Diana's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 28 Feb 2021 07:37:04 -0800 60 Diana's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Pride and Prejudice 84979 Another cover edition for this ISBN

Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.]]> 334 Jane Austen 0553213105 Diana 5 4.36 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Diana
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1813
rating: 5
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date added: 2021/02/28
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]]> A Tear and a Smile 2549 228 Kahlil Gibran 0394448049 Diana 4 4.13 1950 A Tear and a Smile
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1950
rating: 4
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date added: 2020/07/20
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]]> The Nightingale 21853621 In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.]]> 564 Kristin Hannah 0312577222 Diana 0 currently-reading 4.63 2015 The Nightingale
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Diana
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman 9833 334 Haruki Murakami 1400044618 Diana 0 to-read 3.86 2006 Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/05
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]]> Whiskey Words & a Shovel III 32894545 Whiskey Words & a Shovel III!His raw voice delivers gritty, impassioned truths on matters of loving, living, and leaving in this final book in the series.
r.h. Sin s final volume in the Whiskey, Words, and a Shovel series expands on the passion and vigor of his first two installments. His stanzas inspire strength through the raw, emotional energy and the vulnerability of his poems. Relationships, love, pain, and fortitude are powerfully rendered in his poetry, and his message of perseverance in the face of emotional turmoil cuts to the heart of modern-day life. At roughly 300 pages, this culminating volume will be his lengthiest yet.
"]]> 336 R.H. Sin 144948459X Diana 4 3.97 2017 Whiskey Words & a Shovel III
author: R.H. Sin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2017
rating: 4
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]]> Memories 25330489
For fans of Lang Leav, this beautiful gift book is a must-have! Beloved pieces from Lullabies and Love & Misadventure are collected together in this illustrated treasury. In addition, 35 new poems that have not been published in any Lang Leav collection offer something new to discover. The author's original art is presented in lovely four-color illustrations.

Lang Leav's evocative poetry in a gorgeous package with ribbon marker and cloth spine is an irresistible gift for any poetry lover!]]> 256 Lang Leav 1449472397 Diana 5 4.07 2015 Memories
author: Lang Leav
name: Diana
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 5
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]]> Sad Girls 34023590 Your first love isn’t the first person you give your heart to—it’s the first one who breaks it.

School is almost out for Audrey, but the panic attacks are just beginning. Because Audrey told a lie and now her classmate, Ana, is dead. Just as her world begins to spin out of control, Audrey meets the enigmatic Rad—the boy who could turn it all around. But will their ill-timed romance drive her closer to the edge?]]> 362 Lang Leav 1449487769 Diana 5 3.34 2017 Sad Girls
author: Lang Leav
name: Diana
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Universe of Us (Volume 4) (Lang Leav)]]> 29431081 The Universe of Us.

Planets, stars, and constellations feature prominently in this beautiful, original poetry collection from Lang Leav.  Inspired by the wonders of the universe, the best-selling poetess writes about love and loss, hope and hurt, being lost and found.  Lang's poetry encompasses the breadth of emotions we all experience and evokes universal feelings with her skillfully crafted words.]]> 225 Lang Leav 1449480128 Diana 5 4.06 2016 The Universe of Us (Volume 4) (Lang Leav)
author: Lang Leav
name: Diana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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]]> Sea of Strangers 36100966
This completely original collection of poetry and prose will not only delight her avid fans but is sure to capture the imagination of a whole new audience. With the turn of every page,  Sea of Strangers  invites you to go beyond love and loss to explore themes of self-discovery and empowerment as you navigate your way around the human heart.
ձ> 215 Lang Leav 1449489893 Diana 4 3.68 2018 Sea of Strangers
author: Lang Leav
name: Diana
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2018
rating: 4
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]]> Bitter Sweet Love 30227846 208 Michael Faudet 1449481019 Diana 5 3.72 2016 Bitter Sweet Love
author: Michael Faudet
name: Diana
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Lullabies (Volume 2) (Lang Leav)]]> 22151696 Love & Misadventure, Lullabies continues to explore the intricacies of love and loss.

Set to a musical theme, love's poetic journey in this new, original collection begins with a Duet and travels through Interlude and Finale with an Encore popular piece from the best-selling Love & Misadventure. Lang Leav's evocative poetry speaks to the soul of anyone who is on this journey.

Leav has an unnerving ability to see inside the hearts and minds of her readers. Her talent for translating complex emotions with astonishing simplicity has won her a cult following of devoted fans from all over the world.

Lang Leav is a poet and internationally exhibiting artist.]]> 248 Lang Leav 1449461077 Diana 5 3.98 2014 Lullabies (Volume 2) (Lang Leav)
author: Lang Leav
name: Diana
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2014
rating: 5
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]]> Milk and honey 23513349 Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.

It is split into four chapters, with each chapter dealing with a different pain. Healing a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them -- because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.]]> 204 Rupi Kaur 1502784270 Diana 5 3.97 2014 Milk and honey
author: Rupi Kaur
name: Diana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 5
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]]> The Sun and Her Flowers 35606560 256 Rupi Kaur 1449486797 Diana 5 4.09 2018 The Sun and Her Flowers
author: Rupi Kaur
name: Diana
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Perks of Being a Wallflower]]> 22628 offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see
what it looks like from the dance floor.

This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being A WALLFLOWER

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

(back cover)]]> 213 Stephen Chbosky Diana 4 4.24 1999 The Perks of Being a Wallflower
author: Stephen Chbosky
name: Diana
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1999
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life]]> 15843166 The #1 New York Times Bestseller You Are A Badass is the self-help book for people who desperately want to improve their lives but don't want to get busted doing it.

In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word. If you're ready to make some serious changes around here, You Are a Badass will help you: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, set big goals and reach them - it will basically show you how to create a life you totally love, and how to create it now.

By the end of You Are a Badass, you'll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can't change, how to change what you don't love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.]]> 254 Jen Sincero 0762447699 Diana 4 3.95 2013 You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
author: Jen Sincero
name: Diana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
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 Diana 5 4.16 1997 The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
author: Eckhart Tolle
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> The Forty Rules of Love 6642715 Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mir­rors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.

In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to her 2007 novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz—that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.]]> 354 Elif Shafak Diana 5 4.16 2009 The Forty Rules of Love
author: Elif Shafak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Mad About the Boy (Bridget Jones, #3)]]> 17262155 Catorze anos após o último livro, Bridget Jones: No limite da razão, nossa heroína retoma seu diário abandonado e mostra que continua a mesma, e ainda mais viva - e ativa - do que nunca. O tempo se encarregou de trazer à sua vida outros dramas e dilemas, mas não levou embora seu jeito estabanado e a personalidade luminosa sem a qual ela não poderia enfrentar os momentos comoventes que a aguardam. Além de não descuidar da balança e manter-se longe dos cigarros, agora ela também precisa se preocupar com sites de relacionamentos, o número de seguidores no Twitter e os perigos de trocar mensagens de texto depois de algumas taças de vinho.
Ainda às voltas com os amores, Bridget tropeça em novas confusões e tenta em vão se esquivar das gafes que ajudaram a consagrá-la como uma das personagens mais divertidas da literatura feminina contemporânea, enquanto figuras antigas e recentes desfilam por sua vida - sobretudo um garoto misterioso que vem para balançar seriamente suas certezas.
Bridget Jones: Louca pelo garoto traz um desfecho inesperado para a história que já conhecemos, sem deixar de abrir portas a outras aventuras. Leitura obrigatória para qualquer mulher de hoje, o romance é um retrato fiel e bem-humorado das tribulações ao mesmo tempo trágicas e risíveis que compõem nosso dia a dia.]]> 400 Helen Fielding 0345807952 Diana 4 3.35 2013 Mad About the Boy (Bridget Jones, #3)
author: Helen Fielding
name: Diana
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing]]> 22318578 Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

]]> 213 Marie Kondō 1607747308 Diana 5 3.88 2010 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
author: Marie Kondō
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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]]> The Happiness Project 6398634
In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.]]> 301 Gretchen Rubin 0061583251 Diana 5 3.65 2009 The Happiness Project
author: Gretchen Rubin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> Rich Dad, Poor Dad 69571 195 Robert T. Kiyosaki 0751532711 Diana 5 4.10 1997 Rich Dad, Poor Dad
author: Robert T. Kiyosaki
name: Diana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> The Secret (The Secret, #1) 52529 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781582701707.

The worldwide bestselling phenomenon that has helped millions tap the power of the law that governs all our lives to create—intentionally and effortlessly—a joyful life.

In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe�The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller.

Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions, and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.

In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life.

The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.]]> 199 Rhonda Byrne Diana 5 3.74 2006 The Secret (The Secret, #1)
author: Rhonda Byrne
name: Diana
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> Les Misérables 24280 1463 Victor Hugo 0451525264 Diana 5 4.19 1862 Les Misérables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Diana
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1862
rating: 5
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]]> Women At Point Zero 16068721 Nawal El Saadawi Diana 5 4.19 1975 Women At Point Zero
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1975
rating: 5
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]]> Zeina 12139693
Zeina grows up to become one of Egypt's most beloved entertainers, despite being deprived of a name and a home. In contrast, Bodour remains trapped in a loveless marriage, pining for her daughter. In an attempt to find solace she turns to literature, writing a fictionalized account of her life. But when the novel goes missing, Bodour is forced on a journey of self discovery, reliving and reshaping her past and her future.

Will Bodour ever discover who stole the novel? Is there any hope of her being reunited with Zeina?

Nawal El Saadawi is an internationally renowned Egyptian writer, feminist, and psychiatrist. Her works have been translated into more than thirty languages.


]]> 256 Nawal El Saadawi 0863564178 Diana 5 3.36 2008 Zeina
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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]]> The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 7185025
RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE By EDWARD FITZGERALD. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS By EDMUND DULAC. GARDEN CITY, NY 1952.]]> 52 Omar Khayyám Diana 5 4.33 1120 The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
author: Omar Khayyám
name: Diana
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1120
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 1]]> 7123161 'The bride then came surrounded by her slave girls like the moon among stars or a matchless pearl set among others on a string.'

When the beautiful Shahrazad gives herself to the bloody-handed King Shahriyar, she is not expected to survive beyond dawn. But using her wit and guile, she begins a sequence of stories that will last 1001 nights: stories of 'ifrits and money-changers, prices and slave girls, fishermen and queens, and magical gardens of paradise. This volume also includes the well-known tale of 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'.

Along with this landmark new translation, Robert Irwin's introduction discusses the many cultures The Arabian Nights has drawn on and the elaborate structure of the story-within-a-story that defines the collection, as well as the importance to the Nights of locked doors, sex, and the recurring themes of money, merchants and debts. This edition also contains suggestions for further reading, a glossary, maps and a chronology.]]> 982 Anonymous 0140449388 Diana 5 4.02 800 The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 1
author: Anonymous
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 800
rating: 5
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]]> The Winner Stands Alone 5356711 � New Yorker From the bestselling author of The Alchemist , Paulo Coelho, comes an absorbing new novel that holds a mirror up to our culture’s obsession with fame, glamour, and celebrity.]]> 368 Paulo Coelho 0061750441 Diana 3 3.40 2008 The Winner Stands Alone
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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]]> Aleph 9086994
Num tom franco e extremamente pessoal, Paulo Coelho relata sua incrível jornada de autodescoberta. Como o pastor Santiago de seu grande sucesso O alquimista, o escritor vive uma grave crise de fé. À procura de um caminho de renovação e crescimento espiritual, ele resolve começar tudo de novo: viajar, experimentar, se reconectar às pessoas e ao mundo.

Ao embarcar para a África, depois para a Europa e, por fim, cruzar a Ásia pela ferrovia transiberiana, Paulo busca revitalizar sua energia e sua paixão. Mas nem pode imaginar que surpresa essa peregrinação lhe reserva.

Ele conhece Hilal, uma jovem e talentosa violinista, e descobre que ela foi sua grande paixão numa vida passada, mas que ele a traiu de maneira tão covarde que, mesmo 500 anos depois, isso o impede de ser feliz. Juntos, os dois se lançam numa viagem pelo tempo e o espaço, abrindo-se para o amor, o perdão e a coragem de enfrentar os desafios da vida.]]> 256 Paulo Coelho 8575425773 Diana 3 3.41 2010 Aleph
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2010
rating: 3
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]]> Warrior of the Light 1426
Paulo Coelho is one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Now, in the long-awaited companion to his first novel, Coelho presents a collection of philosophical stories that will delight and guide seekers everywhere.]]> 142 Paulo Coelho 0060527986 Diana 3 3.74 1997 Warrior of the Light
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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]]> The Valkyries 4006
The enchanting, true story of The Valkyries begins in Rio de Janeiro when author Paulo Coelho gives his mysterious master J., the only manuscript for his book The Alchemist. Haunted by a devastating curse, Coelho confesses to J., "I′ve seen my dreams fall apart just when I seemed about to achieve them." In response, J. gives Coelho a daunting task: He must find and speak with his guardian angel. "The curse can be broken," he replies, "if you complete the task."

Rising to the challenge, Paulo and his wife, Cristina, drop everything, pack their bags, and take off on a forty day adventure into the starkly beautiful and sometimes dangerous Mojave Desert where they encounter more than they bargained for. A masterful blend of the exotic locales, dramatic adventure, and magical storytelling, for which Coelho′s fictional works are renowned, this true-life account is at once a modern-day adventure and a metaphysical odyssey.]]> 243 Paulo Coelho 0722533942 Diana 3 3.34 1988 The Valkyries
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.34
book published: 1988
rating: 3
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]]> العواصف 7623006 240 Kahlil Gibran 9953390134 Diana 5 3.90 1920 العواصف
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1920
rating: 5
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]]> The Prophet 2547 The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.

The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.]]> 127 Kahlil Gibran 000100039X Diana 5 4.27 1923 The Prophet
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1923
rating: 5
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]]> The Broken Wings 291 132 Kahlil Gibran 0806501901 Diana 5 4.11 1912 The Broken Wings
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1912
rating: 5
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]]> The Madman 2544 76 Kahlil Gibran 1600961894 Diana 5 4.16 1918 The Madman
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1918
rating: 5
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]]> الأرواح المتمردة 9658269 158 Kahlil Gibran 2745130943 Diana 4 3.92 1908 الأرواح المتمردة
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1908
rating: 4
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]]> Sand and Foam 292 100 Kahlil Gibran 067943920X Diana 4 4.18 1926 Sand and Foam
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1926
rating: 4
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]]> The Wanderer 115673 - 100 Kahlil Gibran 0679439234 Diana 4 3.90 1932 The Wanderer
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1932
rating: 4
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]]> المواكب 7848831 هنالك يتلاقى رجلان على غير ميعاد أحدهما شيخ والاّخر فتى . الأول خرج من
المدينة والثانى من الغاب، أما الشيخ فيسير بخطى ضعيفة متوكئا على عصاه
بيد مرتجفة، وفى غضون وجهه وشعره الشائب المسترسل ما ينم على أنه عرك
الدهر وعرف أسرار الحياة ومخاّتها فذاق منها مرارة أوصلته إلى التشاؤم
منها. يصل هذا الشيخ إلى المرج، فيستلقى هنالك على العشب قصد الراحة،
واذا فتى جميل غض الاهاب قد لوحت الشمس بشرته وأكسبته الحياة جذلا
وانبساطا، خرج من الغاب يحمل نايه فيسير حتى يصل إلى مكان راحة الشيخ
فيضظجع بجانبه. فلا تمر دقيقة سكون الا تراهما قد بدءا بالحديث، فيأخذ
الشيخ بابداء نظراته في الحياة كما يراها طرفه المتشائم وخبرته المحنكة، فيرد
عليه الفتى شارحا عن الحياة كما تراها عينه الجذلة المتفائلة.


من مقدمة نسيب عريضة للكتاب]]> 43 Kahlil Gibran Diana 5 4.05 1919 المواكب
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1919
rating: 5
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]]> Manuscript Found in Accra 16054811 The Alchemist.

There is nothing wrong with anxiety.
Although we cannot control God's time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the thing we are waiting for as quickly as possible.
Or to drive away whatever is causing our fear....
Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it-just as we have learned to live with storms.

* * *

July 14, 1099. Jerusalem awaits the invasion of the crusaders who have surrounded the city's gates. There, inside the ancient city's walls, men and women of every age and every faith have gathered to hear the wise words of a mysterious man known only as the Copt. He has summoned the townspeople to address their fears with truth:

"Tomorrow, harmony will become discord. Joy will be replaced by grief. Peace will give way to war.... None of us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and its bad moments. So, when you ask your questions, forget about the troops outside and the fear inside. Our task is not to leave a record of what happened on this date for those who will inherit the Earth; history will take care of that. Therefore, we will speak about our daily lives, about the difficulties we have had to face."

The people begin with questions about defeat, struggle, and the nature of their enemies; they contemplate the will to change and the virtues of loyalty and solitude; and they ultimately turn to questions of beauty, love, wisdom, sex, elegance, and what the future holds. "What is success?" poses the Copt. "It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace."

* * *

Now, these many centuries later, the wise man's answers are a record of the human values that have endured throughout time. And, in Paulo Coelho's hands, The Manuscript Found in Accra reveals that who we are, what we fear, and what we hope for the future come from the knowledge and belief that can be found within us, and not from the adversity that surrounds us.]]> 190 Paulo Coelho 0385349831 Diana 4 3.85 2012 Manuscript Found in Accra
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> Safe Haven 7812659 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a captivating love story filled with suspense and mystery.

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

]]> 340 Nicholas Sparks 044654759X Diana 3 4.20 2010 Safe Haven
author: Nicholas Sparks
name: Diana
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2014/02/26
date added: 2019/02/05
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]]> Looking for Alaska 99561 Before. Miles “Pudge� Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps� even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.]]> 221 John Green 1435249151 Diana 4 3.97 2005 Looking for Alaska
author: John Green
name: Diana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> Adultery 20819682 272 Paulo Coelho 1101874082 Diana 4 3.10 2012 Adultery
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> The Book Thief 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 Diana 5 4.38 2005 The Book Thief
author: Markus Zusak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> Three Daughters of Eve 32953994
The photograph takes Peri back to Oxford University, as an eighteen year old sent abroad for the first time. To her dazzling, rebellious Professor and his life-changing course on God. To her home with her two best friends, Shirin and Mona, and their arguments about Islam and femininity. And finally, to the scandal that tore them all apart.]]> 383 Elif Shafak 0241980690 Diana 4 3.78 2016 Three Daughters of Eve
author: Elif Shafak
name: Diana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2016
rating: 4
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]]> The intimate diary 26891959 Strangely, these aren’t the types of bedtime stories we read to little girls. On the contrary, we dazzle them with the "Prince Charming" fairy tale. We have them believe that the height of happiness they can achieve is to marry a handsome man possessing all the very best qualities, the son of a respectable family, who will initiate them in the delights of love and sexuality.
Personally, my hopes for a Prince Charming didn’t last long. I was destined to become one of those young girls that were educated according to the usual rules. A young lady who would be taught modesty and virtue, propriety and devotion to her family. My education, however, followed an entirely different path.

I listened to, and scrupulously followed, the advice of the man who had brought me into the world: I went to university, I learned a trade, I became financially independent and I followed my personal pleasure. Just like the young lady in my novel, I went on to live happily ever after�

This novel is the story of my dreams, my fantasies and my experience as a lover; a journey of exploration of both the self and of others. It describes my emotional upbringing, serves as my own personal confessional and relates the immense pride I have in being a woman.� S.K.

Beirut, Limassol, Paris, Victoria is initiated, step-by-step, into the joys of love-making.
Sheryn Kay is a French national and was born in Lebanon. Initially an architectural designer, she has had various trades over the years and currently writes for a living: Undisclosable is her first novel.
]]> 133 Sheryn Kay 2955376426 Diana 3 3.00 2015 The intimate diary
author: Sheryn Kay
name: Diana
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2015
rating: 3
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]]> The Course of Love 27845690
The long-awaited and beguiling second novel from Alain de Botton that tracks the beautifully complicated arc of a romantic partnership, from the internationally bestselling author of How Proust Can Change Your Life. De Botton's essay "Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person" (The New York Times, May 28, 2016), which draws from The Course of Love, was the #1 most emailed article for days.

We all know the headiness and excitement of the early days of love. But what comes after? In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children—but no long-term relationship is as simple as "happily ever after." The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. You experience, along with Rabih and Kirsten, the first flush of infatuation, the effortlessness of falling into romantic love, and the course of life thereafter. Interwoven with their story and its challenges is an overlay of philosophy—an annotation and a guide to what we are reading.

This is a Romantic novel in the true sense, one interested in exploring how love can survive and thrive in the long term. The result is a sensory experience—fictional, philosophical, psychological—that urges us to identify deeply with these characters and to reflect on his and her own experiences in love. Fresh, visceral, and utterly compelling, The Course of Love is a provocative and life-affirming novel for everyone who believes in love.]]> 240 Alain de Botton 0241145473 Diana 5 4.01 2016 The Course of Love
author: Alain de Botton
name: Diana
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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]]> The Third Sex 30123572 I am long past this question. Now, when I write, I mainly seek to discover more of my layers, to raise my level of consciousness, to help others and myself. I don’t see the red flags, I don’t hear the warnings, and I don’t care about the land mines that could explode under my feet.
I simply ambush myself, and then I charge at it and peel off my skins until I am completely naked on paper. That’s when I become both the voyeur and the exhibitionist; the banquet and its host. And every time a bomb blows up in my face I feel ecstatic, because then I will be able to gift pieces of my own flesh to the readers.]]> 216 Joumana Haddad 6144385029 Diana 4 3.82 2015 The Third Sex
author: Joumana Haddad
name: Diana
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

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

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Diana 5 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Diana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within]]> 9923549 An acclaimed Turkish novelist's personal account of balancing a writer's life with a mother's life.

After the birth of her first child in 2006, Turkish writer Elif Shafek suffered from postpartum depression that triggered a profound personal crisis. Infused with guilt, anxiety, and bewilderment about whether she could ever be a good mother, Shafak stopped writing and lost her faith in words altogether. In this elegantly written memoir, she retraces her journey from free-spirited, nomadic artist to dedicated but emotionally wrought mother. Identifying a constantly bickering harem of women who live inside of her, each with her own characteristics--the cynical intellectual, the goal-oriented go-getter, the practical-rational, the spiritual, the maternal, and the lustful--she craves harmony, or at least a unifying identity. As she intersperses her own experience with the lives of prominent authors such as Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Alice Walker, Ayn Rand, and Zelda Fitzgerald, Shafak looks for a solution to the inherent conflict between artistic creation and responsible parenting.

With searing emotional honesty and an incisive examination of cultural mores within patriarchal societies, Shafak has rendered an important work about literature, motherhood, and spiritual well-being.]]> 267 Elif Shafak 0670022640 Diana 5 3.83 2007 Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within
author: Elif Shafak
name: Diana
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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]]> Honour 17270655 An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London

Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children.

In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in. After Adem abandons his family, Iskender, the eldest son, must step in and become the one who will not let any shame come to the family name. And when Pembe begins a chaste affair with a man named Elias, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.

Just published to great acclaim in England, Honor is a powerful, gripping exploration of guilt and innocence, loyalty and betrayal, and the trials of the immigrant, as well as the love and heartbreak that too often tear families apart.]]> 342 Elif Shafak 0670921165 Diana 4 4.16 2011 Honour
author: Elif Shafak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> The Alchemist 865 197 Paulo Coelho 0061122416 Diana 5 3.85 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Diana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1988
rating: 5
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]]> The Kite Runner 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Diana 5 4.34 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Diana
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2019/02/05
date added: 2019/02/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Arab Women Voice New Realities]]> 36677912 304 Roseanne Saad Khalaf 9953972060 Diana 5 4.26 Arab Women Voice New Realities
author: Roseanne Saad Khalaf
name: Diana
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Incest: From "A Journal of Love": The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1932-1934]]> 18348 418 Anaïs Nin 0151443661 Diana 0 to-read 3.96 1992 Incest: From "A Journal of Love": The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1932-1934
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/03/14
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]]> Delta of Venus 11041
In Delta of Venus Anaïs Nin penned a lush, magical world where the characters of her imagination possess the most universal of desires and exceptional of talents. Among these provocative stories, a Hungarian adventurer seduces wealthy women then vanishes with their money; a veiled woman selects strangers from a chic restaurant for private trysts; and a Parisian hatmaker named Mathilde leaves her husband for the opium dens of Peru. Delta of Venus is an extraordinarily rich and exotic collection from the master of erotic writing.

Part of the Quality Paperback Book Club series with limited-edition art cover. Cover art painted by Monica Elias.]]> 271 Anaïs Nin 1579125743 Diana 0 to-read 3.67 1977 Delta of Venus
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1931-1932]]> 11038 Henry and June spans a single year in Nin's life when she discovers love and torment in one insatiable couple. From late 1931 to the end of 1932, Nin falls in love with Henry Miller's writing and his wife June's striking beauty. When June leaves Paris for New York, Henry and Anaïs begin a fiery affair that liberates her sexually and morally, but also undermines her marriage and eventually leads her into psychoanalysis. As she grapples with her own conscience, a single question dominates her thoughts: What will happen when June returns to Paris? An intimate account of one woman's sexual awakening, Henry and June exposes the pain and pleasure felt by a single person trapped between two loves.]]> 274 Anaïs Nin 015640057X Diana 0 to-read 3.97 1986 Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1931-1932
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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]]> Little Birds 11036 148 Anaïs Nin 0156029049 Diana 0 to-read 3.75 1979 Little Birds
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1979
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Spy in the House of Love (Cities of the Interior, #4)]]> 248665 166 Anaïs Nin 0671871390 Diana 0 to-read 3.75 1954 A Spy in the House of Love (Cities of the Interior, #4)
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1954
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934]]> 46064 384 Anaïs Nin 0156260255 Diana 0 to-read 4.15 The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> <![CDATA[A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953]]> 46156 ]]> 448 Anaïs Nin 015652791X Diana 0 to-read 4.21 1965 A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 2: 1934-1939]]> 11037 ]]> 372 Anaïs Nin 0156260263 Diana 0 to-read 4.16 1967 The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 2: 1934-1939
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1967
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> House of Incest 11043 72 Anaïs Nin 0804001480 Diana 0 to-read 3.95 1915 House of Incest
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1915
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944]]> 11044 348 Anaïs Nin 0156260271 Diana 0 to-read 4.19 1969 The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Diana
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1969
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> Woman at Point Zero 159604 108 Nawal El Saadawi Diana 5 4.21 1975 Woman at Point Zero
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1975
rating: 5
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]]> God Dies by the Nile 446408 138 Nawal El Saadawi 0862322952 Diana 0 to-read 3.80 1974 God Dies by the Nile
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1974
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World]]> 118101
This powerful account of brutality against women in the Muslim world remains as shocking today as when it was first published, more than a quarter of a century ago. It was the horrific female genital mutilation that she suffered aged only six, which first awakened Nawal el Saadawi's sense of the violence and injustice which permeated her society. Her experiences working as a doctor in villages around Egypt, witnessing prostitution, honour killings and sexual abuse, inspired her to write in order to give voice to this suffering. She goes on explore the causes of the situation through a discussion of the historical role of Arab women in religion and literature.Saadawi argues that the veil, polygamy and legal inequality are incompatible with the just and peaceful Islam which she envisages. 
]]> 395 Nawal El Saadawi 1842778757 Diana 0 to-read 4.16 1977 The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> مذكرات طبيبة 14290073 110 Nawal El Saadawi Diana 0 to-read 3.40 1958 مذكرات طبيبة
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 3.40
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Memoirs from the Women's Prison]]> 446409
Memoirs from the Women's Prison offers both firsthand witness to women's resistance to state violence and fascinating insights into the formation of women's community. Saadawi describes how political prisoners, both secular intellectuals and Islamic revivalists, forged alliances to demand better conditions and to maintain their sanity in the confines of their cramped cell.

Saadawi's haunting prose makes Memoirs an important work of twentieth-century literature. Recognized as a classic of prison writing, it touches all who are concerned with political oppression, intellectual freedom, and personal dignity.]]> 214 Nawal El Saadawi 0520088883 Diana 0 to-read 3.99 1982 Memoirs from the Women's Prison
author: Nawal El Saadawi
name: Diana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> An Unnecessary Woman 18114449 The Hakawati, with a heartrending novel that celebrates the singular life of an obsessive introvert, revealing Beirut’s beauties and horrors along the way.

Aaliya Sohbi lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, divorced, and childless, Aaliya is her family’s "unnecessary appendage.� Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The thirty-seven books that Aaliya has translated have never been read—by anyone. After overhearing her neighbors, "the three witches,� discussing her too-white hair, Aaliya accidentally dyes her hair too blue.

In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman’s late-life crisis, readers follow Aaliya’s digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Insightful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya’s volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left.

A love letter to literature and its power to define who we are, the gifted Rabih Alameddine has given us a nuanced rendering of a single woman's reclusive life in the Middle East.]]> 291 Rabih Alameddine 0802122140 Diana 5 3.81 2013 An Unnecessary Woman
author: Rabih Alameddine
name: Diana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2013
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman]]> 8983901 I Killed Scheherazade she challenges prevalent notions of identity and womanhood in the Middle East and speaks of her own intellectual development and the liberating impact of literature on her life. Fiery and candid, this is a provocative exploration of what it means to be an Arab woman today.


Born in 1970 in Beirut, Joumana Haddad is an award-winning poet, literary translator, magazine publisher and journalist. Joumana is the cultural editor for the an-Nahar newspaper and in 2008 launched the Arab world’s first erotic cultural magazine, Jasad (Body). Joumana was chosen as one of the best Arab authors under 39 in 2009 (Beirut39). She lives in Lebanon with her two sons.]]> 160 Joumana Haddad 0863564275 Diana 5 3.35 2010 I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman
author: Joumana Haddad
name: Diana
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> Superman is an Arab 15959471 This is not a manifesto against men in general. Nor is it a manifesto against Arab men in particular. It is, however, a howl in the face of a particular species of men: the macho species, Supermen, as they like to envision themselves. But Superman is a lie.

In this explosive sequel to I Killed Scheherazade, Joumana Haddad examines the patriarchal system that continues to dominate in the Arab world and beyond. From monotheist religions and the concept of marriage to institutionalized machismo and widespread double standards, Haddad reflects upon the vital need for a new masculinity in these times of revolution and change in the Middle East.


Joumana Haddad is an awardwinning poet, literary translator, publisher and journalist. In 2008 she launched the Arab world’s first erotic cultural magazine, Jasad (Body), which made headlines around the world. Haddad was selected as one of the Beirut39 authors in 2009. I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman was critically acclaimed and translated into thirteen languages. She lives in Beirut with her two sons.]]> 160 Joumana Haddad 190890609X Diana 5 3.52 2012 Superman is an Arab
author: Joumana Haddad
name: Diana
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> Time Management 4546112
-Clarify your goals and achieve them

-Handle people and projects that waste your time

-Be involved in better delegation

-Work more efficiently with your boss/advisor

-Learn specific skills and tools to save you time

-Overcome stress and procrastination

This is the "Time Management" lecture, given by Randy Pausch at the University of Virginia in October 1998.]]> 84 Randy Pausch 0982055633 Diana 0 to-read 4.06 2008 Time Management
author: Randy Pausch
name: Diana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Last Lecture 2318271
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave, 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams', wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.]]> 206 Randy Pausch 1401323251 Diana 5 4.25 2008 The Last Lecture
author: Randy Pausch
name: Diana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2008
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/10/12
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]]> The Fault in Our Stars 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Diana 5 4.13 2012 The Fault in Our Stars
author: John Green
name: Diana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2014/02/03
date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> The Signature of All Things 17465453 A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed.

In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry's brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father's money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma's research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction � into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist � but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life.

Exquisitely researched and told at a galloping pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe—from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who � born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution � bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas. Written in the bold, questing spirit of that singular time, Gilbert's wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.]]> 512 Elizabeth Gilbert 0670024856 Diana 5 3.84 2013 The Signature of All Things
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Diana
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2014/02/09
date added: 2014/02/09
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]]> The Poetry of Pablo Neruda 5936
"In his work a continent awakens to consciousness." So wrote the Swedish Academy in awarding the Nobel Prize to Pablo Neruda, the author of more than thirty-five books of poetry and one of Latin America's most revered writers, lionized during his lifetime as "the people's poet." This selection of Neruda's poetry, the most comprehensive single volume available in English, presents nearly six hundred poems. Scores of them are in new and sometimes multiple translations, and many accompanied by the Spanish original. In his introduction, Ilan Stavans situates Neruda in his native milieu as well as in a contemporary English-language one, and a group of new translations by leading poets testifies to Neruda's enduring, vibrant legacy among English-speaking writers and readers today.]]> 1040 Pablo Neruda 0374529604 Diana 0 to-read 4.44 1951 The Poetry of Pablo Neruda
author: Pablo Neruda
name: Diana
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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]]> A Thousand Splendid Suns 1794575
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.]]> 419 Khaled Hosseini 074758589X Diana 5 4.50 2007 A Thousand Splendid Suns
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Diana
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2013/11/22
date added: 2013/11/22
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]]> <![CDATA[No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley]]> 290080
Rita Marley grew up in the slums of Trench Town, Jamaica. Abandoned by her mother at a very young age, she was raised by her aunt. Music ran in Rita's family, and even as a child her talent for singing was pronounced. By the age of 18, Rita was an unwed mother, and it was then that she met Bob Marley at a recording studio in Trench Town. Bob and Rita became close friends, fell in love, and soon, she and her girlfriends were singing backup for the Wailers. At the ages of 21 and 19, Bob and Rita were married.

The rest is history: Bob Marley and the Wailers set Jamaica and the world on fire. But while Rita displayed blazing courage, joy, and an indisputable devotion to her husband, life with Bob was not easy. There were his liaisons with other women--some of which produced children and were conducted under Rita's roof. The press repeatedly reported that Bob was unmarried to preserve his "image." But Rita kept her self-respect, and when Bob succumbed to cancer in 1981, she was at his side. In the years that followed, she became a force in her own right--as the Bob Marley Foundation's spokesperson and a performer in her reggae group, the I-Three.

Written with author Hettie Jones, No Woman No Cry is a no-holds-barred account of life with one of the most famous musicians of all time. In No Woman No Cry, readers will learn about the never-before-told details of Bob Marley's life, including:

How Rita practiced subsistence farming when first married to Bob to have food for her family.

How Rita rode her bicycle into town with copies of Bob's latest songs to sell.

How Rita worked as a housekeeper in Delaware to help support her family when her children were young.

Why Rita chose to befriend some of the women with whom Bob had affairs and to give them advice on rearing the children they had with Bob.

The story of the attack on Bob which almost killed the two of them.

Bob's last wishes, dreams, and hopes, as well as the details of his death, such as who came to the funeral (and who didn't).]]> 224 Rita Marley 0786868678 Diana 5 4.02 2004 No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley
author: Rita Marley
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2004
rating: 5
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]]> Bossypants 9418327
She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon—from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.]]> 283 Tina Fey Diana 0 to-read 3.97 2011 Bossypants
author: Tina Fey
name: Diana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/11/02
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]]> The Diary of a Young Girl 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 Diana 0 to-read 4.19 1947 The Diary of a Young Girl
author: Anne Frank
name: Diana
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1947
rating: 0
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]]> Into the Wild 1845 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.]]> 207 Jon Krakauer 0385486804 Diana 0 to-read 4.01 1996 Into the Wild
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Diana
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]> 489 Dan Brown Diana 4 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Diana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[South of the Border, West of the Sun]]> 17799 Alternate cover edition here.

Growing up in the suburbs of post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters. His sole companion was Shimamoto, also an only child. Together they spent long afternoons listening to her father's record collection. But when his family moved away, the two lost touch. Now Hajime is in his thirties. After a decade of drifting he has found happiness with his loving wife and two daughters, and success running a jazz bar. Then Shimamoto reappears. She is beautiful, intense, enveloped in mystery. Hajime is catapulted into the past, putting at risk all he has in the present.]]> 190 Haruki Murakami 0099448572 Diana 0 to-read 3.89 1992 South of the Border, West of the Sun
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1992
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]]> Dance Dance Dance 17800 Alternate cover edition here.

High-class call girls billed to Mastercard. A psychic 13-year-old dropout with a passion for Talking Heads. A hunky matinee idol doomed to play dentists and teachers. A one-armed beach-combing poet, an uptight hotel clerk and one very bemused narrator caught in the web of advanced capitalist mayhem. Combine this offbeat cast of characters with Murakami's idiosyncratic prose and out comes Dance Dance Dance.]]> 393 Haruki Murakami 0099448769 Diana 0 to-read 4.06 1988 Dance Dance Dance
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Wild Sheep Chase (The Rat, #3)]]> 11298 353 Haruki Murakami 037571894X Diana 0 to-read 3.96 1982 A Wild Sheep Chase (The Rat, #3)
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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]]> After Dark 17803 In After Dark—a gripping novel of late night encounters—Murakami’s trademark humor and psychological insight are distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery.

Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn.]]> 191 Haruki Murakami 0307265838 Diana 0 to-read 3.75 2004 After Dark
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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]]> 1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3) 10357575 The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.� A world that bears a question.� Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s � 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.]]> 944 Haruki Murakami 0307593312 Diana 0 to-read 3.94 2009 1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle 11275
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.

Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon.]]> 607 Haruki Murakami 0965341984 Diana 0 to-read 4.16 1994 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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]]> Norwegian Wood 11297
A magnificent blending of the music, the mood, and the ethos that was the sixties with the story of one college student's romantic coming of age, Norwegian Wood brilliantly recaptures a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.]]> 296 Haruki Murakami 0375704027 Diana 0 to-read 4.01 1987 Norwegian Wood
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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]]> Kafka on the Shore 4929 Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.]]> 467 Haruki Murakami 1400079276 Diana 0 to-read 4.14 2002 Kafka on the Shore
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World]]> 10374 Lord Jim.

Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that expanded Haruki Murakami's international following. Tracking one man's descent into the Kafkaesque underworld of contemporary Tokyo, Murakami unites East and West, tragedy and farce, compassion and detachment, slang and philosophy.]]> 400 Haruki Murakami Diana 0 to-read 4.14 1985 Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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]]> Sputnik Sweetheart 9557 alternate cover can be found here

Sumire is in love with a woman seventeen years her senior. But whereas Miu is glamorous and successful, Sumire is an aspiring writer who dresses in an oversized second-hand coat and heavy boots like a character in a Kerouac novel.

Sumire spends hours on the phone talking to her best friend K about the big questions in life: what is sexual desire, and should she ever tell Miu how she feels for her? Meanwhile K wonders whether he should confess his own unrequited love for Sumire.

Then, a desperate Miu calls from a small Greek island: Sumire has mysteriously vanished...]]> 229 Haruki Murakami 0099448475 Diana 0 to-read 3.85 1999 Sputnik Sweetheart
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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]]> The Selfish Gene 61535 360 Richard Dawkins 0199291152 Diana 0 to-read 4.15 1976 The Selfish Gene
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Diana
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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]]> The God Delusion 14743
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament, to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion, and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.]]> 374 Richard Dawkins 0618680004 Diana 5 3.89 2006 The God Delusion
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Diana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> The Beauty Myth 39926 368 Naomi Wolf 0060512180 Diana 0 to-read 3.90 1990 The Beauty Myth
author: Naomi Wolf
name: Diana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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]]> Vagina: A New Biography 13426037
When an unexpected medical crisis sends Naomi Wolf on a deeply personal journey to tease out the intersections between sexuality and creativity, she discovers, much to her own astonishment, an increasing body of scientific evidence that suggests that the vagina is not merely flesh, but an intrinsic component of the female brain—and thus has a fundamental connection to female consciousness itself.

Utterly enthralling and totally fascinating, Vagina: A New Biography draws on this set of insights about "the mind-vagina connection" to reveal new information about what women really need, and considers what a sexual relationship—and a relationship to the self—transformed by these insights could look like.

Exhilarating and groundbreaking, Vagina: A New Biography combines rigorous science, explained for lay readers, with cultural history and deeply personal considerations of the role of female desire in female identity, creativity, and confidence, from interviewees of all walks of life. Heralded by Publishers Weekly as one of the best science books of the year, it is a provocative and deeply engaging book that elucidates the ties between a woman's experience of her vagina and her sense of self; her impulses, dreams, and courage; and her role in love and in society in completely new and revelatory ways sure to provoke impassioned conversation.

A brilliant and nuanced synthesis of physiology, history, and cultural criticism, Vagina: A New Biography explores the physical, political, and spiritual implications of this startling series of new scientific breakthroughs for women and for society as a whole, from a writer whose conviction and keen intelligence have propelled her works to the tops of bestseller lists, and firmly into the realms of modern classics.]]> 400 Naomi Wolf 0061989169 Diana 5 3.78 2012 Vagina: A New Biography
author: Naomi Wolf
name: Diana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> And the Mountains Echoed 16115612 404 Khaled Hosseini 159463176X Diana 0 to-read 4.06 2012 And the Mountains Echoed
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Diana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[My Spiritual Journey: A Riveting Life Story and Intimate Portrait of the Dalai Lama, Exploring Tibetan Buddhism, Meditation, and the Quest for a Richer Spiritual Life]]> 7980569
We have read about his near escape from Tibet after the Chinese invasion, his Nobel Peace Prize, and his friendships with world leaders, Hollywood actors, and scientists around the world. But what are his inner, personal thoughts on his own spiritual life? For the first time and in his own words, the Dalai Lama charts his spiritual journey from his boyhood days in rural Tibet to his years as a monk in the capital city of Dharamsala, to his life in exile as a world leader and symbol of peace.

My Spiritual Journey provides a vivid and moving portrait of the Dalai Lama’s life journey that is personal in tone but universal in scope. He explores three phases or commitments of his spiritual life � as a human being, as a Buddhist monk, and as the Dalai Lama � each of which has made him more dedicated to exploring and teaching human values and inner happiness, promoting harmony among all religions, and advocating for the civil rights and well-being of the Tibetan people.

At the age of two, little Tenzin Gyatso was identified as the fourteenth incarnation of the first Dalai Lama. From then on, his life has been a trajectory few can imagine. Some see him as a living Buddha and moral authority, others identify him as a “god-king,� which still others see him in political terms as either a hero or a counterrevolutionary. In My Spiritual Journey, we see the personal struggles, the courage, the laughter, and the compassion that have defined the remarkable life of one of our world’s greatest living legends.]]> 284 Dalai Lama XIV 0061960225 Diana 0 to-read 3.93 2009 My Spiritual Journey: A Riveting Life Story and Intimate Portrait of the Dalai Lama, Exploring Tibetan Buddhism, Meditation, and the Quest for a Richer Spiritual Life
author: Dalai Lama XIV
name: Diana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> A Short History of Myth 27311 159 Karen Armstrong 184195800X Diana 0 to-read 3.72 2005 A Short History of Myth
author: Karen Armstrong
name: Diana
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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]]>