Vampire academy series in order6/10/2023 ![]() Just because I think this book is stupid, does not mean I think people who enjoy it are stupid. This is a review of a book, not a fact sheet. I've never deleted/moderated comments before, as that goes against my beliefs on free and public discourse, but any future offensive or judgemental/critical-of-people-instead-of-the-book comments will be ignored and deleted. ![]() But I am also free to moderate what goes on in my space. But please keep the ad hominems and accusations (and not just directed at me, but also other commenters) at home.Įveryone's free to say what they wish on a public forum. If you wish to add your own thoughts of the book, that's also perfectly fine. Be thus warned.įuture commenters: if you disagree with the review, that is perfectly fine and normal. ![]() So as a pre-empt, I highly suggest you not read this review if you can’t handle negative criticism of books you love. Eight years and this review is still attracting mad fangurls. ![]()
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Here Is New York by E.B. White6/10/2023 ![]() ![]() "Here Is New York" has been chosen by The New York Times as one of the ten best books ever written about the city. White sat in a New York City hotel room and, sweltering in the heat, wrote a remarkable pristine essay, "Here Is New York." Perceptive, funny and nostalgic, the author's stroll around Manhattan with the reader, arm-in-arm, remains the quintessential love letter to the city, written by one of America’s foremost literary figures. Housed in a green leather-backed clamshell slipcase, raised bands gilt lettered spine.Bound in publisher's red stamped tan cloth binding, with the original unclipped dust jacket.First printing with the "I-Y" code on the copyright page, inscribed on the front blank endleaf by White: "Merry Christmas from the Whites E. ![]() ![]() First edition, first printing presentation copy of White's essay Here Is New York. ![]() Rose tremain the road home reviews6/9/2023 ![]() ![]() Independent-minded Jane Adeane, the 6ft 2in daughter of an affluent Bath doctor, spurns a marriage proposal from her father’s assistant, Valentine Ross, and flees to her bohemian aunt Emmeline, an artist living in Chelsea. Her cast of interconnected characters watch these consequences play out against two contrasting backdrops: the neat and orderly city of Bath, where “reasons for dying were comparatively few”, and the jungles of Borneo, where even the white rajahs live in fear of headhunters. Islands of Mercy, her 14th, returns to the 19th century, and considers familiar Tremain themes: desire, purpose, the elusive rewards of art and the small acts whose consequences ripple outwards. O ver a distinguished literary career, Rose Tremain has traversed genres with her customary flair, though many readers will associate her primarily with the historical fiction of her most acclaimed novels. ![]() Doctor Who by Sophie Iles6/9/2023 ![]() ![]() The Three Flames by Sophie Iles (A Twelfth Doctor Adventure read by Dan Starkey)įleeing from a dying world, a family of Tenaborgs crash land on a strange planet. The tricky part is going to be convincing the Doctor to come back. For the Brigadier, the tricky part isn’t going to be tracking him down. In the short time the Doctor’s worked for UNIT, he’s become an invaluable part of the team. Everyone needs Salvage, but even this haven isn’t immune from the effects of the Time War.ĪWOL by Angus Dunican (A Third Doctor and Brigadier mini-drama read by Jon Culshaw) Planets, people, and even whole timelines have been consumed by the fighting. In the Time War, more has been lost than ever before. ![]() Salvage, a sanctuary where the abandoned and misplaced can be found. There's a place where all lost things go. Salvage by Max Curtis (An Eighth Doctor and Bliss Adventure read by Adèle Anderson) An audiobook anthology of six new Doctor Who short stories. ![]() ![]() ![]() Never use the passive where you can use the active.Īre you still awake? Then get this, his third rule: this discussion of how it predates Orwell): ![]() Verily shall I yawn unto you Orwell's unoriginal original (c.f. ![]() Let's start off in time honored Language Log style, by seeing how Orwell breaks his own rules. Showing a lack of imagination that would be worthy of someone who lacked imagination, Orwell suggests the following rule, his fourth rule, a rule that in various forms has been heard many times both before and since. ![]() He proceeds to shore up the declining language with style suggestions that, regrettably enough, have never turned a Dan Brown into a George Orwell.Ĭustomers who buy into Orwell's shit also buy Strunk and White, and further milquetoast simulacra of one or the other, so it's worth looking more closely at what he proposes. Orwell begins with the unjustified premise that language is in decline – unjustified because while he viciously attacks contemporary cases of poor writing, he provides no evidence that earlier times had been perennially populated by paragons of literary virtue. Furthermore I just noticed that its final law is rather curious. Orwell's Politics and the English Language is a beautifully written language crime, though it pretends to lay down the law. ![]() Lost in math6/9/2023 ![]() ![]() In her 2018 book Lost in Math, German physicist Sabine Hossenfelder criticized researchers in the foundations of physics for their “use of unscientific methods.” In her new book, Existential Physics, she now points out that “some of the research they pursue isn’t scientific to begin with.” I briefly met Hossenfelder at a conference in Mexico about fifteen years ago. Probably few of us, however, would think of faulting scientists. Each one of us might cast blame for this failure differently-be it on the far right or left, be it on mainstream or social media. ![]() If anything, the past decade has scattered any hope that the twentieth century’s stellar rise of modern science imbued us with a lasting, mutual understanding of how we agree on truth. “TRUTH” AND HOW we find it has never been an easy topic. ![]() Deep Freeze by John Sandford6/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Deep Freeze is easily one of Sandford's best Virgil Flowers novels yet." - The Real Book Spy "Add a gripping storyline, a generous helping of exquisitely conceived characters and laugh-out-loud humor that produce explosive guffaws, not muted chuckles, and you're in for the usual late-night, don't-even-think-of-stopping treat when Flowers hits town." - Richmond Times-Dispatch Praise for Escape Clause "You can't make this stuff up, but, thankfully, Sandford can. ![]() One of the very best novels in a superior series."- Booklist (starred review) "The reader's quest to discover the whole truth will propel them forward, where has plenty of twists (and more than a few laughs) planted along the way. ![]() Virgil understands that, in small towns, no one ever outgrows high school, and he uses that knowledge to unravel both mysteries by dissecting the relationships and economic realities in the town. Praise for Deep Freeze "Along the way to the satisfying ending, Virgil displays the rough humor and rough justice that make him such an appealing character."- Publishers Weekly "The tenth Flowers novel is a knowing portrait of small-town life layered into a very well plotted mystery. ![]() Bill browder author red notice6/8/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() With fraud, bribery, corruption and torture exposed at every turn,Red Notice is a shocking but true political roller-coaster that plays out in the highest echelons of Western power. Browder's graphic portrait of the Russian government as a criminal enterprise wielding all the power of a sovereign state illuminates his personal transformation from financier to human rights activist, campaigning for justice for his late lawyer and friend. Bill Browder - the hedge fund manager who employed Magnitsky - takes us on his explosive journey from the heady world of finance in New York and London in the 1990s, through his battles with ruthless oligarchs in the turbulent landscape of post-Soviet Union Moscow, to his expulsion from Russia on Putin's orders. Red Notice is a searing exposE of the wholesale whitewash by Russian authorities of Magnitsky's imprisonment and murder, slicing deep into the shadowy heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths. ![]() ![]() His farcical posthumous show-trial brought Putin's regime to a new low in the eyes of the international community. Magnitsky's brutal killing has remained uninvestigated and unpunished to this day. His crime? To testify against the Russian Interior Ministry officials who were involved in a conspiracy to steal $230 million of taxes paid to the state by one of the world's most successful hedge funds. An emaciated young lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, is led to a freezing isolation cell in a Moscow prison, handcuffed to a bed rail, and beaten to death by eight police officers. RED NOTICE: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Mans Fight for Justice User Review - Kirkus An American-born financier spins an almost unbelievable tale of the 'poisoned' psychology. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Soon she's faced with choices that she would never imagine making – between who she's become and who she once was. She becomes who she wants to be by pretending to be somebody she's not and living among the young and privileged Manhattan elite. Obsessed with everything Audrey Hepburn, Lisbeth is transformed when she secretly tries on Audrey's iconic Givenchy. Lisbeth comes from a broken home in the land of tube tops, heavy eyeliner, frosted lip-gloss, juiceheads, hoop earrings and "the shore." She has a circle of friends who have dedicated their teenage lives to relieve the world of all its alcohol one drink at a time. In Being Audrey Hepburn, Clarissa Explains It All-creator, Mitchell Kriegman, tells the story of a 19-year-old girl from Jersey who finds herself thrust into the world of socialites after being seen in Audrey Hepburn's dress from the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. ![]() Tina fey audio book6/8/2023 ![]() Fey’s family is humble and grounded for a celebrity’s family. In a witty and humorous chapter, she details the funny instances of her father Don Fey. Fey described her family for the readers. Tina Fey is known to be politically left inclined but her views and opinions in the book can be correlated by most of the readers. The author does a good job of describing her life journey in a witty and humorous manner for the readers. The author discusses her early life, her first job, her television career, marriage, and motherhood. The events from her childhood, formative years and how she became a celebrity are all captured in detail. The narrative plots the life journey of Tina Fey. The book provides an insight into the life of Tina Fey and what and who she is in her real life. SummaryBossypants Audiobook by Tina Fey is life memoir of the American comedian Tina Fey. The readers can download Bossypants Audiobook for free via Audible Free Trial. ![]() |