROR and Philip K. Dick
author: Greg Egan
name: David
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/24
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]]> Hello Beautiful 61771675
But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters� unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?]]> 416 Ann Napolitano David 5 4.14 2023 Hello Beautiful
author: Ann Napolitano
name: David
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters]]> 157984962 Memory is far more than a record of the past—in this groundbreaking tour of the mind and brain, one of the world's top memory researchers reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from learning and decision-making to trauma and healing, and helps us take control of our unconscious mind to live happier, more deliberate lives.A new understanding of memory is emerging from the latest scientific research. In short, the memory is not what we think it is—a repository of the past that we tap into as we wish. It is actually a highly transformative power, active at all times, that shapes our present in often secretive and sometimes destructive ways.We are in many ways creatures of memory and only when we understԻthe mechanisms of memory can we truly understand ourselves and our motivations, and use our knowledge of those mechanisms to our advantage while avoiding their pitfalls. Why We Remember teaches the principles behind memory storage and retrieval and explains how our memories are always changing. It reveals how these processes affect what we think we know about ourselves and how we make decisions. It shows that the real power of psychotherapy isn't to remember what happened, but to change our interpretations of those events, so we can heal and grow.Memory is designed to be selective, meaningful and malleable. When we understand how memory works, we can cut through the clutter and remember the things we want to remember. We can not only remember more—we can remember better.]]> 288 Charan Ranganath 0385675690 David 5 5.00 2024 Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters
author: Charan Ranganath
name: David
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/22
date added: 2024/09/22
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]]> We All Want Impossible Things 60410002 Who knows you better than your best friend? Who knows your secrets, your fears, your desires, your strange imperfect self? Edi and Ash have been best friends for over forty years. Since childhood they have seen each other through life's milestones: stealing vodka from their parents, the Madonna phase, REM concerts, unexpected wakes, marriages, infertility, children. As Ash notes, 'Edi's memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine.'

So when Edi is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ash's world reshapes around the rhythms of Edi's care, from chipped ice and watermelon cubes to music therapy; from snack smuggling to impromptu excursions into the frozen winter night. Because life is about squeezing the joy out of every moment, about building a powerhouse of memories, about learning when to hold on, and when to let go.
]]> 224 Catherine Newman 0063230895 David 4 3.95 2022 We All Want Impossible Things
author: Catherine Newman
name: David
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Orc King (Transitions, #1; The Legend of Drizzt, #20)]]> 8176946 The war against the orcs is far from over in this opening installment of a bold new trilogy in the Legend of Drizzt series

The end of winter is near, and it seems the uneasy peace between the dwarves of Mithral Hall and the orcs of the newly established Kingdom of Many-Arrows will not last long. The orc tribes united under Obould are splintering, with some seeking to establish an alliance with a clan of half ogres-half orcs. Drizzt, too, feels himself torn apart, unsure which of the Companions needs him most: As Catti-brie recovers from a serious injury, Wulfgar mourns the death of his wife. Together, the broken pair leaves Mithral Hall for Silverymoon, hoping to find a trail that leads to Wulfgar’s lost adopted daughter. Meanwhile, Bruenor begins his own desperate search. Determined to end the war that nearly cost him his life and everything he has built, he will stop at nothing until he finds the ancient dwarven city of Gauntlgrym.

But to truly end the war, drastic changes must be made. Powerful individuals on both sides may have to alter the way they see each other—and perhaps even talk to one another—for it will take more than swords and axes to bring a lasting peace to the Spine of the World.

The Orc King is the first book in the Transitions series and the twentieth installment in the Legend of Drizzt series.]]> 420 R.A. Salvatore 0786952644 David 2 4.31 2007 The Orc King (Transitions, #1; The Legend of Drizzt, #20)
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: David
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence]]> 201751520
In Life as No One Knows It, physicist and astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker argues that solving the origin of life requires radical new thinking and an experimentally testable theory for what life is. This is an urgent issue for efforts to make life from scratch in laboratories here on Earth and missions searching for life on other planets.

Walker proposes a new paradigm for understanding what physics encompasses and what we recognize as life. She invites us into a world of maverick scientists working without a map, seeking not just answers but better ways to formulate the biggest questions we have about the universe. The book culminates with the bold proposal of a new theory for identifying and classifying life, one that applies not just to biological life on Earth but to any instance of life in the universe. Rigorous, accessible, and vital, Life as No One Knows It celebrates the mystery of life and the explanatory power of physics.]]> 272 Sara Imari Walker 0593191897 David 3 3.87 Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence
author: Sara Imari Walker
name: David
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe]]> 196834650
In his quest to redefine the “popular� treatment of the biggest ideas in the universe, Sean Carroll is creating a profoundly new approach to physics and math as reviewer after reviewer has attested. Adventuring in the math of fields, he now intrepidly guides readers into the fantastic depths of The Standard Model of particle physics illuminating the mysteries of quantum reality. The universe is made of atoms and Sean Carroll explains exactly what that means and how we know it.]]> 300 Sean Carroll 0593186613 David 2 4.33 Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
author: Sean Carroll
name: David
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2024/08/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life]]> 56019043
In 12 Rules for Life, clinical psychologist and celebrated professor at Harvard and the University of Toronto Dr. Jordan B. Peterson helped millions of readers impose order on the chaos of their lives. Now, in this bold sequel, Peterson delivers twelve more lifesaving principles for resisting the exhausting toll that our desire to order the world inevitably takes.

In a time when the human will increasingly imposes itself over every sphere of life—from our social structures to our emotional states—Peterson warns that too much security is dangerous. What’s more, he offers strategies for overcoming the cultural, scientific, and psychological forces causing us to tend toward tyranny, and teaches us how to rely instead on our instinct to find meaning and purpose, even—and especially—when we find ourselves powerless.

While chaos, in excess, threatens us with instability and anxiety, unchecked order can petrify us into submission. Beyond Order provides a call to balance these two fundamental principles of reality itself, and guides us along the straight and narrow path that divides them.]]> 382 Jordan B. Peterson 0593084640 David 0 to-read 4.14 2021 Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life
author: Jordan B. Peterson
name: David
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence]]> 45182635
A common resolution set at the beginning of a new year is to “get my financial house in order.� But how can you build a house, let alone pour any kind of foundation, without a blueprint? There are dozens of books and blogs trying to push their advice and tell you how to spend and invest your money. And then, there are three suburban dads just trying to make the world a little bit better.

Meet Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa of the award-winning Choose FI podcast and Chris Mamula of the popular blog “Can I Retire Yet?�. They have walked the talk and now want to share their knowledge with you. Together, these three regular guys will show you how they did something extraordinary. They are all financially independent and doing meaningful work that fulfills them. All three left their corporate 9 to 5 jobs and are reaping the benefits of extra time with their families.

Mirroring the format of the popular Choose FI podcast, this book pulls from the collective knowledge of those who have decided to build a lifestyle around their passions instead of allowing their finances to dictate their future. These stories demonstrate universal principles, giving you the opportunity to pick the elements that are the most applicable to your financial situation and “choose your own adventure.�

FI or Financial Independence is the new debt-free and getting back to 0 is just the beginning of a wonderful journey. Whether you have mountains of debt now or are recently debt free and wondering what to do next, Choose FI : Your Blueprint to Financial Independence will give you the information to guide your next move.]]> 334 Chris Mamula 0960058915 David 0 to-read 4.12 2019 Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence
author: Chris Mamula
name: David
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Einstein: His Life and Universe]]> 6602781
Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.

These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.]]> 706 Walter Isaacson 1416539328 David 4 4.31 2007 Einstein: His Life and Universe
author: Walter Isaacson
name: David
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
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]]> Elon Musk 125277346 From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.

His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.

At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,� he said.

It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground.

For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?]]> 670 Walter Isaacson David 5 4.63 2023 Elon Musk
author: Walter Isaacson
name: David
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
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]]> <![CDATA[City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers #1)]]> 65007133
'Endlessly creative... so much invention peeking around every corner' Patrick Ness

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.

What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?

Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood � that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.

Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.

City of Bad Decisions.

City of Last Chances.

'Ilmar is vividly alive with ideas, conflicts, and a sense of its own history � a truly breathtaking fantasy city, down every street a compelling story.' David Towsey
'A master at the height of his powers. This is epic symphonic fantasy, weaving a breakneck plot through a sumptuously dangerous world.' Ian Green
'A wonderful twisty stew of a book with a cast of fascinating characters, set against the brilliantly realized city of Ilmar.' Django Wexler
'A triumph of a wildly imaginative, immediately immersive and hypnotically compelling.' Sharon Emmerichs]]> 545 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1801108455 David 4 4.24 2022 City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/06/09
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]]> The Alice Network 32051912
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the "queen of spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.]]> 503 Kate Quinn 0062654195 David 3 4.30 2017 The Alice Network
author: Kate Quinn
name: David
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/05/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger]]> 157686100 From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, lessons in investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life.“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up,� Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of eleven talks delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007 has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking to absorb the enduring wit and wisdom of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries.Edited by Peter D. Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Glenair and longtime friend of Charlie Munger—whom he calls “this generation’s answer to Benjamin Franklin”—this abridged Stripe Press edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack features a brand-new foreword by Stripe cofounder John Collison. Poor Charlie’s Almanack draws on Munger’s encyclopedic knowledge of business, finance, history, philosophy, physics, and ethics—and more besides—to introduce the latticework of mental models that underpin his rational and rigorous approach to life, learning, and decision-making. Delivered with Munger’s characteristic sharp wit and rhetorical flair, it is an essential volume for any reader seeking to go to bed a little wiser than when they woke up.]]> 433 Charles T. Munger 1953953247 David 4 4.43 2005 Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
author: Charles T. Munger
name: David
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/23
date added: 2024/05/23
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]]> Anathem 7914507 1010 Neal Stephenson David 4 Lots of ideas. Hard to put all together

Explored a lot of interesting ideas but spanning such a long book and told in such a way that I found it hard to really ingest them. Many of the ideas have been more elegantly stated elsewhere. ]]> 4.24 2008 Anathem
author: Neal Stephenson
name: David
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/17
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves:
review:
Lots of ideas. Hard to put all together

Explored a lot of interesting ideas but spanning such a long book and told in such a way that I found it hard to really ingest them. Many of the ideas have been more elegantly stated elsewhere.
]]> <![CDATA[Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout]]> 197773418 Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload.

Our current definition of “productivity� is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers—from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe—Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,� a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for workers to replace them with a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.]]> 244 Cal Newport 0593544854 David 3 3.65 2024 Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
author: Cal Newport
name: David
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes]]> 124941268 AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the author of the international blockbuster, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY, a powerful new tool to unlock one of life’s most challenging puzzles.

Every investment plan under the sun is, at best,an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past.

Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change.

With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners, not by squinting harder through the uncertain landscape of the future, but by looking backwards, being more broad-sighted, and focusing instead on what is permanently true.

By doing so, we may betteranticipate the big stuff, Իachieve the greatest success, not merely financial comforts, but most importantly, a life well lived.]]> 240 Morgan Housel 0593332709 David 2 4.37 2023 Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes
author: Morgan Housel
name: David
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/04
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]]> The Sheltering Desert 506097 328 Henno Martin 0868521507 David 3 4.18 1957 The Sheltering Desert
author: Henno Martin
name: David
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1957
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/27
date added: 2024/03/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)]]> 62226126
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?]]> 421 Richard Osman 0241512441 David 4 4.44 2023 The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)
author: Richard Osman
name: David
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/15
date added: 2024/03/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)]]> 58957615
Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman's bestselling series.]]> 413 Richard Osman 0241512425 David 4 4.32 2022 The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)
author: Richard Osman
name: David
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/07
date added: 2024/03/08
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]]> <![CDATA[The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)]]> 55457493
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?]]> 422 Richard Osman David 4 4.36 2021 The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)
author: Richard Osman
name: David
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/26
date added: 2024/02/26
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]]> <![CDATA[The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)]]> 46000520
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Alternate cover edition can be found here .]]> 382 Richard Osman David 4 3.87 2020 The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)
author: Richard Osman
name: David
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/19
date added: 2024/02/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results]]> 75670358 INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * GLOBE AND MAIL BESTSELLER * TORONTO STAR BESTSELLER

Few things will change your trajectory in life or business as much as learning to think clearly. Yet few of us recognize opportunities to think in the first place.

You might believe you’re thinking clearly in the moments that matter most. But in all likelihood, when the pressure is on, you won’t be thinking at all. And your subsequent actions will inevitably move you further from the results you ultimately seek—love, belonging, success, wealth, victory. According to Farnam Street founder Shane Parrish, we must get better at recognizing these opportunities for what they are, and deploying our cognitive ability in order to achieve the life we want.

Clear Thinking gives you the tools to recognize the moments that have the potential to transform your trajectory, and reshape how you navigate the critical space between stimulus and response. As Parrish shows, we may imagine we are the protagonists in the story of our lives. But the sad truth is, most of us run on autopilot. Our behavioral defaults, groomed by biology, evolution, and culture, are primed to run the show for us if we don’t intervene. At our worst, we react to events without reasoning, not even realizing that we’ve missed an opportunity to think at all. At our best, we recognize these moments for what they are, and apply the full capacity of our reasoning and rationality to them.

Through stories, mental models, and more, Parrish offers the missing link between behavioral science and real-life outcomes. The result is a must-have manual for optimizing decision-making, gaining competitive advantage, and living a more intentional life.]]> 284 Shane Parrish 0735238723 David 0 currently-reading 4.42 2023 Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
author: Shane Parrish
name: David
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/14
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)]]> 45154547 WINNER OF THE 2022 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
Now a USA Today bestseller!
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2021
Amazon's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021
Bookpage's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021
ŷ Choice Awards Nominee for Best Science Fiction Book of 2021

A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to Arkady Martine's genre-reinventing, Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire.

An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options.

In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass—still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire—face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity.

Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan’s destruction—and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion.

Or it might create something far stranger . . .
]]> 496 Arkady Martine 125018648X David 3 4.31 2021 A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)
author: Arkady Martine
name: David
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/14
date added: 2024/01/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime]]> 44065062
Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything.

Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: physics has been in crisis since 1927. Quantum mechanics has always had obvious gaps—which have come to be simply ignored. Science popularizers keep telling us how weird it is, how impossible it is to understand. Academics discourage students from working on the "dead end" of quantum foundations. Putting his professional reputation on the line with this audacious yet entirely reasonable book, Carroll says that the crisis can now come to an end. We just have to accept that there is more than one of us in the universe. There are many, many Sean Carrolls. Many of every one of us.

Copies of you are generated thousands of times per second. The "many worlds theory" of quantum behavior says that every time there is a quantum event, a world splits off with everything in it the same, except in that other world the quantum event didn't happen. Step by step in Carroll's uniquely lucid way, he tackles the major objections to this otherworldly revelation until his case is inescapably established.

Rarely does a book so fully reorganize how we think about our place in the universe. We are on the threshold of a new understanding—of where we are in the cosmos, and what we are made of.]]> 347 Sean Carroll 1524743011 David 4 4.06 2019 Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
author: Sean Carroll
name: David
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/18
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]]> A Farewell to Arms 10799 A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield - the weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote his ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right.]]> 293 Ernest Hemingway 0099910101 David 3 3.83 1929 A Farewell to Arms
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: David
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1929
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/06
date added: 2023/12/06
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]]> The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 David 5 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: David
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/21
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]]> Dracula 17245 You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here.

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

Criticism collects seven theoretical interpretations of Dracula by Phyllis A. Roth, Carol A. Senf, Franco Moretti, Christopher Craft, Bram Dijkstra, Stephen D. Arata, and Talia Schaffer.

A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are included.]]> 488 Bram Stoker 0393970124 David 5 4.02 1897 Dracula
author: Bram Stoker
name: David
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1897
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/18
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]]> Frankenstein: The 1818 Text 35031085 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780143131847.

Mary Shelley's seminal novel of the scientist whose creation becomes a monster.

This edition is the original 1818 text, which preserves the hard-hitting and politically charged aspects of Shelley's original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by author and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.]]> 260 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 0143131842 David 5 4.02 1818 Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: David
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1818
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/12
date added: 2023/11/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility]]> 189989 Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life, the games we play in business and politics, in the bedroom and on the battlefied -- games with winners and losers, a beginning and an end. Infinite games are more mysterious -- and ultimately more rewarding. They are unscripted and unpredictable; they are the source of true freedom.
In this elegant and compelling work, James Carse explores what these games mean, and what they can mean to you. He offers stunning new insights into the nature of property and power, of culture and community, of sexuality and self-discovery, opening the door to a world of infinite delight and possibility.
"An extraordinary little book . . . a wise and intimate companion, an elegant reminder of the real."
-- Brain/Mind Bulletin]]> 180 James P. Carse 0345341848 David 0 to-read 3.72 1986 Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility
author: James P. Carse
name: David
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/09
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]]> The Picture of Dorian Gray 5297
In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.]]> 272 Oscar Wilde David 3 4.13 1890 The Picture of Dorian Gray
author: Oscar Wilde
name: David
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1890
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/08
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]]> <![CDATA[A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)]]> 39873472
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure.]]> 472 Arkady Martine 1250186455 David 3 4.27 2019 A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)
author: Arkady Martine
name: David
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/30
date added: 2023/10/30
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]]> Fight Night 56978048 The beloved author of bestsellersWomen Talking,A Complicated Kindness, ԻAll My Puny Sorrowsreturns with a funny, smart, headlong rush of a novel full of wit, flawless writing, and a tribute to perseverance and love in an unusual family.

Fight Nightis told in the unforgettable voice of Swiv, a nine-year-old living in Toronto with her pregnant mother, who is raising Swiv while caring for her own elderly, frail, yet extraordinarily lively mother. When Swiv is expelled from school, Grandma takes on the role of teacher and gives her the task of writing to Swiv's absent father about life in the household during the last trimester of the pregnancy. In turn, Swiv gives Grandma an assignment: to write a letter to "Gord," her unborn grandchild (and Swiv's soon-to-be brother or sister). "You’re a small thing," Grandma writes to Gord, "and you must learn to fight."

As Swiv records her thoughts and observations,Fight Nightunspools the pain, love, laughter, and above all, will to live a good life across three generations of women in a close-knit family. But it is Swiv’s exasperating, wise and irrepressible Grandma who is at the heart of this novel: someone who knows intimately what it costs to survive in this world, yet has found a way—painfully, joyously, ferociously—to love and fight to the end, on her own terms.]]> 255 Miriam Toews 1635578175 David 5 4.02 2021 Fight Night
author: Miriam Toews
name: David
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2023/10/10
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]]> The Ministry for the Future 51342031 The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this extraordinary novel from visionary science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson will change the way you think about the climate crisis.]]> 577 Kim Stanley Robinson David 2 4.03 2020 The Ministry for the Future
author: Kim Stanley Robinson
name: David
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2023/09/28
date added: 2023/09/28
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]]> The Whispers 63222079
The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys' best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the quiet, elderly Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability, and who pass the long days on the front porch, watching their neighbors go about their busy lives.

The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of the women in each family as they are forced to face the secrets within the walls of their own homes, and the uncomfortable truths that connect them all to one another. Set against the heartwrenching drama of what will happen to Xavier, who hangs between death and life, or a life changed forever, THE WHISPERS is a novel about what happens when we put our needs ahead of our children's. Exploring the quiet sacrifices of motherhood, the intuitions that we silence, the complexities of our closest friendships, and the danger of envy, this is a novel about the reverberations of life's most difficult decisions.]]> 336 Ashley Audrain 1984881698 David 5 3.78 2023 The Whispers
author: Ashley Audrain
name: David
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity]]> 61222788 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert

“One of the most important books you’ll ever read.”—Steven D. Levitt, New York Times bestselling author of Freakonomics

Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.

For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of aging that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late to help, prolonging lifespan at the expense of healthspan, or quality of life. Dr. Attia believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalized, proactive strategy for longevity, one where we take action now, rather than waiting.

This is not “biohacking,� it’s science: a well-founded strategic and tactical approach to extending lifespan while also improving our physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Dr. Attia’s aim is less to tell you what to do and more to help you learn how to think about long-term health, in order to create the best plan for you as an individual. In Outlive, readers will discover:

� Why the cholesterol test at your annual physical doesn’t tell you enough about your actual risk of dying from a heart attack.
� That you may already suffer from an extremely common yet underdiagnosed liver condition that could be a precursor to the chronic diseases of aging.
� Why exercise is the most potent pro-longevity “drug”—and how to begin training for the “Centenarian Decathlon.�
� Why you should forget about diets, and focus instead on nutritional biochemistry, using technology and data to personalize your eating pattern.
� Why striving for physical health and longevity, but ignoring emotional health, could be the ultimate curse of all.

Aging and longevity are far more malleable than we think; our fate is not set in stone. With the right roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.]]> 478 Peter Attia 0593236602 David 4 4.48 2023 Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
author: Peter Attia
name: David
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/26
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]]> Demon Copperhead 60317128 Demon Copperhead is set in the mountains of southern Appalachia. It's the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 550 Barbara Kingsolver David 5 4.58 2022 Demon Copperhead
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: David
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2022
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture, #3)]]> 63055241 The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us the third and finalnovel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.


Lords of Uncreationis the final high-octane installment in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture space opera trilogy.


The Final Architecture
Shards of Earth
Eyes of the Void
Lords of Uncreation]]> 588 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1529052017 David 3 4.48 2023 Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture, #3)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2023
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture, #2)]]> 59573814 What waits in the shadows as we fight our greatest foe?

After one great battle, the Architects disappeared. Yet humanity’s fragile peace is brief. For, forty years later, the galaxy’s greatest alien enemy has returned. This time, the artefacts that preserved entire worlds from destruction are ineffective. And no planet is safe.

The Human Colony worlds are in turmoil as they face extinction. Some believe alliances with other species can save them. Others insist humanity must fight alone. But no one has the firepower or technology to ensure victory, as the Architects loom ever closer.

Idris spent decades running from the last war’s horrors. Yet as an Intermediary, altered to navigate deep space, he’s one of humanity’s only weapons. He’s therefore forced back into action. With a handful of allies, Idris must find something � anything � to stop the Architects� pitiless advance. But to do so, he must return to the nightmare of unspace, where his mind was broken and remade. What he discovers there will change everything.]]> 596 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1529051967 David 3 4.32 2022 Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture, #2)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/16
date added: 2023/07/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)]]> 56616571 From the author of the thrilling science-fiction epic Children of Time, winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award.

'One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction' � Christopher Paolini

Shards of Earth is the first high-octane instalment in the Final Architecture trilogy.

The war is over.
Its heroes forgotten.
Until one chance discovery . . .

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans ­such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects� simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects � but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.


Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky:

'Enthralling, epic, immersive and hugely intelligent' � Stephen Baxter on Shards of Earth

'He writes incredibly enjoyable sci-fi, full of life and ideas' � Patrick Ness

‘Brilliant science fiction� � James McAvoy on Children of Time]]> 558 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1529051916 David 4 4.40 2021 Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 4
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]]> Aurora 23197269 Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers.

Our voyage from Earth began generations ago.
Now, we approach our new home.
AURORA.]]> 466 Kim Stanley Robinson 0316098108 David 0 to-read 3.76 2015 Aurora
author: Kim Stanley Robinson
name: David
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Children of Memory (Children of Time, #3)]]> 60850767
Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.

Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology � and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.

Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.]]> 486 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1529087201 David 5 3.97 2022 Children of Memory (Children of Time, #3)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/24
date added: 2023/05/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2)]]> 42891826 'My most anticipated book of the year' - Peter F. Hamilton, Britain's no.1 science fiction writerChildren of Ruin follows Adrian Tchaikovsky's extraordinary Children of Time, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award. It is set in the same universe, with new characters and a thrilling narrative.It has been waiting through the ages. Now it's time . . .Thousands of years ago, Earth’s terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life � but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth. Then humanity’s great empire fell, and the program’s decisions were lost to time.Aeons later, humanity and its new spider allies detected fragmentary radio signals between the stars. They dispatched an exploration vessel, hoping to find cousins from old Earth.But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed.And it’s been waiting for them.'Books like this are why we read science fiction' - Ian McDonald, author of the Luna seriesAll underpinned by great ideas. And it is crisply modern - but with the sensibility of classic science fiction'Stephen Baxter, author of the Long Earth series (with Terry Pratchett)]]> 576 Adrian Tchaikovsky David 4 4.16 2019 Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/16
date added: 2023/05/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)]]> 25563522 Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel.

Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed, stand-alone novel Children of Time, is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age � a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

"Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human." - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.]]> 609 Adrian Tchaikovsky David 5 4.37 2015 Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: David
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/02
date added: 2023/05/02
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]]> The Book Thief 19063 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)]]> 592 Markus Zusak David 3 4.38 2005 The Book Thief
author: Markus Zusak
name: David
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/28
date added: 2023/03/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing]]> 22318578 Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

]]> 213 Marie Kondō 1607747308 David 2 3.88 2010 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
author: Marie Kondō
name: David
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2023/03/07
date added: 2023/03/07
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]]> The Diamond Eye 58490567 The New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history's deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kyiv, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son--but Hitler's invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper--a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.

Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC--until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila's past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.

Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.]]> 435 Kate Quinn 0062943510 David 5 4.26 2022 The Diamond Eye
author: Kate Quinn
name: David
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/05
date added: 2023/03/05
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]]> The Candy House 58939642 From one of the most dazzling and iconic writers of our time and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, an electrifying, deeply moving novel about the quest for authenticity, privacy, and meaning in a world where our memories are no longer our own—featuring characters from A Visit from the Goon Squad.

It’s 2010. Staggeringly successful and brilliant tech entrepreneur Bix Bouton is desperate for a new idea. He’s forty, with four kids, and restless when he stumbles into a conversation with mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing� memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, Own Your Unconscious—that allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share every memory in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes. But not everyone.

In spellbinding linked narratives, Egan spins out the consequences of Own Your Unconscious through the lives of multiple characters whose paths intersect over several decades. Egan introduces these characters in an astonishing array of styles—from omniscient to first person plural to a duet of voices, an epistolary chapter, and a chapter of tweets. In the world of Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters� who track and exploit desires and there are “eluders,� those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House.

Intellectually dazzling and extraordinarily moving, The Candy House is a bold, brilliant imagining of a world that is moments away. With a focus on social media, gaming, and alternate worlds, you can almost experience moving among dimensions in a role-playing game.� Egan takes her “deeply intuitive forays into the darker aspects of our technology-driven, image-saturated culture� (Vogue) to stunning new heights and delivers a fierce and exhilarating testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for real connection, love, family, privacy and redemption.]]> 342 Jennifer Egan 1476716781 David 4 3.80 2022 The Candy House
author: Jennifer Egan
name: David
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/24
date added: 2023/02/25
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]]> A Visit from the Goon Squad 8519525 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist
A New York Times Book Review Best Book

One of the Best Books of the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The Daily Beast, The Miami Herald, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Newsday, NPR's On Point, O, the Oprah Magazine, People, Publishers Weekly, Salon, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Slate, Time, The Washington Post, and Village Voice

Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.




]]> 337 Jennifer Egan David 4 3.75 2010 A Visit from the Goon Squad
author: Jennifer Egan
name: David
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/12
date added: 2023/02/12
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]]> Lucy by the Sea (Amgash, #4) 60673295
Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we're apart--the pain of a beloved daughter's suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love.]]> 291 Elizabeth Strout 0593446070 David 2 4.15 2022 Lucy by the Sea (Amgash, #4)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: David
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/01/26
date added: 2023/01/26
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]]> Atlas Shrugged 49691557 This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators?

Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world’s motor � and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life � from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy � to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction � to the philosopher who becomes a pirate � to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph � to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad � to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels.

You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions.

This is a mystery story, not about the murder � and rebirth � of man’s spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.]]> 1188 Ayn Rand David 4 4.26 1957 Atlas Shrugged
author: Ayn Rand
name: David
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1957
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/19
date added: 2023/01/19
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World]]> 40672036
In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives.

Digital minimalists are all around us. They're the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don't feel overwhelmed by it. They don't experience "fear of missing out" because they already know which activities provide them meaning and satisfaction.

Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Common sense tips, like turning off notifications, or occasional rituals like observing a digital sabbath, don't go far enough in helping us take back control of our technological lives, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need instead is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes, and under what conditions.

Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. He shows how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day "digital declutter" process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control.

Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.]]> 302 Cal Newport 052553654X David 4 4.06 2019 Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
author: Cal Newport
name: David
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/11
date added: 2022/12/11
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]]> The Midnight Library 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 David 3 3.96 2020 The Midnight Library
author: Matt Haig
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/02
date added: 2022/12/02
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]]> Into the Wild 1845 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.]]> 207 Jon Krakauer 0385486804 David 3 4.01 1996 Into the Wild
author: Jon Krakauer
name: David
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/11/21
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]]> In Cold Blood 168642
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.]]> 343 Truman Capote 0679745580 David 3 4.08 1966 In Cold Blood
author: Truman Capote
name: David
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1966
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/11/21
shelves:
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]]> Daughters of the Deer 58433168 Marie, an Algonquin woman of the Weskarini Deer Clan, lost her first husband and her children to an Iroquois raid. In the aftermath of another lethal attack, her chief begs her to remarry for the sake of the clan. Marie is a healer who honours the ways of her people, and Pierre, the green-eyed ex-soldier from France who wants her for his bride, is not the man she would choose. But her people are dwindling, wracked by white men's diseases and nearly starving every winter as the game retreats away from the white settlements. If her chief believes such a marriage will cement their alliance with the French against the Iroquois and the British, she feels she has no choice. Though she does it reluctantly, and with some fear--Marie is trading the memory of the man she loved for a man she doesn't understand at all, and whose devout Catholicism blinds him to the ways of her people.

This beautiful, powerful novel brings to life women who have literally fallen through the cracks of settler histories. Especially Jeanne, the first child born of the new marriage, neither white nor Weskarini, but caught between worlds. As she reaches adolescence, it becomes clear she is two-spirited. In her mother's culture, she would have been considered blessed, her nature a sign of special wisdom. But to the settlers of New France, and even to her own father, Jeanne is unnatural, sinful--a woman to be shunned, and worse.

And so, with the poignant story of Jeanne, Danielle Daniel imagines her way into the heart and mind of a woman at the origin of the long history of violence against Indigenous women and the deliberate, equally violent, disruption of First Nations culture--opening a door long jammed shut, so all of us can enter.]]> 327 Danielle Daniel 0735282080 David 5 4.43 2022 Daughters of the Deer
author: Danielle Daniel
name: David
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/20
date added: 2022/11/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3)]]> 25735618
� The War of the Worlds for the 21st century� packed with a sense of wonder.� � Wall Street Journal

The New York Times bestselling conclusion to a tour de force near-future adventure trilogy from China's bestselling and beloved science fiction writer.

With The Three-Body Problem , English-speaking readers got their first chance to read China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu. The Three-Body Problem was released to great acclaim including coverage in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and reading list picks by Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg . It was also won the Hugo and Nebula Awards, making it the first translated novel to win a major SF award.

Now this epic trilogy concludes with Death's End . Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay. Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge. With human science advancing daily and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations will soon be able to co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation. But the peace has also made humanity complacent.

Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the early twenty-first century, awakens from hibernation in this new age. She brings with her knowledge of a long-forgotten program dating from the beginning of the Trisolar Crisis, and her very presence may upset the delicate balance between two worlds. Will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?

The Remembrance of Earth's Past series:
The Three-Body Problem
The Dark Forest
Death's End

Other books:
Ball Lightning
Supernova Era
To Hold Up The Sky (forthcoming)

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 605 Liu Cixin David 5 4.51 2010 Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3)
author: Liu Cixin
name: David
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/06
date added: 2022/11/06
shelves:
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So impressed. The author tackles so many different physics concepts and manages to expand them so far AND turn it all into an interesting story.
]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)]]> 24375664 This near-future trilogy is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multiple-award-winning phenomenon from Cixin Liu, China's most beloved science fiction author.

In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion-in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.]]> 513 Liu Cixin David 5 4.47 2008 The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)
author: Liu Cixin
name: David
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/18
date added: 2022/10/18
shelves:
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]]> 2312 11830394
The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.]]> 561 Kim Stanley Robinson 0316098124 David 0 to-read 3.50 2012 2312
author: Kim Stanley Robinson
name: David
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sea of Tranquility 58653822 From the #1 bestselling author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize-shortlisted The Glass Hotel and the internationally bestselling Station Eleven comes a new novel of dazzling imagination

In this captivating tale of imagination and ambition, a seemingly disparate array of people come into contact with a time traveller who must resist the pull to change the past and the future. The cast includes a British exile on the West coast of Canada in the early 1900s; the author of a bestselling novel about a fictional pandemic who embarks on a galaxy-spanning book tour during the outbreak of an actual pandemic; a resident of a moon colony almost 300 years in the future; and a lonely girl who films an old-growth forest and experiences a disruption in the recording. Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, Emily St. John Mandel's dazzling story follows these engrossing characters across space and time as their lives ultimately intersect.

Sea of Tranquility is a breathtaking and wondrous examination of the ties that bind us together, by a master storyteller.]]> 217 Emily St. John Mandel 1443466115 David 4 4.13 2022 Sea of Tranquility
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: David
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/16
date added: 2022/09/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2)]]> 10429950 Hyperion, Simmons returns us to a far future resplendent with drama and invention. On the world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing—nothing anywhere in the universe—will ever be the same.]]> 676 Dan Simmons David 3
]]> 4.33 1990 The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2)
author: Dan Simmons
name: David
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/12
date added: 2022/09/12
shelves:
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I loved the first Hyperion book - the lyrical style; the weaving stories; the interesting sci-fi technology and societies. The Fall of Hyperion was alright, but didn't capture the magic of the first for me. May be partially a reader-book mismatch as I'm more into the 'sci' than the 'fi' normally. Felt a bit long, and I didn't feel that things came together in a satisfying way.


]]> <![CDATA[Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)]]> 45064996 A stunning tour de force filled with transcendent awe and wonder, Hyperion is a masterwork of science fiction that resonates with excitement and invention, the first volume in a remarkable epic by the multiple-award-winning author of The Hollow Man.

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the reach of galactic law, waits a creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.

On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.]]> 483 Dan Simmons David 5
The overall writing style is a pleasure to read. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it just feels good to read the words. Must some combination of an engaging and unexpected plot, brilliant descriptions and good pacing.

Simmons also has some interesting treatment of physics phenomena that other science fictions writers gloss over - things like time dilation, entropy.

Worth a re-read.]]> 4.38 1989 Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
author: Dan Simmons
name: David
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/27
date added: 2022/08/28
shelves:
review:
So impressed. Simmons masterfully weaves together several stories, each in a different style. These are shared as reflections from each of the main characters which all come together to support the central plot.

The overall writing style is a pleasure to read. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it just feels good to read the words. Must some combination of an engaging and unexpected plot, brilliant descriptions and good pacing.

Simmons also has some interesting treatment of physics phenomena that other science fictions writers gloss over - things like time dilation, entropy.

Worth a re-read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Network State: How To Start a New Country]]> 60643059
This book introduces the concept of the network state: a country you can start from your computer, a state that recruits like a startup, a nation built from the internet rather than disrupted by it.

The fundamental concept behind the network state is to assemble a digital community and organize it to crowdfund physical territory. But that territory is not in one place � it’s spread around the world, fully decentralized, hooked together by the internet for a common cause, much like Google’s offices or Bitcoin’s miners. And because every citizen has opted in, it’s a model for 100% democracy rather than the minimum threshold of consent modeled by 51% democracies.

Of course, there are countless questions that need to be answered to build something of this scope. How does a network state work socially, technically, logistically, legally, physically, financially? How could such a thing even be viable?

This book attempts to answer these questions.]]> 262 Balaji S. Srinivasan David 3 Powerful concept. Mediocre writing

5/5 for the concepts
3/5 for the writing

The concept of a network state at this stage in human history is a so interesting. It is clear that the trajectory of major players like the US and China are undesirable and the network state is an interesting/promising third option. The author(s) provide good arguments, evidence and examples. However, the book could be 1/3 as long and lose no substance, as there is a lot of repetition and Balaji likes to follow tangents.

]]> 3.96 The Network State: How To Start a New Country
author: Balaji S. Srinivasan
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/03
date added: 2022/08/03
shelves:
review:
Powerful concept. Mediocre writing

5/5 for the concepts
3/5 for the writing

The concept of a network state at this stage in human history is a so interesting. It is clear that the trajectory of major players like the US and China are undesirable and the network state is an interesting/promising third option. The author(s) provide good arguments, evidence and examples. However, the book could be 1/3 as long and lose no substance, as there is a lot of repetition and Balaji likes to follow tangents.


]]> Seveneves 22826126
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain...

Five thousand years later, their progeny -- seven distinct races now three billion strong -- embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown ... to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth.]]> 867 Neal Stephenson 0062190377 David 5 3.94 2015 Seveneves
author: Neal Stephenson
name: David
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/29
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I'm just learning of the hard science fiction genre with this one and The Three Body Problem. Loooove it. I am so impressed with how Stephenson could weave together the technical details and a compelling narrative.
]]> Animal Farm / 1984 5472 This edition features George Orwell’s best-known novels�1984 and Animal Farm—with an introduction by Christopher Hitchens.

In 1984, London is a grim city where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith joins a secret revolutionary organisation called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

Animal Farm is Orwell’s classic satire of the Russian Revolution - an account of the bold struggle, initiated by the animals, that transforms Mr. Jones’s Manor Farm into Animal Farm - a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. But are they? AUTHOR: George Orwell (1903-1950) was born in India and served with the Imperial Police in Burma before joining the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell was the author of six novels as well as numerous essays and nonfiction works.]]> 400 George Orwell David 4 4.29 1949 Animal Farm / 1984
author: George Orwell
name: David
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1949
rating: 4
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date added: 2022/05/21
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]]> The Alchemist 18144590 The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.]]> 182 Paulo Coelho 0062315005 David 2 4.01 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: David
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1988
rating: 2
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date added: 2022/05/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited]]> 5479 Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley's vision of the future--of a world utterly transformed. Through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, people are genetically designed to be passive and therefore consistently useful to the ruling class. This powerful work of speculative fiction sheds a blazing critical light on the present and is considered to be Aldous Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.

The non-fiction work Brave New World Revisited, published in 1958, is a fascinating work in which Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy envisioned in Brave New World, including the threats to humanity, such as over-population, propaganda, and chemical persuasion.]]> 340 Aldous Huxley 0060776099 David 3 4.17 1958 Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited
author: Aldous Huxley
name: David
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1958
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/05/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]]> 12609433
Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year.

An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees—how they approach worker safety—and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones.

What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.

They succeeded by transforming habits.

In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.

Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation’s largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death.

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work.

Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.]]> 375 Charles Duhigg 1400069289 David 3 4.13 2012 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
author: Charles Duhigg
name: David
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2017/09/23
date added: 2022/05/18
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]]> Lying 18869177 83 Sam Harris David 4 3.88 2011 Lying
author: Sam Harris
name: David
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2019/05/15
date added: 2022/05/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)]]> 20518872 472 Liu Cixin David 5 4.08 2006 The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
author: Liu Cixin
name: David
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/18
date added: 2022/05/18
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]]> Beatrice and Virgil 7176578 213 Yann Martel 1400069262 David 3 3.16 2010 Beatrice and Virgil
author: Yann Martel
name: David
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself]]> 26150770
In short chapters filled with intriguing historical anecdotes, personal asides, and rigorous exposition, readers learn the difference between how the world works at the quantum level, the cosmic level, and the human level--and then how each connects to the other. Carroll's presentation of the principles that have guided the scientific revolution from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness, and the universe is dazzlingly unique.

Carroll shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us. Our lives are dwarfed like never before by the immensity of space and time, but they are redeemed by our capacity to comprehend it and give it meaning.

The Big Picture is an unprecedented scientific worldview, a tour de force that will sit on shelves alongside the works of Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Daniel Dennett, and E. O. Wilson for years to come.]]> 480 Sean Carroll 0525954821 David 4 4.18 2016 The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
author: Sean Carroll
name: David
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/11
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness]]> 54898389 244 Eric Jorgenson David 0 4.40 2020 The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
author: Eric Jorgenson
name: David
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/09
shelves: started-never-finished, to-read
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]]> Project Hail Mary 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 David 5 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: David
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/11
date added: 2022/05/02
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]]> I, Robot (Robot, #0.1) 41804
I, ROBOT

They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on perhaps its greatest adventure: the invention of the first positronic man. It was a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities—and unforeseen risks. For the scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should ' remain programmed helpers, companions, and semisentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves; aware of their own intelligence, power, and humanity, aren't either.

As humans and robots struggle to survive together—and sometimes against each other—on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligences that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity obsolete?

In l, Robot Isaac Asimov changes forever our perception of robots, and human beings and updates the timeless myth of man's dream to play god. with all its rewards—and terrors.
--front flap]]> 224 Isaac Asimov 0553803700 David 3 4.22 1950 I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: David
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1950
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/31
date added: 2022/03/31
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]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

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

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

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

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 David 3 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: David
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/19
date added: 2022/03/19
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]]> Termination Shock 57094295 A visionary technothriller about climate change.

Neal Stephenson's sweeping, prescient new novel transports readers to a near-future world where the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish troposphere of superstorms, rising sea levels, global flooding, merciless heat waves, and virulent, deadly pandemics.

One man has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as "elemental." But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied?

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the question: Might the cure be worse than the disease?]]> 708 Neal Stephenson 0063028050 David 3 3.68 2021 Termination Shock
author: Neal Stephenson
name: David
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age]]> 82256
The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.

Few observers of the late twentieth century have their fingers so presciently on the pulse of the global political and economic realignment ushering in the new millennium as do James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. Their bold prediction of disaster on Wall Street in Blood in the Streets was borne out by Black Tuesday. In their ensuing bestseller, The Great Reckoning, published just weeks before the coup attempt against Gorbachev, they analyzed the pending collapse of the Soviet Union and foretold the civil war in Yugoslavia and other events that have proved to be among the most searing developments of the past few years.

In The Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg explore the greatest economic and political transition in centuries—the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. This transition, which they have termed "the fourth stage of human society," will liberate individuals as never before, irrevocably altering the power of government. This outstanding book will replace false hopes and fictions with new understanding and clarified values.]]> 448 James Dale Davidson 0684832720 David 3 4.20 1997 The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
author: James Dale Davidson
name: David
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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date added: 2022/01/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)]]> 386162
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!]]> 193 Douglas Adams David 2 4.28 1979 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
author: Douglas Adams
name: David
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1979
rating: 2
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]]> The 4-Hour Workweek 368593
Join Tim Ferriss as he teaches you:
- How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want?
- How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs?
- How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist?
- How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and freuent "mini-retirements"?
- What the crucial difference is between absolute and relative income?
- How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it's beyond repair?
- What automated cash-flow "muses" are and how to create one in 2 to 4 weeks?
- How to cultivate selective ignorance-and create time-with a low-information diet?
- What the management secrets of Remote Control CEOs are?
- How to get free housing worldwide and airfare at 50-80% off?
- How to fill the void and create a meaningful life after removing work and the office]]> 308 Timothy Ferriss 0307353133 David 4 3.93 2007 The 4-Hour Workweek
author: Timothy Ferriss
name: David
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Tribe Of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World]]> 36200111 Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, shares the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book--a compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from 130+ of the world's top performers. From iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors, their short profiles can help you answer life's most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results, and transform your life.

From the

In 2017, several of my close friends died in rapid succession. It was a very hard year, as it was for many people.

It was also a stark reminder that time is our scarcest, non-renewable resource.

With a renewed sense of urgency, I began asking myself many

Were my goals my own, or simply what I thought I should want?
How much of life had I missed from underplanning or overplanning?
How could I be kinder to myself?
How could I better say "no" to the trivial many to better say "yes" to the critical few?
How could I best reassess my priorities and my purpose in this world?

To find answers, I reached out to the most impressive world-class performers in the world, ranging from wunderkinds in their 20s to icons in their 70s and 80s. No stone was left unturned.

This book contains their answers--practical and tactical advice from mentors who have found solutions. Whether you want to 10x your results, get unstuck, or reinvent yourself, someone else has traveled a similar path and taken notes.

This book, Tribe of Mentors, includes many of the people I grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. Less than 10% have been on my podcast (The Tim Ferriss Show, more than 200 million downloads), making this a brand-new playbook of playbooks.

No matter your challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help.

Among other things, you will

- More than 50 morning routines--both for the early riser and those who struggle to get out of bed.
- How TED curator Chris Anderson realized that the best way to get things done is to let go.
- The best purchases of $100 or less (you'll never have to think about the right gift again).
- How to overcome failure and bounce back towards success.
- Why Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton believes that the best art will always be the riskiest.
- How to meditate and be more mindful (and not just for those that find it easy).
- Why tennis champion Maria Sharapova believe that "losing makes you think in ways victories can't."
- How to truly achieve work-life balance (and why most people tell you it isn't realistic).
- How billionaire Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz transformed the way he engages with difficult situations to reduce suffering.
- Ways to thrive (and survive) the overwhelming amount of information you process every day.
- How to achieve clarity on your purpose and assess your priorities.
- And much more.

This reference book, which I wrote for myself, has already changed my life. I certainly hope the same for you.

I wish you luck as you forge your own path.

All the best,

Tim Ferriss]]> 561 Timothy Ferriss 132899497X David 0 to-read 4.05 2017 Tribe Of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
author: Timothy Ferriss
name: David
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves]]> 7776209
Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization—which started more than 100,000 years ago—has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair.

This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.]]> 448 Matt Ridley 006145205X David 3 3.94 2010 The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
author: Matt Ridley
name: David
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/11/10
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]]> Snow Crash 40651883 Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous� you'll recognize it immediately.]]> 559 Neal Stephenson David 4 4.02 1992 Snow Crash
author: Neal Stephenson
name: David
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/12
date added: 2021/10/12
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]]> Dune Messiah (Dune #2) 44492285
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known--and feared--as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne--and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.

And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 336 Frank Herbert 0593098234 David 3 3.89 1969 Dune Messiah (Dune #2)
author: Frank Herbert
name: David
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/12
date added: 2021/08/27
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]]> Children of Dune (Dune #3) 44492286
The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, disappeared in the desert wastelands of Arrakis nine years ago. Like their father, the twins possess supernormal abilities--making them valuable to their manipulative aunt Alia, who rules the Empire in the name of House Atreides.

Facing treason and rebellion on two fronts, Alia's rule is not absolute. The displaced House Corrino is plotting to regain the throne while the fanatical Fremen are being provoked into open revolt by the enigmatic figure known only as The Preacher. Alia believes that by obtaining the secrets of the twins' prophetic visions, she can maintain control over her dynasty.

But Leto and Ghanima have their own plans for their visions--and their destinies....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 609 Frank Herbert 0593098242 David 4 3.96 1976 Children of Dune (Dune #3)
author: Frank Herbert
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/12
date added: 2021/08/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World]]> 10483171
In our search for truth, how far have we advanced? This uniquely human quest for good explanations has driven amazing improvements in everything from scientific understanding and technology to politics, moral values and human welfare. But will progress end, either in catastrophe or completion - or will it continue infinitely?

In this profound and seminal book, David Deutsch explores the furthest reaches of our current understanding, taking in the Infinity Hotel, supernovae and the nature of optimism, to instill in all of us a wonder at what we have achieved - and the fact that this is only the beginning of humanity's infinite possibility.

'This is Deutsch at his most ambitious, seeking to understand the implications of our scientific explanations of the world ... I enthusiastically recommend this rich, wide-ranging and elegantly written exposition of the unique insights of one of our most original intellectuals' Michael Berry, Times Higher Education Supplement

'Bold ... profound ... provocative and persuasive' Economist

'David Deutsch may well go down in history as one of the great scientists of our age' Scotsman]]> 487 David Deutsch 0670022756 David 5 4.16 2011 The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
author: David Deutsch
name: David
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications]]> 177068 390 David Deutsch 014027541X David 4 4.12 1996 The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications
author: David Deutsch
name: David
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/23
date added: 2021/07/23
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]]> The Book of Longings 48739558 "I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus." So begins the new novel from the number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings, an extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny in a time of great despair and great hope.

In her fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family in Sepphoris with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, a relentless seeker with a brilliant, curious mind and a daring spirit. She yearns for a pursuit worthy of her life, but finds no outlet for her considerable talents. Defying the expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about neglected and silenced women. When she meets the eighteen-year-old Jesus, each is drawn to and enriched by the other's spiritual and philosophical ideas. He becomes a floodgate for her intellect, but also the awakener of her heart.

Their marriage unfolds with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, James and Simon, and their mother, Mary. Here, Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to the Roman occupation of Israel, partially led by her charismatic adopted brother, Judas. She is sustained by her indomitable aunt Yaltha, who is searching for her long-lost daughter, as well as by other women, including her friend Tabitha, who is sold into slavery after she was raped, and Phasaelis, the shrewd wife of Herod Antipas. Ana's impetuous streak occasionally invites danger. When one such foray forces her to flee Nazareth for her safety shortly before Jesus's public ministry begins, she makes her way with Yaltha to Alexandria, where she eventually finds refuge and purpose in unexpected surroundings.

Grounded in meticulous historical research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus's life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring account of one woman's bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her.]]> 432 Sue Monk Kidd David 5 4.34 2020 The Book of Longings
author: Sue Monk Kidd
name: David
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/06/30
date added: 2021/06/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization]]> 49625550 A bold reimagining of Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs--and new insights for realizing your full potential and living your most creative, fulfilled, and connected life.

When psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman first discovered Maslow's unfinished theory of transcendence, sprinkled throughout a cache of unpublished journals, lectures, and essays, he felt a deep resonance with his own work and life. In this groundbreaking book, Kaufman picks up where Maslow left off, unraveling the mysteries of his unfinished theory, and integrating these ideas with the latest research on attachment, connection, creativity, love, purpose and other building blocks of a life well lived.

Kaufman's new hierarchy of needs provides a roadmap for finding purpose and fulfillment--not by striving for money, success, or happiness, but by becoming the best version of ourselves, or what Maslow called self-actualization. While self-actualization is often thought of as a purely individual pursuit, Maslow believed that the full realization of potential requires a merging between self and the world. We don't have to choose either self-development or self-sacrifice, but at the highest level of human potential we show a deep integration of both. Transcend reveals this level of human potential that connects us not only to our highest creative potential, but also to one another.

With never-before-published insights and new research findings, along with exercises and opportunities to gain insight into your own unique personality, this empowering book is a manual for self-analysis and nurturing a deeper connection not only with our highest potential but also with the rest of humanity.]]> 432 Scott Barry Kaufman 0143131206 David 5 4.12 2020 Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization
author: Scott Barry Kaufman
name: David
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/10/10
date added: 2020/12/10
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]]> Principles: Life and Work 34536488 Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.

In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.� It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success.

In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth� and “radical transparency,� include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards� for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.

Here is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.]]> 16 Ray Dalio 1508243247 David 4 4.09 2017 Principles: Life and Work
author: Ray Dalio
name: David
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/30
date added: 2020/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 6149 Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.]]> 325 Toni Morrison David 0 3.96 1987 Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
author: Toni Morrison
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/30
shelves: started-never-finished, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[At Home: A Short History of Private Life]]> 7507825
Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.� The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has figured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.
(front flap)]]> 497 Bill Bryson 0767919386 David 3 3.98 2010 At Home: A Short History of Private Life
author: Bill Bryson
name: David
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2020/02/06
date added: 2020/08/29
shelves:
review:

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