Akshaya is the hybrid daughter of a human mother and an alloy, a genetically engineered posthuman—and she’s the future of life on the planet Meru. But not if the determined Akshaya can help it. Before choosing where her future lies, she wants to circumnavigate the most historic orb in the universe—the birthplace of Earth.
Akshaya’s parents reluctantly agree to her anthropological challenge—one with no assistance from alloy devices, transport, or wary alloys themselves who manage humanity and the regions of Earth called Loka. It’s just Akshaya; her equally bold best friend, Somya; and a carefully planned itinerary threading continent by continent across a wondrous terrain of things she’s never blue skies, sunrises, snowcapped mountains, and roiling oceans.
As the adventure unfolds, the travelers discover love and new friendships, but they also learn the risks of a planet that’s not entirely welcoming. On this trek—rapturous, dangerous, and life-changing—Akshaya will discover what human existence really means.]]>
author: S.B. Divya
name: Steven
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
A magnificent new novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro—author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day.
Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her.
Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?]]>
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Steven
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:
]]>
“Mesmerizing, world-expanding, and achingly beautiful.� –Ed Yong, author of An Immense World
“Rich, vital, and full of surprises. Read it!”Ěý–Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth ExtinctionĚý
“A brilliant must-read. This book shook and changed me.� –David George Haskell, author of Sounds Wild and Broken, The Songs of Trees, and The Forest Unseen
Award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the plant kingdom and reveals the astonishing capabilities of the green life all around us.
It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents.
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.
What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is.
We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.]]>
author: Zoë Schlanger
name: Steven
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?
Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.]]>
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Steven
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him as if he were their own. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can—visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees and living to deliver his adoptive family from threats—both human and those of nature—Simonopio’s purpose in Linares will, in time, be divined.
Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, The Murmur of Bees captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family that has put their love, faith, and future in the unbelievable.]]>
author: SofĂa Segovia
name: Steven
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.
But Ilse also has Janusz, her family’s young Polish laborer, by her side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around them. He tells her of a besieged kingdom in the Baltic Sea from which spill the amber tears of a heartbroken queen.
Neither of them realizes his stories will prove crucial and prophetic.
Not far away, trying and failing to flee from a vengeful army, Arno and his mother hide in the ruins of a Königsberg mansion, hoping that once the war ends they can reunite their dispersed family. But their stay in the walled city proves untenable when they find themselves dodging bombs and scavenging in the rubble. Soon they’ll become pawns caught between two powerful enemies, on a journey with an unknown destination.
Hope carries these children caught in the crosshairs of war on an extraordinary pilgrimage in which the gift of an amber teardrop is at once a valuable form of currency and a symbol of resilience, one that draws them together against insurmountable odds.]]>
author: SofĂa Segovia
name: Steven
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/04
date added: 2024/09/04
shelves:
review:
]]>
As an orphaned girl, Harmony survived a strange war waged by an enemy called the Quondam. They crushed every technological advancement in the world, eviscerated the landscape, and killed millions. It can still be stopped. As prophesied, Harmony has a destiny to fulfill.
Thirty years later, she is in a tenuous alliance with a cult of zealots who worship time itself. A master code breaker, she’s enlisted to obliterate the power of the Quondam and prevent a war that has already ended. The mission is a success. And with it, Harmony’s new moniker of Peacemaker is enshrined. But as Harmony is There’s something else out there.
She’s finding out what it is—alongside a close-knit group of allies and one fearless sergeant who rescued her so many years ago. The war with the past may be over, but as the Church of Time reveals its biggest mystery, the war with the future has just begun.]]>
author: Dwain Worrell
name: Steven
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves:
review:
]]>
Myrna, Leonie, and Chrissy meet every Thursday to sample fine cheeses, to reminisce about their former lives as professors, and lately, to muse about murder. Decades ago, a vicious cabal of male poets contrived—quite publicly and successfully—to undermine the writing career, confidence, and health of their dear friend Fern. Now, after Fern has taken a turn for the worse, her three old friends decide that it’s finally time to strike back—in secret, of course, since Fern is far too gentle to approve of a vendetta. All they need is a plan with suitably Shakespearean drama. But as sweet and satisfying as revenge can be, it’s not always so cut and dried.]]>
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Steven
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves:
review:
]]>
Pell is an engineer and digger by trade—unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before.
Heartwood and Moseus are keepers of a forbidding tower near the village of Emgarden. Inside are the remnants of complex machines the likes of which Pell has never seen. Considering her affinity for Ancient tech, the keepers know Pell is their only hope of putting the pieces of these metal puzzles together and getting them running. The tower’s other riddle is Heartwood himself. He is an enigma, distant yet protective, to whom Pell is inexplicably drawn.
Pell’s restoration of this broken behemoth soon brings disturbing visions—and the discovery that her relationship to it could finally reveal the origins of the towers� strange keepers and the unfathomable reason the truth has been hidden from her.]]>
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Steven
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
While trying to watch episode 44 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, Murderbot is—again, what is it with humans?—distracted by something that is technically outside its purview. A miner is suddenly in danger following a pointless (to Murderbot’s way of thinking) argument, and the choice is to risk discovery and leap into action, which would require hitting the pause button during a very exciting part of SanctuaryMoon, or to follow orders and stay still.
This is a tougher choice than it seems. But then, when has Murderbot ever been faced with an easy choice?
A shorter version of this story originally appeared in Wired magazine.]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
review:
]]>
Quando encontra dois belos volumes que parecem nunca ter sido publicados, a descoberta rapidamente se transforma em obsessĂŁo.
Cada um deles contém uma acusação marcante, e os seus autores, Hemi e Belle, recontam lados opostos de um romance trágico.
Determinada a descobrir a verdade por trás desta infeliz história de amor, Ashlyn embarca num mistério literário feito de traições aparentemente imperdoáveis. Quanto mais descobre sobre os dois
amantes, mais perto chega de encerrar finalmente a dramática histĂłria de amor â€� e os capĂtulos inacabados da sua prĂłpria vida.
Uma histĂłria dentro de outra histĂłria, e com um toque de realismo mágico, O eco dos livros antigos Ă© um romance inesquecĂvel e perfeito para todos os apaixonados pelos livros.]]>
author: Barbara Davis
name: Steven
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:
]]>
It’s 1936. The seaside-resort village of Split on the Adriatic coast bustles. The tourist spots are booming, passenger steamers dot the harbor, and Jewish émigrés have found tenuous refuge from persecution. But as war in Europe looms, Split is also a nest of spies, fascists, and smugglers—and now, a locale suspiciously scouted by a German Reich film crew. Then one summer morning it becomes the scene of a murder investigation when a corpse is found entangled in fishing nets in the port.
With so many suspects from all walks of life and with a myriad of motives at a time when tensions are boiling over, crime superintendent Mario Bulat has only rumors to follow. Political archrivals will take advantage of the crime. Local lovers will become embroiled in it. And a propagandist filmmaker will find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. War is coming, and for some in Split, it’s already here.]]>
author: Alida Bremer
name: Steven
average rating: 2.63
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/04
shelves:
review:
]]>
Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.
Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.
Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.
But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!
Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/29
date added: 2024/03/29
shelves:
review:
]]>
When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people-who knew?)
Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!
Again!
A standalone adventure in the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling, Hugo and Nebula Award- winning series! ]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/29
date added: 2024/02/29
shelves:
review:
]]>
At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.
For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. Then, at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?
Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland is a novel of startling originality about the fragility and resilience of life on our Earth and in our universe. It is a remarkable evocation of the feeling of being in exile at home, and it introduces a gentle, unforgettable alien for our times.]]>
author: Marie-Helene Bertino
name: Steven
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
review:
]]>
It worries about the fragile human crew who've grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.
It tells itself that they're only a professional obligation, but when they're captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
Drastic action it is, then.]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/11
date added: 2024/01/11
shelves:
review:
]]>
"Salt and broom, make this room
Safe and tight, against the night."
Trunks packed with potions and cures, Jane Aire sets out on a crisp, clear morning in October to face the greatest challenge of her sheltered girls�-school existence. A shadow lies over Thornfield Hall and its reclusive master, Edward Rochester. And he’s hired her only as a last resort. Jane stumbles again and again as she tries to establish a rapport with her prickly new employer, but he becomes the least of her worries as a mysterious force seems to work against her. The threats mount around both Jane and Rochester—who’s becoming more intriguing and appealing to her by the day. Jane begins to fear her herb healing and protective charms may not be enough to save the man she’s growing to love from a threat darker and more dangerous than either of them imagined.]]>
author: Sharon Lynn Fisher
name: Steven
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/21
date added: 2023/12/21
shelves:
review:
]]>
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
And what will become of it when it’s caught?]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/06
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:
]]>
Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.
And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/12
date added: 2023/11/12
shelves:
review:
]]>
For all of human history, the deep ocean has been a source of wonder and terror, an unknown realm that evoked a singular, compelling question: What’s down there? Unable to answer this for centuries, people believed the deep was a sinister realm of fiendish creatures and deadly peril. But now, cutting-edge technologies allow scientists and explorers to dive miles beneath the surface, and we are beginning to understand this strange and exotic underworld: A place of soaring mountains, smoldering volcanoes, and valleys 7,000 feet deeper than Everest is high, where tectonic plates collide and separate, and extraordinary life forms operate under different rules. Far from a dark void, the deep is a vibrant realm that’s home to pink gelatinous predators and shimmering creatures a hundred feet long and ancient animals with glass skeletons and sharks that live for half a millennium—among countless other marvels.
Susan Casey is our premiere chronicler of the aquatic world. For The Underworld she traversed the globe, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet, interviewing the marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers who are searching for knowledge in this vast unseen realm. She takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the myths and legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom, to the first intrepid bathysphere pilots, to the scientists who are just beginning to understand the mind-blowing complexity and ecological importance of the quadrillions of creatures who live in realms long thought to be devoid of life.
Throughout this journey, she learned how vital the deep is to the future of the planet, and how urgent it is that we understand it in a time of increasing threats from climate change, industrial fishing, pollution, and the mining companies that are also exploring its depths. The Underworld is Susan Casey’s most beautiful and thrilling book yet, a gorgeous evocation of the natural world and a powerful call to arms.]]>
author: Susan Casey
name: Steven
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
author: Eugenia Cheng
name: Steven
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.
What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/07
date added: 2023/09/07
shelves:
review:
]]>
In one terrifying event called the Ninety-Nine, all major military installations on earth were eviscerated. But by whom? Foreign powers, AIs, ETs? Every conceivable adversary was ruled out. Reeling from massive casualties and amid hundreds of conspiracy theories, humanity creates Andrones: bipedal android drones piloted remotely by soldiers who will never again need to be on the field of battle. Newly minted Androne pilot Sergeant Paxton Arés has now been deployed into a fight against an enemy no one understands or has ever seen.
Passing mostly uneventful days patrolling an unidentified desert, Paxton spends time communicating with his pregnant girlfriend back home and reflecting on his impending fatherhood. But as he is drawn deeper into military camaraderie and begins quickly rising up the ranks on the strength of his father’s military legacy, Paxton starts to question the swirling rumors about the nature of the conflict. What he’s encountered in the shifting dunes—something inexplicable, indomitable—fills him with the fear that whatever is out there is destined to win.
Whether it’s curiosity, ambition, or a newfound paternal instinct, Paxton has a driving need to understand the dangerous truths of this strange, invisible war. And the choices he must make have the power to change everything.]]>
author: Dwain Worrell
name: Steven
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/29
date added: 2023/08/29
shelves:
review:
]]>
“After this ordeal to which mankind has been submitted, mankind itself . . . comes to this Court and â€These are our laws—let them prevail!’â€�
Ěý
Years later, the Latvian prosecutor general began investigating the possibility of redeeming Cukurs for his past actions. Researching the case, Linda Kinstler discovered that her grandfather, Boris, had served in Cukurs’s killing unit and was rumored to be a double agent for the KGB. The proceedings, which might have resulted in Cukurs’s pardon, threw into question supposed “facts� about the Holocaust at the precise moment its last living survivors—the last legal witnesses—were dying.
Ěý
Rich with scholarly detective work and personal reflection,ĚýCome to This Court and CryĚýis a fearlessly brave examination of how history can become distorted over time, how easily the innocent are forgotten, and how carelessly the guilty are sometimes reprieved.]]>
author: Linda Kinstler
name: Steven
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/04
date added: 2023/08/04
shelves:
review:
]]>
A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature,
ĚýĚý ·the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs,
ĚýĚý ·the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams,
ĚýĚý ·the bizarre, predatory Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena),
ĚýĚý ·the common goldfish that flourishes in the wild,
ĚýĚý ·and more.
Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, and care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms and colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals and heat throbbing from the core of the Earth. Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, and weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, and coming of age,ĚýHow Far the Light ReachesĚýis a shimmering, otherworldly debut that attunes us to new visions of our world and its miracles. Ěý
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE in SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award One of °Ő±ő˛Ń·ˇâ€™s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year •Ě� AĚýPEOPLEĚýBest New BookĚý •Ě� A Barnes & Noble and SHELF AWARENESS Best Book of 2022 Ěýâ€� ĚýAn Indie Next Pick Ěýâ€� ĚýOne of Winter’s Most Eagerly Anticipated VANITY FAIR, VULTURE, BOOKRIOT]]>
author: Sabrina Imbler
name: Steven
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
author: S.B. Divya
name: Steven
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/18
date added: 2023/06/18
shelves:
review:
]]>
Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands.Ěý But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him.
ĚýĚýĚýWithin the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.]]>
author: Mitchell James Kaplan
name: Steven
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied â€droid â€� a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.â€� Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.]]>
author: Martha Wells
name: Steven
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/26
date added: 2023/05/26
shelves:
review:
]]>
Adamantine “Ada� Garland has an empathic connection to food and wine, a magical perception of aromas, flavors, and ingredients. Invaluable property of the royal court, Ada was in service to the Five Gods and to the Gods-ordained rulers of Verdania—until she had enough of injustice and bloodshed and deserted, seeking to chart her own destiny. When mysterious assassins ferret her out after sixteen years in hiding, Ada, now a rogue Chef, and her beloved Grand-mère run for their lives, only to find themselves on a path toward an unexpected ally.
A foreign princess in a strange court, Solenn unknowingly shares more with Ada than an epicurean gift. They share blood. With her newfound magical perception, she becomes aware of a plot to kill her fiancé, the prince. It’s part of a ploy by adversarial forces in the rival country of Albion to sow conflict, and Solenn is set up to take the blame.
As Ada’s and Solenn’s paths converge, a mother and her long-lost daughter reunite toward a common goal, and against a shadowy enemy from Ada’s past who is out for revenge. But what sacrifices must be made? What hope is there when powerful Gods pick sides in a war simmering to eruption?]]>
author: Beth Cato
name: Steven
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/22
date added: 2023/05/22
shelves:
review:
]]>
1913. Eighty-three-year-old Silvestre Swan has dedicated his life to the care of his Newfoundland lighthouse. His petition to relocate Swan Light from its precarious cliff’s edge is going unheard by town patriarch Cort Roland—that is, until a terrible storm brings an unlikely ally into Swan’s life. But is it too late for the stone lighthouse?
2014. Marine archaeologist Mari Adams's attempts to fund her search for the notorious SS Californian are realized when she accepts a job to find the remains of Swan Light, rumored to have collapsed into the sea one hundred years ago. She teams up with salvager Julian Henry, and the pair unearth more than they bargained for in their search for the ruins. But when a group of treasure hunters threatens their mission, their hunt for the truth turns dangerous.
As past and present collide, the secrets hiding on the ocean floor begin to surface. Can Mari find the answers she is looking for—and at what price?]]>
author: Phoebe Rowe
name: Steven
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/09
date added: 2023/05/09
shelves:
review:
]]>
For five centuries, human life has been restricted to Earth, while posthuman descendants called alloys freely explore the galaxy. But when the Earthlike planet of Meru is discovered, two unlikely companions venture forth to test the habitability of this unoccupied new world and the future of human-alloy relations.
For Jayanthi, the adopted human child of alloy parents, it’s an opportunity to rectify the ancient reputation of her species as avaricious and destructive, and to give humanity a new place in the universe. For Vaha, Jayanthi’s alloy pilot, it’s a daunting yet irresistible adventure to find success as an individual.
As the journey challenges their resolve in unexpected ways, the two form a bond that only deepens with their time alone on Meru. But how can Jayanthi succeed at freeing humanity from its past when she and Vaha have been set up to fail?
Against all odds, hope is human, too.]]>
author: S.B. Divya
name: Steven
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/01
date added: 2023/05/01
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Daniel Suarez
name: Steven
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/02
date added: 2023/04/02
shelves:
review:
]]>
Shanghai, 1936. The Cathay Hotel, located on the city’s famous waterfront, is one of the most glamorous in the world. Built by Victor Sassoon–billionaire playboy and scion of the Sassoon dynasty–the hotel hosts a who’s who of global Noel Coward has written a draft of Private Lives in his suite and Charlie Chaplin has entertained his wife-to-be. And a few miles away, Mao and the nascent Communist Party have been plotting revolution.
By the 1930s, the Sassoons had been doing business in China for a century, rivaled in wealth and influence by only one other dynasty–the Kadoories. These two Jewish families, both originally from Baghdad, stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than 175 years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; courting Chiang Kai-shek; and losing nearly everything as the Communists swept into power. In The Last Kings of Shanghai, Jonathan Kaufman tells the remarkable history of how these families participated in an economic boom that opened China to the world, but remained blind to the country’s deep inequality and to the political turmoil at their doorsteps. In a story stretching from Baghdad to Hong Kong to Shanghai to London, Kaufman enters the lives and minds of these ambitious men and women to forge a tale of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue, and survival.
The book lays bare the moral compromises of the Kadoories and the Sassoons–and their exceptional foresight, success, and generosity. At the height of World War II, they joined together to rescue and protect eighteen thousand Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism. Though their stay in China started out as a business opportunity, the country became a home they were reluctant to leave, even on the eve of revolution. The lavish buildings they built and the booming businesses they nurtured continue to define Shanghai and Hong Kong to this day. As the United States confronts China’s rise, and China grapples with the pressures of breakneck modernization and global power, the long-hidden odysseys of the Sassoons and the Kadoories hold a key to understanding the present moment.]]>
author: Jonathan Kaufman
name: Steven
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/01
date added: 2023/03/01
shelves:
review:
]]>
From the author of The Last Rose of Shanghai comes a profoundly moving novel based on the true story of a diplomat and his wife who risked their lives to help Viennese Jews escape the Nazis.
1938. Dr. Ho Fengshan, consul general of China, is posted in Vienna with his American wife, Grace. Shy and ill at ease with the societal obligations of diplomats� wives, Grace is an outsider in a city beginning to feel the sweep of the Nazi dragnet. When Grace forms a friendship with her Jewish tutor, Lola Schnitzler, Dr. Ho requests that Grace keep her distance. His instructions are to maintain amicable relations with the Third Reich, and he and Grace are already under their vigilant eye.
But when Lola’s family is subjugated to a brutal pogrom, Dr. Ho decides to issue them visas to Shanghai. As violence against the Jews escalates after Kristallnacht, and threats mount, Dr. Ho must issue thousands more to help Jews escape Vienna before World War II explodes.
Based on a remarkable true story, Night Angels explores the risks brave souls took and the love and friendship they built and lost while fighting against incalculable evil.]]>
author: Weina Dai Randel
name: Steven
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/10
date added: 2023/02/10
shelves:
review:
]]>
After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead.Ěý
Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.Ěý
Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?Ěý
]]>
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Steven
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/24
date added: 2023/01/24
shelves:
review:
]]>
The war is over.
The war has just begun.
Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has just ended, shaman and warrior Rin cannot forget the atrocity she committed to save her people. Now she is on the run from her guilt, the opium addiction that holds her like a vice, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix—the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with her fearsome power.
Though she does not want to live, she refuses to die until she avenges the traitorous Empress who betrayed Rin’s homeland to its enemies. Her only hope is to join forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who plots to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new republic.
But neither the Empress nor the Dragon Warlord are what they seem. The more Rin witnesses, the more she fears her love for Nikan will force her to use the Phoenix’s deadly power once more.
Because there is nothing Rin won’t sacrifice to save her country . . . and exact her vengeance.
]]>
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Steven
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/30
date added: 2022/12/30
shelves:
review:
]]>
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.]]>
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Steven
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/08
date added: 2022/12/08
shelves:
review:
]]>
It's March 2020 and a calamity is unfolding. A group of friends and friends-of-friends gathers in a country house to wait out the pandemic. Over the next six months new friendships and romances will take hold, while old betrayals will emerge, forcing each character to reevaulate whom they love and what matters most. The unlikely cast of characters include: a Russian-born novelist; his Russian-born psychiatrist wife; their precocious child obsessed with K-pop; a struggling Indian American writer; a wildly successful Korean American app developer; a global dandy with three passports; a young flame-thrower of an essayist, originally from the Carolinas; and a movie star, The Actor, whose arrival upsets the equilibrium of this chosen family.
In a remarkable literary feat, Gary Shteyngart has documented through fiction the emotional toll of our recent times: a story of love and friendship that reads like a great Russian novel set in upstate New York. Both elegiac and very, very funny, Our Country Friends is the most ambitious book yet by the author of the beloved bestseller, Super Sad True Love Story.]]>
author: Gary Shteyngart
name: Steven
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/29
date added: 2022/11/29
shelves:
review:
]]>
Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.
Source: penguinrandomhouse.com]]>
author: Bryan Stevenson
name: Steven
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/26
date added: 2022/10/26
shelves:
review:
]]>
Three brilliant women.
Two life-changing mistakes.
One chance to reset the future.
In 1986, renowned nuclear scientist, Anna Berkova, is sleeping in her bed in the Soviet Union when Chernobyl’s reactor melts down. It’s the exact moment she tears through time—and it’s an accident. When she opens her eyes, she’s landed in 1992 only to discover Molly, her estranged daughter, shot in the chest. Molly, with her dying breath, begs Anna to go back in time and stop the disaster, to save Molly’s daughter Raisa, and put their family’s future on a better path.
In â€�60s Philadelphia, Molly is coming of age as an adopted refusenik. Her family is full of secrets and a past they won’t share. She finds solace in comic books, drawing her own series,ĚýAtomic Anna, and she’s determined to make it as an artist. When she meets the volatile, charismatic Viktor, their romance sets her life on a very different course.
In the â€�80s, Raisa, is a lonely teen and math prodigy, until a quiet, handsome boy moves in across the street and an odd old woman shows up claiming to be her biological grandmother. As Raisa finds new issues ofĚýAtomic Anna in unexpected places, she notices each comic challenges her to solve equations leading to one impossible conclusion: time travel. And she finally understands what she has to do.
As these remarkable women work together to prevent the greatest nuclear disaster of the 20th century, they grapple with the power their discoveries hold. Just because you can change the past, does it mean you should?]]>
author: Rachel Barenbaum
name: Steven
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/01
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves:
review:
]]>
Journalist Matti Friedman’s true-life detective story traces how this precious manuscript was smuggled from its hiding place in Syria into the newly founded state of Israel and how and why many of its most sacred and valuable pages went missing. It’s a tale that involves grizzled secret agents, pious clergymen, shrewd antiquities collectors, and highly placed national figures who, as it turns out, would do anything to get their hands on an ancient, decaying book. What it reveals are uncomfortable truths about greed, state cover-ups, and the fascinating role of historical treasures in creating a national identity. ]]>
author: Matti Friedman
name: Steven
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2022/07/26
date added: 2022/07/31
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Irene Ziegler
name: Steven
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Here is a gorgeous, slow-burning story set in the rural “badlands� of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. For the farming Pye family, life is a Greek tragedy where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and terrible events occur—offstage.
Centerstage are the Morrisons, whose tragedy looks more immediate if less brutal, but is, in reality, insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt’s protegee, her fascination for pond life fed by his passionate interest in the natural world. Now a zoologist, she can identify organisms under a microscope but seems blind to the state of her own emotional life. And she thinks she’s outgrown her siblings—Luke, Matt, and Bo—who were once her entire world.
In this universal drama of family love and misunderstandings, of resentments harbored and driven underground, Lawson ratchets up the tension with heartbreaking humor and consummate control, continually overturning one’s expectations right to the very end. Tragic, funny, unforgettable, this deceptively simple masterpiece about the perils of hero worship leapt to the top of the bestseller lists only days after being released in Canada and earned glowing reviews in The New York Times and The Globe and Mail, to name a few.]]>
author: Mary Lawson
name: Steven
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Thus the stage is set for a spellbinding tale of mystery and menace, greed and ambition, harsh lust and tender love, that lays bare the darkest depths of the human heart and the nightmarish underside of the American dream. E. L. Doctorow has written a novel aglow with poetry and passion, lit by the burning fire of humanity and history, terror and truth.]]>
author: E.L. Doctorow
name: Steven
average rating: 3.49
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Still reeling from a broken engagement, Ben has committed himself to relive that momentous summer for the next twenty-four hours.
Every summer as a boy, Ben has gawked at the pretty redhead Amelia, granddaughter to the richest man on the lake, Doc Burns—owner of a Cessna floatplane and the Whispering Narrows estate. During the summer of �69, Ben not only sneaks around with Amelia, but he learns how to fly with Doc, and meets an eclectic cast of characters that will change him forever. The best summer of Ben’s life turns out to be the worst as the Burns� family dysfunction collides with his own family’s skeletons.]]>
author: J.B. Chicoine
name: Steven
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
At its center is Lily Blake, a talented singer who shuns the limelight and cherishes her privacy. Tricked by a devious reporter into unwittingly giving an interview about her friendship with a distinguished churchman -- a newly appointed Cardinal -- she finds herself accused of having had an affair with him.
Shocked and dismayed, Lily becomes a pariah and suffers the brutal, ultimate violation of her privacy as headlines all across the country proclaim her guilt. Hounded by the press, fired from her job, deprived of all public freedom, Lily has no choice but to flee. She returns in secret to her hometown of Lake Henry, in a remote, beautiful part of New Hampshire.
But, idyllic as it may look, Lake Henry, too, has its secrets. Some were the cause of her leaving home in the first place, so returning to her birthplace and her family is not without its own stress and pain.
Driven by the need to exact justice -- and, for herself, some kind of closure -- from the media that changed her life forever, Lily forms an uneasy alliance with John Kipling, a journalist who was born and raised in Lake Henry's poorest neighborhood. His successful career as a big-city reporter has ended disastrously, and John has come back home to edit the local newspaper, Lake News. At first he sees Lily as a victim, as well as a subject for the book he hopes to write. But soon she becomes someone whose appeal -- and cause -- he cannot deny, even at the risk of taking on his former colleagues in her defense.
Set against the physical beauty of New Hampshire and against the complex web of family life and relationships in a small town, Lake News moves triumphantly toward a surprising and deeply satisfying conclusion.
Barbara Delinsky's bestselling Three Wishes was praised by Publishers Weekly for its "spare, controlled, and poignant prose that evokes the simplicity and joys of small-town life." Those same qualities are abundant in Lake News, which offers an intimate look at the complex relationship between an enigmatic man and a vulnerable, besieged woman, both struggling to find a new sense of community in a strange place they once called home.]]>
author: Barbara Delinsky
name: Steven
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
The universe began as an enormous breath being held.
From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Others—the basis for the Academy Award–nominated film Arrival—comes a ground-breaking new collection of short fiction: nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories. These are the tales that tackle some of humanity's oldest questions along with new quandaries only Ted Chiang could imagine.
In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom," the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.
Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic—revelatory.]]>
author: Ted Chiang
name: Steven
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/01/30
date added: 2020/02/02
shelves:
review:
]]>
Imagine a cold, dark world where all humans must hibernate through the winter, their bodies dangerously close to death as they enter an ultra-low metabolic state of dreamless sleep where their pulse drops close to zero and nerve synapses in the brain fire only enough to prevent irreversible brain damage--all humans, that is, apart from the winter consuls, a group of officers who diligently watch over the vulnerable sleeping citizens.
When junior consul Charlie Worthing is stranded in the forgotten outpost of Sector Twelve, the new recruit hears of a conspiracy--a viral dream spreading among those in the hibernational state that causes paranoia, hallucination, and psychotic episodes that can end in murder. Worthing enters the sleepstate and experiences the dream in all its vivid glory, only to realize on waking that all the people who had known about it before have disappeared. More disturbing, Worthing can recall parts of the viral dream, which shouldn't be possible. When the dream starts to merge with reality, Charlie begins to question just what's real...and what isn't. Bestselling author Jasper Fforde delivers a gripping, brilliantly imagined existential thriller in Early Riser, sure to delight his fans.]]>
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Steven
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2019/10/30
date added: 2019/10/30
shelves:
review:
]]>
In Russia, in the summer of 1914, as war with Germany looms and the Czar's army tightens its grip on the local Jewish community, Miri Abramov and her brilliant physicist brother, Vanya, are facing an impossible decision. Since their parents drowned fleeing to America, Miri and Vanya have been raised by their babushka, a famous matchmaker who has taught them to protect themselves at all costs: to fight, to kill if necessary, and always to have an escape plan. But now, with fierce, headstrong Miri on the verge of becoming one of Russia's only female surgeons, and Vanya hoping to solve the final puzzles of Einstein's elusive theory of relativity, can they bear to leave the homeland that has given them so much? Before they have time to make their choice, war is declared and Vanya goes missing, along with Miri's fiancé. Miri braves the firing squad to go looking for them both. As the eclipse that will change history darkens skies across Russia, not only the safety of Miri's own family but the future of science itself hangs in the balance. Grounded in real history --and inspired by the solar eclipse of 1914 --A Bend in the Stars offers a heartstopping account of modern science's greatest race amidst the chaos of World War I, and a love story as epic as the railways crossing Russia.
]]>
author: Rachel Barenbaum
name: Steven
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2019/08/23
date added: 2019/08/23
shelves:
review:
]]>
From the author of the award-winning international best seller Half-Blood Blues comes a dazzling new novel, about a boy who rises from the ashes of slavery to become a free man of the world.
Washington Black is an eleven-year-old field slave who knows no other life than the Barbados sugar plantation where he was born. When his master's eccentric brother chooses him to be his manservant, Wash is terrified of the cruelties he is certain await him. But Christopher Wilde, or "Titch," is a naturalist, explorer, scientist, inventor, and abolitionist. He initiates Wash into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky; where two people, separated by an impossible divide, might begin to see each other as human; and where a boy born in chains can embrace a life of dignity and meaning. But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash's head, Titch abandons everything to save him. What follows is their flight along the eastern coast of America, and, finally, to a remote outpost in the Arctic, where Wash, left on his own, must invent another new life, one that will propel him further across the globe. From the sultry cane fields of the Caribbean to the frozen Far North, Washington Black tells a story of friendship and betrayal, love and redemption, of a world destroyed and made whole again--and asks the question, What is true freedom?]]>
author: Esi Edugyan
name: Steven
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/07/30
date added: 2019/07/30
shelves:
review:
]]>
Isolated and pushed beyond their breaking points, Tighe and his fellow twenty-first century adventurers–ex-soldiers, former astronauts, BASE jumpers, and mountain climbers–must rely on each other to survive not only the dangers of a multi-year expedition but the harsh realities of business in space. They’re determined to transform humanity from an Earth-bound species to a space-faring one–or die trying.]]>
author: Daniel Suarez
name: Steven
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/05/18
date added: 2019/05/18
shelves:
review:
]]>
Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.
]]>
author: Peter Wohlleben
name: Steven
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Richard Elliott Friedman
name: Steven
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2018/08/13
date added: 2018/08/13
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Maggie Anton
name: Steven
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/16
date added: 2018/05/16
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Maggie Anton
name: Steven
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/14
date added: 2018/03/14
shelves:
review:
]]>
In 1068, the scholar Salomon ben Isaac returns home to Troyes, France, to take over the family winemaking business and embark on a path that will indelibly influence the Jewish world, writing the first Talmud commentary, and secretly teaching Talmud to his daughters.
Joheved, the eldest of his three girls, finds her mind and spirit awakened by religious study, but, knowing the risk, she must keep her passion for learning and prayer hidden. When she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, she is forced to choose between marital happiness and being true to her love of the Talmud.
Rich in period detail and drama, Joheved is a must read for fans of Tracy Chevalier's Girl With a Pearl Earring .]]>
author: Maggie Anton
name: Steven
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2018/02/25
date added: 2018/02/25
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Siddhartha Mukherjee
name: Steven
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/12/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
If you've ever had to run a meeting according to parliamentary procedures, you know just how difficult it is to keep track of all the rules, much less follow them. Figuring out what to say and how to say it seems an impossible task.
Robert's Rules in Plain English, 2nd edition, is the solution to that problem. Not only does it provide you with the essential, basic rules in simple, straightforward English, it also includes summaries, outlines, charts, and sample dialogues so you can see exactly how these rules work in practice.
With an extended glossary and new chapters on electronic meetings and internet usage, Robert's Rules in Plain English, 2nd edition, is an authoritative, modern guide to running a meeting successfully and keeping it on track.
]]>
author: Doris P. Zimmerman
name: Steven
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/16
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
Ěý
In 2045 Kenneth Durand leads Interpol’s most effective team against genetic crime, hunting down black market labs that perform "vanity edits" on human embryos for a price. These illegal procedures augment embryos in ways that are rapidly accelerating human evolution—preying on human-trafficking victims to experiment and advance their technology.
Ěý
With the worlds of genetic crime and human trafficking converging, Durand and his fellow Interpol agents discover that one figure looms behind it all: Marcus Demang Wyckes, leader of a powerful and sophisticated cartel known as the Huli jing.
Ěý
But the Huli jing have identified Durand, too. After being forcibly dosed with a radical new change agent, Durand wakes from a coma weeks later to find he’s been genetically transformed into someone else—his most wanted suspect: Wyckes.
Ěý
Now a fugitive, pursued through the genetic underworld by his former colleagues and the police, Durand is determined to restore his original DNA by locating the source of the mysterious—and highly valuable—change agent. But Durand hasn’t anticipated just how difficult locating his enemy will be. With the technology to genetically edit the living, Wyckes and his Huli jing could be anyone and everyone—and they have plans to undermine identity itself.
From the Hardcover edition.]]>
author: Daniel Suarez
name: Steven
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/07/02
shelves:
review:
]]>
Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn't . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.
With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto unforgettable, and so very beautiful.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Fiction title for 2011.]]>
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Steven
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2017/04/17
date added: 2017/04/17
shelves:
review:
]]>
Who are we?What has God called us to do or be?Who is our neighbor?Rendle and Mann equip congregational leaders with a broad and creative range of ideas, pathways, processes, and tools for planning. By choosing the resources that best suit their needs and context, congregations will shape their own strengthening, transforming, holy conversation. They will find a path that is faithful to their identity and their relationship with God.Resource materials are available to purchasers of the book. E-mail [email protected] for more information.]]>
author: Gil Rendle
name: Steven
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
As Hillary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Innovation, Alec Ross travelled nearly a million miles to forty-one countries, the equivalent of two round-trips to the moon. From refugee camps in the Congo and Syrian war zones, to visiting the world's most powerful people in business and government, Ross's travels amounted to a four-year masterclass in the changing nature of innovation.
In The Industries of the Future, Ross distils his observations on the forces that are changing the world. He highlights the best opportunities for progress and explains how countries thrive or sputter. Ross examines the specific fields that will most shape our economic future over the next ten years, including robotics, artificial intelligence, the commercialization of genomics, cybercrime and the impact of digital technology.
Blending storytelling and economic analysis, he answers questions on how we will need to adapt. Ross gives readers a vivid and informed perspective on how sweeping global trends are affecting the ways we live, now and tomorrow.]]>
author: Alec J. Ross
name: Steven
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Influenced as much by the fin de siècle novels of Maurice leBlanc as he is by the greats of SF, Rajaniemi weaves intricate, warm capers through dazzling science, extraordinary visions of a wild future,and deep conjectures on the nature of reality and story.
In The Causal Angel we will discover the ultimate fates of Jean, his employer Miele, the independently minded ship Perhonnen, and the rest of a fractured and diverse humanity flung throughout the solar system.]]>
author: Hannu Rajaniemi
name: Steven
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/01/01
date added: 2016/01/01
shelves:
review:
]]>
And on the edges of reality a thief, helped by a sardonic ship, is trying to break into a Schrödinger box for his patron. In the box is his freedom. Or not.
Jean de Flambeur is back. And he’s running out of time.
In Hannu Rajaniemi’s sparkling follow-up to the critically acclaimed international sensation The Quantum Thief, he returns to his awe-inspiring vision of the universe…and we discover what the future held for Earth.]]>
author: Hannu Rajaniemi
name: Steven
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2015/12/09
date added: 2015/12/09
shelves:
review:
]]>
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
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?]]>
author: Andy Weir
name: Steven
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2015/10/05
date added: 2015/10/05
shelves:
review:
]]>
Severin Unck's father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1946 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation due to the patent-hoarding Edison family. Rebelling against her father's films of passion, intrigue, and spirits from beyond, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space and investigating the levitator cults of Neptune and the lawless saloons of Mars. For this is not our solar system, but one drawn from classic science fiction in which all the planets are inhabited and we travel through space on beautiful rockets. Severin is a realist in a fantastic universe.
But her latest film, which investigates the disappearance of a diving colony on a watery Venus populated by island-sized alien creatures, will be her last. Though her crew limps home to earth and her story is preserved by the colony's last survivor, Severin will never return.
Told using techniques from reality TV, classic film, gossip magazines, and meta-fictional narrative, Radiance is a solar system-spanning story of love, exploration, family, loss, quantum physics, and silent film.]]>
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Steven
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
author: G. Kent Colbath
name: Steven
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/15
date added: 2015/09/15
shelves:
review:
]]>
Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs� perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What’s it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans, or even the passage of time? How does a tiny dog manage to play successfully with a Great Dane? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a fluorescent light? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased? What’s it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, amidst the smells of the sidewalk, gazing at our ankles or knees?
Inside of a Dog explains these things and much more. The answers can be surprising—once we set aside our natural inclination to anthropomorphize dogs. Inside of a Dog also contains up-to-the-minute research—on dogs� detection of disease, the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our attention—that Horowitz puts into useful context. Although not a formal training guide, Inside of a Dog has practical application for dog lovers interested in understanding why their dogs do what they do. With a light touch and the weight of science behind her, Alexandra Horowitz examines the animal we think we know best but may actually understand the least. This book is as close as you can get to knowing about dogs without being a dog yourself.]]>
author: Alexandra Horowitz
name: Steven
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/10
date added: 2015/09/10
shelves:
review:
]]>
This expanded second edition includes more than sixty pages of further thoughts from Kurt (whose good advice wasn’t limited to graduation speeches).
As edited by Dan Wakefield, this book reads like a narrative in the unique voice that made Vonnegut a hero to readers of all ages. At times hilarious, razor-sharp, freewheeling, and deeply serious, these reflections are ideal for anyone undergoing what Vonnegut would call their “long-delayed puberty ceremony”—marking the passage from student to full-time adult.]]>
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Steven
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/08/28
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
The New York Times bestselling author of Daemon--"the cyberthriller against which all others will be measured" -Publishers Weekly) --imagines a world in which decades of technological advances have been suppressed in an effort to prevent disruptive change.
Are smart phones really humanity's most significant innovation since the moon landings? Or can something else explain why the bold visions of the 20th century--fusion power, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence, cures for common disease, extended human life, and a host of other world-changing advances--have remained beyond our grasp? Why has the high-tech future that seemed imminent in the 1960's failed to arrive?
Perhaps it did arrive...but only for a select few.
Particle physicist Jon Grady is ecstatic when his team achieves what they've been working toward for years: a device that can reflect gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physics--the crowning achievement of a career. Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. This Bureau of Technology Control uses the advanced technologies they have harvested over the decades to fulfill their mission.
They are living in our future.
Presented with the opportunity to join the BTC and improve his own technology in secret, Grady balks, and is instead thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. With so many great intellects confined together, can Grady and his fellow prisoners conceive of a way to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age?
And when they do, is it possible to defeat an enemy that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making?]]>
author: Daniel Suarez
name: Steven
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/02
date added: 2015/06/03
shelves:
review:
]]>
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows�everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.]]>
author: Naomi Novik
name: Steven
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
September misses Fairyland and her friends Ell, the Wyverary, and the boy Saturday. She longs to leave the routines of home and embark on a new adventure. Little does she know that this time, she will be spirited away to the moon, reunited with her friends, and find herself faced with saving Fairyland from a moon-Yeti with great and mysterious powers.
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two is another rich, beautifully told, wisely humorous, and passionately layered book from New York Times–bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente.]]>
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Steven
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/12
date added: 2015/04/12
shelves:
review:
]]>
But the Mighty Shandar doesn't do refunds, and vows to eliminate the dragons once and for all - unless sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekicks from the Kazam house of enchantment can bring him the legendary jewel, The Eye of Zoltar.
The only thing that stands in their way is a perilous journey with a 50% Fatality Index - through the Cambrian Empire to the Leviathan Graveyard, at the top of the deadly Cadir Idris mountain. It's a quest like never before, and Jennifer soon finds herself fighting not just for her life, but for everything she knows and loves . . .]]>
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Steven
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Fans of Valente's bestselling, first Fairyland book will revel in the lush setting, characters, and language of September's journey, all brought to life by fine artist Ana Juan. Readers will also welcome back good friends Ell, the Wyverary, and the boy Saturday. But in Fairyland Below, even the best of friends aren't always what they seem. . . .]]>
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Steven
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2014/03/10
date added: 2014/03/10
shelves:
review:
]]>
Told with wit, dizzying imagination, and dark humour, Booker Prize-winning Margaret Atwood’s unpredictable, chilling and hilarious MaddAddam takes us further into a challenging dystopian world and holds up a skewed mirror to our own possible future.]]>
This book doesn't come close to the level of the first 2.
]]>
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Steven
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/01/06
date added: 2014/01/06
shelves:
review:
Meh! The other reviewers have summed everything up pretty nicely. If you've read the first 2 books you should read this last one. But to me that's the main take away, Atwood wanted this to be the last one and the focus of the book was more on ensuring finality than great writing - it became tedious at the end.
This book doesn't come close to the level of the first 2.
]]>
With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.
]]>
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Steven
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/01/01
shelves:
review:
A cross between Alice in Wonderland and Oz. Incredibly wonderfully written.
]]>
In the Locus Award-winning novelette “White Lines on a Green Field,� an old story plays out against a high school backdrop as Coyote is quarterback and king for a season. A girl named Mallow embarks on an adventure of memorable and magical politicks in “The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland—For a Little While.� The award-winning, tour de force novella “Silently and Very Fast� is an ancient epic set in a far-flung future, the intimate autobiography of an evolving A.I. And in the title story, the history of a New England town and that of an outcast demon are irrevocably linked.
The thirty-five pieces collected here explore an extraordinary breadth of styles and genres, as Valente presents readers with something fresh and evocative on every page. From noir to Native American myth, from folklore to the final frontier, each tale showcases Valente’s eloquence and originality.
Table of Contents:
The Consultant
White Lines on a Green Field
The Bread We Eat in Dreams
The Melancholy of Mechagirl
A Voice Like a Hole
The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland—For a Little While
How to Raise a Minotaur
The Shoot-out at Burnt Corn Ranch Over the Bride of the World
Mouse Koan
The Blueberry Queen of Wiscasset
In the Future When All’s Well
Fade to White
Aeromaus
Red Engines
The Wolves of Brooklyn
One Breath, One Stroke
Kallisti
The Wedding
The Secret of Being a Cowboy
Twenty-Five Facts About Santa Claus
We Without Us Were Shadows
The Red Girl
Aquaman and the Duality of Self/Other, America, 1985
The Room
Silently and Very Fast
What the Dragon Said: A Love Story]]>
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Steven
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Ray Kurzweil is arguably today’s most influential—and often controversial—futurist. In How to Create a Mind , Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilization—reverse engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines.
Kurzweil discusses how the brain functions, how the mind emerges from the brain, and the implications of vastly increasing the powers of our intelligence in addressing the world’s problems. He thoughtfully examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness and envisions the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating.
Certain to be one of the most widely discussed and debated science books of the year, How to Create a Mind is sure to take its place alongside Kurzweil’s previous classics which include Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever and The Age of Spiritual Machines .]]>
author: Ray Kurzweil
name: Steven
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/08/31
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]>
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Steven
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 5
read at: 2013/05/17
date added: 2013/05/17
shelves:
review:
]]>
In the taut opening, "Victory Lap," a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In "Home," a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned. And in the title story, a stunning meditation on imagination, memory, and loss, a middle-aged cancer patient walks into the woods to commit suicide, only to encounter a troubled young boy who, over the course of a fateful morning, gives the dying man a final chance to recall who he really is. A hapless, deluded owner of an antique store; two mothers struggling to do the right thing; a teenage girl whose idealism is challenged by a brutal brush with reality; a man tormented by a series of pharmaceutical experiments that force him to lust, to love, to kill—the unforgettable characters that populate the pages of Tenth of December are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders' signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation.
Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience. These stories take on the big questions and explore the fault lines of our own morality, delving into the questions of what makes us good and what makes us human.
Unsettling, insightful, and hilarious, the stories in Tenth of December—through their manic energy, their focus on what is redeemable in human beings, and their generosity of spirit—not only entertain and delight; they fulfill Chekhov's dictum that art should "prepare us for tenderness."]]>
author: George Saunders
name: Steven
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/03/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
Is your dog purposefully disobeying you? Probably, and usually behind your back. Should you act like â€top dogâ€� to maintain control? No, you’re better off displaying your friendliness â€� and not just to your dog. Which breed is the cleverest? That’s the wrong question to ask.
These are just some of the extraordinary insights to be found in 'The Genius of Dogs' � the seminal book on how dogs evolved their unique intelligence by award-winning scientist Dr Brian Hare. He shares more than two decades of startling discoveries about the mysteries of the dog mind and how you can use his groundbreaking work to build a better relationship with your own dog.]]>
author: Brian Hare
name: Steven
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Following up on the hugely influential Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, this book challenges some of the prevailing metaphors and frameworks used to describe contemporary media, from biological metaphors like "memes" and "viral" to the concept of "Web 2.0" and the popular notion of "influencers." Spreadable Media examines the nature of audience engagement, the environment of participation, the way appraisal creates value, and the transnational flows at the heart of these phenomena. It delineates the elements that make content more spreadable and highlights emerging media business models built for a world of participatory circulation. The book also explores the internal tensions companies face as they adapt to the new communication reality and argues for the need to shift from "hearing" to "listening" in corporate culture.
Drawing on examples from film, music, games, comics, television, transmedia storytelling, advertising, and public relations industries, among others—from both the U.S. and around the world—the authors illustrate the contours of our current media environment. They highlight the vexing questions content creators must tackle and the responsibilities we all face as citizens in a world where many of us regularly circulate media content. Written for any and all of us who actively create and share media content, Spreadable Media provides a clear understanding of how people are spreading ideas and the implications these activities have for business, politics, and everyday life.]]>
author: Henry Jenkins
name: Steven
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
This first book in the series from Kevin McNeish, award-winning App Developer, highly acclaimed iOS trainer and conference speaker, is specifically designed to teach non-programmers how to create Apps for the iPhone and iPad. Many books designed for the beginning Apple developer assume way too much. In contrast, this book series assumes you know nothing about programming.
This first book is your “easy in� and builds confidence that you can write Apps for the iPhone and iPad. Each chapter and exercise has been reviewed by people like you—with little or no experience in how to make an App. Many sections of the book were rewritten, diagrams were added, and examples improved until all “beta readers� completely understood each key concept.
Up to Date With the Latest Apple Technologies
The information in this book is up to date with the latest iOS technologies including the iPhone 5, iOS 6 and the latest version of Xcode. You will learn about storyboards, scenes, navigation, displaying lists of data, animating transitions between scenes, using maps, and much more.
Includes Step-by-Step Instructional Videos!
There are seven step-by-step instructional videos in which you watch the author create each part of the App. This is great for those who might need some extra help.
Not a "Dumbed Down" Series!
Ultimately, readers will learn everything that is taught in the regular written-for-programmer books. This series simply provides more background information and more thorough explanations for those who haven't had a formal education in software development.]]>
author: Kevin McNeish
name: Steven
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Trust and cooperation are the first problems we had to solve before we could become a social species. In the 21st century, they have become the most important problems we need to solve � again. Our global society has become so large and complex that our traditional trust mechanisms no longer work.
Bruce Schneier, world-renowned for his level-headed thinking on security and technology, tackles this complex subject head-on. Society can't function without trust, and yet must function even when people are untrustworthy.
Liars and Outliers reaches across academic disciplines to develop an understanding of trust, cooperation, and social stability. From the subtle social cues we use to recognize trustworthy people to the laws that punish the noncompliant, from the way our brains reward our honesty to the bank vaults that keep out the dishonest, keeping people cooperative is a delicate balance of rewards and punishments. It's a series of evolutionary tricks, social pressures, legal mechanisms, and physical barriers.
In the absence of personal relationships, we have no choice but to substitute security for trust, compliance for trustworthiness. This progression has enabled society to scale to unprecedented complexity, but has also permitted massive global failures.
At the same time, too much cooperation is bad. Without some level of rule-breaking, innovation and social progress become impossible. Society stagnates.
Today's problems require new thinking, and Liars and Outliers provides that. It is essential that we learn to think clearly about trust. Our future depends on it.]]>
author: Bruce Schneier
name: Steven
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/01/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:
]]>
author: George Saunders
name: Steven
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
George Saunders's first foray into nonfiction is composed of essays on literature, travel, and politics. At the core of this unique collection are Saunders's travel essays based on his trips to seek out the mysteries of the "Buddha Boy" of Nepal; to attempt to indulge in the extravagant pleasures of Dubai; and to join the exploits of the minutemen at the Mexican border. Saunders expertly navigates the works of Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and Esther Forbes, and leads the reader across the rocky political landscape of modern America. Emblazoned with his trademark wit and singular vision, Saunders's endeavor into the art of the essay is testament to his exceptional range and ability as a writer and thinker.]]>
author: George Saunders
name: Steven
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Clay Jannon tells how serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has sent him from Web Drone to night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. After just a few days on the job, Clay realizes just how curious this store is.
A few customers come in repeatedly without buying anything. Instead they “check out� obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. All runs according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes.
He embarks on a complex analysis of the customers� behavior and ropes in friends to help. Once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore. A quest to New York City dips in a world conspiracy for eternal life. The current of romance pulls Clay onward.]]>
A few places he foreshadowed some events that I think were unnecessary and had it not been done would have made the ending a bit more exciting.
This looks to be the 1st in many and I eagerly await the next adventures of the characters.]]>
author: Robin Sloan
name: Steven
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/27
date added: 2013/01/04
shelves:
review:
I definitely enjoy reading Robin Sloan and this book is what I expected. Mystery, technology, Google, San Francisco. Very well done.
A few places he foreshadowed some events that I think were unnecessary and had it not been done would have made the ending a bit more exciting.
This looks to be the 1st in many and I eagerly await the next adventures of the characters.
]]>
Instead of asking whether the Web is making us stupid, Howard Rheingold (whom MIT calls "the first citizen of the internet") turns that question around and asks how designing and using digital media mindfully could make us smarter. What if humans could build tools that leverage our ability to think, communicate, and cooperate? Humans invented social learning, speech, writing, alphabets, printing, computers, and the Internet, which means we should be systematically directing the evolution of intellectual augmentation.
Mind Amplifier: Can Our Digital Tools Make Us Smarter? examines the origins of digital mind-extending tools, and then lays out the foundations for their future. Rheingold proposes an applied, interdisciplinary science of mind amplification. He also unveils a new protocol for developing techno-cognitive-social technologies that embrace empathy, mindfulness, and compassion � elements lacking from existing digital mind-tools.
]]>
author: Howard Rheingold
name: Steven
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/20
date added: 2012/12/20
shelves:
review:
]]>
A #1 New York Times bestseller, this “absolute masterpiece� (Richard Russo) is the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962 and resurfaces fifty years later in Hollywood. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to the back lots of contemporary Hollywood, this is a dazzling, yet deeply human roller coaster of a novel.
The acclaimed author of the national bestseller The Financial Lives of the Poets returns with his funniest, most romantic, and most purely enjoyable novel yet. Hailed by critics and loved by readers of literary and historical fiction, Beautiful Ruins is gloriously inventive and constantly surprising—a story of flawed yet fascinating people navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.]]>
author: Jess Walter
name: Steven
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
When Alif discovers The Thousand and One Days, the secret book of the jinn, which both he and the Hand suspect may unleash a new level of information technology, the stakes are raised and Alif must struggle for life or death, aided by forces seen and unseen.]]>
author: G. Willow Wilson
name: Steven
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/12/05
shelves:
review:
Excellent book! Everyone should read to gain an understanding of a muslim perspective of the western world, the arab spring and to top it all off its a great Fantasy/Information Technology book as well. Great story.
]]>
When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford appears to be an English idyll—with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey—but behind its charming façade lies a town at war. The rich clash with the poor, teenagers battle their parents, wives contend with their husbands, and teachers struggle with their pupils. Pagford is far from what it seems.
The empty seat Barry leaves on the town council becomes the catalyst for the fiercest conflict the town has ever seen. The election to fill his seat is fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations. Who will triumph in this battle of wills?
Blackly comic, thought-provoking, and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.]]>
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Steven
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/12/05
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Steven
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
Come on. Fog City is waiting.]]>
author: Robin Sloan
name: Steven
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/11/26
shelves:
review:
Loved it
]]>
author: Jane Gleeson-White
name: Steven
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
E. Gabriella Coleman tracks the ways in which hackers collaborate and examines passionate manifestos, hacker humor, free software project governance, and festive hacker conferences. Looking at the ways that hackers sustain their productive freedom, Coleman shows that these activists, driven by a commitment to their work, reformulate key ideals including free speech, transparency, and meritocracy, and refuse restrictive intellectual protections. Coleman demonstrates how hacking, so often marginalized or misunderstood, sheds light on the continuing relevance of liberalism in online collaboration.]]>
author: Gabriella Coleman
name: Steven
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:
]]>
A time, then, or relaxation, recuperation, and rest. A time to spend with her beloved family, avoid stress, take it easy, meet old friends and do very little.
If only life were that simple...]]>
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Steven
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/11/26
date added: 2012/11/26
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Steven
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 2012/09/21
date added: 2012/09/21
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: C.J. Cherryh
name: Steven
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at: 2012/09/21
date added: 2012/09/21
shelves:
review:
]]>
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Steven
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/02/24
shelves:
review:
]]>
But Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant Mary Mary remain unconvinced, a sentiment not shared with their superiors at the Reading Police Department, who are still smarting over their failure to convict the Three Pigs of murdering Mr. Wolff. Before long Jack and Mary find themselves grappling with a sinister plot involving cross-border money laundering, bullion smuggling, problems with beanstalks, titans seeking asylum, and the cut and thrust world of international chiropody.
And on top of all that, the JellyMan is coming to town . . .]]>
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Steven
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/02/24
shelves:
review:
]]>