Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

by J. K. Rowling

test For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the... (more)

Slaughterhouse-Five

Or, the Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance with Death

by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simulta

The Great Bridge

The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

by David G. McCullough

First published in 1972, The Great Bridge is the classic account of one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. Winning acclaim for its comprehensive look at the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, this book helped cement David McCullough's reputation as America's preeminent social historian. Now, The Great Bridge is reissued as a Simon & Schuster Classic Edition with a new introduction by the author. ... (more)

The Stranger

by Albert Camus

Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." First published in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew Ward.

The Alienist

by Caleb Carr

The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or "alienist." On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan's infamous brothels. The newly... (more)

Lonesome Traveler

by Jack Kerouac

In his first frankly autobiographical work, Jack Kerouac tells the exhilarating story fo the years when he was writing th books that captivated and infuriated the public, restless years of wandering during which he worked as a railway brakeman in California, a steward on a tramp steamer, and a fire lookout on the crest of Desolation Peak in the Cascde Mountains.

The Algebraist

by Iain Banks

It is 4034 AD. Humanity has made it to the stars. Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers, will be fortunate if he makes it to the end of the year. The Nasqueron Dwellers inhabit a gas giant on the outskirts of the galaxy, in a system awaiting its wormhole connection to the rest of civilization. In the meantime, they are dismissed as decadents living in a state of highly developed... (more)

Original Shannara Trilogy: Book 3

The Wishsong of Shannara

by Terry Brooks

Horror stalked the Four Lands as the Ildatch, ancient source of Evil, stirred to new life, sending its ghastly Mord Wraiths to destroy Mankind.To win through the vile growth that protected the Ildatch, the Druid Allanon needed Brin Ohmsford--for she alone could make plants bloom instantly or turn trees from green to autumn gold. Reluctantly Brin joined the Druid on his perilous journey. Then Brin's... (more)

Hearts In Atlantis

by Stephen King

'Although it is difficult to believe, the 60s are not fictional; they actually happened' (from the Author's Note). "Hearts in Atlantis" comprises of five brilliant, interconnected, sequential narratives, each deeply rooted in the 60s and haunted by the Vietnam War: In "Low Men in Yellow Coats", 11-year-old Bobby discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror. In the title story, a... (more)

The Healthy Kitchen: Recipes for a Better Body, Life, and Spirit

The Healthy Kitchen: Recipes for a Better Body, Life, and Spirit

by Andrew Weil

Two of America’s most popular authorities on healthy eating and cooking join forces in this inspiring, easy-to-use cookbook. This is not a diet book. It is a lively guide to healthy cooking, day-by-day, packed with essential information and, above all, filled with enticing food. Andrew Weil, M.D.—author of the best-selling Eating Well for Optimum Health —brings to this perfect collaboration a comprehensive... (more)

The Game-Players of Titan

by Philip K. Dick

In the aftermath of a devastating global war, the few remaining humans divert themselves with an obsessive game called Bluff--a game played for new spouses and entire cities. But what if Bluff attracts another kind of player, who might not even be human?

Shutter Island

by Dennis Lehane

The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this remote and barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on... (more)

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions (Oxford World's Classics)

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions (Oxford World's Classics)

by James George Frazer

A world classic. The Golden Bough describes our ancestors' primitive methods of worship, sex practices, strange rituals and festivals. Disproving the popular thought that primitive life was simple, this monumental survey shows that savage man was enmeshed in a tangle of magic, taboos, and superstitions. Revealed here is the evolution of man from savagery to civilization, from the modification of his weird and... (more)

Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook

by Martha Stewart

No one epitomizes the pursuit of healthy pleasures more than Martha Stewart. And nowhere is this clearer than at home in her kitchen. Now, the millions of fans who seek her guidance can prepare the food that gives Martha her remarkable energy and vitality. Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook presents an all-new collection of 52 quick, easy menus--with more than 175 sensibly lightened recipes--for the kind of... (more)

Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

by Moosewood Collective

Not since their phenomenally successful Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites has Ithaca, New York’s, famed Moosewood Collective assembled such a comprehensive and appealing group of recipes -- all brand-new. Crowd-pleasing fare like Moosewood Muffins, savory risottos, satisfying main-dish salads, and two dozen one-dish meals are just some of the standout recipes in this indispensable collection of easy-to-make... (more)

The Elenium

by David Eddings

Now for the first time in one thrilling volume–the three magical novels that make up David Eddings’s epic fantasy The Elenium. In an ancient kingdom, the legacy of one royal family hangs in the balance, and the fate of a queen–and her empire–lies on the shoulders of one knight. Sparhawk, Knight and Queen’s Champion, has returned to Elenia after ten years of exile, only to find young Queen Ehlana trapped in a... (more)

Pure Chocolate: Divine Desserts and Sweets from the Creator of Fran's Chocolates

Pure Chocolate: Divine Desserts and Sweets from the Creator of Fran's Chocolates

by Fran Bigelow, Helene Siegel

The most stylish, approachable, and mouth-watering chocolate cookbook ever, from award-winning chocolatier Fran Bigelow In 1982, Fran Bigelow proudly opened the doors to Fran’s Chocolates, a boutique storefront styled after European chocolate salons, where she could showcase the pure flavors of the exquisite confections she had spent years perfecting. Chocolate lovers in Seattle immediately beat a path to... (more)

Salsa

by Reed Hearon

Salsa is hot. Salsa goes with anything and is never boring. Salsa is fresh, healthy, intense, easy to make. Sales of salsa have now surpassed those of ketchup and show no signs of slowing. Written by acclaimed chef Reed Hearon, formerly of Santa Fe's Coyote Cafe, and designed by the internationally renowned Carbone Smolan Associates, this selection of 40 authentic, festively photographed salsa recipes offers a... (more)

Helliconia

by Brian W. Aldiss

The Lobster Roll: {and other pleasures of summer by the beach}

The Lobster Roll: {and other pleasures of summer by the beach}

by Jodi Della Femina

Just east of the village of Amagansett, toward Montauk, the towns fall away, the trees disappear, the sky opens up, and the lush farmland gives way to sand and reeds and scrub in an area called Napeague. On the ocean side of this lonely stretch of Route 27, nestled in front of dunes, a sign announces “Lunch” at a shingle-style diner. As New York magazine explained, “Anyone who’s ever been to a Hampton has seen the... (more)

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