en-US Mon, 19 Nov 2018 06:08:33 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 29370485
A New York Times Notable Book

Porter Wren is a Manhattan tabloid writer with an appetite for scandal. On the beat, he sells murder, tragedy, and anything that passes for truth. At home, he is a dedicated husband and father. But when a seductive stranger asks him to dig into the unsolved murder of her husband, he is drawn into a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail―one that threatens his job, his marriage, and his life.

Colin Harrison's Manhattan Night is a brilliantly drawn tableau of the gritty, gaudy city and a thrilling literary noir.]]> 368 Colin Harrison 1250119421 JOQuantaman 5 ___The author sets the table with his astute insights for the upper-middle class of NYC:
___"American urban civilization was in fact merely another form of nature itself: amoral, unpredictable, buzzing, florid, frenzied, terrifying. A place where men die the same useless deaths as did the tortoises and finches noted by Charles Darwin."
___Porter Wren is the main character, a popular columnist for a daily tabloid, who specializes in bizarre stories of human hardship. His job may appear flakey and opportunistic, but Wren is aware of his shortcomings. He has a devoted wife, a medical professional, a much-in-demand hand surgeon.
___Early in the narrative, Wren meets a young, attractive widow whose husband died under mysterious circumstance at a demolition site. For the rest of the novel, he tries to solve the cause of the husband's strange death. The investigation becomes further complicated since Wren is having an extramarital affair with the widow.
___WARNING for the prudish. There are explicit sex scenes which are raw and somewhat shocking, although I don't believe they are pornographic in any sense.
___I recommend this book. It's intense and intriguing, a realistic slice of the "APPLE"
]]> 3.74 1996
author: Colin Harrison
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2017/06/22
date added: 2018/11/19
shelves:
review:
"Manhattan Night" by Colin Harrison is for mature adults. The narrative is driven by remarkable characters. A detective mystery outside the usual formulas, it's meant for those who have mature emotions and ethical sensibilities.
___The author sets the table with his astute insights for the upper-middle class of NYC:
___"American urban civilization was in fact merely another form of nature itself: amoral, unpredictable, buzzing, florid, frenzied, terrifying. A place where men die the same useless deaths as did the tortoises and finches noted by Charles Darwin."
___Porter Wren is the main character, a popular columnist for a daily tabloid, who specializes in bizarre stories of human hardship. His job may appear flakey and opportunistic, but Wren is aware of his shortcomings. He has a devoted wife, a medical professional, a much-in-demand hand surgeon.
___Early in the narrative, Wren meets a young, attractive widow whose husband died under mysterious circumstance at a demolition site. For the rest of the novel, he tries to solve the cause of the husband's strange death. The investigation becomes further complicated since Wren is having an extramarital affair with the widow.
___WARNING for the prudish. There are explicit sex scenes which are raw and somewhat shocking, although I don't believe they are pornographic in any sense.
___I recommend this book. It's intense and intriguing, a realistic slice of the "APPLE"

]]> 33980909
The spirit of troubadour Prince John, the brother of Crown Princess Órlaith, has fallen captive to the power of the Yellow Raja and his servant, the Pallid Mask. Prince John’s motley band of friends and followers—headed by Captain Pip of Townsville and Deor Godulfson—must lead a quest through realms of shadow and dreams to rescue Prince John from a threat far worse than death.

Meanwhile, across the sea, Japanese Empress Reiko and Ă“rlaith, heir to the High Kingdom of Montival, muster their kingdoms for war, making common cause with the reborn Kingdom of Hawaii. But more than weapons or even the dark magic of the sorcerers of Pyongyang threaten them; Ă“rlaith's lover, Alan Thurston, might be more than he appears.

From the tropical waters off Hilo and Pearl Harbor, to the jungles and lost cities of the Ceram Sea, a game will be played where the fate of the world is at stake.]]> 320 S.M. Stirling 0399583173 JOQuantaman 0 to-read 3.56 2017
author: S.M. Stirling
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25267877 480 Ken Wheeler JOQuantaman 0 to-read 3.85 2014
author: Ken Wheeler
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35518459
But what starts out as a straightforward missing persons� case soon takes on a more ominous aspect as he discovers a trail of blackmail, sadistic violence, conspiracy and murder, plus an influential, privileged and poisonous presence that seems to permeate all spheres of society.

The perpetrators, however, are not expecting to encounter an individual like Beckett; an intelligent, amoral and fearless individual with a skill-set that points to a covert and violent past.

Acquiring an entrancing and mysterious female associate, his investigation leads him into London’s electrifying burlesque scene where it seems some of the answers may lie.

But no one is as they seem, and the truth is unexpected and disturbing.

Femme Fatale is the third novel by Dominic Piper featuring private investigator Daniel Beckett. The first two novels, Kiss Me When I’m Dead and Death is the New Black are critically acclaimed Amazon bestsellers.

Dominic Piper is an author living in London.]]> 562 Dominic Piper JOQuantaman 0 ___Think of Sam Spade or Richard Diamond, the unforgettable archetypes of the genre. The author has given us another archetype � Daniel Becket who seconds as the story's 1st-person narrator. I've read three of the author's books, and Becket is deserving of a star in the PI hall of fame.
___Daniel has more women at his beck & call than Don Juan, Charles Mingus and James Bond all rolled together. Women are jumping on his bandwagon because he devotes his full attention to them. He picks up on their cues. He notices their hairstyles, their choices of attire. He's willing to play whatever games they're proposing. And it doesn't hurt that Daniel is a man of mystery. Daniel is also an alpha male, very capable and heroic. This becomes evident right from the start.
___Daniel is hired by an oriental restauranteur to find a missing man who's a kind of enforcer. The search leads to his girlfriend who happens to be a renowned burlesque dancer. Burlesque (unlike striptease) is the artful peeling away of seven veils. This metaphor is repeated in several guises throughout the narrative. The ramping up of erotic heat, the disrobing of fabrics and the unwrapping of new clues happen simultaneously in multilayered scenes, for which the author has a deft, masterly touch.
___The author evokes the most exciting pleasures and exposes the worst of human depravities. What more can you ask for? I recommend this book for adults and hedonists of all ages. Five Stars.
]]> 4.65
author: Dominic Piper
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2017/07/28
date added: 2017/08/05
shelves:
review:
"Femme Fatale" by Dominic Piper is a "Private Eye" detective thriller. It follows the classic formula: 1) PI is hired by weird patron; 2) PI must solve a difficult mystery; 2) In the process PI is captured and injured; 3) PI manages to survive and solve the case. I should add there are episodes of erotic romance and outbursts of ribald humor interwoven with the plot.
___Think of Sam Spade or Richard Diamond, the unforgettable archetypes of the genre. The author has given us another archetype � Daniel Becket who seconds as the story's 1st-person narrator. I've read three of the author's books, and Becket is deserving of a star in the PI hall of fame.
___Daniel has more women at his beck & call than Don Juan, Charles Mingus and James Bond all rolled together. Women are jumping on his bandwagon because he devotes his full attention to them. He picks up on their cues. He notices their hairstyles, their choices of attire. He's willing to play whatever games they're proposing. And it doesn't hurt that Daniel is a man of mystery. Daniel is also an alpha male, very capable and heroic. This becomes evident right from the start.
___Daniel is hired by an oriental restauranteur to find a missing man who's a kind of enforcer. The search leads to his girlfriend who happens to be a renowned burlesque dancer. Burlesque (unlike striptease) is the artful peeling away of seven veils. This metaphor is repeated in several guises throughout the narrative. The ramping up of erotic heat, the disrobing of fabrics and the unwrapping of new clues happen simultaneously in multilayered scenes, for which the author has a deft, masterly touch.
___The author evokes the most exciting pleasures and exposes the worst of human depravities. What more can you ask for? I recommend this book for adults and hedonists of all ages. Five Stars.

]]> 32148091 Meet Jane Hawk—a remarkable new heroine certain to become an icon of suspense, propelled by the singular narrative genius of #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz.

“I very much need to be dead.�

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for—but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important—so terrifying—that they will exterminate anyone in their way.

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless—and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.]]> 434 Dean Koontz 0345545990 JOQuantaman 0 to-read 3.79 2017
author: Dean Koontz
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25472619
KIRKUS REVIEW: "Loose Threads: Cool Assassins 1"
# Quantaman introduces an elite team of spies in this debut sci-fi novel.
# In the not-too-distant future, Nyssa Persson wakes up in a hospital room with a shaved head, unsure of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is fleeing the goons of her Bossman, a pimp who has kept her in servitude for three years. A nurse enters and greets her with a bright smile: “Awake at last�.Welcome to Dog Breakfast co-op.�
# The co-op turns out to be a democratic community of agents and spies who serve as a check against polluters, plutocrats, and corporate pirates. Nyssa, who’s persuaded to join the group, submits herself to rigorous martial arts training and learns to put her biography to use in the service of espionage.
# Her path intersects with a number of colorful outsiders, including Jenna Marov, a world-class climber who suffers from vertigo and was recently imprisoned in a terrorist detention facility, and Yamazaki Kazuo, a security chief and former kickboxer who still obsesses over a brief encounter with a femme fatale. The deception is taxing, and the work dangerous, but Nyssa is adamant about using her skills to help create a better world. More important, she’s finally found a community that feels like home.
# The novel features some interesting graphic flourishes, including double-indented lines that reveal first-person character thoughts in the otherwise third-person narration. A number of colored maps and charts are included to help the reader feel closer to the action. End material boasts a glossary of futuristic jargon and an excerpt from a sequel novel.
# Quantaman’s prose style is concise and staccato (“He reckons the rump in the Diet will pressure the ZEST tribunal to rubberstamp Nozokuroba’s wunderkind�), sprinkled with real and invented slang as well as the haikulike inner thoughts of his characters. The protagonists are terse and single-minded, yet Quantaman’s world is so immersive and foreign that they don’t feel flat. The plot leaps about in time and between storylines, maintaining a dynamism that keeps a reader on his toes. There is much here that will likely enlist fans for further adventures set in this idiosyncratic universe.
# A sci-fi tale with a distinctive voice and a determined heroine.
—Kirkus Reviews
]]> 425 J.O. Quantaman JOQuantaman 5 3.80 2015
author: J.O. Quantaman
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 279476 translated and accompanied by a lucid introduction, explanatory notes, bibliographies, maps, and indexes.]]> 528 Plutarch 0192825011 JOQuantaman 4 4.00 100
author: Plutarch
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.00
book published: 100
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 13600900
With the war in Europe at an end, Hammond returns to Washington only to find his unit disbanded and his wife moved out of the marital home.

Ostracized by the Washington elite, publicly humiliated by an unfaithful wife, and scorned by former friends and colleagues, he is forced to take a mundane job with an insurance company. . . But then comes the call.

The State Department wants him to rescue a young woman, trapped in Soviet East Germany. Should he succeed a plum job at The State Department awaits.
Desperate for deliverance from his humdrum existence, Hammond accepts the assignment.

He heads into enemy territory, unaware of the sinister force that sponsored his mission or of the unseen dangers that lie in wait. He only knows that he must somehow save the girl to save himself, but as his enemies close in, and ever-more disturbing revelations come to light, Gerald Hammond begins to wonder which poses the greatest threat. . .

The enemy he runs from, the friend he runs to, or the girl he was sent to save?]]> 464 Michael Patrick Clark 1475078064 JOQuantaman 5 ___This eBook has plenty of suspense, plus it has a cavalcade of well-drawn characters, both fictitious and historical. In truth, the narrative covers the period when the OSS was devolving to form the CIA. The author must've done extensive research or acquired access to firsthand sources to have rendered the period so accurately. The narrative covers the perilous years between the final victories of WWII and the start of the Cold War. A foolish misunderstanding could've brought on Nuclear Holocaust instead of the 70-year relative "peace" which we've enjoyed to this day.
___Back then, human agents still performed most of the espionage chores. There were no satellite or drone photos to replace the dare-devils at ground zero.
___The cast of characters include sleuths from the Western and Eastern sides of the conflict as well as ex-Nazis whose invaluable info absolved them from justified punishments.
___The narrative is well-crafted and strewn with plausible characters who grapple with greed versus loyalty and fear versus courage. This isn't a book for close-minded folks. At the end you will be exposed to the realities of 20th-century power games and the underpinnings of democracy. Like all worthwhile novels, the novel will leave you with a banquet of food for thought.
___Absolutely recommended for all lovers of full-bodied espionage. Five Stars.]]> 3.44 2012
author: Michael Patrick Clark
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/04/09
shelves:
review:
"The Folks at Fifty-Eight" by Michael Patrick Clark is an Adult-Espionage Thriller. Most espionage books are escapist fantasies with cliché characters, plot twists and nonstop suspense.
___This eBook has plenty of suspense, plus it has a cavalcade of well-drawn characters, both fictitious and historical. In truth, the narrative covers the period when the OSS was devolving to form the CIA. The author must've done extensive research or acquired access to firsthand sources to have rendered the period so accurately. The narrative covers the perilous years between the final victories of WWII and the start of the Cold War. A foolish misunderstanding could've brought on Nuclear Holocaust instead of the 70-year relative "peace" which we've enjoyed to this day.
___Back then, human agents still performed most of the espionage chores. There were no satellite or drone photos to replace the dare-devils at ground zero.
___The cast of characters include sleuths from the Western and Eastern sides of the conflict as well as ex-Nazis whose invaluable info absolved them from justified punishments.
___The narrative is well-crafted and strewn with plausible characters who grapple with greed versus loyalty and fear versus courage. This isn't a book for close-minded folks. At the end you will be exposed to the realities of 20th-century power games and the underpinnings of democracy. Like all worthwhile novels, the novel will leave you with a banquet of food for thought.
___Absolutely recommended for all lovers of full-bodied espionage. Five Stars.
]]> 31555832 Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco. Drug money is everywhere. Corruption is as common as the salt breeze off the ocean.
Ěý
Three cops have been murdered. You worked with them all.
Ěý
Your partner's wife is killed in a home invasion. Was he the real target?
Ěý
Are you the next?
Ěý
Detective Emilia Cruz is still reeling from the death of Franco Silvio's wife and a shakeup in the detectives squadroom when she's reassigned. Her new police unit is a political time bomb championed by Acapulco's ambitious mayor and overseen by a shady union strongman.
Ěý
Despite the new job, Emilia is determined to crack the so-called El Trio murders before the cop killer strikes again. Unexpected help comes from a frightened attorney and a famous movie star, but each new clue unravels the one before.
Ěý
Meanwhile, Emilia's ongoing hunt for a missing girl from her own neighborhood leads to the infamous El Pharaoh casino. Emilia and Silvio have been there before.
Ěý
They weren't lucky. Certain people want to make sure they won't be this time, either.
Ěý
Emilia doesn't have a winning hand, and her gamble to save her old partner results in a shocking Mexican standoff.
Ěý
Hold or fold.
Ěý
Which would you choose?
Ěý
"Amato weaves an intricate assortment of themes into a vivid tapestry that depicts both the beauty and ugliness of Acapulco . . . The investigative pace holds steady, with danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS
Ěý
Get the entire DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ SERIES
Cliff Diver
Hat Dance
Diablo Nights
King Peso
Pacific Reaper
43 Missing
Made in AcapulcoĚý]]> 312 Carmen Amato 0985325666 JOQuantaman 5 # I can say "King Peso" is a stand-alone because I've read the 1st-three eBooks of Detective Cruz: Cliff Diver, Hat Dance, Diablo Nights. Some years ago I found "Cliff Diver" an impressive debut, both as an engaging mystery and as a biting satire of the social quagmire that exists in Mexico. I'd forgotten many details of the plot and characters, but I had no trouble catching the drift in 4th-novel. With "King Peso" Carman Amato exhibits unparalleled command of the genre. The character of Emilia Cruz has come of age. She has fought her way through a male-dominated profession to gain respect from friends and foes alike. She has remained true to her ideals in the pursuit of justice. Her personal life is becoming more stabilized. All of which leaves her more time and energy to investigate crimes and pursue criminals.
# As readers should know, Mexico has a small upper class of high rollers and masses of disenfranchised poor. The disparity harkens back to the age of discovery when Spanish conquerors became overlords to the aboriginals who provided the slave labor for silver mines and cattle ranches. More recently, the NAFTA trade deal has exasperated the income disparity as financial sharks from the north partner with Mexican aristocrats to launch factories powered by cheap labor. As well, Mexico is a convenient tourist destination for well-to-do foreigners wishing to escape frigid winters. So contemporary Acapulco is a wry mixture of hedonistic luxury and tragic poverty. You'll see resplendent resorts for wealthy tourists alongside neighborhoods without electricity or clean water.
# Couple the above with a corrupt government where image and political correctness count way more than providing basic services. The rare government officer who tries to do an honest job is targeted for assassination by the drug cartels. Emilia Cruz has to almost topple the whole house of cards before she can get the corrupt bureaucracy to function as it should.
# Emilia Cruz is an iconic character. Having grown up in poverty and having to care for an "absent minded" mother, Emilia has fought very hard to become a topnotch detective. Kurt, her boyfriend, is the manager of a five-star luxury resort. He competes at Triathlon competitions. Yet most of Emilia's friends are from the poor neighborhoods where she grew up. She is the poster face of Acapulco as well as champion of the poor and downtrodden. She keeps a personal file of missing women who are routinely ignored by the established law enforcement. She sticks her nose into areas that are bound to rouse drug lords to order her snuffed. She must keep her eyes on the rearview mirror at all times.
# "King Peso" is a 5-star mystery and a brilliant satire on the corrupt government officials. And don't think it only happens in Mexico. Government waste is endemic in both Canada and USA.
]]> 4.20
author: Carmen Amato
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/13
date added: 2016/10/13
shelves:
review:
"King Peso" by Carmen Amato is a topnotch detective mystery. It is a stand-alone classic. By that I mean the narrative unfolds from the detective's point of view. The reader is given no more, no less information than the protagonist who is Emilia Cruz, the first female detective in Acapulco's police force.
# I can say "King Peso" is a stand-alone because I've read the 1st-three eBooks of Detective Cruz: Cliff Diver, Hat Dance, Diablo Nights. Some years ago I found "Cliff Diver" an impressive debut, both as an engaging mystery and as a biting satire of the social quagmire that exists in Mexico. I'd forgotten many details of the plot and characters, but I had no trouble catching the drift in 4th-novel. With "King Peso" Carman Amato exhibits unparalleled command of the genre. The character of Emilia Cruz has come of age. She has fought her way through a male-dominated profession to gain respect from friends and foes alike. She has remained true to her ideals in the pursuit of justice. Her personal life is becoming more stabilized. All of which leaves her more time and energy to investigate crimes and pursue criminals.
# As readers should know, Mexico has a small upper class of high rollers and masses of disenfranchised poor. The disparity harkens back to the age of discovery when Spanish conquerors became overlords to the aboriginals who provided the slave labor for silver mines and cattle ranches. More recently, the NAFTA trade deal has exasperated the income disparity as financial sharks from the north partner with Mexican aristocrats to launch factories powered by cheap labor. As well, Mexico is a convenient tourist destination for well-to-do foreigners wishing to escape frigid winters. So contemporary Acapulco is a wry mixture of hedonistic luxury and tragic poverty. You'll see resplendent resorts for wealthy tourists alongside neighborhoods without electricity or clean water.
# Couple the above with a corrupt government where image and political correctness count way more than providing basic services. The rare government officer who tries to do an honest job is targeted for assassination by the drug cartels. Emilia Cruz has to almost topple the whole house of cards before she can get the corrupt bureaucracy to function as it should.
# Emilia Cruz is an iconic character. Having grown up in poverty and having to care for an "absent minded" mother, Emilia has fought very hard to become a topnotch detective. Kurt, her boyfriend, is the manager of a five-star luxury resort. He competes at Triathlon competitions. Yet most of Emilia's friends are from the poor neighborhoods where she grew up. She is the poster face of Acapulco as well as champion of the poor and downtrodden. She keeps a personal file of missing women who are routinely ignored by the established law enforcement. She sticks her nose into areas that are bound to rouse drug lords to order her snuffed. She must keep her eyes on the rearview mirror at all times.
# "King Peso" is a 5-star mystery and a brilliant satire on the corrupt government officials. And don't think it only happens in Mexico. Government waste is endemic in both Canada and USA.

]]> 25285850
Where Angels Prey is a rip roaring piece of (crime) fiction that travels from New York to India via many countries. At the very core, it is a story of extreme greed on the part of a few to amass a huge fortune. Just as Don Corleone says in Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather', "Behind every successful fortune there is a crime�, the plot in Where Angels Prey has a whole gamut of characters, each of whom is an important link in the chain of events that lead to this massive global crime. And what is interesting is that, this UNIQUE and gripping plot is presented with all the twists and turns you would find in a commercial film screenplay almost.
While the rest of the world reels under a severe financial crisis, Wall Street pours huge money into India to help its poor - a somewhat strange happening indeed. Intrigued, Robert Bradlee, senior correspondent with The New York Post, sets off to investigate, along with his journalist friend, Chandresh. Little does he know that his search for a scoop would lead him through a complex multi-pronged web of deceit, fraud, manipulation and financial crime, remote controlled from distant lands by an entire chain of financial sector stakeholders.
Gripping, racy and meticulously researched, this financial crime thriller weaves in and out of the affluent world of high-powered boardrooms and the gruelling poverty of the remotest villages of India, to reveal the devastating truths that often lurk behind “good intentions.”]]> 206 Ramesh S. Arunachalam 9384439363 JOQuantaman 4 # Some readers may be familiar with microfinancing which was pioneered by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his efforts to help rural Bangladeshi women by empowering them with small loans. In the early phases, the Grameen Bank was nonprofit and underwritten by Muhammad Yunus. Even before the bank went commercial, his success in aiding the poor may have been overstated.
# To western observers, it seemed like a golden opportunity to earn profits from the rural poor who had previously been dismissed as too illiterate to bother with. Investment bankers pointed out that 100 loans of $100 would earn the same return as a $10,000 loan to one corporate client.
# SPOILER ALERT: skip the rest of this review if you like being mystified.
# Bob, one of the main characters, is a high-profile reporter for the New York Post. He's intrigued by Prasad Kamineni who has brought Wall Street investors onboard to expand his microfinancing of India's rural poor. Bob has his doubts, since the bubble has just burst on mortgage-backed securities, and bankers have grown risk shy. Meanwhile a number of rural India women are committing suicide. Bob decides to research the microfinancing phenomena and Prasad Kamineni in particular.
# Chandresh Rajan is Bob's local contact in India. Chandresh has contacts on all sides of issue, even among the Maoist anarchists. He uncovers a chain of parasites from loan collectors, to crime bosses and crooked politicians. Meanwhile, Bob tracks down the money trail through holding companies in several countries and eventually back to Wall Street. In short, microfinancing becomes revealed as a heartless exploitation of rural women that it's supposed to help. The evidence is plain as day, but government higher-ups kill the investigation before it implicates the ruling party.
# Prasad Kamineni bows out and disappears for a few years. Then he's back in business, working the same scam for a microfinancing bank with a different name. Bob wins a prestigious award for investigative journalism. Chandresh Rajan knows the real culprits have gotten off Scott-free.
# Some readers may think this scam can only happen in a 3rd-world country where the marks are country bumpkins. Think again. The global financial sector is as crooked as a three-dollar bill. The mortgage-backed fiasco was a tad more sophisticated than duping illiterate housewives in rural India, but it was just as exploitive. And the real culprits got off Scott-free. Sad but true.
]]> 3.91 2015
author: Ramesh S. Arunachalam
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/09/27
date added: 2016/09/29
shelves:
review:
"Where Angels Prey" by Ramesh S Arunachalam is a detective novel looking at social injustice. The author has chosen a subject that is very difficult to explain, and he has succeeded.
# Some readers may be familiar with microfinancing which was pioneered by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his efforts to help rural Bangladeshi women by empowering them with small loans. In the early phases, the Grameen Bank was nonprofit and underwritten by Muhammad Yunus. Even before the bank went commercial, his success in aiding the poor may have been overstated.
# To western observers, it seemed like a golden opportunity to earn profits from the rural poor who had previously been dismissed as too illiterate to bother with. Investment bankers pointed out that 100 loans of $100 would earn the same return as a $10,000 loan to one corporate client.
# SPOILER ALERT: skip the rest of this review if you like being mystified.
# Bob, one of the main characters, is a high-profile reporter for the New York Post. He's intrigued by Prasad Kamineni who has brought Wall Street investors onboard to expand his microfinancing of India's rural poor. Bob has his doubts, since the bubble has just burst on mortgage-backed securities, and bankers have grown risk shy. Meanwhile a number of rural India women are committing suicide. Bob decides to research the microfinancing phenomena and Prasad Kamineni in particular.
# Chandresh Rajan is Bob's local contact in India. Chandresh has contacts on all sides of issue, even among the Maoist anarchists. He uncovers a chain of parasites from loan collectors, to crime bosses and crooked politicians. Meanwhile, Bob tracks down the money trail through holding companies in several countries and eventually back to Wall Street. In short, microfinancing becomes revealed as a heartless exploitation of rural women that it's supposed to help. The evidence is plain as day, but government higher-ups kill the investigation before it implicates the ruling party.
# Prasad Kamineni bows out and disappears for a few years. Then he's back in business, working the same scam for a microfinancing bank with a different name. Bob wins a prestigious award for investigative journalism. Chandresh Rajan knows the real culprits have gotten off Scott-free.
# Some readers may think this scam can only happen in a 3rd-world country where the marks are country bumpkins. Think again. The global financial sector is as crooked as a three-dollar bill. The mortgage-backed fiasco was a tad more sophisticated than duping illiterate housewives in rural India, but it was just as exploitive. And the real culprits got off Scott-free. Sad but true.

]]> 19423651 380 Preston Fleming 0999441825 JOQuantaman 5 currently-reading 3.94 2011
author: Preston Fleming
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/09/13
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 20758057
Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism. Sven Beckert’s rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world. Here is the story of how, beginning well before the advent of machine production in the 1780s, these men captured ancient trades and skills in Asia, and combined them with the expropriation of lands in the Americas and the enslavement of African workers to crucially reshape the disparate realms of cotton that had existed for millennia, and how industrial capitalism gave birth to an empire, and how this force transformed the world.

The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. The result is a book as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist.

]]> 640 Sven Beckert 0375414142 JOQuantaman 5 3.88 2014
author: Sven Beckert
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2014
rating: 5
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]]> 5227222
Anita lives in two worlds: the modern world of supermarkets and sports cars, radio and rock & roll, where she is a thoroughly modern girl with a thoroughly modern interest in boys and fast living and her own independence. But the ancient and rustic world of traditions, cauldrons, and familiars , where she and her Granny (a witch of the Old School, broom and all) invoke elemental spirits int he service of Him Wot's Down Under. She has senses no ordinary mortal can imagine (at least nine); with them, she can hear the voices of every creature of the night. She can changer her shape, call a drowned corpse from a lake, reverse the flow of time, and ride the Sea Serpent (there's only the one, you know; always has been -- always will be) deep into the ocean in the company of a mermaid, even though the modern world is trying to crowd aside -- and even change -- that world of witchcraft and magic. Yet, complicated as a young witch's life may become, Anita never loses her sense of fun, or her essential innocence.

When the Anita stories first appeared in Science Fantasy and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in the late 1960s, they were immediately recognized as a strikingly original departure for the author of such celebrated works as Pavane. One critic called the original 1970 collection of these stories a "treasure." This new volume presents the stories in the author's corrected, definitive texts, a new introduction by the author, and an additional story which did not appear in the first edition.]]> 221 Keith Roberts 0860000702 JOQuantaman 5 3.49 1990
author: Keith Roberts
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.49
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rating: 5
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]]> 53981 360 Karl Polanyi 080705643X JOQuantaman 5 "The Great Transformation" by Karl Polanyi is a classic economic exposé. It was written during WWI and first published shortly thereafter. It doesn't contain or mention postwar economic refinements. It does explore the economic attitudes that accompanied the Industrial Revolution. Polanyi's incisive analysis is no less relevant today than it was 70 years ago.
# In short, Polanyi debunks the free-market economy. He debunks economists who call for less government interference. Whenever markets have been deregulated, bad things have happened. Financial players if left unopposed have boosted prices to fantastic levels that bear no resemblance to reality. Employers if left unopposed have dehumanized workers till they've become mere commodities or zombie machines. Landowners if left unopposed have turned thriving ecological systems into wastelands that are the remains of short-term profits.
# From the 17th-century till WWII, Polanyi gives concrete examples where governments have been forced to intervene in the market economy to prevent social catastrophes. The old saw that "supply and demand will prove beneficial for everyone" is debunked six ways to Sunday.
# The major problem for economic theorists is that they assume human industry is somehow divorced from Nature. They take no account of the capital losses to The Commons when metal ingots are extracted from the earth. New reserves of gold, copper or oil are recorded as gifts from on high. Economic ledgers make no allowance for the "consumed" oil as if it will always be there in limitless supply.
# Without a social conscience, business reverts to a destructive plague that helps no one but the elite at the top of the rock pile. Polanyi documents the countless results of deregulation from 1795 to 1940. In every case, unfettered markets dehumanized the bulk of citizens. Unfettered markets bankrupted traditional family farms. They lowered wages, created greater unemployment, promoted unhealthy lifestyles, destroyed priceless artifacts and assigned nonsensical values to everyday staples.
# At present, we live on the fragile surface of a bubble which has been stretched out of all proportion.
# Over 90% of the money that is recognized in international trade is monopoly money i.e. M2, M3, M4, etc. You or I cannot spend monopoly money. We only see the currencies issued by banks i.e. M1. Our money (M1) is taxed to the hilt since it represents transactions in the REAL economy. The elite industrialists, investment bankers and absentee landlords deal with monopoly money. Only THEY can turn monopoly money into currencies that will buy stuff in the real world. Worse, monopoly money is rarely if ever taxed. 99% of us work to support governments that give the elites a free ride.
# One day the bubble of interdependent debt will burst. Most of us will become destitute, but the elite will retain their assets because monopoly money won't be touched. It's fantasy money afterall. Only everyday currencies will disappear or become worthless as toilet paper.
# I recommend Karl Polanyi's "The Great Transformation" and please take his advice to heart before robots, controlled by the elite, herd all of us into concentration camps.
]]> 4.21 1944
author: Karl Polanyi
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1944
rating: 5
read at: 2016/07/01
date added: 2016/07/02
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Transvaluation of Values
"The Great Transformation" by Karl Polanyi is a classic economic exposé. It was written during WWI and first published shortly thereafter. It doesn't contain or mention postwar economic refinements. It does explore the economic attitudes that accompanied the Industrial Revolution. Polanyi's incisive analysis is no less relevant today than it was 70 years ago.
# In short, Polanyi debunks the free-market economy. He debunks economists who call for less government interference. Whenever markets have been deregulated, bad things have happened. Financial players if left unopposed have boosted prices to fantastic levels that bear no resemblance to reality. Employers if left unopposed have dehumanized workers till they've become mere commodities or zombie machines. Landowners if left unopposed have turned thriving ecological systems into wastelands that are the remains of short-term profits.
# From the 17th-century till WWII, Polanyi gives concrete examples where governments have been forced to intervene in the market economy to prevent social catastrophes. The old saw that "supply and demand will prove beneficial for everyone" is debunked six ways to Sunday.
# The major problem for economic theorists is that they assume human industry is somehow divorced from Nature. They take no account of the capital losses to The Commons when metal ingots are extracted from the earth. New reserves of gold, copper or oil are recorded as gifts from on high. Economic ledgers make no allowance for the "consumed" oil as if it will always be there in limitless supply.
# Without a social conscience, business reverts to a destructive plague that helps no one but the elite at the top of the rock pile. Polanyi documents the countless results of deregulation from 1795 to 1940. In every case, unfettered markets dehumanized the bulk of citizens. Unfettered markets bankrupted traditional family farms. They lowered wages, created greater unemployment, promoted unhealthy lifestyles, destroyed priceless artifacts and assigned nonsensical values to everyday staples.
# At present, we live on the fragile surface of a bubble which has been stretched out of all proportion.
# Over 90% of the money that is recognized in international trade is monopoly money i.e. M2, M3, M4, etc. You or I cannot spend monopoly money. We only see the currencies issued by banks i.e. M1. Our money (M1) is taxed to the hilt since it represents transactions in the REAL economy. The elite industrialists, investment bankers and absentee landlords deal with monopoly money. Only THEY can turn monopoly money into currencies that will buy stuff in the real world. Worse, monopoly money is rarely if ever taxed. 99% of us work to support governments that give the elites a free ride.
# One day the bubble of interdependent debt will burst. Most of us will become destitute, but the elite will retain their assets because monopoly money won't be touched. It's fantasy money afterall. Only everyday currencies will disappear or become worthless as toilet paper.
# I recommend Karl Polanyi's "The Great Transformation" and please take his advice to heart before robots, controlled by the elite, herd all of us into concentration camps.

]]> 11376 Main Street, the story of an idealistic young woman's attempts to reform her small town, brought Lewis immediate acclaim when it was published in 1920. It remains one of the essential texts of the American scene. Lewis Mumford observed: "In Main Street an American had at last written of our life with something of the intellectual rigor and critical detachment that had seemed so cruel and unjustified [in Charles Dickens and Matthew Arnold]. Young people had grown up in this environment, suffocated, stultified, helpless, but unable to find any reason for their spiritual discomfort. Mr. Lewis released them." Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota and graduated from Yale in 1907. In 1930 he became the first American recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Main Street (1920) was his first critical and commercial success. Lewis's other noted books include Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith (1925), Elmer Gantry (1927), Dodsworth (1929), and It Can't Happen Here (1935).']]> 454 Sinclair Lewis 0375753141 JOQuantaman 3 3.78 1920
author: Sinclair Lewis
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1920
rating: 3
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]]> 3690
In his introduction, John Updike calls The Power and the Glory, "Graham Greene's masterpiece�. The energy and grandeur of his finest novel derive from the will toward compassion, an ideal communism even more Christian than Communist."]]> 222 Graham Greene 0142437301 JOQuantaman 3 3.99 1940
author: Graham Greene
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1940
rating: 3
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]]> 2175 329 Gustave Flaubert 0192840398 JOQuantaman 3 3.70 1856
author: Gustave Flaubert
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1856
rating: 3
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]]> 78433 The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience.

It opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.

For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious. The Blind Assassin proves once again that Atwood is one of the most talented, daring, and exciting writers of our time. Like The Handmaid's Tale, it is destined to become a classic.]]> 637 Margaret Atwood JOQuantaman 4 3.96 2000
author: Margaret Atwood
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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]]> 1852 The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.]]> 172 Jack London JOQuantaman 4 3.89 1903
author: Jack London
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1903
rating: 4
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]]> 1525808 141 J.R. Cuenot 8477110972 JOQuantaman 5 3.88 1605
author: J.R. Cuenot
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1605
rating: 5
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]]> 46170 For Whom the Bell Tolls. The story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain, it tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. In his portrayal of Jordan's love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo's last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving and wise. "If the function of a writer is to reveal reality," Maxwell Perkins wrote to Hemingway after reading the manuscript, "no one ever so completely performed it." Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author's previous works, it stands as one of the best war novels of all time.]]> 471 Ernest Hemingway JOQuantaman 4 3.98 1940
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1940
rating: 4
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]]> 355697
In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the �glorious war�. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young �unknown soldier� experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.]]> 296 Erich Maria Remarque 0449213943 JOQuantaman 4 4.04 1928
author: Erich Maria Remarque
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1928
rating: 4
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]]> 46756 Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.]]> 389 Margaret Atwood JOQuantaman 4 4.01 2003
author: Margaret Atwood
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> 12194
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties. He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent world. He was a master prose stylist who brought a distinctly non-English tragic sensibility into English literature.

Contents:

Lord Jim

Memoirs & Letters:

A Personal Record; or Some Reminiscences

The Mirror of the Sea

Notes on Life & Letters

Biography & Critical Essays:

Joseph Conrad (A Biography) by Hugh Walpole

Joseph Conrad by John Albert Macy

A Conrad Miscellany by John Albert Macy

Joseph Conrad by Virginia Woolf]]> 455 Joseph Conrad 1551111721 JOQuantaman 3 3.63 1900
author: Joseph Conrad
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1900
rating: 3
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]]> 12467
Written in gritty, journalistic detail, the story follows a platoon of Marines who are stationed on the Japanese-held island of Anopopei. Composed in 1948 with the wisdom of a man twice Mailer's age and the raw courage of the young man he was, The Naked and the Dead is representative of the best in twentieth-century American writing.]]> 721 Norman Mailer 0312265050 JOQuantaman 3 3.94 1948
author: Norman Mailer
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1948
rating: 3
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]]> 10799 A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield - the weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote his ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right.]]> 293 Ernest Hemingway 0099910101 JOQuantaman 3 3.83 1929
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1929
rating: 3
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]]> 5326
Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.]]> 184 Charles Dickens 1561797464 JOQuantaman 4 4.06 1843
author: Charles Dickens
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1843
rating: 4
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]]> 11989
It tells the story from the point of view of a narrator of a plague sweeping the French Algerian city of Oran. The narrator remains unknown until the start of the last chapter, chapter 5 of part 5. The novel presents a snapshot of life in Oran as seen through the author's distinctive absurdist point of view.

The book tells a gripping tale of human unrelieved horror, of survival and resilience, and of the ways in which humankind confronts death, The Plague is at once a masterfully crafted novel, eloquently understated and epic in scope, and a parable of ageless moral resonance, profoundly relevant to our times. In Oran, a coastal town in North Africa, the plague begins as a series of portents, unheeded by the people. It gradually becomes an omnipresent reality, obliterating all traces of the past and driving its victims to almost unearthly extremes of suffering, madness, and compassion.

The Plague is considered an existentialist classic despite Camus' objection to the label. The novel stresses the powerlessness of the individual characters to affect their destinies. The narrative tone is similar to Kafka's, especially in The Trial, whose individual sentences potentially have multiple meanings; the material often pointedly resonating as stark allegory of phenomenal consciousness and the human condition.]]> 308 Albert Camus JOQuantaman 4 4.05 1947
author: Albert Camus
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1947
rating: 4
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]]> 485894 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."]]> 201 Franz Kafka 0553213695 JOQuantaman 4 3.90 1915
author: Franz Kafka
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.90
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]]> 99944 Mahabharata incorporates Bhagavad-Gita, a sacred Hindu text that takes the form of a philosophical dialogue in which Krishna instructs Arjuna, the prince, in ethical matters and the nature of God.

Krishna expounds the nature and the way that humans can come to know God to Arjuna, the warrior prince in the Bhagavad-Gita.

Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic, contains the text of the Bhagavad-Gita.

This early epic poem recounts the conversation between the warrior and his charioteer, the divine manifestation. It sets out the important lessons to learn to change the outcome of the war in the moments before a great battle that the warrior fights, and culminates in revealing the true cosmic warrior and counselling him to search for the universal perfection of life. This most important work ranges from yoga postures to dense moral discussion and serves as a practical guide to living well.]]> 160 Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa 0140449183 JOQuantaman 3 4.13 -400
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name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.13
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rating: 3
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]]> 52036 152 Hermann Hesse JOQuantaman 3 4.07 1922
author: Hermann Hesse
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1922
rating: 3
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]]> 13033 Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960).

Justine, Balthazar, and Mountolive use varied viewpoints to relate a series of events in Alexandria before World War II. In Clea, the story continues into the years during the war.

One L.G. Darley is the primary observer of the events, which include events in the lives of those he loves, and those he knows. In Justine, Darley attempts to recover from and put into perspective his recently ended affair with a woman. Balthazar reinterprets the romantic perspective he placed on the affair and its aftermath in Justine, in more philosophical and intellectual terms.

Mountolive tells a story minus interpretation, and Clea reveals Darley's healing, and coming to love another woman.]]> 884 Lawrence Durrell 0140153179 JOQuantaman 4 4.17 1960
author: Lawrence Durrell
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1960
rating: 4
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]]> 32071 "She was a brazen hussy."

"She wasn't. And she was pretty, wasn't she?"

"I didn't look ... And tell your girls, my son, that when they're running after you, they're not to come and ask your mother for you - tell them that - brazen baggages you meet at dancing classes"

The marriage of Gertrude and Walter Morel has become a battleground. Repelled by her uneducated and sometimes violent husband, delicate Gertrude devotes her life to her children, especially to her sons, William and Paul - determined they will not follow their father into working down the coal mines. But conflict is evitable when Paul seeks to escape his mother's suffocating grasp through relationships with women his own age. Set in Lawrence's native Nottinghamshire, Sons and Lovers is a highly autobiographical and compelling portrayal of childhood, adolescence and the clash of generations.]]> 654 D.H. Lawrence JOQuantaman 3 3.65 1913
author: D.H. Lawrence
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1913
rating: 3
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]]> 115476 ]]> 336 Joseph Conrad 0486424529 JOQuantaman 4 3.81 1904
author: Joseph Conrad
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1904
rating: 4
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]]> 7588 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.]]> 329 James Joyce 0142437344 JOQuantaman 3 3.64 1916
author: James Joyce
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1916
rating: 3
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]]> 4900
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted, Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written.]]> 188 Joseph Conrad 1892295490 JOQuantaman 5 3.43 1899
author: Joseph Conrad
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1899
rating: 5
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]]> 18135 Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers� final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.]]> 281 William Shakespeare 0743477111 JOQuantaman 4 3.74 1597
author: William Shakespeare
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.74
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rating: 4
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]]> 6514 294 Sylvia Plath 0571268862 JOQuantaman 4 4.05 1963
author: Sylvia Plath
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1963
rating: 4
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]]> 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 JOQuantaman 5 4.17 2005
author: Stieg Larsson
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.17
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rating: 5
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]]> 34
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them

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

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
--back cover]]> 398 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346252 JOQuantaman 4 4.36 1954
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1954
rating: 4
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]]> 930
In "Memoirs of a Geisha," we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction - at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful - and completely unforgettable.]]> 434 Arthur Golden 0739326228 JOQuantaman 3 4.07 1997
author: Arthur Golden
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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]]> 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X JOQuantaman 4 4.34 2003
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> 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 JOQuantaman 4 3.81 1951
author: J.D. Salinger
name: JOQuantaman
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 4
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]]>