Zach's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 27 Jul 2023 00:39:52 -0700 60 Zach's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Voyage Out (The Virginia Woolf Library)]]> 148905 ]]> 375 Virginia Woolf 0156028050 Zach 0 to-read 3.77 1915 The Voyage Out (The Virginia Woolf Library)
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Zach
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1915
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/07/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Don Quixote de La Mancha, Vol. 1]]> 1382972 452 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 1406791725 Zach 0 to-read 3.96 1605 Don Quixote de La Mancha, Vol. 1
author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
name: Zach
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1605
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/06/21
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]]> Leaf Storm and Other Stories 31721 Leaf Storm: 'SUDDENLY, AS IF A WHIRLWIND HAD SET DOWN ROOTS IN THE CENTRE OF THE TOWN, THE BANANA COMPANY ARRIVED, PURSUED BY THE LEAF STORM'

As a blizzard of warehouses and amusement parlours and slums descends on the small town of Macondo, the inhabitants reel at the accompanying stench of rubbish that makes their home unrecognisable. When the banana company leaves town as fast as it arrived, all they are left with is a void of decay.

Living in this devastated and soulless wasteland is one last honourable man, the Colonel, who is determined to fulfil a long standing promise, no matter how unpalatable it may be. With the death of the detested Doctor, he must provide an honourable burial - and incur the wrath of the rest of Macondo, who would rather see the Doctor rot, forgotten and unattended.

Also contains the stories: The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, Blacaman the Good, Vendor of Miracles, The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship, Monologue of Isabel Watching It Rain in Macondo, Nabo]]> 146 Gabriel GarcĂ­a MĂĄrquez 006075155X Zach 0 to-read 3.82 1955 Leaf Storm and Other Stories
author: Gabriel GarcĂ­a MĂĄrquez
name: Zach
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/03/25
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]]> The Cheater's Guide to Love 44295320 Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.

You try every trick in the book to keep her. You write her letters. You drive her to work. You quote Neruda ... You try it all, but one day she will simply sit up in bed and say, No more.

In Yunior, a Dominican-American writer and Harvard professor, Junot D�az has created an irresistibly erratic protagonist, who sweeps you up in the poetic energy of his speech as he rehearses a broad repertoire of bad behaviour.

Originally the climactic tale in the chain-linked This is How You Lose Her, 'The Cheater's Guide to Love' is a superb standalone song of decadence and experience.

Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.]]> 56 Junot DĂ­az 0571355994 Zach 0 to-read 3.71 2012 The Cheater's Guide to Love
author: Junot DĂ­az
name: Zach
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/11/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> Saga #1 18867493 66 Brian K. Vaughan 1106927028 Zach 5 4.20 2012 Saga #1
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Zach
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/10/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Lumberjanes: Up All Night (Lumberjanes, #1)]]> 25088104 27 N.D. Stevenson 1613986866 Zach 4 4.03 2014 Lumberjanes: Up All Night (Lumberjanes, #1)
author: N.D. Stevenson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/07/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries]]> 12741441 The Problem with Work, Kathi Weeks boldly challenges the presupposition that work, or waged labor, is inherently a social and political good. While progressive political movements, including the Marxist and feminist movements, have fought for equal pay, better work conditions, and the recognition of unpaid work as a valued form of labor, even they have tended to accept work as a naturalized or inevitable activity. Weeks argues that in taking work as a given, we have “depoliticized” it, or removed it from the realm of political critique. Employment is now largely privatized, and work-based activism in the United States has atrophied. We have accepted waged work as the primary mechanism for income distribution, as an ethical obligation, and as a means of defining ourselves and others as social and political subjects. Taking up Marxist and feminist critiques, Weeks proposes a postwork society that would allow people to be productive and creative rather than relentlessly bound to the employment relation. Work, she contends, is a legitimate, even crucial, subject for political theory.]]> 287 Kathi Weeks 0822351129 Zach 0 currently-reading 4.16 2011 The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries
author: Kathi Weeks
name: Zach
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/21
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set (Mistborn, #1-3)]]> 6604209 New York Times bestselling series from Brandon Sanderson.

This boxed set contains:
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages ]]> 2176 Brandon Sanderson 076536543X Zach 0 currently-reading 4.60 2009 Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set (Mistborn, #1-3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/21
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

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

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

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

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Zach 5 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Zach
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 5
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date added: 2016/01/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, #1)]]> 823 Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.

It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe--London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds--risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.

And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.

A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.

And it's just the beginning...

(back cover)

This P.S. edition includes 16 pages of supplementary materials.

Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover illustration from the Mary Evans Picture Library; painting of Great Fire of London on stepback]]> 927 Neal Stephenson Zach 0 3.91 2003 Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, #1)
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Zach
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/21
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]]> The Martian Chronicles 76778
The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.

But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.

Contents:
Rocket Summer
Ylla
The Summer Night
The Earth Men
The Taxpayer
The Third Expedition
-And the Moon Be Still As Bright
The Settlers
The Green Morning
The Locusts
Night Meeting
The Shore
Interim
The Musicians
Way in the Middle of the Air
The Naming of Names
Usher II
The Old Ones
The Martian
The Luggage Store
The Off Season
The Watchers
The Silent Towns
The Long Years
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Million Year Picnic]]> 182 Ray Bradbury 0553278223 Zach 5 4.16 1950 The Martian Chronicles
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Zach
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at: 2016/01/21
date added: 2016/01/21
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]]> <![CDATA[A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)]]> 22055262
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

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

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

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.]]> 400 Victoria E. Schwab 0765376458 Zach 0 to-read 4.04 2015 A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Zach
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/11/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl (Gideon Smith, #1)]]> 16059435
London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast. Gideon Smith dreams of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, told in Gideon’s favorite “penny dreadful.” When Gideon’s father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work. Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him, Gideon sets off for London. On the way he rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities. Together they make for London, where Gideon finally meets Captain Trigger.

But Trigger is little more than an aging fraud, providing cover for the covert activities of his lover, Dr. John Reed, a privateer and sometime agent of the British Crown. Looking for heroes but finding only frauds and crooks, it falls to Gideon to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day...but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?

David Barnett's Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl is a fantastical steampunk fable set against an alternate historical backdrop: the ultimate Victoriana/steampunk mash-up!]]> 352 David Barnett 0765334240 Zach 0 to-read 3.66 2013 Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl (Gideon Smith, #1)
author: David Barnett
name: Zach
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/11/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1)]]> 24876258
Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.

Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.

And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake…]]> 630 Jim Butcher 0451466802 Zach 0 to-read 4.15 2015 The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Zach
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/11/17
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]]> Boy, Snow, Bird 18079683 Boy, Snow, Bird is a deeply moving novel about three women and the strange connection between them. It confirms Helen Oyeyemi’s place as one of the most original and dynamic literary voices of her generation.]]> 308 Helen Oyeyemi 1594631395 Zach 0 to-read 3.33 2013 Boy, Snow, Bird
author: Helen Oyeyemi
name: Zach
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/07/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> Crystal Rain (Xenowealth, #1) 185117
Like his world, John deBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twenty-seven years ago, he washed up onto the shore of Nanagada with no memory of his past. Although he has made a new life for himself among the peaceful islanders, his soul remains haunted by unanswered questions about his own identity.

These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the Wicked High Mountains in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel, inhuman gods. Nanagada's only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north. And only John deBrun knows the device's secrets, even if he can't remember why or how!

Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction's newest and most promising talents.]]> 352 Tobias S. Buckell 0765312271 Zach 0 to-read 3.58 2006 Crystal Rain (Xenowealth, #1)
author: Tobias S. Buckell
name: Zach
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/07/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> Foundation (Foundation, #1) 29579 The first novel in Isaac Asimov's classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.]]> 244 Isaac Asimov 0553803719 Zach 0 4.18 1951 Foundation (Foundation, #1)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Zach
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1951
rating: 0
read at: 2015/07/04
date added: 2015/07/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dinosaur Lords (The Dinosaur Lords, #1)]]> 19000898
Seeking to centralize real power in his figurehead Fanged Throne, Emperor Felipe of Nuevaropa sets off a chain of wars that may blaze up to consume the continent called the Tyrant's Head. But is Imperial ambition the only spark, or are more sinister forces at work?

And so we have as our players: Fallen hero Karyl Bogomirskiy, who gets lured into the quixotic task of raising an army from a province of pacifists. Part-time dinosaur master and minstrel and full-time rogue Rob Korrigan, who wants to get paid and laid--but he follows the man he's written and sung about into what looks like certain disaster. Princess Melodia, who is eager to escape the shadow of her indulgent but neglectful father, the Emperor. And Imperial Champion Jaume, Count of the Flowers, the Empire's most celebrated swordsman and poet, who wants to serve Beauty and the right. But what can he do when faced with two equally wrong and ugly choices?]]> 445 Victor MilĂĄn 0765332965 Zach 0 to-read 3.09 2015 The Dinosaur Lords (The Dinosaur Lords, #1)
author: Victor MilĂĄn
name: Zach
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/07/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Goldfinch 17333223
Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate.]]> 771 Donna Tartt 0316055433 Zach 3 slc, to-read 3.94 2013 The Goldfinch
author: Donna Tartt
name: Zach
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/07/01
shelves: slc, to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969]]> 1889040 422 William J. Mann 0670030171 Zach 0 to-read 4.06 2001 Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969
author: William J. Mann
name: Zach
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/06/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> Station Eleven 23995368 An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

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

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.]]> 336 Emily St. John Mandel 0804172447 Zach 0 to-read 4.14 2014 Station Eleven
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Zach
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/06/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Lilith's Brood (Xenogenesis, #1-3)]]> 15769892 754 Octavia E. Butler Zach 0 to-read 4.46 1987 Lilith's Brood (Xenogenesis, #1-3)
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Zach
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/06/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Powers (Annals of the Western Shore, #3)]]> 68020
In what becomes a treacherous journey for freedom, Gav's greatest test of all is facing his powers so that he can come to understand himself and finally find a true home.]]> 502 Ursula K. Le Guin 0152057706 Zach 0 to-read 4.01 2007 Powers (Annals of the Western Shore, #3)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Zach
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/06/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Voices (Annals of the Western Shore, #2)]]> 13647
And now times are changing. The Uplands poet Orrec Caspro and his wife Gry have arrived, and in his voice is a clarion call, awakening a conquered people.

The second book of the Annals of the Western Shore, Voices is a haunting and gripping coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of violence, intolerance and magic.]]> 341 Ursula K. Le Guin 0152056785 Zach 0 to-read 3.91 2006 Voices (Annals of the Western Shore, #2)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Zach
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/06/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore, #1)]]> 13648 286 Ursula K. Le Guin 0152051244 Zach 0 to-read 3.72 2004 Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore, #1)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Zach
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/06/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> Seveneves 22816087
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain . . .

Five thousand years later, their progeny—seven distinct races now three billion strong—embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown . . . to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth.

A writer of dazzling genius and imaginative vision, Neal Stephenson combines science, philosophy, technology, psychology, and literature in a magnificent work of speculative fiction that offers a portrait of a future that is both extraordinary and eerily recognizable. As he did in Anathem, Cryptonomicon, the Baroque Cycle, and Reamde, Stephenson explores some of our biggest ideas and perplexing challenges in a breathtaking saga that is daring, engrossing, and altogether brilliant.]]> 872 Neal Stephenson Zach 5 Would recommend to anyone familiar with Stephenson and even remotely interested in astrophysics or astronomy but not many else. ]]> 4.01 2015 Seveneves
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/05
date added: 2015/06/05
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Wonderful parts of fun and conceptual Stephenson with an insane amount of world building.
Would recommend to anyone familiar with Stephenson and even remotely interested in astrophysics or astronomy but not many else.
]]> <![CDATA[The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)]]> 61886
It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it will ultimately lead him to the place he fears most, the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies, who once placed him in chains, now occupy lofty positions. In addition to the traitorous intrigues of villains, Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle, are faced with a sinister curse that hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. Only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics, can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge—an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a tool of the miraculous, and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death.]]> 490 Lois McMaster Bujold 0007133618 Zach 0 fantasy-book-club, to-read 4.14 2001 The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)
author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Zach
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/30
shelves: fantasy-book-club, to-read
review:

]]> We 76171 The exhilarating dystopian novel that inspired George Orwell's 1984 and foreshadowed the worst excesses of Soviet Russia

Yevgeny Zamyatin's We is a powerfully inventive vision that has influenced writers from George Orwell to Ayn Rand. In a glass-enclosed city of absolute straight lines, ruled over by the all-powerful 'Benefactor', the citizens of the totalitarian society of OneState live out lives devoid of passion and creativity - until D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul. Set in the twenty-sixth century AD, We is the classic dystopian novel and was the forerunner of works such as George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It was suppressed for many years in Russia and remains a resounding cry for individual freedom, yet is also a powerful, exciting and vivid work of science fiction. Clarence Brown's brilliant translation is based on the corrected text of the novel, first published in Russia in 1988 after more than sixty years' suppression.]]> 256 Yevgeny Zamyatin 0140185852 Zach 0 to-read 3.91 1924 We
author: Yevgeny Zamyatin
name: Zach
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1924
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, #1)]]> 92121 175 Roger Zelazny 0380014300 Zach 0 to-read 4.07 1970 Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, #1)
author: Roger Zelazny
name: Zach
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1970
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> Anansi Boys 2744 God is dead. Meet the kids.

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider's on his doorstep -- about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting... and a lot more dangerous.]]> 387 Neil Gaiman 0060515198 Zach 0 to-read 4.03 2005 Anansi Boys
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Zach
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> Fablehaven (Fablehaven, #1) 44652 Trespassers will be turned to stone

For centuries, mystical creatures of all description were gathered to a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary is one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite . . .

Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken, powerful forces of evil are unleashed, forcing Kendra and Seth to face the greatest challenge of their lives, to save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world.]]> 351 Brandon Mull 1590385810 Zach 0 4.13 2006 Fablehaven (Fablehaven, #1)
author: Brandon Mull
name: Zach
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
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]]> <![CDATA[School's Out—Forever (Maximum Ride, #2)]]> 13139 409 James Patterson 0316155594 Zach 1 4.14 2006 School's Out—Forever (Maximum Ride, #2)
author: James Patterson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
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]]> Dracula 17245 You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here.

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

Criticism collects seven theoretical interpretations of Dracula by Phyllis A. Roth, Carol A. Senf, Franco Moretti, Christopher Craft, Bram Dijkstra, Stephen D. Arata, and Talia Schaffer.

A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are included.]]> 488 Bram Stoker 0393970124 Zach 5 4.02 1897 Dracula
author: Bram Stoker
name: Zach
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1897
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/05/21
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]]> Dune (Dune, #1) 234225 Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the "spice" melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.]]> 604 Frank Herbert 0340839937 Zach 0 to-read 4.21 1965 Dune (Dune, #1)
author: Frank Herbert
name: Zach
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Once and Future King 43545 639 T.H. White 0441627404 Zach 0 to-read 4.07 1958 The Once and Future King
author: T.H. White
name: Zach
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers, #1)]]> 34262 Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatchers is brimming with richly developed characters, from the scary but somehow familiar Black Stache and ferocious Mister Grin to the sweet but sophisticated Molly and fearless Peter. Page after page of riveting adventures take readers of all ages on a voyage from a filthy, crime-ridden port in old England across the turbulent sea. Aboard the Neverland is a trunk that hold the “greatest treasure on earth” —but is it gold, jewels, or something far more mysterious and dangerous?

Roiling waves and raging storms; skullduggery and pirate treachery provide the backdrop for battles at sea. Bone-crushing breakers eventually land our characters on Mollusk Island—where the action really heats up.

This impossible-to-put-down tale leads readers on an unforgettable journey—fraught with danger yet filled with mystical and magical moments.]]> 452 Dave Barry 078684907X Zach 3 4.05 2004 Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers, #1)
author: Dave Barry
name: Zach
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, #1)]]> 13152 445 James Patterson 0446617792 Zach 4 4.08 2005 The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, #1)
author: James Patterson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)]]> 18116
These thrilling adventures tell the story of Lyra and Will—two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They will meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them.

Phillip Pullman’s spellbinding His Dark Materials trilogy has captivated readers for over twenty years and won acclaim at every turn. It will have you questioning everything you know about your world and wondering what really lies just out of reach.]]> 1088 Philip Pullman 0440238609 Zach 0 to-read 4.26 2000 His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)
author: Philip Pullman
name: Zach
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)]]> 13642
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.]]> 183 Ursula K. Le Guin Zach 0 to-read 4.02 1968 A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Zach
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Initiate Brother (Initiate Brother, #1)]]> 364472
Sent to be military Governor of a northern border province long threatened by barbarian invaders, Lord Shonto knows he is being lured to his death. But Akantsu has underestimated his foe, for not only is Lord Shonto the greatest military genius of the age, but he has with him a Spiritual Adviser from the Botahist Order--a young man gifted with extraordinary martial skills and magical abilities, Initiate Brother Shuyun. And even Lord Shonto does not realize the true potential of this young monk. Only time will reveal that Shuyun's magical powers have not seen their equal in nearly a thousand years--not since the Perfect Master himself walked the paths of the Empire...]]> 480 Sean Russell 0886774667 Zach 0 to-read 4.01 1991 The Initiate Brother (Initiate Brother, #1)
author: Sean Russell
name: Zach
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Gods (American Gods, #1)]]> 4407
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...

This is the author's preferred text, never before published in the UK, and is about 12,000 words longer than the previous UK edition.

]]> 635 Neil Gaiman Zach 5 4.10 2001 American Gods (American Gods, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Zach
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2015/05/21
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Jhereg (Vlad Taltos, #1-3)]]> 590349 The Book of Jhereg follows the antics of the wise-cracking assassin Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion through their first three adventures: Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla. From his rookie assassin days to his selfless feats of heroism, the dauntless Vlad will hold readers spellbound and The Book of Jhereg will take its place among the classic compilations in fantasy.]]> 471 Steven Brust 0441006159 Zach 0 fantasy-book-club, to-read 4.19 1983 The Book of Jhereg (Vlad Taltos, #1-3)
author: Steven Brust
name: Zach
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves: fantasy-book-club, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)]]> 20518872 472 Liu Cixin Zach 0 to-read 4.07 2006 The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
author: Liu Cixin
name: Zach
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/29
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

Cover illustration by John Howe

]]> 460 Robin Hobb Zach 5 fantasy-book-club Pretty straight-forward story and characters do not too challenging, but still a good just plain old fun read.]]> 4.14 1995 Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)
author: Robin Hobb
name: Zach
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2015/04/20
date added: 2015/04/20
shelves: fantasy-book-club
review:
Very much enjoyed and will be picking up the second on the series.
Pretty straight-forward story and characters do not too challenging, but still a good just plain old fun read.
]]> Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) 13453029
The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

Alternate cover for B0071XO8RA]]> 509 Hugh Howey Zach 0 to-read 4.22 2012 Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Zach
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Watership Down (Watership Down, #1)]]> 76620 Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN13 9780380395866 here.

Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of friends, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.]]> 478 Richard Adams 038039586X Zach 5 4.08 1972 Watership Down (Watership Down, #1)
author: Richard Adams
name: Zach
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/03/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Vagina Monologues 104734 185 V (formerly Eve Ensler) 1860499260 Zach 0 to-read 3.88 1996 The Vagina Monologues
author: V (formerly Eve Ensler)
name: Zach
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)]]> 61903 253 Lois McMaster Bujold 0743468422 Zach 0 4.14 1986 Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)
author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Zach
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/11
shelves: fantasy-book-club, give-me-some-time, to-read
review:

]]> Drown 531989 Drown, Diaz has harnessed the rhythms of anger and release, frustration and joy, to indelible effect.]]> 208 Junot DĂ­az 1573226068 Zach 0 to-read 4.02 1995 Drown
author: Junot DĂ­az
name: Zach
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> This Is How You Lose Her 13503109
In prose that is endlessly energetic, inventive, tender, and funny, the stories in This Is How You Lose Her lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weakness of the human heart. They remind us that passion always triumphs over experience, and that “the half-life of love is forever.”]]> 217 Junot Díaz 1594487367 Zach 0 to-read 3.74 2010 This Is How You Lose Her
author: Junot DĂ­az
name: Zach
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao]]> 297673
Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.]]> 335 Junot DĂ­az 1594489580 Zach 0 to-read 3.89 2007 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
author: Junot DĂ­az
name: Zach
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Into the Forest 86236 Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.

Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America.]]> 243 Jean Hegland 0553379615 Zach 0 to-read 3.77 1996 Into the Forest
author: Jean Hegland
name: Zach
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2)]]> 1215032 There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

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

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

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

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

]]> 994 Patrick Rothfuss 0756404738 Zach 0 to-read 4.55 2011 The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Zach
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.5)]]> 21535271
Her name is Auri, and she is full of mysteries.

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

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


AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

You might not want to buy this book.

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

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

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

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

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

Well, then this book might be for you.

]]> 159 Patrick Rothfuss 0756410436 Zach 0 to-read 3.88 2014 The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.5)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Zach
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Runelords (Runelords, #1) 144127 613 David Farland 0812541626 Zach 0 to-read 3.77 1998 The Runelords (Runelords, #1)
author: David Farland
name: Zach
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)]]> 15839976 "I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.]]> 382 Pierce Brown 0345539788 Zach 0 to-read 4.26 2014 Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)
author: Pierce Brown
name: Zach
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All the Birds, Singing 18142324 Granta's Best Young British Novelists, a stunningly insightful, emotionally powerful new novel about an outsider haunted by an inescapable past: a story of loneliness and survival, guilt and loss, and the power of forgiveness.

Jake Whyte is living on her own in an old farmhouse on a craggy British island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. Her disobedient collie, Dog, and a flock of sheep are her sole companions, which is how she wanted it to be. But every few nights something—or someone—picks off one of the sheep and sets off a new deep pulse of terror. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumors of an obscure, formidable beast. But there is also Jake's past—hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, held in the silences about her family and the scars that stripe her back—a past that threatens to break into the present.

With exceptional artistry and empathy, All the Birds, Singing reveals an isolated life in all its struggles and stubborn hopes, unexpected beauty, and hard-won redemption.]]> 240 Evie Wyld 0307907767 Zach 0 to-read 3.64 2013 All the Birds, Singing
author: Evie Wyld
name: Zach
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography]]> 17994 Fermat’s Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy.

Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world’s most difficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkably far-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history and what drives it. It will also make you wonder how private that e-mail you just sent really is.]]> 432 Simon Singh 0385495323 Zach 0 to-read 4.29 1999 The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
author: Simon Singh
name: Zach
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress 16690 288 Robert A. Heinlein 0340837942 Zach 0 to-read 4.16 1966 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Zach
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World]]> 9449985 The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with nature’s most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.

At the end of the seventeenth century—an age of religious wars, plague, and the Great Fire of London—when most people saw the world as falling apart, these earliest scientists saw a world of perfect order. They declared that, chaotic as it looked, the universe was in fact as intricate and perfectly regulated as a clock. This was the tail end of Shakespeare’s century, when the natural land the supernatural still twined around each other. Disease was a punishment ordained by God, astronomy had not yet broken free from astrology, and the sky was filled with omens. It was a time when little was known and everything was new. These brilliant, ambitious, curious men believed in angels, alchemy, and the devil, and they also believed that the universe followed precise, mathematical laws—-a contradiction that tormented them and changed the course of history.

The Clockwork Universe is the fascinating and compelling story of the bewildered geniuses of the Royal Society, the men who made the modern world.]]> 378 Edward Dolnick 006171951X Zach 0 to-read 3.94 2011 The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
author: Edward Dolnick
name: Zach
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Day Watch (Watch, #2) 104160
Set in a modern-day Moscow, the epic saga chronicles the eternal war of the "Others," an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who must swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. The agents of Dark - The Day Watch - keep an eye during the day, while the agents of Light keep watch over the night. For a thousand years a treaty between the two sides has maintained an uneasy balance, but when a very potent artifact is stolen from the inquisition - an impartial group of Others who keep watch over all - the consequences are dire for both sides.

Day Watch introduces the perspective of the Dark Ones, as it is told in part by a beautiful but troubled young witch. When she falls in love with a handsome young Light One, the balance is threatened and a death must be avenged. Replete with the thrilling action and intricate plotting of the first tale, Day Watch is fuelled by cunning, cruelty, violence, and magic. It is a fast-paced, darkly humorous, haunting world that will take root in the shadows of your mind and live there forever.




(Description from the back cover of trade paperback edition)]]> 453 Sergei Lukyanenko 1401360203 Zach 0 4.08 2000 Day Watch (Watch, #2)
author: Sergei Lukyanenko
name: Zach
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/19
shelves: fantasy-book-club, give-me-some-time, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Tabloid (Underworld USA #1)]]> 36064
Where the CIA, the Mob, J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, Cuban political exiles, and various loose cannons conspire in a covert anarchy...

Where the right drugs, the right amount of cash, the right murder, buys a moment of a man's loyalty...

Where three renegade law-enforcement officers—a former L.A. cop and two FBI agents—are shaping events with the virulence of their greed and hatred, riding full-blast shotgun into history....

James Ellroy's trademark nothing-spared rendering of reality, blistering language, and relentless narrative pace are here in electrifying abundance, put to work in a novel as shocking and daring as anything he's written: a secret history that zeroes in on a time still shrouded in secrets and blows it wide open.

Chosen by Time magazine as one of the ten best books of the year.

"Hard-bitten ... ingenious ... Ellroy segues into political intrigue without missing a beat." —The New York Times

"Vastly entertaining." —Los Angeles Times

"One hellishly exciting ride." —Detroit Free Press

"A supremely controlled work of art." —The New York Times Book Review]]> 592 James Ellroy 037572737X Zach 0 to-read 4.21 1995 American Tabloid (Underworld USA #1)
author: James Ellroy
name: Zach
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dreamland (Dreamland, #1) 4331 375 Dale Brown 0007109660 Zach 0 to-read 3.91 2001 Dreamland (Dreamland, #1)
author: Dale Brown
name: Zach
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Flight of the Old Dog (Patrick McLanahan, #1)]]> 840163 Flight of the Old Dog is the runaway bestseller that launched the phenomenal career of Dale Brown. It is the riveting story of America's race for technology, overtaken by our greatest enemy's mastery of "Star Wars." The U.S. arsenal of nuclear missiles has been neutralized. America's only hope: The Old Dog Zero One, a battle-scarred bomber fully renovated with modern hardware - and equipped with the deadliest state-of-the-art armaments known to man...

When the Soviet Union masters "Star Wars" technology, rendering the U.S.'s arsenal of nuclear missiles impotent, America's only hope lies in The Old Dog Zero One--a battle-scarred bomber fully renovated with enough weaponry and stealth hardware to earn it the nickname, "Megafortress."

]]> 404 Dale Brown 042519518X Zach 0 to-read 4.12 1987 Flight of the Old Dog (Patrick McLanahan, #1)
author: Dale Brown
name: Zach
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer]]> 827 The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a science fiction coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence.]]> 499 Neal Stephenson 0553380966 Zach 0 fantasy-book-club 4.17 1995 The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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]]> Death Be Not Proud 486298 Death Be Not Proud chronicles Johnny Gunther's gallant struggle against the malignant brain tumor that killed him at the age of seventeen. The book opens with his father's fond, vivid portrait of his son - a young man of extraordinary intellectual promise, who excelled at physics, math, and chess, but was also an active, good-hearted, and fun-loving kid. But the heart of the book is a description of the agonized months during which Gunther and his former wife Frances try everything in their power to halt the spread of Johnny's cancer and to make him as happy and comfortable as possible. In the last months of his life, Johnny strove hard to complete his high school studies. The scene of his graduation ceremony from Deerfield Academy is one of the most powerful - and heartbreaking - in the entire book. Johnny maintained his courage, wit and quiet friendliness up to the end of his life. He died on June 30, 1947, less than a month after graduating from Deerfield.]]> 206 John Gunther 0060929898 Zach 0 to-read 3.86 1949 Death Be Not Proud
author: John Gunther
name: Zach
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1949
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/14
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]]> Flowers for Algernon 18373 Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.
Ěý
Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence – a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?]]> 311 Daniel Keyes 015603008X Zach 0 to-read 4.19 1966 Flowers for Algernon
author: Daniel Keyes
name: Zach
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1966
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/14
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]]> Angels in America 72003 304 Tony Kushner 1559362316 Zach 0 to-read 4.27 1995 Angels in America
author: Tony Kushner
name: Zach
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/12
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]]> The Transall Saga 121807 256 Gary Paulsen 0440219760 Zach 0 to-read 4.22 1998 The Transall Saga
author: Gary Paulsen
name: Zach
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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]]> The Nicomachean Ethics 19068 ‘One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy’

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in ‘activity of the soul in accordance with virtue’, for example with moral virtues, such as courage, generosity and justice, and intellectual virtues, such as knowledge, wisdom and insight. The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue, society and the State. Aristotle’s work has had a profound and lasting influence on all subsequent Western thought about ethical matters.

J. A. K. Thomson’s translation has been revised by Hugh Tredennick, and is accompanied by a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes. This edition also includes an updated list for further reading and a new chronology of Aristotle’s life and works.

Previously published as Ethics]]> 329 Aristotle 0140449493 Zach 0 to-read 4.00 -350 The Nicomachean Ethics
author: Aristotle
name: Zach
average rating: 4.00
book published: -350
rating: 0
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]]> Physics 366330 general structure of each section of the book, and shed light on particular problems. It simplifies and expands the style of the original, making for easier reading and better comprehension.]]> 382 Aristotle 0192823108 Zach 0 to-read 3.99 -340 Physics
author: Aristotle
name: Zach
average rating: 3.99
book published: -340
rating: 0
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]]> Metaphysics 208036 365 Aristotle 1888009039 Zach 0 to-read 4.08 -330 Metaphysics
author: Aristotle
name: Zach
average rating: 4.08
book published: -330
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, #1)]]> 29396 In this extraordinary fantasy epic, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files leads readers into a world where the fate of the realm rests on the shoulders of a boy with no power to call his own ...

For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bonds with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light the lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy - the Marat horde - returns to the Valley, Tavi's courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war ...

]]> 688 Jim Butcher 044101268X Zach 0 to-read 4.12 2004 Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, #1)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Zach
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> The God Delusion 14743
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament, to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion, and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.]]> 374 Richard Dawkins 0618680004 Zach 0 to-read 3.89 2006 The God Delusion
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Zach
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation]]> 6658572
Few books have been as controversial or as historically significant as Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life. Since the moment it was released on November 24, 1859, Darwin's masterwork has been heralded for changing the course of science and condemned for its implied challenges to religion.

In Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, author Michael Keller and illustrator Nicolle Rager Fuller introduce a new generation of readers to the original text. Including sections about his pioneering research, the book's initial public reception, his correspondence with other leading scientists, as well as the most recent breakthroughs in evolutionary theory, this riveting, beautifully rendered adaptation breathes new life into Darwin's seminal and still polarizing work.]]> 192 Michael Keller 1605299480 Zach 0 to-read 3.72 2009 Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation
author: Michael Keller
name: Zach
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2009
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]]> Ulysses 338798
According to Declan Kiberd, "Before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking". Ulysses chronicles the peripatetic appointments and encounters of Leopold Bloom in Dublin in the course of an ordinary day, 16 June 1904. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, and the novel establishes a series of parallels between the poem and the novel, with structural correspondences between the characters and experiences of Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, in addition to events and themes of the early 20th-century context of modernism, Dublin, and Ireland's relationship to Britain.

The novel is highly allusive and also imitates the styles of different periods of English literature. Since its publication, the book has attracted controversy and scrutiny, ranging from an obscenity trial in the United States in 1921 to protracted textual "Joyce Wars." The novel's stream-of-consciousness technique, careful structuring, and experimental prose—replete with puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterisation and broad humour have led it to be regarded as one of the greatest literary works in history; Joyce fans worldwide now celebrate 16 June as Bloomsday.']]> 783 James Joyce Zach 0 to-read 3.72 1922 Ulysses
author: James Joyce
name: Zach
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1922
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Death of the Gods (English and Russian Edition)]]> 71182 463 Dmitry Merezhkovsky 0833400215 Zach 0 to-read 4.35 1895 Death of the Gods (English and Russian Edition)
author: Dmitry Merezhkovsky
name: Zach
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1895
rating: 0
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]]> Metro 2033 (Metro, #1) 5558786 764 Dmitry Glukhovsky 3453532988 Zach 0 to-read 3.98 2002 Metro 2033 (Metro, #1)
author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
name: Zach
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language]]> 11555108

++++

The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition

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An essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language by John Wilkins ...
Alphabetical dictionary.
Wilkins, John, 1614-1672.
"An alphabetical dictionary, wherein all English words according to their various significations, are either referred to their places in the philosophical tables, or explained by such words as are in those tables" ([162] p. at end) has special t.p. and is entered separately in Wing as W2176 (entry cancelled in Wing 2nd ed.).
Folded table inserted between p. 442 and p. 443.
p. [19] at beginning.
p. [5]-[9] at end.
Marginal notes.
[19], 454, [162] p., [2] leaves of plates :
London : Printed for Sa. Gellibrand, and for John Martyn ..., 1668.
Arber's Term cat. / I 3 (Essay)
Wing / W2196
English
Reproduction of the original in the Harvard University Library


++++


This book represents an authentic reproduction of the text as printed by the original publisher. While we have attempted to accurately maintain the integrity of the original work, there are sometimes problems with the original work or the micro-film from which the books were digitized. This can result in errors in reproduction. Possible imperfections include missing and blurred pages, poor pictures, markings and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.]]> 654 John Wilkins 1240811144 Zach 0 to-read 3.38 1668 An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language
author: John Wilkins
name: Zach
average rating: 3.38
book published: 1668
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global Intelligence (Helix Books)]]> 191355 304 George Dyson 0738200301 Zach 0 to-read 3.89 1997 Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global Intelligence (Helix Books)
author: George Dyson
name: Zach
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Owlflight (Owl Mage Trilogy, #1)]]> 14009 342 Mercedes Lackey 0886778042 Zach 0 to-read 3.99 1997 Owlflight (Owl Mage Trilogy, #1)
author: Mercedes Lackey
name: Zach
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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]]> Euclid's Elements 214441 Elements. In keeping with Green Lion's design commitment, diagrams have been placed on every spread for convenient reference while working through the proofs; running heads on every page indicate both Euclid's book number and proposition numbers for that page; and adequate space for notes is allowed between propositions and around diagrams. The all-new index has built into it a glossary of Euclid's Greek terms.

Heath's translation has stood the test of time, and, as one done by a renowned scholar of ancient mathematics, it can be relied upon not to have inadvertantly introduced modern concepts or nomenclature.

We have excised the voluminous historical and scholarly commentary that swells the Dover edition to three volumes and impedes classroom use of the original text. The single volume is not only more convenient, but less expensive as well.]]> 529 Euclid 1888009195 Zach 0 to-read 4.31 -290 Euclid's Elements
author: Euclid
name: Zach
average rating: 4.31
book published: -290
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living]]> 17674991 Parks and Recreation actor and Making It co-host Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in this New York Times bestseller.

Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman--who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreation's Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworking--he runs his own woodshop--Paddle Your Own Canoe features tales from Offerman's childhood in small-town Minooka, Illinois--"I grew up literally in the middle of a cornfield"--to his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally. It also offers hard-bitten battle strategies in the arenas of manliness, love, style, religion, woodworking, and outdoor recreation, among many other savory entrees.

A mix of amusing anecdotes, opinionated lessons and rants, sprinkled with offbeat gaiety, Paddle Your Own Canoe will not only tickle readers pink but may also rouse them to put down their smart phones, study a few sycamore leaves, and maybe even hand craft (and paddle) their own canoes.]]> 340 Nick Offerman 052595421X Zach 0 to-read 3.70 2013 Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living
author: Nick Offerman
name: Zach
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers]]> 23604325
To millions of people, Nick Offerman is America. Both Nick and his character, Ron Swanson, are known for their humor and patriotism in equal measure.

After the great success of his autobiography,Ěý Paddle Your Own Canoe , Offerman now focuses on the lives of those who inspired him. From George Washington to Willie Nelson, he describes twenty-one heroic figures and why they inspire in him such great meaning. He combines both serious history with light-hearted humor—comparing, say, Benjamin Franklin’s abstinence from daytime drinking to his own sage refusal to join his construction crew in getting plastered on the way to work. The subject matter also allows Offerman to expound upon his favorite topics, which readers love to hear—areas such as religion, politics, woodworking and handcrafting, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat.]]> 400 Nick Offerman 0525954678 Zach 0 to-read 3.77 2015 Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers
author: Nick Offerman
name: Zach
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/08
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]]> The Man on the Ceiling 1537678
In 2000, American Fantasy Press published an unassuming chapbook titled The Man on the Ceiling. Inside was a dark, surreal, discomfiting story of the horrors that can befall a family. It was so powerful that it won the Bram Stoker Award, International Horror Guild Award, and World Fantasy Award--the only work ever to win all three. Now, Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem have re-imagined the story, expanding on the ideas to create a compelling work that examines how people find a family, how they hold a family together despite incomprehensible tragedy, and how, in the end, they find love.

Loosely autobiographical, The Man on the Ceiling has the feel of a family portrait painted by Salvador Dali, where story and reality blend to find the one thing that neither can offer alone: truth.]]> 366 Steve Rasnic Tem 0786948582 Zach 0 to-read 3.43 2008 The Man on the Ceiling
author: Steve Rasnic Tem
name: Zach
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/08
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]]> Anathem 2845024
Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates—at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros—a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose—as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world—as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.]]> 937 Neal Stephenson 0061474096 Zach 0 to-read 4.16 2008 Anathem
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Zach
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage]]> 19288239 A mesmerising mystery story about friendship from the internationally bestselling author of Norwegian Wood and 1Q84

Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. By chance all of their names contained a colour. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine’, and Oumi, ‘blue sea’, while the girls’ names were Shirane, ‘white root’, and Kurono, ‘black field’. Tazaki was the only last name with no colour in it.

One day Tsukuru Tazaki’s friends announced that they didn't want to see him, or talk to him, ever again.

Since that day Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.]]> 386 Haruki Murakami 0385352107 Zach 5 3.82 2013 Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Zach
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/04
date added: 2015/02/04
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]]> Night 1617 Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel's testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must simply never be allowed to happen again.]]> 120 Elie Wiesel 0374500010 Zach 0 to-read 4.38 1956 Night
author: Elie Wiesel
name: Zach
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1956
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/01
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]]> Little Tales of Misogyny 327560 Nowhere is Patricia Highsmith more edgy than in these mordantly hilarious sketches that make up Little Tales of Misogyny.

Here you'll meet seemingly familiar women with the power to destroy both themselves and the men around them. In these stories Highsmith is at her most scathing as she draws out the mystery and menace of her once ordinary subject.]]> 128 Patricia Highsmith 0393323374 Zach 0 to-read 3.61 1975 Little Tales of Misogyny
author: Patricia Highsmith
name: Zach
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1975
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/01/30
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]]> The Symposium 81779
In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato's mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love--as a response to beauty, a cosmic force, a motive for social action and as a means of ethical education.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 90 Plato 0140449272 Zach 0 to-read 4.11 -380 The Symposium
author: Plato
name: Zach
average rating: 4.11
book published: -380
rating: 0
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]]> Night Watch (Watch, #1) 359375
Set in contemporary Moscow, where shape shifters, vampires, and street-sorcerers linger in the shadows, Night Watch is the first book of the hyper-imaginative fantasy pentalogy from best-selling Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko.

This epic saga chronicles the eternal war of the “Others,” an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who must swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. The agents of the Dark – the Night Watch – oversee nocturnal activity, while the agents of the Light keep watch over the day. For a thousand years both sides have maintained a precarious balance of power, but an ancient prophecy has decreed that a supreme Other will one day emerge, threatening to tip the scales. Now, that day has arrived. When a mid-level Night Watch agent named Anton stumbles upon a cursed young woman – an uninitiated Other with magnificent potential – both sides prepare for a battle that could lay waste to the entire city, possible the world. With language that throbs like darkly humorous hard-rock lyrics about blood and power, freedom and responsibility, Night Watch is a chilling, cutting-edge thriller, a pulse-pounding ride of fusion fiction that will leave you breathless for the next instalment.]]> 455 Sergei Lukyanenko 1401359795 Zach 4 fantasy-book-club 4.00 1998 Night Watch (Watch, #1)
author: Sergei Lukyanenko
name: Zach
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2015/01/30
date added: 2015/01/30
shelves: fantasy-book-club
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]]> Collected Screenplays 28498 592 Andrei Tarkovsky 0571142664 Zach 0 to-read 4.54 1999 Collected Screenplays
author: Andrei Tarkovsky
name: Zach
average rating: 4.54
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/01/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)]]> 1128434 384 Andrzej Sapkowski 0575077832 Zach 0 to-read 4.19 1993 The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Zach
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/01/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1)]]> 10836728
So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.

Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.]]> 504 Daniel O'Malley 0316098795 Zach 0 to-read 4.09 2012 The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1)
author: Daniel O'Malley
name: Zach
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/01/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)]]> 101869 Bob Howard is a low-level techie working for a super-secret government agency. While his colleagues are out saving the world, Bob's under a desk restoring lost data. His world was dull and safe - but then he went and got Noticed.

Now, Bob is up to his neck in spycraft, parallel universes, dimension-hopping terrorists, monstrous elder gods and the end of the world. Only one thing is certain: it will take more than a full system reboot to sort this mess out ...]]> 345 Charles Stross 0441013651 Zach 0 to-read, fantasy-book-club 3.89 2004 The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)
author: Charles Stross
name: Zach
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/01/23
shelves: to-read, fantasy-book-club
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]]> The Books of Magic 17727 200 Neil Gaiman 1563890828 Zach 0 to-read 4.10 1993 The Books of Magic
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Zach
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/01/21
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]]> The Jungle 41681
When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. That expurgated commercial edition edited out much of the ethnic flavor of the original, as well as some of the goriest descriptions of the meat-packing industry and much of Sinclair's most pointed social and political commentary.

The text of this new edition is as it appeared in the original uncensored edition of 1905.
It contains the full 36 chapters as originally published, rather than the 31 of the expurgated edition.

A new foreword describes the discovery in the 1980s of the original edition and its subsequent suppression, and a new introduction places the novel in historical context by explaining the pattern of censorship in the shorter commercial edition.]]> 335 Upton Sinclair 1884365302 Zach 0 to-read 3.77 1906 The Jungle
author: Upton Sinclair
name: Zach
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1906
rating: 0
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]]> Orlando 18839 Orlando 'The longest and most charming love letter in literature', playfully constructs the figure of Orlando as the fictional embodiment of Woolf's close friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. Spanning three centuries, the novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost. At the midpoint of the novel, Orlando, now an ambassador in Constantinople, awakes to find that he is now a woman, and the novel indulges in farce and irony to consider the roles of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the novel ends in 1928, a year consonant with full suffrage for women. Orlando, now a wife and mother, stands poised at the brink of a future that holds new hope and promise for women.]]> 336 Virginia Woolf 0141184272 Zach 0 to-read 3.88 1928 Orlando
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Zach
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1928
rating: 0
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]]> The Waves 46114 The Waves introduces six characters—three men and three women—who are grappling with the death of a beloved friend, Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Virginia Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing them through their thoughts and interior soliloquies. As their understanding of nature’s trials grows, the chorus of narrative voices blends together in miraculous harmony, remarking not only on the inevitable death of individuals but on the eternal connection of everyone. The novel that most epitomizes Virginia Woolf’s theories of fiction in the working form, The Waves is an amazing book very much ahead of its time. It is a poetic dreamscape, visual, experimental, and thrilling.]]> 297 Virginia Woolf 0156949601 Zach 0 to-read 4.17 1931 The Waves
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Zach
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1931
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)]]> 12844699 With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic. . . .]]> 308 Jim C. Hines 0756407397 Zach 0 to-read 3.78 2012 Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)
author: Jim C. Hines
name: Zach
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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