Jeff's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 11 Apr 2025 19:37:19 -0700 60 Jeff's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)]]> 40604658
Until something goes wrong. . . .

In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton taps all his mesmerizing talent and scientific brilliance to create his most electrifying technothriller.]]> 450 Michael Crichton 0307763056 Jeff 0 currently-reading 4.38 1990 Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> Mere Christianity 11138 191 C.S. Lewis 0684823780 Jeff 5 4.32 1952 Mere Christianity
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1952
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/04/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)]]> 68429
The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler—the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years—has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.

As Kelsier's protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin's Mistborn skills sharp, but it's the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn't run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier's crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won't get easier with three armies - one of them composed of ferocious giants - now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler's hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.]]> 590 Brandon Sanderson 0765316889 Jeff 0 currently-reading 4.38 2007 The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]> 541 Brandon Sanderson Jeff 5 4.48 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Dear Coffee Buyer: A Guide to Sourcing Green Coffee]]> 40581653
Along the way, Brown takes an in-depth look at coffee bean varieties, processing, origins, cupping, forecasting, and pricing. He even interviews other legendary coffee buyers to get their take on the skills needed to begin a successful career in coffee buying. Dear Coffee Buyer will change the way a generation of baristas, roasters, and green buyers views 'direct trade,' seasonality, the Geisha variety, and the complex challenges of getting beans halfway around the world, from the farm to the cup.]]> 123 Ryan Brown 1532364822 Jeff 0 to-read 4.43 Dear Coffee Buyer: A Guide to Sourcing Green Coffee
author: Ryan Brown
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.43
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community]]> 174845 122 Dietrich Bonhoeffer 0060608528 Jeff 0 to-read 4.27 1939 Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
author: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> <![CDATA[The Coffee Roaster's Companion]]> 23004339 90 Scott Rao 1495118193 Jeff 4 4.39 2014 The Coffee Roaster's Companion
author: Scott Rao
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Stellarlune (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #9)]]> 40219200 In this stunning ninth book in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Sophie and her friends discover the true meaning of power—and evil.

Sophie Foster changed the game.

Now she’s facing impossible choices:
When to act.
When to trust.
When to let go.

Her friends are divided and scattered, and the Black Swan wants Sophie to focus on their projects. But her instincts are leading her somewhere else.

Stellarlune—and the mysterious Elysian—might be the key to everything. But finding truth in the Lost Cities always requires sacrifice. And as the Neverseen’s plans sharpen into terrifying focus, it appears that everyone has miscalculated. The Lost Cities� greatest lie could destroy everything. And in the battle that follows, only one thing is certain: nothing will ever be the same.]]> 800 Shannon Messenger 153443853X Jeff 4 4.42 2022 Stellarlune (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #9)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/20
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]]> <![CDATA[A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis]]> 16244622 Although it was clear from the start that Lewis would be a writer, it was not always clear he would become a Christian. Drawing on Lewis's autobiographical works, works by those who knew him personally, and his apologetic and fictional writing, this book tells the inspiring story of Lewis's journey from cynical atheist to joyous Christian and challenges readers to follow their own calling. The book allows Lewis to tell his own life story in a uniquely powerful manner while shedding light on his best-known works.

]]> 256 Devin Brown 1587433354 Jeff 0 currently-reading 4.15 2013 A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis
author: Devin Brown
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/02
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]]> <![CDATA[C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935�1947 (Hansen Lectureship Series)]]> 140202694 Perhaps no other literary figure has transformed the American religious landscape in recent history as much as C. S. Lewis. Even before the international publication and incredible success of his fictional works such as The Chronicles of Narnia or apologetic works like Mere Christianity, Lewis was already being read "across the pond" in America. But who exactly was reading his work? And how was he received?

With fresh research and shrewd analysis, this volume by noted historian Mark A. Noll considers the surprising reception of Lewis among Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and evangelical readers to see how early readings of the Oxford don shaped his later influence.

Based on the annual lecture series hosted at Wheaton College's Marion E. Wade Center, volumes in the Hansen Lectureship Series reflect on the imaginative work and lasting influence of seven British Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams.]]> 169 Mark A. Noll 1514007010 Jeff 5 3.60 C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935–1947 (Hansen Lectureship Series)
author: Mark A. Noll
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.60
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rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Evangelical Pharisees: The Gospel as Cure for the Church's Hypocrisy]]> 75376292
Scripture warns believers of hypocrisy—called the “leaven of the Pharisees”—and its potential to spread quickly in the church. Outwardly appearing as devout religion, this legalism hides destructive pride, idolatry, and even apostasy. Unfortunately, pharisaism is still a problem among evangelicals today. How does Jesus instruct the church to recognize and defeat one of its deepest theological issues?

In this clear, compelling call to spiritual reformation, Michael Reeves helps believers reject pharisaism and embrace gospel integrity. Studying 3 essentials of Christian doctrine that the Pharisees misunderstood—their approach to Scripture, understanding of salvation, and disregard of regeneration—Reeves shows readers how to embrace a biblical, Trinitarian, and creedal understanding of the gospel necessary for true reformation.

Explains the 3 Essential Rs of the Gospel: Teaches readers about revelation, redemption, and regeneration
A Great Resource for Pastors and Congregations: Addresses the threat of hypocrisy in the church, and tackles in-house issues from partisanship to pragmatism
A Follow-Up to Gospel People: Reeves continues his study of timely evangelical topics]]> 112 Michael Reeves 1433581175 Jeff 5 4.52 2023 Evangelical Pharisees: The Gospel as Cure for the Church's Hypocrisy
author: Michael Reeves
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2023
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Unlocked (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #8.5)]]> 51481198 Book 8.5 in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series delivers what fans of the series have been begging for! Told in an exciting new way, the saga continues with plenty of huge reveals and shocking new twists—plus a complete series guide with beautiful color and black-and-white illustrations and other awesome bonuses!

In this extra special installment of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, the story picks up right from Legacy’s particularly devastating cliffhanger. But chapters alternate between Sophie and Keefe’s perspectives to give readers deeper insights into both beloved characters. New powers will be discovered. Hard truths from the past will come to light. And all of your favorite characters will find themselves tested in ways they never imagined.

And that's not all!

Unlocked also includes a comprehensive guide to the world of the Lost Cities, featuring new character and world details that have never been revealed before—plus fun bonuses like Keeper-themed recipes, a detailed map of the Lost Cities, gorgeous full-color illustrations, and so much more!]]> 764 Shannon Messenger 1534463437 Jeff 4 4.23 2020 Unlocked (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #8.5)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era)]]> 441190 166 Mark A. Noll 0807830127 Jeff 0 to-read 4.14 2006 The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era)
author: Mark A. Noll
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[God and Race in American Politics: A Short History]]> 4704751 Noll demonstrates how supporters and opponents of slavery and segregation drew equally on the Bible to justify the morality of their positions. He shows how a common evangelical heritage supported Jim Crow discrimination and contributed powerfully to the black theology of liberation preached by Martin Luther King Jr. In probing such connections, Noll takes readers from the 1830 slave revolt of Nat Turner through Reconstruction and the long Jim Crow era, from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to "values" voting in recent presidential elections. He argues that the greatest transformations in American political history, from the Civil War through the civil rights revolution and beyond, constitute an interconnected narrative in which opposing appeals to Biblical truth gave rise to often-contradictory religious and moral complexities. And he shows how this heritage remains alive today in controversies surrounding stem-cell research and abortion as well as civil rights reform.

God and Race in American Politics is a panoramic history that reveals the profound role of religion in American political history and in American discourse on race and social justice.]]> 224 Mark A. Noll 0691125368 Jeff 0 to-read 4.02 2008 God and Race in American Politics: A Short History
author: Mark A. Noll
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Essays Presented to Charles Williams]]> 143228
"Of many such talks this collection is not unrepresentative."]]> 146 C.S. Lewis 0802811175 Jeff 0 currently-reading 4.04 1947 Essays Presented to Charles Williams
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1947
rating: 0
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]]> What's Wrong with the World 184565 Culled from the thousands of essays he contributed to newspapers and periodicals over his lifetime, the critical works collected for this edition pulse with the author's unique brand of clever commentary. As readable and rewarding today as when they were written over a century ago, these pieces offer Chesterton's unparalleled analysis of contemporary ideals, his incisive critique of modern efficiency, and his humorous but heartfelt defense of the common man against trendsetting social assaults.]]> 224 G.K. Chesterton 0486454274 Jeff 0 to-read 4.06 1910 What's Wrong with the World
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1910
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't]]> 16144853 Why do only a few people get to say “I love my job�? It seems unfair that finding fulfillment at work is like winning a lottery; that only a few lucky ones get to feel valued by their organizations, to feel like they belong.

Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled.

This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders are creating environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.

In his travels around the world since the publication of his bestseller Start with Why, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams were able to trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives were offered, were doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?

The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general.

“Officers eat last,� he said.

Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What’s symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: great leaders sacrifice their own comfort—even their own survival—for the good of those in their care.

This principle has been true since the earliest tribes of hunters and gatherers. It’s not a management theory; it’s biology. Our brains and bodies evolved to help us find food, shelter, mates and especially safety. We’ve always lived in a dangerous world, facing predators and enemies at every turn. We thrived only when we felt safe among our group.


Our biology hasn’t changed in fifty thousand years, but our environment certainly has. Today’s workplaces tend to be full of cynicism, paranoia and self-interest. But the best organizations foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a Circle of Safety that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

The Circle of Safety leads to stable, adaptive, confident teams, where everyone feels they belong and all energies are devoted to facing the common enemy and seizing big opportunities.

As he did in Start with Why, Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories from a wide range of examples, from the military to manufacturing, from government to investment banking.

The biology is clear: when it matters most, leaders who are willing to eat last are rewarded with deeply loyal colleagues who will stop at nothing to
advance their leader’s vision and their organization’s interests. It’s amazing how well it works.
]]> 350 Simon Sinek 1591845327 Jeff 3 4.09 2014 Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
author: Simon Sinek
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2014
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wisdom of Father Brown (Father Brown, #2)]]> 184441 184 G.K. Chesterton 1421906015 Jeff 0 currently-reading 3.80 1914 The Wisdom of Father Brown (Father Brown, #2)
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1914
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Innocence of Father Brown (Father Brown, #1)]]> 184591 Not long after he published Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton moved from London to Beaconsfield, and met Father O'Connor. O'Connor had a shrewd insight to the darker side of man's nature and a mild appearance to go with it--and together those came together to become Chesterton's unassuming Father Brown. Chesterton loved the character, and the magazines he wrote for loved the stories. The Innocence of Father Brown was the first collection of them, and it's a great lot of fun.]]> 232 G.K. Chesterton 0809592533 Jeff 0 currently-reading 3.85 1911 The Innocence of Father Brown (Father Brown, #1)
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1911
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/09
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]]> Henry V 37526
The authoritative edition of Henry V from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

-Scene-by-scene plot summaries

-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases

-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language

-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books

-An annotated guide to further reading]]> 294 William Shakespeare 0743484878 Jeff 5 3.84 1599 Henry V
author: William Shakespeare
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1599
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #8)]]> 44150974
And Sophie’s not the only one with blank spots in her past, or mysteries surrounding her family. She and her friends are part of something much bigger than they imagined—and their roles have already been chosen for them.

Every clue drags them deeper into the conspiracy. Every memory forces them to question everything—especially one another. And the harder they fight, the more the lines blur between friend and enemy.]]> 797 Shannon Messenger 153442735X Jeff 4 4.44 2019 Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #8)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms]]> 25716673 Renowned pastor andĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Timothy Keller writes the book his readers have been asking for: A year-long daily devotional, beautifully designed with gilt edges and a gold ribbon marker.

The Book of Psalms is known as the Bible’s songbook—Jesus knew all 150 psalms intimately, and relied on them to face every situation, including his death.

Two decades ago, Tim Keller began reading the entire Book of Psalms every month. The Songs of Jesus is based on his accumulated years of study, insight, and inspiration recorded in his prayer journals. Kathy Keller came to reading the psalms as a support during an extended illness. Together they have distilled the meaning of each verse, inviting readers into the vast wisdom of the psalms.

If you have no devotional life yet, this book is a wonderful way to start. If you already spend time in study and prayer, understanding every verse of the psalms will bring you a new level of intimacy with God, unlocking your purpose within God’s kingdom.

]]> 384 Timothy J. Keller 0525955143 Jeff 5 4.50 2015 The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/26
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]]> <![CDATA[J. R. R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend]]> 15806718 Tolkien had a difficult life, for many orphaned and poor, his guardian forbad him to communicate with the woman he had fallen in love with, and he went through the horrors of the First World War. An intensely private and brilliant scholar, he spent over fifty years working on the languages, history, peoples and geography of Middle-earth, with a consistent mythology and body of legends inspired by a formidable knowledge of early northern European history and culture. J.R.R. Tolkien became a legend by creating an imaginary world that has enthralled and delighted generations. This delightful and accessible biography brings him to life. Colin Duriez has appeared as a commentator on DVDs of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, and BBC television's The Worlds of Fantasy. He is also the author of The Inklings Handbook (with the late David Porter), J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. The Story of Their Friendship, and Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, and has contributed to definitive reference works, The Tolkien Encyclopedia and a number of other tomes relating to Tolkien.]]> 232 Colin Duriez 0745955142 Jeff 5 3.95 2012 J. R. R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend
author: Colin Duriez
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee: One Roaster's Manifesto]]> 25290583
In Rob’s Words:
“In my time roasting for companies on the West Coast and the Midwest, I have had the opportunity to roast coffee on an assortment of different machines. I have roasted a variety of single origins and blends, and I’ve experimented with roast profiles while taking meticulous notes, both during roasting and later at the cupping table. Throughout my years of experimentation, I’ve discovered some commonalities in how changes in the roasting profile affect the flavor of the coffee

In this handbook, I have pinpointed these aspects of the roast profile and detailed why they matter to development of flavor in the finished product. If you’re a roasting professional who is searching for new ideas to nail down the profiles you want, this handbook will help you reach your goals.”]]> 64 Rob Hoos 0692417702 Jeff 0 currently-reading 3.93 2015 Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee: One Roaster's Manifesto
author: Rob Hoos
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Coffee Roasting Best Practices]]> 55679357 94 Scott Rao 9781792327 Jeff 0 currently-reading 4.59 2020 Coffee Roasting Best Practices
author: Scott Rao
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action]]> 7108725 Why do you do what you do?

Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. It was their natural ability to start with why that enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.

In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way—and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be lead, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit—those are always results. WHY does your organization exist? WHY does it do the things it does? WHY do customers really buy from one company or another? WHY are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?

Starting with WHY works in big business and small business, in the nonprofit world and in politics. Those who start with WHY never manipulate, they inspire. And the people who follow them don't do so because they have to; they follow because they want to.

Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.]]> 256 Simon Sinek 1591842808 Jeff 5 4.10 2009 Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
author: Simon Sinek
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #7)]]> 32762937
But when the Neverseen prove that Sophie’s far more vulnerable than she ever imagined, she realizes it’s time to change the rules. Her powerful abilities can only protect her so far. To face down ruthless enemies, she must learn to fight.

Unfortunately, battle training can’t help a beloved friend who’s facing a whole different danger—where the only solution involves one of the biggest risks Sophie and her friends have ever taken. And the distraction might be exactly what the villains have been waiting for.]]> 848 Shannon Messenger 1481497456 Jeff 5 4.30 2018 Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #7)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings]]> 30037808
C. S. Lewis, author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics, considers humankind’s spiritual journey in this collection of wise, meditative excerpts and writings.

In these daily reflections, the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, and Christian apologist, explores a range of connected themes, including “the serious business of heaven,� “Nearness to God,� “Heaven and Sexuality,� and “Two Kinds of Good and Bad.”]]> 432 C.S. Lewis 0062643576 Jeff 5 4.26 1984 The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/30
date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[Just as He Promised | Advent Bible Study]]> 220983689 175 The Daily Grace Co. Jeff 5 4.58 Just as He Promised | Advent Bible Study
author: The Daily Grace Co.
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.58
book published:
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Shakespeare's Library: Unlocking the Greatest Mystery in Literature]]> 42250247 336 Stuart Kells 1640091831 Jeff 5 3.27 2018 Shakespeare's Library: Unlocking the Greatest Mystery in Literature
author: Stuart Kells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #6)]]> 32762917
The Neverseen have had their victories—but the battle is far from over. It’s time to change tactics. Make sacrifices. Reexamine everything. Maybe even time for Sophie to trust her enemies.

All paths lead to Nightfall—an ominous door to an even more ominous place—and Sophie and her friends strike a dangerous bargain to get there. But nothing can prepare them for what they discover. The problems they’re facing stretch deep into their history. And with time running out, and mistakes catching up with them, Sophie and her allies must join forces in ways they never have before.]]> 576 Shannon Messenger 1481497421 Jeff 5 4.51 2017 Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #6)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
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]]> <![CDATA[What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures]]> 6516450
In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period.

Here you'll find the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling creations of pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and why it was that employers in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.]]> 444 Malcolm Gladwell 0316078573 Jeff 5 3.85 2009 What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable]]> 242472
A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.

Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.�

For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. In this revelatory book, Taleb will change the way you look at the world, and this second edition features a new philosophical and empirical essay, “On Robustness and Fragility,� which offers tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world.

Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan is a landmark book—itself a black swan.]]> 480 Nassim Nicholas Taleb 1400063515 Jeff 0 to-read 3.96 2007 The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Speak What We Feel: Not What We Ought to Say]]> 123287 176 Frederick Buechner 0062517538 Jeff 5 3.99 2001 Speak What We Feel: Not What We Ought to Say
author: Frederick Buechner
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers]]> 52891090 224 Dane C. Ortlund 1433566133 Jeff 5 4.50 2020 Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
author: Dane C. Ortlund
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis]]> 1800794
Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In Planet Narnia he demonstrates that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings (including previously unpublished drafts of the Chronicles), Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets - - Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn - - planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value" and "especially worthwhile in our own generation." Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the Chronicles so that in each book the plot-line, the ornamental details, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality. The cosmological theme of each Chronicle is what Lewis called 'the kappa element in romance', the atmospheric essence of a story, everywhere present but nowhere explicit. The reader inhabits this atmosphere and thus imaginatively gains connaitre knowledge of the spiritual character which the tale was created to embody.

Planet Narnia is a ground-breaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles, but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook. Ward uncovers a much subtler writer and thinker than has previously been recognized, whose central interests were hiddenness, immanence, and knowledge by acquaintance."]]> 347 Michael Ward 0195313879 Jeff 5 4.33 2008 Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis
author: Michael Ward
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/11/15
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]]> <![CDATA[I Hate the Ivy League: Riffs and Rants on Elite Education]]> 61611630 Why is Gladwell so obsessed with American education? The foreword and afterword of I Hate the Ivy League explains, framing this carefully curated selection of Revisionist History episodes. If you’ve never listened to Revisionist History, this collection is a thoughtful introduction to the long-running podcast, and if you’re already a fan, it allows for careful re-examination of the important issues at hand: how do we really determine what matters most when it comes to educating our children?]]> 6 Malcolm Gladwell Jeff 5 4.30 I Hate the Ivy League: Riffs and Rants on Elite Education
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage]]> 139069 The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age.

In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization.

In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton's fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

First edition: here.]]> 282 Alfred Lansing Jeff 0 to-read 4.42 1959 Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
author: Alfred Lansing
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1959
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[That Hideous Strength (The Space Trilogy, #3)]]> 100933
The story surrounds Mark and Jane Studdock, a newly married couple. Mark is a Sociologist who is enticed to join an organisation called N.I.C.E. which aims to control all human life. His wife, meanwhile, has bizarre prophetic dreams about a decapitated scientist, Alcasan. As Mark is drawn inextricably into the sinister organisation, he discovers the truth of his wife’s dreams when he meets the literal head of Alcasan which is being kept alive by infusions of blood.

Jane seeks help concerning her dreams at a community called St Anne’s, where she meets their leader � Dr Ransom (the main character of the previous two titles in the trilogy). The story ends in a final spectacular scene at the N.I.C.E. headquarters where Merlin appears to confront the powers of Hell.]]> 534 C.S. Lewis 0007157177 Jeff 5 3.91 1945 That Hideous Strength (The Space Trilogy, #3)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1945
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/11/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering]]> 216857785
Why is Miami…Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns for the first time in twenty-five years to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.

Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world’s most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell’s most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It’s time we took tipping points seriously.]]> 352 Malcolm Gladwell 0316575801 Jeff 5 4.03 2024 Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Perelandra (The Space Trilogy, #2)]]> 100924 The second book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which also includes Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, Perelandra continues the adventures of the extraordinary Dr. Ransom. Pitted against the most destructive of human weaknesses, temptation, the great man must battle evil on a new planet — Perelandra — when it is invaded by a dark force. Will Perelandra succumb to this malevolent being, who strives to create a new world order and who must destroy an old and beautiful civilization to do so? Or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man? The outcome of Dr. Ransom's mighty struggle alone will determine the fate of this peace-loving planet.

]]> 288 C.S. Lewis 0007157169 Jeff 5 4.00 1943 Perelandra (The Space Trilogy, #2)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1943
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #5)]]> 27272698
Sophie Foster is back in the Lost Cities--but the Lost Cities have changed. The threat of war hangs heavy over her glittering world, and the Neverseen are wreaking havoc.

The lines between friend and enemy have blurred, and Sophie is unsure whom to trust. But when she's warned that the people she loves most will be the next victims, she knows she has to act.

A mysterious symbol could be the key--if only she knew how to translate it. Every new clue seems to lead deeper into her world's underbelly and the Black Swan aren't the only ones who have plans. The Neverseen have their own Initiative, and if Sophie doesn't stop it, they might finally have the ultimate means to control her.]]> 688 Shannon Messenger Jeff 0 4.48 2016 Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #5)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/14
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]]> The Abolition of Man 25825420
The Abolition of Man, Lewis uses his graceful prose, delightful humor, and keen understanding of the human mind to challenge our notions about how to best teach our children--and ourselves--not merely reading and writing, but also a sense of morality.]]> 113 C.S. Lewis Jeff 5 4.16 1943 The Abolition of Man
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1943
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Out of the Silent Planet (The Space Trilogy, #1)]]> 25350 160 C.S. Lewis 0007157150 Jeff 5 3.93 1938 Out of the Silent Planet (The Space Trilogy, #1)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1938
rating: 5
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]]> James 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Jeff 0 to-read 4.47 2024 James
author: Percival Everett
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.47
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]]> <![CDATA[When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight For Joy]]> 45352 We all want to experience liberating, love-producing, risk-taking satisfaction in God. But the reality is that we often struggle to find, and hold onto, true and lasting joy—even when we have embraced the good news of God’s grace. So we face a crucial question: What should I do when I don’t desire God?

John Piper aims to help us find joy in Jesus that is so deep and so strong that it frees us from bondage to comfort and security, and impels us to live merciful and missional lives. Written with the radical hope that all Christians would experience the fullness of life in Christ, this book will help you fight for joy daily by leading you to rediscover the soul-satisfying glory of God.

]]> 268 John Piper 1581346522 Jeff 0 to-read 4.11 2004 When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight For Joy
author: John Piper
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist]]> 213367
The pursuit of pleasure is not optional. It is essential.

Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In this paradigm-shattering work, John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn’t truly Delight is our duty. Join him as he unveils stunning, life-impacting truths you saw in the Bible but never dared to believe.]]> 369 John Piper 1590521196 Jeff 5 4.17 1986 Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
author: John Piper
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1986
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness]]> 13579364
This is one of the questions the Apostle Paul addresses as he writes to the church in Corinth. He’s not after some superficial outward tinkering, but instead a deep–rooted, life–altering change that takes place on the inside. In an age where pleasing people, puffing up your ego and building your rĂ©sumĂ© are seen as the methods to â€make itâ€�, the Apostle Paul calls us to find true rest in blessed self–forgetfulness.

In this short and punchy book, best–selling author Timothy Keller, shows that gospel–humility means we can stop connecting every experience, every conversation with ourselves and can thus be free from self–condemnation. A truly gospel–humble person is not a self–hating person or a self–loving person, but a self–forgetful person.

This freedom can be yours…]]> 46 Timothy J. Keller 1906173419 Jeff 5 4.51 2012 The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Death and Croissants (A Follet Valley Mystery, #1)]]> 57795167
One day, however, one of his older guests disappears, leaving behind a bloody handprint on the wallpaper. Another guest, the exotic Valérie, persuades a reluctant Richard to join her in investigating the disappearance.

Richard remains a dazed passenger in the case until things become really serious and someone murders Ava Gardner, one of his beloved hens ... and you don’t mess with a fellow’s hens!

Unputdownable mystery set in rural France, by TV/radio regular and bestselling author Ian Moore � perfect for fans of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club, Julia Chapman, or M.C. Beaton.]]> 230 Ian Moore Jeff 4 3.25 2021 Death and Croissants (A Follet Valley Mystery, #1)
author: Ian Moore
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)]]> 22733616
Her closest friends from the Lost Cities have gone with her to join the Black Swan. They still have doubts about the shadowy organization, but the only way to find answers is to start working with them. And as they settle into their new lives, they uncover secrets far bigger than anything they’d imagined.

But their enemies are far from done, and unleash a terrifying plague that threatens the safety of an entire species. Sophie and her friends fight with everything they have—with new allies joining them—but every choice has consequences. And trusting the wrong person could prove deadly.

In this game-changing fourth book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Sophie must question everything to find a truth that will either save her world—or shatter it.]]> 672 Shannon Messenger Jeff 5 4.56 2015 Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/25
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]]> Reflections on the Psalms 121706 151 C.S. Lewis Jeff 5 3.91 1958 Reflections on the Psalms
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1958
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/08/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Predator: A Memoir, a Movie, an Obsession]]> 59808545 A searching memoir of a life lived in the flicker of an action film, by the author of I Will Take the Answer

In his first memoir, Ander Monson guides readers through a scene-by-scene exploration of the 1987 film Predator, which he has watched 146 times. Some fighters might not have time to bleed, but Monson has the patience to consider their adventure, one frame at a time. He turns his obsession into a lens through which he poignantly examines his own life, formed by mainstream, white, male American culture. Between scenes, Monson delves deeply into his adolescence in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Riyadh, his role as a father and the loss of his own mother, and his friendships with men bound by the troubled camaraderie depicted in action and sci-fi blockbusters. Along with excursions into the conflicted pleasures of cosplay and first-person shooters, he imagines himself beside the poet and memoirist Paul Monette, who wrote the novelization of the movie while his partner was dying of AIDS.


A sincere and playful book that lovingly dissects the film, Predator also offers questions and critiques of masculinity, fandom, and their interrelation with acts of mass violence. In a stirring reversal, one chapter exposes Monson through the Predator’s heat-seeking vision, asking him, “What do you know about the workings of the hidden world?� As Monson brings us into the brilliant depths of the film and its universe, the hunt begins.]]> 272 Ander Monson 1644452006 Jeff 5 3.93 2022 Predator: A Memoir, a Movie, an Obsession
author: Ander Monson
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2022
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/08/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastard, #1)]]> 6289266 0 Scott Lynch 1400160510 Jeff 0 to-read 4.56 2006 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastard, #1)
author: Scott Lynch
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/23
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]]> The Taming of the Shrew 47021
Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spinster sister, Kate, is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take on Kate?

The witty adventurer Petruchio undertakes the task. While he sets about transforming Kate from foul-tempered termagant to loving wife, young Lucentio and his clever servant, Tranio, plot to win Bianca.

Frances Barber and Roger Allam are Kate and Petruchio. Lucentio is played by Alan Cox.]]> 291 William Shakespeare 074347757X Jeff 5 3.76 1593 The Taming of the Shrew
author: William Shakespeare
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1593
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World]]> 8598379 Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of Starbucks. In this updated edition of the classic work, Mark Pendergrast reviews the dramatic changes in coffee culture over the past decade, from the disastrous “Coffee Crisis� that caused global prices to plummet to the rise of the Fair Trade movement and the “third-wave� of quality-obsessed coffee connoisseurs. As the scope of coffee culture continues to expand, Uncommon Grounds remains more than ever a brilliantly entertaining guide to the currents of one of the world’s favorite beverages.]]> 450 Mark Pendergrast 046501836X Jeff 5 3.72 1999 Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
author: Mark Pendergrast
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Never Game (Colter Shaw, #1)]]> 41960011 The first installment in Jeffery Deaver’s Colter ShawĚýseries. The son of a survivalist family, Colter Shaw is an expert tracker. Now he makes a living as a “reward seeker,â€� traveling the country to help police solve crimes and locate missing persons for private citizens. “You’ve been abandoned. Escape if you can. Or die with dignity.â€� Hired by the father of a young woman who has gone missing in Silicon Valley, Shaw's search takes him into the dark heart of America’s cutthroat billion-dollar video-game industry. When another person goes missing, Shaw must Is a madman bringing a twisted video game to life? Encountering eccentric designers, trigger-happy gamers, and ruthless tech titans, Shaw soon learns that he isn't the only one on the someone is on his trail and closing fast....Named a Crime Novel of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Never Game proves once more why “Deaver is a genius when it comes to manipulation and deceptionâ€� (Associated Press). ]]> 413 Jeffery Deaver 0525535969 Jeff 0 to-read 3.94 2019 The Never Game (Colter Shaw, #1)
author: Jeffery Deaver
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines]]> 26449917 Hear his voice. Have his ear. Belong to his body.

Three seemingly unremarkable principles shape and strengthen the Christian life: listening to God's voice, speaking to him in prayer, and joining together with his people as the church. Though often viewed as normal and routine, the everyday "habits of grace" we cultivate give us access to these God-designed channels through which his love and power flow--including the greatest joy of all: knowing and enjoying Jesus.

A study guide for individual and group study is also available.]]> 240 David Mathis 1433550474 Jeff 0 to-read 4.28 2016 Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines
author: David Mathis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/11
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]]> <![CDATA[When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day]]> 199797834
D-Day is one of history’s greatest and most unbelievable military and human triumphs. Though the full campaign lasted just over a month, the surprise landing of over 150,000 Allied troops on the morning of June 6, 1944, is understood to be the moment that turned the tide for the Allied forces and ultimately led to the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II. Now, a new book from bestselling author and historian Garrett M. Graff explores the full impact of this world-changing event—from the secret creation of landing plans by top government and military officials and organization of troops, to the moment the boat doors opened to reveal the beach where men fought for their lives and the future of the free world.

Fascinating, action-packed, and filled with impressive detail, When the Sea Came Alive captures a human drama like no other, and offers a fitting tribute to the men and women of the Greatest Generation.]]> 608 Garrett M. Graff 166802781X Jeff 0 to-read 4.49 2024 When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day
author: Garrett M. Graff
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup]]> 37976541 The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.

For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.]]> 339 John Carreyrou Jeff 5 4.38 2018 Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
author: John Carreyrou
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business]]> 74034 184 Neil Postman 014303653X Jeff 0 to-read 4.15 1985 Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
author: Neil Postman
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win]]> 23848190 320 Jocko Willink 1250067057 Jeff 0 to-read 4.23 2015 Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
author: Jocko Willink
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/30
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]]> Inferno 15645
A groundbreaking bilingual edition of Dante's masterpiece that includes a substantive Introduction, extensive notes, and appendixes that reproduce Dante's key sources and influences. Of the great poets, Dante is one of the most elusive and therefore one of the most difficult to adequately render into English verse. With this major new translation, Anthony Esolen has succeeded brilliantly in marrying sense with sound, poetry with meaning, capturing both the poem's line-by-line vigor and its allegorically and philosophically exacting structure, yielding an Inferno that will be as popular with general readers as with scholars, teachers, and students. For, as Dante insists, without a trace of sentimentality or intellectual compromise, even Hell is a work of divine art.

Esolen's edition also provides a critical ntroduction and endnotes, with appendices containing Dante's most important sources—from Virgil to Saint Thomas Aquinas and beyond —that deftly illuminate the religious universe the poet inhabited.

Verse Translation by Anthony Esolen
Illustrations by Gustave Doré]]> 490 Dante Alighieri 0812970063 Jeff 0 to-read 4.02 1320 Inferno
author: Dante Alighieri
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1320
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]]> <![CDATA[Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #3)]]> 13260668
Sophie Foster is ready to fight back.

Her talents are getting stronger, and with the elusive Black Swan group ignoring her calls for help, she’s determined to find her kidnappers—before they come after her again.

But a daring mistake leaves her world teetering on the edge of war, and causes many to fear that she has finally gone too far. And the deeper Sophie searches, the farther the conspiracy stretches, proving that her most dangerous enemy might be closer than she realizes.]]> 624 Shannon Messenger 1442445998 Jeff 4 4.46 2014 Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #3)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)]]> 68527
The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred’s kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father’s land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea.

This thrilling adventure—based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell’s ancestors—depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.]]> 333 Bernard Cornwell 0060887184 Jeff 4 4.27 2004 The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)
author: Bernard Cornwell
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect]]> 60018618
Essential lessons in hospitality for every business, from the former co-owner of legendary restaurant Eleven Madison Park.

Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.
Ěý
How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.
Ěý
Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.]]> 288 Will Guidara 0593418573 Jeff 0 to-read 4.42 Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
author: Will Guidara
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.42
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rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries Revealing the Mind Behind the Universe]]> 41088454 New York Times bestselling author of Darwin’s Doubt and Intelligent Design scholar presents groundbreaking scientific evidence of the existence of God, based on breakthroughs in physics, cosmology, and biology.


Beginning in the late 19th century, many intellectuals began to insist that scientific knowledge conflicts with traditional theistic belief—that science and belief in God are “at war.â€� Philosopher of science Stephen Meyer challenges this view by examining three scientific discoveries with decidedly theistic implications. Building on the case for the intelligent design of life that he developed in Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, Meyer demonstrates how discoveries in cosmology and physics coupled with those in biology help to establish the identity of the designing intelligence behind life and the universe.Ěý

Meyer argues that theism â€� with its affirmation of a transcendent, intelligent and active creator â€� best explains the evidence we have concerning biological and cosmological origins. Previously Meyer refrained from attempting to answer questions about “whoâ€� might have designed life. Now he provides an evidence-based answer to perhaps the ultimate mystery of the universe. In so doing, he reveals a stunning conclusion: the data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind—but the existence of a personal God.Ěý]]> 576 Stephen C. Meyer 0062071521 Jeff 0 to-read 4.33 The Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries Revealing the Mind Behind the Universe
author: Stephen C. Meyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design]]> 6576965 624 Stephen C. Meyer 0061472786 Jeff 0 to-read 4.28 2009 Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design
author: Stephen C. Meyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design]]> 15818327 The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the Cambrian explosion, many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin's Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life-a mystery that has only intensified. Meyer argues that the mysterious features of the Cambrian event are best explained by intelligent design.]]> 512 Stephen C. Meyer 0062071475 Jeff 0 to-read 4.13 2013 Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design
author: Stephen C. Meyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff]]> 34460629
In Capital Gaines, we walk alongside him as he relives some of his craziest antics and the lessons learned along the way. His mentors taught him to never give up and his family showed him what it meant to always have a positive attitude despite your circumstances. Throw in a natural daredevil personality and a willingness to do (or eat!) just about anything, and you have the life and daily activity of Chip Gaines.

Capital Gaines is the perfect book for anyone looking to succeed not only in business but more importantly in life.Ěý]]> 224 Chip Gaines 0785216308 Jeff 5 3.96 2017 Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff
author: Chip Gaines
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues: Exploring the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings]]> 15292 141 Mark Eddy Smith 0830823123 Jeff 4 4.04 2001 Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues: Exploring the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings
author: Mark Eddy Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bone Whistle (The Gateway Chronicles Book 6)]]> 41795802
Thrust back into Alitheia through unexpected means, Darcy winds up alone, scared, and without her recent memory. As she struggles to reunite with the ones she loves, she pieces together the prophecies and the oracles to find they all converge into one story � a story that tells her just how much she’ll have to give to save both worlds, and everyone she loves.

Pursued through Alitheia by forces desperate to kill them, Darcy and her friends take a journey fraught with danger that will lead them, inevitably, to the final confrontation with the Shadow. And, ultimately, the greatest courage of all belongs not to those who give something of themselves, but to those who let go of what they could never control.]]> 433 K.B. Hoyle Jeff 4 4.73 2014 The Bone Whistle (The Gateway Chronicles Book 6)
author: K.B. Hoyle
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.73
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/07/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #2)]]> 13260670
But Sophie's kidnappers are still out there. And when Sophie discovers new messages and clues from the mysterious Black Swan group, she’s forced to take a terrifying risk—one that puts everyone in incredible danger.

As long buried secrets rise to the surface, it’s once again up to Sophie to uncover hidden memories—before someone close to her is lost forever.

In this second book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Sophie must journey to the darkest corners of her luminous world in a sequel that will leave you breathless for more.]]> 576 Shannon Messenger Jeff 5 4.46 2013 Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #2)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #1)]]> 12842828
Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known.

Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.�
There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

In this page-turning debut, Shannon Messenger creates a riveting story where one girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world, before the wrong person finds the answer first.]]> 496 Shannon Messenger 1442445939 Jeff 5 4.39 2012 Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #1)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age]]> 48855846 240 Joshua D. Chatraw 0310108632 Jeff 0 to-read 4.21 Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age
author: Joshua D. Chatraw
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Oxford Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien and their circle]]> 22173151
The Inklings were an influential group, along the lines of the Lake Poets or the Bloomsbury Group. Acclaimed author Colin Duriez explores their lives, their writings, their ideas, and, crucially, the influence they had on each other. Examining the clear purpose behind the group while celebrating its diversity and lack of formality, Duriez explains how this eclectic group of friends, without formal membership, agenda, and minutes, could have a program that shaped the publication and ideas of the leading participants. The Inklings met weekly for many years in Oxford, to discuss and read their writings—conversation was as important to them as writing—and so the city of Oxford, and its pubs where conversations were borne out, feature, as does the Christian faith of the defining members, which influenced them greatly. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were at the group's center, but who else was involved, and why do Owen Barfield and Charles Williams matter so much? The Oxford Inklings explores the complex and fascinating interactions of the group, including the women on the fringes, such as Dorothy L. Sayers and Lewis's wife, Joy Davidman.]]> 288 Colin Duriez 0745956343 Jeff 4 3.87 2015 The Oxford Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien and their circle
author: Colin Duriez
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter]]> 54997605 The Resurrection accounts of Jesus in the Gospels are the most dramatic and impactful stories ever told. One similarity unites each testimony--that none of his most loyal and steadfast followers could see it was him, back from the dead. The reason for this is at the very foundation of the Christian faith.

She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. (John 20:14)

Hope in the Time of Fear is a book that unlocks the meaning of Jesus's resurrection for readers. Easter is considered the most solemn and important holiday for Christians. It is a time of spiritual rebirth and a time of celebrating the physical rebirth of Jesus after three days in the tomb. For his devoted followers, nothing could prepare them for the moment they met the resurrected Jesus. Each failed to recognize him. All of them physically saw him and yet did not spiritually truly see him. It was only when Jesus reached out and invited them to see who he truly was that their eyes were open. Here the central message of the Christian faith is revealed in a way only Timothy Keller could do it--filled with unshakable belief, piercing insight, and a profound new way to look at a story you think you know. After reading this book, the true meaning of Easter will no longer be unseen.]]> 272 Timothy J. Keller 0525560793 Jeff 5 4.35 2021 Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter
author: Timothy J. Keller
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2021
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fall of Gondolin (Middle-Earth Universe)]]> 39798828 The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar: he is called the Lord of Waters, of all seas, lakes, and rivers under the sky. But he works in secret in Middle-earth to support the Noldor, the kindred of the Elves among whom were numbered Húrin and Túrin Turambar.
Ěý
Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo’s desires and designs.
Ěý
Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo’s designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon’s daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo.
Ěý
At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Túrin and Idril, with the child Eärendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Eärendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources.
Ěý
Following his presentation of Beren and LĂşthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same â€history in sequenceâ€� mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was â€the first real story of this imaginary worldâ€� and, together with Beren and LĂşthien and The Children of HĂşrin, he regarded it as one of the three â€Great Talesâ€� of the Elder Days.]]> 304 J.R.R. Tolkien 1328613046 Jeff 5 4.11 2018 The Fall of Gondolin (Middle-Earth Universe)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/12
date added: 2024/06/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scroll: The Gateway Chronicles 5]]> 41226081 A window between the worlds allows Darcy to see Tellius from her home in Chicago. But, far from being reassured, she plunges into despair when she sees Tellius captured, imprisoned, and tortured. All her plans for her future life in Alitheia are put on hold as Darcy faces a singular goal: save Tellius, even if it means giving Tselloch something in return.
Intrigue is high upon her return to the castle, where old friends tell new lies, best friends hide crucial secrets, deceptive apparitions roam the halls, and betrayal lingers around every corner. The only way to unravel the mysteries and protect Alitheia is to bring Tellius home, but Darcy lacks the necessary magic for that.
As time runs low, Rubidius keeps to himself, and even Sam has her own secret this year. Darcy wonders if anyone else cares the way she does, and why it’s always a fight to get anything done. Still, she’ll do anything to rescue her future husband, including surrender herself to the fate she knows is coming anyway. Now, if only The Six could unveil the scroll, they might learn the greatest secret of all, before everything burns to ashes around them.]]> 320 K.B. Hoyle 1724755374 Jeff 5 4.59 2013 The Scroll: The Gateway Chronicles 5
author: K.B. Hoyle
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture]]> 535494 288 Francis A. Schaeffer 0891072926 Jeff 5 4.16 1975 How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture
author: Francis A. Schaeffer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts]]> 128435 239 Jerry Bridges 0891096175 Jeff 5 4.38 1988 Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts
author: Jerry Bridges
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/25
date added: 2024/05/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Enchanted (The Gateway Chronicles Book 4)]]> 41108566 294 K.B. Hoyle Jeff 0 4.66 2012 The Enchanted (The Gateway Chronicles Book 4)
author: K.B. Hoyle
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business]]> 23013858
Visionaries have groundbreaking ideas. Integrators make those ideas a reality. This explosive combination is the key to getting everything you want out of your business. It worked for Disney. It worked for McDonald's. It worked for Ford. It can work for you.

From the author of the bestselling Traction , Rocket Fuel details the integral roles of the Visionary and Integrator and explains how an effective relationship between the two can help your business thrive. Offering advice to help Visionary-minded and Integrator-minded individuals find one another, Rocket Fuel also features assessments so you're able to determine whether you're a Visionary or an Integrator.

Without an Integrator, a Visionary is far less likely to succeed long-term ,and realize the company's ultimate goals—likewise, with no Visionary, an Integrator can't rise to his or her full potential. When these two people come together to share their natural talents and innate skill sets, it's like rocket fuel—they have the power to reach new heights for virtually any company or organization.]]> 208 Gino Wickman 1941631150 Jeff 0 to-read 4.00 2015 Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business
author: Gino Wickman
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory]]> 60767117
Weaving personal experience with expert knowledge, Dr. Abigail Favale provides an in-depth yet accessible account of the gender paradigm: a framework for understanding reality and identity that has recently risen to prominence. Favale traces the genealogy of gender to its origins in feminism and postmodern thought, describing how gender has come to eclipse sex, and how that shift is reshaping language, law, medicine, sexuality, and our own self-perceptions.

With substance, clarity, and compassion, Favale teases out the hidden assumptions of the gender paradigm and exposes its effects. Yet this book is not merely an exposé—it is also a powerful, moving articulation of a Christian understanding of reality: a holistic paradigm that proclaims the dignity of the body, the sacramental meaning of sexual difference, and the interconnectedness of all creation. The Genesis of Gender is a vital, timely resource for anyone seeking to better understand the gender paradigm—and how to live beyond it.]]> 248 Abigail Rine Favale Jeff 0 to-read 4.57 2022 The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory
author: Abigail Rine Favale
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/28
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]]> <![CDATA[How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor]]> 18250837 A Secular Age provides a monumental history and analysis of what it means for us to live in our post- Christian present a pluralist world of competing beliefs and growing unbelief. This book by Jamie Smith is a small field guide to Taylor's genealogy of the secular, making it accessible to a wide array of readers. Smith's How (Not) to Be Secular is also, however, a philosophical guidebook for practitioners a kind of how-to manual that ultimately offers guidance on how to live in a secular age. It's an adventure in self-understanding and a way to get our bearings in postmodernity. Whether one is proclaiming faith to the secularized or is puzzled that there continue to be people of faith in this day and age, this is a philosophical story meant to help us locate where we are and what's at stake.]]> 148 James K.A. Smith 0802867618 Jeff 0 to-read 4.20 2014 How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor
author: James K.A. Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Generation Z Unfiltered: Facing Nine Hidden Challenges of the Most Anxious Population]]> 52645890 337 Tim Elmore Jeff 0 to-read 4.08 Generation Z Unfiltered: Facing Nine Hidden Challenges of the Most Anxious Population
author: Tim Elmore
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.08
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Jeff 0 to-read 4.36 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The White Thread (The Gateway Chronicles Book 3)]]> 40964499 307 K.B. Hoyle Jeff 5 4.53 2011 The White Thread (The Gateway Chronicles Book 3)
author: K.B. Hoyle
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/28
date added: 2024/04/28
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]]> The God Who Is There 80116 The God Who Is There has been the landmark book that changed the way the church sees the world. In Francis Schaeffer's remarkable analysis, we learn where the clashing ideas about God, science, history and art came from and where they are going. Now this completely retypeset edition includes a new introduction by James W. Sire that places Schaeffer's seminal work in the context of the intellectual turbulence of the early twenty-first century. More than ever, The God Who Is There demonstrates how historic Christianity can fearlessly confront the competing philosophies of the world. The God who has always been there continues to provide the anchor of truth and the power of love to meet the world's deepest problems.]]> 226 Francis A. Schaeffer 0830819479 Jeff 5 4.13 1968 The God Who Is There
author: Francis A. Schaeffer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1968
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Oracle (The Gateway Chronicles #2)]]> 40857588
It is the summer before freshman year, and Darcy and her five friends have returned through the gateway to the world of Alitheia. But the return is bittersweet for Darcy as her purpose in the magical realm remains shrouded in mystery. Goaded by Tellius, the boy prince she is prophesied to marry, Darcy petitions an entity called the Oracle to tell her more about her future in Alitheia. But petitioning the Oracle is playing with fire, and she soon finds herself on a perilous journey that will test not only her friendships but her sanity.

There is a cost associated with every petition, too, and it is a cost far greater than Darcy ever imagined. The only way to be free of the deadly call of the Oracle is for the petitioner to pay...]]> 280 K.B. Hoyle Jeff 5 4.39 2010 The Oracle (The Gateway Chronicles #2)
author: K.B. Hoyle
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind]]> 11776601
Noll shows how the orthodox Christology confessed in the classic Christian creeds provides an ideal vantage point for viewing the vast domains of human learning and can enhance intellectual engagement in a variety of specific disciplines. In a substantial postscript he candidly addresses the question How fares the “evangelical mind� today?]]> 192 Mark A. Noll 0802866379 Jeff 0 to-read 3.69 2011 Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind
author: Mark A. Noll
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind]]> 229064
Unsparing in his judgment, Mark Noll ask why the largest single group of religious Americans--who enjoy increasing wealth, status, and political influence--have contributed so little to rigorous intellectual scholarship in North America. In nourishing believers in the simple truths of the gospel, why have evangelicals failed at sustaining a serious intellectual life and abandoned the universities, the arts, and other realms of "high" culture?

Noll is probing and forthright in his analysis of how this situation came about, but he doesn't end there. Challenging the evangelical community, he sets out to find, within evangelicalism itself, resources for turning the situation around.
Ěý]]> 274 Mark A. Noll 0802841805 Jeff 0 to-read 4.14 1994 The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
author: Mark A. Noll
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/11
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]]> <![CDATA[When God & Science Meet: Surprising Discoveries of Agreement]]> 26092660 68 Mark A. Knoll 1310448175 Jeff 0 to-read 3.92 2015 When God & Science Meet: Surprising Discoveries of Agreement
author: Mark A. Knoll
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/11
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]]> <![CDATA[American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer]]> 80571
J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s. They declared that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America’s nuclear secrets.

In this magisterial biography twenty-five years in the making, which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for biography, the authors capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War.]]> 721 Kai Bird Jeff 5 4.27 2005 American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
author: Kai Bird
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/04
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]]> Christian Reflections 387961
Lewis’s defense of Christianity was colorfully varied � the subjects he covered ranged widely, including Christianity and literature, Christianity and culture, ethics, futility, church music, modern theology and biblical criticism, the Psalms, and petitionary prayer.

Presented in chronological order, some of the fourteen papers included in this collection were written specifically for periodicals, while others, published here for the first time, were read to societies in and around Oxford and Cambridge. Common to them all, however, are the uniquely effective style of C. S. Lewis and the basic presuppositions of his theology � his “mere� Christianity.]]> 190 C.S. Lewis 0802808697 Jeff 5 4.13 1967 Christian Reflections
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1967
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams]]> 23526522 A stirring group biography of the Inklings, the Oxford writing clubĚýfeaturing J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis is the twentieth century’s most widely read Christian writer and J.R.R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades, they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met weekly in Lewis’s Oxford rooms and in nearby pubs. They discussed literature, religion, and ideas; read aloud from works in progress; took philosophical rambles in woods and fields; gave one another companionship and criticism; and, in the process, rewrote the cultural history of modern times.

InĚýThe Fellowship, Philip and Carol Zaleski offer the first completeĚýrendering of the Inklingsâ€� lives and works. C. S. Lewis accepts Jesus Christ while riding in the sidecar of his brother's motorcycle, maps the medieval and Renaissance mind, becomes a world-famous evangelist and moral satirist, and creates new forms of religiously attuned fiction while wrestling with personal crises. J.R.R. Tolkien transmutes an invented mythology into gripping story in The Lord of the Rings, while conducting groundbreaking Old English scholarship and elucidating, for family and friends, the Catholic teachings at the heart of his vision. Owen Barfield, a philosopher for whom language is the key to all mysteries, becomes Lewis's favorite sparring partner, and, for a time, Saul Bellow's chosen guru. And Charles Williams, poet, author of "supernatural shockers," and strange acolyte of romantic love, turns his everyday life into a mystical pageant.

Romantics who scorned rebellion, fantasists who prized reality, wartime writers who believed in hope, Christians with cosmic reach, the Inklings sought to revitalize literature and faith in the twentieth century's darkest years--and did so in dazzling style.

]]> 656 Philip Zaleski 0374713790 Jeff 0 to-read 4.07 2015 The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams
author: Philip Zaleski
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/28
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]]> The Undoing of Death 424039
Fleming Rutledge is just such a preacher. Heralded by congregations and peers alike as one of today's most compelling and powerful Christian voices, Mrs. Rutledge is also a best-selling author whose previous collections of sermons have touched readers deeply. This new volume, representing twenty-five years of Holy Week and Easter preaching, offers a wide-ranging vision of the Cross and Resurrection that will inform and inspire committed believers and serious seekers alike.

Divided into seven sections that progress through Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Easter and on through Eastertide, these sermons incorporate the biblical themes of sacrifice for sin, vicarious suffering, victory over evil and death, and the new creation arising out of eternal love. Many of these sermons are brand-new; others -- especially those for Good Friday -- have been rethought and reworked over a period of years. None have ever been published before. All of them consistently display Mrs. Rutledge's startling ability to bridge the message of the ancient biblical texts with the distinct needs of modern people.

Intellectually engaging, pastorally wise, and beautifully written, The Undoing of Death is accented with thirty-three artistic masterpieces depicting the events of Holy Week, making it a feast for the eye as well as the soul.]]> 382 Fleming Rutledge 0802830218 Jeff 0 to-read 4.38 2001 The Undoing of Death
author: Fleming Rutledge
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2001
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date added: 2024/03/26
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]]> <![CDATA[The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)]]> 61215384
The inspiration for the upcoming original series on Prime Video, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Return of the King is the third part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure The Lord of the Rings.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

The Dark Lord has risen, and as he unleashes hordes of Orcs to conquer all Middle-earth, Frodo and Sam struggle deep into his realm in Mordor.

To defeat Sauron, the One Ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. But the way is impossibly hard, and Frodo is weakening. The Ring corrupts all who bear it and Frodo’s time is running out.

Will Sam and Frodo succeed, or will the Dark Lord rule Middle-earth once more?]]> 432 J.R.R. Tolkien Jeff 5 4.67 1955 The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.67
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/19
date added: 2024/03/19
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]]> <![CDATA[40 Days with Jesus: A Study on the Life of Christ]]> 60482000 40 Days with Jesus is a seven-week study that walks through the life of Jesus. From his birth and his childhood, to his ministry and teachings, each day walks through a passage in the gospels to grow our understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done. This study can be used as Lenten companion or it can stand alone. As you dive into this study, our hope is that you would learn more about the life and ministry of Jesus, growing in greater knowledge and understanding, and walking with Him for a lifetime.]]> 204 The Daily Grace Co. 1954742436 Jeff 0 to-read 4.53 40 Days with Jesus: A Study on the Life of Christ
author: The Daily Grace Co.
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.53
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date added: 2024/03/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon]]> 149105520 The Big Short and Flash Boys, the story of FTX’s spectacular collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center.

When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?

In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own―until it all came undone.]]> 272 Michael Lewis 1324074337 Jeff 5 3.72 2023 Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
author: Michael Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/16
date added: 2024/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer]]> 31068
“A beautifully executed and deeply moving book� (Saturday Review).]]> 124 C.S. Lewis 0156027666 Jeff 5 3.98 1964 Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1964
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/15
date added: 2024/03/15
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