M.P.'s bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 08 Mar 2025 11:36:30 -0800 60 M.P.'s bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Midnight Vault 228684185
From otherworldly horrors to dystopian visions, each story delves into the depths of fear and fascination, promising to captivate and thrill. Uncover dark corners of the universe and embrace the supernatural as you turn each page.

Dare to explore The Midnight Vault-where the fantastic and the frightful come alive..

Stories included:

"A Six-Part Death" - William Pauley III
"The HALCYONIUM" - Clancy Steadwell
"Hector" - Annie Hendrix
"The Lonely Planter" - Bryan Pirolli
"Separate Memories" - Michele Bardsley
"All The World's Static" - Jason Thompson
"An Elegant Solution" - Bridget Riley
"The Creative Lives Of The Lichtensteins" - EJ Trask
"Watched Pots" - Will Boucher
"Off Switch" - Honeygloom
"The Last Stop" - Shane Bzdok
"The Sun And The Moon" - CB Mason
"Sunbonnet Sue" - Lisa Kuznak
"Blink Twice If You Can Hear Me" - Sean Thomas McDonnell
"Vote Control" - Andy Futuro
"Soma's Reflection" - Edith Bow
"Room 13" - Miguel S.
"The Thing In The Box" - A.P. Murphy
"Amanita" - Sean Archer
"The Swing of the Pendulum" - Adam Rockwell
"In Capable Hands" - Shaina Read
"August's Fog" - Nyanka J.
"The Zeno Paradox" - J. Curtis
"The Joke's On You" - Stephen Duffy
"Mail-Order Bride" - K.C. Knouse
"The Switchboard" - Hanna Delaney
"What You're Made Of" - Jon Toews
"Conception" - Bob Graham
"Good Neighbors" - Liz Zimmers]]>
404 J. Curtis M.P. 0 to-read 5.00 2025 The Midnight Vault
author: J. Curtis
name: M.P.
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1: Dog and Chainsaw]]> 55575967 192 Tatsuki Fujimoto M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.38 2019 Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1: Dog and Chainsaw
author: Tatsuki Fujimoto
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Kali Linux for Hackers: Computer hacking guide. Learning the secrets of wireless penetration testing, security tools and techniques for hacking with Kali Linux. Network attacks and exploitation.]]> 48845784
A look into the box of tricks of the attackers can pay off, because who understands how hacking tools work, can be better protectedagainst attacks.

Kali-Linux is popular among security experts, which have various attack tools on board. It allows you to examine your own systems for vulnerabilities and to simulate attacks.

This book introduces readers by setting up and using the distribution and it helps users who have little or no Linux experience.. The author walks patiently through the setup of Kali-Linux and explains the procedure step by step.

This practical, tutorial-style book uses the Kali Linux distribution to teach Linux basics with a focus on how hackers would use them.

Topics security

WLAN

VPN

WPA / WPA2

WEP

Nmap and OpenVAS

Attacks

Linux tools

Solving level problems

Exploitation of security holes

And more�

“Kali Linux for Hackers� will help you understand the better use of Kali Linux and it will teach you how you can protect yourself from most common hacking attacks.

You will stay a step ahead of any criminal hacker!

So let’s start now, order your copy today!Scroll to the top of the page and select the buy now button.

Buy paperback format and receive for free the kindle version!]]>
159 Erickson Karnel M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.33 Kali Linux for Hackers: Computer hacking guide. Learning the secrets of wireless penetration testing, security tools and techniques for hacking with Kali Linux. Network attacks and exploitation.
author: Erickson Karnel
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/28
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
Authority (Southern Reach #2) 20410190 In the second volume of the Southern Reach Trilogy, questions are answered, stakes are raised, and mysteries aredeepened . . .

In Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer introducedArea X—a remote and lush terrain mysteriously sequestered from civilization.This was the first volume of a projected trilogy; well in advance of publication, translation rights had alreadysold around the world and a major movie deal had been struck.
Just months later, Authority, the second volume, is here. For thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X has taken the form of a series of expeditions monitored by a secret agency called the Southern Reach. After the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez, aka “Control,� is the team’s newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to reveal themselves—and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he’s promised to serve. And the consequences willspread much further than that.
The Southern Reach trilogy will conclude in fall 2014 with Acceptance.

]]>
353 Jeff VanderMeer 0374710783 M.P. 0 currently-reading 3.74 2014 Authority (Southern Reach #2)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)]]> 20410192 Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization.

The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.

This is the twelfth expedition.

Their group is made up of four an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers � they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding � but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything.]]>
210 Jeff VanderMeer 0374710775 M.P. 5 3.81 2014 Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/19
date added: 2023/04/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Post-Apocalyptic Pirates (The Happy Bureaucracy #3)]]> 53923041
With a clipboard and an iron will to burn everything in their path, Arthur and Rabia set out into the United Wastes once more. This time they have the entire U.S. Army and the IRS to topple if they want to end Boyd’s schemes to enslave the entire wasteland. No big deal.

With plans going astray, and “t”s failing to be crossed, the duo finds themselves at the steps of the highest octane lunacy in post-apocalyptic America: Land Pirates--- a convoy of mutant cars and radiated swashbucklers just as likely to eat you as look at you. The good news? They hate the government more than even Boyd’s slaves. The bad? Arthur McDowell is the government.

Will the duo successfully make a deal with the devil and convince the fleet of Land Pirates to join their underground railroad, or will they find themselves on the menu? M.P. Fitzgerald’s savage sense of humor grips every adrenaline-filled page to this continuation of The Happy Bureacrcay series.]]>
170 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.62 Post-Apocalyptic Pirates (The Happy Bureaucracy #3)
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.62
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
Nemesis (Crimson Rage, #0.5) 56865097
Scott's ordinary nine-to-five life is shattered when a desperate choice thrusts him into a world of high-stakes danger and revenge.

Scott is just an everyday guy, struggling to make ends meet for his regular family. But when financial desperation reaches its peak, he's faced with an offer that promises more money than he's ever imagined. The catch? He has no idea what the job entails, or the steep price he might pay. If he's not careful, it could lead him straight to jail.

He's a victim, driven by seething fury, determined to exact revenge on the man who condemned him to a life behind bars. Scott's quest for vengeance will introduce him to his Nemesis, setting off a chain of events that will transform the urban landscape and leave millions in peril.

In a world turned upside down, Scott seizes an unexpected opportunity. But is it a lifeline or a trap? Will his audacious plans lead to salvation or become the death of him?

Discover the gripping prequel to Crimson Rage that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Can Scott navigate a treacherous path of revenge, redemption, and survival? Get ready for a pulse-pounding journey into the heart of darkness.

Grab Nemesis now!]]>
38 Sam J Fires M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.00 Nemesis (Crimson Rage, #0.5)
author: Sam J Fires
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert]]> 39854097 Are you struggling with email? Newsletter numbers getting you down? Fewer people opening your messages? No real reaction when you launch a book?There's another way—a better way.Imagine having a large list of happy readers who devoured every email you sent. Or launching a book and activating an army of fans who did the selling for you. You could be that person, with the help of Newsletter Ninja.Newsletter Ninja is a comprehensive resource designed to teach you how to build and maintain a strongly engaged email list—one full of actual fans willing to pay for the books you write, rather than free-seekers who will forget your name and never open your emails.� Learn new ways to think about your email list� Re-energize your existing subscribers� Embrace not just the basics, but next level methods� Improve engagement and watch those open/click rates soar� Build a happy list of passionate readers� Launch your books into the chartsYou’ll get a handle on open rates, click rates, and engagement—while also learning about yourself, your readers, and what you’re really selling when you send an email. ( it’s not your books.)Whether you’re building a mailing list, want to grow an existing one, or simply want to raise your email game, Newsletter Ninja has solutions that will work for you.]]> 148 Tammi Labrecque M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.57 2018 Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert
author: Tammi Labrecque
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
A Boy and His Dog 30462666 Librarian note: This a previously-published edition of ASIN B01G4MZ6YW.

Winner of the Nebula Award: A boy and his telepathic dog fight to survive in a war-torn, postapocalyptic world in this hard-hitting science fiction novella.

In an alternate world in which John F. Kennedy survived and scientific breakthroughs in animal research and telepathy allow for advanced communication with animal companions, fifteen-year-old Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, scavenge the wastelands of a war-torn United States, survivors of a nuclear World War III between the Americans and the Soviets. While Blood guides Vic toward women—to be used for sex—Vic ensures that Blood has food, but the symbiotic relationship is put at risk when the pair meets Quilla June Holmes, who lures the boy to an underground civilization. A piece of shocking, dystopic science fiction, A Boy and His Dog questions the boundaries and nature of love while crafting a vision of a dark future guaranteed to leave chills.

Also included here is “Ahbhu: The Passing of One Man’s Inspiration and Best Friend,� a personal essay by author Harlan Ellison, which lovingly recounts the life of his canine companion, Ahbhu, the true-life basis for Blood. Ellison recalls rescuing Ahbhu from the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter and gives a brief chronicle of life with his furry friend, whom he stresses was both “a person� and “impossible to anthropomorphize.� The nostalgic in memoriam frames the author’s relationship with animals while casting a personal light on the inspiration for the novella with which it is paired.

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novella and a Hugo Award finalist, A Boy and His Dog was adapted into a cult classic film and fully solidifies Ellison as a master of his craft. This volume combines a dark, dystopian future of animal telepathy, sex, and postapocalyptic underworlds with a real-life account of the author’s muse for the feisty but loyal Blood. Indispensible reading material for any fan of Ellison or dark science fiction, animal lovers will also delight over the relationship between Vic and Blood.
]]>
60 Harlan Ellison M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.10 1969 A Boy and His Dog
author: Harlan Ellison
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Happy Bureaucracy Series: Books 1-3 (The Happy Bureaurcracy Series Box Set Book 1)]]> 54935680
Nukes Ended the world. Now all that's left is taxes.

No big deal or anything.

Arthur thinks an abacus is art. Rabia carries enough drugs with her to make Hunter S. Thompson nervous. He wants to talk about your deductibles. She is behind you with a knife... They have a wasteland to audit, slaves to be freed, and mad post-apocalyptic warlords to topple. They have the equipment, and more than enough weapons, but can they work as a team to make it happen? In the face of radiation, roving gangs, and starvation, can anyone?

Brazil by way of Mad Max, M.P. Fitzgerald’s The Happy Bureaucracy Series is a bleak and hilarious look at the wheels of a system that keep turning even when nothing else is left.

What Amazon reviewers are

★★★★�- 'This is absolutely the funniest dystopian novel I have ever read.'

★★★★�- 'A gonzo action-packed, dark-humored thrill ride that keeps you craving more madness after every page.'

★★★★�- 'One part Fallout equal parts Mad Max and a pinch of Fear and Loathing with a lot of entertaining dark humor.'

★★★★�- 'Filled with violence, lots of drinking, and crazy lines that will buzz through your head when you're in bed at 3am, this adventure is the dark comical version of Mad Max.'

★★★★�- 'I strongly feel that this book should be read for the context of this sentence if for no other "His hideous wattle blew in the wind". I was disgusted and deeply amused at the same time.'

★★★★- 'Buy it, read it. Great fun, totally original and different take on the world after the apocalypse. I can't wait to read the follow on adventures of the characters.'

Buy the box set and start a series you won’t want to put down!]]>
489 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.50 The Happy Bureaucracy Series: Books 1-3 (The Happy Bureaurcracy Series Box Set Book 1)
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
Invasion (Alien Invasion, #1) 24915344 First visible only as blips on a telescope image, the discovery of objects approaching from Jupiter orbit immediately sets humanity on edge. NASA doesn't even bother to deny the alien ships' existence. The popular Astral space app (broadcasting from the far side of the moon and accessible by anyone with internet) has already shown the populace what is coming. So the news has turned from evasion to triage, urging calm and offering the few facts they have:

The objects are enormous, perfectly round spheres numbering in the dozens, maybe hundreds. They are on an approach vector for Earth. And they will arrive in six days.

Fear simmers.
Meyer Dempsey - mogul, wealthy entrepreneur, arrogant and always in charge - is in New York, on the phone with his ex-wife in LA when the news breaks. He can hear tension in the voices of reporters and experts chronicling all that's known and unknown. But even while those supposedly in charge restrain their own panic, Meyer finds he recognizes bits and pieces of what the world is facing. He's seen this in dreams - in visions of another place. He knows where he and his family must go. He has prepared � though he never knew until now what he'd been preparing for.

He knows only they cannot hesitate. They must run to their safe haven in the Colorado mountains. Now. Before society shatters into chaos, and it all falls apart.

Fear rises.
Meyer has been taking steps for months, and has made preparations: a trove of supplies, a van stocked for the worst, a Gulfstream waiting at a small airstrip in Jersey. But he hasn't yet been able to take the final and most important step: moving the family to Colorado, where every contingency is covered.

The networks stay on-air longer than expected, creating a farce of calm. But those with means have already begun to scramble as Meyer gathers his wife Piper and his two teenage children and begins their race toward that compound, toward safety. There is no time for hesitation, regret, or pity. Soon, pundits begin to ask questions hard enough to tip those who've thus far stayed calm out of their complacency, inciting chaos:

What do the beings inside the ships want? What will they do when they arrive? And what if the scientists are wrong, and the spheres aren't decelerating? Will they strike the planet, raising clouds of extinction dust? Will they knock the Earth off its axis? Is this a prelude to an alien invasion? An alien war? An alien apocalypse? The first domino in the birth of a new alien empire?

Fear erupts.
Panic, once it breaches the thin crust of civilized society, spreads like a virus. Meyer knows only one thing, and it's a truth that has perched atop his mind like a psychic obsession: When the ships arrive, his family must be at the Colorado compound or all will be lost. The space fleet in itself doesn't matter. The disintegration on the surviving news outlets does not matter. Reports that Las Vegas has been set ablaze do not matter. The fate of humanity, in Meyer's eyes, doesn't matter.

All that matters is Piper. Trevor. Delilah. And Meyer's ex-wife Heather, coming to the same destination from the west - a woman who remains his best friend, and his secret lover.

Rioting spills into the highways as time ticks away. Unrest boils in both city and hinterlands. But Meyer's obsession to reach Vail is single-minded, guided with the focus of a far-seeing nightmare. Gangs can ground his plane, threaten his vehicles, and steal his belongings. But nothing will stand between Meyer's family and their haven � and Meyer will kill his way to Colorado if he has to.

This relentless, page-turning tale of apocalyptic dawn is the first in the alien invasion series by masters of story Truant and Platt, authors of The Beam, Robot Proletariat, the Dream Engine series, and many more.]]>
318 Sean Platt M.P. 0 currently-reading 3.67 2015 Invasion (Alien Invasion, #1)
author: Sean Platt
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/21
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
Transmetropolitan V. 0-10 1188083
Originally released as a 60-issue miniseries, since collected in a 10-volume series of trade paperbacks.]]>
1680 Warren Ellis M.P. 5 4.67 2007 Transmetropolitan V. 0-10
author: Warren Ellis
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/06/13
shelves:
review:
Transmetropolitan is Warren Ellis at his absolute best. Gonzo Journalism meets the technological singularity with a dash of conspiracy. Read each comic cover to cover in a blistering speed. 100% recommend!
]]>
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse 1655668
Accompanied by his cowboy sidekick Buffalo Bill, the gorgeous stripper Sheila, and the mountain man Ted, Mortimer journeys to the lost city of Atlanta -- and a showdown that might determine the fate of humanity.]]>
324 Victor Gischler 1416552251 M.P. 0 to-read 3.75 2008 Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse
author: Victor Gischler
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
The Malibu Book of the Dead 53142852
It's been three centuries since the bombs went off. Mankind has long sinceforgiven, forgotten and moved on. Over the years, one mighty city-state has risen from the ashes to become the undisputed center of the civilized world � Selegna. Built from ancient concrete, scrap metal and mangled home appliances, Selegna is a wonder to behold � the world's mightiest empire, King Canoga its mightiest ruler. Feared and loved, Canoga's reign has been a golden age of peace, prosperity and piety.

Yet, all is not well. The canned food mines are beginning to peter out and unrest is growing in the capital. The Esperanto Monks and heretic cults are beginning to pose a real threat and, of course, there are the age-old problems of man-eating crops and insects running off with cattle. Things look bad, but King Canoga has a plan to feed the populace and crush his enemies. The find the lost tomb of Sankta Esperanto and the legendary scripture The Malibu Book of the Dead. What starts as a savvy political power play takes a dozen unexpected turns that lead to civil war, religious chaos and a skeleton in a very old T-shirt.

An unholy cross between A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Wizard of Id and The Life of Brian, The Malibu Book of the Dead is a timeless tale of power, violence and what can happen when you listen to a fortune-teller in sneakers...

"The funniest post-apocalyptic-neo-middle-ages-graphic-novel-without-the-graphics written this year..."

� Overheard in casual conversation at a San Francisco cafe]]>
221 Steve Strid 1393642519 M.P. 0 to-read 5.00 The Malibu Book of the Dead
author: Steve Strid
name: M.P.
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Wounded Sky (Star Trek #13)]]> 6064019 U.S.S Enterprise� will be the first to test it! The Klingons attempt to thwart the test, but a greater danger looms when strange symptoms surface among the crew -- and time becomes meaningless.
Now Captain Kirk and his friends face their greatest challenge -- to repair the fabric of the Universe before time is lost forever!]]>
252 Diane Duane M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.00 1983 The Wounded Sky (Star Trek #13)
author: Diane Duane
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/05/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series)]]> 6531629 Enterprise� from halfway across the galaxy, to bring Vulcan's most famous son home in its hour of need.

As Commander Spock, his father Sarek, and Captain James T. Kirk struggle to preserve Vulcan's future, the planet's innermost secrets are laid before us, from its beginnings millions of years ago to its savage prehistory, from merciless tribal warfare to medieval court intrigue, from the exploration of space to the the development of o'thia—the ruling ethic of logic. And Spock—torn between his duty to Starfleet and the unbreakable ties that bind him to Vulcan—must find a way to reconcile both his own inner conflict and the external dilemma his planet faces... lest the Federation itself be ripped asunder.

Diane Duane, author of three previous bestselling STAR TREK novels and an episode of the new Star Trek: The Next Generation® television series, as well as countless other bestselling science fiction and fantasy novels, has crafted a tale of unprecedented scope and imagination, at once a generations-spanning historical novel and a thrilling science fiction adventure.]]>
369 Diane Duane M.P. 5 4.42 1988 Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series)
author: Diane Duane
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 2020/05/09
date added: 2020/05/09
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Fear and Loathing in the Wasteland (The Happy Bureaucracy, #2)]]> 46071531
Armed with red ink, and a suitcase full of only the most high powered drugs, Arthur and Rabia return to the savage United Wastes. Their mission? Nothing less than taking down The Colonel’s slave operation.

But when they find themselves separated, Rabia uncovers an IRS plot to assassinate Arthur. She could reach him in time if she weren't bogged down with protecting a wasteland child on top of everything else. Arthur, of course, is just bogged down with himself. Like always.

M.P. Fitzgerald ups the ante on dark humor and page-turning adventure in this hilarious return to The Happy Bureaucracy series. Love, action, revenge, and irradiated SPAM. The duo has a full plate of fear and loathing in the wasteland to deal with.]]>
160 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 4.36 Fear and Loathing in the Wasteland (The Happy Bureaucracy, #2)
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Welcome to Night Vale (Welcome to Night Vale, #1)]]> 23129410 Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves...no matter where we live.

Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.

Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "King City" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.

Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it.

Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "King City". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures...if they can ever find it.]]>
401 Joseph Fink 0062351427 M.P. 0 currently-reading 3.84 2015 Welcome to Night Vale (Welcome to Night Vale, #1)
author: Joseph Fink
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/05/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[One Way Ticket (Travelers #1.5)]]> 42623198 27 Al Hess M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.33 One Way Ticket (Travelers #1.5)
author: Al Hess
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/05/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Dusty's Diary 3: One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story]]> 36085178 One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story Every dream might now come true. My apocalyptic princess is out there, a former cheerleader who used to dance on the sideline for one of our fine Texas football teams, a fair-haired beauty with all the right assets invested in all the right places, and about my age. I know, hard to believe. But she lives on the south side of Houston, forty miles on the other side of infestation central. Can I get there? Alive? I don't know, but I'm going to try.]]> 90 Bobby Adair M.P. 5 4.29 Dusty's Diary 3: One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story
author: Bobby Adair
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2019/04/26
date added: 2019/04/26
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Dusty's Diary 2: One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story]]> 36081440 One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story After two years hiding in the bunker, I've been venturing out for a couple of months. Is the world a worse place now than it was? I honestly can't say for sure. I suppose I could create a list of the pros and cons and figure it out all analytic like. The world the way we made it was pretty screwed up. But this place, I don't know. You end up missing the things you never expected, rows of colorful flowers in the neighbor's garden, football games on a crisp autumn evening, new movies, things that smell clean, and maybe most of all, the taste of a good steak dinner and a conversation with someone while we share it.]]> 103 Bobby Adair M.P. 0 4.30 Dusty's Diary 2: One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story
author: Bobby Adair
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2019/04/14
date added: 2019/04/14
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Convoy of Carnage (Zombie Road #1)]]> 36751639 364 David A. Simpson 1539827089 M.P. 0 to-read 4.46 2017 Convoy of Carnage (Zombie Road #1)
author: David A. Simpson
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (Wastelands #1)]]> 1705697 Wastelands.
From the Book of Revelation to The Road Warrior, from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving eschatological tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. In doing so, these visionary authors have addressed one of the most challenging and enduring themes of imaginative fiction: The nature of life in the aftermath of total societal collapse.

Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction, Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon. Whether the end of the world comes through nuclear war, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm, these are tales of survivors, in some cases struggling to rebuild the society that was, in others, merely surviving, scrounging for food in depopulated ruins and defending themselves against monsters, mutants, and marauders.

Wastelands delves into this bleak landscape, uncovering the raw human emotion and heart-pounding thrills at the genre's core.

Introduction by John Joseph Adams
The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King read by Stefan Rudnicki
The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi read by Alex Hyde-White
Bread and Bombs by M. Rickert read by Hillary Huber
How We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem read by Stefan Rudnicki
Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin read by Arthur Morey
Waiting for the Zephyr by Tobias S. Buckell read by Gabrielle de Cuir
Salvage by Orson Scott Card read by Stefan Rudnicki
Never Despair by Jack McDevitt read by Emily Rankin
When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow read by Paul Boehmer
The Last of the O-Forms by James Van Pelt read by Stefan Rudnicki
Still Life with Apocalypse by Richard Kadrey read by Harlan Ellison
Artie’s Angels by Catherine Wells read by Emily Rankin
Judgment Passed by Jerry Oltion read by Paul Boehmer
Mute by Gene Wolfe read by Susan Hanfield
Inertia by Nancy Kress read by Hillary Huber
And the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth Bear read by Judy Young
Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler read by Lisa Renee Pitts
Killers by Carol Emshwiller read by Susan Hanfield
Ginny Sweet-hips� Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr. read by Stefan Rudnicki
The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey read by Arthur Morey
A Song Before Sunset by David Grigg read by Stefan Rudnicki
Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers by John Langan read by Lisa Renee Pitts

©2008 John Joseph Adams 🅿2014 Blackstone Audio]]>
333 John Joseph Adams 1597801054 M.P. 0 to-read 3.76 2008 Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (Wastelands #1)
author: John Joseph Adams
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Dead Drunk: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. One Beer at a Time]]> 17801573
Trapped in a Chicago apartment the morning after a raucous bachelor party, Charlie and his old fraternity buddies must battle for survival against the cannibalistic horde, a military invasion and their own rampant stupidity.

With supplies, common sense and brain cells dwindling by the hour, the motley crew � including a racist cop, a Sri Lankan used car salesman, a stoner landlord and a pet raccoon � must pull out all the stops to avoid joining the ranks of the dead.

If you like zombies, action and humor, crack a beer, pull up a barstool, and prepare for one wild ride.]]>
254 Richard Johnson 0615764827 M.P. 0 to-read 3.60 2013 Dead Drunk: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. One Beer at a Time
author: Richard Johnson
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Dorm Life (Undead Ultra #2) 44555825 How do you survive the apocalypse when the only things your companions care about are pot, video games, and beer?
This is the predicament Kate finds herself in after running two hundred miles to find her son.

Holed up in a dorm with Carter and his friends, she is surrounded by college kids who have no interest in gathering supplies, fortifying their home, or even taking out the trash.

Resources are scarce. Zombies are everywhere. Survivors prey on the weak.

Feet have become the only reliable form of transportation. Kate knows this better than anyone. When you move, you need to be quiet, and you need to be quick.

Kate needs to get her kids in shape. She needs to get their minds out of the Xbox and into the apocalypse. If she can’t, none of them will survive.]]>
324 Camille Picott M.P. 0 to-read 4.40 Dorm Life (Undead Ultra #2)
author: Camille Picott
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings]]> 16124591 By Orrin Grey
As a reader and writer, I love the economy and freedom of the short story form. When it comes to matters of the supernatural, short stories are particularly well-suited to delivering the inexplicable, the indefinable, the numinous, something still left unexplored, an edge of the map marked "Here, there be monsters."
I seek out these stories in anthologies, in films, and in comics like the old Warren Creepy and Eerie magazines, but my favorite way to read them is in a collection written by the vision of a single author. Collections let you see the stories all stacked up next to each other, see how the author changes from one story to the next, and how they stay the same. Whether it's Clive Barker's The Books of Blood or the ghost stories of M.R. James and E.F. Benson, a collection by a contemporary master or one of the billion-or-so compilations of tales by Lovecraft, Bradbury or Poe, there's no other kind of book I'd rather curl up with.
So when the opportunity presented itself for me to put together my first collection of stories, I jumped at the chance.
I must have drafted the table of contents for the book that would become Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings at least a million times, trying to find just the right balance, the right combination. The title story is little more than a fragment, written for a contest that it didn't win, but I think it sets the right tone, invites you into the world that I'm building, one story at a time. A world made from old movies and horror comics and ghost stories, filled with golems and necromancers, cursed books and haunted houses, ghouls and jazz musicians and the skeleton of, well, something.
That's the real beauty of a short story collection: it lets you build a world that somehow always remains just beyond the reach of knowing, a house that's always full of cobwebs and dark corners. A short story collection is never just one ride, it's an entire dark carnival, a cabinet of curiosities that gives you a glimpse into a place of infinite strangeness, but never quite lets you see the whole picture.
- OG]]>
226 Orrin Grey 098488002X M.P. 0 currently-reading 4.31 2012 Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings
author: Orrin Grey
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Dusty's Diary: One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story]]> 25202202 One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story I played all those cool video games. I watched all those movies. I even read the books. In most of 'em, the hero shoots the bad guys, drives a sweet car, never gets hungry, and always seems to get laid by the end. Yeah. Whatever. I gotta be straight with you about why I wrote this journal, and it comes down to one thing, the apocalypse kinda sucks. It doesn’t meet my expectations at all. Honestly, I was looking forward to it. I mean, I really was. It’s not that I wanted to see everybody die. But holy crap, I was so tired of all the BS I had to put up with back in the old days, the never-ending mortgage, high-interest credit cards, cholesterol clogging my arteries, thinning hair, and a thickening midsection. I was tired of dealing with jerk-off drivers during rush hour, and I was tired of my ex-wife yammering at me on the phone until my brains turned to jelly. Things kept getting more expensive, and my paycheck kept staying the same size. After enough of that, any sort of reboot seemed like a good idea. So, read my story, and you'll see how that went.]]> 84 Bobby Adair M.P. 0 3.93 2015 Dusty's Diary: One Frustrated Man's Apocalypse Story
author: Bobby Adair
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2019/03/02
date added: 2019/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Quantum Physics]]> 1044095 184 Robert Gilmore 0387914951 M.P. 0 to-read 3.88 1994 Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Quantum Physics
author: Robert Gilmore
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Fight Club 2 25614994
Ten years after starting Project Mayhem, he lives a mundane life. A kid, a wife. Pills to keep his destiny at bay. But it won’t last long—the wife has seen to that. He’s back where he started, but this go-round he’s got more at stake than his own life. The time has arrived . . .]]>
276 Chuck Palahniuk 1616559454 M.P. 4 3.05 2015 Fight Club 2
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.05
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/13
date added: 2019/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Beam: The Complete First Season]]> 18218077
Choose Your Side
In a grim future, choice is all you have

In 2097, the world is as perfect as you want it to be.

Choose Enterprise and the government stays out of your way, leaving you free to sink or swim � no help for the drowning.

Choose Directorate and all are equal, fed, sheltered and entertained by the government, every need provided for, and every man another cog in society's machine.

Every six years during Shift, citizens decide who they are. Enterprise or Directorate, lives are lived inside the North American Union, walled off from the rest of the world and the Wild East beyond the shell, enhanced by incredible A.I., nanobots that monitor and support daily living, and The Beam: the network connecting every human in the NAU.

New powers are rising as emergent technology blooms from an unknown source, and threatens to shatter peace and throw the nation into chaos.

What does the future mean when our present is stretched and reality blurred?

WHO ARE YOU?]]>
493 Sean Platt M.P. 5 4.12 2013 The Beam: The Complete First Season
author: Sean Platt
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2017/06/22
date added: 2019/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Beam: Season Two 22080001
Power is in the mind. The mind is in the network.

As the NAU’s "Shift" approaches, the Directorate and Enterprise parties are doing whatever they can both on-Beam and off- to win the citizen’s minds. The Beam itself, however, seems to be evolving.

As more and more people become addicted to connectivity, a question Does the Beam serve our minds ... or do our minds serve the Beam?

Meanwhile, using politics as cover, an organization is pushing human enhancements further than they were ever meant to go � and maybe more than the struggling NAU with its hyperconnected minds can hope to survive.

★★★★� "Another homerun for Platt and Truant. Usually second books in a series are the weak link -- that didn't happen in The Beam. Just like the first season I got sucked in to this book and told the kids to just feed themselves poptarts and leave mommy alone already so she could read. An amazing series!" -- Patricia Eimer

★★★★� "I loved the first season, but this did such a great job of fleshing out the story line that I'm already champing at the bit for the next season." -- BruceIn Baghdad

★★★★� "A real high-tech futuristic political thriller with a great storyline and a cliff-hanger ending that leaves you wanting for more. Can't wait to read season 3." -- beachbaby

★★★★� "For thousands of years humans got around on foot or horses. In seventy years we went from that to visiting the moon. Now we may visit Mars in my lifetime. So the technology discussed in this book is definitely on the horizon... So this is a great book and I highly recommend it." -- programmerx

★★★★� "Johnny and Sean hit a grand slam with Season 2 of The Beam! I enjoyed the futuristic, funny and smart thrill ride that was Season 1 but Season 2 is so much better... If you like political thrillers or Sci-Fi, The Beam is for you." -- Brian Saemann

Platt and Truant deliver deep political intrigue and incisive social commentary along with a generous helping of big philosophical themes through engaging, multifaceted characters and rich worldbuilding. If you enjoyed Altered Carbon and The Fifth Element, you'll feel right at home in the world of The Beam.]]>
684 Sean Platt M.P. 5 4.27 2014 The Beam: Season Two
author: Sean Platt
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/23
date added: 2019/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Happy Bureaucracy (The Happy Bureaucracy, #1)]]> 43262759
The IRS was the only institution to survive the human holocaust, and Arthur McDowell is a steadfast tax auditor craving the safety of the desk job due to him. However, his dreams will be put on hold as the IRS plans a census into new irradiated territory and he is forced to work with freelance Enforcer, Rabia Duke, whose diet of drugs is hand to mouth. This will be a suicide mission, and neither is keen to see the other survive.

The denizens of the wastes have much to fear. Radiation, roving gangs of psychopaths, and starvation, but the thing they should fear most is bureaucracy�

…a happy bureaucracy.]]>
156 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 4.07 A Happy Bureaucracy (The Happy Bureaucracy, #1)
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2019/01/21
date added: 2019/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Romantically Apocalyptic - Book 1]]> 13628663 The year is 20__ something something.
I stopped counting a while ago, and therefore not sure what day it is.
Humanity is virtually wiped out in a nuclear holocaust.

Me and my last squad: pilot and sniper, live in the wasteland ruins of tomorrow.
This is my story.
I am captain.]]>
97 Vitaly S. Alexius M.P. 0 to-read 4.25 2009 Romantically Apocalyptic - Book 1
author: Vitaly S. Alexius
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Briefer History of Time: The Science Classic Made More Accessible]]> 8288756 176 Stephen Hawking M.P. 0 4.35 2005 A Briefer History of Time: The Science Classic Made More Accessible
author: Stephen Hawking
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/09
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Utopia Pending: A Collection of Short Speculative Fiction]]> 43258128
Or will it? Twelve speculative fiction authors have created twelve wildly different visions of what our Utopian future looks like, and how we got there. From space-age to the return of the wild, from virtual reality to endless summer, from a software-powered paradise to a world without any power at all.

Is a perfect world really possible? Does Paradise have a price - and would we be prepared to pay it? Would we even like it once we got there?

Take a fast train to the future and find out...]]>
179 Fallacious Rose M.P. 0 4.00 Utopia Pending: A Collection of Short Speculative Fiction
author: Fallacious Rose
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2018/12/17
date added: 2018/12/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
Koran 17671392
Korán je základem islámského vyznání. Jakožto „svatá kniha islámu� bývá srovnáván s křesťanskou biblí. Ačkoliv se toto srovnání nabízí, od bible se korán jasně odlišuje formou i obsahem.
Korán Mašhadu v Íránu, napsaný Alím.

Jméno korán je nejčastěji odvozováno od قرأ qara'a číst, recitovat, přednášet, pak by قرآن znamenalo asi „určeno ke čtení�, „určeno k recitaci�; „určeno k přímému přednášení posluchačům� někdy také od قرن qarana spojovat, pak by to znamenalo „spojené� nebo „spojení�, totiž spojení všech Božích zjevení.]]>
521 Anonymous 961233630X M.P. 0 2.97 632 Koran
author: Anonymous
name: M.P.
average rating: 2.97
book published: 632
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Post-Apocalyptic Nomadic Warriors]]> 11385991
This makes it difficult for a post-apocalyptic warrior to find work.

Thankfully, an army full of killers is making its way to the peaceful town and plans to raze it to the ground. Only a fully trained post-apocalyptic-nomadic warrior can stop them.

Two have offered their services. One is invited to help. The other is sent to roam the wasteland. Did the townspeople make the right decision? Will they be saved? Did they find a shortstop? What’s with all the bears?

Find out in Post-Apocalyptic Nomadic Warriors, a fast-paced action and adventure novel set in a horrific future that doesn’t take itself too seriously.]]>
266 Benjamin Wallace M.P. 0 currently-reading 3.87 2011 Post-Apocalyptic Nomadic Warriors
author: Benjamin Wallace
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/10/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
A Most Apocalyptic Christmas 33295463
There are bandits out to kill him.

And he wants a drink, bad.

Scullion plans to get what he wants. He's faced tougher killers than these punks before.

But there's worse to come. A barbaric community with an utterly distorted seasonal spirit are about to teach him the true meaning of Christmas:

It's dangerous to go it alone.

If you like madcap action and desolate futures, you'll love this dystopian rollercoaster ride.]]>
96 Phil Williams M.P. 4 3.62 A Most Apocalyptic Christmas
author: Phil Williams
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/10/17
date added: 2018/10/18
shelves:
review:
"A Most Apocalyptic Christmas" adds bedlam to Bethlehem in a high octane, no apologies page turner. Great for a quick read and quirky enough to not forget. Loved every minute of it :)
]]>
The Nihilist's Horoscope 41845241
The Nihilist's Horoscope is the official companion to M.P. Fitzgerald's Existential Terror and Breakfast and is an exclusive (and free) title given to his newsletter subscribers. It can be found here: ]]>
44 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 3.43 The Nihilist's Horoscope
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2018/01/01
date added: 2018/09/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Memos From The Wasteland 41859808 41 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 4.45 Memos From The Wasteland
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Aries 30518458 In the land of Nereheim, Nafaria is the daughter of Lord Jason Mauldon; a vineyard owner and one of the Craft. She was always taught that her knowledge and talents were to be used to help others and was nothing to fear.
However, when persecution breaks out in Denholm Glen, her family flees in the night to another city where they are unknown.
Lord Jason's wish was to remain anonymous, but his wisdom and willingness to help those around him forces him before the king in an effort to resolve an old legend began with the disappearance of the last Court Adviser to the king.
As Nafaria grows up, she discovers that using her talent for healing and honoring her father's wish to remain anonymous for her own safety is difficult. To help those around them, the family comes into the public eye. Once again, their fate is tied to a few who bear their secret.
What happens if that chosen few betrays them?


]>
Lara Giesbers M.P. 0 to-read 4.25 Aries
author: Lara Giesbers
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 3 309 J.K. Rowling 0439554934 M.P. 5 4.47 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/09/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Mystery Science Theater 3000 #1]]> 41715839 26 Joel Hodgson M.P. 5 4.07 Mystery Science Theater 3000 #1
author: Joel Hodgson
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2018/09/15
date added: 2018/09/15
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Existential Terror and Breakfast: Season Two]]> 40674878 The suicide prevention holding ward is boring. Malcolm might just die of "boredom".

Losing an uphill battle against depression should be enough, but Malcolm now has something more to contend with. Now he has an extroverted junkie on his couch. Season Two of Existential Terror and Breakfast is an uncomfortable laugh mixed with stolen food and fatalistic musings. Malcolm's agonized mind and eccentricities have always been at ends with his goal to be normal. A suicidal junkie in his life only helps to make things worse.

Continue the countdown. See Malcolm fall. Eat stolen pancakes.

]]>
M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 4.00 Existential Terror and Breakfast: Season Two
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2018/07/01
date added: 2018/07/01
shelves:
review:

]]>
Doomed (Damned #2) 17797090 Madison Spencer, the liveliest and snarkiest dead girl in the universe, continues the afterlife adventure begun in Chuck Palahniuk’s bestseller Damned. Just as that novel brought us a brilliant Hell that only he could imagine, Doomed is a dark and twisted apocalyptic vision from this provocative storyteller.The bestselling Damned chronicled Madison’s journey across the unspeakable (and really gross) landscape of the afterlife to confront the Devil himself. But her story isn’t over yet. In a series of electronic dispatches from the Great Beyond, Doomed describes the ultimate showdown between Good and Evil. After a Halloween ritual gone awry, Madison finds herself trapped in Purgatory—or, as mortals like you and I know it, Earth. She can see and hear every detail of the world she left behind, yet she’s invisible to everyone who’s still alive. Not only do people look right through her, they walk right through her as well. The upside is that, no longer subject to physical limitations, she can pass through doors and walls. Her first stop is her parents� luxurious apartment, where she encounters the ghost of her long-deceased grandmother. For Madison, the encounter triggers memories of the awful summer she spent upstate with Nana Minnie and her grandfather, Papadaddy. As she revisits the painful truth of what transpired over those months (including a disturbing and finally fatal meeting in a rest stop’s fetid men’s room, in which . . . well, never mind), her saga of eternal damnation takes on a new and sinister meaning. Satan has had Madison in his sights from the very through her and her narcissistic celebrity parents, he plans to engineer an era of eternal damnation. For everyone. Once again, our unconventional but plucky heroine must face her fears and gather her wits for the battle of a lifetime. Dante Alighieri, watch your back; Chuck Palahniuk is gaining on you.]]> 348 Chuck Palahniuk 0385533152 M.P. 0 currently-reading 3.70 2013 Doomed (Damned #2)
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/06/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Unicorn Western: Full Saga (Books 1-9)]]> 18976873 This 250,000-word "full saga" collection includes ALL NINE BOOKS in the Unicorn Western Series! Save over 60% versus buying the single volumes!

Cast out from the Magical Kingdom of The Realm and into the dying desert of the Sands beyond, Marshall Clint Gulliver and his unicorn Edward have finally found peace in the small and dusty town of Solace. But when both the fracturing worlds and Clint's bride-to-be are thrust into peril by an old foe, the gunslinger must come out of retirement and aim his seven-shooters at the dark magic and those who bring it. An epic quest hurls marshal and unicorn across the endless desert in pursuit of the dark rider Dharma Kold and his unicorn of a different color, where they must battle their way back toward The Realm to uncover the truth...and mayhap save the worlds that hang in the balance.

From the creators of Yesterday's Gone (Platt) and Fat Vampire (Truant) comes this reinvention of both the western genre and unicorn lore. Appropriate for adults, teens, and children, Unicorn Western is "Harry Potter without wizards but with gunslingers, talking unicorns, epic fights, and more turkey pie."

˃˃˃ "Wildly insane...Tons of fun...You'll fall in love."

Kathy Austin

˃˃˃ "I have no vested interest in your stupid unicorn story."

David W. Wright

˃˃˃ "Four and a half stars. Out of four and a half stars."

The Story Telling Podcast.

Get it now and save over 60% on the episodes! ]]>
712 Sean Platt M.P. 4 4.27 2013 Unicorn Western: Full Saga (Books 1-9)
author: Sean Platt
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2018/06/18
date added: 2018/06/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Existential Terror and Breakfast]]> 40333938 Malcolm Steadman will dial the suicide hotline in 90 days.

Also pancakes, there are pancakes.

Malcolm Steadman is a completely average everyman whose life goal is to fit in. This is too much to ask for. Especially considering that he is also prone to paralyzing panic attacks triggered by everything from burnt toast to boredom. Can he win out against the mundane? Can he face the absurd?

Author of the cult hit, A Happy Bureaucracy series, comes M.P. Fitzgerald's philosophical anti-novel. Bleakly funny in all of the wrong places, Existential Terror and Breakfast pits Malcolm against his worst his own eccentricities.

Will Malcolm prevail against himself?

…Well, you know what happens in 90 days…]]>
354 M.P. Fitzgerald M.P. 0 3.86 Existential Terror and Breakfast
author: M.P. Fitzgerald
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2018/06/01
date added: 2018/06/01
shelves:
review:

]]>
Breakfast of Champions 4980 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

In Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.]]>
303 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0385334206 M.P. 5 4.08 1973 Breakfast of Champions
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #5)]]> 569429
“Hitchhiker fans rejoice! . . . [Here’s] more of the same zany nonsensical mayhem.”� The New York Times Book Review

It’s easy to get disheartened when your planet has been blown up and the woman you love has vanished due to a misunderstanding about space/time. However, instead of being disheartened, Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life a bit—and immediately all hell breaks loose.

Hell takes a number of there’s the standard Ford Prefect version, in the shape of an all-new edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a totally unexpected manifestation in the form of a teenage girl who startles Arthur Dent by being his daughter when he didn’t even know he had one.

Can Arthur save the Earth from total multidimensional obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter, Random, from herself? Of course not. He never works out exactly what is going on. Will you?

“Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist. . . . He is anything but harmless.”� The Washington Post Book World]]>
288 Douglas Adams 0345379330 M.P. 5 3.99 1992 Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #5)
author: Douglas Adams
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Wolf Totem 1217728 An epic Chinese tale in the vein of The Last Emperor, Wolf Totem depicts the dying culture of the Mongols-the ancestors of the Mongol hordes who at one time terrorized the world-and the parallel extinction of the animal they believe to be sacred: the fierce and otherworldly Mongolian wolf

Published under a pen name, Wolf Totem was a phenomenon in China, breaking all sales records there and earning the distinction of being the second most read book after Mao's little red book. There has been much international excitement too-to date, rights have been sold in thirteen countries. Wolf Totem is set in 1960s China-the time of the Great Leap Forward, on the eve of the Cultural Revolution.

Searching for spirituality, Beijing intellectual Chen Zhen travels to the pristine grasslands of Inner Mongolia to live among the nomadic Mongols-a proud, brave, and ancient race of people who coexist in perfect harmony with their unspeakably beautiful but cruel natural surroundings. Their philosophy of maintaining a balance with nature is the ground stone of their religion, a kind of cult of the wolf.

The fierce wolves that haunt the steppes of the unforgiving grassland searching for food are locked with the nomads in a profoundly spiritual battle for survival-a life-and-death dance that has gone on between them for thousands of years. The Mongols believe that the wolf is a great and worthy foe that they are divinely instructed to contend with, but also to worship and to learn from. Chen's own encounters with the otherworldly wolves awake a latent primitive instinct in him, and his fascination with them blossoms into obsession, then reverence.

After many years, the peace is shattered with the arrival of Chen's kinfolk, Han Chinese, sent from the cities to bring modernity to the grasslands. They immediately launch a campaign to exterminate the wolves, sending the balance that has been maintained with religious dedication for thousands of years into a spiral leading to extinction-first the wolves, then the Mongol culture, finally the land. As a result of the eradication of the wolves, rats become a plague and wild sheep graze until the meadows turn to dust. Mongolian dust storms glide over Beijing, sometimes blocking out the moon.

Part period epic, part fable for modern days, Wolf Totem is a stinging social commentary on the dangers of China's overaccelerated economic growth as well as a fascinating immersion into the heart of Chinese culture.]]>
527 Jiang Rong 1594201560 M.P. 4 4.03 2004 Wolf Totem
author: Jiang Rong
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Savage Detectives 63033
The explosive first long work by “the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time� (Ilan Stavans, Los Angeles Times), The Savage Detectives follows Belano and Lima through the eyes of the people whose paths they cross in Central America, Europe, Israel, and West Africa. This chorus includes the muses of visceral realism, the beautiful Font sisters; their father, an architect interned in a Mexico City asylum; a sensitive young follower of Octavio Paz; a foul-mouthed American graduate student; a French girl with a taste for the Marquis de Sade; the great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky; a Chilean stowaway with a mystical gift for numbers; the anorexic heiress to a Mexican underwear empire; an Argentinian photojournalist in Angola; and assorted hangers-on, detractors, critics, lovers, employers, vagabonds, real-life literary figures, and random acquaintances.

A polymathic descendant of Borges and Pynchon, Roberto Bolaño traces the hidden connection between literature and violence in a world where national boundaries are fluid and death lurks in the shadow of the avant-garde. The Savage Detectives is a dazzling original, the first great Latin American novel of the twenty-first century.]]>
577 Roberto Bolaño 0374191484 M.P. 5 4.12 1998 The Savage Detectives
author: Roberto Bolaño
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
All the President’s Men 96123 Washington Post reporters who broke the story. This is “the work that brought down a presidency� perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history� (Time, All-Time 100 Best Nonfiction Books).

This is the book that changed America. Published just two months before President Nixon’s resignation, All the President’s Men revealed the full scope of the Watergate scandal and introduced for the first time the mysterious “Deep Throat.� Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing through headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward deliver the stunning revelations and pieces in the Watergate puzzle that brought about Nixon’s shocking downfall. Their explosive reports won a Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post, toppled the president, and have since inspired generations of reporters.

All the President’s Men is a riveting detective story, capturing the exhilarating rush of the biggest presidential scandal in U.S. history as it unfolded in real time. It is, as former New York Times managing editor Gene Roberts has called it, “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.”]]>
480 Carl Bernstein 1416522913 M.P. 4 4.17 1974 All the President’s Men
author: Carl Bernstein
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)]]> 375802
But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military's purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine's abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth-an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.]]>
324 Orson Scott Card 0812550706 M.P. 4 4.31 1985 Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art]]> 102920 222 Scott McCloud M.P. 5 4.00 1993 Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
author: Scott McCloud
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Wetware (Ware #2) 274005 183 Rudy Rucker 0380701782 M.P. 5 3.82 1988 Wetware (Ware #2)
author: Rudy Rucker
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy]]> 31862
This edition also includes the "Meditations" and the letter-preface to "The Principles of Philosophy".]]>
103 René Descartes 0872204200 M.P. 4 3.77 1637 Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
author: René Descartes
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1637
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health]]> 179166 600 L. Ron Hubbard 1403105464 M.P. 1 2.40 1982 Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
author: L. Ron Hubbard
name: M.P.
average rating: 2.40
book published: 1982
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ]]> 323355 From the Introduction:

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. Thsi group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, the a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" and "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses."

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course an ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10: 3-5)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.]]>
531 Joseph Smith Jr. 0967686563 M.P. 2 4.22 1830 The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
author: Joseph Smith Jr.
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1830
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest]]> 332613 9780451163967

Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy � the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey's extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.]]>
325 Ken Kesey M.P. 4 4.20 1962 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
author: Ken Kesey
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Hell's Angels 10882
" En France on n'a pas ça et aux Etats-unis, pays pourtant pas avare en déjantés, ils n'en ont qu'un comme lui. Même s'il n'a rien écrit depuis plus de vingt ans, Hunter S. Thompson demeure là-bas une légende. ", Eric Neuhoff, Le Figaro littéraire.]]>
295 Hunter S. Thompson 222109073X M.P. 5 4.00 1966 Hell's Angels
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1966
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
American Gods 30165203
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...]]>
635 Neil Gaiman M.P. 5 4.11 2001 American Gods
author: Neil Gaiman
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2)]]> 8695 alternate edition for ISBN 0345418921/9780345418920

Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons is a curious time to have a cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his curious comrades in arms as they hurtle through space powered by pure improbability - and desperately in search of a place to eat. Among Arthur's motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a long-time friend and contributor to the The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMilan, a fellow Earth refuge who's gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, who suffers nothing and no one gladly.

Source: douglasadams.com]]>
250 Douglas Adams M.P. 5 4.22 1980 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2)
author: Douglas Adams
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Foundation (Foundation, #1) 29579 The first novel in Isaac Asimov's classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.]]>
244 Isaac Asimov 0553803719 M.P. 4 4.18 1951 Foundation (Foundation, #1)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Phantom Tollbooth 378 Librarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.

This beloved story -first published more than fifty years ago- introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond.

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .]]>
248 Norton Juster 0394820371 M.P. 5 4.19 1961 The Phantom Tollbooth
author: Norton Juster
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
On the Road 70401 307 Jack Kerouac 0140042598 M.P. 4 3.63 1957 On the Road
author: Jack Kerouac
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1957
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Tank Girl Armadillo!: A Novel 1696879
Tank Girl and Booga have launched an all-out assault on the town of Chankers, starting with the church. But what prompted this attack? Could it have something to do with Booga’s nightmare vacation there years ago? Well whaddyou think?

Destined to become a literary classic � y’know, like Watership Down or something � and a mainstay of high school syllabuses, this is Tank Girl as you’ve never experienced her before: in attractively justified eight point serif.]]>
232 Alan C. Martin 1845764846 M.P. 4 4.09 2008 Tank Girl Armadillo!: A Novel
author: Alan C. Martin
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Apology 73945 The Apology of Socrates is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399BCE against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel" (24b). "Apology" here has its earlier meaning (now usually expressed by the word "apologia") of speaking in defense of a cause or of one's beliefs or actions.

The revised edition of this popular textbook features revised vocabulary and grammatical notes that now appear on the same page as the text, sentence diagrams, principal parts of verbs listed both by Stephanus page and alphabetically, word frequency list for words occurring more than twice, and complete vocabulary.]]>
127 Plato 0865163480 M.P. 4 4.22 -399 Apology
author: Plato
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.22
book published: -399
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Slaughterhouse-Five 4981 Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.�

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.

Fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut's portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.]]>
275 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. M.P. 5 4.10 1969 Slaughterhouse-Five
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism]]> 10238 366 Fritjof Capra 1570625190 M.P. 5 3.97 1975 The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism
author: Fritjof Capra
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Screwjack 34448 Hunter S. Thompson's legions of fans have waited a decade for this book.

They will not be disappointed. His notorious Screwjack is as salacious, unsettling, and brutally lyrical as it has been rumored to be since the private printing in 1991 of three hundred fine collectors' copies and twenty-six leather-bound presentation copies. Only the first of the three pieces included here�"Mescalito," published in Thompson's 1990 collection Songs of the Doomed—has been available to the public, making the trade edition of Screwjack a major publishing event. "We live in a jungle of pending disasters," Thompson warns in "Mescalito," a chronicle of his first mescaline experience and what it sparked in him while he was alone in an L.A. hotel room in February 1969—including a bout of paranoia that would have made most people just scream no, once and for all. But for Thompson, along with the downside came a burst of creativity too powerful to ignore. The result is a poetic, perceptive, and wildly funny stream-of-consciousness take on 1969 America as only Hunter S. Thompson could see it.

Screwjack just gets weirder with its second offering, "Death of a Poet." As Thompson describes this trailer-park confrontation with the dark side of a deservingly doomed friend: "Whoops, I thought. Welcome to the night train."

The heart of the collection lies in its final, title piece, an unnaturally poignant love story. What makes the romantic tale "Screwjack" so touching, for all its queerness, is the aching melancholy in its depiction of the modern man's burden: that "we are doomed. Mama has gone off to Real Estate School...and after that maybe even to Law School. We will never see her again."

Ostensibly written by Raoul Duke, "Screwjack" begins with an editor's note explaining of Thompson's alter ego that "the first few lines contain no warning of the madness and fear and lust that came more and more to plague him and dominate his life...." "I am guilty, Lord," Thompson writes, "but I am also a lover—and I am one of your best people, as you know; and yea tho I have walked in many strange shadows and acted crazy from time to time and even drooled on many High Priests, I have not been an embarrassment to you...."

Nor has Hunter S. Thompson been to American literature. Quite the contrary: What the legendary Gonzo journalist proves with Screwjack is just how brilliant a prose stylist he really is, amid all the hilarity. As Thompson puts it in his introduction, the three stories here "build like Bolero to a faster & wilder climax that will drag the reader relentlessly up a hill, & then drop him off a cliff....That is the Desired Effect."]]>
64 Hunter S. Thompson 0684873214 M.P. 4 3.53 2000 Screwjack
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Republic 30289 416 Plato 0140449140 M.P. 3 3.97 -400 The Republic
author: Plato
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.97
book published: -400
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Survivor 7076703 “A wild amphetamine ride through the vagaries of fame and the nature of belief.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Tender Branson—last surviving member of the Creedish Death Cult—is dictating his life story into Flight 2039’s recorder. He is all alone in the airplane, which will crash shortly into the vast Australian outback. But before it does, he will unfold the tale of his journey from an obedient Creedish child to an ultra-buffed, steroid- and collagen-packed media messiah. Unpredictable and unforgettable, Survivor is Chuck Palahniuk at his deadpan peak: a mesmerizing, unnerving, and hilarious satire on the wages of fame and the bedrock lunacy of the modern world.]]>
289 Chuck Palahniuk 039333807X M.P. 4 3.98 1999 Survivor
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Haunted 22288
The stories are told by people who have all answered an ad headlined 'Artists Retreat: Abandon your life for three months'. They are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of 'real life' that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them.

But 'here' turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theater where they are utterly isolated from the outside world - and where heat and power and, most importantly, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more desperate the stories they tell - and the more devious their machinations to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/non-fiction blockbuster that will certainly be made from their plight.]]>
419 Chuck Palahniuk 1400032822 M.P. 3 3.60 2005 Haunted
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Diary 22284
Suddenly, though, Misty finds her artistic talent returning as she begins a period of compulsive painting. Inspired but confused by this burst of creativity, she soon finds herself a pawn in a larger conspiracy that threatens to cost hundreds of lives. What unfolds is a dark, hilarious story from America’s most inventive nihilist, and Palahniuk’s most impressive work to date.]]>
262 Chuck Palahniuk 1400032814 M.P. 5 3.65 2003 Diary
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Naked Sun (Robot, #2) 30016
Reacting in fear of the technological superiority of the Outer Worlds, the people of Earth have hidden themselves in vast underground cities, nursing a hatred for Spacers. The fifty Outer Worlds of the Spacers together are home to fewer people than planet Earth. And home to many, many more robots. Earthmen hate Spacer robots, too...

But Baley doesn't. He once had a robot partner, R. Daneel � and when the authorities of the planet Solaria request terrestrial assistance in investigating a murder, Baley is once again teamed with Daneel. He is the first Earthmen in a millennium to travel to the Outer Worlds... and he must endure the glare of a sun far more deadly than Earth's.]]>
204 Isaac Asimov M.P. 4 4.17 1958 The Naked Sun (Robot, #2)
author: Isaac Asimov
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1958
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![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 M.P. 5 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Scanner Darkly 14817
The undercover narcotics agent who calls himself Bob Arctor is desperate to discover the ultimate source of supply. But to find any kind of lead he has to pose as a user and, inevitably, without realising what is happening, Arctor is soon as addicted as the junkies he works among...]]>
324 Philip K. Dick 057507681X M.P. 5 4.04 1977 A Scanner Darkly
author: Philip K. Dick
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Tank Girl (Tank Girl, #1) 974942 128 Alan C. Martin 1840234350 M.P. 4 4.08 1990 Tank Girl (Tank Girl, #1)
author: Alan C. Martin
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Lullaby 22206 Lullaby is a comedy/drama/tragedy. In that order. It may also be Chuck Palahniuk's best book yet.]]> 260 Chuck Palahniuk 0099437961 M.P. 4 3.76 2002 Lullaby
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream]]> 7745 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.]]> 204 Hunter S. Thompson 0679785892 M.P. 5 4.08 1971 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1971
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Ethics of Ambiguity 21119 162 Simone de Beauvoir 080650160X M.P. 4 4.18 1947 The Ethics of Ambiguity
author: Simone de Beauvoir
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1947
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Factotum 497199
Charles Bukowski's posthumous legend continues to grow. Factotum is a masterfully vivid evocation of slow-paced, low-life urbanity and alcoholism, and an excellent introduction to the fictional world of Charles Bukowski.]]>
205 Charles Bukowski 0876852630 M.P. 4 3.95 1975 Factotum
author: Charles Bukowski
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1975
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
20000 Leagues Under the Sea 834333 406 Jules Verne 0679602534 M.P. 3 3.70 1869 20000 Leagues Under the Sea
author: Jules Verne
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1869
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Jesus� Son 608287 Jesus' Son, the first collection of stories by Denis Johnson, presents a unique, hallucinatory vision of contemporary American life unmatched in power and immediacy and marks a new level of achievement for this acclaimed writer. In their intensity of perception, their neon-lit evocation of a strange world brought uncomfortably close to our own, the stories in Jesus' Son offer a disturbing yet eerily beautiful portrayal of American loneliness and hope.

Contains:
Car Crash While Hitchhiking
Two Men
Out on Bail
Dundun
Work
Emergency
Dirty Wedding
The Other Man
Happy Hour
Steady Hands at Seattle General
Beverly Home']]>
160 Denis Johnson 0060975776 M.P. 2 4.16 1992 Jesus’ Son
author: Denis Johnson
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1992
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (The Gonzo Papers, #1)]]> 10878 Gonzo Papers offers brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in his signature style.

Originally published in 1979, the first volume of the bestselling “Gonzo Papers� is now back in print. The Great Shark Hunt is Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s largest and, arguably, most important work, covering Nixon to napalm, Las Vegas to Watergate, Carter to cocaine. These essays offer brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in signature Thompson style.

Ranging in date from the National Observer days to the era of Rolling Stone, The Great Shark Hunt offers myriad, highly charged entries, including the first Hunter S. Thompson piece to be dubbed “gonzo”—“The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,� which appeared in Scanlan's Monthly in 1970. From this essay a new journalistic movement sprang which would change the shape of American letters. Thompson's razor-sharp insight and crystal clarity capture the crazy, hypocritical, degenerate, and redeeming aspects of the explosive and colorful �60s and �70s.]]>
624 Hunter S. Thompson 0743250451 M.P. 4 4.09 1979 The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (The Gonzo Papers, #1)
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (Nicholas Meyer Holmes Pastiches #1)]]> 77378 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution relates the astounding and previously unknown collaboration of Sigmund Freud with Sherlock Holmes, as recorded by Holmes's friend and chronicler, Dr. John H. Watson. In addition to its breathtaking account of their collaboration on a case of diabolic conspiracy in which the lives of millions hang in the balance, it reveals such matters as the real identity of the heinous professor Moriarty, the dark secret shared by Sherlock and his brother Mycroft Holmes, and the detective's true whereabouts during the Great Hiatus, when the world believed him to be dead.]]> 224 Nicholas Meyer 0393311198 M.P. 4 4.15 1974 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (Nicholas Meyer Holmes Pastiches #1)
author: Nicholas Meyer
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Transmetropolitan, Vol. 9: The Cure]]> 22425 144 Warren Ellis 1563899884 M.P. 5 4.44 2003 Transmetropolitan, Vol. 9: The Cure
author: Warren Ellis
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Transmetropolitan, Vol. 4: The New Scum]]> 22421 144 Warren Ellis 1563896273 M.P. 5 4.39 2000 Transmetropolitan, Vol. 4: The New Scum
author: Warren Ellis
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Transmetropolitan, Vol. 6: Gouge Away]]> 22422 131 Warren Ellis 1563897962 M.P. 5 4.42 2002 Transmetropolitan, Vol. 6: Gouge Away
author: Warren Ellis
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Transmetropolitan, Vol. 3: Year of the Bastard]]> 22418
In this third volume, Spider Jerusalem begins to crumble under the pressure of sudden and unwanted fame. Having had enough of the warped 23rd century Babylon that he lives in, Spider escapes into a world of bitterness and pills. As he stumbles through this haze of depression and drugs, he must find a way to cover the biggest story of the year, the presidential election. Armed with only his demented mind and dark sense of humor, Spider embarks on an adventure of political cynicism, horrific sex, and unwelcome celebrity which culminates in a shocking and ruinous ending.]]>
142 Warren Ellis 1563895684 M.P. 5 4.41 1999 Transmetropolitan, Vol. 3: Year of the Bastard
author: Warren Ellis
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Confederacy of Dunces 310612
His mother thinks he needs to go to work. He does, in a succession of jobs. Each job rapidly escalates into a lunatic adventure, a full-blown disaster; yet each has, like Don Quixote's, its own eerie logic.

His girlfriend, Myrna Minkoff of the Bronx, thinks he needs sex.

Ignatius is an intellectual, ideologue, deadbeat, goof-off, glutton, who should repel the reader with his gargantuan bloats, his thunderous contempt, and one-man war against everybody: Freud, homosexuals, heterosexuals, Protestants, and the assorted excesses of modern times.

A tragicomedy, set in New Orleans.]]>
394 John Kennedy Toole 0802130208 M.P. 5 3.89 1980 A Confederacy of Dunces
author: John Kennedy Toole
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Curse of Lono 52880 The Curse of Lono accessible to everyone.]]> 208 Hunter S. Thompson 3822848972 M.P. 3 3.93 1983 The Curse of Lono
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Transmetropolitan, Vol. 2: Lust for Life]]> 22417
In this volume, Jerusalem targets three of society's most worshipped and warped politics, religion, and television. When Spider tries to shed light on the atrocities of these institutions, he finds himself fleeing a group of hitmen/kidnappers in possession of his ex-wife's frozen head, a distorted creature alleging to be his son, and a vicious talking police dog.]]>
208 Warren Ellis 1563894815 M.P. 5 4.34 1999 Transmetropolitan, Vol. 2: Lust for Life
author: Warren Ellis
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1) 22328 Alternate cover for ISBN: 9780441569595

Case was the sharpest data thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system. Now a new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run against an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a mirror-eyed girl street-samurai riding shotgun, he's ready for the silicon-quick, bleakly prophetic adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.]]>
271 William Gibson M.P. 5 3.87 1984 Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
author: William Gibson
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Sirens of Titan 4982 224 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. M.P. 4 4.16 1959 The Sirens of Titan
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1959
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80's]]> 10877 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the legendary Hunter S. Thompson's second volume of the "Gonzo Papers" is back. Generation of Swine collects hundreds of columns from the infamous journalist's 1980s tenure at the San Francisco Examiner.

Here, against a backdrop of late-night tattoo sessions and soldier-of-fortune trade shows, Dr. Thompson is at his apocalyptic best―covering emblematic events such as the 1987-88 presidential campaign, with Vice President George Bush, Sr., fighting for his life against Republican competitors like Alexander Haig, Pat Buchanan, and Pat Robertson; detailing the GOP's obsession with drugs and drug abuse; while at the same time capturing momentous social phenomena as they occurred, like the rise of cable, satellite TV, and CNN�24 hours of mainline news. Showcasing his inimitable talent for social and political analysis, Generation of Swine is vintage Thompson―eerily prescient, incisive, and enduring.]]>
336 Hunter S. Thompson 0743250443 M.P. 4 3.80 1988 Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80's
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: M.P.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Invisible Monsters Remix 12813565 302 Chuck Palahniuk 0393083527 M.P. 4 4.05 1999 Invisible Monsters Remix
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Book of Thoth (Egyptian Tarot)]]> 243001 287 Aleister Crowley 0877282684 M.P. 4 4.11 1944 The Book of Thoth (Egyptian Tarot)
author: Aleister Crowley
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1944
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]> 7082 244 Philip K. Dick M.P. 5 4.08 1968 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
author: Philip K. Dick
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1968
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
Post Office 51504 208 Charles Bukowski 0876850867 M.P. 4 4.01 1971 Post Office
author: Charles Bukowski
name: M.P.
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1971
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/13
shelves:
review:

]]>