David's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 22 Aug 2020 23:10:33 -0700 60 David's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Safety Valve (Burnside Series Book 4)]]> 23159440
As Burnside probes into the seamy world of sports marketing, he uncovers much more than he bargained for. There are a surprising number of former clients, spurned lovers and angry underworld figures who harbor plenty of motives to commit murder. With many avenues to go down, Burnside doggedly pursues an investigation that confounds everyone involved -- and also causes the authorities to suspect Burnside himself of a capital crime in which he had no involvement.

Combining an intricate plot with compelling characters, the fourth Burnside mystery leads readers down yet another treacherous path. Fraught with wry humor, the unexpected climax of the story will take readers by surprise -- in more ways than one!
]]> 306 David Chill David 5
Burnside, the former USC football star and LAPD officer, is asked to investigate a shooting incident involving a shady sports agent who has been identified by the police as a person of interest.

Bringing back a fascinating character from a past book, David Chill sets Burnside down a treacherous path of murder and intrigue. As he combs through the evidence, he finds the police are now very interested in his comings and goings -- and start to even suspect Burnside has played a role in a capital crime.

In order to exonerate his client, Burnside must first prove that he himself played no role in the crime. And as the story careens to its dramatic climax, the reader is treated to an ending that is very unexpected -- in more ways than one!]]> 4.22 2014 Safety Valve (Burnside Series Book 4)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/01
date added: 2020/08/22
shelves:
review:
The 4th installment in the Burnside Mystery series may be the best yet!

Burnside, the former USC football star and LAPD officer, is asked to investigate a shooting incident involving a shady sports agent who has been identified by the police as a person of interest.

Bringing back a fascinating character from a past book, David Chill sets Burnside down a treacherous path of murder and intrigue. As he combs through the evidence, he finds the police are now very interested in his comings and goings -- and start to even suspect Burnside has played a role in a capital crime.

In order to exonerate his client, Burnside must first prove that he himself played no role in the crime. And as the story careens to its dramatic climax, the reader is treated to an ending that is very unexpected -- in more ways than one!
]]> <![CDATA[Hard Count (Burnside Series #11)]]> 54512029 The latest novel from a USA TODAY bestselling author! Attempted murder is just the beginning, in this captivating mystery.

When gunshots are fired at a former football star, Burnside is brought in to investigate. But as the body count begins to grow, the police start questioning whether this football great might actually be the one behind it. And they even begin to wonder if Burnside himself might be the culprit�.

The former player has a son who’s a budding star himself. And on the eve of the NFL draft, a crafty sports agent enters the picture to entice Burnside to keep things quiet, until his client can sign a huge contract. But as Burnside begins to probe into the shootings, he uncovers the man’s friends, family, neighbors, and business associates are all becoming likely suspects.

Once again, Burnside’s path takes readers on a trip through the Los Angeles that is well known to locals � but not to outsiders. The police he encounters are both friend and foe, willing to help, but also looking aghast at some of Burnside’s less-than-ethical practices. And all the while, Burnside’s wife Gail has entered the political arena, as she forges ahead with her goal of becoming City Attorney. The stress of both the investigation and the campaign reaches a boiling point, when Burnside loses control and must face the consequences of his actions.

The 11th book in the Burnside Mystery series is a smoothly written gem, and you won’t be able to put it down! Fans of Raymond Chandler, Robert B. Parker, and Janet Evanovich will love this book � the story is engaging, and packed with lots of twists and turns!]]> 261 David Chill David 5 4.49 Hard Count (Burnside Series #11)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/07/17
shelves:
review:
The latest book in the Burnside Mystery series is really good! Fans of Raymond Chandler, Robert B. Parker, and Janet Evanovich will love this!
]]> The Fortunate Pilgrim 22037 The Godfather and The Last Don, there was Puzo's classic story about the loves, crimes and struggles confronted by one family of New York City immigrants living in Hell's Kitchen.

Fresh from the farms in Italy, Lucia Santa struggles to hold her family together in a strange land. At turns poignant, comic and violent, and with a new preface by the author, The Fortunate Pilgrim is Italian-American fiction at its very best.
]]> 304 Mario Puzo 0345476727 David 5 3.85 1965 The Fortunate Pilgrim
author: Mario Puzo
name: David
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/09/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Double Pass (Burnside Series #7)]]> 30252549
Money has been stolen from an elite Pasadena private school, and after bringing in P.I. Burnside to investigate, he uncovers far more. In addition to finding a tangled web of long-held secrets, a seemingly straightforward case of embezzlement suddenly evolves into a brutal series of murder. From seething rivalries to old resentments to sordid affairs, many suspects have a shady past to hide -- and a desperate reason to kill. And through it all, a sordid betrayal from Burnside's own past continues to haunt him, waiting for an opportune moment to materialize.

This well-crafted novel is the embodiment of the classic Southern California noir thriller, set against a late summer backdrop that is both sizzling hot and eerily quiet. The story leads readers down a trail of theft, murder and deceit, with sharply honed banter and strikingly original characters. It is a tightly written story that is loaded with both suspense and humor, as well as some jaw-dropping surprises!]]> 278 David Chill David 5 4.23 Double Pass (Burnside Series #7)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/07/29
shelves:
review:
Exceptionally well written Southern California noir mystery. The Pasadena locale was a nice twist, as was the focus on high school football. A light, enjoyable read full of interesting characters and crackling dialogue.
]]> Curse Of The Afflicted 38728060
Ned Baker was on top of the world. He had just landed the biggest candidate in the Presidential campaign, and his career as a political pollster looked so bright. Except for this nagging pain in his back. But when Ned learns the reason behind his back pain, the devastation of a stunning cancer diagnosis, his entire world is rocked. And as if things could not get any worse, he becomes embroiled in an assassination plot that threatens to destroy his freedom, his livelihood, and his family.

The journey plunges Ned into a dark and uncertain future where he must navigate past corrupt federal law enforcement agents, as well as doctors who disagree on how best to treat his illness. Ned's courageous battle to prove his innocence and overcome his disease represents a triumph of the human spirit. CURSE OF THE AFFLICTED is a psychological thriller that weaves political intrigue and medical drama together into a compelling story of life, death and redemption.]]> 368 David Chill David 5 4.43 2017 Curse Of The Afflicted
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/04/01
date added: 2018/02/23
shelves:
review:
A moving, thoughtful, heartfelt journey of a cancer patient trying to navigate through the many obstacles thrown in his path. The drama intensifies as the main character is caught up in something enormous, a volatile and dangerous political situation featuring numerous players, both helpful and lethal. This is a book which soberly details the trials and tribulations that cancer patients go through, the political suspense adds a nice twist. The question of being able to overcome enormous tragedy represents a triumph of the human spirit.
]]> <![CDATA[Nickel Package (Burnside Series #6)]]> 27202170
Desperate to find the culprit before they strike again, Burnside faces his biggest challenge yet, and one in which a single wrong move -- or an ill-timed quip -- could prove to be very deadly.

Filled with unexpected twists and turns, the story focuses on the glitz of the entertainment industry, but goes on to reveal the harsh corruption that lies seething beneath the surface.

Nickel Package embarks on another vivid tour through the eclectic world that is Los Angeles. From the tony corporate suites to the seemingly peaceful middle-class neighborhoods to the gritty urban neighborhoods, the reader is introduced to intriguing new areas and fascinating characters.

And it wouldn't be a Burnside novel if it weren't loaded with irreverent humor! Nickel Package delivers an exciting mystery that is both compelling to follow -- and marvelous to read.]]> 243 David Chill David 5
The 6th book in the series follows Burnside on yet another thrill ride across Los Angeles, into the nasty underbelly of the corporate world. This is a classic who-done-it, told in vivid detail, with witty banter and dialogue that crackles.

The plot twists and unexpected surprises keep driving the story forward, and the mystery unfolds in an entertaining and compelling way.

For those who enjoy the works of everyone from Raymond Chandler to Robert B. Parker to Robert Crais and Dennis Lehane, the Burnside series is a must-read!

]]> 4.10 2015 Nickel Package (Burnside Series #6)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/10/14
date added: 2015/10/14
shelves:
review:
Nickel Package is a worthy addition to the fascinating Burnside Mystery series.

The 6th book in the series follows Burnside on yet another thrill ride across Los Angeles, into the nasty underbelly of the corporate world. This is a classic who-done-it, told in vivid detail, with witty banter and dialogue that crackles.

The plot twists and unexpected surprises keep driving the story forward, and the mystery unfolds in an entertaining and compelling way.

For those who enjoy the works of everyone from Raymond Chandler to Robert B. Parker to Robert Crais and Dennis Lehane, the Burnside series is a must-read!


]]> <![CDATA[Fade Route (Burnside Series #2)]]> 18277629
But Burnside, the former football star turned private investigator, pushes forward into a harrowing investigation that reveals more and more possible culprits, all with their own motives. As the action intensifies, Burnside himself becomes embroiled in a case which goes beyond just one murder. And when the police suspect he's a person of interest, Burnside must race against time to find the killer.

With little more to go on than his gut feeling, Burnside pokes at everything around him. Desperately trying to untangle a web of deceit that threatens to destroy him personally, he is also faced with a scenario that could take down an entire community...]]> 255 David Chill David 5 ]]> 4.03 2013 Fade Route (Burnside Series #2)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/08/02
date added: 2015/02/17
shelves:
review:
An excellent novel! Full of twists and turns, this is an action-packed book that takes the reader on an exciting journey. Mixing in politics, football and murder, Fade Route is a page turner that will keep you engaged and surprised.

]]> <![CDATA[Corner Blitz (Burnside Series #5)]]> 24921504 The Governor of California's teenage daughter has gone missing, and it's happened right in the middle of a nasty re-election campaign.Adamant about keeping the investigation quiet, the governor brings in Burnside to find her. But when the disappearance turns into murder, everything changes and Burnside is plunged into a scenario where things are not what they appear to be.Cobbling together the world of politics, sports and teen romance, Corner Blitz moves through the wealthy canyon enclaves to the mean streets near downtown Los Angeles. And as Burnside overcomes the many obstacles in the investigation, he also comes face-to-face with his own past, one that haunts him to this day.The 5th Burnside mystery continues to deliver the sharp banter and unexpected surprises that readers have enjoyed in this series. Corner Blitz follows Burnside on another tightly written mystery, filled with numerous plot twists, and finishes with an unforeseen, yet very satisfying ending.Read the entire Burnside Mystery 1: POST PATTERNBook 2: FADE ROUTEBook 3: BUBBLE SCREENBook 4: SAFETY VALVEBook 5: CORNER BLITZBook 6: NICKEL PACKAGEBook 7: DOUBLE PASSBook 8: TAMPA TWOBook 9: FLEA FLICKERBook 10: SWIM MOVEBook 11: HARD COUNTBook 12: JET SWEEPBook 13: BULL RUSH]]> 297 David Chill David 5
Corner Blitz continues to feature crackling dialogue and riveting plot twists. Once again, a most enjoyable and satisfying read!

]]> 4.14 2015 Corner Blitz (Burnside Series #5)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/12
date added: 2015/02/17
shelves:
review:
The 5th book in the Burnside series is another page turner. Corner Blitz takes Burnside into the world of political campaigns, as he tries to find the missing daughter of the governor of California. Along the way, he experiences the best and worst L.A. has to offer, as a missing persons case devolves into murder. And through it all, Burnside has to deal with another demon from his past, one that will forever haunt him.

Corner Blitz continues to feature crackling dialogue and riveting plot twists. Once again, a most enjoyable and satisfying read!


]]> Welcome to Utopia 13459483 248 Karen Valby David 4 3.82 2010 Welcome to Utopia
author: Karen Valby
name: David
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/09/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bubble Screen (Burnside Series # 3)]]> 21817053
The story leads Burnside onto the trail of people who have only one purpose in life, that being the pursuit of money. And they will do anything to acquire money and use any means necessary to keep it. And through it all, Burnside also has to come to grips with his relationship with his girlfriend Gail Pepper, and make a life altering decision about his future.

Interweaving the world of business with the world of college football, Bubble Screen is set in the heart of Los Angeles, and is the third novel in the Burnside series. It is a marvelous continuation of David Chill's first two novels, Post Pattern and Fade Route, yet this story also works exceptionally well as a standalone novel. Bubble Screen is a captivating murder mystery that combines fascinating characters, a fast moving story line, and an explosive ending that is both dramatic and unexpected.]]> 265 David Chill David 5
And this one has an ending that will surely be a complete surprise!

]]> 4.15 2014 Bubble Screen (Burnside Series # 3)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/01
date added: 2014/04/01
shelves:
review:
The 3rd book in the Burnside series is another excellent read. Bubble Screen is tightly written and features the usual crackling dialogue and rapier wit of the protagonist.

And this one has an ending that will surely be a complete surprise!


]]> A Clockwork Orange 227463 A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. And when the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him, the novel asks, "At what cost?"

This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."]]> 192 Anthony Burgess David 5 3.98 1962 A Clockwork Orange
author: Anthony Burgess
name: David
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/01/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Maine 9923372
For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials “A.H.� At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface.

As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.

By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.]]> 388 J. Courtney Sullivan 0307595129 David 5 3.36 2011 Maine
author: J. Courtney Sullivan
name: David
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/01/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game]]> 17262166 Ěý
Did you hear the one about the MacArthur genius physicist and the NFL coach? It's not a joke. It's actually an innovative way to understand chaos theory, and the remarkable complexity of modern professional football.
Ěý
In Newton's Football, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Allen St. John and TED talker and former Yale professor Ainissa Ramirez explore the unexpected science behind America's Game. Whether it's Jerry Rice finding the common ground between quantum physics and the West Coast offense or an Ivy League biologist explaining--at a granular level--exactly how a Big Mac morphs into an outside linebacker, Newton's Football illuminates football--and science--through funny, insightful stories told by some of the world's sharpest minds.
Ěý
With a clear-eyed empirical approach--and an exuberant affection for the game--St. John and Ramirez address topics that have long beguiled scientists and football fans alike,
Ěý
* the unlikely evolution of the football (or, as they put it, "The Divine Random Bounce of the Prolate Spheroid")
* what Vince Lombardi has in common with Isaac Newton
* how the hardwired behavior of monkeys can explain a head coach's reluctance to go for it on fourth-down
* why a gruesome elevator accident jump-started the evolution of placekicking
* how Teddy Roosevelt saved football using the same behavioral science concept that Dreamworks would use to save Shrek
* why woodpeckers don't get concussions
* how better helmets actually made the game more dangerous
Ěý
Every Sunday the NFL shares a secret with only its savviest The game isn't just a clash of bodies, it's a clash of ideas. The greatest minds in football have always possessed an instinctual grasp of science, understanding the big ideas and gritty realities that inform the game's rich past, as well as its increasingly uncertain future.
Ěý
Blending smart reporting, counterintuitive creativity, and compelling narrative, Newton's Football takes gridiron analysis to the next level, giving fans a book that entertains, enlightens, and explains the game anew.]]> 272 Allen St. John 0345545141 David 4 3.80 2013 Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game
author: Allen St. John
name: David
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/01/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Presidents Club 16639692
Time magazine editors and presidential historians Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy offer a new and revealing lens on the American presidency, exploring the club as a hidden instrument of power that has changed the course of history.]]> Nancy Gibbs 1464042284 David 5 4.50 2012 Presidents Club
author: Nancy Gibbs
name: David
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Lessons in French 15015015
It’s 1989, the Berlin Wall is coming down, and Kate has just graduated from Yale, eager to pursue her dreams as a fledgling painter. When she receives a job offer to work as the assistant to Lydia Schell, a famous American photographer in Paris, she immediately accepts. It’s a chance not only to be at the center of it all, but also to return to France for the first time since she was a lonely nine-year-old girl, sent to the outskirts of Paris to live with cousins while her father was dying.

Kate may speak fluent French, but she arrives at the Schell household in the fashionable Sixth Arrondissement both dazzled and wildly impressionable. She finds herself surrounded by a seductive cast of characters, including the bright, pretentious Schells, with whom she boards, and their assortment of famous friends; Kate’s own flamboyant cousin; a fellow Yalie who seems to have it all figured out; and a bande of independently wealthy young men with royal lineage. As Kate rediscovers Paris and her roots there, while trying to fit into Lydia’s glamorous and complicated family, she begins to question the kindness of the people to whom she is so drawn as well as her own motives for wanting them to love her.

In compelling and sympathetic prose, Hilary Reyl perfectly captures this portrait of a precocious, ambitious young woman struggling to define herself in a vibrant world that spirals out of her control. Lessons in French is at once a love letter to Paris and the story of a young woman finding herself, her moral compass, and, finally, her true family.]]> 352 Hilary Reyl 1451655037 David 5
I look forward to Hillary Reyl's next book!]]> 3.14 2012 Lessons in French
author: Hilary Reyl
name: David
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/04/28
date added: 2013/04/30
shelves:
review:
This was a beautiful novel, the writing is exquisite and the story is compelling. I think the author captures Paris accurately, as well as creates a wonderful coming of age story.

I look forward to Hillary Reyl's next book!
]]> <![CDATA[The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL]]> 3151107 The Best Game Ever is a brilliant portrait of how a single game changed the history of American sport. Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the championship, it is destined to be a sports classic.]]> 279 Mark Bowden 087113988X David 5 4.02 2007 The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL
author: Mark Bowden
name: David
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> The Greatest Game Ever Played 714510
For Mark Frost, Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon represent everything that's right about sports in general and sportsmen in particular; gentlemen, champions, teachers, leaders, and each in their own quiet way, heroes. In THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, Frost attempts to create penetrating studies of both of these men, along with over dozens of the game's seminal figures, within the dramatic framework offered by the tournament when they finally met, one of the most thrilling sports events in history, the 1913 U.S. Open.]]> 488 Mark Frost 1401308120 David 4 4.47 2002 The Greatest Game Ever Played
author: Mark Frost
name: David
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game]]> 10410420 New York Times columnist Dan Barry comes the beautifully recounted story of the longest game in baseball history—a tale celebrating not only the robust intensity of baseball, but the aspirational ideal epitomized by the hard-fighting players of the minor leagues. In the tradition of Moneyball, The Last Hero, and Wicked Good Year, Barry’s Bottom of the 33rdis a reaffirming story of the American Dream finding its greatest expression in timeless contests of the Great American Pastime.]]> 259 Dan Barry 006201448X David 5 4.05 2010 Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game
author: Dan Barry
name: David
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 David 5 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: David
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> The Porkchoppers 1767891 Ross Thomas 0446401714 David 5 3.87 1972 The Porkchoppers
author: Ross Thomas
name: David
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rabbit at Rest (Rabbit Angstrom, #4)]]> 11666 606 John Updike 0449911942 David 5 3.99 1990 Rabbit at Rest (Rabbit Angstrom, #4)
author: John Updike
name: David
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rabbit Is Rich (Rabbit Angstrom, #3)]]> 85391
Ten years after Rabbit Redux, Harry Angstrom has come to enjoy prosperity as the Chief Sales Representative of Springer Motors. The rest of the world may be falling to pieces, but Harry's doing all right. That is, until his son returns from the West, and the image of an old love pays a visit to his lot....]]> 480 John Updike 0140249435 David 5 3.92 1981 Rabbit Is Rich (Rabbit Angstrom, #3)
author: John Updike
name: David
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1)]]> 37100 263 Walter Mosley David 5 3.89 1990 Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1)
author: Walter Mosley
name: David
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Tales of Ordinary Madness 38503 Exceptional stories that came pounding out of Bukowski's violent and depraved life. Horrible and holy, you cannot read them and ever come away the same again.

With Bukowski, the votes are still coming in. There seems to be no middle ground—people seem either to love him or hate him. Tales of his own life and doings are as wild and weird as the very stories he writes. In a sense, Bukowski was a legend in his time: a madman, a recluse, a lover; tender, vicious; never the same.

From prostitutes to classical music, Bukowski ingeniously mixes high and low culture in his "tales of ordinary madness." These stories are humorous and haunting, angry yet tender portrayals of life in the underbelly of Los Angeles.]]> 238 Charles Bukowski 0872861554 David 4 4.01 1983 Tales of Ordinary Madness
author: Charles Bukowski
name: David
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hello, He Lied and Other Tales from the Hollywood Trenches]]> 411973 272 Lynda Obst 0767900413 David 4 3.60 1996 Hello, He Lied and Other Tales from the Hollywood Trenches
author: Lynda Obst
name: David
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> A Regular Guy 892084
This time the father is a millionaire biotechnology magnate named Tom Owens.ĚýĚýInto Owens's charmed life comes Jane, born out of wedlock, raised in communes, and now dispatched intoĚýĚýhis care by a mother who is no longer capable of providing it; Tom is far from ready for this responsibility. Fans of Simpson's previous novels will not be disappointed by this excursion into the cracked world of family relations.

"Simpson is an attentive observer and a fluent stylist, but it is the element of subtle surprise that draws us through these pages, the magnetism of an original mind that holds us fast."
-- Booklist]]> 384 Mona Simpson 0679772715 David 4 3.14 1996 A Regular Guy
author: Mona Simpson
name: David
average rating: 3.14
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx]]> 385255 Random Family is the story of young people trying to outrun their destinies. Jessica and Boy George ride the wild adventure between riches and ruin, while Coco and Cesar stick closer to the street, all four caught in a precarious dance between survival and death. Friends get murdered; the DEA and FBI investigate Boy George; Cesar becomes a fugitive; Jessica and Coco endure homelessness, betrayal, the heartbreaking separation of prison, and, throughout it all, the insidious damage of poverty.

Charting the tumultuous cycle of the generations - as girls become mothers, boys become criminals, and hope struggles against deprivation - LeBlanc slips behind the cold statistics and sensationalism and comes back with a riveting, haunting, and true story.]]> 409 Adrian Nicole LeBlanc 0743254430 David 5 4.26 2003 Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx
author: Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
name: David
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]> 1618 226 Mark Haddon 1400032717 David 5 3.89 2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
author: Mark Haddon
name: David
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood]]> 6899530 456 Jane Leavy 0060883529 David 1 3.96 2010 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood
author: Jane Leavy
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World]]> 1918305
Apparently, the happiest places on earth include, somewhat unexpectedly, Iceland, Bhutan, and India. Weiner also visits the country deemed most malcontent, Moldova, and finds real merit in the claim.

But the question remains: What makes people happy? Is it the freedom of the West or the myriad restrictions of Singapore? The simple ashrams of India or the glittering shopping malls of Qatar?
From the youthful drunkenness of Iceland to the despond of Slough, a sad but resilient town in Heathrow's flight path, Weiner offers wry yet profound observations about the way people relate to circumstance and fate.

Both revealing and inspirational, perhaps the best thing about this hilarious trip across four continents is that for the reader, the "geography of bliss" is wherever they happen to find themselves while reading it.]]> 335 Eric Weiner 0446580260 David 5 3.84 2008 The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
author: Eric Weiner
name: David
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/04/02
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]]> Losing Mum and Pup 6218315
As Buckley tells the story of their final year together, he takes readers on a surprisingly entertaining tour through hospitals, funeral homes, and memorial services, capturing the heartbreaking and disorienting feeling of becoming a 55-year-old orphan. Buckley maintains his sense of humor by recalling the words of Oscar Wilde: "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness."

Just as Calvin Trillin and Joan Didion gave readers solace and insight into the experience of losing a spouse, Christopher Buckley offers consolation, wit, and warmth to those coping with the death of a parent, while telling a unique personal story of life with legends.]]> 272 Christopher Buckley 0446540943 David 5 3.83 2009 Losing Mum and Pup
author: Christopher Buckley
name: David
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> Snow Falling on Cedars 77142 460 David Guterson 067976402X David 5 3.86 1994 Snow Falling on Cedars
author: David Guterson
name: David
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1994
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/04/02
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]]> Foreign Affairs 202897
Virginia Miner, a fifty-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London to work on her new book about children’s folk rhymes. Despite carrying a U.S. passport, Vinnie feels essentially English and rather looks down on her fellow Americans. But in spite of that, she is drawn into a mortifying and oddly satisfying affair with an Oklahoman tourist who dresses more Bronco Billy than Beau Brummel.

Also in London is Vinnie’s colleague Fred Turner, a handsome, flat broke, newly separated, and thoroughly miserable young man trying to focus on his own research. Instead, he is distracted by a beautiful and unpredictable English actress and the world she belongs to.

Both American, both abroad, and both achingly lonely, Vinnie and Fred play out their confused alienation and dizzying romantic liaisons in Alison Lurie’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Smartly written, poignant, and witty, Foreign Affairs remains an enduring comic masterpiece.]]> 292 Alison Lurie 0812976312 David 5 3.71 1984 Foreign Affairs
author: Alison Lurie
name: David
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1984
rating: 5
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]]> Flowers for Algernon 18373 Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.
Ěý
Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence � a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?]]> 311 Daniel Keyes 015603008X David 5 4.19 1966 Flowers for Algernon
author: Daniel Keyes
name: David
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1966
rating: 5
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]]> A Thousand Acres 41193 371 Jane Smiley 1400033837 David 4 3.82 1991 A Thousand Acres
author: Jane Smiley
name: David
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at:
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]]> The Ryer Avenue Story 1157595 474 Dorothy Uhnak 0312952228 David 5 3.98 1993 The Ryer Avenue Story
author: Dorothy Uhnak
name: David
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food]]> 1002540 New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese), Jennifer 8. Lee, traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of sociology and history, Jenny Lee exposes the indentured servitude Chinese restaurants expect from illegal immigrant chefs, investigates the relationship between Jews and Chinese food, and weaves a personal narrative about her own relationship with Chinese food. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles speaks to the immigrant experience as a whole, and the way it has shaped our country.]]> 307 Jennifer 8. Lee 0446580074 David 5 3.67 2008 The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food
author: Jennifer 8. Lee
name: David
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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]]> The Prince of Tides 16735 Spanning forty years, this is the story of turbulent Tom Wingo, his gifted and troubled twin sister Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the extraordinary family into which they were born.]]> 679 Pat Conroy 0553381547 David 5 4.25 1986 The Prince of Tides
author: Pat Conroy
name: David
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1986
rating: 5
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]]> The Year of Magical Thinking 7815
From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later–the night before New Year's Eve–the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma.

This powerful book is Didion's attempt to make sense of the "weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness . . . about marriage and children and memory . . . about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself."]]> 227 Joan Didion 1400078431 David 4 3.94 2005 The Year of Magical Thinking
author: Joan Didion
name: David
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> Slouching Towards Bethlehem 424 The first nonfiction work by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era, Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem remains, decades after its first publication, the essential portrait of America—particularly California—in the sixties.

It focuses on such subjects as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up a girl in California, ruminating on the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture.

It contains Didion's famous essay, "Goodbye to All That".]]> 238 Joan Didion David 5 4.20 1968 Slouching Towards Bethlehem
author: Joan Didion
name: David
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1968
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child]]> 13531538
Now, in Bob Spitz’s definitive, wonderfully affectionate biography, the Julia we know and love comes vividly â€� and surprisingly â€� to life.Ěý In Dearie , Spitz employs the same skill he brought to his best-selling, critically acclaimed book The Beatles , providing a clear-eyed portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential Americans of our time â€� a woman known to all, yet known by only a few.

At its heart, Dearie is a story about a woman’s search for her own unique expression.Ěý Julia Child was a directionless, gawky young woman who ran off halfway around the world to join a spy agency during World War II.Ěý She eventually settled in Paris, where she learned to cook and collaborated on the writing of what would become Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book that changed the food culture of America.ĚýĚý She was already fifty when The French Chef went on the air â€� Ěýat a time in our history when women weren’t making those leaps.Ěý Julia became the first educational TV star, virtually launching PBS as we know it today; her marriage to Paul Child formed a decades-long love story that was romantic, touching, and quite extraordinary.

A fearless, ambitious, supremely confident woman, Julia took on all the pretensions that embellished tony French cuisine and fricasseed them to a fare-thee-well, paving the way for everything that has happened since in American cooking, from TV dinners and Big Macs to sea urchin foam and the Food Channel.Ěý Julia Child’s story, however, is more than the tale of a talented woman and her sumptuous craft.Ěý It is also a saga of America’s coming of age and growing sophistication, from the Depression Era to the turbulent sixties and the excesses of the eighties to the greening of the American kitchen.Ěý Julia had an effect on and was equally affected by the baby boom, the sexual revolution, and the start of the women’s liberation movement.

On the centenary of her birth, Julia finally gets the biography she richly deserves.Ěý An in-depth, intimate narrative, full of fresh information and insights, Dearie is an entertaining, all-out adventure story of one of our most fascinating and beloved figures.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 1008 Bob Spitz 0307990834 David 4 3.85 2012 Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child
author: Bob Spitz
name: David
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> Chinaberry Sidewalks 8574352
The only child of a hard-drinking father and a Holy Roller mother, Rodney Crowell was no stranger to bombast from an early age, whether knock-down-drag-outs at a local dive bar or fire-and-brimstone sermons at Pentecostal tent revivals. He was an expert at reading his father’s mercurial moods and gauging exactly when his mother was likely to erupt, and even before he learned to ride a bike, he was often forced to take matters into his own hands. He broke up his parents� raucous New Year’s Eve party with gunfire and ended their slugfest at the local drive-in (actual restaurants weren’t on the Crowells� menu) by smashing a glass pop bottle over his own head.

Despite the violent undercurrents always threatening to burst to the surface, he fiercely loved his epilepsy-racked mother, who scorned boring preachers and improvised wildly when the bills went unpaid. And he idolized his blustering father, a honky-tonk man who took his boy to see Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash perform live, and bought him a drum set so he could join his band at age eleven.

Shot through with raggedy friends and their neighborhood capers, hilariously awkward adolescent angst, and an indelible depiction of the bloodlines Crowell came from, Chinaberry Sidewalks also vividly re-creates Houston in the a rough frontier town where icehouses sold beer by the gallon on paydays; teeming with musical venues from standard roadhouses to the Magnolia Gardens, where name-brand stars brought glamour to a place starved for it; filling up with cheap subdivisions where blue-collar day laborers could finally afford a house of their own; a place where apocalyptic hurricanes and pest infestations were nearly routine.

But at its heart this is Crowell’s tribute to his parents and an exploration of their troubled yet ultimately redeeming romance. Wry, clear-eyed, and generous, it is, like the very best memoirs, firmly rooted in time and place and station, never dismissive, and truly fulfilling.]]> 272 Rodney Crowell 0307594203 David 4 3.94 2010 Chinaberry Sidewalks
author: Rodney Crowell
name: David
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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]]> Stardust (Spenser, #17) 414387 320 Robert B. Parker 0425127230 David 5 3.84 1990 Stardust (Spenser, #17)
author: Robert B. Parker
name: David
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1990
rating: 5
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]]> Early Autumn (Spenser, #7) 69625
A bitter divorce is only the beginning. First the father hires thugs to kidnap his son. Then the mother hires Spenser to get the boy back. But as soon as Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own.

With a contract out on his life, he heads for the Maine woods, determined to give a puny 15 year old a crash course in survival and to beat his dangerous opponents at their own brutal game.]]> 224 Robert B. Parker 0440122147 David 5 4.08 1981 Early Autumn (Spenser, #7)
author: Robert B. Parker
name: David
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1981
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lady in the Lake (Philip Marlowe, #4)]]> 776159 266 Raymond Chandler 0394758250 David 5 4.06 1943 The Lady in the Lake (Philip Marlowe, #4)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: David
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1943
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fools in Town Are on Our Side]]> 206148 “Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?� —Mark Twain

Ross Thomas chose the quotation from Huckleberry Finn as the text of this post-World War II story as well as for the title. When Lucifer Dye is released after three months in a Hong Kong prison, debriefed, and handed a false passport, a new wardrobe, and a $20,000 check, his haughty control makes it clear that Dye’s career with his country has been permanently terminated. But a good agent is always in demand, and just a few hours later Dye is being interviewed for a highly ingenious position. Victor Orcutt, although a not very good imitation of a British prewar gent, has creative talents of his own. He has his sights a small southern city, with the ordinary run-of-the-mill corruption one would expect in such a place. The canny Orcott knows there’s no profit in that. His creed is “To get better, it must be much worse.� He and his two associates have looked up Dye’s history, and he now offers the ex-spy a mission: For two and a half times the government’s bounty, Dye is to thoroughly corrupt the town. And the sly Dye takes the offer.]]> 401 Ross Thomas 0312315821 David 5 4.17 1970 The Fools in Town Are on Our Side
author: Ross Thomas
name: David
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1970
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Chinaman's Chance (Arthur Case Wu, #1)]]> 1163268 "It was while jogging along the beach just east of the Paradise Cove pier that Artie Wu tripped over a dead pelican, fell, and met the man with six greyhounds."
- from Chinaman's Chance

Thus begins what may be the most popular of Ross Thomas's unique stories. The combination of Wu, pretender to the Imperial throne of China, and Quincy Durant, who has his own colorful past, makes for a heady experience. After starting with the deceased pelican on a California beach, the plot mixes in the disappearance of a large sum of money that should have been buried in Vietnam, and the search for the missing member of a trio of singing sisters from the Ozarks. Only Thomas could have stirred this concoction with the style, humor, and suspense that captures the reader at the very beginning and doesn't let go until the last word.
]]> 320 Ross Thomas 0312334141 David 5 4.18 1978 Chinaman's Chance (Arthur Case Wu, #1)
author: Ross Thomas
name: David
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1978
rating: 5
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]]> Double Indemnity 56616 Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.]]> 115 James M. Cain 0679723226 David 5 4.07 1936 Double Indemnity
author: James M. Cain
name: David
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1936
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[An Infinite Number of Monkeys (Saxon, #1)]]> 2256377 165 Les Roberts 0312006101 David 5 3.65 1987 An Infinite Number of Monkeys (Saxon, #1)
author: Les Roberts
name: David
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1987
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest]]> 332613 9780451163967

Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy � the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey's extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.]]> 325 Ken Kesey David 5 4.20 1962 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
author: Ken Kesey
name: David
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1962
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Rabbit, Run (Rabbit Angstrom, #1)]]> 85386 Rabbit, Run is the book that established John Updike as one of the major American novelists of his—or any other—generation. Its hero is Harry “Rabbit� Angstrom, a onetime high-school basketball star who on an impulse deserts his wife and son. He is twenty-six years old, a man-child caught in a struggle between instinct and thought, self and society, sexual gratification and family duty—even, in a sense, human hard-heartedness and divine Grace. Though his flight from home traces a zigzag of evasion, he holds to the faith that he is on the right path, an invisible line toward his own salvation as straight as a ruler’s edge.]]> 325 John Updike 0449911659 David 5 3.58 1960 Rabbit, Run (Rabbit Angstrom, #1)
author: John Updike
name: David
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1960
rating: 5
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]]> Tapping the Source 483195 304 Kem Nunn 156025808X David 5 4.00 1984 Tapping the Source
author: Kem Nunn
name: David
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1984
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Post Pattern (Burnside Series #1)]]> 17670933
As Burnside unravels a complex series of baffling leads, the body count piles up. He encounters beautiful girls, wayward athletes and overworked cops on his way to cracking a case that no one else wants to touch. And Burnside is also forced to confront a betrayal from his past that hovers beneath the surface.

Set against the sun drenched backdrop of a hot Los Angeles summer, Post Pattern provides readers with a taut, engaging mystery. The novel delivers a smart, sexy plot with crackling dialogue and fascinating characters.]]> 226 David Chill David 5 4.04 2013 Post Pattern (Burnside Series #1)
author: David Chill
name: David
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2013
rating: 5
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]]> The Sense of an Ending 10746542 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

By an acclaimed writer at the height of his powers, The Sense of an Ending extends a streak of extraordinary books that began with the best-selling Arthur & George and continued with Nothing to Be Frightened Of and, most recently, Pulse.

This intense novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about - until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony Webster thought he'd left all this behind as he built a life for himself, and by now his marriage and family and career have fallen into an amicable divorce and retirement. But he is then presented with a mysterious legacy that obliges him to reconsider a variety of things he thought he'd understood all along, and to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single sitting, with stunning psychological and emotional depth and sophistication, The Sense of an Ending is a brilliant new chapter in Julian Barnes's oeuvre.]]> 150 Julian Barnes 0224094157 David 5 3.73 2011 The Sense of an Ending
author: Julian Barnes
name: David
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/23
date added: 2013/03/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman]]> 2936415 The bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven delivers a stunning, eloquent account of a remarkable young man’s haunting journey.

Like the men whose epic stories Jon Krakauer has told in his previous bestsellers, Pat Tillman was an irrepressible individualist and iconoclast. In May 2002, Tillman walked away from his $3.6 million NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army. He was deeply troubled by 9/11, and he felt a strong moral obligation to join the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Two years later, he died on a desolate hillside in southeastern Afghanistan.

Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman’s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman’s wife, other family members, and the American public for five weeks following his death. During this time, President Bush repeatedly invoked Tillman’s name to promote his administration’s foreign policy. Long after Tillman’s nationally televised memorial service, the Army grudgingly notified his closest relatives that he had “probably� been killed by friendly fire while it continued to dissemble about the details of his death and who was responsible.

In Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman’s journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of the events and actions that led to his death. Before he enlisted in the army, Tillman was familiar to sports aficionados as an undersized, overachieving Arizona Cardinals safety whose virtuosity in the defensive backfield was spellbinding. With his shoulder-length hair, outspoken views, and boundless intellectual curiosity, Tillman was considered a maverick. America was fascinated when he traded the bright lights and riches of the NFL for boot camp and a buzz cut. Sent first to Iraq—a war he would openly declare was “illegal as hell”—and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was driven by complicated, emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, patriotism, and masculine pride, and he was determined to serve his entire three-year commitment. But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers.

Krakauer chronicles Tillman’s riveting, tragic odyssey in engrossing detail highlighting his remarkable character and personality while closely examining the murky, heartbreaking circumstances of his death. Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer’s storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war.
From the inside cover of ISBN 0385522266 / 9780385522267]]> 383 Jon Krakauer 0385522266 David 5 4.07 2009 Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
author: Jon Krakauer
name: David
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]> 1898
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.

Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.]]> 368 Jon Krakauer David 5 4.24 1997 Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
author: Jon Krakauer
name: David
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> Tomcat in Love 155738 Book by O'Brien, Tim 384 Tim O'Brien 0006551521 David 5 3.46 1998 Tomcat in Love
author: Tim O'Brien
name: David
average rating: 3.46
book published: 1998
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother]]> 29209 291 James McBride 1573225789 David 5 4.13 1995 The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
author: James McBride
name: David
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1995
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)]]> 22034
Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. The seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and the allegiance to family—these are the themes that have resonated with millions of readers around the world and made The Godfather the definitive novel of the violent subculture that, steeped in intrigue and controversy, remains indelibly etched in our collective consciousness.]]> 448 Mario Puzo David 5 4.39 1969 The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)
author: Mario Puzo
name: David
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1969
rating: 5
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]]> The Kid Stays in the Picture 44891 462 Robert Evans 0571219314 David 5 3.97 1994 The Kid Stays in the Picture
author: Robert Evans
name: David
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1994
rating: 5
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]]> Lying on the Couch 21030 Exposing the many lies that are told on and off the psychoanalyst's couch, Lying on the Couch gives readers a tantalizing, almost illicit, glimpse at what their therapists might really be thinking during their sessions. Fascinating, engrossing and relentlessly intelligent, it ultimately moves readers with a denouncment of surprising humanity and redemptive faith.]]> 384 Irvin D. Yalom 0060928514 David 5 4.05 1996 Lying on the Couch
author: Irvin D. Yalom
name: David
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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]]> My Gun Has Bullets 2759451 273 Lee Goldberg 0595270255 David 5 3.17 1995 My Gun Has Bullets
author: Lee Goldberg
name: David
average rating: 3.17
book published: 1995
rating: 5
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]]> Lie Down with Lions 92371 332 Ken Follett 0451210468 David 5 3.83 1985 Lie Down with Lions
author: Ken Follett
name: David
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1985
rating: 5
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]]> The Third Twin 92373 born to different mothers. Frightened by her bizarre discovery, she is determined to discover the truth at any cost—until she finds herself at the center of a scandal that could ruin her career. To fight the charges, Jeannie plunges into a maze of hidden evidence. With growing horror, she uncovers a cynical, far-reaching conspiracy involving disturbing genetic experiments and some of the most powerful men in America—men who will kill to keep their secrets concealed.]]> 640 Ken Follett David 4 3.71 1996 The Third Twin
author: Ken Follett
name: David
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> Eye of the Needle 92364 One enemy spy knows the secret to the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin -- code name: "The Needle" -- who holds the key to ultimate Nazi victory.

Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life.

All will come to a terrifying conclusion in Ken Follett's unsurpassed and unforgettable masterwork of suspense, intrigue, and the dangerous machinations of the human heart.

]]> 368 Ken Follett 006074815X David 5 4.19 1978 Eye of the Needle
author: Ken Follett
name: David
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1978
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Chosen (Reuven Malther, #1)]]> 187181 304 Chaim Potok 0449213447 David 5 4.06 1966 The Chosen (Reuven Malther, #1)
author: Chaim Potok
name: David
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1966
rating: 5
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]]> My Name Is Asher Lev 11507 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9781400031047.

Asher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day, and believes in the Ribbono Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. Asher Lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels, even when it leads him to blasphemy. In this stirring and often visionary novel, Chaim Potok traces Asher’s passage between these two identities, the one consecrated to God, the other subject only to the imagination.

Asher Lev grows up in a cloistered Hasidic community in postwar Brooklyn, a world suffused by ritual and revolving around a charismatic Rebbe. But in time, his gift threatens to estrange him from that world and the parents he adores. As it follows his struggle, My Name Is Asher Lev becomes a luminous portrait of the artist, by turns heartbreaking and exultant, a modern classic.]]> 369 Chaim Potok David 5 4.23 1972 My Name Is Asher Lev
author: Chaim Potok
name: David
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1972
rating: 5
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]]> The Alchemist 865 197 Paulo Coelho 0061122416 David 5 3.85 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: David
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1988
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)]]> 2054 379 Raymond Chandler 0394757688 David 5 4.19 1953 The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: David
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1953
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)]]> 2052
This is an alternate cover edition.]]> 231 Raymond Chandler 0394758285 David 5 3.96 1939 The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1939
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Farewell, My Lovely (Philip Marlowe, #2)]]> 2050 Alternative cover edition of ISBN 9780394758275

Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.]]> 292 Raymond Chandler David 5 4.12 1940 Farewell, My Lovely (Philip Marlowe, #2)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: David
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1940
rating: 5
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]]> My Losing Season: A Memoir 119216 “I was born to be a point guard, but not a very good one. . . .There was a time in my life when I walked through the world known to myself and others as an athlete. It was part of my own definition of who I was and certainly the part I most respected. When I was a young man, I was well-built and agile and ready for the rough and tumble of games, and athletics provided the single outlet for a repressed and preternaturally shy boy to express himself in public....I lost myself in the beauty of sport and made my family proud while passing through the silent eye of the storm that was my childhood.�

So begins Pat Conroy’s journey back to 1967 and his startling realization “that this season had been seminal and easily the most consequential of my life.� The place is the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, that now famous military college, and in memory Conroy gathers around him his team to relive their few triumphs and humiliating defeats. In a narrative that moves seamlessly between the action of the season and flashbacks into his childhood, we see the author’s love of basketball and how crucial the role of athlete is to all these young men who are struggling to find their own identity and their place in the world.

In fast-paced exhilarating games, readers will laugh in delight and cry in disappointment. But as the story continues, we gradually see the self-professed “mediocre� athlete merge into the point guard whose spirit drives the team. He rallies them to play their best while closing off the shouts of “Don’t shoot, Conroy� that come from the coach on the sidelines. For Coach Mel Thompson is to Conroy the undermining presence that his father had been throughout his childhood. And in these pages finally, heartbreakingly, we learn the truth about the Great Santini.

In My Losing Season Pat Conroy has written an American classic about young men and the bonds they form, about losing and the lessons it imparts, about finding one’s voice and one’s self in the midst of defeat. And in his trademark language, we see the young Conroy walk from his life as an athlete to the writer the world knows him to be.]]> 402 Pat Conroy 0553381903 David 5 3.89 2002 My Losing Season: A Memoir
author: Pat Conroy
name: David
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2002
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction]]> 180066
David Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs: the denial, the 3 A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? The police? The hospital?), the rehabs. His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself, and the obsessive worry and stress took a tremendous toll, but as a journalist, he instinctively researched every avenue of treatment that might save his son and refused to give up on him. Beautiful Boy is a fiercely candid memoir that brings immediacy to the emotional roller coaster of loving a child who seems beyond help.]]> 317 David Sheff 0618683356 David 5 4.04 2007 Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
author: David Sheff
name: David
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1)]]> 78129 474 Lee Child 0515141429 David 5 4.08 1997 Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1)
author: Lee Child
name: David
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Corn Flakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock 'n' Roll Life]]> 6413405 288 Robert Hilburn 1594869219 David 5 3.96 2009 Corn Flakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock 'n' Roll Life
author: Robert Hilburn
name: David
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League]]> 69559
In September 1995, after years of near superhuman dedication, he realizes that ambition when he begins as a freshman at Brown University. In this updated edition, A Hope in the Unseen chronicles Cedric’s odyssey during his last two years of high school, follows him through his difficult first year at Brown, and now tells the story of his subsequent successes in college and the world of work.]]> 373 Suskind 0767901266 David 5 3.95 1998 A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League
author: Suskind
name: David
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1998
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion]]> 7090193
How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life.

As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training, and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. Tattoos on the Heart is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio. Arranged by theme and filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JCPenney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God’s love. From ten-year-old Lula we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Pedro we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the darkness. In each chapter we benefit from Boyle’s wonderful, hard-earned wisdom. Inspired by faith but applicable to anyone trying to be good, these personal, unflinching stories are full of surprising revelations and observations of the community in which Boyle works and of the many lives he has helped save.

Erudite, down-to-earth, and utterly heartening, these essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love in difficult times and the importance of fighting despair. With Gregory Boyle’s guidance, we can recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of the men and women in these parables and learn to find joy in all of the people around us. Tattoos on the Heart reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.]]> 240 Gregory Boyle 1439153027 David 5 4.48 2009 Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
author: Gregory Boyle
name: David
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 David 5 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: David
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream]]> 6004724
Keefe reveals the inner workings of Sister Ping’s complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way, he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of illegal immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them. Grand in scope yet propulsive in narrative force, The Snakehead is both a kaleidoscopic crime story and a brilliant exploration of the ironies of immigration in America.]]> 432 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385521308 David 5 4.13 2009 The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: David
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> About Alice 95961
Though it deals with devastating loss, About Alice is also a love story, chronicling a romance that began at a Manhattan party when Calvin Trillin desperately tried to impress a young woman who “seemed to glow."

You have never again been as funny as you were that night, Alice would say, twenty or thirty years later.

You mean I peaked in December of 1963?

I’m afraid so.

But he never quit trying to impress her. In his writing, she was sometimes his subject and always his muse. The dedication of the first book he published after her death read, “I wrote this for Alice. Actually, I wrote everything for Alice.�


In that spirit, Calvin Trillin has, with About Alice, created a gift to the wife he adored and to his readers.]]> 78 Calvin Trillin 1400066158 David 4 4.00 2006 About Alice
author: Calvin Trillin
name: David
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College]]> 10600984 The cutthroat competition to get into the perfect college can drive students to the brink of madness and push their parents over the edge—and bury them in an avalanche of books that claim to hold the secret of success. Don’t Crazy U is not one of those books. It is instead a disarmingly candid and hilariously subversive chronicle of the journey that millions of parents and their children undertake each year—a journey through the surreal rituals of college admissions. It’s a rollicking ride from the man Christopher Buckley has called “my all-time favorite writer.� Pummeled by peers, creeped out by counselors, and addled by advice books, Andrew Ferguson has come to believe that a single misstep could cost his son a shot at a happy and fulfilling future. He feels the pressure to get it right from the moment the first color brochures land in his mailbox, sent from colleges soliciting customers as though they were sailors come to port. First is a visit with the most sought-after, most expensive—and surely most intimidating—private college consultant in the nation. Then come the steps familiar to parents and their college-bound children, seen through a gimlet a session with a distracted high school counselor, preparations for the SAT and an immersion in its mysteries, unhelpful help from essay coaches and admissions directors, endless campus tours, and finally, as spring arrives, the waiting, waiting, waiting for the envelope that bears news of the future. Meanwhile, Ferguson passes on the tips he’s picked up during their crash course. (Tip number 36: Don’t apply for financial aid after midnight.) He provides a pocket history of higher education in America, recounts the college ranking wars, and casts light on the obscure and not-terribly-seemly world of higher-education marketing. And he dares to raise the question that no one (until now) has been able to Why on earth does it all cost so much? Along the way, something unexpected begins to a new relationship grows between father and son, built from humor, loyalty, and (yes) more than a little shared anxiety. For all its tips and trials, Crazy U is also a story about family. It turns out that the quiet boy who pretends not to be worried about college has lots to teach his father—about what matters in life, about trusting your instincts, about finding your own way. In launching his son into the world,]]> 240 Andrew Ferguson 1439109761 David 5 3.60 2011 Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College
author: Andrew Ferguson
name: David
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2011
rating: 5
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]]> Sweet and Low: A Family Story 28969 272 Rich Cohen 0374272298 David 5 3.50 2006 Sweet and Low: A Family Story
author: Rich Cohen
name: David
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity]]> 13547504 Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down's syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter.

All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.]]> 962 Andrew Solomon David 5 4.25 2012 Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
author: Andrew Solomon
name: David
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball's Greatest Gift]]> 12411832
It happens every spring. Yankees pitching great Ron Guidry arrives at the Tampa airport to pick up Hall of Fame catcher and national treasure Yogi Berra. Guidry drives him to the ballpark. They watch the young players. They talk shop. They eat dinner together and tease each other mercilessly. They trade stories about the greats they have met along the way. And the next day they do the same thing all over again.

As every former ballplayer can appreciate, in that routine, every spring, there emerges a certain magic.

Driving Mr. Yogi is the story of how a unique friendship between a pitcher and catcher is renewed every year. It began in 1999, when Berra was reunited with the Yankees after a long self-exile, the result of being unceremoniously fired by George Steinbrenner fourteen years before. A reconciliation between Berra and the Boss meant that Berra would attend spring training again. Guidry befriended "Mr. Yogi" instantly. After all, Berra had been a mentor in the clubhouse back when Guidry was pitching for the Yankees. Guidry knew the young players would benefit greatly from Mr. Yogi's encyclopedic knowledge of the game, just as Guidry had during his playing days. So he encouraged him to share his insights. Soon, an offhand batting tip from Mr. Yogi turned Nick Swisher's season around. Stories about handling a hitter like Ted Williams or catching Don Larsen's perfect game captured their imaginations. And in Yogi, Guidry found not just an elder companion or source of amusement � he found a best friend.
At turns tender, at turns laugh-out-loud funny, and teeming with unforgettable baseball yarns that span more than fifty years, Driving Mr. Yogi is a universal story about the importance of wisdom being passed from one generation to the next, as well as a reminder that time is what we make of it and compassion never gets old.]]> 240 Harvey Araton 0547746725 David 5 4.02 2012 Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball's Greatest Gift
author: Harvey Araton
name: David
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives]]> 13259699
Robert Draper explores this question just as he examined the Bush White House in his 2007 New York Times bestselling book Dead The Presidency of George W. Bush —by burrowing deeply inside the subject, gaining cooperation of the major players, and producing a colorful, unsparingly detailed, but evenhanded narrative of how the House of Representatives became a house of ill repute. Draper’s cast of characters spans the full spectrum of political experience and ideologies—from the Democrat Dingell, a congressman since 1955 (though elbowed out of power by the party’s House leader, Nancy Pelosi), to Allen West, a black Republican Tea Party sensation, former Army lieutenant colonel, and political neophyte with a talent for equal opportunity offending. While unspooling the boisterous, at times tragic, and ultimately infuriating story of the 112th Congress, Draper provides unforgettable portraits of Gabrielle Giffords, the earnest young Arizona congresswoman who was gunned down by a madman at the beginning of the legislative session; Anthony Weiner, the Democrats� clown prince and self-made media star until the New Yorker self-immolated in a sex scandal; the strong-willed Pelosi and her beleaguered if phlegmatic Republican counterpart, House Speaker John Boehner; the affable majority whip, Kevin McCarthy, tasked with instilling team spirit in the iconoclastic freshmen; and most of all, the previously unknown new members who succeeded in shoving Boehner’s Republican Conference to the far right and thereby bringing the nation, more than once, to the brink of governmental shutdown or economic default.

In this lively work of political narrative, Draper synthesizes some of the most talked-about breaking news of the day with the real story of what happened behind the scenes. This book is a timely and masterfully told parable of dysfunction that may well serve as Exhibit A of how Americans lost faith in their democratic institutions.

***

“Congress will rise June 1st, as most of us expect. Rejoice when that event is ascertained. If we should finish and leave the world right side up, it will be happy. Do not ask what good we that is not a fair question, in these days of faction.� —Congressman Fisher Ames, May 30, 1796

In Do Not Ask What Good We Do, Robert Draper captures the prophetic sentiment uttered by Fisher Ames over two centuries ago. As he did in writing about President George W. Bush in Dead Certain, Draper provides an insider’s book like no one else can—this time, inside the U.S. House of Representatives. Because of the bitterly divided political atmosphere we live in, because of the combative nature of this Congress, this literary window on the backstage machinations of the House is both captivating and timely—revealing the House in full, from the process of how laws are made (and in this case, not made) to the most eye-popping cast of lawmakers Washington has ever seen.]]> 352 Robert Draper 1451642083 David 5 3.87 2012 Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives
author: Robert Draper
name: David
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> Mystic River 21671
Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave is trying to hold his marriage together and keep his demons at bay -- demons that urge him to do terrible things. When Jimmy's daughter is found murdered, Sean is assigned to the case. His investigation brings him into conflict with Jimmy, who finds his old criminal impulses tempt him to solve the crime with brutal justice. And then there is Dave, who came home the night Jimmy's daughter died covered in someone else's blood.

A tense and unnerving psychological thriller, Mystic River is also an epic novel of love and loyalty, faith and family, in which people irrevocably marked by the past find themselves on a collision course with the darkest truths of their own hidden selves.]]> 416 Dennis Lehane 0060584750 David 5 4.17 2001 Mystic River
author: Dennis Lehane
name: David
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro, #2)]]> 21681
Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro’s latest client is a prominent Boston psychiatrist, running scared from a vengeful Irish mob. The private investigators know about cold-blooded retribution. Born and bred on the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they’ve seen the darkness that lives in the hearts of the unfortunate.

But an evil for which even they are unprepared is about to strike, as secrets that have long lain dormant erupt, setting off a chain of violent murders that will stain everything � including the truth.

With razor-sharp dialogue and penetrating prose, Darkness, Take My Hand is another superior crime novel from the author of Mystic River; Gone, Baby, Gone; and Shutter Island.]]> 512 Dennis Lehane 055350584X David 5 4.17 1996 Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro, #2)
author: Dennis Lehane
name: David
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Looking For Rachel Wallace (Spenser, #6)]]> 69638
Spenser is the tough guy with a macho code of honor, hired to protect a woman who thinks that code is obsolete.

Privately, they will never see eye to eye. That's why she fires him. But when Rachel vanishes, Spenser rattles skeletons in blue-blooded family closets, tangles with the Klan and fights for her right to be exactly what she is. He is ready to lay his life on the line to find Rachel Wallace.]]> 224 Robert B. Parker 0440153166 David 5 4.04 1980 Looking For Rachel Wallace (Spenser, #6)
author: Robert B. Parker
name: David
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1980
rating: 5
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]]> A Simple Plan 21727 417 Scott Smith 0307279952 David 4 3.91 1993 A Simple Plan
author: Scott Smith
name: David
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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]]> Steve Jobs 11084145 630 Walter Isaacson 1451648537 David 5 4.15 2011 Steve Jobs
author: Walter Isaacson
name: David
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4)]]> 13049569 The Passage of PowerĚýfollows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his careerâ€�1958 to1964. It is a time that would see him trade the extraordinary power he had created for himself as Senate Majority Leader for what became the wretched powerlessness of a Vice President in an administration that disdained and distrusted him. Yet it was, as well, the time in which the presidency, the goal he had always pursued, would be thrust upon him in the moment it took an assassin’s bullet to reach its mark.

By 1958, as Johnson began to maneuver for the presidency, he was known as one of the most brilliant politicians of his time, the greatest Senate Leader in our history. But the 1960 nomination would go to the young senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. Caro gives us an unparalleled account of the machinations behind both the nomination and Kennedy’s decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, revealing the extent of Robert Kennedy’s efforts to force Johnson off the ticket. With the consummate skill of a master storyteller, he exposes the savage animosity between Johnson and Kennedy’s younger brother, portraying one of America’s great political feuds. Yet Robert Kennedy’s overt contempt for Johnson was only part of the burden of humiliation and isolation he bore as Vice President. With a singular understanding of Johnson’s heart and mind, Caro describes what it was like for this mighty politician to find himself altogether powerless in a world in which power is the crucial commodity.Ěý

For the first time, in Caro’s breathtakingly vivid narrative, we see the Kennedy assassination through Lyndon Johnson’s eyes. We watch Johnson step into the presidency, inheriting a staff fiercely loyal to his slain predecessor; a Congress determined to retain its power over the executive branch; and a nation in shock and mourning. We see how within weeks—grasping the reins of the presidency with supreme mastery—he propels through Congress essential legislation that at the time of Kennedy’s death seemed hopelessly logjammed and seizes on a dormant Kennedy program to create the revolutionary War on Poverty. Caro makes clear how the political genius with which Johnson had ruled the Senate now enabled him to make the presidency wholly his own. This was without doubt Johnson’s finest hour, before his aspirations and accomplishments were overshadowed and eroded by the trap of Vietnam.

In its exploration of this pivotal period in Johnson’s life—and in the life of the nationâ€�The Passage of PowerĚýis not only the story of how he surmounted unprecedented obstacles in order to fulfill the highest purpose of the presidency but is, as well, a revelation of both the pragmatic potential in the presidency and what can be accomplished when the chief executive has the vision and determination to move beyond the pragmatic and initiate programs designed to transform a nation.]]> 712 Robert A. Caro 0679405070 David 5 4.36 2012 The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4)
author: Robert A. Caro
name: David
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> The Help 4667024
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women, mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends, view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.


Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here]]> 464 Kathryn Stockett 0399155341 David 5 4.46 2009 The Help
author: Kathryn Stockett
name: David
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1)]]> 86524
The Path to Power, Book One, reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnson’s political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, of the national power for which he hungered.

We see in him, from earliest childhood, a fierce, unquenchable necessity to be first, to win, to dominate—coupled with a limitless capacity for hard, unceasing labor in the service of his own ambition. Caro shows us the big, gangling, awkward young Lyndon—raised in one of the country’s most desperately poor and isolated areas, his education mediocre at best, his pride stung by his father’s slide into failure and financial ruin—lunging for success, moving inexorably toward that ultimate “impossible� goal that he sets for himself years before any friend or enemy suspects what it may be.

We watch him, while still at college, instinctively (and ruthlessly) creating the beginnings of the political machine that was to serve him for three decades. We see him employing his extraordinary ability to mesmerize and manipulate powerful older men, to mesmerize (and sometimes almost enslave) useful subordinates. We see him carrying out, before his thirtieth year, his first great political inspiration: tapping-and becoming the political conduit for-the money and influence of the new oil men and contractors who were to grow with him to immense power. We follow, close up, the radical fluctuations of his relationships with the formidable “Mr. Sam� Rayburn (who loved him like a son and whom he betrayed) and with FDR himself. And we follow the dramas of his emotional life-the intensities and complications of his relationships with his family, his contemporaries, his girls; his wooing and winning of the shy Lady Bird; his secret love affair, over many years, with the mistress of one of his most ardent and generous supporters . . .

Johnson driving his people to the point of exhausted tears, equally merciless with himself . . . Johnson bullying, cajoling, lying, yet inspiring an amazing loyalty . . . Johnson maneuvering to dethrone the unassailable old Jack Garner (then Vice President of the United States) as the New Deal’s “connection� in Texas, and seize the power himself . . . Johnson raging . . . Johnson hugging . . . Johnson bringing light and, indeed, life to the worn Hill Country farmers and their old-at-thirty wives via the district’s first electric lines.

We see him at once unscrupulous, admirable, treacherous, devoted. And we see the country that bred him: the harshness and “nauseating loneliness� of the rural life; the tragic panorama of the Depression; the sudden glow of hope at the dawn of the Age of Roosevelt. And always, in the foreground, on the move, LBJ.

Here is Lyndon Johnson—his Texas, his Washington, his America—in a book that brings us as close as we have ever been to a true perception of political genius and the American political process.]]> 882 Robert A. Caro 0679729453 David 5 4.39 1982 The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1)
author: Robert A. Caro
name: David
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1982
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/03/17
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]]> The Bartender's Tale 13593541 From a great American storyteller, a one-of-a-kind father and his precocious son,Ěýrocked by a time of change.

Tom Harry has a streak of frost in his black pompadour and a venerable bar called The MedicineĚýLodge, the chief watering hole and last refuge of theĚýtown of Gros Ventre, in northern Montana. Tom alsoĚýhas a son named Rusty, an “accident between theĚýsheetsâ€� whose mother deserted them both years ago.The pair make an odd kind of family, with the barĚýtheir true home, but they manage just fine.Ěý

Until the summer of 1960, that is, when Rusty Ěýturns twelve. Change arrives with gale force, in theĚýperson of Proxy, a taxi dancer Tom knew back when,Ěýand her beatnik daughter, Francine. Is Francine, asĚýProxy claims, the unsuspected legacy of her andĚýTom’s past? Without a doubt she is an unsettlingĚýgust of the future, upending every certainty inĚýRusty’s life and generating a mist of passion andĚýpretense that seems to obscure everyone’s visionĚýbut his own. As Rusty struggles to decipher theĚýoddities of adult behavior and the mysteries buildĚýtoward a reckoning, Ivan Doig wonderfully capturesĚýhow the world becomes bigger and the past becomes more complex in the last moments of childhood.]]> 387 Ivan Doig 1594487359 David 5 3.99 2012 The Bartender's Tale
author: Ivan Doig
name: David
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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