en-US Wed, 02 Apr 2025 18:50:59 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 51794532 From the celebrated author of the New York Times bestseller Behold the Dreamers, comes a sweeping, wrenching story about the collision of a small African village and an America oil company.

"We should have known the end was near."

So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company.

Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interest. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle would last for decades and come at a steep price.

Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.

"The unforgettable story of a community on the wrong end of Western greed, How Beautiful We Were will enthrall you, appall you, and show you what is possible when a few people stand up and say this is not right. A masterful novel by a spellbinding writer engaged with the most urgent questions of our day.”—David Ebershoff, bestselling author of The Danish Girl]]> 364 Imbolo Mbue 0593132424 Mellany 0 currently-reading, audiobooks 3.92 2021
author: Imbolo Mbue
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/02
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]]> 62850110
"Wondrous . . . captivating.”—Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An Immense World

Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerdâ€� (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. WhileĚýin theĚýpark one morning in May 2020,ĚýCooperĚýwas engaged in theĚýbirdwatchingĚýritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years oldĚýwhen what might have beenĚýa routine encounter with a dog walkerĚýexplodedĚýage-old racialĚýtensions.ĚýCooper’sĚýviralĚývideo of the incident wouldĚýsend shock waves through the nation.

In Better Living Through Birding , Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself.

Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper’s journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.]]> 304 Christian Cooper 0593242386 Mellany 4 audiobooks 4.22 2023
author: Christian Cooper
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 157981748 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593243916.

Who and what are supercommunicators? They're the people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offence. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They're brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. How do they do it?

In this groundbreaking book, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators to reveal the art - and the science - of successful communication. He unpicks the different types of everyday conversation and pinpoints why some go smoothly while others swiftly fall apart. He reveals the conversational questions and gambits that bring people together. And he shows how even the most tricky of encounters can be turned around. In the process, he shows why a CIA operative was able to win over a reluctant spy, how a member of a jury got his fellow jurors to view an open-and-shut case differently, and what a doctor found they needed to do to engage with a vaccine sceptic.

Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances. Packed with fascinating case studies and drawing on cutting-edge research, this book will change the way you think about what you say, and how you say it.]]> 320 Charles Duhigg Mellany 0 currently-reading 4.00 2024
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 17978450
Mike and Kate are in Miami visiting Kate's Uncle Oliver—and the Miami Marlins ballpark, of course! Uncle Oliver is in charge of keeping the new fish tanks at the ballpark fully stocked, but strange things keep happening. Kate swears she saw an endangered sea turtle in one of the tanks. Then some of Uncle Oliver's rare fish go missing, including his favorite, Marlin. Something fishy is going on in Miami!

The Missing Marlin includes several pages of "Dugout Notes," fun facts about Miami's recently built ballpark with its homerun statue, fish tanks, and swimming pool.

Cross Ron Roy's A to Z Mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark fun, puzzling whodunits aimed at the younger brothers and sisters of John Feinstein fans.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 030797782X Mellany 0 4.27 2014
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: currently-reading, read-to-alby
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]]> 211004089
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.]]> 303 Charlotte McConaghy 1250827957 Mellany 4 4.33 2025
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> 18749 A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,� Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed.

With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.]]> 435 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 1400044162 Mellany 4 4.34 2006
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> 217006044 In his first new novel since winning the 2021 Nobel Prize, a master storyteller captures a time of dizzying global change.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university with new swagger and ambition. Fauzia glimpses in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. The two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all. As tourism, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils reach their quiet corner of the world, bringing, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.

]]> 296 Abdulrazak Gurnah 0593852605 Mellany 0 to-read 3.95 2025
author: Abdulrazak Gurnah
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 765618 256 Abdulrazak Gurnah Mellany 0 to-read 3.64 1994
author: Abdulrazak Gurnah
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 15926772 The San Francisco Splash is book #7 in our early chapter book mystery series, where each book is set in a different American ballpark!

Splash! A hit soars over the walls of the San Francisco ballpark on the bay and drops into the water. But then Mike and Kate hear another, much larger splash nearby . . . and this time it's not a baseball. It's a man overboard! And when he's pulled from the water, the old-time ballplayer discovers his World Series ring is gone! Is it at the bottom of the bay? Or was it somehow stolen by a long-ago rival?

The San Francisco Splash includes several pages of Dugout Notes, fun facts about San Francisco's recently built ballpark.

Cross Ron Roy's A to Z Mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark Mysteries: fun, puzzling whodunits aimed at the younger brothers and sisters of John Feinstein's fans.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 030797779X Mellany 3 4.30 2013
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> 14871759
RL 2.7]]> 112 David A. Kelly 0307977765 Mellany 3 4.20 2013
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> 17465709 Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.]]> 408 Robin Wall Kimmerer 1571313354 Mellany 4 audiobooks 4.52 2013
author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 61065982
But she soon discovers that being known as a "self-made" widow has some surprising perks. No one messes with her, no one threatens her, and no one tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It's even been good for her business; no one wants to risk getting on her bad side by not buying her jewelry.

Freedom must look good on Geeta, because other women in the village have started asking for her help to get rid of their own no-good husbands...but not all of them are asking nicely.

Now that Geeta's fearsome reputation has become a double-edged sword, she must decide how far to go to protect it, along with the life she's built. Because even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry.]]> 342 Parini Shroff 059349895X Mellany 4 3.90 2023
author: Parini Shroff
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
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]]> 30527743 "Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
Had twenty-three sons and she named them all Dave?"

This tale, often read published within The Sneetches and Other Stories, is the tongue-twisting story of Mrs. McCave � you know, the one who had 23 sons and named them all Dave. (She realizes that she'd be far less confused had she given them different names, like Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face or Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate).

Here, Dr. Seuss once again reminds us of... well, of the fact that sometimes it's okay to just indulge in a funny story even if there isn't an ulterior moral to be learned behind it. In Too Many Daves we find Seuss at his best, with wacky illustrations and near-nonsensical rhymes like only he can.]]> 6 Dr. Seuss Mellany 0 3.76 1961
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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]]> 30349773 "There once was a girl-bird named Gertrude McFuzz
and she had the smallest plain tail ever was..."

In this hilarious book � featuring the wistful Gertrude McFuzz � Dr. Seuss explores the perils of wanton desires.

Gertrude McFuzz is a short story first published and often read within Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (1958). By combining the funniest stories, craziest creatures and zaniest pictures with his unique blend of rhyme, rhythm and repetition, Dr. Seuss helps children of all ages and abilities to read.

Dr. Seuss makes reading FUN!

With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children as well as helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic 'Cat in the Hat', and ranked among the world's top children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.]]> 18 Dr. Seuss Mellany 0 4.11 1958
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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]]> 30527834 "One day, making tracks
In the Prairie of Prax,
Came a North-Going Zax
And a South-Going Zax..."

This story, often read published within The Sneetches and Other Stories, is the memorable tale of a South-Going Zax and a North-Going Zax, who seem determined to butt heads on the prairie of Prax.

Here Dr. Seuss once again reminds us of the futility of holding pointless grudges over senseless trivialities. In The Zax we find Seuss at his best, with wacky illustrations and tongue-twisting rhymes like only he can.]]> 10 Dr. Seuss Mellany 0 4.03 1961
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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]]> 35287690 "The Sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches.
And no kind of Sneetch is the best of the beaches."

This story, often read published within The Sneetches and Other Stories, is the unforgettable tale of the unfortunate Sneetches, bamboozled by one Sylvester McMonkey McBean ("the Fix-it-up Chappie"), who teaches them that pointless prejudice can be costly.

Here Dr. Seuss once again challenges the idea that individualism must be rejected to find common ground. Sneetches and Other Stories is Seuss at his best, with wacky illustrations and tongue-twisting rhymes like only he can.]]> 1 Dr. Seuss Mellany 0 4.46 1961
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 252284 254 Dr. Seuss 0679889078 Mellany 0 4.35 1997
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 2763062 48 Dr. Seuss 0001960016 Mellany 0 4.20 1979
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 273761 32 Dr. Seuss 0679991492 Mellany 4 4.24 1998
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 972528 36 Dr. Seuss 0394831284 Mellany 0 4.14 1975
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 273730 With the release of 'Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!', readers young and old are afforded a dazzling glimpse into the genius of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel.

This book is based on 14 rough drawings and verses Geisel's secretary gave to the author's editor, Janet Schulman, after his death in 1991.

In these scribbled sketches and scratched-out lines, we witness the Seussian process in building a story. When brainstorming the name of what resulted in the Diffendoofer School, he jots down several possible names�"William Wilkins Woofer Junior," "Woodrow Watkins Woofer," "Zoofendorf Elementary," "J. Ebeneezer Bomberg Jr."—all of a slightly different cadence and rhythm, which he tests like a composer writing a new concerto.

A small collection of Geisel's rough sketches would be plenty to thrill even the Grinchiest of readers, but there's much more to this marvelous book. Renowned children's poet Jack Prelutsky and award-winning illustrator Lane Smith were called to action by Schulman to pull these sketches into a complete story that would make Dr. Seuss fruffulous with glee.

Prelutsky's delicious verse is uncannily Seussian, and it is inexplicably sensational when exploring the Diffendoofer School to discover good old Horton, a platter of green eggs and ham, and a few Whos from Who-ville scattered across the surreal and fascinating landscape of Smith's artwork. Lane and Prelutsky have gone above and beyond the call of duty, maintaining the characters and themes Geisel was just beginning to develop, but enhancing them with their own delightful stylistic stamps.

Above all, this incredible book is an ode to unorthodox, unusually creative teachers, and the innovative thinking they encourage in young minds. It is a noble theme, and one that Geisel surely had in mind when he concocted these preliminary sketches. Both new Dr. Seuss aficionados and those who remember 'The Cat in the Hat's' 1957 debut will cherish this book for its message, artwork, and poetry, and most of all as a tribute to the man who inspired thousands of readers.

Ages: 3 and older]]> 64 Dr. Seuss 0007127405 Mellany 0 4.13 1998
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 7789
By combining the funniest stories, craziest creatures and zaniest pictures with his unique bland of rhyme, rhythm and repetition, Dr. Seuss helps children of all ages and abilities learn to read.

'Daisy-Head Mazie' is narrated by the watching Cat in the Hat.]]> 56 Dr. Seuss 0679867120 Mellany 0 3.87 1994
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 857415 Is this a children's book?
Well... not immediately.
You buy a copy for your child now
and you give it to him on his 70th birthday.

With his unmistakable rhymes and signature illustration style, Dr. Seuss creates a classic picture-book ode to aging in You're Only Old Once! On a visit to "the Golden Years Clinic on Century Square for Spleen Readjustment and Muffler Repair," readers will laugh with familiar horror at the poking and prodding and testing and ogling that go hand in hand with the dreaded appellation of "senior citizen."

Though Dr. Seuss is known for his peerless work in books for children, this comical look at what it's like to get older is ideal for Seuss fans of advanced years. In his own words, this is "a book for obsolete children." A perfect gift for retirement, birthdays, and holidays!

Dr. Seuss and his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, have been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic 'Cat in the Hat' (1957), and ranked among the world's top children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.

Edition MSRP: $17�� U.S. / $20�� CAN. (ISBN 978-0-394-55190-6)
Printed in the United States of America]]> 42 Dr. Seuss 0394551907 Mellany 4 4.14 1986
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1986
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 273735 42 Dr. Seuss 0007175175 Mellany 4 4.04 1948
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1948
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 24968109 A never-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss!

This never-ever-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss about making up one’s mind is the literary equivalent of buried treasure! What happens when a brother and sister visit a pet store to pick a pet? Naturally, they can’t choose just one! The tale captures a classic childhood moment � choosing a pet � and uses it to illuminate a life lesson: that it is hard to make up your mind, but sometimes you just have to do it!

Told in Dr. Seuss’s signature rhyming style, this is a must-have for Seuss fans and book collectors, and a perfect choice for the holidays, birthdays, and happy occasions of all kinds.

An Editor’s Note at the end discusses Dr. Seuss’s creative process, his interest in animals, and Seussian creatures throughout his work.]]> 48 Dr. Seuss 0553524267 Mellany 0 3.83 2015
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 79579 "When I was quite young
and quite small for my size,
I met an old man in the Desert of Drize
And he sang me a song I will never forget.
At least, well, I haven't forgotten it yet."

'Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?' is a classic Dr. Seuss story about a boy called Duckie who feels quite unlucky, and an old man who goes on to recount all the other people who are in far more precarious a situation than he. It's a story of optimism, of looking on the bright side of things, and above all, a story about being grateful for one's place without loosing the inertia to improve it.

With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic 'Cat in the Hat' , and ranked among the world's top children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.

Edition Details:
Dr. Seuss. Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? New York: Random House, [1973]. First edition, first printing. Quarto. 47 pages. Publisher's binding. Illustrated in full color.]]> 47 Dr. Seuss 0394827198 Mellany 2 4.13 1973
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1973
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 28350 64 Dr. Seuss 000717313X Mellany 0 4.17 1965
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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]]> 41757 A perfect graduation gift! The possibilities are endless in Dr. Seuss's classic Beginner Book!

Young readers will delight in Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! which celebrates the imagination and encourages young readers to think... about thinking! "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the Thinks you can think up if only you try."

Originally created by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books encourage children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning. Combining brief and funny stories, easy words, catchy rhythm, and lively illustrations, Beginner Book are an ideal way to introduce the joys of reading to children!

With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children, and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic 'Cat in the Hat', and ranked among the world's top children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.]]> 64 Dr. Seuss 0007173156 Mellany 3 4.13 1975
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1975
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 7785 48 Dr. Seuss 0007158513 Mellany 0 4.18 1978
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1978
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 667234
It’s a snowy day and Dick and Sally are stuck shovelling . . . until the Cat in the Hat arrives to liven things up (to say the least!). Featuring the Cat’s helpers Little Cat A, Little Cat B, and so on through the alphabet, and ending with a gigantic Voom,

'The Cat in the Hat Comes Back' is a riotous, fun-filled follow-up to Dr. Seuss’s classic 'The Cat in the Hat.'.]]> 63 Dr. Seuss 0394800028 Mellany 0 3.91 1958
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 310272 "Did you ever have the feeling there's a WASKET in your BASKET?"

'There's a Wocket in My Pocket!' is filled with bizarre creatures and rhymes such as the "nupboard in the cupboard", "ghairs beneath the stairs", and the "bofa on the sofa"!

In this silly Bright and Early Book classic by Dr. Seuss, a young boy goes exploring in his house and finds an array of fun characters! Are you certain there's a Jertain in the curtain? Or have you ever had a feeling there's a Geeling on the ceiling? From the pesky Nooth Grush on a tooth brush to a sleepy Zelf up on the shelf, There's a Wocket in My Pocket will have young readers eager to explore their homes and the wonders of rhyming and wordplay.

Combining brief and funny stories, easy words, catchy rhythm, and lively illustrations, Bright and Early Books are an ideal way to introduce the joys of reading to children!

With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic 'Cat in the Hat', and ranked among the world's top children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.]]> 30 Dr. Seuss 0007169957 Mellany 0 4.07 1974
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 105552 Oh, the wonderful things Mr. Brown can do!

In this "Book of Wonderful Noises," Mr. Brown struts his stuff, as he imitates everything from popping corks to horse feet ("pop pop pop pop" and "klopp klopp klopp," respectively) while inviting everyone to join him in the fun.

Young readers who are still learning their sounds and letters will get a wacky workout as they follow along with the very serious-looking, squinty-eyed Mr. Brown. Whether it's eggs frying in a pan or a hippo chewing gum, the skillful Mr. Brown just keeps topping himself, with a "sizzle sizzle" or a "grum grum grum." "Mr. Brown is so smart he can even do this: he can even make a noise like a goldfish kiss!... pip!"

As usual, the words and pictures of Dr. Seuss make reading (and making all sorts of funny noises) impossible to resist. Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? will stay fresh through many a giggling reading.]]> 32 Dr. Seuss 0007169914 Mellany 0 4.14 1970
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 206962
By combining the funniest stories, craziest creatures and zaniest pictures with his unique blend of rhyme, rhythm and repetition, Dr. Seuss helps children of all ages and abilities learn to read.]]> 64 Dr. Seuss 0007158491 Mellany 0 4.04 1963
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
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]]> 105551 An alternate cover edition exists here.

This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out just how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble.

Dr. Seuss gives fair warning to anyone brave enough to read along with the Fox in Socks, who likes to play tongue-twisting games with his friend Mr. Knox.

"Here's an easy game to play. Here's an easy thing to say.... New socks. Two socks. Whose socks? Sue's socks."

But Mr. Fox Socks isn't about to let Knox off so easy. Soon Goo-Goose is choosing to chew chewy gluey blue goo, while tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle (in case you were wondering, that's called a "tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle"). Mr. Knox gets exasperated: "I can't blab such blibber blubber! My tongue isn't made of rubber." But he catches on to the game before it's all through.

One of Dr Seuss' best, this must-read-aloud classic is guaranteed to get many giggles out of readers young and old.

Best Audience: Ages 4 to 8]]> 64 Dr. Seuss 0007158475 Mellany 0 4.10 1965
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 7779 �A person’s a person, no matter how small�!

With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic Cat in the Hat, and ranked among the world's top ten favorite children’s authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.]]> 64 Dr. Seuss 0679800034 Mellany 0 4.21 1954
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1954
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
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]]> 7770 64 Dr. Seuss 0007173687 Mellany 0 4.18 1960
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
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]]> 33931235
He was the best of dogs... He was the worst of dogs... It was the age of invention... It was the season of surprise... It was the eve of supa sadness... It was the dawn of hope... Dog Man hasn't always been a paws-itive addition to the police force. While he can muzzle miscreants, he tends to leave a slick of slobber in his wake! This time, Petey the Cat's dragged in a tiny bit of trouble -- a double in the form of a kitten clone. Dog Man will have to work twice as hard to bust these furballs and remain top dog!Dav Pilkey's wildly popular Dog Man series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of being true to one's self.]]> 256 Dav Pilkey 0545935210 Mellany 3 graphic-novels, read-to-alby 4.44 2017
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: graphic-novels, read-to-alby
review:

]]> 63026545
Kiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we’ve been.

In Heavy, Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his trek to New York as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation, and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this nation actually know how to responsibly love, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.

A personal narrative that illuminates national failures, Heavy is defiant yet vulnerable, an insightful, often comical exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship, and family that begins with a confusing childhood—and continues through twenty-five years of haunting implosions and long reverberations.]]> 248 Kiese Laymon Mellany 4 audiobooks 4.47 2018
author: Kiese Laymon
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 207300960 416 Rachel Kushner 1982116528 Mellany 3 audiobooks 3.35 2024
author: Rachel Kushner
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 28691896 From worldwide bestselling author and artist Dav Pilkey comes Dog Man, the canine cop who's part dog, part man, and All Hero!

Get ready for Action, Suspense, Romance... and Laffs!

George and Harold have created a new breed of justice. When Greg the police dog and his cop companion are injured on the job, a life-saving surgery changes the course of history, and Dog Man is born. With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound digs into deception, claws after crooks, rolls over robbers, and scampers after squirrels. Will he be able to resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?

Dav Pilkey's wildly popular 'Dog Man' Series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of being true to one's self. This new series may use conventional spelling, but it is still full of all the same humor and fun of George and Harold's previous graphic novels!

Age Rating: 6-8+ / Grades 2-3+ / Lexile GN390L
Edition MSRP: $9�� US / $12�� CAN / £12�� UK (ISBN 978-0-545-58160-8)
Printed in China]]> 231 Dav Pilkey 0545581605 Mellany 2 graphic-novels, read-to-alby 4.09 2016
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: graphic-novels, read-to-alby
review:

]]> 9974013
It's spring break and Kate and Mike are off to Los Angeles to visit Kate's dad, a scout for the Dodgers. But all is not sunny in L.A.—strange things have been happening to Kate's dad. Pages have gone missing from his clipboard. He's gotten threatening phone calls. And he thinks he's being followed! Is someone after Mr. Hopkins's top secret scouting reports?

The L.A. Dodger includes a fun fact page about Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium.

Cross Ron Roy's A to Z mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed at the younger brothers and sisters of John Feinstein's fans.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 0375868852 Mellany 0 read-to-alby 4.22 2011
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: read-to-alby
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]]> 10548966 Batting second—book #2 in a brand-new early chapter book mystery series where each book is set in a different American ballpark!

Mike and Kate are waiting for Kate's mom at a boring press conference in Yankee Stadium when the team official says something that makes Mike perk up his ears. There are rumors that the ghost of Babe Ruth is haunting the new stadium! A chill air blasts down a service hallway before every home game, along with various thumps and bumps. Is the Bambino really searching for his missing locker?

The Pinstripe Ghost includes a fun fact page about New York's Yankee Stadium.

Cross Ron Roy's mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark Mysteries: fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed right at beginning readers.

]]> 114 David A. Kelly Mellany 0 read-to-alby 4.17 2011
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: read-to-alby
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]]> 214024469 In DOG MAN: BIG JIM BEGINS, discover the origin of our beloved characters from the Dog Man series as they join forces to stop the Space Cuties from destroying the city. Will the past predict the future for Dog Man and his friends? Will goodness and bravery prevail? Can anything happen if you truly believe?

Get ready for another unforgettable book in the #1 worldwide bestselling series from master graphic novelist and award-winning illustrator Dav Pilkey. AND coming soon, the Dog Man movie from DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures!

For more heartfelt and humorous adventures, join Flippy and Li'l Petey in the Cat Kid Comic Club series. Have fun with creativity with the official coloring book, Dog Man With Love. And don't forget about the series that started it all: Captain Underpants!]]> 224 Dav Pilkey 1338896458 Mellany 0 graphic-novels, read-to-alby 4.37
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: graphic-novels, read-to-alby
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]]> 196037552 Our canine superhero returns in DOG MAN: THE SCARLET SHEDDER, the suspenseful and hilarious twelfth graphic novel in the #1 worldwide bestselling series by award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey!

P.U.! Dog Man got sprayed by a skunk! After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but the scarlet red color remains. Now exiled, this spunky superhero must struggle to save the citizens who shunned him! Will the ends justify the means for Petey, who's reluctantly pulled back into a life of crime in order to help Dog Man? And who will step forward when an all-new, never-before-seen villain unleashes an army of A.I. robots?]]> 224 Dav Pilkey 133889644X Mellany 0 graphic-novels, read-to-alby 4.60 2024
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: graphic-novels, read-to-alby
review:

]]> 12902025
The stars are out in Kansas City . . . the baseball stars, that is! Mike and Kate are at the All-Star game, and even get to go on the field during the Home Run Derby to catch pop-ups! That's where they meet Andy, whose dad, Josh Robinson, is an All-Star catcher. But before the Home Derby ends, Josh finds himself in hot water. Someone is playing practical jokes on the other players, and the coach is sure it's him. Andy swears his dad is innocent. Who would want to frame Josh? And why?

The All-Star Joker includes a fun fact page about Kansas City's stadium.

Cross Ron Roy's A to Z mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed at the younger brothers and sisters of John Feinstein's fans.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 0375868844 Mellany 0 read-to-alby 4.24 2012
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: read-to-alby
review:

]]> 31825554 Petey is up to no good in the second Dog Man book from worldwide bestselling author and artist Dav Pilkey.

Dog Man is still learning a few tricks of the trade. Petey the Cat is out of the bag, and his criminal curiosity is taking the city by storm. Something fishy is going on! Can Dog Man unleash justice on this ruffian in time to save the city, or will Petey get away with the purr-fect crime?

Dav Pilkey's wildly popular Dog Man series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of being true to one's self.]]> 224 Dav Pilkey 0545935431 Mellany 0 graphic-novels, read-to-alby 4.44 2016
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: graphic-novels, read-to-alby
review:

]]> 18453086
The Shrug. The Shot. The Flu Game. Michael Jordan is responsible for sublime moments so ingrained in sports history that they have their own names. When most people think of him, they think of his beautiful shots with the game on the line, his body totally in sync with the ball -- hitting nothing but net.

But for all his greatness, this scion of a complex family from North Carolina's Coastal Plain has a darker side: he's a ruthless competitor and a lover of high stakes. There's never been a biography that encompassed the dual nature of his character and looked so deeply at Jordan on and off the court -- until now.

Basketball journalist Roland Lazenby spent almost thirty years covering Michael Jordan's career in college and the pros. He witnessed Jordan's growth from a skinny rookie to the instantly recognizable global ambassador for basketball whose business savvy and success have millions of kids still wanting to be just like Mike. Yet Lazenby also witnessed the Michael Jordan whose drive and appetite are more fearsome and more insatiable than any of his fans could begin to know. Michael Jordan: The Life explores both sides of his personality to reveal the fullest, most compelling story of the man who is Michael Jordan.

Lazenby draws on his personal relationships with Jordan's coaches; countless interviews with Jordan's friends, teammates, and family members; and interviews with Jordan himself to provide the first truly definitive study of Michael Jordan: the player, the icon, and the man.]]> 720 Roland Lazenby 0316194778 Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.31 2014
author: Roland Lazenby
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: audiobooks
review:
For 700+ pages I got a lot of details about games he played but it left a lot of unanswered questions about who Michael really is and the impact he has had on the world. I did learn a lot about basketball, but I’m more puzzled by MJ and his true motivations. Also the narration was not great, which impacted the storytelling.
]]> 18453074 A big, brilliant, profoundly observed novel about the mysteries of modern life by National Book Award Finalist Joshua Ferris, one of the most exciting voices of his generation

Paul O'Rourke is a man made of contradictions: he loves the world, but doesn't know how to live in it. He's a Luddite addicted to his iPhone, a dentist with a nicotine habit, a rabid Red Sox fan devastated by their victories, and an atheist not quite willing to let go of God.

Then someone begins to impersonate Paul online, and he watches in horror as a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account are created in his name. What begins as an outrageous violation of his privacy soon becomes something more soul-frightening: the possibility that the online "Paul" might be a better version of the real thing. As Paul's quest to learn why his identity has been stolen deepens, he is forced to confront his troubled past and his uncertain future in a life disturbingly split between the real and the virtual.

At once laugh-out-loud funny about the absurdities of the modern world, and indelibly profound about the eternal questions of the meaning of life, love and truth, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour is a deeply moving and constantly surprising tour de force.]]> 352 Joshua Ferris 0316033979 Mellany 3 3.08 2014
author: Joshua Ferris
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
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]]> 207689829 The memoir by the doctor who became a beacon of hope for millions through the COVID pandemic, and whose six-decade career in high-level public service put him in the room with seven presidents

Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous � and most revered � doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was only the most recent of the global epidemics in which Dr. Fauci played a major role. His crucial role in identifying HIV and bringing AIDS into sympathetic public view and his leadership in navigating the Ebola, SARS, West Nile, and anthrax crises make him truly an American hero.

His memoir reaches back to his boyhood in Brooklyn, New York, and carries through decades of caring for critically ill patients, navigating the whirlpools of Washington politics, and behind-the-scenes advising and negotiating with seven presidents on key issues from global AIDS relief to infectious diseaseĚýpreparedness at home. On Call will be an inspiration for readers who admire and are grateful to him and for those who want to emulate him in public service. He is the embodiment of “speaking truth to power,â€� with dignity and results.]]> 464 Anthony Fauci 0593657470 Mellany 0 to-read 4.47 2024
author: Anthony Fauci
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 35099568
Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.]]> 484 Min Jin Lee 1455563927 Mellany 4 audiobooks 4.34 2017
author: Min Jin Lee
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 44442951 240 Dav Pilkey 1338323229 Mellany 0 read-to-alby, graphic-novels 4.49 2019
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: read-to-alby, graphic-novels
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]]> 65678550
Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served the neighborhood's quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated the town's first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming that the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill's residents—roused by Chona's kindess and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin—banded together to keep the boy safe.

As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town’s establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community—heaven and earth—that ultimately sustain us.]]> 385 James McBride 0593422945 Mellany 5 audiobooks, five-stars 3.84 2023
author: James McBride
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: audiobooks, five-stars
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]]> 61796675 Winner of the NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Graphic Novels
Winner of an Alex Award from the American Library Association
Winner of the Libby Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel of the Year
Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in Nonfiction
Nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Memoir
Nominated for an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel
Named The Year's Best Graphic Novel by Publishers Weekly
Named one of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten Best Books of 2023
Named one of NPR's Books We Love
Named one of Kirkus ' Best 2023 Books
Named one of the Washington Post's 10 best graphic novels of 2023
One of TIME Magazine's Must-Read Books of the Year
Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction 2024
Booklist Editors' Choice: Graphic Novels, 2023
New York Public Library's Best New Comics of 2023 Top Ten Pick
Chicago Public Library's Best Books of 2023 Top Ten Pick
Named one of School Library Journal's Best Graphic Novels of 2023
Named one of The Guardian's Best Graphic Novels of 2023

Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn’t have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are.

Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. While coming of age in Los Angeles—and finding a voice through cartooning—Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and police officers and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans and showcasing revealing insights and cartoons along the way, he brings us up to the moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And now Bell must decide whether he and his own six-year-old son are ready to have The Talk.]]> 352 Darrin Bell 1250805147 Mellany 5 graphic-novels, five-stars 4.64 2023
author: Darrin Bell
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/21
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: graphic-novels, five-stars
review:

]]> 15779 There was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

]]> 144 Louis Sachar 0747571775 Mellany 3 read-to-alby 4.15 1978
author: Louis Sachar
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1978
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2025/01/01
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]]> 15673
Understand? Good. Explain it to Calvin.

More than fifteen million readers have laughed at the clever and hilarious stories of Wayside School. So what are you waiting for? Come visit Wayside School! Kids 7 to 13 will zoom through these chapter books—laughing their way through the fast, funny, silly but relatable stories.]]> 176 Louis Sachar 0747569118 Mellany 3 read-to-alby 4.20 1995
author: Louis Sachar
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: read-to-alby
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]]> 11729099

Houston, we have a problem! Before a game at the Astros' ballpark, Mike and Kate get to meet astronaut commander Nick Rice at the nearby Houston Space Center. He's planning to display a very rare moonrock at an autographing event later. But just before the event, a nefarious outlaw knocks out the commander and steals the moonrock! Can Mike and Kate figure out who did it . . . when their only clue is a broken green feather?

The Astro Outlaw includes a fun act page about the Houston Astros' stadium with trivia about the train on the outfield wall and the homerun gas pump.

Cross Ron Roy's A to Z Mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark Mysteries: fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed at the younger brothers and sisters of John Feinstein's fans.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 0375868836 Mellany 0 read-to-alby 4.23 2012
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/04
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: read-to-alby
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]]> 21548432
Mike and Kate can't wait to watch their rookie hero Dusty Martin in action. But something is throwing the Blue Jays' star off his game. Then, when no one else is looking, Mike sees mysterious ghost lights flying across the field. Is the ballpark haunted? And could Dusty have seen the lights, too?

Ballpark Mysteries are the all-star matchup of fun sleuthing and baseball action, perfect for readers of Ron Roy's A to Z Mysteries and Matt Christopher's sports books, and younger siblings of Mike Lupica fans. Each Ballpark Mystery also features "Dugout Notes," with more amazing baseball facts.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 0385378750 Mellany 0 to-read 4.32 2015
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 123133352
“But sooner or later your mother will find us,� Walter said, looking back at the house. “She always does.�

The boy’s eyes lit up again. He had an idea.

“Then this time we need to go where we’ve never gone before,� he said. “Into the uncut grass!�

In the tradition of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse comes a gorgeously illustrated fable about a young child’s journey into the world beyond the shadow of home, a magical landscape where he discovers the secrets of sharing, connection, and finding peace with the people we love. Infused with the author’s signature wit and imagination, in collaboration with visionary artist Sabina Hahn, it’s a tale for readers of all ages—to be read aloud or read alone.]]> 128 Trevor Noah 059372996X Mellany 0 to-read 4.02 2024
author: Trevor Noah
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 58065401 From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author--a funny, joyful, brilliantly perceptive journey deep into one Baltimore family's foibles, from a boyfriend with a red Chevy in the 1950s up to a longed-for reunion with a grandchild in our pandemic present.

The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever leave home, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understand. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation.

Full of heartbreak and hilarity, French Braid is classic Anne Tyler: a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humor that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives, the impossibility of breaking free from those who love us, and how close--yet how unknowable--every family is to itself.]]> 244 Anne Tyler 059332109X Mellany 0 to-read 3.51 2022
author: Anne Tyler
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 55835474
At home full-time with her two-year-old son, an artist finds she is struggling. She is lonely and exhausted. She had imagined - what was it she had imagined? Her husband, always travelling for his work, calls her from faraway hotel rooms. One more toddler bedtime, and she fears she might lose her mind.

Instead, quite suddenly, she starts gaining things, surprising things that happen one night when her child will not sleep. Sharper canines. Strange new patches of hair. New appetites, new instincts. And from deep within herself, a new voice...

With its clear eyes on contemporary womanhood and sharp take on structures of power, Nightbitch is an outrageously original, joyfully subversive read that will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. Addictive enough to be devoured in one sitting, this is an unforgettable novel from a blazing new talent.]]> 256 Rachel Yoder 0385546815 Mellany 0 to-read 3.47 2021
author: Rachel Yoder
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55298364 A Children’s Bible follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents, the children decide to run away when a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, embarking on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside. Lydia Millet’s prophetic and heartbreaking story of generational divide offers a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation.]]> 224 Lydia Millet 0393867382 Mellany 3 3.70 2020
author: Lydia Millet
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/31
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]]> 181346634
There’s Always This Year is a triumph, brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope. No matter the subject of his keen focus—whether it's basketball, or music, or performance—Hanif Abdurraqib’s exquisite writing is always poetry, always profound, and always a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.]]> 334 Hanif Abdurraqib 0593448790 Mellany 0 to-read 4.33 2024
author: Hanif Abdurraqib
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/30
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]]> 139400713 Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, others—in which a newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a search that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum.

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

Electrifying, funny, wholly original, and profound, Martyr! heralds the arrival of a blazing and essential new voice in contemporary fiction.]]> 331 Kaveh Akbar 0593537610 Mellany 0 to-read 4.23 2024
author: Kaveh Akbar
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 96177629
Now he is. . .

Without a home

Waiting for his stand-up career to take off

Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn't looking

Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of his ruined relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. But Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story�

In this sharply funny and exquisitely relatable story of romantic disaster and friendship, Dolly Alderton offers up a love story with two endings, demonstrating once again why she is one of the most exciting writers today, and the true voice of a generation.]]> 345 Dolly Alderton 0241523672 Mellany 0 to-read 3.85 2023
author: Dolly Alderton
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 197798168
A semifamous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to New York. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.

Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.]]> 336 Miranda July 0593190262 Mellany 0 to-read 3.54 2024
author: Miranda July
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

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

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

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Mellany 0 to-read 4.47 2024
author: Percival Everett
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore Mellany 0 to-read 4.16 2024
author: Liz Moore
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 220161576 In this razor-sharp, diabolical debut thriller, a young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.]]> 320 Liann Zhang 1668067897 Mellany 0 to-read 3.90 2025
author: Liann Zhang
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 214152211 One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo.

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.

When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.

Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.]]> 288 Sarah Damoff 1668061449 Mellany 0 to-read 4.50 2025
author: Sarah Damoff
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 219158874 Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain

Ron Chernow, the highly lauded biographer of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Ulysses S. Grant, brings his considerable powers to bear on America’s first, and most influential, literary celebrity, Mark Twain. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, under Halley’s Comet, the rambunctious Twain was an early teller of tall tales. He left his home in Missouri at an early age, piloted steamboats on the Mississippi, and arrived in the Nevada Territory during the silver-mining boom. Before long, he had accepted a job at the local newspaper, where he barged into vigorous discourse and debate, hoaxes and hijinks. After moving to San Francisco, he published stories that attracted national attention for their brashness and humor, writing under a pen name soon to be immortalized.

Chernow draws a richly nuanced portrait of the man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune and crafted his celebrity persona with meticulous care. Twain eventually settled with his wife and three daughters in Hartford, where he wrote some of his most well-known works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, earning him further acclaim. He threw himself into American politics, emerging as the nation’s most notable pundit. While his talents as a writer and speaker flourished, his madcap business ventures eventually forced him into bankruptcy; to economize, Twain and his family spent nine eventful years in exile in Europe. He suffered the death of his wife and two daughters, and the last stage of his life was marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behavior that sometimes obscured darker forces at play.

Drawing on Twain’s bountiful archives, including his fifty notebooks, thousands of letters, and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures a man whose career reflected the country’s westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars. No other white author of his generation grappled so fully with the legacy of slavery after the Civil War or showed such keen interest in African American culture. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twain’s writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writer’s talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.]]> 1200 Ron Chernow 0525561722 Mellany 0 to-read 4.06 2025
author: Ron Chernow
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 213243949 A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life,ĚýThree Days in JuneĚýis a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers

]]> 165 Anne Tyler 0593803485 Mellany 0 to-read 3.64 2025
author: Anne Tyler
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 199534613
Margo braucht Geld. Seit sie ungewollt von ihrem Collegeprofessor, der sie jetzt mit dem Kind alleinlässt, schwanger wurde, mehr denn je. Wie Margo es auch dreht und wendet, kein Job scheint passend zu sein, oder könnte auch nur ansatzweise ihr Leben mit einem Baby finanzieren. Durch einen Zufall wird sie auf die Plattform OnlyFans aufmerksam, und Margo ist fasziniert von dieser Welt, in der Frauen mit sich und ihrem Körper experimentieren, und offenbar gut dabei verdienen. Also beginnt auch sie, Inhalte zu produzieren. Dabei erhält sie Unterstützung von ihrer Mitbewohnerin Suzie, einem großen Cosplay-Fan, und auch von ihrem Vater Jinx, einem Ex-Wrestlingprofi. Ehe sie sich versieht, ist Margo ein Online-Phänomen. Könnte dies die Antwort auf all ihre Probleme sein, oder hat der Internet-Ruhm einen zu hohen Preis?]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 Mellany 4 audiobooks 3.87 2024
author: Rufi Thorpe
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 56545505 "[A] 21st-century response to Herman Melville's 'Bartleby, the Scrivener.'" -NPR“A thought-provoking, drily funny critique of capitalism and the systems of self-worth that are built around it.� -TIME, “Must-Read Books of the Year�A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following it is close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and ideally, very little thinking.Her first gig--watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods--turns out to be inconvenient. (When can she go to the bathroom?) Her next gives way to the announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job--writing trivia for rice cracker packages; punching entry tickets to a purportedly haunted public park--it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all, but something altogether more meaningful. And when she finally discovers an alternative to the daily grind, it comes with a price.This is the first time Kikuko Tsumura--winner of Japan's most prestigious literary award--has been translated into English. There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job is as witty as it is unsettling--a jolting look at the maladies of late capitalist life through the unique and fascinating lens of modern Japanese culture.]]> 405 Kikuko Tsumura 163557692X Mellany 4 3.75 2015
author: Kikuko Tsumura
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
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]]> 61771675
But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters� unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?]]> 416 Ann Napolitano Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.14 2023
author: Ann Napolitano
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 45294613
Edward's story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery--one that will lead him to the answers of some of life's most profound questions: When you've lost everything, how do find yourself? How do you discover your purpose? What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.]]> 340 Ann Napolitano 198485478X Mellany 0 to-read 4.03 2020
author: Ann Napolitano
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 209192698 In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.Ěý

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.]]> 320 Ina Garten 0593799895 Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.26 2024
author: Ina Garten
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 40916679
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.]]> 433 Holly Jackson 1405293187 Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.30 2019
author: Holly Jackson
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 55132921 From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes a devastating novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss.
Ěý
As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is modern classic.]]> 272 Kazuo Ishiguro Mellany 3 3.89 2005
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves:
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]]> 58959781 From London to Corsica to Paris--as a young woman pursues the truth about her late mother, two captivating love stories unfurl.

Kate Darling's enigmatic mother--a once-famous ballerina--has passed away, leaving Kate bereft. When her grandmother falls ill and bequeaths to Kate a small portrait of a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Kate's mother, Kate uncovers a mystery that may upend everything she thought she knew.

Kate's journey to find the true identity of the woman in the portrait takes her to some of the world's most iconic and indulgent locales, revealing a love story that began in the wild 1920s and was disrupted by war and could now spark new love for Kate. Alternating between Kate's present-day hunt and voices from the past, THE BOOK OF LOST AND FOUND casts light on family secrets and love-both lost and found.]]> 427 Lucy Foley Mellany 0 to-read 4.15 2015
author: Lucy Foley
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 40097951
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.]]> 336 Alex Michaelides 1250301696 Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.18 2019
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves: audiobooks
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]]> 42379020 A dazzling, multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built.

When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'.

As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt--given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before--we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.

Spanning nearly half a century, and set against the quintessential American backdrop of Chicago and its prospering suburbs, Lombardo's debut explores the triumphs and burdens of love, the fraught tethers of parenthood and sisterhood, and the baffling mixture of affection, abhorrence, resistance, and submission we feel for those closest to us. In painting this luminous portrait of a family's becoming, Lombardo joins the ranks of writers such as Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout, and Jonathan Franzen as visionary chroniclers of our modern lives.]]> 544 Claire Lombardo Mellany 4 4.02 2019
author: Claire Lombardo
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
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]]> 25189315
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures.

Her eye-opening, candid, and often hilarious story is like going on a journey with your bravest friend to the cemetery at midnight. She demystifies death, leading us behind the black curtain of her unique profession. And she answers questions you didn’t know you had: Can you catch a disease from a corpse? How many dead bodies can you fit in a Dodge van? What exactly does a flaming skull look like?

Honest and heartfelt, self-deprecating and ironic, Caitlin's engaging style makes this otherwise taboo topic both approachable and engrossing. Now a licensed mortician with an alternative funeral practice, Caitlin argues that our fear of dying warps our culture and society, and she calls for better ways of dealing with death (and our dead).]]> 254 Caitlin Doughty 0393351904 Mellany 0 to-read 4.24 2014
author: Caitlin Doughty
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> 31181
What begins as a day trip to a funeral becomes an adventure in the unexpected. As Maggie and Ira navigate the riotous twists and turns, they intersect with an assorted cast of eccentrics–and rediscover the magic of the road called life and the joy of having somebody next to you to share the ride . . . bumps and all.
--back cover]]> 368 Anne Tyler 0345485599 Mellany 0 to-read 3.68 1988
author: Anne Tyler
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 36685039 338 Anne Tyler Mellany 4 3.76 1982
author: Anne Tyler
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
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]]> 6792458
As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.

In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.]]> 290 Michelle Alexander Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.52 2010
author: Michelle Alexander
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 11356993 Do you think of your company's talent as an investment to be managed like a portfolio? You should, according to authors Becker, Huselid, and Beatty, if you're interested in strategy execution. Many companies fall into the trap of spending too much time and money on low performers, while high performers aren't getting the necessary resources, development opportunities, or rewards. In The Differentiated Workforce, the authors expand on their previous books, The HR Scorecard and The Workforce Scorecard, and recommend that you manage your workforce like a portfolio--with disproportionate investments in the jobs that create the most wealth. You'll learn rise above talent management best practice and instead create a differentiated workforce that can't be easily copied by competitors; differentiate those capabilities in your company that are truly strategic; identify your wealth-creating A positions; create a new relationship between HR and line managers, and articulate the role each plays in a differentiated workforce strategy; and develop the right measures for your organization. Based on two decades of academic research and experience working with hundreds of executives, The Differentiated Workforce gives you the tools to translate your talent into strategic impact.]]> 320 Brian E. Becker 142213511X Mellany 3 audiobooks 3.71 2009
author: Brian E. Becker
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/25
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the �80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.39 2017
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/31
date added: 2024/08/31
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 33413128
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.]]> 432 Fredrik Backman Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.27 2016
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 54981009
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]> 307 Laura Dave 1501171348 Mellany 3 3.78 2021
author: Laura Dave
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 33375618 Don't Call Us Dead opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved here on earth. Smith turns then to desire, mortality the dangers experienced in skin and body and blood and a diagnosis of HIV positive. "Some of us are killed / in pieces," Smith writes, some of us all at once. Don't Call Us Dead is an astonishing and ambitious collection, one that confronts, praises, and rebukes America--"Dear White America"--where every day is too often a funeral and not often enough a miracle.]]> 96 Danez Smith 1555977855 Mellany 4 abandoned-without-finishing 4.47 2017
author: Danez Smith
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: abandoned-without-finishing
review:

]]> 8664164
Thanks to Kate's mom, a sports reporter, cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins have tickets to the Red Sox game and All Access passes to Fenway Park. But as they're watching batting practice before the game, the lucky bat of Red Sox star slugger Big D is stolen . . . right in front of dozens of people. Without the bat, Big D can't seem to hit a thing. Can Kate and Mike figure out who pinched the bat before Big D and the Sox chalk up a loss?

The Fenway Foul-Up includes a fun fact page about Boston's Fenway Park.

Cross Ron Roy's mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed right at beginning readers.]]> 112 David A. Kelly 0375867031 Mellany 0 read-to-alby 3.98 2011
author: David A. Kelly
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: read-to-alby
review:

]]> 1058564
But she soon finds herself intrigued by Nina, a young mother on the beach, eventually striking up a conversation with her. After Nina confides a dark secret, one seemingly trivial occurrence leads to events that could destroy Nina’s family.]]> 140 Elena Ferrante 1933372427 Mellany 3 3.70 2006
author: Elena Ferrante
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/20
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 199702178 A mesmerising novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unexpected visitor � a tale of family, obsession, and a mysterious creature in the woods, by the celebrated, bestselling author of Disappearing Earth.

They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.

Sam and her sister, Elena, dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works long days on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.

Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the plan to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.

A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us � and within us � Bear is a propulsive, mythical, rich novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.]]> 304 Julia Phillips 0525520449 Mellany 3 3.46 2024
author: Julia Phillips
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 29430012 He can't leave. You won't want to.

With his breakout novel Rules of Civility, Amor Towles established himself as a master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction, bringing late-1930s Manhattan to life with splendid atmosphere and a flawless command of style. A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov.

When, in 1922, the thirty-year-old Count is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, he is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. An indomitable man of erudition and wit, Rostov must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors.

Unexpectedly, the Count's reduced circumstances provide him entry to a much larger world of emotional discovery as he forges friendships with the hotel's other denizens, including a willful actress, a shrewd Kremlinite, a gregarious American, and a temperamental chef. But when fate suddenly puts the life of a young girl in his hands, he must draw on all his ingenuity to protect the future she so deserves.

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the Count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.]]> 462 Amor Towles Mellany 3 audiobooks 4.33 2016
author: Amor Towles
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 10956 250 Jeffrey Eugenides 0747560595 Mellany 3 audiobooks 3.81 1993
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 10065 152 Louis Sachar 0380731509 Mellany 3 read-to-alby 4.16 1989
author: Louis Sachar
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves: read-to-alby
review:

]]> 52726274 205 Russell A. Barkley 1462544444 Mellany 0 to-read 4.07
author: Russell A. Barkley
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63241104 In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.]]> 309 Ann Patchett 006332752X Mellany 4 audiobooks 3.92 2023
author: Ann Patchett
name: Mellany
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 61042746 0 Ross W.Greene 0063225344 Mellany 0 currently-reading 4.19
author: Ross W.Greene
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 59069071 Celebrated cartoonist Kate Beaton vividly presents the untold story of Canada.

Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant fame, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. After university, Beaton heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, what the journey will actually cost Beaton will be far more than she anticipates.

Arriving in Fort McMurray, Beaton finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world’s largest oil companies. Being one of the few women among thousands of men, the culture shock is palpable. It does not hit home until she moves to a spartan, isolated worksite for higher pay. She encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet never discussed. Her wounds may never heal.

Beaton’s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, Northern Lights, and Rocky Mountains. Her first full-length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.]]> 430 Kate Beaton 1770462899 Mellany 3 4.41 2022
author: Kate Beaton
name: Mellany
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:

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