fio's bookshelf: all

fio's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 06 Sep 2026 13:44:30 -0700 60 fio's bookshelf: all 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Lying Life of Adults 48616787 336 Elena Ferrante 1609455916 fio 0 to-read 3.68 2019

author: Elena Ferrante
name: fio
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2019
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]]> <![CDATA[Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men]]> 41104077
Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible 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.]]> 448 Caroline Criado Pérez 1419729071 fio 0 to-read 4.34 2019 Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

author: Caroline Criado Pérez
name: fio
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
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]]> <![CDATA[Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder]]> 31487 352 Richard Dawkins 0618056734 fio 0 to-read 4.02 2000

Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

author: Richard Dawkins
name: fio
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2000
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]]> <![CDATA[The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True]]> 11256979
Packed with clever thought experiments, dazzling illustrations and jaw-dropping facts, The Magic of Reality explains a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. What is stuff made of? How old is the universe? Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces of a puzzle? What causes tsunamis? Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals? Who was the first man, or woman? This is a page-turning, graphic detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues but primes the reader to think like a scientist as well.

Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist and one of science education’s most passionate advocates, has spent his career elucidating the wonders of science for adult readers. But now, in a dramatic departure, he has teamed up with acclaimed artist Dave McKean and used his unrivaled explanatory powers to share the magic of science with readers of all ages. This is a treasure trove for anyone who has ever wondered how the world works. Dawkins and McKean have created an illustrated guide to the secrets of our world—and the universe beyond—that will entertain and inform for years to come.]]> 271 Richard Dawkins 1439192812 fio 0 to-read 4.05 2011 The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

author: Richard Dawkins
name: fio
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
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]]> <![CDATA[The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design]]> 117047 ***30th Anniversary Edition***

Cover note: Each copy of the anniversary edition of The Blind Watchmaker features a unique biomorph. No two covers are exactly alike.

Acclaimed as the most influential work on evolution written in the last hundred years, The Blind Watchmaker offers an inspiring and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. A brilliant and controversial book which demonstrates that evolution by natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind yet essentially non-random process discovered by Darwin - is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do we exist?]]> 466 Richard Dawkins 0141026162 fio 0 to-read 4.09 1986 The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design

author: Richard Dawkins
name: fio
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1986
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]]> <![CDATA[The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution]]> 6117055
"The Greatest Show on Earth" is a stunning counter-attack on creationists, followers of "Intelligent Design" and all those who still question evolution as scientific fact. In this brilliant tour de force, Richard Dawkins pulls together the incontrovertible evidence that underpins it: from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics.

"The Greatest Show on Earth" comes at a critical time as systematic opposition to the fact of evolution flourishes as never before in many schools worldwide. Dawkins wields a devastating argument against this ignorance whilst sharing with us his palpable love of science and the natural world. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.]]> 470 Richard Dawkins 059306173X fio 0 to-read 4.14 2009 The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution

author: Richard Dawkins
name: fio
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2009
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]]> The Selfish Gene 61535
Chapters:
1. Why are people?
2. The replicators
3. Immortal coils
4. The gene machine
5. Aggression stability and the selfish machine
6. Genesmanship
7. Family planning
8. Battle of the generations
9. Battle of the sexes
10. You scratch my back, I'll ride on yours
11. Memes: the new replicators
12. Nice guys finish first
13. The long reach of the gene]]> 360 Richard Dawkins 0199291152 fio 0 to-read 4.15 1976 The Selfish Gene

author: Richard Dawkins
name: fio
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1976
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]]> <![CDATA[The God Delusion: A Study of Religious Belief and Skepticism]]> 14743
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament, to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion, and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.]]> 374 Richard Dawkins 0618680004 fio 0 to-read 3.89 2006 The God Delusion: A Study of Religious Belief and Skepticism

The God Delusion: A Study of Religious Belief and Skepticism

author: Richard Dawkins
name: fio
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
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]]> The Gray Man (Gray Man, #1) 6547865 Courtland Gentry is a good man. But he’s a great assassin.

To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always.

But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness.

But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…]]> 456 Mark Greaney fio 0 to-read 4.12 2009 The Gray Man (Gray Man, #1)

author: Mark Greaney
name: fio
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2009
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza]]> 242171638
How to Sell a Genocide is a thorough indictment of US corporate media's role in enabling—and, at times, directly inciting—one of the most devastating campaigns of mass killing in modern memory. Johnson unpacks how major news outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC systematically sanitised Israel's war crimes, hid the US’s central role, and dehumanised the Palestinian people.

Drawing from deep, original data-driven analysis, Johnson dissects the mechanics of propaganda, from the selective empathy, strategic omissions, overt racism and repetition of state-sanctioned falsehoods, to the demonisation of humanitarian workers and dishonest coverage of campus protests. With clarity and moral force, Johnson argues that the genocide could not have been sustained without the active, sustained complicity of the US media.]]> 256 Adam H. Johnson 0745351654 fio 0 to-read 4.63 2026 How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza

How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza

author: Adam H. Johnson
name: fio
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/08/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Psyche on the Skin: A History of Self-Harm]]> 31573504 Psyche on the Skin tells the secret but necessary history of self-harm from the 1860s to the present, showing just how deeply entrenched this practice is in human culture.

Sarah Chaney looks at many different kinds of self-injurious acts, including sexual self-mutilation and hysterical malingering in the late Victorian period, self-marking religious sects, and self-mutilation and self-destruction in art, music, and popular culture. As she shows, while self-harm is a widespread phenomenon found in many different contexts, it doesn’t necessarily have any kind of universal meaning—it always has to be understood within the historical and cultural context that surrounds it. Bravely sharing her own personal experiences with self-harm and placing them within its wider history, Chaney offers a sensitive but engaging account—supported with powerful images—that challenges the misconceptions and controversies that surround this often misunderstood phenomenon. The result is crucial reading for therapists and other professionals in the field, as well as those affected by this emotive, challenging act.
]]> 315 Sarah Chaney 1780237502 fio 0 to-read 3.67 2017 Psyche on the Skin: A History of Self-Harm

Psyche on the Skin: A History of Self-Harm

author: Sarah Chaney
name: fio
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2017
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]]> <![CDATA[Solidarity with Children: An Essay Against Adult Supremacy]]> 223957667 A revolutionary feminist case for child liberation, a utopian project that helps us imagine ways to build insurgent, collective forms of care.

We live in a world that is profoundly against children—evident in the genocide in Palestine, the fascist targeting of trans children, and the blatant disregard for the lives of migrant children crossing borders and oceans. It is a world in which climate catastrophe has become the new normal, in which children’s futures are by no means assured.

What we need, feminist writer and scholar Madeline Lane-McKinely argues, is a politics of solidarity with children, one that sees children as comrades in our struggle for a better future. Blending personal and political reflection with cultural analysis, Lane-McKinley examines the history of childhood as a system of private property in capitalism, showing how the idea of the child has been weaponized in the service of white supremacy and empire. She disentangles motherhood from the act of caregiving, tracing the possibilities of revolutionary mothering. And she critiques the parents’ rights movement and imagines what education might look like outside schools, considering how we might center children as we challenge the strictures of the nuclear family.

Elegantly written and provocative, Solidarity with Children is a book for anyone who cares about children and the struggle for a better world.]]> 192 Madeline Lane-McKinley fio 0 to-read 3.65 2025 Solidarity with Children: An Essay Against Adult Supremacy

Solidarity with Children: An Essay Against Adult Supremacy

author: Madeline Lane-McKinley
name: fio
average rating: 3.65
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]]> What My Bones Know 58214328 This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.

Both of Foo's parents abandoned her when she was a teenager, after years of physical and verbal abuse and neglect. She thought she'd moved on, but her new diagnosis illuminated the way her past continued to threaten her health, relationships, and career. She found limited resources to help her, so Foo set out to heal herself, and to map her experiences onto the scarce literature about C-PTSD.

In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don't move on from trauma—but you can learn to move with it.

Powerful, enlightening, and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckons with the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the body—and examines one woman's ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.]]> 352 Stephanie Foo 0593238109 fio 0 to-read 4.48 2022 What My Bones Know

author: Stephanie Foo
name: fio
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2022
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]]> <![CDATA[Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union]]> 57615568
In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four-million strong, five-thousand nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century.

Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.]]> 576 Vladislav M. Zubok 0300257309 fio 0 to-read 4.25 2021 Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

author: Vladislav M. Zubok
name: fio
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles, #1)]]> 43954881 The war everyone thought was over is just beginning.

Kira Forrest is a survivor. She’s risen above the pain of her beginnings to become a war hero only to leave it all behind in the pursuit of a simple life. Now a salvager, she makes a living sifting through the wreckage of dead alien ships from a war that nearly brought humanity to its knees.

After her ship takes damage, she’s forced to re-route to a space station where her past and present collide with dangerous consequences.

Kira’s existence holds the key to a faltering peace treaty with the Tuann—a technologically advanced alien race who dislikes and distrusts all humans. Winning her freedom should be easy, but a powerful and relentless Tuann warrior stands in her way. Deceiving him seems impossible, especially when he strays dangerously close to secrets she struggles to hide.

Can Kira reconcile the pain of her past with the possibilities of her future? The fate of two races depends on her success.]]> 420 T.A. White fio 0 to-read 4.34 2019 Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles, #1)

Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles, #1)

author: T.A. White
name: fio
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
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]]> <![CDATA[Botanical Mischief (Cosmic Dryad #1)]]> 252856191
When that dead man turns out to be very much alive and not dead at all, Gus finds herself drawn into a scheme with galactic implications. Pursued from one end of the space station, Titan, to the next, Gus is forced to abandon the comfort of her sanctuary in hopes of uncovering the mastermind of a plot that threatens her peaceful existence. The consequences should she fail are being named the scape goat for someone else’s crimes—and, well, death.

No pressure then. Just another day on Titan. Haven to pirate clans and criminal enterprises alike.

This novel is set in the same universe as the Firebird Chronicles. For maximum enjoyment, you may want to read that first.]]> 253 T.A. White fio 0 to-read 4.48 2026 Botanical Mischief (Cosmic Dryad #1)

author: T.A. White
name: fio
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2026
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]]> <![CDATA[The Javelin Program (Time to Orbit: Unknown, #1)]]> 218145543
Aspen wasn't trained for any of this. But if they can't keep themselves alive, get the ship in working order, and find out what went wrong by unravelling a chain of mysteries leading all the way back to distant Earth, then neither Aspen nor the five thousand sleeping passengers in their care will ever see a planet again.]]> 582 Derin Edala fio 0 to-read 4.52 The Javelin Program (Time to Orbit: Unknown, #1)

The Javelin Program (Time to Orbit: Unknown, #1)

author: Derin Edala
name: fio
average rating: 4.52
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]]> A Confusion of Princes 13458013 I have died three times, and three times been reborn, though I am not yet twenty in the old earth years by which it is still the fashion to measure time. This is the story of my three deaths, and my life between. My name is Khemri.

Taken from his parents as a child and equipped with biological and technological improvements, Khemri is now an enhanced human being, trained and prepared for the glory of becoming a Prince of the Empire. Not to mention the ultimate glory: should he die, and be deemed worthy, he will be reborn...Which is just as well, because no sooner has Prince Khemri graduated to full Princehood than he learns the terrible truth behind the Empire: there are ten million princes, and all of them want each other dead.]]> 337 Garth Nix 1741758610 fio 0 to-read 3.75 2012 A Confusion of Princes

author: Garth Nix
name: fio
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
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]]> Necroscope (Necroscope, #1) 66655
Except to Harry Keogh, Necroscope. And what they tell him is horrifying.

In the Balkan mountains of Rumania, a terrible evil is growing. Long buried in hallowed ground, bound by earth and silver, the master vampire schemes and plots. Trapped in unlife, neither dead nor living, Thibor Ferenczy hungers for freedom and revenge.

The vampire's human tool is Boris Dragosani, part of a super-secret Soviet spy agency. Dragosani is an avid pupil, eager to plumb the depthless evil of the vampire's mind. Ferenczy teaches Dragosani the awful skills of the necromancer, gives him the ability to rip secrets from the mind and bodies of the dead.

Dragosani works not for Ferenczy's freedom but world domination. He will rule the world with knowledge raped from the dead.

His only opponent: Harry Keogh, champion of the dead and the living.

To protect Harry, the dead will do anything--even rise from their graves!
]]> 383 Brian Lumley 031285787X fio 0 to-read 4.00 1986 Necroscope (Necroscope, #1)

author: Brian Lumley
name: fio
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1986
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]]> The Incandescent 217387935 Naomi Novik's Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us."

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself.]]> 416 Emily Tesh 1250835011 fio 0 to-read 3.87 2025 The Incandescent

author: Emily Tesh
name: fio
average rating: 3.87
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]]> The Rise of Christianity 30948 Newsweek) is now available in paperback. Stark's provocative report challenges conventional wisdom and finds that Christianity's astounding dominance of the Western world arose from its offer of a better, more secure way of life.

"Compelling reading" (Library Journal) that is sure to "generate spirited argument" (Publishers Weekly), this account of Christianity's remarkable growth within the Roman Empire is the subject of much fanfare. "Anyone who has puzzled over Christianity's rise to dominance...must read it." says Yale University's Wayne A. Meeks, for The Rise of Christianity makes a compelling case for startling conclusions. Combining his expertise in social science with historical evidence, and his insight into contemporary religion's appeal, Stark finds that early Christianity attracted the privileged rather than the poor, that most early converts were women or marginalized Jews—and ultimately "that Christianity was a success because it proved those who joined it with a more appealing, more assuring, happier, and perhaps longer life" (Andrew M. Greeley, University of Chicago).]]> 272 Rodney Stark 0060677015 fio 0 to-read 4.06 1996 The Rise of Christianity

author: Rodney Stark
name: fio
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1996
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]]> The Handmaid's Tale 34454589 320 Margaret Atwood 1328879941 fio 0 to-read 4.26 1985

author: Margaret Atwood
name: fio
average rating: 4.26
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]]> <![CDATA[Men Who Hate Women: The Extremism Nobody is Talking About]]> 48635408
Men Who Hate Women examines the rise of secretive extremist communities who despise women and traces the roots of misogyny across a complex spider web of groups. It includes eye-opening interviews with former members of these communities, the academics studying this movement, and the men fighting back.

Women's rights activist Laura Bates wrote this book as someone who has been the target of many hate-fueled misogynistic attacks online. At first, the vitriol seemed to be the work of a small handful of individual men... but over time, the volume and consistency of the attacks hinted at something bigger and more ominous. As Bates went undercover into the corners of the internet, she found an unseen, organized movement of thousands of anonymous men wishing violence (and worse) upon women.
In the book, Bates explores:

Extreme communities like incels, pick-up artists, MGTOW, Men's Rights Activists and more
The hateful, toxic rhetoric used by these groups
How this movement connects to other extremist movements like white supremacy
How young boys are targeted and slowly drawn in
Where this ideology shows up in our everyday lives in mainstream media, our playgrounds, and our government

By turns fascinating and horrifying, Men Who Hate Women is a broad, unflinching account of the deep current of loathing toward women and anti-feminism that underpins our society and is a must-read for parents, educators, and anyone who believes in equality for women.]]> 366 Laura Bates fio 0 to-read 4.33 2020 Men Who Hate Women: The Extremism Nobody is Talking About

Men Who Hate Women: The Extremism Nobody is Talking About

author: Laura Bates
name: fio
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2020
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]]> <![CDATA[The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World]]> 58100655 The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it?

With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story.

By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.]]> 272 Oliver Milman 1324006595 fio 0 to-read 4.09 2022 The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World

author: Oliver Milman
name: fio
average rating: 4.09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)]]> 52843028
A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village.

All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that contribute to Agatha Christie's well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.]]> 174 Agatha Christie 1734452595 fio 0 to-read 4.04 1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)

author: Agatha Christie
name: fio
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1920
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]]> Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1) 14995 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's Deeply Odd.

“The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Meet Odd Thomas, the unassuming young hero of Dean Koontz’s dazzling New York Times bestseller, a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who offers up his heart in these pages and will forever capture yours.

Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live—an unforgettable fable for our time destined to rank among Dean Koontz’s most enduring works.]]> 446 Dean Koontz 0553384287 fio 0 to-read 3.99 2003 Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1)

author: Dean Koontz
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]]> <![CDATA[A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia]]> 118316
A Thousand Plateaus is part of Deleuze and Guattari's landmark philosophical project, Capitalism and Schizophrenia - a project that still sets the terms of contemporary philosophical debate. A Thousand Plateaus provides a compelling analysis of social phenomena and offers fresh alternatives for thinking about philosophy and culture. Its radical perspective provides a toolbox for nomadic thought and has had a galvanizing influence on today's anti-capitalist movement.

Translated by Brian Massumi]]> 632 Gilles Deleuze 0816614024 fio 0 to-read 4.32 1980 A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

author: Gilles Deleuze
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average rating: 4.32
book published: 1980
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]]> <![CDATA[Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic]]> 37753916 “Highlights that influenza is still a real and present threat and demonstrates the power and limitations of modern medicine.” —The Wall Street Journal “A surprisingly compelling and accessible story of one of the world’s most deadly diseases. It is timely and interesting, engaging and sobering.” —David Gregort, CNN political analyst and former moderator for NBC’s Meet the Press A veteran ER doctor explores the troubling, terrifying, and complex history and present-day research of the flu virus, from the origins of the Great Flu that killed millions, to vexing questions such are we prepared for the next epidemic, should you get a flu shot, and how close are we to finding a cure?While influenza is now often thought of as a common but mild disease, it still kills more than thirty thousand people in the United States each year. Dr. Jeremy Brown, a veteran ER doctor and director of the Office of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, talks with leading epidemiologists, policy makers, and the researcher who first sequenced the genetic building blocks of the original 1918 virus to offer both a comprehensive history and a road map to protect us from the next outbreak. Dr. Brown explores the terrifying and complex history of the flu virus and looks at the controversy over vaccinations and the federal government’s role in preparing for pandemic outbreaks. Though a hundred years of advancement in medical research and technology have passed since the 1918 disaster, Dr. Brown warns that many of the most vital questions about the flu virus continue to confound even the leading experts.]]> 273 Dr Jeremy Brown 1501181262 fio 0 to-read 4.24 2018 Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

author: Dr Jeremy Brown
name: fio
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2018
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]]> <![CDATA[More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War]]> 35795927 304 Kenneth C. Davis 1250145120 fio 0 to-read 3.85 2018

More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War

author: Kenneth C. Davis
name: fio
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2018
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]]> <![CDATA[The Spanish Flu: A History from Beginning to End]]> 53333050 37 Hourly History fio 0 to-read 4.11

The Spanish Flu: A History from Beginning to End

author: Hourly History
name: fio
average rating: 4.11
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]]> <![CDATA[Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World]]> 30335530
In Pale Rider, Laura Spinney recounts the story of an overlooked pandemic, tracing it from Alaska to Brazil, from Persia to Spain, and from South Africa to Odessa. She shows how the pandemic was shaped by the interaction of a virus and the humans it encountered; and how this devastating natural experiment put both the ingenuity and the vulnerability of humans to the test.

Laura Spinney writes that the Spanish flu was as significant—if not more so—as two world wars in shaping the modern world; in disrupting, and often permanently altering, global politics, race relations, family structures, and thinking across medicine, religion and the arts.]]> 332 Laura Spinney 1910702374 fio 0 to-read 3.87 2017 Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World

author: Laura Spinney
name: fio
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within]]> 44905 336 Natalie Goldberg 1590303164 fio 0 to-read 4.21 1986

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

author: Natalie Goldberg
name: fio
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft]]> 222117 448 Janet Burroway 0321277368 fio 0 to-read 4.11 1987

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft

author: Janet Burroway
name: fio
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1987
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]]> How Fiction Works 1355465 Aspects of the Novel and Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, How Fiction Works is a scintillating study of the magic of fiction--an analysis of its main elements and a celebration of its lasting power. Here one of the most prominent and stylish critics of our time looks into the machinery of storytelling to ask some fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we "know" a fictional character? What constitutes a telling detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is Realism realistic? Why do some literary conventions become dated while others stay fresh?

James Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Make Way for Ducklings, from the Bible to John le Carré, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, How Fiction Works will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone else interested in what happens on the page.]]> 265 James Wood 0374173400 fio 0 to-read 3.99 2008

author: James Wood
name: fio
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2008
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]]> <![CDATA[Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them]]> 39934 New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters to discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart - to take pleasure in the long and magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs of Isaac Babel; she is deeply moved by the brilliant characterization in George Eliot's Middlemarch. She looks to John Le Carré for a lesson in how to advance plot through dialogue and to Flannery O'Connor for the cunning use of the telling detail. And, most important, Prose cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which all literature is crafted.]]> 320 Francine Prose 0060777052 fio 0 to-read 3.77 2006 Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them

author: Francine Prose
name: fio
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2006
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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 fio 0 to-read 4.58 1985 Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)

author: Larry McMurtry
name: fio
average rating: 4.58
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants]]> 17465709 Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.]]> 408 Robin Wall Kimmerer 1571313354 fio 0 to-read 4.50 2013 Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: fio
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2013
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]]> Snake-Eater 226957129 From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy steeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert—only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.

With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.

Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.

Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.]]> 267 T. Kingfisher 1662525109 fio 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Snake-Eater

author: T. Kingfisher
name: fio
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
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]]> A House with Good Bones 60784409
"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.]]> 247 T. Kingfisher 1250829798 fio 0 to-read 3.63 2023 A House with Good Bones

author: T. Kingfisher
name: fio
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2023
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]]> Nine Goblins 231127247 New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Nine Goblins, a tale of low fantasy and high mischief.

No one knows exactly how the Goblin War began, but folks will tell you that goblins are stinking, slinking, filthy, sheep-stealing, henhouse-raiding, obnoxious, rude, and violent. Goblins would actually agree with all this, and might throw in “cowardly” and “lazy” too for good measure.

But goblins don't go around killing people for fun, no matter what the propaganda posters say. And when a confrontation with an evil wizard lands a troop of nine goblins deep behind enemy lines, goblin sergeant Nessilka must figure out how to keep her hapless band together and get them home in one piece.

Unfortunately, between them and safety lies a forest full of elves, trolls, monsters, and that most terrifying of creatures…a human being.]]> 160 T. Kingfisher 1250400112 fio 0 to-read 4.05 2013 Nine Goblins

author: T. Kingfisher
name: fio
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
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]]> The Girl Who Ate a Death God 50751934
Personally, I don’t really know. What I do know is merely one thing.

I’m hungry.

Therefore, I’ll take the heads of these guys and deliver them to my superiors.

Surely, I’ll be able to eat delicious food.

Come, if preparations are in order, we depart.]]> 七沢またり fio 0 to-read 3.93 2012 The Girl Who Ate a Death God

author: 七沢またり
name: fio
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> Iron and Blood 60049834 1040 Peter H. Wilson 0241355567 fio 0 to-read 3.91 2022

author: Peter H. Wilson
name: fio
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
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]]> Killology (Modern Plays) 35378430 134 Gary Owen 1786821699 fio 0 to-read 4.00 2017

author: Gary Owen
name: fio
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
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]]> Firegirl 242956
From this moment on, life is never quite the same for Tom and his seventh-grade classmates. They learn that Jessica has been in a fire and was badly burned, and will be attending St. Catherine's while getting medical treatments. Despite her horrifying appearance and the fear she evokes in him and most of the class, Tom slowly develops a tentative friendship with Jessica that changes his life.

Tony Abbott is the author of over 35 books for young readers, including the extremely popular The Secrets of Droon series. In Firegirl he has written a powerful book that will show readers that even the smallest of gestures can have a profound impact on someone's life.]]> 145 Tony Abbott 0316011711 fio 0 to-read 3.74 2006

author: Tony Abbott
name: fio
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/08
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]]> <![CDATA[King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa]]> 40961621 King Leopold's Ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great Shakespearean villains. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who fought Leopold: a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure and unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust. Adam Hochschild brings this largely untold story alive with the wit and skill of a Barbara Tuchman. Like her, he knows that history often provides a far richer cast of characters than any novelist could invent. Chief among them is Edmund Morel, a young British shipping agent who went on to lead the international crusade against Leopold. Another hero of this tale, the Irish patriot Roger Casement, ended his life on a London gallows. Two courageous black Americans, George Washington Williams and William Sheppard, risked much to bring evidence of the Congo atrocities to the outside world. Sailing into the middle of the story was a young Congo River steamboat officer named Joseph Conrad. And looming above them all, the duplicitous billionaire King Leopold II. With great power and compassion, King Leopold's Ghost will brand the tragedy of the Congo--too long forgotten--onto the conscience of the West]]> 442 Adam Hochschild fio 0 to-read 4.18 1998 King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

author: Adam Hochschild
name: fio
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry]]> 75593813
The Roman empire shaped the culture of the western world against which all other great powers are compared. Stretching from the north of Britain to the Sahara, and from the Atlantic coast to the Euphrates, it imposed peace and prosperity on an unprecedented scale. However, the exception lay in the east, where the Parthian and then Persian empires ruled over great cities and the trade routes to mysterious lands beyond. This was the place Alexander the Great had swept through, creating a dream of glory and conquest which tantalised Greeks and Romans alike. Caesar, Mark Antony and a long succession of emperors longed to follow in Alexander's footsteps. All failed. Only here did the Roman empire slow down and eventually stop because it was unable to go any further.

Following seven centuries of conflict that ultimately, neither Rome nor Persia would win, The Eagle and The Lion delves into the clash, context and journeys of these entities of great power and the people caught in their wider struggle.]]> 557 Adrian Goldsworthy 154161996X fio 0 to-read 3.95 2023 Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry

Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry

author: Adrian Goldsworthy
name: fio
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Worth of Scars (The Scarred Saga Book 1)]]> 252217955
For humanity’s ancient enemy the Serafin are rumoured to have returned, and the old man who assembled such an unlikely band believes these misfits might hold the key to defeating them. United only by guilt, trauma, and the machinations of their mysterious patron, together they must journey to the centre of the continent to do battle with gods.

But only by using the Serafin’s own powers do they hold any chance of victory: a magic that has a cost. Corrupted long ago, it condemns those who wield it to become the shunned, self-mutilating sorcerers known as the Scarred.

Each must decide – is that cost worth paying to save the world?

Perfect for fans of authors like Joe Abercrombie, Brian McClellan and George R.R. Martin, The Worth of Scars is an epic flintlock adventure with a twist, fusing thought-provoking, dark and intriguing themes with the classic fantasy quest.

***CONTENT WARNING***

This is a dark book featuring themes, topics and scenes that will not be suitable for everyone. It is very much ‘grimdark’ fantasy, and features many of the staples of that sub-genre.

In particular, the magic at the heart of the novel requires self-mutilation for a user to wield it. This is not a spoiler – it’s very much a core part of the book from the beginning.

As such, depictions of graphic self-harm in the novel are frequent and unflinching.

If you suffer from or have ever suffered from self-harm or suicidal ideation, then it is the author’s urgent wish that you consider extremely carefully whether or not to read the novel.

]]> 650 Gabriel Farrell 1919539417 fio 0 to-read 4.50 The Worth of Scars (The Scarred Saga Book 1)

The Worth of Scars (The Scarred Saga Book 1)

author: Gabriel Farrell
name: fio
average rating: 4.50
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date added: 2026/07/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)]]> 34728667 They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.]]> 544 Tomi Adeyemi 1250170974 fio 0 to-read 4.09 2018 Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)

author: Tomi Adeyemi
name: fio
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (Mouse Guard, #1)]]> 64251
Now three of the Guard's finest have been dispatched. The mission seems simple: They are to find a missing mouse, a grain merchant who never arrived at his destination. But when they find him, they make a shocking discovery—one that involves a treacherous betrayal, a stolen secret, and a rising power that has only one goal: to bring down the Guard...]]> 192 David Petersen 1932386572 fio 0 to-read 4.02 2007 Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (Mouse Guard, #1)

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (Mouse Guard, #1)

author: David Petersen
name: fio
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/03
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]]> Flowers for Algernon 18373 Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.

Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence – a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?]]> 311 Daniel Keyes 015603008X fio 0 to-read 4.21 1966 Flowers for Algernon

author: Daniel Keyes
name: fio
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1966
rating: 0
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]]> The Plague Dogs 12442 Watership Down, creates a lyrical and engrossing tale, a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes, Snitter and Rowf.

After being horribly mistreated at a government animal research facility, Snitter and Rowf escape into the isolation, and terror, of the wilderness. Aided only by a fox they call ''the Tod,'' the two dogs must struggle to survive in their new environment. When the starving dogs attack some sheep, they are labeled ferocious man-eating monsters, setting off a great dog hunt that is later intensified by the fear that the dogs could be carriers of the bubonic plague.]]> 390 Richard Adams 0345494024 fio 0 to-read 3.90 1977 The Plague Dogs

author: Richard Adams
name: fio
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[MouseStruck: An Animal Rights Activist, an Ex-vivisector,True Story]]> 24644522
This is a unique and rare candid account of a vivisector who, after a long career in vivisection, had decided to break the wall of silence and courageously tells the story of lab animals that intertwines with her own life story.

The author is a former vivisector who, for over twenty years, had practiced animal experimentation for the sake of science.

MouseStruck is a true account unfolding the process of the author crossing the lines after contracting cancer following many years of participating in the research to find a cure for this class of diseases, and a sincere attempt to comprehend the vivisection act.

“This is my attempt to share my frustration and bewilderment in the face of the unreasonable reason, double standards, unsynchronized academic disciplines, and the rift between academic discourse and actual reality, while expressing my sense of freedom after releasing myself from the trap of a daily routine which eroded and distorted my life. I wish to reveal the atrocities, to protest against the scientific arrogance which is detached and alienated from the Humanities and the human spirit, and to allow the reader to grasp the inconceivable.”

Scroll up and grab a copy today.]]> 188 Ita Stein Gvirtzman fio 0 to-read 3.95 2015 MouseStruck: An Animal Rights Activist, an Ex-vivisector,True Story

MouseStruck: An Animal Rights Activist, an Ex-vivisector,True Story

author: Ita Stein Gvirtzman
name: fio
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2015
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]]> <![CDATA[Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World]]> 56354
Starting with women in pre-history the author looks beyond the myth of ‘Man the Hunter’ to reveal women’s central role in the survival and evolution of the human race. She follows their progress from the days when God was a woman through to the triumphs of the Amazons and Assyrian war queens: she looks at the rise of organised religion and the growing oppression of women: she charts the long slow struggle for women’s rights culminating in the twentieth century women’s movements: and finally she presents a vision of women breaking free.

This brilliant and absorbing book turns the spotlight on the hidden side of history to present a fascinating new view of the world, overturning our preconceptions to restore women to their rightful place at the centre of the worldwide story of revolution, empire, war and peace.

Spiced with tales of individual women who have shaped history, celebrating the work and lives of the unsung female millions, distinguished by a wealth of research, The Women’s History of the World redefines the concept of historical reality.]]> 352 Rosalind Miles 0609806955 fio 0 to-read 3.80 1989 Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World

Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World

author: Rosalind Miles
name: fio
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1989
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]]> The Yellow Wall-Paper 286957
In a private journal, the woman records her growing obsession with the “horrid” wallpaper. Its strange pattern mutates in the moonlight, revealing what appears to be a human figure in the design. With nothing else to occupy her mind, the woman resolves to unlock the mystery of the wallpaper. Her quest, however, leads not to the truth, but into the darkest depths of madness.

A condemnation of the patriarchy, The Yellow Wallpaper explores with terrifying economy the oppression, grave misunderstanding, and willful dismissal of women in late nineteenth-century society.

First published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine.

Excerpt:
Out of another I get a lovely view of the bay and a little private wharf belonging to the estate. There is a beautiful shaded lane that runs down there from the house. I always fancy I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned me not to give way to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I try.]]> 62 Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1558611584 fio 0 to-read 4.09 1892 The Yellow Wall-Paper

author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: fio
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1892
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]]> <![CDATA[Why are Americans Afraid of Dragons?]]> 52911268 Short essay. 7 Ursula K. Le Guin fio 0 to-read 4.45

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]]> 1984 40961427
Living under constant state surveillance via ubiquitous telescreens, Winston covertly rebels against the ruling Party through private journal writing and an illicit relationship with a coworker, Julia. The novel examines the mechanics of political authoritarianism, the manipulation of language and history, and the tension between individual consciousness and state power.]]> 298 George Orwell fio 0 currently-reading 4.24 1949 1984

author: George Orwell
name: fio
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1949
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection]]> 220341389
In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.]]> 198 John Green 0525556575 fio 4 4.31 2025 Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

author: John Green
name: fio
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/06/03
date added: 2026/06/03
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review:
accidentally took forever to get through this book despite it not being especially long. my bad. good book!
]]> Negative Space 52028992 364 B.R. Yeager 1733569456 fio 0 to-read 3.68 2020

author: B.R. Yeager
name: fio
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2020
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]]> A Short Stay in Hell 13456414
In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.]]> 108 Steven L. Peck 098374842X fio 0 to-read 4.11 2011 A Short Stay in Hell

author: Steven L. Peck
name: fio
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/06/02
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]]> The Buffalo Hunter Hunter 214565614 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians comes a tale of the American West, writ in blood.

This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice.

It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.

This is an American Indian revenge story, captured in the vivid voices of the time, by one of the new masters of literary horror, Stephen Graham Jones.]]> 448 Stephen Graham Jones 1668075083 fio 0 to-read 3.95 2025 The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: fio
average rating: 3.95
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]]> <![CDATA[This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible]]> 18210783
Like King, many ostensibly “nonviolent” civil rights activists embraced their constitutional right to self-protection—yet this crucial dimension of the Afro-American freedom struggle has been long ignored by history. In This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed, civil rights scholar Charles E. Cobb Jr. describes the vital role that armed self-defense played in the survival and liberation of black communities in America during the Southern Freedom Movement of the 1960s. In the Deep South, blacks often safeguarded themselves and their loved ones from white supremacist violence by bearing—and, when necessary, using—firearms. In much the same way, Cobb shows, nonviolent civil rights workers received critical support from black gun owners in the regions where they worked. Whether patrolling their neighborhoods, garrisoning their homes, or firing back at attackers, these courageous men and women and the weapons they carried were crucial to the movement’s success.

Giving voice to the World War II veterans, rural activists, volunteer security guards, and self-defense groups who took up arms to defend their lives and liberties, This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed lays bare the paradoxical relationship between the nonviolent civil rights struggle and the Second Amendment. Drawing on his firsthand experiences in the civil rights movement and interviews with fellow participants, Cobb provides a controversial examination of the crucial place of firearms in the fight for American freedom.]]> 294 Charles E. Cobb Jr. 0465033105 fio 0 to-read 4.25 2014 This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible

author: Charles E. Cobb Jr.
name: fio
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2014
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]]> <![CDATA[How Europe Underdeveloped Africa]]> 40630 The decisiveness of the short period of colonialism and its negative consequences for Africa spring mainly from the fact that Africa lost power. Power is the ultimate determinant in human society, being basic to the relations within any group and between groups. It implies the ability to defend one's interests and if necessary to impose one’s will by any means available. In relations between peoples, the question of power determines maneuverability in bargaining, the extent to which a people survive as a physical and cultural entity. When one society finds itself forced to relinquish power entirely to another society, that in itself is a form of underdevelopment.
Before a bomb ended his life in the summer of 1980, Walter Rodney had created a powerful legacy. This pivotal work, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, had already brought a new perspective to the question of underdevelopment in Africa. his Marxist analysis went far beyond the heretofore accepted approach in the study of Third World underdevelopment. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is an excellent introductory study for the student who wishes to better understand the dynamics of Africa’s contemporary relations with the West.]]> 312 Walter Rodney 0882580965 fio 0 to-read 4.41 1971 How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

author: Walter Rodney
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average rating: 4.41
book published: 1971
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]]> <![CDATA[Bitch: On the Female of the Species]]> 59228221 A fierce, funny, and revolutionary look at the queens of the animal kingdom.

Studying zoology made Lucy Cooke feel like a sad freak. Not because she loved spiders or would root around in animal feces: all her friends shared the same curious kinks. The problem was her sex. Being female meant she was, by nature, a loser.

Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones—dominating and promiscuous, while females are dull, passive, and devoted.

In Bitch, Cooke tells a new story. Whether investigating same-sex female albatross couples that raise chicks, murderous mother meerkats, or the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks, Cooke shows us a new evolutionary biology, one where females can be as dynamic as any male. This isn't your grandfather's evolutionary biology. It's more inclusive, truer to life, and, simply, more fun.]]> 400 Lucy Cooke 1541674898 fio 0 to-read 4.45 2022 Bitch: On the Female of the Species

author: Lucy Cooke
name: fio
average rating: 4.45
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]]> In the Lives of Men 49009359 Alan L. Hart fio 0 to-read 0.0 1937

author: Alan L. Hart
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]]> Doctor Mallory 48578309 Dr. Mallory, was published in 1935, after Hart and his wife had relocated to Seattle. Based on his own experiences, it follows a young doctor through the 1918 flu epidemic in a remote Oregon timber town. The Tacoma News Tribune took note, saying that it "has already been described by Eastern critics as a powerful book dealing with the medical profession" ("Doctor Writes …). Doctor Mallory got more attention in Spokane, where Hart had also lived and practiced in the 1920s. He spoke at a conference of western writers that April. Described as "a slight, rather dapper chap," Hart told the gathering that its publication fulfilled "an ambition of boyhood to be a doctor and write a book" (Hindley).]]> 320 Alan L. Hart fio 0 to-read 3.00 1935 Doctor Mallory

author: Alan L. Hart
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average rating: 3.00
book published: 1935
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]]> The Undaunted 28163334 The Undaunted, his second bestseller. The novel, which follows young doctor Richard Cameron’s attempts to find an effective treatment for anemia, begins in the west coast city of Seaforth, a stand-in for 1920s Seattle. Within the medical-research plot, Hart also weaves the story of men—Cameron and radiologist Sandy Farquhar—whose personalities and bodies do not fit neatly within the norms of the social and medical establish-ment. Dedicated to medicine and the understanding that scientific knowledge can decrease human pain and suffering, Cameron and Farquhar must nevertheless pursue their careers at personal cost. Lauded in its time for its insights into the inner workings of the medical field, The Undaunted is also an important document of the struggle of the human heart.]]> Alan L. Hart fio 0 to-read 4.50

author: Alan L. Hart
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]]> <![CDATA[Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland]]> 40163119
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.

Patrick Radden Keefe writes an intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.]]> 441 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385521316 fio 0 to-read 4.47 2018 Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: fio
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2018
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]]> <![CDATA[The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis]]> 18079760 The riveting history of tuberculosis, the world’s most lethal disease, the two men whose lives it tragically intertwined, and the birth of medical science.

In 1875, tuberculosis was the deadliest disease in the world, accountable for a third of all deaths. A diagnosis of TB—often called consumption—was a death sentence. Then, in a triumph of medical science, a German doctor named Robert Koch deployed an unprecedented scientific rigor to discover the bacteria that caused TB. Koch soon embarked on a remedy—a remedy that would be his undoing.

When Koch announced his cure for consumption, Arthur Conan Doyle, then a small-town doctor in England and sometime writer, went to Berlin to cover the event. Touring the ward of reportedly cured patients, he was horrified. Koch’s "remedy" was either sloppy science or outright fraud.

But to a world desperate for relief, Koch’s remedy wasn’t so easily dismissed. As Europe’s consumptives descended upon Berlin, Koch urgently tried to prove his case. Conan Doyle, meanwhile, returned to England determined to abandon medicine in favor of writing. In particular, he turned to a character inspired by the very scientific methods that Koch had formulated: Sherlock Holmes.

Capturing the moment when mystery and magic began to yield to science, The Remedy chronicles the stunning story of how the germ theory of disease became a true fact, how two men of ambition were emboldened to reach for something more, and how scientific discoveries evolve into social truths.]]> 320 Thomas Goetz 159240751X fio 0 to-read 3.89 2014 The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis

The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis

author: Thomas Goetz
name: fio
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
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]]> <![CDATA[1421: The Year China Discovered America]]> 4813
Unveiling incontrovertible evidence of these astonishing voyages, "1421" rewrites our understanding of history. Our knowledge of world exploration as it's been commonly accepted for centuries must now be reconceived due to this landmark work of historical investigation.]]> 608 Gavin Menzies 006054094X fio 0 to-read 3.61 2002 1421: The Year China Discovered America

author: Gavin Menzies
name: fio
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2002
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]]> <![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany]]> 767171 No other powerful empire ever bequeathed such mountains of evidence about its birth and destruction as the Third Reich. When the bitter war was over, and before the Nazis could destroy their files, the Allied demand for unconditional surrender produced an almost hour-by-hour record of the nightmare empire built by Adolph Hitler. This record included the testimony of Nazi leaders and of concentration camp inmates, the diaries of officials, transcripts of secret conferences, army orders, private letters—all the vast paperwork behind Hitler's drive to conquer the world.

The famed foreign correspondent and historian William L. Shirer, who had watched and reported on the Nazis since 1925, spent five and a half years sifting through this massive documentation. The result is a monumental study that has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of one of the most frightening chapters in the history of mankind.

This worldwide bestseller has been acclaimed as the definitive book on Nazi Germany; it is a classic work.

The accounts of how the United States got involved and how Hitler used Mussolini and Japan are astonishing, and the coverage of the war-from Germany's early successes to her eventual defeat-is must reading

]]> 1147 William L. Shirer 0671728687 fio 0 to-read 4.20 1960 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

author: William L. Shirer
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average rating: 4.20
book published: 1960
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]]> <![CDATA[1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus]]> 39020 In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

]]> 563 Charles C. Mann 1400032059 fio 0 to-read 4.04 2005 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

author: Charles C. Mann
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average rating: 4.04
book published: 2005
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]]> The Anatomy of Fascism 188378 is fascism? Many authors have proposed definitions, but most fail to move beyond the abstract. The esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question for the first time by focusing on the concrete: what the fascists did, rather than what they said. From the first violent uniformed bands beating up “enemies of the state,” through Mussolini’s rise to power, to Germany’s fascist radicalization in World War II, Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and not others, and explores whether fascism could exist outside the early-twentieth-century European setting in which it emerged.

The Anatomy of Fascism will have a lasting impact on our understanding of modern European history, just as Paxton’s classic Vichy France redefined our vision of World War II. Based on a lifetime of research, this compelling and important book transforms our knowledge of fascism–“the major political innovation of the twentieth century, and the source of much of its pain.”

]]> 336 Robert O. Paxton fio 0 to-read 4.21 2004 The Anatomy of Fascism

author: Robert O. Paxton
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average rating: 4.21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ethnic Avant-Garde: Minority Cultures and World Revolution (Modernist Latitudes)]]> 26633766
Shining rare light on these efforts, The Ethnic Avant-Garde makes a unique contribution to interwar literary, political, and art history, drawing extensively on Russian archives, travel narratives, and artistic exchanges to establish the parameters of an undervalued "ethnic avant-garde." These writers and artists cohered around distinct forms that mirrored Soviet techniques of montage, fragment, and interruption. They orbited interwar Moscow, where the international avant-garde converged with the Communist International.

The book explores Vladimir Mayakovsky's 1925 visit to New York City via Cuba and Mexico, during which he wrote Russian-language poetry in an "Afro-Cuban" voice; Langston Hughes's translations of these poems while in Moscow, which he visited to assist on a Soviet film about African American life; a futurist play condemning Western imperialism in China, which became Broadway's first major production to feature a predominantly Asian American cast; and efforts to imagine the Bolshevik Revolution as Jewish messianic arrest, followed by the slow political disenchantment of the New York Intellectuals. Through an absorbing collage of cross-ethnic encounters that also include Herbert Biberman, Sergei Eisenstein, Paul Robeson, and Vladimir Tatlin, this work remaps global modernism along minority and Soviet-centered lines, further advancing the avant-garde project of seeing the world anew.]]> 304 Steven Lee 0231173520 fio 0 to-read 4.17 2015 The Ethnic Avant-Garde: Minority Cultures and World Revolution (Modernist Latitudes)

The Ethnic Avant-Garde: Minority Cultures and World Revolution (Modernist Latitudes)

author: Steven Lee
name: fio
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
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]]> You Weren't Meant to Be Human 149072897 Alien meets Midsommar in this chilling debut adult novel from award-winning author Andrew Joseph White about identity, survival, and transformation amidst an alien invasion in rural West Virginia.

Festering masses of worms and flies have taken root in dark corners across Appalachia. In exchange for unwavering loyalty and fresh corpses, these hives offer a few struggling humans salvation. A fresh start. It’s an offer that none refuse.

Crane is grateful. Among his hive’s followers, Crane has found a chance to transition, to never speak again, to live a life that won’t destroy him. He even met Levi: a handsome ex-Marine and brutal killer who treats him like a real man, mostly. But when Levi gets Crane pregnant—and the hive demands the child’s birth, no matter the cost—Crane’s desperation to make it stop will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood.

You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is a deeply personal horror; a visceral statement about the lives of marginalized people in a hostile world, echoing the works of Stephen Graham Jones and Eric LaRocca.]]> 336 Andrew Joseph White fio 0 to-read 4.18 2025 You Weren't Meant to Be Human

author: Andrew Joseph White
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average rating: 4.18
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]]> Masaoka Shiki 1407593
Burton Watson's excellent introduction explores the course of Shiki's his poverty-stricken childhood, his early love for literature, his education, and his work as a haiku editor for the newspaper Nippon, and as a correspondent during the Sino-Japanese war. Watson details Shiki's long struggle with tuberculosis and its poignant expression in his poetry. Confined to bed for months before his death, Shiki continued to devote his energies to literary writing poems and critical essays, and joining with friends and followers who gathered in his sickroom to discuss literature. He died a few weeks before his thirty-fifth birthday. These poems―more than a hundred haiku, several tanka, and three kanshi―are arranged chronologically within each genre, revealing the development of Shiki's art and the seamless way in which he wove his life and illness into his poetry.]]> 136 Masaoka Shiki 023111091X fio 0 to-read 4.35 1998

author: Masaoka Shiki
name: fio
average rating: 4.35
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]]> <![CDATA[Sukanta Bhattacharya: A Selection of His Poems]]> 35066265 95 Sukanta Bhattacharya fio 0 to-read 4.75

Sukanta Bhattacharya: A Selection of His Poems

author: Sukanta Bhattacharya
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]]> Ode to a Nightingale 19428241 "Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?"

'Ode to a Nightingale' is a famous love poem by John Keats, written in 1819. Keats composed the poem in one day, after watching a nightingale in his garden build a nest in a plum tree.

This poem is one of several 'Great Odes of 1819', which include 'Ode on Indolence', 'Ode on Melancholy', 'Ode to a Nightingale', and 'Ode to Psyche'. Keats found earlier forms of poetry unsatisfactory for his purpose, and the collection represented a new development of the ode form.

The ode is a personal poem that describes Keats's journey into the state of Negative Capability. The tone of the poem rejects the optimistic pursuit of pleasure found within Keats's earlier poems, and explores the themes of nature, transience and mortality, the latter being particularly personal to Keats.

John Keats (1795–1821) was one of the principal poets of the English Romantic movement. During his short life, his work received constant critical attacks from the periodicals of the day, but his posthumous influence on poets such as Alfred Tennyson has been immense. Elaborate word choice and sensual imagery characterize Keats's poetry, including a series of odes that were his masterpieces and which remain among the most popular poems in English literature.]]> 3 John Keats fio 0 to-read 4.23 2012 Ode to a Nightingale

author: John Keats
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average rating: 4.23
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]]> <![CDATA[Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present (Open Yale Courses)]]> 44310210 A wide-ranging study that illuminates the connection between epidemic diseases and societal change, from the Black Death to Ebola

This sweeping exploration of the impact of epidemic diseases looks at how mass infectious outbreaks have shaped society, from the Black Death to today. In a clear and accessible style, Frank M. Snowden reveals the ways that diseases have not only influenced medical science and public health, but also transformed the arts, religion, intellectual history, and warfare.

A multidisciplinary and comparative investigation of the medical and social history of the major epidemics, this volume touches on themes such as the evolution of medical therapy, plague literature, poverty, the environment, and mass hysteria. In addition to providing historical perspective on diseases such as smallpox, cholera, and tuberculosis, Snowden examines the fallout from recent epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Ebola and the question of the world’s preparedness for the next generation of diseases.]]> 600 Frank M. Snowden III 0300192215 fio 0 to-read 4.39 2019 Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present (Open Yale Courses)

Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present (Open Yale Courses)

author: Frank M. Snowden III
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average rating: 4.39
book published: 2019
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]]> <![CDATA[The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers]]> 38656999 Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he was a champion of compassion, equality, and kindness. Rogers was fiercely devoted to children and to taking their fears, concerns, and questions about the world seriously.

The Good Neighbor, the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the story of this utterly unique and enduring American icon. Drawing on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, Maxwell King traces Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including a surprising decision to walk away from the show to make television for adults, only to return to the neighborhood with increasingly sophisticated episodes, written in collaboration with experts on childhood development. An engaging story, rich in detail, The Good Neighbor is the definitive portrait of a beloved figure, cherished by multiple generations.]]> 406 Maxwell King 1419727729 fio 0 to-read 3.99 2018 The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

author: Maxwell King
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average rating: 3.99
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]]> Morsel 231127441 The Blair Witch Project meets The Ritual, with a generous helping of The Menu, in Morsel, a delicious folk horror novella perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Cassandra Khaw, and Paul Tremblay.

Lou did what the children of parents with back-breaking, poor paying jobs are supposed to do; pulled up her bootstraps, went to college, and got an office job with coworkers who won’t stop talking about their multi-level marketing scheme disguised as self-betterment.

Determined to lift her ill mother out of poverty before it's too late, and in the spirit of climbing the corporate ladder, Lou accepts an assignment in the rural hills of Ohio. She quickly finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere with a sabotaged truck, a dog she’s determined to keep safe, and something stalking her through the ancient Appalachian woods.

If she can’t escape the woods in time, she’ll come face to face with the fact that her job isn’t the only thing that wants to eat her alive.

Morsel is a chilling testament to the burden of generational poverty and the all-consuming nature of capitalism, where the monster and the monstrous, in the end, are not the same.]]> 198 Carter Keane 1250392454 fio 0 to-read 3.54 2026 Morsel

author: Carter Keane
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average rating: 3.54
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]]> The Most Secret Memory of Men 123557124
Paris, 2018. Diégane Latyr Faye, a young Senegalese writer, discovers a legendary book published in 1938 titled The Maze of Inhumanity . No one knows what happened to the author, T.C. Elimane, once referred to as the “Black Rimbaud.” After he was accused of plagiarism, his reputation was destroyed by the critics. He subsequently disappeared without a trace.

Curiosity turns to obsession, and Faye embarks on a quest to uncover the fate of the mysterious T.C. Elimane. His search weaves past and present, countries and continents, following the author’s labyrinthine trail from Senegal to Argentina and France and confronting the great tragedies of history.

Alongside his investigation, Faye becomes part of a group of young African writers in Paris. They talk, drink, make love, and philosophize about the role of exile in artistic creation. He becomes particularly close to two women: the seductive Siga, keeper of secrets, and the fleeting photojournalist Aïda.

But throughout, a question persists: will he get to the truth at the center of the maze?

A gripping detective novel without a detective and a masterpiece of perpetual reinvention, The Most Secret Memory of Men confronts the impact of colonialism and neo-colonialism, the holocaust in Europe, dictatorships in South America and the Caribbean, genocide in Africa, and collaboration and resistance everywhere. Above all, it is a love song to literature and its timeless power.]]> 496 Mohamed Mbougar Sarr 1668005689 fio 0 to-read 4.14 2021 The Most Secret Memory of Men

author: Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
name: fio
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
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]]> The Left Hand of Darkness 18423 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.]]> 304 Ursula K. Le Guin fio 0 to-read 4.11 1969

author: Ursula K. Le Guin
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average rating: 4.11
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]]> <![CDATA[Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism]]> 1472039
"The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it, is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and this its political policy is directed form outside". – Kwame Nkrumah]]> 280 Kwame Nkrumah 090178723X fio 0 to-read 4.37 1965 Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism

Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism

author: Kwame Nkrumah
name: fio
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1965
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]]> The Good House 41539
Two years later, Angela is moving past her grief and is finally ready to revisit the rural house she loved so much as a child. But back in Sacajawea, she discovers she hasn't been the only one to suffer a shocking loss. Since she left, there have been more senseless tragedies, and Angela wonders whether they are related somehow. Could the events be linked to a terrifying entity her grandmother battled in 1929? Did her teenage son, Corey, reawaken something that should have been left sleeping?

With the help of Myles Fisher, her high school boyfriend, and clues from beyond the grave, Angela races to solve a deadly puzzle that has followed her family for generations. She must summon her own hidden gifts to face the timeless adversary stalking her in her grandmother's house--and in the Washington woods.]]> 597 Tananarive Due 0743296168 fio 0 to-read 4.00 2003 The Good House

author: Tananarive Due
name: fio
average rating: 4.00
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]]> The Reformatory 62919847
Gracetown, Florida

June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.]]> 570 Tananarive Due 1982188340 fio 0 to-read 4.42 2023 The Reformatory

author: Tananarive Due
name: fio
average rating: 4.42
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]]> <![CDATA[Love Poetry and Songs from the Ancient Egyptians]]> 27124756 36 Gilbert Moore 1514848511 fio 0 to-read 4.00 2015

Love Poetry and Songs from the Ancient Egyptians

author: Gilbert Moore
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average rating: 4.00
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]]> Withered Hill 211051861
As Sophie struggles to regain the memories of her life from before, she quickly realises she is a prisoner after multiple failed escape attempts. But is it the locals who keep her trapped, with smiles on their faces, or something else, lurking in the woods?

In London, Sophie leads a chaotic life, with too many drunken nights, inappropriate men and boring temp jobs. But things take a turn as she starts to be targeted by strange messages warning her that someone, or something, is coming for her.

With no idea who to trust, or where to turn for help, the messages become more insistent and more intimidating, urging Sophie to make her way to a place called Withered Hill.]]> 337 David Barnett 1804367575 fio 0 to-read 4.03 2024

author: David Barnett
name: fio
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/27
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]]> 8114 216075821 228 Joshua Hull 1960988603 fio 0 to-read 3.22 2025 8114

author: Joshua Hull
name: fio
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/27
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]]> Six Stories (Six Stories, #1) 32188043
2017. Enter elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose podcast examinations of complicated cases have rivaled the success of Serial, with his concealed identity making him a cult internet figure. In a series of six interviews, King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries’ mysterious death. As every interview unveils a new revelation, you’ll be forced to work out for yourself how Tom Jeffries died, and who is telling the truth.]]> 225 Matt Wesolowski fio 0 to-read 3.74 2016 Six Stories (Six Stories, #1)

author: Matt Wesolowski
name: fio
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster]]> 357486 Written by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history occurred in Chernobyl and contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of the tragedy. Journalist Svetlana Alexievich interviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown—from innocent citizens to firefighters to those called in to clean up the disaster—and their stories reveal the fear, anger, and uncertainty with which they still live. Composed of interviews in monologue form, Voices from Chernobyl is a crucially important work of immense force, unforgettable in its emotional power and honesty.]]> 236 Svetlana Alexievich 0312425848 fio 0 to-read 4.39 1997 Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

author: Svetlana Alexievich
name: fio
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/25
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]]> The Monkey's Paw 8779896 The Monkey’s Paw is a classic horror tale that gives new meaning to the phrase “be careful what you wish for.”

One of W.W. Jacob's most memorable works, The Monkey’s Paw has become a classic horror story and has been adapted numerous times, including into episodes of such popular television series as The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Tales from the Crypt.]]> 32 W.W. Jacobs 1583419195 fio 0 to-read 3.82 1902 The Monkey's Paw

author: W.W. Jacobs
name: fio
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1902
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/24
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]]> The King in Yellow 32277642 The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is a masterful collection of short stories that will transport you to a realm of eerie mystery, madness, and supernatural horror, where the boundaries between reality and the unknown are blurred.

The book is named after a play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories. The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and the book has been described by critics such as E.F. Bleiler, S.T. Joshi and T.E.D. Klein as a classic in the field of the supernatural. There are ten stories, the first four of which ("The Repairer of Reputations", "The Mask", "In the Court of the Dragon", and "The Yellow Sign") mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it. "The Yellow Sign" inspired a film of the same name released in 2001.

Stories:
- The Repairer of Reputations
- The Mask
- In the Court of the Dragon
- The Yellow Sign
- The Demoiselle D'ys
- The Prophets' Paradise
- The Street of the Four Winds
- The Street of the First Shell
- The Street of Our Lady of the Fields
- Rue Barree]]> 224 Robert W. Chambers 153905344X fio 0 to-read 3.55 1895 The King in Yellow

author: Robert W. Chambers
name: fio
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1895
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/24
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]]> The Maiden and Her Monster 222377141
A gorgeous, atmospheric debut fantasy that reimagines the Jewish myth of golem in a tale rooted in history, folklore, and sapphic romance—perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, Hannah Whitten, and Naomi Novik.

The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark.

As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the curse of the woods has plagued her village, but when the Ozmini Church comes to collect their tithes, they don’t listen to the warnings about a monster lurking in the trees. After a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes a bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest. If she brings him the monster, he will spare her mother from execution.

When she ventures into the blood-soaked woods, Malka finds a monster, though not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only after Malka helps her free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.

But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save—and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.]]> 352 Maddie Martinez 1250367751 fio 0 to-read 3.45 2025 The Maiden and Her Monster

author: Maddie Martinez
name: fio
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/23
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]]> We Used to Live Here 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it” (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 fio 0 to-read 3.56 2024

author: Marcus Kliewer
name: fio
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Fable for the End of the World]]> 209594872 The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.

Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.]]> 384 Ava Reid 0063211556 fio 0 to-read 3.67 2025 Fable for the End of the World

author: Ava Reid
name: fio
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/23
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]]> Metal from Heaven 205762592 “When my violence subsides, we will have nothing, and be champions.”

Ichorite is progress. More durable and malleable than steel, ichorite is the lifeblood of a dawning industrial revolution. Yann I. Chauncey owns the sole means of manufacturing this valuable metal, but his workers are on strike. They demand Chauncey research the hallucinatory illness befalling them. Marney Honeycutt, a lustertouched child worker, stands proud at the picket line with her best friend and family. That’s when Chauncey sends in the guns.

Only Marney survives the massacre.
She vows bloody vengeance.

A decade later, Marney is the nation’s most notorious highwayman, and Chauncey’s daughter seeks an opportune marriage. Marney’s rage and the ghosts of her past will drive her to masquerade as an aristocrat, outmaneuver powerful suitors, and win the heart of his daughter, so Marney can finally corner Chauncey and satisfy her need for revenge. But war ferments in the north, and deeper grudges are surfacing...]]> 429 August Clarke 1645660982 fio 0 to-read 3.79 2024 Metal from Heaven

author: August Clarke
name: fio
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?]]> 16280 464 Beverly Daniel Tatum 0465083617 fio 0 to-read 4.32 1997

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

author: Beverly Daniel Tatum
name: fio
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14]]> 2186196 240 Chip Wood 1892989190 fio 0 to-read 4.17 1994

Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14

author: Chip Wood
name: fio
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/19
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]]> Yesteryear 238226942
Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.

As darkly funny as it is shocking and gripping, Yesteryear is an electrifying examination of tradition, fame, faith and the grand performance of womanhood, from a thrilling new talent in fiction.]]> 400 Caro Claire Burke fio 0 to-read 3.83 2026

author: Caro Claire Burke
name: fio
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Rare Antique Beasts Of The Southern Wild And Other Stories [Hardcover] BETTS, Doris]]> 142705043 233 Doris Betts fio 0 to-read 0.0

Rare Antique Beasts Of The Southern Wild And Other Stories [Hardcover] BETTS, Doris

author: Doris Betts
name: fio
average rating: 0.0
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rating: 0
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date added: 2026/04/10
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]]>