Books

have read

• Kushiel's Dart

  Kushiel's Dart

  Jacqueline Carey

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  The first of a trilogy about a young and uniquely gifted heroine whose innocence is shattered by intrigue and murder. Written in beautiful prose, and set on a grand landscape of Renaissance Europe, Carey's series is an exotic tapestry of sensual images that will linger like a rich coffee brewed to perfection.

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• Doctor Zhivago

  Doctor Zhivago

  Boris Pasternak

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  Written in another age, present day readers may find it cumbersome and hard to keep track of some characters (referred to with all four names, usually). It is, however, one of the best and most rich representations of a milestone in the history of the Soviet Union and ultimately a love story of epic scope.

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• Day Of The Triffids

  Day Of The Triffids

  John Wyndham

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  A classic science fiction story that explores the fabric and texture of our society through calamity. When a space phenomena blinds society, the bio-engineered Triffids take over and hunt humans. Written in excellent prose with very likeable characters, Wyndham portrays a realistic and scary scenario of domestic-gone-wild

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• Tess of the D'Urbervilles

  Tess of the D'Urbervilles

  Thomas Hardy

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  Thomas Hardy's richly descriptive and tragic tale of Tess, a young girl whose honor becomes her tragic fault is a beautiful rendition of rustic 19th century Dorset. A classic not to be swiftly devoured like sushi but to be savored like dark chocolate...

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• The English Patient

  The English Patient

  Michael Ondaatje

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  A dream-like portrayal of the frisson of forbidden love amidst the chaos of war in the heat of an exotic desert

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• The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials: His Dark Materials

  The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials: His Dark Materials

  Philip Pullman

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  The second of Pullman's enchanting and transporting "His Dark Materials" Trilogy.

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• The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials: His Dark Materials - Book I

  The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials: His Dark Materials - Book I

  Philip Pullman

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  Milton's "Paradise Lost" forms the basis of Pullman's overarching theme, woven by a rich fabric of setting and characters, each journeying toward their own sense of purpose and final destiny on this world. This is a book of great scope, unfolding, aptly, through the eyes of a child.

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• Pride And Prejudice

  Pride And Prejudice

  Jane Austen

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  A classic distaff dialogue on the caste society of England with an interesting representation on the "pride" and "prejudice"... of both upper and lower class

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• Penguin Classics Mill On The Floss

  Penguin Classics Mill On The Floss

  George Eliot

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  George Elliot makes excellent commentary on her society through evokative imagery, wonderfully drawn characters and descriptive setting. Slow your brain and give it a good read...

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• Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor

  Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor

  John Van der Kiste

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  This is a great summary of Germany's last emperor who was generally credited for being the cause of the first world war. Van der Kiste provides a compelling and full portrait of this complicated and, in so many ways, unlikeable man, illuminating him as someone ultimately you could pity.

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• The Guns Of August: The Pulitzer Prize-winning Classic About The Outbreak Of World War I

  The Guns Of August: The Pulitzer Prize-winning Classic About The Outbreak Of World War I

  Barbara W. Tuchman

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  Newsweek said it best, I think: "Tuchman is able to evoke both the enormous pattern of the tragedy and the minutiae which make it human" in what must surely be one of history's saddest moments.

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• I, Robot

  I, Robot

  Isaac Asimov

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  One of Asimov's best: a collection of short stories that ponder our humanity through our interaction with AI. Asimov explores the moral dilemma of self-realizing intelligence...whether human or not...

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• Solaris

  Solaris

  Stanislaw Lem

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  When psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives on Solaris, he finds himself confronting a painful memory of his past lover, embodied in a real entity. Lem explores our beliefs and ability to understand our universe through inner exploration. Intelligently and sparingly written.

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• Fahrenheit 451

  Fahrenheit 451

  Ray Bradbury

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  A classic tale by a master of the craft of metaphor. Bradbury uses the fireman in a world where they MAKE fires instead of putting them out, to explore the phenomenon of censorship in a world obsessed with being "good".

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plan to read

• Bright Of The Sky

  Bright Of The Sky

  KENYON KAY

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  If this is anything like Kenyon's other works, I'm going to love it! Kenyon gets better and better each time...

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• Rollback

  Rollback

  Robert Sawyer

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