Andreea's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 16 Dec 2024 13:16:21 -0800 60 Andreea's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Short Fiction: Classic and Contemporary: Fourth Edition]]> 120592 1244 Charles H. Bohner 0134600495 Andreea 3 11th-grade, for-school-books 3.00 1986 Short Fiction: Classic and Contemporary: Fourth Edition
author: Charles H. Bohner
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2010/05/26
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves: 11th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> Between the Acts 46105 224 Virginia Woolf 015611870X Andreea 3 year-1 3.64 1941 Between the Acts
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1941
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/31
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Voyage Out (The Virginia Woolf Library)]]> 148905 ]]> 375 Virginia Woolf 0156028050 Andreea 4 year-1 3.77 1915 The Voyage Out (The Virginia Woolf Library)
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1915
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/27
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Nigger of the Narcissus 178533 112 Joseph Conrad 1419175602 Andreea 3 year-1 3.67 1897 The Nigger of the Narcissus
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1897
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/11/25
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Daemon Prism (Collegia Magica, #3)]]> 12444343 495 Carol Berg 1101559608 Andreea 5 3.95 2012 The Daemon Prism (Collegia Magica, #3)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/03/23
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition)]]> 15647 427 Dante Alighieri 0374525315 Andreea 4 10th-grade, for-school-books 4.14 1320 The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition)
author: Dante Alighieri
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1320
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/03/15
shelves: 10th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> Poems by T. S. Eliot 6427884 Poetry, Blast, Others, The Little Review, and Art and Letters. Contents: Gerontion; Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar; Sweeney Erect; A Cooking Egg; Le Directeur; Melange adultere de tout; Lune de Miel; The Hippopotamus; Dans le Restaurant; Whispers of Immortality; Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service; Sweeney Among the Nightingales; The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock; Portrait of a Lady; Preludes; Rhapsody on a Windy Night; Morning at the Window; The Boston Evening Transcript; Aunt Helen; Cousin Nancy; Mr. Apollinax; Hysteria; Conversation Galante; La Figlia Che Pianga.]]> T.S. Eliot Andreea 5 year-1 4.03 1919 Poems by T. S. Eliot
author: T.S. Eliot
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1919
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/10/24
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Poe: Illustrated Tales of Mystery and Imagination]]> 73453 Edgar Allan Poe widely recognized as one of the greatest American writers of short stories and poems and acknowledged as the inventor of detective stories, greatly influencing the modern thriller. A master in creating characters and plots that send shivers down your spine. His dark, gothic, and horrifying tales and poems of mystery and imagination now come to life in this book, featuring artworks by eminent international designers.

POE contains nine short stories including his celebrated masterpieces, "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Black Cat" as well as poems including "The Bell" and "The Raven", certainly Poe's best known work and arguably the most popular poem ever written. The familiar works and thrilling stories are heightened by elaborate illustrations by contemporary designers such as Usugrow, Casaramona, Jen Ray, Brian Ewing and others.

This lavishly illustrated hardcover volume is sure to enthrall Poe's most rabid fan and arouse the interest of those who are reading Poe for the first time.

]]> 191 Edgar Allan Poe 3899551591 Andreea 5 reviewed, 10th-grade 4.15 1842 Poe: Illustrated Tales of Mystery and Imagination
author: Edgar Allan Poe
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1842
rating: 5
read at: 2008/06/22
date added: 2013/07/28
shelves: reviewed, 10th-grade
review:
I got this book for Christmas last year, and since then, Edgar Allan Poe has become my favorite poet. All of the short stories in this book are rather dark, macabre, and sometimes just plain weird. I liked them a lot, but it's his poems that really hit me hard. That's why I chose to do my Global Lit project about him. "The Raven" my favorite piece in the book and it's a very long poem. The first time I read it, I neither liked it nor understood it. However, the frustration of not understanding it made me read it again, slowly, with a dictionary in front of me, and it was then that I thought "...". Yea, I didn't know what to think, it was so amazing. I kept reading it, over and over again and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to detail the slow descent of a broken-hearted young man into madness. "The Bells" seems to be more of a song than a poem; it's rhythm and melody is awesome. I rememeber reading it outloud in the middle of the night, alone in my room, just to hear it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Edgar Allan Poe specifically and weird stories in general.
]]> <![CDATA[Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas]]> 12267095
The book also evokes an astonishingly creative moment in English literature, when London was a battleground for new, ambitious kinds of writing. A generation that included W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Frost and Rupert Brooke were 'making it new' - vehemently and pugnaciously.

These larger-than-life characters surround a central figure, tormented by his work and his marriage. But as his friendship with Frost blossomed, Thomas wrote poem after poem, and his emotional affliction began to lift. In 1914 the two friends formed the ideas that would produce some of the most remarkable verse of the twentieth century. But the War put an ocean between them: Frost returned to the safety of New England while Thomas stayed to fight for the Old.

It is these roads taken - and those not taken - that are at the heart of this remarkable book, which culminates in Thomas's tragic death on Easter Monday 1917.]]> 416 Matthew Hollis 0571245986 Andreea 4 year-1 4.05 2011 Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas
author: Matthew Hollis
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2012/03/27
date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
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]]> <![CDATA[Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative]]> 864726 256 Mieke Bal 0802078060 Andreea 4 year-1 3.67 1978 Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative
author: Mieke Bal
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at: 2012/07/04
date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> A Guide to Old English 1457627 400 Bruce Mitchell 0631226362 Andreea 3 year-1 4.18 1964 A Guide to Old English
author: Bruce Mitchell
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1964
rating: 3
read at: 2012/03/27
date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Theorists of Modernist Poetry: T. S. Eliot, T. E. Hulme, Ezra Pound]]> 453969
Tracing the complex theoretical foundations of modernist poetics, Rebecca Beasley examines:


the aesthetic modes and theories that formed a context for modernism the influence of contemporary philosophical movements the modernist critique of democracy the importance of the First World War modernism s programmes for social reform.
This volume offers invaluable insight into the modernist movement, as well as demonstrating the deep influence of the three poets on the shape and values of the discipline of English Literature itself. Theorists of Modernist Poetry is relevant not only to students of modernism, but to all those with an interest in why we study, teach, read and evaluate literature the way we do.

"]]> 148 Rebecca Beasley 0415285402 Andreea 4 year-1 3.42 2007 Theorists of Modernist Poetry: T. S. Eliot, T. E. Hulme, Ezra Pound
author: Rebecca Beasley
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Poetry Handbook 549295
The second edition--fully revised, expanded, updated, and supported by a new companion website--confirm The Poetry Handbook as the best guide to poetry available in English.]]> 418 John Lennard 0199265380 Andreea 3 year-1 3.80 1996 The Poetry Handbook
author: John Lennard
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2012/07/04
date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Old and Middle English c.890–c.1400: An Anthology]]> 2402951 712 Elaine M. Treharne 1405113138 Andreea 3 3.97 2000 Old and Middle English c.890–c.1400: An Anthology
author: Elaine M. Treharne
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/07/04
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]]> Watt 104613 256 Samuel Beckett 0714506109 Andreea 3 year-1 3.93 1953 Watt
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1953
rating: 3
read at: 2012/07/04
date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Proust 289769 126 Samuel Beckett 0714500348 Andreea 4 year-1 4.12 1931 Proust
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1931
rating: 4
read at: 2012/07/04
date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Unnamable 78457
The Unnamable is a 1953 novel by Samuel Beckett. It is the third and final entry in Beckett's "Trilogy" of novels, which begins with Molloy followed by Malone Dies. It was originally published in French as L'Innommable and later translated by the author into English. Grove Press published the English edition in 1958.]]> 186 Samuel Beckett 039417030X Andreea 4 year-1 4.03 1953 The Unnamable
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1953
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho]]> 54089 116 Samuel Beckett 0802134262 Andreea 4 year-1 4.17 1984 Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1984
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
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]]> The Complete Dramatic Works 12286
'He believes in the cadence, the comma, the bite of word on reality, whatever else he believes; and his devotion to them, he makes clear, is a sufficient focus for the reader's attention. In the modern history of literature he is a unique moral figure, not a dreamer of rose-gardens but a cultivator of what will grow in the waste land, who can make us see the exhilarating design that thorns and yucca share with whatever will grow anywhere.' - Hugh Kenner.

Contents:
Waiting for Godot.
Endgame.
Happy Days.
All That Fall.
Acts Without Words.
Krapp's Last Tape.
Roughs for the Theatre.
Embers.
Roughs for the Radio.
Words and Music.
Cascando.
Play.
Film.
The Old Tune.
Come and Go.
Eh Joe.
Breath.
Not I.
That Time.
Footfalls.
Ghost Trio
...but the clouds....
A Piece of Monologue.
Rockaby.
Ohio Impromptu.
Quad.
Catastrophe.
Nacht und Traume.
What Where.]]> 480 Samuel Beckett 0571144861 Andreea 4 year-1 4.39 1961 The Complete Dramatic Works
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1961
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume 2, 1941-1956]]> 11580294 886 Samuel Beckett 0521867940 Andreea 3 year-1 4.64 2011 The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume 2, 1941-1956
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume 1, 1929-1940]]> 2828086 782 Samuel Beckett 0521867932 Andreea 4 year-1 4.28 2008 The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume 1, 1929-1940
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/07/04
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)]]> 10025305
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.]]> 498 Cassandra Clare 1416975888 Andreea 0 4.42 2011 Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/07/04
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]]> Modernism: The Lure of Heresy 159170 640 Peter Gay 0393052052 Andreea 0 to-read 3.90 2007 Modernism: The Lure of Heresy
author: Peter Gay
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Murphy 333314 288 Samuel Beckett 0802150373 Andreea 4 3.85 1938 Murphy
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1938
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/03/27
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Journal of a Disappointed Man]]> 3275756
Yet, for all its excruciating honesty, W.N.P. Barbellion has an extraordinary lust for life. As Zeppelins loomed above the streets of South Kensington, the humour and beauty he found in the world around him - in music, friendship, nature and love - deepens not just the tragedy of his own life, but the millions of lives lost during the First World War.]]> 275 W.N.P. Barbellion 086299098X Andreea 0 currently-reading 4.07 1919 The Journal of a Disappointed Man
author: W.N.P. Barbellion
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1919
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/03/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]> 379959
Leo Sherley-Price's translation from the Latin brings us an accurate and readable version of Bede's History. This edition includes Bede's Letter to Egbert, denouncing false monasteries; and The Death of Bede, an admirable eye-witness account by Cuthbert, monk and later Abbot of Jarrow, both translated by D. H. Farmer.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 400 Bede 014044565X Andreea 3 year-1 3.83 731 Ecclesiastical History of the English People
author: Bede
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.83
book published: 731
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/03/27
shelves: year-1
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]]> Modernisms: A Literary Guide 12579579 postmodern has often produced a caricature of Modernism as monolithic and reactionary. Peter Nicholls argues instead that the distinctive feature of Modernism is its diversity. Through a lively analysis of each of Modernism's main literary movements, he explores the connections between the new stylistic developments and the shifting politics of gender and authority.
Nicholls introduces a wealth of literary experimentation, beginning with Baudelaire and Mallarmé and moving forward to the first avant-gardes. Close readings of key texts monitor the explosive histories of Futurism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism, histories that allow Anglo-American Modernism to be seen in a strikingly different light. In revealing Modernism's broad and varied terrain, Nicholls evokes the richness of a cultural moment that continues to shape our own.]]> 424 Peter Nicholls 0230506755 Andreea 3 year-1 3.00 1995 Modernisms: A Literary Guide
author: Peter Nicholls
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/03/21
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[George Orwell: Critical Essays]]> 8867011 -George Orwell]]> 169 George Orwell Andreea 3 year-1 3.94 1946 George Orwell: Critical Essays
author: George Orwell
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1946
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2012/03/05
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Midnight’s Children 14836 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,� all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts.

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight� s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.]]> 647 Salman Rushdie 0099578514 Andreea 5 11th-grade 3.98 1981 Midnight’s Children
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at: 2010/05/26
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: 11th-grade
review:

]]> Shattering Glass 841868 Fat, clumsy Simon Glass is a nerd, a loser who occupies the lowest rung on the high school social ladder. Everyone picks on him -- until Rob Haynes shows up. Rob, a transfer student with charisma to spare, immediately becomes the undisputed leader of the senior class. And he has plans for Simon.
Rob enlists the help of his crew -- wealthy, intellectual Young, ladies' man Bob, and sweet, athletic Coop -- in a mission: Turn sniveling Simon from total freak to would-be prom king.
But as Simon rises to the top of the social ranks, he shows a new confidence and a devious side that power-hungry Rob did not anticipate. And when Simon uncovers a dangerous secret, events darken. The result is disquieting, bone-chilling...and brutal.]]> 215 Gail Giles 0689858000 Andreea 3 11th-grade 3.84 2002 Shattering Glass
author: Gail Giles
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2010/04/05
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: 11th-grade
review:

]]> A Room with a View 3087
Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her, until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.

Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?]]> 119 E.M. Forster 1420925431 Andreea 4 year-1 3.91 1908 A Room with a View
author: E.M. Forster
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1908
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/11/29
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]]> Howards End 3102 246 E.M. Forster 0486424545 Andreea 5 year-1 3.97 1910 Howards End
author: E.M. Forster
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1910
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
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]]> E.M. Forster's Modernism 848931 224 David Medalie 0333987829 Andreea 3 year-1 4.00 2002 E.M. Forster's Modernism
author: David Medalie
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Short Stories by E. M. Forster: The Machine Stops, the Other Boat, the Other Side of the Hedge, the Life to Come (Study Guide)]]> 9310631 28 E.M. Forster 115847864X Andreea 4 year-1 3.43 2010 Short Stories by E. M. Forster: The Machine Stops, the Other Boat, the Other Side of the Hedge, the Life to Come (Study Guide)
author: E.M. Forster
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
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]]> Shame 4831 The Satanic Verses, Shame is Salman Rushdie’s phantasmagoric epic of an unnamed country that is “not quite Pakistan.� In this dazzling tale of an ongoing duel between the families of two men–one a celebrated wager of war, the other a debauched lover of pleasure–Rushdie brilliantly portrays a world caught between honor and humiliation–“shamelessness, shame: the roots of violence.� Shame is an astonishing story that grows more timely by the day.]]> 287 Salman Rushdie Andreea 3 year-1 3.87 1983 Shame
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Waste Land 34080 The Waste Land, first published in 1922, is often regarded as T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, as well as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry.

The work, divided in 5 sections, juxtaposes the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King, with a snapshot of early twentieth-century British society. In contemporary times, it is often read published within The Waste Land and Other Poems and has come to be Eliot's most popular poem.

T.S. Elliot was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. Born in 1888 in St. Louis (MO, USA), he is considered one of the 20th century's major poets, and a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry."In ten years' time," wrote Edmund Wilson in Axel's Castle (1931), "Elliot has left upon English poetry a mark more unmistakable than that of any other poet writing in English." In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Price "for his work as a trail-blazing pioneer of modern poetry."]]> 288 T.S. Eliot 0393974995 Andreea 5 year-1 4.11 1922 The Waste Land
author: T.S. Eliot
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1922
rating: 5
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]]> A Passage to India 45195 A Passage to India compellingly depicts the fate of individuals caught between the great political and cultural conflicts of the modern world.

In his introduction, Pankaj Mishra outlines Forster's complex engagement with Indian society and culture. This edition reproduces the Abinger text and notes, and also includes four of Forster's essays on India, a chronology and further reading.]]> 376 E.M. Forster 014144116X Andreea 4 year-1 3.69 1924 A Passage to India
author: E.M. Forster
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1924
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Trial 17690 The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.]]> 255 Franz Kafka Andreea 4 4.00 1925 The Trial
author: Franz Kafka
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1925
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/11/29
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]]> The Satanic Verses 12781
From the back cover.]]> 561 Salman Rushdie 0312270828 Andreea 4 year-1 3.73 1988 The Satanic Verses
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Collected Writings of T. E. Hulme]]> 2014300 ]]> 526 T.E. Hulme 0198112343 Andreea 3 year-1 3.67 1994 The Collected Writings of T. E. Hulme
author: T.E. Hulme
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Civilization and Its Discontents]]> 357636 127 Sigmund Freud 0393301583 Andreea 4 year-1 3.79 1930 Civilization and Its Discontents
author: Sigmund Freud
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1930
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Heart of Darkness 4900
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted, Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written.]]> 188 Joseph Conrad 1892295490 Andreea 3 year-1 3.43 1899 Heart of Darkness
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1899
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Waves 46114 The Waves introduces six characters—three men and three women—who are grappling with the death of a beloved friend, Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Virginia Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing them through their thoughts and interior soliloquies. As their understanding of nature’s trials grows, the chorus of narrative voices blends together in miraculous harmony, remarking not only on the inevitable death of individuals but on the eternal connection of everyone. The novel that most epitomizes Virginia Woolf’s theories of fiction in the working form, The Waves is an amazing book very much ahead of its time. It is a poetic dreamscape, visual, experimental, and thrilling.]]> 297 Virginia Woolf 0156949601 Andreea 4 year-1 4.17 1931 The Waves
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1931
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Life & Times of Michael K 6193 In a South Africa torn by civil war, Michael K sets out to take his mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. Imprisoned, Michael is unable to bear confinement and escapes, determined to live with dignity. Life and Times of Michael K goes to the centre of human experience—the need for an interior, spiritual life, for some connections to the world in which we live, and for purity of vision.]]> 192 J.M. Coetzee Andreea 3 year-1 3.87 1983 Life & Times of Michael K
author: J.M. Coetzee
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1983
rating: 3
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date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Burger's Daughter 526927 361 Nadine Gordimer 0140055932 Andreea 3 year-1 3.55 1979 Burger's Daughter
author: Nadine Gordimer
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1979
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory]]> 6879979 An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory is the essential guide to literary studies.

The market-leading introduction to literature, criticism and theory, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to studying literature, and introduces theory in a non-threatening way. Fully updated to take into account new theory - such as eco-criticism. This new edition is supported by a companion website, which will contain additional, downloadable chapters on 'How to Read' and 'How to Write.']]> 392 Andrew Bennett 1405859148 Andreea 5 year-1 3.85 1960 An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory
author: Andrew Bennett
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Literary Theory: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides)]]> 8229018 240 Clare Connors 1851687300 Andreea 4 year-1 3.87 2010 Literary Theory: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides)
author: Clare Connors
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]> 7588 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.]]> 329 James Joyce 0142437344 Andreea 4 year-1 3.64 1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
author: James Joyce
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1916
rating: 4
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shelves: year-1
review:

]]> The Art of Fiction 69926 The articles with which David Lodge entertained and delighted readers of the Independent on Sunday and The Washington Post are now revised, expanded, and collected together in book form.

The art of fiction is considered under a wide range of headings, such as the Intrusive Author, Suspense, the Epistolary Novel, Time-shift, Magic Realism and Symbolism, and each topic is illustrated by a passage or two taken from classic or modern fiction. Drawing on writers as diverse as Henry James and Martin Amis, Jane Austen and Fay Weldon and Henry Fielding and James Joyce, David Lodge makes accesible to the general reader the richness and variety of British and American fiction. Technical terms, such as Interior Monologue, Metafiction, Intertextuality and the Unreliable Narrator, are lucidly explained and their applications demonstrated.

Bringing to criticism the verve and humour of his own novels, David Lodge has provided essential reading for students of literature, aspiring writers, and anyone who wishes to understand how literature works.

Beginning (Jane Austen, Ford Madox Ford) --
The intrusive author (George Eliot, E.M. Forster) --
Suspense (Thomas Hardy) --
Teenage Skaz (J.D. Salinger) --
The epistolary novel (Michael Frayn) --
Point of view (Henry James) --
Mystery (Rudyard Kipling) --
Names (David Lodge, Paul Auster) --
The stream of consciousness (Virginia Woolf) --
Interior monologue (James Joyce) --
Defamiliarization (Charlotte Bronte) --
The sense of place (Martin Amis) --
Lists (F. Scott Fitzgerald) --
Introducing a character (Christopher Isherwood) --
Surprise (William Makepeace Thackeray) --
Time-shift (Muriel Spark) --
The reader in the text (Laurence Sterne) --
Weather (Jane Austen, Charles Dickens) --
Repetition (Ernest Hemingway) --
Fancy prose (Vladimir Nabokov) --
Intertextuality (Joseph Conrad) --
The experimental novel (Henry Green) --
The comic novel (Kingsley Amis) --
Magic realism (Milan Kundera) --
Staying on the surface (Malcolm Bradbury) --
Showing and telling (Henry Fielding) --
Telling in different voices (Fay Weldon) --
A sense of the past (John Fowles). Imagining the future (George Orwell) --
Symbolism (D.H. Lawrence) --
Allegory (Samuel Butler) --
Epiphany (John Updike) --
Coincidence (Henry James) --
The unreliable narrator (Kazuo Ishiguro) --
The exotic (Graham Greene) --
Chapters etc. (Tobias Smollett, Laurence Sterne, Sil Walter Scott, George Eliot, James Joyce) --
The telephone (Evelyn Waugh) --
Surrealism (Leonora Carringotn) --
Irony (Arnold Bennett) --
Motivation (George Eliot) --
Duration (Donald Barthelme) --
Implication (William Cooper) --
The title (George Gissing) --
Ideas (Anthony Burgess) --
The non-fiction novel (Thomas Carlyle) --
Metafiction (John Barth) --
The uncanny (Edgar Allen Poe) --
Narrative structure (Leonard Michaels) --
Aporia (Samuel Beckett) --
Ending (Jane Austen, William Golding)]]> 256 David Lodge 0140174923 Andreea 3 year-1 3.93 1992 The Art of Fiction
author: David Lodge
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1992
rating: 3
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date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
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]]> The Tempest 12985
Each edition includes:
� Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

� Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

� Scene-by-scene plot summaries

� A key to famous lines and phrases

� An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

� An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

� Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books]]> 218 William Shakespeare Andreea 4 year-1 3.78 1611 The Tempest
author: William Shakespeare
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1611
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Maurice 3103
Forster understood that his homage to same-sex love, if published when he completed it in 1914, would probably end his career. Thus, Maurice languished in a drawer for fifty-seven years, the author requesting it be published only after his death (along with his stories about homosexuality later collected in The Life to Come).

Since its release in 1971, Maurice has been widely read and praised. It has been, and continues to be, adapted for major stage productions, including the 1987 Oscar-nominated film adaptation starring Hugh Grant and James Wilby.]]> 256 E.M. Forster 0393310329 Andreea 4 year-1 4.07 1971 Maurice
author: E.M. Forster
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1971
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> Catch-22 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Andreea 4 year-1 3.99 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/11/29
shelves: year-1
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future]]> 3345583 Content is the first collection of Doctorow’s infamous articles, essays, and polemics.

Here’s why Microsoft should stop treating its customers as criminals (through relentless digital-rights management); how America chose copyright and Happy Meal toys over jobs; why Facebook is taking a faceplant; how Wikipedia is a poor cousin of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; and, of course, why free e-books kick ass.

Accessible to geeks and noobs (if you’re not sure what that means, it’s you) alike, Content is a must-have compilation from Cory Doctorow, who will be glad to take you along for the ride as he effortlessly surfs the zeitgeist.]]> 213 Cory Doctorow 1892391813 Andreea 0 to-read 3.79 2008 Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
author: Cory Doctorow
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Soul Weaver (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #3)]]> 437782 469 Carol Berg 0451460170 Andreea 5 3.90 2005 The Soul Weaver (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #3)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Daughter of Ancients (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #4)]]> 437785 531 Carol Berg 0451460421 Andreea 0 currently-reading 3.90 2005 Daughter of Ancients (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #4)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2011/11/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Song of the Beast 437788 467 Carol Berg 0451459237 Andreea 0 to-read 4.03 2003 Song of the Beast
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Guardians of the Keep (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #2)]]> 437787 528 Carol Berg 0451460006 Andreea 5 3.86 2004 Guardians of the Keep (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #2)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Son of Avonar (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #1)]]> 437786 471 Carol Berg 0451459628 Andreea 5 3.76 2004 Son of Avonar (The Bridge of D'Arnath, #1)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2004
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Basilisk (The Korsak Brothers #2)]]> 9673936 352 Rob Thurman 0451464141 Andreea 3 3.94 2011 Basilisk (The Korsak Brothers #2)
author: Rob Thurman
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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date added: 2011/11/22
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Soul Mirror (Collegia Magica, #2)]]> 8626348
Anne de Vernase rejoices that she has no talent for magic. Her father's pursuit of depraved sorcery has left her family in ruins, and he remains at large, convicted of treason and murder by Anne's own testimony. Now, the tutors at Collegia Seravain inform her that her gifted younger sister has died in a magical accident. It seems but life's final mockery that cool, distant Portier de Savin-Duplais, the librarian turned royal prosecutor, arrives with the news that the king intends to barter her hand in marriage.

Anne recognizes that the summoning carries implications far beyond a bleak personal future - and they are all about magic. Merona, the royal city, is beset by plagues of rats and birds, and mysterious sinkholes that swallow light and collapse buildings. Whispers of hauntings and illicit necromancy swirl about the queen's volatile sorcerer. And a murder in the queen's inner circle convinces Anne that her sister's death was no accident. With no one to trust but a friend she cannot see, Anne takes up her sister's magical puzzle, plunging into the midst of a centuries-old rivalry and coming face-to-face with the most dangerous sorcerer in Sabria. His name is Dante.]]> 515 Carol Berg 0451463749 Andreea 5 12th-grade 4.13 2011 The Soul Mirror (Collegia Magica, #2)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/11/04
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3)]]> 6131164 Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.]]> 568 Cassandra Clare 141697590X Andreea 0 to-read 4.55 2013 Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Picture of Dorian Gray 5297 272 Oscar Wilde Andreea 4 12th-grade 4.13 1890 The Picture of Dorian Gray
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1890
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> Revelation (Rai-Kirah, #2) 618197 485 Carol Berg 0451458427 Andreea 4 12th-grade 3.96 2001 Revelation (Rai-Kirah, #2)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2001
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> Restoration (Rai-Kirah, #3) 618198 471 Carol Berg 0451458907 Andreea 5 12th-grade 3.98 2002 Restoration (Rai-Kirah, #3)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2002
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> Candide 19380 Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher's immortal narrative takes Candide around the world to discover that � contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss � all is not always for the best. Alive with wit, brilliance, and graceful storytelling, Candide has become Voltaire's most celebrated work.]]> 129 Voltaire 0486266893 Andreea 4 12th-grade 3.76 1759 Candide
author: Voltaire
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1759
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay]]> 3985 639 Michael Chabon 0312282990 Andreea 5 12th-grade 4.18 2000 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
author: Michael Chabon
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> Blackout (Cal Leandros, #6) 8133077
And that's just the way his deadly enemies like it...]]> 352 Rob Thurman 0451463862 Andreea 4 12th-grade 4.15 2011 Blackout (Cal Leandros, #6)
author: Rob Thurman
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> 1984 5470 328 George Orwell Andreea 4 12th-grade 4.15 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1949
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Readings on Candide (Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to World Literature)]]> 545082 172 Thomas Walsh 0737703628 Andreea 3 12th-grade 3.50 2000 Readings on Candide (Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to World Literature)
author: Thomas Walsh
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)]]> 6752378 425 Cassandra Clare 1442403543 Andreea 3 12th-grade 4.09 2011 City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> The Lexus and the Olive Tree 750761 The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas L. Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times, offers an engrossing look at the new international system that is transforming world affairs today. Globalization has replaced the Cold War system with the integration of capital, technology, and information across national borders—uniting Brazilian peasants, Indonesian entrepreneurs, Chinese villagers, and Silicon Valley technocrats in a single global village. You cannot understand the morning news, know where to invest your money, or think about the future unless you understand this new system, which is profoundly influencing virtually every country in the world today. Friedman tells you what this electronic global economy is all about and what it will take to live within it.

With vivid stories drawn from his extensive travels, he dramatizes the conflict of “the Lexus and the olive tree”—the tension between the globalization system and the ancient forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community. He also details the powerful backlash that globalization produces among those who feel brutalized by it, and he spells out what we all need to do to keep the Lexus and the olive tree in balance. For this new paperback edition, Friedman has substantially expanded and updated his provocative analysis, making it essential reading for all who care about how the world works now.]]> 490 Thomas L. Friedman 0385499345 Andreea 3 12th-grade, for-school-books 3.61 1997 The Lexus and the Olive Tree
author: Thomas L. Friedman
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts]]> 30852 204 Maxine Hong Kingston 0679721886 Andreea 2 12th-grade, for-school-books 3.74 1976 The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
author: Maxine Hong Kingston
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1976
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> Crime and Punishment 7144 671 Fyodor Dostoevsky Andreea 0 to-read 4.26 1866 Crime and Punishment
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1866
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay]]> 826106 656 Michael Chabon 0613554019 Andreea 5 4.31 2000 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
author: Michael Chabon
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> I, Robot (Robot, #0.1) 41804
I, ROBOT

They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on perhaps its greatest adventure: the invention of the first positronic man. It was a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities—and unforeseen risks. For the scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should ' remain programmed helpers, companions, and semisentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves; aware of their own intelligence, power, and humanity, aren't either.

As humans and robots struggle to survive together—and sometimes against each other—on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligences that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity obsolete?

In l, Robot Isaac Asimov changes forever our perception of robots, and human beings and updates the timeless myth of man's dream to play god. with all its rewards—and terrors.
--front flap]]> 224 Isaac Asimov 0553803700 Andreea 4 12th-grade 4.22 1950 I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1950
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/04/25
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lab: Agent Six of Hearts is About to Live His Worst Nightmare]]> 2655881 324 Heath; Jack 0330422316 Andreea 3 reviewed, 10th-grade 3.10 2006 The Lab: Agent Six of Hearts is About to Live His Worst Nightmare
author: Heath; Jack
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2008/11/07
date added: 2011/02/07
shelves: reviewed, 10th-grade
review:
This book is the very definition of "action". Agent Six of Hearts is not quite human. He is the result of an elaborate experiment, and he is the best agent that the Deck has. In a world where the very air people breath is poison, causing them to barely be able to live past 40, Agent Six is hunted by ChaoSonic. He regards the very people he works with and for as inferior, until he meets Kyntak, a boy his age who matches him in skill and abilities. However, unlike Six, Kyntak acts human, joking around and laughing like them. Every chapter is full of things life jumping off buildings, running along a cliff after a car, hand-to-hand combat, and random jokes. I liked this book, though I don't think I'll be rereading it anytime soon.
]]> <![CDATA[Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English]]> 108835 240 Patricia T. O'Conner 1594480060 Andreea 5 11th-grade, for-school-books 3.93 1996 Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English
author: Patricia T. O'Conner
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2010/11/14
date added: 2010/12/18
shelves: 11th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> Of Mice and Men 890 “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.�

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.]]> 107 John Steinbeck 0142000671 Andreea 4 12th-grade 3.88 1937 Of Mice and Men
author: John Steinbeck
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/11/14
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)]]> 7171637 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...]]> 479 Cassandra Clare 1416975861 Andreea 4 12th-grade 4.31 2010 Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/11/14
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7)]]> 7005865 Young Artemis has frequently used high-tech fairy magic to mastermind the most devious criminal activity of the new century. Now, at a conference in Iceland, Artemis has gathered the fairies to present his latest idea to save the world from global warming. But Artemis is behaving strangely - he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him . . . Artemis Fowl has become nice. The fairies diagnose Atlantis Complex (that's obsessive compulsive disorder to you and I) - it seems dabbling in magic has damaged Artemis' main his mind. Fairy ally Captain Holly Short doesn't know what to do. The subterranean volcanoes are under attack from vicious robots and Artemis cannot fight them. Can Holly get the real Artemis back ---before the robot probes destroy every human and life form? This eagerly-awaited adventure is now out in paperback with a fabulous new cover-look to celebrate ten years of Artemis action.]]> 357 Eoin Colfer 1423128192 Andreea 4 12th-grade 3.98 2010 The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/11/14
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race]]> 8163722
Where do we come from? Who created us? Why are we here? These questions have puzzled us since the dawn of time, but when it became apparent to Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show that the world was about to end, they embarked on a massive mission to write a book that summed up the human race: What we looked like; what we accomplished; our achievements in society, government, religion, science and culture -- all in a tome of approximately 256 pages with lots of color photos, graphs and charts.

After two weeks of hard work, they had their book. Earth (The Book) is the definitive guide to our species. With their trademark wit, irreverence, and intelligence, Stewart and his team will posthumously answer all of life's most hard-hitting questions, completely unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity, or even accuracy.]]> 246 Jon Stewart 044657922X Andreea 4 12th-grade 3.91 2010 Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race
author: Jon Stewart
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/11/14
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Grimrose Path (Trickster, #2)]]> 7827387 I looked at the metal coated with blood—so very much blood—the same color as the darkest crimson rose. I was undoing this. I was making this right. And I’d like to see the son of a bitch who thought he could stop me.

Bar owner Trixa Iktomi knows that inhuman creatures of light and darkness roam Las Vegas-especially since she’s a bit more than human herself. She’s just been approached with an unusual proposition. Something has slaughtered almost one thousand demons in six months. And the killing isn’t going to stop unless Trixa and her friends step into the fight.]]> 352 Rob Thurman 0451463498 Andreea 2 12th-grade 4.00 2010 The Grimrose Path (Trickster, #2)
author: Rob Thurman
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2010/11/14
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> Let Me In 9268185 Let Me In Takes Top Honors at Tribeca Film Festival and is now an Award-winning movie in both the U.S. and Sweden!It is autumn 1981 when inconceivable horror comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenager is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .Sweeping top honors at film festivals all over the globe, Let Me In has received the same kind of spectacular raves that have been lavished on the book. American and Swedish readers of vampire fiction will be thrilled!

Following the success in Sweden, this movie was remade in 2010 starring Kodi Smit Mcpheem, Chloe Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins changing its name from the Swedish Let The Right One In.  The story has continued to reach new viewers in a London Musical and the book remains a vampire favorite among its readers.



]]> 480 John Ajvide Lindqvist 1429930845 Andreea 0 currently-reading, 12th-grade 3.68 2004 Let Me In
author: John Ajvide Lindqvist
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/14
shelves: currently-reading, 12th-grade
review:

]]> Me Talk Pretty One Day 4137 272 David Sedaris 0349113912 Andreea 5 12th-grade, for-school-books 4.01 2000 Me Talk Pretty One Day
author: David Sedaris
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/08/22
shelves: 12th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China]]> 2418533 368 Philip P. Pan 1416537058 Andreea 4 12th-grade, for-school-books 4.10 2008 Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China
author: Philip P. Pan
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/08/22
shelves: 12th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Soul of Iran: A Nation's Struggle for Freedom]]> 87054 392 Afshin Molavi 0393325970 Andreea 4 12th-grade, for-school-books 3.81 2002 The Soul of Iran: A Nation's Struggle for Freedom
author: Afshin Molavi
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/08/22
shelves: 12th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Chimera (The Korsak Brothers, #1)]]> 7062980 337 Rob Thurman 0451463420 Andreea 5 12th-grade 3.83 2010 Chimera (The Korsak Brothers, #1)
author: Rob Thurman
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/08/22
shelves: 12th-grade
review:

]]> Dracula 17245 You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here.

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

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

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

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

A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are included.]]> 488 Bram Stoker 0393970124 Andreea 3 12th-grade, reviewed
The original vampire has been buried in modern vampire lore. I was surprised when I found out Count Dracula was inspired by a historical figure from my own country: the Romanian Vlad Tepes, a man who was no more sadistic than many people during that time period, but who had the misfortune (or fortune) of being the subject of much gossip. Count Dracula is not a sexy beast as modern vampires are portrayed - he is a monster who sleeps in a coffin, is afraid of garlic, and can only be killed by a stake through the heart. The religious element in Dracula has virtually been lost over the years - I was surprised by how much Christian imagery and symbols were used in the book. In fact, the original Dracula seems to be a total anti-Christ, allergic to the cross.

The introduction by Brooke Allen discusses the Victorian fear of female sexuality that is present in the novel. As I read "Dracula," I actually started wondering where people kept seeing this theme, since I even saw instances of feminist comments, unexpected for the time period. It wasn't until the first woman in the book was turned into a vampire that I saw what Brooke Allen was talking about - vampires in the novel were meant to inspire fear, which is why Dracula was portrayed as a monster... and Lucy, the female vampire, as a "voluptuous, carnal, unspirital person." The horror of the female vampire wasn't that she drank blood and killed people, but that she lost her sweetness and purity, and therefore "made man weak." The non-vampire female, on the other hand, lavished praise on the bravery and strength of men, while describing her own purity and beauty which, in Victorian times, was all that mattered in a woman.

While I found the book interesting, I did not like the language. At times, it was refined and characteristic of the itme period; at other times, it crossed boundaries into pomposity. Descriptions seemed bland to me, and I couldn't connect at all with the characters, which all seemed to have the same personality. I think it was well worth the read though, for the origins of the vampire myth.]]> 4.02 1897 Dracula
author: Bram Stoker
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1897
rating: 3
read at: 2010/08/01
date added: 2010/08/22
shelves: 12th-grade, reviewed
review:
At the end of my version of the book there are several discussion questions, one of them being: "More movies have been derived from "Dracula" than any other novel; to what do you attribute this continuous popularity?" It's not just movies either, but books as well. The vampire myth has been expanded, developed, and romanticized over time, and still - STILL - is popular.

The original vampire has been buried in modern vampire lore. I was surprised when I found out Count Dracula was inspired by a historical figure from my own country: the Romanian Vlad Tepes, a man who was no more sadistic than many people during that time period, but who had the misfortune (or fortune) of being the subject of much gossip. Count Dracula is not a sexy beast as modern vampires are portrayed - he is a monster who sleeps in a coffin, is afraid of garlic, and can only be killed by a stake through the heart. The religious element in Dracula has virtually been lost over the years - I was surprised by how much Christian imagery and symbols were used in the book. In fact, the original Dracula seems to be a total anti-Christ, allergic to the cross.

The introduction by Brooke Allen discusses the Victorian fear of female sexuality that is present in the novel. As I read "Dracula," I actually started wondering where people kept seeing this theme, since I even saw instances of feminist comments, unexpected for the time period. It wasn't until the first woman in the book was turned into a vampire that I saw what Brooke Allen was talking about - vampires in the novel were meant to inspire fear, which is why Dracula was portrayed as a monster... and Lucy, the female vampire, as a "voluptuous, carnal, unspirital person." The horror of the female vampire wasn't that she drank blood and killed people, but that she lost her sweetness and purity, and therefore "made man weak." The non-vampire female, on the other hand, lavished praise on the bravery and strength of men, while describing her own purity and beauty which, in Victorian times, was all that mattered in a woman.

While I found the book interesting, I did not like the language. At times, it was refined and characteristic of the itme period; at other times, it crossed boundaries into pomposity. Descriptions seemed bland to me, and I couldn't connect at all with the characters, which all seemed to have the same personality. I think it was well worth the read though, for the origins of the vampire myth.
]]> The Bell Jar 6514 294 Sylvia Plath 0571268862 Andreea 3 12th-grade, reviewed
On one hand, I thought the idea was very interesting. Seen from an insane person's eyes, their actions can seem perfectly rational and obvious. I liked the smooth transition from Esther Greenwood's college life to her descent into madness - the writing style didn't change at all, so the change was gradual and barely noticeable. I hardly know exactly when she went insane.

On the other hand, I would have liked the book more if it suggested more about the cause of Esther's madness. There were suicide attempts without particular mention of why she wanted to kill herself in the first place. Why kill herself and not others - why did she suffer from the particular type of madness she did?

One explanation I can find is that she snapped from overworking herself. This in and of itself does not seem to be implausible to me - the fact that no psychiatrist could discover this and reduce her stress seemed weird to me. I also thought the fact that she spoke to a psychiatrist who prescribed shock-therapy without a second opinion or further tests was also a bit fishy. Then again, looking at the novel as a whole, these can be considered meaningless details.

Overall, I liked the writing style more than I liked the actual story, which I thought could have been more powerful and thought-provoking. ]]> 4.05 1963 The Bell Jar
author: Sylvia Plath
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1963
rating: 3
read at: 2010/08/18
date added: 2010/08/19
shelves: 12th-grade, reviewed
review:
"The Bell Jar", published after Sylvia Plath's death, is the story of a young woman's apparent insanity. It chronicles her life as a college student, her slip into madness, her suicide attempts, and her "healing" in various asylums.

On one hand, I thought the idea was very interesting. Seen from an insane person's eyes, their actions can seem perfectly rational and obvious. I liked the smooth transition from Esther Greenwood's college life to her descent into madness - the writing style didn't change at all, so the change was gradual and barely noticeable. I hardly know exactly when she went insane.

On the other hand, I would have liked the book more if it suggested more about the cause of Esther's madness. There were suicide attempts without particular mention of why she wanted to kill herself in the first place. Why kill herself and not others - why did she suffer from the particular type of madness she did?

One explanation I can find is that she snapped from overworking herself. This in and of itself does not seem to be implausible to me - the fact that no psychiatrist could discover this and reduce her stress seemed weird to me. I also thought the fact that she spoke to a psychiatrist who prescribed shock-therapy without a second opinion or further tests was also a bit fishy. Then again, looking at the novel as a whole, these can be considered meaningless details.

Overall, I liked the writing style more than I liked the actual story, which I thought could have been more powerful and thought-provoking.
]]> <![CDATA[Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything]]> 1202
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives -- how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and -- if the right questions are asked -- is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
(front flap)]]> 268 Steven D. Levitt 0061234001 Andreea 4 12th-grade, reviewed
The title is remakably fitting - while it is a study of economics and how the world works, it doesn't only talk about the economy of demographics. It's a bit "freaky"; it talks about the similarities between teachers and sumo wrestlers, between the KKK and real estate agents. It tackles some controversial topics, such as the link between legalizing abortion and the drop in crime rates, providing evidence that is as shocking as it is strong. Despite this, "Freakonomics" is in no way taking a political stance - it seeks merely to gather evidence for obscure ideas and present a different way of seeing the world.

This book was useful for its random tidbits of knowledge. It doesn't have a connecting theme, so each chapter is like a little book in and of itself, making "Freakonomics" very easy to read. I enjoyed the book very much. ]]> 4.01 2005 Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
author: Steven D. Levitt
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2010/08/01
date added: 2010/08/19
shelves: 12th-grade, reviewed
review:
On page 13, the authors of this book state their purpose: "to explore the hidden side of... everything." Clearly, the book does not even come close to exploring "everything", because that would not fit in a single book (or a million, possibly). However, the book does a good job of drawing some bizarre comparisons that make perfect sense by the time the authors are done explaining them.

The title is remakably fitting - while it is a study of economics and how the world works, it doesn't only talk about the economy of demographics. It's a bit "freaky"; it talks about the similarities between teachers and sumo wrestlers, between the KKK and real estate agents. It tackles some controversial topics, such as the link between legalizing abortion and the drop in crime rates, providing evidence that is as shocking as it is strong. Despite this, "Freakonomics" is in no way taking a political stance - it seeks merely to gather evidence for obscure ideas and present a different way of seeing the world.

This book was useful for its random tidbits of knowledge. It doesn't have a connecting theme, so each chapter is like a little book in and of itself, making "Freakonomics" very easy to read. I enjoyed the book very much.
]]> The Metamorphosis 485894 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."]]> 201 Franz Kafka 0553213695 Andreea 5 12th-grade, reviewed
The story started off in such a bizarre, unexpected way that I thought it must be a parody. It absolutely is not, and it broke my heart a bit by the end. The premise is that an extremely hard-working man wakes up one morning only to find that he has somehow been turned into an insect of some sort. And while I gaped at the pages and wondered how that happened, Kafka methodically avoided that subject, and described how the insect-man, who retained his human mind, saw his metamorphosis as merely an annoyance, hindering him from going to work. Who would worry about work when they're turned into an insect? There's painful irony somewhere in there.

It took me a while to realize that the metamorphosis in the title of the story did not refer to the change suffered by the man - rather, it refers to the gradual change of the man's family, as the slowly forget that the huge insect in their house is their son, brother.

The completely human reactions of the giant insect were a bit jarring, and ultimately heartbreaking. It shines a whole new light on "specieism", and how different we would treat other animals if we knew there was a heart and emotions behind their faces.

]]> 3.90 1915 The Metamorphosis
author: Franz Kafka
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1915
rating: 5
read at: 2010/07/01
date added: 2010/08/18
shelves: 12th-grade, reviewed
review:
I absolutely loved this story to bits and peices. It was a fairly quick read that stayed with me for a long time - to the point that I'm afraid I'll never be able to kill another cockroach.

The story started off in such a bizarre, unexpected way that I thought it must be a parody. It absolutely is not, and it broke my heart a bit by the end. The premise is that an extremely hard-working man wakes up one morning only to find that he has somehow been turned into an insect of some sort. And while I gaped at the pages and wondered how that happened, Kafka methodically avoided that subject, and described how the insect-man, who retained his human mind, saw his metamorphosis as merely an annoyance, hindering him from going to work. Who would worry about work when they're turned into an insect? There's painful irony somewhere in there.

It took me a while to realize that the metamorphosis in the title of the story did not refer to the change suffered by the man - rather, it refers to the gradual change of the man's family, as the slowly forget that the huge insect in their house is their son, brother.

The completely human reactions of the giant insect were a bit jarring, and ultimately heartbreaking. It shines a whole new light on "specieism", and how different we would treat other animals if we knew there was a heart and emotions behind their faces.


]]> Frankenstein 18490 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780141439471

'Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart ...'

Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

Based on the third edition of 1831, this volume contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made to her story, as well as her 1831 introduction and Percy Bysshe Shelley's preface to the first edition. This revised edition includes as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 and 1831 together with 'A Fragment' by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori's 'The Vampyre: A Tale'.]]> 288 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Andreea 3 11th-grade
One thing that surprised me was that the monster's name isn't actually Frankenstein, even though it's been popularized that way. The scientist is Dr. Frankentstein... the monster has no name. And I say monster onlye because he was labeled that way. In he end, he too had good intentions that were rendered irrelevant by humanity's tendency to judge and reject.

If there was one thing in the beautiful novel that I couldn't connect with, it's the writing style. Though Mary Shelley phrased her words beautifully and had bits of wisdom hidden in her work ("Nought may endure but mutability"). I also found no difference in the style of the three different narrators. Sometimes, I felt that that judgements made were too "Shelley" as opposed to "Frankenstein", or "the monster", and that kept me from connecting with the characters.

The lessons in this book as extensive, from things as trite as "don't judge a book by its cover" things more deep and thought-provoking: how far should we take our minds and imaginations? what is justice for the monster, made monstruous only by normal people? can we condemn those we create?]]> 3.77 1818 Frankenstein
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1818
rating: 3
read at: 2010/03/01
date added: 2010/05/27
shelves: 11th-grade
review:
It's clear why this book had become a classic; the premise is one that people still fear even (maybe most especially) today. The scientist of the novel is a very smart and eager young man, intending to do only good, who is eventually defeated by his own ingeniosity and loses control of his own creation.

One thing that surprised me was that the monster's name isn't actually Frankenstein, even though it's been popularized that way. The scientist is Dr. Frankentstein... the monster has no name. And I say monster onlye because he was labeled that way. In he end, he too had good intentions that were rendered irrelevant by humanity's tendency to judge and reject.

If there was one thing in the beautiful novel that I couldn't connect with, it's the writing style. Though Mary Shelley phrased her words beautifully and had bits of wisdom hidden in her work ("Nought may endure but mutability"). I also found no difference in the style of the three different narrators. Sometimes, I felt that that judgements made were too "Shelley" as opposed to "Frankenstein", or "the monster", and that kept me from connecting with the characters.

The lessons in this book as extensive, from things as trite as "don't judge a book by its cover" things more deep and thought-provoking: how far should we take our minds and imaginations? what is justice for the monster, made monstruous only by normal people? can we condemn those we create?
]]> Hamlet 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 Andreea 5 11th-grade, for-school-books
I do have my own theories about the endless Hamlet debates - I don't think Hamlet was truly insane, I don't think there's more to Ophelia than meets the eye, and I do think there's somehting very real about the characters (when we can see the subconscience at work if we try to understand every decision made and word spoken). But most of all I think I need to read more Shakespeare.]]> 4.02 1601 Hamlet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
rating: 5
read at: 2010/03/01
date added: 2010/05/27
shelves: 11th-grade, for-school-books
review:
What can I say about Hamlet that hasn't been said and resaid and analyzed and overanalyzed? I admit that, after Romeo and Juilet, Shakespeare wasn't exactly my favorite author; reading Hamlet, however, was such a different experience for me. I can definitely see why Shakespeare is considered such a great writer. I was left feeling that I've only scratched the surface, and that there were things in his mind that mine couldn't even begin to comprehend. I could feel them when I read certain passages even though I coudnd't quite grasp what I was feeling.

I do have my own theories about the endless Hamlet debates - I don't think Hamlet was truly insane, I don't think there's more to Ophelia than meets the eye, and I do think there's somehting very real about the characters (when we can see the subconscience at work if we try to understand every decision made and word spoken). But most of all I think I need to read more Shakespeare.
]]> <![CDATA[The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone]]> 1540 259 Sophocles 015602764X Andreea 4 11th-grade, reviewed
My favorite of the three plays was Oedipus the King because although it was mostly static, the progression of the thoughts and interactions was very interesting. I can see why the plays were so popular during Sophocles' time. The basic story is that in a kingdom, a prophesy is made that the king's son will grow up to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Horrified, the king and queen send their new-born son to be killed, but he is brought up by the king and queen of a neighboring kingdom. The boy grows up thinking those are his real parents, travels to his home town (unknowingly), kills a random stranger at a crossroads, saves the kingdom of a sphinx, and is promised the hand of the recently widowed queen as a reward. Oedipus then sets out to find the mnurderer of the king, not knowing that it was, in fact, himself.

The audience knows something the characters do not, so it was very interesting to see Oedipus, a proud and brave person with a good heart, dig his own grave. Finding out the truth was inevitable, and part of me couldn't wait to see his reaction, while the other part wanted him to be spared because I didn't think it was his fault. The prophesy came to pass only because Oedipus' parents tried to avoid it. An honorable fight with a stranger turned out to be the murder of a king and father, and a business deal with the queen ended up being an incestuous relationship. Was it Oedipus' fault? Was it fate? Why was Oedipus punished that way?

The other two plays focused on Antigone, one of Oedipus' daughters, and on Oedipus' life after he found out the truth and blinded himself, but his time as king was the most tragic and fascinating. Freud apparently thought so too. ]]> 3.97 -450 The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
author: Sophocles
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.97
book published: -450
rating: 4
read at: 2010/04/01
date added: 2010/05/27
shelves: 11th-grade, reviewed
review:
This was a step away from what I usually read, being a classic as well as a play.

My favorite of the three plays was Oedipus the King because although it was mostly static, the progression of the thoughts and interactions was very interesting. I can see why the plays were so popular during Sophocles' time. The basic story is that in a kingdom, a prophesy is made that the king's son will grow up to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Horrified, the king and queen send their new-born son to be killed, but he is brought up by the king and queen of a neighboring kingdom. The boy grows up thinking those are his real parents, travels to his home town (unknowingly), kills a random stranger at a crossroads, saves the kingdom of a sphinx, and is promised the hand of the recently widowed queen as a reward. Oedipus then sets out to find the mnurderer of the king, not knowing that it was, in fact, himself.

The audience knows something the characters do not, so it was very interesting to see Oedipus, a proud and brave person with a good heart, dig his own grave. Finding out the truth was inevitable, and part of me couldn't wait to see his reaction, while the other part wanted him to be spared because I didn't think it was his fault. The prophesy came to pass only because Oedipus' parents tried to avoid it. An honorable fight with a stranger turned out to be the murder of a king and father, and a business deal with the queen ended up being an incestuous relationship. Was it Oedipus' fault? Was it fate? Why was Oedipus punished that way?

The other two plays focused on Antigone, one of Oedipus' daughters, and on Oedipus' life after he found out the truth and blinded himself, but his time as king was the most tragic and fascinating. Freud apparently thought so too.
]]> Will Grayson, Will Grayson 6567017
It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.]]> 320 John Green 0525421580 Andreea 5 11th-grade, reviewed
What attracted me at first to the book was that I couldn't make any sense of the blurb. Apparently there are two Will Graysons in the novel - does that mean that they are two separate people, the same person from differen time periods, people in parallel universes - what? The structure of the book kept me guessing about that until the middle of the book: chapters alternate between two points of view that have nothing to do with each other for a while. One point of view is Will Grayson, high school kid who has two rules: don't care about things and shut up. Everything bad or awkward that has happened to him in life has been the result of not following one of those two rules, but now there's a problem - he's starting to care about people. The other point of view is Will Grayson, snarky high school student who is capable of as much hate as he is of love. I found a bit of myself in both of them and in Jane, and that made me sad sometimes. When I wasn't snorting with laughter, of course.

(spoiler) The moment I realized this was going to be a funny book was at the end of chapter 1. The chapter began with Will's father telling him the life rule: you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. Chapter 1 proceeds to disprove that theory in the most logical and hilarious way possible.

It's the books that attach to some part of you and don't let go that mean the most, and despite the (somewhat) lighthearted mood and the specifically high school atmosphere, the overarching message was quite sweet.]]> 3.70 2010 Will Grayson, Will Grayson
author: John Green
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/04/01
date added: 2010/05/27
shelves: 11th-grade, reviewed
review:
This book was written as a collaboration between authors John Green and David Levithan. I have no idea who these authors are, but I would like to to know if they are as hilarious writing seperately as they are writing together.

What attracted me at first to the book was that I couldn't make any sense of the blurb. Apparently there are two Will Graysons in the novel - does that mean that they are two separate people, the same person from differen time periods, people in parallel universes - what? The structure of the book kept me guessing about that until the middle of the book: chapters alternate between two points of view that have nothing to do with each other for a while. One point of view is Will Grayson, high school kid who has two rules: don't care about things and shut up. Everything bad or awkward that has happened to him in life has been the result of not following one of those two rules, but now there's a problem - he's starting to care about people. The other point of view is Will Grayson, snarky high school student who is capable of as much hate as he is of love. I found a bit of myself in both of them and in Jane, and that made me sad sometimes. When I wasn't snorting with laughter, of course.

(spoiler) The moment I realized this was going to be a funny book was at the end of chapter 1. The chapter began with Will's father telling him the life rule: you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. Chapter 1 proceeds to disprove that theory in the most logical and hilarious way possible.

It's the books that attach to some part of you and don't let go that mean the most, and despite the (somewhat) lighthearted mood and the specifically high school atmosphere, the overarching message was quite sweet.
]]> When You Reach Me 5310515 199 Rebecca Stead 0385737424 Andreea 5 11th-grade, reviewed
I loved this book. The main character is 12 years old, and I couldn't help thinking that she's so smart and aware for her age. But then I thought about what I was like at 12 and I realized that 12 year olds see and understand a lot of things. It's gotten into my head that kids don't see things, but they do. We just don’t want to believe they do.

I thought the characters were beautifully written - hinting at complexity but written in a remarkably simple way. First impressions are happily shattered. Things aren't what they seem to be. Sal seems to have blocked Miranda out of his life because someone punched him. Julia seems like the mascot for stuck-up 12-year-old. Marcus seems like a bully. The Laughing Man seems just plain insane. And this book seems simple.

There were times when characters said things that had so much meaning; I wouldn't have caught these things when I was younger, but I think Rebecca Stead totally meant for them to be there.

I thought the book was beautifully structured. At times it seemed like things were happening backward. I soon came to realize that was the point. And the beautiful thing about it all was that not only did it make sense, but Miranda didn't just figure things out on her own because she's so brilliant. She followed the clues and accepted what they meant without the cynicism of an older person. She "lifted the veil".

And the ending broke my heart.
]]> 4.08 2009 When You Reach Me
author: Rebecca Stead
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2010/04/01
date added: 2010/05/26
shelves: 11th-grade, reviewed
review:
This is a book for younger readers, but I guess that doesn't mean anything. When the next Artemis Fowl book comes out, you can be sure I'll be reading it, even if I'm in college. In fact, it was nice to read a book that didn't have layers upon layers; with writing that's not so tiny and cramped; with pages that are easy to read so you flip often and feel like it's a dynamic book. I admit that, at first, I thought it would be the kind of book that you saw things coming from a mile away. And there are things I totally saw coming. But then the things I didn't see slapped me across the face.

I loved this book. The main character is 12 years old, and I couldn't help thinking that she's so smart and aware for her age. But then I thought about what I was like at 12 and I realized that 12 year olds see and understand a lot of things. It's gotten into my head that kids don't see things, but they do. We just don’t want to believe they do.

I thought the characters were beautifully written - hinting at complexity but written in a remarkably simple way. First impressions are happily shattered. Things aren't what they seem to be. Sal seems to have blocked Miranda out of his life because someone punched him. Julia seems like the mascot for stuck-up 12-year-old. Marcus seems like a bully. The Laughing Man seems just plain insane. And this book seems simple.

There were times when characters said things that had so much meaning; I wouldn't have caught these things when I was younger, but I think Rebecca Stead totally meant for them to be there.

I thought the book was beautifully structured. At times it seemed like things were happening backward. I soon came to realize that was the point. And the beautiful thing about it all was that not only did it make sense, but Miranda didn't just figure things out on her own because she's so brilliant. She followed the clues and accepted what they meant without the cynicism of an older person. She "lifted the veil".

And the ending broke my heart.

]]> Roadkill (Cal Leandros, #5) 6624702 It's time to lock, load, and hit the road...

Once, while half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko were working on a case, an ancient gypsy queen gave them a good old-fashioned backstabbing. Now, just as their P.I. business hits a slow patch, the old crone shows up with a job.

She wants them to find a stolen coffin that contains a blight that makes the Black Death seem like a fond memory. But the thief has already left town, so the Leandros brothers are going on the road. And if they're very, very lucky, there might even be a return trip...]]> 333 Rob Thurman 0451463196 Andreea 5 11th-grade, reviewed
I think this may have been one of my favorite, if not my favorite, of the Cal Leandros novels. There was a lot more character exploration than previous books. For example, instead of the book being told entirely from Cal or Niko’s points of view (the two main characters), we got to explore the inner workings of a werewolf stuck in wolf form too. That way, we also got to see Cal from an outsiders point of view � turns out he’s smarter than he thinks he is; the lack of complaining about how messed up his life it also made him seem more sad than angry.

In fact, the whole book would probably be very sad if it weren’t told with Rob Thurman’s signature wit and painful sarcasm. And Robin’s struggles with monogamy also added to the light mood.

This was a very fun book, but it also seemed to have a deeper message that was a lot darker and more melancholic than the other novels. On one hand, Rafferty’s quest to find a way to turn Catcher back into a human did not end the way I expected it to. When he gains the power, his own humanity comes into question. What makes us human? Cal has to confront this as well when his monster half threatens to take over for good. And in the end, we get a glimpse at what Delilah really means to Cal � because I always thought he loved her, but his explanation was chilling and revealing at the same time. I foresee the reappearance of Georgina after that admission.

On a sadder note, as much as I loved this book, I now can’t imagine a happy ending. I suppose if Thurman drowns it in enough sarcasm, though, it might be okay.
]]> 4.09 2010 Roadkill (Cal Leandros, #5)
author: Rob Thurman
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/03/01
date added: 2010/04/05
shelves: 11th-grade, reviewed
review:
This is how things always go with ongoing series: I waited a year for this book to come out; I then proceeded to read it in a few days (and it only took me that long because I did my best to stretch it out and enjoy it); I will now be waiting another year for the next one to come out.

I think this may have been one of my favorite, if not my favorite, of the Cal Leandros novels. There was a lot more character exploration than previous books. For example, instead of the book being told entirely from Cal or Niko’s points of view (the two main characters), we got to explore the inner workings of a werewolf stuck in wolf form too. That way, we also got to see Cal from an outsiders point of view � turns out he’s smarter than he thinks he is; the lack of complaining about how messed up his life it also made him seem more sad than angry.

In fact, the whole book would probably be very sad if it weren’t told with Rob Thurman’s signature wit and painful sarcasm. And Robin’s struggles with monogamy also added to the light mood.

This was a very fun book, but it also seemed to have a deeper message that was a lot darker and more melancholic than the other novels. On one hand, Rafferty’s quest to find a way to turn Catcher back into a human did not end the way I expected it to. When he gains the power, his own humanity comes into question. What makes us human? Cal has to confront this as well when his monster half threatens to take over for good. And in the end, we get a glimpse at what Delilah really means to Cal � because I always thought he loved her, but his explanation was chilling and revealing at the same time. I foresee the reappearance of Georgina after that admission.

On a sadder note, as much as I loved this book, I now can’t imagine a happy ending. I suppose if Thurman drowns it in enough sarcasm, though, it might be okay.

]]> <![CDATA[The Spirit Lens (Collegia Magica, #1)]]> 6678976 464 Carol Berg 0451463110 Andreea 5 11th-grade, reviewed
The three main characters in the Spirit Lens are the types of people that never get along. The narrator is a serious scholar of magic that can’t actually do magic; his distant cousin, who happens to be the king of the realm, asks him to solve a particular mystery for him, but the people he assigns as partners are impossible. Illario is a loud-mouthed idiot who cares more about what he’s wearing than about the fate of the world, and Dante is an antisocial, foul-tempered sorcerer who’d sooner destroy the world than save it. It’s amazing that they get anything done at all. And just when you start to grudgingly accept that the king is a good evaluator of someone’s character, you realize he’s only human and can make mistakes.

Berg seems to have a penchant for writing about kings and queens and the lives of those around them. However, she always manages to make the plots so vastly different from each other that they never feel repetitive.

I thought this was a stand-alone book and nearly panicked when I reached the less-than-ideal ending. Thankfully, it’s only the first book in a trilogy. I eagerly await the next book in the series.
]]> 3.68 2009 The Spirit Lens (Collegia Magica, #1)
author: Carol Berg
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2010/03/01
date added: 2010/04/05
shelves: 11th-grade, reviewed
review:
What first got me hooked to Carol Berg’s books was her flowing, intricate, and detailed writing style. The Spirit Lens, I felt, was less complicated than the previous books I read, but still written beautifully. Now, if I were to say what I love most about her books, I’d say it’s the winning combination of writing, imagination, and characters.

The three main characters in the Spirit Lens are the types of people that never get along. The narrator is a serious scholar of magic that can’t actually do magic; his distant cousin, who happens to be the king of the realm, asks him to solve a particular mystery for him, but the people he assigns as partners are impossible. Illario is a loud-mouthed idiot who cares more about what he’s wearing than about the fate of the world, and Dante is an antisocial, foul-tempered sorcerer who’d sooner destroy the world than save it. It’s amazing that they get anything done at all. And just when you start to grudgingly accept that the king is a good evaluator of someone’s character, you realize he’s only human and can make mistakes.

Berg seems to have a penchant for writing about kings and queens and the lives of those around them. However, she always manages to make the plots so vastly different from each other that they never feel repetitive.

I thought this was a stand-alone book and nearly panicked when I reached the less-than-ideal ending. Thankfully, it’s only the first book in a trilogy. I eagerly await the next book in the series.

]]> Einstein’s Dreams 14376 Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar.

Now translated into thirty languages, Einstein's Dreams has inspired playwrights, dancers, musicians, and painters all over the world. In poetic vignettes, it explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.]]> 140 Alan Lightman 140007780X Andreea 4 11th-grade, for-school-books 4.08 1993 Einstein’s Dreams
author: Alan Lightman
name: Andreea
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/04/04
shelves: 11th-grade, for-school-books
review:

]]> The Yiddish Policemen's Union 16703
But homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. He and his half-Tlingit partner, Berko Shemets, can't catch a break in any of their outstanding cases. Landsman's new supervisor is the love of his life—and also his worst nightmare. And in the cheap hotel where he has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under Landsman's nose. Out of habit, obligation, and a mysterious sense that it somehow offers him a shot at redeeming himself, Landsman begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy. But when word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, Landsman soon finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, hopefulness, evil, and salvation that are his heritage—and with the unfinished business of his marriage to Bina Gelbfish, the one person who understands his darkest fears.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, an homage to 1940s noir, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.
(front flap)]]> 414 Michael Chabon 0007149824 Andreea 0 to-read 3.72 2007 The Yiddish Policemen's Union
author: Michael Chabon
name: Andreea
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

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