Jo's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 26 Sep 2023 18:26:34 -0700 60 Jo's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales]]> 3219391 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, first published in 1886, became an instant classic, a Gothic horror originating in a feverish nightmare whose hallucinatory setting in the back streets of London gripped a nation mesmerized by crime and violence. Its revelatory ending is one of the most original and thrilling in English Literature. This new edition of Stevenson's most famous work includes three additional short stories, two short essays, and extracts from contemporary writing on psychological disorders. The introduction considers the reasons for the book's popularity, "the double," and psychoanalytic interpretations, as well as crime, sex, class, and urbanism in the 1880s. Appendixes provide contextual historical material by Henry Maudsley, Frederic Myers, and W.T. Stead. This edition also provides an up-to-date bibliography and full notes, including details of the initial responses of Stevenson's contemporaries, such as John Addington Symonds, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Rider Haggard.

The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde --
The body snatcher --
Markheim --
Olalla --
A gossip on romance --
A chapter on dreams.]]> 246 Robert Louis Stevenson 0199536228 Jo 3 3.83 2006 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Jo
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/09/26
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]]> <![CDATA[A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)]]> 10572
It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Here is the second volume in George R.R. Martin magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R.R. Martin stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.]]> 1009 George R.R. Martin 0553381695 Jo 4 4.42 1998 A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/09/25
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Jo 0 currently-reading 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Jo
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/09/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere 14498 An ordinary Londoner stops to help an enigmatic girl and joins a battle to save the strange underworld kingdom of London Below from destruction.]]> 224 Mike Carey 1401210074 Jo 5 4.29 1996 Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
author: Mike Carey
name: Jo
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/09/04
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]]> <![CDATA[A Song of Ice and Fire (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1-5)]]> 12177850 A GAME OF THRONES
A CLASH OF KINGS
A STORM OF SWORDS
A FEAST OF CROWS
A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse--unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.
Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister--the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.
Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki--whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.
"]]> 5216 George R.R. Martin 1780484259 Jo 4 4.56 2000 A Song of Ice and Fire (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1-5)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/08/29
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]]> A Game of Thrones #2 13284283 32 Daniel Abraham 0345536177 Jo 4 4.36 2011 A Game of Thrones #2
author: Daniel Abraham
name: Jo
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/08/29
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]]> The Magi in Winter 13484978 189 G.W. Kroeker 1466452722 Jo 0 to-read 3.81 2011 The Magi in Winter
author: G.W. Kroeker
name: Jo
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2012/05/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> Cloud Atlas 49628
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. . . .

Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. . . . From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. . . . And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.

But the story doesn't end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

As wild as a videogame, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.]]> 509 David Mitchell 0375507256 Jo 4 4.02 2004 Cloud Atlas
author: David Mitchell
name: Jo
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2004
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/03/21
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]]> A Game of Thrones #3 13284343 32 Daniel Abraham 0345536185 Jo 4 4.34 2011 A Game of Thrones #3
author: Daniel Abraham
name: Jo
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/03/21
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]]> Anansi Boys 2744 God is dead. Meet the kids.

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider's on his doorstep -- about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting... and a lot more dangerous.]]> 387 Neil Gaiman 0060515198 Jo 5 4.03 2005 Anansi Boys
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Jo
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/03/16
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]]> Stardust 818478 Stardust is an utterly charming fairy tale in the tradition of The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story. Neil Gaiman, creator of the darkly elegant Sandman comics and author of The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, tells the story of young Tristran Thorn and his adventures in the land of Faerie. One fateful night, Tristran promises his beloved that he will retrieve a fallen star for her from beyond the Wall that stands between their rural English town (called, appropriately, Wall) and the Faerie realm. No one ever ventures beyond the Wall except to attend an enchanted flea market that is held every nine years (and during which, unbeknownst to him, Tristran was conceived). But Tristran bravely sets out to fetch the fallen star and thus win the hand of his love.]]> 224 Neil Gaiman Jo 5 3.98 1999 Stardust
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Jo
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2012/01/03
date added: 2012/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1)]]> 8667848
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.]]> 592 Deborah Harkness 0670022411 Jo 5 4.01 2011 A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Jo
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Weeds: How Vagabond Plants Gatecrashed Civilisation and Changed the Way We Think About Nature]]> 9522524 339 Richard Mabey 1847652840 Jo 4 3.89 2010 Weeds: How Vagabond Plants Gatecrashed Civilisation and Changed the Way We Think About Nature
author: Richard Mabey
name: Jo
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2012/03/04
date added: 2012/03/04
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Was good, made me see weeds in a whole new light, though doesn't make them any easier to deal with.
]]> Neverwhere (London Below, #1) 14497
"Neverwhere" is the London of the people who have fallen between the cracks.

Strange destinies lie in wait in London below - a world that seems eerily familiar. But a world that is utterly bizarre, peopled by unearthly characters such as the Angel called Islington, the girl named Door, and the Earl who holds Court on a tube train.

Now a single act of kindness has catapulted young businessman Richard Mayhew out of his safe and predictable life - and into the realms of "Neverwhere." Richard is about to find out more than he ever wanted to know about this other London. Which is a pity. Because Richard just wants to go home...]]> 370 Neil Gaiman 0060557818 Jo 5 4.17 1996 Neverwhere (London Below, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Jo
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[American Gods (American Gods, #1)]]> 4407
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...

This is the author's preferred text, never before published in the UK, and is about 12,000 words longer than the previous UK edition.

]]> 635 Neil Gaiman Jo 5 4.10 2001 American Gods (American Gods, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Jo
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (Miss Temple, Doctor Svenson, and Cardinal Chang, #1)]]> 44930
Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for where her pursuit of Roger Bascombe would take her—or for the shocking things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroic—both of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. As the unlikely trio search for answers—hurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery-- they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they face—an astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for power—is so terrifying as to be beyond belief.]]> 760 Gordon Dahlquist 0385340354 Jo 3 3.53 2006 The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (Miss Temple, Doctor Svenson, and Cardinal Chang, #1)
author: Gordon Dahlquist
name: Jo
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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date added: 2012/01/22
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]]> Madame Bovary 2175 329 Gustave Flaubert 0192840398 Jo 4 3.70 1877 Madame Bovary
author: Gustave Flaubert
name: Jo
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1877
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/01/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)]]> 18122
But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him.

The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead...]]> 465 Philip Pullman 0440238153 Jo 4 4.11 2000 The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
author: Philip Pullman
name: Jo
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)]]> 7061 235 Alexander McCall Smith 1400034779 Jo 4 3.81 1998 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jo
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/22
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]]> The Scarlet Letter 12296 279 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0142437263 Jo 0 to-read 3.44 1850 The Scarlet Letter
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Jo
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1850
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/01/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Complete Tales 19330
Beatrix Potter's tales were often connected with real places, people or animals so each story has a brief introductory note about its history. The volume also includes four other works by Beatrix Potter which for one reason or another remained unpublished in her lifetime but show new facets of her talent as an illustrator and storyteller.

The world of Beatrix Potter, presented here in its entirety, is as appealing now as when it was first created over one hundred years ago.]]> 400 Beatrix Potter 072325804X Jo 5 4.36 1986 The Complete Tales
author: Beatrix Potter
name: Jo
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1986
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Greatest Knight (William Marshal, #2)]]> 414641 552 Elizabeth Chadwick 0751536601 Jo 4 4.12 2005 The Greatest Knight (William Marshal, #2)
author: Elizabeth Chadwick
name: Jo
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Wildwood: A Journey through Trees]]> 1344371 391 Roger Deakin 0241141842 Jo 5 4.08 2007 Wildwood: A Journey through Trees
author: Roger Deakin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain]]> 1454159
Detained by water bailiffs in Winchester, intercepted in the Fowey estuary by coastguards, mistaken for a suicide on Camber sands, confronting the Corryvreckan whirlpool in the Hebrides, he discovers just how much of an outsider the native swimmer is to his landlocked, fully-dressed fellow citizens.

This is a personal journey, a bold assertion of the native swimmer's right to roam, and an unforgettable celebration of the magic of water.]]> 340 Roger Deakin 0099282550 Jo 5 4.28 1999 Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain
author: Roger Deakin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1999
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> The Color Purple 11486
Then her husband's lover, a flamboyant blues singer, barreled into her world and gave Celie the courage to ask for more - to laugh, to play, and finally - to love.]]> 295 Alice Walker Jo 4 4.22 1982 The Color Purple
author: Alice Walker
name: Jo
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1982
rating: 4
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]]> Cat’s Eye 51019 Cat's Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, and artist, and woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate, Cat's Eye is a breathtaking novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knots of her life.]]> 462 Margaret Atwood 0385491026 Jo 0 to-read 3.95 1988 Cat’s Eye
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Jo
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> The Blind Assassin 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 Jo 4 3.96 2000 The Blind Assassin
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Jo
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> The Alchemist 865 197 Paulo Coelho 0061122416 Jo 4 3.85 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Jo
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1988
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The World of Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh, #1-2)]]> 99111
This deluxe volume brings all of the Pooh stories together in one full-colour, large-format book. The texts are complete and unabridged, and all of the illustrations, each gloriously recoloured, are included. Here are the beloved stories of Pooh stuck in Rabbit's doorway, of gloomy Eeyore and his nearly forgotten birthday, of playing Poohsticks on the bridge, and so many more.]]> 353 A.A. Milne 0525444475 Jo 5 4.39 1926 The World of Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh, #1-2)
author: A.A. Milne
name: Jo
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1926
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> The Secret Life of Bees 37435 The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.]]> 302 Sue Monk Kidd 0142001740 Jo 0 to-read 4.10 2001 The Secret Life of Bees
author: Sue Monk Kidd
name: Jo
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> Life of Pi 4214 460 Yann Martel 0770430074 Jo 2 3.94 2001 Life of Pi
author: Yann Martel
name: Jo
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2001
rating: 2
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date added: 2011/12/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass]]> 24213
When Alice sees a white rabbit take a watch out of its waistcoat pocket she decides to follow it, and a sequence of most unusual events is set in motion. This mini book contains the entire topsy-turvy stories of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, accompanied by practical notes and Martina Pelouso's memorable full-colour illustrations.]]> 239 Lewis Carroll Jo 4 4.07 1871 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
author: Lewis Carroll
name: Jo
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1871
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales]]> 22917 880 Jacob Grimm Jo 4 4.30 1812 The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
author: Jacob Grimm
name: Jo
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1812
rating: 4
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]]> Aesop’s Fables 21348 352 Aesop 0192840509 Jo 4 4.07 -560 Aesop’s Fables
author: Aesop
name: Jo
average rating: 4.07
book published: -560
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Dreams Underfoot (Newford, #1)]]> 186444 Welcome to Newford�

Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song.

Contents:

Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair
The Stone Drum
Timeskip
Freewheeling
That Explains Poland
Romano Drom
The Sacred Fire
Winter Was Hard
Pity the Monsters
Ghosts of Wind and Shadow
The Conjure Man
Small Deaths
The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep
In the House of My Enemy
But for the Grace Go I
Bridges
Our Lady of the Harbour
Paperjack
Tallulah]]> 412 Charles de Lint 0765306794 Jo 0 to-read 4.11 1993 Dreams Underfoot (Newford, #1)
author: Charles de Lint
name: Jo
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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date added: 2011/12/10
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]]> Persuasion 2156 249 Jane Austen 0192802631 Jo 3 4.15 1817 Persuasion
author: Jane Austen
name: Jo
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1817
rating: 3
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date added: 2011/12/10
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]]> Men at Arms: The Play 7557548 182 Stephen Briggs 0552144320 Jo 5 4.41 1997 Men at Arms: The Play
author: Stephen Briggs
name: Jo
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/12/10
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]]> <![CDATA[A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3, Part 2 of 2)]]> 147915
Robb Stark may be King in the North, but he must bend to the will of the old tyrant Walder Frey if he is to hold his crown. And while his youngest sister, Arya, has escaped the clutches of the depraved Cersei Lannister and her son, the capricious boy-king Joffrey, Sansa Stark remains their captive.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, Daenerys Stormborn, the last heir of the Dragon King, delivers death to the slave-trading cities of Astapor and Yunkai as she approaches Westeros with vengeance in her heart.]]> 639 George R.R. Martin 0007119550 Jo 5 4.54 2000 A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3, Part 2 of 2)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/12/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Night Watch (Discworld, #29; City Watch, #6)]]> 47989
Living in the past is hard. Dying in the past is incredibly easy. But he must survive, because he has a job to do. He must track down a murderer, teach his younger self how to be a good copper, and change the outcome of a bloody rebellion. There's a problem: if he wins, he's got no wife, no child, no future.

A Discworld Tale of One City, with a full chorus of street urchins, ladies of negotiable affection, rebels, secret policemen, and other children of the revolution.

Truth! Justice! Freedom!
And a Hard-boiled Egg!]]> 480 Terry Pratchett 055215430X Jo 5 4.49 2002 Night Watch (Discworld, #29; City Watch, #6)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Jo
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2002
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/12/10
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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 Jo 5 4.21 1979 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Jo
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1979
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Constant Princess (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #6)]]> 16181 Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from the internationally bestselling author, Philippa Gregory, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon.

We think of Katherine of Aragon as the barren wife of a notorious king; but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story.

Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both rulers and warriors. Aged four, she is betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and is raised to be Queen of England. She is never in doubt that it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land.

Her faith is tested when her prospective father-in-law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur’s wife grows ever more bearable.

But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur’s young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry. His father and grandmother are against it; her powerful parents prove little use. Yet Katherine is her mother’s daughter and her fighting spirit is strong.

She will do anything to achieve her aim; even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it.

]]> 390 Philippa Gregory 0743272498 Jo 5 3.93 2005 The Constant Princess (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #6)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Jo
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> Memoirs of a Geisha 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 Jo 5 4.07 1997 Memoirs of a Geisha
author: Arthur Golden
name: Jo
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> Girl with a Pearl Earring 2865
Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant—and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model.]]> 233 Tracy Chevalier 0452287022 Jo 5 3.93 1999 Girl with a Pearl Earring
author: Tracy Chevalier
name: Jo
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1999
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)]]> 38447
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.]]> 311 Margaret Atwood 038549081X Jo 5 4.15 1985 The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Jo
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 5
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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 Jo 4 4.17 2005 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Jo
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Queen's Fool (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #13)]]> 252499 A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth, must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love.

It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of "Sight," the ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward's protector, who brings her to court as a "holy fool" for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires.

Teeming with vibrant period detail and peopled by characters seamlessly woven into the sweeping tapestry of history, The Queen's Fool is another rich and emotionally resonant gem from this wonderful storyteller.]]> 504 Philippa Gregory 0743246071 Jo 5 3.88 2003 The Queen's Fool (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #13)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Jo
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> Katherine 33609 ]]> 500 Anya Seton 155652532X Jo 0 to-read 4.19 1954 Katherine
author: Anya Seton
name: Jo
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1954
rating: 0
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]]> The Birth of Venus 28078
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.]]> 427 Sarah Dunant Jo 4 3.81 2003 The Birth of Venus
author: Sarah Dunant
name: Jo
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> The Borgia Bride 200352 509 Jeanne Kalogridis 0312341385 Jo 4 3.85 2005 The Borgia Bride
author: Jeanne Kalogridis
name: Jo
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> The Thirteenth Tale 40440
The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.]]> 406 Diane Setterfield 0743298020 Jo 0 to-read 3.96 2006 The Thirteenth Tale
author: Diane Setterfield
name: Jo
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Other Boleyn Girl (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)]]> 37470 This is an alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780743227445

Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: The love of a king

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realises just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king and take fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling novel of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamourous court in Europe and survived by following her heart.]]> 661 Philippa Gregory Jo 5 4.08 2001 The Other Boleyn Girl (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Jo
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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]]> My Sister’s Keeper 10917 New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age 13 she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate—a life and a role that she has never challenged ... until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister—and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.]]> 423 Jodi Picoult 0743454537 Jo 4 4.11 2004 My Sister’s Keeper
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Jo
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2004
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]> 1618 226 Mark Haddon 1400032717 Jo 5 3.89 2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
author: Mark Haddon
name: Jo
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> The Time Traveler's Wife 14050 537 Audrey Niffenegger 0965818675 Jo 5 3.90 2003 The Time Traveler's Wife
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: Jo
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> The Red Tent 4989 The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.]]> 324 Anita Diamant 0312353766 Jo 4 4.21 1997 The Red Tent
author: Anita Diamant
name: Jo
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> The Kite Runner 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Jo 3 4.34 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Jo
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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]]> Gormenghast (Gormenghast, #2) 258392 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Titus Groan is seven years old. Lord and heir to the crumbling castle Gormenghast. A gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old rituals, a world primed to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, and death. Steerpike, who began his climb across the roofs when Titus was born, is now ascending the spiral staircase to the heart of the castle, and in his wake lie imprisonment, manipulation, and murder.

Gormenghast is the second volume in Mervyn Peake’s widely acclaimed trilogy, but it is much more than a sequel to Titus Groan—it is an enrichment and deepening of that book.

The Gormenghast Trilogy ranks as one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable feats of imaginative writing.
]]> 505 Mervyn Peake 074939482X Jo 3 4.07 1950 Gormenghast (Gormenghast, #2)
author: Mervyn Peake
name: Jo
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1950
rating: 3
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]]> Mort: The Play 149847 167 Stephen Briggs 0552144290 Jo 5 4.29 1996 Mort: The Play
author: Stephen Briggs
name: Jo
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind, #1)]]> 34497 228 Terry Pratchett 0060855924 Jo 5 4.04 1983 The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Jo
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1983
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch]]> 12067
People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons � well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel � would quite like the Rapture not to happen.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist…]]> 491 Terry Pratchett Jo 0 to-read 4.27 1990 Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Jo
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)]]> 28187 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.]]> 377 Rick Riordan 0786838655 Jo 5 4.31 2005 The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Jo
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)]]> 62291 An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Here is the third volume in George R.R. Martin's magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. Together, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces manoeuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...]]> 1177 George R.R. Martin 055357342X Jo 5 4.54 2000 A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2000
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)]]> 100915
Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don't believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch. When they meet the Lion Aslan, they realize they've been called to a great adventure and bravely join the battle to free Narnia from the Witch's sinister spell.]]> 206 C.S. Lewis Jo 2 4.24 1950 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jo
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1950
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)]]> 119322
Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.]]> 399 Philip Pullman 0679879242 Jo 4 4.02 1995 The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)
author: Philip Pullman
name: Jo
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1995
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)]]> 13496
Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.]]> 835 George R.R. Martin 0553588486 Jo 5 4.44 1996 A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 34
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them

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

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
--back cover]]> 398 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346252 Jo 5 4.36 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Jo
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1954
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 3 309 J.K. Rowling 0439554934 Jo 4 4.47 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Jo
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> Sense and Sensibility 14935 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141439662

'The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!'

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

This edition includes explanatory notes, textual variants between the first and second editions, and Tony Tanner's introduction to the original Penguin Classic edition.]]> 409 Jane Austen 0141439661 Jo 4 4.10 1811 Sense and Sensibility
author: Jane Austen
name: Jo
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1811
rating: 4
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]]> The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 93263 Please note that this is the graphic novel adaptation of Sleepy Hollow. If you're looking for the short story, go here.

This is Bo Hampton's 1993 Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a faithful adaptation of Washington Irving's tale surrounding the ghostly inhabitants of Tarrytown, New York around the time of the American Revolution. The cast of characters is headed up by the Headless Horseman himself. This edition boasts new covers and 16 pages of new material, including numerous preliminary sketches of scenes and characters.]]> 64 Bo Hampton 1582404119 Jo 4 3.98 1993 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
author: Bo Hampton
name: Jo
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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]]> Corelli’s Mandolin 3388 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is set in the early days of the second world war, before Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn’t so bad—at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, who responds to a Nazi greeting of “Heil Hitler� with his own “Heil Puccini�, and whose most precious possession is his mandolin. It isn't long before Corelli and Pelagia are involved in a heated affair--despite her engagement to a young fisherman, Mandras, who has gone off to join Greek partisans. Love is complicated enough in wartime, even when the lovers are on the same side. And for Corelli and Pelagia, it becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate the minefield of allegiances, both personal and political, as all around them atrocities mount, former friends become enemies and the ugliness of war infects everyone it touches.

British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Here he keeps it to a minimum, though certainly the secondary characters with whom he populates his island—the drunken priest, the strongman, the fisherman who swims with dolphins—would be at home in any of his wildly imaginative Latin American fictions. Instead, de Bernières seems interested in dissecting the nature of history as he tells his ever-darkening tale from many different perspectives. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin works on many levels, as a love story, a war story and a deconstruction of just what determines the facts that make it into the history books.]]> 437 Louis de Bernières 067976397X Jo 3 3.98 1994 Corelli’s Mandolin
author: Louis de Bernières
name: Jo
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1994
rating: 3
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]]> Frankenstein 18490 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780141439471

'Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart ...'

Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

Based on the third edition of 1831, this volume contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made to her story, as well as her 1831 introduction and Percy Bysshe Shelley's preface to the first edition. This revised edition includes as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 and 1831 together with 'A Fragment' by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori's 'The Vampyre: A Tale'.]]> 288 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Jo 4 3.77 1818 Frankenstein
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Jo
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1818
rating: 4
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]]> Of Mice and Men 890 “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.�

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.]]> 107 John Steinbeck 0142000671 Jo 2 3.88 1937 Of Mice and Men
author: John Steinbeck
name: Jo
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
rating: 2
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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 Jo 5 3.89 1847 Wuthering Heights
author: Emily Brontë
name: Jo
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1847
rating: 5
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]]> Birdsong 6259 483 Sebastian Faulks 0679776818 Jo 5 4.11 1993 Birdsong
author: Sebastian Faulks
name: Jo
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1993
rating: 5
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]]> I Capture the Castle 31122 408 Dodie Smith 0312181108 Jo 0 to-read 3.99 1948 I Capture the Castle
author: Dodie Smith
name: Jo
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1948
rating: 0
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]]> Animal Farm 7613
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]> 129 George Orwell Jo 4 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Jo
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 4
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]]> The Diary of a Young Girl 48855 Anne Frank’s Diary has become a timeless classic; a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and a moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

In 1942, as the Nazis occupied Holland, thirteen-year-old Anne Frank and her Jewish family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until they were betrayed to the Gestapo, the Franks and another family lived in the cramped “Secret Annexe� of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they endured hunger, boredom, the strain of close quarters, and the constant fear of discovery and death.

Through it all, Anne documented her experiences in a diary filled with vivid observations. At times thoughtful, poignant, and even unexpectedly funny, her writing offers a remarkable window into the strength and vulnerability of the human spirit. It’s both a compelling self-portrait of a bright, spirited young woman and a heartbreaking glimpse of a life that should have been far longer.]]> 283 Anne Frank Jo 3 4.19 1947 The Diary of a Young Girl
author: Anne Frank
name: Jo
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1947
rating: 3
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]]> 1984 5470 328 George Orwell Jo 4 4.15 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Jo
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1949
rating: 4
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]]> The Secret Garden 2998
Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.

With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.]]> 331 Frances Hodgson Burnett 0517189607 Jo 4 4.16 1911 The Secret Garden
author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
name: Jo
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1911
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Magician's Gambit (The Belgariad #3)]]> 44688 BOOK 3 OF THE BELGARIAD, the worldwide bestselling fantasy series by master storyteller David Eddings. Discover the epic story that inspired thousands - from Raymond Feist's The Riftwar Cycle series to George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.

Fate leads on...

To stranger lands and darker magic...

Travelling through ever more dangerous realms, Garion and his companions pursue the stolen Orb. Among them Ce'Nedra, the Imperial Princess - one whose fate seems bound to his.

As they get closer to their goal and battle looms, Garion's powers of sorcery - and his spirit - are tested to their limits.]]> 305 David Eddings 0345335457 Jo 0 to-read 4.14 1983 Magician's Gambit (The Belgariad #3)
author: David Eddings
name: Jo
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)]]> 13662
Then a wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs� greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar’s duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?]]> 180 Ursula K. Le Guin 0689845367 Jo 0 to-read 4.12 1971 The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jo
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1971
rating: 0
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]]> The Grapes of Wrath 4395 The Grapes of Wrath is a landmark of American literature. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation, The Grapes of Wrath is also the story of one Oklahoma family, the Joads, who are driven off their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.

First published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath summed up its era in the way that Uncle Tom's Cabin summed up the years of slavery before the Civil War. Sensitive to fascist and communist criticism, Steinbeck insisted that "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" be printed in its entirety in the first edition of the book—which takes its title from the first verse: "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s fictional chronicle of the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s is perhaps the most American of American Classics.]]> 455 John Steinbeck Jo 3 3.88 1939 The Grapes of Wrath
author: John Steinbeck
name: Jo
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1939
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hobbit, or There and Back Again]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Jo 5 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Jo
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
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]]> Rebecca 12873 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

Working as a lady's companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Her future looks bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Max de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding housekeeper, Mrs Danvers...

Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the Other Woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.]]> 428 Daphne du Maurier 1844080382 Jo 5 4.19 1938 Rebecca
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Jo
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1938
rating: 5
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]]> Women in Love 9784 Women in Love is both a lucid account of English society before the First World War, and a brilliant evocation of the inexorable power of human desire.

Women in Love continues where The Rainbow left off, with the third generation of Brangwens: Ursula Brangwen, now a teacher at Beldover, a mining town in the Midlands, and her sister Gudrun, who has returned from art school in London. The focus of the novel is primarily on their relationships, Ursula's with Rupert Birkin, a school inspector, and Gudrun's with industrialist Gerald Crich, and later with a sculptor, Loerke. Quintessentially modernist, Women in Love is one of Lawrence's most extraordinary, innovative and unsettling works.]]> 416 D.H. Lawrence 0486424588 Jo 5 3.68 1920 Women in Love
author: D.H. Lawrence
name: Jo
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1920
rating: 5
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]]> Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]> 279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Jo 5 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Jo
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1813
rating: 5
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]]> A Room with a View 3087
Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her, until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.

Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?]]> 119 E.M. Forster 1420925431 Jo 4 3.91 1908 A Room with a View
author: E.M. Forster
name: Jo
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1908
rating: 4
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]]> Far From the Madding Crowd 31463 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780141439655

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in the fictional county of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.]]> 433 Thomas Hardy Jo 1 3.96 1874 Far From the Madding Crowd
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Jo
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1874
rating: 1
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]]> Bleak House 31242
“Jarndyce and Jarndyce� is an infamous lawsuit that has been in process for generations. Nobody can remember exactly how the case started but many different individuals have found their fortunes caught up in it. Esther Summerson watches as her friends and neighbours are consumed by their hopes and disappointments with the proceedings. But while the intricate puzzles of the lawsuit are being debated by lawyers, other more dramatic mysteries are unfolding that involve heartbreak, lost children, blackmail and murder.

The fog and cold that permeate Bleak House mirror a Victorian England mired in spiritual insolvency. Dickens brought all his passion, brilliance, and narrative verve to this huge novel of lives entangled in a multi-generational lawsuit—and through it, he achieved, at age 41, a stature almost Shakespearean.]]> 1017 Charles Dickens 0143037617 Jo 5 4.01 1853 Bleak House
author: Charles Dickens
name: Jo
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1853
rating: 5
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]]> Jane Eyre 10210 Alternate editions can be found here and here.

A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.

Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.]]> 532 Charlotte Brontë 0142437204 Jo 5 4.14 1846 Jane Eyre
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Jo
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1846
rating: 5
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]]>