Rupert's bookshelf: read en-US Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:24:19 -0800 60 Rupert's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg A Delicate Marriage 183316742 Isabela, a wealthy woman, sacrifices her artistic aspirations to marry Marco, a penniless man dedicated to improving conditions on the island. As the island's insular government enacts pro-U.S. policies, Marco builds a real estate empire while struggling to maintain his populist principles. Meanwhile, Isabela feels unfulfilled in her traditional role as a wife and mother and becomes disillusioned with Marco's shifting moral compass. She begins to identify with anti-U.S. factions, leading a dangerous double life that puts her family in peril.
As political violence threatens their paradise, Isabela and Marco question whether their marriage, like the island's relationship with the U.S., should continue. Margarita Barresi's debut novel celebrates Puerto Rican culture while delving into themes of class, oppression, and the effects of colonialism through the lens of a marriage.]]> 352 Margarita Barresi 1639889302 Rupert 5 loved-it, books-i-own 4.40 A Delicate Marriage
author: Margarita Barresi
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: loved-it, books-i-own
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]]> And Then I Heard the Quiet 210301962
Not long after, a long-hidden murder resurfaces, pulling her into the unravelling of events within the home she’s entrusted to care for. As Valerie grapples with the ghosts of her past, the true motives behind her actions remain elusive. Amid escalating tension, a surprising romance catches Valerie off guard and helps to ease her through the turbulence of the unfolding mysteries.

Struggling to move on, Valerie can’t seem to let go of finding the answers she hopes will serve as her atonement. What concealed truths lie beneath the surface, and will Valerie’s pursuit lead her to the answers she seeks or deeper into the shadows of what she was running from?]]> 240 Alyssa Hall 1038303451 Rupert 4 4.40 And Then I Heard the Quiet
author: Alyssa Hall
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings]]> 127401850
Cindy spends the first eleven years of her life at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In her eleventh year, she suffers the brunt of an abusive change in her beloved mother. She absorbs a series of mental and emotional abuses, and her beloved dog is stomped to death despite her physical efforts to save him. His death exceeds her ability to cope with the thought of his absence in her life. She could see only one exit from her nightmarish home. When she starts to commit suicide, her guardian angel intervenes and counsels her.

After the angelic intervention, Cindy begins an episodic journey that includes, a dramatic courtroom appearance, miracles, national press conferences, and a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, and she achieves international prominence. When she concludes the final episode, she is standing on golden cobblestones in a brightest green valley, crying.
   
The statistics, percentages, and numbers quoted by the characters in this story are true and verifiable.]]> 339 Shafter Bailey Rupert 4 i-own 4.33 Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings
author: Shafter Bailey
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: i-own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quantum Energetics and Spirituality Volume 1: Aligning with Universal Consciousness]]> 58275819 232 Kenneth Schmitt Rupert 5 loved 4.38 2021 Quantum Energetics and Spirituality Volume 1: Aligning with Universal Consciousness
author: Kenneth Schmitt
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: loved
review:

]]> Steel Blood 215598873 308 Gabriel F.W. Koch 1977272754 Rupert 5 drama 4.35 Steel Blood
author: Gabriel F.W. Koch
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[His Forefathers and Mick 2nd Edition]]> 219849520 334 Michael G. Kramer 1763586065 Rupert 5 4.29 2024 His Forefathers and Mick 2nd Edition
author: Michael G. Kramer
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: contemporary, kindle, wishlist
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crossroads and the Dominion of Four (Crossroads, #2)]]> 36954958 340 C. Toni Graham 1504391616 Rupert 4 4.30 Crossroads and the Dominion of Four (Crossroads, #2)
author: C. Toni Graham
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-reread, re-read, on-my-shelf, the-best, favorite-books, ebook
review:

]]> Digging for God 51161357 In Digging for God, Tom takes you to a same-sex spiritual resort where you stay for three weeks. During your stay you will join in on all the work and activities of the retreat center. You will live amongst the monks and the spiritually motivated people who live there. You will have a schedule that includes meditation and all types of chores and projects that need to be done. You will get a taste of the camaraderie in the refectory and the delicious food. You will experience hanging out with meditators and learn to meditate yourself. You will realize that there are others ways to live in this world and you will meet people who are more interested in joy, peace, and love and less interested in the almighty dollar. You will find the value in taking a break from the world you live in, to retreat, refresh, and get ready to take on the world when you get back home.]]> 19 Tom Hillman 0228817382 Rupert 0 4.30 Digging for God
author: Tom Hillman
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: 2025, reading-challenge, winter-reads, favs, bookshelf, favorites, 5-star-books
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]]> The Bridge to Rembrandt 58549182 291 Nelson K. Foley 9090345892 Rupert 0 4.40 The Bridge to Rembrandt
author: Nelson K. Foley
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: 5-stars, book-club, absolute-favorites, novels, all-time-favs, own, tbr-2025, fav, 2025-challenge, want, on-my-bookshelf, 2025-reading-list, faves, my-library, to-get, my-books, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Rupert 5 4.15 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent, #2)]]> 37884746 In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, many look to the spirit world for answers. But it will take an all too earthbound intrigue to draw in the discerning heroine of Anna Lee Huber's latest mystery . . .
It's not that Verity Kent doesn't sympathize with those eager to make contact with lost loved ones. After all, she once believed herself a war widow. But now that she's discovered Sidney is very much alive, Verity is having enough trouble connecting with her estranged husband, never mind the dead. Still, at a friend's behest, Verity attends a seance, where she encounters the man who still looms between her and Sidney—and a medium who channels a woman Verity once worked with in the Secret Service. Refusing to believe her former fellow spy is dead, Verity is determined to uncover the source of the spiritualist's top secret revelation.

Then the medium is murdered—and Verity's investigation is suddenly thwarted. Even Secret Service agents she once trusted turn their backs on her. Undaunted, Verity heads to war-torn Belgium, with Sidney by her side. But as they draw ever closer to the danger, Verity wonders if she's about to learn the true meaning of till death do us part . . .]]> 336 Anna Lee Huber Rupert 3 3.84 2018 Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent, #2)
author: Anna Lee Huber
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2018
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Soldiers of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #6)]]> 25152123
When Celia Arceneaux was elected mayor of Sinful, Louisiana, Fortune Redding expected trouble. The woman has an unmatched talent for making the worst of any situation, especially if it means getting revenge on her sworn enemies Ida Belle and Gertie.

At the Fourth of July celebration, an explosion rocks Sinful and it’s not from fireworks. Most people assume it was a moonshine still, but when evidence points to a meth lab deep in the bayous of Sinful, Fortune realizes how dire the situation is for the tiny town. With Carter on medical leave and no one left at the sheriff’s department who can handle the investigation, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie decide to take matters into their own hands.

This is (another) mission for Swamp Team 3.
]]> 220 Jana Deleon 1940270200 Rupert 5 4.47 2015 Soldiers of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #6)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum, #13.5)]]> 1434105
Stephanie Plum is back between-the-numbers and she’s looking to get lucky in an Atlantic City hotel room, in a Winnebago, and with a brown-eyed stud who has stolen her heart.

Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives.

Plum Lucky is an all-you-can-eat buffet of thrills, chills, shrimp cocktail, plus-size underwear, and scorching hot men. It’s a between-the-numbers treat no Evanovich fan will want to miss! 

]]> 166 Janet Evanovich 0312377630 Rupert 5 3.77 2008 Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum, #13.5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Deeds of the Disturber (Amelia Peabody, #5)]]> 32139 389 Elizabeth Peters 0380731959 Rupert 5 4.05 1988 The Deeds of the Disturber (Amelia Peabody, #5)
author: Elizabeth Peters
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1988
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Dangerous to Know (Lady Emily, #5)]]> 7965864 Returning from her honeymoon with Colin Hargreaves and a near brush with death in Constantinople, Lady Emily convalesces at her mother-in-law's beautiful estate in Normandy. But the calm she so desperately seeks is shattered when, out riding a horse, she comes upon the body of a young woman who has been brutally murdered. The girl's wounds are identical to those inflicted on the victims of Jack the Ripper, who has wreaked havoc across the channel in London. Emily feels a connection to the young woman and is determined to bring the killer to justice.

Pursuing a trail of clues and victims to the beautiful medieval city of Rouen and a crumbling chateau in the country, Emily begins to worry about her own sanity: she hears the cries of a little girl she cannot find and discovers blue ribbons left in the child's wake. As Emily is forced to match wits with a brilliant and manipulative killer, only her courage, keen instincts and formidable will to win can help her escape becoming his next victim.

]]> 306 Tasha Alexander 0312383797 Rupert 2 3.90 2010 Dangerous to Know (Lady Emily, #5)
author: Tasha Alexander
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Ripple of Secrets (Rose Gardner Mystery, #6.5)]]> 24226662
Though peace and quiet is all Rose wants, it’s the last thing she’s liable to get. And the ripple of secrets in her life threatens to create an undertow that will endanger her and everyone she holds dear.

Includes POVs from Joe, Mason, Hilary, and Skeeter.]]> 150 Denise Grover Swank 1939996295 Rupert 5 4.41 2015 Ripple of Secrets (Rose Gardner Mystery, #6.5)
author: Denise Grover Swank
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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]]> The Frozen River 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 Rupert 4 4.37 2023 The Frozen River
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> X (Kinsey Millhone, #24) 24940998
  The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss...

Perhaps Sue Grafton’s darkest and most chilling novel, X features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this deadly sociopath. The test is whether private investigator Kinsey Millhone can prove her case against him—before she becomes his next victim.]]> 403 Sue Grafton 0399163840 Rupert 3 3.79 2015 X (Kinsey Millhone, #24)
author: Sue Grafton
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Gunpowder Green (A Tea Shop Mystery, #2)]]> 222949 Tea shop owner Theodosia Browning knows that something’s brewing in the high society of Charleston—something other than her newest tea…

The Indigo Tea Shop, Charleston’s favorite spot of tea, has just come out with its latest flavor: Gunpowder Green. Theodosia Browning cannot wait to hear its praises as it is unveiled at the annual yacht race. But when she hears the crack of an antique gun meant to end the race, a member of Charleston’s elite falls dead. Theodosia has a hunch that his demise was no accident—and will go out of her way to prove it. But if she doesn’t act fast, Theo will find herself in hot water with some boiling-mad Charlestonians—and more than a little gun-chai…

Includes a delicious recipe and tea-making tips!]]> 244 Laura Childs 0425184056 Rupert 2 3.85 2002 Gunpowder Green (A Tea Shop Mystery, #2)
author: Laura Childs
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2002
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3)]]> 205338104 334 Susan Rowland 1685032095 Rupert 4 4.30 2024 Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3)
author: Susan Rowland
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2024
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Double Strike (Davis Way Crime Caper, #3)]]> 22604911
Bellissimo Resort and Casino Super Spy Davis Way has three problems: She's desperate to change her marital status, she has a new boss who speaks in hashtags, and Bianca Sanders has confiscated her clothes. All of which bring on a headache hot enough to spark a fire. Solving her problems means stealing a car. From a dingbat lawyer.

Bellissimo Resort and Casino Super Spy Davis Way has three goals: Keep the Sanders family out of prison, regain her footing in her relationship, and find the genius who wrote the software for futureGaming. One of which, the manhunt one, is iffy. Because when Alabama hides someone, they hide them good.

DOUBLE STRIKE. A VIP invitation to an extraordinary high-stakes gaming event, as thieves, feds, dance instructors, shady bankers, kidnappers, and gold waiters go all in. #Don'tMissIt]]> 260 Gretchen Archer 1940976332 Rupert 2 4.18 2014 Double Strike (Davis Way Crime Caper, #3)
author: Gretchen Archer
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2014
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Have His Carcase (Lord Peter Wimsey, #8)]]> 37906597 Have His Carcase. Harriet’s discovery of a murdered body on the beach before it is swept out to sea unites her once more with the indomitable Lord Peter Wimsey, as together they attempt to solve a most lethal mystery, and find themselves become much closer than mere sleuthing partners in the process.]]> 499 Dorothy L. Sayers Rupert 3 4.06 1932 Have His Carcase (Lord Peter Wimsey, #8)
author: Dorothy L. Sayers
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1932
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/02/29
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]]> <![CDATA[Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #2)]]> 33439
Between perfecting her Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie and Chocolate Crunchies, Hannah’s snooping into the coach’s private life and not coming up short on suspects. And could Watson’s harsh criticism during the judging have given one of the contestants a license to kill? The stakes are rising faster than dough, and Hannah will have to be very careful, because somebody is cooking up a recipe for murder…with Hannah landing on the “necessary ingredients” list.]]> 310 Joanne Fluke 1575667215 Rupert 5 3.82 2001 Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #2)
author: Joanne Fluke
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/02/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium, #4)]]> 25074850
Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it . . .

The duo who captivated millions of readers in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest join forces again in this adrenaline-charged, uniquely of-the-moment thriller.]]> 400 David Lagercrantz 0385354282 Rupert 5 3.74 2015 The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium, #4)
author: David Lagercrantz
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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]]> The Lost Man 39863488
Dark, suspenseful, and deeply atmospheric, The Lost Man is the highly anticipated next book from the bestselling and award-winning Jane Harper, author of The Dry and Force of Nature.]]> 340 Jane Harper 1250105684 Rupert 4 4.12 2018 The Lost Man
author: Jane Harper
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries, #4)]]> 594134
When Aunt Ada dies a few weeks later, she leaves Tommy and Tuppence a painting featuring a house, which Tuppence is sure she has seen before. This realization leads her on a dangerous adventure involving a missing tombstone, diamond smuggling and a horrible discovery of what Mrs. Lancaster was talking about.]]> 212 Agatha Christie 0451200527 Rupert 2 3.77 1968 By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries, #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1968
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Death Leaves a Shadow (Marlowe Black Mystery, #2)]]> 54183020 262 Gabriel F.W. Koch Rupert 5 4.30 Death Leaves a Shadow (Marlowe Black Mystery, #2)
author: Gabriel F.W. Koch
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/02/29
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]]> The Shoemaker's Wife 13127599
Unbeknownst to one another, they both build fledgling lives in America, Ciro masters shoemaking and Enza takes a factory job in Hoboken until fate intervenes and reunites them. But it is too late: Ciro has volunteered to serve in World War I and Enza, determined to forge a life without him, begins her impressive career as a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera House that will sweep her into the glamorous salons of Manhattan and into the life of the international singing sensation, Enrico Caruso.

From the stately mansions of Carnegie Hill, to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy, over the perilous cliffs of northern Italy, to the white-capped lakes of northern Minnesota, these star-crossed lovers meet and separate, until, finally, the power of their love changes both of their lives forever.

Lush and evocative, told in tantalizing detail and enriched with lovable, unforgettable characters, The Shoemaker's Wife is a portrait of the times, the places and the people who defined the immigrant experience, claiming their portion of the American dream with ambition and resolve, cutting it to fit their needs like the finest Italian silk.

This riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny is the novel Adriana Trigiani was born to write, one inspired by her own family history and the love of tradition that has propelled her body of bestselling novels to international acclaim. Like Lucia, Lucia, The Shoemaker's Wife defines an era with clarity and splendor, with operatic scope and a vivid cast of characters who will live on in the imaginations of readers for years to come.]]> 485 Adriana Trigiani 0061257095 Rupert 4 4.00 2012 The Shoemaker's Wife
author: Adriana Trigiani
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Wideacre (The Wideacre Trilogy, #1)]]> 16188 688 Philippa Gregory 0743249291 Rupert 5 3.33 1987 Wideacre (The Wideacre Trilogy, #1)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1987
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece]]> 62986809
Two lovers crest the wave of the golden age of Pericles, statesman and general, and Aspasia, his courtesan, a philosopher's daughter, and a brilliant woman in her own right. In a world of hierarchies, he is at the top when she arrives as little more than flotsam cast up on Athenian shores. Their love transcends social sanctions, enduring and deepening despite the grave threat it presents to Pericles' reputation as a leader of the Athenian democracy.

The novel unfolds against the background of the arts and history of the Golden Age, seen through the eyes of two individuals who lent their particular brilliance to make it "golden": Pericles, the great orator and visionary of democracy, and its most influential woman, Aspasia. Their story takes them from the Agora-Athens' marketplace to the Acropolis, from the raunchy Athenian Port Piraeus mercantile across the Aegean Sea to East Greece. Pericles and Aspasia—together and apart—navigate treacherous paths from venal calculations to impassioned philosophical inquiry, from high-stakes sea battles to the passions of family life.

Pericles and Aspasia engages issues that are vital today—the paradoxes of democracy, the tensions of hierarchy, the ironies of gender, and others—but this novel is immersed in classical Athens: the city, its sunshine, its physical presence, its people, and their struggles and aspirations.]]> 557 Yvonne Korshak 1959182234 Rupert 4 4.29 2022 Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece
author: Yvonne Korshak
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2022
rating: 4
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]]> The Four Winds 53138081 Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250178602]]> 464 Kristin Hannah 1250178606 Rupert 5 4.27 2021 The Four Winds
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight]]> 10798416
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.]]> 236 Jennifer E. Smith 0316122386 Rupert 4 3.76 2012 The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
author: Jennifer E. Smith
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/12/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #2)]]> 78418
If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery.

In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odor, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the appearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again.

I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket]]> 192 Lemony Snicket Rupert 3 4.02 1999 The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #2)
author: Lemony Snicket
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/12/18
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]]> From Manchester to the Arctic 75609342 Over the previous year, Ruth, an older nurse, seduced the naĂŻve, twenty-one-year-old Connie, with romantic poetry, music and films. But Ruth abruptly abandoned her romantic intentions and rushed off to get married when rumours swirled around the hospital about their â€friendship’.
In a desperate attempt to escape her pain and humiliation, Connie accepts a job as a nurse in a remote Canadian Arctic settlement, a place where she can block out all the failures of her life, a place here she can start again. She has romantic notions about this new life in the snow, imagining herself to be an intrepid traveller like the merchant-seaman grandfather she never met. Her new life will be a place where Ruth, firmly locked into a box, cannot follow.

However, Connie's romantic notions are brutally shattered when she finally arrives in Harbour Inlet, her home for the foreseeable future. She is snubbed by Paul Archer, the government administrator, who seems bent on making life as difficult as possible, and she makes an enemy of Mrs Brooks, the deeply religious vicar’s wife, when she tries to befriend Mrs Brooks’s twelve-year-old daughter, Esther.
All thoughts of Ruth come flooding back when Connie meets Canadian anthropologist, Daisy. She is frightened and confused by the feelings Daisy arouses in her and tries to deal with them by finding negative comparisons between Ruth and Daisy.
Another Canadian, Elizabeth takes Connie under her wing, helping her though her first bout of debilitating homesickness, and teaching her how to bake with limited ingredients. Elizabeth's photographer husband, Peter, introduces Connie to photography which, over time, becomes something that she can lose herself in when life become difficult. Ilannaq, Connie’s Inuit interpreter, also becomes a good friend and her influence is indispensable in helping Connie gain trust in the Inuit communities, some of whom who are hostile towards Western influence. Connie understands why, when she learns that many have been taken to the mainland, never to return, and that some Inuit children have been taken to Canadian boarding schools where any reference to Inuit culture or language is forbidden. Connie is outraged at this discovery and blames Daisy for being part of the Canadian government, under whose regime these terrible things are happening.

One of Connie's challenges is to accept that things are not black and white in this alien environment, and that if she is to succeed as a nurse, she has to understand and accept a culture that is very different to her own. She also has to come to terms with her feelings about Daisy.
Can Connie survive in this cold, unfamiliar world? Does she have the courage to embark on the journey towards understanding and acceptance of others, and, more importantly, herself?]]> 261 Sheena Billett 1739674332 Rupert 5 4.30 2023 From Manchester to the Arctic
author: Sheena Billett
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 5
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]]> Nimona 19351043
Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from N.D. Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.]]> 272 N.D. Stevenson Rupert 5 4.16 2015 Nimona
author: N.D. Stevenson
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/12/18
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]]> Insurgent (Divergent, #2) 11735983
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.]]> 525 Veronica Roth 0007442912 Rupert 3 3.97 2012 Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/12/18
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]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Rupert 4 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/12/18
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]]> Don't Let Go 34001659 With unmatched suspense and emotional insight, Harlan Coben explores the big secrets and little lies that can destroy a relationship, a family, and even a town in this powerful new thriller.

Suburban New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas hasn't been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother's death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he's been looking for. 

When Maura's fingerprints turn up in the rental car of a suspected murderer, Nap embarks on a quest for answers that only leads to more questions—about the woman he loved, about the childhood friends he thought he knew, about the abandoned military base near where he grew up, and mostly about Leo and Diana—whose deaths are darker and far more sinister than Nap ever dared imagine.]]> 351 Harlan Coben 0525955119 Rupert 5 3.95 2017 Don't Let Go
author: Harlan Coben
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/11/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Atlantis Found (Dirk Pitt, #15)]]> 41707
September l858: An Antarctic whaler stumbles upon an aged wreck, its grisly frozen crew guarding crates of odd antiquities--and a skull carved from black obsidian.

March 200l: A team of anthropologists gazes in awe at a wall of strange inscriptions, moments before a blast seals them deep within the Colorado rock.

April 200l: A research ship manned by Dirk Pitt and members of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency is set upon and nearly sunk by an impossibility--a vessel that should have died fifty-six years before.

Pitt knows that somehow all these incidents are connected, and his investigations soon land him deep into an ancient mystery with very modern consequences, up against a diabolical enemy unlike any he has ever known, and racing to save not only his own life but the future of the world itself.

The trap is set. The clock is ticking. And only one man stands between earth and Armageddon. . . .

Filled with dazzling suspense and astonishing set pieces, this is Clive Cussler's greatest adventure novel yet.]]> 530 Clive Cussler 0425204030 Rupert 5 4.00 1999 Atlantis Found (Dirk Pitt, #15)
author: Clive Cussler
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1999
rating: 5
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]]> Riptide - Mörderische Flut 303098 Erst als die geheimen Aufzeichnungen des Baumeisters entdeckt werden, scheint der Schatz in greifbare Nähe zu rücken. Während Computerspezialisten beginnen, den uralten Schriftcode zu knacken, rückt die Bergungsgesellschaft Thalassa auf die Insel aus, um den Schatz zu heben. Mit dabei ist Malin Hatch, der die Insel von seinem Vater geerbt hat und dort als kleiner Junge bei einem tragischen Unfall seinen Bruder verlor.
Die mit modernstem High-Tech-Gerät ausgerüstete Expedition von Ingenieuren und Historikern beginnt unter der Führung des charismatischen Kapitän Neidelmann, der Insel ihr düsteres Geheimnis zu entreißen. Schritt für Schritt kommen die Wissenschaftler und Techniker ihrem Ziel näher - doch dann beginnt Ockhams Schatzgrube zurückzuschlagen...]]> 528 Douglas Preston 3426619148 Rupert 5 3.97 1998 Riptide - Mörderische Flut
author: Douglas Preston
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1998
rating: 5
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]]> The Ivies 48896122 Enroll in this boarding school thriller about a group of prep school elites who would kill to get into the college of their dreams...literally.

Everyone knows the Ivies: the most coveted universities in the United States. Far more important are the Ivies. The Ivies at Claflin Academy, that is. Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary. I would know. I'm one of them. We disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions...among other things. We improve our own odds by decreasing the fortunes of others. Because hyper-elite competitive college admissions is serious business. And in some cases, it's deadly.

Alexa Donne delivers a nail-biting and timely thriller about teens who will stop at nothing to get into the college of their dreams. Too bad no one told them murder isn't an extracurricular.
]]> 312 Alexa Donne 0593303709 Rupert 5 3.67 2021 The Ivies
author: Alexa Donne
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/11/28
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]]> After (After, #1) 22557520
But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos, and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.

But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.

He’ll call her beautiful, then insist he isn't the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.

Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin’s prejudice about nice girls like her?

Unless…could this be love?

Now newly revised and expanded, Anna Todd’s After fanfiction racked up 1 billion reads online and captivated readers across the globe. Experience the Internet’s most talked-about book for yourself!

There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER ... Life will never be the same.]]> 582 Anna Todd 1476792488 Rupert 5 3.70 2014 After (After, #1)
author: Anna Todd
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2014
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/07/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Prodigal Daughter (Kane & Abel, #2)]]> 78987 With a will of steel, Polish immigrant Florentyna Rosnovski is indeed Abel’s daughter. She shares with her father a love of America, his ideals, and his dream for the future. But she wants more: to be the first female president.
HIS FUTURE IS WEALTH.
Golden boy Richard Kane was born into a life of luxury. The scion of a banking magnate he is successful, handsome, and determined to carve his own path in the world―with the woman he loves.
BUT THEIR PAST HOLDS A SECRET…
With Florentyna’s ultimate goal only a heartbeat away, both are about to discover the shattering price of power as a titanic battle of betrayal and deception reaches out from the past―a blood feud between two generations that threatens to destroy everything Florentyna and Richard have fought to achieve.]]> 485 Jeffrey Archer 0312997140 Rupert 2 3.95 1982 The Prodigal Daughter (Kane & Abel, #2)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1982
rating: 2
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]]> Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2) 17340050 In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.]]> 321 Colleen Hoover Rupert 5 4.11 2013 Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2)
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 5
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]]> American Dirt 45046527
Lydia lives in Acapulco. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while cracks are beginning to show in Acapulco because of the cartels, Lydia’s life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. But after her husband’s tell-all profile of the newest drug lord is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Forced to flee, Lydia and Luca find themselves joining the countless people trying to reach the United States. Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?]]> 459 Jeanine Cummins Rupert 5 4.32 2020 American Dirt
author: Jeanine Cummins
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 5
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]]> Growing Up American 49015231
As the country dug deeper and deeper into Marxism, Marco's parents decided it was time to talk to their nine-year-old boy. They proposed a tough decision-either go live in the United States with his aunt, or stay with them in Cuba. He chose to go. He knew that was what his parents wanted.

Marco lived with his aunt and uncle for a short and difficult time. About eight months later, his family was reunited. Like all immigrants before them, they struggled to make a living, but with hard work, discipline, and belief in God, they managed to thrive in a relative short time.

What follows is a story much like any story from millions of immigrants willing to work, assimilate, and become another ingredient in the great melting pot that is the United States of America.]]> Rafael Polo Rupert 3 4.29 Growing Up American
author: Rafael Polo
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Rupert 4 4.16 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Rhinoceros / The Chairs / The Lesson]]> 12096 224 Eugène Ionesco 0141184299 Rupert 4 4.02 1962 Rhinoceros / The Chairs / The Lesson
author: Eugène Ionesco
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1962
rating: 4
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]]> Plain Truth 14864
One hundred miles away, Philadelphia defense attorney Ellie Hathaway has achieved an enviable, high-profile career. But her latest court victory has set the sands shifting beneath her. Single at thirty-nine and unsatisfied with her relationship, Ellie doesn't look back when she turns down her chance to make partner and takes off for an open-ended stay at her great-aunt's home in Paradise. Fate brings her to Katie Fisher. Suddenly, Ellie sees the chance to defend a client who truly needs her, not just one who can afford her.

But taking on this case challenges Ellie in more ways than one. She finds herself not only in a clash of wills with a client who does not want to be defended but also in a clash of cultures with a people whose channels of justice are markedly different from her own. Immersing herself in Katie Fisher's life -- and in a world founded on faith, humility, duty, and honesty -- Ellie begins to understand the pressures and sacrifices of those who to live plain. As she peels away the layers of fact and fantasy, Ellie calls on an old friend for guidance. Now, just as this man from Ellie's past reenters her life, she must uncover the truth about a complex case, a tragic loss, the bonds of love -- and her own deepest fears and desires.]]> 416 Jodi Picoult 0743275012 Rupert 3 3.99 2000 Plain Truth
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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]]> Seven Plays 12142
Brilliant, prolific, uniquely American, Pulitzer prizewinning playwright Sam Separd is a major voice in contemporary theatre. And here are seven of his very best. "One of the most original, prolific and gifted dramatists at work today."--"The New Yorker" "The greatest American playwright of his generation...the most inventive in language and revolutionary in craft, [he] is the writer whose work most accurately maps the interior and exterior landscapes of his society."--"New York Magazine" "If plays were put in time capsules, future generations would get a sharp-toothed profile of life in the U.S. in the past decade and a half from the works of Sam Shepard."--"Time " "Sam Shepard is the most exciting presence in the movie world and one of the most gifted writers ever to work on the American stage."--Marsha Norman, Pulitzer prizewinning author of "'Night, Mother. " "One of our best and most challenging playwrights...his plays are a form of exorcism: magical, sometimes surreal rituals that grapple with the demonic forces in the American landscape."--"Newsweek" "His plays are stunning in thier originality, defiant and inscrutable."--"Esquire" "Sam Shepard is phenomenal..the best practicing American playwright."--"The New Republic"]]> 336 Sam Shepard 0553346113 Rupert 5 4.17 1984 Seven Plays
author: Sam Shepard
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1984
rating: 5
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]]> The Midnight Library 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

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

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Rupert 5 3.96 2020 The Midnight Library
author: Matt Haig
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/07/15
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]]> Emilia Galotti 1436901 93 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 3150000459 Rupert 4 2.93 1772 Emilia Galotti
author: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
name: Rupert
average rating: 2.93
book published: 1772
rating: 4
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]]> The Secret Life of Bees 37435 The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.]]> 302 Sue Monk Kidd 0142001740 Rupert 4 4.10 2001 The Secret Life of Bees
author: Sue Monk Kidd
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 4
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]]> Awoken 16064647
Soon, strangers in black suits begin to ask unsettling questions while unnatural animals with mismatched eyes haunt the streets. They are hunting, and not just Michael: anyone he cares about is in danger.

With the help of a mysterious drifter, an annoying girl he's accidentally mutated, and one of those creepy doll men, Michael finds himself in the middle of a war that could forever change the world he knows - reconstructing the very definition of humanity.]]> 321 Timothy Miller 1937053539 Rupert 5 4.22 2013 Awoken
author: Timothy Miller
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)]]> 13662
Then a wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs’ greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar’s duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?]]> 180 Ursula K. Le Guin 0689845367 Rupert 5 4.12 1971 The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1971
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Dream Caster (Dream Cycle, #1)]]> 16077824
In the midst of building a new life, Weaver discovers he can do something strange: cast dreams into reality. Convinced it’s just an anomaly, he ignores it. That is until he learns of the mysterious man who waged war against his world — a man who calls himself the Dream Eater and harnesses the ability to animate nightmares into existence. The peaceful life Weaver hoped for begins to unravel when those of his new home are besieged by the Dream Eater and their lives placed in jeopardy. Weaver must learn to master his accursed ability before his new home is eradicated by the Dream Eater and human existence is pushed to the brink of extinction.]]> 362 Najeev Nadarajah 0991709403 Rupert 4 4.26 2012 Dream Caster (Dream Cycle, #1)
author: Najeev Nadarajah
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Crossroads and the Himalayan Crystals (Crossroads, #1)]]> 16220184 266 C. Toni Graham 1452558272 Rupert 4 4.34 2012 Crossroads and the Himalayan Crystals (Crossroads, #1)
author: C. Toni Graham
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/01/09
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]]> I Am Morgan le Fay 606935
"Springer wields language like a sword, and both blood and flowers spring to these pages in vivid hues." (Booklist, starred review)]]> 240 Nancy Springer 0698119746 Rupert 3 3.81 2001 I Am Morgan le Fay
author: Nancy Springer
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2001
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century]]> 38212124 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780393356311 can be found here.

The inspiration for Chloé Zhao's celebrated film starring Frances McDormand, winner of the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress
March and April pick for the PBS Newshour-New York Times "Now Read This" Book Club
New York Times bestseller

"People who thought the 2008 financial collapse was over a long time ago need to meet the people Jessica Bruder got to know in this scorching, beautifully written, vivid, disturbing (and occasionally wryly funny) book." —Rebecca Solnit




From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads.

On frequently traveled routes between seasonal jobs, Jessica Bruder meets people from all walks of life: a former professor, a McDonald’s vice president, a minister, a college administrator, and a motorcycle cop, among many others—including her irrepressible protagonist, a onetime cocktail waitress, Home Depot clerk, and general contractor named Linda May.

In a secondhand vehicle she christens “Van Halen,” Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. Accompanying Linda May and others from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy—one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive. Like Linda May, who dreams of finding land on which to build her own sustainable “Earthship” home, they have not given up hope.]]> 288 Jessica Bruder Rupert 5 3.98 2017 Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
author: Jessica Bruder
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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date added: 2022/02/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives]]> 58524608
What if political wives are just as calculating as their infamous husbands?

If Hilary Clinton had left her marriage, she might only be known as the spurned wife of a retired politician. Instead, she became the first woman to run for U.S. president on a major party ticket.

Veteran political journalist Anne Michaud knows the hidden agendas women employ to gain and cling to power. Working as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and awarded “Columnist of the Year” by the New York News Publishers Association, Anne has researched the women behind some of the most notorious men in the public eye.

She discovered a surprising pattern as old as the dynastic maneuverings of England’s medieval queens.
Today, women married to the “royalty” of our times–politicians–make bold decisions to keep their “thrones” and their family’s history-making potential.

Why They Stay reveals the inner lives of eight political wives as they fight to maintain a grip on power and pursue personal ambition:

Melania & Donald Trump: A foreigner’s desire to live the American dream
Hilary & Bill Clinton: One masterful decision launched her political career
Jackie & John F. Kennedy: Coping in bed and all the way to the bank
Eleanor & Franklin D. Roosevelt: A lifeless marriage sparks a social champion
Marion Stein & Jeremy Thorpe: Riding out British scandal to provide for her sons
Wendy & David Vitter: Married to the Party versus married to a man
Silda Wall & Elliot Spitzer: Real-life drama spawns TV show The Good Wife
Huma Abedin & Anthony Weiner: How to win against a man and the Media
These political wives aren’t powerless pawns. They are shrewder than you expect. Why They Stay pulls back the curtain to reveal why women throughout history stand by their man … for better and for worse.]]> 199 Anne Michaud 0997663359 Rupert 2 4.29 Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives
author: Anne Michaud
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 2
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date added: 2022/02/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies]]> 35390955 A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at life on Pennsylvania Avenue with America’s first families, by the man who spent nearly three decades in their midst


J. B. West, chief usher of the White House, directed the operations and maintenance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—and coordinated its daily life—at the request of the president and his family. He directed state functions; planned parties, weddings and funerals, gardens and playgrounds, and extensive renovations; and with a large staff, supervised every activity in the presidential home. For twenty-eight years, first as assistant to the chief usher, then as chief usher, he witnessed national crises and triumphs, and interacted daily with six consecutive presidents and first ladies, their parents, children and grandchildren, and houseguests—including friends, relatives, and heads of state.


In Upstairs at the White House, West offers an absorbing and novel glimpse at America’s first families, from the Roosevelts to the Kennedys andthe Nixons. Alive with anecdotes ranging from the quotidian (Lyndon B. Johnson’s showerheads) to the tragic (the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination), West’s book is an enlightening and rich account of the American history that took place just behind the Palladian doors of the North Portico.]]> 541 J.B. West Rupert 4 4.21 1973 Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies
author: J.B. West
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1973
rating: 4
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date added: 2022/02/17
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]]> America's First Daughter 25817162
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.

It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.

Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.]]> 606 Stephanie Dray Rupert 4 4.17 2016 America's First Daughter
author: Stephanie Dray
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2016
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era]]> 57005206 New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers--the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his swans.

There are certain women, Truman Capote wrote, who, though perhaps not born rich, are born to be rich. Barbara Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy's sister)--they were the toast of midcentury New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her own way. These women captivated and enchanted Capote--and at times, they infuriated him as well. He befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible.

Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 and In Cold Blood in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block. While enjoying all the fruits of his success--including cultivating close friendships with the richest and most admired women of the era--he was struck with an idea for what he was sure would be his most celebrated novel...one based on the remarkable, racy lives of his very, very rich friends.

For years, Capote attempted to write what he believed would have been his magnum opus, Answered Prayers. But when he eventually published a few chapters in Esquire, the thinly fictionalized lives (and scandals) of his closest female confidantes were laid bare for all to see. The blowback incinerated his relationships and banished Capote from their high-society world forever...a world that was already crumbling, though none of them realized it yet. Laurence Leamer recreates in detail the lives of these fascinating swans, their friendships with Capote and one another, and the doomed quest to write what could have been one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.
]]> 356 Laurence Leamer 0593328086 Rupert 5 3.77 2021 Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era
author: Laurence Leamer
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2021
rating: 5
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date added: 2022/02/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown]]> 56359706 312 Andrea Van Landingham 1493060074 Rupert 5 4.01 2021 Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown
author: Andrea Van Landingham
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 5
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]]> Tree of Smoke 271074
Tree of Smoke was the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Fiction.]]> 614 Denis Johnson 0374279128 Rupert 3 3.60 2004 Tree of Smoke
author: Denis Johnson
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/05/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, #9)]]> 5161066
The great revelation goes well at first - then the horribly mutilated body of a were-panther is found in the parking lot of Merlotte's, and Sookie agrees to use her telepathic talent to track down the murderer. But there is a far greater danger than this killer threatening Bon Temps: a race of unhuman beings, older, more powerful, and far more secretive than the vampires or the werewolves, is preparing for war. And Sookie is an all-too-human pawn in their ages-old battle...]]> 320 Charlaine Harris 0441017150 Rupert 4 4.02 2009 Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, #9)
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> Fade (Wake, #2) 3657138 SOME NIGHTMARES NEVER END.

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.

Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.

Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd feared....

From the inside of ISBN 1416953582/9781416953586]]> 248 Lisa McMann 1416953582 Rupert 4 3.92 2009 Fade (Wake, #2)
author: Lisa McMann
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Rupert 5 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> No Country for Old Men 12497 Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN 9780375706677

In his blistering new novel, Cormac McCarthy returns to the Texas-Mexico border, the setting of his famed Border Trilogy. The time is our own, when rustlers have given way to drug-runners and small towns have become free-fire zones.

One day, Llewellyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by a bodyguard of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law–in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell–can contain.

As Moss tries to evade his pursuers–in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives–McCarthy simultaneously strips down the American crime novel and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines.
No Country for Old Men is a triumph.]]> 309 Cormac McCarthy Rupert 5 4.15 2005 No Country for Old Men
author: Cormac McCarthy
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Ashes of Midnight (Midnight Breed, #6)]]> 4769247 A place where darkness and desire meet...

As night falls, Claire Roth flees, driven from her home by a fiery threat that seems to come from hell itself. Then, from out of the flames and ash, a vampire warrior emerges. He is Andreas Reichen, her onetime lover, now a stranger consumed by vengeance. Caught in the cross fire, Claire cannot escape his savage fury—or the hunger that plunges her into his world of eternal darkness and unending pleasure.

Nothing will stop Andreas from destroying the vampire responsible for slaughtering his Breed brethren . . . even if he must use his former lover as a pawn in his deadly mission. Blood-bonded to his treacherous adversary, Claire can lead Andreas to the enemy he seeks, but it is a journey fraught with danger—and deep, unbidden desires. For Claire is the one woman Andreas should not crave, and the only one he’s ever loved. A dangerous seduction begins—one that blurs the lines between predator and prey, and stokes the flames of a white-hot passion that may consume all in its path. . . .]]> 353 Lara Adrian 0440244501 Rupert 1 4.16 2009 Ashes of Midnight (Midnight Breed, #6)
author: Lara Adrian
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2009
rating: 1
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]]> <![CDATA[Significance (Significance, #1)]]> 35534230
Then she meets Caleb.

She saves his life and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing, but she's supposed to be on her way to a date with his cousin. Things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally.

They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him.

Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?]]> 396 Shelly Crane Rupert 2 3.98 2011 Significance (Significance, #1)
author: Shelly Crane
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2011
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows, #8)]]> 6547188
Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment—at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.

It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.]]> 487 Kim Harrison 0061138037 Rupert 3 4.37 2010 Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows, #8)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2010
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1)]]> 8041873
Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?]]> 343 Lish McBride 0805090983 Rupert 3 3.90 2010 Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1)
author: Lish McBride
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 3
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]]> Dark Desire (Dark, #2) 180426
The stranger silently summons her from across the continents, across the seas. He whispers of eternal torment, of endless hunger...of dark, dangerous desires. And somehow American surgeon Shea O'Halloran can feel his anguish, sense his haunting aloneness, and she aches to heal him, to heal herself.

Drawn to the far Carpathian mountains, Shea finds a ravaged, raging man, a being like no other. And her soul trembles. For in his burning eyes, his icy heart, she recognizes the beloved stranger who's already become part of her. This imperious Carpathian male compels Shea to his side. But is she to be his healer...or his prey? His victim...or his mate? Is he luring her into madness...or will his dark desire make her whole?]]> 369 Christine Feehan 0843956534 Rupert 3 4.19 1999 Dark Desire (Dark, #2)
author: Christine Feehan
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures]]> 12609 The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, written with the deepest of human feeling. Sherwin Nuland said of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale, just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, in their humility and their frailty—and their nobility.]]> 341 Anne Fadiman 0374525641 Rupert 4 4.20 1997 The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
author: Anne Fadiman
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows, #4)]]> 30260
Now a mortal lover who abandoned Rachel has returned, haunted by his secret past. And there are those who covet what Nick possesses -- savage beasts willing to destroy the Hollows and everyone in it if necessary.

Forced to keep a low profile or eternally suffer the wrath of a vengeful demon, Rachel must nevertheless act quickly. For the pack is gathering for the first time in millennia to ravage and to rule. And suddenly more than Rachel's soul is at stake.]]> 510 Kim Harrison 0060788194 Rupert 3 4.27 2006 A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows, #4)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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]]> Cleopatra: A Life 7968243 The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and–after his murder–three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra’s supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff â€s is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.]]> 369 Stacy Schiff 0316001929 Rupert 5 3.73 2010 Cleopatra: A Life
author: Stacy Schiff
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling, #14)]]> 17159943 The “smouldering heat, epic romance, and awesome action” of Nalini Singh’s NYT bestselling series continues as two Arrows find themselves caught in a chilling conspiracy that spans all three races . . .

Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken . . . like Zaira.]]> 483 Nalini Singh 0425264033 Rupert 5 4.25 2015 Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling, #14)
author: Nalini Singh
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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]]> Reunion (The Mediator, #3) 199785 Accidents happen. With ghostly consequences, if you're Susannah Simon.

The RLS Angels are out for blood, and only Suze can stop them - since she's the only one who can see them. The four ghostly teenagers died in a terrible car accident, for which they blame Suze's classmate Michael... and they'll stop at nothing until he's joined them in the realm of the dead.

As Suze desperately fends off each attempt on Michael's life, she finds she can relate to the Angels' fury. Because their deaths turn out not to have been accidental at all. And their killer is only too willing to strike again.]]> 289 Jenny Carroll 0060725133 Rupert 5 4.09 2001 Reunion (The Mediator, #3)
author: Jenny Carroll
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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]]> Cosmos 55030
The book also explores spacecraft missions of discovery of the nearby planets, the research in the Library of ancient Alexandria, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the origin of life, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies and the origins of matter, suns and worlds.

Sagan retraces the fifteen billion years of cos-mic evolution that have transformed matter into life and consciousness, enabling the Cosmos to wonder about itself. He considers the latest findings on life elsewhere and how we might communicate with the beings of other worlds.

Cosmos is the story of our long journey of discovery and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science, including Democritus, Hypatia, Kepler, Newton, Huy-gens, Champollion, Lowell and Humason. Sagan looks at our planet from an extra-terrestrial vantage point and sees a blue jewel-like world, inhabited by a lifeform that is just beginning to discover its own unity and to ven-ture into the vast ocean of space.]]> 384 Carl Sagan 0375508325 Rupert 2 4.39 1980 Cosmos
author: Carl Sagan
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1980
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families]]> 11472 356 Philip Gourevitch 0312243359 Rupert 5 4.21 1998 We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
author: Philip Gourevitch
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1998
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #13)]]> 21849362
iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing- and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around... but by then it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.

Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others- or forever leave behind the female he’s in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever. And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice...]]> 590 J.R. Ward Rupert 3 4.29 2015 The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #13)
author: J.R. Ward
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 3
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]]> Masquerade (Blue Bloods, #2) 106085 Schuyler Van Alen is starting to get more comfortable with her newfound vampire powers, but she still has many unanswered questions. A trip to Italy in search of her grandfather only serves to make things more confusing. What secrets are the leaders of The Committee hiding? Meanwhile, back in New York, preparations are feverishly underway for the famous Four Hundred Ball. In true Blue Blood fashion, the ball is totally fab, complete with masks—and hidden behind this masquerade is a revelation that will change the course of a young vampire’s destiny.

The thrilling sequel in Melissa de la Cruz’s vampire mythology has all the glamour, attitude, and vampire lore that made the first book a hit.
]]> 307 Melissa de la Cruz 0786838930 Rupert 2 3.91 2007 Masquerade (Blue Bloods, #2)
author: Melissa de la Cruz
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2007
rating: 2
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]]> 10% Happier 18505796
Eventually Harris stumbled upon an effective way to rein in that voice, something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation, a tool that research suggests can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain. "10% Happier" takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America's spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.]]> 256 Dan Harris 0062265423 Rupert 2 3.87 2014 10% Happier
author: Dan Harris
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2014
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History]]> 17910054
In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, The New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.]]> 336 Elizabeth Kolbert 0805092994 Rupert 2 4.13 2014 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
author: Elizabeth Kolbert
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Darkest Hour (The Mediator, #4)]]> 23224 What - or who - is buried in Susannah's backyard?

When the nineteenth-century ghost of Maria de Silva wakes her up in the middle of the night, Suze knows this is no ordinary visitation - and not just from the knife at her throat, either. In life, Maria was the fiancée of Jesse - the same Jesse who was murdered a hundred and fifty years before. The same Jesse Suze is in love with.

Maria threatens Suze: The backyard construction must cease. Suze has a pretty good idea what - or rather, who - Maria doesn't want found. But in solving Jesse's murder, will Suze end up losing him forever?]]> 316 Jenny Carroll 0060725141 Rupert 2 4.16 2008 Darkest Hour (The Mediator, #4)
author: Jenny Carroll
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2008
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Astrophysics for People in a Hurry]]> 32191710
But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.]]> 223 Neil deGrasse Tyson 0393609391 Rupert 2 4.07 2017 Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 2
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]]> Mere Christianity 11138 191 C.S. Lewis 0684823780 Rupert 1 4.32 1952 Mere Christianity
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1952
rating: 1
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]]> <![CDATA[The Calling (Darkness Rising, #2)]]> 11765920
Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

In THE CALLING, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of THE GATHERING clamoring for more.]]> 326 Kelley Armstrong 0061797057 Rupert 5 4.08 2012 The Calling (Darkness Rising, #2)
author: Kelley Armstrong
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> Survival in Auschwitz 6174
In 1943, Primo Levi, a twenty-five-year-old chemist and “Italian citizen of Jewish race,” was arrested by Italian fascists and deported from his native Turin to Auschwitz. Survival in Auschwitz is Levi’s classic account of his ten months in the German death camp, a harrowing story of systematic cruelty and miraculous endurance. Remarkable for its simplicity, restraint, compassion, and even wit, Survival in Auschwitz remains a lasting testament to the indestructibility of the human spirit.]]> 187 Primo Levi 0684826801 Rupert 2 4.20 1947 Survival in Auschwitz
author: Primo Levi
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1947
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom]]> 24611623 273 Yeonmi Park 1594206791 Rupert 5 4.45 2015 In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
author: Yeonmi Park
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]]> 27161156 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062300546.

Hillbilly Elegy recounts J.D. Vance's powerful origin story...

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate now serving as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and the Republican Vice Presidential candidate for the 2024 election, an incisive account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class.

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.'s grandparents were "dirt poor and in love," and moved north from Kentucky's Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.

A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.]]> 264 J.D. Vance Rupert 5 3.80 2016 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
author: J.D. Vance
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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date added: 2021/05/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11]]> 110890
The Looming Tower achieves an unprecedented level of intimacy and insight by telling the story through the interweaving lives of four men: the two leaders of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri; the FBI's counterterrorism chief, John O'Neill; and the former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki al-Faisal.

As these lives unfold, we see revealed: the crosscurrents of modern Islam that helped to radicalize Zawahiri and bin Laden . . . the birth of al-Qaeda and its unsteady development into an organization capable of the American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the attack on the USS Cole . . . O'Neill's heroic efforts to track al-Qaeda before 9/11, and his tragic death in the World Trade towers . . . Prince Turki's transformation from bin Laden's ally to his enemy . . . the failures of the FBI, CIA, and NSA to share intelligence that might have prevented the 9/11 attacks.

The Looming Tower broadens and deepens our knowledge of these signal events by taking us behind the scenes. Here is Sayyid Qutb, founder of the modern Islamist movement, lonely and despairing as he meets Western culture up close in 1940s America; the privileged childhoods of bin Laden and Zawahiri; family life in the al-Qaeda compounds of Sudan and Afghanistan; O'Neill's high-wire act in balancing his all-consuming career with his equally entangling personal life--he was living with three women, each of them unaware of the others' existence--and the nitty-gritty of turf battles among U.S. intelligence agencies.

Brilliantly conceived and written, The Looming Tower draws all elements of the story into a galvanizing narrative that adds immeasurably to our understanding of how we arrived at September 11, 2001. The richness of its new information, and the depth of its perceptions, can help us deal more wisely and effectively with the continuing terrorist threat.]]> 469 Lawrence Wright 037541486X Rupert 4 4.34 2006 The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
author: Lawrence Wright
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)]]> 43814 481 Anne Rice 0345476883 Rupert 1 4.10 1985 The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)
author: Anne Rice
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1985
rating: 1
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]]> <![CDATA[Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)]]> 1412138 I could smell her fear, and it satisfied something deep inside me that had been writhing under her cool, superior gaze. I curled my upper lip so she could get a good look at my sharp teeth. I might only weigh thirty or so pounds in my coyote shape, but I was a predator...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy's loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can't decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her...]]> 287 Patricia Briggs 0441015662 Rupert 5 4.34 2008 Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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]]> Fallen (Fallen, #1) 6487308
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce—and goes out of his way to make that very clear—she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret… even if it kills her.]]> 464 Lauren Kate 0385738935 Rupert 3 3.73 2009 Fallen (Fallen, #1)
author: Lauren Kate
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2009
rating: 3
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]]> Apollyon (Covenant, #4) 9897164
The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed” theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.

Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer… or she might become the God Killer herself.]]> 343 Jennifer L. Armentrout 1937053164 Rupert 1 4.30 2013 Apollyon (Covenant, #4)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2013
rating: 1
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]]> <![CDATA[Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea]]> 40604846 Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population.

Taking us into a landscape most of us have never before seen, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today—an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, in which radio and television dials are welded to the one government station, and where displays of affection are punished; a police state where informants are rewarded and where an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life.

Demick takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors. Through meticulous and sensitive reporting, we see her six subjects—average North Korean citizens—fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we experience the moments when they realize that their government has betrayed them.

Nothing to Envy is a groundbreaking addition to the literature of totalitarianism and an eye-opening look at a closed world that is of increasing global importance.]]> 338 Barbara Demick Rupert 4 4.47 2009 Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
author: Barbara Demick
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief]]> 16142053 the Looming Tower. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists--both famous and less well known--and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative skills to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology: its origins in the imagination of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard; its struggles to find acceptance as a legitimate (and legally acknowledged) religion; its vast, secret campaign to infiltrate the U.S. government; and its dramatic efforts to grow and prevail after the death of Hubbard.

At the book's center, two men whom Wright brings vividly to life, showing how they have made Scientology what it is today: The darkly brilliant L. Ron Hubbard--whose restless, expansive mind invented a new religion tailor-made to prosper in the spiritually troubled post-World War II era. And his successor, David Miscavige--tough and driven, with the unenviable task of preserving the church in the face of ongoing scandals and continual legal assaults.

We learn about Scientology's esoteric cosmology; about the auditing process that determines an inductee's state of being; about the Bridge to Total Freedom, through which members gain eternal life. We see the ways in which the church pursues celebrities, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and how young idealists who joined the Sea Org, the church's clergy, whose members often enter as children, signing up with a billion-year contract and working with little pay in poor conditions. We meet men and women "disconnected" from friends and family by the church's policy of shunning critical voices. And we discover, through many firsthand stories, the violence that has long permeated the inner sanctum of the church.

In Going Clear, Wright examines what fundamentally makes a religion a religion, and whether Scientology is, in fact, deserving of the constitutional protections achieved in its victory over the IRS. Employing all his exceptional journalistic skills of observations, understanding, and synthesis, and his ability to shape a story into a compelling narrative, Lawrence Wright has given us an evenhanded yet keenly incisive book that goes far beyond an immediate exposé and uncovers the very essence of what makes Scientology the institution it is.]]> 430 Lawrence Wright 0307700666 Rupert 4 4.02 2013 Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
author: Lawrence Wright
name: Rupert
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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]]> How We Decide 3860977
Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we “blink” and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind’s black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they’re discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason—and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it’s best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we’re picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.

Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge research as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of “deciders”—from airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players.

Lehrer shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?]]> 259 Jonah Lehrer 0618620117 Rupert 5 3.84 2009 How We Decide
author: Jonah Lehrer
name: Rupert
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]>