Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

by Marisha Pessl

"Dazzling," ( People ) "Exuberant," ( Vogue ) "marvelously entertaining," ( The Dallas Morning News ) Marisha Pessl’s mesmerizing debut has critics raving and heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of this "cracking good read"4 is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some... (more)

Nickel and Dimed

On (Not) Getting by in America

by Barbara Ehrenreich

The New York Times bestseller, and one of the most talked about books of the year, Ni ckel and Dimed has already become a classic of undercover reportage. Millions of Americans work for poverty-level wages, and one day Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let... (more)

The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

by Yann Martel

Here are four unforgettable stories by the author of Life of Pi. Written earlier in Martel's career, these tales display that startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made Yann Martel an international phenomenon. Inventive in form and timeless in content, each story is moving and thought-provoking. A Canadian university student visiting Washington, D.C., experiences the Vietnam War through an intense musical... (more)

Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World

Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World

by Joshua Harris

Lust isn't just a guy problem - it's a human problem. And unless we honestly confront it, lust will destroy our relationships and our lives. Joshua Harris, author of the runaway bestseller I Kissed Dating Goodbye, calls a generation bombarded with images of sexual sin back to the freedom and joy of holiness. This "PG-rated" book - straightforward without being graphic - speaks to those entrenched in lust or just... (more)

Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive

Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive

by John Eldredge

There is a glory to life that most people--including believers--never see. In this insightful new book, John Eldredge presents the heart as central to life. Not only is the heart essential; the heart God has ransomed is also good. Building on these foundational truths, Eldredge shows readers why real Christianity is a process of restoration, where the broken parts of our hearts are mended and the captive parts are... (more)

The Chronicles of Narnia: Book 4

Prince Caspian

The Return to Narnia

by C. S. Lewis

The four Pevensies help Caspian battle Miraz and ascend his rightful throne.

Communication: Key to Your Marriage: A Practical Guide to Creating a Happy, Fulfilling Relationship

Communication: Key to Your Marriage: A Practical Guide to Creating a Happy, Fulfilling Relationship

by H. Norman Wright

Many specialists in family relations say the number-one problem in marriages today is not sex, money or children, but lack of communication between husband and wife. H. Norman Wright tackles this dilemma in the Christian book on couples communication. Presenting insightful ways to reduce marital conflict, manage anger, build one another's self-esteem and just plain listen to one another, Wright provides couples... (more)

The Chronicles of Narnia: Book 3

The Horse and His Boy

by C. S. Lewis

A boy and a talking horse share an adventurous and dangerous journey to Narnia to warn of invading barbarians.

Stardust

by Charles Vess, Neil Gaiman

In the sleepy English countryside at the dawn of the Victorian Era, life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall--a secluded hamlet so named for an imposing stone barrier that surrounds a fertile grassland. Armed sentries guard the sole gap in the bulwark to keep the inquisitive from wandering through, relaxing their vigil only once every nine years, when a market fair unlike any other in the world of... (more)

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

by Henri J. M. Nouwen

This spiritual classic began as a simple request from one friend to another. Fred Bratman, a secular journalist and writer, asked friend and reowned author Heri Nouwen to write a book explaining the spiritual life in terms that he and his friends could understand, avoiding theology and technical language. "Speak to us about a vision larger than our changing perpectives and about a voice deeper than the clamorings... (more)

Michael Bennett: Book 1

Step on a Crack

by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge

Detective Michael Bennett is about to take on the most sinister challenge of his career. The nation has fallen into mourning after the unexpected death of a beloved former first lady, and the most powerful people in the world gather in New York for her funeral. Then the inconceivable occurs. Billionaires, politicians, and superstars of every kind are suddenly trapped within one man's brilliant and... (more)

The Man in the High Castle

by Philip K. Dick

It's America in 1962--where slavery is legal and the few surviving Jews hide anxiously under assumed names; all because twenty years earlier America lost a war and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

Shadows

by John Saul

They call it the Academy. A secluded, cliff-top mansion overlooking the rugged Pacific coast. A school for children gifted -- or cursed -- with extraordinary minds. Children soon to come under the influence of an intelligence even more brilliant than their own -- and unspeakably evil. For within this mind a dark plan is taking form. A plan so horrifying, no one will believe it. No one but the children. And for... (more)

Dogeaters

by Jessica Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn

"As sharp and fast as a street boy's razor" (The New York Times Book Review), Dogeaters is an intense fictional portrayal of Manila in the heyday of Marcos, the Philippines' late dictator. In the center of this maelstrom is Rio, a feisty schoolgirl who will grow up to live in America and look back with longing on the land of her youth.

The Thirteenth Tale

by Diane Setterfield

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny. All children mythologize their birth ...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist. The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish... (more)

The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others

The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others

by Scot McKnight

When an expert in the law asked Jesus for the greatest commandment, Jesus’ reply changed the course of history. With one phrase, Jesus amended the fundamental creed of Judaism and laid the foundation for his life and ministry: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;" and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Luke 10:27) Discover... (more)

The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War

The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War

by Howard Bahr

The Black Flower is the gripping story of a young Confederate rifleman from Mississippi named Bushrod Carter, who serves in General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee during the Civil War battle that takes place in Franklin, Tennessee, in November 1864. Written with reverent attention to historical accuracy, the book vividly documents the fear, suffering, and intense friendships that are all present on the eve of... (more)

Bobby Dodge: Book 1

Alone

by Lisa Gardner

Alone . . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man’s finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react . . . and forever pay the consequences. Alone . . . that’s where the nightmare began... (more)

Case Files of the Tracker: True Stories from America's Greatest Outdoors

Case Files of the Tracker: True Stories from America's Greatest Outdoors

by Tom Brown

From the remote Pine Barrens of New Jersey to the wilds of Wyoming, Tom Brown has earned the mantle of America's Greatest Tracker-someone who, with the help of an Apache elder, has developed his senses to such a degree that he can "read" the environment around him in ways that seem almost magical. Now, for the first time, he shares vivid accounts of his most fascinating cases as an outdoors detective,... (more)

Management in English Language Teaching

by Ron White, Mervyn Martin, Mike Stimson, Robert Hodge

In the course of their careers, foreign language teachers can expect at various times to be involved in areas such as the management of students and of colleagues, the organization of their institutions, the development of curricula, staff recruitment, and the financial aspects of running a school or program, including marketing and promotion. This book is the first to provide a comprehensive, practical... (more)

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Top Books

by Marisha Pessl

On (Not) Getting by in America

by Barbara Ehrenreich

by Yann Martel

by Joshua Harris

by John Eldredge

The Return to Narnia

by C. S. Lewis

by H. Norman Wright

by C. S. Lewis

by Charles Vess, Neil Gaiman

by Henri J. M. Nouwen

by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge

by Philip K. Dick

by John Saul

by Jessica Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn

by Diane Setterfield

by Scot McKnight

by Howard Bahr

by Lisa Gardner

by Tom Brown

by Ron White, Mervyn Martin, Mike Stimson, Robert Hodge