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Leslie

Leslie

Joined February 2016

I try not to let life get in the way of my reading
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Eileen: A Novel by Ottessa Moshfegh
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Leslie
The Beauty Vol. 2 | Jeremy Haun, Jason A. Hurley
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Love this series! I wish I could afford to own them all. The Beauty is a virus you can inject yourself with that makes you beautiful. It takes the world by storm. We are all beautiful...just one little side effect: you burn up from the inside, eventually explode. The series focuses on the implications and consequences of a world transformed by this kind of beauty. Dazzling art and writing.

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Leslie
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Re read by this: so witty, so cosmopolitan, always tongue in cheek. I had forgotten how much this novel affected everything I believe and love about Arthurian mythology. A book to savor.

JulieAnn I loved this book in high school! Definitely time for a reread! 8y
Jen2 Me too, need to reread!! 8y
8 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Leslie
Abaddon's Gate | James S.A. Corey
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Loving volume 3. Holden is the nicest guy in the galaxy.

Leslie And space opera is such a lovely way to wander through an afternoon 8y
3 likes1 comment
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Leslie
Jackaby | William Ritter
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Fun, some new legends and myths in here for me

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Leslie
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Xmas is progressing as desired

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Leslie
CrossTalk | Connie Willis
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Will need this for my classroom when I finish! Social media run amok

4 likes1 stack add
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Leslie
Broken Homes | Ben Aaronovitch
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I love when Nightingale shows up and blows everything up without breaking a sweat.

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Leslie
Foxglove Summer | Ben Aaronovitch
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Decided to finish up my good reads challenge with a favorite character, Peter Grant. This one has unicorns and Peter "fertilizes" a dead river. My favorite Insanity!

Leslie I always love the part when Nightingale turns up and has to blow everything up to save Peter. 8y
6 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Leslie
HEX | Thomas Olde Heuvelt
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Too much narration, but great story and bang up ending.

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Leslie
Skatefate | Juan Felipe Herrera
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Novel in form of journal and poetry-tragic and joyful. No surprise that Herrera is our Poet Laureate.

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Leslie
The Queen of Bedlam | Robert McCammon
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A great sequel to Speaks the Nightbird. Complicated mystery, lots of historical detail, and real development of Matthew Corbett. Some of story seemed far fetched, but that was no less entertaining!

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Leslie
The Queen of Bedlam | Robert McCammon
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Just started. Fangirling over Matthew Corbett all over again

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Leslie
Hag-Seed | Margaret Atwood
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This was great-light hearted, funny and sometimes wise. It is not serious Atwood but the funny-with-a-bite Atwood. If you know the Tempest, you will laugh out loud. If you don't know the Tempest, there is a nice synopsis in the back.

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Leslie
Gun Machine | Warren Ellis
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One of my favorite Ellis books. Ingenious, original, creepy. Read it.

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Leslie
Hag-Seed | Margaret Atwood
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Already laughing out loud--a must read for fans of The Tempest OR Margaret Atwood. More to come when I catch my breath.

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Leslie
Ghost Story | Peter Straub
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Maybe the scariest book I have ever read, and I have read a lot.

Suzze I read that forever ago. I'd forgotten all about it until I saw your post. May have to pick it up again. 8y
6 likes1 comment
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Leslie
Hark! A Vagrant | Kate Beaton
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Funnier every time read it. If you are a literature fan, Beaton's book is for you. Her Twitter is pretty great too

8 likes2 stack adds
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Leslie
The Trespasser | Tana French
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Love French's books, but this one is special. Antoinette Conway's voice is so affecting-I want to share this with all my teen students, so they can read a character who is strong BECAUSE she is female, likable because she is flawed, distrustful because she has reason to distrust, and so so smart.

Leslie Best ever Tana French. Antoinette Conway, only a secondary character in other Dublin murder squad books, is the protagonist here-flawed, smart, and likable for all her prickly exterior. My favorite. 8y
7 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Leslie
Dark Matter | Blake Crouch
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Why did I wait so long? Loving every word of this!

Leslie Great suspense throughout, but kind of a pat ending. Still a great read 8y
10 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Leslie
Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson
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Panoramic, prescient--as all Stephenson books are. This 1 tracks the end of life on Earth & the continuation of life in space. Fave characters-Dinah, Ivy, Doob are the core of 2/3 of the book, & though new characters take their place (Ty, Belid, Cath 3, Einstein, Sonar Tax Law), I still miss them. Great concept, comprehensive implementation, but somewhat more narration than I liked. This one just went too far for me, so only 4 stars.

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Leslie
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Just a short interlude of "when will the 3rd book about Kvothe be done?"

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Leslie
Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson
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Ok-not a spoiler: the earth blows up. Just reached a part where the POTUS launches herself to the international space station in cowardly act of self presentation. She has no skills that anyone needs! Astute observation on how useful(?) a politician actually is.

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Leslie
Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson

Ok-not a spoiler: the earth blows up. Just reached a part where the POTUS launches herself to the international space station in cowardly act of self presentation. She has no skills that anyone needs! Astute observation on how useful(?) a politician actually is.

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Leslie
Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson

Ok-not a spoiler: the earth blows up. Just reached a part where the POTUS launches herself to the international space station in cowardly act of self presentation. She has no skills that anyone needs! Astute observation on how useful(?) a politician actually is.

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Leslie
Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson
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Lost in another world, this time the apocalypse, that Stephenson creates for us. Who survives the hard rain brought on by the explosion of the moon?

3 likes1 stack add
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Leslie
Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson

Lost in another world, this time the apocalypse, that Stephenson creates for us. Who survives the hard rain brought on by the explosion of the moon?

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Leslie
The Treatment | Mo Hayder
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Wow. I love Mo Hayder's detective jack caffery, and feel somewhat protective of him. He gets himself in a huge mess with a case that reminds him so much of a terrible episode from his own childhood, that I was afraid he would lose himself. Always a good read--but be warned that all of Mo Hayder's crime books are not for the faint of heart.

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Leslie
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It came! I gotta fit this in before school starts next week.

Leslie So loving this female protagonist- she lives so many lives, takes actions when so many other women would shrivel up in indecision. 8y
Leslie Spectacular finish to vol 2... No boring set up for vol 3. All action all the way 8y
5 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Leslie
Moon Over Soho | Ben Aaronovitch
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So much fun! Peter Grant is a wizard in training and Constance with London's Metro police. His cases are way cooler than normal crimes, and his inability to stay focused means he makes mega mistakes but in a lovable way. His guvnor, officer Nightingale, is a 109 year old wizard cop who is aging backwards. This one was about jazz vampires sucking the music (and life) out of jazz musicians. I already want to read another one.

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Leslie
The Serpent King | Jeff Zentner
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A must read. Three Tennessee misfits struggle through their senior year of high school: Lydia, Dill and Travis. You will live each one for their grit, heart and flaws. The writing is top notch, and I don't want to spoil the book, but Dill's voice is poetry from beginning to end. Is there life after high school? The question is serious in this one.

BookishMarginalia I also loved this book. The relationship between the main characters was so well-drawn, and the setting was almost a character itself. 8y
8 likes1 comment
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Leslie
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Re-reading before I teach this. Will it stand the test of time?

Leslie I saw so much more this time. The imagery and the slow disintegration of Ralph were front and center for me this time 8y
BookishMarginalia Rereading as an adult --and also in order to teach-- does really change one's perspective. It took me until the third reread to see Jane Eyre's subversiveness, for example. 8y
Leslie You are right. It took me years to even understand why Jane touched me- I read it at exactly the right time, just figuring out what it meant to be a woman, not just female 8y
7 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Leslie
The Big Book of Science Fiction | Jeff VanderMeer, Ann VanderMeer
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Cannot wait.

4 likes1 stack add
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Leslie
Midnight Riot | Ben Aaronovitch
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So. Much. Fun. I am hooked on Peter Grant, inspector Nightingale and magical murder mysteries

5 likes1 stack add
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Leslie
The Keys to the Jail | Keetje Kuipers
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I love kuiper's poetry!!!

6 likes2 stack adds
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Leslie
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From the Rolling Stone interview w Susan Sontag, published 2013

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Leslie
The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah
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One of the recent topics in our house, after Orlando---our lives are so delicate, vulnerable.

3 likes1 stack add
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Leslie
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Every time I read one of the Inspector Gamache mysteries, I don't want to leave the world Louise Penny has created. The slow, careful path to the center of the criminal's heart is just as intoxicating as the path into Gamache's heart.

3 likes1 stack add
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Leslie
Fall from Grace: A Novel | Richard North Patterson
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Enigmatic protagonist, legal mystery and a scandal. What's not to like?

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Leslie
Saga, Vol. 1 | Brian K. Vaughan
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2/2 There are ghosts, giant spider assassins, robot sex and more planets than I can count. The dialogue is sharp and contemporary. Marko is sweet and strong, but Alana--she is the one you will remember.

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Leslie
Saga Volume 1 | Brian K Vaughan
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This was gorgeous in concept and execution. An adult story of the persecution of an alien couple who have defied tradition and married outside their"races," it is told by baby Hazel, and salutes family, unbreakable bonds, and the power of the individual to right wrongs. 1/2

5 likes2 stack adds
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Leslie
Bad Feminist | Roxane Gay
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Leslie
The Big Seven | Jim Harrison
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"Blood was the lubricant of history"... Tom has been reading me quotes from this all morning. I guess I better read it

1 like1 stack add
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Leslie
Rain Reign | Ann M. Martin
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Must read. An autistic 5th grader tells her own story of the year she found a dog, lived through a hurricane, made a new friend and endured family trouble with grace, an obsession with prime numbers and her uncle. I saw my students in this one. Choked up.

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Leslie
The Fireman | Joe Hill
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his best book yet-full of heart and magic. It is so terrifying to be a human , but this book gave me hope too

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Leslie
White Teeth | Zadie Smith

"You'd give the hair off your head to be just like everybody else.... " This is what Irie realizes an hour after she has added 2 ft of red black straight extensions to her once glorious Afro. All to impress Millat, who thinks of her as a sister. All the themes and feelings of this book in one line.

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Leslie

Fareed zakaria says I have to read

1 like1 stack add
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Leslie
The Argonauts | Maggie Nelson

I need to read this!

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Leslie
Boy, Snow, Bird: A Novel | Helen Oyeyemi

Just got butchered at book club about this book. I loved it! Oyeyemi's style is so addicting. I loved the hints of Snow White and the secrets everyone had. Highly recommend, despite my book club.

1 like1 stack add