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2008 Reading List

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, )

Lewis Carroll

Published: 1865 | Pages:132

Description:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

J.K. Rowling

Published: 2005 | Pages:652

My Rating: 5/5

Description:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, )

L. Frank Baum

Published: 1900 | Pages:154

My Rating: 3/5

Description: Come along, Toto, she said. We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again. Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home. With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children’s classic, The Wizard of Oz continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.

2010: Odyssey Two

2010: Odyssey Two

Arthur C. Clarke

Published: 1982 | Pages:320

Description: 2001: A Space Odyssey first shocked, amazed, and delighted millions in the late 1960s, the novel was quickly recognized as a classic. Since then, its fame has grown steadily among the multitudes who have read the novel or seen the film based on it. Yet, along with almost universal acclaim, a host of questions has grown more insistent through the years:Who or what transformed Dave Bowman into the Star-Child? What purpose lay behind the transformation? What would become of the Star-Child?What alien purpose lay behind the monoliths on the Moon and out in space?What could drive HAL, a stable, intelligent computer, to kill the crew? Was HAL really insane? What happened to HAL and the spaceship Discovery after Dave Bowman disappeared?Would there be a sequel?Now all those questions and many more have been answered. In this stunning sequel to his international bestseller, Clarke has written what will truly be one of the great books of the ’80s. Cosmic in sweep, eloquent in its depiction of Man’s place in the Universe, and filled with the romance of space, this novel is a monumental achievement.

100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (And Al Franken Is #37)

100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (And Al Franken Is #37)

Bernard Goldberg

Published: 2005 | Pages:320

Description:

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke

Published: 1968 | Pages:297

Description: So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong…One of the greatest-selling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end.

The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)

The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, )

Philip Pullman

Published: 2000 | Pages:465

Description: But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him. The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead…

The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2)

The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, )

Philip Pullman

Published: 1997 | Pages:326

Description: Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, and their destinies are bound together… until they are split apart.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

John Perkins

Published: 2004 | Pages:303

My Rating: 4/5

Description: Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn’t afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn’t do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its “empire” at the expense of Third World citizens.

Ghost Town at Sundown (Magic Tree House #10)

Ghost Town at Sundown (Magic Tree House #10)

Mary Pope Osborne

Published: 1997 | Pages:47

Description: Morgan le Fay has promised to make Jack and Annie masters of the tree house if they can solve four riddles. In Ghost Town at Sundown, the Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to a ghost town in the Wild West of the 1880s. There, they meet a mustang herder named Slim as they search for the answer to the second riddle. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe

Published: 1719 | Pages:320

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How to Succeed in Evil

How to Succeed in Evil

Patrick E. McLean

Published: 2006 | Pages:292

Description: How to Succeed in Evil is the story of Edwin Windsor, Evil Efficiency Consultant. He tries to help super-villains be more villainous–or at least more profitable and sensible about the business side of Evil. Along with his very proper and English secretary Agnes and his hench-lawyer Topper, he struggles to make the world of super-powered people make sense, but this is very difficult because while Edwin’s advice is excellent, all of his clients are too egomaniacal to listen. There is, it must be said, a bit of comedy in this work. Edwin struggles with a cast of characters, including Dr. Loeb, a trust fund child who desperately wants to be an Evil Genius but has none of the talent; Dr. Loeb’s hideous mother, Iphagenia whose evil scheme is to foment a second Southern Rebellion, beginning with Lower Alabama; and the Cromogoldon, a brute with a forehead villainous low and quite possibly the strongest creature on the planet. Inevitably, Edwin’s unique clientele lead him into direct conflict with the greatest superhero of them all, Excelsior, and so, the quiet, restrained intellectual is pitted against heroic force.

The Art of War

The Art of War

Sun Tzu

Published: -400 | Pages:273

Description:

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

Cindy Neuschwander

Published: 1999 | Pages:32

Description: This time the math adventure is centered around a potion that changes Sir Cumference into a fire-breathing dragon. Can Radius change him back? Join Radius on his quest through the castle to solve a riddle that will reveal the cure. It lies in discovering the magic number that is the same for all circles.Perfect for parent and teachers who are looking to make math fun and accessible for everyone.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

J.K. Rowling

Published: 2007 | Pages:759

My Rating: 5/5

Description: In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm

George Orwell

Published: 1945 | Pages:122

My Rating: 4/5

Description: When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, )

Philip Pullman

Published: 1995 | Pages:399

My Rating: 4/5

Description: Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want–but what Lyra doesn’t know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0)

The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0)

J.R.R. Tolkien

Published: 1937 | Pages:366

My Rating: 4/5

Description: Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).