Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The House on the Strand [author] author Maurier, Daphne du [isbn] isbn 0316252999 [isbn13] isbn13 9780316252997 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 352 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.87 [num ratings] num ratings 5,415 [date pub] date pub Mar 01, 1968 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Dec 17, 2013 [rating] Madeline's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review Daphne du Maurier and time travel? Sure, let's give it a shot. That was my entire thought process when I decided to buy this from a secondhand bookstor Daphne du Maurier and time travel? Sure, let's give it a shot. That was my entire thought process when I decided to buy this from a secondhand bookstore last summer. Rebecca is terrifying and brilliant, and I figured that if du Maurier applied even a portion of her talent to this story, it wouldn't be half bad. And it wasn't. I still prefer Rebecca, but who doesn't. Our protagonist is Dick Young, and he's agreed to be part of an experiment done by his college friend, Professor Magnus Lane. Dick will live in Magnus's house in Cornwall and take the prescribed doses of a substance the professor has created, which will enable him to time travel. What is this substance, and how precisely does it work? Shhhhhhh... Not only does the substance transport Dick into the past, it transports him to a very specific past: when he takes the dose, he witnesses events that happened in the exact location he happens to be - except in the 14th century. We, and Dick, learn that the land around Magnus's house used to be owned by the Carminowe family, a group of nobles who, in addition to their own inter-family drama, were also involved in some skullduggery involving the throne of England. Dick's unknowing guide is Roger, a steward working for the family. For reasons that are, unfortunately, never explained, Dick always ends up near Roger when he travels back in time, and doesn't seem capable of wandering too far away from him when he's in the past. By following Roger, Dick meets the extended Carminowe clan, which includes a very bad man named Oilver Carminowe and his very pretty wife Isolda (the family is all siblings and in-laws and even with the family tree provided at the beginning of the book, I could never quite keep the characters straight in my head). You can probably guess where this is going - Dick becomes more interested in his trips to the past than his life in the present, and this has a disastrous effect on his own family. The drug has its downsides, obviously - first, when Dick is in the 14th century, touching anyone or anything will instantly send him back to the present (which, at least, means that we don't have to worry about Dick accidentally going Terminator on his own future). Also the aftereffects of the drug include nausea, temporary paralysis, and severe disorientation. While under the influence of the drug, Dick continues to walk around in a kind of stupor, and wakes up having no idea where he is. And on top of all that, the drug is extremely addictive. So it's a bad time all around. As you can see from my rating, overall I was "meh" on this one, but I'll admit that there were plenty of parts that had me engrossed. Like Dick, who gets only little bits of information at a time while he ping-pongs around in time, I was interested in learning just what Isolda's husband was up to, and what the consequences would be for her. Daphne du Maurier does dramatic tension and shady secrets like nobody's business, so Dick's obsession with the exploits of people who died centuries ago was understandable to me, because she made it fascinating. But still - three stars only. First, Dick is (wait for it...) a dick (RIMSHOT). He's clearly supposed to be unlikeable - the way he treats his wife and stepsons with either indifference or contempt was particularly charming - but that didn't make it easy to root for him. The trips to the past, while fun and interesting, are serious info-dumps and require the historical characters to keep doing that thing where they'll be talking to someone and say, "Well, as you know..." and then proceed to explain in detail exactly what this other person supposedly knows already. Ugh. But altogether, this ended up being a lot more engrossing and creepy than I expected - the fact that Dick can't touch anything while watching the Carminowe's makes him begin to believe that he's becoming some kind of ghost, and that the people in the 14th century are the ones who are really alive, while Dick and his family are only a kind of memory. At its best, The House on the Strand is a dark, Gothic story of a man slowly losing his grip on reality. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 3 [votes] votes 23 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Dec 2014 [date added] date added Jan 09, 2015 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format ebook

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle [author] author Murakami, Haruki [isbn] isbn 0965341984 [isbn13] isbn13 9780965341981 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 607 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.18 [num ratings] num ratings 120,147 [date pub] date pub 1994 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition 1997 [rating] Madeline's rating 2 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The storytelling is great, and even if I had issues with some of the characters (okay, all of the I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The storytelling is great, and even if I had issues with some of the characters (okay, all of the female characters), they all managed to be consistently compelling. But I just couldn't get into this one. The story, while interesting, sort of meandered around and by the end, it seems to have forgotten where it was trying to go in the first place. Murakami starts plot points, presents us with new mysteries and characters, and then he gets distracted by something and forgets to resolve the stuff he told us would be important. I tried to start this review by summarizing the plot, but then I realized I couldn't. So that's probably not a good sign. And of course, it turns out that Murakami is not a male novelist, he is a Male Novelist. First there was the little spurts of misogyny that kept popping up, and then there was May Kashahara, who is sort of a like a Lolita/Manic Pixie Dreamgirl monster. She is inexplicably attracted to our hero, because obviously, and she says supremely irritating Manic Pixie Dreamgirl things like "People like me don't get along well with dictionaries" which, aside from being one of the most annoying sentences I've ever read, also makes no fucking sense. She makes Natalie Portman in Garden State look realistic and grounded. I'm glad I finally read this, because I've been meaning to read Murakami for years. But it's going to be a long time before I can be persuaded to pick up another one of his books again. Be sure to buy my album, Murakami Can't Write Women For Shit, on your way out. We have t-shirts too. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 5 [votes] votes 40 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Dec 31, 2014 [date read] date read Jan 2015 [date added] date added Dec 31, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Grapes of Wrath [author] author Steinbeck, John [isbn] isbn 067001690X [isbn13] isbn13 9780670016907 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 496 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.89 [num ratings] num ratings 419,057 [date pub] date pub 1939 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Apr 10, 2014 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review Chirst. This was a tough one to read. I don't just mean it was depressing. It was, obviously - a book about a poor family being forced from their home Chirst. This was a tough one to read. I don't just mean it was depressing. It was, obviously - a book about a poor family being forced from their home during the Great Depression and having to beg for the chance to pick cotton at fifteen cents per hour can't be anything except depressing - but it wasn't the most depressing book I've ever read. That honor probably goes to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, although I guess Angela's Ashes is a close second. This was hard to read, not because it was a portrayal of a horrible period of history that actually happened. That contributed to the tragedy of the book, of course, coupled with the knowledge that there were not just a few Joad families during the Great Depression, but millions of them, so your percentage of possible happy endings is going to be pretty low. It wasn't even sad because Steinbeck was using the backdrop of the Great Depression to illustrate the greater problems in America - the disparity between rich and poor, the way low-level laborers have to fight tooth and nail to achieve the most basic human rights, the fact that the people who run the major banks and farms are horrible unfeeling shells of human beings, etc. The Grapes of Wrath is sad for all of these reasons, but here is what makes it sadder than anything: not the fact that Steinbeck is writing about a horrible period in history that's behind us now. It's because that horrible period went away, and then it came back. We aren't in the middle of a second Dust Bowl, but make no mistake: we are living in the second Great Depression. If you haven't read yet and have always been meaning to, there's no better time than now. Steinbeck's book was written in the late 1930's, but just about everything that happens here is happening right in your state - possibly in your neighborhood - as you read this. You read about the banks in the Great Depression sending men to bulldoze people's houses while the family stood outside, and find yourself thinking, "Well, at least now they just pile all your stuff on the curb after you get foreclosed on." You read about migrant families accepting offers to work all day at pitiful wages, because fifteen cents an hour is still better than zero cents an hour and the kids have to eat, and you think about the immigrants who pick your food in exchange for shitty wages. You read about the Joad family and the others being called "Okies" and forced out of their camps by the cops, and think about politicians who scream about "illegals" taking away the good American jobs and deporting kids' parents. Is this review getting too politcally-minded? Good. That's how Steinbeck would have wanted me to talk about his book, because let me assure you - The Grapes of Wrath is extremely fucking political. Another reviewer called it the anti-Atlas Shrugged, which is pretty damn apt. It's all about unions and the rights of the worker and how poor people need government assistance because sometimes life just sucks for no fucking reason. It's sad and it's searing, and beautifully written, and unrelentingly depressing. But it should be read. (the only reason this gets four stars instead of five is because of the ending. Look, I know that Steinbeck didn't have to give the Joads a happy ending, and I'm not saying he gave them a sad one either - he gave them a weird one instead. I was already pretty sick of hearing about Rose of Sharon and her magical pregnancy, so it was just the cherry on top of a shit subplot sundae that the ending (view spoiler)[had her breastfeeding an old man after her baby died. First: allow me to turn into a middle-schooler for a second and say ewwwwwwwwwww. Second: I kind of get what Steinbeck was trying to say with his ending, because it kind of tied into his idea that the only ones who help poor people are other poor people, and Rose of Sharon was literally feeding a dying man with her own body and oh my god personal sacrifice...but on the other hand, she was breastfeeding an adult man. And it was weird and gross and then the book was over. Nope. (hide spoiler)] ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 10 [votes] votes 61 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Dec 2014 [date added] date added Dec 27, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Hardcover

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Golden Notebook [author] author Lessing, Doris [isbn] isbn 006093140X [isbn13] isbn13 9780060931407 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 640 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.75 [num ratings] num ratings 11,931 [date pub] date pub 1962 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Feb 03, 1999 [rating] Madeline's rating 2 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review "'In what way are you different? Are you saying there haven’t been artist-women before? There haven’t been women who were independent? There haven’t b "'In what way are you different? Are you saying there haven’t been artist-women before? There haven’t been women who were independent? There haven’t been women who insisted on sexual freedom! I tell you, there are a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and become conscious of them.' 'They didn’t look at themselves as I do. They didn’t feel as I do. How could they? I don’t want to be told when I wake up, terrified by a dream of total annihilation, because of the H-bomb exploding, that people felt that way about the cross-bow. It isn’t true. There is something new in the world. And I don’t want to hear, when I’ve had encounter with some Mogul in the film industry, who wields the kind of power over men’s minds that no emperor ever did, and I come back feeling trampled on all over, that Lesbia felt like that after an encounter with her wine-merchant. And I don’t want to be told when I suddenly have a vision (though God knows it’s hard enough to come by) of a life that isn’t full of hatred and fear and envy and competition every minute of the night and the day that this is simply the old dream of the golden age brought up to date…I want to be able to separate in myself what is old and cyclic, the recurring history, the myth, from what is new, what I feel or think that might be new…' I saw the look on her face, and said: 'You are saying that nothing I feel or think is new?'" Anna Wulf is a writer with one published work to her name. The book was fairly successful, enabling Anna to support herself and her young daughter with the profits from the royalties, as well as taking in boarders in her London house. Although she hasn't gotten anything else published, Anna keeps up her writing, keeping four different notebooks. In a black notebook, she writes about her time as a young woman in Africa when she first became involved with the Communist Party. A red notebook describes her later disillusionment with the movement in the 1950's. In a yellow notebook, she writes a novel that's basically a fictionalized version of an affair she once had. A blue notebook is for her personal diary. Additionally, several chapters are titled "Free Women" and are a third-person description of Anna's conversations with Molly, a friend from her Communist days. This was a slog, and not just because it's essentially just 635 pages of people sitting around and talking. The structure reminded me of Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin, so that was an automatic strike against this book, because The Blind Assassin does the whole blending-fact-and-fiction schtick a hell of a lot better than The Golden Notebook does. It seemed like the more interesting notebooks got fewer pages than they deserved, while the less interesting parts took up too much space - I could have read an entire book just about Anna's experiences in Africa, but the stuff about her later disillusionment with Communism was kind of like reading a blow-by-blow description of paint drying. But the biggest problem with this book was, I'll admit, mostly my fault. I went into this book knowing one thing: this is a Very Important Feminist Text, so I read it with that mindset. And you know what I found? Dudes. Lots and lots of dudes. Seriously, for a "feminist book" - or, hell, just a book written by a woman and featuring a female protagonist - there is a hell of a lot of page time wasted on male characters. I say "wasted" because no one in this story is even remotely interesting, except for maybe Anna's friends from her Africa days. But like I said, they get kind of shafted by the narrative and instead we have to read pages and pages about Anna having a series of dismal affairs - Anna seems incapable of having a relationship that's satisfying in any way, and a mean part of my brain starting thinking, hey Anna, you know how they say that if everyone you meet is an asshole, that means you're the asshole? Maybe there's a reason everyone you date is bad at sex and emotionally unavailable. Anyway, we hear A LOT about Anna's many, many, boring and terrible relationships, and the worst of them comes at the end of the book, when she starts having an affair with an American man named Saul Green. Saul Green is the living worst. Saul Green makes Fitzgerald Grant seem lovable. Saul Green is the opposite of Batman. But Anna loves Saul Green, for absolutely no fucking reason, and so we have to read chapter and chapters of Anna dating this terrible person and talking about how much she loves him, and I hated every moment I had to read about his character. The worst part? At the end, Anna buys the golden notebook featured in the title, and Saul, because he is The Worst, tells Anna that he wants the notebook for himself. Because he is The Worst. And Anna, unable to see that she's dating a spoiled two-year-old who somehow managed to pass for an adult man, just laughs, like, Oh Saul, you're so funny when you joke about denying my personal autonomy! But he's not joking, because guess what Saul does? He gets his hands on Anna's golden notebook and writes his own name on the inside cover. If my boyfriend wrote his name on a notebook that I specifically told him I was saving for something special, I would probably beat him with my own shoe. Anna's reaction? "It made me laugh, so that I nearly went upstairs and gave it to him." No. No no. No no no no noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. (I'm sorry, I completely lost my train of thought there. That's how much I hate Saul Green and every minute I wasted reading about him while Doris Lessing tried to convince me he was charming.) Come to think of it, I'm not %100 sure this book even passes the Bechdel test. The "Free Women" scenes were my favorite, and the ones that came the closest, because they were all about Anna and Molly talking, but guess what they talk about? Molly's ex-husband, and her son. And then I realized that the "Free Women" sections were primarily concerned with the male characters' storylines, and then I had to lie down for a while until I stopped wanting to set this book on fire. The one shining bright spot of this book: as you can tell from the excerpt at the top of this review, the writing is very good, and the characters are all solid. They're just boring and/or infuriating. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 7 [votes] votes 30 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Dec 2014 [date added] date added Dec 03, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Yes Please [author] author Poehler, Amy [isbn] isbn 0062268341 [isbn13] isbn13 9780062268341 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 329 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.79 [num ratings] num ratings 111,067 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2014 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 28, 2014 [rating] Madeline's rating 5 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review This is not a comedy book. I mean, it's funny. Amy Poehler can't write a book and not be funny, because she's Amy fuckin' Poehler. But (and this is no This is not a comedy book. I mean, it's funny. Amy Poehler can't write a book and not be funny, because she's Amy fuckin' Poehler. But (and this is not the first time I'm going to compare the two memoirs) where Tina Fey's Bossypants contained humorous essays written specifically for the purpose of being funny, Poehler's does not. Everything is presented in a straightforward, matter-of-fact, fashion, and although a lot of the book is very, very funny, it never seems like this was the specific goal behind the essays. This is also not a book about comedy. Although Amy Poehler discusses her time on improv groups in Chicago and New York, Saturday Night Live, and Parks and Recreation, she never gets more in-depth than "then we moved to New York and started working at this theater." Her time on SNL is reduced to a chapter of brief (but fantastic) anecdotes. Amy Poehler is renowned for her ability to play vastly different characters - somewhere on the internet is a photo gallery of all her Second City characters - but she never discusses what goes into each character. The closest we get is this description of her preparing her Hillary Clinton imitation and finally getting a bead on the character by playing her as someone who is tired of always being the smartest person in the room. Okay, so it's not a comedy book, and it's not a book about comedy, and it's really not even much of a memoir - Poehler does not discuss her divorce because "it is too sad and too personal. I also don't like people knowing my shit." So what, exactly, is Yes Please? It feels weird to classify this book as a self-help book. But that's what I got out of it. Maybe your experience with Poehler's book will be different, but as I was reading it, the parts that left the greatest impressions on me are the ones where she is demonstrating how to be a good person. The title itself references this - Poehler spends some time discussing how the improv rule of always replying with "yes, and..." is also a good rule for life, and how she tacks "please" onto that because Amy Poehler is truly, genuinely, wonderfully nice, and that's always refreshing. But lest you think she's some kind of pushover, rest assured that Amy Poehler is also a badass who gets what she wants, and if you pay attention, she can teach you how to do that: "When someone is being rude, abusing their power, or not respecting you, just call them out in a really obvious way. Say, 'I can't understand why you are being rude because you are the concierge and this is the part of the evening where the concierge helps me.' Act like they are an actor who has forgotten what part they are playing. It brings the attention back to them and gives you a minute to calm down so you don't do something silly like burst into tears or break their stupid fucking glasses." She also teaches you how to be good at what you do, in a very good essay called "Treat Your Career Like a Bad Boyfriend": "Now, before I extend this metaphor, let me make a distinction between career and creativity. Creativity is connected to your passion, that light inside you that drives you. That joy that comes when you do something you love. That small voice that tells you, 'I like this. Do this again. You are good at it. Keep going.' That is the juicy stuff that lubricates our lives and helps us feel less alone in the world. Your creativity is not a bad boyfriend. ...You have to care about your work but not about the result. You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel, but not about how good people think you are or how good people think you look." I don't want to imply that this is all heavy, here's-how-to-be-a-successful-person stuff. There's lightness in this book, and like I said, it's funny and fluffy, but there's a solid gold center deep within this seemingly light read that makes it stand out from other comedy memoirs I've read. I treated this book as a manual on how to become Amy Poehler, and there are worse things we could be. Have I mentioned that Amy Poehler is nice? She's so nice. She does the same thing Tina Fey did in her book where she lists a lot of the people who work on her TV show with her and it's basically an excuse for her to gush over how much she likes the people she works with (she calls Aubrey Plaze "a big-hearted warrior"). She spends a long chapter talking about her sons and how much she loves them. Tiny Fey's book featured a chapter called "We Don't Care if You Like It (One in a Series of Love Letters to Amy Poehler)." Amy Poehler's book returns the favor by including an acrostic poem about Tina Fey, which might seem disingenuous, but it's clear on every page how much these two great people love each other: "Sometimes Tina is like a very talented bungee-jumping expert. All it takes is for Tina to softly say, 'We can do this, right?' and I suddenly feel like I can jump off a bridge." I don't know how you guys reacted to that line, but when I read it I had to put the book down and immediately send a text to my best friend telling her I loved her. That's the effect Amy Poehler's book had on me: it taught me how to do what I wanted, how to feel good about myself, how to deal with whatever terrible things life throws at you, and it reminded me to be kind. And it's pretty fucking funny, so there's that. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 54 [votes] votes 368 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 2014 [date added] date added Nov 19, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Hardcover

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Far Side of the World (Aubrey/Maturin, #10) [author] author O'Brian, Patrick [isbn] isbn 0393308626 [isbn13] isbn13 9780393308624 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 366 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.42 [num ratings] num ratings 6,695 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 1984 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Apr 17, 1992 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review It's always nice to revisit Aubrey and Maturin. I've only read a couple books from this series, and I never feel any serious need to find more install It's always nice to revisit Aubrey and Maturin. I've only read a couple books from this series, and I never feel any serious need to find more installments, but I always enjoy them when I do. And this is one of the best ones - not only because it's pretty similar to the movie version and picking out what they changed/didn't change for the adaptation is a fun game, but also for other reasons, which I will now list: -Plots! So many plots. Almost too many plots. This book is just over four hundred pages, and there is A LOT happening. The main story concerns the Surprise trying to track an American ship, the Norfolk, around South American (the movie changed the bad guys into Frenchmen, first because it connects better to the threat of Napoleon and also AMERICA FUCK YEAH). But there's more. Maturin has a spying subplot, as he often does, and there's a nice scene where Jack helps him figure out where a secret letter has been hidden. Then the Surprise itself is a little fuller than usual, as the ship is carrying a bunch of twelve-year-olds who are learning about ship life (let's call them interns), which was included in the movie - but there's also a bunch of crewmen who were recruited from an insane asylum, and also two crewmen bring their wives along. So in addition to the multiple plots, we also have a ton of characters to keep track of, but luckily they're all a lot of fun. Also we have the tension created between Maturin and Aubrey when Aubrey cancels the former's day trip to the shore and Maturin gets all huffy about it. And there's a big scandal where one of the crewmen has an affair with one of the women and it does not end well. And towards the end of the book Aubrey and Maturin fall overboard (or, more accurately, Maturin falls overboard and Aubrey jumps in to save him) and are lost at sea, and then rescued by a boat crewed entirely by Polynesian women who plan to castrate them (why the hell was that not in the movie?). And then Aubrey captures a bunch of prisoners and the crew of the captured ship and the Surprise have to stay on an island together while Aubrey tries to keep everyone from killing each other. Quick - without looking, tell me the name of the American ship they're trying to catch. See what I mean about almost too many plots? It can be hard to keep up with, but luckily it's all very exciting and well-written, so even if you're not 100% sure what's going on, you're still having a good time. -Lots of fun details O'Brian's books are always impressively researched, but it seemed like there was an extra amount of good insider information about ships in the 1800s here. There are details about the Sunday services given on English ships (sailors were woken up half an hour earlier, to give them time to clean up for services), the sheer number of different people who traveled on ships (see: crewmen's wives and the interns, and it's very cute because the two women are in charge of the kids' lessons onboard), and the ceremonies involved in taking a ship and its crew prisoner. I also now exactly what grog is - I always knew it was watered-down rum, but apparently they also added lemon juice and sugar to it, and someone should really put that in a Mason jar and sell it to hipsters for $15. Additionally, there are a lot of descriptions about the food served on the ship, like this passage about the meal served at a fancy dinner in Aubrey's cabin: "'Mr. Martin,' said Jack, after the chaplain had said grace, 'It occurred to me that perhaps you might not yet have seen lobscouse. It is one of the oldest of the forecastle dishes, and eats very savory when it is well made: I used to enjoy it prodigiously when I was young. Allow me to help you to a little.' Alas, when Jack was young he was also poor, often penniless; and this was a rich man's lobscouse, a Lord Mayor's lobscouse. Orrage had been wonderfully generous with his slush, and the liquid fat stood half an inch deep over the whole surface, while the potatoes and pounded biscuit that ordinarily made up the bulk of the dish could scarcely be detected at all, being quite overpowered by the fat meat, fried onions, and powerful spices." ...yum? Either way, you gotta admire the detail that went into this book. O'Brian knows his stuff. And now we come to my favorite aspect of this book. -Ladies! (yeah!) Ladies! (yeah!) In addition to the two women on board the Surprise (one of whom gets a really good, albeit tragic, subplot where she has an affair with one of the crewmen), there's the previously-mentioned bit where Aubrey and Maturin get rescued by a ship of Polynesian women. Polynesian women who decorate the masthead of their ship with the severed dicks of their victims. Also one of the women jumps into the ocean and kills a shark with a knife. Okay, on the one hand, I understand why this was left out of the movie version, because it would be a total distraction from the whole let's-get-the-French plot. But on the other hand, where is my movie about a ship full of castrating Polynesian women! Scratch that, I want a miniseries. Anyway, that entire subplot is awesome, and combined with the two women who travel on the Surprise, completely obliterates the argument that female characters don't belong in seafaring stories because "it's not historically accurate!" Check and mate, says O'Brian. Also the Polynesian women are fantastic because they prompt this conversation between Stephen Maturin and another man, which I will reproduce in its entirety because that's how happy it made me: "'No,' said Martin, 'I saw nothing but a swarthy crew of ill-looking female savages, full of maligned fury, a disgrace to their sex.' 'I dare say they had been ill-used, the creatures,' said Stephen. 'Perhaps they had,' said Martin. 'But to carry resentment to the point of the emasculation you described seems to me inhumane, and profoundly wicked.' 'Oh, as far as unsexing is concerned, who are we to throw stones? With us any girl that cannot find a husband is unsexed. If she is very high or very low she may go her own way, with the risks entailed therein, but otherwise she must either have no sex or be disgraced. She burns, and she is ridiculed for burning. To say nothing of male tyranny - a wife or a daughter being a mere chattel in most codes of law or custom - and brute force - to say nothing of that, hundreds of thousands of girls are unsexed every generation: and barren women are as much despised as eunuchs. I do assure you, Martin, that if I were a woman I should march out with a flaming torch and a sword; I should emasculate right and left.'" (at this point, I have to point out that earlier in the book Maturin refuses to perform an abortion on a woman who tells him that her husband will literally kill her if he finds out she's pregnant, so way to put your money where your mouth is, douche. But the speech is still awesome, and Maturin is still great.) ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 8 [votes] votes 20 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 2014 [date added] date added Nov 02, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories [author] author Novak, B.J. * [isbn] isbn 0385351836 [isbn13] isbn13 9780385351836 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 288 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.62 [num ratings] num ratings 19,251 [date pub] date pub Feb 04, 2014 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Feb 04, 2014 [rating] Madeline's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review "The Walk to School on the Day After Labor Day I was sad that summer was over. But I was happy that it was over for my enemies, too." Take a minute and "The Walk to School on the Day After Labor Day I was sad that summer was over. But I was happy that it was over for my enemies, too." Take a minute and examine your reaction to that quote, one of the shortest pieces (I can't in good conscience call it a story) in BJ Novak's collection of short stories. I imagine that your reaction was similar to mine when I first read it - you probably smiled a little, maybe did one of those almost-laughs where you just blow air out your nose, and thought, "Oh, that's clever" and then immediately forgot about it. That's the experience I had reading this book, repeated for several dozen stories. There's nothing particularly bad about any of the stories, and I giggled a couple of times while reading, but that's about it. The collection isn't awful, but it's nothing special. It's funny, but a pretentious kind of funny, and it's clever, but mostly for the sake of cleverness. And most of the stories are not stories so much as they're half-baked ideas that needed more love and attention. Some of the stories were fun in an absurdist way, like the one about Johnny Depp deciding to crash his motorcycle in front of a Hollywood tour bus, and many of them read like first drafts of a stand-up routine - like "Chris Hansen at the Justin Bieber Concert," where Hansen explains to his teenage daughter the numerous reasons he can't go to the concert with her. Others are more like little snippets of larger stories, like "Julie and the Warlord," where a woman goes on a date with an African warlord and debates ethics with him. This story is a lot more fun if you mentally cast Mindy Kaling as Julie - in fact, I'm ashamed to admit that I spent a lot of the book searching for evidence that proves my long-standing theory that Novak and Kaling are soulmates and need to get married yesterday (in response to the question of whether it's creepy to ship real people: yes, yes it is). Mostly though, I spent my reading time thinking about how much better these ideas would be in the hands of another writer. "Sophia," a story about a man who returns a sex robot after it falls in love with him, could have been masterful in Stephen Millhauser's hands. Sometimes they just fall flat: "One of These Days, We Have to Do Something About Willie" ended with an emotional gut-punch that didn't feel earned. And sometimes they feel like they've been recycled from somewhere else. "Kellog's (Or the Last Wholesome Fantasy of the Middle-School Boy)" reads like a script for The Office that got rejected for being too dark. He's not great at forming full stories, but Novak excels at sharp humor and realistic portrayals of modern life - at its best, his writing resembles Dorothy Parker and her acidic one-liners, like here: "The casino looked like a straight person's attempt to replicate what he thought a gay kid he bullied in high school would have designed." and here: "'Do you have any regrets, Grandpa?' asked the ten-year-old, solemnly, as if he imagined himself wearing a tie." Did you do the blow-air-out-your-nose laugh again? Like I said - that's about the best you can hope for with this book. Reading it wasn't a waste of an afternoon, but I'm glad I got it from the library instead of buying it. As an added bonus, please watch this trailer for One More Thing (because apparently book trailers is a thing now?) featuring BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling and tell me they aren't totally in love. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 4 [votes] votes 22 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 2014 [date added] date added Oct 28, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Hardcover

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co., #1) [author] author Stroud, Jonathan * [isbn] isbn 0857532014 [isbn13] isbn13 9780857532015 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 440 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.17 [num ratings] num ratings 9,526 [date pub] date pub Aug 29, 2013 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Aug 29, 2013 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review I can't believe I almost forgot about Jonathan Stroud. His Bartimaeus trilogy was one of my favorites when I was in middle school/high school, but I n I can't believe I almost forgot about Jonathan Stroud. His Bartimaeus trilogy was one of my favorites when I was in middle school/high school, but I never thought I would find another one of his books, because for some reason I believed that he hadn't written anything else after that series. It was pure chance that I learned about this book at all - I can't remember which of my Goodreads friends put this on their to-read list, but someone did, and I happened to be looking at my feed at the exact right moment, so whoever it was, I thank you. It's been at least ten years since I read the Bartimaeus books, and going back to Stroud's writing was like catching up with an old friend. Like his previous series, The Screaming Staircase concerns supernatural elements and takes place in Stroud's signature setting, London in an unspecified time period that feels like it should be the Victorian era but isn't (seriously, I don't know how Stroud does it - there's never anything in his books that specifically says "we're in the reign of Queen Victoria right now," but somehow that's always how I imagine the setting, and then I'm totally thrown off whenever someone starts talking about plastic or microwaves). With the Bartimaeus trilogy, it was demons and magicians. Here, it's ghosts. The book starts out in media res, with teenagers Lucy Carlyle and Anthony Lockwood going to ghost-bust a haunted house. This is a great way to open the story, because we get to see Lucy and Lockwood in action and learn about their specific ghost-hunting gifts (Lockwood can see death-glows, and Lucy is an empath who can hear spirits and their emotions) without needing to sit through lots of buildup and exposition. It's only after the ghost-hunting section is over, and we're fully hooked, that Stroud has Lucy explain what's going on to the reader. About fifty years ago, she tells us, England was beset by "the Problem." Ghosts started appearing every night, and worse, they gained the ability to hurt people - Lucy talks about "ghost-touch," which can kill a person. Ghosts are invisible to adults, but children can see them, and have psychic abilities that fade when they grow up. So now ghost-hunting has become a profession in England, and the ghost hunters are all children and teenagers (which is a very neat solution to the central problem found in most YA-adventure lit, the question of why children are always running around unsupervised with weapons and magic). The worldbuilding is fantastic, with Stroud fully exploring what a society threatened by ghosts would look like. City-wide curfews are enforced, because ghosts only come out at night, and houses have to be protected with iron and channels of running water to keep the ghosts out. As I said, ghost-hunting has become an official profession, and Lucy works for Lockwood & Co, a pretty ragtag agency consisting of her, Lockwood, and another boy named George (who has been rather unfairly left off the cover of every edition of this book). The job that's described in the beginning of the book is what starts the action. Lucy and Lockwood discover the body of a girl who was murdered fifty years ago (and is therefore the source of the haunting). The murderer was never caught, so the group starts trying to figure out who killed the girl, while also trying to keep their agency from going bankrupt. Then they get hired to investigate one of the most haunted buildings in England - it houses the screaming staircase of the title, and also "the Red Room" and don't worry, it's just as terrifying as it sounds. The writing is sharp and witty, although none of the kids can match Bartimaeus in snark. All of the ghosts are legitimately terrifying, and the entire sequence at the haunted house is suspenseful and delightfully scary. The characters are well-done and fun, and Lucy is a fantastic heroine. This was the only wobbly part of an otherwise well-paced, witty, scary, and well-written story - the haunted house and the murder investigation seem like two separate stories, and don't really mesh well together even after we learn how they're connected. The murder mystery itself is pretty good, but it's solution is so weak that I had to take a star from the book's rating. Without giving anything away (I'll save that for the spoiler button in a minute), it's one of those very irritating mysteries where the culprit is only caught because they kept doing shit to scare someone off the case, like every villain in every episode of Scooby-Do ever. Stroud's villain gives those guys a run for their money in the scaring-people-off-the-case-and-therefore-helping-them-solve-it department. We eventually find out that (view spoiler)[the guy hired Lockwood & Co to investigate the house because he hoped that the ghosts would murder them. This is completely stupid, especially because he had no reason to be worried in the first place. The big important evidence he was trying to keep hidden? It's a coded inscription on the victim's locket, and once the kids figure it out they're like, aha, we've got you now! But all the inscription proves is that the guy was having an affair with the victim. We've still got a fifty-year-old cold case, no witnesses, and the body and the crime scene were destroyed in a fire. There's literally zero proof that the guy is a murderer, but he decides to be clever and kill the kids off, and that's how he gets caught, and it's so stupid and clumsy and it hurts my mystery-loving heart. (hide spoiler)] The book can almost function on its own as a story, although there's some setup for a sequel at the end, hinting that we're going to learn more about Lucy's abilities and the origins of the Problem. I'll have to track down Book 2 as soon as I can. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 7 [votes] votes 26 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 2014 [date added] date added Oct 09, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Hardcover

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Wild Magic (Immortals, #1) [author] author Pierce, Tamora * [isbn] isbn 1416903437 [isbn13] isbn13 9781416903437 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 362 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.31 [num ratings] num ratings 44,454 [date pub] date pub Dec 01, 1992 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Jun 01, 2005 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review After a short break, I've returned to Tortall, and guys, it's great to be back. I decided to resume my long-overdue Tamora Pierce education for two re After a short break, I've returned to Tortall, and guys, it's great to be back. I decided to resume my long-overdue Tamora Pierce education for two reasons: first, the Immortals quartet was completely new to me (as a kid, I had a passing familiarity with the Alanna, Kel, and Aly series, having read a few chapters of each before abandoning them); and also I found out that my sister has all four of the books in one volume, so I stole it from her. Sorry, borrowed. The first book takes place about ten years after Lioness Rampant left off - a lot of familiar characters are here, including Jonathan, Thayet, George, and of course Alanna (we also get to meet Jon and Alanna's respective kids, and even though I knew from the Trickster series that Alanna and George have three kids, my heart still squee'd super hard just like it did at the end of The Deathly Hallows SHUT UP THAT EPILOGUE WAS BEAUTIFUL AND NECESSARY I WILL FIGHT YOU). Our heroine this time is Daine (short for Verlidaine Sarrasri - oof) and we first meet her getting a job working with the royal horsemistress of Tortall. Daine is good with animals, and because this is a Tamora Pierce book, not only does Daine have a way with animals, but she can actually talk to them. Daine's magic is different than Alanna's though - she has something called "wild magic" and may not, in fact, be completely human. Alanna will always be first in my heart, but I have to admit that I already prefer this series to the Lioness quartet. First, because the problems that plagued the Lioness series are not present here. Pierce's most obvious struggle in those books was the fact that she was forced to cram about eight years' worth of action into four books, and often the pacing felt rushed and disjointed. The action of Wild Magic occurs over a couple of months, so it never feels like we're rushing through events to get to the main conflict. The return of so many familiar characters means that, aside from telling Daine's story, the book also serves as kind of reunion for the characters we loved in Alanna's series. Also the conflict of the story is much better here - in this book, we learn that the Immortals have been released from magical captivity and are wreaking havoc on Tortall. Immortals include stock fantasy creatures like dragons and griffins, but we also have some original creations like spidrens and stormwings. Duke Roger, the primary antagonist in the Lioness series, always felt like more of a cartoon villain than a real threat, and even the mean gods were never much of a concern because Alanna was the Goddess's best buddy or something. The creatures in Wild Magic are generally terrifying, and I found myself wishing that someone would make this series into a movie, just so I could see all of this brought to life - imagine what Guillermo del Toro could do with the stormwings! It's really unfair to compare this series with Alanna's (even though I keep doing that), because even though they take place in the same universe and include many of the same characters, the similarities end there. The books are alike on a surface level (plucky girl character learning to be a badass and use cool magic with the help of talking animal friends) but in reality the books are trying to do very different things. Alanna's books were all about teaching girls about hard work, courage, and never letting society dictate what you can and can't do. Wild Magic is about how family is sometimes what you find, not what you're given. It spends a lot of time exploring the concept of loyalty and sacrifice, and in much more eloquent detail than Alanna's books ever did - there's a great scene at the end, when Daine is trying to prevent her animal friends from fighting in the big climactic battle because she doesn't want them to get hurt, and she realizes that she has to let her friends fight for her, and it's so good. The magic in these books is also more well-done than it was in the Lioness series. Where Alanna was literally handed her powers ("Hi Alanna! I'm the Goddess, and you're the Chosen One. Here, have a magic sword, a magic necklace, and a magic cat."), Daine has to learn to use her powers and trust them. The actual mechanics of magic are also explored in more detail, and Tamora Pierce seems to have a better handle on how the magic in her books actually works. Better villains, better storytelling, great new characters, a nice revisit with old ones...so far, the Immortals series is off to a great start. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 9 [votes] votes 13 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 2014 [date added] date added Oct 05, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Unsinkable: The Full Story Of The RMS Titanic [author] author Butler, Daniel Allen [isbn] isbn 0306811103 [isbn13] isbn13 9780306811104 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 312 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.06 [num ratings] num ratings 458 [date pub] date pub Mar 1998 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Mar 07, 2002 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review I was eight years old when Titanic barreled its way into theaters, so I wasn't at the epicenter of the hysteria over the movie (my best friend in elem I was eight years old when Titanic barreled its way into theaters, so I wasn't at the epicenter of the hysteria over the movie (my best friend in elementary school saw the movie in theaters and immediately became obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio - meanwhile, I was still spending recess pretending to be a horse, because I was super cool). I don't think I actually saw the movie in its entirety until I was a teenager, so I was never as fascinated by the story as everyone else was, but I still understood the appeal. Even if you remove the hysterical star-crossed lovers plotline (You jump I jump, Jack!), the story of the sinking of the Titanic is almost too classically Hollywood to be believable. A ship that was billed as "unsinkable", one of the most luxurious ocean liners of its time, strikes an iceberg and sinks, resulting in the highest casualties of its time (prior to the sinking of the Titanic, the grand total of deaths on an ocean liner in the past forty years was six people). Poor people trapped below as the ship sinks, families saying tearful goodbyes at the lifeboats, and musicians playing even as the ship goes under? You can't make this shit up. I've always wanted to read a good nonfiction account of the sinking, and when I saw this at the library, I decided to give it a try. Having never read any other accounts of the sinking of the Titanic, I obviously can't compare Butler's book to anything or evaluate its accuracy. That being said, it's definitely thorough and well-researched. Butler gives us some background into the building of the Titanic and some general stats about the ship, but he wastes no time getting to the good stuff - the night of the sinking occurs on page 63, and Butler goes into almost exhausting detail covering almost every moment of the ship's final two hours. Working off primary sources and secondary accounts, Butler discusses the crew's response as well as the experiences of multiple passengers, from first class to steerage. It's true that there were gates keeping the third class passengers from the rest of the ship, Butler says, but this was an immigration regulation (can't have those dirty Europeans down in steerage getting their lice on the rich people) and most of those gates were unlocked when the ship began to sink. The real problem was that the people in third class had no idea how to get around the ship, which was specifically designed to keep them belowdecks, and they had to be led to the upper decks by crewmen: "At half past midnight the word came down to Third Class to send the women and children up to the Boat Deck. Steward Hart, who had realized early on that the Third Class passengers had almost no chance of negotiating the passageways and corridors that were usually inaccessible to steerage if left to themselves, began to organize his charges into little groups. Around 12:50 he set off for the Boat Deck, leading a score of women, some with children in tow. ...It wasn't an easy trip: the design of the ship, because of those outdated American immigration laws that required Third Class physically separated from the other classes of passengers, allowed no direct route from the Third Class berthing areas to the Boat Deck, and access to what routes there were was very limited. That was why Hart had to lead his group up the stairs to the Third Class Lounge on C Deck, across the after well deck, past the Second Class Library, into First Class, along a stretch of corridor that led past the surgeon's office and the private dining saloon for the First Class' servants, and finally out to the Grand Staircase, which carried them up to the Boat Deck." The only good thing to come out of the Titanic sinking was that it illustrated how dangerously out of date the safety regulations on ships were. After he finishes covering the sinking and the rescue of the passengers, Butler spends several chapters discussing the numerous investigations and inquests that followed the sinking. The sinking was the direct cause of massive reforms on ocean liners, improving everything from the radio technicians shifts to the number of required lifeboats. The Titanic was a horrifying tragedy, Butler argues, but it was a tragedy that could have been avoided numerous different ways, and because of the sinking, ocean travel became safer for future passengers. This is important to discuss, but then Butler takes his "effects of the Titanic sinking" several steps further, arguing that the sinking was responsible for the breaking down of social barriers and class systems (I kinda think that World War I was the big reason for that, but whatever Butler, it's your book), and even argues that the sinking of the Titanic set the suffrage movement back several years. No, for real: "...the sad truth for the women's suffrage movement was that, as Mrs. John Martin of the League for the Civic Education of Women put it, 'We are willing to let men die for us, but we aren't willing to let them vote for us.' She was merely underscoring the basic hypocrisy of the suffrage movement of the early 20th century, a hypocrisy that the Titanic exposed and that the suffragettes had not considered: equality of rights also entailed equality of risk. The suffragettes lost much of their credibility as a result, as too many of their number, unlike the women of sixty years later, were eager to secure rights without accepting responsibility." This is me right now. Butler also loses me when he tries to rationalize why the majority of the people who made it to the lifeboats were the First Class passengers, while the Third Class and the crew had the most casualties. Butler spends a lot of time discussing the social constraints on the ship, and wants us to believe that the reason most of the third class passengers didn't survive was because they were waiting for someone in charge to tell them where to go, but no one ever did. Butler argues that at the time, lower-class people were so conditioned to do as they were told that none of the steerage passengers would even consider taking drastic steps to save themselves, and instead waited patiently to be led out of the lower levels of the ship and directed to a lifeboat. It never would have crossed their minds, Butler insists, to upset the social order and act above their station. Bull. Fucking. Shit. I don't care what time period you're in - if you're on a sinking ship, all bets are off. Personally, I choose to believe that at least one Third Class woman punched out a lady in an evening gown to beat her to a lifeboat. I can't prove that this happened, but Butler can't prove that it didn't, either, so NYEH. Butler even discusses film versions of the sinking, but does not mention James Cameron's juggernaut - Butler's book was published in 1998, although Titanic came out in 1997. Maybe Butler never got a chance to see it, since the theater was always sold out thanks to teenage girls going to the movie for the tenth time? Or maybe his book had already gone to print by then and there was no time to stick in a paragraph about the movie. Either way, I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to find out what Butler thought of the movie, since it came out too close to his book's publication. Talk about two ships passing in the night, right? (SEE WHAT I DID THERE) Overall, this is a really good, really thorough examination of the sinking of the Titanic and it's immediate and long-lasting results. The research seems sound, and Butler is a good historian most of the time. A good source for anyone wanting to know how accurate James Cameron's version of the sinking really was. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with a bottle of wine and 1997-era Leo. It's been a long time. OH! I almost forgot to quote my favorite line in the entire book. Presented without context: "[Astor] had even written a science fiction novel, A Journey Into Other World, whose hero, Colonel Bearwarden, was contracted by the Terrestrial Axis Straightening Company to make the Earth's axis perfectly vertical, creating perpetual springtime." That's adorable, and I want to read that book. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 5 [votes] votes 15 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Sep 2014 [date added] date added Sep 30, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title A History of the Vikings [author] author Jones, Gwyn [isbn] isbn 0192801341 [isbn13] isbn13 9780192801340 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 552 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.82 [num ratings] num ratings 590 [date pub] date pub 1968 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Jul 19, 2001 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review "...the temptation is strong to offer generalizations about the viking himself, produce a 'typical' figure, and prop him against the museum wall with "...the temptation is strong to offer generalizations about the viking himself, produce a 'typical' figure, and prop him against the museum wall with his catalogue number and descriptive label. It is a temptation to be resisted because of its limiting and misleading consequences. Harald Hardradi, who waged war from Asia Minor to Stamford Bridge for thirty-five years, was a viking; so was his father Sigurd Sow, who stayed at home and counted haystacks. Hastein, who led the Great Army of the Danes into England in the early 890's, was a viking; so too was Ottar, who came peaceably to his lord kind Alfred's court with walrus tusks and lessons in northern geography. The men who destroyed churches in England, Ireland, and France were vikings; so too were the woodcarvers of Osberg and the metalworkers of Mammen. The men who said 'With law shall the land be built up and with lawlessness wasted away' were vikings; so were the practisers and curtailers of blood-feud, the profit-makers and those who robbed them of profit, the explorers and colonizers, the shaper's of verse-forms and makers of legend. The kings and their counselors who brought the Scandanavian countries within the boundaries of Christian Europe were vikings. In short, the viking is the aggregate of this book and recalcitrant to summary." Earlier this year I had a serious need to read some Viking history, thanks in no small part to the fact that the History Channel made a scripted show about vikings and it's awesome. Having no idea where to start, I bought TD Kendrick's A History of the Vikings from the bargain shelf at Barnes and Noble and dived in. It was disappointing. Kendrick's book, while thorough, is almost exclusively concerned with what the vikings did while they were in places like England and Iceland. Which is great, if you already have a base of knowledge about their daily life and their homelands, but I didn't, so the book was frustrating for me. But I still had a viking itch to scratch, and so I decided to try again with Gwyn Jones book of the same title. And I was glad I did - Jones' book is everything Kendrick's wasn't. Jones still discusses viking campaigns to Canada and England (also the Middle East, which I can't remember Kendrick getting into), but also gives the reader a ton of information about viking society and how it functioned. You learn about the viking social structure, their laws, their burial rites, their religion, their language - there's even a detailed description of how they built their boats. And you get to learn exactly what a "blood eagle" is, and trust me, it's just as cool and gross as it sounds. There are tons of photos and drawings included, so the history feels fully explored. The book goes through the lives of several important figures in viking history, as well as some other major players from the era, and gives an overview of the age of the vikings from the beginning in the 8th century, to 1066 when it officially ended. Best of all is the writing style, which is written in the same overly-scholarly tone that Kendrick's book was, but since Jones was writing about thirty years later, it's more readable and fun, as you can see from this passage: "The Moors took so many prisoners that the gallows of Seville did not suffice for them, and the city's palm trees bore strange fruit. Report of the Emir's victory was not entrusted to mouth and quill alone: he sent the severed heads of 200 vikings on a dumb but eloquent embassy to his allies in Tangier." I love that so much. People just don't write history books that way anymore, and it's a damn shame. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 1 [votes] votes 8 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Sep 2014 [date added] date added Sep 25, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title My Venice and Other Essays [author] author Leon, Donna [isbn] isbn 0802120369 [isbn13] isbn13 9780802120366 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 240 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.29 [num ratings] num ratings 263 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2007 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Dec 03, 2013 [rating] Madeline's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review Donna Leon and I have a strange relationship. She's nowhere near the top of my list of favorite detective writers, yet I've read six of her Commissari Donna Leon and I have a strange relationship. She's nowhere near the top of my list of favorite detective writers, yet I've read six of her Commissario Brunetti mysteries (sort of how I really don't like Rent all that much, yet through an odd combination of circumstances have seen the show three times). Her books always leave me feeling unfulfilled, even though at this point I should know better than to expect miracles from them. But I keep coming back to her books, hoping to find that really great one that I know is hidden in the series, and I do this for one reason: Venice. Much in the way that I will happily watch paint dry if the narrator from Bridezillas is providing commentary, I will read just about any book that takes place in Venice. It's a killer setting, especially for a mystery, and despite all her weaknesses as a writer, Leon uses the setting to its full potential in every book. Which is all a long-winded way of saying that when I found this book, I was delighted - Donna Leon discussing Venice, without the distraction of her half-baked murder mysteries and useless filler scenes? Sign me up. The book, as the "Other Essays" part of the title suggests, is about more than just the author's experiences in Venice (where she's lived for over twenty years). There's a lengthy section on opera, some stories about Leon's country house in Italy, a lot of essays bashing the United States, and a few essays that get into Leon's childhood and frankly fascinating career history (she was living in Iran at the time of the revolution, and also did a teaching stint in Saudi Arabia - Donna Leon, I am delighted to report, is a badass). Other reviewers took issue with the negative tone of a lot of the essays, but I found her curmudgeonly air delightful. If she's not complaining about going back home and being surrounded by fat Americans who have probably never even been to Europe, gross, she's expounding on opera and how once a friend forced her to go to a non-Baroque opera, prompting a delightful list of "warnings meant to govern attendance at the opera," the first of which goes like this: "1. Beware of beds. If, at any time during a performance, a bed appears on stage in a place other than a bedroom it is probably being used as a symbol. Opera directors often use symbols in place of ideas. They are not the same." My only complaint is that many of the essays feel too short. They're more like anecdotes instead of fully-formed stories, and there are potential essays hidden within the text that I would have enjoyed reading. In one of her opera pieces, Leon gets to the end and mentions that when she was at the reception, she started imagining how a murderer would escape the room, and says that this is one of the perils of being a detective writer. I could have read an entire essay about how Leon can't stop imagining grisly murder scenarios everywhere she goes, but instead it's tacked on at the end of a completely unrelated essay, which was frustrating. She also has some essays about writing at the end of the book, including some advice on writing detective stories. I enjoyed this, although she seemed to have sort of a dismissive attitude towards the detective genre (I forgot to mark it, so I can't quote the line directly, but I remember her implying that mysteries are not "real" books). It was weird to watch Leon essentially bite the hand that feeds her, and it made me wonder if she only started writing mysteries because of the money, which makes me sad. Although it would explain why none of her books have managed to impress me so far. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 2 [votes] votes 10 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Sep 2014 [date added] date added Sep 23, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Hardcover

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1) [author] author McCourt, Frank [isbn] isbn 0007205236 [isbn13] isbn13 9780007205233 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 432 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.05 [num ratings] num ratings 346,576 [date pub] date pub 1996 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 03, 2005 [rating] Madeline's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. This book is kin Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. This book is kind of like that bit in A Chorus Line where the director is making everyone tell him about their childhoods and the one guy goes, "Nobody wants to admit they had a happy childhood." There are two instances where this statement is extremely true: show business, and memoir writing. Angela's Ashes (which is apparently the first in a series?) chronicles the childhood and adolescence of Frank McCourt, born into a poor Irish family with no money but a surplus of babies. His mother, Angela, does the best she can to prevent her children from starving to death on a daily basis; meanwhile the patriarch of the family is a man who, as Jack Donaghy might say, "belongs in the Smiling Irish Bastard hall of fame." Things aren't good, is what I'm saying. The kids dress in filthy rags, they have to collect coal on the side of the road to heat their depressing shack of a house, the majority of the kids die of some horrible disease, the father insists on drinking every goddamn penny he earns, and Frank just wants to drop out of school so he can get a job and maybe afford a meal every few weeks. Bleak does not begin to cover it. (giant sidebar: did anyone else watch Enlisted? Of course no one did, that's why it got cancelled after one season even thought it was fantastic. Anyway, there's a bit where one of the characters is super depressed so he decides to read Angela's Ashes, to further wallow in misery, and he tells another character, "I'm at the part where he gives a raisin to the boy with no shoes." I watched that part and thought, well obviously the writers made that up, that's just a spot-on parody of the stuff that goes on in miserable memoirs like that. But then I read the book a few weeks later and guys, that scene totally happens. That's the level Frank McCourt is operating at.) Look, I'm not saying Frank McCourt had to put a happy face on his horrible, horrible childhood just to make me less uncomfortable. His memoir is searing and honest, but it is also unrelenting in its bleakness. There are small flashes of happiness here and there, but the book was so overwhelming sad that every time something good happened to the family in this story, my first thought was, "Well, this can't last." Which, actually, is a very Irish-Catholic reaction to have, so congratulations to me for making my ancestors proud. The writing is very good, at least, so all the misery is very well-described and the characters are subtle and well-drawn. The book certainly deserved the Pulitzer it won, although if we're being really honest with ourselves the prize was probably awarded not for the great writing or characters but because the people at the Pulitzer awards get giant literary boners for misery porn like this. Realistically, I should give this four stars, because I liked the book, but I'm docking a point because of the ending. Without giving anything away, it's just too abrupt. Nothing gets resolved, there's no sense of a conclusion, it's just like McCourt got tired of the book and said, "Well, let's just stop here" and then it ends. It was not satisfying, and not worth all the misery I went through to get to the end. ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 6 [votes] votes 18 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Aug 2014 [date added] date added Sep 04, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table [author] author Malory, Thomas [isbn] isbn 0451528166 [isbn13] isbn13 9780451528162 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 512 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.91 [num ratings] num ratings 25,060 [date pub] date pub 1485 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 01, 2001 [rating] Madeline's rating 1 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [review] review FINALLY finished this last night. No exaggeration: I have been reading this book for six months. Not six continuous months, mind you. I kept the book FINALLY finished this last night. No exaggeration: I have been reading this book for six months. Not six continuous months, mind you. I kept the book by my bed and would try to read a little bit every night, but I could never manage to read more than twenty pages in a single sitting, and I would usually be reading another book in the meantime and forget about Le Morte d'Arthur for weeks at a time. This thing is a hell of a slog, in other words. Sure, there are knightly adventures and duels aplenty, but once you've read two or three you've pretty much read them all. It's just dudes getting smote off their horses and slicing other dudes in the head and damosels running around being pretty and useless, and wasn't there supposed to be something about a grail quest? (further research tells me that all the stuff about the Holy Grail takes place in Volume Two, which I have absolutely no interest in tracking down) It got to the point where I had to invent games to keep myself invested in the story, like "How Many of the Fight Scenes Can Be Interpreted as Gay Sex Scenes?" The answer, dear reader, is A Lot. "By that Sir Launcelot was come, then he proffered Sir Launcelot to joust; and either made them ready, and they came together so fiercely that either bare down other to the earth, and sore were they bruised. ...and so they rushed together like boars, tracing, raising, and foining to the mountenance of an hour; and Sir Launcelot felt him so big that he marvelled of his strength, for he fought more liker a giant than a knight, and that his fighting was durable and passing perilous. For Sir Launcelot had so much ado with him that he dreaded himself to be shamed, and said, Beaumains, fight not so sore, your quarrel and mine is not so great but that we may leave off. Truly that is truth, said Beaumains, but it doth me good to feel your might, and yet, my lord, I showed not the utterance." "And then they hurled together as wild boars, and thus they fought a great while. For Meliagaunce was a good man and of great might, but Sir Lamorak was hard big for him, and put him always aback, but either had wounded other sore." ...more [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 17 [votes] votes 39 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Aug 2014 [date added] date added Aug 14, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [29] actions view (with text) [format]

Output: format Mass Market Paperback

Madeline's bookshelf: don-t-judge-me (showing 1-30 of 564) (sorted by: date added)


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 1. Ensure relevant recruitment practices are based on merit, are open and consistent with diversity principles, and recognise the four target groups: Women Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people People with disabilities People with different origins or cultural backgrounds [STRATEGIES] Ensure job advertising is inclusive, merit-based and supported by the appropriate information Encourage applicants to nominate any assistance needed to participate fairly in the process Monitor selection processes to ensure equity and merit Capture employee diversity data on commencement [SUCCESS INDICATOR] All Memorial recruitment activities are completed as planned, utilizing all appropriate methods for attracting diverse fields of applicants Representation that reflects or exceeds the proportion of identified groups in the broader ACT community Number of requests from applicants for assistance Number of appeals against process Adjustments made to accommodate and utilise skills and abilities of people in target groups Assessed degree of self disclosure [OUTCOME]

Output: Memorial is able to attract sufficiently diverse fields for advertised vacancies Target group representation meets or exceeds targets Applicants assisted through the process if necessary Memorial recognised as sensitive to and supportive of diversity Memorial responds to perceived employee and volunteers’ needs

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program 2010 - 2012


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 2. Encourage indigenous employees to participate in National Indigenous Cadetship Project (NICP) and other recognised programs [STRATEGIES] Participation in National Indigenous Cadetship Project (NICP) [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Submission of applications by indigenous staff for participation in the program. [OUTCOME]

Output: Participation of staff from target group meets or exceeds targets

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 3. Encourage employees to be aware of, and committed to, workplace diversity principles [STRATEGIES] Appoint Diversity Coordinator to promote diversity principles using corporate communication tools All new employees informed of diversity principles during staff induction training and other courses Consult with employees to develop Diversity Plan and Program [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Policies and practices strongly reflect diversity principles Staff display a positive attitude to diversity and actively support associated initiatives Diversity Plan reflects employee input High level of awareness shown by staff [OUTCOME]

Output: Employees have access to a Diversity Coordinator for assistance and advice Staff recognise and support the principles of workplace diversity Employees have input to Diversity Plan

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 4. Encourage employees to recognise the positive contribution of a diverse workforce to the workplace [STRATEGIES] Involve all employees in development of the Corporate and Business plans and the Teamwork Agreement Encourage employee input to corporate programs and committees [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Corporate management arrangements embody teamwork and diversity practices and values All relevant policies and practices reference the diversity policy [OUTCOME]

Output: Memorial recognised as supporting diversity throughout all aspects of its business operations Memorial fully uses the skills and experiences of employees

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 5. Encourage employees to integrate workplace policies and principles in their day-to-day work [STRATEGIES] Include teamwork and diversity performance assessments of employee in the Business Management and Performance Feedback Scheme (BM&PFS) [SUCCESS INDICATOR] A culture within the Memorial that embraces and reflects Diversity principles Number of employees that are assessed as meeting this target in their BMPFs [OUTCOME]

Output: Employees recognised for teamwork and diversity performance

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 6. Create a harmonious and supportive environment sensitive to the diversity of the workforce [STRATEGIES] Foster and use the diverse skills employees bring to the workplace Establish and promote Workplace Harassment Policy and Workplace Harassment Contact Officers Network (WHCO) Support WHCOs to achieve resolution of issues Maintain an Employee Assistance Program for all employees and their families [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Articles in Corporate Chatter reporting on relevant programs, activities and events Statistics on grievances and WHCO activities Feedback from WHCO network satisfactory Feedback and statistics from EAP provider support [OUTCOME]

Output: Diversity principles actively promoted Employees assisted in achieving appropriate outcomes Employees assisted in achieving appropriate outcomes Employees assisted in achieving appropriate outcomes

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 7. Ensure employees are afforded opportunities to fully develop their work skills [STRATEGIES] Include people with diverse skills, and perspectives in project teams Match training, development and work provided to fully utilise employee skills [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Ability to quickly source people and skill sets to fill project jobs Annual Development Program delivers training against identified needs [OUTCOME]

Output: Employees provided with challenging and rewarding work Employees provided with appropriate training and development

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 8. Ensure employees are afforded opportunities to use their diverse skills in the job. [STRATEGIES] Encourage employee input to corporate programs and committees [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Employees take on additional tasks and support public events and ceremonies, apply for research grants, submit articles for Wartime Magazine and other external publications, present talks at Branch Forums and in the galleries, and apply for election to represent staff on the Workplace Relations Committee and the OH&S Committee and nominate to become WHCOs [OUTCOME]

Output: Memorial utilizes the skills and experiences of employees

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 9. Fully utilise Memorial programs to help employees balance work and personal life. [STRATEGIES] Encourage managers and peers within teams to promote programs and opportunities to achieve balance Support community and life-style programs [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Employees are aware of and utilise programs for flexible working arrangements Use of programs and services offered in-house including ongoing Health Awareness Program sessions etc [OUTCOME]

Output: The Memorial facilitates opportunities for a balanced work and personal life Employees participate in personal and community activities

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [OBJECTIVE] 10. Provide accurate information to the Public Service Commissioner on workplace diversity for the annual State of the Service report [STRATEGIES] Capture relevant diversity information at commencement of employment and in census Encourage employee participation in APS wide survey initiatives [SUCCESS INDICATOR] Statistical reporting systems and relevant records maintained and reports provided Employees contribute to APS wide research and performance reporting [OUTCOME]

Output: The Memorial meets legislative requirements for developing and implementing a Workplace Diversity Policy Employees' participation in wider APS programs

Australian War Memorial Workplace Diversity Program | Australian War Memorial


Input: [placeholder variable] __background_site__ [meaning]

Output: background colour of the whole site


Input: [placeholder variable] __link__ [meaning]

Output: colour of links


Input: [placeholder variable] __existing__ [meaning]

Output: colour of links to existing internal pages


Input: [placeholder variable] __missing__ [meaning]

Output: colour of links to missing internal pages


Input: [placeholder variable] __site_width__ [meaning]

Output: width of the whole site


Input: [placeholder variable] __sidebar_width__ [meaning]

Output: width of the sidebar


Input: [Steps to follow] Create a page; Go to the main page [Expected Result] The small icon denoting page creation is visible under your user [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: Create Page

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Create a page; Edit the page and press "Save and View"; Go to the main page [Expected Result] The small icon denoting page editing is visible under your user [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: Edit Page

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Annotate a page; Go to the main page [Expected Result] The small icon denoting page annotation is visible under your user [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: Annotate Page

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Comment on a page; Go to the main page [Expected Result] The small icon denoting page comment is visible under your user [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: Comment on Page

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Add an attachment to a page; Go to the main page [Expected Result] The small icon denoting adding attachment is visible under your user [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: Attach to Page

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Delete a page; Go to the main page [Expected Result] The small icon denoting page deletion is visible under your user [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: Delete Page

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Go to the main page; Press on the small arrow pointing down located under the "Activity Stream" [Expected Result] Drop-down expands; All previous actions are visible [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: See all actions

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Steps to follow] Go to the main page; Press on the small arrow pointing down located under the "Activity Stream"; Some of the actions from the list have their own arrow; Press each arrow and see more details regarding those actions [Expected Result] Drop-down expands; All previous actions are visible [Result] Passed [JIRA] - [Feature]

Output: See all actions in detail

Manual Test Report for XWiki 4.5 RC1 (TestReports.ManualTestReportXWiki45RC1) - XWiki.org


Input: [Default] byrequests [Description] Balancer load-balance method. Select the load-balancing scheduler method to use. Either byrequests, to perform weighted request counting, bytraffic, to perform weighted traffic byte count balancing, or bybusyness, to perform pending request balancing. Default is byrequests. [Parameter]

Output: lbmethod

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] One less than the number of workers, or 1 with a single worker. [Description] Maximum number of failover attempts before giving up. [Parameter]

Output: maxattempts

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] Off [Description] If set to On the session will break if the worker is in error state or disabled. Set this value to On if backend servers do not support session replication. [Parameter]

Output: nofailover

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] - [Description] Balancer sticky session name. The value is usually set to something like JSESSIONID or PHPSESSIONID, and it depends on the backend application server that support sessions. If the backend application server uses different name for cookies and url encoded id (like servlet containers) use | to separate them. The first part is for the cookie the second for the path. Available in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.4 and later. [Parameter]

Output: stickysession

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] "." [Description] Sets the separation symbol in the session cookie. Some backend application servers do not use the '.' as the symbol. For example the Oracle Weblogic server uses '!'. The correct symbol can be set using this option. The setting of 'Off' signifies that no symbol is used. [Parameter]

Output: stickysessionsep

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] Off [Description] If set to On the semi-colon character ';' will be used as an additional sticky session path delimiter/separator. This is mainly used to emulate mod_jk's behavior when dealing with paths such as JSESSIONID=6736bcf34;foo=aabfa [Parameter]

Output: scolonpathdelim

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] 0 [Description] Balancer timeout in seconds. If set this will be the maximum time to wait for a free worker. Default is not to wait. [Parameter]

Output: timeout

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] - [Description] A single or comma-separated list of HTTP status codes. If set this will force the worker into error state when the backend returns any status code in the list. Worker recovery behaves the same as other worker errors. [Parameter]

Output: failonstatus

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] Off [Description] If set, an IO read timeout after a request is sent to the backend will force the worker into error state. Worker recovery behaves the same as other worker errors. Available in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.5 and later. [Parameter]

Output: failontimeout

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Description] The protective nonce used in the balancer-manager application page. The default is to use an automatically determined UUID-based nonce, to provide for further protection for the page. If set, then the nonce is set to that value. A setting of None disables all nonce checking. Note In addition to the nonce, the balancer-manager page should be protected via an ACL. [Parameter]

Output: nonce

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] 0 [Description] Number of additional BalancerMembers to allow to be added to this balancer in addition to those defined at configuration. [Parameter]

Output: growth

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Default] On [Description] Force the immediate recovery of all workers without considering the retry parameter of the workers if all workers of a balancer are in error state. There might be cases where an already overloaded backend can get into deeper trouble if the recovery of all workers is enforced without considering the retry parameter of each worker. In this case set to Off. Available in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.2 and later. [Parameter]

Output: forcerecovery

mod_proxy - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4


Input: [Metric] Relative Strength [MPC Rank] Sign Up For Ticker Ranking [MPC Avg Ranking] Sign Up For Sector Ranking [Notes]

Output: Stock is performing in-line with the market or better.

MPC: Dividend Date & History for Marathon Petroleum Corp


Input: [Metric] Overall Yield Attractiveness [MPC Rank] Sign Up For Ticker Ranking [MPC Avg Ranking] Sign Up For Sector Ranking [Notes]

Output: Stock's dividend yield is adequate.

MPC: Dividend Date & History for Marathon Petroleum Corp


Input: [Metric] Dividend Reliability [MPC Rank] Sign Up For Ticker Ranking [MPC Avg Ranking] Sign Up For Sector Ranking [Notes]

Output: This rating is related to the length and consistency of a company's dividend payouts, as well as our opinion on how likely the company is to continue payouts in the future.

MPC: Dividend Date & History for Marathon Petroleum Corp


Input: [Metric] Dividend Uptrend [MPC Rank] Sign Up For Ticker Ranking [MPC Avg Ranking] Sign Up For Sector Ranking [Notes]

Output: Dividend payouts are consistent, but increases small.

MPC: Dividend Date & History for Marathon Petroleum Corp


Input: [Metric] Earnings Growth [MPC Rank] Sign Up For Ticker Ranking [MPC Avg Ranking] Sign Up For Sector Ranking [Notes]

Output: Earnings estimates are uptrending.

MPC: Dividend Date & History for Marathon Petroleum Corp


Input: [Metric] DARS Rating [MPC Rank] Sign Up For Ticker Ranking [MPC Avg Ranking] Sign Up For Sector Ranking [Notes]

Output: Sign Up For DARS Ratings

MPC: Dividend Date & History for Marathon Petroleum Corp


Input: [1] node [2]

Output: is the node from which to read.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] collection [2]

Output: is 0 by default which means that all loaded objects are either added to the default collection or not added to any collection, depending on the value of the keepFlags argument.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] searchCollectionOnly [2]

Output: is true by default which means that it will only find materials/factories/... from current collection if that is given.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] checkDupes [2]

Output: if true then materials, textures, and mesh factories will only be loaded if they don't already exist in the entire engine (ignoring regions). By default this is false because it is very legal for different world files to have different objects with the same name. Only use checkDupes == true if you know that your objects have unique names accross all world files.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] ssource [2]

Output: is an optional stream source for faster loading.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] override_name [2]

Output: if this is given the the name of the loaded object will be set to that. This only works in case of meshfact, meshobj, and 3ds or md2 model.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] missingdata [2]

Output: is an optional callback in case data is missing. The application can then provide that missing data in some other way.

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [1] keepFlags [2]

Output: Use these to define whether or not you wish to guarantee that all loaded resources are kept (default to KEEP_ALL). KEEP_USED is useful when you are loading from a shared library containing more resources than you actually need (a world file loading from a shared library of textures for example).

Crystal Space 2.1: iLoader Struct Reference (Crystal Space 2.1 Public API Reference)


Input: [2] Teen (T) [3] Mature (M) [4] Adult (A) [1]

Output: General (G)


Input: [0] Overview [2] May not be suitable for children under the age of 13 [3] May not be suitable for children under the age of 17 [4] Content that is generally recognized as appropriate only for or that is legally restricted to persons at least the age of majority in their region. [1]

Output: All ages


Input: [0] Violence [2] Mild to moderate cartoon, fantasy, or realistic violence [3] Frequent, intense or graphic cartoon, fantasy, or realistic violence [4] Extreme depictions of graphic violence appropriate only for or legally restricted to persons at least 18 years of age. [1]

Output: Minimal cartoon or fantasy violence


Input: [0] Sexual Content [2] Infrequent/Mild sexual content, situations, or themes [3] Intense/Frequent sexual content, situations, or themes [4] BlackBerry World will not accept apps with graphic nudity [1]

Output: Little or no sexual content, situations, or themes


Input: [0] Language [2] Infrequent/Mild profanity or crude humor [3] Intense or graphic profanity/crude humor [4] BlackBerry World will not accept Hate Speech [1]

Output: No strong or coarse language