My Library of Alexandria
Items in this hypelist
Books
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
R. F. Kuang • 2022
Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War “Absolutely phenomenal. One of the most brilliant, razor-sharp books I've had the pleasure of reading that isn't just an alternative fantastical history, but an interrogative one; one that grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out.” -- Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide… Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

Everything I Know about Love A Memoir
Dolly Alderton • 2021

Babel
R. F. Kuang • 2022
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho • 2014
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry • 2000
<p>This beloved, world-famous allegorical classic about a young prince on a quest for knowledge is an essential read for every home library.</p> <p>Combining Richard Howard's translation with restored original full-color art, this definitive English-language edition of The Little Prince will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.</p> <p>Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. When a pilot crashes in the Sahara Desert, he meets a little boy who asks him to draw a sheep. Gradually the Little Prince reveals more about himself: He comes from a small asteroid, where he lived alone until a rose grew there.</p> <p>But the rose grew demanding, and he was confused by his feelings about her. The story unfolds further from one planet to the next in a thoughtful philosophical exploration of love and the ephemeral.</p>
Intermezzo
Sally Rooney
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides • 2021
<p><b>**THE INSTANT #1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER**</b><br><br>"An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy."<br><b>—<i>Entertainment Weekly</i></b><br><br><b><i>The Silent Patient</i> is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.</b><br><br>Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.<br><br>Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.<br><br>Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....</p>
The Secret History
Donna Tartt • 1992
<b><b><b><b>ONE OF <i>TIME MAGAZINE</i>'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • </b>INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "a<b>n accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (<i>Village Voice</i>)</b>, f<b>rom the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of <i>The Goldfinch.<br><br></i></b></b></b>One of <i>The Atlantic</i>’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years</b><br><br>Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.<br><br><b>“A remarkably powerful novel [and] a ferociously well-paced entertainment . . . Forceful, cerebral, and impeccably controlled.” —<i>The New York Times</i></b>
If We Were Villains: A Novel
M. L. Rio • 2018
<p><b>“Much like Donna Tartt’s <i>The Secret History</i>, M. L. Rio’s sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession...will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments.”<br>—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>The Nest<br></i></b><br><b>"Nerdily (and winningly) in love with Shakespeare...Readable, smart.”</b><br><b>—<i>New York Times Book Review</i></b><br><br>On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. Detective Colborne wants to know the truth, and after ten years, Oliver is finally ready to tell it.<br><br>A decade ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extras. <br><br>But in their fourth and final year, good-natured rivalries turn ugly, and on opening night real violence invades the students’ world of make-believe. In the morning, the fourth-years find themselves facing their very own tragedy, and their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, each other, and themselves that they are innocent. <br><br><i>If We Were Villains</i> was named one of Bustle's Best Thriller Novels of the Year, and <i>Mystery Scene</i> says, "A well-written and gripping ode to the stage...A fascinating, unorthodox take on rivalry, friendship, and truth."</p>
The Myth of Sisyphus (Vintage International)
Albert Camus • 2018
Charlotte
David Foekinos
Una experiencia de lectura única.<br/>Charlotte ha sido galardonada con el Premio Renaudot y del Goncourt des Lycéens y es favorita de los libreros y los lectores y número uno en las listas de más vendidos en Francia.<br/>«Gracias por esta joya. La he leído en una noche. Si vemos la literatura como una forma de culto, hay libroscomo ermitas, otros como iglesias. Este sería una extraordinaria catedral.»<br/>Conchi Beltrán, Librería Goya (Bilbao)<br/>Charlotte Salomon, pintora alemana de origen judío, abandona Berlín tras una relación amorosa que dejará en ella una huella definitiva. Huyendo de los nazis, se refugia en el sur de Francia junto a sus abuelos, quienes custodian un secreto que Charlotte no debe conocer. Allí compone su fascinante autobiografía, una obra única que, ya acechada por el peligro, decide poner a buen recaudo en una maleta que entrega a su médico, a quien confiesa: «Es toda mi vida».<br/>El autor que cautivó a más de un millón de lectores con La delicadeza asombra y conmueve con una novela que, como la obra de Charlotte Salomon, inventa una nueva forma de arte.<br/>Críticas:<br/>«Conocer a Charlotte a través de la escritura brillante del premio Goncourt de los Estudiantes es un regalo.»<br/>Mila Méndez, La Voz de Galicia<br/>«El autor francés regresa a las librerías con un superventas con el que rinde homenaje de la forma más dulce a Charlotte Salomon, una pintora judía, fallecida en Auschwitz, que ya es para muchos, la nueva Ana Frank de la literatura europea.»<br/>Glamour<br/>«Una joya literaria en la que las cicatrices se transforman en huellas. Más que recomendable.»<br/>Gema Veiga, Elle<br/>«El libro más especial de toda la producción creativa de este autor francés. Lo que el lector va a encontrarse es un Foenkinos más delicado todavía que en La delicadeza. [...] Más allá del excelente retrato que traza de esa mujer diferente; más allá de su tarea de documentación e investigación, ha sabido enamorarse de ella.»<br/>Iñaki Ezkerra, El Correo Español<br/>«El autor francés realiza un enorme despliegue de delicadeza y lirismo, dibujando a su protagonista con el mimo y el milimétrico cuidado de un artesano de la porcelana. Charlotte se eleva frágil, aunque firme: lo que el lector recibe es una caricia honda, suave y dolorosa. [...] Uno se enamora de las letras de Foenkinos como lo hace de su primer amor: con sencillez, como un río que fluye con suavidad, encontrando su lugar entre los surcos de las rocas...»<br/>Zenda<br/>«Esta novela me partió en dos y me marcó muchísimo.»<br/>Mónica Baños, Libros y Literatura<br/>«Una novela que parece un poema, un canto, un himno. Pero es una novela. ¡Y qué novela!»<br/>Patryck Froissart, lacauselitteraire.fr<br/>«Charlotte recrea la vida de la mujer encerrada, la amante, la artista atormentada. El autor de La delicadeza ofrece un recital sutil y sorprendente.»<br/>Hubert Artus, Lire<br/>«David, estásen el avión conmigo. Tu libro es magnífico.»<br/>Tuit de Joël Dicker (autor de La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert)<br/>«Se lee de un tirón siguiendo el impulso que genera el estilo tan particular que Foenkinos ha elegido. Cautiva y conmueve.»<br/>Annabelle Laurent, Le Point<br/>«La historia de Charlotte Salomon es tan dura que Foenkinos ha elegido escribirla con oraciones cortas y poderosas. Al final de cada una de ellas debemos coger aire. Leemos esta historia con ese mismo espíritu, con esa misma emoción.»<br/>Les Échos<br/>«Otra pieza de altura.»<br/>J. Ernesto Ayala-Dip, Qué Leer
Madame Bovary: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Gustave Flaubert • 2011
The award-winning, nationally bestselling translation, by Lydia Davis, of one of the world’s most celebrated novels<br/><br/>“The best English version by far, because its deadpan reminds us that the book is both a great realist novel and a satire of realism.” —Merve Emre, The New Yorker<br/><br/>Emma Bovary is the original desperate housewife. Beautiful but bored, she spends lavishly on clothes and on her home and embarks on two disappointing affairs in an effort to make her life everything she believes it should be. Soon heartbroken and crippled by debts, she takes drastic action, with tragic consequences for her husband and daughter. In this landmark new translation of Gustave Flaubert's masterwork, award-winning writer and translator Lydia Davis honors the nuances and particulars of Flaubert's legendary prose style, giving new life in English to the book that redefined the novel as an art form.<br/><br/>For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The Stranger
Albert Camus • 1989
The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos)
Samantha Shannon • 2020
<p><b>The <i>New York Times </i>bestselling "</b><b>epic feminist fantasy perfect for fans of <i>Game of Thrones</i></b><b>" (Bustle).</b><br><br><b>NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY:</b><br><b>AMAZON (Top 100 Editors Picks and Science Fiction and Fantasy) * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY * BOOKPAGE * AUTOSTRADDLE<br><br>A world divided.<br>A queendom without an heir.<br>An ancient enemy awakens.</b><br><br>The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door. <br><br>Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.<br><br>Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.<br><br>Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.</p>
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, Book 1)
Maggie Stiefvater • 2012
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara • 2016
<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (<i>NPR</i>) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century.<br></b><br><b><b><b><b><b><b><b>NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST <b><b><b>•</b></b></b></b> MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST <b>• <b><b><b><b><b> WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE</b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><br><br><i>A Little Life</i> follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.








