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Rise of a Merchant Prince Raymond E Feist Series: Serpent War number 2Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 10Erik plans on staying in the army as a corporal in the coming war, and Roo states that he plans on becoming a rich trader. After being pardoned of their crimes by Borric, King of the Kingdom of the Isles, Erik and Roo begin a journey to visit their family in the town of Ravensburg. In an inn along the way, they meet one of Roo's cousins, Duncan, who decides to travel with Roo on the promise of becoming rich. 
Rage of a Demon King Raymond E Feist Series: Serpent War number 3Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 11The Emerald Queen's army is almost upon Midkemia and the army is staging. Erik Von Darkmoor is sergeant-major of the King's armies and Rupert is almost single-handedly financing the war. The Emerald Queen and her army are making for the Lifestone, a magical source of power capable of destroying worlds. Vast preparations are being made in Krondor, the anticipated point of invasion by the Emerald Queen's army, and all of Midkemia's allies - as well as some enemies - are being called upon to help. There are a lot of secrets revealed in Rage of a Demon King. Some of the more mysterious figures who have inhabited Feist's books are finally seen in a clearer light. The origins of Macros the Black and Miranda are revealed. Plus, Nakor's 'secret', that there is no magic, is explained. Shards of a Broken Crown Raymond E Feist Series: Serpent War number 4Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 12Thanks to an enemy general who has a change of heart now that the enemy leaders are gone, the reclamation of the western realm of the Kingdom is made easier - but not by much - with Kesh threatening Krondor and the Eastern Armies returning to the east. On top of that, a new evil is unleashed by the enemy, with the dead rising and fighting the Kingdom forces. Pug, Tomas, Nakor and Miranda must defeat the enemy magicians and their unnatural allies for the Kingdom to survive. 
Krondor Tear of the Gods Raymond E Feist Series: Riftwar Legacy number 3Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 15Squire James of Krondor is sent by Arutha, Prince of Krondor, to escort the newly appointed court magician, Jazhara, to the palace. In doing so, they discover a silk maker using child labor to make profits. Jazhara discovers that the trader is actually a spy for her great-uncle, Hazara-Kahn, Ambassador of the Empire of Great Kesh. James and Jazhara proceed to kill the spy and his guards, and to free the children. After searching the shop, they discover that the spy was a double agent, working for the crime lord The Crawler. 
Krondor The Assassins Raymond E Feist Series: Riftwar Legacy number 2Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 14Squire James of Krondor must find the cause for many unexplained murders plaguing Krondor. While a war is waged between the Mockers and agents of the Crawler a rival criminal with ties to Kesh. As a further complication eastern nobles arrive the Crown Prince of Roldem and the Duke of Olasko and his son and daughter. William the son of the magician Pug and Katala is commissioned as a Knight-Lieutenant and soon he is escorting the Duke on a hunt which turns out to be an ambush with two attempts on the nobles' lives one by a group of magicians controlling panthers and another during the night by nighthawks William manages to keep them alive until aid arrives. Meanwhile, James discovered something that will lead him to the main nest of the nighthawks with the help from Ethan Graves. 
Flight of the Nighthawks Raymond E Feist Series: DarkWar number 1Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 23Leso Varen is still at large and the Conclave of the Shadows must find a way to neutralize ten thousand magical warriors that are hidden in a cave on the other side of the world. In Kelewan, Magnus and the Tsurani magicians are studying a Talnoy and discover that is a beacon for a huge army of alien invaders. Meanwhile, Kaspar, Talwin and Caleb have been sent to The Empire of Great Kesh to uncover a nest of Night Hawks who are plotting to overthrow the government. 
Into a Dark Realm Raymond E Feist Series: DarkWar number 2Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 24Leso Varen has moved to wreak havoc on the world of Kelewan and Pug and the Conclave of the Shadows are determined to find him, only to find out he has stolen a body of a Tsurani magician. Meanwhile, Pug, Magnus, Nakor and Ralan Bek lead a desperate expedition into the Dasati realm hoping to find the key to defeating the enemy who threatens their homeworld. 
Wrath of a Mad God Raymond E Feist Series: DarkWar number 3Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 25On the world of the Dasati, Pug and the other Conclave members must find a way to save their people from the magician, Leso Varen, and the wrath of the mad god he has awoken. Miranda must find a way to save herself from the clutches of the Deathpriests who have her held captive on the world of Kelewan. 
A God In Ruins Leon Uris Set between the 1940s and 2008, the book follows the life of Quinn Patrick O'Connell, the fictional Democratic candidate for the 2008 United States Presidency, his family, and the life of his opponent, Thornton Tomtree. The book climaxes with the election campaign and its results. 
SuperFreakonomics Levitt and Dubner The explanatory note states that the theme of the book explores the concept that we all work for a particular reward. The introduction states we should look at problems economically. 
Freakonomics Levitt and Dubner The book is a collection of 'economic' articles written by Levitt, an expert who has already gained a reputation for applying economic theory to diverse subjects not usually covered by 'traditional' economists; he does, however, accept the standard neoclassicalmicroeconomic model of rational utility-maximization. In Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner argue that economics is, at root, the study of incentives. 
Atonement Ian McEwan Atonement is a 2001 British metafiction novel written by Ian McEwan concerning the understanding of and responding to the need for personal atonement. Set in three time periods, 1935 England, Second World War England and France, and present-day England, it covers an upper-class girl's half-innocent mistake that ruins lives, her adulthood in the shadow of that mistake, and a reflection on the nature of writing. 
Alvin Journeyman Orson Scott Card Series: Alvin Maker number 4Now a grown man and a journeyman smith, Alvin has returned to his family and friends in the town of Vigor Church, to share in their isolation, to work as a blacksmith, and to try to teach anyone who will learn the knack of being a Maker. For Alvin has had a vision of the city he will build, and he knows that he cannot build it alone. 
Xenocide Orson Scott Card Series: Enders Game number 3Universe: Enderverse number 3Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequininos require in order to become adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire planet, and all who live there. With The Fleet on its way, a second xenocide seems inevitable. 
Children of the Mind Orson Scott Card Series: Enders Game number 4Universe: Enderverse number 4At the start of Children of the Mind, Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, is using her newly discovered abilities to take the races of buggers, humans and pequeninos outside the universe and back instantaneously. She uses these powers to move them to distant habitable planets for colonization. She is losing her memory and concentration as the vast computer network connected to the ansibleis being shut down. If she is to survive, she must find a way to transfer her soul to a human body. 
The Ships Of Earth Orson Scott Card Series: Homecoming number 3This book focuses on the struggles between the pioneers to establish a new social order now that they have left Basilica. The new society is opposite to that of the previous societies - male dominated instead of female dominated, monogamous and lifelong marriages instead of the yearly contracts of Basilica. 
Shadow of the Giant Orson Scott Card Series: Shadows number 4Universe: Enderverse number 1.4A belief is spreading in conquered China that the government has lost the Mandate of Heaven. Han Tzu meets up with Mazer Rackham, who passes him a blow dart pen, calling it the 'Mandate of Heaven'. Han Tzu confronts the emperor, Snow Tiger, who is shot and killed by a guard, allowing Han Tzu to overthrow the Chinese government and install himself as the new emperor. Meanwhile, Peter Wiggin, Hegemon of Earth, along with Petra Arkanian, goes to visit Alai, Caliph of the Muslim League. The two help Alai realize that he is little more than a glorified prisoner, and that others have been ruling Islam in his stead. After uncovering a conspiracy against him, Alai resolves to take firmer control of his nation and guarantee the human rights of his subjugated peoples. 
The Crystal City Orson Scott Card Series: Alvin Maker number 6Alvin and Arthur stay at a boarding house where mixed-blood children are cared for by Papa Moose and Mama Squirrel. While there, Alvin uses his knack to cleanse the mosquitoes and disease from a well. A young woman, whom the people call Dead Mary, sees what he has done and asks him to come with her and heal her mother, who has yellow fever. Because Alvin heals her, the Yellow Fever spreads throughout Nueva Barcelona, averting an impending war with the United States over slavery. As the fever spreads, people begin to suspect Papa Moose and Mama Squirrel because Alvin has been healing everyone he can, radiating outward through the city. Alvin is then approached by La Tia, an African woman, who wants him to help all the slaves and the displaced French to escape Nueva Barcelona. He reluctantly agrees. 
Ender's Shadow Orson Scott Card Series: Shadows number 1Universe: Enderverse number 1.1Bean, the main character, is a homeless child living in the hellish streets of Rotterdam in roughly 2170 after escaping as an infant from an illegal genetic engineering laboratory. Highly intelligent and extremely young, Bean is mainly concerned with his need for food. He joins a large gang of children led by a girl named Poke and sets up a system in which they can all receive nourishment at a local soup kitchen. Specifically, the group gets a bully, Achilles (pronounced 'Ah-Sheel' [French Pronunciation]), to be their protector. However, Achilles is increasingly ruthless, protective, and methodical. 
Shadow of the Hegemon Orson Scott Card Series: Shadows number 2Universe: Enderverse number 1.2All of the Battle School graduates, except Ender, return to Earth in approximately 2170 A.D., where Ender's brother Peter, using his online pseudonym Locke, arranges for Ender to be returned to Earth; but Valentine, under the pseudonym Demosthenes, uses Peter's violent past against him to keep Ender exiled. Shortly after their return, the members of the unit Ender commanded (called his Jeesh, an Arabic word meaning 'army'), with the exception of Bean, are seized as strategists in an upcoming struggle for world dominance, by Achilles de Flandres (ah-SHEEL), who subjects them to solitary confinement. Bean having imprisoned Achilles in the previous novel, Achilles attempts (unsuccessfully) to kill Bean. The Delphikis go into hiding, while Bean joins forces with Sister Carlotta. After he discovers an encoded message sent by Petra confirming that the Russians are Achilles' backers, he works to free her and the others, while helping Peter come to power. 
Seventh Son Orson Scott Card Series: Alvin Maker number 1Seventh Son (1987) is an alternate history/fantasy novel by Orson Scott Card. It is the first book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Makerseries and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. Seventh Son won a Locus Award and was nominated for both the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards in 1988.[1] Seventh sons have strong 'knacks' (specific magical abilities), and seventh sons of seventh sons are both extraordinarily rare and powerful. In fact, young Alvin appears to be the only one in the world. His abilities make him the target of The Unmaker, who recognizes Alvin's powers as those of a Maker-only the second ever, and it had been a long time since the first had walked on water and turned water to wine. The Unmaker works largely through water, trying to kill Alvin in his early years, before he can master his abilities. 
The Memory of Earth Orson Scott Card Series: Homecoming number 1Humanity has lived for 40 million years on a planet called Harmony, after leaving an Earth that has been destroyed by human conflict. In order not to repeat the mistakes that led to the destruction of civilization on Earth, a computer, known as the Oversoul, was left as guardian of this planet. 
The Call of Earth Orson Scott Card Series: Homecoming number 2The book focuses on several key events that happen after Nafai, Elemak, Issib, Mebbekew, Zdorab and the father Volemak leave for the desert. Elemak has a dream from the Oversoul, foretelling Volemak's sons going back to the city of Basilica to get wives. The sons proceed to Nafai's and Issib's mother, Rasa, who is attempting to keep order within the city. However Hushidh, a raveler under Rasa's care, makes the disastrous mistake of severing the ties between Rashgallivak and his men, leading to widespread riots across the city. 
Earthfall Orson Scott Card Series: Homecoming number 4The children of Wetchik are ready to board the starship Basilica and embark on their journey from the planet Harmony back to the origin of humanity: Earth. However, the rivalry between Nafai and Elemak promises the journey will be anything but peaceful. Each faction already has hidden plans to prematurely awaken from the long hibernation, to have the upper hand when the landing occurs. The children become pawns in their parents' power struggle - valuable potential adults that can strengthen each faction. But the Oversoul is ultimately in control, having uploaded a copy of itself into Basilica's central computer, so that it can monitor the ship at all times. 
Earthborn Orson Scott Card Series: Homecoming number 5Five centuries after the conclusion of Earthfall, there is only one original colonist from Harmony: Shedemei, who now wears the Cloak of the Starmaster (a device that links her to the Oversoul). After hundreds of years, the descendants of Nafai and Elemak have built cities and towns - yet never forgetting the enmity between the two brothers. After hundreds of years, the Oversoul still has not achieved its original purpose: to find the Keeper of Earth, the central intelligence that alone can repair the Oversoul's damaged counterpart at Harmony. 
Red Prophet Orson Scott Card Series: Alvin Maker number 2Lolla-Wossiky, a troubled, one-eyed, whiskey 'Red', leaves General Harrison's fort and heads north in order to find his 'dream beast', the spirit that can save him from the pain of his memories. On his journey, he meets Alvin Miller Jr. and assists him in making an ethical decision that will shape his life forever. In appreciation, Alvin heals Lolla-Wossiky's painful memories, allowing him to give up alcohol and become in touch with the land once again. Lolla-Wossiky grows into 'the Prophet' although he prefers to be known as Tenskwa-Tawa. Lolla-Wossiky preaches both pacifism and separatism, believing that 'Reds' should live west of the Mississippi and 'Whites' should live east of it. 
Prentice Alvin Orson Scott Card Series: Alvin Maker number 3After being released from his time with Ta-Kumsaw, an Indian leader who taught Alvin the ways of Indian people, the young boy sets out to start his apprenticeship as a Smith in the town where he was born. 
Ender's Game Orson Scott Card Series: Enders Game number 1Universe: Enderverse number 1Set in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the 'buggers', an insectoid alien species. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including the novel's protagonist, Ender Wiggin, are trained from a very young age through increasingly difficult games including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed. 
Speaker for the Dead Orson Scott Card Series: Enders Game number 2Universe: Enderverse number 2Following the xenocide of the Formic species by his own hand (in Ender's Game), Ender Wiggin writes a book under the pseudonym 'Speaker for the Dead' called The Hive Queen, describing the life of the Formics as described to him by the dormant Formic queen which he secretly carries. As humanity uses light-speed travel to establish new colonies, Ender quietly travels with them along with his sister Valentine to find a home for the Formic Queen to restart her species. Ender's older brother, the aged Hegemon Peter Wiggin, recognizes Ender's writings in The Hive Queen, and requests Ender write for him once he dies. Ender agrees, and authors The Hegemon. These two books create a new religious movement for Speakers of the Dead who have full authority to investigate a person and their work after their death, and speak with judgement about the essence of them in eulogy. 
Blink Malcolm Gladwell The author describes the main subject of his book as 'thin-slicing': our ability to use limited information from a very narrow period of experience to come to a conclusion. This idea suggests that spontaneous decisions are often as good as-or even better than-carefully planned and considered ones. To reinforce his ideas, Gladwell draws from a wide range of examples from science and medicine (including malpractice suits), sales and advertising, gambling, speed dating (and predicting divorce), tennis, military war games, and the movies and popular music. Gladwell also uses many examples of regular people's experiences with 'thin-slicing,' including our instinctive ability to mind-read, which is how we can get to know a person's emotions just by looking at his or her face. 
American Gods Neil Gaiman The premise of the novel is that gods and mythological creatures exist because people believe in them (a type of thoughtform). Immigrants to the United States brought with them spirits and gods. The power of these mythological beings has diminished as people's beliefs waned. New gods have arisen, reflecting the American obsessions with media, celebrity, technology and drugs, among other things. Krondor The Betrayal Raymond E Feist Series: Riftwar Legacy number 1Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 13A moredhel known as Gorath has brought news of deadly forces stirring on the horizon. The Nighthawks have begun murdering again, and a group of six magicians known as The Six are at the root of it all. Tsurani gem smugglers led by The Crawler and traitors to the crown are all plotting the fall of the Kingdom of the Isles. Squires James and Locklear must fend off the reunited moredhel while Gorath and his newly gained friend Owyn seek to aid the magician Pug and the kingdom. 
Hackers Steven Levy Levy decided to write about the subject of hackers because he thought they were fascinating people. He also wanted to present a more accurate view of hackers than the one most people had. Levy found them to be 'adventurers, visionaries, risk-takers, [and] artists rather than nerdy social outcasts' or 'unprofessional' programmers who wrote dirty, 'nonstandard' computer code Prince of the Blood Raymond E Feist Series: Krondor's Sons number 1Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 7Twin sons to Prince Arutha, the Princes Borric and Erland have lived a life of relative luxury. Though well educated and talented swordsmen, they spend their time brawling, gambling, and disrupting their father's court. After the twins show no sign of maturity after a year stationed at the Kingdom's northern border, and with Borric being Heir Presumptive to the throne in Rillanon after the drowning of King Lyam's only son, Arutha decides that his two sons cannot afford the luxury of youth anymore. He sends them as ambassadors to the Empire of Kesh for the Empress' 75th birthday jubilee. Baron James ('Jimmy the Hand') and Baron Locklear accompany the twins, their presence made all the more vital after an assassination attempt on Borric before their departure is narrowly averted, and the assassin is found to be of Keshian nobility. 
Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond The prologue opens with an account of Diamond's conversation with Yali, a New Guinean politician. The conversation turned to the obvious differences in power and technology between Yali's people and the Europeans who dominated the land for 200 years, differences that neither of them considered due to any genetic superiority of Europeans. Yali asked, using the local term 'cargo' for inventions and manufactured goods, 'Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own? Cosmos Carl Sagan Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of science and civilization.[6] He traces the origins of knowledge and the scientific method, mixing science and philosophy, and speculates about the future of science.[7] He also discusses the underlying premises of science by providing biographical anecdotes about many prominent scientists, placing their contributions in the broader context of the development of modern science. 
A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley Larry Cook is an aging farmer who decides to incorporate his farm, handing complete and joint ownership to his three daughters, Ginny, Rose, and Caroline. When the youngest daughter objects, she is removed from the agreement. This sets off a chain of events that brings dark truths to light and explodes long-suppressed emotions, as the story eventually reveals the long-term sexual abuse of the two eldest daughters that was committed by their father. 
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Jack Weatherford It is a narrative of the rise and influence of Genghis Khan and his successors, and their influence on European civilization. Weatherford provides a different slant on Genghis Khan than has been typical in most Western accounts, attributing positive cultural effects to his rule. 
It Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerIt is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It was his 22nd book and 18th novel written under his own name. The story follows the experiences of seven children as they are terrorized by an entity that exploits the fears and phobias of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. 'It' primarily appears in the form of a clown to attract its preferred prey of young children. The novel is told through narratives alternating between two time periods, and is largely told in the third-person omniscient mode. Itdeals with themes that eventually became King staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma and its recurrent echoes in adulthood, the ugliness lurking behind a façade of small-town quaintness, and overcoming evil through mutual trust and sacrifice. 
Billions & Billions Carl Sagan The book is a collection of essays Sagan wrote covering diverse topics such as global warming, the population explosion, extraterrestrial life, morality, and the abortion debate. The last chapter is an account of his struggle with myelodysplasia, the disease which finally took his life in December 1996. Sagan's wife, Ann Druyan, wrote the epilogue of the book after his death. 
Out of Africa Isak Dinesen Out of Africa is a memoir by the Danish author Karen Blixen. The book, first published in 1937, recounts events of the seventeen years when Blixen made her home in Kenya, then called British East Africa. The book is a lyrical meditation on Blixen's life on her coffee plantation, as well as a tribute to some of the people who touched her life there. It provides a vivid snapshot of African colonial life in the last decades of the British Empire. Blixen wrote the book in English and then rewrote it in Danish. The book has sometimes been published under the author's pen name, Isak Dinesen. 
The Cider House Rules John Irving Homer Wells grows up in an orphanage where he spends his childhood "being of use" as a medical assistant to the director, Dr. Wilbur Larch, whose history is told in flashbacks: After a traumatic misadventure with a prostitute as a young man, Wilbur turns his back on sex and love, choosing instead to help women with unwanted pregnancies give birth and then keeping the babies in an orphanage. He makes a point of maintaining an emotional distance from the orphans, so that they can more easily make the transition into an adoptive family, but when it becomes clear that Homer is going to spend his entire childhood at the orphanage, Wilbur trains the orphan as an obstetrician and then comes to love him like a son.
Wilbur's and Homer's lives are complicated by Wilbur also secretly being an abortionist. Wilbur came to this work reluctantly, but he is driven by having seen the horrors of back-alley operations. Homer, upon learning Wilbur's secret, considers it morally wrong. Shadow of a Dark Queen Raymond E Feist Series: Serpent War number 1Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 9The novel starts by introducing best friends Erik Von Darkmoor, an apprentice blacksmith and bastard son of the local baron, and Roo Avery, a local trouble maker. Erik's half-brother Stefan Von Darkmoor, heir to his father's title, who resents Erik's claim to the Darkmoor name, rapes Erik's close friend Rosalyn in an attempt to force Erik into a fight. Erik and Roo find Stefan, and in a rage, Erik holds Stefan down while Roo delivers the killing blow, but Erik is injured during the fight. Now wanted for Stefan's murder, the two realize they must flee, and set out for Krondor. On the way, the boys narrowly escape detection when they happen upon the tent of a strange woman named Gert who aids them. They wake the next morning to find Gert gone and a mysterious woman named Miranda in her place, who helps and heals Erik. Further on their journey, they come to the aid of a man who is being ambushed by some brigands. The man, a merchant named Helmut Grindle, guides them the rest of the way to Krondor. On their journey, Roo befriends the man, questioning him on all matters commerce with the goal of starting a business of his own. 
Shadow Puppets Orson Scott Card Series: Shadows number 3Universe: Enderverse number 1.3Peter, Ender's brother, is now Hegemon of Earth. Accepting a tip from inside China, where Achilles is held prisoner, Peter had planned for Bean to operate the mission, but at the last minute (because he doubted Bean would cooperate) assigns Suriyawong, a Battle School student from Thailand, to rescue Achilles in transport, believing that he can spy on Achilles, take over his network, and then turn Achilles over to some country for trial (at the time of this story, Achilles has betrayed Russia, Pakistan, and India) 
Ender in Exile Orson Scott Card Series: Shadows number 5Universe: Enderverse number 1.5One year after the Buggers (Formics) were defeated and the Battle School children have returned to Earth, Ender is still unable to return with them because there would be wars over which country would keep Ender to use for its own ends. Ender is offered the Governorship of the first human colony to be planted on one of the Buggers' former worlds, a planet that will eventually become known as Shakespeare. His sister Valentine decides to accompany Ender on his journey because she is sick of being controlled by her older brother, Peter, and because she wants to restore the relationship with Ender that she had lost when he left to go to Battle School. 
Earth Unaware Orson Scott Card Series: Prequel number 1Universe: Enderverse number 0.1Published in 2012, it is the first book of a prequel trilogy to Ender's Game.[1][2] The novel is set before Ender Wiggin is born and tells the story of the first Formic War.[3] Earth Afire, the second book in the trilogy, was released on June 4, 2013,[4] and the conclusion, Earth Awakens, was released June 10, 2014.[5] Earth Afire Orson Scott Card Series: Prequel number 2Universe: Enderverse number 0.2A century before the events of Ender's Game, an alien spaceship enters the solar system and soon makes known its hostile intentions by destroying harmless human ships. Then, it wipes out a ragtag fleet of asteroid miners who have banded together in a desperate attempt to stop it. All of the adult male members of Victor Delgado's extended clan die in the battle. The survivors are unable to transmit a warning, so Victor volunteers for a near-suicidal mission to try to reach Earth in a tiny, hastily converted unmanned cargo ship. He makes it to the Moon, but is unable to get the authorities to take him seriously. Thus, humanity is totally unprepared when the First Formic War starts. 
Shadows in Flight Orson Scott Card Series: Shadows number 6Universe: Enderverse number 1.6In 2210, the starship Herodotus left Earth. On board were Julian 'Bean' Delphiki and his three infant children - Ender, Carlotta, and Cincinnatus - all of whom have Anton's Key turned. This genetic alteration, which Bean passed to his children, grants them all extremely high intelligence, but causes their bodies to grow uncontrollably, which is likely to kill them by the age of 20. Subjectively, they have been flying near light-speed for five years, but relativistic effects mean that 421 years have passed on Earth - the year is now 2631. When the family left, scientists were actively trying to find a cure for their giantism which would not diminish their intelligence. Several generations have passed, they have been forgotten, and their mother and 'normal' siblings having died centuries ago. The children have only been alive for six subjective years. 
Heartfire Orson Scott Card Series: Alvin Maker number 5Alvin takes on the which laws in Salem 
Fooled Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Series: Incerto number 1Taleb sets forth the idea that modern humans are often unaware of the existence of randomness. They tend to explain random outcomes as non-random. Human Beings: 1. overestimate causality, e.g., they see elephants in the clouds instead of understanding that they are in fact randomly shaped clouds that appear to our eyes as elephants (or something else); and 2. tend to view the world as more explainable than it really is. So they look for explanations even when there are none. Antifragile Nassim Nicholas Taleb Series: Incerto number 4Taleb introduces the book as follows: 'Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better'.[1] Hormesis is an example of mild antifragility, where the stressor is a poisonous substance and the antifragile becomes better overall from a small dose of the stressor. This is different from robustness or resilience in that the Antifragile system improves with, not withstands, stressors, where the stressors are neither too large or small. The larger point, according to Taleb, is that depriving systems of vital stressors is not necessarily a good thing and can be downright harmful. 
Beloved Toni Morrison Beloved is a 1987 novel by the American writer Toni Morrison. Set after the American Civil War (1861-65), it is inspired by the story of an African-American slave, Margaret Garner, who escaped slavery in Kentucky late January 1856 by fleeing to Ohio, a free state. Morrison had come across the story 'A Visit to the Slave Mother who Killed Her Child' in an 1856 newspaper article published in the American Advocate and reproduced in The Black Book, a miscellaneous compilation of black history and culture that Morrison edited in 1974. 
Against the Day Thomas Pynchon The narrative takes place between the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the time immediately following World War I and features more than a hundred characters spread across the United States, Europe, Mexico, Central Asia, and 'one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all,' according to the book jacket blurb written by Pynchon. Like its predecessors, Against the Day is an example of historiographic metafiction or metahistorical romance, and at 1,085 pages it is the longest of Pynchon's novels to date. 
The Wind Through the Keyhole Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 8Universe: Dark TowerThe novel begins with Roland and his ka-tet arriving at a river on their journey to the Dark Tower. An elderly man who operates a ferry gets them across the river, and warns them that a severe depression (starkblast) is coming, and that they can find shelter in a building a few miles ahead. They reach the shelter just in time, and while they wait out the storm, Roland tells them of an adventure in his youth to keep them occupied: 'The Skin-Man. Rides a Dread Legion Raymond E Feist Series: Demonwar number 1Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 26A lost race of elves, the taredhel or 'people of the stars', have found a way across the universe to reach Midkemia. On their current home world, these elves are hard pressed by a ravaging demon horde, and what was once a huge empire has been reduced to a handful of survivors. The cornerstone of taredhel lore is the tale of their lost origins in the world they call simply 'Home', a place lost in the mists of time. Now they are convinced that Midkemia is that place, and they are coming to reclaim it. Ruthless and arrogant, the taredhel intend to let nothing stand in their way; but before long, Pug and the Conclave realise that it's not necessarily the elves, but the demon horde pursuing them where the true danger lies. And hanging over Pug always is the prophecy that he will be doomed to watch everyone he loves die before him. 
At the Gates of Darkness Raymond E Feist Series: Demonwar number 2Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 27The remnants of the Conclave of Shadows, led by Pug, struggle to defeat evil magician Belasco before the Demon horde arrives in Midkemia. 
Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History Richard Shenkman The truth and nothing but the truth-Richard Shenkman sheds light on America's most believed legends. 
Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely Ariely explains, 'My goal, by the end of this book, is to help you fundamentally rethink what makes you and the people around you tick. I hope to lead you there by presenting a wide range of scientific experiments, findings, and anecdotes that are in many cases quite amusing. Once you see how systematic certain mistakes are-how we repeat them again and again-I think you will begin to learn how to avoid some of them'. A Kingdom Besieged Raymond E Feist Series: ChaosWar number 1Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 28The first book in the trilogy The Chaoswar Saga, the final saga in The Riftwar Cycle. 
A Crown Imperiled Raymond E Feist Series: ChaosWar number 2Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 29Enemies march across the realm wreaking havoc. Region by region, Midkemia is being ripped apart, and loyal spy Jim Dasher and his allies find themselves overpowered at every turn. Meanwhile, palace coups threaten to topple the thrones of Roldem and Rillanon, as Lord Hal of Crydee and champion swordsman Ty Hawkins attempt to smuggle Princess Stephané and Lady Gabriella, her perplexing lady-in-waiting, out of Roldem to safety. But nowhere is safe,including Ylith, Midkemia's strategic bastion, which faces an onslaught of brutal Keshian Dog Soldiers and a mysterious force from beneath the sea. And if Ylith falls, all is lost. 
Magicians End Raymond E Feist Series: ChaosWar number 3Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 30An uneasy quiet has settled upon Midkemia in the wake of a surprise invasion. But the land is far from peaceful. Leaderless, the Kingdom is on the brink of anarchy and civil war, unless Hal conDoin, Duke of Crydee, and his brothers can rally their allies to crown a new king. They must move quickly, for war has left the land vulnerable to an agency of horrific destruction not of this world. No one is safe, not even the Star Elves whose city deep in the Grey Tower Mountains has come under attack by an ancient darkness that seeks to extinguish every living thing in Midkemia.Yet the bravery of determined warriors--brothers in blood and arms--is not enough to ensure the Kingdom's preservation without the magic of the Master Sorcerer Pug. A powerful spell has trapped him, his son Magnus, and two unlikely allies in an unfamiliar realm, and they must find their separate ways home--a journey of memory and discovery that will illuminate the truth of the destiny that awaits them. But to save Midkemia--and everything he has fought for and all he cherishes--Pug will have to pay the ultimate price 
Lost Girls Robert Kolker Award-winning investigative reporter Robert Kolker delivers a humanizing account of the true-life search for a serial killer still at large on Long Island, and presents the first detailed look at the shadow world of online escorts, where making a living is easier than ever and the dangers remain all too real. A triumph of reporting, a riveting narrative, and 'a lashing critique of how society and the police let five young women down' (Dwight Garner, New York Times), Lost Girls is a portrait of unsolved murders in an idyllic part of America, of the underside of the Internet, and of the secrets we keep without admitting to ourselves that we keep them. 
Ninja John Man The first major pop history of the Japanese stealth assassins, John Man's Ninja is a meticulously researched, entertaining blend of mythology, anthropology, travelogue, and history of the legendary shadow warriors. Salt Mark Kurlansky The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece. 
Chaos James Gleick Chaos introduces a whole new readership to chaos theory, one of the most significant waves of scientific knowledge in our time. From Edward Lorenz's discovery of the Butterfly Effect, to Mitchell Feigenbaum's calculation of a universal constant, to Benoit Mandelbrot's concept of fractals, which created a new geometry of nature, Gleick's engaging narrative focuses on the key figures whose genius converged to chart an innovative direction for science. In Chaos, Gleick makes the story of chaos theory not only fascinating but also accessible to beginners, and opens our eyes to a surprising new view of the universe. 
Fire Monks Colleen Busch Disaster struck during the summer months, when Tassajara opens its doors to visitors, and the grounds fill with guests expecting a restful respite. Instead, the mountain air filled with smoke, and monks broke from regular meditation to conduct fire drills. All visitors were evacuated, and many Zen students followed. A small crew of residents and firefighters remained, preparing to defend Tassajara. But nothing could have prepared them for what came next. When a treacherous shift in weather conditions brought danger nearer still, firefighters made the flash decision to completely evacuate the monastery. As the firefighters and remaining residents caravanned out the long road to Tassajara, five monks turned back, risking their lives to save the monastery. Fire Monks is their story. 
Incognito - The Secret Lives of the Brain David Eagleman If the conscious mind - the part you consider to be you - is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?' This is the main question throughout the entirety of the book. Outliers Malcolm Gladwell In Outliers, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, how The Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human history, how Joseph Flom built Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom into one of the most successful law firms in the world, how cultural differences play a large part in perceived intelligence and rational decision making, and how two people with exceptional intelligence, Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer, end up with such vastly different fortunes. 
David and Goliath Malcolm Gladwell The book focuses on the probability of improbable events occurring in situations where one outcome is greatly favored over the other. The book contains many different stories of these underdogs who wind up beating the odds, the most famous being the story of David and Goliath. Despite generally negative reviews, the book was a bestseller, rising to #4 on The New York Times Hardcover Non-fiction chart,[1] and #5 on USA Today's Best-Selling Books. 
Money Felix Martin What is money, and how does it work? In this tour de force of political, cultural, and economic history, Felix Martin challenges nothing less than our conventional understanding of one of humankind's greatest inventions. Martin describes how the Western idea of money emerged in the ancient world, and was shaped over the centuries by tensions between sovereigns and the emerging middle classes. Money, he argues, has always been an intensely political instrument, and that it is our failure to remember this that led to the crisis in our financial system and the Great Recession. 
Elizabeth and Mary Jane Dunn Jane Dunn's Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens offers a blend of history and biography that traces the 'dynamic interaction' between two of the most powerful women in Western history. Dunn remains ever aware of the uniqueness of her two central figures: both women ruled as divinely ordained monarchs in a male dominated power structure; and both women were from the same family (Elizabeth I was the granddaughter of Henry VII, and Mary Queen of Scots the great-granddaughter of King Henry). Exiles Return Raymond E Feist Series: Conclave of Shadows number 3Universe: Riftwar Cycle number 22Kaspar, former Duke of Olasko, finds himself alone and without provisions on the continent of Novindus on the other side of the world after being removed from power by the Conclave of Shadows (in King of Foxes, the preceding novel). His desire for revenge must be put aside as he struggles to survive in a harsh unfamiliar land. He happens upon a farm, where his only choice is to work for food and shelter. As he is no longer under the magical influence of Leso Varen, the evil necromancer who had manipulated him while in Olasko, he begins to show compassion, and atone for his past deeds 
Salems Lot Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerSalem's Lot is a 1975 horror fiction novel written by the American author Stephen King. It was his second published novel. The story involves a writer named Ben Mears who returns to the town of Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot for short) in Maine, where he had lived from the age of five through nine, only to discover that the residents are becoming vampires. The town is revisited in the short stories 'Jerusalem's Lot' and 'One for the Road', both from King's story collection, Night Shift (1978). The novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award-Novel in 1976, and the Locus Award for the All-Time Best Fantasy Novel in 1987. 
Carrie Stephen King A misfit and bullied high school girl who uses her newly discovered telekineticpowers to exact revenge on those who torment her. While in this process, she causes one of the worst local disasters in American history. 
The Shining Stephen King Series: Shining number 1The Shining centers on the life of Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. His family accompanies him on this job, including his young son Danny Torrance, who possesses 'the shining', an array of psychic abilities that allow Danny to see the hotel's horrific past. Soon, after a winter storm leaves them snowbound, the supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel influence Jack's sanity, leaving his wife and son in incredible danger. 
The Stand Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerThe Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It expands upon the scenario of his earlier short story 'Night Surf' and outlines the total breakdown of society after the accidental release of a strain of influenza that had been modified for biological warfare causes an apocalyptic pandemic which kills off the majority of the world's human population. 
Pet Sematary Stephen King Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by Stephen King, nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1986,[1] and adapted into a 1989 film of the same name. In November 2013, PS Publishing released Pet Sematary in a limited 30th Anniversary Edition.[2] 
Labyrinths of Reason William Poundstone This sharply intelligent, consistently provocative book takes the reader on an astonishing, thought-provoking voyage into the realm of delightful uncertainty--a world of paradox in which logical argument leads to contradiction and common sense is seemingly rendered irrelevant. 
Factory Girls Leslie Chang China has 130 million migrant workers-the largest migration in human history. In Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang, a former correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Beijing, tells the story of these workers primarily through the lives of two young women, whom she follows over the course of three years as they attempt to rise from the assembly lines of Dongguan, an industrial city in China's Pearl River Delta. 
The Tommyknockers Stephen King The Tommyknockers is a 1987 science fiction novel by Stephen King. While maintaining a horror style, the novel is more of an excursion into the realm of science fiction for King,[citation needed] as the residents of the Maine town of Haven gradually fall under the influence of a mysterious object buried in the woods. 
One Thousand Paper Cranes Takayuki Ishii Ten years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Sadako Sasaki died as a result of atomic bomb disease. Sadako's determination to fold one thousand paper cranes and her courageous struggle with her illness inspired her classmates. After her death, they started a national campaign to build the Children's Peace Statue to remember Sadako and the many other children who were victims of the Hiroshima bombing. On top of the statue is a girl holding a large crane in her outstretched arms. Today in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, this statue of Sadako is beautifully decorated with thousands of paper cranes given by people throughout the world. 
The Running Man Stephen King The Running Man is a science fiction novel by Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the omnibus The Bachman Books. The novel is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and world violence is rising. 
Thinner Stephen King Billy Halleck, an arrogant and morbidly obese lawyer in Connecticut, has recently fought an agonising court case in which he was charged with vehicular manslaughter. While he had been driving across town, his wife Heidi distracted him by masturbating him, causing him to run over an old woman who was part of a group of traveling Gypsies. The case is dismissed at a preliminary stage thanks to the judge, who is a close friend of his. However, as Billy leaves the courthouse, the old woman's even more elderly father, Taduz Lemke, strokes Billy's cheek and whispers one word to him: 'Thinner.' The word, and the old man's behavior, startle Billy. 
James Madison Richard Brookhiser James Madison led one of the most influential and prolific lives in American history, and his story-although all too often overshadowed by his more celebrated contemporaries-is integral to that of the nation. Madison helped to shape our country as perhaps no other Founder: collaborating on the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights, resisting government overreach by assembling one of the nation's first political parties (the Republicans, who became today's Democrats), and taking to the battlefield during the War of 1812, becoming the last president to lead troops in combat. 
Quantum Theory David Bohm This superb text by David Bohm, formerly Princeton University and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Birkbeck College, University of London, provides a formulation of the quantum theory in terms of qualitative and imaginative concepts that have evolved outside and beyond classical theory. Although it presents the main ideas of quantum theory essentially in nonmathematical terms, it follows these with a broad range of specific applications that are worked out in considerable mathematical detail. 
The Regulators Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerThe Regulators is a novel by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It was published in 1996 at the same time as its 'mirror' novel, Desperation. The two novels represent parallel universes relative to one another, and most of the characters present in one novel's world also exist in the other novel's reality, albeit in different circumstances. Additionally, the hardcover first editions of each novel, if set side by side, make a complete painting, and on the back of each cover is also a peek at the opposite's cover. 
Christine Stephen King The story of a 1958 Plymouth Fury apparently possessed by supernatural forces. 
Cujo Stephen King Psychological horror novel by Stephen King about a rabid dog. 
Misery Stephen King Misery is a 1987 psychological horror thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1988,[1] and was later made into a Hollywood film and an off-Broadway play of the same name. When King was writing Miseryin 1985 he planned the book to be released under the pseudonym Richard Bachman but the identity of the pseudonym was discovered before the release of the book.[2] 
Insomnia Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerInsomnia is a horror/fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King, first published in 1994. Like It and Dreamcatcher, its setting is the fictional town of Derry, Maine. The original hardcover edition was issued with dust jackets in two complementary designs. The first is pictured on the right; the second has the white and red colors reversed. In his memoir, On Writing, King states that Insomnia and Rose Madder are 'stiff, trying-too-hard novels. 
Rose Madder Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerRose Madder is a fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King, published in 1995. It deals with the effects of domestic violence(which King had touched upon before in the novels It, Insomnia, Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, and many others) and, unusually for a King novel, relies for its fantastic element on Greek mythology. In his memoir, On Writing, King states that Rose Madder and Insomnia are 'stiff, trying-too-hard novels. 
Desperation Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerThe novel begins with Peter and Mary Jackson, a couple driving cross-country in Peter's sister's car after visiting their friends the Sodersons. Collie Entragian pulls over the Jacksons on the pretext of their missing rear license plate and arrests them for possession of marijuana after finding a baggie in the car trunk. Once they arrive at the Desperation Municipal Building where the holding cells are kept, Entragian shoots Peter in the stomach several times and leaves his body in the doorway before dragging Mary over a dead girl's body and up the stairs to jail. 
Europes Tragedy Peter Wilson A deadly continental struggle, the Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world. 
American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, narrates his everyday activities, from his recreational life among the Wall Street elite of New York to his forays into murder by night. Through present tensestream-of-consciousness narrative, Bateman describes his daily life, ranging from a series of Friday nights spent at nightclubs with his colleagues - where they snort cocaine, critique fellow club-goers' clothing, trade fashion advice, and question one another on proper etiquette - to his loveless engagement to fellow yuppie Evelyn and his contentious relationship with his brother and senile mother. Bateman's stream of consciousness is occasionally broken up by chapters in which he directly addresses the reader in order to critique the work of 1980s pop music artists. The novel maintains a high level of ambiguity through mistaken identity and contradictions that introduce the possibility that Bateman is an unreliable narrator. Characters are consistently introduced as people other than themselves, and people argue over the identities of others they can see in restaurants or at parties. Deeply concerned with his personal appearance, Bateman gives extensive descriptions of his daily beauty regimen. The question of whether any of the crimes depicted in the novel actually happened or whether they were simply the fantasies of a delusional psychotic is only perpetuated further by the cinematic adaptation. 
The Game of Kings Dorothy Dunnett Series: Lymond Chronicles number 1Living mostly by his wits and his sword-arm in 16th-century Scotland, Francis Crawford of Lymond is a charismatic figure: polyglot scholar, soldier, musician, master of disguises, nobleman—and accused outlaw. After five years exile, Lymond has recently returned to Scotland, in defiance of Scottish charges against him for treason on behalf of the English and murder. He has assembled a private band of mercenaries and ruffians who follow his ruthless, despotic leadership. The reader only gradually learns that Lymond has returned with a single goal: to prove his innocence and restore his name, he must find the man who framed him and condemned him to two years as a French galley slave before he managed to escape. 
CODE Charles Petzold What do flashlights, the British invasion, black cats, and seesaws have to do with computers? In CODE, they show us the ingenious ways we manipulate language and invent new means of communicating with each other. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries. The Green Mile Stephen King The Green Mile is a 1996 serial novel written by Stephen King. It tells the story of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe's encounter with John Coffey, an unusual inmate who displays inexplicable healing and empathetic abilities. The serial novel was originally released in six volumes before being republished as a single volume work. The book is an example of magical realism. 
Dreamcatcher Stephen King Set near the fictional town of Derry, Maine, Dreamcatcher is the story of four lifelong friends: Gary 'Jonesy' Jones, Pete Moore, Joe 'Beaver' Clarendon and Henry Devlin. As young teenagers, the four saved Douglas 'Duddits' Cavell, an older boy with Down syndrome, from a group of sadistic bullies. From their new friendship with Duddits, Jonesy, Beaver, Henry and Pete began to share the boy's unusual powers, including telepathy, shared dreaming, and seeing 'the line', a psychic trace left by the movement of human beings. 
Everythings Eventual Stephen King Universe: Dark TowerWhat I did was take all the spades out of a deck of cards plus a joker. Ace to King = 1-13. Joker = 14. I shuffled the cards and dealt them. The order in which they came out of the deck became the order of the stories, based on their position in the list my publisher sent me. And it actually created a very nice balance between the literary stories and the all-out screamers. I also added an explanatory note before or after each story, depending on which seemed the more fitting position. Next collection: selected by Tarot. 
Can Neuroscience Change Our Minds Hilary Rose Neuroscience, with its astounding new technologies, is uncovering the workings of the brain and with this perhaps the mind. The 'neuro' prefix spills out into every area of life, from neuroaesthetics to neuroeconomics, neurogastronomy and neuroeducation. With its promise to cure physical and social ills, government sees neuroscience as a tool to increase the 'mental capital' of the children of the deprived and workless. It sets aside intensifying poverty and inequality, instead claiming that basing children's rearing and education on brain science will transform both the child's and the nation's health and wealth. 
God Created The Integers Stephen Hawking God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs That Changed History is an anthology, edited by Stephen Hawking, of 'excerpts from thirty-one of the most important works in the history of mathematics. 
The Bed of Procrustes Nassim Nicholas Taleb Series: Incerto number 3According to Taleb, the book 'contrasts the classical values of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness.' The title refers to Procrustes, a figure from Greek mythology who abducted travelers and forced them to lie in a special bed. 
How We Learn Benedict Carey In the tradition of The Power of Habit and Thinking, Fast and Slow comes a practical, playful, and endlessly fascinating guide to what we really know about learning and memory today-and how we can apply it to our own lives. 
Legionnaire Simon Murray The French Foreign Legion-mysterious, romantic, deadly-is filled with men of dubious character, and hardly the place for a proper Englishman just nineteen years of age. Yet in 1960, Simon Murray traveled alone to Paris, Marseilles, and ultimately Algeria to fulfill the toughest contract of his life: a five-year stint in the Legion. Along the way, he kept a diary. 
The Waste Lands Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 3Universe: Dark TowerThe story begins five weeks after the end of The Drawing of the Three. Roland, Susannah, and Eddie have moved east from the shore of the Western Sea, and into the woods of Out-World. After an encounter with a gigantic cyborg bear named Shardik, they discover one of the six mystical Beams that hold the world together. The three gunslingers follow the Path of the Beam inland to Mid-World. 
The Gunslinger Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 1Universe: Dark TowerInspired by Robert Browning's poem 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came', The story centers upon Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, who has been chasing after his adversary, 'the man in black', for many years. The novel fuses Western fiction with fantasy, science fiction and horror, following Roland's trek through a vast desert and beyond in search of the man in black. Roland meets several people along his journey, including a boy named Jake Chambers who travels with him part of the way. 
The Drawing of the Three Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 2Universe: Dark TowerThe story is a continuation of The Gunslinger and follows Roland of Gilead and his quest towards the Dark Tower. The subtitle of this novel is RENEWAL. 
The Black Swan Nassim Talib Series: Incerto number 2The book focuses on the extreme impact of certain kinds of rare and unpredictable events (outliers) and humans' tendency to find simplistic explanations for these events retrospectively. This theory has since become known as the black swan theory. 
Early Modern England 1485-1714 Robert Bucholz The book traces the transformation of England during the Tudor-Stuart period, from feudal European state to a constitutional monarchy and the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth. 
Everyday Bias Howard Ross If you are human, you are biased. From this fundamental truth, diversity expert Howard Ross explores the biases we each carry within us. Most people do not see themselves as biased towards people of different races or different genders. And yet in virtually every area of modern life disparities remain. Even in corporate America, which has for the most part embraced the idea of diversity as a mainstream idea, patterns of disparity remain rampant. Why? 
Doctor Sleep Stephen King Series: Shining number 2Doctor Sleep is a horror novel by American writer Stephen King. Doctor Sleep is the 61st book published by Stephen King and it is his 50th novel, and the 43rd under his own name. It is a sequel to his novel The Shining (1977), released in September 2013. King stated that it is 'a return to balls-to-the-wall, keep-the-lights-on horror'. The book reached the first position on The New York Times Best Seller list for print and ebook fiction (combined), hardcover fiction, and ebook fiction. Doctor Sleep won the 2013 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel. A Farewell To Arms Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms is about a love affair between the expatriate American Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley against the backdrop of the First World War, cynical soldiers, fighting and the displacement of populations. The publication of A Farewell to Arms cemented Hemingway's stature as a modern American writer, became his first best-seller, and is described by biographer Michael Reynolds as 'the premier American war novel from that debacle World War I. 
Lies My Teacher Told Me James Loewen In Lies My Teacher Told Me, Loewen criticizes modern American high school history textbooks for containing incorrect information about people and events such as Christopher Columbus, the lies and inaccuracies in the history books regarding the dealings between the Europeans and the Native Americans, and their often deceptive and inaccurate teachings told about America's commerce in slavery. He further criticizes the texts for a tendency to avoid controversy and for their 'bland' and simplistic style. Gracefully Insane Alex Beam There are no fences, no guards, no locked gates. But McLean Hospital is a mental institution-one of the most famous, most elite, and once most luxurious in America. McLean 'alumni' include Olmsted himself, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, James Taylor and Ray Charles, as well as (more secretly) other notables from among the rich and famous. In its 'golden age,' McLean provided as genteel an environment for the treatment of mental illness as one could imagine. But the golden age is over, and a downsized, downscale McLean-despite its affiliation with Harvard University-is struggling to stay afloat. Gracefully Insane, by Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam, is a fascinating and emotional biography of McLean Hospital from its founding in 1817 through today. 
Detroit Charlie LeDuff In the book LeDuff discusses the present state of Detroit and its economic, social, crime, and political issues. A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini The novel centers on two women, Mariam and Laila, how their lives become intertwined after a series of drastic events, and their subsequent friendship and support for each other in the backdrop of Kabul in the 20th and 21st century. It is split into four parts that focus on individual stories: Part one is about Mariam, part two is on Laila, part three is on the relationship between the two women, and Laila's life with Tariq is in part four. The last section also happens to be the only part written in the present tense. 
Caffeinated Murray Carpenter The most popular drug in America is a white powder. No, not that powder. This is caffeine in its most essential state. And Caffeinated reveals the little-known truth about this addictive, largely unregulated drug found in coffee, energy drinks, teas, colas, chocolate, and even pain relievers. 
Aftermirth Hillary Jordan I stopped being funny the day my wife was electrocuted by her underwire bra.' So begins Aftermirth, a dark comedy that explores the absurdity of death through the eyes of thirty-one-year-old comedian, writer, and actor, Michael Larssen. What is horribly funny to the rest of the world is devastating to Michael, who loves his wife deeply, especially her bright, rippling, abandoned laughter, which captivated him from the first time he ever heard it. In the aftermath of her death, he loses his sense of humor, and his career along with it. 
Last Ape Standing Chip Walter Over the past 180 years scientists have discovered evidence that at least twenty-seven species of humans evolved on planet Earth. What enabled us to survive when all the others were shown the evolutionary door? 
From 0 to Infinity in 26 Centuries Chris Waring We may remember their equations and discoveries from school, but do we remember who the men behind the math were? From the theories of Pythagoras (did you know he ran a secret brotherhood that studied maths, music, and gymnastics?) to coining the term 'Googol,' this book is packed full of fascinating facts and surprising stories from ancient times to the modern day. Do you want to know why the Ancient Greeks knew so much math? Or, why there was so little math studied in the Dark Ages? Read this fascinating book to uncover the mysteries of math. 
Historical Capitalism Immanuel Wallerstein In this short, highly readable book, the master of world-systems theory provides a succinct anatomy of capitalism over the past five hundred years. Considering the way capitalism has changed and evolved over the centuries, and what has remained constant, he outlines its chief characteristics. In particular, he looks at the emergence and development of a world market, and of labor; in doing so, he argues that capitalism has brought about immiseration in the Global South. As long as they remain within a framework of world capitalism, Wallerstein concludes, the economic and social problems of developing countries will remain unresolved. 
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel, after he came to consider War and Peace to be more than a novel. Fyodor Dostoyevsky declared it 'flawless as a work of art.' His opinion was shared by Vladimir Nabokov, who especially admired 'the flawless magic of Tolstoy's style,' and by William Faulkner, who described the novel as 'the best ever written.' The novel remains popular, as demonstrated by a 2007 Time poll of 125 contemporary authors in which Anna Kareninawas voted the 'greatest book ever written. 
Moby Dick Herman Melville Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the previous whaling voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. The novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, but during the 20th century, its reputation as a Great American Novel was established. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it 'one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world', and 'the greatest book of the sea ever written'. 'Call me Ishmael' is among world literature's most famous opening sentences. 
Ben-Hur Lew Wallace Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace published by Harper and Brothers on November 12, 1880, and considered 'the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century'. It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions. Ben-Hur remained at the top of the US all-time bestseller list until the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936). The 1959 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur was seen by tens of millions and won 11 Academy Awards in 1960, after which the book's sales increased and it surpassed Gone with the Wind. It was blessed by Pope Leo XIII, the first novel ever to receive such praise. The success of the novel and its stage and film adaptations also helped it to become a popular cultural icon that was used to promote numerous commercial products. 
Debunking Economics Steve Keen He book strongly criticises many of the key ideas and assumptions of neoclassical economics.[3] It argues that components of the theory such as demand curves, which are supposed to represent the aggregate behaviour of consumers, are theoretical constructs that have little empirical support. Keen questions the conventional theory of the firm, arguing that monopolies can have a useful role. He also revisits the Cambridge capital controversy of the 1960s to argue that ideas such as capital and profit are ill-defined. 
Potato Andrew Smith From obscure Pre-Columbian beginnings in the Andes Mountains to global popularity today, the story of the potato is one of rags to riches. In Potato, esteemed culinary historian Andrew F. Smith reveals the captivating story of a once lowly vegetable that has changed-and continues to change-the world. 
Wizard and Glass Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 4Universe: Dark TowerThe novel begins where The Waste Lands ended. After Jake, Eddie, Susannah and Roland fruitlessly riddle Blaine the Mono for several hours, Eddie defeats the mad computer by telling childish jokes. Blaine is unable to handle Eddie's 'illogical' riddles and short-circuits. 
The Wolves of the Calla Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 5Universe: Dark TowerAfter escaping the alternate Topeka and the evil wizard Walter O'Dim and weathering the starkblast, Roland's ka-tet begin to sense they are being followed in their travels. During this time, Eddie Dean and Jake Chambers are sent to New York, 1977, via a dream-state called todash. There they encounter Calvin Tower, a bookstore owner who gave Jake a book in The Waste Lands that proved integral to the quest for the Dark Tower. While in todash, Eddie and Jake discover that Tower owns the vacant lot that houses the rose that is the physical manifestation of the Dark Tower previously encountered by Jake in The Waste Lands. Jake and Eddie also discover that Enrico Balazar, the crime boss that appeared in The Drawing of the Three, is attempting to coerce Tower into selling the lot to the mysterious Sombra Corporation. If this happens, the rose (and the Dark Tower itself) will be destroyed. 
Song of Susannah Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 6Universe: Dark Tower number 0Taking place mainly in our world (New York City and East Stoneham, Maine), this book picks up where Wolves of the Calla left off, with the ka-tet employing the help of the Manni to open the magic door inside Doorway Cave. The ka-tet are split up by the magic door, or perhaps ka, and sent to different 'wheres' and 'whens' in order to accomplish several essential goals pertaining to their quest towards the mysterious Dark Tower. 
The Dark Tower Stephen King Series: Dark Tower number 7Universe: Dark TowerBeginning where book six left off, Jake Chambers and Father Callahan battle the evil infestation within the Dixie Pig, a vampire lounge in New York City featuring roast human flesh and doors to other worlds. After fighting off and destroying numerous 'Low-Men' and Type One Vampires, Callahan sacrifices himself to let Jake survive. In the other world - Fedic - Mia, her body now physically separated from Susannah Dean, gives birth to Mordred Deschain, the biological son of Roland Deschain and Susannah. The Crimson King is also a 'co-father' of this prophetic child, so it is not surprising when 'baby' Mordred's first act is to shapeshift into a spider-creature and feast on his birth-mother. Susannah shoots but fails to kill Mordred, eliminates other agents of the Crimson King, and escapes to meet up with Jake at the cross-dimensional door beneath the Dixie Pig which connects to Fedic. 
At the Mouth of the River of Bees Kij Johnson A sparkling debut collection from one of the hottest writers in science fiction: her stories have received the Nebula Award the last two years running. These stories feature cats, bees, wolves, dogs, and even that most capricious of animals, humans, and have been reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and The Secret History of Fantasy. 
Quest for the Lost Roman Legions Tony Clunn In 9 A.D., the 17th, 18th & 19th Roman legions and their auxiliary troops under command of Publius Quinctilius Varus vanished in the boggy wilds of Germania. They died singly and by the hundreds over several days in a carefully planned ambush led by Arminius-a Roman-trained German warrior determined to stop Rome's advance east beyond the Rhine River. By the time it was over, some 25,000 men, women, and children were dead and the course of European history had been forever altered. 
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published on 14 October 1892; the individual stories had been serialised in The Strand Magazine between July 1891 and June 1892. The stories are not in chronological order, and the only characters common to all twelve are Holmes and Dr. Watson. The stories are related in first-person narrative from Watson's point of view. " "