Raqeeb's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 14 May 2025 15:10:20 -0700 60 Raqeeb's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors]]> 39074550 An international bestseller

The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, "When am I ever going to use this in the real world?"

"Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining, Humble Pi is a charming and very readable guide to some of humanity's all-time greatest miscalculations--that also gives you permission to feel a little better about some of your own mistakes." --Ryan North, author of How to Invent Everything

Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn't. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences.

Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean.

Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.]]> 314 Matt Parker 0241360196 Raqeeb 0 currently-reading 4.11 2019 Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors
author: Matt Parker
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Drift 60965424 Three ordinary people risk everything for a chance at redemption in this audacious, utterly gripping novel of catastrophe and survival at the end of the world, from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man

Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. During a hasty escape from a secluded boarding school, her coach careened over a hillside road during one of the year's heaviest snowstorms, trapping her inside with a handful of survivors, a brewing virus, and no way to call for help. If she and the remaining few want to make it out alive, with their sanity--and secrets--intact, they'll need to work together or they'll be buried alive with the rest of the dead.

A former detective, Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She is in a cable car suspended far above a snowstorm and surrounded by strangers in the same uniform as her, with no memory of how they got there. They are heading to a mysterious place known to them only as "The Retreat," but when they discover a dead man among their ranks and Meg spies a familiar face, she realizes that there is something far more insidious going on.

Carter is gazing out the window of the abandoned ski chalet that he and his ragtag compatriots call home. Together, they manage a precarious survival, manufacturing vaccines against a deadly virus in exchange for life's essentials. But as their generator begins to waver, the threat of something lurking in the chalet's depths looms larger, and their fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails--for good.

The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg, and Carter are each one part of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater threat--one that threatens to consume all of humanity.]]> 340 C.J. Tudor 059335656X Raqeeb 3 3.67 2023 The Drift
author: C.J. Tudor
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/14
date added: 2025/05/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Butter 200776812 The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer," Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.]]> 464 Asako Yuzuki 0063236400 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.49 2017 Butter
author: Asako Yuzuki
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Service of All the Dead (Inspector Morse, #4)]]> 76915 304 Colin Dexter 0804114854 Raqeeb 4 3.93 1979 Service of All the Dead (Inspector Morse, #4)
author: Colin Dexter
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/05
date added: 2025/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence]]> 197055873
For too long, Africa's history has been neglected. Dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, its past has been fragmented, overlooked and denied its rightful place in our global story.

Now, Zeinab Badawi guides us through Africa's spectacular history, from the origins of humanity, through ancient civilisations and medieval empires with powerful queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence.

Seeking out occluded histories from across the continent, meeting with countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, and travelling through more than thirty countries, Badawi weaves together a fascinating new account of an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves.]]> 531 Zeinab Badawi 0753560151 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.02 2024 An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence
author: Zeinab Badawi
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Into the Water 33151805 The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon The Girl on the Train returns with Into the Water, her addictive new novel of psychological suspense.

A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return.

With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.

Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.]]> 386 Paula Hawkins 0735211205 Raqeeb 3 3.59 2017 Into the Water
author: Paula Hawkins
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Heartfelt Advice To A Friend 35197642 80 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya 1904336477 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.64 Heartfelt Advice To A Friend
author: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty]]> 17737045
"The poor you will always have with you," to cite the Gospel of Matthew 26:11. Jeffrey Sachs—celebrated economist, special advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, and author of the influential bestseller The End of Poverty —disagrees. In his view, poverty is a problem that can be solved. With single-minded determination he has attempted to put into practice his theories about endingextremepoverty, to prove that the world's most destitute people can be lifted onto "the ladder of development."

In 2006, Sachs launchedthe Millennium Villages Project,a daring five-year experiment designed to test his theories in Africa.The first Millennium village was in Sauri, a remote cluster of farming communities in western Kenya. The initial results were encouraging.With his first taste of success, and backedby one hundred twenty million dollars from George Soros and other likeminded donors,Sachs rolled out a dozen model villages in ten sub-Saharan countries.Once his approach was validated it would be scaled up across the entire continent. At least that was the idea.

For the past six years, Nina Munk has reported deeply on the Millennium Villages Project, accompanying Sachs on his official trips to Africa and listening in on conversations with heads-of-state, humanitarian organizations, rival economists, and development experts. She has immersed herself in the lives of people in two Millennium Ruhiira, in southwest Uganda, and Dertu, in the arid borderland between Kenya and Somalia. Accepting the hospitality of camel herders and small-hold farmers, and witnessing their struggle to survive, Munk came to understand the real-life issues that challenge Sachs's formula for ending global poverty.

The Idealist is the profound and moving story of what happens when the abstract theories of a brilliant, driven man meet the reality of human life.]]> 272 Nina Munk 0771062508 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.93 2013 The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty
author: Nina Munk
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives]]> 41088554 A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system�the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind book, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist.

A terminal cancer patient rises from the grave. A medical marvel defies HIV. Two women with autoimmunity discover their own bodies have turned against them. Matt Richtel's An Elegant Defense uniquely entwines these intimate stories with science’s centuries-long quest to unlock the mysteries of sickness and health, and illuminates the immune system as never before.

The immune system is our body’s essential defense network, a guardian vigilantly fighting illness, healing wounds, maintaining order and balance, and keeping us alive. Its legion of microscopic foot soldiers—from T cells to “natural killers”—patrols our body, linked by a nearly instantaneous communications grid. It has been honed by evolution over millennia to face an almost infinite array of threats.

For all its astonishing complexity, however, the immune system can be easily compromised by fatigue, stress, toxins, advanced age, and poor nutrition—hallmarks of modern life—and even by excessive hygiene. Paradoxically, it is a fragile wonder weapon that can turn on our own bodies with startling results, leading today to epidemic levels of autoimmune disorders.

Richtel effortlessly guides readers on a scientific detective tale winding from the Black Plague to twentieth-century breakthroughs in vaccination and antibiotics, to the cutting-edge laboratories that are revolutionizing immunology—perhaps the most extraordinary and consequential medical story of our time. The foundation that Richtel builds makes accessible revelations about cancer immunotherapy, the microbiome, and autoimmune treatments that are changing millions of lives. An Elegant Defense also captures in vivid detail how these powerful therapies, along with our behavior and environment, interact with the immune system, often for the good but always on a razor’s edge that can throw this remarkable system out of balance.

Drawing on his groundbreaking reporting for the New York Times and based on extensive new interviews with dozens of world-renowned scientists, Matt Richtel has produced a landmark book, equally an investigation into the deepest riddles of survival and a profoundly human tale that is movingly brought to life through the eyes of his four main characters, each of whom illuminates an essential facet of our “elegant defense.”]]> 425 Matt Richtel 0062698532 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.95 2019 An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives
author: Matt Richtel
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family]]> 50088631 The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins—aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?

What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.

With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.]]> 377 Robert Kolker 038554376X Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.13 2020 Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
author: Robert Kolker
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Exit West 30688435
Exit West follows these characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are. Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.]]> 231 Mohsin Hamid 0735212171 Raqeeb 3 3.73 2017 Exit West
author: Mohsin Hamid
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)]]> 6411961
Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object - gruesomely encoded with five symbols - is discovered at the epicentre of the Rotunda. It is, he recognises, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's revered mentor, Peter Solomon - philanthropist and prominent mason - is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons and follow wherever it leads him.

Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America's most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.

A brilliantly composed tapestry of veiled histories, arcane icons and enigmatic codes, The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced thriller that offers surprises at every turn. For, as Robert Langdon will discover, there is nothing more extraordinary or shocking than the secret which hides in plain sight...]]> 509 Dan Brown 0385504225 Raqeeb 4 3.75 2009 The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)
author: Dan Brown
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bee Sting 62039166 From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart.

The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under―but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewelry on eBay, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way through her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home.

Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil―can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written―is there still time to find a happy ending?]]> 645 Paul Murray 0374600309 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.92 2023 The Bee Sting
author: Paul Murray
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Happiness Falls 75495002 When a father goes missing, his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another--both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.

"We didn't call the police right away." Those are the first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean-American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing.

Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything--which is why she isn't initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don't return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia's brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.

What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, race, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another.]]> 387 Angie Kim 0593448200 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.72 2023 Happiness Falls
author: Angie Kim
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All the Sinners Bleed 61884832 A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.

Powerful and unforgettable, All the Sinners Bleed confirms S. A. Cosby as “one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction� (The Washington Post).]]> 338 S.A. Cosby 1250831911 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.18 2023 All the Sinners Bleed
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Gods of Jade and Shadow 36510722 The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore.

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525620754]]> 338 Silvia Moreno-Garcia Raqeeb 4 3.87 2019 Gods of Jade and Shadow
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:

]]> Muhammad � the Perfect Man 17736748
The author writes with great erudition and love about the perfection of the last of the Messengers, Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, sourcing every point from careful exegesis of ayat of the Quran, well known hadith and episodes from the Sirah.
The book starts with the perfection of the noble lineage of the Prophet, followed by the perfection of his physical form and discusses in detail the perfection of the Muhammadan heart.

In the 300 pages that follow the Perfection of the Prophetic attributes are listed in great detail - ranging from the perfection of the Prophetic knowledge, justice, mercy, humility, leadership, courage, generosity, patience, loyalty, wisdom, oratory and forbearance to name but just a few.

The author was blessed with the gift of writing in clear concise narrative style which was highly readable but retained the grandeur of the discussion at hand without being overwhelmed by the scriptural evidence which he presents with meticulous authority. This is captured by Khalid Williams' lucid and exemplary translation which adds depth, breadth, and clarity making this within easy reach of the English speaking world.

The book ranks among the most important works of the Sayyid Muhammad who contends from a traditional Islamic point of view that the message of Islam can only be perfect if the bringer of that message is himself perfect. It serves as a timely reminder to the characteristics of the greatest human being that ever lived, and presents an insight into the noble Prophetic way, the behavioural code of conduct - the Sunna - of the Perfect Man, that he, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, left behind for all peoples for all times.

About the Author
Shaykh al-Sharif Al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Alawi ibn Abbas ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Maliki al-Hasani al-'Idrisi al-Makki (1944�2004) was a prominent Sunni Islamic scholar from Saudi Arabia.
He was one of the foremost traditional Islamic scholars of contemporary times, and without doubt, the most highly respected and loved scholar of the holy city of Mecca and the entire Hijaz region.
He is a grandson of the Prophet , a leader of the Ahlul Bayt, the Imam of Hadith in ourage, an authority of the four Madhhabs, a spiritual leader of the highest caliber, caller toAllah, and unparalleled in his standing in the world of traditional Islamic scholarship. A visit to him was considered imperative for the `Ulema who would visit Mecca.]]> 352 محمد بن علوي المالكي 1909460001 Raqeeb 5 4.73 2006 Muhammad ﷺ the Perfect Man
author: محمد بن علوي المالكي
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.73
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future]]> 216336470 Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller.

Tech visionary and co-founder of Manas AI Reid Hoffman shares his unique insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future, making the case for its potential to unlock a world of possibilities.

"An essential companion." � Fei-Fei Li
"An important read." —Bill Gates
"Brilliant mind. Compassionate heart. Bold ideas…Read this book!� —Van Jones
"Refreshingly optimistic and welcome perspective." � Ariana Huffington
"A fascinating and insightful book." —Yuval Noah Harari

As taught at UPenn's Wharton and Stanford.

Superagency offers a roadmap for using AI inclusively and adaptively to improve our lives and create positive change. While acknowledging challenges like disinformation and potential job changes, the book focuses on AI’s immense potential to increase individual agency and create better outcomes for society as a whole.

Imagine AI tutors personalizing education for each child, researchers rapidly discovering cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and AI advisors empowering people to navigate complex systems and achieve their goals. Hoffman and co-author, tech and culture writer Greg Beato envision a world where these possibilities, and many more, become a reality.

Superagency challenges conventional fears, inviting us to view the future through a lens of opportunity, rather than fear. It’s a call to action � to embrace AI with excitement and actively shape a world where human ingenuity and the power of AI combine to create something extraordinary.

Entrepreneur Reid Hoffman is a co-founder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI. He is also host of the podcasts Possible and Masters of Scale. ]]> 286 Reid Hoffman Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.33 Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future
author: Reid Hoffman
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years]]> 208187022 How, over the course of five centuries, one particular god and one particular Christianity came to dominate late Roman imperial politics and piety

The ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity—or rather, of early Christianities—through five centuries of Empire, mapping its pathways from the hills of Judea to the halls of Rome and Constantinople. It is a story with a sprawling cast of not only theologians, bishops, and emperors, but also gods and demons, angels and magicians, astrologers and ascetics, saints and heretics, aristocratic patrons and millenarian enthusiasts. All played their part in the development of what became and remains an energetically diverse biblical religion.

The New Testament, as we know it, represents only a small selection of the many gospels, letters, acts of apostles, and revelations that circulated before the establishment of the imperial church. It tells how the gospel passed from Jesus, to the apostles, thence to Paul. But by using our peripheral vision, by looking to noncanonical and paracanonical texts, by availing ourselves of information derived from papyri, inscriptions, and archaeology, we can see a different, richer, much less linear story emerging. Fredriksen brings together these many sources to reconstruct the lively interactions of pagans, Jews, and Christians, tracing the conversions of Christianity from an energetic form of Jewish messianism to an arm of the late Roman state.]]> 288 Paula Fredriksen 0691157693 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.01 Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years
author: Paula Fredriksen
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.01
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Feed the World: A Factful Guide]]> 210678415 ‘There is no author whose books I look forward to more� BILL GATES

In this ambitious, myth-busting book, leading scientist and internationally bestselling author Vaclav Smil investigates many of the burning questions facing the world

Why are some of the world’s biggest food producers also the countries with the most undernourished populations?

Why is food waste a colossal 1,000kcal per person daily, and how can we solve that?

Could we all go vegan and be healthy? Should we?

How will we feed the ballooning population without killing the planet?

How Food Really Works shows how we misunderstand the essentials of where our food really comes from, how our dietary requirements shape us, and why this impacts our planet in drastic ways. Ultimately, this data-based, rigorously researched guide explains how we will survive and thrive long into the future.

‘There is perhaps no other academic who paints pictures with numbers like Smil� GUARDIAN]]> 258 Vaclav Smil 0241999499 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.61 2025 How to Feed the World: A Factful Guide
author: Vaclav Smil
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Night Ship 59366231
1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch East Indies on the Batavia , one of the greatest ships of the Dutch Golden Age. Curious and mischievous, Mayken spends the long journey going on misadventures above and below the deck, searching for a mythical monster. But the true monsters might be closer than she thinks.

1989: A lonely boy named Gil is sent to live off the coast of Western Australia among the seasonal fishing community where his late mother once resided. There, on the tiny reef-shrouded island, he discovers the story of an infamous shipwreck�

With her trademark “thrilling, mysterious, twisted, but more than anything, beautifully written� (Graham Norton, New York Times bestselling author) storytelling, Jess Kidd weaves “a true work of magic� (V.E. Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ) about friendship, sacrifice, brutality, and forgiveness.]]> 400 Jess Kidd 1982180811 Raqeeb 3 3.61 2022 The Night Ship
author: Jess Kidd
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:

]]> None of This Is True 62334530
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?]]> 390 Lisa Jewell 1982179007 Raqeeb 4 4.08 2023 None of This Is True
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse #3)]]> 76916 288 Colin Dexter 0804114870 Raqeeb 3 3.83 1977 The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse #3)
author: Colin Dexter
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1977
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[As Good As It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult]]> 53488294 272 Romesh Ranganathan 1787633608 Raqeeb 4 3.81 2020 As Good As It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult
author: Romesh Ranganathan
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> No Plan B (Jack Reacher, #27) 60048804
But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “If any step is compromised, the threat will have to be quickly and permanently removed. There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows". But Reacher isn’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right. For when the threat is Reacher, there is No Plan B....]]> 336 Lee Child 1984818554 Raqeeb 4 4.01 2022 No Plan B (Jack Reacher, #27)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Nuclear War: A Scenario 182733784
Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds� notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.]]> 400 Annie Jacobsen 0593476093 Raqeeb 3 4.36 2024 Nuclear War: A Scenario
author: Annie Jacobsen
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Saga, Volume 2 17131869
Collects: Saga #7-12.]]> 144 Brian K. Vaughan 1607066920 Raqeeb 5 4.49 2013 Saga, Volume 2
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bat (Harry Hole, #1) 17345209 369 Jo Nesbø 034580709X Raqeeb 3 3.43 1997 The Bat (Harry Hole, #1)
author: Jo Nesbø
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]> 489 Dan Brown Raqeeb 4 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery]]> 21086818
In neurosurgery, more than in any other branch of medicine, the doctor's oath to "do no harm" holds a bitter irony. Operations on the brain carry grave risks. Every day, leading neurosurgeon Henry Marsh must make agonizing decisions, often in the face of great urgency and uncertainty.

If you believe that brain surgery is a precise and exquisite craft, practiced by calm and detached doctors, this gripping, brutally honest account will make you think again. With astonishing compassion and candor, Marsh reveals the fierce joy of operating, the profoundly moving triumphs, the harrowing disasters, the haunting regrets, and the moments of black humor that characterize a brain surgeon's life.

Do No Harm provides unforgettable insight into the countless human dramas that take place in a busy modern hospital. Above all, it is a lesson in the need for hope when faced with life's most difficult decisions.]]> 278 Henry Marsh 0297869876 Raqeeb 4 4.23 2014 Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery
author: Henry Marsh
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Recursion 42046112 Memory makes reality.

That's what NYC cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It's why she's dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face to face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds, but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

At once a relentless pageturner and an intricate science-fiction puzzlebox about time, identity, and memory, Recursion is a thriller as only Blake Crouch could imagine it—and his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.]]> 326 Blake Crouch 1524759783 Raqeeb 4 4.15 2019 Recursion
author: Blake Crouch
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things]]> 23848559
In Furiously Happy, a humor memoir tinged with just enough tragedy and pathos to make it worthwhile, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest:

"I've often thought that people with severe depression have developed such a well for experiencing extreme emotion that they might be able to experience extreme joy in a way that ‘normal people' also might never understand. And that's what Furiously Happy is all about."

Jenny’s readings are standing room only, with fans lining up to have Jenny sign their bottles of Xanax or Prozac as often as they are to have her sign their books. Furiously Happy appeals to Jenny's core fan base but also transcends it. There are so many people out there struggling with depression and mental illness, either themselves or someone in their family—and in Furiously Happy they will find a member of their tribe offering up an uplifting message (via a taxidermied roadkill raccoon). Let's Pretend This Never Happened ostensibly was about embracing your own weirdness, but deep down it was about family. Furiously Happy is about depression and mental illness, but deep down it's about joy—and who doesn't want a bit more of that?]]> 329 Jenny Lawson 1250077001 Raqeeb 2 3.88 2015 Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
author: Jenny Lawson
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)]]> 960
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]> 736 Dan Brown 1416524797 Raqeeb 4 3.95 2000 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
author: Dan Brown
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Station Eleven 20170404 An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

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

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.]]> 333 Emily St. John Mandel 0385353308 Raqeeb 4 4.05 2014 Station Eleven
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves:
review:

]]> The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Raqeeb 3 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Carrie 10592
Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is...Carrie
--back cover]]> 272 Stephen King 1416524304 Raqeeb 4 4.00 1974 Carrie
author: Stephen King
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/05
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse, #2)]]> 76910 326 Colin Dexter 0804114919 Raqeeb 3 3.86 1976 Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse, #2)
author: Colin Dexter
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1976
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:

]]> Knife River 198138535 368 Justine Champine 0593447212 Raqeeb 3 3.41 2024 Knife River
author: Justine Champine
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)]]> 58957615
Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman's bestselling series.]]> 413 Richard Osman 0241512425 Raqeeb 5 4.32 2022 The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)
author: Richard Osman
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ten Thousand Doors of January]]> 43521657
Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.]]> 374 Alix E. Harrow 0316421995 Raqeeb 4 3.99 2019 The Ten Thousand Doors of January
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/07
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The Qur'an 36691128
This superb new translation of the Qur'an is written in contemporary language that remains faithful to the meaning and spirit of the original, making the text crystal clear while retaining all of this great work's eloquence. The translation is accurate and completely free from the archaisms, incoherence, and alien structures that mar existing translations. Thus, for the first time, English-speaking readers will have a text of the Qur'an which is easy to use and comprehensible. Furthermore, Haleem includes notes that explain geographical, historical, and personal allusions as well as an index in which Qur'anic material is arranged into topics for easy reference. His introduction traces the history of the Qur'an, examines its structure and stylistic features, and considers issues related to militancy, intolerance, and the subjection of women.

Clearly written and filled with helpful information and guidance, this brilliant translation of the Qur'an is the best available introduction to the faith of Moslems around the world.

About the For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.]]> 505 Anonymous Raqeeb 5 4.44 632 The Qur'an
author: Anonymous
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.44
book published: 632
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/06
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> The List of Suspicious Things 157591205
'What on earth are you on about?' she said. 'How are we going to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, when the police haven't even managed to?'

I sighed. Her questioning my ideas was a recent and unwelcome element to our friendship. But it was a valid point. How would we catch him? We needed some sort of plan, a way of gathering clues and putting them into order.

I thought about what the policeman had said about structure, and then about Aunty Jean and her notebook, and the idea I had hardened like toffee. I knew exactly what we needed to do.

'We'll make a list,' I said. 'A list of the people and things we see that are suspicious.

And then . . . And then we'll investigate them.'

The List of Suspicious Things is a tender and moving coming of age story about family, friendship and community. Sometimes the strongest connections are found in the most unlikely of places.]]> 464 Jennie Godfrey 1529153298 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.18 2024 The List of Suspicious Things
author: Jennie Godfrey
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness]]> 63221207 New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.

When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?

In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Cahalan tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.]]> 300 Susannah Cahalan 1451621396 Raqeeb 3 4.19 2012 Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
author: Susannah Cahalan
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/19
date added: 2024/09/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Lessons in Chemistry 206305528
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride�) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.]]> 404 Bonnie Garmus Raqeeb 4 4.24 2022 Lessons in Chemistry
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Devil and the Dark Water 51854625 A murder on the high seas. A detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist.

It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.

But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.

And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.

Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?

With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.

The breathtaking new novel from Stuart Turton, author of the The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, winner of the Costa Best First Novel Award.]]> 463 Stuart Turton Raqeeb 5 3.82 2020 The Devil and the Dark Water
author: Stuart Turton
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves:
review:

]]> Murder on Lake Garda 147779035 Two divided families.
A wedding party to die for.

On the private island of Castello Fiore - surrounded by the glittering waters of Lake Garda - the illustrious Heywood family gathers for their son Laurence's wedding to Italian influencer Eva Bianchi.

But as the ceremony begins, a blood-curdling scream brings the proceedings to a devastating halt.

With the wedding guests trapped as they await the police, old secrets come to light and family rivalries threaten to bubble over.

Everyone is desperate to know . . .

Who is the killer?

And can they be found before they strike again?]]> 464 Tom Hindle 1529902193 Raqeeb 4 3.45 2024 Murder on Lake Garda
author: Tom Hindle
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sense of Being Stared at: And Other Aspects of the Extended Mind]]> 1188197 The Sense of Being Stared At, renowned biologist Rupert Sheldrake explores the intricacies of the mind and discovers that our perceptive abilities are stronger than most of us could have imagined.

Sheldrake argues persuasively in this compelling book that such phenomena are, in fact, real. He rejects the label of "paranormal" and shows how these psychic occurrences are in fact a normal part of human nature. Combining the tradition of pragmatic experimentation with a refusal to accept the conventional answers to explain such phenomena, Sheldrake pioneers an intriguing new inquiry into the mysteries of our deepest nature. Rigorously researched yet completely accessible, this groundbreaking book provides a refreshing new way of thinking about ourselves and our relationships with other people, animals, and the world around us.

There are 4 parts:
Part 1: Telepathy
Part 2: The Power of Attention
Part 3: Remote Viewing and Foreshadowings of the Future
Part 4: How does the 7th Sense Work?

The book begins by explaining how the "Sixth Sense" has already been claimed by biologists working on the electrical and magnetic senses of animals. Eels use electrical fields to sense objects around them, sharks and rays use similar fields to hunt, migratory birds and fish have a magnetic senses (biological compass), snakes have heat-sensing abilities, spiders detect web vibrations, etc.

Mr. Sheldrake explains how the 7th sense is biological, not supernatural. It extends beyond the body, though how is not exactly known. "To brush aside what people have experienced is not to be scientific, but unscientific. Science is founded on empirical method..." (experience and observation). "But despite an impresssive accumulation of evidence, psychic research has never been accepted within institutional sciences. It has been kept on the margins as a result of powerful taboos against the "paranormal."

"In the background lurks the archaic fear of witchcraft."]]> 369 Rupert Sheldrake 1400051290 Raqeeb 0 3.80 2003 The Sense of Being Stared at: And Other Aspects of the Extended Mind
author: Rupert Sheldrake
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Piranesi 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X Raqeeb 5 4.22 2020 Piranesi
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/31
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Into the Wild 60869516 Krakauer’s page-turning bestseller explores a famed missing person mystery while unraveling the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.

"Terrifying... Eloquent... A heart-rending drama of human yearning." —New York Times

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.

Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interst that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the drives and desires that propelled McCandless.

When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity, and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding--and not an ounce of sentimentality. Mesmerizing, heartbreaking, Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page.]]> 217 Jon Krakauer Raqeeb 3 4.13 1996 Into the Wild
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tell Me How Long The Train's Been Gone]]> 36303872 384 James Baldwin 0241342031 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.26 1968 Tell Me How Long The Train's Been Gone
author: James Baldwin
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wrong Place Wrong Time 59947696
It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.

She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered.

After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up� it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime…and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.]]> 416 Gillian McAllister 0063252341 Raqeeb 3 3.94 2022 Wrong Place Wrong Time
author: Gillian McAllister
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/23
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> The Satsuma Complex 61401116 'My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.'

Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.

And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life�

A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.]]> 301 Bob Mortimer 1398521213 Raqeeb 4 3.70 2022 The Satsuma Complex
author: Bob Mortimer
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/06
date added: 2024/07/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Better Off Dead (Jack Reacher, #26)]]> 56663329 336 Lee Child 1984818503 Raqeeb 3 3.62 2021 Better Off Dead (Jack Reacher, #26)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/26
date added: 2024/06/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Maidens 45300567
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?

When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.]]> 337 Alex Michaelides 1250304458 Raqeeb 3 3.61 2021 The Maidens
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Yellowface 62047984
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X Raqeeb 4 3.69 2023 Yellowface
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/12
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Secret Garden 2998
Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.

With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.]]> 331 Frances Hodgson Burnett 0517189607 Raqeeb 3 4.16 1911 The Secret Garden
author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1911
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/06/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 177738303 THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘Jonathan Haidt is a modern-day prophet, disguised as a psychologist . . . He points the way forward to a brighter, stronger future for us all� Susan Cain

'Compelling, readable � and incredibly chilling . . . remarkably persuasive' Telegraph

'Urgent and essential' Guardian

'One of the most terrifying books I have read . . . some of the statistics Haidt quotes are truly shocking' Evening Standard

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents in many countries around the world deteriorated suddenly in the early 2010s. Why have rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide risen so sharply, more than doubling in many cases?

In this book, Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that the decline of free-play in childhood and the rise of smartphone usage among adolescents are the twin sources of increased mental distress among teenagers.
Haidt delves into the latest psychological and biological research to show how, between 2010 and 2015, childhood and adolescence got rewired. As teens traded in their flip phones for smartphones packed with social media apps, time online soared while time engaging face-to-face with friends and family plummeted, and so did mental health. This profound shift took place against a backdrop of diminishing childhood freedom, as parents over-supervised every aspect of their children’s lives offline, depriving them of the experiences they most need to become strong and self-governing adults.

The Anxious Generation reveals the fundamental ways in which this shift from free-play to smartphones disrupts development � from sleep deprivation to addiction � with separate in-depth analyses of the impact on girls and boys. Grounded in ancient wisdom and packed full of cutting-edge science, this eye-opening book is a life raft and a powerful call-to-arms, offering practical advice for parents, schools, governments, and teens themselves.]]> 374 Jonathan Haidt 1802063285 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.37 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Animal Farm 170448 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]> 141 George Orwell 0451526341 Raqeeb 4 4.07 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1945
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/21
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban]]> 17851885 I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.]]> 327 Malala Yousafzai 0316322407 Raqeeb 3 4.15 2012 I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
author: Malala Yousafzai
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian]]> 693208
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

With a foreward by Markus Zusak & interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney
]]> 230 Sherman Alexie 0316013684 Raqeeb 4 4.05 2007 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
author: Sherman Alexie
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/07
date added: 2024/05/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sentinel (Jack Reacher, #25)]]> 51053653
But there’s nothing pleasant about the place.

In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one� . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution.

The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name.

Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against.

Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.]]> 386 Lee Child 1984818473 Raqeeb 3 3.99 2020 The Sentinel (Jack Reacher, #25)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> A Man Called Ove 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 Raqeeb 5 4.35 2012 A Man Called Ove
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/26
date added: 2024/04/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Chain 42779092
"You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last." Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals—and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act you'd have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago.

But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning.]]> 357 Adrian McKinty 031653126X Raqeeb 4 3.77 2019 The Chain
author: Adrian McKinty
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> The Scent Keeper 41150498 Erica Bauermeister, the national bestselling author of The School of Essential Ingredients, presents a moving and evocative coming-of-age novel about childhood stories, families lost and found, and how a fragrance conjures memories capable of shaping the course of our lives.

Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world—a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.

Lyrical and immersive, The Scent Keeper explores the provocative beauty of scent, the way it can reveal hidden truths, lead us to the person we seek, and even help us find our way back home.]]> 320 Erica Bauermeister 125020013X Raqeeb 3 3.89 2019 The Scent Keeper
author: Erica Bauermeister
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less]]> 31694031 LEARN HOW TO REST BETTER WITH THIS ESSENTIAL BOOKDo you regularly find yourself too tired after a long day to do anything other than binge TV?Do you go on holiday and still compulsively check your email?Do you work through your lunch-break, often not even leaving your desk and getting some fresh air?For most of us, overwork is the new norm, and we never truly take the time to rest and recharge. But as Silicon Valley consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang explains in this groundbreaking book, rest needs to be taken seriously and to be done properly, because when you rest better you work better. Drawing on emerging neuroscience, Rest is packed full of practical and easy tips for incorporating rest into our Stopping work on a task when you know exactly what the next step is will make it easier to get started the next day- Take a long walk when you're stuck on a task; it will help stimulate new ideas and creativity- Have deliberate rest periods - scheduled into your diary - and use this time on trying a new activityWhen you rest better you'll find that it won't just be your work which improves - you'll have more time for hobbies, stronger relationships and you'll sleep better, too."An incredibly timely read for my own increasingly rest-starved life. This might be the book to finally persuade us that downtime isn't in conflict with good work; rather, it's an essential ingredient of it" Oliver Burkeman, Guardian"Take a break and read you'll make smarter decisions, have better relationships, and be happier and more creative" James Wallman, author of Stuffocation]]> 265 Alex Soojung-Kim Pang Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.05 2016 Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less
author: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Kindred 60931 The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now.

Dana, a modern Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.]]> 288 Octavia E. Butler 0807083690 Raqeeb 4 4.30 1979 Kindred
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/09
date added: 2024/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![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 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.99 2024 Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Count of Monte Cristo 7126 The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas� epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]> 1276 Alexandre Dumas 0140449264 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.29 1846 The Count of Monte Cristo
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1846
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Between Two Fires 13543121
Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.]]> 432 Christopher Buehlman 1937007863 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.20 2012 Between Two Fires
author: Christopher Buehlman
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Remains of the Day 28921 Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN 0571225381 here.

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, decides to take a motoring trip through the West Country. The six-day excursion becomes a journey into the past of Stevens and England, a past that takes in fascism, two world wars, and an unrealised love between the butler and his housekeeper.]]> 258 Kazuo Ishiguro Raqeeb 5 4.14 1989 The Remains of the Day
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/02
date added: 2024/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ascent to Felicity: A Manual on Islamic Creed and Hanafi Jurisprudence]]> 10130770 224 Hasan Shurunbulali 1933764090 Raqeeb 5 4.62 2010 Ascent to Felicity: A Manual on Islamic Creed and Hanafi Jurisprudence
author: Hasan Shurunbulali
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/29
date added: 2024/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689]]> 61327457
“[Healy] makes a convincing argument that the turbulent era qualifies as truly ‘revolutionary,� not simply because of its cascading political upheavals, but in terms of far-reaching changes within society.... Wryly humorous and occasionally bawdy”� The Wall Street Journal

The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.In fiery, plague-ridden London, in coffee shops and alehouses, new ideas were forged that were angry, populist, and almost impossible for monarchs to control.

But the story of this century is less well known than it should be. Myths have grown around key figures. People may know about the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London, but the Civil War is a half-remembered mystery to many. And yet the seventeenth century has never seemed more relevant. The British constitution is once again being bent and contorted, and there is a clash of ideologies reminiscent of when Roundhead fought Cavalier.

The Blazing World is the story of this strange, twisting, fascinating century. It shows a society in sparkling detail. It was a new world of wealth, creativity, and daring curiosity, but also of greed, pugnacious arrogance, and colonial violence.]]> 492 Jonathan Healey 0593318358 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.13 2023 The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
author: Jonathan Healey
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout]]> 195889760 From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and one of the world's top productivity experts, a groundbreaking philosophy for creating great work at a sustainable pace.

Hustle culture. Burnout. Quiet quitting. Today we're either sacrificing ourselves on the altar of success or we're rejecting the idea of ambition entirely. But it doesn't have to be all or nothing. There is a way to create meaningful work as part of a balanced life, and it's called 'slow productivity'.

Coined by Cal Newport, the bestselling author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, slow productivity is a revolutionary philosophy based on simple principles. From managing your energy according to the season, to identifying which projects to pursue and which to set aside, to building a schedule that yields maximum output with minimum stress, this timely and essential book will revolutionise how you work, helping you to accomplish great things at a more humane pace.]]> 304 Cal Newport 0241652928 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.03 2024 Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
author: Cal Newport
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blue Moon (Jack Reacher, #24) 43903354
This isn’t one of those times.

Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business, with no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. Then he steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right.

An elderly couple have made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.

Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs, and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay. It’s a long shot. The odds are against him. But Reacher believes in a certain kind of justice . . . the kind that comes along once in a blue moon.]]> 364 Lee Child 0399593551 Raqeeb 3 4.02 2019 Blue Moon (Jack Reacher, #24)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/11
date added: 2024/03/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse, #1)]]> 76909 282 Colin Dexter 0804114900 Raqeeb 3 3.85 1975 Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse, #1)
author: Colin Dexter
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1975
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/04
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> Man's Search for Meaning 4069 Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.]]> 165 Viktor E. Frankl 080701429X Raqeeb 4 4.38 1946 Man's Search for Meaning
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/23
date added: 2024/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Essex Dogs (Essex Dogs, #1) 61111302 The New York Times bestselling historian makes his historical fiction debut with an explosive novel set during the Hundred Years' War.

July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun.

Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.

Rooted in historical accuracy and told through an unforgettable cast, Essex Dogs delivers the stark reality of medieval war on the ground - and shines a light on the fighters and ordinary people caught in the storm.
]]> 464 Dan Jones 0593653785 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.82 2022 Essex Dogs (Essex Dogs, #1)
author: Dan Jones
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Murder Game 61659088 One house. Nine guests. Endless motives for murder...

In the seaside town of Hamlet Wick, guests assemble for the party of the year.

At tonight's 1920s-themed murder mystery party in the crumbling Hamlet Hall, everyone has their own part to play.

But before the dessert has even been served, one of the guests is found murdered in his room.

Trapped in the house together, can the killer be found before they strike again?

In a close-knit community, old rivalries run deep...
]]> 384 Tom Hindle 1529902177 Raqeeb 4 3.54 2023 The Murder Game
author: Tom Hindle
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/17
date added: 2024/02/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Pompeii 880
But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.

With his trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris, bestselling author of Archangel and Fatherland, re-creates a world on the brink of disaster.]]> 274 Robert Harris 0812974611 Raqeeb 3 3.85 2003 Pompeii
author: Robert Harris
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/29
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)]]> 37794149
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.]]> 448 Arkady Martine 1529001587 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.08 2019 A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)
author: Arkady Martine
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Past Tense (Jack Reacher, #23)]]> 34019122
At the very same moment, close by, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians are trying to get to New York City to sell a treasure. They are stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. It's a strange place ... but it's all there is.

The next morning in the city clerk's office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He's told no one named Reacher ever lived in that town. He knows his father never went back. Now he wonders, was he ever there in the first place?

So begins another nail-biting, adrenaline-fuelled adventure for Reacher. The present can be tense, but the past can be worse. That's for damn sure.]]> 382 Lee Child 0399593519 Raqeeb 4 3.95 2018 Past Tense (Jack Reacher, #23)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months]]> 18961505 The guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks

Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn't enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound.

� Explains how to leverage the power of a 12 week year to drive improved results in any area of your life
� Offers a how-to book for both individuals and organizations seeking to improve their execution effectiveness
� Authors are leading experts on execution and implementation

Turn your organization's idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.]]> 212 Brian P. Moran Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.07 2009 The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months
author: Brian P. Moran
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Woman in the Window 40389527
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother and their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.]]> 455 A.J. Finn Raqeeb 4 3.94 2018 The Woman in the Window
author: A.J. Finn
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/13
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past]]> 20794875
Yet many of the contributions of Muslim thinkers, scientists and theologians, not to mention rulers, statesmen and soldiers, have been occluded. This book rescues from oblivion and neglect some of these personalities and institutions, while offering the reader a new narrative of this lost Islamic history. The Umayyads, Abbasids, and Ottomans feature in the story, as do Muslim Spain, the savannah kingdoms of West Africa and the Mughal Empire, along with the later European colonization of Muslim lands and the development of modern nation-states in the Muslim world.

Throughout, the impact of Islamic belief on scientific advancement, social structures, and cultural development is given due prominence, and the text is complemented by portraits of key personalities, inventions and little known historical nuggets. The history of Islam and of the world's Muslims brings together diverse peoples, geographies and states, all interwoven into one narrative that begins with Muhammad and continues to this day.]]> 217 Firas Alkhateeb 1849043973 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.43 2014 Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past
author: Firas Alkhateeb
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Sentence 56816904
Louise Erdrich's latest novel, The Sentence, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading with murderous attention, must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.

The Sentence begins on All Souls' Day 2019 and ends on All Souls' Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written]]> 387 Louise Erdrich 006267112X Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.92 2021 The Sentence
author: Louise Erdrich
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> No Middle Name 32969083
Contents:
* Too Much Time / Novella by Lee Child: finds Reacher in a hollowed-out town in Maine, where he witnesses a random bag-snatching but sees much more than a simple crime.
* Small Wars / Short story by Lee Child: back to 1989, when Reacher is an MP assigned to solve the brutal murder of a young officer found along an isolated forest road in Georgia, and whose killer may be hiding in plain sight.
* Not a Drill / Short story by Lee Child: Reacher tries to take some downtime, but a pleasant hike in Maine turns into a walk on the wild side, and perhaps something far more sinister.
* High Heat / Novella by Lee Child: time-hops to 1977, when Reacher is a teenager in sweltering New York City during a sudden blackout that awakens the dark side of the city that never sleeps.
* Second Son / Short story by Lee Child: Okinawa is the setting, which reveals the pivotal moment when young Reacher’s sharp “lizard brain� becomes just as important as his muscle.
* Deep Down / Reacher tracks down a spy by matching wits with four formidable females, three of whom are clean, but the fourth may prove fatal.
* Guy Walks into a Bar / Short story by Lee Child
* James Penney’s New Identity (2019) / Short story by Lee Child
* Everyone Talks / Short story by Lee Child
* The Picture of the Lonely Diner / Short story by Lee Child
* Maybe They Have a Tradition / Short story by Lee Child
* No Room at the Motel / Short story by Lee Child

.]]> 418 Lee Child 0399593578 Raqeeb 0 3.88 2017 No Middle Name
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The Sanctuary 58864255 In a disintegrating and increasingly lawless land, a young man is travelling north.

Ben is a young painter from the crowded, turbulent city. For six months his fiancée Cara has been living on the remote island of Sanctuary Rock, the property of millionaire philanthropist Sir John Pemberley. Now she has decided to break off their engagement and stay there for good.

Ben resolves to travel to the island to win Cara back. But the journey there is a harsh and challenging one, and when he does arrive, a terrible shock awaits him.

As Ben begins to find his way around Pemberley's perfect island, he knows he must also discover - what has made Cara so determined to throw her old life away? And is Sanctuary Rock truly a second Eden, as the mysterious Sir John claims - or a prospect of hell?

By the Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Last Day, this high-concept thriller will provoke and grip you from the very first page.]]> 400 Andrew Hunter Murray 1529151570 Raqeeb 4 3.47 2022 The Sanctuary
author: Andrew Hunter Murray
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/25
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Master Class 49878332

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state's elite schools. When her nine-year-old daughter bombs a monthly test and her Q score drops to a disastrously low level, she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal institution hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena thought she understood the tiered educational system, but as a mother whose child is now gone, Elena's perspective is changed forever. She just wants her daughter back.

And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.]]> 321 Christina Dalcher 0440000831 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.72 2020 Master Class
author: Christina Dalcher
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer]]> 31373633 A little book with a big heart!

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and Britt-Marie Was Here comes an exquisitely moving portrait of an elderly man’s struggle to hold on to his most precious memories, and his family’s efforts to care for him even as they must find a way to let go.

With all the same charm of his bestselling full-length novels, here Fredrik Backman once again reveals his unrivaled understanding of human nature and deep compassion for people in difficult circumstances. This is a tiny gem with a message you’ll treasure for a lifetime.]]> 97 Fredrik Backman 1501160575 Raqeeb 4 4.34 2015 And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/01
date added: 2023/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way]]> 35456798
Twenty years ago, author Brendon Burchard became obsessed with answering three

1.Why do some individuals and teams succeedmore quicklythan others andsustainthat success over the long term?

2.Of those who pull it off, why are somemiserableand others consistentlyhappyon their journey?

3.What motivates people to reach for higher levels of success in the first place, and what practices help them improve the most?

After extensive original research and a decade as the world’s leading high performance coach, Burchard found the answers. It turns out that just six deliberate habits give people the edge. Anyone can practice these habits and, when they do, extraordinary things happen in their lives, relationships, and careers.

Which habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being no matter your age, career, strengths, or personality? To become a high performer, you mustseek clarity,generate energy,raise necessity,increase productivity,develop influence, anddemonstrate courage. The art and science of how to do all this is what this book is about.

Whether you want to get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence, the habits in this book will help you achieve it faster. Each of the six habits is illustrated by powerful vignettes, cutting-edge science, thought-provoking exercises, and real-world daily practices you can implement right now.

If you’ve ever wanted a science-backed, heart-centered plan to living a better quality of life, it’s in your hands. Best of all, you can measure your progress. A link to a free professional assessment is included in the book.]]> 401 Brendon Burchard 140195314X Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.27 High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way
author: Brendon Burchard
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher, #22)]]> 33378951 So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.

The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher.

]]> 368 Lee Child 0399593489 Raqeeb 4 3.95 2017 The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher, #22)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/15
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> Holly 65916344 Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.� � BILL HODGES

Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.]]> 449 Stephen King 1668016133 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.01 2023 Holly
author: Stephen King
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We Are a Muslim, Please 7104424 288 Zaiba Malik 0434018473 Raqeeb 3 3.69 2010 We Are a Muslim, Please
author: Zaiba Malik
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/09
date added: 2023/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> Starling House 65213595 A grim and gothic new tale from author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can't stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.

Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland--and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.]]> 320 Alix E. Harrow 1250799058 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.77 2023 Starling House
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Night School (Jack Reacher, #21)]]> 28077464
Two other men are in the classroom—an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. Each is a first-rate operator, each is fresh off a big win, and each is wondering what the hell they are doing there.

Then they find out: A Jihadist sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has received an unexpected visitor—a Saudi courier, seeking safe haven while waiting to rendezvous with persons unknown. A CIA asset, undercover inside the cell, has overheard the courier whisper a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.�

For what? And who from? Reacher and his two new friends are told to find the American. Reacher recruits the best soldier he has ever worked with: Sergeant Frances Neagley. Their mission heats up in more ways than one, while always keeping their eyes on the prize: If they don’t get their man, the world will suffer an epic act of terrorism.

From Langley to Hamburg, Jalalabad to Kiev, Night School moves like a bullet through a treacherous landscape of double crosses, faked identities, and new and terrible enemies, as Reacher maneuvers inside the game and outside the law.

Listening Length: 13 hours and 7 minutes]]> 14 Lee Child 0804192979 Raqeeb 4 3.89 2016 Night School (Jack Reacher, #21)
author: Lee Child
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/03
date added: 2023/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Murder at the End of the World]]> 197307928
Outside the island there is the world destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the it is idyllic. 122 villagers and 3 scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And they learn the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay.

If the murder isn't solved within 92 hours, the fog will smother the island � and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer � and they don't even know it�

The outstanding new high concept murder mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling and Costa Book Award winning author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

An ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, an audacious solution.]]> 320 Stuart Turton 1526634953 Raqeeb 0 to-read 3.72 2024 The Last Murder at the End of the World
author: Stuart Turton
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity: The Million-Copy Bestseller]]> 74841232 - THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER -This is the ultimate manual for living better and longer.For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of ageing that kill most heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late, prolonging lifespan at the expense of quality of life. Dr Peter Attia, the world's top longevity expert who is featured on Chris Hemsworth's National Geographic documentary LIMITLESS, believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalised, proactive strategy for longevity.This isn't 'biohacking,' it's a well-founded strategic approach to extending lifespan while improving our physical, cognitive and emotional health, making each decade better than the one before. With Outlive's practical advice and roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.'One of the most important books you'll ever read.' - Steven D. Levitt, New York Times bestselling author of Freakonomics'Highlighters at the ready. This is jam packed with things you will wish you had known before. I devoured the audiobook and instantly bought a hard copy to keep on my desk' - Dr Julie Smith, bestselling author of Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before]]> 482 Peter Attia 1529910897 Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.53 2023 Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity: The Million-Copy Bestseller
author: Peter Attia
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History]]> 36173910 480 Ibn Khaldun Raqeeb 0 to-read 4.23 1377 The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History
author: Ibn Khaldun
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1377
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Secret History 29044 559 Donna Tartt 1400031702 Raqeeb 5 4.17 1992 The Secret History
author: Donna Tartt
name: Raqeeb
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/29
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]>