Eileen's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 03 Feb 2025 16:48:12 -0800 60 Eileen's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories]]> 2282 162 Truman Capote 067960085X Eileen 0 to-read 3.87 1958 Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories
author: Truman Capote
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Death in Venice and Other Tales]]> 53064 384 Thomas Mann 0141181737 Eileen 0 to-read 3.92 1911 Death in Venice and Other Tales
author: Thomas Mann
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1911
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions]]> 6478287
Robin Hood meets the Rat Pack when the best and the brightest of M.I.T.鈥檚 math students and engineers take up blackjack under the guidance of an eccentric mastermind. Their small blackjack club develops from an experiment in counting cards on M.I.T.鈥檚 campus into a ring of card savants with a system for playing large and winning big. In less than two years they take some of the world鈥檚 most sophisticated casinos for more than three million dollars. But their success also brings with it the formidable ire of casino owners and launches them into the seedy underworld of corporate Vegas with its private investigators and other violent heavies.]]> 272 Ben Mezrich Eileen 5 4.16 2002 Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
author: Ben Mezrich
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2002
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/09/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Memories of My Melancholy Whores]]> 5947099
Tender, knowing, and slyly comic, Memories of My Melancholy Whores is an exquisite addition to the master鈥檚 work.
--back cover]]> 115 Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez 1400095948 Eileen 0 to-read 3.59 2004 Memories of My Melancholy Whores
author: Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/28
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]]> Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body 26074156 New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.

鈥淚 ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. . . . I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe.鈥�

In her phenomenally popular essays and long-running Tumblr blog, Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and body, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as 鈥渨ildly undisciplined,鈥� Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she explores her past鈥攊ncluding the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life鈥攁nd brings readers along on her journey to understand and ultimately save herself.

With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and power that have made her one of the most admired writers of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to learn to take care of yourself: how to feed your hungers for delicious and satisfying food, a smaller and safer body, and a body that can love and be loved鈥攊n a time when the bigger you are, the smaller your world becomes.]]> 306 Roxane Gay 0062362593 Eileen 0 to-read 4.17 2017 Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body
author: Roxane Gay
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The King Must Die (Theseus, #1)]]> 93941 338 Mary Renault 0394751043 Eileen 0 to-read 4.01 1958 The King Must Die (Theseus, #1)
author: Mary Renault
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great, #1)]]> 67697
In Alexander's childhood, his defiant character was molded into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son's loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion, on whom he depended for he rest of his life, taught him trust, whilst Aristotle's tutoring provoked his mind and Homer's Iliad fuelled his aspirations. He killed his first man in battle at the age of twelve and became the commander of Macedon's cavalry at eighteen - by the time his father was murdered and he acceded to the throne, Alexander's skills had grown to match his fiery ambition.]]> 375 Mary Renault 0375726829 Eileen 0 to-read 3.98 1969 Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great, #1)
author: Mary Renault
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1969
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
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]]> The Charioteer 67699
Originally published in the United States in 1959, The Charioteer is a bold, unapologetic portrayal of male homosexuality during World War II that stands with Gore Vidal鈥檚 The City and the Pillar and Christopher Isherwood鈥檚 Berlin Stories as a monumental work in gay literature.]]> 347 Mary Renault 0375714189 Eileen 0 to-read 4.10 1953 The Charioteer
author: Mary Renault
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1953
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2)]]> 67700 The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander鈥檚 life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army conquered his homeland.
Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes-mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander鈥檚 mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone.]]> 420 Mary Renault 0394751019 Eileen 0 to-read 4.18 1972 The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2)
author: Mary Renault
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1972
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
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]]> The Last of the Wine 67696 400 Mary Renault 0375726810 Eileen 0 to-read 4.05 1956 The Last of the Wine
author: Mary Renault
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1956
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> Circe 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Eileen 0 currently-reading 4.22 2018 Circe
author: Madeline Miller
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Heart Goes Last 24388326
Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around - and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in... for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes.

At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.]]> 320 Margaret Atwood 0385540353 Eileen 3 3.37 2015 The Heart Goes Last
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2015
rating: 3
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date added: 2018/05/25
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]]> <![CDATA[What I Talk About When I Talk About Running]]> 2195464
Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo鈥檚 Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.]]> 188 Haruki Murakami Eileen 3 3.87 2007 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2007
rating: 3
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date added: 2018/05/25
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]]> The Song of Achilles 11250317
Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.]]> 352 Madeline Miller 1408816032 Eileen 5 4.38 2011 The Song of Achilles
author: Madeline Miller
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/25
date added: 2018/05/25
shelves:
review:
Not since Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" has a work of fiction enthralled me this much. I devoured the story of Patroclus and Achilles in just a few days, using every stolen moment on trains and waiting rooms that I could get my hands on. If you are familiar with Greek mythology and the events of Homer's "Iliad," then the conclusion of the story will come as no surprise. What you will find here, however, is a love story for the ages, one that grows from the first awakening of manhood and endures beyond unimaginable horrors and the shrewdest of enemies. It is also a story of pride and hubris, a topic not unfamiliar to the Ancient Greeks. If I have any criticism, it stems from the unavoidable drawback of having a first person narrative; we only get one side of the story. I oftentimes found myself wondering exactly what Patroclus gleans from his relationship with Achilles, who offers loyalty, protection and physical tenderness, but for the most part appears to be emotionally distant. I also wonder what first attracted Achilles to Patroclus, given their respective appearances and skills. Achilles took Patroclus under his wing as a bit of a matter of circumstance, so who is to say the two would have ended up together otherwise. (I think I may need to re-read the beginning of the book with these questions in mind.) Nevertheless, an enjoyable, exciting and beautifully written tale.
]]> <![CDATA[Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II]]> 34184307 In the tradition of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, Code Girls is the astonishing, untold story of the young American women who cracked key Axis codes, helping to secure Allied victory and revolutionizing the field of cryptanalysis.

Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.]]> 640 Liza Mundy 0316439894 Eileen 0 to-read 3.91 2017 Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II
author: Liza Mundy
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> Your Money or Your Life 78428 400 Joe Dominguez 0140286780 Eileen 0 currently-reading 3.99 1992 Your Money or Your Life
author: Joe Dominguez
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/13
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Amputee's Guide to Sex 35214009 When Jillian Weise wrote The Amputee鈥檚 Guide to Sex, it was with the intention of changing the conversation around disability; essentially, she was tired of seeing 鈥渃ripples鈥� portrayed as asexual characters. The collection that resulted is a powerful lesson in desire, the body, pain, and possession. These poems interrogate medical language and history, imagine Mona Lisa in a wheelchair, rewrite Elizabeth Bishop鈥檚 poem 鈥淚n the Waiting Room,鈥� address a lover鈥檚 arsonist ex-girlfriend, and show the prosthesis as the object of male curiosity and lust. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called the book a 鈥渃harged and daring debut鈥� and described Jillian Weise as an 鈥渁gile and powerful poet . . . speaking boldly and compassionately about a little-discussed subject that becomes universal in her careful hands.鈥�

Ten years since its first publication, our culture continues to grapple with questions limned in this collection. In a new introduction, Weise revisits and recontextualizes her work, revealing its urgency to our present moment. What are the challenges of speaking 鈥渇or鈥� a community? How to resist the institutionalization of ableist paradigms? How are atypical bodies silenced? Where do our corporeal selves intersect with our technologies?

]]> 112 Jillian Weise 1593760205 Eileen 0 to-read 4.24 2007 The Amputee's Guide to Sex
author: Jillian Weise
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Light Between Us: Stories From Heaven, Lessons for the Living]]> 25430672
Laura Lynne Jackson is a wife, a mother, a high school English teacher鈥攁nd a psychic medium. Where most believe an impenetrable wall divides the world between the living and the dead, Jackson sees bright, brilliant cords of light that pass through a barrier as thin as a sheet of paper. Her gifts tested and verified by some of the most prominent scientific organizations studying paranormal phenomena, Jackson has dedicated her life to exploring our connection to the Other Side, conversing with departed loved ones, and helping people come to terms with loss. In The Light Between Us, she shares her remarkable journey and the lessons in love she鈥檚 learned along the way.

Jackson is just a child when she first realizes she is different from her peers. She has tremendous empathy and often finds herself overcome by the emotions of those around her. She has premonitions about friends and family members that leave her feeling helpless, sad, and confused. She confides in her mother鈥攁nd learns that the gift runs in the family.

For twenty years Jackson leads a double life. By day, she teaches literature to Long Island high school students. At night, in private, she conducts readings that connect people with loved ones who have passed and imparts information with shocking accuracy and insight. And then one day, her two worlds become one and she comes to fully embrace her gift and her purpose.

Jackson writes with clarity and grace, using her unique perspective to address the eternal questions that vex us Why are we here? What happens when we die? How do we find our true path in this life? Here too are deeply affecting accounts of ordinary people reunited with their departed friends and family members鈥攖rue stories of forgiveness and reconciliation that transcend the barrier between life and death.

The Light Between Us provides guideposts for living a rich and fulfilling life. In her beautiful worldview, Laura Lynne Jackson reminds us that our relationship to those we love endures across space and time; that we are all connected and invested in one another鈥檚 lives; and that we are here to give and receive love selflessly. Her story offers a new understanding of the vast reach of our consciousness and enlarges our view of the human experience.

Praise for The Light Between Us

鈥淎 brilliant milestone marking our passage toward comprehending the deeper truths of our existence.鈥� 鈥擡ben Alexander, M.D., author of听 Proof of Heaven听 and 听The Map of Heaven

鈥淚 read The Light Between Us with great joy, savoring the wonderful stories and messages of hope. It is a book filled with wisdom and love, exploring the deep bonds that keep us eternally connected to our soul mates.鈥� 鈥擝rian L. Weiss, M.D., author of Many Lives, Many Masters

鈥淎 spiritual game-changer . . . For those suffering a terrible loss, you will find peace and comfort in her story. For those who question the afterlife, you will become a believer.鈥� 鈥擫aura Schroff, co-author of An Invisible Thread

鈥淪traightforward, unassuming, and profoundly generous . . . Brave, honest, and beautiful, this book is a treasure.鈥� 鈥擬ark Epstein, M.D., author of Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart

鈥淥ne of the most insightful and inspiring books about mediumship I have ever read.鈥� 鈥擥ary E. Schwartz, author of The Afterlife Experiments and The Sacred Promise]]> 288 Laura Lynne Jackson 0812998383 Eileen 5 4.33 2015 The Light Between Us: Stories From Heaven, Lessons for the Living
author: Laura Lynne Jackson
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
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review:
Five stars purely for packing an emotional punch. I took this book with me on a busy day riding the subway because I didn't want to put it down, and found myself having to pull out tissues every couple pages to blot my tears. People on the train probably thought I was crazy. I finished the book later that same day feeling relief and gratitude. Having struggled with grief over the passing of a loved one several years ago, I found this book finally offered the comfort I needed (and left me wanting to be more open to the chords of light that bind us all). I don't see how even the most skeptic of skeptics could deny the things Jackson puts forth. This is a book about life, death, love, gratitude, forgiveness, and common ground for all of us to find as humans on this planet.
]]> <![CDATA[Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way]]> 10103480 鈥擬olly Wizenberg, bestselling author of A Homemade Life 鈥淔resh, smart, and consistently surprising. If this beautifully written book were a smell, it would be a crisp green apple.鈥�
鈥擟laire Dederer, bestselling author of Poser Season to Taste is an aspiring chef鈥檚 moving account of finding her way鈥攊n the kitchen and beyond鈥攁fter a tragic accident destroys her sense of smell. Molly Birnbaum鈥檚 remarkable story鈥攚ritten with the good cheer and great charm of popular food writers Laurie Colwin and Ruth Reichl鈥攊s destined to stand alongside Julie Powell鈥檚 Julie and Julia as a classic tale of a cooking life. Season to Taste is sad, funny, joyous, and inspiring.]]> 320 Molly Birnbaum 0061915319 Eileen 4 3.44 2011 Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way
author: Molly Birnbaum
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/13
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
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Discovered this book as Molly was one of my fellow freshman classmates in my dorm at Brown University. I found all the scientific details in the book fascinating, and it really opened my eyes to the many ways that our sense of smell impacts our lives on a daily basis. What I had a little more trouble reconciling was Molly's personal journey, especially with regards to actually writing the book. There is no mention of when and how she began to write it, how the process of writing it may have helped her recovery, how she managed to get a hold of many VERY important and famous people to interview, and so on. She goes into many personal details of her life and yet over and over again I found myself asking, "When were you writing this?" At first I wondered whether she was chronicling her journey at a later date, but her background in journalism made it clear that her encounters and interviews were well-planned and documented in real time. So the narrative style seemed a little forced at times. All in all, though, this was an enjoyable and educating read.
]]> <![CDATA[Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure]]> 32343907
For fifteen years and thirty-five seasons, the Bachelor franchise has been a mainstay in American TV viewers' lives. Since it premiered in 2002, the show's popularity and relevance has only grown--more than eight million viewers tuned in to see the conclusion of the most recent season of The Bachelor.

The iconic reality television show's reach and influence into the cultural zeitgeist is undeniable. Bestselling writers and famous actors live tweet about it. Die-hard fans--dubbed "Bachelor Nation"--come together every week during each season to participate in fantasy leagues and viewing parties.

Bachelor Nation is the first behind-the-scenes, unauthorized look into the reality television phenomenon. Los Angeles Times journalist Amy Kaufman is a proud member of Bachelor Nation and has a long history with the franchise--ABC even banned her from attending show events after her coverage of the program got a little too real for its liking. She has interviewed dozens of producers, contestants, and celebrity fans to give readers never-before-told details of the show's inner workings: what it's like to be trapped in the mansion "bubble"; dark, juicy tales of producer manipulation; and revelations about the alcohol-fueled debauchery that occurs long before the fantasy suite.

Kaufman also explores what our fascination means, culturally: what the show says about the way we view so-called ideal suitors, our subconscious yearning for fairy-tale romance, and how this enduring television show has shaped society's feelings about love, marriage, and feminism by appealing to a marriage plot that's as old as Jane Austen.]]> 320 Amy Kaufman Eileen 4 3.31 2018 Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure
author: Amy Kaufman
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/31
date added: 2018/03/31
shelves:
review:
An interesting (and juicy) read on what has become a cultural phenomenon. Not all the behind-the-scenes info is completely new, especially if you have devoured articles written about this show over the years, but it was nice to have it all in one place. Lots of research and interviews with cast and crew, and details about how exactly the show is produced. Puts forth some interesting propositions on why we really watch the show, its place in a world of feminism and gender fluidity, and understanding what it means to "fall for someone." I was entertained.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ocean at the End of the Lane]]> 15783514
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie鈥攎agical, comforting, wise beyond her years鈥攑romised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.]]> 181 Neil Gaiman 0062255657 Eileen 0 to-read 4.00 2013 The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/03/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Bhagavad Gita 12379467 297 Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Eileen 5 4.53 -400 The Bhagavad Gita
author: Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.53
book published: -400
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/01/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Meb For Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner]]> 25176873 Meb For Mortals describes in unprecedented detail how three-time Olympian Keflezighi prepares to take on the best runners in the world. More important, the book shows everyday runners how to implement the training, nutritional, and mental principles that have guided him throughout his long career, which in addition to this year鈥檚 Boston win includes an Olympic silver medal and the 2009 New York City Marathon title.]]> 311 Meb Keflezighi 1623365481 Eileen 5 4.07 2015 Meb For Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner
author: Meb Keflezighi
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/01/19
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior (V&A Fashion Perspectives)]]> 20508849 220 Christian Dior Eileen 4 3.98 2007 Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior (V&A Fashion Perspectives)
author: Christian Dior
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/01/19
shelves:
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]]> Into Thin Air 6081088
By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself.

This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.]]> 368 Jon Krakauer Eileen 5 4.47 1997 Into Thin Air
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/01/19
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]]> The Diva Rules 27776843 215 Michelle Visage 1452146853 Eileen 4 4.03 2015 The Diva Rules
author: Michelle Visage
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/01/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I'll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist]]> 23161648 Aos 86 anos, Betty Halbreich 茅 uma figura 煤nica no mundo da moda. H谩 quase quatro d茅cadas comanda o departamento de compras personalizadas 鈥� ou personal shopping, como Betty prefere n茫o chamar 鈥� da loja Bergdorf Goodman, 铆cone do consumo de luxo na Quinta Avenida. Meticulosa, impec谩vel e deliciosamente engra莽ada, Betty 茅 conhecida por n茫o ter medo de abrir o jogo com as clientes. J谩 vestiu desde uma primeira-dama dos Estados Unidos at茅 personagens de s茅ries como Sex and the City e Girls, al茅m das pr贸prias estilistas que abastecem suas araras.

Em Um brinde a isso, Betty fala n茫o s贸 da t茫o atraente carreira, mas tamb茅m do momento mais duro em que precisou se encarar no espelho: separada e com dois filhos, ela entrou em depress茫o e tentou o suic铆dio. Um emprego de vendedora na Bergdorf Goodman a ajudou a se reencontrar, por茅m seu talento para vestir os outros era inversamente proporcional 脿 inclina莽茫o para as vendas. Realocada como personal shopper, Betty deu a volta por cima e levou junto in煤meras clientes que tamb茅m se reencontraram com seus conselhos e exemplo.

Combinando deliciosas mem贸rias de compras, moda e celebridades fashion 鈥� sem citar nomes, claro 鈥� com cap铆tulos intensos e tocantes sobre sua vida pessoal, Betty mostra que o verdadeiro estilo de uma mulher n茫o est谩 impresso nos cortes, tecidos e etiquetas que ela veste, mas na hist贸ria que ela tem para contar. E a hist贸ria de Betty 茅 maravilhosamente inspiradora.

鈥淯ma vida repleta de acontecimentos, bem no centro da ind煤stria da moda.鈥�Publishers Weekly

鈥淓xiste um princ铆pio pragm谩tico por tr谩s da forma como Betty veste as pessoas. 脡 muito inclusivo. Tem lugar para todo mundo no processo dela. Betty consegue transitar no universo da moda, mas tamb茅m sabe baixar um pouco a bola desse universo.鈥�Lena Dunham

]]> 207 Betty Halbreich 1101634553 Eileen 4 3.86 2014 I'll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist
author: Betty Halbreich
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/01/17
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle]]> 27597915 The greatest athletic performances spring from the mind, not the body. Elite athletes have known this for decades and now science is learning why it鈥檚 true. In his fascinating new book How Bad Do You Want It?, coach Matt Fitzgerald examines more than a dozen pivotal races to discover the surprising ways elite athletes strengthen their mental toughness.

Fitzgerald puts you into the pulse-pounding action of more than a dozen epic races from running, cycling, triathlon, XTERRA, and rowing with thrilling race reports and revealing post-race interviews with the elites. Their own words reinforce what the research has found: strong mental fitness lets us approach our true physical limits, giving us an edge over physically stronger competitors. Each chapter explores the how and why of an elite athlete鈥檚 transformative moment, revealing powerful new psychobiological principles you can practice to flex your own mental fitness.

The new psychobiological model of endurance performance shows that the most important question in endurance sports is: how bad do you want it? Fitzgerald鈥檚 fascinating book will forever change how you answer this question and show you how to master the psychology of mind over muscle. These lessons will help you push back your limits and uncover your full potential.

How Bad Do You Want It? reveals new psychobiological findings including:

Mental toughness determines how close you can get to your physical limit. Bracing yourself for a tough race or workout can boost performance by 15% or more. Champions have learned how to give more of what they have. The only way to improve performance is by altering how you perceive effort. Choking under pressure is a form of self-consciousness. Your attitude in daily life is the same one you bring to sports. There's no such thing as going as fast as you can鈥攐nly going faster than before. The fastest racecourse is the one with the loudest spectators. Faith in your training is as important as the training itself.

Athletes featured in How Bad Do You Want It?: Sammy Wanjiru, Jenny Simpson, Greg LeMond, Siri Lindley, Willie Stewart, Cadel Evans, Nathan Cohen and Joe Sullivan, Paula Newby-Fraser, Ryan Vail, Thomas Voeckler, Ned Overend, Steve Prefontaine, and last of all John 鈥淭he Penguin鈥� Bingham

]]> 298 Matt Fitzgerald 1937716716 Eileen 5 4.23 2015 How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle
author: Matt Fitzgerald
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/01/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny]]> 23215469 352 Holly Madison 0062372106 Eileen 4 3.53 2015 Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny
author: Holly Madison
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/05/01
date added: 2018/01/17
shelves:
review:
Clearly I don't shy away from celebrity tell-alls. Not going to lie, I started to read this because I was genuinely curious if Hugh Hefner really had sex with all those girls. As the narrative progressed, however, I became pleasantly surprised by Ms. Madison's charmingly articulate storytelling. The tie-ins to "Alice in Wonderland" added a naivete to some very adult subject matter. All in all a fun read, with lots of juicy details on life at the Playboy Mansion.
]]> <![CDATA[I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain]]> 18599909 The Bachelor looking for love. A working model and newly single, Courtney fit the casting call: She was young, beautiful, and a natural in front of the cameras. Although she may have been there for all the right reasons, as the season unfolded and sparks began to fly something else was clear: She was not there to make friends.

Courtney quickly became one of the biggest villains in听Bachelor franchise history. She unapologetically pursued her man, steamrolled her competition, and broke the rules鈥攊ncluding partaking in an illicit skinny-dip that sealed her proposal. Now, after a very public breakup with her Bachelor, Ben Flajnik, Courtney opens up and tells her own story鈥攆rom her first loves to her first moments in the limo.听She dishes on life before, during, and after the听Bachelor, including Ben's romantic proposal to her on a Swiss mountaintop and the tabloid frenzy that continued after the cameras stopped rolling.

For the first time ever, a former听Bachelor听contestant takes us along on her journey to find love and reveals that 鈥渉appily ever after鈥� isn't always what it seems. Complete with stories, tips, tricks, and advice from your favorite Bachelor alumni, and filled with all the juicy details Courtney fans and foes alike want to know,听I Didn鈥檛 Come Here to听Make Friends听is a must-read for every member of听Bachelor nation.听]]> 272 Courtney Robertson 0062326708 Eileen 4 3.55 2014 I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain
author: Courtney Robertson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/01/17
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A piece of great literature? Heavens, no. But a juicy read for anyone in Bachelor Nation, or anyone who wonders what reality shows are really like. I read this when I was stuck in NYC in the summertime, wishing I was lounging on a beach instead. Well worth the price of admission.
]]> <![CDATA[Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century]]> 8634165 512 Nancy Schoenberger Eileen 5 4.05 2010 Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century
author: Nancy Schoenberger
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2018/01/17
date added: 2018/01/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Hostile Takeover (Knights of the Board Room, #5)]]> 13423169 Book V of the Knights of the Board Room series (can be read as standalone)

Ben is the last unattached member of the five-man executive team of K&A Associates. The other four, all Masters, have found the submissive of their dreams. That鈥檚 fine. The sharp-edged lawyer knows he鈥檚 the most hardcore of all of them, with extreme tastes as a Master he satisfies physically through experienced club submissives. He doesn鈥檛 really need anything more than that.

Marcie has loved Ben since she was sixteen. He鈥檚 never behaved as anything more than a protective big brother, a family friend. But now she鈥檚 twenty three and starting her career as a corporate investigator. She may be a blood-and-bone deep submissive, but she won鈥檛 hesitate to use her aggressive talents to prove she鈥檚 meant to be his. With a Master as tough as Ben, she鈥檒l have to take whatever measures are needed鈥攅ven if her deepest desire isn鈥檛 a hostile takeover of his heart, but an unconditional surrender to it.

Reader Advisory: Marcie鈥檚 sexual journey contains a group scene of female/female sexual exploration. The Masters also share her in a brief group scene. ]]> 408 Joey W. Hill 1419936441 Eileen 0 currently-reading 4.14 Hostile Takeover (Knights of the Board Room, #5)
author: Joey W. Hill
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/01/17
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History]]> 17910054
In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, The New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.]]> 336 Elizabeth Kolbert 0805092994 Eileen 0 currently-reading 4.13 2014 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
author: Elizabeth Kolbert
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/01/17
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century]]> 7625089
He was a tough-guy Welshman softened by the affections of a breathtakingly beautiful woman; she was a modern-day Cleopatra madly in love with her own Mark Antony. For nearly a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were Hollywood royalty, and their fiery romance聴often called "the marriage of the century"聴was the most notorious, publicized, and celebrated love affair of its day.

For the first time, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner and acclaimed biographer Nancy Schoenberger tell the complete story of this larger-than-life couple, showing how their romance and two marriages commanded the attention of the world. Also for the first time, in exclusive access given to the authors, Elizabeth Taylor herself gives never-revealed details and firsthand accounts of her life with Burton.

Drawing upon brand-new information and interviews聴and on Burton's private, passionate, and heartbreaking letters to Taylor聴Furious Love sheds new light on the movies, the sex, the scandal, the fame, the brawls, the booze, the bitter separations, and, of course, the fabled jewels. It offers an intimate glimpse into Elizabeth and Richard's privileged world and their elite circle of friends, among them Princess Grace, Montgomery Clift, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Peter O'Toole, Michael Caine, Marlon Brando, Rex Harrison, Mike Nichols, Laurence Olivier, Robert Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, No毛l Coward, John Huston, Ava Gardner, the Rothschilds, Maria Callas, and Aristotle Onassis. It provides an entertaining, eye-opening look at their films, their wildly lucrative reign in Europe and in Hollywood聴and the price they paid for their extravagant lives.

Shocking and unsparing in its honesty, Furious Love explores the very public marriage of "Liz and Dick" as well as the private struggles of Elizabeth and Richard, including Le Scandale, their affair on the set of the notorious epic Cleopatra that earned them condemnation from the Vatican; Burton's hardscrabble youth in Wales; the crippling alcoholism that nearly destroyed his career and contributed to his early death; the medical issues that plagued both him and Elizabeth; and the failed aspirations and shame that haunted him throughout their relationship. As Kashner and Schoenberger illuminate the events and choices that shaped this illustrious couple's story, they demonstrate how the legendary pair presaged America's changing attitudes toward sex, marriage, morality, and celebrity. Yet ultimately, as the authors show, Elizabeth and Richard shared something priceless beyond the drama: enduring love.

Addictive and entertaining, Furious Love is more than a celebrity biography; it's an honest yet sympathetic portrait of a man, a woman, and a passion that shocked and mesmerized the world.]]> 500 Sam Kashner 006156284X Eileen 5 3.86 2010 Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century
author: Sam Kashner
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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Five stars for pure entertainment value, although it's really the first 2/3 of the book that is the most fascinating. (The last third of the book wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste, although given their second divorce, I'm not sure how the author could have matched the pacing of the rest of the book.) A telling anatomy of one of the greatest love stories of the 21st century. Come for the glitz and glamour, stay for Richard Burton's letters (and other bits of writing) - you will fall in love too.
]]> Moonglow 26795307 The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon traveled to his mother鈥檚 home in Oakland, California, to visit his terminally ill grandfather. Tongue loosened by powerful painkillers, memory stirred by the imminence of death, Chabon鈥檚 grandfather shared recollections and told stories the younger man had never heard before, uncovering bits and pieces of a history long buried and forgotten. That dreamlike week of revelations forms the basis for the novel Moonglow, the latest feat of legerdemain from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.

听Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession of a man the narrator refers to only as 鈥渕y grandfather.鈥� It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and marriage and desire, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact鈥攁nd the creative power鈥攐f keeping secrets and telling lies. It is a portrait of the difficult but passionate love between the narrator鈥檚 grandfather and his grandmother, an enigmatic woman broken by her experience growing up in war-torn France. It is also a tour de force of speculative autobiography in which Chabon devises and reveals a secret history of his own imagination.

听From the Jewish slums of prewar South Philadelphia to the invasion of Germany, from a Florida retirement village to the penal utopia of New York鈥檚 Wallkill prison, from the heyday of the space program to the twilight of the 鈥淎merican Century,鈥� the novel revisits an entire era through a single life and collapses a lifetime into a single week. A lie that tells the truth, a work of fictional nonfiction, an autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir, Moonglow is Chabon at his most moving and inventive.]]> 430 Michael Chabon 0062225553 Eileen 0 to-read 3.77 2016 Moonglow
author: Michael Chabon
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/01/13
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]]> American Gods 30165203
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...]]> 635 Neil Gaiman Eileen 0 to-read 4.11 2001 American Gods
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/01/02
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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 Kond艒 1607747308 Eileen 4 3.88 2010 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
author: Marie Kond艒
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/01/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Seabiscuit: An American Legend]]> 110737 There's an alternate cover edition here

Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit鈥檚 fortunes:

Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.

Author Laura Hillenbrand brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story, one that proves life is a horse race.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 457 Laura Hillenbrand 0345465083 Eileen 5 4.22 1999 Seabiscuit: An American Legend
author: Laura Hillenbrand
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1999
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption]]> 8664353
The lieutenant鈥檚 name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.]]> 475 Laura Hillenbrand 1400064163 Eileen 5 4.38 2010 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
author: Laura Hillenbrand
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness]]> 13202092
In Eat and Run, Jurek opens up about his life and career as a champion athlete with a plant-based diet and inspires runners at every level. From his Midwestern childhood hunting, fishing, and cooking for his meat-and-potatoes family to his slow transition to ultrarunning and veganism, Scott鈥檚 story shows the power of an iron will and blows apart the stereotypes of what athletes should eat to fuel optimal performance. Full of stories of competition as well as science and practical advice鈥攊ncluding his own recipes鈥擡at and Run will motivate readers and expand their food horizons.]]> 272 Scott Jurek 0547569653 Eileen 5 3.99 2012 Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
author: Scott Jurek
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/01/01
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]]> Eat, Pray, Love 19501
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want鈥攁 husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.

To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world鈥攁ll alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way鈥攗nexpectedly.

An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society鈥檚 ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.]]> 368 Elizabeth Gilbert 0143038419 Eileen 4 3.64 2006 Eat, Pray, Love
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/01/01
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]]> <![CDATA[A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)]]> 13497 Crows will fight over a dead man's flesh, and kill each other for his eyes.

Bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunning, the Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne in the name of the boy-king Tommen. The war in the Seven Kingdoms has burned itself out, but in its bitter aftermath new conflicts spark to life.

The Martells of Dorne and the Starks of Winterfell seek vengeance for their dead. Euron Crow's Eye, as black a pirate as ever raised a sail, returns from the smoking ruins of Valyria to claim the Iron Isles. From the icy north, where Others threaten the Wall, apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms to the Citadel.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory will go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts.]]> 1060 George R.R. Martin 055358202X Eileen 5 4.16 2005 A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/01/01
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]]> <![CDATA[A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)]]> 10572
It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Here is the second volume in George R.R. Martin magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R.R. Martin stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.]]> 1009 George R.R. Martin 0553381695 Eileen 4 4.42 1998 A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)]]> 13496
Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.]]> 835 George R.R. Martin 0553588486 Eileen 4 4.44 1996 A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> The Secret History 29044 559 Donna Tartt 1400031702 Eileen 4 4.17 1992 The Secret History
author: Donna Tartt
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1992
rating: 4
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]]> Wuthering Heights 6185 You can find the redesigned cover of this edition HERE.

At the centre of this novel is the passionate love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff - recounted with such emotional intensity that a plain tale of the Yorkshire moors acquires the depth and simplicity of ancient tragedy.

This best-selling Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1847 first edition of the novel. For the Fourth Edition, the editor has collated the 1847 text with several modern editions and has corrected a number of variants, including accidentals. The text is accompanied by entirely new explanatory annotations.

New to the fourth Edition are twelve of Emily Bronte's letters regarding the publication of the 1847 edition of Wuthering Heights as well as the evolution of the 1850 edition, prose and poetry selections by the author, four reviews of the novel, and poetry selections by the author, four reviews of the novel, and Edward Chitham's insightful and informative chronology of the creative process behind the beloved work.

Five major critical interpretations of Wuthering Heights are included, three of them new to the Fourth Edition. A Stuart Daley considers the importance of chronology in the novel. J. Hillis Miller examines Wuthering Heights's problems of genre and critical reputation. Sandra M. Gilbert assesses the role of Victorian Christianity plays in the novel, while Martha Nussbaum traces the novel's romanticism. Finally, Lin Haire-Sargeant scrutinizes the role of Heathcliff in film adaptations of Wuthering Heights.

A Chronology and updated Selected Bibliography are also included.]]> 464 Emily Bront毛 Eileen 3 3.89 1847 Wuthering Heights
author: Emily Bront毛
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1847
rating: 3
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]]> Jane Eyre 10210 Alternate editions can be found here and here.

A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Bront毛's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.

Charlotte Bront毛 tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.]]> 532 Charlotte Bront毛 0142437204 Eileen 4 4.14 1847 Jane Eyre
author: Charlotte Bront毛
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1847
rating: 4
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review:

]]> Life of Pi 170453
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea.]]> 326 Yann Martel 0156027321 Eileen 5 3.88 2001 Life of Pi
author: Yann Martel
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2008/10/27
date added: 2015/06/06
shelves:
review:
I really loved this book and wouldn't change a thing about it. Maybe it was just the right point in my life to read about survival and faith, but regardless - I thought this story was inspired, well-written, and a tale that came alive beautifully. Finishing it was like saying goodbye to a very dear friend.
]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 121121 Librarian note: Two alternate covers for this edition can be found here and here.

Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.

But all that is about change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter.]]> 309 J.K. Rowling Eileen 4 4.50 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2008/08/23
date added: 2015/05/25
shelves:
review:
Thoroughly enjoyable. Can't wait to finish the series. (And yes, even though I've already seen the movies so far.)
]]> Valley of the Dolls 40075 467 Jacqueline Susann 1860498876 Eileen 0 to-read 3.83 1966 Valley of the Dolls
author: Jacqueline Susann
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Notes from Underground 49455 Notes from Underground marks the dividing line between nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction, and between the visions of self each century embodied. One of the most remarkable characters in literature, the unnamed narrator is a former official who has defiantly withdrawn into an underground existence. In complete retreat from society, he scrawls a passionate, obsessive, self-contradictory narrative that serves as a devastating attack on social utopianism and an assertion of man鈥檚 essentially irrational nature.

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, whose Dostoevsky translations have become the standard, give us a brilliantly faithful edition of this classic novel, conveying all the tragedy and tormented comedy of the original.]]> 136 Fyodor Dostoevsky 067973452X Eileen 0 to-read 4.21 1864 Notes from Underground
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1864
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Surgeon (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles, #1)]]> 643918 Alternate-cover edition can be found here

He slips into homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, about to awaken to a living nightmare. The precision of his methods suggests that he is a deranged man of medicine, prompting the Boston newspapers to dub him 鈥淭he Surgeon.鈥� Led by Detectives Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli, the cops must consult the victim of a nearly identical crime: Two years ago, Dr. Catherine Cordell fought back and filled an attacker before he could complete his assault. Now this new killer is re-creating, with chilling accuracy, the details of Cordell鈥檚 ordeal. With every new murder he seems to be taunting her, cutting ever closer, from her hospital to her home. And neither Moore nor Rizzoli can protect Cordell from a ruthless hunter who somehow understands鈥攁nd savors鈥攖he secret fears of every woman he kills.]]> 350 Tess Gerritsen 0345447840 Eileen 3 3.97 2001 The Surgeon (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles, #1)
author: Tess Gerritsen
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2006/01/01
date added: 2014/05/21
shelves:
review:
This author was suggested to me by Michelle and this book was my companion on many a train ride. Gerritsen was trained as a doctor and she writes medical thrillers/mysteries. Suspense from beginning to end. Not for the faint of heart - or stomach.
]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Eileen 5 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2009/02/26
date added: 2014/04/29
shelves:
review:
Darker, sadder, more exciting... Leaves you thirsting for revenge.
]]> Meaning of Treason 3368257 Book by West, Dame Rebecca 439 Rebecca West 0860682560 Eileen 0 to-read 3.71 1947 Meaning of Treason
author: Rebecca West
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1947
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/04/18
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]]> Fear of Flying 9654 The groundbreaking #1 New York Times Bestseller鈥攗pdated for the 50th Anniversary with a New Foreword by Molly Jong-Fast and a New Introduction by Taffy Brodesser-Akner!

鈥淭he boundary-breaking novel that redefined sexuality.鈥濃�O Magazine

Isadora Wing is tired. Tired of being psychoanalyzed. Tired of grad school. Tired of fighting with her husband. Tired of having unfulfilled desires. She thinks she knows what she's searching for and how to achieve it. But her quest to engage in no-strings-attached sex quickly shifts into a journey of self-discovery that will leave her questioning her own mind, her ideals, and what she truly wants in life....

Originally published in 1973, the ground-breaking, uninhibited story of Isadora Wing and her desire to fly free caused a national sensation. It fueled fantasies, ignited debates, and introduced a notorious new phrase to the English language. Now, after fifty years, this revolutionary novel still stands as a timeless tale of self-discovery, liberation, and womanhood.

鈥淪mart, bold, bracing and, importantly, extremely funny.鈥濃擬eg Wolitzer]]> 461 Erica Jong Eileen 0 to-read 3.47 1973 Fear of Flying
author: Erica Jong
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/08/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence - Understanding the Zen Philosophy of Beauty in Simplicity]]> 774394 Developed out of the aesthetic philosophy of cha-no-yu (the tea ceremony) in fifteenth-century Japan, wabi sabi is an aesthetic that finds beauty in things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

Taken from the Japanese words wabi, which translates to less is more, and sabi, which means attentive melancholy, wabi sabi refers to an awareness of the transient nature of earthly things and a corresponding pleasure in the things that bear the mark of this impermanence. As much a state of mind鈥攁n awareness of the things around us and an acceptance of our surroundings鈥攁s it is a design style, wabi sabi begs us to appreciate the pure beauty of life鈥攁 chipped vase, a quiet rainy day, the impermanence of all things. Presenting itself as an alternative to today's fast-paced, mass-produced, neon-lighted world, wabi sabi reminds us to slow down and take comfort in the natural beauty around us.

In addition to presenting the philosophy of wabi-sabi, this book includes how-to design advice鈥攕o that a transformation of body, mind, and home can emerge.

Chapters include:
History: The Development of Wabi Sabi
Culture: Wabi Sabi and the Japanese Character
Art: Defining Aesthetics
Design: Creating Expressions with Wabi Sabi Materials
Spirit: The Universal Spirit of Wabi Sabi]]> 165 Andrew Juniper 0804834822 Eileen 4 3.87 2003 Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence - Understanding the Zen Philosophy of Beauty in Simplicity
author: Andrew Juniper
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2011/08/07
date added: 2011/08/07
shelves:
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]]> The Dream Songs 150236 This edition combines The Dream Songs, awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1965, and His Toy, His Dream, His Rest, which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1969 and contains all 385 songs. Of The Dream Songs, A. Alvarez wrote in The Observer, "A major achievement. He has written an elegy on his brilliant generation and, in the process, he has also written an elegy on himself."

The Dream Songs are eighteen-line poems in three stanzas. Each individual poem is lyric and organized around an emotion provoked by an everyday event. The tone of the poems is less surreal than associational or intoxicated. The principal character of the song cycle is Henry, who is both the narrator of the poems and referred to by the narrator in the poems.

]]> 427 John Berryman 0374530661 Eileen 4 4.19 1969 The Dream Songs
author: John Berryman
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at: 2011/08/07
date added: 2011/08/07
shelves:
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]]> The Art of Happiness 38210 322 Dalai Lama XIV 1573221112 Eileen 3 4.17 1998 The Art of Happiness
author: Dalai Lama XIV
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2011/08/07
date added: 2011/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The Odyssey 101507 370 E.V. Rieu 0140445560 Eileen 5 re-reading this one. 3.96 -700 The Odyssey
author: E.V. Rieu
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.96
book published: -700
rating: 5
read at: 2009/11/09
date added: 2009/12/27
shelves:
review:
re-reading this one.
]]> <![CDATA[He Comes Next: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man]]> 466839
In the smash hit She Comes First, Ian Kerner singlehandedly waged battle against male sexual "ill-cliteracy," and women everywhere benefited from his "viva la vulva" philosophy of female pleasure. Now, in Passionista, it's time to learn all about what turns men onand makes them stay on. In this point-by-point, "blow-by-blow" guide, Kerner makes giving as much fun as receiving as he covers every angle of male sexuality, unlocks the secrets of satisfaction, and offers knowledgeable answers to the questions every woman wonders about. His advice is the closest you'll ever come to waking up in a guy's skin and knowing what truly makes him sexually tick.

Written in the same witty, insightful, and utterly readable voice that has made She Comes First and Be Honest so popular, Passionista is the empowered woman's guide to enjoying sex to the fullest]]> 240 Ian Kerner 0060784563 Eileen 4 3.69 2006 He Comes Next: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man
author: Ian Kerner
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2009/11/24
date added: 2009/11/24
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]]> <![CDATA[She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman]]> 528985 She Comes First鈥�an essential guidebook to oral sex from the author of Be Honest鈥擸ou鈥檙e Not That Into Him Either. The New York Times praises Kerner鈥檚 鈥渃ool sense of humor and an obsessive desire to inform,鈥� as he 鈥渆ncourages men through an act that many find mystifying.鈥� An indispensable aid to a healthier, more fulfilling sex life for her and him, She Comes First offers techniques and philosophy that have already earned raves from the likes of bestselling author and Loveline co-host Dr. Drew Pinsky as well as Playgirl magazine, which cheers, 鈥淗allelujah!鈥�.]]> 228 Ian Kerner 0060538252 Eileen 4 4.03 2004 She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman
author: Ian Kerner
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2009/11/09
date added: 2009/11/09
shelves:
review:
I read this thing in one sitting and it was glorious. I'm holding off on the 5-star review until I try all that stuff out.
]]> <![CDATA[The Song of the Lark (Great Plains Trilogy, #2)]]> 516035
It is in the solitude of a tiny rock chamber high in the side of an Arizona cliff--"a cleft in the heart of the world"--that Thea comes face to face with her own dreams and desires, stripped clean by the haunting purity of the ruined cliff dwellings and inspired by the whisperings of their ancient dust. Here she finds the courage to seize her future and to use her gifts to catch "the shining, elusive element that is life itself--life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose." In prose as shimmering and piercingly true as the light in a desert canyon, Cather takes us into the heart of a woman coming to know her deepest self.

"The time will come when she will be ranked above Hemingway." --Leon Edel]]> 448 Willa Cather 0375706453 Eileen 0 to-read 4.01 1915 The Song of the Lark (Great Plains Trilogy, #2)
author: Willa Cather
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1915
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/11/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Elements of Style 3721092 Offering the same content as the Fourth Edition, revised in 1999, the new casebound 50th Anniversary Edition includes a brief overview of the book's illustrious history. Used extensively by individual writers as well as high school and college students of writing, it has conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. This new deluxe edition makes the perfect gift for writers of any age and ability level. Fifty Years of Acclaim for "The Elements of Style," by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White "I first read "Elements of Style" during the summer before I went off to Exeter, and I still direct my students at Harvard to their definition about the difference between 'that' and 'which.' It is the Bible for good, clear writing." -- Henry Louis Gates Jr. "For writers of all kinds and sizes the world begins and ends with Strunk and White's "Elements of Style." Only something to actually write about trumps the list of what is required to put words together in some kind of coherent way. I treasure its presence in my life and salute its fifty years of glory and accomplishment." -- Jim Lehrer ""The Elements of Style" remains an unwavering beacon of light in these grammatically troubled times. I would be lost without it." -- Ann Patchett "To the extent I know how to write clearly at all, I probably taught myself while I was teaching others -- seventh graders, in Flint, Michigan, in 1967. I taught them with a copy of Strunk & White lying in full view on my desk, sort of in the way the Gideons leave Bibles in cheap hotel rooms, as a way of saying to the hapless inhabitant: 'In case your reckless ways should strand you here, there's help.' S&W doesn't really teach you how to write, it just tantalizingly reminds you that there's an orderly way to go about it, that clarity's ever your ideal, but -- really -- it's all going to be up to you." -- Richard Ford ""The Elements of Style" never seems to go out of date. Its counsel is sound and funny, wise and unpretentious. And while its precepts are a foundation of direct communication, Strunk and White do not insist on a way of writing beyond clear expression. The rest is up to the imagination, the intelligence within." -- David Remnick, editor of "The New Yorker" "It's the toughness-the irreverence and implicit laughter-that attracted me to the little book when I was seventeen. I fell in love with Strunk & White's loathing for cant and bloviation, the ruthless cutting of crap, jargon, and extra words. For me, that skeptical directness included a tacit permission by "The Elements of Style" to break its rules on occasion: an alloy of generosity in the blade, a grace I still admire and still learn from." -- Robert Pinsky "In the quest for clarity, one can have no better guides than Strunk and White. For me, their book has been invaluable and remains essential." -- Dan Rather "Eschew surplusage! A perfect book." --Jonathan Lethem "Not until I started teaching writing and I reread "The Elements of Style" did I realize that most everything I would be teaching young writers, and everything I would be learning myself as a writer, was contained between the covers of this slim, elegant, wise little book." -- Julia Alvarez "Strunk and White seared their way into my brain long ago, and I benefit from them daily." -- Steven J. Dubner, co-author of "Freakonomics" "Since high school, I have kept a copy of this book handy. That should be unnecessary. I should, by now, have fully internalized "The Elements of Style." But sometimes I get entangled in a paragraph that refuses to be 'clear, brief, bold.' I dip back into "The Elements of Style" and am refreshed. After Scott Simon interviewed me on NPR about whether the word 'e-mail' needs a hyphen (yes, it does), some listeners, including friends of mine, wondered why I had answered in the affirmative when asked, in passing, 'Are you a drunken white man?' Those listeners misheard. 'Strunk and White man' was what Scott said." -- Roy Blount Jr. "Strunk & White--writing's good-natured law firm--still contains enough sparkling good sense to clean up the whole bloviating blogosphere." -- Thomas Mallon "I used Strunk -- that's what we called it, Strunk -- as a student at Berkeley fifty years ago. I didn't know that it was new, and that we were the first generation to be educated in "The Elements of Style." I got a firm foundation in the English language, learned to write basically, and could depict the realistic world. Then I was able to become an impressionist and expressionist." -- Maxine Hong Kingston "Strunk and White's gigantic little book must be the most readable advice on writing ever written. Side by side with Roget, Shakespeare, the Bible, and a dictionary, it's an essential for every writer's shelf." -- X.J. Kennedy" ""With what joy I welcome the fiftieth anniversary of "The Elements of Style." I am greatly indebted to this book for the invaluable help it has given me all these years." -- Horton Foote "Elegant, droll, and perfectly proportioned, and like your favorite aunt, strict but affectionate. And, like your favorite aunt, full of optimism: You can, and will, be a better writer! There has never been a better, briefer, or more loved book about the art and craft of communicating." -- Susan Orlean "This book is an essential tool. It has been of great use to me and is probably responsible for my best writing. I owe my success to Strunk and White; only the mistakes are mine." -- Ben Affleck, in "O, the Oprah Magazine" "This book is a wonderful example of teaching by example. Not only does it recommend clear and concise writing, it demonstrates it. Written in the style of a friend offering help, it is a godsend to anyone wanting to put words on paper. Thank you, Messieurs Strunk and White. And Happy Anniversary, "Elements of Style."" -- S.E. Hinton "When I began to have ... I wouldn't say arguments but conversations in my mind with Strunk and White about a few of their rules and principles, I knew I was coming into my own. If only they were still here to talk things over! No doubt their side of the exchange would be kindly put, well-informed, and wise. They'd probably help me with my side of it. What more could one want from writers reaching out to help other writers?" -- Barbara Wallraff, language columnist for "The Atlantic" "I don't believe there is a serious writer alive who doesn't have a worn copy of 'Strunk & White'on his or her bookshelf." -- Mignon Fogarty, author of "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips ""for Better Writing" "This little book has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to write better -- partly by precept and partly by example. It continues to influence more writers than any other. It's a force for good in the world." -- Bryan A. Garner, author of "Garner's Modern American Usage" "I can think of no better guide to good writing, and I always think of this little classic with a warm heart. More importantly, I revisit its pages often. It's the one essential book on writing." -- Jay Parini, author of "Why Poetry Matters" "Clarity and simplicity have always been the goals, and this book shows the way. It has always been a lighthouse in the dark and stormy night of student prose, of all of our prose." -- Ron Carlson "The only rules you are ever going to get from me are all in Strunk and White." --Ursula K. Le Guin, from "Steering the Craft " "["The Elements of Style "is] a book to which I return from time to time, the way I periodically reread Shakespeare. I always discover something new, settle a question that has been puzzling me, or learn a principle of usage that I have been pretending to know, a pretense that has resulted in inconsistency and in the sort of errors from which I can only pray some saintly copy editor will save me." -- Francine Prose, from "Reading"" Like A Writer" ..".still a little book, small enough and important enough to carry in your pocket, as I carry mine." -- Charles Osgood "Almost every writer has a Strunk and White story. One journalism professor spends the first two weeks of school forcing his students to memorize the book. A top editor at a major paper buys copies at yard sales to distribute to her writers and interns. It has even caused love affairs. . . . Could its greatness be any more clear?" -- Jesse Sheidlower, American Editor of the "Oxford"" English Dictionary," on NPR" ""If the English language is one of the finest homes ever devised for the human spirit, "Elements" is the best guided house tour we've got." --David Gelernter, "The Wall Street Journal" ..".Should be the daily companion of anyone who writes for a living and, for that matter, anyone who writes at all." "--"Jonathan Yardley, " Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News" "No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume." -- Herbert A. Kenny, "The Boston Globe" "Buy it, study it, enjoy it. It's as timeless as a book can be in our age of volubility." -- Charles Poore, "The New York Times" "White is one of the best stylists and most lucid minds in this country. What he says and his way of saying it are equally rewarding." "-- "Edmund Fuller, "The Wall Street Journal
""If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of "The Elements of Style." The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they're happy." -- Dorothy Parker, "Esquire"]]> 105 William Strunk Jr. Eileen 0 to-read 4.35 1918 The Elements of Style
author: William Strunk Jr.
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1918
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/11/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If the Buddha Dated: A Handbook for Finding Love on a Spiritual Path]]> 209575 212 Charlotte Kasl 0140195831 Eileen 0 to-read 4.11 1999 If the Buddha Dated: A Handbook for Finding Love on a Spiritual Path
author: Charlotte Kasl
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)]]> 5043 Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape.

Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

For the TV tie-in edition with the same ISBN go to this Alternate Cover Edition
]]> 976 Ken Follett 045122213X Eileen 0 to-read 4.34 1989 The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
author: Ken Follett
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know]]> 6332526
Temple Grandin meets Stephen Pinker in this engaging and informative look at what goes on inside the minds of dogs鈥攆rom a cognitive scientist with a background at The New Yorker .

With more than 52 million pet dogs in America today, it鈥檚 clear we are a nation of unabashed dog-lovers. Yet the relationship between dogs and humans remains a fascinating mystery, as no one really knows what goes on in the canine mind. Now, in Inside of a Dog , Alexandra Horowitz fuses her perspectives as both scientist and dog-owner to deliver a fresh look at the world of dogs鈥攁s seen from the animal鈥檚 point of view. Inspired by her years of living with her own dog, Pumpernickel, who was a constant source of delight and mystery, Horowitz鈥檚 mind became filled with questions and ideas. In crisp, clear prose, she draws on her research in the field of dog cognition to give readers a sense of a dog鈥檚 perceptual and cognitive abilities鈥攁nd paints a picture of what the canine experience is like. Horowitz鈥檚 own scientific journey, and the insights she uncovered, allowed her to understand her dog better and appreciate her more.

Containing up-to-the minute research and providing many moments of dog-behavior recognition, this lively and absorbing book helps dog owners to see their best friend鈥檚 behavior in a different, and revealing light, allowing them to understand their pets and enjoy their company even more.]]> 353 Alexandra Horowitz 1416583408 Eileen 0 to-read 3.61 2009 Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
author: Alexandra Horowitz
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Meditate: A Guide to Self-Discovery]]> 1757033 161 Lawrence LeShan 0553244531 Eileen 4 3.58 1974 How to Meditate: A Guide to Self-Discovery
author: Lawrence LeShan
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/09/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Naked 4138 Naked, Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview鈥攁 sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable. A tart-tongued mother does dead-on imitations of her young son's nervous tics, to the great amusement of his teachers; a stint of Kerouackian wandering is undertaken (of course!) with a quadriplegic companion; a family gathers for a wedding in the face of imminent death. Through it all is Sedaris's unmistakable voice, without doubt one of the freshest in American writing.]]> 304 David Sedaris Eileen 2 4.10 1997 Naked
author: David Sedaris
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1997
rating: 2
read at: 2009/08/30
date added: 2009/08/30
shelves:
review:
This book put me to sleep most of the time. The best story was by far the last one ("Naked").
]]> <![CDATA[Back Off: How to Confront and Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers]]> 1713599 -- Sharon, who succeeded in stopping a whole crew of habitual harassers in a city park...
-- Stephanie, a ten-year-old who confronted and escaped a child molester...
-- Catharine and Molly, who stood up to their landlord and stopped him from harassing the tenants...and dozens more. From an eight-year-old who successfully challenged two young harassers on the playground to an organized group of fifty women who confronted a dockworker in response to an attempted rape on the job, here's what they did, how they did it -- and how you can do it, too.

Back Off! is the first book to focus on the direct-action tactics that work and the first to deal with harassment everywhere it takes place, in both blue-collar and white-collar jobs, at school, on the street, on the bus or subway, in the park, even in church.

Back Off! examines the dynamics of sex and power in sexual harassment, the motives behind harassers' actions, and why traditional responses such as appeasement or aggression don't work, and describes the successful resistance strategies that you really can use -- including nonviolent personal confrontation techniques, group confrontations, administrative remedies, and formal lawsuits.]]> 384 Martha J. Langelan 0671788566 Eileen 0 to-read 4.11 1993 Back Off: How to Confront and Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers
author: Martha J. Langelan
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Leaving Las Vegas 824078 Leaving Las Vegas, the first novel by John O鈥橞rien, is a disturbing and emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it. Sera, a prostitute, and Ben, an alcoholic, stumble together and discover in each other a respite from their unforgiving lives. A testimony to the raw talent of its young author, Leaving Las Vegas is a compelling story of unconditional love between two disenfranchised and lost souls鈥攁n overlooked American classic.]]> 200 John O'Brien 0802134459 Eileen 0 to-read 4.00 1990 Leaving Las Vegas
author: John O'Brien
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/08/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Strangers on a Train 15677 Strangers on a Train, galvanized the reading public. Here we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. 鈥淪ome people are better off dead,鈥� Bruno remarks, 鈥渓ike your wife and my father, for instance.鈥� As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy is trapped in Highsmith鈥檚 perilous world, where, under the right circumstances, anybody is capable of murder.

The inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 classic 1951 film, Strangers on a Train launched Highsmith on a prolific career of noir fiction, proving her a master at depicting the unsettling forces that tremble beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life.]]> 281 Patricia Highsmith 0393321983 Eileen 0 to-read 3.79 1950 Strangers on a Train
author: Patricia Highsmith
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1950
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley, #1)]]> 156024 The Ambassadors, The Talented Mr. Ripley鈥攊s up to his tricks in a 90s film and also Rene Clement's 60s film, "Purple Noon."]]> 249 Patricia Highsmith Eileen 0 to-read 3.91 1955 The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley, #1)
author: Patricia Highsmith
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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]]> Nobody Move 4907243 Tree of Smoke comes a provocative thriller set in the American West. Nobody Move, which first appeared in the pages of Playboy, is the story of an assortment of lowlifes in Bakersfield, California, and their cat-and-mouse game over $2.3 million. Touched by echoes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, Nobody Move is at once an homage to and a variation on literary form. It salutes one of our most enduring and popular genres鈥攖he American crime novel鈥攂ut with a grisly humor and outrageousness that are Denis Johnson鈥檚 own. Sexy, suspenseful, and above all entertaining, Nobody Move shows one of our greatest novelists at his versatile best.]]> 196 Denis Johnson 0374222908 Eileen 0 to-read 3.35 2009 Nobody Move
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> Resuscitation of a Hanged Man 9906 272 Denis Johnson 0413772322 Eileen 0 to-read 3.70 1990 Resuscitation of a Hanged Man
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Fiskadoro 29941 New York Times as "wildly ambitious" and "the sort of book that a young Herman Melville might have written had he lived today and studied such disparate works as the Bible, 'The Wasteland,' Fahrenheit 451, and Dog Soldiers, screened Star Wars and Apocalypse Now several times, dropped a lot of acid and listened to hours of Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones," Fiskadoro is a stunning novel of an all-too-possible tomorrow. Deeply moving and provacative, Fiskadoro brilliantly presents the sweeping and heartbreaking tale of the survivors of a devastating nuclear war and their attempts to salvage remnants of the old world and rebuild their culture.]]> 221 Denis Johnson 0060976098 Eileen 0 to-read 3.56 1985 Fiskadoro
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/30
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]]> The Name of the World 9910 129 Denis Johnson 0413771601 Eileen 0 to-read 3.55 2000 The Name of the World
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/30
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]]> Angels 9903 鈥楢 dazzling and savage first novel鈥� New York Times

Angels tells the story of two born losers. Jamie has ditched her husband and is running away with her two baby girls. Bill is dreaming of making it big in a life of crime. They meet on a Greyhound bus and decide to team up.

So begins a stunning, tragic odyssey through the dark underbelly of America 鈥� the bars, bus stations, mental wards, and prisons that play host to Jamie and Bill as they find themselves trapped in a downward spiral though rape, alcohol, drugs and crime, to madness and death.

From the author of Tree of Smoke , winner of the National Book Award for Fiction]]> 209 Denis Johnson 0099440830 Eileen 0 to-read 3.98 1977 Angels
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Already Dead: A California Gothic]]> 9911 Already Dead is the tangled story of Nelson Fairchild Jr., disenfranchised scion to a northern California land fortune. A relentless failure, Nelson has botched nearly every scheme he's attempted to pull off. Now his future lies in a potentially profitable marijuana patch hidden in the lush old-growth redwoods on the family land.

Nelson has some serious problems. His marriage has fallen apart, and he may lose his land, cash and crop in the divorce. What's more, in need of some quick cash, he had foolishly agreed to smuggle $90,000 worth of cocaine through customs for Harry Lally, a major player in a drug syndicate. Chickening out just before bringing the drugs through, he flushed the powder. Now Lally wants him dead, and two goons are hot on his trail. Desperate, terrified and alone, for Nelson, there may be only one way out.

This is Denis Johnson's biggest and most complex book to date, and it perfectly showcases his signature themes of fate, redemption and the unraveling of the fabric of today's society. Already Dead, with its masterful narrative of overlapping and entwined stories, will further fuel the acclaim that surrounds one of today's most fascinating writers.]]> 448 Denis Johnson 006092909X Eileen 0 to-read 3.70 1997 Already Dead: A California Gothic
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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]]> Tree of Smoke 271074
Tree of Smoke was the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Fiction.]]> 614 Denis Johnson 0374279128 Eileen 0 to-read 3.60 2004 Tree of Smoke
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> Jesus鈥� Son 608287 Jesus' Son, the first collection of stories by Denis Johnson, presents a unique, hallucinatory vision of contemporary American life unmatched in power and immediacy and marks a new level of achievement for this acclaimed writer. In their intensity of perception, their neon-lit evocation of a strange world brought uncomfortably close to our own, the stories in Jesus' Son offer a disturbing yet eerily beautiful portrayal of American loneliness and hope.

Contains:
Car Crash While Hitchhiking
Two Men
Out on Bail
Dundun
Work
Emergency
Dirty Wedding
The Other Man
Happy Hour
Steady Hands at Seattle General
Beverly Home']]> 160 Denis Johnson 0060975776 Eileen 0 to-read 4.16 1992 Jesus鈥 Son
author: Denis Johnson
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/30
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]]> A Train of Powder 103606 A Train of Powder approaches great literature. Written between 1946 and 1954, these accounts of four controversial trials explore the nature of crime and punishment, innocence and guilt, retribution and forgiveness. The centerpiece of the book is "Greenhouse with Cyclamens," a three-part essay on the Nuremberg trials written with precision, clarity, and daring insight. She also reports on two particularly brutal murder trials - one for a lynching in North Carolina, the other for a "torso murder" in England - and the espionage trial of a British telegrapher.

Throughout, the question of guilt inspires Ms. West to feats of psychological detection wherein unerring craftsmanship and a powerful narrative sense combine to a high purpose - the pursuit of truth.]]> 309 Rebecca West 1566633192 Eileen 0 to-read 3.84 1946 A Train of Powder
author: Rebecca West
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1946
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/22
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]]> The Birds Fall Down 235753
Rebecca West鈥檚 gripping psychological mystery鈥攑art thriller, part historical novel鈥擳he Birds Fall Down takes readers inside the intrigue of revolutionaries preparing to overthrow an empire.

During early revolutionary stirrings in Russia, after an unexpected turn of events, Laura Rowan, the coddled granddaughter of an exiled British nobleman, becomes her grandfather鈥檚 sole companion on a fateful train ride. In France, a young revolutionary approaches Laura and her grandfather with information that will turn her world upside down, and their travels become a thrilling journey into the heart of the struggle against Tsarist Russia.

In this suspenseful novel, West brings to life a battle between entitled imperials and the passionate, savvy communist revolutionaries who dare to face them.]]> 448 Rebecca West 0860686620 Eileen 0 to-read 3.66 1966 The Birds Fall Down
author: Rebecca West
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1966
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Young Rebecca: Writings, 1911-1917]]> 103613
"Thanks to Marcus's arduous labor of selection, we have here a living, breathing evocation of the early feminist and socialist movements in England as recorded by a highly opinionated participant." --Jessica Mitford

"The Young Rebecca reflects [West's] consuming interest in feminist and socialist issues. Quite apart from their technical excellence, these articles are remarkable because they were produced by a girl barely out of her teens, and because many of them read as if they were written last Tuesday." --The Atlanta Journal

..". a fierce and funny scourge of establishment figures... her prose sparkles... " --Book World, The Washington Post

Jane Marcus brings together some of Rebecca West's early journalistic writings, collected here for the first time, which reveal West's passionate responses to political and literary events as well as her experience in the suffrage campaign. Included are articles from The Freewoman, The Clarion, and the Daily News, among others.]]> 352 Jane Connor Marcus 0253231019 Eileen 0 to-read 3.88 1982 The Young Rebecca: Writings, 1911-1917
author: Jane Connor Marcus
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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]]> The Fountain Overflows 103603
Mrs. Aubrey, a former concert pianist, struggles to keep the family afloat, but then she is something of a high-strung eccentric herself, as is all too clear to her daughter Rose, through whose loving but sometimes cruel eyes events are seen. Still, living on the edge holds the promise of the unexpected, and the Aubreys, who encounter furious poltergeists, turn up hidden masterpieces, and come to the aid of a murderess, will find that they have adventure to spare.

In The Fountain Overflows, a 1957 best seller, Rebecca West transmuted her own volatile childhood into enduring art. This is an unvarnished but affectionate picture of an extraordinary family, in which a remarkable stylist and powerful intelligence surveys the elusive boundaries of childhood and adulthood, freedom and dependency, the ordinary and the occult.]]> 408 Rebecca West 1590170342 Eileen 0 to-read 3.95 1956 The Fountain Overflows
author: Rebecca West
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1956
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family]]> 80890
As Mann charts the Buddenbrooks鈥� decline from prosperity to bankruptcy, from moral and psychic soundness to sickly piety, artistic decadence, and madness, he ushers the reader into a world of stunning vitality, pieced together from births and funerals, weddings and divorces, recipes, gossip, and earthy humor.

First published in Germany in 1901, when Mann was only twenty-six, Buddenbrooks surpasses all other modern family chronicles in its immensity of scope, richness of detail, and fullness of humanity. With remarkable fidelity to the original German text, this superb translation emphasizes the magnificent scale of Mann鈥檚 achievement in this riveting, tragic novel.]]> 731 Thomas Mann 0679417370 Eileen 0 to-read 4.17 1901 Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family
author: Thomas Mann
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1901
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/22
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]]> The Magic Mountain 88077
The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death.]]> 706 Thomas Mann Eileen 0 to-read 4.12 1924 The Magic Mountain
author: Thomas Mann
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1924
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/22
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]]> The Pornography of Meat 239603
Carol J. Adams answers this question in this provocative book by finding hidden meanings in the culture around us. From advertisements to T-shirts, from billboards to menus, from matchbook covers to comics, images of women and animals are merged - with devastating consequences.

Like her groundbreaking The Sexual Politics of Meat, which has been published in two editions, The Pornography of Meat uncovers startling connections:

Why pornography demonstrates such a fascination with slaughtering and hunting

Fixations on women's body parts expressed through ads for the breasts, legs, and thighs of chickens and turkeys

Animals to be eaten as meat presented in seductive poses and sexy clothing

Back-entry poses in pornography, implying that women - especially women of color - are like animals: insatiable

How meat advertising draws on X-rated images

Why at least one prominent animal-rights group is actually "in bed" with pornographers.

With 200 illustrations, this courageous and explosive book establishes why Adams's slide show, upon which The Pornography of Meat is based, is so popular on campuses across North America and is reviled by the groups she takes on with insight and passion. From the rise of chain steakhouses to the language of the hunt, from the halls of government to the practice of artificial insemination on farm animals, The Pornography of Meat shows exactly how harm to others parades as fun.]]> 192 Carol J. Adams 0826416462 Eileen 0 to-read 3.89 2003 The Pornography of Meat
author: Carol J. Adams
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Bare: The Naked Truth About Stripping]]> 100970 Bare follows the author and her fellow dancers through Seattle strip clubs and bachelor parties, exploring in riveting detail Eaves鈥檚 own motivations and behavior, as well as those of her coworkers, as they make their way through the sometimes exhilarating, often disturbing world of stripping. This compelling, revealing memoir exposes the reader to that world behind the flashing lights and offers illuminating insights into the reasons women take up this work鈥攁nd how it affects their identities and lives off the job.
In its unstinting honesty, Bare demands that we take a closer look at the way sexuality is viewed in our culture; what, if anything, constitutes "normal" desire; the ethics of swapping money鈥攐r anything else鈥攆or sex; and how women and men navigate the perilous contradictions and double standards that make up today鈥檚 socio-sexual conversation.]]> 344 Elisabeth Eaves 1580051219 Eileen 0 to-read 3.49 2002 Bare: The Naked Truth About Stripping
author: Elisabeth Eaves
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/20
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]]> Ivy League Stripper 471023 296 Heidi Mattson 1559707704 Eileen 0 to-read 3.39 1995 Ivy League Stripper
author: Heidi Mattson
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation]]> 8600 209 Lynne Truss 1592402038 Eileen 0 to-read 3.86 2003 Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
author: Lynne Truss
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/18
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]]> The Namesake 33917 Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors it received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America.

In The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection an international bestseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail 鈥� the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase 鈥� that opens whole worlds of emotion.

The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name.

Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves.]]> 304 Jhumpa Lahiri 0618485228 Eileen 4 4.01 2003 The Namesake
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2009/08/17
date added: 2009/08/17
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Beautiful little story, poetic, entrancing at times, and well-written throughout.
]]> <![CDATA[Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life]]> 14096 304 Jon Kabat-Zinn 1401307787 Eileen 0 to-read 4.13 1994 Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
author: Jon Kabat-Zinn
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/16
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]]> The Broom of the System 6750 467 David Foster Wallace 0142002429 Eileen 0 to-read 3.84 1987 The Broom of the System
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Consider the Lobster and Other Essays]]> 6751
Contains: "Big Red Son," "Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think," "Some Remarks on Kafka's Funniness from Which Probably Not Enough Has Been Removed," "Authority and American Usage," "The View from Mrs. Thompson's," "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart," "Up, Simba," "Consider the Lobster," "Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky" and "Host."]]> 343 David Foster Wallace 0316156116 Eileen 0 to-read 4.19 2005 Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments]]> 6748 Infinite Jest.]]> 353 David Foster Wallace 0316925284 Eileen 0 to-read 4.24 1996 A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life]]> 5986375
How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend.

Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.]]> 138 David Foster Wallace 0316068225 Eileen 0 to-read 4.52 2009 This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/13
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]]> Infinite Jest 6759
Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.

Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human鈥攁nd one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do.]]> 1088 David Foster Wallace Eileen 0 to-read 4.27 1996 Infinite Jest
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More]]> 6671 Seven stories of fantasy and fun by the fantastic Roald Dahl.

Henry Sugar is a man with an amazing talent: he can see with his eyes closed. But will he use his power for good or personal gain? Find out in "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," one of seven short stories in this extraordinary collection.

A clever mix of fact and fiction, this volume also includes the tale of a boy who can understand animals, the magical true story of Mildenhall treasure, and Roald Dahl's own account of how he became a writer (with a wealth of tips for aspiring authors).

Included in this volume:
- The Boy Who Talked With Animals - in which a stranded sea turtle and a small boy have more in common than meets the eye.
- The Hitchhiker - proves that in a pinch a professional pickpocket can be the perfect pal.
- The Mildenhall Treasure - a true tale of fortune found and an opportunity lost.
- The Swan - a fantastic story about youthful misdeeds.
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - in which a modern-day Robin Hood brings joy to the hearts of orphans - and fear to the souls of casino owners around the world.
- Lucky Break: How I Became a Writer - an account in Dahl's own words on how he came to be.
- A Piece of Cake: First Story - 1942 - Dahl's first story, which tells of how he was shot down over the Libyan Desert.]]> 232 Roald Dahl Eileen 0 to-read 4.15 1977 The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More
author: Roald Dahl
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Danny the Champion of the World]]> 6690 205 Roald Dahl 0375814256 Eileen 0 to-read 4.09 1959 Danny the Champion of the World
author: Roald Dahl
name: Eileen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1959
rating: 0
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]]> The Twits 31456 96 Roald Dahl 0141318309 Eileen 0 to-read 3.97 1980 The Twits
author: Roald Dahl
name: Eileen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1980
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/08/13
shelves: to-read
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]]>