![]() ![]() ![]() The drama of oil-the struggle for access, the battle for control, the insecurity of supply, the consequences of use, its impact on the global economy, and the geopolitics that dominate it-continues to profoundly affect our world. From the jammed streets of Beijing to the shores of the Caspian Sea, from the conflicts in the Mideast to Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley, Yergin takes us into the decisions that are shaping our future. It is a story that spans the energies on which our civilization has been built and the new energies that are competing to replace them. In this gripping account of the quest for the energy that our world needs, Daniel Yergin continues the riveting story begun in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The Prize." A master storyteller as well as a leading energy expert, Yergin shows us how energy is an engine of global political and economic change. Selected by "The New York Times Book Review" as a Notable Book of the Year ![]()
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![]() ![]() I adore the “ what if” game, maybe it’s a girl thing because my husband doesn’t seem nearly as enamoured with it as I. But frankly after reading a page I simply didn’t care about what my inner Waldorf had to say and lost myself in this unlikely if profoundly erotic love story. ![]() When I saw the cover on Netgalley I was immediately intrigued, despite the fact that the grumpy old man who lives in my head might have snorted at the veracity of a dying man leaving his wife a sex bucket list of sorts to get back on the horse after his demise. ![]() By the laws of multiple choice testing, isn’t the answer always “c”? ![]() Now that we have established that I am a horrible woman I can tell you about the myriad of reasons I loved this book.ģ0 Days is not my first kick at the proverbial last message from a spouse can or novel in this case, however it is the first that I have managed to a) not throw the offending story down in disgust b) truly enjoyed it or c) all of the above. Well maybe not, because I am thinking about it regardless. There I said it, as selfish and narcissistic as it sounds, I would want to be his one and only true love and the idea of someone else occupying my place is unthinkable. And if horror of horrors he did I wouldn’t want them to even come close to replacing me in his heart. If I were to die I don’t think I would want my husband to find someone else. ![]() ![]() ![]() If you hate violence, have a weak stomach, or can’t stand descriptions of gore, do not pick up this book. Even so it is a great story with plenty of action, conspiracies, and a horrible government that serves as the overbearing antagonist. While this book was very gripping and definitely had me on the edge of my seat, I don’t think that it is one of my favorites. I picked up this book because I’ve heard it compared to the Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, two books I enjoyed a lot. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language. ![]() Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan – where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller – Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Koushun Takami’s notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. ![]() ![]() Memorable quote : Loving someone always requires you to not love others. ![]() ![]() This event is free and open to the public and lunch will be provided. Joining Judis in discussing the history of populist movement and its effects on global politics and beyond are Jeff Faux of the Economic Policy Institute and Gabrielle Gurley of The American Prospect. The political system is only just beginning what will be a long-running and highly consequential readjustment. Populism, on the right and the left, champions the people against an establishment, based on issues-globalization, free trade, immigration-on which there has been a strong elite consensus, but also an even stronger mass discontent. ![]() In The Populist Explosion, Judis examines the history of the populist movement and how it relates to today’s global political actions including the sentiments that gave rise to Brexit and the candidacy of Donald Trump. On Tuesday, April 18 th, the Economic Policy Institute will host John Judis as he presents his new book, The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics. ![]() ![]() ![]() It’s not difficult to read, mostly in plain English, and it will no doubt be read often for the the insights and wisdom within. Still, this is a book to absorb, not just rush through.īut I savored it because I realized that despite more than two-dozen books on my shelves regarding philosophy, religion, health, and the martial arts (not practicing myself, but I hope to save up money for lessons), I have a very wise little book here. I even made sure to pause and read slowly (though at 130 pages with plenty of photos and block quotes, it’s not hard to do in one day). So, when I finally committed to read it earlier this week, I couldn’t put it down. Turns out a friend of mine was thumbing through it and put it in the wrong spot–oops. Sadly, it got mixed in with the hundreds of other to-be-read books for about 10 years until I re-organized and I found it again. So when I grew curious about martial arts and bought several books, this one found its way on my shelf. ![]() I admit to watching too many wushu/kung fu/martial arts flicks over the years, good and bad alike. ![]() ![]() ![]() I wish Tor.com or literally anyone in the funky-yet-mainstream speculative fiction space had picked this up, because that would have been a better home for it. ![]() We're past the historical moment (aka until like 2015) when all genre fiction had to be YA or face immediate oblivion. I could see this book getting traction among adult sci-fi audiences and I hope it finds those folks, but it has no relationship to YA except for the fact that the protagonists are, for no real reason, 17. This is a twisty survival drama, a harrowing story about life and death and the meaning of humanity, and it is to its detriment that it was sold as YA. I'm not going to talk too much about the plot because it's worth reading with as little upfront info as possible, but believe me when I say the romance is basically the least important aspect of this book. ![]() Based on the cover and the description, I assumed this was going to be some kind of YA finnpoe/stucky ripoff space romance. ![]() ![]() ![]() Warren's interest was in trains and steamships, while Jack liked "dressed animals" and tales of knights and chivalry. He and Warren were close friends, and would spend long hours drawing and writing together. Jack Lewis's childhood was "humdrum, prosaic happiness". ![]() ![]() His older brother was Warren, nicknamed Warnie. Also, of endless books."īorn Clive Staples Lewis, he announced when he was three years old that his name was Jack, and Jack he was to family and friends for the rest of his life. In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, Lewis describes himself as "a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstair indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles. His parents Albert and Flora were both keen readers. Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898, the younger of two sons. Lewis's own account of his early years reads like a list of books, along with a few people, that shaped his life. This article explores more of Lewis the man, the storyteller and the Christian. ![]() His most famous book is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published of his Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis (29 November 1898 - 22 November 1963) was a prolific writer, poet, scholar of English literature and defender of Christianity. ![]() ![]() ![]() Gardiner's aim is "to give the reader a sense of inhabiting the same experiences and sensations that Bach might have had in the act of music-making. ![]() This has entailed piecing together the few biographical shards, scrutinizing the music, and watching for those instances when Bach's personality seems to penetrate the fabric of his notation. Gardiner's background as a historian has encouraged him to search for ways in which scholarship and performance can cooperate and fruitfully coalesce. The fruits of this lifetime's immersion are distilled in this remarkable book, grounded in the most recent Bach scholarship but moving far beyond it, and explaining in wonderful detail the ideas on which Bach drew, how he worked, how his music is constructed, how it achieves its effects - and what it can tell us about Bach the man. He has been studying and performing Bach ever since, and is now regarded as one of the composer's greatest living interpreters. How can such sublime work have been produced by a man who (when we can discern his personality at all) seems so ordinary, so opaque - and occasionally so intemperate? John Eliot Gardiner grew up passing one of the only two authentic portraits of Bach every morning and evening on the stairs of his parents’ house, where it hung for safety during World War II. Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most unfathomable composers in the history of music. ![]() ![]() I loved how secretive it was until the very end. “The Last Good Day of the Year” by Jessica Warman follows Sam, a teenage girl who witness the abduction of her baby sister years before, but now it may be the wrong person ended up behind bars. I went in having high expectations and no knowledge of Jessica Warman’s writing style, having never read her work before. I love a good creepy, thrill-inducing, book, so this peaked my interest. Let me start with a little note about the cover of this book. Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder. ![]() Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. ![]() Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books ![]() ![]() "A powerful book.no frills, no nonsense, just hard, spare prose.an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage and enlighten us. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence-forces that continue to threaten them even today."- The New York Times Book Review- The New York Times Book Review But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini's privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country's revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. ![]() "This powerful first novel.tells the story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. "A moving portrait of modern Afghanistan."- Entertainment Weekly ![]() |