30+ Book Recommendations by arshia
Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer
"I give daily thanks for Robin Wall Kimmerer for being a font of endless knowledge, both mental and spiritual." --RICHARD POWERS, NEW YORK TIMESInsurgent Empire
Priyamvada Gopal
Much has been written on the how colonial subjects took up British and European ideas and turned them against empire when making claims to freedom and self-determination. The possibility of reverse influence has been largely overlooked. Insurgent Empire shows how Britain's enslaved and colonial subjects were not merely victims of empire and subsequent beneficiaries of its crises of conscience but also agents whose resistance both contributed to their own liberation and shaped British ideas about freedom and who could be free. Insurgent Empire examines dissent over the question of empire in Britain and shows how it was influenced by rebellions and resistance in the colonies from the West Indies and East Africa to Egypt and India. It also shows how a pivotal role in fomenting dissent was played by anti-colonial campaigners based in London at the heart of the empire.Ten Days in Harlem
Simon Hall
Rising star Simon Hall captures the spirit of the 1960s in ten days that revolutionised the Cold War: Fidel Castro's visit to New York. Hall has captured this catalytic moment like no one before. Anyone interested in the "Global Sixties" must read Ten Days in Harlem. Van E. Gosse, Professor of History, Franklin & Marshall College. New York City, September 1960. Fidel Castro - champion of the oppressed, scourge of colonialism, and leftist revolutionary - arrives for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. His visit to the UN represents a golden opportunity to make his mark on the world stage. Fidel's shock arrival in Harlem is met with a rapturous reception from the local African American community. He holds court from the iconic Hotel Theresa as a succession of world leaders, black freedom fighters and counter-cultural luminaries - everyone from Nikita Khrushchev to Gamal Abdel Nasser, Malcolm X to Allen Ginsberg - come calling. Then, during his landmark address to the UN General Assembly - one of the longest speeches in the organisation's history - he promotes the politics of anti-imperialism with a fervour, and an audacity, that makes him an icon of the 1960s. In this unforgettable slice of modern history, Simon Hall reveals how these ten days were a foundational moment in the trajectory of the Cold War, a turning point in the history of anti-colonial struggle, and a launching pad for the social, cultural and political tumult of the decade that followed.Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer
"I give daily thanks for Robin Wall Kimmerer for being a font of endless knowledge, both mental and spiritual." --RICHARD POWERS, NEW YORK TIMESRadical Love
Omid Safi
This stunning collection showcases the love poetry and mystical teachings at the heart of the Islamic tradition in accurate and poetic original translations At a time when the association of Islam with violence dominates headlines, this beautiful collection offers us a chance to see a radically different face of the Islamic tradition. It traces a soaring, poetic, popular tradition that celebrates love for both humanity and the Divine as the ultimate path leading humanity back to God. Safi brings together for the first time the passages of the Qur'an sought by the Muslim sages, the mystical sayings of the Prophet, and the teachings of the path of "Divine love." Accurately and sensitively translated by leading scholar of Islam Omid Safi, the writings of Jalal al‑Din Rumi can now be read alongside passages by Kharaqani, 'Attar, Hafez of Shiraz, Abu Sa'id‑e Abi 'l‑Khayr, and other key Muslim mystics. For the millions of readers whose lives have been touched by Rumi's poetry, here is a chance to see the Arabic and Persian traditions that produced him.Hundred Years' War on Palestine
Rashid Khalidi
A landmark history of one hundred years of war waged against the Palestinians from the foremost US historian of the Middle East, told through pivotal events and family history In 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to create a Jewish national home in Palestine, wrote a letter aimed at Theodore Herzl: the country had an indigenous people who would not easily accept their own displacement. He warned of the perils ahead, ending his note, “in the name of God, let Palestine be left alone.” Thus Rashid Khalidi, al-Khalidi’s great-great-nephew, begins this sweeping history, the first general account of the conflict told from an explicitly Palestinian perspective. Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members—mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists—The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. He highlights the key episodes in this colonial campaign, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the destruction of Palestine in 1948, from Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the endless and futile peace process. Original, authoritative, and important, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine is not a chronicle of victimization, nor does it whitewash the mistakes of Palestinian leaders or deny the emergence of national movements on both sides. In reevaluating the forces arrayed against the Palestinians, it offers an illuminating new view of a conflict that continues to this day.Memories of Muhammad
Omid Safi
Who was Muhammad? What do we know historically, and does that differ from how he is seen by his followers and venerated today? Memories of Muhammad presents Muhammad as a lens through which to view both the genesis of Islamic religion and the grand sweep of Islamic history—right up to the hot button issues of the day, such as the spread of Islam, holy wars, the status of women, the significance of Jerusalem, and current tensions with Jews, Hindus and Christians. It also provides a rare glimpse into how Muslims spiritually connect to God through their Prophet, in the mosque, in the home, and even in cyberspace. This definitive biography of the founder of Islam by a leading Muslim-American scholar, Omid Safi, will reveal invaluable new insights, finally providing a fully three-dimensional portrait of Muhammad and the one billion people who follow him today.A Little Devil in America
Hanif Abdurraqib
Race, history, culture, and entertainment collide in this bracing and personal examination of black performance and the complicated, ongoing legacy of blackface and minstrel shows--from the New York Times bestselling author of Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest Author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib became fascinated by clips of black minstrel entertainers like William Henry Lane, better known as Master Juba. Wondering if there was something more complicated and deepseated in the outdated minstrel tradition, Abdurraqib found questions and tensions that remain startlingly relevant to black entertainers across popular culture today. They Don't Dance No Mo' is an urgent project, unraveling all modes and methods of black performance in this moment, when black performers in all different levels of the spotlight are coming to terms with their value, reception, and their immense impact on America. This is a personal exploration of the history of black performance in the United States, beginning with black minstrels like Master Juba and tracing that seed of minstrelsy through current types of performance such as acting, sports, writing, comedy, and music.Rooms Are Never Finished
Agha Shahid Ali
In this stunningly inventive collection--a finalist for the 2001 National Book Award in poetry--Ali excavates the devastation wrought upon his childhood home, Kashmir, and reveals a more personal devastation: his mother's death and the journey with her body back to Kashmir.A Place for Us
Fatima Farheen Mirza
?A Place for Us catches an Indian-Muslim family as they prepare for their eldest daughter's wedding. But as Hadia's marriage — one chosen of love, not tradition — gathers the family back together, there is only one thing on their minds : can Amar, the estranged younger brother of the bride, be trusted to behave himself after three years away ? A Place for Us tells the story of one family, but all family life is here. Rafiq and Layla must come to terms with the choices their children have made, while Hadia, Huda and Amar must reconcile their present culture with their parents' world, treading a path between old and new. And they must all learn how the smallest decisions can lead to the deepest betrayals. This is a novel for our times : a deeply moving examination of love, identity and belonging that turns our preconceptions over one by one. It announces Fatima Farheen Mirza as a major new literary talent.Intimations
Zadie Smith
Deeply personal and powerfully moving, a short and timely series of essays on the experience of lock down, by one of the most clear-sighted and essential writers of our time "There will be many books written about the year 2020: historical, analytic, political and comprehensive accounts. This is not any of those -- the year isn't half-way done. What I've tried to do is organize some of the feelings and thoughts that events, so far, have provoked in me, in those scraps of time the year itself has allowed. These are above all personal essays: small by definition, short by necessity." Crafted with the sharp intelligence, wit and style that have won Zadie Smith millions of fans, and suffused with a profound intimacy and tenderness in response to these unprecedented times, Intimations is a vital work of art, a gesture of connection and an act of love -- an essential book in extraordinary times.The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was intended to be a true autobiography, with the name of Alex Haley appearing not at all or as a ghost writer or as a mere contributor or assistant. However, with the assassination of Malcolm X having occurred in Harlem in New York City on February 21, 1965 just before this book could be published, it became necessary to reveal the important role of Alex Haley in creating this book.Ninth House (Alex Stern)
Leigh Bardugo
The mesmerizing adult debut from Leigh Bardugo, a tale of power, privilege, dark magic, and murder set among the Ivy League elite Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her? Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
Enter the Grishaverse with the #1 New York Times–bestselling Six of Crows. Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. . . . A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo returns to the breathtaking world of the Grishaverse in this unforgettable tale about the opportunity—and the adventure—of a lifetime. “Six of Crows is a twisty and elegantly crafted masterpiece that thrilled me from the beginning to end.” –New York Times-bestselling author Holly Black “Six of Crows [is] one of those all-too-rare, unputdownable books that keeps your eyes glued to the page and your brain scrambling to figure out what’s going to happen next.” –Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra “There's conflict between morality and amorality and an appetite for sometimes grimace-inducing violence that recalls the Game of Thrones series. But for every bloody exchange there are pages of crackling dialogue and sumptuous description. Bardugo dives deep into this world, with full color and sound. If you're not careful, it'll steal all your time.” —The New York Times Book Review Praise for the Grishaverse “A master of fantasy.” —The Huffington Post “Utterly, extremely bewitching.” —The Guardian “The best magic universe since Harry Potter.” —Bustle “This is what fantasy is for.” —The New York Times Book Review “[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp.” —NPR “The darker it gets for the good guys, the better.” —Entertainment Weekly “Sultry, sweeping and picturesque. . . . Impossible to put down.” —USA Today “There’s a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo’s original epic fantasy that sets it apart.” —Vanity Fair “Unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent “Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!” —Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series “This is a great choice for teenage fans of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien.” —RT Book Reviews Read all the books in the Grishaverse! The Shadow and Bone Trilogy (previously published as The Grisha Trilogy) Shadow and Bone Siege and Storm Ruin and Rising The Six of Crows Duology Six of Crows Crooked Kingdom The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic #1 New York Times bestseller, October 18, 2015The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Shoshana Zuboff
The Curated Closet
Anuschka Rees
Presents a strategic approach to identifying, refining, and expressing personal style and building the ideal wardrobe to match it, with every day style and shopping strategies.A Princess in Theory
Alyssa Cole
Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed. When Naledi mistakes the prince for a pauper, Thabiso can't resist the chance to experience life--and love--without the burden of his crown.Serious Moonlight
Jenn Bennett
After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately. Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel. In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.This is Going to Hurt
Adam Kay
Magic for Liars
Sarah Gailey
Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in Magic for Liars, a fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey. Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it. Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life – or at least, she’s perfectly fine. She doesn't in any way wish she was like Tabitha, her estranged, gifted twin sister. Ivy Gamble is a liar. When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister—without losing herself. “An unmissable debut.”—Adrienne Celt, author of Invitation to a BonfireIf Beale Street Could Talk
James Baldwin
When a pregnant Tish's boyfriend Fonny, a sculptor, is wrongfully jailed for the rape of a Puerto Rican woman, their families unite to prove the charge false. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.An American Marriage (Oprah's Book Club)
Tayari Jones
A NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK A 2018 BEST OF THE YEAR SELECTION OF NPR * TIME * BUSTLE * O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE * THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS * AMAZON.COM OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB 2018 SELECTION LONGLISTED FOR THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION “A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.” —Barack Obama “Haunting . . . Beautifully written.” —The New York Times Book Review “Brilliant and heartbreaking . . . Unforgettable.” —USA Today “A tense and timely love story . . . Packed with brave questions about race and class.” —People “Compelling.” —The Washington Post “Epic . . . Transcendent . . . Triumphant.” —Elle Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with hope and pain—into the future.Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
Enter the Grishaverse with the #1 New York Times–bestselling Six of Crows. Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. . . . A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo returns to the breathtaking world of the Grishaverse in this unforgettable tale about the opportunity—and the adventure—of a lifetime. “Six of Crows is a twisty and elegantly crafted masterpiece that thrilled me from the beginning to end.” –New York Times-bestselling author Holly Black “Six of Crows [is] one of those all-too-rare, unputdownable books that keeps your eyes glued to the page and your brain scrambling to figure out what’s going to happen next.” –Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra “There's conflict between morality and amorality and an appetite for sometimes grimace-inducing violence that recalls the Game of Thrones series. But for every bloody exchange there are pages of crackling dialogue and sumptuous description. Bardugo dives deep into this world, with full color and sound. If you're not careful, it'll steal all your time.” —The New York Times Book Review Praise for the Grishaverse “A master of fantasy.” —The Huffington Post “Utterly, extremely bewitching.” —The Guardian “The best magic universe since Harry Potter.” —Bustle “This is what fantasy is for.” —The New York Times Book Review “[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp.” —NPR “The darker it gets for the good guys, the better.” —Entertainment Weekly “Sultry, sweeping and picturesque. . . . Impossible to put down.” —USA Today “There’s a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo’s original epic fantasy that sets it apart.” —Vanity Fair “Unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent “Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!” —Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series “This is a great choice for teenage fans of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien.” —RT Book Reviews Read all the books in the Grishaverse! The Shadow and Bone Trilogy (previously published as The Grisha Trilogy) Shadow and Bone Siege and Storm Ruin and Rising The Six of Crows Duology Six of Crows Crooked Kingdom The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic #1 New York Times bestseller, October 18, 2015Bad Blood
John Carreyrou
The Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year A New York Times Notable Book A Washington Post Notable Book One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, Time, Esquire, Fortune, Marie Claire, GQ, Mental Floss, Science Friday, Bloomberg, Popular Mechanics, BookRiot, The Seattle Times, The Oregonian, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings--from journalists to their own employees. Rigorously reported and fearlessly written, Bad Blood is a gripping story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron--a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.Permanent Record
Mary H. K. Choi
A New York Times bestseller! From the New York Times bestselling author of Emergency Contact, which Rainbow Rowell called “smart and funny,” comes an unforgettable new romance about how social media influences relationships every day. On paper, college dropout Pablo Rind doesn’t have a whole lot going for him. His graveyard shift at a twenty-four-hour deli in Brooklyn is a struggle. Plus, he’s up to his eyeballs in credit card debt. Never mind the state of his student loans. Pop juggernaut Leanna Smart has enough social media followers to populate whole continents. The brand is unstoppable. She graduated from child stardom to become an international icon and her adult life is a queasy blur of private planes, step-and-repeats, aspirational hotel rooms, and strangers screaming for her just to notice them. When Leanna and Pablo meet at 5:00 a.m. at the bodega in the dead of winter it’s absurd to think they’d be A Thing. But as they discover who they are, who they want to be, and how to defy the deafening expectations of everyone else, Lee and Pab turn to each other. Which, of course, is when things get properly complicated.Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
Mike Isaac
Bad Blood
John Carreyrou
Crashing the A-List
Summer Heacock
She’s doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. After four months of unemployment, former book editor Clara Montgomery is officially stuck—stuck sleeping on her little brother’s ugly couch in Queens, stuck scrolling through job listings in search of a new editorial position…and just desperate enough to take on a temporary gig clearing out abandoned storage units. If nothing else, she’s determined to keep her rapidly dwindling savings account intact. Unfortunately, she is in no way prepared for stumbling upon dead snakes or dealing with glass jars that she’s convinced are full of pickled eyeballs. And why does everything seem to smell like beets? Then Clara comes across a unit that was once owned by an escort service and finds the brothel “résumé” of a younger Caspian Tiddleswich, an astonishingly famous British actor. She has no intention of cashing in on her discovery, but her awkward attempts to reassure Caspian that his secret is safe go awry. Now Caspian is convinced that Clara is a blackmailer, the tabloids have her pegged as Caspian’s newest girlfriend…and Clara begins to find the A-lister’s charms more irresistible than she expected.The Emperor of All Maladies
Siddhartha Mukherjee
An assessment of cancer addresses both the courageous battles against the disease and the misperceptions and hubris that have compromised modern understandings, providing coverage of such topics as ancient-world surgeries and the development of present-day treatments. Reprint. Best-selling winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Includes reading-group guide.The Bride Test
Helen Hoang
From the critically acclaimed author of The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about love that crosses international borders and all boundaries of the heart... Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn't go as planned. Esme's lessons in love seem to be working...but only on herself. She's hopelessly smitten with a man who's convinced he can never return her affection. With Esme's time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he's been wrong all along. And there's more than one way to love.The Wedding Date
Jasmine Guillory
From the author of The Proposal, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! One of Cosmopolitan's 33 Books to Get Excited About in 2018! A feel-good romance to warm your heart, for fans of Jo Watson, Sarah Morgan and Holly Martin. A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in this 'charming, warm, sexy gem of a novel' (Roxane Gay). On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew Nichols is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend... Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is not something Alexa Monroe would normally do. But Drew's proposal proves hard to resist. After their wedding date turns into a whole weekend of fun in San Francisco, Drew and Alexa return to their all-consuming careers - his in LA and hers in Berkeley. Too bad they can't stop thinking about each other... It could be the long-distance dating disaster of the century - or Drew and Alexa could be just a flight away from what each of them truly wants.The Kiss Quotient
Helen Hoang
One of Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2018 One of Amazon’s Top 100 Books of 2018 "This is such a fun read and it's also quite original and sexy and sensitive."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author "Hoang's writing bursts from the page."--Buzzfeed A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick. Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position... Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...Eragon and Eldest Omnibus
Christopher Paolini
ERAGON When Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is a lucky discovery - perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone becomes a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? ELDEST Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesméra, land of the elves, for further training in magic and swordsmanship, the vital skills of the Dragon Rider. It is the journey of a lifetime, filled with awe-inspiring new places and people, each day a fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and as his cousin Roran fights a new battle back home in Carvahall, Eragon is put in even graver danger. . .27. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (re-read). Put my nerd glasses on (jk they're always on) & dove into this old favourite! ~10 yrs after my first read the plot reads as comically textbook—there's a Wise Person, a Journey, a Dragon, and taverns and secrets. Still enjoyed myself 🤓
Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
The text of the novel is based on the first edition of 1847.Emergency Contact
Mary H. K. Choi
“Smart and funny, with characters so real and vulnerable, you want to send them care packages. I loved this book.” —Rainbow Rowell From debut author Mary H.K. Choi comes a compulsively readable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory—perfect for fans of Eleanor & Park and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. For Penny Lee, high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she’d somehow landed a boyfriend, they never managed to know much about each other. Now Penny is heading to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer. It’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind. Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him. When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to, you know, see each other.Better
Gawande
Riveting Accounts Of Medical Failure And Triumph, And How Success Is Achieved In A Complex And Risk-Filled Profession The Struggle To Perform Well Is Universal, And Nowhere Is The Drive To Do Better More Important Than In Medicine, Where Lives Are On The Line With Every Decision. In His New Book, Atul Gawande Explores How Doctors Strive To Close The Gap Between Best Intentions And Best Performance In The Face Of Obstacles That Sometimes Seem Insurmountable. Gawande S Gripping Stories Of Diligence And Ingenuity Take Us To Battlefield Surgical Tents In Iraq, Delivery Rooms In Boston, A Polio Outbreak In India, And Malpractice Courtrooms In The Us. He Discusses The Ethical Dilemmas Of Doctors Participation In Lethal Injections, Examines The Influence Of Money On Modern Medicine, And Recounts The Contentious History Of Hand Washing. And As In All His Writing, Gawande Gives Us An Inside Look At His Own Life As A Surgeon, Offering A Firsthand Account Of Work In A Field Where Mistakes Are Both Unavoidable And Unthinkable.@alainakafkes 23. Better by Atul Gawande. Picked this up on a whim. I don't know anything about surgery so a ~deep dive into the profession was pretty interesting. I have always enjoyed Gawade's method of drawing from anecdotes + research to create his simple, captivating storytelling style.
My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante
"Mi briljante venninne" er ei historie fortalt av Elena, som har oppdaga at den beste venninna hennar gjennom eit langt liv er sporlaust forsvunnen. Lila har tatt med seg alt ho eig og klipt vekk ansiktet sitt frå samtlege familiefotografi. Historia om dei to begynner i eit fattig, men pulserande nabolag i utkanten av Napoli. Dei to kløktige jentene lærer å stole på kvarandre - og ingen andre - i dei røffe gatene som er kontrollert av mafiaen. Romanen er eit portrett av to sterke kvinner, men òg historia om eit nabolag, ein by og eit land som gjennomgår store endringar frå 50-åra og fram til vår tid.