Lily's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 28 Jan 2014 09:24:55 -0800 60 Lily's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Azerbaijan - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture]]> 9967885 Ěý
The historically tolerant and pluralist Azeri people have an ancient history and a rich culture. Azerbaijan lay on the route of the Great Silk Road, the trade network that connected China with Europe, and its people have lived through centuries of conquests by different imperial powers. It was also situated in the heart of the Great Game, the struggle for control of Central Asia played out between Russia and the West at the turn on the nineteenth century, which seems to be going through a modern remake. Azerbaijan has been called “the quintessential borderland, many times over: between Europe and Asia, Islam and Christianity, Russia and the Middle East, Turks and Iranians, Shi’a and Sunni Islam.�
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Azerbaijan was briefly independent after the First World War, when it was the first Muslim state to adopt progressive Western values. A democratic republic with full women’s suffrage, it boasted the first women’s high school, the first opera, and the first female opera composer, as well as the first ballet in the Muslim world.
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There followed seventy years of Soviet rule. After a bitter war in 1991�94, areas of Azerbaijan were occupied by neighboring Armenia, and the country has absorbed a huge number of refugees. At the same time, it is experiencing a new oil boom and the economy is growing. Among the people, there is a growing sense of national identity. Culture Smart! Azerbaijan looks at the many facets of this identity and explains the complex workings of Azerbaijani society. It will equip you with vital information and advice about the customs, practices, and sensibilities of a society poised on the brink of change.]]> 168 Nikki Kazimova 1857335449 Lily 0 to-read 4.44 2011 Azerbaijan - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
author: Nikki Kazimova
name: Lily
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Obama and the Middle East: The End of America's Moment?]]> 12567776 304 Fawaz A. Gerges 0230113818 Lily 0 currently-reading 3.53 2012 Obama and the Middle East: The End of America's Moment?
author: Fawaz A. Gerges
name: Lily
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations]]> 21314 What’s the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, Craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women’s rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? How could winning a Supreme Court case be the biggest mistake MGM could have made?

After five years of ground-breaking research, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom share some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,� which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,� which rely on the power of peer relationships.

The Starfish and the Spider explores what happens when starfish take on spiders (such as the music industry vs. Napster, Kazaa, and the P2P services that followed). It reveals how established companies and institutions, from IBM to Intuit to the US government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. The book explores:

* How the Apaches fended off the powerful Spanish army for 200 years
* The power of a simple circle
* The importance of catalysts who have an uncanny ability to bring people together
* How the Internet has become a breeding ground for leaderless organizations
* How Alcoholics Anonymous has reached untold millions with only a shared ideology and without a leader

The Starfish and the Spider is the rare book that will change how you understand the world around you.]]> 240 Ori Brafman 1591841437 Lily 0 currently-reading 3.81 2006 The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
author: Ori Brafman
name: Lily
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/11/02
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]]> <![CDATA[A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose]]> 76334 With his bestselling spiritual guide "The Power of Now," Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the freedom and joy of a life lived ?in the now.? In "A New Earth," Tolle expands on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence. "The Power of Now" was a question-and-answer handbook. "A New Earth" has been written as a traditional narrative, offering anecdotes and philosophies in a way that is accessible to all. Illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting, "A New Earth" is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life?and for building a better world.]]> 316 Eckhart Tolle 0452287588 Lily 4 4.15 2005 A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
author: Eckhart Tolle
name: Lily
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment]]> 6708 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781577314806.

To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of Eckhart Tolle's extraordinary book, we move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air. We become connected to the indestructible essence of our Being, “The eternal, ever present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.� Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle uses simple language and an easy question-and-answer format to guide us.

A word-of-mouth phenomenon since its first publication, The Power of Now is one of those rare books with the power to create an experience in readers, one that can radically change their lives for the better.]]> 229 Eckhart Tolle Lily 4 4.16 1997 The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
author: Eckhart Tolle
name: Lily
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> Gift from the Sea 77295
With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh’s daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.

The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.

After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research.]]> 130 Anne Morrow Lindbergh 0394724550 Lily 4 4.14 1955 Gift from the Sea
author: Anne Morrow Lindbergh
name: Lily
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1955
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy]]> 748862 Gift From the Sea and the wisdom of M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled, Simple Abundance is a book of 366 evocative essays - one for every day of your year - written for women who wish to live by their own lights.

In the past a woman's spirituality has been seperated from her lifestyle. Simple Abundance shows you how your daily life can be an expression of your authentic self . . . as you choose the tastiest vegetables from your garden, search for treasures at flea markets, establish a sacred space in your home for meditation, and follow the rhythm of the seasons and the year. Here, for the first time, the mystical alchemy of style and Spirit is celebrated. Every day, your own true path leads you to a happier, more fulfilling and contented way of life - the state of grace known as . . . Simple Abundance

]]> 528 Sarah Ban Breathnach 0446519138 Lily 4 3.97 1995 Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy
author: Sarah Ban Breathnach
name: Lily
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1995
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[What to Expect When You're Expecting]]> 174703 597 Heidi Murkoff 0761121323 Lily 4 3.77 1984 What to Expect When You're Expecting
author: Heidi Murkoff
name: Lily
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1984
rating: 4
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]]> The Art of Happiness 38210 322 Dalai Lama XIV 1573221112 Lily 4 4.17 1998 The Art of Happiness
author: Dalai Lama XIV
name: Lily
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse]]> 3090406 640 Ellen Bass 0061284335 Lily 4 4.23 The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
author: Ellen Bass
name: Lily
average rating: 4.23
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rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself]]> 720298
Melody Beattie’s compassionate and insightful look into codependency—the concept of losing oneself in the name of helping another� has helped millions of readers understand that they are powerless to change anyone but themselves and that caring for the self is where healing begins.

Is someone else's problem your problem? If, like so many others, you've lost sight of your own life in the drama of tending to a loved one’s self-destructive behavior, you may be codependent--and you may find yourself in this book. With instructive life stories, personal reflections, exercises, and self-tests, Codependent No More helps you to break old patterns, maintain healthy boundaries, and say no to unhealthy relationships. It offers a clear and achievable path to freedom and a lifetime of healing, hope, and happiness.
This ground-breaking book is even more relevant today, as readers confront new, urgent challenges with greater self-awareness, than it was when it first entered the national conversation over 35 years ago.]]> 276 Melody Beattie 0894864025 Lily 4 4.12 1986 Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself
author: Melody Beattie
name: Lily
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1986
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers]]> 15737147 A New York Times bestseller from the author of Hallelujah Anyway, Bird by Bird, and Almost Everything

Author Anne Lamott writes about the three simple prayers essential to coming through tough times, difficult days and the hardships of daily life

Readers of all ages have followed and cherished Anne Lamott’s funny and perceptive writing about her own faith through decades of trial and error. And in her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow, she has coalesced everything she knows about prayer to these fundamentals.

It is these three prayers � asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us � that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.]]> 102 Anne Lamott Lily 4 3.98 2012 Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
author: Anne Lamott
name: Lily
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus]]> 1274
Based on years of successful counseling of couples and individuals, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus has helped millions of couples transform their relationships. Now viewed as a modern classic, this phenomenal book has helped men and women realize how different they really are and how to communicate their needs in such a way that conflict doesn't arise and intimacy is given every chance to grow!!!!]]> 368 John Gray 0060574216 Lily 4 3.59 1992 Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
author: John Gray
name: Lily
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1992
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)]]> 13214
Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.� At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare�) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.]]> 289 Maya Angelou 0553279378 Lily 4 4.30 1969 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)
author: Maya Angelou
name: Lily
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1969
rating: 4
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]]> The Elements of Style 33514 105 William Strunk Jr. Lily 4 4.15 1918 The Elements of Style
author: William Strunk Jr.
name: Lily
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1918
rating: 4
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]]> Bird by Bird 12543 A newer edition of this title can be found here.

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said. 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

With this basic instruction always in mind, Anne Lamott returns to offer us a new gift: a step-by-step guide on how to write and on how to manage the writer's life. From "Getting Started,' with "Short Assignments," through "Shitty First Drafts," "Character," "Plot," "Dialogue." all the way from "False Starts" to "How Do You Know When You're Done?" Lamott encourages, instructs, and inspires. She discusses "Writers Block," "Writing Groups," and "Publication." Bracingly honest, she is also one of the funniest people alive.

If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, what the contents of your school lunches said about what your parents were really like, this book is for you. From faith, love, and grace to pain, jealousy, and fear, Lamott insists that you keep your eyes open, and then shows you how to survive. And always, from the life of the artist she turns to the art of life.

]]> 238 Anne Lamott Lily 4 4.24 1994 Bird by Bird
author: Anne Lamott
name: Lily
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1994
rating: 4
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]]> Man’s Search for Meaning 4069 Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.]]> 165 Viktor E. Frankl 080701429X Lily 5 4.39 1946 Man’s Search for Meaning
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Lily
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1946
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer, #1)]]> 60748 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games—games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive—dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.]]> 184 Dave Pelzer Lily 5 4.14 1995 A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer, #1)
author: Dave Pelzer
name: Lily
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1995
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier]]> 43015
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?�
“Because there is a war.�
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?�
“Yes, all the time.�
“C´Ç´Ç±ô.â€�
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.�
“Yes, sometime.�

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.]]> 229 Ishmael Beah 0374105235 Lily 4 4.16 2007 A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
author: Ishmael Beah
name: Lily
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?]]> 11395597
Jeanette Winterson's novels have established her as a major figure in world literature. She has written some of the most admired books of the past few decades, including her internationally bestselling first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the story of a young girl adopted by Pentecostal parents that is now often required reading in contemporary fiction.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is a memoir about a life's work to find happiness. It's a book full of stories: about a girl locked out of her home, sitting on the doorstep all night; about a religious zealot disguised as a mother who has two sets of false teeth and a revolver in the dresser, waiting for Armageddon; about growing up in an north England industrial town now changed beyond recognition; about the Universe as Cosmic Dustbin.

It is the story of how a painful past that Jeanette thought she'd written over and repainted rose to haunt her, sending her on a journey into madness and out again, in search of her biological mother.]]> 230 Jeanette Winterson 0307401243 Lily 4 3.99 2011 Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
author: Jeanette Winterson
name: Lily
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail]]> 12262741 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State � and she would do it alone.

Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.]]> 336 Cheryl Strayed 0307592731 Lily 4 4.06 2012 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
author: Cheryl Strayed
name: Lily
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 14891 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.]]> 496 Betty Smith 0061120073 Lily 4 4.29 1943 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
author: Betty Smith
name: Lily
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1943
rating: 4
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]]> The Color Purple 11486
Then her husband's lover, a flamboyant blues singer, barreled into her world and gave Celie the courage to ask for more - to laugh, to play, and finally - to love.]]> 295 Alice Walker Lily 4 4.22 1982 The Color Purple
author: Alice Walker
name: Lily
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1982
rating: 4
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]]> Unaccustomed Earth 85301
In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations,� a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,� a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,� a trio of linked stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.

Unaccustomed Earth is rich with Jhumpa Lahiri’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.]]> 352 Jhumpa Lahiri 0676979343 Lily 5 4.14 2008 Unaccustomed Earth
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Lily
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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]]> A Thousand Splendid Suns 128029
With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a portrait of a wounded country and a story of family and friendship, of an unforgiving time, an unlikely bond, and an indestructible love.]]> 372 Khaled Hosseini 1594489505 Lily 4 4.44 2007 A Thousand Splendid Suns
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Lily
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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]]> Evening Class 41967 528 Maeve Binchy 0752876821 Lily 4 4.01 1996 Evening Class
author: Maeve Binchy
name: Lily
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> The Shell Seekers 37095 The Shell Seekers, is now worth a small fortune, it is Penelope who must make the decisions that will determine whether her family can continue to survive as a family, or be split apart.]]> 544 Rosamunde Pilcher 051722285X Lily 4 4.16 1987 The Shell Seekers
author: Rosamunde Pilcher
name: Lily
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1987
rating: 4
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]]> Cold Sassy Tree 306654
On July 5, 1906, scandal breaks in the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia, when the proprietor of the general store, E. Rucker Blakeslee, elopes with Miss Love Simpson. He is barely three weeks a widower, and she is only half his age and a Yankee to boot. As their marriage inspires a whirlwind of local gossip, fourteen-year-old Will Tweedy suddenly finds himself eyewitness to a family scandal, and that’s where his adventures begin.

Cold Sassy Tree is the undeniably entertaining and extraordinarily moving account of small-town Southern life in a bygone era. Brimming with characters who are wise and loony, unimpeachably pious and deliciously irreverent, Olive Ann Burns’s classic bestseller is a timeless, funny, and resplendent treasure.]]> 391 Olive Ann Burns 038531258X Lily 4 4.00 1984 Cold Sassy Tree
author: Olive Ann Burns
name: Lily
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1984
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe]]> 9375 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a now-classic novel about two women: Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age, and gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode, who is telling her life story. Her tale includes two more women, the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, offering good coffee, southern barbecue, and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present will never be quite the same again.]]> 416 Fannie Flagg 0375508414 Lily 4 4.28 1987 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
author: Fannie Flagg
name: Lily
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1987
rating: 4
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]]> The Secret Life of Bees 37435 The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.]]> 302 Sue Monk Kidd 0142001740 Lily 4 4.10 2001 The Secret Life of Bees
author: Sue Monk Kidd
name: Lily
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 4
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]]> The Kite Runner 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Lily 5 4.34 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Lily
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> The Call of the Wild 1852 The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.]]> 172 Jack London Lily 4 3.89 1903 The Call of the Wild
author: Jack London
name: Lily
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1903
rating: 4
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]]> The Sun Also Rises 3876 The Sun Also Rises (Fiesta) is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.]]> 189 Ernest Hemingway Lily 3 3.81 1926 The Sun Also Rises
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Lily
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1926
rating: 3
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]]> The Crucible 17250
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, "Political opposition... is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence."

WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
(back cover)]]> 143 Arthur Miller 0142437336 Lily 3 3.60 1953 The Crucible
author: Arthur Miller
name: Lily
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1953
rating: 3
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]]> The Little Prince 157993
Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince, presented here in a stunning new translation with carefully restored artwork. The definitive edition of a worldwide classic, it will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.]]> 96 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 0152023984 Lily 4 4.32 1943 The Little Prince
author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
name: Lily
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1943
rating: 4
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]]> Heart of Darkness 4900
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted, Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written.]]> 188 Joseph Conrad 1892295490 Lily 4 3.43 1899 Heart of Darkness
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Lily
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1899
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 34
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
--back cover]]> 398 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346252 Lily 5 4.36 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Lily
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1954
rating: 5
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]]> The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Lily 4 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Lily
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 4
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]]> The Iliad 1371
Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”]]> 614 Homer 0140275363 Lily 4 3.88 -800 The Iliad
author: Homer
name: Lily
average rating: 3.88
book published: -800
rating: 4
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]]> Animal Farm 7613
The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones' Manor Farm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, describe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. Old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the animals � inspired by his philosophy of Animalism � plot a rebellion against Jones.

Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, prove themselves important figures and planners of this dangerous enterprise. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, the revolution occurs, and Jones and his men are chased off the farm. Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism are painted on the barn wall...]]> 129 George Orwell Lily 4 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Lily
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 4
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]]> Les Misérables 24280 1463 Victor Hugo 0451525264 Lily 5 4.19 1862 Les Misérables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Lily
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1862
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hobbit, or There and Back Again]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Lily 5 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Lily
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
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]]> I Suck at Girls 13425393
Soon after Sh*t My Dad Says began to take off, comic writer Justin Halpern decided to propose to his then girlfriend. But before doing so, he asked his dad's advice, which was very, very simple (and surprisingly clean): "Just take a day to think about it." This book is that day. Crossing the warmth of The Wonder Years with the candour and observational humour of David Sedaris, this follow-up to the hottest comedy debut of last year is a hilarious, toe-curlingly true book about life, and love.]]> 4 Justin Halpern 0062123742 Lily 4 3.75 2012 I Suck at Girls
author: Justin Halpern
name: Lily
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance]]> 88061 453 Barack Obama 1921351438 Lily 5 3.93 1995 Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
author: Barack Obama
name: Lily
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1995
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream]]> 9742 The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics—a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long defined us and that is our best hope going forward.]]> 375 Barack Obama 0307237699 Lily 5 3.83 2006 The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
author: Barack Obama
name: Lily
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> The Glass Castle 7445 THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.]]> 288 Jeannette Walls 074324754X Lily 3 4.32 2005 The Glass Castle
author: Jeannette Walls
name: Lily
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2005
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/05/23
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