en-US Fri, 04 Oct 2024 11:45:48 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 59708993
The night after one of their own is tragically taken away from them, a group of five college friends form a pact: a promise to reunite every few years to throw each other "living funerals," constant reminders that life is worth living, if not for them then for their late friend.

Now, twenty-eight years into the hard-worn lines of adulthood, their "funerals" only remind them of all the opportunities they missed. But when one member of the old gang receives an unexpected diagnosis, the pact takes on new meaning, and each friend is forced to confront old secrets, and weigh their now-middle-age lives against the idealistic dreams of their youth.

A deeply honest tribute to selfhood and the people who keep us going, The Celebrants, coupled with Steven Rowley's signature humor and heart, is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth, and all the beautiful ways in which friendship can transcend our deepest losses.]]> 336 Steven Rowley 0593540441 Joseph 0 3.75 2023
author: Steven Rowley
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/06/16
date added: 2024/10/04
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]]> 22103881 The One Minute Manager® has helped millions achieve more successful professional and personal lives. While the principles it lays out are timeless, our world has changed drastically since the book’s publication. The exponential rise of technology, global flattening of markets, instant communication, and pressures on corporate workforces to do more with less—including resources, funding, and staff—have all revolutionized the world in which we live and work.

Now, Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson have written The New One Minute Manager to introduce the book’s powerful, important lessons to a new generation. In their concise, easy-to-read story, they teach readers three very practical secrets about leading others—and explain why these techniques continue to work so well.

As compelling today as the original was thirty years ago, this classic parable of a young man looking for an effective manager is more relevant and useful than ever.]]> 112 Kenneth H. Blanchard 0062367544 Joseph 5 3.76 1981
author: Kenneth H. Blanchard
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> 62952150
Holding Pattern. Noun.
1. A state of suspended progress.
2. The awkward way your mother tries to hug you now that you live with her.ĚýAgain.

Kathleen Cheng has blown up her life. She’s gone through a humiliating breakup, dropped out of her graduate program, and left everything behind. Now she’s back in her childhood home in Oakland, wondering what’s next.

To her surprise, her mother isn’t the same person Kathleen remembers. No longer depressed or desperate to return to China, the new Marissa Cheng is sporty, perky, and has been transformed by love. Kathleen thought she’d be planning her own wedding, but instead finds herself helping her mother plan hers—to a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur.

Grasping for direction, Kathleen takes a job at a start-up that specializes in an unconventional form of therapy based on touch. While she negotiates new ideas about intimacy and connection, an unforeseen attachment to someone at work pushes her to rethink her relationships—especially the one with Marissa. Will they succeed in seeing each other anew, adult to adult?

As they peel back the layers of their history—the old wounds, cultural barriers, and complex affection—they must come to a new understanding of how they can propel each other forward, and what they’ve done to hold each other back. Brilliantly observant, tender, and warm, Holding Pattern is a hopeful novel about immigration and belonging, mother-daughter relationships, and the many ways we learn to hold each other.]]> 288 Jenny Xie 0593539702 Joseph 4 3.13 2023
author: Jenny Xie
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves:
review:
Inside of this book is a familiar, yet different, world where Kathleen moves back home and takes a gig job as a professional cuddler. With a good handle on various cuddling positions, I was surprised at the comfort and familiarity of the narrative � the lingering desire to know those around us better and finding the answers to questions we’ve never thought to ask, because we thought we knew.
]]> 181350367 For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate.... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?

As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.]]> 358 Kristen Perrin 0593474015 Joseph 4 3.77 2024
author: Kristen Perrin
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
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]]> 197511201 Patrick O'Hara is called back to his guncle duties . . . This time for a big family wedding in Italy.

Patrick O’Hara is back. It’s been five years since his summer as his niece Maisie and nephew Grant’s caretaker after their mother’s passing. The kids are back in Connecticut with their dad, and Patrick has relocated to New York to remain close by and relaunch his dormant acting career. After the run of his second successful sit-com comes to a close, Patrick feels on top of the world . . . professionally. But some things have had to take a back seat. Looking down both barrels at fifty, Patrick is single again after breaking things off with Emory. But at least he has a family to lean on. Until that family needs to again lean on him.

When Patrick's brother, Greg, announces he’s getting remarried in Italy, Maisie and Grant are not thrilled. Patrick feels drawn to take the two back under his wing. As they travel through Europe on their way to the wedding, Patrick tries his best to help them understand love, much as he once helped them comprehend grief. But when they arrive in Italy, Patrick is overextended managing a groom with cold feet; his sister, Clara, flirting with guests left and right; a growing rivalry with the kids� charming soon-to-be-launt (lesbian aunt), and two moody young teens trying to adjust to a new normal, all culminating in a disastrous rehearsal dinner.

Can Patrick save the day? Will teaching the kids about love help him repair his own love life? Can the change of scenery help Patrick come to terms with finally growing up?

Gracing the work with his signature blend of humor and heart, Steven Rowley charms with a beloved story about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty.]]> 320 Steven Rowley 0593540468 Joseph 3 3.90 2024
author: Steven Rowley
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves:
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A sweet sequel, perhaps too sweet. I felt this book was a departure from previous books by Steven. If you’re searching for another grief read with sharp humor, this book will disappoint you. If you’re seeking an uplifting rom-com-esque sequel to The Guncle� this is it.
]]> 194803835 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441281 Joseph 4 4.17 2024
author: Emily Henry
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/06/10
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This was better for me than last years books, a predictably fun summer read.
]]> 127482608
It's 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie's starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardised by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks and illicit intrigue.

A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption and reckless abandon, Come and Get It is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior.]]> 400 Kiley Reid 0593328205 Joseph 0 3.32 2024
author: Kiley Reid
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> 123206645 A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder � from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient.

This is a tale of murder.

Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time � it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse � a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

But who am I?

My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.]]> 298 Alex Michaelides 125075898X Joseph 4 3.34 2024
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> 167006698
The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:

the debut writer (me!)

the forensic science writer

the blockbuster writer

the legal thriller writer

the literary writer

the psychological suspense writer

But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

Of course, we should also know how to commit one.

How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?]]> 320 Benjamin Stevenson 006327907X Joseph 4 3.81 2023
author: Benjamin Stevenson
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> 50998056
From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined.

Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come.

Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us—and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.

It is a novel both immediate and impactful, desperate and hopeful in equal measure, and it is one of the most powerful and original books on climate change ever written.]]> 563 Kim Stanley Robinson 0316300136 Joseph 4 3.84 2020
author: Kim Stanley Robinson
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> 58841040 With timeless advice, up-to-the-minute insights, and more than ten million copies sold over fifty years, the world’s most popular and best-selling career guideĚýisĚýfully revised and expanded for 2022. Ěý “One of the first job-hunting books on the market. ItĚýisĚýstill arguably the best. And itĚýis indisputably the most popular.”—Fast CompanyWhat Color Is Your Parachute? is the world’s most popular job-hunting guide. This completely updated edition features the latest resources, strategies, and perspectives on today’s job market, revealing surprising advice on what works—and what doesn’t—so you can focus your efforts on tactics that yield results.ĚýAt its core is Richard N. Bolles’s famed Flower Exercise, a unique self-inventory that helps you design your career—and your life—around your key passions, transferable skills, traits, and more.ĚýThis practical manual also provides essential tips for writing impressive resumes and cover letters, networking effectively, interviewing with confidence, and negotiating the best salary possible.ĚýWhether you’re searching for your first job, were recently laid off, or are dreaming of a career change, What Color Is Your Parachute? will guide you toward a fulfilling and prosperous life’s work.]]> 346 Richard Nelson Bolles 1984860364 Joseph 4 3.84 1970
author: Richard Nelson Bolles
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1970
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 60021216 In theĚýfollow-up to the best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Less, the awkward and lovable Arthur Less returns in an unforgettable road trip across America.

“Go get lost somewhere, it always does you good.�

For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US.

Less roves across the “Mild Mild West,”ĚýthroughĚýthe South and to his mid-Atlantic birthplace, with an ever-changing posse of writerly characters and his trusty duo â€� a human-like black pug, Dolly, and a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina. He grows a handlebar mustache, ditches his signature gray suit, and disguises himself in the bolero-and-cowboy-hatĚýcostume of a true “Unitedstatesianâ€�... with varying levels of success, as he continues to be mistaken for either a Dutchman, the wrong writer, or, worst of all, a “bad gay.â€�

We cannot, however, escape ourselves—even across deserts,Ěýbayous,Ěýand coastlines.ĚýFrom his estranged father and strained relationship with Freddy, to the reckoning he experiences in confronting his privilege, Arthur Less must eventually face his personal demons. With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book,ĚýLess IsĚýLostĚýis a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life in America, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way.]]> 272 Andrew Sean Greer 0316498904 Joseph 4 3.64 2022
author: Andrew Sean Greer
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/12/03
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]]> 58978299
Buried in debt due to his young daughter’s illness, his marriage at the brink, Mario reluctantly takes a job as a hitman, surprising himself with his proclivity for violence. After tragedy destroys the life he knew, Mario agrees to one final job: hijack a cartel’s cash shipment before it reaches Mexico. Along with an old friend and a cartel-insider named Juanca, Mario sets off on the near-suicidal mission, which will leave him with either a cool $200,000 or a bullet in the skull. But the path to reward or ruin is never as straight as it seems. As the three complicated men travel through the endless landscape of Texas, across the border and back, their hidden motivations are laid bare alongside nightmarish encounters that defy explanation. One thing is certain: even if Mario makes it out alive, he won’t return the same.

The Devil Takes You Home is a panoramic odyssey for fans of S.A. Cosby’s southern noir, Blacktop Wasteland, by way of the boundary-defying storytelling of Stephen Graham Jones and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: NPR, Harper's Bazaar, Chicago Tribune, Vulture, Oprah Daily, CrimeReads, The Millions, and many more!

An Edgar Award Finalist � A Bram Stoker Award Winner � A Shirley Jackson Award Winner � A Book of the Month Club Pick � An August Indie Next List Selection � An ABA Indie Bestseller]]> 320 Gabino Iglesias 0316426911 Joseph 3 3.65 2022
author: Gabino Iglesias
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/28
date added: 2023/10/28
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]]> 139630254 Naked, Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview—a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable. A tart-tongued mother does dead-on imitations of her young son's nervous tics, to the great amusement of his teachers; a stint of Kerouackian wandering is undertaken (of course!) with a quadriplegic companion; a family gathers for a wedding in the face of imminent death. Through it all is Sedaris's unmistakable voice, without doubt one of the freshest in American writing.]]> 0 David Sedaris Joseph 0 to-read 3.88 1997
author: David Sedaris
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61913612 When two best men in a wedding party fall for each other, they realize love isn't a piece of cake in this hilarious and heartfelt romantic comedy debut by screenwriter Sidney Karger.

Max Moody thought he had everything figured out. He's trying to live his best life in New York City and has the best friend a gay guy could ask for: Paige. She and Max grew up next door to each other in the suburbs of Chicago. She can light up any party. She finishes his sentences. She's always a reliable splunch (they don't like to use the word brunch) partner. But then Max's whole world is turned upside down when Paige suddenly announces some huge news: she's engaged and wants Max to be her man of honor. Max was always the romantic one who imagined he would get married before the unpredictable Paige and is shocked to hear she's ready to settle down. But it turns out there's not just one new man in Paige's life--there are two.

There's the groom, Austin, who's a perfectly nice guy. Then there's his charming, fun and ridiculously handsome gay younger brother, Chasten, who is Austin's best man. As Paige's wedding draws closer, Max, the introverted Midwesterner, and Chasten, the social butterfly East Coaster, realize they're like oil and water. Yet they still have to figure out how to coexist in Paige's life while not making her wedding festivities all about them. But can the tiny romantic spark between these two very different guys transform their best man supporting roles into the leading best men in each other's lives?]]> 341 Sidney Karger 0593439481 Joseph 4 3.30 2023
author: Sidney Karger
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/22
date added: 2023/09/22
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]]> 701724
Washington, D.C., in the early 1950 a world of bare-knuckled ideology, hard drinking, and secret dossiers, dominated by such outsized characters as Richard Nixon, Drew Pearson, Perle Mesta, and Joe McCarthy. Into this fevered city steps Timothy Laughlin, a recent Fordham graduate and devout Catholic eager to join the crusade against Communism. A chance encounter with a handsome, profligate State Department official, Hawkins Fuller, leads to Tim’s first job in D.C. and–after Fuller’s advances–his first love affair. Now, as McCarthy mounts an increasingly desperate bid for power and internal investigations focus on “sexual subversives� in the government, Tim and Fuller find it ever more dangerous to navigate their double lives. Drawn into a maelstrom of deceit and intrigue, and clinging to the friendship of a beautiful young woman named Mary Johnson, Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions, his love for God, and his love for Fuller–an entanglement that will end in a stunning act of betrayal.

Moving between the Senate Office Building and the Washington Evening Star , the diplomatic world of Foggy Bottom and NATO’s front line in Europe, Fellow Travelers is energized by high political drama, unexpected humor, and genuine heartbreak. It is Thomas Mallon’s most accomplished and daring novel to date.]]> 356 Thomas Mallon 0375423486 Joseph 4 3.55 2007
author: Thomas Mallon
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/22
date added: 2023/09/22
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]]> 61193944
Where does one go, you might ask, when the world falls apart? When the immutable facts of your life—the mundane, the trivial, the take-for-granted minutiae that once filled every second of every day—suddenly disappear? Where does one go in such dire and unexpected circumstances?

I went home, of course.

MURBRIDGE COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARD

FREE: 500 cans of corn. Accidentally ordered them online. I really hate corn. Happy to help load.

REMINDER: use your own goddamn garbage can for your own goddamn pet waste. I’m looking at you Peter Luflin.

REMINDER: monthly Select Board meeting this Friday. Agenda items: 1) sludge removal; 2) upkeep of chime tower; 3) ice rink monitor thank you gift. Questions? Contact Hildegard Hyman.

Darcy Clipper, prodigal daughter, nearly thirty, has returned home to Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her life takes an unwelcome left turn. Murbridge, Darcy is convinced, will welcome her home and provide a safe space in which she can nurse her wounds and harbor grudges, both real and imagined.

But Murbridge, like so much else Darcy thought to be fixed and immutable, has changed. And while Darcy’s first instinct might be to hole herself up in her childhood bedroom, subsisting on Chef Boy-R-Dee and canned chickpeas, it is human nature to do two things: seek out meaningful human connection and respond to anonymous internet postings. As Murbridge begins to take shape around Darcy, both online and in person, Darcy will consider the most fundamental of American questions: What can she ask of her community? And what does she owe it in return?]]> 272 Tara Conklin 0062959379 Joseph 0 to-read 3.32 2023
author: Tara Conklin
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> 62075486 From the New York Times bestselling author of Cold Mountain and Varina, a stunning new novel that paints a vivid portrait of life in the Great Depression

Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he's landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office.

A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch. Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper--and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives.

One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down. Journeying from ramshackle Hoovervilles to San Francisco nightclubs to the swamps of Florida, Val's search for Eve narrows, and he soon turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.

In The Trackers, singular American writer Charles Frazier conjures up the lives of everyday people during an extraordinary period of history that bears uncanny resemblance to our own. With the keen perceptions of humanity and transcendent storytelling that have made him beloved for decades, Frazier has created a powerful and timeless new classic.]]> 384 Charles Frazier 0062948105 Joseph 0 to-read 4.00 2023
author: Charles Frazier
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> 298753 128 Gary Indiana 1852423242 Joseph 4 3.60 1993
author: Gary Indiana
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/28
date added: 2023/08/28
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]]> 61053829
But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn't as much of an outsider at Granby as she'd thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.]]> 438 Rebecca Makkai 0593490142 Joseph 4 mother-son-bookclub 3.57 2023
author: Rebecca Makkai
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/31
date added: 2023/08/07
shelves: mother-son-bookclub
review:

]]> 62971668 A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances, this is the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You and The Giver of Stars.

Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.

That’s because Sam Kemp � in the bleakest point of her life � has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag--she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.

Full of Jojo Moyes� signature humor, brilliant storytelling, and warmth, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.]]> 438 Jojo Moyes 1984879294 Joseph 2 mother-son-bookclub 3.88 2023
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/08/07
date added: 2023/08/07
shelves: mother-son-bookclub
review:

]]> 22237161
Born in the "agrarian ghetto" of Dickens―on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles―the narrator of The Sellout resigns himself to the fate of lower-middle-class Californians: "I'd die in the same bedroom I'd grown up in, looking up at the cracks in the stucco ceiling that've been there since '68 quake." Raised by a single father, a controversial sociologist, he spent his childhood as the subject in racially charged psychological studies. He is led to believe that his father's pioneering work will result in a memoir that will solve his family's financial woes. But when his father is killed in a police shoot-out, he realizes there never was a memoir. All that's left is the bill for a drive-thru funeral.

Fueled by this deceit and the general disrepair of his hometown, the narrator sets out to right another wrong: Dickens has literally been removed from the map to save California from further embarrassment. Enlisting the help of the town's most famous resident―the last surviving Little Rascal, Hominy Jenkins―he initiates the most outrageous action conceivable: reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school, which lands him in the Supreme Court.]]> 289 Paul Beatty 0374260508 Joseph 4 3.75 2015
author: Paul Beatty
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/30
date added: 2023/06/30
shelves:
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]]> 44594871 Amaryllis Fox's riveting memoir tells the story of her ten years in the most elite clandestine ops unit of the CIA, hunting the world's most dangerous terrorists in sixteen countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughter

Amaryllis Fox was in her last year as an undergraduate at Oxford studying theology and international law when her writing mentor Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded. Galvanized by this brutality, Fox applied to a master's program in conflict and terrorism at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, where she created an algorithm that predicted, with uncanny certainty, the likelihood of a terrorist cell arising in any village around the world. At twenty-one, she was recruited by the CIA. Her first assignment was reading and analyzing hundreds of classified cables a day from foreign governments and synthesizing them into daily briefs for the president. Her next assignment was at the Iraq desk in the Counterterrorism center. At twenty-two, she was fast-tracked into advanced operations training, sent from Langley to "the Farm," where she lived for six months in a simulated world learning how to use a Glock, how to get out of flexicuffs while locked in the trunk of a car, how to withstand torture, and the best ways to commit suicide in case of captivity. At the end of this training she was deployed as a spy under non-official cover--the most difficult and coveted job in the field as an art dealer specializing in tribal and indigenous art and sent to infiltrate terrorist networks in remote areas of the Middle East and Asia.
Life Undercover is exhilarating, intimate, fiercely intelligent--an impossible to put down record of an extraordinary life, and of Amaryllis Fox's astonishing courage and passion.]]> 256 Amaryllis Fox Joseph 3 4.02 2019
author: Amaryllis Fox
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/22
date added: 2023/06/22
shelves:
review:
The ending leaves me wanting more of a conclusion. Amaryllis touched on a few of the possible themes to end the memoir, but so lightly that I felt the story lead... no where.
]]> 58999261
In Time Shelter, an enigmatic flâneur named Gaustine opens a “clinic for the past� that offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time. As Gaustine’s assistant, the unnamed narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to scents and even afternoon light. But as the rooms become more convincing, an increasing number of healthy people seek out the clinic as a “time shelter”—a development that results in an unexpected conundrum when the past begins to invade the present. Intricately crafted, and eloquently translated by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter announces Gospodinov to American readers as an essential voice in international literature.]]> 304 Georgi Gospodinov 1324090952 Joseph 0 to-read 3.59 2020
author: Georgi Gospodinov
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61718053
They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends� hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week� in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441273 Joseph 3 3.95 2023
author: Emily Henry
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/13
date added: 2023/06/16
shelves:
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]]> 52867387 A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really.]]> 400 Emily Henry 1984806734 Joseph 4 3.98 2020
author: Emily Henry
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/06/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 58690308 One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming....

Nora Stephens� life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters� trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.]]> 377 Emily Henry 0593334833 Joseph 4 4.09 2022
author: Emily Henry
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/06/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 54985743 Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows without a doubt it was on that ill-fated final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?]]> 364 Emily Henry 1984806750 Joseph 4 3.85 2021
author: Emily Henry
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/06/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 32920228 The Art of Racing in the Rain with the magical spirit of The Life of Pi, Lily and the Octopus is an epic adventure of the heart.

When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride.

The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details. We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without.

For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog. Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

Remember the last book you told someone they had to read? Lily and the Octopus is the next one.]]> 336 Steven Rowley 1501126237 Joseph 3 3.81 2016
author: Steven Rowley
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/07
date added: 2023/06/07
shelves:
review:
I've liked other books by Steven Rowley better, the mechanism of the octopus was confusing for me and a bit more on the unrealistic side of things. It was hard to determine which parts were literary devices and which were meant to be taken more realistically.
]]> 62365905 Casey McQuiston meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this mid-century romdram about a scrappy reporter and a newspaper mogul's son--perfect for Newsies shippers.

Nick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to a reporting job at one of the city's biggest newspapers. But the late 1950s are a hostile time for gay men, and Nick knows that he can't let anyone into his life. He just never counted on meeting someone as impossible to say no to as Andy.

Andy Fleming's newspaper-tycoon father wants him to take over the family business. Andy, though, has no intention of running the paper. He's barely able to run his life--he's never paid a bill on time, routinely gets lost on the way to work, and would rather gouge out his own eyes than deal with office politics. Andy agrees to work for a year in the newsroom, knowing he'll make an ass of himself and hate every second of it.

Except, Nick Russo keeps rescuing Andy: showing him the ropes, tracking down his keys, freeing his tie when it gets stuck in the ancient filing cabinets. Their unlikely friendship soon sharpens into feelings they can't deny. But what feels possible in secret--this fragile, tender thing between them--seems doomed in the light of day. Now Nick and Andy have to decide if, for the first time, they're willing to fight.]]> 384 Cat Sebastian 0063272768 Joseph 0 in-consideration, gay 4.24 2023
author: Cat Sebastian
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/05
shelves: in-consideration, gay
review:

]]> 62593654 After the untimely death of her outgoing, hugely successful influencer sister, an introverted woman takes on the terrifying challenge of completing her sister’s bucket list as the world watches, in a bid to save her family—and others—from the crippling medical debt her cancer battle left behind.

My dying wish is for you to finish my bucket list. I refuse to die without knowing this list will be completed. And I refuse to die without knowing my family will be okay . . .

Jodie Boyd is a shy and anxious twenty-something, completely unsure what to do with her life. Her older sister, Bree, is an adventurous, globe-trotting, hugely successful Instagram influencer with more than a million followers. She’s the most alive person Jodie knows—up until Bree’s unfathomable, untimely death from Leukemia. The Boyds are devastated, not to mention overwhelmed with medical debt. But Bree thought of everything—and soon, Jodie is shocked by a new post on her sister’s Instagram feed.

The first of many Bree recorded in secret, the post foretells a jaw-dropping challenge for Jodie: to complete Bree’s very public bucket list. From “Fly over Antarctica,� to “Perform a walk-on cameo in a Broadway musical,� if Jodie does it—and keeps all Bree’s followers—a corporate sponsor will pay off the staggering medical debt. If she gains followers, the Boyds won’t be the only ones to benefit. It’s crazy. It’s terrifying. It’s impossible, immoral even, to refuse. So, despite the whole world watching, Jodie plunges in, never imagining that in death, her sister will teach her how to live, and that the last item on the list—“Fall in love”—may just prove to be the easiest.]]> 400 Amy T. Matthews 1496742087 Joseph 0 in-consideration 3.93 2023
author: Amy T. Matthews
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/05
shelves: in-consideration
review:

]]> 63140655
“Filled with no-fuss recipes perfect for quick and easy baking projects . . . blissfully effortless.”� People
Ěý
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED COOKBOOKS OF 2023: People, HuffPost, Delish, Tasting Table
Ěý
Casual, effortless, These are not words you’d use to describe most desserts. But before Alison Roman made recipes so perfect that they go by one name—The Cookie, The Pasta, The Lemon Cake—she was a restaurant pastry chef who spent most of her time learning to make things the hard way. She studied flavor, technique, and precision, then distilled her knowledge to pare it all down to create dessert recipes that feel special and approachable, impressive and doable. In Sweet Enough , Alison has writtenĚýtheĚýbook for people who think they don’t have the time or skill to pull off dessert. Here, the desserts you want to make right away, youĚýcanĚýmake right away.Ěý

Alison shows you how to make simple yet sublime sweets with her trademark casualness, like how to make jam in the oven, then turn that jam into a dessert—swirled into ice cream or folded into easy one-bowl cake batter. (Opening a jar of jam is more than fine, too.) She waxes poetic on the virtues of frozen fruit and teaches you the best way to throw your own Sundae Party. There are effortless cakes that take just minutes to get into a pan. And there are new, instant classics with a signature Alison twist, like Salted Lemon Pie, Raspberries and Sour Cream, Toasted Rice Pudding, or a Caramelized Maple Tart. Requiring little more than your own two hands and a few mixing bowls, the recipes are geared towards those without fancy equipment or specialty ingredients.

Whether you’re a dedicated baker or, better yet, someone who doesn’t think they are a baker, Sweet Enough lets you finish any dinner, any party, or any car ride to a dinner party with a little something wonderful and sweet.]]> 304 Alison Roman 1984826395 Joseph 0 4.33
author: Alison Roman
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 62883436 Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights in this keenly felt coming-of-age story about a teen hometown hero who must find out who he is outside of basketball when his coming out as gay costs him his popularity and place on the team.

In his small Georgia town, Barclay Elliot is basically a legend. Here basketball is all that matters, and no one has a bigger spotlight than Barclay. Until he decides to use the biggest pep rally in the town’s history to come out to his school. And things change. Quickly.

Barclay is faced with hostility he never expected. Suddenly he is at odds with his own team, and he doesn’t even have his grandfather to turn to the way he used to. But who is Barclay if he doesn’t have basketball?

His best friend, Amy, thinks she knows. She drags him to her voting rights group, believing Barclay can find a bigger purpose. And he does, but he also finds Christopher. Aggravating, fearless, undeniably handsome Christopher. He and Barclay have never been each other’s biggest fans, but as Barclay starts to explore parts of himself he’s been hiding away, they find they might have much more in common than they originally thought.

As sparks turn into something more, though, Barclay has to decide if he’s ready to confront the privilege and popularity that have shielded him his entire life. Can he take a real shot at the love he was fighting for in the first place?]]> 272 Sean Hayes 1534492623 Joseph 0 to-read 3.58 2023
author: Sean Hayes
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60372346 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A gripping, complexly plotted thriller set within the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court, where a young law clerk finds herself embroiled in a shocking mystery crafted by one of the most preeminent judges in America--from celebrated national leader and bestselling author Stacey Abrams.

"Abrams follows in Dan Brown's footprint with this masterfully plotted thriller that unfolds like the ultimate chess match--bold move to bolder move with lives hanging in the balance."--Lisa Gardner, author of Before She Disappeared

"A first-class legal thriller, favorably compared to many of the best, starting with The Pelican Brief, which it brings to mind. It's fast-paced and full of surprises--a terrific read."--Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent

Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together--excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn--the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases--has slipped into a coma, Avery's life turns upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery finds that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court--a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field. She also discovers that Wynn suspected a dangerously related conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington.

As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chesslike sequence of clues left behind by Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realizes his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm's way in order to find the truth. While Justice Sleeps is a cunningly crafted, sophisticated novel, layered with myriad twists and a vibrant cast of characters. Drawing on her astute inside knowledge of the court and political landscape, Stacey Abrams shows herself to be not only a force for good in politics and voter fairness but also a major new talent in suspense fiction.]]> 480 Stacey Abrams 0593310934 Joseph 0 to-read 3.80 2021
author: Stacey Abrams
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62687857 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 724 Abraham Verghese Joseph 0 to-read 4.42 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 88563638
Chase Myles can throw together a swinging dinner party or redecorate an entire townhouse with jaw-dropping elegance. Followers scroll his Insta and see effortless workouts, exotic travel, and an adoring boyfriend. The world believes Chase is a style icon. The world is mistaken.

Ethan Wells is actually the one who knows what to wear, what to eat and how to do it but he’s happy staying behind the scenes producing their hit LGBTQ show Myles of Style. When Chase walks off set just before the Pride live TV show that will make or break Ethan’s career, Ethan thinks it’s just another tantrum� until Chase’s Instagram shows him partying hard in Abu Dhabi.

Out of options, Ethan drives up to rural New York to convince Chase’s estranged twin, Beau, to pass him off as Chase for a week, but Ethan finds a hairy, rugged mountain man who couldn’t be more different from his social butterfly, influencer brother.

Can Ethan transform Beau into the star of the show and fool his bosses and Chase’s followers? And when Beau turns out to be kind, romantic and everything that Chase is not, does he really want Chase back, anyway?

A gorgeously uplifting queer romance that is a love letter to NYC, featuring a fake-fake boyfriend, opposites attract and a vintage convertible full of elderly drag queens, don’t miss the feelgood read of 2023! Fans of Casey McQuiston, Boyfriend Material and Beth O’Leary will love this.]]> 336 Philip William Stover 1804363294 Joseph 0 to-read 3.41 2023
author: Philip William Stover
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123018721 WINNER of the Pulitzer Prize
The Sunday Times Bestseller
Best Books of 2022 pick - New York Times, Obama, TIME, Slate, Oprah Daily, Kirkus, LA Times, EW, Sarah Jessica Parker

Read by a full cast of narrators, Trust by Hernan Diaz is a sweeping, unpredictable novel about power, wealth and truth, set against the backdrop of turbulent 1920s New York. Perfect for fans of Succession.

Can one person change the course of history?

A Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. But now a novelist is threatening to reveal the secrets behind their marriage, and this wealthy man’s story - of greed, love and betrayal - is about to slip from his grasp.

Composed of four competing versions of this deliciously deceptive tale, Trust brings us on a quest for truth while confronting the lies that often live buried in the human heart.

'One of the great puzzle-box novels, it’s the cleverest of conceits, wrapped up in a page-turner' � Telegraph

'Genius' � Lauren Groff, author of Matrix]]> 416 Hernan Diaz 0593420322 Joseph 0 to-read 3.84 2022
author: Hernan Diaz
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 30531895 New York Times Bestseller

Embrace Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) and become happier with this definitive guide to the Danish philosophy of comfort, togetherness, and well-being.

Why are Danes the happiest people in the world? The answer, says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, is Hygge. Loosely translated, Hygge—pronounced Hoo-ga—is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. "Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience," Wiking explains. "It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe."

Hygge is the sensation you get when you’re cuddled up on a sofa, in cozy socks under a soft throw, during a storm. It’s that feeling when you’re sharing comfort food and easy conversation with loved ones at a candlelit table. It is the warmth of morning light shining just right on a crisp blue-sky day.

The Little Book of Hygge introduces you to this cornerstone of Danish life, and offers advice and ideas on incorporating it into your own life, such as:


Get comfy. Take a break.
Be here now. Turn off the phones.
Turn down the lights. Bring out the candles.
Build relationships. Spend time with your tribe.
Give yourself a break from the demands of healthy living. Cake is most definitely Hygge.
Live life today, like there is no coffee tomorrow.
From picking the right lighting to organizing a Hygge get-together to dressing hygge, Wiking shows you how to experience more joy and contentment the Danish way.]]> 225 Meik Wiking 0062658808 Joseph 0 shelved 3.96 2016
author: Meik Wiking
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: shelved
review:

]]> 62337366
Manuel Betancourt has long lustfully coveted masculinity—in part because he so lacked it. As a child in Bogotá, Colombia, he grew up with the social pressure to appear strong, manly, and, ultimately, straight. And yet in the films and television he avidly watched, Betancourt saw glimmers of different possibilities. From the stars of telenovelas and the princes of Disney films to pop sensation Ricky Martin and teen heartthrobs in shows like Saved By the Bell, he continually found himself asking: Do I want him or do I want to be him?

The Male Gazed grapples with the thrall of masculinity, examining its frailty and its attendant anxieties even as it focuses on its erotic potential. Masculinity, Betancourt suggests, isn’t suddenly ripe for deconstruction—or even outright destruction—amid so much talk about its inherent toxicity. Looking back over decades� worth of pop culture’s attempts to codify and reframe what men can be, wear, do, and desire, this book establishes that to gaze at men is still a subversive act.

Written in the spirit of Hanif Abdurraqib and Olivia Laing, The Male Gazed mingles personal anecdotes with cultural criticism to offer an exploration of intimacy, homoeroticism, and the danger of internalizing too many toxic ideas about masculinity as a gay man.]]> 208 Manuel Betancourt 164622146X Joseph 0 shelved 3.50 2023
author: Manuel Betancourt
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: shelved
review:

]]> 42360869 416 Lisa Brennan-Jobs 0802147216 Joseph 0 shelved 3.79 2018
author: Lisa Brennan-Jobs
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: shelved
review:

]]> 40404801 A follow-up to Matt Haig's internationally bestselling memoir, Reasons to Stay Alive, a broader look at how modern life feeds our anxiety, and how to live a better life.

The societies we live in are increasingly making our minds ill, making it feel as though the way we live is engineered to make us unhappy. When Matt Haig developed panic disorder, anxiety, and depression as an adult, it took him a long time to work out the ways the external world could impact his mental health in both positive and negative ways. Notes on a Nervous Planet collects his observations, taking a look at how the various social, commercial and technological "advancements" that have created the world we now live in can actually hinder our happiness. Haig examines everything from broader phenomena like inequality, social media, and the news; to things closer to our daily lives, like how we sleep, how we exercise, and even the distinction we draw between our minds and our bodies.]]> 288 Matt Haig 014313342X Joseph 3 shelved 3.94 2018
author: Matt Haig
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: shelved
review:

]]> 25733573 Matt Haig’s accessible and life-affirming memoir of his struggle with depression, and how his triumph over the illness taught him to live.

Like nearly one in five people, Matt Haig suffers from depression. Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt’s inspiring account of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend (and now-wife), Andrea. And eventually, he learned to appreciate life all the more for it.

Everyone’s lives are touched by mental illness: if we do not suffer from it ourselves, then we have a friend or loved one who does. Matt’s frankness about his experiences is both inspiring to those who feel daunted by depression and illuminating to those who are mystified by it. Above all, his humor and encouragement never let us lose sight of hope. Speaking as his present self to his former self in the depths of depression, Matt is adamant that the oldest cliché is the truest—there is light at the end of the tunnel. He teaches us to celebrate the small joys and moments of peace that life brings, and reminds us that there are always reasons to stay alive.]]> 256 Matt Haig 0143128728 Joseph 3 shelved 4.04 2015
author: Matt Haig
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: shelved
review:

]]> 36952569 The Nest, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? or dare I say a little book you might be a fan of, Crazy Rich Asians."
� Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians

"Sinfully good."
� Elin Hilderbrand

Entertainment Weekly's Summer Must-Read

A Publishers Weekly BEST SUMMER BOOKS, 2017

New York Post Best Books of Summer

Redbook's 10 Books You Have To Read This Summer

"The summer’s most compelling fictional exploration of affluence and envy. Like all the best beach reads, it eats the rich like so many frozen grapes."
� Bloomberg Businessweek

Relationships are awful. They'll kill you, right up to the point where they start saving your life.

Paul and Alice’s half-sister Eloise is getting married! In London! There will be fancy hotels, dinners at “it� restaurants and a reception at a country estate complete with tea lights and embroidered cloth napkins.

They couldn’t hate it more.

The People We Hate at the Wedding is the story of a less than perfect family. Donna, the clan’s mother, is now a widow living in the Chicago suburbs with a penchant for the occasional joint and more than one glass of wine with her best friend while watching House Hunters International. Alice is in her thirties, single, smart, beautiful, stuck in a dead-end job where she is mired in a rather predictable, though enjoyable, affair with her married boss. Her brother Paul lives in Philadelphia with his older, handsomer, tenured track professor boyfriend who’s recently been saying things like “monogamy is an oppressive heteronormative construct,� while eyeing undergrads. And then there’s Eloise. Perfect, gorgeous, cultured Eloise. The product of Donna’s first marriage to a dashing Frenchman, Eloise has spent her school years at the best private boarding schools, her winter holidays in St. John and a post-college life cushioned by a fat, endless trust fund. To top it off, she’s infuriatingly kind and decent.

As this estranged clan gathers together, and Eloise's walk down the aisle approaches, Grant Ginder brings to vivid, hilarious life the power of family, and the complicated ways we hate the ones we love the most in the most bitingly funny, slyly witty and surprisingly tender novel you’ll read this year.]]> 334 Grant Ginder 1250095220 Joseph 0 shelved 2.85 2017
author: Grant Ginder
name: Joseph
average rating: 2.85
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> 36373576
Lauded for its breathtaking pace, its tender portrayals, its stark candor, and its luminous style, Survival Math reveals on every page the searching intellect and originality of its author. The primary narrative, focused on understanding the antecedents of Jackson’s family’s experiences, is complemented by poems composed from historical American documents as well as survivor files, which feature photographs and riveting short narratives of several of Jackson’s male relatives. The sum of Survival Math’s parts is a highly original whole, one that reflects on the exigencies--over generations--that have shaped the lives of so many disenfranchised Americans. As essential as it is beautiful, as real as it is artful, Mitchell S. Jackson’s nonfiction debut is a singular achievement, not to be missed.]]> 336 Mitchell S. Jackson 1501131702 Joseph 0 shelved 3.76 2019
author: Mitchell S. Jackson
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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shelves: shelved
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]]> 34536488 Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.

In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.� It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success.

In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth� and “radical transparency,� include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards� for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.

Here is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.]]> 16 Ray Dalio 1508243247 Joseph 0 shelved 4.09 2017
author: Ray Dalio
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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shelves: shelved
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]]> 62052311 An honest, inspiring, and laugh-out-loud funny memoir about re-energizing our politics and standing up to corporate America--while carting three kids around in a minivan.

Never having run for office before, Katie Porter charted a new path in 2018 when she was elected to Congress as a Democrat in historically conservative Orange County, California. Underestimated as a single mom and chided for her progressive values, Katie defied expectations. Then, using her signature whiteboard, she began to take CEOs and corrupt government officials to task in Congressional hearings. The videos went viral, introducing Americans to her no-bullshit style, and making her a coveted guest on cable news and late-night television.

I SWEAR: Politics Is a Bigger Mess Than My Minivan is a witty, down-to-earth exploration of what it's really like to serve in Congress, particularly as a single mom. Katie offers Americans a clear picture of what their elected leaders are doing--and how they're doing it--exposing the gaps between politicians' press conferences and real people's lives.

Katie reveals how her challenges as an Iowa farmgirl diverted her to the Ivy League and how she came to see herself as a Californian, teaching law and raising three kids in Orange County. She shares why she made the jump from academia to politics and how she quickly mastered the art of making CEOs and cabinet members squirm when they bluff and bloviate instead of doing the job for America.

With the same clarity she demonstrates in Congressional hearings, Katie makes the case for consumer protection, corporate accountability, and anti-corruption reforms. She pulls back the curtain on the political messaging machine, campaign fundraising, and Congress' traditions, showing that the way things have always worked, in fact, does not work for a Congressperson without someone at home to do the shopping and take care of the kids. Along the way, she provides whiteboard lessons on where your campaign donations go, how to fight the corporations that cheat you, and how to conduct her trademark robust oversight.

Full of candid and inspiring stories--from how Katie lent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a pair of sneakers during the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, to her kids' lightly illegal campaign hijinks--this is a book by an exhausted, committed parent who just doesn't have the time for nonsense in her house or in the House of Representatives.]]> 304 Katie Porter 0593443985 Joseph 3 shelved 4.18
author: Katie Porter
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 3
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shelves: shelved
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]]> 44581535 In this spellbinding exploration of the varieties of love, the author of the worldwide bestseller Call Me by Your Name revisits its complex and beguiling characters decades after their first meeting.

No novel in recent memory has spoken more movingly to contemporary readers about the nature of love than André Aciman’s haunting Call Me by Your Name. First published in 2007, it was hailed as “a love letter, an invocation . . . an exceptionally beautiful book� (Stacey D’Erasmo, The New York Times Book Review). Nearly three quarters of a million copies have been sold, and the book became a much-loved, Academy Award–winning film starring Timothée Chalamet as the young Elio and Armie Hammer as Oliver, the graduate student with whom he falls in love.

In Find Me, Aciman shows us Elio’s father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman upends Sami’s plans and changes his life forever.

Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic.

Aciman is a master of sensibility, of the intimate details and the emotional nuances that are the substance of passion. Find Me brings us back inside the magic circle of one of our greatest contemporary romances to ask if, in fact, true love ever dies.]]> 260 André Aciman 0374155011 Joseph 0 shelved 3.26 2019
author: André Aciman
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> 44279110
Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.]]> 289 Ottessa Moshfegh 0525522131 Joseph 4 3.62 2018
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/31
date added: 2023/05/31
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]]> 40879757 From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a novel about a struggling writer who gets his big break, with a little help from the most famous woman in America.

After years of trying to make it as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally sells his novel to an editor at a major publishing house: none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie--or Mrs. Onassis, as she's known in the office--has fallen in love with James's candidly autobiographical novel, one that exposes his own dysfunctional family. But when the book's forthcoming publication threatens to unravel already fragile relationships, both within his family and with his partner, James finds that he can't bring himself to finish the manuscript.

Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, and she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to head home to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. Then a long-held family secret is revealed, and he realizes his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page...

From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a funny, poignant, and highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever--both as a writer and a son.]]> 320 Steven Rowley Joseph 5 3.78 2019
author: Steven Rowley
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/18
date added: 2023/05/18
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]]> 58532615 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of That Summer comes another heartfelt and unputdownable novel of family, secrets, and the ties that bind.

When her twenty-two-year-old stepdaughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah Danhauser is shocked. But the wheels are in motion. Headstrong Ruby has already set a date (just three months away!) and spoken to her beloved safta, Sarah’s mother Veronica, about having the wedding at the family’s beach house on Cape Cod. Sarah might be worried, but Veronica is thrilled to be bringing the family together one last time before putting the big house on the market.

But the road to a wedding day usually comes with a few bumps. Ruby has always known exactly what she wants, but as the wedding date approaches, she finds herself grappling with the wounds left by the mother who walked out when she was a baby. Veronica ends up facing unexpected news, thanks to her meddling sister, and must revisit the choices she made long ago, when she was a bestselling novelist with a different life. Sarah’s twin brother, Sam, is recovering from a terrible loss, and confronting big questions about who he is—questions he hopes to resolve during his stay on the Cape. Sarah’s husband, Eli, who’s been inexplicably distant during the pandemic, confronts the consequences of a long ago lapse from his typical good-guy behavior. And Sarah, frustrated by her husband, concerned about her stepdaughter, and worn out by challenges of life during quarantine, faces the alluring reappearance of someone from her past and a life that could have been.

When the wedding day arrives, lovers are revealed as their true selves, misunderstandings take on a life of their own, and secrets come to light. There are confrontations and revelations that will touch each member of the extended family, ensuring that nothing will ever be the same.

From “the undisputed boss of the beach read� (The New York Times), The Summer Place is a testament to family in all its messy glory; a story about what we sacrifice and how we forgive. Enthralling, witty, big-hearted, and sharply observed, this is Jennifer Weiner’s love letter to the Outer Cape and the power of home, the way our lives are enriched by the people we call family, and the endless ways love can surprise us.]]> 432 Jennifer Weiner 1501133578 Joseph 5 3.44 2022
author: Jennifer Weiner
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/10
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]]> 62039327
Aldwych West, an eighty-year-old modern-day aristocrat living alone in his Manhattan townhouse, is used to having what he wants. And when he sets eyes on August Dupond, a strong, stunningly beautiful soloist in the New York City Ballet, he decides he must have him. Soon they strike up a closeness that falls between the blurry lines of friendship, sponsorship, and love, and August moves in with Aldwych. But eventually August starts bringing home other men, and a formidable woman in Aldwych's circle named Ernestine also takes a deep interest in the young, enchanting star. Messy entanglements and fierce rivalries ensue, and the result is an unforgettable, outrageous tragicomedy that explores the many layers of love and sexual desire as only Edmund White can.]]> 260 Edmund White 1639730885 Joseph 0 to-read 2.73 2023
author: Edmund White
name: Joseph
average rating: 2.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/05/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> 41284519 “This rollicking book has it all: sex, lies, and scenery. Grant Ginder weaves a wonderful, engrossing multi-generational family story, with the Greek isles as a backdrop so beautiful that the reader will want to dive in.�—Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of The Vacationers and Modern Lovers

An irresistible, deftly observed novel about family, regret, and vacation by the author of The People We Hate at the Wedding

Family vacation always comes with baggage.

The Wright family is in ruins. Sue Ellen Wright has what she thinks is a close-to-perfect life. A terrific career as a Classics professor, a loving husband, and a son who is just about to safely leave the nest.

But then disaster strikes. She learns that her husband is cheating, and that her son has made a complete mess of his life. So, when the opportunity to take her family to a Greek island for a month presents itself, she jumps at the chance. This sunlit Aegean paradise, with its mountains and beaches is, after all, where she first fell in love with both a man and with an ancient culture. Perhaps Sue Ellen’s past will provide the key to her and her family’s salvation.

With his signature style of biting wit, hilarious characters, and deep emotion, Grant Ginder’s Honestly, We Meant Well is a funny, brilliant novel proving that with family, drama always comes with comedy."]]> 308 Grant Ginder 1250143152 Joseph 4 3.25 2019
author: Grant Ginder
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/07
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]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Joseph 0 to-read 3.66 2015
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> 40878065 Leave it to America's Test Kitchen to help you get a perfectly scaled dinner for two on the table--no guesswork required.Whether you're in the mood for a takeout-inspired stir-fry or a more refined beef tenderloin, you'll find recipes to satisfy everyone's tastes. To scale down our favorite dinners to serve two, we've reengineered 75 recipes from the ground up, using ramekins to make individual Chicken Pot Pies and blade steaks instead of chuck to produce a streamlined Yankee Pot Roast. From easy weeknight options (Teriyaki-Glazed Steak Tips and Skillet Pork Lo Mein) to date-night-in meals (Honey-Roasted Cornish Game Hens and Shrimp Scampi), hearty meatless mains for vegetarians (Baked Manicotti and Soba Noodles with Roasted Eggplant and Sesame) to comforting Sunday dinners (Beef Stroganoff and Chicken Piccata), All-Time Best Dinners for Two offers options for any occasion.]]> 190 America's Test Kitchen 194525663X Joseph 4 3.91
author: America's Test Kitchen
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.91
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]]> 56637930 Recipes to match every mood, situation, and vibe from the James Beard Award-winning author of Where Cooking Begins

Great food is an achievable part of every day, no matter how busy you are; the key is to have go-to recipes for every situation and for whatever you have on hand. The recipes in That Sounds So Good are split between weekday and weekend cooking. When time is short, turn to quick stovetop suppers, one-pot meals, and dinner salads. And for the weekend, lean into lazy lunches, simmered stews, and hands-off roasts.

Carla's dishes are as inviting and get-your-attention-good as ever. All the recipes--such as Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce or Chicken Legs with Warm Spices--come with multiple ingredient swaps and suggestions, so you can make each
one your own. That Sounds So Good shows Carla at her effortless best, and shows how you can be, too.]]> 288 Carla Lalli Music 0593138252 Joseph 4 4.06 2021
author: Carla Lalli Music
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 4
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]]> 40712503 A modern approach to cooking at home, with more than 70 innately flexible recipes.

The indispensable recipes and streamlined cooking techniques in Where Cooking Begins are an open invitation to dive into Carla Lalli Music's laid-back cooking style. The food director at Bon Appetit, her intuitive recipes are inspired by the meals she makes at home for her family and friends and the joy she takes in feeding them. Here, too, is her guide to the six essential cooking methods that will show you how to make everything without over-complicating anything--and every recipe includes suggestions for swaps and substitutions, so you'll never feel stuck or stymied.

Where Cooking Begins is also the first recent cookbook to connect the way we shop to the way we cook. Music's modern approach--pick up your fresh ingredients a few times a week, and fill your pantry with staples bought online--will make you want to click on a burner and slide out a cutting board the minute you get home.

The no-fail techniques, textured recipes, and strategies in Where Cooking Begins will make you a great cook.]]> 272 Carla Lalli Music 0525573348 Joseph 4 3.94 2019
author: Carla Lalli Music
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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]]> 198781 Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book tells fans the story behind the company and the two men who built it-from their first meeting in 7th-grade gym class (they were already the two widest kids on the field) to their "graduation" from a $5.00 ice-cream-making correspondence course to their first ice-cream shop in a renovated gas station.

But the best part comes next. Dastardly Mash, featuring nuts, raisins, and hunks of chocolate. The celebrated Heath Bar Crunch. New York Super Fudge Chunk. Oreo Mint. In addition to Ben & Jerry's 11 greatest hits, here are recipes for ice creams made with fresh fruit, with chocolate, with candies and cookies, and recipes for sorbets, sundaes, and baked goods.]]> 128 Ben Cohen 0894803123 Joseph 4 4.13 1987
author: Ben Cohen
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1987
rating: 4
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]]> 59050771
Dinner is looking meh. Maybe the stove was left unattended for just a second too long for your original plan; maybe the on-sale meat at the supermarket isn’t looking quite worth the savings after two days in the fridge. Do you waste food and time trying to start from scratch, or money ordering takeout? No, you face up to the facts, step up your game, and transform that cooking conundrum into a delicious meal. The best way to do that? Follow the guidance of Cal Peternell, a chef coming out of the restaurant kitchen to meet cooks where they are with this funny, practical manual for making Bad Food Good.

Though many pro chefs may be able to get their sustainably sourced, locally grown, 100 percent grass-fed, organic ingredients and gently guide them through careful preparation to a simply sublime dish, most of us don’t achieve farm-to-table perfection in every step of the process. From facing down third-day leftovers that have lost a little of their luster to the limits of their local supermarket’s quality, many home cooks start at a disadvantage. With his signature dry wit and years of experience cooking for everyone from high-end restaurant patrons to his hungry family, Cal Peternell is here to level the playing field with this bag of tricks for turning standard (or substandard) fare into a meal to be proud of, troubleshooting such situations as:

Making the best of burned food (Burned your toast? Time to make Cheesy Onion Bread Pudding!)
Hacking packaged food (including 5 variations on “Hackaroni and Cheese�)
Things restaurants often do wrong and you can do better (including pesto, queso, bean dip, ranch, and more)
Spicing up lackluster vegetables (Brocco Tacos dazzle both in name and in flavor)
Snazzing up dishes with “special sauces for the boring� (including vegetable purees and an infinite variety of savory butter sauces)
Cal also includes a series of hilarious Old Man cocktails, ranging from the Bitter Old Man (one part bitter, one part brandy) to the Wise Old Man (8 ounces water and a good night’s sleep).

Up your cooking game by learning how to spin anything in your pantry or fridge into something special with Burnt Toast and Other Disasters.]]> 176 Cal Peternell 0062986759 Joseph 4 3.32 2021
author: Cal Peternell
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2021
rating: 4
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]]> 50998143 Throw together fast, flavorful meals in no time with just a handful of ingredients with 200 highly cookable, delicious, and incredibly simple recipes from the James Beard Award-winning team at Milk Street.

In Cookish, Christopher Kimball and his team of cooks and editors harness the most powerful cooking principles from around the world to create 200 of the simplest, most delicious recipes ever created. These recipes, most with six or fewer ingredients (other than oil, salt, and pepper), make it easy to be a great cook -- the kind who can walk into a kitchen and throw together dinner in no time.

In each of these recipes, big flavors and simple techniques transform pantry staples, common proteins, or centerpiece vegetables into a delicious meal. And each intuitive recipe is a road map for other mix-and-match meals, which can come together in minutes from whatever's in the fridge.

With most recipes taking less than an hour to prepare, and just a handful of ingredients, you'll enjoy:
Pasta with Shrimp and Browned Butter
West African Peanut Chicken
Red Lentil Soup
Scallion Noodles
Open-Faced Omelet with Fried Dill and Feta
Greek Bean and Avocado Salad
And for dessert: Spiced Strawberry Compote with Greek Yogurt or Ice Cream



When it's a race to put dinner on the table, these recipes let you start at the finish line.]]> 352 Christopher Kimball 0316540307 Joseph 4 4.07
author: Christopher Kimball
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.07
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rating: 4
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]]> 40796136
Indian food is everyday food! This colorful, lively book is food writer Priya Krishna’s loving tribute to her mom’s “Indian-ish� cooking—a trove of one-of-a-kind Indian-American hybrids that are easy to make, clever, practical, and packed with flavor. Think Roti Pizza, Tomato Rice with Crispy Cheddar, Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Green Pea Chutney, and Malaysian Ramen.

Priya’s mom, Ritu, taught herself to cook after moving to the U.S. while also working as a software programmer—her unique creations merging the Indian flavors of her childhood with her global travels and inspiration from cooking shows as well as her kids� requests for American favorites like spaghetti and PB&Js. The results are approachable and unfailingly delightful, like spiced, yogurt-filled sandwiches crusted with curry leaves, or “Indian Gatorade� (a thirst-quenching salty-sweet limeade)—including plenty of simple dinners you can whip up in minutes at the end of a long work day.

Throughout, Priya’s funny and relatable stories—punctuated with candid portraits and original illustrations by acclaimed Desi pop artist Maria Qamar (also known as Hatecopy)—will bring you up close and personal with the Krishna family and its many quirks.]]> 256 Priya Krishna 1328482472 Joseph 5 4.18 2019
author: Priya Krishna
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 5
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]]> 58078528 Ěý
Come along with Brad Leone as he explores forests, fields, rivers, and the ocean in the hunt for great food and good times. These pages are Brad’s field notes from a year of adventures in the Northeast, getting out into nature to discover its bounty, and capturing memorable ideas for making delicious magic at home anytime.
Ěý
He taps maple trees to make syrup, and shows how to use it in surprising ways. He forages for ramps and mushrooms, and preserves their flavors for seasons to come. He celebrates the glory of tomatoes along with undersung fruits of the sea like squid and seaweed. Inspiration comes from hikes into the woods, trips to the dock, and cooking poolside in the dead of summer. And every dish has a signature Brad Leone approach—whether that’s in Sous Vide Mountain Ribs or Spicy Smoked Tomato Chicken , S umac Lemonade or Fermented Bloody Marys , Cold Root Salad , Marinated Beans , or just a few shakes of a Chile Hot Sauce that’s dead simple to make.
Ěý
This is a book about experimentation, adventure, fermentation, fire, and having fun while you’re cooking. And hey, you might just learn a thing or two. Let’s get going!]]> 352 Brad Leone 0316497355 Joseph 5 4.26
author: Brad Leone
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.26
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rating: 5
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]]> 59742186
Andy Baraghani peeled hundreds of onions at Chez Panisse as a teenage intern, honed his perfectly balanced salad–making skills at Estela in New York, and developed recipes in the test kitchens of Saveur, Tasting Table, and Bon Appétit. It took him all those years to figure out the cook he wanted to be: a cook who is true to his Persian heritage, a fresh-vegetable lover, a citrus superfan, and an always-hungry world traveler. In The Cook You Want to Be, Baraghani shows home cooks on how to hone their own cooking styles by teaching the techniques and unexpected flavor combinations that maximize flavor in minimal time.

At Bon Appétit, Baraghani created a bevy of viral recipes—from Tahini Ranch to Fall-Apart Caramelized Cabbage—that became household staples. Here, he follows up with more umami-rich dishes, beautiful and restaurant-worthy meals (that take half the time), and well-known dishes recast in utterly delicious ways. Among his debut cookbook’s 100 recipes, new surefire hits include Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Browned Butter Harissa; Sticky, Spicy Basil Shrimp; and Tangy Pomegranate-Chicken. Cooks will find inspiration to riff on, quick meals for hurried weeknights, condiments galore, and memorable meals to impress dinner guests. In essays throughout the book, Baraghani shares convictions (why everyone must make his beloved Persian egg dish, kuku sabzi) and lessons to live by (the importance of salting fish before cooking it).

The Cook You Want to Be is a trove of go-to recipes and knowledge, stunning photographs, and delicious, simple home cooking for modern times.]]> 336 Andy Baraghani 1984858564 Joseph 5 4.11 2022
author: Andy Baraghani
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 5
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]]> 38581523 This is an alternate cover edition of ASIN B079D9V38V

With 75 all-new recipes--50 of which can be made in under an hour start to finish--Melissa Clark brings her easy sophistication to comfort food classics for any electric pressure cooker, multicooker, or Instant Pot.

The electric pressure cooker makes getting meals on the table fast, convenient, and utterly delicious--and with less mess and stress than any other kitchen appliance. In Comfort in An Instant, Melissa Clark elevates the classics with her trademark deep flavors and special spins--without ever sacrificing ease:

ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýSriracha Turkey Meatloaf
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýPesto Risotto with Cherry Tomatoes
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýClassic Matzo Ball Soup
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýEasy Weeknight Chili
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýLemon Chicken With Garlic + Olives
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýPimento Mac + Cheese
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýChipotle Pork Tacos
ĚýĚý*ĚýĚýFlourless Chocolate Truffle Cake

Innovative and practical, Comfort in an Instant sets the gold standard for flavor, quality, and convenience.]]> 160 Melissa Clark Joseph 5 3.89 2018
author: Melissa Clark
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average rating: 3.89
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]]> 34617758 Librarian's note: This is an Alternate Cover Edition for ASIN: B06XK41BQV.

Inspired by her viral New York TimesĚýarticle "Why Do Cooks Love theĚýInstant Pot®? I Bought One to Find Out," Melissa Clark'sĚýDinner in an Instant has all new recipes that bring her signature flavor-forward dishes to everyone's favorite countertop appliance.

Dinner in an Instant gives home cooks recipes for elevated dinners that never sacrifice convenience. Beloved for her flawless recipes, Melissa Clark turns her imagination to the countertop appliances that have won American hearts from coast to coast. Recipes include Fresh Coconut Yogurt, Japanese Beef Curry, Osso Buco, Smoky Lentils,ĚýGreen Persian Rice with Tahdig, and Lemon VerbenaĚýCrème Brulee.Ěý
Dinner in an Instant provides instructions when possible for making the same dish on both the pressure cooker and slow cooker settings, allowing home cooks flexibility. Symbols guide the reader toward Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, and Gluten Free dinners.
Fresh, approachable, and classic,ĚýDinner in an InstantĚýis Melissa Clark's most practical book yet.]]> 160 Melissa Clark Joseph 5 3.72 2017
author: Melissa Clark
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.72
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]]> 46011237 NEW YORK TIMESĚýBESTSELLER â€� The social media star,ĚýNew York TimesĚýcolumnist, and author ofĚýDining InĚýhelps you nail dinner with unfussy food and the permission to be imperfect.Ěý“Enemy of the mild, champion of the bold, Ms. Roman offers recipes inĚýNothing FancyĚýthat are crunchy, cheesy, tangy, citrusy, fishy, smoky and spicy.”—Julia Moskin,ĚýThe New York TimesIACP AWARD FINALIST â€� NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BYĚýThe New York Times Book ReviewĚý•ĚýThe New YorkerĚýâ€� NPR •ĚýThe Washington PostĚý•ĚýSan Francisco ChronicleĚý•ĚýBuzzFeedĚý•ĚýThe GuardianĚýâ€� Food Network Ěý An unexpected weeknight meal with a neighbor or a weekend dinner party with fifteen of your closest friends—either way and everywhere in between, having people over is supposed to be fun, not stressful. This abundant collection of all-new recipes—heavy on the easy-to-execute vegetables and versatile grains, paying lots of close attention to crunchy, salty snacks, and with love for all the meats—is for gatherings big and small, any day of the week. Ěý Alison Roman will give you the food your people want (think DIY martini bar, platters of tomatoes, pots of coconut-braised chicken and chickpeas, pans of lemony turmeric tea cake) plus the tips, sass, and confidence to pull it all off.ĚýWithĚýNothing Fancy, any night of the week is worth celebrating.Praise for Nothing Fancy“[Nothing Fancy] is full of the sort of recipes that sound so good, one contemplates switching off any and all phones, calling in sick, and cooking through the bulk of them.â€�—F´Ç´Ç»ĺ52 Ěý “[Nothing Fancy] exemplifies that classic Roman approach to well-known ingredients rearranged in interesting and compelling ways for young home cooks who want food that looks (and photographs) as good as it tastes.â€�—Grub Street]]> 445 Alison Roman 0451497023 Joseph 4 4.11 2019
author: Alison Roman
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.11
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]]> 35457309
JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER •� IACP AWARD FINALIST

This book lays out Kass's plan to eat a little better. Knowing that sustainability and healthfulness come most, well, sustainably when new habits and choices seem appealing rather than drastic and punitive, Kass shares his philosophy and methods to help make it easy to choose, cook, and eat delicious foods without depriving yourself of agency or pleasure. He knows that going organic, local, and so forth all the time is just not realistic for most people, and that's ok--it's all about choosing and doing a little better, and how those choices add up to big change. It's the philosophy he helped the Obamas instill in their home, both in Chicago and that big white one in Washington.]]> 288 Sam Kass 0451494946 Joseph 5 4.03
author: Sam Kass
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.03
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]]> 41131754 Using a simple five-minute base recipe, you can make the “brilliantâ€� (Andrew Zimmern), “astonishingly goodâ€� (Ruth Reichl) flavors of the innovative “ice cream godsâ€� (Bon AppĂ©tit) Salt & Straw at home.ĚýĚýNAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE SEASON BYĚýEater â€� Delish â€� EpicuriousBased out of Portland, Oregon,ĚýSalt & Straw is the brainchild of two cousins, Tyler and Kim Malek, who had a vision but no recipes. They turned to their friends for advice—chefs, chocolatiers, brewers, and food experts of all kinds—and what came out is a super-simple base that takes five minutes to make, and an ice cream company that sees new flavors and inspiration everywhere they look.ĚýUsing that base recipe, you can make dozens of Salt & Straw’s most beloved, unique (and a little controversial) flavors, including Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons, Roasted Strawberry and Toasted White Chocolate, and Buttered Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.ĚýBut more importantly, this book reveals what they’ve learned, how to tap your own creativity, and how to invent flavors of your own, based on whatever you see around you. Because ice cream isn’t just a thing you eat, it’s a way to live.Praise for Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook“Making ice cream at home is already enough of a mental hurdle. . . . Salt & Straw is out to prove us wrong with a new cookbook . . . making crazy ice cream flavors is more than doable—it’s addictive.â€�—Portland Monthly “The approachable, you-can-do-this nature of the book should be all that home cooks need to try it out.â€�â€Ě§˛ąłŮ±đ°ů “I originally sought out this book solely because of the Meyer Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Custard. . . . It is the greatest ice cream flavor that’s ever existed and, because it’s only a seasonal flavor in their stores, I needed the recipe so I could make it whenever I wanted.â€�—Bon AppĂ©tit “A cookbook dedicated to ice cream? Yes, please. This is essential reading for Salt & Straw fans.â€�—Food & Wine “Few of America’s many ice cream makers are as seasonally minded and downright creative as Salt & Straw co-founder Tyler Malek.â€�—G°ůłÜ˛úł§łŮ°ů±đ±đłŮ]]> 234 Tyler Malek 1524760161 Joseph 5 4.30
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]]> 25736155
The Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Book includes ice cream recipes for every palate and season, from beloved favorites like Vanilla to adventurous treats inspired by a host of international culinary influences, such as Masala Chai with Black Peppercorns and Apple Crumble with Calvados and Crème Fraîche. Each recipe—from the classic to the unexpected, from the simple to the advanced—features intense natural flavors, low sugar, and the best ingredients available.

Determined to revive traditional ice cream making using only whole ingredients sourced from the finest small producers, Ben, Pete, and Laura opened their ice cream business in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with little more than a pair of buttercup yellow trucks. In less than a decade, they’ve become a nationally recognized name while remaining steadfast to their commitment of bringing ice cream back to the creating rich flavors using real ingredients.

Richly illustrated, told in a whimsical style, and filled with invaluable, easy-to-follow techniques and tips for making old-fashioned ice cream at home, The Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Book includes captivating stories—and an explanation of the basic science behind these delicious creations. Enjoy these irresistible artisanal delights anytime—The Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Book shows you how.]]> 255 Olga Massov Joseph 0 to-read 4.14 2015
author: Olga Massov
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
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]]> 58502656 100 all-new super-simple and incredibly delicious one-pot, one-pan, one-sheet--one-everything!--recipes from the New York Times star food writer and bestselling author of Dinner in French.

Melissa Clark brings her home cook's expertise and no-fuss approach to the world of one-pot/pan cooking. With nearly all of the recipes being made in under one hour, the streamlined steps ensure you are in and out of the kitchen without dirtying a multitude of pans or spending more time than you need to on dinner.

Expect to find a bevy of sheet-pan suppers (Miso-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Sugar Snap Peas), skillet dinners (Cheesy Meatball Parm with Spinach), Instant Pot(R) pinch hitters (Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings), comforting casseroles (Herby Artichoke and Gruyere Bread Pudding) that you can assemble right in the baking dish, crowd-pleasing one-pot pasta meals (Gingery Coconut Noodles with Shrimp and Greens), vegetable-forward mains, and dozens of tips for turning a vegetarian or meat-based recipe vegan. And since no dinner is complete without dessert, you'll find a chapter of one-bowl cakes, too--from an Easy Chocolate Fudge Torte to a Ricotta-Olive Oil Pound Cake.

These are simple, delicious recipes for weekdays, busy evenings, and any time you need to get a delicious, inspiring meal on the table quickly--with as little clean-up as possible.]]> 256 Melissa Clark 0593233255 Joseph 5 4.06 2022
author: Melissa Clark
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.06
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]]> 54895707
Molly breaks the essentials of cooking down to clear and uncomplicated recipes that deliver big flavor with little effort and a side of education, including dishes like Pastrami Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Onions and Dill, Chorizo and Chickpea Carbonara, and of course, her signature Cae Sal. But this is not your average cookbook. More than a collection of recipes, Cook This Book teaches you the invaluable superpower of improvisation though visually compelling lessons on such topics as the importance of salt and how to balance flavor, giving you all the tools necessary to make food taste great every time. Throughout, you’ll encounter dozens of QR codes, accessed through the camera app on your smartphone, that link to short technique-driven videos hosted by Molly to help illuminate some of the trickier skills.

As Molly says, “Cooking is really fun, I swear. You simply need to set yourself up for success to truly enjoy it.� Cook This Book will help you do just that, inspiring a new generation to find joy in the kitchen and take pride in putting a home-cooked meal on the table, all with the unbridled fun and spirit that only Molly could inspire.]]> 304 Molly Baz 0593138279 Joseph 4 4.21 2021
author: Molly Baz
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.21
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]]> 60863607 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � A love letter to dessert by the New York Times bestselling author of Dessert Person

ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE Simply Recipes
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE Bon Appétit, Vice, Mother Jones

“Whether you’re into flambés, soufflés, or simple loaf cakes this book offers over 100 different answers to that all-important What’s for dessert?”—Claire Saffitz

Claire Saffitz returns with 100 recipes for all dessert people—whether you’re into impressive-yet-easy molten lava cakes, comforting rice pudding, or decadent chestnut brownies. In this all-new collection, Claire shares recipes for icebox cakes, pies, cobblers, custards, cookies and more, all crafted to be as streamlined as possible. (No stand mixer? No problem! You won’t need one.) To keep the recipes straightforward and simple, Claire makes sure each recipe is extra efficient, whether you’re making a Whipped Tres Leches Cake with Hazelnuts or Caramel Peanut Popcorn Bars. Fans will find all the warmth, encouragement, and deliciously foolproof recipes with loads of troubleshooting advice that they’ve come to count on from Claire.]]> 480 Claire Saffitz 1984826999 Joseph 5 4.26 2022
author: Claire Saffitz
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.26
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]]> 52028349 In her first cookbook,ĚýBon AppĂ©titĚýand YouTube star of the showĚýGourmet MakesĚýoffers wisdom, problem-solving strategies, and more than 100 meticulously tested, creative, and inspiring recipes.

Claire Saffitz is a baking hero for a new generation. In Dessert Person, fans will find Claire's signature spin on sweet and savory recipes like Babkallah (a babka-Challah mashup), Apple and Concord Grape Crumble Pie, Strawberry-Cornmeal Layer Cake, Crispy Mushroom Galette, and Malted Forever Brownies. She outlines the problems and solutions for each recipe--like what to do if your pie dough for Sour Cherry Pie cracks (patch it with dough or a quiche flour paste!)--as well as practical do's and don'ts, skill level, prep and bake time, and foundational know-how. With Claire at your side, everyone can be a dessert person.]]> 368 Claire Saffitz 1984826964 Joseph 5 4.00 2020
author: Claire Saffitz
name: Joseph
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]]> 43848929 Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers -- and why they often go wrong.

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you'll hear the voices of people he interviewed--scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There's even a theme song - Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout."

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.]]> 388 Malcolm Gladwell 0316478520 Joseph 0 to-read 4.00 2019
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Joseph
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]]> 13588356 Researcher and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.� —Theodore Roosevelt

Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. The book that Dr. Brown’s many fans have been waiting for, Daring Greatly will spark a new spirit of truth—and trust—in our organizations, families, schools, and communities.]]> 287 Brené Brown 1592407331 Joseph 5 4.29 2012
author: Brené Brown
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.29
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]]> 7108725 Why do you do what you do?

Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. It was their natural ability to start with why that enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.

In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way—and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be lead, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit—those are always results. WHY does your organization exist? WHY does it do the things it does? WHY do customers really buy from one company or another? WHY are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?

Starting with WHY works in big business and small business, in the nonprofit world and in politics. Those who start with WHY never manipulate, they inspire. And the people who follow them don't do so because they have to; they follow because they want to.

Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.]]> 256 Simon Sinek 1591842808 Joseph 0 to-read 4.10 2009
author: Simon Sinek
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.10
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]]> 52578860 Anyone--even you!--can learn how to harness the power of humor in business (and life), based on the popular class at Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Working professionals have fallen off a humor cliff. In fact, around the time we enter the workforce, the number of times we laugh and smile on an average day statistically starts to plummet.

And yet, research shows that humor is one of the most powerful tools we have for accomplishing serious work. Studies reveal that humor makes us appear more competent and confident, strengthens relationships, unlocks creativity, and boosts our resilience during difficult times. Plus, it fends off a permanent and unsightly frown known as "resting boss face".

Top executives are in on the secret: 98 percent prefer employees with a sense of humor, and 84 percent believe that these employees do better work. But even for those who intuitively understand humor's power, few know how to wield it with intention. As a result, humor is vastly underleveraged in most workplaces today, impacting our performance, relationships, and health.

That's why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world's most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds build levity into their organizations and lives. In Humor, Seriously, they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and--more important--how you can use it more often and effectively

Aaker and Bagdonas unpack the theory and application of humor: what makes something funny and how to mine your life for material. They show how to use humor to make a strong first impression, deliver difficult feedback, persuade and motivate others, and foster cultures where levity and creativity can thrive--not to mention, how to keep it appropriate and recover if you cross a line.

President Dwight David Eisenhower once said, "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done." If Eisenhower, the second least naturally funny president ever (after Franklin Pierce), thought humor was necessary to win wars, build highways, and warn against the military-industrial complex, then you might consider learning it too.

Seriously.]]> 272 Jennifer Aaker 0593135288 Joseph 0 to-read 3.80 2020
author: Jennifer Aaker
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.80
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]]> 35412097
Timing, it's often assumed, is an art. In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Pink shows that timing is really a science.

Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology, and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work, and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon? Why is singing in time with other people as good for you as exercise? And what is the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers, or get married?]]> 272 Daniel H. Pink 0735210624 Joseph 0 to-read 3.77 2018
author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.77
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]]> 58007618
An essential new edition―revised and updated from cover to cover―of one of the most important books of the last two decades, by Nobel Prize winner Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

More than 2 million copies sold

Since the original publication of Nudge more than a decade ago, the title has entered the vocabulary of businesspeople, policy makers, engaged citizens, and consumers everywhere. The book has given riseĚýto more than 400 “nudge unitsâ€� in governments around the world and countless groups of behavioral scientists in every part of the economy.ĚýIt has taught us how to use thoughtful “choice architecture”—a concept the authors invented—to help us make better decisions for ourselves, our families, and our society.

Now, the authors have rewritten the book from cover to cover,Ěýmaking use of their experiences in and out of government over the past dozen years as well as an explosion of new research in numerous academic disciplines. To commit themselves to never undertaking this daunting task again, they are calling this the “final edition.â€� ItĚýoffers a wealth of new insights, for both its avowed fans and newcomers to the field, about a wide variety of issues that we face in our daily lives—COVID-19, health, personal finance, retirement savings, credit card debt, home mortgages, medical care, organ donation, climate change, and “sludgeâ€� (paperwork and other nuisances we don’t want, and that keep us from getting what we do want)—all while honoring one of the cardinal rules of make it fun!]]> 384 Richard H. Thaler 014313700X Joseph 0 to-read 3.89 2008
author: Richard H. Thaler
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.89
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]]> 40603783 not the new twenty. In this enlightening book, Dr. Meg Jay reveals how many twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation that has trivialized what are actually the most defining years of adulthood. Drawing from more than ten years of work with hundreds of twentysomething clients and students, Dr. Jay weaves the science of the twentysomething years with compelling, behind-closed-doors stories from twentysomethings themselves. She shares what psychologists, sociologists, neurologists, reproductive specialists, human resources executives, and economists know about the unique power of our twenties and how they change our lives. The result is a provocative and sometimes poignant read that shows us why our twenties do matter. Our twenties are a time when the things we do--and the things we don't do--will have an enormous effect across years and even generations to come.]]> 273 Meg Jay Joseph 4 4.09 2012
author: Meg Jay
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> 18693771 A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world's foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers' capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain's natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk's own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.]]> 464 Bessel van der Kolk 0670785938 Joseph 0 to-read 4.36 2014
author: Bessel van der Kolk
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
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]]> 25650010 194 Andrea J. Lee 0986298417 Joseph 3 3.51 2015
author: Andrea J. Lee
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2015
rating: 3
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]]> 106835 Now available for the first time in paperback!

The Classic Text Annotated to Update Graham's Timeless Wisdom for Today's Market Conditions

The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.

Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham's strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham's original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today's market, draws parallels between Graham's examples and today's financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham's principles.

Vital and indispensable, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals.]]> 623 Benjamin Graham 0060555661 Joseph 0 to-read 4.24 1949
author: Benjamin Graham
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.24
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]]> 4865
Since its release in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 30 million copies. Dale Carnegie's first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie's principles endure, and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.]]> 288 Dale Carnegie Joseph 0 to-read 4.22 1936
author: Dale Carnegie
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1936
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]]> 28815311 Ěý
After realizing that his well-paying, prestigious job was actually making him miserable, Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky started asking these big questions. The Quarter-Life Breakthrough Ěýprovides fresh, honest, counterintuitive, and inspiring career advice for anyone stuck in a quarter-life crisis (or third-life crisis), trying to figure out what to do with your life. Smiley shares the stories of many twenty- and thirty-somethings who are discovering how to work with purpose (and still pay the bills).

Brimming with practical exercises and advice, this book is essential reading for millennial career changers and anyone passionate about getting unstuck, pursuing work that matters, and changing the world.]]> 224 Adam Smiley Poswolsky 0143109529 Joseph 3 3.51 2014
author: Adam Smiley Poswolsky
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2014
rating: 3
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]]> 41817546 more susceptible to them. This is the "intelligence trap," the subject of David Robson’s fascinating and provocative book.

The Intelligence Trap explores cutting-edge ideas in our understanding of intelligence and expertise, including "strategic ignorance," "meta-forgetfulness," and "functional stupidity." Robson reveals the surprising ways that even the brightest minds and most talented organizations can go wrong—from some of Thomas Edison’s worst ideas to failures at NASA, Nokia, and the FBI. And he offers practical advice to avoid mistakes based on the timeless lessons of Benjamin Franklin, Richard Feynman, and Daniel Kahneman.]]> 336 David Robson 0393651428 Joseph 0 to-read 3.98 2019
author: David Robson
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
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]]> 37424706 A transformative exploration of the power, purpose, and benefits of gatherings in our lives: at work, at school, at home and beyond.

Every day we find ourselves in gatherings, Priya Parker says in The Art of Gathering. If we can understand what makes these gatherings effective and memorable, then we can reframe and redirect them to benefit everyone, host and guest alike. Parker defines a gathering as three or more people who come together for a specific purpose. When we understand why we gather, she says -- to acknowledge, to learn, to challenge, to change -- we learn how to organize gatherings that are relevant and memorable: from an effective business meeting to a thought-provoking conference; from a joyful wedding to a unifying family dinner. Drawing on her experience as a strategic facilitator who's worked with such organizations as the World Economic Forum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the retail company Fresh, Parker explains how ordinary people can create remarkable occasions, large and small. In dozens of fascinating examples, she breaks down the alchemy of these experiences to show what goes into the good ones and demonstrates how we can learn to incorporate those elements into all of our gatherings. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of big ideas with real-world applications that will change the way you look at a business meeting, a parent-teacher conference, and a backyard barbecue.]]> 304 Priya Parker 1594634920 Joseph 0 to-read 3.95 2018
author: Priya Parker
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]]> 41795733
Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

David Epstein examined the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields--especially those that are complex and unpredictable--generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They're also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can't see.

Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.]]> 339 David Epstein 0735214484 Joseph 0 to-read 4.12 2019
author: David Epstein
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.12
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]]> 26195645 A. The idiom is “happy medium,� but I like the image of commuters taking refuge from road rage on the happy median.
Q. How do I write a title of a song in the body of the work (caps, bold, underline, italics, etc.)? The Zombies� “She’s Not There� looped in his head.
A. Noooo! Now that song is looping in my head (“but it’s too late to say you’re sorry .Ěý.Ěý.â€�). Use quotation marks. Thanks a lot.
Ěý
Every month, tens of thousands of self-declared word nerds converge upon a single The Chicago Manual of Style Online 'sĚýQ&A. There the Manual ’s editors open the mailbag and tackle readersâ€� questions on topics ranging from abbreviation to word division to how to reform that coworker who still insists on two spaces between sentences. Champions of common sense, the editors offer smart, direct, and occasionally tongue-in-cheek responses that have guided writers and settled arguments for more than fifteen years.

But Can I Start a Sentence with “Butâ€�? brings together the best of theĚýChicago Style Q&A . Curated from years of entries, it features some of the most popular—and hotly debated—rulings and also recovers old favorites long buried in the archives.

Questions touch on myriad matters of editorial style—capitalization, punctuation, alphabetizing, special characters—as well as grammar, usage, and beyond (“How do I spell out the sound of a scream?�). A foreword by Carol Fisher Saller, the Q&A’s longtime editor, takes readers through the history of the Q&A and addresses its reputation for mischief. (“It’s not that we set out to be cheeky,� she writes.)

Taken together, the questions and answers offer insights into some of the most common issues that face anyone who works with words. They’re also a comforting reminder that even the best writer or editor needs a little help—and humor—sometimes.]]> 112 University of Chicago Press 022637064X Joseph 5 4.26 2016
author: University of Chicago Press
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2016
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]]> 33514 105 William Strunk Jr. Joseph 5 4.15 1918
author: William Strunk Jr.
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1918
rating: 5
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]]> 18114120
We swim in an ocean of feedback. Bosses, colleagues, customers—but also family, friends, and in-laws—they all have “suggestions� for our performance, parenting, or appearance. We know that feedback is essential for healthy relationships and professional development—but we dread it and often dismiss it.

That’s because receiving feedback sits at the junction of two conflicting human desires. We do want to learn and grow. And we also want to be accepted just as we are right now. Thanks for the Feedback is the first book to address this tension head on. It explains why getting feedback is so crucial yet so challenging, and offers a powerful framework to help us take on life’s blizzard of off-hand comments, annual evaluations, and unsolicited advice with curiosity and grace.

The business world spends billions of dollars and millions of hours each year teaching people how to give feedback more effectively. Stone and Heen argue that we’ve got it backwards and show us why the smart money is on educating r e ceivers� in the workplace and in personal relationships as well.

Coauthors of the international bestseller Difficult Conversations , Stone and Heen have spent the last ten years working with businesses, nonprofits, governments, and families to determine what helps us learn and what gets in our way. With humor and clarity, they blend the latest insights from neuroscience and psychology with practical, hard-headed advice. The book is destined to become a classic in the world of leadership, organizational behavior, and education.]]> 348 Douglas Stone 0670014664 Joseph 4 4.04 2014
author: Douglas Stone
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.04
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]]> 4894
Two are mice named Sniff and Scurry. And two are "Littlepeople" � beings the size of mice who look and act a lot like people. Their names are Hem and Haw.

"Cheese" is a metaphor for what you want to have in life � whether it's a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind.

And the "Maze" is where you look for what you want � the organisation you work in or the family or community you live in.

In the story, the characters are faced with unexpected change. Eventually, one of them deals with it successfully, and writes what he has learned from his experience on the Maze walls.

When you come to see "The Handwriting on the Wall," you can discover for yourself how to deal with change, so that you can enjoy less stress and more success (however you define it) in your work and in your life.

Written for all ages, the story takes less than an hour to read, but its unique insights can last for a lifetime.]]> 98 Spencer Johnson 0091883768 Joseph 0 3.88 1999
author: Spencer Johnson
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.88
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]]> 22889782 Are you about to graduate and begin your job search?
Ěý
Or are you a young professional looking for that perfect position that will catapult your career?
Ěý
The career marketplace has never been more competitive, chaotic, and difficult to maneuver. On top of that, today’s graduates are looking not only for good jobs but for positions that will help them launchĚýcareersĚýin which they can grow and flourish. But knowing what to look for and how to actually land a great job is notoriously hard when you're trying to get an interview, worrying about money, and trying position yourself for advancement.
Ěý
Based on an in-depth survey of thousands of graduates and young professionals, and hundreds of interviews with leaders in business and the nonprofit sector � not to mention James Citrin’s decades of experience as a senior partner at the premier executive search firm Spencer Stuart -- The Career Playbook offers recent graduates and aspiring young professionals actionable advice for thriving in the workplace. From his practical tips on creating a winning LinkedIn profile and resume, generating valuable introductions, nailing interviews, and negotiating compensation, to strategic advice on the arc of your career, the importance of relationships, how to cultivate a mentor, and knowing when to change jobs or industries, Citrin provides an invaluable guide to the most urgent questions that are at the heart of every person’s career deliberations.
Ěý
Packed with first person advice from graduates and young professionals themselves, as well as the perspective of seasoned executives on how to thrive in your career,ĚýThe Career Playbook is an essential resource for landing and launching your optimal job.]]> 256 James M. Citrin 0553446967 Joseph 0 3.77 2015
author: James M. Citrin
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.77
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]]> 38400400 How both logical and emotional reasoning can help us live better in our post-truth world

In a world where fake news stories change election outcomes, has rationality become futile? In The Art of Logic in an Illogical World, Eugenia Cheng throws a lifeline to readers drowning in the illogic of contemporary life. Cheng is a mathematician, so she knows how to make an airtight argument. But even for her, logic sometimes falls prey to emotion, which is why she still fears flying and eats more cookies than she should. If a mathematician can't be logical, what are we to do? In this book, Cheng reveals the inner workings and limitations of logic, and explains why alogic--for example, emotion--is vital to how we think and communicate. Cheng shows us how to use logic and alogic together to navigate a world awash in bigotry, mansplaining, and manipulative memes. Insightful, useful, and funny, this essential book is for anyone who wants to think more clearly.



]]> 320 Eugenia Cheng 1541672488 Joseph 0 to-read 3.49 2018
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name: Joseph
average rating: 3.49
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]]> 58330567 Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

Over the past two decades, Brown's extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown's singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn't give the experience more power, it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice.

Brown shares, "I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves."]]> 301 Brené Brown 0399592555 Joseph 0 to-read 4.33 2021
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name: Joseph
average rating: 4.33
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]]> 57693602
“A great book changes the world you live in, revealing mysteries you didn't even know were there. This is a great book." ―Sendhil Mullainathan, MacArthur fellow and author of Scarcity

Blending behavioral science and design, Leidy Klotz's Subtract offers a scientific appreciation of why we underuse subtraction―and how to access its untapped potential.

We pile on “to-dos� but don’t consider “stop-doings.� We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things we don’t subtract. Klotz’s pioneering research shows us what is true whether we’re building Lego models, cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches, or strategic Our minds tend to add before taking away, and this is holding us back.

But we have a choice―our blind spot need not go on taking its toll. Subtract arms us with the science of less and empowers us to revolutionize our day-to-day lives and shift how we move through the world. More or less.]]> 304 Leidy Klotz 1250249872 Joseph 0 to-read 3.49
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]]> 56563411

In this dual memoir, Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano take turns telling how they went from tentative business partners to dear friends while turning a dilapidated formerly segregated Greyhound bus station into The Grey, now one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country. Recounting the trying process of building their restaurant business, they examine their most painful and joyous times, revealing how they came to understand their differences, recognize their biases, and continuously challenge themselves and each other to be better.

Through it all, Bailey and Morisano display the uncommon vulnerability, humor, and humanity that anchor their relationship, showing how two citizens commit to playing their own small part in advancing equality against a backdrop of racism.]]> 304 Mashama Bailey 1984856200 Joseph 0 to-read 3.99 2021
author: Mashama Bailey
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.99
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]]> 38650651 NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2018 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Somehow Casey Gerald has pulled off the most urgently political, most deeply personal, and most engagingly spiritual statement of our time by just looking outside his window and inside himself. Extraordinary." —Marlon James

"Staccato prose and peripatetic storytelling combine the cadences of the Bible with an urgency reminiscent of James Baldwin in this powerfully emotional memoir." �BookPage

The testament of a boy and a generation who came of age as the world came apart—a generation searching for a new way to live.

Casey Gerald comes to our fractured times as a uniquely visionary witness whose life has spanned seemingly unbridgeable divides. His story begins at the end of the world: Dallas, New Year's Eve 1999, when he gathers with the congregation of his grandfather's black evangelical church to see which of them will be carried off. His beautiful, fragile mother disappears frequently and mysteriously; for a brief idyll, he and his sister live like Boxcar Children on her disability checks. When Casey—following in the footsteps of his father, a gridiron legend who literally broke his back for the team—is recruited to play football at Yale, he enters a world he's never dreamed of, the anteroom to secret societies and success on Wall Street, in Washington, and beyond. But even as he attains the inner sanctums of power, Casey sees how the world crushes those who live at its margins. He sees how the elite perpetuate the salvation stories that keep others from rising. And he sees, most painfully, how his own ascension is part of the scheme.

There Will Be No Miracles Here has the arc of a classic rags-to-riches tale, but it stands the American Dream narrative on its head. If to live as we are is destroying us, it asks, what would it mean to truly live? Intense, incantatory, shot through with sly humor and quiet fury, There Will Be No Miracles Here inspires us to question--even shatter--and reimagine our most cherished myths.]]> 394 Casey Gerald 0735214204 Joseph 0 to-read 3.70 2018
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average rating: 3.70
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]]> 5982818 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in athletic pursuit.]]> 190 Haruki Murakami 0307389839 Joseph 0 to-read 3.87 2007
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Joseph
average rating: 3.87
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]]> 55360284
Before Stanley Tucci became a household name with The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, and the perfect Negroni, he grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the recipes and into the stories behind them.

Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about growing up in Westchester, New York, preparing for and filming the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia, falling in love over dinner, and teaming up with his wife to create conversation-starting meals for their children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burnt dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last.

Written with Stanley's signature wry humour and nostalgia, Taste is a heartwarming read that will be irresistible for anyone who knows the power of a home-cooked meal.]]> 291 Stanley Tucci 1982168013 Joseph 0 to-read 4.19 2021
author: Stanley Tucci
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.19
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]]> 55359022 In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.
Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.
A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,� and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.
This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.]]> 701 Barack Obama 1524763160 Joseph 0 to-read 4.40 2020
author: Barack Obama
name: Joseph
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
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]]>