Andreea's bookshelf: to-read en-US Fri, 25 Apr 2025 01:45:56 -0700 60 Andreea's bookshelf: to-read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg North and South 156538
In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.]]> 521 Elizabeth Gaskell 0140620192 Andreea 0 to-read 4.14 1855 North and South
author: Elizabeth Gaskell
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]]> <![CDATA[The Man in the Iron Mask (Trilogie des Mousquetaires #3.3)]]> 441751 D'Artagnan, once invincible, meet their destinies.]]> 656 Alexandre Dumas 0192838423 Andreea 0 to-read 3.87 The Man in the Iron Mask (Trilogie des Mousquetaires #3.3)
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]]> <![CDATA[Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics]]> 117249 Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here.

For Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), art almost ranked with religion and philosophy in its power to reveal the fundamental nature of existence. But although he lived in the German golden age of Goethe, Schiller and Mozart, he also believed that art was in terminal decline.

To resolve this apparent paradox, as Michael Inwood explains in his incisive Introduction, we must understand the particular place of aesthetics in Hegel's vast intellectual edifice. Its central pillars consist of logic, philosophy of nature and philosophy of spirit. Art derives its value from offering a sensory vision of the God-like absolute, from its harmonious fusion of form and content, and from summing up the world-view of an age such as Homer's. While it scaled supreme heights in ancient Greece, Hegel doubted art's ability to encompass Christian belief or the reflective irony characteristic of modern societies. Many such challenging ideas are developed in this superb treatise; it counts among the most stimulating works of a master thinker.

Table of Contents
Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics Introduction A Note on the Translation and Commentary
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES ON AESTHETICS

Chapter I: The Range of Aesthetic Defined, and Some Objections against the Philosophy of Art Refuted
[α Aesthetic confined to Beauty of Art
β Does Art merit Scientific Treatment?
Îł Is Scientific Treatment appropriate to Art?
δ Answer to β
ε Answer to γ]

Chapter II: Methods of Science Applicable to Beauty and Art
[1. Empirical Method - Art-scholarship
(a) Its Range
(b) It generates Rules and Theories
(c) The Rights of Genius
2. Abstract Reflection
3. The Philosophical Conception of Artistic Beauty, general notion of]

Chapter III: The Conception of Artistic Beauty
Part I - The Work of Art as Made and as Sensuous
1. Work of Art as Product of Human Activity
[(a) Conscious Production by Rule
(b) Artistic Inspiration
(c) Dignity of Production by Man
(d) Man's Need to produce Works of Art]
2. Work of Art as addressed to Man's Sense
[(a) Object of Art - Pleasant Feeling?
(b) Feeling of Beauty - Taste
(c) Art-scholarship
(d) Profounder Consequences of Sensuous Nature of Art
(α) Relations of the Sensuous to the Mind
(αα) Desire
(ββ) Theory
(γγ) Sensuous as Symbol of Spiritual
(β) The Sensuous Element, how Present in the Artist
(Îł) The Content of Art Sensuous]

Part II - The End of Art
3. [The Interest or End of Art
(a) Imitation of Nature?
(α) Mere Repetition of Nature is -
(αα) Superfluous
(ββ) Imperfect
(γγ) Amusing Merely as Sleight of Hand
(β) What is Good to Imitate?
(Îł) Some Arts cannot be called Imitative
(b) Humani nihil - ?
(c) Mitigation of the Passions?
(α) How Art mitigates the Passions
(β) How Art purifies the Passions
(αα) It must have a Worthy Content
(ββ) But ought not to be Didactic
(γγ) Nor explicitly addressed to a Moral Purpose
(d) Art has its own Purpose as Revelation of Truth]

Chapter IV: Historical Deducation of the True Idea of Art in Modern Philosophy
1. Kant
[(a) Pleasure in Beauty not Appetitive
(b) Pleasure in Beauty Universal
(c) The Beautiful in its Teleological Aspect
(d) Delight in the Beautiful necessary though felt]
2. Schiller, Winckelmann, Schelling
3. The Irony

Chapter V: Division of the Subject
[1. The Condition of Artistic Presentation is the Correspondence of Matter and Plastic Form
2. Part I - The Ideal
3. Part II - The Types of Art
(α) Symbolic Art
(β) Classical Art
(Îł) Romantic Art
4. Part III - The Several Arts
(α) Architecture
(β) Sculpture
(Îł) Romantic Art, comprising
(i) Painting
(ii) Music
(iii) Poetry
5. Conclusion]

Commentary

]]> 197 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 014043335X Andreea 0 to-read 3.91 Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics
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]]> <![CDATA[Against Therapy: Emotional Tyranny and the Myth of Psychological Healing]]> 18998984 212 Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson 1611873762 Andreea 0 to-read 3.82 1988 Against Therapy: Emotional Tyranny and the Myth of Psychological Healing
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]]> <![CDATA[No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention]]> 49099937 Shortlisted for the 2020 Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year

Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings reveals for the first time the unorthodox culture behind one of the world's most innovative, imaginative, and successful companies

There has never before been a company like Netflix. It has led nothing short of a revolution in the entertainment industries, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue while capturing the imaginations of hundreds of millions of people in over 190 countries. But to reach these great heights, Netflix, which launched in 1998 as an online DVD rental service, has had to reinvent itself over and over again. This type of unprecedented flexibility would have been impossible without the counterintuitive and radical management principles that cofounder Reed Hastings established from the very beginning. Hastings rejected the conventional wisdom under which other companies operate and defied tradition to instead build a culture focused on freedom and responsibility, one that has allowed Netflix to adapt and innovate as the needs of its members and the world have simultaneously transformed.

Hastings set new standards, valuing people over process, emphasizing innovation over efficiency, and giving employees context, not controls. At Netflix, there are no vacation or expense policies. At Netflix, adequate performance gets a generous severance, and hard work is irrel-evant. At Netflix, you don't try to please your boss, you give candid feedback instead. At Netflix, employees don't need approval, and the company pays top of market. When Hastings and his team first devised these unorthodox principles, the implications were unknown and untested. But in just a short period, their methods led to unparalleled speed and boldness, as Netflix quickly became one of the most loved brands in the world.

Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, bestselling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial ideologies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from Hastings's own career, No Rules Rules is the fascinating and untold account of the philosophy behind one of the world's most innovative, imaginative, and successful companies.]]> 464 Reed Hastings 0593152387 Andreea 0 to-read Key Ideas
Talent Density: Netflix prioritizes hiring and retaining only the most talented employees13.
The Keeper Test: Managers regularly assess if they would fight to keep an employee if they were to quit4.
Candor: Netflix encourages open and honest feedback at all levels of the organization23.
Lead with Context, Not Control: Leaders provide the necessary context for decision-making rather than strict control24.
Freedom and Responsibility: Employees are given significant freedom but are expected to act responsibly12.
No Vacation Policy: Netflix eliminated formal vacation policies, trusting employees to take appropriate time off24.
Informed Captain Model: Employees are empowered to make decisions after seeking input from colleagues45.
Pay Top of Market: Netflix pays employees at the top of their market value45.
Radical Honesty: The company promotes a culture of direct and honest communication45.
Innovation Cycle: Netflix encourages employees to take calculated risks and learn from failures59.
Dispersed Decision-Making: Decision-making is decentralized throughout the organization23.
Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled: Teams are aligned on overall goals but have autonomy in execution35.
Farming for Dissent: Employees are encouraged to seek out and consider opposing viewpoints49.
Sunshine Policy: Failures are openly discussed and used as learning opportunities9.
No Performance Bonuses: Netflix focuses on high base salaries rather than performance-based bonuses4.
Encourage External Job Interviews: Employees are encouraged to explore other job opportunities to stay informed about market rates4.
Remove Controls: Netflix eliminates unnecessary bureaucratic processes and approvals24.
Culture of Reinvention: The company continuously adapts its strategies and practices12.
Team, Not Family: Netflix views itself as a high-performing team rather than a family4.
Rock Star Principle: Netflix prefers hiring one exceptional performer over multiple average performers34.
Socialize Ideas: Employees are expected to share and discuss their ideas widely before implementation59.
Global Mindset: Netflix adapts its culture for international expansion3.
Error Prevention vs. Innovation: The company prioritizes innovation over error prevention3.
Transparency: Netflix promotes organizational transparency to enable better decision-making3.
Continuous Feedback: Regular feedback is encouraged to promote growth and improvement24.]]> 4.25 2020 No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
author: Reed Hastings
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average rating: 4.25
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AI:
Key Ideas
Talent Density: Netflix prioritizes hiring and retaining only the most talented employees13.
The Keeper Test: Managers regularly assess if they would fight to keep an employee if they were to quit4.
Candor: Netflix encourages open and honest feedback at all levels of the organization23.
Lead with Context, Not Control: Leaders provide the necessary context for decision-making rather than strict control24.
Freedom and Responsibility: Employees are given significant freedom but are expected to act responsibly12.
No Vacation Policy: Netflix eliminated formal vacation policies, trusting employees to take appropriate time off24.
Informed Captain Model: Employees are empowered to make decisions after seeking input from colleagues45.
Pay Top of Market: Netflix pays employees at the top of their market value45.
Radical Honesty: The company promotes a culture of direct and honest communication45.
Innovation Cycle: Netflix encourages employees to take calculated risks and learn from failures59.
Dispersed Decision-Making: Decision-making is decentralized throughout the organization23.
Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled: Teams are aligned on overall goals but have autonomy in execution35.
Farming for Dissent: Employees are encouraged to seek out and consider opposing viewpoints49.
Sunshine Policy: Failures are openly discussed and used as learning opportunities9.
No Performance Bonuses: Netflix focuses on high base salaries rather than performance-based bonuses4.
Encourage External Job Interviews: Employees are encouraged to explore other job opportunities to stay informed about market rates4.
Remove Controls: Netflix eliminates unnecessary bureaucratic processes and approvals24.
Culture of Reinvention: The company continuously adapts its strategies and practices12.
Team, Not Family: Netflix views itself as a high-performing team rather than a family4.
Rock Star Principle: Netflix prefers hiring one exceptional performer over multiple average performers34.
Socialize Ideas: Employees are expected to share and discuss their ideas widely before implementation59.
Global Mindset: Netflix adapts its culture for international expansion3.
Error Prevention vs. Innovation: The company prioritizes innovation over error prevention3.
Transparency: Netflix promotes organizational transparency to enable better decision-making3.
Continuous Feedback: Regular feedback is encouraged to promote growth and improvement24.
]]> <![CDATA[You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself]]> 16101143 The author of the bestselling You Are Not So Smart shares more discoveries about self-delusion and irrational thinking, and gives readers a fighting chance at outsmarting their not-so-smart brains

David McRaney’s first book, You Are Not So Smart, evolved from his wildly popular blog of the same name. A mix of popular psychology and trivia, McRaney’s insights have struck a chord with thousands, and his blog--and now podcasts and videos--have become an Internet phenomenon.

Like You Are Not So Smart, You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality--except we’re not. But that’s okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of fifteen more ways we fool ourselves every day, including:

- The Misattribution of Arousal (Environmental factors have a greater affect on our emotional arousal than the person right in front of us)
- Sunk Cost Fallacy (We will engage in something we don’t enjoy just to make the time or money already invested “worth it�)
- Deindividuation (Despite our best intentions, we practically disappear when subsumed by a mob mentality)

McRaney also reveals the true price of happiness, why Benjamin Franklin was such a badass, and how to avoid falling for our own lies. This smart and highly entertaining book will be wowing readers for years to come.
]]> 320 David McRaney 1592408052 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.92 2013 You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
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average rating: 3.92
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]]> Anxious People 49127718 A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

Includes short story - The Last Round of Golf]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 198216963X Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.17 2019 Anxious People
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]]> <![CDATA[Relax, Dammit!: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety]]> 51865405 An entertaining and practical guide to getting through the day with less stress and better health, from the host of the hit TV series A User's Guide to Cheating Death.

We make a ridiculous number of decisions every day--possibly even thousands. We make decisions about when to wake up, how to brush our teeth, what to have for breakfast, how to get our kids to school, the amount of coffee to drink, and on and on.

Making so many decisions is tough. It can cause stock analysts to perform progressively worse over the course of a day. It can lead us to make poor decisions about the food we eat--the more brain fatigue we experience, the more junk food we consume. And the more deliberate the decision--that is, the more we need to think about it--the more fatiguing the process. There are many social forces at work that make how and what we choose an unnecessarily anxious process. But it doesn't have to be.

In Relax, Dammit!, health policy expert Timothy Caulfield takes us through a regular day--from the moment we wake up to when we go to sleep--and shows the underlying science behind our actions and habits. What he reveals is that we make decisions that are based, to a lesser or greater extent, on misinformation. Whether he's studying cell phone use, bike commuting, or raw-milk cheese consumption, Caulfield shows that many of the things we believe to be healthier, safer, or just better, simply aren't. With solid grounding in current and reliable scientific findings, the author points to a less stressful way forward--which means we can all afford to relax a lot more.

Insightful, sometimes controversial, and always entertaining, Relax, Dammit! is a surprising and liberating guide to modern life.]]> 320 Timothy Caulfield 0735236321 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.73 Relax, Dammit!: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety
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]]> <![CDATA[Einstein's Fridge: How the Difference Between Hot and Cold Explains the Universe]]> 54303112
Einstein’s Fridge tells the incredible epic story of the scientists who, over two centuries, harnessed the power of heat and ice and formulated a theory essential to comprehending our universe. “Although thermodynamics has been studied for hundreds of years…few nonscientists appreciate how its principles have shaped the modern world� ( Scientific American ). Thermodynamics—the branch of physics that deals with energy and entropy—governs everything from the behavior of living cells to the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Not only that, but thermodynamics explains why we must eat and breathe, how lights turn on, the limits of computing, and how the universe will end.

The brilliant people who decoded its laws came from every branch of the sciences; they were engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists, cosmologists, and mathematicians. From French military engineer and physicist Sadi Carnot to Lord Kelvin, James Joule, Albert Einstein, Emmy Noether, Alan Turing, and Stephen Hawking, author Paul Sen introduces us to all of the players who passed the baton of scientific progress through time and across nations. Incredibly driven and idealistic, these brave pioneers performed groundbreaking work often in the face of torment and tragedy. Their discoveries helped create the modern world and transformed every branch of science, from biology to cosmology.

“Elegantly written and engaging� ( Financial Times ), Einstein’s Fridge brings to life one of the most important scientific revolutions of all time and captures the thrill of discovery and the power of scientific progress to shape the course of history.]]> 320 Paul Sen 1501181300 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.17 2021 Einstein's Fridge: How the Difference Between Hot and Cold Explains the Universe
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]]> <![CDATA[Noah's Other Son: Bridging the Gap Between the Bible and the Qur'an]]> 919612 --Library Journal

In his compelling book, pastor Brian Brown engages in conciliatory dialogue with Christians, Jews, and Muslims in an attempt to recover the beauty and value of Islam for the West. Noah's Other Son helps Jews and Christians understand the role that several biblical figures from their own traditions play in Islam. Do Christians know, for example, that Jesus in the Qur'an was speaking about Muhammad when he promised to send an Advocate or Comforter? Who would have imagined that Noah had a rebellious son who refused to get on the ark and drowned?

There has never been a greater potential for misunderstanding between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, as the treacherous situation in which the world now finds itself. Brian Brown examines scriptural characters as a way of seeing Islam in its pure light, without the distortions of history or individual failings. Noah's Other Son provides an excellent starting point for Christian-Jewish-Muslim dialogue.]]> 280 Brian Arthur Brown 0826427979 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.58 2007 Noah's Other Son: Bridging the Gap Between the Bible and the Qur'an
author: Brian Arthur Brown
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average rating: 3.58
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]]> <![CDATA[The Forgetting Machine: Memory, Perception, and the "Jennifer Aniston Neuron"]]> 34196225 If we lose our memories, are we still ourselves? Is identity merely a collection of electrical impulses? What separates us from animals, or from computers?

From Plato to Westworld, these questions have fascinated and befuddled philosophers, artists, and scientists for centuries. In The Forgetting Machine, neuroscientist Rodrigo Quiroga explains how the mechanics of memory illuminates these discussions, with implications for everything from understanding Alzheimer's disease to the technology of Artificial Intelligence.
You'll also learn about the research behind what Quiroga coined "Jennifer Aniston Neurons," cells in the human brain that are responsible for representing specific concepts, such as recognizing a certain celebrity's face. The discovery of these neurons opens new windows into the workings of human memory.

In this accessible, fascinating look at the science of remembering, you'll learn how we turn perceptions into memories, how language shapes our experiences, and the crucial role forgetting plays in human recollection. You'll see how electricity, chemistry, and abstraction combine to form something more than the human brain--the human mind. And you'll gain surprising insight into what our brains can tell us about who we are.

The Forgetting Machine takes us on a journey through science and science fiction, philosophy and identity, using what we know about how we remember (and forget) to explore the very roots of what makes us human.]]> 170 Rodrigo Quian Quiroga 1944648542 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.73 The Forgetting Machine: Memory, Perception, and the "Jennifer Aniston Neuron"
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]]> <![CDATA[Maize for the Gods: Unearthing the 9,000-Year History of Corn]]> 23604597
Maize for the Gods brings together new research by archaeologists, archaeobotanists, plant geneticists, and a host of other specialists as they trace the history of maize, exploring the complex ways that this single plant and the peoples who domesticated it came to be inextricably entangled with one another over the past nine millennia. From maize’s first appearance and domestication in ancient campsites and settlements in Mexico to its intercontinental journey throughout most of North and South America, this history is also the story of the artistic creativity, technological prowess, and social, political, and economic resilience of America’s first peoples.]]> 280 Michael Blake 0520286960 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.00 2015 Maize for the Gods: Unearthing the 9,000-Year History of Corn
author: Michael Blake
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average rating: 4.00
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]]> Go Set a Watchman 24817626 To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch�"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context and new meaning to an American classic.]]> 278 Harper Lee 0062409859 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.28 2015 Go Set a Watchman
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't]]> 42041926 The Scout Mindset, Galef shows that what makes scouts better at getting things right isn't that they're smarter or more knowledgeable than everyone else. It's a handful of emotional skills, habits, and ways of looking at the world--which anyone can learn. With fascinating examples ranging from how to survive being stranded in the middle of the ocean, to how Jeff Bezos avoids overconfidence, to how superforecasters outperform CIA operatives, to Reddit threads and modern partisan politics, Galef explores why our brains deceive us and what we can do to change the way we think.]]> 288 Julia Galef 0735217556 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.09 2021 The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't
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average rating: 4.09
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]]> <![CDATA[201 Relationship Questions: The Couple’s Guide to Building Trust and Emotional Intimacy]]> 26232745 joyful, loving relationship possible? What if you had someone who knew exactly what to ask to draw out your deepest desires and help you calmly navigate areas of pain or conflict? Having a coach is wonderful, but if you know the right questions to ask one another, you can start right now building the relationship you both desire. The Power of Questions For Couples Mutual questioning is a powerful technique to draw out deeper emotions and desires and address potential areas of conflict before they disrupt your closeness. The right questions inspire understanding, compassion and action for positive change. Questions What does unconditional love mean to you? Do I do anything to make you feel disrespected? How can I listen to you better so you feel completely heard? What should I never say to you, even in anger? How can I make you feel more desirable and sexy? Take How Relationship Questions Can Change Your Life When you and your partner embark on a mutual questioning journey, you are committing to an intimate, satisfying, joyful life together. Rather than waiting for conflict and resentment to inflict a surprise attack, Ěýyou’re proactively addressing the needs and wounds both of you carry and reinforcing your commitment to the relationship above all else. This journey will be enlightening, fun, and sometimes challenging -- but the rewards are immeasurable, as you lay the groundwork for a lifetime of happiness together.Ěý 201 Relationship The Couple's Guide to Building Trust and Emotional Intimacy 201 Relationship Questions is your guide to creating a happier, healthier, sexier, and more intimate connection. Share each question, read the question prompts, invite discussion, and keep a personal journal of the changes you both want to make.ĚýAction is required, as your answers to the questions reveal exactly what you need to do to protect and strengthen your connection.Set aside sacred time together for questions each day, and keep your relationship fresh and exciting for a lifetime. This book is a great wedding gift or Christmas gift for couples.]]> 127 Barrie Davenport Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.83 2015 201 Relationship Questions: The Couple’s Guide to Building Trust and Emotional Intimacy
author: Barrie Davenport
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.83
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]]> <![CDATA[Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic]]> 27485
In her 20 years of clinical experience, Perel has treated hundreds of couples whose home lives are empty of passion. They describe relationships that are open and loving, yet sexually dull. What is going on?

In this explosively original book, Perel explains that our cultural penchant for equality, togetherness, and absolute candor is antithetical to erotic desire for both men and women. Sexual excitement doesn't always play by the rules of good citizenship. It is politically incorrect. It thrives on power plays, unfair advantages, and the space between self and other. More exciting, playful, even poetic sex is possible, but first we must kick egalitarian ideals and emotional housekeeping out of our bedrooms.

While Mating in Captivity shows why the domestic realm can feel like a cage, Perel's take on bedroom dynamics promises to liberate, enchant, and provoke. Flinging the doors open on erotic life and domesticity, she invites us to put the "X" back in sex.

©2006 Esther Perel (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers]]> 272 Esther Perel 0060753633 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.17 2006 Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic
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]]> <![CDATA[Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?]]> 6763725 81 Mark Fisher 1846943175 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.20 2009 Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
author: Mark Fisher
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average rating: 4.20
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World]]> 34415012 A visionary exploration of the life and times of Joseph Conrad, his turbulent age of globalization and our own, from one of the most exciting young historians writing today.

Migration, terrorism, the tensions between global capitalism and nationalism, and a communications revolution: these forces shaped Joseph Conrad’s destiny at the dawn of the twentieth century. In this brilliant new interpretation of one of the great voices in modern literature, Maya Jasanoff reveals Conrad as a prophet of globalization. As an immigrant from Poland to England, and in travels from Malaya to Congo to the Caribbean, Conrad navigated an interconnected world, and captured it in a literary oeuvre of extraordinary depth. His life story delivers a history of globalization from the inside out, and reflects powerfully on the aspirations and challenges of the modern world.

Joseph Conrad was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857, to Polish parents in the Russian Empire. At sixteen he left the landlocked heart of Europe to become a sailor, and for the next twenty years travelled the world’s oceans before settling permanently in England as an author. He saw the surging, competitive "new imperialism" that planted a flag in almost every populated part of the globe. He got a close look, too, at the places “beyond the end of telegraph cables and mail-boat lines,� and the hypocrisy of the west’s most cherished ideals.

In a compelling blend of history, biography, and travelogue, Maya Jasanoff follows Conrad’s routes and the stories of his four greatest works�The Secret Agent, Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, and Nostromo. Genre-bending, intellectually thrilling, and deeply humane, The Dawn Watch embarks on a spell-binding expedition into the dark heart of Conrad’s world—and through it to our own.]]> 375 Maya Jasanoff 1594205817 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.12 2017 The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World
author: Maya Jasanoff
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus]]> 3090812
Emphasizing contact between peoples rather than the discovery of lands, and using archaeological findings as well as eyewitness accounts, David Abulafia explores the social lives of the New World inhabitants, the motivations and tensions of the first transactions with Europeans, and the swift transmutation of wonder to vicious exploitation. Lucid, readable, and scrupulously researched, this is a work of humane engagement with a period in which a tragically violent standard was set for European conquest across the world.]]> 408 David Abulafia 0300125828 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.88 2008 The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus
author: David Abulafia
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2008
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]]> <![CDATA[Countries of the World in Minutes: Histories, key data, and maps for all 195 countries]]> 48675578 416 Jacob F. Field 1786485834 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.00 2018 Countries of the World in Minutes: Histories, key data, and maps for all 195 countries
author: Jacob F. Field
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.00
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]]> <![CDATA[What We Want: A Journey Through Twelve of Our Deepest Desires]]> 61058727 Chloe is beautiful and fiercely bright, but her thirst for booze and attention is insatiable.

Sara resents being tied down to anything, but part of her craves stability.

Elliot is secretly grieving the death of his famous lover and feels like he's invisible.

The lives and problems of psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber's clients vary, but all are united by a common question: what do I really want?

In What We Want, Charlotte Fox Weber takes us on a journey through twelve universal wants and desires, bringing us behind the closed doors of her practice. It is at once a fly-on-the-wall look at what binds us all, an expression of the profound importance of understanding and articulating our desires, and a practical toolkit for living well.]]> 352 Charlotte Fox Weber 1472281438 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.18 2022 What We Want: A Journey Through Twelve of Our Deepest Desires
author: Charlotte Fox Weber
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
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]]> <![CDATA[A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond]]> 51300408 A New York Times Book Review Editors� Choice

From an Oxford economist, a visionary account of how technology will transform the world of work, and what we should do about it

From mechanical looms to the combustion engine to the first computers, new technologies have always provoked panic about workers being replaced by machines. For centuries, such fears have been misplaced, and many economists maintain that they remain so today. But as Daniel Susskind demonstrates, this time really is different. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence mean that all kinds of jobs are increasingly at risk.

Drawing on almost a decade of research in the field, Susskind argues that machines no longer need to think like us in order to outperform us, as was once widely believed. As a result, more and more tasks that used to be far beyond the capability of computers � from diagnosing illnesses to drafting legal contracts, from writing news reports to composing music � are coming within their reach. The threat of technological unemployment is now real.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, Susskind emphasizes. Technological progress could bring about unprecedented prosperity, solving one of humanity’s oldest how to make sure that everyone has enough to live on. The challenges will be to distribute this prosperity fairly, to constrain the burgeoning power of Big Tech, and to provide meaning in a world where work is no longer the center of our lives. Perceptive, pragmatic, and ultimately hopeful, A World Without Work shows the way.]]> 307 Daniel Susskind 1250173523 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.81 2020 A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond
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average rating: 3.81
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]]> <![CDATA[Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe]]> 43253626
The opening of secret police archives in many Eastern European countries has provided the opportunity to excavate and narrate for the first time forgotten spy stories. Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe brings together a wide range of accounts compiled from the East German Stasi, the Romanian Securitate, and the Ukrainian KGB files. The stories are a complex amalgam of fact and fiction, history and imagination, past and present. These stories of collusion and complicity, betrayal and treason, right and wrong, and good and evil cast surprising new light on the question of Cold War certainties and divides.
Ěý±Ő±Ő> 384 Valentina Glajar 1640121870 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.32 Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe
author: Valentina Glajar
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.32
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]]> <![CDATA[Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking]]> 30753841
In the tradition of The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything comes Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, an ambitious new approach to cooking by a major new culinary voice. Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhances flavor; Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture; Acid, which balances flavor; and Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food—and anything you cook will be delicious. By explaining the hows and whys of good cooking, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will teach and inspire a new generation of cooks how to confidently make better decisions in the kitchen and cook delicious meals with any ingredients, anywhere, at any time.

Echoing Samin’s own journey from culinary novice to award-winning chef, Salt, Fat Acid, Heat immediately bridges the gap between home and professional kitchens. With charming narrative, illustrated walkthroughs, and a lighthearted approach to kitchen science, Samin demystifies the four elements of good cooking for everyone. Refer to the canon of 100 essential recipes—and dozens of variations—to put the lessons into practice and make bright, balanced vinaigrettes, perfectly caramelized roast vegetables, tender braised meats, and light, flaky pastry doughs.

Featuring 150 illustrations and infographics that reveal an atlas to the world of flavor by renowned illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will be your compass in the kitchen. Destined to be a classic, it just might be the last cookbook you’ll ever need.

With a foreword by Michael Pollan.]]> 480 Samin Nosrat 1476753830 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.39 2017 Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
author: Samin Nosrat
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.39
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]]> <![CDATA[I Think You'll Find It's a Bit More Complicated Than That]]> 23132200 Bad Science and Bad Pharma. In Bad Science, Ben Goldacre hilariously exposed the tricks that quacks and journalists use to distort science. In Bad Pharma, he put the $600 billion global pharmaceutical industry under the microscope. Now the pick of the journalism by one of our wittiest, most indignant and most fearless commentators on the worlds of medicine and science is collected in one volume.]]> 400 Ben Goldacre 0007462484 Andreea 0 4.06 2014 I Think You'll Find It's a Bit More Complicated Than That
author: Ben Goldacre
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2014
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]]> <![CDATA[This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society]]> 25897836 Based on a wildly popularĚý ´ˇłŮ±ô˛ą˛ÔłŮľ±ł¦Ěý article: an astonishing investigation into the world of microbes, and the myriad ways they control how other creatures â€� including humans â€� act, feel, and think

As we are now discovering, parasites â€� microbes that cannot thrive and reproduce without another organism as a host â€� are shockingly sophisticated and extraordinarily powerful. In fact, a plethora of parasites affect our behavior in ways we have barely begun to understand.ĚýĚýIn this mind-bending book, McAuliffe reveals the eons-old war between parasites and other creatures that is playing out in our very own bodies. And more surprising still, she uncovers the decisive role that parasites may have played in the rise and demise of entire civilizations. Our obsession with cleanliness and our experience of disgust are both evolutionary tools for avoiding infection, but they evolved differently for different populations. Political, social, and religious differences among societies may be caused, in part, by the different parasites that prey on us. In the tradition of Jared Diamond’sĚýGuns, Germs, and SteelĚýand Neil Shubin’sĚýYour Inner Fish,ĚýThis Is Your Brain on ParasitesĚýis both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human.


]]> 288 Kathleen McAuliffe 0544192222 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.94 2016 This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society
author: Kathleen McAuliffe
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.94
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]]> <![CDATA[Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy]]> 24452 In the acclaimed Blood Rites , Barbara Ehrenreich delved into the origins of our species' attraction to war. Here, she explores the opposite impulse, one that has been so effectively suppressed that we lack even a term for the desire for collective joy, historically expressed in ecstatic revels of feasting, costuming, and dancing.
Ehrenreich uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture. Although sixteenth-century Europeans viewed mass festivities as foreign and "savage," Ehrenreich shows that they were indigenous to the West, from the ancient Greeks' worship of Dionysus to the medieval practice of Christianity as a "danced religion." Ultimately, church officials drove the festivities into the streets, the prelude to widespread Protestants criminalized carnival, Wahhabist Muslims battled ecstatic Sufism, European colonizers wiped out native dance rites. The elites' fear that such gatherings would undermine social hierarchies was the festive tradition inspired French revolutionary crowds and uprisings from the Caribbean to the American plains. Yet outbreaks of group revelry persist, as Ehrenreich shows, pointing to the 1960s rock-and-roll rebellion and the more recent "carnivalization" of sports.
Original, exhilarating, and deeply optimistic, Dancing in the Streets concludes that we are innately social beings, impelled to share our joy and therefore able to envision, even create, a more peaceable future.]]> 336 Barbara Ehrenreich 0805057234 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.84 2006 Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
author: Barbara Ehrenreich
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2006
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]]> The Great Irish Potato Famine 816112 320 James S. Donnelly Jr. 0750929286 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.55 2001 The Great Irish Potato Famine
author: James S. Donnelly Jr.
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2001
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]]> Hallucinations 13330771
Hallucinations don’t belong wholly to the insane. Much more commonly, they are linked to sensory deprivation, intoxication, illness, or injury. People with migraines may see shimmering arcs of light or tiny, Lilliputian figures of animals and people. People with failing eyesight, paradoxically, may become immersed in a hallucinatory visual world. Hallucinations can be brought on by a simple fever or even the act of waking or falling asleep, when people have visions ranging from luminous blobs of color to beautifully detailed faces or terrifying ogres. Those who are bereaved may receive comforting “visits� from the departed. In some conditions, hallucinations can lead to religious epiphanies or even the feeling of leaving one’s own body.

Humans have always sought such life-changing visions, and for thousands of years have used hallucinogenic compounds to achieve them. As a young doctor in California in the 1960s, Oliver Sacks had both a personal and a professional interest in psychedelics. These, along with his early migraine experiences, launched a lifelong investigation into the varieties of hallucinatory experience.

Here, with his usual elegance, curiosity, and compassion, Dr. Sacks weaves together stories of his patients and of his own mind-altering experiences to illuminate what hallucinations tell us about the organization and structure of our brains, how they have influenced every culture’s folklore and art, and why the potential for hallucination is present in us all, a vital part of the human condition.Ěý
]]> 326 Oliver Sacks 0307957241 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.91 2012 Hallucinations
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.91
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]]> <![CDATA[An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales]]> 64666
Through these extraordinary people, Sacks explores what it is to feel, to sense, to remember - to be, ultimately, a coherent self in the world.]]> 318 Oliver Sacks 0330343475 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.16 1995 An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1995
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]]> Awakenings 14456 464 Oliver Sacks 0375704051 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.11 1973 Awakenings
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1973
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]]> <![CDATA[Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism]]> 179609 Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism was one of the first attempts to account for the increasing importance of the world market in the twentieth century. Originally published in 1916, Imperialism explains how colonialism and the First World War were inherent features of the global development of the capitalist economy.

In a new introduction, Norman Lewis and James Malone contrast Lenin's approach with that adopted by contemporary theories of globalisation. They argue that, while much has changed since Lenin wrote, his theoretical framework remains the best method for understanding recent global developments.]]> 192 Vladimir Lenin 0745310354 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.26 1917 Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
author: Vladimir Lenin
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1917
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]]> <![CDATA[Optimism over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire, and Social Change]]> 31944929 210 Noam Chomsky 1608467996 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.73 2017 Optimism over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire, and Social Change
author: Noam Chomsky
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.73
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]]> <![CDATA[Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies]]> 848628 432 Noam Chomsky 0896083667 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.14 1989 Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
author: Noam Chomsky
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1989
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]]> <![CDATA[The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet]]> 53455018
The environmental crisis under way is unique in human history. It is a true existential crisis. Those alive today will decide the fate of humanity. Meanwhile, the leaders of the most powerful state in human history are dedicating themselves with passion to destroying the prospects for organized human life. At the same time, there is a solution at hand, which is the Green New Deal. Putting meat on the bones of the Green New Deal starts with a single simple idea: we have to absolutely stop burning fossil fuels to produce energy within the next 30 years at most; and we have to do this in a way that also supports rising living standards and expanding opportunities for working people and the poor throughout the world. This version of a Green New Deal program is, in fact, entirely realistic in terms of its purely economic and technical features. The real question is whether it is politically feasible. Chomsky and Pollin examine how we can build the political force to make a global Green New Deal a reality.]]> 192 Noam Chomsky 178873985X Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.87 2020 The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet
author: Noam Chomsky
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
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]]> <![CDATA[Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent]]> 187149
Rather than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe.

Weaving fact and imagery into a rich tapestry, Galeano fuses scientific analysis with the passions of a plundered and suffering people. An immense gathering of materials is framed with a vigorous style that never falters in its command of themes. All readers interested in great historical, economic, political, and social writing will find a singular analytical achievement, and an overwhelming narrative that makes history speak, unforgettably.

This classic is now further honored by Isabel Allende’s inspiring introduction. Universally recognized as one of the most important writers of our time, Allende once again contributes her talents to literature, to political principles, and to enlightenment.]]> 317 Eduardo Galeano 0853459916 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.31 1971 Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
author: Eduardo Galeano
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1971
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]]> <![CDATA[Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty]]> 106860
InĚý Survival of the Prettiest , Nancy Etcoff, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, argues that beauty is neither a cultural construction, an invention of the fashion industry, nor a backlash against feminism—it’s in our biology.Ěý

Beauty, she explains, is an essential and ineradicable part of human nature that is revered and ferociously pursued in nearly every civilization—and for good reason. Those features to which we are most attracted are often signals of fertility and fecundity. When seen in the context of a Darwinian struggle for survival, our sometimes extreme attempts to attain beauty—both to become beautiful ourselves and to acquire an attractive partner—suddenly become much more understandable. Moreover, if we understand how the desire for beauty is innate, then we can begin to work in our own interests, and not just the interests of our genetic tendencies.]]> 336 Nancy L. Etcoff 0385479425 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.78 1999 Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty
author: Nancy L. Etcoff
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1999
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]]> <![CDATA[Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child]]> 423910 336 Alice Miller 0452009294 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.31 1981 Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child
author: Alice Miller
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1981
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]]> <![CDATA[Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World]]> 151579
From the Iranian hostage crisis through the Gulf War and the bombing of the World Trade Center, the American news media have portrayed "Islam" as a monolithic entity, synonymous with terrorism and religious hysteria. At the same time, Islamic countries use "Islam" to justify unrepresentative and often repressive regimes. Combining political commentary with literary criticism,Ěý Covering Islam continues Edward Said's lifelong investigation of the ways in which language not only describes but also defines political reality.]]> 200 Edward W. Said 0679758909 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.12 1997 Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World
author: Edward W. Said
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1997
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]]> <![CDATA[Representations of the Intellectual]]> 166314
BBC episodes presented by Edward Said: ]]> 121 Edward W. Said 0679761276 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.14 1994 Representations of the Intellectual
author: Edward W. Said
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1994
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]]> <![CDATA[The Descent of Woman: The Classic Study of Evolution]]> 305689
This lively, informative book sets out to solve the riddle of our origins; its answer is controversial. Elaine Morgan has made The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis a plausible alternative to conventional theories of evolution and The Descent of Woman first set out an understanding of who humans are and where they came from.
Elaine Morgan was best known as a writer for television until the publication of The Descent of Woman in 1972, which became an international bestseller. She then spent ten years researching human evolution before publishing The Aquatic Ape (published by Souvenir Press as a revised edition, The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis) in 1982. In the years since, The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis has gone on to win widespread support among scientists.

It is a measure of Elaine Morgan's enduring importance, provocative thought and international reputation that in January 2006, the first Chinese translation of The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis became a Number 1 bestseller in Taiwan.]]> 288 Elaine Morgan 0285627007 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.12 1972 The Descent of Woman: The Classic Study of Evolution
author: Elaine Morgan
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1972
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]]> The Dance of the Demons 6230098 The Dance of the Demons is a major literary rediscovery. In her daring autobiographical novel, originally published in Yiddish as Der Sheydim Tanz in 1936, Kreitman vividly and lovingly depicts the world of Polish shtetls and Jewish Warsaw that many have come to know through the books of her famous literary brothers, Israel Joshua and Nobel-Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer. Replete with rabbis, yeshiva students, beggars, farmers, gangsters, seamstresses, and socialists, this world looks radically different through the eyes of a sister, who was I. B. Singer's inspiration for the story "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy."

Deborah (Kreitman's fictional self) is barred from the studies at which her idealistic rabbi father and precocious brother excel. She revels in the books she hides behind the kitchen stove, in her brief forays outside the household, and in her clandestine attraction to a young Warsaw rebel. But her family confines and blunts her dreams, as they navigate the constraints of Jewish life in a world that tolerates, but does not approve, their presence. Forced into an arranged marriage, Deborah runs away from her new home on the eve of World War I. Epic in scope, this neglected youthful masterpiece provides a shattering vision of a lost world, and reveals the fate of women in a contradictory time, where age-old tradition scraped against modernity.

Originally published in the United States as Deborah, The Dance of the Demons now includes memorial pieces by Kreitman's son and granddaughter.]]> 328 Esther Singer Kreitman 1558615954 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.89 1936 The Dance of the Demons
author: Esther Singer Kreitman
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1936
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]]> The Magician of Lublin 940167 208 Isaac Bashevis Singer 0140048073 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.96 1960 The Magician of Lublin
author: Isaac Bashevis Singer
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1960
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]]> Poverty, by America 61358638 Reimagining the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.]]> 304 Matthew Desmond 0593239911 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.27 2023 Poverty, by America
author: Matthew Desmond
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.37 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women]]> 31409135 The incredible true story of the women who fought America's Undark danger

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women's cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

]]> 479 Kate Moore 149264935X Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.13 2016 The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
author: Kate Moore
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
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]]> Hamilton: The Revolution 26200563 Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's origins for a diverse new generation.

Hamilton: The Revolution gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions, from the only two writers able to provide it. Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, a cultural critic and theater artist who was involved in the project from its earliest stages--"since before this was even a show," according to Miranda--trace its development from an improbable perfor­mance at the White House to its landmark opening night on Broadway six years later. In addition, Miranda has written more than 200 funny, revealing footnotes for his award-winning libretto, the full text of which is published here.

Their account features photos by the renowned Frank Ockenfels and veteran Broadway photographer Joan Marcus; exclusive looks at notebooks and emails; interviews with Questlove, Stephen Sond­heim, leading political commentators, and more than 40 people involved with the production; and multiple appearances by Presi­dent Obama himself. The book does more than tell the surprising story of how a Broadway musical became a national phenomenon: It demonstrates that America has always been renewed by the brash upstarts and brilliant outsiders, the men and women who don't throw away their shot.]]> 285 Lin-Manuel Miranda 1455539740 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.45 2015 Hamilton: The Revolution
author: Lin-Manuel Miranda
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2015
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]]> <![CDATA[The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories]]> 18170549 The instant New York Times bestseller and publishing phenomenon: Marina Keegan’s posthumous collection of award-winning essays and stories “sparkles with talent, humanity, and youth� (O, The Oprah Magazine).

Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash.

Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of writing that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story “Cold Pastoral� was published on NewYorker.com. Her essay “Even Artichokes Have Doubts� was excerpted in the Financial Times, and her book was the focus of a Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times. Millions of her contemporaries have responded to her work on social media.

As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.� The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful� (People).]]> 241 Marina Keegan 1476753628 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.80 2014 The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories
author: Marina Keegan
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2014
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]]> <![CDATA[The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum]]> 16056498 A cutting-edge account of the latest science of autism, from the best-selling author and advocate.

When Temple Grandin was born in 1947, autism had only just been named. Today it is more prevalent than ever, with one in 88 children diagnosed on the spectrum. And our thinking about it has undergone a transformation in her lifetime: Autism studies have moved from the realm of psychology to neurology and genetics, and there is far more hope today than ever before thanks to groundbreaking new research into causes andĚýtreatments. Now Temple Grandin reports from the forefront of autism science, bringing her singular perspective to a thrilling journey into the heart of the autism revolution.

Weaving her own experience with remarkable new discoveries, Grandin introduces the neuroimaging advances and genetic research that link brain science to behavior, even sharing her own brain scan to show us which anomalies might explain common symptoms. We meet the scientists and self-advocates who are exploring innovative theories of what causes autism and how we can diagnose and best treat it. Grandin also highlights long-ignored sensory problems and the transformative effects we can have by treating autism symptom by symptom, rather than with an umbrella diagnosis. Most exciting, she argues that raising and educating kids on the spectrum isn't just a matter of focusing on their weaknesses; in the science that reveals their long-overlooked strengths she shows us new ways to foster their unique contributions.

From the "aspies" in Silicon Valley to the five-year-old without language, Grandin understands the true meaning of the word spectrum. The Autistic Brain is essential reading from the most respected and beloved voices in the field.]]> 240 Temple Grandin 0547636458 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.09 2013 The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum
author: Temple Grandin
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2013
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]]> <![CDATA[The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School]]> 8535464 When school lunchroom doors open, hungry students rush in, searching for tables where they wouldn't be outsiders. Of course, in middle school and high school, almost everyone is an outsider: the nerds, the new girls, the band geeks, the loners; even the "popular" cheerleaders. Alexandra Robbins' The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth takes us inside the hallways of real schools to show us how shifting cliques and permanent marginalization affect children. Following individual students over the course of a year, she tracks the plight and possibilities of self-confessed nerds, freaks, punks, Goths, and weirdos. Her central message is heartening: Our increasingly homogenized society ultimately needs and welcomes the cafeteria fringe.

]]> 448 Alexandra Robbins 1401302025 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.59 2009 The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School
author: Alexandra Robbins
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2009
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]]> Everything I Know About Love 46041465
When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends. Everything I Know About Love is about bad dates, good friends and—above all else� realizing that you are enough.

Glittering with wit and insight, heart and humor, Dolly Alderton’s unforgettable debut weaves together personal stories, satirical observations, a series of lists, recipes, and other vignettes that will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age—making you want to pick up the phone and tell your best friends all about it. Like Bridget Jones� Diary but all true, Everything I Know About Love is about the struggles of early adulthood in all its terrifying and hopeful uncertainty.]]> 368 Dolly Alderton 0062968785 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.98 2018 Everything I Know About Love
author: Dolly Alderton
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
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]]> Butts: A Backstory 59366123 Butts: A Backstory, reporter, essayist, and RadioLab contributing editor Heather Radke is determined to find out.

Spanning nearly two centuries, this “whip-smart� (Publishers Weekly, starred review) cultural history takes us from the performance halls of 19th-century London to the aerobics studios of the 1980s, the music video set of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back� and the mountains of Arizona, where every year humans and horses race in a feat of gluteal endurance. Along the way, she meets evolutionary biologists who study how butts first developed; models whose measurements have defined jean sizing for millions of women; and the fitness gurus who created fads like “Buns of Steel.� She also examines the central importance of race through figures like Sarah Bartmann, once known as the “Venus Hottentot,� Josephine Baker, Jennifer Lopez, and other women of color whose butts have been idolized, envied, and despised.

Part deep dive reportage, part personal journey, part cabinet of curiosities, Butts is an entertaining, illuminating, and thoughtful examination of why certain silhouettes come in and out of fashion—and how larger ideas about race, control, liberation, and power affect our most private feelings about ourselves and others.]]> 311 Heather Radke 1982135484 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.74 2022 Butts: A Backstory
author: Heather Radke
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2022
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]]> <![CDATA[Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business]]> 123195171 Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society—state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, women’s rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy—alongside more individual topics: Can I tell my co-worker her perfume makes me sneeze? Is it acceptable to schedule a daily 8 am meeting?

In her role as a New York Times opinion section contributor and the publication’s “Work Friend� columnist, Gay reaches millions of readers with her wise voice and sharp insights. Opinions is a collection of her best nonfiction pieces from the past ten years. Covering a wide range of topics—politics, feminism, the culture wars, civil rights, and much more—with an all-new introduction in which she reflects on the past decade in America, this sharp, thought-provoking anthology will delight Roxane Gay’s devotees and draw new readers to this inimitable talent.]]> 320 Roxane Gay 0063341468 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.00 2023 Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business
author: Roxane Gay
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.00
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]]> <![CDATA[Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives]]> 60784614 The revelatory New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller, shortlisted for the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Award.

An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo’s cobalt mining operation―and the moral implications that affect us all.

Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.

Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of people in the world cannot conduct their daily lives without participating in a human rights and environmental catastrophe in the Congo. In this stark and crucial book, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo―because we are all implicated.]]> 288 Siddharth Kara 1250284309 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.36 2023 Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
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name: Andreea
average rating: 4.36
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]]> <![CDATA[The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness]]> 61273746 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781982166694.

What makes for a happy life, a fulfilling life? A good life? In their “captivating� ( The Wall Street Journal) book, the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted, show that the answer to these questions may be closer than you realize.

What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful? The simple but surprising answer relationships. The stronger our relationships, the more likely we are to live happy, satisfying, and healthier lives. In fact, the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life.

The invaluable insights in this book emerge from the revealing personal stories of hundreds of participants in the Harvard Study as they were followed year after year for their entire adult lives, and this wisdom was bolstered by research findings from many other studies. Relationships in all their forms—friendships, romantic partnerships, families, coworkers, tennis partners, book club members, Bible study groups—all contribute to a happier, healthier life. And as The Good Life shows us, it’s never too late to strengthen the relationships you already have, and never too late to build new ones. The Good Life provides examples of how to do this.

Dr. Waldinger’s TED Talk about the Harvard Study, “What Makes a Good Life,� has been viewed more than 42 million times and is one of the ten most-watched TED talks ever. The Good Life has been praised by bestselling authors Jay Shetty “an empowering quest towards our greatest meaningful human connection�), Angela Duckworth (“In a crowded field of life advice...Schulz and Waldinger stand apart�), and happiness expert Laurie Santos (“Waldinger and Schulz are world experts on the counterintuitive things that make life meaningful�).

With “insightful [and] interesting� (Daniel Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness) life stories, The Good Life shows us how we can make our lives happier and more meaningful through our connections to others.]]> 352 Robert Waldinger Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.11 2023 The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness
author: Robert Waldinger
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.11
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]]> <![CDATA[A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, a Memorial]]> 124948662 A Man of Two Faces Viet Thanh Nguyen rewinds the film of his own life. He expands the genre of personal memoir by acknowledging larger stories of refugeehood, colonization, and ideas about Vietnam and America, writing with his trademark sardonic wit and incisive analysis, as well as a deep emotional openness about his life as a father and a son.

At the age of four, Nguyen and his family are forced to flee his hometown of Ban Mê Thuột and come to the USA as refugees. After being removed from his brother and parents and homed with a family on his own, Nguyen is later allowed to resettle into his own family in suburban San José. But there is violence hidden behind the sunny façade of what he calls AMERICA�. One Christmas Eve, when Nguyen is nine, while watching cartoons at home, he learns that his parents have been shot while working at their grocery store, the SàiGòn Mới, a place where he sometimes helps price tins of fruit with a sticker gun. Years later, as a teenager, the blood-stirring drama of the films of the Vietnam War such as Apocalypse Now throw Nguyen into an existential crisis: how can he be both American and Vietnamese, both the killer and the person being killed? When he learns about an adopted sister who has stayed back in Vietnam, and ultimately visits her, he grows to understand just how much his parents have left behind. And as his parents age, he worries increasingly about their comfort and care, and realizes that some of their older wounds are reopening,

Profound in its emotions and brilliant in its thinking about cultural power, A Man of Two Faces explores the necessity of both forgetting and of memory, the promises America so readily makes and breaks, and the exceptional life story of one of the most original and important writers working today.]]> 400 Viet Thanh Nguyen 0802160506 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.33 2023 A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, a Memorial
author: Viet Thanh Nguyen
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.33
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]]> <![CDATA[Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts]]> 65214203 With over 19 million copies in print and a remarkable record of #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestsellers, Bill O'Reilly's Killing series is the most popular series of narrative histories in the world.

Killing the Witches revisits one of the most frightening and inexplicable episodes in American history: the events of 1692 and 1693 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. What began as a mysterious affliction of two young girls who suffered violent fits and exhibited strange behavior soon spread to other young women. Rumors of demonic possession and witchcraft consumed Salem. Soon three women were arrested under suspicion of being witches--but as the hysteria spread, more than 200 people were accused. Thirty were found guilty, twenty were executed, and others died in jail or their lives were ruined.

What really happened in Salem? Killing the Witches tells the horrifying story of a colonial town's madness, offering the historical context of similar episodes of community mania during that time, and exploring the evidence that emerged in the Salem trials, in contemporary accounts, and in subsequent investigations. The result is a compulsively readable book about good, evil, and how fear can overwhelm fact and reason.]]> 291 Bill O'Reilly 1250283329 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.50 2023 Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.50
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]]> <![CDATA[Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America]]> 55959466 From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.

America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It is the story of the pilgrims on the Mayflower building a new nation. It is George Washington’s cherry tree and Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin. It is the fantastic tale of slaves that spontaneously teleported themselves here with nothing but strong backs and negro spirituals. It is a sugarcoated legend based on an almost true story.

It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie.

InĚýBlack AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history. Combining unapologetically provocative storytelling with meticulous research based on primary sources as well as the work of pioneering Black historians, scholars, and journalists, Harriot removes the white sugarcoating from the American story, placing Black people squarely at the center. With incisive wit, Harriot speaks hilarious truth to oppressive power, subverting conventional historical narratives with little-known stories about the experiences of Black Americans. From the African Americans who arrived before 1619 to the unenslavable bandit who inspired America’s first police force, this long overdue corrective provides a revealing look into our past that is as urgent as it is necessary. For too long, we have refused to acknowledge that American history is white history. Not this one. This history is Black AF.Ěý±Ő±Ő> 432 Michael Harriot 0358439167 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.59 2023 Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
author: Michael Harriot
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.59
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]]> <![CDATA[Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues]]> 61327450 An account of how the major transformations in history—from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism—have been shaped not by humans but by germs

According to the accepted narrative of progress, humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn, collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book, Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead, it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires.

Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics, Pathogenesis takes us through sixty thousand years of history, exploring eight major outbreaks of infectious disease that have made the modern world. Bacteria and viruses were protagonists in the demise of the Neanderthals, the growth of Islam, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the devastation wrought by European colonialism, and the evolution of the United States from an imperial backwater to a global superpower. Even Christianity rose to prominence in the wake of a series of deadly pandemics that swept through the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries: Caring for the sick turned what was a tiny sect into one of the world’s major religions.

By placing disease at the center of his wide-ranging history of humankind, Kennedy challenges some of the most fundamental assumptions about our collective past—and urges us to view this moment as another disease-driven inflection point that will change the course of history. Provocative and brimming with insight, Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story.]]> 304 Jonathan Kennedy 0593240472 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.92 2023 Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues
author: Jonathan Kennedy
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.92
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]]> <![CDATA[When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era]]> 63024187 Ěý
The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s is arguably the least examined crisis in American history. Beginning with the myths inspired by Reagan’s war on drugs, journalist Donovan X. Ramsey’s exacting analysis traces the path from the last triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement to the devastating realities we live with a racist criminal justice system, continued mass incarceration and gentrification, and increased police brutality.
Ěý
When Crack Was King follows four individuals to give us a startling portrait of crack’s destruction and devastating Elgin Swift, an archetype of American industry and ambition and the son of a crack-addicted father who turned their home into a “crack house�; Lennie Woodley, a former crack addict and sex worker; Kurt Schmoke, the longtime mayor of Baltimore and an early advocate of decriminalization; and Shawn McCray, community activist, basketball prodigy, and a founding member of the Zoo Crew, Newark’s most legendary group of drug traffickers.
Ěý
Weaving together riveting research with the voices of survivors, When Crack Was King is a crucial reevaluation of the era and a powerful argument for providing historically violated communities with the resources they deserve.]]> 448 Donovan X. Ramsey 0525511806 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.35 2023 When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era
author: Donovan X. Ramsey
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.35
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]]> Rough Sleepers 62328661 In Rough Sleepers, Tracy Kidder shows how one person can make a difference, as he tells the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell, a man who invented ways to create a community of care for a city’s unhoused population, including those who sleep on the streets—the “rough sleepers.�

When Jim O’Connell graduated from Harvard Medical School and was nearing the end of his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, the chief of medicine made a proposal: Would he defer a prestigious fellowship and spend a year helping to create an organization to bring health care to homeless citizens? Jim took the job because he felt he couldn’t refuse. But that year turned into his life’s calling. Tracy Kidder spent five years following Dr. O’Connell and his colleagues as they served their thousands of homeless patients. In this book, we travel with O’Connell as he navigates the city, offering medical care, socks, soup, empathy, humor, and friendship to some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens. He emphasizes a style of medicine in which patients come first, joined with their providers in what he calls “a system of friends.”]]> 320 Tracy Kidder 1984801430 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.34 2023 Rough Sleepers
author: Tracy Kidder
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.34
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]]> <![CDATA[This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen]]> 228244 180 Tadeusz Borowski 0140186247 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.17 1946 This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
author: Tadeusz Borowski
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1946
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]]> <![CDATA[Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)]]> 1736739
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life � sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty.]]> 270 Elizabeth Strout Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.85 2008 Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2008
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]]> <![CDATA[Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection]]> 157981748 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593243916.

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

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

Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances. Packed with fascinating case studies and drawing on cutting-edge research, this book will change the way you think about what you say, and how you say it.]]> 320 Charles Duhigg Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.00 2024 Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
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name: Andreea
average rating: 4.00
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]]> <![CDATA[Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder]]> 199344846
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.]]> 209 Salman Rushdie 0593730240 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.99 2024 Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.99
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Unknown Karen Horney: Essays on Gender, Culture, and Psychoanalysis]]> 846256 376 Karen Horney 0300080425 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.44 2000 The Unknown Karen Horney: Essays on Gender, Culture, and Psychoanalysis
author: Karen Horney
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2000
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]]> <![CDATA[The Neurotic Personality of Our Time]]> 130384 300 Karen Horney 0393310973 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.27 1937 The Neurotic Personality of Our Time
author: Karen Horney
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1937
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[RÄzboiul nu are chip de femeie]]> 30133016
CÄrĹŁile Svetlanei Aleksievici au fost sau vor fi publicate Ă®n 43 de limbi Ĺźi Ă®n 47 de ĹŁÄri. RÄzboiul nu are chip de femeie s-a vândut Ă®n peste 2 milioane de exemplare.]]> 400 Svetlana Alexievich Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.58 1983 RÄzboiul nu are chip de femeie
author: Svetlana Alexievich
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.58
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Fragmented Identities: Popular Culture, Sex, and Everyday Life in Postcommunist Romania]]> 2361157 192 0739121189 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.50 2003 Fragmented Identities: Popular Culture, Sex, and Everyday Life in Postcommunist Romania
author: Denise Roman University of California Los Angeles
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Le labyrinthe des égarés: L'Occident et ses adversaires]]> 179263780 Comment en est-on arrivé là ? Amin Maalouf remonte, dans ce livre, aux origines de ce nouvel affrontement entre l’Occident et ses adversaires, en retraçant l’itinéraire de quatre grandes nations : d’abord le Japon de l’ère Meiji, qui fut le premier pays d’Asie à défier la suprématie des nations « blanches », et dont la modernisation accélérée fascina l’humanité entière, notamment les autres pays d’Orient, qui tous rêvèrent de l’imiter ; puis la Russie soviétique, qui constitua, pendant trois-quarts de siècle, une formidable menace pour l’Occident, son système et ses valeurs, avant de s’effondrer ; ensuite la Chine, qui représente en ce vingt-et-unième siècle, par son développement économique, par son poids démographique et par l’idéologie de ses dirigeants, le principal défi à la suprématie de l’Occident ; et enfin les Etats-Unis, qui ont tenu tête à chacun des trois « challengers », et qui sont devenus, au fil des guerres, le chef suprême de l’Occident et la première superpuissance planétaire.
L’ensemble de ces récits constitue une grande fresque historique qui éclaire, comme on ne l’avait jamais vu jusqu’ici, les enjeux des conflits en cours, les motivations des protagonistes, et les étranges paradoxes de notre époque.
En exergue du livre, l’auteur cite cette parole si pertinente de Faulkner : « Le passé ne meurt jamais. Il ne faut même pas le croire passé. »]]> 448 Amin Maalouf 2246830435 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.29 2023 Le labyrinthe des égarés: L'Occident et ses adversaires
author: Amin Maalouf
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
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]]> Why Marx Was Right 10185738 Why Marx Was Right is as urgent and timely as it is brave and candid. Written with Eagleton's familiar wit, humor, and clarity, it will attract an audience far beyond the confines of academia.]]> 258 Terry Eagleton Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.88 2011 Why Marx Was Right
author: Terry Eagleton
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2011
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]]> <![CDATA[The Chimp Paradox: How Our Impulses and Emotions Can Determine Success and Happiness and How We Can Control Them]]> 12228097 346 Steve Peters 009193558X Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.97 2012 The Chimp Paradox: How Our Impulses and Emotions Can Determine Success and Happiness and How We Can Control Them
author: Steve Peters
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Reinventing Your Life: How to Break Free from Negative Life Patterns]]> 1332416 384 Jeffrey E. Young 0525935843 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.10 1993 Reinventing Your Life: How to Break Free from Negative Life Patterns
author: Jeffrey E. Young
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Love, Sexuality and Matriarchy: About Gender]]> 1310835 220 Erich Fromm 088064186X Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.77 1997 Love, Sexuality and Matriarchy: About Gender
author: Erich Fromm
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Terapia schemelor. Ghid practic]]> 56312833 368 Gitta Jacob 6064007451 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.59 2015 Terapia schemelor. Ghid practic
author: Gitta Jacob
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time]]> 75495020
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.

But over the past decades, a healthy appreciation for the culture and heritage of minority groups has transformed into a counterproductive obsession with group identity in all its forms. A new ideology aiming to place each person’s matrix of identities at the center of social, cultural, and political life has quickly become highly influential. It stifles discourse, vilifies mutual influence as cultural appropriation, denies that members of different groups can truly understand one another, and insists that the way governments treat their citizens should depend on the color of their skin.

This, Yascha Mounk argues, is the identity trap. Though those who battle for these ideas are full of good intentions, they will ultimately make it harder to achieve progress toward the genuine equality we desperately need. Mounk has built his acclaimed scholarly career on being one of the first to warn of the risks right-wing populists pose to American democracy. But, he shows, those on the left and center who are stuck in the identity trap are now inadvertent allies to the MAGA movement.

In The Identity Trap, Mounk provides the most ambitious and comprehensive account to date of the origins, consequences, and limitations of so-called “wokeness.� He is the first to show how postmodernism, postcolonialism, and critical race theory forged the “identity synthesis� that conquered many college campuses by 2010. He lays out how a relatively marginal set of ideas came to gain tremendous influence in business, media, and government by 2020. He makes a nuanced philosophical case for why the application of these ideas to areas from education to public policy is proving to be so deeply counterproductive—and why universal, humanist values can best serve the vital goal of true equality. In explaining the huge political and cultural transformations of the past decade, The Identity Trap provides truth and clarity where they are needed most.]]> 414 Yascha Mounk 0593493192 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.07 2023 The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
author: Yascha Mounk
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
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]]> Temporada de huracanes 34847511
Una novela cruda y desgarradora en la que el lector quedará envuelto, atrapado por las palabras y la atmósfera de terrible, aunque gozosa, fatalidad.

Un grupo de niños encuentra un cadáver flotando en las aguas turbias de un canal de riego cercano a la ranchería de La Matosa. El cuerpo resulta ser de la Bruja, una mujer que heredó dicho oficio de su madre fallecida, y a quienes los pobladores de esa zona rural respetaban y temían.

Tras el macabro hallazgo, las sospechas y habladurías recaerán sobre un grupo de muchachos del pueblo, a quienes días antes una vecina vio mientras huían de casa de la hechicera, cargando lo que parecía ser un cuerpo inerte.

A partir de ahí, los personajes involucrados en el crimen nos contarán su historia mientras los lectores nos sumergimos en la vida de este lugar acosado por la miseria y el abandono, y donde convergen la violencia del erotismo más oscuro y las sórdidas relaciones de poder.

Otros autores han opinado:

"Un viaje nocturno a las profundidades del alma humana con el estilo más radical de su generación." -Martín Solares-

"Fernanda Melchor no sólo escribe con la potencia rabiosa que le reclaman los temas que ha decidido investigar, sino que en cada página muestra un oído y una agudeza pocas veces vista en nuestra literatura." -Yuri Herrera-]]> 224 Fernanda Melchor 6073152736 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.19 2017 Temporada de huracanes
author: Fernanda Melchor
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2017
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]]> <![CDATA[The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness]]> 6792458
As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.

In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.]]> 290 Michelle Alexander Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.52 2010 The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
author: Michelle Alexander
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2010
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]]> <![CDATA[Chłopki. Opowieść o naszych babkach]]> 137135096 Służących do wszystkiego wraca do tematu wiejskich kobiet, ale tym razem to opowieść zza drugiej strony drzwi chłopskiej chałupy. Podczas, gdy Maryśki i Kaśki wyruszają do miast, by usługiwać w pańskich domach, na wsiach zostają ich siostry i matki: harujące od świtu do nocy gospodynie, folwarczne wyrobnice, mamki, dziewki pracujące w bogatszych gospodarstwach. Marzące o własnym łóżku, butach, szkole i o zostaniu panią. Modlące się o posag, byle "nie wyjść za dziada" i nie zostać wydane za morgi. Dzielące na czworo zapałki, by wyżywić rodzinę. Często analfabetki, bo "babom szkoły nie potrzeba".

Nasze babki i prababki.

Joanna Kuciel-Frydryszak daje wiejskim kobietom głos, by opowiedziały o swoim życiu: codziennym znoju, lękach i marzeniach. Ta mocna, głęboko dotykająca lektura pokazuje siłę kobiet, ich bezgraniczne oddanie rodzinie, ale też pragnienie zmiany i nierówną walkę o siebie w patriarchalnym społeczeństwie.]]> 496 Joanna Kuciel-Frydryszak 8367674316 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.43 2023 Chłopki. Opowieść o naszych babkach
author: Joanna Kuciel-Frydryszak
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2023
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]]> <![CDATA[One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In]]> 123921296
One In a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned (for better and for worse) from coming of age as a member of a much-maligned generation.

Kate is a pop culture commentator and host of the popular millennial-focused podcast Be There in Five . Part-funny, part-serious, Kate navigates the complicated nature of celebrating and criticizing the culture that shaped her as a woman, while arguing that great depths can come from surface-level interests.

With her trademark style and vulnerability, One In a Millennial is sharp, hilarious, and heartwarming all at once. She tackles AOL Instant Messenger, purity culture, American Girl Dolls, going out tops, Spice Girl feminism, her feelings about millennial motherhood, and more. Kate’s laugh-out-loud asides and keen observations will have you nodding your head and maybe even tearing up.]]> 328 Kate Kennedy 1250285127 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.73 2024 One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In
author: Kate Kennedy
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together]]> 53231851
McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm--the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country--from parks and pools to functioning schools--have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world's advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.

But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: gains that come when people come together across race, to accomplish what we simply can't do on our own.

McGhee marshals economic and sociological research to paint a story of racism's costs, but at the heart of the book are the humble stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, including white supremacy's collateral victims: white people themselves. With startling empathy, this heartfelt message from a Black woman to a multiracial America leaves us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than a zero-sum game.]]> 415 Heather McGhee 0525509569 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.62 2021 The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
author: Heather McGhee
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2021
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]]> This Is Your Mind on Plants 56015023 This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs--opium, caffeine, and mescaline--and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings?]]> 288 Michael Pollan 0593296907 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.86 2021 This Is Your Mind on Plants
author: Michael Pollan
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It]]> 53330118
LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD � “A masterpiece.”—Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit � Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink’s Next Big Idea Club Winter 2021 Winning Selection

One of the best new books of the year—The Washington Post, BBC, USA Today, CNN Underscored, Shape, Behavioral Scientist, PopSugar � Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness starred reviews

Is talking to yourself normal? The truth is that we all have a voice in our head. When we talk to ourselves, we often hope to tap into our inner coach but find our inner critic instead. When we’re facing a tough task, our inner coach can buoy us up: Focus—you can do this. But, just as often, our inner critic sinks us entirely: I’m going to fail. They’ll all laugh at me. What’s the use?

In Chatter, acclaimed psychologist Ethan Kross explores the silent conversations we have with ourselves. Interweaving groundbreaking behavioral and brain research from his own lab with real-world case studies—from a pitcher who forgets how to pitch, to a Harvard undergrad negotiating her double life as a spy—Kross explains how these conversations shape our lives, work, and relationships. He warns that giving in to negative and disorienting self-talk—what he calls “chatter”—can tank our health, sink our moods, strain our social connections, and cause us to fold under pressure.

But the good news is that we’re already equipped with the tools we need to make our inner voice work in our favor. These tools are often hidden in plain sight—in the words we use to think about ourselves, the technologies we embrace, the diaries we keep in our drawers, the conversations we have with our loved ones, and the cultures we create in our schools and workplaces.

Brilliantly argued, expertly researched, and filled with compelling stories, Chatter gives us the power to change the most important conversation we have each day: the one we have with ourselves.]]> 272 Ethan Kross 0525575235 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.94 2021 Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
author: Ethan Kross
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[The History of Bees (Klimakvartetten, #1)]]> 40604684
England, 1852. William is a biologist and seed merchant who sets out to build a new type of beehive, one that will give both him and his children honor and fame.

United States, 2007. George is a beekeeper fighting an uphill battle against modern farming, but he hopes that his son can be their salvation.

China, 2098. Tao hand paints pollen onto the fruit trees now that the bees have long since disappeared. When Tao's young son is taken away by the authorities after a tragic accident, she sets out on a grueling journey to find out what happened to him.

Haunting, illuminating, and deftly written, The History of Bees joins these three very different narratives into one gripping and thought-provoking story that is just as much about the powerful bond between children and parents as it is about our very relationship to nature and humanity.]]> 353 Maja Lunde 1501161393 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.78 2015 The History of Bees (Klimakvartetten, #1)
author: Maja Lunde
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2015
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]]> Oaxaca Journal 66721
Oaxaca Journal is Sacks's spellbinding account of his trip with a group of fellow fern enthusiasts to the beautiful, history-steeped province of Oaxaca, Mexico. Bringing together Sacks's passion for natural history and the richness of human culture with his sharp eye for detail, Oaxaca Journal is a captivating evocation of a place, its plants, its people, and its myriad wonders.]]> 160 Oliver Sacks 0792242084 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.84 2002 Oaxaca Journal
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present]]> 114192

Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge—a tradition that continues today within some black populations. It reveals how blacks have historically been prey to grave-robbing as well as unauthorized autopsies and dissections. Moving into the twentieth century, it shows how the pseudoscience of eugenics and social Darwinism was used to justify experimental exploitation and shoddy medical treatment of blacks, and the view that they were biologically inferior, oversexed, and unfit for adult responsibilities. Shocking new details about the government’s notorious Tuskegee experiment are revealed, as are similar, less-well-known medical atrocities conducted by the government, the armed forces, prisons, and private institutions.

The product of years of prodigious research into medical journals and experimental reports long undisturbed, Medical Apartheid reveals the hidden underbelly of scientific research and makes possible, for the first time, an understanding of the roots of the African American health deficit. At last, it provides the fullest possible context for comprehending the behavioral fallout that has caused black Americans to view researchers—and indeed the whole medical establishment—with such deep distrust. No one concerned with issues of public health and racial justice can afford not to read Medical Apartheid, a masterful book that will stir up both controversy and long-needed debate.]]> 501 Harriet A. Washington 0385509936 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.42 2007 Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
author: Harriet A. Washington
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2007
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]]> Sexual Politics 257649 424 Kate Millett 0252068890 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.97 1969 Sexual Politics
author: Kate Millett
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1969
rating: 0
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]]> Pedagogy of the Oppressed 72657 Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm. With a substantive new introduction on Freire's life and the remarkable impact of this book by writer and Freire confidant and authority Donaldo Macedo, this anniversary edition of Pedagogy of the Oppressed will inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.]]> 183 Paulo Freire 0826412769 Andreea 0 4.30 1968 Pedagogy of the Oppressed
author: Paulo Freire
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1968
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses]]> 59470199
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.

In this series of linked personal essays, Robin Wall Kimmerer leads general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings. Kimmerer explains the biology of mosses clearly and artfully, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.

Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.]]> 176 Robin Wall Kimmerer Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.31 2003 Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2003
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]]> <![CDATA[Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason]]> 111209 One basic need all children have, Kohn argues, is to be loved unconditionally, to know that they will be accepted even if they screw up or fall short. Yet conventional approaches to parenting such as punishments (including "time-outs"), rewards (including positive reinforcement), and other forms of control teach children that they are loved only when they please us or impress us. Kohn cites a body of powerful, and largely unknown, research detailing the damage caused by leading children to believe they must earn our approval. That's precisely the message children derive from common discipline techniques, even though it's not the message most parents intend to send.
More than just another book about discipline, though, Unconditional Parenting addresses the ways parents think about, feel about, and act with their children. It invites them to question their most basic assumptions about raising kids while offering a wealth of practical strategies for shifting from "doing to" to "working with" parenting � including how to replace praise with the unconditional support that children need to grow into healthy, caring, responsible people. This is an eye-opening, paradigm-shattering book that will reconnect readers to their own best instincts and inspire them to become better parents.]]> 272 Alfie Kohn 0743487486 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.15 2005 Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason
author: Alfie Kohn
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
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]]> <![CDATA[Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education)]]> 51582237 Aaron Blackwelder
Susan D. Blum
Arthur Chiaravalli
Gary Chu
Cathy N. Davidson
Laura Gibbs
Christina Katopodis
Joy Kirr
Alfie Kohn
Christopher Riesbeck
Starr Sackstein
Marcus Schultz-Bergin
Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh
Jesse Stommel
John Warner]]> 269 Susan D. Blum 1949199827 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.08 Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education)
author: Susan D. Blum
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.08
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]]> <![CDATA[The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Coddled Kids, Helicopter Parents, and Other Phony Crises]]> 25489083 280 Alfie Kohn 0807073881 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.05 2014 The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Coddled Kids, Helicopter Parents, and Other Phony Crises
author: Alfie Kohn
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.05
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]]> <![CDATA[What Does it Mean to Be Well Educated? And Other Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies]]> 111215
In this new collection of essays, Kohn takes on some of the most important and controversial topics in education of the last few years. His central focus is on the real goals of education-a topic, he argues, that we systematically ignore while lavishing attention on misguided models of learning and counterproductive techniques of motivation.

The shift to talking about goals yields radical conclusions and wonderfully pungent essays that only Alfie Kohn could have written. From the title essay's challenge to conventional, conservative definitions of a good education to essays on standards and testing and grades that tally the severe educational costs of overemphasizing a narrow conception of achievement, Kohn boldly builds on his earlier work and writes for a wide audience.

Kohn's new book will be greeted with enthusiasm by his many readers and by any teacher or parent looking for a refreshing perspective on today's debates about schools.]]> 224 Alfie Kohn 0807032670 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.01 2004 What Does it Mean to Be Well Educated? And Other Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies
author: Alfie Kohn
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]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World]]> 201608148 legendary historian William Dalrymple highlights India's oft-forgotten position as a crucial economic and civilisational hub at the heart of the ancient and early medieval history of Eurasia. From Angkor to Ayutthaya, The Golden Road traces the cultural flow of Indian religions, languages, artistic and architectural forms and mathematics throughout the world. In this groundbreaking tome, Dalrymple draws from a lifetime of scholarship to reinstate India as the great intellectual and philosophical superpower of ancient Asia.]]> 432 William Dalrymple 1639734147 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.15 2024 The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
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]]> <![CDATA[Crescent Dawn: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Making of the Modern Age]]> 211003844 A groundbreaking new history of the wars of the Ottoman Expansion, a truly global conflagration that crisscrossed three continents and ultimately defined the borders and future of a modern Europe.

The determined attempt to thwart Ottoman dominance was fought across five theaters from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, from Persia to Russia. This intercontinental melee is expertly re-told in this fascinating new history by historian Si Sheppard.

But this is not the story of a clash of civilizations between East and West as you might assume. Europe was not united against the Turks; the scandal of the age was the alliance between King Francis I of France and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Meanwhile, the resistance of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco to Ottoman encroachment played a critical role in denying Constantinople direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. By the same token, though religious imperatives were critical to the motivations of all the key actors involved, these in no way fell neatly along the Christian Muslim divide. Crescent Dawn expertly shows how the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V desired nothing more than to eradicate the Protestant heresy metastasizing throughout his domains, but the threat of Turkish invasion forced him to stay his hand and indulge his Lutheran subjects to ensure a common defense. Nevertheless, the collective effort to constrain the expansion of the Ottoman superpower did succeed with the ultimate victory in 1571 the tipping point in reordering the trajectory of history.

Crescent Dawn features some of the legendary figures of the era � from Mehmet the Conqueror, and Suleiman the Magnificent on the Ottoman side, to Charles V and Vasco de Gama on the other � and some of the most exotic locales on Earth � from the sumptuous palaces of Constantinople to the bloody battlefields of the Balkans to the awe-inspiring mountains of Ethiopia. This is a colorful history that brings the great battles of the age to life and clearly shows how the western struggle against the Ottomans constituted the first truly world war.
Read less]]> 528 Si Sheppard 1472851463 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 4.25 2025 Crescent Dawn: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Making of the Modern Age
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]]> <![CDATA[Letters for the Ages Great Scientists: Private Letters from the Greatest Minds in Science]]> 211033764 A collection of the most fascinating letters by the world's greatest scientists.

'Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are it is character' � Albert Einstein

Scientists are not often remembered for their character, but rather for the enduring impact of their ideas, inventions, and discoveries. Letters for the The Great Scientists delves beyond the known historical facts and narratives to uncover the personal writings of some of history's greatest thinkers and innovators, drawing together over 100 private and intimate letters from across almost 500 years of scientific history.

This collection illuminates the individuals behind humanity's greatest ideas and inventions � from the vaccine to the telephone, the engine to the X-ray � and those responsible for broadening our understanding of our world and the universe beyond. Each letter provides us with an opportunity for exploration and empathy � each a new chance to understand the desires to create, discover and improve held at the core of our humanity.

Immerse yourself in the words of some of history's greatest scientific minds, including Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Galileo Galilei, Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking amongst many others.]]> 365 James Drake 1399416073 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.33 Letters for the Ages Great Scientists: Private Letters from the Greatest Minds in Science
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]]> The Undercover Economist 70420
New to this edition : This revised edition, newly updated to consider the banking crisis and economic turbulence of the last four years, is essential for anyone who has wondered why the gap between rich and poor nations is so great, or why they can't seem to find a decent second-hand car, or how to outwit Starbucks. Senior columnist for the Financial Times Tim Harford brings his experience and insight as he ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets. Harford punctures the myths surrounding some of today's biggest controversies, including the high cost of health-care; he reveals why certain environmental laws can put a smile on a landlord's face; and he explains why some industries can have high profits for innocent reasons, while in other industries something sinister is going on.

Covering an array of economic concepts including scarce resources, market power, efficiency, price gouging, market failure, inside information, and game theory, Harford sheds light on how these forces shape our day-to-day lives, often without our knowing it. Showing us the world through the eyes of an economist, Tim Harford reveals that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength, and battles of wits. Written with a light touch and sly wit, The Undercover Economist turns "the dismal science" into a true delight.]]> 288 Tim Harford 0195189779 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.81 2005 The Undercover Economist
author: Tim Harford
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.81
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]]> <![CDATA[Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture]]> 60653 This book challenges those who argue that we can change the world by changing the way people think. The author shows that no matter how bizarre a people's behavior may seem, it always stems from concrete social and economic conditions. It is by isolating and identifying these conditions that we will be able to understand and cope with some of our own apparently senseless life styles. In a devastating attack on the shamans of the counterculture, the author states the case for a return to objective consciousness and a rational set of political commitments.

]]> 288 Marvin Harris 0679724680 Andreea 5 to-read, must-read 3.95 1974 Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture
author: Marvin Harris
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1974
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval EuropeĚý±Ő±Ő> 25669
In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known "hinge" of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the "island of saints and scholars, " the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the west's written treasures. With the return of stability in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning. Thus the Irish not only were conservators of civilization, but became shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on western culture.]]> 246 Thomas Cahill 0385418493 Andreea 0 to-read, must-read 3.81 1995 How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval EuropeĚý
author: Thomas Cahill
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average rating: 3.81
book published: 1995
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