Mika's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 08 Apr 2025 08:48:26 -0700 60 Mika's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Man in the Iron Mask 54500
“The name Alexandre Dumas is more than French—it is universal.”—Victor Hugo

With a New Introduction by Roger Celestin and an Afterword by Jack Zipes

Ěý±Ő±Ő> 485 Alexandre Dumas 0451530136 Mika 0 to-read 3.64 The Man in the Iron Mask
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Mika
average rating: 3.64
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date added: 2025/04/08
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]]> Project Hail Mary 222697645 An impossible mission.
An ally he never imagined.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

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

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

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

Or does he?]]> 482 Andy Weir 0593135210 Mika 0 4.52 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Mika
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Courthouse Cowboys: A Modern Tale of Murder in Montana]]> 16172983
As you follow Paige Defalco's one woman quest for justice in small town Montana, you'll ride with her in the front car of the roller coaster, wondering if this former cynical prosecutor turned defense attorney will recover the soul she misplaced, 'somewhere between the Catholic Church and the Courtroom.'

Thanks for checking it out and please let me know, through your honest review, what you think!
P.A. Moore]]> 401 P.A. Moore 162345395X Mika 1 4.08 2011 Courthouse Cowboys: A Modern Tale of Murder in Montana
author: P.A. Moore
name: Mika
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 1
read at: 2013/03/30
date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most]]> 18883615 The 10th-anniversary edition of the New York Times business bestseller-now updated with "Answers to Ten Questions People Ask" We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success. you'll learn how · Decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversation· Start a conversation without defensiveness· Listen for the meaning of what is not said· Stay balanced in the face of attacks and accusations· Move from emotion to productive problem solving]]> 350 Douglas Stone 1101496762 Mika 5 4.22 1999 Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
author: Douglas Stone
name: Mika
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2011/11/01
date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 6586440
This selection includes an active table of contents.]]> 261 Jules Verne Mika 4 4.36 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: Mika
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1872
rating: 4
read at: 2011/03/01
date added: 2024/08/27
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]]> Flux 60656032 A blazingly original and stylish debut novel about a young man whose reality unravels when he suspects his mysterious employers have inadvertently discovered time travel—and are using it to cover up a string of violent crimes...

Four days before Christmas, 8-year-old Bo loses his mother in a tragic accident, 28-year-old Brandon loses his job after a hostile takeover of his big-media employer, and 48-year-old Blue, a key witness in a criminal trial against an infamous now-defunct tech startup, struggles to reconnect with his family.

So begins Jinwoo Chong’s dazzling, time-bending debut that blends elements of neo-noir and speculative fiction as the lives of Bo, Brandon, and Blue begin to intersect, uncovering a vast network of secrets and an experimental technology that threatens to upend life itself. Intertwined with them is the saga of an iconic �80s detective show, Raider, whose star actor has imploded spectacularly after revelations of long-term, concealed abuse.

Flux is a haunting and sometimes shocking exploration of the cyclical nature of grief, of moving past trauma, and of the pervasive nature of whiteness within the development of Asian identity in America.]]> 352 Jinwoo Chong Mika 0 currently-reading 3.54 2023 Flux
author: Jinwoo Chong
name: Mika
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bridal Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter, #1)]]> 273565

From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 283 Sigrid Undset 0394752996 Mika 3 3.91 1920 The Bridal Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter, #1)
author: Sigrid Undset
name: Mika
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1920
rating: 3
read at: 2010/05/01
date added: 2023/08/02
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]]> Twilight (Twilight, #1) 5043803
But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella.

Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away - until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car.

Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward's coldness. He, and his family, are vampires - and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.]]> 513 Stephenie Meyer Mika 3 3.94 2005 Twilight (Twilight, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Mika
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/01
date added: 2023/01/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Book of Night (Book of Night #1)]]> 58341166 This is an alternate cover edition of ASIN B096T6GHLG.
----
A modern dark fantasy of betrayals, secret societies, and a dissolute thief of shadows.

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make.

She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.

Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but getting out isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that Charlie's shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend, Vince, has been hiding things from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends into a maelstrom of murder and lies.

Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world―all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.]]> 308 Holly Black Mika 0 currently-reading 3.81 2022 Book of Night (Book of Night #1)
author: Holly Black
name: Mika
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/07/19
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]]> Just Mercy 20342617
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned.

Just Mercy tells the story of EJI, from the early days with a small staff facing the nation’s highest death sentencing and execution rates, through a successful campaign to challenge the cruel practice of sentencing children to die in prison, to revolutionary projects designed to confront Americans with our history of racial injustice.

One of EJI’s first clients was Walter McMillian, a young Black man who was sentenced to die for the murder of a young white woman that he didn’t commit. The case exemplifies how the death penalty in America is a direct descendant of lynching � a system that treats the rich and guilty better than the poor and innocent.]]> 336 Bryan Stevenson Mika 0 4.62 2014 Just Mercy
author: Bryan Stevenson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![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 Mika 5 4.38 1990 Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Mika
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1990
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.5)]]> 21535271
Her name is Auri, and she is full of mysteries.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a brief, bittersweet glimpse of Auri’s life, a small adventure all her own. At once joyous and haunting, this story offers a chance to see the world through Auri’s eyes. And it gives the reader a chance to learn things that only Auri knows...

In this book, Patrick Rothfuss brings us into the world of one of The Kingkiller Chronicle’s most enigmatic characters. Full of secrets and mysteries, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is the story of a broken girl trying to live in a broken world.


AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

You might not want to buy this book.

I know, that’s not the sort of thing an author is supposed to say. The marketing people aren’t going to like this. My editor is going to have a fit. But I’d rather be honest with you right out of the gate.

First, if you haven’t read my other books, you don’t want to start here.

My first two books are The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. If you’re curious to try my writing, start there. They’re the best introduction to my world. This book deals with Auri, one of the characters from that series. Without the context of those books, you’re probably going to feel pretty lost.

Second, even if you have read my other books, I think it’s only fair to warn you that this is a bit of a strange story. I don’t go in for spoilers, but suffice to say that this one is ... different. It doesn’t do a lot of the things a classic story is supposed to do. And if you’re looking for a continuation of Kvothe’s storyline, you’re not going to find it here.

On the other hand, if you’d like to learn more about Auri, this story has a lot to offer. If you love words and mysteries and secrets. If you’re curious about the Underthing and alchemy. If you want to know more about the hidden turnings of my world...

Well, then this book might be for you.

]]> 159 Patrick Rothfuss 0756410436 Mika 0 3.88 2014 The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.5)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Mika
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories]]> 18007533 The Office (US version): a story collection that was "workshopped" at comedy clubs and bookstores on both coasts.

B.J. Novak's One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories is an endlessly entertaining, surprisingly sensitive, and startlingly original debut collection that signals the arrival of a welcome new voice in American fiction.

Across a dazzling range of subjects, themes, tones, and narrative voices, Novak's assured prose and expansive imagination introduce readers to people, places, and premises that are hilarious, insightful, provocative, and moving-often at the same time.

In One More Thing, a boy wins a $100,000 prize in a box of Frosted Flakes - only to discover that claiming the winnings may unravel his family. A woman sets out to seduce motivational speaker Tony Robbins - turning for help to the famed motivator himself. A school principal unveils a bold plan to permanently abolish arithmetic. An acclaimed ambulance driver seeks the courage to follow his heart and throw it all away to be a singer-songwriter. Author John Grisham contemplates a monumental typo. A new arrival in heaven, overwhelmed by infinite options, procrastinates over his long-ago promise to visit his grandmother. We meet a vengeance-minded hare, obsessed with scoring a rematch against the tortoise who ruined his life; and post-college friends who debate how to stage an intervention in the era of Facebook. We learn why wearing a red t-shirt every day is the key to finding love; how February got its name; and why the stock market is sometimes just... down.

Finding inspiration in questions from the nature of perfection to the icing on carrot cake, from the deeply familiar to the intoxicatingly imaginative, One More Thing finds its heart in the most human of phenomena: love, fear, family, ambition, and the inner stirring for the one elusive element that might make a person complete. The stories in this collection are like nothing else, but they have one thing in common: they share the playful humor, deep heart, inquisitive mind, and altogether electrifying spirit of a writer with a fierce devotion to the entertainment of the reader.]]> 288 B.J. Novak 0385351836 Mika 0 3.67 2014 One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories
author: B.J. Novak
name: Mika
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)]]> 20764879
Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games--an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries--a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.]]> 512 Victoria E. Schwab 0765376474 Mika 0 4.20 2016 A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Mika
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)]]> 22055262
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.]]> 400 Victoria E. Schwab 0765376458 Mika 0 4.04 2015 A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Mika
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Pursuit (Fox and O'Hare, #5)]]> 27405146 Janet Evanovich, author of the blockbuster Stephanie Plum novels, and Lee Goldberg, writer for the Monk television show, team up once again for the fifth book in their rollicking, New York Times bestselling Fox and O’Hare series!

Nicolas Fox, international con man, thief, and one of the top ten fugitives on the FBI’s most-wanted list, has been kidnapped from a beachfront retreat in Hawaii. What the kidnapper doesn’t know is that Nick Fox has been secretly working for the FBI. It isn’t long before Nick’s covert partner, Special Agent Kate O’Hare, is in hot pursuit of the crook who stole her con man.
Ěý
The trail leads to Belgium, France, and Italy, and pits Nick and Kate against their deadliest adversary yet: Dragan Kovic, an ex–Serbian military officer. He’s plotting a crime that will net him billions . . . and cost thousands of American lives.
Ěý
Nick and Kate have to mount the most daring, risky, and audacious con they’ve ever attempted to save a major U.S. city from a catastrophe of epic proportions. Luckily they have the help of an eccentric out-of-work actor, a bandit who does his best work in the sewers, and Kate’s dad, Jake. The pressure’s on for Nick and Kate to make this work—even if they have to lay their lives on the line.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 320 Janet Evanovich 0553392786 Mika 0 3.98 2016 The Pursuit (Fox and O'Hare, #5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Mika
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> The Girl on the Train 22557272
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.]]> 336 Paula Hawkins 1594633665 Mika 0 3.97 2015 The Girl on the Train
author: Paula Hawkins
name: Mika
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> The Circle (The Circle, #1) 18302455 alternate cover for ISBN 9780385351393

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users� personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency.

As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO.

Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.

What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.]]> 493 Dave Eggers Mika 0 3.41 2013 The Circle (The Circle, #1)
author: Dave Eggers
name: Mika
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love]]> 28257714
When someone you know is hurting, you want to let her know that you care. But many people don’t know what words to use—or are afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. This thoughtful, instructive guide, from empathy expert Dr. Kelsey Crowe and greeting card maverick Emily McDowell, blends well-researched, actionable advice with the no-nonsense humor and the signature illustration style of McDowell's immensely popular Empathy Cards, to help you feel confident in connecting with anyone experiencing grief, loss, illness, or any other difficult situation.

Written in a how-to, relatable, we’ve-all-been-that-deer-in-the-headlights kind of way, There Is No Good Card for This isn’t a spiritual treatise on how to make you a better person or a scientific argument about why compassion matters. It is a helpful illustrated guide to effective compassion that takes you, step by step by step, past the paralysis of thinking about someone in a difficult time to actually doing something (or nothing) with good judgment instead of fear.

There Is No Good Card for This features workbook exercises, sample dialogs, and real-life examples from Dr. Crowe’s research, including her popular "Empathy Bootcamps" that give people tools for building relationships when it really counts. Whether it’s a coworker whose mother has died, a neighbor whose husband has been in a car accident, or a friend who is seriously ill, There Is No Good Card for This teaches you how to be the best friend you can be to someone in need.]]> 272 Kelsey Crowe 0062470000 Mika 0 4.18 2017 There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love
author: Kelsey Crowe
name: Mika
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales]]> 64666
Through these extraordinary people, Sacks explores what it is to feel, to sense, to remember - to be, ultimately, a coherent self in the world.]]> 318 Oliver Sacks 0330343475 Mika 0 4.16 1995 An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Mika
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic]]> 7843500
Enhanced with Brett Helquist's dazzling illustrations, Jennifer Trafton's rollicking debut tells the story of one brave girl's efforts to make an entire island believe the impossible.]]> 352 Jennifer Trafton 0803733755 Mika 0 3.94 2010 The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic
author: Jennifer Trafton
name: Mika
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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]]> The Last Juror 5346
The future of the 'Times' looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered. A member of the notorious Padgitt family was soon arrested. Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The accused, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But in Mississippi in 1970, life didn't necessarily mean life, and nine years later Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.]]> 278 John Grisham 0385339682 Mika 0 3.93 2004 The Last Juror
author: John Grisham
name: Mika
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> The Bell at Sealey Head 2917367 277 Patricia A. McKillip 0441016308 Mika 0 4.00 2008 The Bell at Sealey Head
author: Patricia A. McKillip
name: Mika
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> John the Pupil 22249715 The extraordinary new novel from David Flusfeder.

This, his seventh novel, is a medieval road movie, Umberto Eco seen through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino, recounting the journey taken from Oxford to Viterbo in 1267 by John and his two companions, at the behest of the friar and magus Roger Bacon, carrying a secret burden to His Holiness Clement IV. As well as having to fight off ambushes from thieves hungry for the thing of power they are carrying, the holy trio are tried and tempted by all sorts of sins: ambition, pride, lust â€� and by the sheer hell and heaven of medieval life. Erudite and earthy, horrifying, comic, humane, â€John the Pupilâ€� reveals to the reader a world very different and all too like the one we live in now.

]]> 240 David Flusfeder 0062339184 Mika 0 3.44 2014 John the Pupil
author: David Flusfeder
name: Mika
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1)]]> 24934065
Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.]]> 314 Alwyn Hamilton 0698410424 Mika 0 3.95 2016 Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1)
author: Alwyn Hamilton
name: Mika
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> All the Light We Cannot See 18143977
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 544 Anthony Doerr 1476746583 Mika 0 4.31 2014 All the Light We Cannot See
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Mika
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> The Heart Goes Last 24388326
Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around - and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in... for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes.

At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.]]> 320 Margaret Atwood 0385540353 Mika 0 3.37 2015 The Heart Goes Last
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Mika
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn, #6)]]> 18739426
The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metal minds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone who wears them the powers that the Lord Ruler had at his command. Hardly anyone thinks they really exist. A kandra researcher has returned to Elendel with images that seem to depict the Bands, as well as writings in a language that no one can read. Waxillium Ladrian is recruited to travel south to the city of New Seran to investigate. Along the way he discovers hints that point to the true goals of his uncle Edwarn and the shadowy organization known as The Set.]]> 455 Brandon Sanderson 146686267X Mika 0 4.42 2016 The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn, #6)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> The Buried Giant 22522805
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.

Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.

Included on TIME Magazine's "THE 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME"]]> 317 Kazuo Ishiguro 030727103X Mika 0 3.56 2015 The Buried Giant
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Mika
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Shadows of Self (Mistborn, #5)]]> 16065004
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

When family obligations forced Waxillium Ladrian to forsake the frontier lands and return to the metropolis of his birth to take his place as head of a noble House, he little imagined that the crime-fighting skills acquired during twenty years in the dusty plains would be just as applicable in the big city. He soon learned that there too, just being a talented Twinborn � one who can use both Allomancy and Feruchemy, the dominant magical modes on Scadrial � would not suffice.

This bustling, optimistic, but still shaky society will now face its first test by terrorism and assassination, crimes intended to stir up labor strife and religious conflict. Wax, his eccentric sidekick Wayne, and brilliant, beautiful young Marasi, now officially part of the constabulary, must unravel the conspiracy before civil strife can stop Scadrial’s progress in its tracks.]]> 376 Brandon Sanderson 0765378558 Mika 0 4.27 2015 Shadows of Self (Mistborn, #5)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Oddfits 28235223
Seventeen years later, that something finally arrives when a secret organization dedicated to exploring the More Known World invites Murgatroyd on a mission. But as the consummate loser begins to grow into the Oddfit he was meant to be, the Known World becomes bent on exterminating him. For once in his underachieving life, will Murgatroyd Floyd exceed expectations and outsmart those trying to thwart his stupendous destiny?]]> 258 Tiffany Tsao Mika 0 3.65 2016 The Oddfits
author: Tiffany Tsao
name: Mika
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> Station Eleven 20170404 An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.]]> 333 Emily St. John Mandel 0385353308 Mika 0 4.05 2014 Station Eleven
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Mika
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)]]> 9969571 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

IN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.]]> 480 Ernest Cline 030788743X Mika 0 4.21 2011 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)
author: Ernest Cline
name: Mika
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Namesake 33917 Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors it received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America.

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

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

Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves.]]> 304 Jhumpa Lahiri 0618485228 Mika 0 4.02 2003 The Namesake
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Mika
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> Auraria 23597253 386 Tim Westover Mika 0 3.28 2012 Auraria
author: Tim Westover
name: Mika
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery, #1)]]> 25843420 The greatest mystery of all time...
the history of human origins...
will be revealed.

In Antarctica, researchers discover a mysterious structure, buried in ice.

In a lab in Jakarta, an autism researcher identifies a revolutionary treatment that could change everything.

But these two incredible discoveries aren't what they seem. They will set off a race to unravel the deepest secrets of human existence--and an event that could change humanity forever.]]> 464 A.G. Riddle Mika 0 3.76 2013 The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery, #1)
author: A.G. Riddle
name: Mika
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician, #1)]]> 20727654
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

From the imaginative mind of debut author Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician is an extraordinary adventure both dark and whimsical that will delight readers of all ages.]]> 222 Charlie N. Holmberg 1477823832 Mika 0 3.61 2014 The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician, #1)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Mika
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Night Circus 9361589
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.]]> 506 Erin Morgenstern Mika 0 4.00 2011 The Night Circus
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Mika
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy, #2)]]> 25300956
Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.]]> 675 Robin Hobb Mika 0 4.31 1996 Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy, #2)
author: Robin Hobb
name: Mika
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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review:

]]> Artemis 34928122
Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.]]> 305 Andy Weir 0553448129 Mika 3 3.66 2017 Artemis
author: Andy Weir
name: Mika
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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review:

]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

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

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

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

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Mika 4 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Mika
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> Lock In (Lock In, #1) 21418013
A quarter of a century later, in a world shaped by what's now known as "Haden's syndrome," rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann. The two of them are assigned what appears to be a Haden-related murder at the Watergate Hotel, with a suspect who is an "integrator" - someone who can let the locked in borrow their bodies for a time. If the Integrator was carrying a Haden client, then naming the suspect for the murder becomes that much more complicated.

But "complicated" doesn't begin to describe it. As Shane and Vann began to unravel the threads of the murder, it becomes clear that the real mystery - and the real crime - is bigger than anyone could have imagined. The world of the locked in is changing, and with the change comes opportunities that the ambitious will seize at any cost. The investigation that began as a murder case takes Shane and Vann from the halls of corporate power to the virtual spaces of the locked in, and to the very heart of an emerging, surprising new human culture. It's nothing you could have expected.]]> 336 John Scalzi 0765375869 Mika 3 3.89 2014 Lock In (Lock In, #1)
author: John Scalzi
name: Mika
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Hike 27833803 From the author of The Postmortal, a fantasy saga unlike any you’ve read before, weaving elements of folk tale and video game into a riveting, unforgettable adventure of what a man will endure to return to his family
Ěý
When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike. Once he sets out into the woods behind his hotel, he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects.
Ěý
On a quest of epic, life-or-death proportions, Ben finds help comes in some of the most unexpected forms, including a profane crustacean and a variety of magical objects, tools, and potions. Desperate to return to his family, Ben is determined to track down the “Producer,� the creator of the world in which he is being held hostage and the only one who can free him from the path.
Ěý
At once bitingly funny and emotionally absorbing, Magary’s novel is a remarkably unique addition to the contemporary fantasy genre, one that draws as easily from the world of classic folk tales as it does from video games. In The Hike, Magary takes readers on a daring odyssey away from our day-to-day grind and transports them into an enthralling world propelled by heart, imagination, and survival.]]> 278 Drew Magary 0399563857 Mika 5 3.96 2016 The Hike
author: Drew Magary
name: Mika
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> 11/22/63 10644930
In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane � and insanely possible � mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.

In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald...]]> 849 Stephen King 1451627289 Mika 4 4.33 2011 11/22/63
author: Stephen King
name: Mika
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Institute 43798285
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King's gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good versus evil in a world where the good guys don't always win.
--front flap]]> 561 Stephen King Mika 5 4.17 2019 The Institute
author: Stephen King
name: Mika
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 5
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date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Nix 28251002
To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix. As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Faye’s losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.]]> 625 Nathan Hill 110194661X Mika 5 4.08 2016 The Nix
author: Nathan Hill
name: Mika
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)]]> 37173847
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.]]> 501 Robert Jackson Bennett 1524760374 Mika 4 4.16 2018 Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Mika
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> The Midnight Library 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

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

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Mika 3 3.96 2020 The Midnight Library
author: Matt Haig
name: Mika
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/05/11
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]]> Contact 53000876
In December of 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who—or what—is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts its future—and our own.]]> 375 Carl Sagan Mika 0 currently-reading 4.28 1985 Contact
author: Carl Sagan
name: Mika
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Five People You Meet in Heaven]]> 175343
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes a novel that explores unexpected connections and the idea that heaven is more than a place: it's an answer.]]> 196 Mitch Albom Mika 3 3.75 2003 The Five People You Meet in Heaven
author: Mitch Albom
name: Mika
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2004/12/01
date added: 2016/08/28
shelves:
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]]> Divergent (Divergent, #1) 8306857 In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

]]> 487 Veronica Roth 0062024027 Mika 4 4.28 2011 Divergent (Divergent, #1)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Mika
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2012/02/01
date added: 2016/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Perry Mason Casebook: The Case Of The Sulky Girl / The Case Of The Careless Kitten / The Case Of The Fiery Fingers]]> 16770 593 Erle Stanley Gardner 0739428667 Mika 4 3.88 A Perry Mason Casebook: The Case Of The Sulky Girl / The Case Of The Careless Kitten / The Case Of The Fiery Fingers
author: Erle Stanley Gardner
name: Mika
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2011/03/01
date added: 2016/01/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Bossypants 9476337
She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

]]> 277 Tina Fey 0316056863 Mika 3 3.90 2011 Bossypants
author: Tina Fey
name: Mika
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2011/12/01
date added: 2015/06/02
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]]> The Book Thief 1904709
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.

Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with her foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

SOME MORE IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH.

It's a small story, about:
a girl
an accordionist
some fanatical Germans
a Jewish fistfighter
and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW:

DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES.]]> 592 Markus Zusak 0385613385 Mika 5 favorites
Isn’t it nice to be wrong? Now I’m not sure why I ever assumed those things, or even figured a book about Nazi Germany could be uninteresting. The Book Thief is about a little girl named Liesel who is sent to live with foster parents when she’s nine. The story is narrated by Death.

I guess I usually stay away from darker subjects, or ones that I know will be somewhat depressing. But this book was amazing - despite the heartache involved, it was great to really get to know one family and what each of them went through and thought about living in a time and place where they were expected to follow the Nazi Party.

The writing is beautiful, although very different from anything I’ve read before. I had a nice long cry for the last few chapters, and when I had finished the book, I decided it will go on my list of favorites. Absolutely.

So I’m going to recommend it to anyone, everyone.

]]> 4.32 2005 The Book Thief
author: Markus Zusak
name: Mika
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2008/09/01
date added: 2015/03/27
shelves: favorites
review:
As I mentioned before, I’ve added so many books to my list of books to someday read that I can’t remember where I heard about them or really even what I thought they might be about. It must have been the title of The Book Thief, though, because once my copy was available at the library, I disappointedly saw that it was something about Nazi Germany. Immediately I assumed it would be mainly about grownups either following Hitler or being subversive and it would be a lot of non-fiction learning tossed in with the story (which would also be boring).

Isn’t it nice to be wrong? Now I’m not sure why I ever assumed those things, or even figured a book about Nazi Germany could be uninteresting. The Book Thief is about a little girl named Liesel who is sent to live with foster parents when she’s nine. The story is narrated by Death.

I guess I usually stay away from darker subjects, or ones that I know will be somewhat depressing. But this book was amazing - despite the heartache involved, it was great to really get to know one family and what each of them went through and thought about living in a time and place where they were expected to follow the Nazi Party.

The writing is beautiful, although very different from anything I’ve read before. I had a nice long cry for the last few chapters, and when I had finished the book, I decided it will go on my list of favorites. Absolutely.

So I’m going to recommend it to anyone, everyone.


]]> <![CDATA[Detective Bob and the Great Ape Escape]]> 1522878 42 David L. Harrison 081931031X Mika 1 3.25 1981 Detective Bob and the Great Ape Escape
author: David L. Harrison
name: Mika
average rating: 3.25
book published: 1981
rating: 1
read at: 2009/03/01
date added: 2014/09/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales (Pals in Peril, #1)]]> 163486 ]]> 188 M.T. Anderson 0152053409 Mika 3 3.82 2005 Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales (Pals in Peril, #1)
author: M.T. Anderson
name: Mika
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2006/09/01
date added: 2014/05/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Japanese Fairy Tales (Tuttle Classics)]]> 642956 256 Yei Theodora Ozaki 4805308818 Mika 0 currently-reading 3.66 1903 Japanese Fairy Tales (Tuttle Classics)
author: Yei Theodora Ozaki
name: Mika
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1903
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]> 7588 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.]]> 329 James Joyce 0142437344 Mika 1 3.64 1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
author: James Joyce
name: Mika
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1916
rating: 1
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)]]> 45107 alternate cover for ISBN 0006480098

Fitz is a royal bastard, cast out into the world with only his magical link with animals for solace and companionship.
But when Fitz is adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and learn a new life: weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly. Meanwhile, raiders ravage the coasts, leaving the people Forged and soulless. As Fitz grows towards manhood, he will have to face his first terrifying mission, a task that poses as much a risk to himself as it does to his target: Fitz is a threat to the throne� but he may also be the key to the future of the kingdom.

Cover illustration by John Howe

]]> 460 Robin Hobb Mika 4 4.14 1995 Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)
author: Robin Hobb
name: Mika
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> The Woodcutter 16128504
The Woodcutter, keeper of the peace between the Twelve Kingdoms of Man and the Realm of the Faerie, must find the maiden’s killer before others share her fate. Guided by the wind and aided by three charmed axes won from the River God, the Woodcutter begins his hunt, searching for clues in the whispering dominions of the enchanted unknown.

But quickly he finds that one murdered maiden is not the only nefarious mystery afoot: one of Odin’s hellhounds has escaped, a sinister mansion appears where it shouldn’t, a pixie dust drug trade runs rampant, and more young girls go missing. Looming in the shadows is the malevolent, power-hungry queen, and she will stop at nothing to destroy the Twelve Kingdoms and annihilate the Royal Fae…unless the Woodcutter can outmaneuver her and save the gentle souls of the Wood.

Blending magic, heart-pounding suspense, and a dash of folklore, The Woodcutter is an extraordinary retelling of the realm of fairy tales.]]> 346 Kate Danley 1611095115 Mika 3 3.74 2010 The Woodcutter
author: Kate Danley
name: Mika
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> Your Republic Is Calling You 8131789
Spanning the course of one day, Your Republic Is Calling You is an emotionally taut, psychologically astute, haunting novel that reveals the depth of one particularly gripping family secret and the way in which we sometimes never really know the people we love. Confronting moral questions on small and large scales, it mines the political and cultural transformations that have transformed South Korea since the 1980s. A lament for the fate of a certain kind of man and a certain kind of manhood, it is ultimately a searing study of the long and insidious effects of dividing a nation in two.]]> 326 Young-ha Kim 0151015457 Mika 2 3.59 2006 Your Republic Is Calling You
author: Young-ha Kim
name: Mika
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Dying Words: Endangered Languages and What They Have to Tell Us]]> 6387743
This book explores the unique philosophy, knowledge, and cultural assumptions of languages, and their impact on our collective intellectual heritage questions why such linguistic diversity exists in the first place, and how can we can best respond to the challenge of recording and documenting these fragile oral traditions while they are still with us.

It is written by one of the leading figures in language documentation, and draws on a wealth of vivid examples from his own field experience Brings conceptual issues vividly to life by weaving in portraits of individual 'last speakers' and anecdotes about linguists and their discoveries.]]> 320 Nicholas D. Evans 0631233067 Mika 2 3.85 2010 Dying Words: Endangered Languages and What They Have to Tell Us
author: Nicholas D. Evans
name: Mika
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery]]> 18774002 From the author of the bestseller The Disappearing Spoon, tales of the brain and the history of neuroscience.

Early studies of the functions of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike-strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, lobotomies, horrendous accidents-and see how the victim coped. In many cases survival was miraculous, and observers could only marvel at the transformations that took place afterward, altering victims' personalities. An injury to one section can leave a person unable to recognize loved ones; some brain trauma can even make you a pathological gambler, pedophile, or liar. But a few scientists realized that these injuries were an opportunity for studying brain function at its extremes. With lucid explanations and incisive wit, Sam Kean explains the brain's secret passageways while recounting forgotten stories of common people whose struggles, resiliency, and deep humanity made modern neuroscience possible.]]> 416 Sam Kean 0316182346 Mika 4 4.24 2014 The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
author: Sam Kean
name: Mika
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves:
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]]> The Fault in Our Stars 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Mika 3 4.13 2012 The Fault in Our Stars
author: John Green
name: Mika
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2014/05/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)]]> 6186357 There are alternate cover editions for this ASIN here and here.

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.]]> 384 James Dashner 0385737947 Mika 2 4.05 2009 The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)
author: James Dashner
name: Mika
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2014/04/01
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Rithmatist (Rithmatist, #1)]]> 10137823
As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.]]> 378 Brandon Sanderson 0765320320 Mika 3 4.23 2013 The Rithmatist (Rithmatist, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/04/01
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)]]> 17332218 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance, Book Two of the Stormlight Archive, continues the immersive fantasy epic that The Way of Kings began.

Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status "darkeyes." Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.

The Assassin, Szeth, is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin's master has much deeper motives.

Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable.]]> 1088 Brandon Sanderson 0765326361 Mika 5 4.76 2014 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.76
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/03/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4)]]> 10803121
Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.]]> 325 Brandon Sanderson 0765330423 Mika 4 4.20 2011 The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2014/03/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> Firstborn / Defending Elysium 17699268
Firstborn

“I, Dennison Crestmar—brother of the great Varion Crestmar, cousin to kings and commander of fleets—am an idiot. Just like all of you have heard.�

Dennison has tried to follow in his perfect brother’s footsteps in the service of the Imperial Fleet, but has been met only with failure after failure. Why do his father and even the emperor himself still have so much faith in in his potential?]]> 160 Brandon Sanderson 1938570006 Mika 3 4.18 2013 Firstborn / Defending Elysium
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/03/01
date added: 2014/05/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)]]> 8306761
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.]]> 407 Diana Peterfreund 0062006142 Mika 3 3.88 2012 For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)
author: Diana Peterfreund
name: Mika
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2014/02/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders, #3)]]> 15801381
And so, armed now with the prophecy of a dying oracle, they have gone on their separate quests—each surrounded by brave and powerful allies—knowing that the chance for success is slim. But Jason and Rachel are ready at last to become the heroes Lyrian needs, no matter the cost.]]> 512 Brandon Mull 1416997962 Mika 3 4.39 2013 Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders, #3)
author: Brandon Mull
name: Mika
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/01/01
date added: 2014/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)]]> 979682 here and here

First published in 1968, this classic fantasy is a coming-of-age tale about a boy destined to become the greatest sorcerer in the world. In the 1001 island realm of Earthsea, Ged is a poor blacksmith's son born with an innate understanding of magic. But when he studies at the Roke Island school, he lets his arrogance and antipathy for another student lead him into a disastrous mistake -- unleashing an evil spirit bent on devouring Ged's essence.]]> 203 Ursula K. Le Guin Mika 3 3.88 1968 A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Mika
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at: 2008/10/01
date added: 2014/05/18
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]]> The Distant Hours 6746018
Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in â€the distant hoursâ€� of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.]]> 562 Kate Morton 1439152780 Mika 0 to-read 3.88 2010 The Distant Hours
author: Kate Morton
name: Mika
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/05/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Mika 4 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Mika
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2005/07/01
date added: 2014/04/28
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]]> Wired (Wired, #1) 13824169
Richards is “a worthy successor to Michael Crichton," (SF Book.com), who can “keep you turning the pages all night long" (Douglas Preston).

Kira Miller is a brilliant genetic engineer who discovers how to temporarily achieve a transcendent level of intelligence. But this enhancement comes at a high cost.

When Kira is found to be behind a bioterror plot that threatens millions, special forces operative David Desh is tasked with hunting her down. But when Desh learns that the bioterror plot is just the tip of the iceberg, he is thrust into a byzantine maze of deception and intrigue, and becomes a key player in a deadly game he can't begin to understand. One that is certain to have a dramatic impact on the course of human history. . .

Richards delivers a smart thriller crammed with breakneck action, unexpected twists, mind-expanding science, and intriguing concepts readers will be contemplating long after they've read the last page.]]> 352 Douglas E. Richards 0982618492 Mika 3 3.53 2005 Wired (Wired, #1)
author: Douglas E. Richards
name: Mika
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2012/07/01
date added: 2014/01/24
shelves:
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]]> The Graveyard Book 2213661
There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more.

But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod's family.

A deliciously dark masterwork by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by award-winning Dave McKean.]]> 312 Neil Gaiman 0060530928 Mika 4 4.15 2008 The Graveyard Book
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Mika
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2013/08/01
date added: 2014/01/05
shelves:
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]]> Genesis 6171892 150 Bernard Beckett 0547225490 Mika 4 3.89 2006 Genesis
author: Bernard Beckett
name: Mika
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2013/08/01
date added: 2014/01/05
shelves:
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]]> Say You're One of Them 2296567
In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.]]> 358 Uwem Akpan 0316113786 Mika 0 3.54 2008 Say You're One of Them
author: Uwem Akpan
name: Mika
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2014/01/05
date added: 2014/01/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Edwardian Lady - The Story Of Edith Holden]]> 1081623 . 208 Ina Taylor (Compiled) 0718119207 Mika 0 3.67 1980 The Edwardian Lady - The Story Of Edith Holden
author: Ina Taylor (Compiled)
name: Mika
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at: 2014/01/05
date added: 2014/01/05
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, #1)]]> 13538873
Clay Jannon tells how serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has sent him from Web Drone to night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. After just a few days on the job, Clay realizes just how curious this store is.

A few customers come in repeatedly without buying anything. Instead they “check out� obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. All runs according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes.

He embarks on a complex analysis of the customers� behavior and ropes in friends to help. Once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore. A quest to New York City dips in a world conspiracy for eternal life. The current of romance pulls Clay onward.]]> 288 Robin Sloan 0374214913 Mika 2 3.71 2012 Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, #1)
author: Robin Sloan
name: Mika
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2013/03/31
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hobbit, or There and Back Again]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Mika 5 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Mika
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/31
date added: 2013/07/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters]]> 16200
*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet]]> 208 Mark Dunn 0385722435 Mika 3 3.93 2001 Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
author: Mark Dunn
name: Mika
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2013/03/31
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Knight (Knight and Rogue, #1)]]> 1183270 368 Hilari Bell 0060825049 Mika 2 3.91 2007 The Last Knight (Knight and Rogue, #1)
author: Hilari Bell
name: Mika
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2013/01/31
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Emperor's Soul (The Cosmere)]]> 13578175 Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection.

A heretic thief is the empire’s only hope in this fascinating tale that inhabits the same world as the popular novel, Elantris.

Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Though her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead.

Probing deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that Shai’s forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.

Brimming with magic and political intrigue, this deftly woven fantasy delves into the essence of a living spirit.]]> 192 Brandon Sanderson 1616960922 Mika 4 4.38 2012 The Emperor's Soul (The Cosmere)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/31
date added: 2013/07/24
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]]> Ruins (Pathfinder, #2) 10148930 0 Orson Scott Card 1441820310 Mika 3 3.89 2012 Ruins (Pathfinder, #2)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Mika
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2012/11/30
date added: 2013/07/24
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]]> Jurassic Park / Congo 147646 Two breathtaking adventure novels in one bumper volume.


Jurassic Park

On a remote jungle island genetic engineers have created a dinosaur game park. Then a rival firm tries to steal embryos, and the nightmare begins.


Congo

Three intrepid adventurers plunge into the heart of Africa in a desperate bid for the fabulous diamonds of the Lost City of Zinj.]]> 656 Michael Crichton Mika 5 favorites 4.04 1993 Jurassic Park / Congo
author: Michael Crichton
name: Mika
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2006/06/01
date added: 2013/03/06
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> K-Pax (K-Pax, #1) 1006596
Prot seems to know more than he should about faster-than-the-speed-of-light-travel. And besides drawing constellations as viewed from K-PAX, the name of his home planet, "prot" can describe its orbit around double suns in unpublished detail. Who is "prot" and where did he really come from? Why does he have the ability to cure severe mental cases? And to disappear at will? And to charm everyone he comes into contact with?

Bizarre delusion or reality? Listen in as a psychiatrist who specializes in delusional behavior documents his sessions with the man from K-PAX.

(P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.]]> 256 Gene Brewer 0312977026 Mika 4 4.11 1995 K-Pax (K-Pax, #1)
author: Gene Brewer
name: Mika
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2004/06/01
date added: 2013/02/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Sir Orfeo: A Legend from England]]> 3535765 English legend. 31 Anthea Davies 0878880526 Mika 4 3.79 Sir Orfeo: A Legend from England
author: Anthea Davies
name: Mika
average rating: 3.79
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2009/03/01
date added: 2013/01/21
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]]> The Sign on Rosie's Door 169460 48 Maurice Sendak 0060287950 Mika 2 3.95 1960 The Sign on Rosie's Door
author: Maurice Sendak
name: Mika
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1960
rating: 2
read at: 2009/12/01
date added: 2013/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1)]]> 9460487 9781594744761

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.]]> 352 Ransom Riggs 1594744769 Mika 3 <br /> <br /> 3.92 2011 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1)
author: Ransom Riggs
name: Mika
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/08/08
date added: 2012/12/21
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1)]]> 213753
Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.]]> 337 Susan Beth Pfeffer Mika 4 3.89 2006 Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1)
author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
name: Mika
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2012/05/01
date added: 2012/12/21
shelves:
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]]> The Leaphorn & Chee Novels 48094 New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman's most popular novels are together for the first time in one volume.

Tony Hillerman is one of the most revered and honored mystery writers published today. This stunning collection includes the critically acclaimed novels Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, and Coyote Waits, all of which have been adapted for PBS by producer Robert Redford. This is a must-have anthology from one of the great masters of suspense.

In Skinwalkers, three shotgun blasts explode into the trailer of Officer Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police. Chee survives to join partner Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn in a frightening investigation that takes them into a dark world of ritual, witchcraft, and blood -- all tied to the elusive and evil "skinwalker." In A Thief of Time, a noted anthropologist vanishes at a moonlit Indian ruin where "thieves of time" ravage sacred ground for profit. When two corpses appear amid stolen goods and bones at an ancient burial site, Leaphorn and Chee must plunge into the past to unearth the astonishing truth behind a mystifying series of horrific murders.

And in Coyote Waits, it wasn't the car fire that killed Navajo Tribal Policeman Delbert Nez -- a bullet did. Officer Jim Chee's good friend Del lies dead, and a whiskey-soaked Navajo shaman is found with the murder weapon. The old man is Ashie Pinto. He's quickly arrested for homicide and defended by a woman Chee could either love or loathe. But Pinto won't utter a word of confession or denial. Leaphorn and Chee must unravel a complex plot involving a historical find, a lost fortune, and the mythical Coyote, who is always waiting, and always hungry.]]> 592 Tony Hillerman 0060753382 Mika 5 favorites 4.42 The Leaphorn & Chee Novels
author: Tony Hillerman
name: Mika
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2005/01/01
date added: 2012/12/12
shelves: favorites
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]]> Walk Two Moons 53496 Instantly, Phoebe Winterbottom came to mind. "I could tell you an extensively strange story," I warned.
"Oh, good!" Gram said. "Delicious!"
And that is how I happened to tell them about Phoebe, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic.

As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold � the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

In her own award-winning style, Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.]]> 280 Sharon Creech 0060739495 Mika 5 newbery 3.99 1994 Walk Two Moons
author: Sharon Creech
name: Mika
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2012/11/12
date added: 2012/11/12
shelves: newbery
review:

]]> Every Day (Every Day, #1) 13262783 Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone A wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.]]> 322 David Levithan 0307931889 Mika 2 <br /> <br /> 3.91 2012 Every Day (Every Day, #1)
author: David Levithan
name: Mika
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2012/11/07
date added: 2012/11/08
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2)]]> 1215032 There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.�

My name is Kvothe.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view � a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in The Wise Man's Fear, an escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe uncovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's Road.

All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, is forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived ... until Kvothe.

In The Wise Man's Fear, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

]]> 994 Patrick Rothfuss 0756404738 Mika 5 4.55 2011 The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Mika
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2012/09/30
date added: 2012/09/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Appeal 1248179 The Appeal make the grade? And will it appeal to Grisham admirers -- or disappoint them?

The stakes in the novel's plot are high: corporate crime on the largest scale. The duo of lawyers at the centre of the narrative are Mary and Wes Grace, who succeed in a multimillion dollar case against a chemical company, who have polluted a town with dumped toxic waste. A slew of agonising deaths have followed this, but lawyers for the chemical company appeal, and a variety of legal shenanigans are employed -- and it is certainly not clear which way the scales of justice will be finally balanced.

As ever with Grisham, the mechanics of plotting are key, and the characterisation is functional rather than detailed. But it is (as always) more than capable of keeping the reader totally engaged. Given John Grisham's much-publicised conversion to born-again Christianity, it's intriguing to note here the implicit criticism of the moral majority's religious values, but that is hardly central to the enterprise. What counts is the storytelling, and while the writing is as straightforward and uncomplicated as ever, few readers will put down The Appeal once they have allowed it to exert its grip on upon them. --Barry Forshaw

]]> 358 John Grisham 0385515049 Mika 3 3.61 2008 The Appeal
author: John Grisham
name: Mika
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2012/09/08
date added: 2012/09/14
shelves:
review:

]]> The Associate 3613997 373 John Grisham 0385517831 Mika 2 3.68 2009 The Associate
author: John Grisham
name: Mika
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2012/09/08
date added: 2012/09/09
shelves:
review:

]]> The Litigators 11600163 385 John Grisham 1444729705 Mika 3 3.76 2011 The Litigators
author: John Grisham
name: Mika
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/09/05
date added: 2012/09/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Elantris (Elantris, #1) 68427
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.]]> 638 Brandon Sanderson 0765350378 Mika 4 4.16 2005 Elantris (Elantris, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mika
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2012/09/04
date added: 2012/09/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Our Tragic Universe 7140917 444 Scarlett Thomas 1847677622 Mika 2 <br /> <br /> 3.47 2010 Our Tragic Universe
author: Scarlett Thomas
name: Mika
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2012/09/03
date added: 2012/09/05
shelves:
review:



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