Vandana's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 23 Sep 2024 23:52:28 -0700 60 Vandana's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Godplayer 66474 336 Robin Cook 042517638X Vandana 3 3.73 Godplayer
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.73
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rating: 3
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]]> Catch-22 4610 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

With a new preface by the author

Explosive, subversive, wild and funny, 50 years on the novel's strength is undiminished. Reading Joseph Heller's classic satire is nothing less than a rite of passage.

Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him. Joseph Heller's bestselling novel is a hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man's efforts to survive it.]]> 570 Joseph Heller 0099477319 Vandana 3 3.97 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1961
rating: 3
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date added: 2020/05/09
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]]> Seizure 871003 464 Robin Cook 0330483064 Vandana 3 3.02 2003 Seizure
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.02
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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date added: 2017/02/06
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]]> Headhunter (Special X, #1) 219633
There were still traces of extraordinary beauty in the woman's brutally violated body--but there was no way of knowing how beautiful she had been.

Her head was missing.

She was the first--but there were more to come.

Many more.

A killer was loose and no woman was safe...a killer who eluded even renowned Detective Robert Declercq as he and the police combed the lower depths of the sexual underground on two continents...a killer whose lust for women, whether they were "bad" or "good," went beyond even twisted sex and hideous death.

Don't try to guess who it is. Try not to scream when you find out.]]> 422 Michael Slade 0451401727 Vandana 5 3.96 1984 Headhunter (Special X, #1)
author: Michael Slade
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1984
rating: 5
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date added: 2016/07/20
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]]> Predator (Kay Scarpetta, #14) 6528
She and her team --- Pete Marino, Benton Wesley, and her niece, Lucy --- track the odd connections between several horrific crimes and the people who are the likely suspects. As one psychopath, safely behind bars and the subject of a classified scientific study at a Harvard-affiliated psychiatric hospital, teases Scarpetta with tips that could be fact --- or fantasy --- the number of killers on the loose seems to multiply. Are these events related or merely random? And what can the study of one man's brain tell them about the methods of a psychopath still lurking in the shadows?]]> 453 Patricia Cornwell 0425210278 Vandana 4 3.72 2005 Predator (Kay Scarpetta, #14)
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)]]> 23807
Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist with a grisly history, unusual tastes, and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of "The Silence of the Lambs"—an ingenious, masterfully written book and an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.]]> 421 Thomas Harris Vandana 0 to-read 4.25 1988 The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)
author: Thomas Harris
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1)]]> 17231 288 Jeff Lindsay Vandana 0 to-read 3.91 2004 Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1)
author: Jeff Lindsay
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/07/20
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]]> The Other Side of Me 43323 432 Sidney Sheldon 0446617504 Vandana 3 3.75 2005 The Other Side of Me
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2005
rating: 3
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]]> The Stars Shine Down 84054 448 Sidney Sheldon 0006178715 Vandana 3 3.71 1992 The Stars Shine Down
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1992
rating: 3
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]]> A Stranger in the Mirror 115130 352 Sidney Sheldon 0006471250 Vandana 3 3.67 1976 A Stranger in the Mirror
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1976
rating: 3
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]]> Morning, Noon & Night 84052
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 388 Sidney Sheldon 0446602213 Vandana 3 3.68 1995 Morning, Noon & Night
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1995
rating: 3
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]]> Memories of Midnight 106648
Now, in MEMORIES OF MIDNIGHT, the survivors meet to play one last time...

Shadowed by tragedy and burdened by amnesia, a beautiful woman desperately tries to return to reality. She is Catherine Douglas, destined to once again challenge the cruel, charismatic power of Constantin Demiris, the Greek shipping tycoon who murdered Catherine's husband. Now, in the glittering capitals and carefree playgrounds of post-war Europe, Demiris sets his deadly sights on Catherine -- and the single, treacherous secret whose shattering truth is known to her alone...]]> 404 Sidney Sheldon 0446354678 Vandana 4 3.73 1990 Memories of Midnight
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1990
rating: 4
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]]> The Sky is Falling 43327
Her Sarajevo ward Kemal gets expelled, a prosthetic arm, then often naps afternoons under care of kindly new housekeeper. Unseen agents follow her, bug hotel rooms, while an evil mastermind voice overhears taped conversations and supervises regular secret auctions, inviting armed wealthy customers. Witnesses and informants die before, and after meetings. Friends become foes, nobody can be trusted.]]> 399 Sidney Sheldon 0446610178 Vandana 3 3.61 2000 The Sky is Falling
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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]]> The Best Laid Plans 99610 372 Sidney Sheldon 0446604089 Vandana 4 3.71 1997 The Best Laid Plans
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> Are You Afraid of the Dark? 43324 The new novel that Sidney Sheldon's millions of fans all over the world have been waiting for. And, like his seventeen previous books, it is destined for a top place on bestseller lists everywhere.

In New York, Denver, Paris and Berlin, four people have died separately in apparent accidents. Two women -- the widows of two of the dead -- find themselves under ruthless attack and are drawn together in fear, confusion and for mutual protection. But are they being targeted because one of them is the prosecution witness at a famous criminal trial? Or is there a connection to the mystery behind their husband's deaths? Meanwhile, Tanner Kingsley,

Chief Executive of an international Think Tank created only seven years ago, is on the cusp of an amazing discovery which could alter the future of the world. If properly handled, the outcome of this could deliver unbelievable power into the company's hands. But are the mysterious deaths connected to this volatile secret? And can it be further protected?

Thrown together, the women could not be more different: Diane Stevens is a well-connected, affluent artist from the Upper East Side. Philadelphia neighbourhood with a new 'uncle' every month, believed she had at last found safety and contentment in Paris, married to a brilliant scientist.

Taut with suspense and vivid characterization, and with an unnervingly realistic premise that could alter our lives, ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK is Sheldon at the top of his form.]]> 401 Sidney Sheldon 0007165161 Vandana 3 3.70 2004 Are You Afraid of the Dark?
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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]]> Windmills of the Gods 119389 419 Sidney Sheldon 0006174426 Vandana 3 3.88 1987 Windmills of the Gods
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1987
rating: 3
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]]> Bloodline 300225
Roffe and Sons is a family firm, an international empire filled with desperate, cash-hungry family members. At its head was one of the wealthiest men in the world, a man who has just died in a mysterious accident and left his only daughter, Elizabeth, in control of the company. Now as this intelligent, tough, and beautiful young woman dares to save -- not sell -- Roffe and Sons, she will have to outwit those who secretly want her power, and the unknown assassin who wants her life.]]> 409 Sidney Sheldon 1568650949 Vandana 3 3.86 1977 Bloodline
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1977
rating: 3
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]]> Nothing Lasts Forever 43325 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

Three young doctors-their hopes, their dreams, their unexpected desires...

Dr. Paige Taylor: She swore it was euthanasia, but when Paige inherited a million dollars from a patient, the D.A. called it murder.

Dr. Kat Hunter: She vowed never to let another man too close again-until she accepted the challenge of a deadly bet.

Dr. Honey Taft: To make it in medicine, she knew she'd need something more than the brains God gave her.

Racing from the life-and-death decisions of a big major hospital to the tension-packed fireworks of a murder trial, Nothing Lasts Forever lays bare the ambitions and fears of healers and killers, lovers and betrayers.]]> 384 Sidney Sheldon 0446354732 Vandana 3 3.87 1994 Nothing Lasts Forever
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1994
rating: 3
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]]> Master of the Game 43330 489 Sidney Sheldon 0006472613 Vandana 3 4.14 1982 Master of the Game
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1982
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Other Side of Midnight (Midnight #1)]]> 136167 462 Sidney Sheldon 0440060672 Vandana 3 3.94 1973 The Other Side of Midnight (Midnight #1)
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1973
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[If Tomorrow Comes (Tracy Whitney, #1)]]> 14554 501 Sidney Sheldon 0006479677 Vandana 4 4.07 1985 If Tomorrow Comes (Tracy Whitney, #1)
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1985
rating: 4
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]]> Twelve Red Herrings 78975
An imprisoned man is certain that his supposed murder victim is very much alive....A female driver is pursued relentlessly by a menacing figure in another vehicle....A young artist gets the biggest break of her career....A restless beauty manages the perfect birthday celebration....An escaped Iraqi on Saddam Hussein's death list pays an involuntary visit to his homeland. In each tale, human beings are given an opportunity to seize, a crucial problem to solve, or a danger to avoid. How will they react? How would you? Capping off the collection are two additional rewards. In the final story, Archer offers a choice of four endings. And buried in each story is another diversion -- a red herring which Archer challenges his readers to uncover.]]> 370 Jeffrey Archer 0312937717 Vandana 3 3.76 1994 Twelve Red Herrings
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1994
rating: 3
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]]> A Quiver Full of Arrows 13199 Extraordinary Deeds

The bestselling author of Kane & Abel, The Prodigal Daughter and Honor Among Theives once again astonishes, delights, and electrifies his legions of fans.

From London to China, and New York to Nigeria, Jeffrey Archer takes the reader on a tour of ancient heirlooms and modern romance, of cutthroat business and kindly strangers, of lives lived in the realms of power and lives freed from the gloom of oppression. Fortunes are made and squandered, honor betrayed and redeemed, and love lost and rediscovered.

Embracing the passions that drive men and women to love and to hate, the short stories in A Quiver Full of Arrows will captivate the hearts and souls of readers of everywhere.
]]> 288 Jeffrey Archer 0312937695 Vandana 3 3.79 1980 A Quiver Full of Arrows
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1980
rating: 3
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]]> A Twist in the Tale 78976 No one can weave a web of suspense, deliver a jolt of surprise, or teach a lesson in living like bestselling author Jeffrey Archer. From Africa to the Middle East, and from London to Beijing, Archer takes us to places we've never seen and introduces us to people we'll never forget.

Meet the philandering husband who thinks he's committed the perfect murder; the self-assured chess champion who plays a beautiful woman for stakes far higher than cash; and the finance minister who needs to crack the secrets of a Swiss bank. Jeffrey Archer's collection of twelve spellbinding stories will sweep you on a journey of thwarted ambition, undying passion, and unswerving honor that you'll never forget.
]]> 320 Jeffrey Archer 0312933525 Vandana 4 3.88 1988 A Twist in the Tale
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1988
rating: 4
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]]> The Fourth Estate 78972
As both Armstrong and Townsend seize control of everything they see, their ambitions collide on a global scale. But suddenly they both find themselves threatened by finicial disaster and enormous debt. Frantic to save his crumbling empire, each man turns desperate. One's quest will lead to triumph, the other's will end in tragedy in this awesome tale of wealth and corruption, desire and destruction.]]> 742 Jeffrey Archer 0061092037 Vandana 3 3.76 1996 The Fourth Estate
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1996
rating: 3
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]]> The Eleventh Commandment 78977 From emergency meetings in the Oval Office to a Russian mafya boss's luxurious hideaway outside St. Petersburg, The Eleventh Commandment sweeps readers off their feet from the first paragraph. As in Jeffrey Archer's previous bestsellers, The Eleventh Commandment features enough plot-twisting ingenuity, exotic characterization, and narrative surprise to take the art of thriller writing to a new level. In his latest novel, Jeffrey Archer is at the peak of his page-turning powers.

]]> 448 Jeffrey Archer 0061013315 Vandana 4 3.86 1998 The Eleventh Commandment
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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]]> First Among Equals 79016
In the 1960s, four ambitious new MPs take their seats at Westminster. Over three decades they share the turbulent passions of the race for power with their wives and families, men and women caught up in a dramatic game for the higest stakes of all. But only one man can gain the ultimate goal - the office of Prime Minister.]]> 496 Jeffrey Archer 0312997124 Vandana 3 3.91 1984 First Among Equals
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1984
rating: 3
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]]> Mindbend 66472 352 Robin Cook 0451141083 Vandana 3 3.75 1984 Mindbend
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1984
rating: 3
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]]> Abduction 278797
...And to the discovery that will permanently change everything we have previously come to know about life on this Earth.]]> 406 Robin Cook 0330369008 Vandana 3 3.50 2000 Abduction
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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]]> Invasion 947964 338 Robin Cook 0425155404 Vandana 3 3.61 1997 Invasion
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Marker (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #5)]]> 66465 672 Robin Cook 042520734X Vandana 3 3.90 2005 Marker (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #5)
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2005
rating: 3
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]]> Brain 529804 307 Robin Cook 0451157974 Vandana 3 3.77 1981 Brain
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1981
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Vector (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #4)]]> 377347 395 Robin Cook 0425172996 Vandana 3 3.85 1999 Vector (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #4)
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Chromosome 6 (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #3)]]> 66470 Behind the headlines on cloning—Dr. Robin Cook blends fact with fiction in one of his most terrifying bestsellers....

Chromosome 6 is a prophetic thriller that challenges the medical ethics of genetic manipulation and cloning in the jungles of equatorial Africa, where one mistake could bridge the gap between man and ape—and forever change the genetic map of our existence....]]> 456 Robin Cook 0425161242 Vandana 3 3.92 1997 Chromosome 6 (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #3)
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Contagion (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #2)]]> 66469 Contagion is a terrifying cautionary tale for the millennium as a deadly epidemic is spread not merely by microbes—but by sabotage....]]> 496 Robin Cook 0425155943 Vandana 3 3.96 1992 Contagion (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #2)
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1992
rating: 3
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]]> Toxin 66473
When a doctor's daughter becomes infected with E. coli, the widespread dangers of bacterial contamination are no longer a subject for debate, but a grim reality. In desperation, he is forced to follow a trail of ignorance and corruption from the tangled red-tape of the medical community to the highest levels of the powerful meat industry. It is an eye-opening thriller that every American should read ...]]> 432 Robin Cook 0425166619 Vandana 4 3.83 1998 Toxin
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Outbreak (Dr. Marissa Blumenthal, #1)]]> 259538
Dr. Marissa Blumenthal of the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control investigates—and soon uncovers the medical world's deadliest secret.]]> 340 Robin Cook 042510687X Vandana 4 3.99 1987 Outbreak (Dr. Marissa Blumenthal, #1)
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1987
rating: 4
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]]> Coma 20454107 The blockbuster bestseller that kickstarted a new genre--the medical thriller--is now available in trade paperback for the first time.

They called it "minor surgery," but Nancy Greenly, Sean Berman and a dozen others--all admitted to Boston Memorial Hospital for routine procedures--were victims of the same inexplicable, hideous tragedy on the operating table. They never woke up.


Susan Wheeler is a third-year medical student working as a trainee at Boston Memorial Hospital. Two patients during her residency mysteriously go into comas immediately after their operations due to complications from anesthesia. Susan begins to investigate the causes behind both of these alarming comas and discovers the oxygen line in Operating Room 8 has been tampered with to induce carbon monoxide poisoning.


Then Susan discovers the evil nature of the Jefferson Institute, an intensive care facility where patients are suspended from the ceiling and kept alive until they can be harvested for healthy organs. Is she a participant in--or a victim of--a large-scale black market dealing in human organs?]]> 384 Robin Cook 0316334464 Vandana 3 3.98 1977 Coma
author: Robin Cook
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1977
rating: 3
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]]> Bleachers 5347
As Coach Rake's 'boys' sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake � or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, still struggling to come to terms with his explosive relationship with the Coach, his dreams of a great career in the NFL, and the choices he made as a young man, the stakes could not be higher.]]> 229 John Grisham Vandana 2 3.53 2003 Bleachers
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2003
rating: 2
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]]> The Summons 5352 And he has a father, a very sick old man who lives alone in the ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi. He is known to all as Judge Atlee, a beloved and powerful official who has towered over local law and politics for forty years. No longer on the bench, the Judge has withdrawn to the Atlee mansion and become a recluse.
With the end in sight, Judge Atlee issues a summons for both sons to return home to Clanton, to discuss the details of his estate. It is typed by the Judge himself, on his handsome old stationery, and gives the date and time for Ray and Forrest to appear in his study.
Ray reluctantly heads south, to his hometown, to the place where he grew up, which he prefers now to avoid. But the family meeting does not take place. The Judge dies too soon, and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret known only to Ray.
And perhaps someone else.]]> 384 John Grisham 0385339593 Vandana 3 3.71 2002 The Summons
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2002
rating: 3
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]]> The Last Juror 5346
The future of the 'Times' looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered. A member of the notorious Padgitt family was soon arrested. Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The accused, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But in Mississippi in 1970, life didn't necessarily mean life, and nine years later Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.]]> 278 John Grisham 0385339682 Vandana 3 3.93 2004 The Last Juror
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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]]> The King of Torts 5356
As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life--that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession's newest king of torts...

'From the Hardcover edition']]> 276 John Grisham 0385339658 Vandana 3 3.71 2003 The King of Torts
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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]]> The Brethren 5354
Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong. Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich—very fast. ...]]> 440 John Grisham 0385339674 Vandana 3 3.75 2000 The Brethren
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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]]> The Street Lawyer 5351
But a violent encounter with a homeless man stopped him cold. Michael survived; his assailant did not. Who was this man? Michael did some digging, and learned that he was a mentally ill veteran who'd been in and out of shelters for many years. Then Michael dug a little deeper, and found a dirty secret, and the secret involved Drake & Sweeney.

The fast track derailed; the ladder collapsed. Michael bolted the firm and took a top-secret file with him. He landed in the streets, an advocate for the homeless, a street lawyer.

And a thief.]]> 384 John Grisham 0385339097 Vandana 3 3.87 1998 The Street Lawyer
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1998
rating: 3
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]]> The Testament 5348
Enter the lawyers. Nate O’Riley is fresh out of rehab, a disgraced corporate attorney handpicked for his last job: to find Rachel Lane at any cost. As Phelan’s family circles like vultures in D.C., Nate goes crashing through the Brazilian jungle, entering a world where money means nothing, where death is just one misstep away, and where a woman—pursued by enemies and friends alike—holds a stunning surprise of her own.]]> 533 John Grisham 0440234743 Vandana 4 3.87 1999 The Testament
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1999
rating: 4
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]]> The Runaway Jury 24192
The jury is behaving strangely, and at least one juror is convinced he's being watched. Soon they have to be sequestered. Then a tip from an anonymous young woman suggests she is able to predict the jurors' increasingly odd behavior.

Is the jury somehow being manipulated, or even controlled? If so, by whom? And, more importantly, why?

From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 464 John Grisham 0385339690 Vandana 4 4.03 1996 The Runaway Jury
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> The Firm 5358 Adaptation for younger readers.

Mitch McDeere is a young, intelligent and ambitious lawyer. When he gets a job with a top tax law firm in Memphis, he is delighted. But he quickly becomes suspicious after mysterious deaths, obsessive office security, and the Chicago mob figure into its operations. The situation only escalates when Mitch discovers that the firm is listening in on his phone calls and that the FBI want to speak to him. Money and power has a price � and it could be Mitch's life.

Adaptation Notes
This adaptation is a simplified text designed in association with world famous educational publishers, to provide a step-by-step approach to the joys of reading for pleasure. The series include original stories, contemporary titles based on today's best-selling media hits, and easily accessible versions of the literary classics from around the world. Each book has an introduction and extensive activity material. They are published at different levels for readers of all skill levels.

Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Book Details:
- Difficulty: Level 5 - Upper Intermediate (2300 words)
- Category: Contemporary
- Dialect: British English]]> 76 Robin Waterfield 0582418275 Vandana 3 4.06 1991 The Firm
author: Robin Waterfield
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1991
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)]]> 7670
Two years later, seventeen satellites are sent into the outer fringes of space to collect organisms and dust for study. One of them falls to earth, landing in a desolate area of Arizona.

Twelve miles from the landing site, in the town of Piedmont, a shocking discovery is made: the streets are littered with the dead bodies of the town's inhabitants, as if they dropped dead in their tracks.
--back cover]]> 327 Michael Crichton 0060541814 Vandana 3 3.92 1969 The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1969
rating: 3
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]]> Prey 83763
It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour.

Every attempt to destroy it has failed.

And we are the prey.]]> 507 Michael Crichton 0061015725 Vandana 4 3.78 2002 Prey
author: Michael Crichton
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

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

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

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

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]> 489 Dan Brown Vandana 3 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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]]> Interpreter of Maladies 5439 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

Navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations. In "A Temporary Matter," published in The New Yorker, a young Indian-American couple faces the heartbreak of a stillborn birth while their Boston neighborhood copes with a nightly blackout. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession. Lahiri writes with deft cultural insight reminiscent of Anita Desai and a nuanced depth that recalls Mavis Gallant.]]> 198 Jhumpa Lahiri 0618101365 Vandana 3 4.18 1999 Interpreter of Maladies
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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]]> The Moor's Last Sigh 9865 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Moraes 'Moor' Zogoiby is a 'high-born crossbreed', the last surviving scion of a dynasty of Cochinise spice merchants and crime lords. He is also a compulsive storyteller and an exile. As he travels a route that takes him from India to Spain, he leaves behind a labyrinthine tale of mad passions and volcanic family hatreds, of titanic matriarchs and their mesmerised offspring, of premature deaths and curses that strike beyond the grave. The Moor's Last Sigh is a spectacularly ambitious, funny, satirical and compassionate novel. It is a love song to a vanishing world, but also its last hurrah.

~from the back cover]]> 434 Salman Rushdie 009959241X Vandana 0 to-read 3.95 1995 The Moor's Last Sigh
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

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

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Vandana 0 currently-reading 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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]]> Steve Jobs 11084145 630 Walter Isaacson 1451648537 Vandana 0 to-read 4.15 2011 Steve Jobs
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Vandana 4 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 4
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]]> One Night at the Call Center 105578 Press 2 for broken hearts.
Press 3 if your life has totally crashed. . . .

Six friends work nights at a call center in India, providing technical support for a major U.S. appliance corporation. Skilled in patience–and accent management–they help American consumers keep their lives running. Yet behind the headsets, everybody’s heart is on the line.

Shyam (Sam to his callers) has lost his self-confidence after being dumped by the girl who just so happens to be sitting next to him. Priyanka’s domineering mother has arranged for her daughter’s upscale marriage to an Indian man in Seattle. Esha longs to be a model but discovers it’s a horizontal romp to the runway. Lost, dissatisfied Vroom has high ideals, but compromises them by talking on the phone to idiots each night. Traditional Radhika has just found out that her husband is sleeping with his secretary. And Military Uncle (nobody knows his real name) sits alone working the online chat.

They all try to make it through their shifts–and maintain their sanity–under the eagle eye of a boss whose ego rivals his incompetence. But tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight is Thanksgiving in Appliances are going haywire, and the phones are ringing off their hooks. Then one call, from one very special caller, changes everything.

Chetan Bhagat’s delicious romantic comedy takes us inside the world of the international call center, where cultural cross-wires come together with perfect pathos, hilarity, and spice.]]> 320 Chetan Bhagat 0345498321 Vandana 2 2.49 2005 One Night at the Call Center
author: Chetan Bhagat
name: Vandana
average rating: 2.49
book published: 2005
rating: 2
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]]> Train to Pakistan 785454 “In the summer of 1947, when the creation of the state of Pakistan was formally announced, ten million people—Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs—were in flight. By the time the monsoon broke, almost a million of them were dead, and all of northern India was in arms, in terror, or in hiding. The only remaining oases of peace were a scatter of little villages lost in the remote reaches of the frontier. One of these villages was Mano Majra.�

It is a place, Khushwant Singh goes on to tell us at the beginning of this classic novel, where Sikhs and Muslims have lived together in peace for hundreds of years. Then one day, at the end of the summer, the “ghost train� arrives, a silent, incredible funeral train loaded with the bodies of thousands of refugees, bringing the village its first taste of the horrors of the civil war. Train to Pakistan is the story of this isolated village that is plunged into the abyss of religious hate. It is also the story of a Sikh boy and a Muslim girl whose love endured and transcends the ravages of war.

Introduction by Arthur Lall]]> 181 Khushwant Singh 0802132219 Vandana 0 to-read 3.92 1956 Train to Pakistan
author: Khushwant Singh
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1956
rating: 0
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]]> A Thousand Splendid Suns 128029
With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a portrait of a wounded country and a story of family and friendship, of an unforgiving time, an unlikely bond, and an indestructible love.]]> 372 Khaled Hosseini 1594489505 Vandana 0 to-read 4.44 2007 A Thousand Splendid Suns
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> The Complete Sherlock Holmes 188572
The sign of four --

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : A scandal in Bohemia ; The red-headed league ; A case of identity ; The Boscombe Valley mystery ; The five orange pips ; The man with the twisted lip ; The adventure of the blue carbuncle ; The adventure of the speckled band ; The adventure of the engineer's thumb ; The adventure of the noble bachelor ; The adventure of the beryl coronet ; The adventure of the copper beeches --

Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes : Silver blaze ; The yellow face ; The stock-broker's clerk ; The "Gloria Scott" ; The Musgrave ritual ; The Reigate puzzle ; The crooked man ; The resident patient ; The Greek interpreter ; The naval treaty ; The final problem --

The return of Sherlock Holmes : The adventure of the empty house ; The adventure of the Norwood builder ; The adventure of the dancing men ; The adventure of the solitary cyclist ; The adventure of the priory school ; The adventure of Black Peter ; The adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ; The adventure of the six Napoleons ; The adventure of the three students ; The adventure of the golden pince-nez ; The adventure of the missing three-quarter ; The adventure of the abbey grange ; The adventure of the second stain.

Volume 2. Introduction / by Loren D. Estleman --

The hound of the Baskervilles --

The valley of fear --

His last bow : The adventure of Wisteria Lodge : The singular experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles ; The tiger of San Pedro ; The adventure of the cardboard box ; The adventure of the red circle ; The adventure of the Bruce-Partington plans ; The adventure of the dying detective ; The disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax ; The adventure of the devil's foot ; His last bow --

The case-book of Sherlock Holmes : The adventure of the illustrious client ; The adventure of the blanched soldier ; The adventure of the Mazarin stone ; The adventure of the three gables ; The adventure of the Sussex vampire ; The adventure of the three Garridebs ; The problem of Thor Bridge ; The adventure of the creeping man ; The adventure of the lion's mane ; The adventure of the veiled lodger ; The adventure of Shoscombe old place ; The adventure of the retired colourman.]]> 1796 Arthur Conan Doyle Vandana 4 4.50 1927 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1927
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Wings of Fire: An Autobiography]]> 634583 180 A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 8173711461 Vandana 0 to-read 4.28 1999 Wings of Fire: An Autobiography
author: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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]]> The Last Lecture 2318271
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave, 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams', wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.]]> 206 Randy Pausch 1401323251 Vandana 4 4.25 2008 The Last Lecture
author: Randy Pausch
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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]]> Disclosure 7675
What follow next made Disclosure the most talked about novel of the decade.]]> 464 Michael Crichton 0099303744 Vandana 3 3.80 1994 Disclosure
author: Michael Crichton
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1994
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[A Time to Kill (Jake Brigance, #1)]]> 32542 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780385338608

Before The Firm and The Pelican Brief made him a superstar, John Grisham wrote this riveting story of retribution and justice. In this searing courtroom drama, best-selling author John Grisham probes the savage depths of racial violence, as he delivers a compelling tale of uncertain justice in a small southern town, Clanton, Mississippi.

The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. That is, until her black father acquires an assault rifle and takes matters into his hands.

For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life, and then his own.]]> 738 John Grisham Vandana 4 4.11 1989 A Time to Kill (Jake Brigance, #1)
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1989
rating: 4
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]]> Wuthering Heights 6185 You can find the redesigned cover of this edition HERE.

At the centre of this novel is the passionate love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff - recounted with such emotional intensity that a plain tale of the Yorkshire moors acquires the depth and simplicity of ancient tragedy.

This best-selling Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1847 first edition of the novel. For the Fourth Edition, the editor has collated the 1847 text with several modern editions and has corrected a number of variants, including accidentals. The text is accompanied by entirely new explanatory annotations.

New to the fourth Edition are twelve of Emily Bronte's letters regarding the publication of the 1847 edition of Wuthering Heights as well as the evolution of the 1850 edition, prose and poetry selections by the author, four reviews of the novel, and poetry selections by the author, four reviews of the novel, and Edward Chitham's insightful and informative chronology of the creative process behind the beloved work.

Five major critical interpretations of Wuthering Heights are included, three of them new to the Fourth Edition. A Stuart Daley considers the importance of chronology in the novel. J. Hillis Miller examines Wuthering Heights's problems of genre and critical reputation. Sandra M. Gilbert assesses the role of Victorian Christianity plays in the novel, while Martha Nussbaum traces the novel's romanticism. Finally, Lin Haire-Sargeant scrutinizes the role of Heathcliff in film adaptations of Wuthering Heights.

A Chronology and updated Selected Bibliography are also included.]]> 464 Emily Brontë Vandana 0 to-read 3.89 1847 Wuthering Heights
author: Emily Brontë
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1847
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]]> Anna Karenina 152
«Nos capítulos iniciais de Anna Karénina, somos conduzidos, uma e outra vez, a um sentido de analogia musical. Há efeitos de contraponto e harmonia no desenvolvimento das principais tramas do “prelúdio Oblonski� (o acidente na estação ferroviária, a zombadora discussão sobre o divórcio entre Vronski e a baronesa Chilton, o deslumbramento do fogo vermelho diante dos olhos de Anna). O método de Tolstoi é polifónico; mas as harmonias principais desen- volvem-se com uma tremenda força e amplitude. As técnicas musicais e linguísticas não podem comparar-se de um modo exato. Mas como poderíamos elucidar de outro modo o sentimento de que as novelas de Tolstoi surgem de um princípio interior de ordem e vitalidade, enquanto as dos escritores menos importantes parecem alinhavadas?»

«Anna Karénina morre no mundo do romance; mas cada vez que lemos o livro ela ressuscita, e mesmo depois de o termos acabado adquire outra vida na nossa recordação. Em cada personagem literária existe algo da Fénix imortal. Através das vidas perduráveis das suas personagens, a própria existência de Tolstoi teve a sua eternidade.» [George Steiner, Tolstoi ou Dostoievski]]]> 960 Leo Tolstoy Vandana 0 to-read 3.96 1878 Anna Karenina
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1878
rating: 0
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]]> The Catcher in the Rye 5107 It's Christmas time and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school...

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends. The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.

The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

J.D. Salinger's (1919�2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.]]> 277 J.D. Salinger 0316769177 Vandana 0 to-read 3.81 1951 The Catcher in the Rye
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)]]> 5043 Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape.

Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

For the TV tie-in edition with the same ISBN go to this Alternate Cover Edition
]]> 976 Ken Follett 045122213X Vandana 4 4.34 1989 The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
author: Ken Follett
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1989
rating: 4
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]]> Oliver Twist 18254
The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull's Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

This Penguin Classics edition of Oliver Twist is the first critical edition to faithfully reproduce the text as its earliest readers would have encountered it from its serialisation in Bentley's Miscellany, and includes an introduction by Philip Horne, a glossary of Victorian thieves' slang, a chronology of Dickens's life, a map of contemporary London and all of George Cruikshank's original illustrations.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 608 Charles Dickens Vandana 4 3.88 1838 Oliver Twist
author: Charles Dickens
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1838
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)]]> 22034
Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. The seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and the allegiance to family—these are the themes that have resonated with millions of readers around the world and made The Godfather the definitive novel of the violent subculture that, steeped in intrigue and controversy, remains indelibly etched in our collective consciousness.]]> 448 Mario Puzo Vandana 4 4.39 1969 The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)
author: Mario Puzo
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1969
rating: 4
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]]> Aesop’s Fables 21348 352 Aesop 0192840509 Vandana 2 4.07 -560 Aesop’s Fables
author: Aesop
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.07
book published: -560
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)]]> 8921 256 Arthur Conan Doyle Vandana 4 4.16 1902 The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1902
rating: 4
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]]> The Day of the Jackal 540020 Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here.

The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the  world. An assassin with a contract to kill the world's most heavily guarded man.

One  man with a rifle who can change the course of history. One man whose mission is so secretive not even his employers know his name. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal.]]> 358 Frederick Forsyth Vandana 4 4.27 1971 The Day of the Jackal
author: Frederick Forsyth
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1971
rating: 4
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]]> The Rainmaker 5349 The Rainmaker, John Grisham tells the story of a young man barely out of law school who finds himself taking on one of the most powerful, corrupt, and ruthless companies in America -- and exposing a complex, multibillion-dollar insurance scam. In his final semester of law school Rudy Baylor is required to provide free legal advice to a group of senior citizens, and it is there that he meets his first "clients," Dot and Buddy Black. Their son, Donny Ray, is dying of leukemia, and their insurance company has flatly refused to pay for his medical treatments. While Rudy is at first skeptical, he soon realizes that the Blacks really have been shockingly mistreated by the huge company, and that he just may have stumbled upon one of the largest insurance frauds anyone's ever seen -- and one of the most lucrative and important cases in the history of civil litigation. The problem is, Rudy's flat broke, has no job, hasn't even passed the bar, and is about to go head-to-head with one of the best defense attorneys -- and powerful industries -- in America.]]> 419 John Grisham Vandana 4 4.00 1995 The Rainmaker
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1995
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Importance of Being Earnest]]> 11060744 104 Oscar Wilde Vandana 5 4.26 1895 The Importance of Being Earnest
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1895
rating: 5
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]]> Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) 17212231 ‘Seek and ye shall find.�

With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings.

A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon’s knowledge of hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.

With only a few lines from Dante’s dark and epic masterpiece, The Inferno, to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the most celebrated artefacts of the Renaissance � sculptures, paintings, buildings � to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat�

Set against an extraordinary landscape inspired by one of history’s most ominous literary classics, Inferno is Dan Brown’s most compelling and thought-provoking novel yet, a breathless race-against-time thriller that will grab you from page one and not let you go until you close the book.]]> 463 Dan Brown 0385537859 Vandana 3 3.88 2013 Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Famous Five Mystery Collection (15, 19 And 20)]]> 1230618 - Five Go to Demon's Rocks
- Five Have a Mystery to Solve]]> 512 Enid Blyton 034089363X Vandana 4 4.20 2005 The Famous Five Mystery Collection (15, 19 And 20)
author: Enid Blyton
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> Tell Me Your Dreams 43326
Thus begins Sidney Sheldon's chilling new novel, Tell Me Your Dreams. Three beautiful young women are suspected of committing a series of brutal murders. The police make an arrest that leads to one of the most bizarre murder trials of the century. Based on actual events, Sheldon's novel races from London to Rome to the city of Quebec to San Francisco, with a climax that will leave the reader stunned.]]> 384 Sidney Sheldon 0446607207 Vandana 4 3.99 1998 Tell Me Your Dreams
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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date added: 2016/06/22
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]]> Robinson Crusoe 2940 288 Daniel Defoe 1587263882 Vandana 4 3.52 1719 Robinson Crusoe
author: Daniel Defoe
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1719
rating: 4
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date added: 2016/06/21
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]]> The Partner (John Grisham) 78172


But Danilo had a past with many chapters. Four years earlier he had been Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a prominent Biloxi law firm. He had a pretty wife, a new daughter, and a bright future. Then one cold winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car and died a horrible death. When he was buried his casket held nothing more than his ashes.



From a short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial. Then he fled. Six weeks later, a fortune was stolen from his ex-law firm's offshore account. And Patrick fled some more.



But they found him.]]> 0 John Grisham 0553455532 Vandana 3 3.41 1997 The Partner (John Grisham)
author: John Grisham
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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date added: 2016/06/21
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]]> The God of Small Things 37819 The God of Small Things is an award-winning landmark that started for its author an esteemed career of fiction and political commentary that continues unabated.]]> 321 Arundhati Roy Vandana 0 to-read 3.86 1997 The God of Small Things
author: Arundhati Roy
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/06/21
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]]> Gone with the Wind 18405 1037 Margaret Mitchell 0446365386 Vandana 5 4.30 1936 Gone with the Wind
author: Margaret Mitchell
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1936
rating: 5
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date added: 2016/06/18
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]]> The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Vandana 4 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 4
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]]> Hamlet 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 Vandana 4 4.02 1601 Hamlet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bourne Supremacy (Jason Bourne, #2)]]> 15769 A killer with no face, no identity and a name the world wanted to forget:

Jason Bourne

Reenter the shadowy world of Jason Bourne, an expert assassin still plagued by the splintered nightmares of his former life. This time the stakes are higher than ever. For someone else has taken on the Bourne identity—a ruthless killer who must be stopped or the world will pay a devastating price. To succeed, the real Jason Bourne must maneuver through the dangerous labyrinth of international espionage—an exotic world filled with CIA plots, turncoat agents, and ever-shifting alliances—all the while hoping to find the truth behind his haunted memories and the answers to his own fragmented past. This time there are two Bournes—and one must die.]]> 688 Robert Ludlum 0752863886 Vandana 4 4.12 1986 The Bourne Supremacy (Jason Bourne, #2)
author: Robert Ludlum
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1986
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)]]> 960
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]> 736 Dan Brown 1416524797 Vandana 4 3.95 2000 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
author: Dan Brown
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 2429135
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.]]> 480 Stieg Larsson 0670069019 Vandana 0 to-read 4.17 2005 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/06/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT]]> 105576
The book starts with a disclaimer, “This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don’t think straight.�

Three hostelmates � Alok, Hari and Ryan get off to a bad start in IIT � they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize: If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class. This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters � their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive.

Will they make it? Do under performers have a right to live? Can they show that they are not just a five-point-somebody but a five-point-someone?]]> 267 Chetan Bhagat 8129104598 Vandana 3 3.41 2004 Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT
author: Chetan Bhagat
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2016/04/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)]]> 11
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!]]> 216 Douglas Adams Vandana 3 4.21 1979 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1979
rating: 3
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]]> The Kite Runner 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Vandana 5 4.34 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> Paths of Glory 4102763 Some people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed.  People like Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison, Nancy Astor, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Edmund Hilary and Neil Armstrong—their unparalleled success has made their stories into legend.
But what if one man had such a dream, and once he’d achieved it, there was no proof that he had fulfilled his ambition?
Jeffrey Archer’s new novel, Paths of Glory, is the story of such a man—George Mallory. Born in 1886, he was a brilliant student who became part of the Bloomsbury Group at Cambridge in the early twentieth century and served in the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War I. After the war, he married, had three children, and would have spent the rest of his life as a schoolteacher, but for his love of mountain climbing.
Mallory once told a reporter that he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, “because it is there.� On his third try in 1924, at age thirty-seven, he was last seen four hundred feet from the top. His body was found in 1999, and it remains a mystery whether he and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, ever reached the summit.
In fact, not until you’ve turned the last page of Archer’s extraordinary novel will you be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to that list of legends, while another name would have to be removed.  Paths of Glory is truly a triumph.

]]> 418 Jeffrey Archer 0312539517 Vandana 5 3.93 2009 Paths of Glory
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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]]> Honor Among Thieves 79006 480 Jeffrey Archer 0312933533 Vandana 4 3.87 1993 Honor Among Thieves
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Shall We Tell the President? (Kane & Abel, #3)]]> 78989 228 Jeffrey Archer 0449208060 Vandana 3 3.73 1977 Shall We Tell the President? (Kane & Abel, #3)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1977
rating: 3
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]]> A Matter of Honor 78970
Within days, Adam's lover is brutally murdered and he's running for his life through the great cities of Europe, pursued not only by the KGB, but by the CIA and his own countrymen as well. Their common intent is to kill him before the truth comes out. While powerful men in smoke-filled rooms plot ever more ingenious means of destroying him, Adam finds himself betrayed and abandoned even by those he holds most dear.

When at last he comes to understand what he is in possession of, he's even more determined to protect it, for it's more than a matter of life and death-it's a matter of honor.]]> 368 Jeffrey Archer 0312933541 Vandana 4 3.93 1986 A Matter of Honor
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1986
rating: 4
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]]> A Prisoner of Birth 1611988 International bestseller and master storyteller Jeffrey Archer is at the very top of his game in this story of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge.

If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson the day before, or the day after, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the four prosecution witnesses are a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm's history, who is going to believe his side of the story?

Danny is sentenced to twenty-two years and sent to Belmarsh prison, the highest-security jail in the land, from where no inmate has ever escaped.

However, Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny's determination to seek revenge, and Beth's relentless quest to pursue justice, which ends up with all four fighting for their lives.

Thus begins Jeffrey Archer's most powerful novel since Kane and Abel, with a cast of characters that will remain with you long after you've turned the last page.

And if that is not enough, prepare for an ending that will shock even the most ardent of Archer's fans.

]]> 501 Jeffrey Archer 0312379293 Vandana 4 4.15 2008 A Prisoner of Birth
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Prodigal Daughter (Kane & Abel, #2)]]> 78987 With a will of steel, Polish immigrant Florentyna Rosnovski is indeed Abel’s daughter. She shares with her father a love of America, his ideals, and his dream for the future. But she wants more: to be the first female president.
HIS FUTURE IS WEALTH.
Golden boy Richard Kane was born into a life of luxury. The scion of a banking magnate he is successful, handsome, and determined to carve his own path in the world―with the woman he loves.
BUT THEIR PAST HOLDS A SECRET�
With Florentyna’s ultimate goal only a heartbeat away, both are about to discover the shattering price of power as a titanic battle of betrayal and deception reaches out from the past―a blood feud between two generations that threatens to destroy everything Florentyna and Richard have fought to achieve.]]> 485 Jeffrey Archer 0312997140 Vandana 4 3.95 1982 The Prodigal Daughter (Kane & Abel, #2)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1982
rating: 4
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]]> Kane & Abel (Kane & Abel, #1) 78983 592 Jeffrey Archer 0312995059 Vandana 5 4.31 1979 Kane & Abel (Kane & Abel, #1)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vandana
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1979
rating: 5
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]]> The Ground Beneath Her Feet 9864
At the beginning of this stunning novel, Vina Apsara, a famous and much-loved singer, is caught up in a devastating earthquake and never seen again by human eyes. This is her story, and that of Ormus Cama, the lover who finds, loses, seeks, and again finds her, over and over, throughout his own extraordinary life in music. Their epic romance is narrated by Ormus's childhood friend and Vina's sometime lover, her "back-door man," the photographer Rai, whose astonishing voice, filled with stories, images, myths, anger, wisdom, humor, and love, is perhaps the book's true hero. Telling the story of Ormus and Vina, he finds that he is also revealing his own truths: his human failings, his immortal longings. He is a man caught up in the loves and quarrels of the age's goddesses and gods, but dares to have ambitions of his own. And lives to tell the tale.

Around these three, the uncertain world itself is beginning to tremble and break. Cracks and tears have begun to appear in the fabric of the real. There are glimpses of abysses below the surfaces of things. The Ground Beneath Her Feet is Salman Rushdie's most gripping novel and his boldest imaginative act, a vision of our shaken, mutating times, an engagement with the whole of what is and what might be, an account of the intimate, flawed encounter between the East and the West, a brilliant remaking of the myth of Orpheus, a novel of high (and low) comedy, high (and low) passions, high (and low) culture. It is a tale of love, death, and rock 'n' roll.]]> 576 Salman Rushdie 0312254997 Vandana 0 currently-reading 3.81 1999 The Ground Beneath Her Feet
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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]]> The Satanic Verses 12781
From the back cover.]]> 561 Salman Rushdie 0312270828 Vandana 0 to-read 3.73 1988 The Satanic Verses
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> Chowringhee 1074682
An excerpt (Chapter 1) from the book :]]> 403 Sankar 014310103X Vandana 3 currently-reading 3.95 1962 Chowringhee
author: Sankar
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1962
rating: 3
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date added: 2015/03/17
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Macbeth 8852
This shocking tragedy - a violent caution to those seeking power for its own sake - is, to this day, one of Shakespeare’s most popular and influential masterpieces.]]> 249 William Shakespeare 0743477103 Vandana 5 3.90 1623 Macbeth
author: William Shakespeare
name: Vandana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1623
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/03/17
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]]>