Kat's bookshelf: unfinished en-US Mon, 23 Dec 2024 00:14:27 -0800 60 Kat's bookshelf: unfinished 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Bright Sword 201750794
They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.]]> 673 Lev Grossman 0735224048 Kat 0 unfinished
felt like i needed arthurian pre-reqs to read this book]]> 3.93 2024 The Bright Sword
author: Lev Grossman
name: Kat
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: unfinished
review:
DNF

felt like i needed arthurian pre-reqs to read this book
]]> <![CDATA[The Wolves of Eternity (Morgenstjernen, #2)]]> 75293514
In 1986, twenty-year-old Syvert Løyning returns from the military to his mother’s home in southern Norway. One evening, his dead father comes to him in a dream. Realizing that he doesn’t really know who his father was, Syvert begins to investigate his life and finds clues pointing to the Soviet Union. What he learns changes his past and undermines the entire notion of who he is. But when his mother becomes ill, and he must care for his little brother, Joar, on his own, he no longer has time or space for lofty speculations.

In present-day Russia, Alevtina Kotov, a biologist working at Moscow University, is traveling with her young son to the home of her stepfather, to celebrate his eightieth birthday. As a student, Alevtina was bright, curious and ambitious, asking the big questions about life and human consciousness. But as she approaches middle-age, most of that drive has gone, and she finds herself in a place she doesn’t want to be, without really understanding how she got there. Her stepfather, a musician, raised her as his own daughter, and she was never interested in learning about her biological father; when she finally starts looking into him, she learns that he died many years ago and left two sons, Joar and Syvert.

Years later, when Syvert and Alevtina meet in Moscow, two very different approaches to life emerge. And as a bright star appears in the sky, it illuminates the wonder of human existence and the mysteries that exist beyond our own worldview. Set against the political and cultural backdrop of both the 1980s and the present day, The Wolves of Eternity is an expansive and affecting book about relations—to one another, to nature, to the dead.]]> 800 Karl Ove Knausgård 0593490835 Kat 0 unfinished 4.12 2021 The Wolves of Eternity (Morgenstjernen, #2)
author: Karl Ove KnausgĂĄrd
name: Kat
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/18
shelves: unfinished
review:

]]> The Prophets 52576333 9780593085684

A novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.

Isaiah was Samuel’s and Samuel was Isaiah’s. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man—a fellow slave—seeks to gain favor by preaching the master’s gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation’s harmony.

With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr. fiercely summons the voices of slaver and the enslaved alike to tell the story of these two men; from Amos the preacher to the calculating slave-master himself to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries—of ancestors and future generations to come—culminate in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets masterfully reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.]]> 400 Robert Jones Jr. Kat 0 unfinished, queer 3.91 2021 The Prophets
author: Robert Jones Jr.
name: Kat
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/07
shelves: unfinished, queer
review:

]]> The Jane Austen Dating Agency 51103342

Does true romance really exist?

Sophie Johnson is young, intelligent and attractive. So, when she lands the dream position of Sales Executive at a leading fashion magazine, it appears she has it all.Ěý But in reality, she hates her job, is sick of her controlling mother and is a dating disaster.Ěý

Then she discovers The Jane Austen Dating Agency, an exclusive club for ladies who want to meet real gentlemen and believes her luck has changed. And when Sophie meets Darcy Drummond, she thinks her dreams have come true. That is until she discovers he is arrogant and hard-headed.

So, when Daniel Becks steps into her life, she thinks she’s found the one. But is he really all he seems?

The Jane Austen Dating AgencyĚýis for anyone who has ever dreamed ofĚýromanceĚýand wondered if it really exists.

Ěý

Fans of Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk, Jane Green, Meg Cabot and, of course, Jane Austen will love this heartwarming, romantic comedy. ]]> 331 Fiona Woodifield Kat 0 unfinished 3.38 2020 The Jane Austen Dating Agency
author: Fiona Woodifield
name: Kat
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/25
shelves: unfinished
review:
Gonna go ahead and add this to my unfinished shelf.... I wasn’t expecting great literature with this one, but COME ON! It is basically unreadable....
]]> The Water Dancer 43982054 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here and here.

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.

This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.]]> 416 Ta-Nehisi Coates Kat 0 unfinished 4.03 2019 The Water Dancer
author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
name: Kat
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/30
shelves: unfinished
review:

]]> <![CDATA[We Know It When We See It: What the Neurobiology of Vision Tells Us About How We Think]]> 51205853 A Harvard researcher investigates the human eye in this insightful account of what vision reveals about intelligence, learning, and the greatest mysteries of neuroscience.

Spotting a face in a crowd is so easy, you take it for granted. But how you do it is one of science's great mysteries. And vision is involved with so much of everything your brain does. Explaining how it works reveals more than just how you see. In We Know It When We See It, Harvard neuroscientist Richard Masland tackles vital questions about how the brain processes information -- how it perceives, learns, and remembers -- through a careful study of the inner life of the eye.

Covering everything from what happens when light hits your retina, to the increasingly sophisticated nerve nets that turn that light into knowledge, to what a computer algorithm must be able to do before it can be called truly "intelligent," We Know It When We See It is a profound yet approachable investigation into how our bodies make sense of the world.]]> 272 Richard Masland 1541618505 Kat 0 unfinished 3.83 2020 We Know It When We See It: What the Neurobiology of Vision Tells Us About How We Think
author: Richard Masland
name: Kat
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/03
shelves: unfinished
review:

]]> Children of Dune (Dune #3) 112 But there are those who think the Imperium does not need messiahs...]]> 408 Frank Herbert Kat 2 unfinished 3.92 1976 Children of Dune (Dune #3)
author: Frank Herbert
name: Kat
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1976
rating: 2
read at: 2019/01/07
date added: 2019/01/07
shelves: unfinished
review:
Sad trajectory for the series. Not worth finishing out. Over elaborates on in-world mechanisms that we don't care about, at the expense of nuanced development of actually interesting questions the series raises. Sorry, Frank.
]]> Speedboat 19183753 193 Renata Adler 1590176332 Kat 0 unfinished 3.65 1976 Speedboat
author: Renata Adler
name: Kat
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1976
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/06
shelves: unfinished
review:

]]> The Theory of the Novel 189603 The Theory of the Novel in 1914-1915, a period that also saw the conception of Rosa Luxemburg's Spartacus Letters, Lenin's Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Spengler's Decline of the West, and Ernst Bloch's Spirit of Utopia. Like many of Lukacs's early essays, it is a radical critique of bourgeois culture and stems from a specific Central European philosophy of life and tradition of dialectical idealism whose originators include Kant, Hegel, Novalis, Marx, Kierkegaard, Simmel, Weber, and Husserl.

The Theory of the Novel marks the transition of the Hungarian philosopher from Kant to Hegel and was Lukacs's last great work before he turned to Marxism-Leninism.]]> 160 György Lukács 0262620278 Kat 0 ltheory, unfinished 3.90 1916 The Theory of the Novel
author: György Lukács
name: Kat
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1916
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/06
shelves: ltheory, unfinished
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House]]> 36595101 Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country―and the world―has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief.

This riveting and explosive account of Trump’s administration provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office, including:
-- What President Trump’s staff really thinks of him
-- What inspired Trump to claim he was wire-tapped by President Obama
-- Why FBI director James Comey was really fired
-- Why chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner couldn’t be in the same room
-- Who is really directing the Trump administration’s strategy in the wake of Bannon’s firing
-- What the secret to communicating with Trump is
-- What the Trump administration has in common with the movie The Producers

Never before in history has a presidency so divided the American people. Brilliantly reported and astoundingly fresh, Fire and Fury shows us how and why Donald Trump has become the king of discord and disunion.]]> 322 Michael Wolff 1250158060 Kat 0 unfinished 3.36 2018 Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
author: Michael Wolff
name: Kat
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/05
shelves: unfinished
review:
I'm going to mark this as read, even though I've only read part of it. Part of the reason I'm not going to finish this is that I simply have no time. The other reason is that even though I clearly picked this up because of its gossipy qualities, part of me also feels conflicted about this. I'm concerned in part because of Wolff's potentially tenuous relationship to fact & truth, and also ultimately think that what Wolff has to say is maybe so obvious that it's not even a valuable use of time to dwell on scandal. It's almost uninteresting to read a book like that. And maybe I also just don't want to feed this horrible cultural fascination with Trump that we've created as a coping mechanism. Anyway, this one gets put on the "partial" shelf.
]]> Deductive Logic 2229296 312 Warren Goldfarb 0872206602 Kat 4 math, unfinished
this is a really solid textbook, but is incredibly dry, especially from a mathematical perspective. ]]> 3.87 2003 Deductive Logic
author: Warren Goldfarb
name: Kat
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2017/06/07
date added: 2018/08/05
shelves: math, unfinished
review:
ok honestly i didn't finish this, but am marking as read because it's been in my "currently reading" for a whole year.

this is a really solid textbook, but is incredibly dry, especially from a mathematical perspective.
]]> <![CDATA[Naked Lunch: The Restored Text]]> 7437 Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, a book that redefined not just literature but American culture. An unnerving tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in New York, Tangier, and ultimately a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone, its formal innovation, taboo subject matter, and tour de force execution have exerted a significant influence on authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson; on the relationship of art and obscenity; and on the shape of music, film, and media generally. Naked Lunch: The Restored Text includes many editorial corrections to errors present in previous editions, and incorporates Burroughs’s notes on the text, several essays he wrote over the years about the book, and an appendix of 20 percent new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript, which predates the first published version. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a valuable and fresh experience of this classic of our culture.]]> 289 William S. Burroughs 0802140181 Kat 0 3.48 1959 Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
author: William S. Burroughs
name: Kat
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/05
shelves: summer-2015, unfinished, 20th-am
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Consider the Lobster and Other Essays]]> 6751
Contains: "Big Red Son," "Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think," "Some Remarks on Kafka's Funniness from Which Probably Not Enough Has Been Removed," "Authority and American Usage," "The View from Mrs. Thompson's," "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart," "Up, Simba," "Consider the Lobster," "Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky" and "Host."]]> 343 David Foster Wallace 0316156116 Kat 0 con, summer-2015, unfinished 4.19 2005 Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Kat
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/05
shelves: con, summer-2015, unfinished
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays]]> 441827 In the essay, Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd: our futile search for meaning, unity & clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of god & eternity. Does the realization of the absurd require suicide? He answers: "No. It requires revolt." He then outlines several approaches to the absurd life. The final chapter compares the absurdity of life with the situation of Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a rock up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. The essay concludes, "The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
The work should be seen in relation to other works by Camus: the novel The Stranger ('42), the play Caligula ('45), & especially the essay The Rebel ('51) which was completed prior to his death in '60 in a car accident.]]> 152 Albert Camus 0394700759 Kat 0 unfinished 4.00 1942 The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
author: Albert Camus
name: Kat
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/05
shelves: unfinished
review:

]]>