false 330 301 301 true 5631531 read 0 true 2937910 currently-reading 0 true 2937909 to-read 52 false 2987141 brandon-s-picks 23 false 3755137 ariel-s-picks 21 false 2987242 shannon-s-picks 19 false 2987228 stephen-s-picks 14 false 2987213 jessie-s-picks 10 false 4367740 kat-s-picks 9 false 4489905 other 9 false 4367777 laura-s-picks 9 false 3512856 molly-s-picks 7 false 2987221 suzy-s-picks 6 false 4367484 kate-s-picks 5 false 3137992 becky-s-picks 5 false 2987268 jon-s-picks 5 false 3138001 megan-w-s-picks 4 false 4367682 torie-s-picks 3 false 3138158 jackie-s-picks 2 false 4387869 robin-s-picks 2 false 3137998 m-squared-s-picks 1 false 3372801 melissa-s-picks 1 false 2987259 heather-s-picks 0 false 4367477 lori-s-picks http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79328178 to: How to Hold a Woman (Paperback) by Billy Lombardo
bookshelves: brandon-s-picks
Long a staple of Chicago's slam poetry scene, Lombardo cemented himself as one of Chicago's best emerging writers with this first novel-in-stories in the summer of '09.

Ever since then I loved this book so much!

You live it once, forward, but parts come back to you randomly. It's like a relationship like that. Each story jumps in time, years sometimes. Things change and have changed - every moment feels like an afterwards, a present, and a precursor.

A family struggles, all sides adeptly told, things mess things up, the love remains. And maybe we can't go back to the places we miss, but maybe we can find and make new places with the people we love.

Keep an eye on Billy Lombardo.

-Brandon ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79300960 to: Her Fearful Symmetry (Hardcover) by Audrey Niffenegger
bookshelves: shannon-s-picks
This is a beautiful and enchanting book. It tells the story of Elspeth (a ghost), her twin neices and her ex-lover - all haunted by Elspeth's living memories. Set in and around the Highgate Cemetery in London, the characters all deal with issues of loss and rebirth as they walk through their new lives fascinated and terrified of what lies lurking in the shadows unseen. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75540237 to: Art: The Twentieth Century (Paperback) by Flaminio Gualdoni
bookshelves: ariel-s-picks


Ever wonder what the difference between modern and contemporary art

is? This book is a wonderful array of artists neatly categorized into

coherent niches representing the countless, confusing, and complex art

movements of the 20th century.

--Ariel-- BookCellar bookseller ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75402476 to: In a Dark Dark House: A Play (Paperback) by Neil LaBute
bookshelves: stephen-s-picks
Yeah, this guy is twisted. When reading or watching a LaBute work, all you know for sure is that something horrible will revealed or will happen. In my opinion, he's one of the bet writers in the last 25 years and there is not a scipt I can't recomment! Just have some whiskey ready. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75400445 to: The End of the Alphabet (Hardcover) by C.S. Richardson
bookshelves: ariel-s-picks
What if you found out you only had one month to live? How would you spend the remander of your days? And most importly...how would you say goodbye to your beloved? Content with his simple life, Ambrose Zephyr discovers the severity of his illness and embarks on an adventure with his loving wife Zipper to visit all the places Ambrose wished to see in his life from A to Z. This short book is a muxtures of emotions. Endearing, heart wrenching, and loving. Have a tissue ready. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75400197 to: Drunkard: A Hard-Drinking Life (Paperback) by Neil Steinberg
bookshelves: kat-s-picks, kate-s-picks
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75399933 to: Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object (Hardcover) by Kathleen Rooney
bookshelves: kate-s-picks
Ever wonder what your live nude model was thinking while you were staring at her body, sketching away? Rooney tells about art classes from the model's point of view, and you just might be surprised by the thoughts that ran through her mind. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54034014 to: This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life (Hardcover) by David Foster Wallace
bookshelves: laura-s-picks
I can't help but wonder what DFW would think of this tidy gift book version of his 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech--complete with lots o' gift bookish negative space.

But I've decided not to worry about it.

Because this is one of the most thoughtful, worldview-altering essays I've read re: the mundane aspects of adult life, the futility of obsessing over beauty, power, intellect (our "default settings"), and the freedom that comes from caring, which is, in the end, the only way of transcending our "tiny skull-sized kingdoms."

It's the job of a lifetime.... ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75398994 to: The Consolations of Philosophy (Paperback) by Alain de Botton
bookshelves: ariel-s-picks
Utilizing various philosophers wisodm to aid your worries from topics such as not having enough money to frustration to a broken heart. Informative, wonderfully entertaining, and a great introduction to anyone who is interested in philosophy. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75397801 to: A Golden Age (Hardcover) by Tahmima Anam
bookshelves: jackie-s-picks
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