Alexandra's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 07 May 2025 15:19:28 -0700 60 Alexandra's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race]]> 54968118 The Double Helix on her bed. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.

Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his co-discovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned �a curiosity ​of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions.

The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code.

Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? What a wonderful boon that would be! And what about preventing depression? Hmmm…Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids?

After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020.]]> 536 Walter Isaacson 1982115858 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.23 2021 The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism]]> 55338982
What makes “cults� so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .

Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.� But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.

Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,� revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish� everywhere.]]> 309 Amanda Montell 0062993151 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.82 2021 Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
author: Amanda Montell
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, #1)]]> 51190882
Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.

Librarian Note: Older cover of B07VH6Y4JD.]]> 119 Nghi Vo Alexandra 0 to-read 3.91 2020 The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, #1)
author: Nghi Vo
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.60 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/28
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]]> Heartwood 220259184 Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.]]> 320 Amity Gaige 1668063603 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.92 2025 Heartwood
author: Amity Gaige
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/28
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]]> <![CDATA[System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)]]> 75319056 Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment in Martha Wells's New York Times bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.]]> 248 Martha Wells 1250826985 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.36 2023 System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)
author: Martha Wells
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Sun and Her Flowers 35654589 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.

this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
think of those flowers you plant
in the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom]]> 256 Rupi Kaur 1449488900 Alexandra 0 4.13 2018 The Sun and Her Flowers
author: Rupi Kaur
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> Radiance (Wraith Kings, #1) 24473763 The Prince of no value
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

The noblewoman of no importance
Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.]]> 297 Grace Draven Alexandra 0 3.98 2015 Radiance (Wraith Kings, #1)
author: Grace Draven
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/13
date added: 2025/04/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]> 541 Brandon Sanderson Alexandra 5 currently-reading 4.48 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic, #1)]]> 27828473
With the famous Rhubarb Festival right around the corner, small-town tensions, tempers, and godly tantrums are at an all-time high. The last thing Delaney needs is her ex-boyfriend reappearing just when she's finally caught the attention of Ryder Bailey, the one man she should never love.

No, scratch that. The actual last thing she needs is a dead body washing ashore, especially since the dead body is a god.

Catching a murderer, wrestling a god power, and re-scheduling the apocalypse? Just another day on the job in Ordinary. Falling in love with her childhood friend while trying to keep the secrets of her town secret? That’s gonna take some work.]]> 326 Devon Monk Alexandra 0 3.78 2016 Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic, #1)
author: Devon Monk
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country]]> 56914101 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN 9780593465271 can be found here.

On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe.

This edition includes a foreword by Oprah Winfrey.]]> 29 Amanda Gorman 059346527X Alexandra 0 to-read 4.57 2021 The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country
author: Amanda Gorman
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> Tokyo Ueno Station 50284415 A surreal, devastating story of a homeless ghost who haunts one of Tokyo's busiest train stations.

Kazu is dead. Born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year as the Japanese Emperor, his life is tied by a series of coincidences to the Imperial family and has been shaped at every turn by modern Japanese history. But his life story is also marked by bad luck, and now, in death, he is unable to rest, doomed to haunt the park near Ueno Station in Tokyo.

Kazu's life in the city began and ended in that park; he arrived there to work as a laborer in the preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and ended his days living in the vast homeless village in the park, traumatized by the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and shattered by the announcement of the 2020 Olympics.

Through Kazu's eyes, we see daily life in Tokyo buzz around him and learn the intimate details of his personal story, how loss and society's inequalities and constrictions spiraled towards this ghostly fate, with moments of beauty and grace just out of reach. A powerful masterwork from one of Japan's most brilliant outsider writers, Tokyo Ueno Station is a book for our times and a look into a marginalized existence in a shiny global megapolis.]]> 192 Yū Miri 0593187539 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.55 2014 Tokyo Ueno Station
author: Yū Miri
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[The City We Became (Great Cities, #1)]]> 42074525
Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She's got five.

But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.]]> 437 N.K. Jemisin Alexandra 0 to-read 3.83 2020 The City We Became (Great Cities, #1)
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> When Women Were Dragons 58783802 A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are.

The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.]]> 367 Kelly Barnhill 0385548222 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.79 2022 When Women Were Dragons
author: Kelly Barnhill
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> <![CDATA[She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)]]> 55077538
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.]]> 414 Shelley Parker-Chan 1250621801 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.80 2021 She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)
author: Shelley Parker-Chan
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2) 60652997 Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell.

Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex� Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.

Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies� most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.

Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.]]> 481 Leigh Bardugo 1250313104 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.09 2023 Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water]]> 56140 Cadillac Desert Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West.

Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden—an Eden that may be only a mirage.]]> 582 Marc Reisner 0140178244 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.27 1986 Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water
author: Marc Reisner
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Money for Couples: No More Stress. No More Fights. Just a 10-Step Plan to Create Your Rich Life Together.]]> 210827605 Million-copy bestselling author, podcaster, and Netflix star Ramit Sethi helps readers navigate the tricky waters of handling and talking about money as a couple as in this programmatic and definitive book.

From personal finance juggernaut Ramit Sethi, here is a definitive book about a defining challenge for tens of millions of navigating the tricky waters of money while in a serious relationship. Drawing on Sethi’s deep experience working with couples, this book will help readers go from frustration to joy as they get financially aligned with their partners.

Following Ramit's ten-week program, readers begin by identifying their own deeply instilled attitudes about money and how they affect their relationships. They then design a Rich Life vision with their partner and begin having the frank but essential real-talk money conversations we too often avoid or ignore until tensions are out of control, like paying off debt, signing a prenup, saving for a major purchase or home, and teaching kids about money. After crunching the numbers and assessing their financial health, readers create a practical financial plan to make their Rich Life a reality, learn to make financial changes along the way, and ultimately build a monthly money meeting that *gasp* you will even look forward to.

Packed with enlightening (and juicy) real-world stories, answers to the most common questions, helpful money planning templates, and step-by-step scripts for navigating touchy conversations, the book will help readers become competent both as financial managers and as kind, caring, and open communicators with their partners.]]> 320 Ramit Sethi 1523523700 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.35 Money for Couples: No More Stress. No More Fights. Just a 10-Step Plan to Create Your Rich Life Together.
author: Ramit Sethi
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Water Knife 59022990 WATER IS POWER

Paolo Bacigalupi,New York Times best-selling author of The Windup Girl and National Book Award finalist, delivers a near-future thriller that casts new light on how we live today—and what may be in store for us tomorrow.

The American Southwest has been decimated by drought. Nevada and Arizona skirmish over dwindling shares of the Colorado River, while California watches, deciding if it should just take the whole river all for itself. Into the fray steps Las Vegas water knife Angel Velasquez. Detective, assassin, and spy, Angel “cuts� water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and its boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious arcology developments can bloom in the desert and that anyone who challenges her is left in the gutted-suburban dust.

When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in Phoenix, Angel is sent to investigate. With a wallet full of identities and a tricked-out Tesla, Angel arrows south, hunting for answers that seem to evaporate as the heat index soars and the landscape becomes more and more oppressive. There, Angel encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist, who knows far more about Phoenix’s water secrets than she admits, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas migrant, who dreams of escaping north to those places where water still falls from the sky.

As bodies begin to pile up and bullets start flying, the three find themselves pawns in a game far bigger, more corrupt, and dirtier than any of them could have imagined. With Phoenix teetering on the verge of collapse and time running out for Angel, Lucy, and Maria, their only hope for survival rests in one another’s hands. But when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 378 Paolo Bacigalupi Alexandra 0 4.08 2015 The Water Knife
author: Paolo Bacigalupi
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Alexandra 0 4.15 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2018/03/16
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
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]]> Playground 205478762 The Overstory at the height of his skills. Twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs. Ina Aroita grows up on naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home. Two polar opposites at an elite Chicago high school bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game; Rafi Young will get lost in literature, while Todd Keane’s work will lead to a startling AI breakthrough.

They meet on the history-scarred island of Makatea in French Polynesia, whose deposits of phosphorus once helped to feed the world. Now the tiny atoll has been chosen for humanity’s next adventure: a plan to send floating, autonomous cities out onto the open sea. But first, the island’s residents must vote to greenlight the project or turn the seasteaders away.

Set in the world’s largest ocean, this awe-filled book explores that last wild place we have yet to colonize in a still-unfolding oceanic game, and interweaves beautiful writing, rich characterization, profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity in a way only Richard Powers can.]]> 381 Richard Powers 1324086033 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.16 2024 Playground
author: Richard Powers
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
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]]> <![CDATA[By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land]]> 199393033 A powerful work of reportage and American history that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation’s earliest days, and a small-town murder in the 1990s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirming Native rights to that land more than a century later

Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved for National Forests—in the emergence of this great nation, our government set aside more land for trees than for Indigenous peoples.

In the 1830s, Muscogee people were rounded up by the US military at gunpoint and forced into exile halfway across the continent. At the time, they were promised this new land would be theirs for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. But that promise was not kept. When Oklahoma was created on top of Muscogee land, the new state claimed their reservation no longer existed. Over a century later, a Muscogee citizen was sentenced to death for murdering another Muscogee citizen on tribal land. His defense attorneys argued the murder occurred on the reservation of his tribe, and therefore Oklahoma didn’t have the jurisdiction to execute him. Oklahoma asserted that the reservation no longer existed. In the summer of 2020, the Supreme Court settled the dispute. Its ruling that would ultimately underpin multiple reservations covering almost half the land in Oklahoma, including Nagle’s own Cherokee Nation.

Here Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country.]]> 352 Rebecca Nagle 0063112043 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.43 2024 By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
author: Rebecca Nagle
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI]]> 204927599 From the author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.

For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite all our discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?

Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.

Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.]]> 528 Yuval Noah Harari 059373422X Alexandra 0 to-read 4.14 2024 Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
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name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science]]> 208580608 The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo’s Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own

“Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name,� writes Dava Sobel at the opening of her shining portrait of the sole Nobel laureate decorated in two separate fields of science—Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre and Chemistry by herself in 1911. And yet, Sobel makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate outside it. Grieving Pierre’s untimely death in 1906, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne; devotedly raised two brilliant daughters; drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I; befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of twentieth-century physics; won support from two U.S. presidents; and inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life.

As Sobel did so memorably in her portrait of Galileo through the prism of his daughter, she approaches Marie Curie from a unique angle, narrating her remarkable life of discovery and fame alongside the women who became her legacy—from France’s Marguerite Perey, who discovered the element francium, and Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch, to Mme. Curie’s elder daughter, Irène, winner of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For decades the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings that probed new theories about the interior of the atom, Marie Curie traveled far and wide, despite constant illness, to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. Her two triumphant tours of the United States won her admirers for her modesty even as she was mobbed at every stop; her daughters, in Ève’s later recollection, “discovered all at once what the retiring woman with whom they had always lived meant to the world.�

With the consummate skill that made bestsellers of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, and the appreciation for women in science at the heart of her most recent The Glass Universe, Dava Sobel has crafted a radiant biography and a masterpiece of storytelling, illuminating the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.]]> 318 Dava Sobel 0802163823 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.93 2024 The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
author: Dava Sobel
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.93
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]]> Dust (Silo, #3) 18866705 The much-anticipated final instalment of the Wool trilogy.

In the aftermath of the uprising, the people of Silo 18 are coming to terms with a new order.

Some embrace the change, others fear the unknown; none have control of their fate.

The Silo is still in danger.

There are those set on its destruction.

Jules knows they must be stopped.

The battle has been won.

The war is just beginning.]]> 416 Hugh Howey Alexandra 0 4.19 2013 Dust (Silo, #3)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2013
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]]> Shift (Silo, #2) 17306293 579 Hugh Howey Alexandra 0 4.12 2013 Shift (Silo, #2)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
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]]> <![CDATA[What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures]]> 144421737 What if we act as if we love the future?

Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side. This provocative and joyous book maps an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures.

Through clear-eyed essays and vibrant conversations, infused with data, poetry, and art, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. Visionary farmers and financers, architects and advocates help us conjure a flourishing future, one worth the effort it will take—from all of us, with whatever we have to offer—to create.

If you haven’t yet been able to picture a transformed and replenished world—or see yourself, your loved ones, and your community in it� this book is for you. If you haven’t yet found your role in shaping this new world, or you’re not sure how we can actually get there, this book is for you.

With grace, humor, and humanity, Ayana invites readers to ask and answer this ultimate question, What if we get it right?

On imagination, possibility, and transformation with

Paola Antonelli
Xiye Bastida & Ayisha Siddiqa
Jade Begay
Régine Clément
Abigail Dillen
Brian Donahue
Kelly Sims Gallagher
Rhiana Gunn-Wright
Corley Kenna
Bryan C. Lee Jr. & Kate Orff
Franklin Leonard & Adam McKay
Bill McKibben
Kate Marvel
Samantha Montano
Leah Penniman
Colette Pichon Battle
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Judith D. Schwartz
Jigar Shah
Bren Smith
Oana Stanescu
Mustafa Suleyman]]> 496 Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Alexandra 0 to-read 4.47 2024 What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures
author: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14; Mercy Thompson World, #20)]]> 201182779 Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions in this exhilarating entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.

My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.

But I’m not alone anymore.

Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problemmuch bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world. . . .]]> 416 Patricia Briggs 0593439007 Alexandra 0 4.36 2024 Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14; Mercy Thompson World, #20)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The God and the Gumiho (Fate's Thread, #1)]]> 198563688 416 Sophie Kim 0593599667 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.05 2024 The God and the Gumiho (Fate's Thread, #1)
author: Sophie Kim
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
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]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.37 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (Gael Song, #1)]]> 60387416
They think they've killed the last of us...

981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for her son � and herself � but Ireland is a dangerous place and kings tend not to stay kings for long. Gormflaith also has a secret. She is one of the Fomorians, an immortal race who can do fire-magic. She has kept her powers hidden at all costs, for there are other immortals in this world � like the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of warriors who are sworn to kill Fomorians.

Fódla is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann with the gift of healing. Her kind dwell hidden in a fortress, forbidden to live amongst the mortals. Fódla agrees to help her kin by going to spy on Brian Boru, a powerful man who aims to be High King of Ireland. She finds a land on the brink of war � a war she is desperate to stop. However, preventing the loss of mortal lives is not easy with Ireland in turmoil and the Fomorians now on the rise...]]> 416 Shauna Lawless Alexandra 0 to-read 4.10 2022 The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (Gael Song, #1)
author: Shauna Lawless
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> The Message 210943364
The first of the book’s three intertwining essays is set in Dakar, Senegal. Despite being raised as a strict Afrocentrist, Coates had never set foot on the African continent until now. He roams the “steampunk� city of “old traditions and new machinery,� but everywhere he goes he feels as if he’s in two places at once: a modern city in Senegal and a mythic kingdom in his mind. Finally he travels to the slave castles off the coast and has his own reckoning with the legacy of the Afrocentric dream.

He takes readers along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he meets an educator whose job is threatened for teaching one of Coates’s own books. There he discovers a community of mostly white supporters who were transformed by the “racial reckoning� of 2020. But he also explores the backlash to this reckoning and the deeper myths of the community—a capital of the confederacy with statues of segregationists looming over its public squares.

And in Palestine, Coates discovers the devastating gap between the narratives we’ve accepted and the clashing reality of life on the ground. He meets with activists and dissidents, Israelis and Palestinians—the old, who remember their dispossessions on two continents, and the young, who have only known struggle and disillusionment. He travels into Jerusalem, the heart of Zionist mythology, and to the occupied territories, where he sees the reality the myth is meant to hide. It is this hidden story that draws him in and profoundly changes him—and makes the war that would soon come all the more devastating.

Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive nationalist myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths.]]> 232 Ta-Nehisi Coates 0593230388 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.51 2024 The Message
author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.51
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]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.35 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.35
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore]]> 201751300 An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations

Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see those stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.

Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including The Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries—including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who appeared to sign books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

The Bookshop is a love letter to bookstores, a charming chronicle for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature, and essential reading to understand how these vital institutions have shaped American life—and why we still need them.]]> 416 Evan Friss 0593299922 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.92 2024 The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
author: Evan Friss
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.92
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]]> <![CDATA[Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)]]> 256008 Lonesome Dove, the third book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America.

Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.]]> 960 Larry McMurtry 067168390X Alexandra 0 to-read 4.53 1985 Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)
author: Larry McMurtry
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.53
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully]]> 62691728 416 Kelly Starrett 0593534816 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.32 2023 Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully
author: Kelly Starrett
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2023
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]]> Lessons in Chemistry 58065033 390 Bonnie Garmus Alexandra 0 to-read 4.23 2022 Lessons in Chemistry
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
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]]> <![CDATA[Only Good Enemies (Galactic Bonds, #2)]]> 67684044 Une femme en mission... et un homme cerné par les ennemis.

Hier encore, Vesper Plume n’était qu’une modeste conceptrice de gadgets ménagers. Mais, grâce à sa clairvoyance et à sa détermination, elle est devenue noble dame et dirige une société florissante. Aujourd’hui, elle a un but : anéantir la Techwave, une dangereuse organisation qui a détourné ses créations et prévoit de les utiliser contre l’Imperium. Mais sa mission prend un tournant inattendu, et la voilà entourée de nouveaux ennemis et forcée de se battre pour sa vie.

Kyrion Caldaren, Leader des Flèches, la force d’élite de l’Imperium, a pour objectif de neutraliser la Techwave avant qu’il ne s’empare du contrôle de la galaxie de l’Archipel. Mais il poursuit aussi un but plus personnel : éliminer Callus Holloway, le dirigeant de l’Imperium qui rêve de voler son pouvoir psionique et menace Vesper. Malgré la distance et leur lien brisé, elle hante toujours ses pensées.

Lorsqu’il apprend que Vesper est en danger, ses priorités changent du tout au tout. Car il ferait n’importe quoi pour la sauver... quitte à mettre l’univers entier à feu et à sang.

#ScienceFiction #HéroïneBadass #ÂmesSœurs]]> 414 Jennifer Estep 1950076172 Alexandra 0 4.33 2023 Only Good Enemies (Galactic Bonds, #2)
author: Jennifer Estep
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Only Hard Problems (Galactic Bonds, #3)]]> 175552295 New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Estep continues her Galactic Bonds series with a new, action-packed novella that blends science-fiction technology and magical fantasy elements with a touch of historical romance. This rollicking space opera focuses on a fan-favorite secondary character who’s part hero, part villain, and all arrogance. Perfect for fans of Star Wars, Bridgerton, and Pride and Prejudice.

PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE . . .

My name is Zane Zimmer. To most folks, I live a seemingly charmed life as a Regal lord and the heir apparent to the powerful, wealthy House Zimmer, and the gossipcasts breathlessly follow my every swaggering move across the Archipelago Galaxy. I’m also a powerful psion capable of telekinesis, telepathy, and telempathy, and my deadly skills and prowess with my stormsword have made me the golden boy of the Arrows, the Imperium’s elite fighting force.

But even golden boys have bad days, and the truth is I have more hard problems than I can solve.

The Techwave is building weapons to use against the Arrows in hopes of toppling the Imperium and taking over the galaxy. But even more worrisome is the fact that my old rival Kyrion Caldaren has a powerful new ally in Vesper Quill. Together, the two of them just might destroy everything I’ve sworn to protect.

I’m supposed to be relaxing with the other Regals during the Summer Solstice celebration, but when an enemy threatens the festivities, I’m forced to leap into action. As an Arrow, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my family and the other Regals, even though my actions will cause only more problems—and just might end up being the death of me . . .

Note: Only Hard Problems is a 47,000-word book from the point of view of Zane Zimmer. It takes place after Only Good Enemies , book 2 in the Galactic Bonds science-fiction fantasy series.]]> 198 Jennifer Estep 1950076229 Alexandra 0 3.83 2024 Only Hard Problems (Galactic Bonds, #3)
author: Jennifer Estep
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
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]]> Spells for Forgetting 59553800 A deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love

Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget.

August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.]]> 358 Adrienne Young 059335852X Alexandra 0 4.01 2022 Spells for Forgetting
author: Adrienne Young
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals]]> 55742688 AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Provocative and appealing . . . well worth your extremely limited time." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal

The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks� to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on “getting everything done,� Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.]]> 290 Oliver Burkeman 0374715246 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.33 2021 Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
author: Oliver Burkeman
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2021
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date added: 2024/11/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, #9)]]> 25752072 Mercy Thompson has been hailed as “a heroine who...always remains true to herself� (Library Journal). Now she’s back, and she’ll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it’s the children who suffer...

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?
]]> 350 Patricia Briggs 0698180917 Alexandra 0 4.55 2016 Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, #9)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the �80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.39 2017 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Tribe Of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World]]> 36200111 Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, shares the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book--a compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from 130+ of the world's top performers. From iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors, their short profiles can help you answer life's most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results, and transform your life.

From the

In 2017, several of my close friends died in rapid succession. It was a very hard year, as it was for many people.

It was also a stark reminder that time is our scarcest, non-renewable resource.

With a renewed sense of urgency, I began asking myself many

Were my goals my own, or simply what I thought I should want?
How much of life had I missed from underplanning or overplanning?
How could I be kinder to myself?
How could I better say "no" to the trivial many to better say "yes" to the critical few?
How could I best reassess my priorities and my purpose in this world?

To find answers, I reached out to the most impressive world-class performers in the world, ranging from wunderkinds in their 20s to icons in their 70s and 80s. No stone was left unturned.

This book contains their answers--practical and tactical advice from mentors who have found solutions. Whether you want to 10x your results, get unstuck, or reinvent yourself, someone else has traveled a similar path and taken notes.

This book, Tribe of Mentors, includes many of the people I grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. Less than 10% have been on my podcast (The Tim Ferriss Show, more than 200 million downloads), making this a brand-new playbook of playbooks.

No matter your challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help.

Among other things, you will

- More than 50 morning routines--both for the early riser and those who struggle to get out of bed.
- How TED curator Chris Anderson realized that the best way to get things done is to let go.
- The best purchases of $100 or less (you'll never have to think about the right gift again).
- How to overcome failure and bounce back towards success.
- Why Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton believes that the best art will always be the riskiest.
- How to meditate and be more mindful (and not just for those that find it easy).
- Why tennis champion Maria Sharapova believe that "losing makes you think in ways victories can't."
- How to truly achieve work-life balance (and why most people tell you it isn't realistic).
- How billionaire Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz transformed the way he engages with difficult situations to reduce suffering.
- Ways to thrive (and survive) the overwhelming amount of information you process every day.
- How to achieve clarity on your purpose and assess your priorities.
- And much more.

This reference book, which I wrote for myself, has already changed my life. I certainly hope the same for you.

I wish you luck as you forge your own path.

All the best,

Tim Ferriss]]> 561 Timothy Ferriss 132899497X Alexandra 0 4.04 2017 Tribe Of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
author: Timothy Ferriss
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2017
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]]> <![CDATA[Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7)]]> 13413589 River Marked was praised as "an urban fantasy where our everyday world is believably twisted into the world of fey, werewolves, vampires, and myths made real." Now Mercy Thompson faces a shapeshifter's biggest fear as the realm she has embraced is thrown into chaos...

Mercy Thompson's life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman - the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack - has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy's life. But on the edges of humanity, a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more...

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam - or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. But she fears Adam's disappearance may be related to the political battle the werewolves have been fighting to gain acceptance from the public - and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outmatched and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.]]> 342 Patricia Briggs 0441020011 Alexandra 5 4.34 2013 Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/23
date added: 2024/08/23
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]]> Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1) 402093
Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read--you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.]]> 1152 James Clavell Alexandra 0 to-read 4.38 1975 Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1)
author: James Clavell
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1975
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business]]> 43489530 You've heard how story is the latest-and-greatest business tool and that storytelling can do everything, from helping leaders better communicate to motivating sales teams and winning customers away from competitors. But what stories do you need to tell and how do you tell them?

Stories That Stick provides a clear framework of ideals and a concise set of actions for you to take complete control of your own story, utilizing the principles behind the world's most effective business storytelling strategies.

Professional storyteller and nationally-known speaker Kindra Hall reveals the four unique stories you can use to differentiate, captivate, and


the Value Story, to convince customers they need what you provide;
the Founder Story, to persuade investors and customers your organization is worth the investment;
the Purpose Story, to align and inspire your employees and internal customers; and
the Customer Story, to allow those who use your product or service to share their authentic experiences with others.
Telling these stories well is a simple, accessible skill anyone can develop. With case studies, company profiles, and anecdotes backed with original research, Hall presents storytelling as the underutilized talent that separates the good from the best in business.

Stories That Stick offers specific, actionable steps readers can take to find, craft, and leverage the stories they already have and simply aren't telling. Every person, every organization has at least four stories at their disposal. Will you tell yours?]]> 240 Kindra Hall 1400211948 Alexandra 0 4.38 2019 Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business
author: Kindra Hall
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2020/10/19
date added: 2024/08/19
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]]> <![CDATA[The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review]]> 19250024 314 Danielle Ofri Alexandra 0 to-read 4.20 2008 The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review
author: Danielle Ofri
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> The Psychology of Money 51181015 224 Morgan Housel 085719769X Alexandra 0 to-read 4.50 2020 The Psychology of Money
author: Morgan Housel
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/19
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ten Thousand Doors of January]]> 43517459 In the early 1900s, a young woman searches for her place in the world after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.]]> 385 Alix E. Harrow 0316421987 Alexandra 0 4.22 2019 The Ten Thousand Doors of January
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/19
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]]> <![CDATA[No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History]]> 40308171 In Champawat, India, circa 1900, a Bengal tigress was wounded by a poacher in the forests of the Himalayan foothills. Unable to hunt her usual prey, the tiger began stalking and eating an easier food source: human beings. Between 1900 and 1907, the Champawat Man-Eater, as she became known, emerged as the most prolific serial killer of human beings the world has ever known, claiming an astonishing 436 lives.

Desperate for help, authorities appealed to renowned local hunter Jim Corbett, an Indian-born Brit of Irish descent, who was intimately familiar with the Champawat forest. Corbett, who would later earn fame and devote the latter part of his life to saving the Bengal tiger and its habitat, sprang into action. Like a detective on the tail of a serial killer, he tracked the tiger’s movements, as the tiger began to hunt him in return.

This was the beginning of Corbett’s life-long love of tigers, though his first encounter with the Champawat Tiger would be her last.]]> 304 Dane Huckelbridge 0062678841 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.80 2019 No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History
author: Dane Huckelbridge
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/19
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]]> When the World Goes Quiet 175531926 In the final days of World War I, an aspiring artist’s courageous journey is just beginning in a powerful novel about love, danger, and survival by the author of Take What You Can Carry.

It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was promised: a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions. Until then, Evelien knows to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. But life never goes to plan, especially in war.

A member of the resistance approaches Evelien: steal a list of names hidden in her employer’s home. In return, she’ll get a letter from her long-missing husband, Emiel. She’d lost hope of Emiel’s survival, but the promised letter puts her certainty of his death in question. Evelien begins her mission and soon forms a friendship with a soldier who is struggling with the devastating demands of battle. Their shared passion for art deepens the bond, and Evelien faces a heart-wrenching truth: she longs for Emiel’s safe return…but not necessarily to her.

As the final days of the war loom closer, Evelien has never been in more danger. And should she survive the war’s bitter end, what choices will she make for a life beyond liberation?]]> 315 Gian Sardar 1662518676 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.30 2024 When the World Goes Quiet
author: Gian Sardar
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos]]> 33792742
What are the most valuable things that everyone should know?

Acclaimed clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson has influenced the modern understanding of personality, and now he has become one of the world's most popular public thinkers, with his lectures on topics from the Bible to romantic relationships to mythology drawing tens of millions of viewers. In an era of unprecedented change and polarizing politics, his frank and refreshing message about the value of individual responsibility and ancient wisdom has resonated around the world.

In this book, he provides twelve profound and practical principles for how to live a meaningful life, from setting your house in order before criticising others to comparing yourself to who you were yesterday, not someone else today. Happiness is a pointless goal, he shows us. Instead we must search for meaning, not for its own sake, but as a defence against the suffering that is intrinsic to our existence.

Drawing on vivid examples from the author's clinical practice and personal life, cutting edge psychology and philosophy, and lessons from humanity's oldest myths and stories, 12 Rules for Life offers a deeply rewarding antidote to the chaos in our eternal truths applied to our modern problems.]]> 432 Jordan B. Peterson 0345816048 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.20 2018 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
author: Jordan B. Peterson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)]]> 60714999 Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always � always � guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown� and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone � but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book in a new series of heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue, perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.]]> 504 Carissa Broadbent Alexandra 0 to-read 4.29 2022 The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)]]> 6587387 Booklist). But she is about to learn that while some secrets are dangerous whose who seek them are just plain deadly...

Mercy is smart enough to realize that when it comes to the magical fae, the less you know, the better. But you can't always get what you want. When she attempts to return a powerful fae she previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secrets - and the fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn't take enough of Mercy's attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side - leaving Mercy to cover for him lest his own father declare Samuel's life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she may not have many more...]]> 352 Patricia Briggs 044101819X Alexandra 0 4.37 2010 Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
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]]> Fate's Edge (The Edge, #3) 11600952
Audrey Callahan has a unique talent: no door is closed to her; and � thanks to her Edge family, a motley crew of grifters and layabouts � she's a consummate conwoman. But she's severed all ties with her past, finally gotten a legitimate job in The Broken, and Audrey couldn’t be happier. But now her dad has swindled her into one last job...

What do you get when you take the best thief, grifter and gambler make him into a secret agent? You get Kaldar Mar. Judge Dobe probably put it best, “I guess you’re familiar with the law. You hit it over the head, set its house on fire, and got its sister pregnant.� Deeply scarred by his aunt’s death, Kaldar has some scores to settle � and his new assignment might let him do just that. A priceless object has been stolen and Kaldar must retrieve it at any cost. Piece of cake…until Audrey shows up after the same item.

So what happens when a former thief finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades? One thing is certain: Neither one will ever be the same.]]> 385 Ilona Andrews Alexandra 0 4.32 2011 Fate's Edge (The Edge, #3)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2022/01/21
date added: 2024/08/09
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]]> Steel's Edge (The Edge, #4) 16160154 The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny�

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers� operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...]]> 401 Ilona Andrews Alexandra 0 4.42 2012 Steel's Edge (The Edge, #4)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2022/02/01
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> The Bear 52292905 In an Edenic future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They possess a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches the girl how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can only learn to listen.

A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.

]]> 224 Andrew Krivak Alexandra 0 4.24 2020 The Bear
author: Andrew Krivak
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)]]> 35965482 New York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in this standalone fantasy.

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 492 Seanan McGuire 1250195519 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.01 2019 Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/06
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]]> Race the Sands 40571151
Life, death, and rebirth -- in Becar, everyone knows that who you are in this life will determine what you are in your next life. The augurs can read your fate in your aura: hawk, heron, tortoise, jackal, human. Armed with that knowledge, you can change your destiny with the choices you make, both in this life and your next. But for the darkest individuals, there is no redemption: you come back as a kehok, a monster, and you will always be a kehok for the rest of time.

Unless you can win the Races.

As a professional trainer, Tamra was an elite kehok rider. Then a tragic accident on the track shattered her confidence, damaged her career, and left her nearly broke. Now Tamra needs the prize money to prevent the local temple from taking her daughter away from her, and that means she must once again find a winning kehok . . . and a rider willing to trust her.

Raia is desperate to get away from her domineering family and cruel fiancé. As a kehok rider, she could earn enough to buy her freedom. But she can't become good enough to compete without a first-rate trainer.

Impressed by the inexperienced young woman's determination, Tamra hires Raia and pairs her with a strange new kehok with the potential to win -- if he can be tamed.

But in this sport, if you forget you're riding on the back of a monster, you die. Tamra and Raia will work harder than they ever thought possible to win the deadly Becaran Races -- and in the process, discover what makes this particular kehok so special.]]> 544 Sarah Beth Durst 0062888625 Alexandra 0 4.34 2020 Race the Sands
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men]]> 44083621
Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates shocking root cause of gender inequality and research inInvisible Women, diving into women’s lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor’s office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.

Table of contents

Preface

PART I: DAILY LIFE
1. Can snow-clearing be sexist?
2. Gender neutral with urinals

PART II: THE WORKPLACE
3. The long friday
4. The Myth of Meritocracy
5. The Henry Higgins Effect
6. Being worth less than a shoe

PART III: DESIGN
7. The Plough Hypothesis
8. One-Size-Fits-Men
9. A sea of dudes

PART IV: GOING TO THE DOCTOR
10. The drugs don't work
11. Yentl Syndrome

PART V: PUBLIC LIFE
12. A costless resource to exploit
13. From purse to wallet
14. Women's Rights are Human Rights

PART VI: WHEN IT GOES WRONG
15. Who will rebuild?
16. It's not the disaster that kills you

Afterword
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Index]]> 436 Caroline Criado Pérez 1683353145 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.29 2019 Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
author: Caroline Criado Pérez
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)]]> 53413743 No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people-who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!


A standalone adventure in the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling, Hugo and Nebula Award- winning series! ]]> 172 Martha Wells 1250765382 Alexandra 0 4.44 2021 Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)
author: Martha Wells
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)]]> 52680842
It worries about the fragile human crew who've grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they're only a professional obligation, but when they're captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.]]> 346 Martha Wells Alexandra 0 4.58 2020 Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
author: Martha Wells
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/05/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Chimes at Midnight (October Daye, #7)]]> 17620108
Toby's efforts to take the problem to the Queen of the Mists are met with harsh reprisals, leaving her under sentence of exile from her home and everyone she loves. Now Toby must find a way to reverse the Queens decree, get the goblin fruit off the streets--and, oh, yes, save her own life, since more than a few of her problems have once again followed her home. And then there's the question of the Queen herself, who seems increasingly unlikely to have a valid claim to the throne....

To find the answers, October and her friends will have to travel from the legendary Library of Stars into the hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists--and they'll have to do it fast, because time is running out. In faerie, some fates are worse than death.

October Daye is about to find out what they are.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 1101635665 Alexandra 0 4.43 2013 Chimes at Midnight (October Daye, #7)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/28
date added: 2024/04/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Tiny Rituals: 108 poems to remember ourselves as holy, whole, and wise]]> 210241009 “In the vein of Rupi Kaur and Rumi, Amber Campion invites us to dive deep into parts unknown we are blessed to the hidden wisdom of our own souls.� - Liza Monroy, Author of Mexican High, The Marriage Act, and Shoes on Fire

Tender, wild, messy human...this is for you.
Enough numbing out, powering through, doing it alone, saving living for later.

From poet and mindfulness-based yoga teacher, Amber Campion, comes a collection of 108 poems, prose, and short essays to reconnect with the sacred ritual that is your life.

Set within five sections of remembrance - breaking, healing, breath, presence, and self-love - Amber takes you down a poetic journey on being human.

TINY RITUALS is an invitation to sit under the stars with your soul.
Each page, a remembering to reclaim what truly matters.

This book is your permission to welcome your Self home, greet your truth at the doorway, and to discover you were never alone.]]> 131 Amber Campion Alexandra 0 to-read 4.67 2024 Tiny Rituals: 108 poems to remember ourselves as holy, whole, and wise
author: Amber Campion
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Black Hat, White Witch (Black Hat Bureau, #1)]]> 58452582
Well, Rue Hollis spent ten years thinking she had escaped the Black Hat Bureau, no coffin required.

Then her former partner had to go and shatter the illusion by showing up on her doorstep with grim tidings. As much as Rue wants to kick him to the curb, she agrees to hear him out for old times� sake, and what he says chills her to the bone.

The Silver Stag was the most notorious paranormal serial killer in modern history, and Rue brought him down. Now a copycat has picked up where the Stag left off, and the Bureau wants her on the case. She beat the Stag once. They think she can do it again. But they don’t know she’s given up black magic, and she’s not about to tell them. White witches are prey, and Rue is the hunter, not the hunted. Always.

But can she take down the protégé of the man who almost beat her at her black witch best?

If she wants to keep her new town, her new home, her new life, then she has no choice but to find out.]]> 224 Hailey Edwards Alexandra 0 4.21 2021 Black Hat, White Witch (Black Hat Bureau, #1)
author: Hailey Edwards
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/17
date added: 2024/04/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Ashes of Honor (October Daye, #6)]]> 10184345
To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne, who didn’t even know he was a father until the girl went missing. Her name is Chelsea. She’s a teleporter, like her father. She’s also the kind of changeling the old stories warn about, the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She’s opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there’s a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn’t stopped.

Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. But danger is also stirring in the Court of Cats, and Tybalt may need Toby’s help with the biggest challenge he’s ever faced.

Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea.]]> 363 Seanan McGuire 1101594802 Alexandra 0 4.37 2012 Ashes of Honor (October Daye, #6)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/17
date added: 2024/04/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, #1)]]> 6437061 427 N.K. Jemisin 0316043915 Alexandra 0 3.88 2010 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, #1)
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2020/04/09
date added: 2024/04/09
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]]> <![CDATA[One Salt Sea (October Daye #5)]]> 11709404 October "Toby" Daye is settling into her new role as Countess of Goldengreen. She's actually dating again, and she's taken on Quentin as her squire. So, of course, it's time for things to take a turn for the worse.

Someone has kidnapped the sons of the regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must find the missing boys and prove the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. Toby's search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves, and her deadline is firm: she must find the boys in three days' time, or all of the Mists will pay the price. But someone is determined to stop her-and whoever it is isn't playing by Oberon's Laws...

]]> 368 Seanan McGuire Alexandra 0 4.42 2011 One Salt Sea (October Daye #5)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/12
date added: 2024/03/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Late Eclipses (October Daye, #4)]]> 10683729 372 Seanan McGuire 1101502533 Alexandra 0 4.34 2011 Late Eclipses (October Daye, #4)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/03/01
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]]> <![CDATA[An Artificial Night (October Daye, #3)]]> 6782468
Someone is stealing both fae and mortal children—and all signs point to Blind Michael. When the young son of Toby's closest friends is snatched from their Northern California home, Toby has no choice but to track the villains down, even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm—home of the legendary Wild Hunt—and no road may be taken more than once. If she cannot escape with all the children before the candle that guides and protects her burns away, Toby herself will fall prey to Blind Michael's inescapable power.

And it doesn't bode well for the success of her mission that her own personal Fetch, May Daye—the harbinger of Toby's own death—has suddenly turned up on her doorstep...]]> 354 Seanan McGuire 0756406269 Alexandra 0 4.17 2010 An Artificial Night (October Daye, #3)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/02/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, #1)]]> 42080479 The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are�?]]> 488 Soman Chainani 006210490X Alexandra 0 to-read 4.00 2013 The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, #1)
author: Soman Chainani
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/21
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]]> Call Us What We Carry 56804007 The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman

Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, Amanda Gorman’s remarkable new collection reveals an energizing and unforgettable voice in American poetry. Call Us What We Carry is Gorman at her finest. Including “The Hill We Climb,� the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, and bursting with musical language and exploring themes of identity, grief, and memory, this lyric of hope and healing captures an important moment in our country’s consciousness while being utterly timeless.]]> 240 Amanda Gorman Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.26 2021 Call Us What We Carry
author: Amanda Gorman
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/05
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]]> <![CDATA[A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2)]]> 7884731
Toby Daye-a half-human, half-fae changeling-has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world had other ideas...

Now her liege, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills, has asked Toby to go to the Country of Tamed Lightening to make sure all is well with his niece, Countess January O'Leary. It seems like a simple enough assignment-until Toby discovers that someone has begun murdering people close to January, and that if the killer isn't stopped, January may be the next victim.]]> 390 Seanan McGuire 1101171731 Alexandra 0 4.04 2010 A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/04
date added: 2024/02/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living]]> 31200948 A beautifully packaged, gifty daily devotional of Stoic wisdom, from the author of The Obstacle is the Way.

Modern readers praise Stoic philosophy for its unique blend of practicality and wisdom. But it's admittedly hard for the average reader to decipher the Dover Thrift edition of Marcus Aurelius' work. The antiquated, needlessly formal language of most modern translations is stripped down in this book, revealing powerful aphorisms that cut straight to the heart of our day-to-day challenges.

Presented in a page-per-day format, this daily resource of Stoic inspiration combines new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, Zeno by Stephen Hanselman with calls to further reflection--and action--by Ryan Holiday. Arranged topically following the same three movements (Perception, Action, Will) that Holiday used inThe Obstacle is the Way, this guide features twelve principles for overcoming obstacles and achieving greater satisfaction.

Aimed at the high-octane, action-oriented, doers of our wired world, this book is intended to open to them a new daily ritual and a new orientation that will bring balanced action, insight, effectiveness, and serenity.]]> 397 Ryan Holiday 0735211744 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.56 2016 The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
author: Ryan Holiday
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/11
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]]> Star Bringer 75353883 Firefly meets The Breakfast Club in this snarky, new adult romance.

The sun is dying…and it’s happening way too damn fast.

With the clock ticking, the Nine Planets� only hope of survival rests on a fancy space station and the alien artifact it’s carrying. Which is why it really sucks when some jackass doesn’t want the universe saved and blows that station up�while you’re still on it.

So if your only choices are flaming death or stealing a flying hunk of space junk—you pick that busted-ass spaceship. Even if it leaves seven strangers with deadly secrets trapped a princess, a prisoner, a con artist, a warrior, a priestess, a mercenary, and an asshole in charge of us all.

Now every faction in the galaxy is hunting this ship—from the Sisterhood to the Corporation, and the rebellion’s joining in on the fun, too. We just need to stop drinking, fighting, and screwing long enough to evade them all and save the freaking universe...somehow.

Because apparently the only thing standing between a dying sun and ultimate salvation is seven unlikely misfits…ahem, heroes.]]> 661 Tracy Wolff 1649374240 Alexandra 0 3.91 2023 Star Bringer
author: Tracy Wolff
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/09
date added: 2024/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World]]> 40776644 A debut from Forbes' third most powerful woman in the world, Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women's empowerment.

For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission. Her goal, as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, invest in women.

In this candid and inspiring book, Gates traces her awakening to the link between women's empowerment and the health of societies. She shows some of the tremendous opportunities that exist right now to “turbo-charge" change. And she provides simple and effective ways each one of us can make a difference.

Convinced that all women should be free to decide whether and when to have children, Gates took her first step onto the global stage to make a stand for family planning. That step launched her into further efforts: to ensure women everywhere have access to every kind of job; to encourage men around the globe to share equally in the burdens of household work; to advocate for paid family leave for everyone; to eliminate gender bias in all its forms.

Throughout, Gates introduces us to her heroes in the movement towards equality, offers startling data, shares moving conversations she's had with women from all over the world—and shows how we can all get involved.

A personal statement of passionate conviction, this book tells of Gates' journey from a partner working behind the scenes to one of the world's foremost advocates for women, driven by the belief that no one should be excluded, all lives have equal value, and gender equity is the lever that lifts everything.]]> 273 Melinda French Gates 1250313570 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.26 2019 The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
author: Melinda French Gates
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet]]> 123627807 A New York Times Notable Book of 2023 and Editors' Choice � A Science News Favorite Book of 2023 � A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2023 � A Smithsonian Staff Favorite of 2023 � A New Yorker Best Book of 2023 � Finalist for the New York Public Library's Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism � Finalist for the Reading the West Award � Finalist for the Colorado Book Award � Winner of the Banff Mountain Book Competition in Environmental Literature � Winner of the Sierra Club's Rachel Carson Award for Excellence in Environmental Writing

An eye-opening account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from the award-winning author of Eager. Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they’re practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the U.S. alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill. Creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates; invasive plants hitch rides in tire treads; road salt contaminates lakes and rivers; and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from vast swaths of habitat. Yet road ecologists are also seeking to blunt the destruction through innovative solutions. Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for California’s mountain lions and tunnels for English toads, engineers deconstructing the labyrinth of logging roads that web national forests, animal rehabbers caring for Tasmania’s car-orphaned wallabies, and community organizers working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon American cities. Today, as our planet’s road network continues to grow exponentially, the science of road ecology has become increasingly vital. Written with passion and curiosity, Crossings is a sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world―and how we can create a better future for all living beings. 20 illustrations]]> 384 Ben Goldfarb 1324005890 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.42 2023 Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
author: Ben Goldfarb
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/24
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]]> Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 150260809
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 886 Rebecca Yarros Alexandra 0 4.56 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/23
date added: 2023/12/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 63219094 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.]]> 665 Rebecca Yarros Alexandra 5 4.74 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.74
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/18
date added: 2023/12/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life]]> 85697 210 Rosamund Stone Zander 0142001104 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.90 2000 The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
author: Rosamund Stone Zander
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential]]> 173495434
In Areté, Brian Johnson integrates ancient wisdom, modern science, and practical tools to, as per the subtitle of the book, help you win the ultimate game of life and fulfill your destiny.

Phil Stutz, MD, the author of The Tools, who was featured in the Netflix documentary called Stutz, wrote the foreword to the book.

He says: “What Brian has developed is much more than a bunch of coping mechanisms for the over-stressed modern person; although that would be an improvement for most of us. He’s developed a training program for the soul.

Commit to this training and you will gain the ability to transmute your biggest problems, your darkest days, into unstoppable courage, endless enthusiasm, and an unshakable faith in the future.

This book will change your life. And, if enough of us commit, it will change the world.]]> 1068 Brian Johnson Alexandra 5 currently-reading 4.64 2023 Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential
author: Brian Johnson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2023
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/11/12
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]]> Nettle & Bone 56179377
Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.]]> 243 T. Kingfisher 1250244048 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.07 2022 Nettle & Bone
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Sky Runner: Finding Strength, Happiness, And Balance In Your Running]]> 39195942
In Sky Runner , Emelie shares her
•� Using intervals, uphill and downhill training, and more to maintain peak physical condition
•� Incorporating both yoga and strength exercises into her daily training routines
•� Growing her own food and creating her own recipes to nourish body and soul
•� Physically and mentally recovering from injury
•� Finding balance in her life as a professional, extreme-sport athlete
•� Sustaining both motivation and passion in her sport and her life]]> 178 Emelie Forsberg 1944515739 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.79 2018 Sky Runner: Finding Strength, Happiness, And Balance In Your Running
author: Emelie Forsberg
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1)]]> 36681361 Librarian note: an older cover for this edition can be found here.

Jade City is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.

The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion--but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.

When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself.]]> 612 Fonda Lee Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.13 2017 Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1)
author: Fonda Lee
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Witch King (The Rising World, #1)]]> 61885085 "You idiot. I'm the demon."
Kai's having a long day in Martha Wells' Witch King...

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.]]> 415 Martha Wells 1250826799 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.60 2023 Witch King (The Rising World, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/19
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]]> Babel 57945316 From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?]]> 544 R.F. Kuang 0063021420 Alexandra 0 4.17 2022 Babel
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2023/10/18
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]]> Yellowface 59357120
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 329 R.F. Kuang Alexandra 0 to-read 3.84 2023 Yellowface
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker's Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World]]> 51818682
What kind of society makes being healthy and happy so difficult that only a single-digit percentage of the population can hope to pull it off? The A sick society.

And within a sick society—one where illness, anxiety, and depression are the prevailing norms—what does it mean to be one of the few people to beat those unhealthy odds? It meansbucking a lot of your society’s norms and rejecting a lot of its conventional health prescriptions. It also means acknowledging a disturbing If you aren’t breaking the rules, you’re probablybreaking yourself. That’s the simple, provocative philosophy behind The Healthy Deviant , one seasoned health journalist’s quest to reframe healthy choices as a positive form of social rebellion.

Combining hand-drawn infographics and statistics with insights from sociology, psychology, evolutionary biology, functional medicine, and the school of hard knocks, this category-defying book rejects the idea that diet and exercise alone can save us—or are even the best places to start. Gerasimo’s 14-day Healthy-Deviant Adventure Program presents a series of powerful perspective shifts and simple daily practices—plus illustrations, infographics, worksheets, reminders, and progress tracking tools—that put you firmly back in charge of your own wellbeing.

Part manifesto, part whispered wake-up call, The Healthy Deviant is a modern-day survival guide for being a healthy person in an unhealthy world. Starting now.]]> 360 Pilar Gerasimo 1623174252 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.82 The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker's Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World
author: Pilar Gerasimo
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.82
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date added: 2023/10/02
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]]> <![CDATA[An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)]]> 36040400 This is an alternative cover edition for ISBN-13: 9781595148049.

Laia is a slave.Elias is a soldier.Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.]]> 446 Sabaa Tahir Alexandra 0 to-read 4.29 2015 An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)
author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/23
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]]> <![CDATA[This Is How You Lose the Time War]]> 41093489 Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

Cowritten by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.]]> 198 Amal El-Mohtar 1534431004 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.81 2019 This Is How You Lose the Time War
author: Amal El-Mohtar
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/23
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]]> Some Desperate Glory 58388343 While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

All her life Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the all-powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the Majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. But when Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, she escapes from everything she’s ever known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.

A thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you, Some Desperate Glory is award-winning author Emily Tesh’s highly anticipated debut novel.]]> 438 Emily Tesh 1250834988 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.00 2023 Some Desperate Glory
author: Emily Tesh
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fragile Threads of Power (Threads of Power, #1)]]> 111673828 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and set in the world of A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E. Schwab opens a new door into perilous adventure and tangled schemes with The Fragile Threads of Power.

Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power, and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast, and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory―Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.

But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years―and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland's absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own―but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown them instead.

And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely.

Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.

Her name is Tes, and she's the only one who can bring them together―or unravel it all.]]> 648 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387492 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.25 2023 The Fragile Threads of Power (Threads of Power, #1)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
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date added: 2023/09/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)]]> 35068705
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.]]> 545 R.F. Kuang 0062662597 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.16 2018 The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Capture the Sun (Starlight's Shadow, #3)]]> 61980292
As a recovery specialist, Lexi Bowen’s jobs typically require more trickery and thievery than honest work. Her former captain might not approve of her flexible morals, but stealing artifacts for rich assholes pays the bills, and Lexi’s had enough of war and death. The FHP left her to die once; she doesn’t plan to give them a chance to finish the job.

Unfortunately, her latest contract takes her to Valovia itself—and right back into the orbit of Nilo Shoren, a Valovian teleporter who already cost her one payday and nearly stole her heart.

Armored against his clever charm, Lexi plans to get in, get the job done, and get out. But when her former crew goes missing in Valovian space, Lexi will have to work with Nilo to figure out what happened—and stop it—before the galaxy’s two superpowers can use the disappearance as an excuse to return to war.]]> 419 Jessie Mihalik 0063051109 Alexandra 0 3.69 2023 Capture the Sun (Starlight's Shadow, #3)
author: Jessie Mihalik
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/08/04
date added: 2023/08/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #2; Kate Daniels, #10.6)]]> 109554429 A new town, new friends, new challenges�. And a new heart-stopping adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ilona Andrews. Kate, Curran, and Conlan may have left Atlanta for Wilmington, but the usual magic mayhem has also hitched a ride!

Kate and Curran have just settled into their new home and their 'low prolife,' when a local businessman approaches them with an offer they can’t refuse. A mysterious evil has spawned in the nearby forest and is holding a defenseless town hostage. The ‘due date� is rapidly approaching.

It’s exactly the kind of fight the Lennarts can’t resist, not for the prize the town offers, but for the people who will surely die if they ignore it. If they succeed, they’ll be rescuing an entire community and can build a strong new base for their family and the Wilmington Pack. If they fail...well, fail is a four-letter word.

Nothing comes without a price. Now Kate must decide if she has what it takes to pay it.]]> 240 Ilona Andrews Alexandra 0 4.69 2023 Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #2; Kate Daniels, #10.6)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/06/27
date added: 2023/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #1; Kate Daniels, #10.5)]]> 65969788 Ilona Andrews invites you back to the #1 New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels series in this exciting new long novella featuring Kate, Curran and Conlan, some familiar faces, some new friends, and all the special brand of chaos they create!

Kate, Curran and their son, Conlan have left Atlanta, vowing to keep a low profile, and are settling into a new city and new house…but some things never change! Magical mayhem is about to erupt when Kate undertakes the rescue of a kidnapped youth, while Curran guards the homefront.

It should be a simple retrieval, but with monsters on land and sea, Kate’s got her work cut out for her. Still, she's never let her blade dull or her purpose falter. And that low profile? It’s about to wash away with the raging tides!]]> 158 Ilona Andrews Alexandra 0 4.51 2023 Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #1; Kate Daniels, #10.5)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/06/14
date added: 2023/06/14
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]]> Alias Grace 57743354 Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ASIN can be found here.

In Alias Grace, the bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale takes readers into the life of one of the most notorious women of the nineteenth century—recently adapted into a 6-part Netflix original mini-series by director Mary Harron and writer/actress Sarah Polley.

It's 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders. An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories? Captivating and disturbing, Alias Grace showcases bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author Margaret Atwood at the peak of her powers.]]> 564 Margaret Atwood Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.01 1996 Alias Grace
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Magical Language of Others]]> 48744141 The Magical Language of Others is a powerful and aching love story in letters, from mother to daughter. After living in America for over a decade, Eun Ji Koh’s parents return to South Korea for work, leaving fifteen-year-old Eun Ji and her brother behind in California. Overnight, Eun Ji finds herself abandoned and adrift in a world made strange by her mother’s absence. Her mother writes letters, in Korean, over the years seeking forgiveness and love—letters Eun Ji cannot fully understand until she finds them years later hidden in a box.

As Eun Ji translates the letters, she looks to history—her grandmother Jun’s years as a lovesick wife in Daejeon, the horrors her grandmother Kumiko witnessed during the Jeju Island Massacre—and to poetry, as well as her own lived experience to answer questions inside all of us. Where do the stories of our mothers and grandmothers end and ours begin? How do we find words—in Korean, Japanese, English, or any language—to articulate the profound ways that distance can shape love? Eun Ji Koh fearlessly grapples with forgiveness, reconciliation, legacy, and intergenerational trauma, arriving at insights that are essential reading for anyone who has ever had to balance love, longing, heartbreak, and joy.

The Magical Language of Others weaves a profound tale of hard-won selfhood and our deep bonds to family, place, and language, introducing—in Eun Ji Koh—a singular, incandescent voice.]]> 203 E.J. Koh 1947793470 Alexandra 0 3.95 2020 The Magical Language of Others
author: E.J. Koh
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2023/05/23
date added: 2023/05/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha]]> 6483174 In our current times of global crises and spiking collective anxiety, Tara Brach’s transformative practice of Radical Acceptance offers a pathway to inner freedom and a morecompassionateworld. This classic work now featuresan insightful new introduction, an exclusive bonus chapter, andadditionalguided meditations. “Radical Acceptance offers us an invitation to embrace ourselves with all our pain, fear, and anxieties, and to step lightly yet firmly on the path of understanding and compassion.”—Thich Nhat Hanh“Believingthat something is wrong with us is a deep and tenacious suffering,� says Tara Brach at the start of this illuminating book. This suffering emerges in crippling self-judgments and conflicts in our relationships, in addictions and perfectionism, in loneliness and overwork—all the forces that keep our lives constricted and unfulfilled. Radical Acceptance offers a path to freedom, including the day-to-day practical guidance developed over Dr. Brach’s forty years of work with therapy clients and Buddhist students.Writing with great warmth and clarity, Tara Brach brings her teachings alive through personal stories and case histories, fresh interpretations of Buddhist tales, and guided meditations. Step by step, she shows us howwe can stop being at war with ourselves and begin to live fully every precious moment of our lives.]]> 352 Tara Brach 0553901028 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.31 2000 Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha
author: Tara Brach
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/05/22
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