Under Alien Skies by Philip Plait7/8/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Glimpse the frigid mountains and plains of Pluto and the cake-like exterior of a comet called 67P. Experience the sudden onset of lunar nightfall, the disorientation of walking―or, rather, shuffling―when you weigh almost nothing, the irritation of jagged regolith dust. Try launching yourself onto a two-hundred-meter asteroid, or stargazing from the rim of an ancient volcano on a planet where, from the place you stand, it is eternally late afternoon. ![]() In vivid, inventive scenes informed by rigorous science―injected with a dose of Plait's trademark humor― Under Alien Skies places you on the surface of alien worlds, from our own familiar Moon to the far reaches of our solar system and beyond. On this lively, immersive adventure through the cosmos, Plait draws ingeniously on both the latest scientific research and his prodigious imagination to transport you to ten of the most spectacular sights outer space has to offer. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel the universe? How would Saturn's rings look from a spaceship sailing just above them? If you were falling into a black hole, what's the last thing you'd see before getting spaghettified? While traveling in person to most of these amazing worlds may not be possible―yet―the would-be space traveler need not despair: you can still take the scenic route through the galaxy with renowned astronomer and science communicator Philip Plait. ![]()
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Adulting by liz talley7/8/2023 ![]() ![]() But she's embracing change and figuring out what she really wants. USA Today bestselling author Liz Talley’s emotional and heart-lifting novel about facing the past, unconditional love, and a woman on the verge of a breakthrough.After another all-night bender, one more failed stint at rehab, and a parole violation, self-destructive actress Chase London has to deal with her demons. Sure, Cricket's life isn't what she imagined. ![]() With Ruby and her ragtag relatives - a soused PI and a hunky tow truck driver - Cricket is sleuthing her way to the truth, no matter how dangerous it gets. It's wrinkled, stained, and falling apart at the seams. If anybody can help mend a few tears in Cricket's life, she can.īut turns out Cricket's life isn't just a little torn. After a dicey past, she's determined to forge a new future by working for Cricket and reinventing herself as a designer, deconstructing vintage haute couture. Ruby knows how quickly everything changes. Fiction romance new adult modern women billionaires workplace alpha protector friends-to-lovers. Her plan: hire an investigator find an attorney enlist the help of her new assistant, Ruby and make her husband pay. An exhilarating novel about fast friends and fashionable revenge by Liz Talley, the USA Today bestselling author of Adulting.Īntique-store owner Cricket Crosby's life is turned upside down when she discovers that the rumors of her husband's affair aren't just leisurely southern gossip. ![]() Stephen king jfk 11 22 637/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Kennedy, which he believes would dramatically alter the future for the better. Al’s mission was to go back into the past and prevent the 1963 assassination of John F. In the pantry of his diner, Al has discovered a portal through which one can travel to the year 1958. After a trip to the local diner with his newly-graduated GED student Harry Dunning, Jake is approached by the diner’s proprietor, Al Tempelton, who has a fantastical story and a monumental request. The novel centers on Jake Epping, a high school English teacher living in the year 2011. ![]() ![]() Instead of people who read horror stories, people who read ‘The Help’ or ‘People of the Book’ might like this book, if they can get the message.” In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, King said of the novel, “This might be a book where we really have a chance to get an audience who’s not my ordinary audience. This novel is profoundly different from his previous body of work in 11/22/63, the master of horror has tackled historical fiction. When I urge friends of mine to read Stephen King (as I often do), I am frequently met with the same response: “Oh, I can’t read those books, they’re too scary!” My answer is always, try 11/22/63. ![]() John Gone by Michael Kayatta7/8/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Perhaps because the characters are evolving into more than just their two lives, this book will leave the reader asking for the third book. I found myself absorbed by the story of Ronika, more than John, in this one. I was easily able to pick up where the first book stopped, yet the story has changed enough to grab the reader again. This book is great! It nicely follows the first book, without making the reader back up and re-read it first. It seems the watch has the ability to move from time dimensions as well as distance. While Ronika is trying to determine where she is and how to get to Moscow, John must find when he is. John and Ronika are traveling on a train to Moscow, when they become separated by the watch. ![]() While Ronika struggles to determine exactly where she’s appeared, John struggles to determine exactly when.įollowing on John Gone, this is book two of The Diaspora Trilogy. A great second book of the trilogy! It does leave you with more questions than answers.Īfter a surprise encounter on a train bound for Moscow, John and Ronika become enigmatically separated with only seven days to find each other. ![]() Pandemic sonia shah review7/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Because of its sensitivity to changes in habitat and environment, it also proved one of the first bellwethers of climate change. ![]() It flies very low to the ground and only lives for 10 days. The checkerspot, most abundant on the west coast of America, is not a powerful creature. The first concerns the habits and behaviour of the checkerspot butterfly. ![]() Shah begins her history with a series of observations that become parables from the natural world. “End freedom of movement!” “build the wall!” One billion! the NGO Christian Aid projected.” One result of those alarmist predictions had been the populist politics that has emerged with a single purpose in mind: how to make those people stay still. Two hundred million by 2050, the environmental security analyst Norman Myers announced. “There would likely be 50 million on the move by 2020, experts at the United Nations University projected. ![]() The “next great migration” has been predicted by many – and feared by some – ever since the end of the cold war. The national security expert Robert D Kaplan described it in a 1994 Atlantic magazine article as “the coming anarchy” – the binary superpowers had held borders mostly in check, now people would start to move. ![]() Oliver sacks book awakenings7/7/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() So many people who have curled up with one of his 13 books, listened to one of his several appearances on the podcast Radiolab or saw him speak in person at an event such as the TED talk he gave several years ago have experienced their own Sacks-spurred awakenings. The stunning story of how he used what was then an experimental drug called L-DOPA to lift his patients out of a catatonic stupor is certainly worthy of a legacy all on its own, but Sacks was by no means a one-trick pony. However, this is just one story, one example of the awakenings that Sacks brought about. ![]() Soon after cancer ended his 82 years of life early on Sunday morning, it was clearer than ever that he will be most remembered for his memoir Awakenings, which was adapted to become a hit film starring Robin Williams in 1990. Oliver Sacks was a skilled neurologist, but what made him so irreplaceable was his remarkable talent for storytelling. ![]() ![]() ![]() Looking for scorching hot sex scenes that I'm sure have made many people blush in the past? Well you won't find any of that in Last Kiss Goodnight either. Looking for her snark and dark sense of humor? You won't find it here. Showalter that were seriously lacking in Last Kiss Goodnight. ![]() There were things I've come to associate with Ms. I have worshiped at the Showalter alter for years and have become intensely engrossed in all of the worlds she has created. In all honesty, Last Kiss Goodnight is my least favorite of Gena Showalter's books and the fact that I've come across a book of hers that I didn't particularly like makes me feel a little sick to my stomach. ![]() There were things I really liked, things I found lacking, and things I seriously had a problem with. I am somewhat torn as to how to rate this book. ![]() The river paulsen novel7/7/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() i have to call "bullshit." Hatchet i can understand: small plane - pilot has heart attack - brian is stranded in the wilderness with nothing and must learn to live in the wild. fortunately, these only take about an hour to read, and they do feed my greedy survivalist bug, so there's somewhat of a purpose to it all. i am comfortable with suspending disbelief - i watched lost well past the comfort point because of some innate need to see something through to its end (thanks, dad!) that impulse applies here as well - i will read all the books in this damn series because, like kasia, i can't NOT read them. only maybe it's not brian's fault, maybe it's gary paulsen's fault for really trying to determine the limits of a reader's tolerance. ![]() Since you asked maurene goo7/7/2023 ![]() ![]() “A quick-paced, entertaining plot, witty banter, and expert characterization make this a light and satisfying read, and a wealth of local details effortlessly immerse the reader in the worlds of Hong Kong and K-pop stardom. With her trademark humor and voice, Maurene Goo delivers a sparkling story of taking a chance on love-and finding yourself along the way. He’s maybe curious.ġ2:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.ġ1 :00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. ![]() Sparks fly between a K-pop starlet and a tabloid reporter in Somewhere Only We Know, a heartwarming rom-com from Maurene Goo.ġ0 :00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. ![]() A Cosmopolitan Best Young Adult Book of 2019Ī BuzzFeed Pick for " YA Books You Absolutely Must Read This Spring" ![]() Wonder august book7/7/2023 ![]() ![]() Summer DawsonĪuggie's other close friend at school. Eventually the two patch up their relationship and Jack does become a true, honest friend to Auggie. Jack is averse to the idea at first, but eventually does become Auggie's friend he appears to ruin this friendship, though, by insulting Auggie when he thinks that Auggie is not around to hear. Tushman asks to reach out and be friends with Auggie. ![]() Nate PullmanĪuggie's father, who has a special relationship with Auggie and wants to protect him, but recognizes that it is important that Auggie grow up and mature. Isabel PullmanĪuggie's mother, who loves Auggie deeply and truly wants the best for him, so much so that she can be overprotective. She is starting at a brand new high school at the beginning of the novel, and faces struggles to fit in and be defined by an attribute other than having a deformed little brother. Via PullmanĪuggie's older sister, Via, sometimes feels like the less important child in her family, since everyone often puts Auggie's needs first. The novel tells the story of Auggie going to a real school for the first time and growing up substantially over the course of his first year there. ![]() All Auggie wants is to feel normal, but he has had to get used to being stared at and avoided by others throughout his entire life. Auggie is a ten-year-old boy who was born with a facial deformity. ![]() |