en-US Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:29:11 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 211191396 Unleashing Your Own Potential, Robert Henry, a former bank robber, teaches us to look closely at the decisions we make and make better ones. He knows from experience how important it is to make the right kinds of decisions because they can determine our destiny. His successful career in real estate and the personal happiness he’s found are testaments to the fact that the right decision can open doors to achieving your full potential.

Do you feel greatness is inside you, but you don’t know how to unleash it?

Then dive into Unleashing Your Own Potential and embark on a life-changing adventure with Robert Henry, your guide to triumphing over life’s fiercest challenges. More than words on pages, this fascinating book will be a personal coach and mentor ready to take you where you dream to be.

Picture a compass in your hands, navigating life’s storms and leading you to a place of strength and wisdom. That’s exactly what this book will do for you. Henry opens up about his rollercoaster journey, from a tangled past marred by crime and adversity to standing tall as a symbol of resilience and success.

His story proves that rising to greatness is always possible, no matter how far you might fall. What sets this book apart is its genuine, heartfelt tone and packed with raw insights.

Henry doesn’t just share his journey; he hands you the keys to unlock your potential. He breaks down the complexities of decision-making, lights up the path to a positive mindset, and shows you how to build a support network.

The result is a goldmine of transformative wisdom. It’s time to take control of your life. Unleashing Your Own Potential is the tool you need to overcome your hurdles and tap into your hidden capabilities.

It’s not just for reading, but for living, learning, and transforming. Grab your copy and start your journey to success, meaning, and fulfillment.]]> 0 Robert Henry Yarrow 5
The book’s strength lies in its relatability and heartfelt approach. Henry’s personal anecdotes give the advice a sense of authenticity, making it clear he has walked the path he describes. His practical steps for building resilience, setting meaningful goals, and maintaining momentum are empowering and easy to follow.

While some readers may find the tone a bit repetitive, with certain themes revisited without adding new insights, the book’s structure is straightforward and covers a lot of great ground.

Overall, this is a great resource for anyone feeling stuck or looking for a motivational boost. Henry’s blend of vulnerability and guidance serves as a powerful reminder that no matter where you start, success is achievable with the right mindset and self-leadership.]]> 4.57
author: Robert Henry
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
This is an inspiring and motivational guide for anyone seeking personal growth and transformation. Through candid storytelling and actionable advice, Henry takes readers on a journey of self-leadership, showing how to rebuild from adversity and unlock their fullest potential.

The book’s strength lies in its relatability and heartfelt approach. Henry’s personal anecdotes give the advice a sense of authenticity, making it clear he has walked the path he describes. His practical steps for building resilience, setting meaningful goals, and maintaining momentum are empowering and easy to follow.

While some readers may find the tone a bit repetitive, with certain themes revisited without adding new insights, the book’s structure is straightforward and covers a lot of great ground.

Overall, this is a great resource for anyone feeling stuck or looking for a motivational boost. Henry’s blend of vulnerability and guidance serves as a powerful reminder that no matter where you start, success is achievable with the right mindset and self-leadership.
]]> 199055775 Step into the fascinating world of game theory with The Art Of Game Theory!This expertly written book for beginners will introduce you to the compelling ideas behind strategic decision-making and show you how game theory applies to fields as diverse as economics, political science, and biology - in clear and simple terms.

Whether you're a student, professional, or lifelong learner, The Art Of Game Theory equips you with powerful tools to gain a strategic edge in life.

You'll learn key concepts like Nash equilibria, the prisoner's dilemma, and zero-sum games in an easy-to-understand style.

Learn how to anticipate your opponent's next move, find the optimal outcome, and ultimately get what you want.

For anyone seeking to outmaneuver the competition or simply gain a deeper understanding of human behavior, The Art of Game Theory will prove an indispensable resource. Master the games within the game and win at life's biggest challenges.

From bargaining and auctions to oligopolies and voting, this book covers game theory's extensive real-world applications while making the material enjoyable.

Packed with practical examples and easy-to-understand explanations, this book will empower you to make smarter choices and come out on top.

Don't miss your chance to gain a competitive edge; pick up The Art Of Game Theory and start playing the game of strategic thinking today!]]> 214 Wisdom University Yarrow 3
However, while the ideas are insightful, some sections feel a bit surface-level, leaving readers wanting deeper, more practical examples to fully bring the concepts to life. Overall, it's still a worthwhile read for anyone curious about decision-making strategies and looking for an approachable take on game theory. It may not deliver all the depth a more advanced reader might expect, but it succeeds as a stepping stone into understanding the art of influence and prediction with a human-centered lens.]]> 3.67
author: Wisdom University
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:
I'd give the Art of Game Theory a 3.5 rating if I could. It's a solid introduction to how strategic thinking can help us navigate life’s challenges and blends concepts like prediction, influence, and empathy, showing how game theory can be applied beyond economics and mathematics to everyday decisions, relationships, and negotiations. What makes this book stand out is its focus on empathetic strategy, offering a refreshing reminder that winning isn’t just about personal gain but creating outcomes where everyone benefits.

However, while the ideas are insightful, some sections feel a bit surface-level, leaving readers wanting deeper, more practical examples to fully bring the concepts to life. Overall, it's still a worthwhile read for anyone curious about decision-making strategies and looking for an approachable take on game theory. It may not deliver all the depth a more advanced reader might expect, but it succeeds as a stepping stone into understanding the art of influence and prediction with a human-centered lens.
]]> 25499718
WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?]]> 608 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1447273281 Yarrow 5 4.29 2015
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 86520479 Game of Thrones, a disgruntled younger son, Eddie De-la-Pole, sardonic and bisexual, dominated by his Beloved Mother, nurtures a bromance with the brother of the Yorkist queen. But the vain queen separates them. How will Eddie choose between his beloved friend and the rising, sinister star of the dynastic firmament, Richard, Duke of Gloucester? And who is the mysterious Catalan rabbi, who hangs around the English court, and eventually has a powerful influence over Eddie's life?




Read and enjoy At the Court of Broken Dreams - a tale of love and war in the Middle Ages - to learn the answers to these and other fascinating questions.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




"Inhabits the past as convincingly as Hilary Mantel" - Jane Spiro, Professor of Education, Oxford Brookes University.




Ěý"The author packs a lot of fun and flavour into this historical fiction, including [the narrator] Eddie's take on Richard's role in the 'Princes in the Tower' mystery...Overall, this book offers a wonderfully complex narrator's perspective on a head-spinning time in history...An intriguing, richly detailed, fictionalized 'eyewitness account' of the Wars of the Roses era." - Ěý (Kirkus Reviews)




"Laurence Baillie Brown's rendition...is truly unique and fresh....This telling is packed full of De-la-Pole's passion-filled words and his character blazes to life...The narrative is rich, full of historical research, enlightening conversations, engaging scenes (such as the tournament), and De-la-Pole's character comes across as likable, intelligent, savvy, and with a gift of telling a story...truly brilliant." - From the detailed review by The Historical Fiction Company, who also gave it 5 stars and their Highly Recommended medal. ]]> 357 Laurence Baillie Brown 180227703X Yarrow 0 to-read 3.33
author: Laurence Baillie Brown
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Yarrow 0 to-read 4.36 2024
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 157981748 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593243916.

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

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

Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances. Packed with fascinating case studies and drawing on cutting-edge research, this book will change the way you think about what you say, and how you say it.]]> 320 Charles Duhigg Yarrow 0 to-read 4.00 2024
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41455542 0 SINEK SIMON 9123673273 Yarrow 5
What ties these books together is Sinek’s approachable style and genuine passion for helping others succeed. He provides tools, exercises, and probing questions about what drives you. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, these books are great lessons and reminders on how to lead with purpose and integrity. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to make a difference with their teams and in their careers.]]> 4.23
author: SINEK SIMON
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Simon Sinek's work is a masterclass in understanding leadership and purpose, and this trio of books are a comprehensive roadmap for anyone looking to lead with impact and authenticity. He explores the key importance behind building trust and creating environments where people feel safe to take risks and collaborate. His stories and examples are both inspiring and practical, making the concepts easy to apply in everyday leadership with a nice heartfelt spin to each.

What ties these books together is Sinek’s approachable style and genuine passion for helping others succeed. He provides tools, exercises, and probing questions about what drives you. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, these books are great lessons and reminders on how to lead with purpose and integrity. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to make a difference with their teams and in their careers.
]]> 196774338
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.

What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is.

We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.]]> 304 Zoë Schlanger 0063073854 Yarrow 5
This isn’t just a book about plants or the environment; it’s a book about how deeply interconnected we are with the world around us. Yes, it gets serious about environment crises but does so in an approachable way. Schlanger combines science with skillful storytelling to make hard concepts relatable.

It left me inspired and curious, sparking new ideas about how we can live with greater awareness and purpose. If you’re looking for a book that challenges your perspective and leaves you feeling more connected to the world, this one’s for you. Highly recommend! ]]> 4.28 2024
author: Zoë Schlanger
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:
The Light Eaters is a beautifully written and thought-provoking book that offers a fresh perspective on our connection to the natural world. Schlanger masterfully intertwined human experiences with the lives of plants, creating a narrative that feels both personal and universal. What struck me most was how it reframed the way I think about the environment - not as something separate from us but as a part of who we are.

This isn’t just a book about plants or the environment; it’s a book about how deeply interconnected we are with the world around us. Yes, it gets serious about environment crises but does so in an approachable way. Schlanger combines science with skillful storytelling to make hard concepts relatable.

It left me inspired and curious, sparking new ideas about how we can live with greater awareness and purpose. If you’re looking for a book that challenges your perspective and leaves you feeling more connected to the world, this one’s for you. Highly recommend!
]]> 17381706
Ed Schein defines Humble Inquiry as “the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.� In this seminal work, Schein contrasts Humble Inquiry with other kinds of inquiry, shows the benefits Humble Inquiry provides in many different settings, and offers advice on overcoming the cultural, organizational, and psychological barriers that keep us from practicing it.]]> 144 Edgar H. Schein 1609949811 Yarrow 2 3.70 2013
author: Edgar H. Schein
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 34272565 How will Artificial Intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology--and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

How can we grow our prosperity through automation without leaving people lacking income or purpose? What career advice should we give today's kids? How can we make future AI systems more robust, so that they do what we want without crashing, malfunctioning or getting hacked? Should we fear an arms race in lethal autonomous weapons? Will machines eventually outsmart us at all tasks, replacing humans on the job market and perhaps altogether? Will AI help life flourish like never before or give us more power than we can handle?

What sort of future do you want? This book empowers you to join what may be the most important conversation of our time. It doesn't shy away from the full range of viewpoints or from the most controversial issues--from superintelligence to meaning, consciousness and the ultimate physical limits on life in the cosmos.]]> 384 Max Tegmark 0451485076 Yarrow 3 4.02 2017
author: Max Tegmark
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 2615
Focusing on "disruptive technology" -- the Honda Super Cub, Intel's 8088 processor, or the hydraulic excavator, for example -- Christensen shows why most companies miss "the next great wave." Whether in electronics or retailing, a successful company with established products will get pushed aside unless managers know when to abandon traditional business practices. Using the lessons of successes and failures from leading companies, "The Innovator's Dilemma" presents a set of rules for capitalizing on the phenomenon of disruptive innovation.]]> 320 Clayton M. Christensen 0060521996 Yarrow 4 4.03 1997
author: Clayton M. Christensen
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 11084145 630 Walter Isaacson 1451648537 Yarrow 4 4.15 2011
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 18144590 The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.]]> 182 Paulo Coelho 0062315005 Yarrow 5 4.01 1988
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 157062568 #1 New York Times bestseller

"This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would've helped me find a more joyful path to progress."
-Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distances we ourselves can travel. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.

Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid story­telling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess � it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the charac­ter skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.

This book reveals how anyone can rise to achieve greater things. The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but how far you’ve climbed to get there.]]> 496 Adam M. Grant 0593676734 Yarrow 4 4.28 2023
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 39101777
Author Thomas Erikson explains that there are four key behavior types that define how we interact with and perceive the people around us. Understanding someone’s pattern of behavior is the key to successful communication. Erikson breaks down the four kinds of behavior types—Reds who are dominant and commanding, Yellows who are social and optimistic, Greens who are laid back and friendly, and Blues who are analytical and precise—and explains how to identify and interact with each type of person. Instead of being bogged down with overly technical categorizations, the simple four color system allows you to speedily identify a friend or coworker and adjust how you speak and share with them.

Surrounded by Idiots is full of practical information for interacting with people based on their color, including the strengths and weaknesses of all the profiles, how to give positive and negative feedback to each, and the best way to word an email when writing to someone with a different profile.]]> 11 Thomas Erikson 125023400X Yarrow 4 3.54 2014
author: Thomas Erikson
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 203164397 Behavioral scientist Alison Fragale offers powerful new insights and a practical playbook for women to advance in any workplace, full of tips, tricks, and strategies to help secure that elusive corner office.

Over decades of research, speaking engagements, and mentorship, psychologist and professor Alison Fragale encountered recurring questions from high powered and early career women: How do women thread the needle of kindness and competence in the workplace? How can women earn credit for their accomplishments, negotiate better, and navigate complex office politics without losing the goodwill of their peers?

Fragale investigated and determined that many women's workplace issues boil down to the perception of others. No degree, title, or paycheck will raise a woman's workplace stature unless it also affects how other people respect and regard her. Acknowledging this roadblock, Fragale pulls back the curtain on how we can change how others see us by developing our standing as a "likeable badass." By cultivating perceptions of warmth and assertiveness, women can achieve the kind of reputation that leads to a seat at the table and a fulfilling career path.

Likeable Badass is equal parts behavioral science and life hacks, weaving together rigorous research with actionable advice and impactful stories from a diverse array of women. This is a warm, heartening book written for women of all stripes, as well as their allies, who want evidence-based, practical strategies for success, served with a side of inspiration and humor.]]> 256 Alison Fragale 0385549148 Yarrow 3 4.31
author: Alison Fragale
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 41795733
Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

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

Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.]]> 339 David Epstein 0735214484 Yarrow 5 4.12 2019
author: David Epstein
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 1232 487 Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn Yarrow 4 4.26 2001
author: Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 13158800 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom's judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman's mesmerizing, beautifully written debut novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel's decision to keep this "gift from God." And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another's tragic loss.]]> 362 M.L. Stedman 1451681739 Yarrow 5 4.02 2012
author: M.L. Stedman
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 58342375 Bring meaning and joy to all your days with the internationally bestselling guide to ikigai.

According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai--a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa--home to the world’s longest-living people--finding it is the key to a happier and longer life.

Inspiring and soothing, this book will bring you closer to these centenarians� secrets: how they leave urgency behind; keep doing what they love for as long as possible; nurture friendships; live in the moment; participate in their communities; and throw themselves into their passions. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own personal ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find the joy in every day?]]> 208 Héctor García Yarrow 4 3.72 2016
author: HĂ©ctor GarcĂ­a
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 25744928 One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.

In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.]]> 296 Cal Newport 1455586692 Yarrow 5 4.16 2016
author: Cal Newport
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 40180098 The Overstory is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of - and paean to - the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

A New York Times Bestseller.]]> 502 Richard Powers 039335668X Yarrow 5 4.10 2018
author: Richard Powers
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 77566 500 Dan Simmons 0553283685 Yarrow 4 4.26 1989
author: Dan Simmons
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 52761909 Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.

A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors�The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.]]> 368 Janet Skeslien Charles 1982134194 Yarrow 3 4.00 2021
author: Janet Skeslien Charles
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 34066798 The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers—Now a Paramount+ with Showtime series starring Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway and Rules of Civility, a beautifully transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.]]> 462 Amor Towles Yarrow 5 4.28 2016
author: Amor Towles
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 27213329
Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, other factors can be even more crucial such as identifying our passions and following through on our commitments.

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently bemoaned her lack of smarts, Duckworth describes her winding path through teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not genius, but a special blend of passion and long-term perseverance. As a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth created her own character lab and set out to test her theory.

Here, she takes readers into the field to visit teachers working in some of the toughest schools, cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she's learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers; from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to the cartoon editor of The New Yorker to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll.

Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that not talent or luck makes all the difference.]]> 277 Angela Duckworth 1443442313 Yarrow 3 4.07 2016
author: Angela Duckworth
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 40121378 Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.

Learn how to:
-ĚýMake time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
-ĚýOvercome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.

Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.]]> 319 James Clear Yarrow 4 4.34 2018
author: James Clear
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Yarrow 3 4.22 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 49127718 A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

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

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

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

Includes short story - The Last Round of Golf]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 198216963X Yarrow 3 4.17 2019
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 Yarrow 4 4.49 2021
author: Andy Weir
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 20518872 472 Liu Cixin Yarrow 3 4.07 2006
author: Liu Cixin
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 43721059
Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new “emancipation� bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. The bill is a “termination� that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity. How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans “for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run�?

Since graduating high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Patrice, the class valedictorian, has no desire to wear herself down with a husband and kids. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. Patrice’s shameful alcoholic father returns home sporadically to terrorize his wife and children and bully her for money. But Patrice needs every penny to follow her beloved older sister, Vera, who moved to the big city of Minneapolis. Vera may have disappeared; she hasn’t been in touch in months, and is rumored to have had a baby. Determined to find Vera and her child, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minnesota that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence, and endangers her life.

Thomas and Patrice live in this impoverished reservation community along with young Chippewa boxer Wood Mountain and his mother Juggie Blue, her niece and Patrice’s best friend Valentine, and Stack Barnes, the white high school math teacher and boxing coach who is hopelessly in love with Patrice.

In the Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich creates a fictional world populated with memorable characters who are forced to grapple with the worst and best impulses of human nature. Illuminating the loves and lives, the desires and ambitions of these characters with compassion, wit, and intelligence, The Night Watchman is a majestic work of fiction from this revered cultural treasure.]]> 464 Louise Erdrich 0062671200 Yarrow 4 4.05 2020
author: Louise Erdrich
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 18143977
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 544 Anthony Doerr 1476746583 Yarrow 4 4.31 2014
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]> 499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Yarrow 3 4.17 2011
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Yarrow 4 4.33 2011
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Yarrow 3 3.96 2020
author: Matt Haig
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 6088007 Neuromancer is a cyberpunk, science fiction masterpiece—a classic that ranks with 1984 and Brave New World as one of the twentieth century’s most potent visions of the future.

The Matrix is a world within the world, a global consensus-hallucination, the representation of every byte of data in cyberspace...

Henry Dorsett Case was the sharpest data-thief in the business, until vengeful former employees crippled his nervous system. But now a new and very mysterious employer recruits him for a last-chance run. The target: an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence orbiting Earth in service of the sinister Tessier-Ashpool business clan. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case embarks on an adventure that ups the ante on an entire genre of fiction.

The winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer was the first fully-realized glimpse of humankind’s digital future—a shocking vision that has challenged our assumptions about our technology and ourselves, reinvented the way we speak and think, and forever altered the landscape of our imaginations.]]> 288 William Gibson Yarrow 4 3.94 1984
author: William Gibson
name: Yarrow
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 44767458
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.]]> 658 Frank Herbert 059309932X Yarrow 4 4.33 1965
author: Frank Herbert
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 19063 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)]]> 592 Markus Zusak Yarrow 3 4.38 2005
author: Markus Zusak
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 32051912
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the "queen of spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.]]> 503 Kate Quinn 0062654195 Yarrow 3 4.30 2017
author: Kate Quinn
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 61439040
Alternate cover edition can be found here.]]> 368 George Orwell 0452284236 Yarrow 5 4.21 1949
author: George Orwell
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1949
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 38746485
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.]]> 426 Michelle Obama 1524763136 Yarrow 5 4.42 2018
author: Michelle Obama
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 48855
In 1942, with the Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, the Franks and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe� of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly humorous, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
--back cover]]> 283 Anne Frank Yarrow 5 4.19 1947
author: Anne Frank
name: Yarrow
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1947
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]>